Funny Face
Linkin Fantasy

Chapter four

They were walking along the road side path into Balamb town talking to one another when they heard a revving sound. "Sounds like Seifer made some away plans too." Squall said barely turning his head around to see if it were him. "That's all I need is for him to see me walking here- he'd probably imagine a target on my ass, and try to run me over or something."

Irvine's ear pricked up when he heard Zell mention Seifer's name and he couldn't resist a little interference. "So like, you don't like him or something?" He asked and Zell just looked at him.

"Of course I don't like him!" He nearly shouted and searched for a reason as to why not then he stuck his index finger into the air when he found them. "He's a mean nasty jerk that's just waiting for what's coming to him...and Ma always said don't hang around with people asking for it because sooner than later you'll be next-.."

The sound of the motor cycle was getting closer and Seifer had his eyes set to around Zells waist. 'Sweep him off his feet. That I can do I've been hurling the chicken around for years.' He sped up faster and approaching the group hearing Zell say something right before he grabbed him.

"What in the world is Seifer doing?" Selphie asked wide eyed and Irvine groaned shaking his head. 'Bone head! That's not what I meant.' He thought.

"Hey!" He was held around the waist by the knight as he was driven into Balamb.

"How's this for walking chicky?!" He shouted to him over the motor as they went faster Zell started to squirm. "Put me down you dick!"

"What?!" He asked not really hearing him say much but 'dick.'

"I said- watch out for that tree!" He pointed and Seifer looked up and sure enough there was a tree seconds away from them. He quickly swerved himself out of the way but they weren't so lucky and he banged into it anyway.

"Ugh!" They said falling to the grass.

The others had been watching the whole thing and ran to see if they were all right, but judging by the strength Zell had to yell they were just fine. "I mean what did you get a new How to pluck my nerves calendar, and you couldn't wait to try it out on me?"

"No." Seifer retorted brushing himself off.

"Than what were you doing?" The martial artist asked.

"I was just trying to help you out chicken, I didn't think you'd last a minute with those scrawny legs walking you to Balamb."

'Oh Seifer, don't do this you're ruining it.' Irvine thought.

"You should just go back to Garden Seifer, it's not like you have any friends to visit anyways." He said very matter-of-factly.

"No friends huh? Okay, I'll go....but you'd better watch out when you get back chicken wuss." Zell swallowed hard from the cruelty in his voice, he'd never sounded so serious before. "Cause when you do get in, I'm taking the gloves off." He gave a nod to the others while picking up his motor cycle and he climbed on starting it back up and riding back home.

"......Man, I'd like to know what his problem is towards me. I never did anything to him! Young or old." Zell was saying when they got back on the bath and he brushed a piece of grass from his shorts.

"Shoot, I don't know maybe he likes you." Irvine threw in.

"Likes me, yeah right. Likes to pick on me you mean." He walked along with his head down and kicