This fic is written for the lovely tigerlilith, for buying me Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon when I mentioned I didn't have it. It was an amazingly sweet gesture so I decided to return it with a seiner fanfic. This was intended to be a oneshot, but I'm roughly half done...maybe only a third, and it's already close to fifty pages, so I figured it might be better if I post it in sections.

Warnings: Very, very dark at times. Too many not-okay-for-kids things to mention here, so to keep it short, you should probably be an adult or very mature if you are going to read this fic. No non-con or dub-con.

"Let me go you miserable, filthy pirates!" Hayner shouted at the trio that had captured him. The brunet man that was dragging him threw him on the floor of their cargo hold, sneering at him. Pulling against the ropes they secured him with, he found them completely unyielding. If only they didn't have a device that sapped all his mana firmly attached to his chest, he could just burn the offending bindings off.

"Can't do that, little one. We have several clients that would pay a high price for a boy like you. Not many people can use all kinds of magic these days, especially rare are those who have mastered several summons. You cheated us out of that magicite, but I daresay we got something much more valuable in return," the pirate explained; his name was Balthier if Hayner remembered the wanted posters correctly.

"Now be silent, Hume, or I will not hesitate to render you indisposed for the remainder of your trip," the Viera named Fran said coldly, her red eyes sharp and dangerous.

The last member of the group said nothing to him, in fact the expression on the young blond's face seemed sympathetic. Perhaps he honestly felt bad for kidnapping someone so young who hadn't really done anything wrong. He didn't know of the newest member of their crew, but he supposed it didn't really matter if he knew all their names or not. The only thing that really mattered in this situation was that he was tied up in the ship of some of the most notorious sky pirates on the planet and they had every intent to sell him to the highest bidder. At least they were some of the more noble rogues, if one could call any of them that. The fact that they had healed the considerable physical damage they had done to him before bringing him to their ship was evidence of that.

The doors to the bridge and quarters shut behind them as they left him in darkness. He was already growing cold from the metal beneath him sapping his body heat, and even though his injuries were healed, they still produced phantom pains equivalent to fresh wounds. Grunting as he shifted into a slightly more comfortable position so his dog tags weren't pressing into his sternum, he tried to loosen the ropes around his wrists again. His arms were tied behind his back and they had managed to find all of the knives he kept on his person and remove them, making his escape pretty much impossible, but he had to at least try, even if he couldn't do much without a way out or even a cell phone to call someone to rescue him.

An hour later he gave up, his wrists bleeding from the cuts the rope had made in them. Experiencing a moment of self-pity, he whimpered a bit and curled up into a ball miserably, because it was inarguably tragic that he had been stolen from his hometown and all the people he knew just because he had the courage to stand up to thieves when they broke into the home he shared with Roxas while the other was away. The spiky-haired blond he'd been friends with since they were kids had recently fallen in with a group of three adventurers with an airship, Axel, Demyx, and Zexion. They found a rare chunk of magicite on their last trip to the floating Twilight Caves outside of the town he lived in, and apparently the pirates who kidnapped him wanted it for themselves.

The platinum-blond pirate entered the cargo hold an hour later carrying a blanket, and he silently draped it over him with a small, sad smile. His eyes were the color of smoke, and he was at the oldest nineteen, probably closer to eighteen, the same age as Hayner. Judging by his tan skin and strange garb he was from the deserts of Dalmasca, something like a thousand miles from Twilight Town. He turned and made to leave, the brown-eyed teen deciding to at least show some gratitude.

"Thanks, I guess. What's your name?"

"Vaan. I'm sorry about this; I promise I won't let anything else happen to you."

"You mean other than selling me to another sky pirate or ruthless rogue like a head of cattle?"

"Yeah, other than that," he sighed, shaking his head before leaving.

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth against the anger that warred within him, he calmed his mind and let his consciousness flow out to the magical beings he controlled, who in turn explored the ship through the small veins of magic that flowed through it. The fiercely beautiful Viera was piloting the ship through the starry night sky toward wherever they were going, long ears twitching every so often as she listened to the sound of the engine. Vaan and Balthier were together in the captain's quarters, speaking about something. As the summons neared them he could begin to make out what they were saying.

"-Doesn't feel right, we steal magical artifacts or rare creatures, not people. He's no older than I, Balthier, how can you feel it's right to do this to him?"

"You seem to be acclimating to the pirate life rather well," the older man returned as he advanced on his fellow, pushing him against the wall without any real force and biting down on his neck possessively.

"I chose to become your apprentice, 'Thier, he didn't choose to be beaten half to death and kidnapped," Vaan snapped, pushing him off and staring him down.

"He prevented us from taking that magicite, and I do so hate to lose out on such a large profit. Give me one reason that isn't pointless sentiment why I should let him go."

Brows furrowed in either anger or concentration, the lithe desert-farer waited a few moments before moving toward his captain, shoving him down on the bed. Kissing him deeply, he began unbuttoning Balthier's shirt and trailing his hands down the man's torso. Hayner was just about to pull away to avoid being a voyeur when Vaan got up and walked toward the door.

"Either promise me you'll give him to someone who will treat him well or you can learn to sleep alone again," the blond man said over his shoulder, grey eyes daring.

Balthier seemed to consider this for a second or so before smirking at being bested, "I always knew you were too fiery for your own good, but that's what makes you so enticing. Fine, I'll ensure that he goes to someone who treats their prisoners kindly, now get back here and finish what you started."

Slipping back into his own body, the sandy-blond made a mental note to avoid killing Vaan if he did manage to get free or Roxas caught up to them. There weren't a lot of people in this world that would stick their necks out for someone else, much less a pirate who would. Heaving a sigh and wondering what tomorrow would bring, he let himself drift off to sleep.

Groaning as he tried to move muscles that were stiff from the strange way he'd slept and sore from the trauma they suffered the day before, he managed to fumble himself into a sitting position. There he stayed as the hours passed by without any word from the other occupants of the vehicle, his only company the Scion and three Spirits that took up residence in his mind. For a few minutes he was furious at them for getting him into this mess, because if he didn't attempt to summon Belias the pirates would never have bothered to take him, but the feeling faded after he accepted that without them he would have already been dead anyway.

He had dozed off again by the time they touched down wherever they were going. The trio didn't speak to him as they left, but Vaan shot him a reassuring smile, carrying a roll of felt-like material that most likely held one or more items. Their current location had wards to prevent him from using his connection to the spirits to venture into the area around the ship, so he was essentially just left to sit blindly in the dark until they decided what to do with him. Depression had given way to anger at the world for doing this to him, and he was seriously just going to murder whoever tried to buy him regardless of risk of personal injury.

At least, he thought he would until he was dragged from the ship by his captors and caught sight of the person he guessed would now own him. Fucking hell. Seifer Almasy, a man three years his senior who he'd had the worst crush on for most of his adolescent life, a crush that hadn't stopped when the other had left town to pursue a life of piracy two years ago. His piercing ice-colored eyes looked right through him as he was pulled over to the other side of the massive airship station he found himself in. He was wearing a variant of the white coat he used to run around beating the shit out of people in, this version having long white sleeves with red crosses on them. He guessed Vaan's convincing had truly worked on Balthier, because though Seifer was a pirate, he was pretty much as noble and heroic as they came and wasn't going to cause Hayner undue harm.

Smirking like a predator that had its prey cornered, he tossed the trio a bag full of magical artifacts as he took hold of the sandy-blond teen, the grey-eyed pirate handing him the rolled felt in return. Eyeing the ropes calculatingly, Seifer uttered the words to a fire spell and let them burn off, leaving him physically unrestrained.

"I'm not sure if that was the best idea, my friend. He is quite feisty, even without his magic," Balthier warned, curious as to why his fellow pirate had freed his captive.

"I've never encountered a moment where I couldn't handle anything he could throw at me, I know what I'm doing. Pleasure doing business with you, Balthier," he bid the other farewell curtly, turning and pulling Hayner toward his own ship.

He really wanted to make a break for it now that his legs were free, but he knew he wouldn't make it three steps before the older blond had knocked him out cold, and there would be hell to pay when he woke up. He'd fight for his freedom, but he wasn't stupid enough to waste his energy on a hopeless endeavor. Sighing at the predicament fate had found him in, he let Seifer lead him into the sleek airship.

"Too bad you hadn't manifested that talent of yours before I left town, I could have kidnapped you then and saved myself some money. Hope you've toughened up a little since I last saw you, otherwise you won't survive."

"Fuck you, Seifer. If you think for one moment I'm going to be your puppet, you're dead fucking wrong. I have no interest being a pirate's plaything," the brown-eyed man snarled, halting just inside the entrance when the scarred blond let go of his arm.

"I knew you'd be difficult, but I also expect you to be reasonable enough to realize you don't have much choice in the matter. Even if I felt magnanimous enough to take you back home, you'd just be taken again, by people who would be much less kind to you than Balthier's crew or mine. News travels fast on the black market, and someone like you attracts a hell of a lot of attention. I'm not going to hurt you or force you into anything, but I have little use for someone who doesn't pull their own weight."

In the back of his mind he'd known all along he'd never be able to escape the grasp of the lawless rogues of the world once word got out that he could control the most powerful magical weapons on the planet, the only reason he'd stayed safe so long as because he'd never had to use them against someone who survived the encounter before. Of all the people he could have ended up captive to, he supposed his old rival was the best of them. He glared but followed Seifer into the front section of the flying metal beast that was his new home, at least until he could devise a plan to disappear in a way that no one could track him down again.

"I've already heard that Roxas has Axel and his crew out looking for you. I do hope you understand leaving with them would only put them in danger."

"I get the feeling you like having me completely trapped, reminding me there's no way I can get away from you without risking myself or others. You love the idea that I'm yours now, don't you?"

He was immediately slammed against the metal corridor, Seifer catching his lips in a rough kiss as he recovered from the temporary shock of the sudden movement. The older man's leg found itself between Hayner's and with a growl the smaller of the two grabbed a fistful of pale blond hair and kept him there as he deepened the kiss. Their tongues warred briefly as the blue-eyed man let his right hand trail down the teen's side, tracing small patterns on the thin fabric of Hayner's torn shirt. As abruptly as the kiss started it ceased, the man with ice-colored eyes pulling away from him and letting that maddeningly taunting smirk settle on his face.

"You've always been mine, Hayner."

With that the captain of the ship went through the sliding door to the cockpit, leaving his new crew member panting, flushed, and half-hard as he leaned up against the wall until he was sure his knees could support his weight. A quick look around with his summons determined that the room on the far left of the corridor was Seifer's room, while the one on the other side belonged to Fuujin and Raijin.

Guessing by the set of clothes laid out on the older blond's bed he was supposed to go in there to change out of the ones he was currently wearing, which were basically shredded pieces of fabric held together by dried blood at this point. Undressing quickly, he stopped at his shirt, which was still held on by the device that had been preventing him from using magic up till now. Opting to just tear the shirt off it, he flinched a little as the fabric tugged at the tines that were dug into his skin.

Slipping on the fairly nondescript dark green long-sleeved shirt and black pants, he idly wondered why the hell Seifer had clothes Hayner's size laying around. None of the other crew members had the same body type as the lithe teen, and it seemed completely unreasonable to just have random clothes sitting around with no purpose. Grabbing the black vest with a red cross on the left breast and doing the four buckles in the front, he noted that there were several small slanting pockets on the outside of it for throwing knives. Already missing the dozen knives and daggers that had kept him alive up to this point, he questioned what the other pirates had done with them. Shrugging and assuming he'd never know, he left Seifer's quarters and headed back into the cargo hold, stowing his old clothes in a corner between two large crates.

He considered the dilemma of the object on his chest; it would have to come off sometime if he was going to be of much use to anyone, but there was really only one way to take it off. The spikes on it weren't long enough to puncture anything vital, but it would still hurt like a bitch to yank it out, and he'd be left bleeding for a while until he worked up enough mana to heal himself. Saving that for later tonight when he could be sure he would be left alone, he belatedly realized that there were only two sleeping quarters on the ship, meaning he'd either be sleeping in the cockpit, the cargo hold, or…With the captain. Blushing, he brought that train of thought to a screeching halt before it could get away from him.

Rubbing the slightly raised scar on his neck, right across the jugular, he sighed. He never particularly wanted what he'd been given, from his magical abilities to the way he seemed to attract dangerous and violent people to him. Things had changed quite a bit in the time since Seifer had left, he'd been attacked by roving monsters and rogues alike, gaining several scars and battle experience along the way. He'd even killed several people to protect himself or others.

It was entirely possible that the man who essentially owned him now had seen that, recognized that he wasn't the bratty kid he'd left behind in the town by the sea they both used to live in, and that was why he'd suddenly shown a physical interest in Hayner. If Seifer had just wanted to tease him or get him hot and bothered, the older blond knew damn well all he'd have to do was pin him to the wall and get in his face, because that had always been enough to make the brown-eyed man flustered. There was no need for the other to kiss him, feel him up, and shove his tongue down the summoner's throat, so it could be assumed he did it because he was actually attracted to his new crew member.

Sitting down, he rested his back against one of the shipping containers that filled the hold. Aside from the endless hum of the magic-fueled engine, it was quiet here, and for a moment he was tempted to take a nap now that he wasn't tied up and among complete strangers. However, as much as he could trust Seifer not to hurt him, he knew he couldn't let his guard down anymore. Fuu and Rai were sleeping, so he guessed the scarred blond had the first shift and would be going to sleep around when night fell, which would be about an hour or so.

Biding his time by exploring the rest of the ship, he spent the larger part of an hour in the engine room, considering all the ways he could disable the vehicle either temporarily or completely. With some well-placed magic it would hardly require any effort. He'd have to wait until they had grown used to him enough to relax and pick a time when they were actually on the ground, moments few and far between for sky-farers.

Heading back to the hold, he found Seifer looking for him and pretended like he had just been wandering aimlessly. The person the blue-eyed blond left behind in Twilight Town would have done just that, so of course the captain fell for the ruse.

"I'm sure by now you've realized you have to sleep in my quarters, so you have to follow the same shift schedule as I do if you want to get any rest."

"And you're going to bed now?" He guessed, the other nodding.

They entered the dimly lit room together, Seifer already tugging his coat off and hanging it up. Sitting on the bed, Hayner pulled off his shoes and vest, and after a moment of thought decided to remove his shirt as well. He could deal with sleeping in pants, but he really hated wearing a shirt to bed. Glancing behind him, he found his captor's eyes riveted to his back, and he smirked a little. The sandy-blond teen had so much other shit on his mind he forgot about the black marks that trailed halfway down each side of his back, near his sides.

"When'd you get inked?"

"Got the first one about a year after you left. Each one is the character for a summon I can control. So far, Belias, Shiva, Odin, and Bahamut. Like them?" He said, hoping the other didn't notice the way he phrased the time; since the scarred man had left everything in his life was categorized as so many months before or after Seifer disappeared.

"Yeah, I like them," the tone of his voice betrayed that his appreciation went beyond just appreciating the artwork and into admiring the body it was crafted on, "Never really pegged you for tattoos though, or getting your ears pierced."

He supposed even if he didn't have any studs in it was pretty obvious upon closer inspection that he'd had both of his ears pierced three times, "People change over time, you haven't seen me since I was sixteen, there's a lot you probably thought I'd never do that I have."

"Who gave you that scar on your neck?"

Moving so that he was sitting up and leaning against the headboard, he turned his head to the other before answering, "Pirates. Had the same idea Balthier did after seeing me tame Shiva in a magicite mine. When I fought back, one slit my throat. By the time I healed the wound I'd already lost enough blood that I was on the verge of passing out, and so I cast firaga on them. They had just stopped moving by the time I lost consciousness."

"How did you bend so many spirits to your will? No offense, but most people can't tame Espers and Spirits by themselves."

"I found a materia containing Bahamut…Or rather stole it from some thieves, and he was apparently impressed enough with my determination and sense of justice to bow to me. I have enough ability to summon him, and that's the only reason I could tame the others. Not all that hard when you've got the king of dragons by your side, though Belias almost killed me."

"Seems like a lot of things almost killed you while I was gone," the older man said, and it almost sounded like he regretted leaving him without some sort of protection.

"You know, I would have come with you, if you'd given me the chance. And I could use magic before you took off for parts unknown, I just didn't let anyone know because…Well I'm sure you can figure that one out."

It was as close as he was probably going to come to admitting he was pretty much in love with his old rival and would have followed him anywhere, if it had been his choice. As it stood he had no intention of staying here just to be reminded every day that he'd been sold off like a fucking slave and Seifer was probably never going to view him as anything but a subordinate to do with whatever he pleased.

"You were a kid, Hayner. Even if some bad shit happened after I left, if you'd come with me then you'd have found yourself in twice as many potentially fatal situations, and probably would have been killed. Besides, never said I wasn't going to come back for you when you were older, you getting captured just forced my hand."

Well that was some fucking news to him. It would have been nice to know that two years ago, but then again, if Seifer had even mentioned he was leaving the brown-eyed teen would have stowed away on his ship.

"What makes you think I would still want to spend all my time with an asshole like you? Maybe I've become sensible since you left."

"If you had, you would have pushed me away when I kissed you, not pulled me toward you. You've had a thing for me since you were a kid."

Hayner's mouth twisted into a cruel smile, "And then you left. Feelings don't matter much in the world of sky pirates and thieves, do they?"

Maybe he was still just a bit pissed at being left behind without so much as a goodbye, but he really hated the fact that the handsome blond was attempting to use his feelings against him in an obvious ploy to keep him here. It was a little too convenient that now he was actually useful to the pirate that he was showing interest in Hayner. The summoner loathed being used. He wasn't a toy, not even for the scarred man he'd admired for years.

"You've gotten even more bitchy over the past two years," the captain bit back, pulling off his shirt and laying down on the opposite side of the bed.

"And you haven't fucking changed."

He rolled over so that his back was to the other occupant of the bed, closing his eyes and ignoring the tension he could sense between them. He'd be gone within a few weeks anyway.

After about two hours he was fairly certain the owner of the ship had fallen asleep, apparently convinced by his crew member's feigned unconsciousness. Getting up quietly, he slipped out and headed for the hold where he had stowed his old clothes. Sitting down, he grabbed his torn shirt and grasped the device in his chest. Taking a breath to steady himself, he ripped it out in one fast motion, choking on a scream as the sharp pain momentarily overrode all his other senses. Pressing the damaged cloth to the bleeding wounds, he carefully drew magical energy into himself to replenish what had been taken from him. By the time his old shirt was beginning to soak through he was able to cast a healing spell on himself, sealing the holes and leaving nothing but faint white circles in their place.

Tossing the bloody clothing away from him, he breathed slowly for several minutes as he tried to acclimate to the new pain in his chest. At least the phantom pains from the last wounds he'd suffered were fading so he wouldn't have to contend with those much longer. Burying his head in his hands, he allowed himself a moment to reflect on how ironic it was that he was finally with Seifer but circumstances dictated he'd have to leave as soon as possible. Maybe if he came back on his own he could stay, but until he was an equal in the older man's eyes he'd never be able to stand being on this fucking ship.

"You know, I could have healed that for you. You're really so proud you'd rather bleed for ten minutes than ask for help?" The person who occupied his current thoughts said as he walked around the storage units to look at him.

"How long have you been hiding?" Hayner snarled, glaring at his captain as he stood up to face him, jaw set confrontationally.

"I basically followed you in here, I'm amazed you think I'm such a heavy sleeper I wouldn't notice you leave. So tell me, what the hell is your problem with me?"

"Dunno Seifer, maybe the fact that you were totally fine with some pirates beating the living shit out of me, kidnapping me, and selling me to the highest fucking bidder, who just happened to be you? That you seem to think I'm your fucking property now? That you toy with me like I'm a pet with no thoughts or feelings? Or maybe it's that you left without so much as saying goodbye to me and I haven't heard from you for two goddamn years and you expect to…what, just pick up where we left off like nothing happened? You're the one who slammed that door, you arrogant, self-serving prick. You're going to have to convince me to allow you back into my life, not the other way around."

"For one, there was no reason to start a fight with Balthier's crew after I'd already gotten what I wanted from them, and if I hadn't gotten to you first you should know that I would have come after anyone who'd taken you. I don't think of you as my property, you're my friend and my crewmember. I've always toyed with you, don't know why the hell you've developed such a problem with it now. You know damn well why I didn't tell you I was leaving, because you either would have forced me to stay or tried to come with me, and I'm fucking sorry I didn't have time to stop by and chat because I'm a goddamn criminal and you would have been arrested just for being seen with me in Twilight Town. You know how much they hate sky pirates."

"Almost as much as I do," he spat, turning on his heel and walking away, not entirely sure where he was going to go in such cramped quarters, but knowing he needed to get the fuck away from the scarred blond.

He heard a growl behind him and didn't have time to brace himself before a hand latched itself onto his shoulder and spun him around. Not remotely interested in anything Seifer had to say to him, he wrestled out of the larger man's grasp and with an angry twist to his mouth threw a solid punch to the pirate's jaw. Putting space between them in the second or two that it took for the blue-eyed man to recover from the shock of having Hayner deck him out of the blue, he had the fleeting thought that this at least was familiar to him.

Dodging the first blow aimed his way, he briefly took stock of his surroundings so he wouldn't end up backing up into a solid object. Moving to avoid a kick aimed at his knee, he saw the fist coming toward his abdomen a moment too late to do anything about it, grunting and doubling over as it made contact. Fuck that hurt; apparently the captain didn't pull punches with mutinous crew members. A subsequent strike to his jaw sent him reeling sideways, landing hard on the metal floor before rolling away and getting back to his feet, spitting blood on the ground.

"Do you just enjoy pain, Hayner? You've never won a fight against me and you aren't about to start now, you obnoxious little bitch," the scarred man swore, brows furrowed in rage.

He carefully timed his movements as the furious pirate advanced on him, waiting until the brief tell of an oncoming punch showed itself to move in and land a kick to the other's groin, feeling a sense of satisfaction when he let out a cry of pain and his knee buckled. The look Seifer gave him as he got back up was positively murderous. Evading the next two blows, he threw a nasty left hook to the pale-eyed man's temple, knowing the contact was enough to make the other see stars for a moment. If it was anyone else that would have completely knocked them out. A quick leg sweep took Hayner's legs out from under him and he hit the floor hard, bouncing a little before rolling onto his stomach to so he could get to a knee and from there attempt to become upright. A heavy weight settled on his back and his right arm was wrenched and bent behind his back so his hand was somewhere between his shoulder blades, his other arm pinned below him.

Writhing underneath the elder of them, he growled in frustration as he tried to find a way out of the hold. Seifer shifted slightly above him, and it was his chance to throw himself to the side, unbalancing the other fighter enough to get him to let go. Of course, not before dislocating his opponent's arm, leaving the sandy-blond man swearing as he dragged himself off the ground. For a moment it seemed like Seifer had come out of his fighting haze and moved to help him, though at a withered 'Don't' from Hayner he stopped and shifted back into stance. He could fucking fix his own damn shoulder, and he did, applying pressure and torqueing it back into place with a hiss of pain. Gesturing for the other to continue, he tried to guess at the highly-trained fighter's next move.

He didn't expect the well-muscled man to tackle him to the ground suddenly, moving faster than he remembered from the last time they fought years ago. A hand wrapped around his throat as ice-colored eyes stared down at him, the elder blond resting on his knees above Hayner's chest. Pressure was applied to his windpipe as he tried to move, stilling and watching the captain calculatingly.

"What are you going to do, throttle me? Go ahead and kill me if you really want to, I've got nothing to lose," he said with a dangerous smile, distracting the man on top of him long enough to concentrate magic energy into his hand and say a few quick words to a thunder spell under his breath. Electricity arced through the other's body and he let out a strangled scream and went limp momentarily, the brown-eyed man slipping out from under him. It was incredibly unfair of him to use magic, but he wasn't above fighting dirty to prove a point; he wasn't a weak, helpless little kid anymore.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that," Seifer said in a darkly threatening voice, getting back to his feet once he could move his muscles again and cracking his knuckles menacingly.

By the time he recognized the words to the spell the other was casting, it was far too late to attempt to interrupt him. It was a haste spell, which essentially meant he was completely fucked. Not that it really mattered, he supposed, he knew from the start he was going to end up unconscious and bleeding by the end of this. The captain of the ship turned into a blur when he moved, fists slamming into Hayner's ribs and nose, breaking both and sending him flying into the nearest container.

Barely clinging onto consciousness through the pain, he felt blood flow hot down his lips and chin, managing a flippant, taunting smile regardless. For whatever reason, Seifer smiled back wolfishly, walking up to him and grabbing his chin. Giving him a hungry look, he closed the distance between them and sealed their lips together, blood mingling in their mouths as the other's tongue slipped past his lips. After a moment he pulled away with a reddened smirk.

"You're ridiculously hot like this, you know. Covered in your own blood and high from the pain, and not only do you not give a shit, you seem to relish it. You smile like that for everyone, or just me?"

"Just you, Seifer, you filthy sadist. You beat the shit out of everyone you want to fuck, or just me?"

"I think you know the answer to that, Hayner."

"Yeah, I do," he answered with finality before kneeing the sky pirate hard in the groin, grinning as he fell back to the floor in pain, his prey moving back into the open space.

Admittedly there was something incredibly fucked up about their way of addressing the sexual tension between them, there always had been. Hayner wasn't about to sleep with his crush unless the other actually returned his feelings, because it would pretty much destroy him to have casual, meaningless sex with the only person he'd ever wanted to make love with, and Seifer had always been elusive on the subject before this. So unless the blue-eyed blond did something about the issue, they'd just keep beating each other bloody to keep their frustration at bay.

Soundlessly the man with ice-blue eyes recovered and with inhuman speed made it over to his target; the last thing the sandy-blond saw was a fist coming at him before everything went dark and silent.

The moment when his bloodlust faded and he realized the sheer amount of damage he'd caused to his rival was one he never looked forward to, and this one was no better. In fact it was a hell of a lot worse than every time prior because he had intentionally broken four of Hayner's ribs and although the teen had electrocuted him just before and might have deserved it, it would take a bit to forgive himself for the immense amount of pain he'd just inflicted, pain that would last for days after the injury was healed.

Sighing and casting several healing spells on the smaller blond and himself, he bent down and picked him up in a bridal-style carry. Once back in his quarters he set the unconscious man on the bed and went to the adjacent bathroom to wet down a cloth. Cleaning the blood off Hayner's face, he contemplated what he was going to do when the other came to. There was no reason to try and punish the brown-eyed blond for insubordination and starting a fight, because for one he'd already driven that point home with his fists earlier, and for another he knew his new companion would only become more determined to act up. The issue still remained that he couldn't really trust the other to avoid driving a knife into Seifer's back, or lighting him on fire, as was far more likely, and that was going to cause problems later.

Guessing his new shipmate would be out for several hours after being knocked out by a vicious blow to the head, he opted to think on it a bit before taking any action. He really had changed a great deal in the twenty-five months since the pirate had last seen him. He'd mastered four summons, learned to use several spells from almost every branch of magic, killed at least two people to save himself, and judging by the amount of knives and daggers Balthier had divested from him he knew his way around a blade. Hayner had also grown several inches and had gained quite a bit of muscle mass, no longer gangly but lithe and powerful, like a leopard. He'd gotten his ears pierced and earned several scars. Of course, he'd been told some of this by contacts who passed through Twilight and brought him back information about the teen, but it was startling to actually see it firsthand.

The tattoos were a hell of a surprise though, not that he minded at all. Although it was distracting the way every time he saw them he had the sudden urge to trace them with his tongue, preferably while bending the teen over some waist-height horizontal object and fucking him senseless as he whispered absolutely filthy things into the brown-eyed man's ear, but for the moment he could stem those impulses. Why he even had to was a mystery to him, but he'd force it out of his companion soon enough.

He'd always been drawn to his rival; everything about him was either amusing or attractive to the scarred pirate, from his furiously defiant attitude to the way he got flustered so easily to how he fought with an uncommon elegance to his movements, even after taking a few blows to the head. Only now where he had been cute, awkward and weak he was handsome, graceful, and dangerous. He was every part the adult he legally was, and it turned Seifer on. Really, it was just absurd, he could get pretty much anyone he wanted, yet he'd slowly fallen for the one person who now seemed determined to spurn his advances.

So he was basically stuck sitting around waiting for the reticent magic-user to stop trying to push him away, because for one he'd never force himself on another person even if he knew they were interested, and for another he was pretty sure he couldn't manhandle Hayner into anything anymore regardless. Sighing tiredly, he was quietly thankful they'd been in port the night before and he'd gotten some extra sleep, because there was no way in hell he could rest with the smaller blond in the same room. Generally speaking he preferred not being killed in his sleep.

Pulling out the weapons wrapped in cloth that Vaan had given him to eventually be returned to their owner, he looked them over. There were ten razor-thin throwing knives that had been cared for though they looked well-used. Guessing by the amount of wear on each, he typically only used three of them, the knives most likely having a specifically designated place on his body and those three being the most accessible. There were also two wickedly curved daggers with blades about ten inches long in their scabbards, the glistening metal appearing vaguely blue in the light. They probably sat on each of Hayner's hips, and they seemed much less worn than the knives, meaning the sandy-blond preferred range fighting, which wasn't unusual for a mage.

Overall it seemed as though if he could actually win the teen to his side he would be a powerful asset to their team, not even including his ability to summon beasts like Belias and Bahamut. He would most likely still need to be protected because he had limited defensive options in close-quarters combat with his choice of weapons, but Seifer wasn't exactly gnawing at the bit to leave him alone in the first place. Judging by the myriad of scars on the younger's arms he'd have to find his new crewmember some gauntlets so he could at least block sharp objects coming his way in the event he was overtaken and forced to fight at close enough range to be injured by a sword.

Rolling the weapons back up and stowing them in his dresser, he ran a hand through his light-blond hair. They were headed for their next target already; a shipment of materia that was going to Radiant Garden that they planned to ensure never arrived. They'd be there by midday tomorrow and he hoped by then Hayner would be willing to help them capture it. He supposed all he could really do was wait and see.

As soon as Hayner woke up he regretted ever being born, the searing pain in his chest, shoulder and head enough to make him feel sick. The worst part was he knew the actual wounds had been healed hours ago and that there was nothing to do about the damaged nerves that continued to fire even after his broken bones and bruised muscles were repaired but wait. Managing to get past the sensation of being on fire, he noticed that his arms were tied behind his back and he was gagged, which he probably should have realized a little earlier. Seifer was watching him from one corner of the room, and he couldn't help but think that this was terribly kinky.

"Do I have your attention?"

Nodding, since he was unable to actually vocalize anything, he glared at his captain. He despised the feeling of being helpless, and because he had the shittiest luck ever he'd been experiencing that a lot lately.

"I understand that you're mad that I left, you have every right to be. But you're going to have to get the fuck over it, because we're here now and if you can't be bothered to take care of yourself in a fight and listen to my orders I'm going to have to protect your stupid ass and you're going to get me killed. As angry as you are with me, I'm still pretty sure you don't want me to die because of you."

Reluctantly giving the other an affirmative, he considered the somewhat risky gambit his companion was employing. Depending on their rivalry, pseudo friendship, and the smaller man's crush to convince him to cooperate was definitely going out on a limb, because if none of those things mattered to Hayner anymore the scarred blond would be completely up a creek.

"I was going to untie you and remove that gag once I was fairly sure you weren't going to try and kill me, but I kind of like you this way. Tied up, powerless, and furious about it."

Against his own words he walked over and untied the gag, making no moves toward the rough rope that kept the smaller blond's arms behind his back. Instead, he smirked devilishly and got into bed on top of the other, arms holding him just a few inches from being flush with the teen's body. Snarling, Hayner wrapped his legs around the pirate and threw all his weight into flipping them, ending up on top of the scarred man.

"You are such a bastard. I have no idea what I ever saw in you," he hissed angrily from his perch atop the man he was speaking to.

"Really, you don't? Because I get the feeling you think about me all the time."

"Yeah, I think about how I'm going to get you back for all the shit you put me through so far. I fucking hate you, Seifer Almasy," he returned, his words lacking any real bite and seeming unable to wipe the self-satisfied smile off the larger man's face.

"We both know that isn't remotely true, so don't bother. Look, we're going to be intercepting our target in a couple of hours, I need to know if you're up to helping us with this job, or if you have to stay behind in the ship," Seifer changed the subject suddenly, face becoming serious.

"I'm in pain but I can deal with it. I'll help, but just because if you get your stupid ass killed there won't be anyone to drive the damn ship. Now untie me, you insufferable jackass."

For once the pirate did as he was told, reaching behind him and working the knot loose, pulling the twisted sisal away. His expression shifted to one of confusion when Hayner didn't move off him. Smirking a bit, the teen leaned down and brushed their lips together, holding the other down to prevent him from moving, slowly letting the kiss deepen. He let their tongues twine and battle until he could feel the overly sensitive muscles beneath him tense and twitch as he dragged his fingers down Seifer's arm, then pulled away and got up. He had to admit, he loved the look of quiet fury the sky pirate gave him. Two could play at this game.

Getting dressed against the spikes of pain he felt every time he moved, he could sense the scarred man's eyes on his back, though whether he was glaring or just taking another moment to stare at his tats was really up for debate. He was actually quite thankful he'd decided to get them, the scarred blond's reaction to them alone was well worth the pain. Judging by the expression he had on his face every time he saw the black marks, they made the supposedly cold man think of doing terrible things to his crewmate. Lacing his black boots with a bemused smile, he moved on to buckle his vest and turned to find Seifer holding that same felt wrap he saw Vaan carrying before.

"If you can promise not to stab me, you can have these back," he offered, tossing it on the bed next to the smaller man.

Unrolling it, he discovered the weapons that had been stolen from him and couldn't help but grin at their return. Immediately slipping eight of his knives into the pockets on his vest, he placed the other two in a slot in each of his boots, and hooked the daggers on his belt on his left and right side. For the first time since he'd been captured he actually felt whole again, a welcome respite from the constant curveballs life seemed to be throwing him as of late.

"How long has it been since you last ate?" Seifer asked suddenly, as if just now realizing the other needed to eat every once in a while.

"A few hours before I was originally kidnapped. So, close to two days I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Why the hell didn't you say something before? Look, I know you can subsist for short periods of time by feeding your body energy from the lifestream to keep it functioning, but you know as well as I do that if you do it for more than a few days you'll get mako poisoning and risk dying or being comatose for weeks."

Shrugging nonchalantly, he didn't really get what the problem was. He'd actually gone a week without anything but lifestream to keep himself alive and while he had become horribly sick by the end, he didn't experience any symptoms of true poisoning. Of course, then he had been trapped in a cavern he was exploring with Roxas, Pence, and Olette that had suddenly caved in on them so he didn't have a choice in the matter. Since he was an idiot and always had to go ahead of everyone else, he'd been the only one left without an exit and had to be slowly dug out. Regardless, it was clear the blue-eyed blond wanted him to eat something, so he acquiesced and downed some soup while the other milled about doing whatever it was sky pirate captains did to prepare for an operation.

He wondered what exactly they'd be up against, whether they were just going to snatch the loot and run or if there would be guards to take out. Seifer was cleaning his gunblade, Hyperion, so he guessed there was a chance they'd have to fight. Hayner was reasonably confident in his ability to at least hold his own in a battle, if not actually be helpful to the others. It wouldn't be easy, getting used to fighting in close quarters with the lives of others in his hands, and he'd probably have to be protected by his rival several times, but he'd learn one way or the other. Hopefully before either himself or the captain was run through.

They replaced Fuu and Rai in the cockpit so the couple could prepare themselves for the mission as well. He watched the sky pass by and thought aimlessly, occasionally stealing glances at the other occupant of the room.

"You've gotten a lot more contemplative, Hayner. I'm pretty sure before you never internalized anything of worth; you always just blurted shit out."

"When my mother died I moved in with Roxas, who is a great friend and all, but more often than not either he or I were out finding artifacts to sell when we weren't in school, and in the rare event he was home, he was usually spending time with his boyfriend. Pence and Olette were similarly busy with one another. So I've been left on my own a lot in the past year, and that tends to promote internal dialogue, because actually talking to yourself out loud all the time is generally frowned upon."

"I'm sorry about your mother," he said solemnly, a frown tugging at his lips.

"To be entirely honest, I was relieved when she finally passed. She wanted to, you know, that's no way to live. There was nothing they could do for the pain either. I'm sad that she's gone, but happy she's not suffering anymore, if that makes sense."

In some sick, twisted way he kind of envied Seifer, at least when he was orphaned his parents' deaths were quick and comparatively painless. Rather than having to watch them deteriorate from terminal illness for years. Rubbing the scar on his forearm thoughtlessly, he started a bit when the older man noticed and grabbed his left arm by the wrist. Pale blue eyes followed the thin, perfectly smooth line up the length of his forearm and narrowed.

"How'd you get this scar, Hayner?"

His mouth twisted into a bitter smile, "How do you think, Seifer? Don't ask stupid questions just for the satisfaction of the answer."

He'd attempted suicide one night when Roxas was gone on a trip to a faraway mark, not long after his mother passed away. He'd just felt so goddamn alone and he was tired of pretending to be fine just so people wouldn't fucking smother him or tell him meaningless things intended to be a consolation. Yes, he already knew his mother was a wonderful, beautiful, kind person, he didn't need anyone else to tell him that, and no, it wasn't okay and it never would be. So he'd taken one of his many knives and cut down the length of the blood vessel.

To his credit, Seifer didn't ask him why he'd done it, because that was always a pointless question due to every possible reason being impossible to explain to another person, instead, he asked, "That wound was healed with magic…Did you do it yourself or did someone find you?"

"Neither, actually. I'm really not entirely sure what happened. I passed out from blood loss and woke up a few hours later in a pool of my own blood, but the wound was fully healed. The door was locked, the deadbolt thrown, and Roxas was hundreds of miles away, no one else could have come in. In fact if it wasn't for the scar no one would have known," he explained.

"I imagine Roxas reacted poorly."

"Very. He was furious. As I assume you are now," he answered, knowing by the set of the handsome blond's jaw that he was pissed off and trying to avoid acting on it.

"Yeah, I am. But mostly at all your asshole friends who just left you alone."

"Not really their fault, wasn't like I came out and told them 'hey guys, by the way, I'm going to kill myself tonight, just thought you should know'."

The larger man visibly flinched at his wording, obviously uncomfortable with the idea. He supposed he could understand why it wasn't a topic Seifer could just brush off like he did with everything else, especially considering if it wasn't for…whatever it was that had saved him, Hayner would have been successful.

"So no one ever figured out who or what healed you?"

"Nope, not a clue. Suppose I should be thankful they or it did."

"Just try to avoid doing stupid shit like that again, alright? If I find you bleeding out on my floor I'll be far more ticked than Roxas was."

"I'll do my best," he said, though whether he meant not trying to kill himself or not being found he couldn't really be sure, "I've seen you use time magic and a fire spell, what other spells can you use?"

"Thunder, wind, ice, most white magic, and a little arcane magic. Haste and Slow are the only time spells I can use. You?"

"All black magic, arcane except for Gravity, white magic except for Holy, and green magicks. Completely useless in terms of time magic."

"So, you can use Raise?" The captain pressed, curious.

"Yeah, I can. Obviously there's a time limit, about two minutes, and whether the person actually comes back or not is always iffy. Raise basically just asks the lifestream to revive the person, and the planet decides whether or not to do so."

"Ever wonder why you're so skilled at magic, enough to tame summons and bring people back to life?"

"Can't say it crossed my mind to come up with a reason. Seems pointless, because there's never any real pattern to it, is there? The planet just picks people to give magical abilities to and they have them, that's it. Good or bad, doesn't seem to matter. If there was any actual sense involved you'd have more abilities than I do, not the other way around."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because you're the only one with a real reason to use them. If it wasn't for Balthier kidnapping me I'd still be in Twilight Town, only using my magic when people tried to kill me or to fight monsters in the mines and caves. Taming summons just for the hell of it."

"And yet if you didn't have any magical abilities, you probably would have died years ago."

He ignored the urge to ask why it actually mattered so much to Seifer that he was alive, because he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer out of the scarred man. The captain explained that they were coming up on their target and gave the teen a brief run through of what he could expect. Around a dozen guards, decently trained, and they'd go after them when they made a scheduled stop in a small town. He was apparently supposed to aim to only incapacitate rather than kill them, since they were technically just innocent people doing their jobs. At least it was nice to see that the other still had some morals even after being a pirate for two years, if they were terribly skewed.

Seifer spared his youngest crewmember another glance in the middle of the skirmish with the guards, finding himself doing so too much to really be safe considering he had himself to worry about as well. At the moment Hayner was back to back with Fuu, the silver-haired woman using her chakram to cut down the men that got near Rai, while the blond used electric and ice magic to subdue those attacking the captain. So far no one had sustained any real damage, Rai had a gash on his leg that didn't seem to bother him, and the brown-eyed blond had a sluggishly bleeding cut on his cheek.

Trying to keep his mind on the fight, he broke the kneecap of one of the black-clad fighters with a kick, narrowly blocking a bullet aimed at his chest from another. Electricity from a spell Hayner cast arced between two more of them, both collapsing to the ground limply. There weren't many of them left, and a few minutes later they were all incapacitated. After healing the few wounds that had been inflicted, Fuu gestured to her boyfriend, who began sifting through the crates to find what they came for, shoving the glowing balls into a bag. He held a small one up to the light and gestured to his leader.

"Hey Seifer, this is a summon materia, ya know?"

Interest peaked, he took the proffered object and studied it, reading the symbol that pulsed within it and trying to remember which spirit that was, the character seemed familiar. Neobahamut, he recalled suddenly, the more powerful incarnation of the dragon king having a very similar character to the original. Definitely not something he could control, or even had the ability to fuel in the event the beast did yield to him. He tossed it to Hayner, who caught it deftly despite not being warned.

"Think you can do anything with him?" The scarred pirate asked.

"He's unwilling to cooperate right now, but that doesn't mean he won't in the future. They all have different conditions that need to be met before they obey a summoner. All Bahamuts yield to those who display bravery, valor, and determination, the only difference between them is the degree. Mind if I just hold onto him?"

"Sure, if you think you can tame him eventually I am inclined to believe you. You're free to take any summons you think you can use if we come across them."

The look of surprise that flit across his the smaller man's face betrayed that he understood exactly what the allowance meant, even low-level summons were worth four times as much as mastered materias. The small ruby-colored crystalline orb he held in his hand would fetch forty-thousand gil on the black market. Of course, if the young magic-user could use the dragon in battle, it would be worth a hell of a lot more than that to their group in terms of saving their asses. Neobahamut was easily capable of bringing down a large airship in a single strike, and there were few occasions where that kind of power wasn't useful.

"Let's get out of here before we have to deal with local law enforcement, or worse, other pirates," he said with finality, leading his crew back to the ship.

Once they were all on board, Fuujin and Raijin disappeared into their quarters to get some rest, the captain turning to Hayner and wiping the blood off the teen's cheek with his thumb. Giving him a small smile, he headed into the cockpit to take them to the nearest port. They'd need to sell the materia they'd stolen, and he could really use a decent night's sleep, as well as several rounds of whatever hard liquor he could get his hands on. Maybe if he got his new subordinate drunk he could find out why the hell the other blond didn't want to sleep with him even though he'd been attracted to Seifer for years.

It would take a good three hours before they reached the main hub of the sky farers of the continent, the Port of Balfonheim, so he set the ship on autopilot for the moment and just watched the cloud cover part in front of them. There was another port that was a little closer called Traverse Town, but he figured it was better if everyone knew that Hayner was his as soon as possible, to avoid any future kidnappings. Any law-breaker with half a brain knew that taking something that belonged to Seifer was a quick ticket to hell.

"Is this what you did every shift? Just sat here by yourself and stared into the sky?" The constant occupant of his thoughts asked as he sat down in the copilot's chair.

"Yeah, basically," he answered, mentally adding 'and thinking of you', "Not really much else to do."

"I guess not, if you're incredibly boring."

He fell silent and watched the captain, eventually sighing and propping his feet up on the control panel in one of the few places where there wasn't a button, switch, or gauge. He rested his right hand on his leg, palm up. Greenish tendrils wound their way up his arm and converged in his hand, swirling together as the light they emitted became brighter and the ball of energy smaller. After a few minutes the pulsing mass of lifestream was powerful enough for him to sense it as if it was another living person.

"You don't trust me, do you, Seifer?" The smaller man asked with half-lidded eyes, watching the ball of light with abject fascination.

"Not really. You haven't given me much reason to do so, I get the feeling you're just waiting for me to drop my guard to escape or stab me in the back."

"I found a mako fountain a few months ago, overflowing with pure lifestream. I absorbed enough of it to support a human life, I've been saving it for when it could be useful," he explained, just before standing up and in one sudden movement shoving the orb into Seifer's chest.

Coughing at the sensation, similar to being punched in the chest or getting electrocuted, his vision shifted green and white briefly before the pain subsided, the other man simply watching him. His body tingled and he had no idea what the fuck just happened.

"It's not an excuse to do stupid, reckless shit, but…If you die that will revive you, even if I'm not there to cast Raise, and it's guaranteed, unlike the spell. Only works one time, so don't waste it," he added before leaning down and kissing him gently, pulling away before it could actually go anywhere.

He took a few steps toward the door back into the main part of the ship and paused, turning his head just enough to look at his leader out of the corner of his eye, "You're right not to trust me."

The sandy-blond man disappeared into the bowels of the craft, the door shutting behind him. He suddenly realized he should have said something in thanks before letting his crewmate get away, but he supposed it didn't really matter because there was no acceptable expression of gratitude that would be enough. Hayner had just given the scarred man his life, and even if it was a second one, it was a hell of a gift. He didn't even pretend to understand his young companion; nothing he did seemed to follow any particular pattern. One moment he hated Seifer enough to fight him, the next he handed him a second chance at life like it was nothing special.

It made him rather nervous that the enigmatic teen had basically admitted he was going to betray them, but there wasn't much he could do about it except avoid dropping his guard. At least he could be fairly certain the summoner wasn't going to kill him. If he left, Seifer would chase him to the ends of the Earth, and the captain got the feeling he knew that. If he honestly thought he could disappear from a pirate he was incredibly mistaken.

As Seifer traveled through the darkened streets of the port, he sorely regretted giving Hayner free reign about the city so long as he didn't attempt to leave. The teen was definitely still within the gates, but where was a hell of a question to answer. Eventually stopping in a bar that was fairly off the beaten track to take a break, he started to find the brown-eyed man sitting on a bar stool and twirling a knife in his fingers briefly before throwing it at a dart board. It landed as close to center as it could with two other knives already in the very center ring. Five glasses were next to his elbow, two full of clear liquid, the other three empty and upside down.

"Seifer, fancy meeting you here," he commented as the older blond approached him.

"The hell are you doing here, Hayner?"

"Well, I'm in a bar, and there are shot glasses next to me and no one else to drink them, so I'm sure even you can puzzle that one out. Those thieves in the corner challenged me to a drinking game, I guess assuming I'd both lose and be too drunk to protect my possessions by the time I was done. I have to take a shot and wait ten minutes, then try to hit that dartboard with one of my knives. If I can hit it five times, I win the bet."

"What are you drinking, vodka?"

The younger man snorted quietly before downing another shot, "Fuck no. I'm drinking the only thing here worth getting drunk off, it's white tequila. Weaker than the stuff I'm used to back home. They didn't even bother drugging it either, apparently I come off as the type of guy who can't hold his liquor."

The older pirate sat down on the barstool behind him, wondering when the other had started drinking enough to build up such a tolerance that he could still speak clearly after three shots of tequila, weak or not. It was also completely rude that his crewmember was three shots into it and he was still tragically stone-cold sober. The men Hayner had started the bet with were watching with expressions of frustration and anger, it was probably clear to them at this point that they were going to lose.

The next knife was a little more off of center, but still only half an inch from one of the others. It was actually rather impressive how good his aim was, especially since at this point he really should be a little drunk. He tossed back the last glass of colorless liquid before turning to his old rival with a small smile.

"You going to start drinking, or what?"

"I figured I'd let you get your little game over with before I got into it. You know, just in case those guys in the corner decide not to honor the bet and try to overpower you now that you're tipsy."

"Such a considerate gentleman," the smaller man scoffed, "I won't be too drunk to take care of myself for at least another three shots. I usually downed nine or more before passing out back home, and the shit there was a lot better. Probably take eleven or twelve of this."

"Gods, how long have you been drinking so much?"

"Since a few months before my mom died, close to a year after you left. Mom didn't like it, but she understood enough to only bring it up a couple of times. Roxas tried to get me to stop when I moved in with him, but eventually he gave up. After attempting suicide I stopped drinking so often because obviously alcohol wasn't going to make my depression any better and escapism is a shitty way to cope. After I graduated I got back into it because drinking people under the table is a good way to get information on sites of magical artifacts and mines. Really the only reason I do it now, or to win bets in this case."

Well at least he wasn't a complete alcoholic, "What is this bet actually for, anyway?"

"Four-thousand gil, which is why I assumed it was just a ploy to get me smashed. Even if they don't honor it, at least I'll have gotten a few free drinks. Win-win situation."

He laughed, because his subordinate's logic regarding the attempt on his possessions was pretty funny. Apparently between here and there he'd become rather arrogant as well, to accept a bet without even knowing the strength of the alcohol he'd be drinking or whether it was laced with drugs or not. Seifer was kind of attracted by his confidence. And by kind of he meant he was pretty sure as soon as the shot glasses were out of the way he was going to throw the lithe man on the bar and start doing body shots off him because that was the only appropriate way to get drunk when you were the captain of an airship.

The last knife flew to land right next to the four others, a smirk tugging at the corners of the thrower's mouth. To both of their surprise, a bag of gil was dropped next to them on the bar, the owner a younger-looking man with brown hair and a brown bandanna. He gave them a lopsided smile that marred the linear scar that traveled sideways the length of his face.

"I know thieves aren't really the most trustworthy lot, but anyone with aim as good as yours who is smart enough to realize we were trying to steal from you is not someone I want to piss off. Not to mention your captain is Seifer Almasy. Consider this an act of self-preservation."

With that, he and the other three men sitting at the table got up and left the bar completely. It was fairly empty without them, but Seifer knew once word got out that he was here more people would filter in. For whatever reason he drew a crowd when he was in any town frequented by pirates.

Half an hour and six glasses later, he glanced up from where he'd just finished licking alcohol and salt off his shirtless crewmember's abs and saw that they had an audience. Four girls in the corner, one of whom had passed out face down on the table, and he really doubted it was due to drinking too much, and a few mixed groups at the tables around the bar. Hayner noticed his gaze, downed another shot, and leaned up to say something in his ear.

"The guy leaning up against the wall in the right corner has been staring at me the entire time I've been here, and I really get the feeling it's not because of my looks."

"Easy way to find out, I'm going to do one more shot and then we'll head out the back, okay?"

He nodded and smirked a little as the scarred man dumped another glass of tequila down his chest and used his tongue to lap it off him. It seemed like the younger man was just drunk enough to not have quite as many inhibitions as he normally did, the sandy-blond sitting up before sliding down into Seifer's lap, kissing him heatedly. He threw enough gil to cover their drinks on the bar before getting up carefully, letting the other wrap his legs around his middle to keep himself on. The pirate captain grabbed the summoner's shirt and vest before making his way out of the bar and into the alley behind it.

Slamming his subordinate into the brick wall hard enough to leave bruises later, he used the opportunity the smaller man's gasp gave him to delve deeper into his mouth. Trailing his gloved hand down the expanse of Hayner's taut chest and stomach, he reveled in the tiny sound that escaped the brown-eyed teen's throat, a cross between a moan and a whimper. As soon as his hand traveled lower he found a knife at his throat, one of the ones that the teen kept in his boots. Chocolate-colored eyes were sharp as he regarded the man who had him pinned, a sneer forming on his lips as he pressed the blade into Seifer's skin just enough to draw a few beads of blood. If he thought that was going to get the blue-eyed man off him he had another thing coming, because really all the threat did was turn him on. The knife trailed down along his skin lightly, enough to draw blood but not enough to leave a scar or do serious damage.

"You never struck me as the type to engage in bloodplay," he said, hand traveling around to rest safely on the younger blond's lower back.

"But you think that letting you do body shots off me is totally my speed?" He asked before humming a bit and pulling the sharp metal object away from the scarred man's collarbone so he could flick his tongue across the wound cruelly, "You know I only act this way around you."

"Why the hell can't you stop being a tease already?"

"Because you are a cold, heartless bastard."

He was about to voice that no, he wasn't, and in his buzzed state would probably have let slip that he was completely in love with the smaller magic-user, but at that moment a sound at the end of the dark corridor drew their attention and Hayner let the knife fly in its direction. A choked cry of pain informed them it had struck home.

"Next one is going to hit something vital unless you come out of there and explain why the fuck you've been watching me for the past hour."

"Because I can see your summoning ability, and I was hoping for you to either get too drunk to defend yourself or for your body guard to ditch you and go sleep with some other hot blond with brown eyes, as he is prone to do, and then kidnap you," the man said, walking out of the shadows and waving a librascope meaningfully as he tossed the bloodied knife on the ground in front of him.

Hyperion was in his hand and the barrel on the gun cocked before he consciously thought to do anything, "If you ever touch him I'll cut your fucking hands off and leave you to bleed out, understand?"

"Don't tell me you've actually gotten attached to some fling, Almasy. Or is this the kid you had all those people stalk-"

The man speaking was drowned out by the gunshot, and though it was only a shoulder hit, he was driven to his knees as the bullet tore through it, blood leaking out from under the fingers that automatically went to cover the wound. It sincerely bothered him that a stranger he'd never seen before knew about his typical choice in bedmates as well as the fact that he'd had other people watch over Hayner for him.

"Now that's not very nice," the injured man said through gritted teeth as the air around them suddenly became charged.

"Fuck, there are more of them on the roof behind us, one of them is summoning Odin. Fucking hell," The sandy-blond man said quickly before shoving his companion away, grabbing and putting on his vest and shirt, and pulling a dagger from his belt. Fascinating how quickly he recovered from all that alcohol.

"I'll handle the Spirit if you can watch my back and try to get rid of the rest of them."

The gunblade-wielder didn't need to be told twice, remaining close enough to the other to hear him breathing as half a dozen men jumped down around them. The horseman appeared in a burst of mist, Slepnir rearing with the horse equivalent of a roar. Seifer fended off consecutive strikes from the other enemies, the two men on Hayner's side moving aside to let the summon advance, massive sword poised to strike. The smaller man stood his ground against the magical beast, not making a move to defend himself as the sword came down toward his head. It stopped just short of cleaving him in two, the original summoner swearing at him as the mighty warrior straightened in the saddle.

"Odin bows to those that do not fear death you miserable idiot, he knows who his real master is," the younger man said resolutely as the summon turned on its allies.

The otherworldly being made short work of the thugs, leaving none of them alive, not even the one who brought him out in the first place. Afterwards, he turned back to his master and his steed bowed its head enough that the younger man could stroke its forehead before it dematerialized, leaving traces of mist behind.

"How the hell did you just jack another guy's summon?" Seifer asked as he turned to his friend.

"In the event two people who have control over the same summon meet in battle and one brings out that magical being, whoever is viewed as most worthy by it will be the one who controls it, not whoever actually summons it. Basically Odin likes me better, so he turned on the summoner."

"Do all your summons like you better than their other masters?"

"Generally speaking, yes. Not always. You hurt at all?"

"Nope. Your warrior offed them before they could land any hits. I think a better question at this point would be who the hell were they?"

"They knew a lot about you," a short pause, then he looked the captain in the eye and asked, "What did he mean when he asked you if I was the kid you had people stalk?"

"To quote you, don't ask stupid questions just for the satisfaction of the answer."

"So, what, you paid off people to creep on me? You…honestly cared enough to keep track of me?" He said the second sentence quieter than the first, sounding as if actually committing the thoughts to words was a struggle between pride and curiosity.

"Of course not, I'm a cold, heartless bastard, remember? Why on Earth would I care about anyone other than myself enough to make sure they were okay?" He snapped back and started stalking away, still pretty pissed at the insult, mostly because it hurt that the person he arguably cared about the most had said it.

The other just stood there in the alley surrounded by blood and mangled bodies, confusion written on his face. Not really giving a damn right now, because his crewmember was definitely sober enough to handle himself, he kept walking, heading back toward the ship. If Hayner wanted to be a dick that was his business. He got undressed and went to bed, tired after not sleeping for the past day. Rubbing his scar irritably, he tried desperately not to think about the past couple of hours and how the brown-eyed teen never made a fucking bit of sense and was the world's biggest cocktease. A combination of alcohol and exhaustion dragged him under quickly.

Slinking back aboard the ship, Hayner took a breath to steel himself before entering Seifer's cabin. The older man was sleeping, though at the hint of noise his breathing changed slightly. He wasn't awake yet, but it wouldn't take much to get him there. As he took a moment to admire the perfect angles of the pirate's chest, he considered how he was going to apologize for being a complete asshole earlier. While he didn't know that the older blond had surreptitiously kept tabs on him during their time apart, and he was kind of drunk when he called him heartless, it didn't change the fact that he knew at the time it wasn't true and he was just slinging words because he was mad.

Removing his vest, shirt, boots, and with a moment of consideration, his pants, he slid under the blankets next to his companion. Rolling on his side to face the other occupant of the bed, he tentatively trailed his fingers along the smooth planes of the man's muscles. The contact was enough to rouse him, pale blue eyes flicking over to regard him with lazy interest.

"Hey, I'm sorry I was an asshole earlier."

"Doesn't matter, you were drunk and you've always had a temper. I forgave you as soon as you said it, I'm used to your bullshit."

"I didn't mean it, you know. You're far from heartless, even if you come off that way a lot."

"You're going to need to explain to me again why you won't sleep with me in the morning when my hangover is gone. It's a miracle you even made it here, I can't imagine yours is much better."

"Oh, I'm not hungover at all. Mostly because I continued drinking after you took off and I am still kind of drunk," he explained with a smile that threatened to tilt into a smirk.

"Why the hell did you keep drinking?"

"Mostly because I didn't want to deal with you, and by the time I realized I was wrong I was already in one of the larger bars and people were buying me free drinks. Don't act like you'd honestly pass up free booze, I'm sure you get it all the time."

"I can't blame you, but who was buying you drinks?" There was a hint of possessiveness slipping into his voice, and it was impossible not to act on it.

"I dunno, half the bar? Mostly guys, and I may or may not have made out with one of them while completely smashed," he finished with a smirk.

His ploy worked, the captain's eyes flashing with anger and jealousy. His reaction was really kind of ridiculous because for one it wasn't the other guy's bed he was in right now, and for another, if he could sleep with random people all the time, so could Hayner. The man in the alley and several of the bar hoppers had mentioned the scarred man's penchant for sleeping with men and women whenever he was in port, though the fact that they were almost always blond and had brown eyes was so absurdly suspect it was almost too obvious.

"I'm kidding, by the way. Didn't kiss anyone but you today, so chill out."

"Good, and I better not find out that you did kiss someone else in the future either. You're mine, got it?"

"Don't push it, you possessive freak. If you're allowed to have tons of one-night stands then you have no grounds to tell me I can't kiss another guy in a bar. I'm not your property."

Glaring at him but remaining silent otherwise, the other closed his eyes and rubbed his temples against the headache he probably had. It was clear he'd already learned better than to start a fight with his subordinate. The cut on his neck was already healed, probably knit automatically by the magic the older man kept in his body, since he doubted Seifer would actually bother casting a spell on an injury so small.

"You going to go to sleep any time soon, or just lay there and stare at me?" The scarred man asked irascibly.

"Well, actually," he answered, just to be a smartass, then continued more seriously, "I was followed almost the whole way here, but they stopped once I got to the hangar. I wouldn't mention it, but…This guy had a gunblade and a scar that was a mirror image of yours."

"What?" He hissed, suddenly very much awake as he sat up.

"Brown hair, wore a black coat with a fur fringe on it…So you do know him?"

"His name is Squall, I grew up with him before I moved to Twilight. Now he's a Sky Captain for Balamb Garden. He must have a hell of a good reason to come to a den of thieves."

"What business could law enforcement have in this place? If he actually thinks he's going to arrest anyone in this city he's even more arrogant than you are, and that is physically impossible."

"No, he's not stupid enough to come here for that. If he was following you, that doesn't leave a lot of options for what it could be. Either he's here for you or me. I guess he'll approach us sooner or later, we'll be here for a few days and he's not the type to beat around the bush."

"I'm guessing if you two meet it's going to devolve into a brawl almost immediately?"

"Precisely. I'd really prefer if you stayed out of it, too. Pretty sure if he hurt you I'd kill him, and killing Sky Captains tends to land you on the top of the Gardens' hit list, not a place I want to be."

"Fine, not like I want to protect your stupid ass. By the way, you don't think it's perfect irony that you both are captains of an airship, yet exist on completely opposite sides of the law?"

"That's pretty much how it's always been with us. I gave him his scar, he gave me mine. We've always been equal but opposite, I've just grown used to it."

Nodding, the brown-eyed blond couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, he decided to lick the dried trails of blood off the pirate's neck for no better reason than because they were there. Seifer exhaled heavily and his pupils dilated, eyes narrowing. It was honestly more entertaining than it had any right to be to turn the tables of teasing and intimidation on his old rival.

"You know, if you keep doing that eventually I'm just going to tie you down and fuck you, I don't have nearly enough patience for your mind games."

Smiling coyly, he moved closer to whisper in his captain's ear, "You so much as try it and I'll kill you. I'll revive you, of course, but have you ever had to deal with the pain of dying for days on end? Many people say they honestly wish they didn't come back."

"You'd know. You died that night when you tried to kill yourself, didn't you? I could tell you were lying when you said you passed out, you're too charged with magic to lose consciousness until you're pretty much gone. That's why Odin will always yield to your will over everyone else's, you don't fear death because you've already died once. Were you lying about not knowing what brought you back as well?"

It was the first time anyone had caught him in that lie, not even Roxas had seen through it. That the older man knew him better than his best friend was as shocking as being punched in the gut, and several beats passed before he could actually form a comprehendible thought. The truth of the matter wasn't something he wanted to talk about, and he would have ignored the question if it was anyone other than Seifer. Suddenly he felt incredibly tired.

"I wasn't lying about that. I honestly don't know what kind of magical being or powerful magic user would have such vested interest in me that they would bother to save me from myself. All I know is that I died and then I woke up."

"I always knew it was a miracle you survived to adulthood, didn't realize it was a literal act-of-gods miracle. You are truly the dumbest person I've ever known to do that to yourself and then lie to everyone about it. Didn't you think your friends deserved the truth?"

He frowned, knowing he was already pretty much doomed in this conversation, so he might as well tell the whole truth for once, "I actually told them that I healed the wound myself, that way they didn't worry as much, thought I had come to my senses. It's a terrible idea to tell your friends the truth."

"And none of them realized how fucked up you really are? You're an awful actor."

"People only see what they want to, Seifer. You know that better than I do. To them I was just a friend with some abandonment issues that had gotten over them. I don't even think they really knew about…" He gestured vaguely between the two of them, not actually knowing words to describe what they had.

The well-muscled man just frowned deeply before pressing him into the mattress and kissing him with a lot more gentleness than Hayner was used to from him. Letting his eyes fall closed, because he was too damn exhausted to resist anymore, he had an overwhelming sensation of drowning that had nothing to do with his sudden inability to breathe through his mouth. Letting his tongue slide against the other's, he wondered just what the hell was wrong with him that he trusted Seifer Almasy more than he did his best friends. Of course, then he had to question why he was still in love with the man who had left without a word and hardly thought anything of it; someone whom he was certain would never actually return his feelings in any meaningful way.

For some reason, letting himself be pulled into unconsciousness felt a lot like giving up.

Seifer woke up before his crewmate, quite content to just watch him sleep for now. He could vaguely remember the teen having a nightmare sometime last night and pulling the younger man flush against him in an attempt to calm him, but he really didn't recall falling asleep with Hayner's head pillowed on his chest or his arm wrapped around the older man's stomach. They must have shifted while they slept, not that he really minded. He wasn't sure what to do with the blond teenager; it was fast becoming clear Hayner was more broken than anyone really understood. He got the feeling that the only things holding him together were his summons and a misguided obligation to actually use his abilities to help someone.

Absently trailing his fingers down the lithe man's back, he watched the muscles tense slightly under his touch, the contact not quite enough to rouse him from sleep. He was nice enough to avoid touching the bruises he'd put there. There were two scars on his back, one long and shallow from a glancing slash by a bladed weapon, the other deeper and round, most likely from an arrow. The latter was dangerously close to his heart, but then he guessed it might not have mattered much if the teen had been struck somewhere vital, considering something was clearly watching out for him.

It disturbed him to no end that his old rival had actually killed himself, even more so that he attracted enough attention for a spirit with the power to bring him back to do so. There were only a few handfuls of people who could cast Raise at all, and Hayner was the only one who lived in Twilight Town, leaving a spirit or scion as the only option. He was grateful for their intervention, of course, but having a magical being that involved in your life was never a good sign.

Then of course there was the rather large issue of Squall stalking him. It was entirely possible the grey-eyed brunet was here trying to get the teen back after he had been kidnapped, but if the younger captain thought he could take the sandy-blond man away he was vastly underestimating Seifer. If the teen had really wanted to leave he could have at any time last night, it would take very little effort to escape into the night on the back of Bahamut. Seifer would be damned if he let a fucking Sky Captain steal his crewmate against his will; with the kind of potential danger to society Hayner presented who knew what they would do to him once in custody. He'd sooner kill the other gunblade-wielder than let anything happen to the summoner, even if it did pretty much guarantee his death at the hands of the Garden's forces.

Finally the other began to come around, shifting a little and making a small noise before opening his eyes. Glancing up at the person he was basically laying on top of, confusion flit across his features before he blushed and sat up to put some distance between them. It was clear he was sore and had a massive hangover by the way he slouched and held his head oddly.

"You know, I really didn't mind you being there. No reason to move."

"Well maybe I minded, Seifer. I'm not going to spend all morning cuddling you, hell, I'm still not really comfortable with sharing the same bed as you."

"Why not? You should know by now that I'm not going to hurt you, or do anything that you're not okay with. Even if I say otherwise, I'm joking. Seriously Hayner, I'd never hurt you, I wish you'd get that through your head."

"I'm sure you wouldn't, that's not the problem."

"So what the hell is the problem? For that matter, why are you such a goddamn tease when I know for a fact you've wanted to sleep with me since you were fifteen?"

"Fuck off, Seifer. Could you be any more self-absorbed? I'm not going to be a one-night stand and I don't want to be fuck buddies. Just go back to sleeping with a different person every night, that's seemed to work for you just fine so far," he snarled, already getting dressed to leave.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"Anywhere but here, I've no interest in talking to you right now," the smaller man returned as he buckled his vest and moved to tie his boots.

"You can't just go off by yourself, summons or not you can't defend yourself against Squall and his crew. Sky Captains only kill or capture, he's not following you to chat, Hayner."

"They are, however, required to take any conflict out of areas where innocents can be harmed. There are children running around on the streets, there are hunters, and hell I saw a fucking Viera healer yesterday. If he wants to start a fight, he's going to have to take it outside the city gates or risk his position. If he really is the opposite of you, he actually obeys orders and laws. If you're that worried about it, just wait there."

He slipped out of the room before the captain could voice a protest and for a moment Seifer considered going after him, but he obviously needed to leave and far be it for anyone to actually stop him. Running a hand through his hair irritably, he considered how to deal with the teen whenever he decided to return. Just his luck that he happened to fall for the most difficult person he'd ever met.

Right on par with the kind of luck he was having lately, he only had an hour to himself before he picked up a tail. The Viera he'd spoken with the day before noticed his plight and started walking beside him, eyes alighting on him curiously as if asking whether he needed her help or not. Squall was too far away at the moment to hear them very well.

"He's not my friend, if that's what you're wondering. I'm going to lead him outside the city so none of the citizens get hurt. Try to keep the children away from the area, if you can."

"You are a very noble young man, and brave if you've tamed the lord of the dragons. There are few like you in the world of the Humes, take this, it will offer you some protection against your enemy," she said quietly as she handed him a necklace that prevented the wearer from being silenced.

He thanked her, and she offered him the ghost of a smile before walking back into the crowd, likely to go gaze at the sea as she had yesterday. Putting the gift on, he spared the scarred brunet another glance. The distance between them hadn't changed, meaning the servant of Balamb knew what Hayner was doing. It seemed as though he'd picked up a few friends on the way through the city. To be entirely honest with himself, as much as he knew he really didn't stand a chance by himself, he didn't want Seifer to join in if things did come down to a fight. The older man had already made it clear he wouldn't hesitate to kill the Sky Captain, and that was an absurdly reckless thing to do.

As soon as they cleared the gates and got a few hundred yards he turned to them and leaned his right hand on one of his daggers, "Squall, right? Care to explain what a Sky Captain is doing stalking me?"

The continued walking toward him until there was only about fifteen feet separating the group from him, and the grey-eyed officer's lips quirked up a little, as if he was amused. There was a female magic-user with dark hair and eyes, as well as two blonds, one a woman with her hair tied back tightly and the other a man with his hair spiked and a tribal tattoo on his face.

"I'm here responding to a report that you were kidnapped by one Balthier and then transferred into the care of Seifer Almasy. Balamb considers Mr. Almasy a threat to the Gardens, although not enough of one for us to terminate him at this time. You, however, are a considerable threat to the safety of everyone, not just Garden officers and personnel. As you are now under the command of a pirate and have engaged in illegal activities with him, this makes you a dangerous criminal. You have two options, either agree to enter the custody of Balamb Garden and receive training to become an officer for the law, or continue to remain with the pirates. If you choose the latter, we have no choice but to terminate you," Squall said in a clipped, excessively official tone.

"You know, you could have just said you have a pissing contest going on with Seifer and that you don't like me purely because I'm with him and now you won't be able to outnumber him the next time you guys fight. Saved us all some time."

The blond with the tat covered his mouth in a failed attempt to stifle a laugh, and the scarred man smirked before saying, "I can see why he's so fond of you. You two are very alike. I take it you're going to stay by his side then?"

"I'm afraid so. Feel free to kill me, but I hope you'll understand if I put up a fight," Hayner added, drawing one dagger, leaving his other hand free to throw knives.

"Of course, in fact I'd prefer if you did. Makes it very difficult to kill kids if they don't even fight back."

"I'm sure you'd know a lot about that, you make your living killing and kidnapping children don't you, Squall?"

Glancing around, he looked up onto one of the steep rises that surrounded the valley they were in, locating Seifer, Fuu and Rai watching them from their vantage point. They jumped down and joined him, their scarred leader standing in front of him. He radiated anger, to the point that flames occasionally danced along his coat from the overcharged magic raging through him.

"As if you're any different, at least when I do it I'm protecting others."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, you're nothing but a miserable coward hiding behind a badge slaughtering people for crimes they haven't committed. You'd kill Hayner just because he's powerful? The fuck kind of logic is that? It can't be because of our operation the other day, we didn't kill anyone and if you were going to off him for murder you probably should have done so the first couple of times. Or are you fine with murderers so long as they only kill people the Garden doesn't like? You're a pathetic little puppet trying to run away from the truth in an airship."

"Say what you will, but the only reason we're going to kill Hayner is because he's with you. You may not be the one that pulls the trigger, but you'll be directly responsible for his death."

Muttering the words to the only spell he knew that would fix this without one or all of them getting seriously injured or killed, he was thankful that Seifer had his foil so distracted that he wouldn't notice. Fuujin and Raijin engaged the two blonds, the dark-haired girl remaining behind her captain. It appeared as though she was pretty much useless from a weapon-attacks point of view, she had some sort of shooter that fired discs but from this distance they would be easy to either block or dodge. As it was she was beginning a spell as Seifer and Squall first crossed blades. Pulling out a knife and flinging it at her, she shrieked and jumped out of the way, interrupting her casting. It was actually kind of funny how utterly incompetent she was.

The stormy brunet seemed to notice Hayner was casting finally, firing off a shot in his direction and grazing him in the side. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he continued the spell, only about two minutes away from completion. The girl he'd interrupted earlier hurled a water spell at Seifer, leaving him sputtering on the ground and giving the other gunblade user the opportunity to go after his original target.

Bringing up his dagger to block the man's sword, he flinched as the two pieces of metal clashed together and moved his weapon enough that the heavy blade slid down the length of the knife, sparking the entire way. The force brought him to a knee, and before he had time to either move away or stand he found Squall's sword at his throat, pressed hard enough into the flesh that it was difficult to keep reciting the spell. The only thing that stopped him from ending Hayner right there was a scream from behind him. Heads turned in unison to find Seifer standing over the dark-eyed girl, a foot on her throat and his weapon aimed to penetrate her skull as she scrabbled uselessly at his leg.

"You know I will, Leonhardt. Your fight is with me; you take what's mine, I'll take what's yours and more," he growled, flames rolling off his body in waves.

The Sky Captain snarled darkly and stepped away, the man with ice-colored eyes removing his boot from his hostage and striding over to meet him. Unfortunately for the group from Balamb, Hayner had just finished his summoning spell and he was not in the mood to be nice to them. The sky grew black and the clouds swirled and drew in on themselves as rings of runes sailed from his place on the ground up to the center of the mass. A massive beast that was all teeth, muscles and armored plates came roaring out of the darkness, pure magic energy curling like liquid smoke out of its maw. Through his shared vision with the dragon he could see everyone stop their fights to stare in awe at the monster as it crashed down to earth with such force the ground buckled beneath it. It bowed its colossal head down so its master could climb up, using an armor plate behind one of his horns as a platform and looping an arm around one of the smaller branching spikes to steady himself as he rose several stories high.

Silver and black claws the size of a bus swept the enemy fighters off their feet and sent them flying several yards, taking hold of their leader in a painfully tight grip. Lifting the Garden officer to jaw-height, the dragon observed him with his glowing red eyes for a moment, before allowing the person he'd junctioned with speak through him.

"You have two choices, either you leave now and give your word as a Sky Captain that you will never follow us or attack us again, or I will kill every single one of your friends and make you watch. I assure you I am far less tolerant of you than Seifer is, and I am not nearly as kind," they said in time, thick Mist rolling out of the spirit's mouth with every word, each wicked fang the size of the captive it was holding.

Bahamut loosened his grip for the scarred brunet to breathe enough to speak, guttural sounds coming from his reptilian throat. Squall breathed heavily and glowered, as if looking at the magical creature with enough rage would vanquish it. Brows furrowed enough to scrunch the scar between his eyes, he took a final deep breath before opening his mouth to speak.

"I swear on my life as a Sky Captain of Balamb Garden that I will no longer pursue your group or you, and I will not attempt to harm you again."

Satisfied, Hayner ordered the King of Dragons to drop him, the group of antagonists scrambling to head further out into the Steppe, most likely where their ship was tethered. Watching them retreat bloody and beaten was quite satiating, but not nearly as much as the shocked look Seifer gave him as Bahamut took a few steps toward them before lowering him back to the ground. Placing a grateful hand on one of the ridges of the beast's jaw, he mentally thanked the powerful being for coming to his aid, like so many times before. Taking flight with wing beats strong enough to knock all but Hayner to the grass, he disappeared into the clouds, the sky returning to normal just as quickly as it originally darkened. Having the other consciousness wink out of his mind was always disorienting and he found the older blond by his side before he saw the man move.

"Are you alright, Hayner?" He asked, hands moving to grasp the smaller teen's shoulders.

"Y-Yeah. I'll be fine, am fine. Sorry you had to save my ass, I appreciate it."

"I'm going to be completely honest here and say you're the one that saved our asses. That was pretty damn awesome," Seifer returned, casting a heal spell on the wound in his side.

He absently noticed that both his shirt and part of his pants were soaked in blood, and that was probably why he was so damn dizzy right now. Apparently now also psychic, the blue-eyed man swept him up in his arms and started carrying him back into Balfonheim, completely ignoring the fact that the lithe teen was swearing at him. Several people openly stared at them as they walked by, and he couldn't really blame them. Not like they saw someone bring out such a high level summon every day. He really, really didn't want to just go back to the ship and be stuck with the pirate captain again, the last conversation they had still had him feeling raw and exposed.

"You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, Hayner. I'd just rather you stayed somewhere safe for the moment after losing so much blood and energy," a pause, in which something in his face shifted, "I don't want to risk losing you, you're too important to me."

Suddenly forgetting every argument he had as to why he should be allowed to go off by himself again, he just looked at the other curiously. Pale eyes watched him uncertainly, then moved to look ahead again. Smiling a little despite himself, the younger man rested his head against the pirate's broad chest, wondering at his companion. Seifer had always been an enigma; he seemed to take pleasure in making no sense to anyone else as if it was a personal life goal. Over time Hayner had picked up on the small changes in his speech patterns, the tone of his voice, hell even the minute muscle movements in his face and the dilation of his pupils to tell what he was thinking or really meant. There were several of these that were new to him, that he had yet to puzzle out the exact meaning to, but many of them had also stayed the same. The way he stared at the younger man when he thought the teen wasn't looking, or the way he got this tiny smile whenever they were in close proximity, as if some part of him enjoyed being near the smaller man.

"You know, when you stare at people for minutes on end, they start to think you're interested. Should probably quit doing it unless you are," the pirate snapped, irritated with him.

Mouth curling into a wry smile, he continued to study Seifer's face, watching the subtle twitches in his muscles as he shifted from annoyed to bemused. Leaning up and catching his lips in a kiss, the summoner enjoyed the way he could feel the older man's heart speed up at the contact. It was nice to be able to control the typically outrageously dominant man, though he really doubted even he could get the proud airship captain to beg. It would be fun to try though, and damn if the mental image didn't turn him on.

They entered the ship again, Fuujin halting them briefly to give Hayner back the knife he threw during the fight before Seifer carried him into their shared quarters. He was set down rather than thrown as he was expecting, the other even going so far as to unlace his boots and take them off. He was beginning to suspect the cold man had been possessed by a spirit when he wasn't looking, because he was never kind, not to his rival. It wasn't out of gratitude for ending the fight, because he knew damn well he'd never need to show it for his friend to know he was thankful, that was just the way they were.

"You held your own a lot better than I expected. I'm sorry I let Squall get close enough to attack you, that whole thing was my fuckup, not yours," his lips quirked up into a smile, "I've honestly never met anyone with the balls to continue reciting a spell with a sword at their throat. That's usually the point where just about everyone starts begging for their life."

Hayner snorted at the thought, "As if. My life isn't worth my pride."

That was yet another way he and the other were terribly alike, they'd sooner die than compromise their self-image. It was something he loved and hated about the violent man, his pride was easily his best and worst feature, destined to be his downfall. A knight that would probably die in the most cavalier way possible, mocking death and his murderer in his final breath. A brave idiot clinging to his ideals to the end.

He'd have to stay by the pirate captain's side, wouldn't he? To protect the moron from himself, bring him back every time he got himself killed, up until he got Hayner killed. Of course the man with ice-colored eyes would be the death of him, it was something he'd known for years, even Odin, the lord of death, didn't tell him he was wrong about that. His fate was written in fucking stone, maybe it was time to stop avoiding it and just let it happen. It was really sad when he finally admitted that the only reason he'd been trying to escape that destiny was because he knew that as little as he mattered to Seifer, his death would completely destroy the man. When he'd killed himself, some tiny, miniscule part of him knew it was not only to stop the pain, but to ensure that whenever the sky-farer found out, he'd just hate the brown-eyed teen, forget about him in a fit of disgust and loathing. He couldn't possibly blame himself for another person killing themself, therefore Hayner could safely die knowing he wouldn't be hurting the man he loved by doing it.

Now he couldn't do that, because now he was with the scarred blond and that meant he had to be responsible for keeping his companion from the clutches of death. Now he'd have to sit through scene after scene of the person he loved more than anything die over and over again, then suffering through the phantom pain of death for days. How he wished he'd stayed dead that night. Or did he? Fuck it, everything was a mess.

"You seriously haven't heard a fucking word I've said about our next mission, have you? What's wrong with you, Hayner?" The constant occupant of his thoughts barked angrily, now standing in front of him.

"What isn't wrong with me, Seifer? I'm really, really fucked up," he answered with a laugh that was borderline hysterical.

"Hayner, look at me. I said look at me, goddamnit," he swore when the younger man didn't comply immediately, "Shit. You've got a Mist high from summoning Bahamut. I'm going to siphon from you, don't fight it, okay?"

"I'm going to die for you, you know. Even Odin knows it. I hope you won't be mad at me," he babbled, feeling lightheaded and missing most of what his crush had just said.

The statement was enough to cause him to stop drawing mist out of the teen's flooded body, pale eyes staring at him blankly before a cold terror settled into them, pupils constricting. But wait, why would the topic of Hayner dying make him scared? Angry, maybe, overprotective or possessive, sure. But the fear in his eyes spoke to the sandy-blond as being a lot more to him than a companion or a piece of property to be owned and used as he saw fit. Maybe if he wasn't high as a kite he could fucking figure that reaction out, but at the moment he couldn't do anything but be pissed that he was losing his mind to magic, or maybe to the man trying to bring him down.

"Hayner? Hey, talk to me. Are you alright?"

He blinked several times before he actually registered the other's words, "Yeah, I'm good. I'd forgotten how much Mist he oozes, sorry about that."

"Gods, don't do shit like that. Now, what were you saying about dying for me? I really have a big problem with that outcome."

Oh, right, he said that out loud, didn't he? Well that was a bitch.

"Fate doesn't give a fuck if you've got a problem, Seifer. Deal with it. I'll keep you alive until then, that's all that matters."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't feel like cooperating with destiny. I'm not going to allow you to die. You're mine, nothing and no one can take you from me, got it?"

"So what were you saying about our next job?"

"We're leaving in a few hours and stopping off in Radiant Garden to pick up some supplies we can't get here before heading to the Deadlands. If you want to talk to Roxas before we head off for fuck all nowhere you should call him soon. We probably won't be anywhere near Twilight for a while after this."

"Why would you even let me talk to him? Aren't you worried about me taking off with him?"

"If you were going to leave, you could have done it a dozen times already. While I'm sure you'll try to escape or double-cross us sometime, you are obviously waiting for some unknown time to do it, so all I'm worried about is whether he'll try to kill me or not 'cause I really hate beating scrawny pipsqueaks into the ground. Not very sportsmanlike."

"I won't let him, Seif. And if that's the case, why the fuck did you enjoy doing that to me so much?"

A familiar look crossed the pirate's face and he grabbed Hayner by the front of his vest and threw him into the wall, sending spikes of pain up his spine from where he was already bruised. Gritting his teeth, he huffed out a breath as the large body pressed flush against him, Seifer's leg finding its way between his as rough lips pressed against his throat. Teeth sunk into the tender flesh aggressively and he was forced to allow a snarl of pain to slip past his lips. He knew by the sharp burn of the ravaged skin that it was punctured and probably bleeding as a tongue lapped at it with mock caring before his mouth slid against the smaller man's. Stunningly silver-blue eyes stared into his and some small part of him just wanted to give in now and save himself the struggle of constantly pushing away the irresistible man who drove him to the edge of madness.

"I enjoyed it because you loved it. And you still do, Hayner. You crave blood, violence, and pain, because it makes you feel alive when nothing else will. For whatever reason you won't allow yourself to live for something healthy like normal people do. You can't even yield to positive emotions because they make you feel weak, you've been faking smiles for years. The only times I've ever seen you really smile is when you were bleeding, in pain, or manipulating someone. Even I'm not that consumed by bloodlust, why the hell are you? Who fucked with your head so much you can't let yourself feel anything until you're covered in your own blood?"

"Maybe this is just how I am, Seifer, now get the fuck off me," he swore, already hating where this conversation was going.

"No, it's not. You were just fine before you entered high school, then suddenly you were picking fights with everyone just to beat the shit out of them and vice-versa. What the fuck happened over that summer?"

"It's none of your goddamn business."

"Your stepdad was taking care of you while your mom got surgery, and moved in with her afterward. Is he the one who did this to you?"

A cold rage stirred in his chest and he sent the scarred man flying with a burst of energy, watching with sick fascination as he slammed into the opposite wall hard enough that he bounced off. The dour smirk on his face and the set of his jaw as he got back to his feet told Hayner that was exactly the response he needed. Fuck this whole situation, he was leaving before this got completely out of hand. Reaching to put his shoes back on, he really should have expected the hand that wrapped around his throat and pressed him against the vertical surface behind him once again in one swift movement.

"What do you want from me? Do you want me to suffer through an explanation of how and why my stepdad kicked my ass every time I looked happy or anything close to it? You should recognize how self-serving a demand like that is."

"Did you hide that from your posse too?" At the smaller man's nod, he pressed on, "Did you ever actually tell them anything that wasn't a lie?"

"Yeah, a fuck of a lot more than I'll ever tell you. Now stop pretending to care, you're embarrassing the both of us."

It was funny how often Seifer had him on the run in conversations lately. His ability to pick his rival apart had only improved over the past two years, it was a struggle just to hold up enough walls to keep him away. Of all the people to be gifted with the ability to see through them, it just had to be him. Fate was a cruel bitch.

"I'm not pretending," he returned shortly, before making a humming sound and letting him down, "Too bad he's already dead, or I'd kill him."

"Don't worry, Odin took care of him for me already," Hayner added, then continued at a look from his companion, "You look surprised. Why wouldn't I off someone who presented an immediate and serious threat to my person, ignoring the fact that he fucked my life up? He tried to kill me when mom died."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Don't know, don't care. He always hated me, guess with her gone he saw no reason not to try and get rid of me. Kinda funny he actually thought he stood a chance of offing me after how many other people had tried and failed."

"How many people have you killed to defend yourself?"

"Including ones I used my summons to end? A lot. Probably close to two dozen. Squall wasn't entirely misguided in his attempt to kill me before I became a serious problem, I've murdered people before, and now that I'm on the wrong side of the law there's no telling whether I'll start killing innocent people too. At least, to the Gardens. The idea of personal responsibility doesn't mean anything to them, and looking at their enforcers, I'm not surprised. They seem quite happily brainwashed into doing whatever their superiors say, it's sickening."

"The Garden tried to recruit me before I left to become a sky pirate, you know. I think that's probably why Squall continues to hold a grudge against me, he knows I'm a better captain. The only test I didn't score better than him in was the field exam, because I didn't feel like following orders issued without explanation. Seeing the way the Gardens worked made me want to try and thwart their deranged justice system in any way I could. That was the biggest reason I became a pirate."

"You would have made a terrible Sky Captain; you're much more like a wolf than an obedient dog. Squall may associate himself with a lion, but he's as tame as a housecat."

Seifer snorted, finding the comparison amusing, "I would have liked to see his reaction if you told him that to his face."

"I don't know if he would have had one if I'd said it through Bahamut, as it was he seemed to be struggling to get words out around his terror."

This was easy, having conversations about meaningless things to draw the pirate further and further away from the subject of Hayner's life was infinitely more appealing than having him interrogate the teen. It was difficult not to just break under that hard stare and give the older man whatever information he wanted, because really, Seifer was going to destroy him one way or the other, why not speed things along and lessen the suffering involved? Or maybe he should give Seifer the only other life he had to offer and just put himself out of his misery completely. Now there was an idea.

"I've seen that look before," the attractive pirate said, blue eyes burning with something akin to anger quenched by sadness.

"Your point being?" What the fuck was he even talking about?

"The next day that person was hanging from the rafters with a rope around their neck."

"How unfortunate for them. I still fail to see your point in bringing them up."

"Stop thinking about killing yourself, or I will silence you and tie you to the bed indefinitely."

"I wasn't seriously considering it, asshole. 'Sides, it's my life, not yours. Isn't one of my lives enough for you, you greedy twit?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized with a sinking feeling that they were the wrong thing to say.

A dark rage settled over the other's face and Hayner found himself on the floor, stunned from hitting his head, with a very angry blond on top of him. Pale eyes were drowning in black from his pupils, dilated in anger. He closed his eyes then, resigned to whatever the other wanted to do to him; he was far beyond caring anymore. Hell, Seifer could rip off his clothes and fuck him dry right now and he wouldn't stop it. Pent up feelings of rage, sadness, and soul-rending powerlessness welled up inside him and he didn't have the strength to hold them back any longer.

"Hayner…"

"Stop it!" He screamed as a sob tore through him, tears pricking hot behind his eyes, "Stop fucking taking everything from me! You're just like everything else in this world, you take as much as you can from me and never give me anything in return. You took away my freedom, my friends, my heart, my dignity, and I gave you my life once already and I've promised you the second one because I know if I don't give it to you you'll just steal it…Fuck, everything's been taken from me. My mom, my innocence, my home, my self-worth, my happiness, my peace of mind…I can't even kill myself no matter how badly I want to sometimes, just because it would be my choice for once. I don't have the luxury of control over my life."

The lithe blond was sobbing uncontrollably as he wept, the violent outburst long in coming. He always tried so hard to be strong, bottling his emotions until they came to a head and he exploded like this, no longer capable of dealing with himself. His captain had probably lost any and all respect he may have once held for his rival. Taking a deep breath to steady himself and hopefully slow the cascade of tears down his cheeks, he ended up crying harder because fucking hell, here he was again trying to give up something for someone else. It was ridiculous for him to try to quell an emotional breakdown for Seifer's sake, when the whole episode was caused by him trying to hold back his feelings for the other's benefit in the first place.

"Shit, Hayner…Don't ever let it get this bad again, please. I don't want to lose you, I can't. Especially not to yourself."

Forcing open his eyes to look at the speaker, he could barely believe what he was seeing; was Seifer Almasy…crying? There were twin tear tracks down his face and he looked like he was in pain, so there really wasn't another explanation. Hayner couldn't control his sobbing long enough to really wonder at it, and a few seconds after he was pulled into strong arms and held tightly. Ten minutes later he'd finally stopped, with a headache and the sinking feeling that the man with ice-colored eyes hated him now for being so weak.

"Seifer, I-"

"Don't," the other cut him off, making him flinch, "I'm not angry, and I never will be. I'll never hold your emotions against you like your step father did, the only thing that pisses me off is when you lie to me or try to hide what you're feeling. I didn't even know you were feeling like this, because you wouldn't tell me. As far as taking your freedom…You're free to leave whenever you want. I'll show you how to operate the cargo door when we're in the air in case you want to take off mid-flight on the back of your dragon. I won't hold you any longer if it's hurting you…But I'd like it if you stayed."

"I just want…" Shit, what did he want, "To feel like you think of me as a person. Like I'm not some pet you're keeping because I'm cute and my suffering amuses you. I don't want to be a burden, I don't want to be a toy, I want to be your friend, or whatever it is you want to call us. I just need something real."

"You are my friend, and I've always thought of you as a person. I know you think I'm a terrible guy, but I don't treat people like property. You should follow my orders because I'm your captain and you respect me, not because you think I'll punish you like some sort of slave. Please believe me."

He inhaled tremulously and buried his face in the crook of Seifer's neck, breathing in his sharp scent. The captain smelled like blood, steel, and gunpowder, metallic and dangerous. Hayner wanted so badly not to love this man, it was far more difficult than he could handle. He just wanted to sleep forever so he didn't have to deal with anyone.

"Let's just go to sleep for now, if that's alright?" The sandy-blond teen requested quietly, feeling small.

The lithe blond was scooped up into the powerful arms of his companion and set on the bed, where the larger of the two proceeded to strip him of his vest, shirt, and pants methodically. Then the pirate removed his own outer wear and got into bed with him, pulling his companion flush to his chest and holding him there loosely. Closing his eyes and hoping he could sleep through the night this time, he relaxed and let unconsciousness grip him and drag him away.

Waking up slowly, the pirate captain realized they were already underway by the slow hum of the engine. His crewmates must have covered his shift for him, he'd have to thank them later. Hayner was still fast asleep, apparently having avoided nightmares thus far. A frown tugged at his lips when he recalled the earlier argument they'd had; he'd never actually seen the brown-eyed teen cry before that. Pain had never been enough to draw water from his eyes; they'd gotten into enough fights before that for him to know not even shattered bones were enough to get him to shed a tear. His internal anguish must be insurmountably huge for him to give in like that, and Seifer knew he was part of the problem. He just wished he knew how to fix it.

As far as he could tell, Hayner felt incredibly used, both by his captain and life itself, and similarly felt powerless to stop any of it. It upset him that he was basically held prisoner by life, unable to so much as die by his own hand. Everyone was free to alter and take his life but himself. Seifer himself had never experienced that kind of powerlessness, he always felt in control of his destiny, but he wasn't hardly as beaten down by the world around him as the smaller man had been. It was increasingly clear that the pirate probably should have kidnapped him the day he left, rather than waiting. Even if the crew did face a few perils he wouldn't have in Twilight, at least then he wouldn't have been alone for so long.

A light groan pulled him out of his thoughts and he drew his attention to the stirring male in his arms. Brown eyes blinked open and his companion immediately turned to him, giving him an odd look. It almost looked like Hayner was waiting for something.

"How are you feeling? Be honest with me, for once."

"Worried that you hate me or think I'm weak," he answered, dark lashes drawing down over his eyes like shields.

"Well quit it; neither is true. You're the strongest person I know, and I'll never hate you. Moron."

"Asshole," the younger blond bit back.

"Bitch."

"Jerk. Are we already in the air?" Hayner changed the topic abruptly, probably just registering the sound of the engines running.

"Yeah, did you wanna borrow my phone so you can call Roxas?"

"Sure, uh, mind if I call him in the cargo bay? I need to talk with him about something."

Nodding, he got up and rummaged through his coat pockets before tossing the small magic-fueled device to him. He pulled on his shirt and pants before walking out the door. Watching him go, the blue-eyed man felt a pang of regret, wanting to follow him to make sure he was okay. However, if he resented the leader of the crew for taking away his freedom, invading his privacy was hardly going to help. Sighing, he decided to take a shower. His muscles were tense and he needed some more time to think. Belatedly he realized that he hadn't gotten laid in something like three weeks, between going on jobs and collecting his new crewmate he hadn't found the time. He'd have to sleep with someone soon or he really was going to pounce on Hayner. The huge unresolved sexual tension thing they had going on between them wasn't really fair to anyone in the situation.

They'd be making for port as soon as they finished in the Deadlands, Fuu had found them a hunt that was suited to their skills and offered a good reward. Nothing else was on their radar as far as magical artifact shipments or rare beast collectors who wanted something, so for now they'd entertain themselves with this. He just hoped nothing would befall his youngest subordinate in the Mist-filled swamp. Their last mission had gone well for him, but luck only lasted so long.

As soon as he dismounted the ship he was swept into a hug by his childhood friend, Roxas's brilliantly blue eyes wide with concern. Simply by his attire the older of the two could tell that he was getting more comfortable with the adventurer lifestyle, instead of more civilian-esq clothes he was wearing a long-sleeved white leather jacket with a checker pattern across the chest and arms as well as several belts, on which rested knives, pouches, and a few magical artifacts, and his pants had an Ifrit design on them. His eyes narrowed into a harsh glare as soon as he spotted the gunblade-wielder behind him, Hayner deciding it was best to get them as far away from each other as possible.

"Come on Roxas, you wanted to talk? I'm not planning on carrying on a conversation in a public hangar in everyone's way."

"Yeah, of course. I missed you Hayner, been worried sick after finding out you were kidnapped and in his care," the spiky-haired man spat in Seifer's direction, shooting him one last venomous look before dragging his companion away and into the streets.

They were followed by Axel, his bright red hair tied back in a long pony tail that left his spiked up bangs free, a few of them hanging down in front of his ears. He'd been growing his hair out for a while so it was past his shoulder blades, but he kept the front short enough to spike, apparently finding a normal hairstyle too tame for him. There was a dirty blond with dark blue eyes and several brightly-colored beads in the longer strands of his hair that he vaguely knew must be Demyx. He had a rainbow-colored sash on his hip, a white sleeveless shirt, and torn black pants, as well as several necklaces, bracelets, and rings. He was basically a full-spectrum assault on the eyes. The man he was holding hands with was dressed in simple black attire, with the exception of a single lock of slate-colored hair fully encased in the same beads as Demyx's that rested on his left shoulder; he must have been Zexion.

"Now, you're going to have to explain to me again why you're not leaving with us, because I can't honestly believe you said that over the phone and I want to hear it in person," the shorter teen demanded, not letting go of the other's hand as they walked.

"For one, I'm fucking in love with the guy, Rox, I've wanted to fly with him for a while," he paused, gathering his thoughts, "And even if the setup isn't ideal, he's not going to hurt me. You can't honestly say that I'm going to be safe by myself anywhere now that it's gotten around to all the pirates that I can use summons. Even the fucking Gardens are after my head. I'm safer with Seifer."

"Why don't you join up with us? You won't be alone or unprotected then, and you won't have to deal with that bastard. He's just going to break your heart, Hay."

"There's nothing he can do to me that hasn't already been done before, so I don't really care about that. I'm not afraid of him, I'm just as strong as he is, Roxas. I don't fit in with you guys, and you know it. I'd either be a burden or a liability the way you work, you're not pirates, you don't need to subdue people in most situations. Violence is my specialty, and getting rid of a few monsters just isn't helpful enough to warrant me taking up space on your ship. You have a full crew, you don't need anyone else."

Roxas looked incredibly sad then, perhaps realizing just how much he'd pushed his best friend away that he was refusing to join his airship crew. He knew that the smaller man still loved his friend and wanted to help him, but the fact of the matter was that the young artifact hunter had a boyfriend and other friends now. They'd grown up, and with that came growing apart. He smiled through the hollow pain in his heart, knowing somewhere deep in his mind that Rox didn't see it for the ruse it was, but Seifer would have.

They walked about the city for a few hours, both catching each other up on what had transpired since they'd last seen each other, including how Hayner had been kidnapped and sold to his old rival. The blue-eyed blond seemed shocked that a Sky Captain had hunted down tried to kill him. His surprise only grew when his friend described how he'd managed to defeat Squall and his cadre by summoning Bahamut. It occurred to him that the adventurer had never actually seen the black dragon in action, Hayner had never had need to call the beast out when he was with him.

Eventually the other three dropped off to leave them alone and they walked into a quiet alcove near a garden, sitting on a bench there. There was still something on the younger teen's mind, a somber tilt to his mouth. It was likely he was worried about something, maybe more than one. The tanned magic-user just hoped whatever it was wouldn't force them into an argument or a fight, he would hate to leave on bad terms with the golden blond man, it wasn't likely they'd see each other again for quite a while. Way too long to have bad blood between them.

"Hey, Hayner? You're in one of those moods again, what's wrong? Is it Seifer?"

"Sort of, but not really, probably not how you think. Everything's been getting me down lately, I don't have a lot of freedom anymore, and tons of people either want to kill or capture me. Even now, at any moment some rogues could come out of the woodwork and attack us like they did in Balfonheim. The law seems to think I'm a crazed murderer hell bent on destroying the Gardens and I know it won't be long before they send more Captains after me. Even though I'm not alone, I know for a fact I'm going to have to watch Seifer die at least once before I myself get killed, and I don't think I'll survive that, at least not emotionally. It's hard to even pretend to be cheery lately."

"Does Seifer know how you feel? Better yet, is he willing to help?"

"He seems to have some inkling of it, and it's obvious he wants to help, but I'm not sure what his motivation for aiding me could be. It's too naïve to think he only cares about my happiness, but there are some positive possible reasons for his actions. I don't exactly trust him and I've specifically told him he shouldn't trust me. At some point I'm probably going to leave, though whether I come back or not is up to him."

"What if you get kidnapped again while you're gone?"

"I won't, I know well enough how to hide myself to evade capture for a few days or weeks. Doesn't exactly take a master of stealth to stay under the radar for so short a time."

"Oh, before I forget, I have your phone. Found it in the mess those pirates left. Call me whenever you want to talk, unless I'm in mortal danger I'll answer," he added, handing the small device over.

Their phones were powered by microscopic crystals in a particular formation that they resonated with all the other arrays miles away from each other, so with a simple number to link up with a specifically configured crystalline structure, people could talk to each other across vast distances. It had been a major advancement in magical technology. Pocketing the device, he decided not to tell his captain right away. It wasn't something he really needed to know about yet.

"Thanks, Rox. I'll try to call now and again, if I can find some time to myself. I guess we should be making our way back; I know Seif will be getting impatient, I'm sure Axel will be too."

The shorter blond nodded and forced a smile, not a fan of them having to leave each other so soon. It was difficult to know that in a week or two, thoughts of him would be far from Roxas's mind. That was just how it worked, they'd both go back to their lives and forget about each other for a while aside from the occasional fleeting thought, then they'd probably meet up again and act like they hadn't fallen out of contact at all. It had been the same way with Pence and Olette when they left for college, though now he hadn't seen nor heard from them for three months. He somehow doubted he'd ever really see them again, they had their own lives now, and he had his parody of one.

It was almost a relief when they hugged and went their separate ways, he didn't feel the need to pretend to be okay anymore as soon as he was back on the Triad, Seifer's ship. He found the older blond in the cockpit, plotting out their next course. Sitting in the co-pilot's chair, he watched for a few minutes. Pale eyes flicked over to him once, a hint of curiosity in them, but no words came forth. As soon as he was done the larger man stood and tilted Hayner's chin up, leaning down to plant soft lips on his. It was a slow kiss, the scarred man's lips gently working the brown-eyed teen's open until he could slide his tongue in. The slick muscles slipped together for a while as the contact deepened and it took a few minutes to realize his eyes had fallen closed. For once it wasn't charged with desire and lust, just a lazy, comforting thing. For a moment his melancholy and the pain in his chest abated and he actually felt alive again.

He pulled away, because eventually they had to breathe, and Hayner felt lighter somehow. Maybe Seifer could save him from himself after all. But then, it would be so much easier to just give up on getting better and drag himself through until the end. The pirate captain didn't love him, Roxas had other people that he'd rather spend time with, Olette and Pence were doing fuckall and telling none of them about it, his mother was dead, and life had shredded most of his psyche.

A bright tendril of magic coursed its way out of the floor beneath his feet and curled up his leg. It melted into his chest by itself and he could feel the warmth of it as it flowed into him. He'd only seen Mist do that to him a few times and he was certain he'd imagined one of those occasions.

"Inadmissible actions such as ceasing will be reversed little one. Stay the path and we'll salvage you yet," commanded a quiet voice in the back of his mind, the message carried along the scrap of power.

His summons stirred in his mind, their incessant chattering enough to prevent him from deeper thoughts. Shiva and Belias were arguing in the dead language of magic about something trivial just so they had the excuse to bitch at one another, meanwhile Odin and Bahamut seemed to be calmly discussing something he wasn't allowed to be privy to. It was aggravating when beasts that took up residence in his own mind hid things from him.

"Are you ready to go, Hayner?"

"Yeah, sure, how long till we reach our destination?"

"It'll be a half a day before we touch down in the Nabreus Deadlands. My shift, but you can sleep if you'd like. You seem kind of tired today."

His suggestion sounded like the best idea anyone had had all day. The eighteen year-old was exhausted and he definitely couldn't handle a dozen hours of sitting and watching the sky with the captain. He could hardly survive a handful of minutes at a time with the older man and his stupid half-endearing smirk and deceptively pretty eyes punctuated by a precise scar. Nodding, he made his way into their shared quarters and crawled into bed. At least if he was sleeping he didn't have to deal with the god-like beings' patronizing efforts to distract him from his dark thought processes.

It had grown dark, the sky above an endless ocean of stars unveiled by light pollution or clouds. He liked nights up here, it was relaxing to just stare into the night for a few hours and trace constellations, gave him time to think. Lately he'd had either too much or too little time to dwell on life at hand; he was constantly worried about his young crewmate but also had no concrete solutions to the issue. It seemed like Hayner had responded well to his more loving approach earlier, which was odd because he had been under the impression most of the teen's feelings were physical full stop. Ignoring what it may mean for their tense relationship, it was something to comfort his companion until a better method was found. He'd have to be nothing but warm and gentle from now on, and that included finding someone else to sleep with until he was certain his friend wasn't going to shatter the second he breathed wrong.

"Seifer?" Fuujin asked, voice quieted to a proper speaking level as she walked into the cockpit.

"What's up Fuu? You should be sleeping, we'll have some tough fights ahead of us hunting this mark.

"Hayner," she began slowly, working up to something else, "Depressed?"

"Yeah, he's in a bad way. I'm worried about him, he's so far down I can't tell if he's suicidal or resigned to the point he doesn't even think that is an option."

"Rescue. Love."

"He doesn't feel the same way, Fuu, sometimes I feel like he honestly hates me. Telling him that I love him won't get us anywhere, it might even make him more uncomfortable with me."

"Try."

He scoffed and hung his head resignedly before sitting up straight again. She had a point, though until his friend was more stable he'd have to keep his feelings, and his hands, to himself. It was up in the air what would actually happen when someone with such powerful magical abilities completely snapped, but he knew it wouldn't be pretty. Images of espers and spirits destroying whole cities didn't seem as fantastical as they should have.

"Thanks Fuu, now get some rest. I don't know how Hayner is going to react to the Mist that permeates the Deadlands, we might not be able to count on him for this one."

She nodded and left quietly, what looked like a hopeful smile on her face. The silver-haired woman had always been more in tune with him than her boyfriend, she often knew what he was thinking and tried to force him to do what was best, even when it was difficult. Every once in a while she'd smack his ego down a peg too, which was the only reason his cockiness hadn't gotten him killed yet. He was certain it would eventually, but maybe Hayner would be around to rescue him, or the second life he'd been given would bring him back. Leaning back in the pilot's chair, he quietly hoped that he could eventually piece his companion back together. Even if the sandy-blond teen never loved him back and left as soon as he felt his obligations were complete, he wanted to fix the man he secretly adored. Ice-colored eyes watched the stars, knowing they would be so much brighter if he could share them with his crewmate.

I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but because I work, go to school, and currently have five or six other fanfics on my plate, it might be several months before you hear from this story again. A quick solution would be to put either me or this story on alerts and save yourself the trouble of checking back. While you're there, leave a review? I do so appreciate them. Thank you so much tigerlilith, and thank you all for reading thus far, I hope to see you soon~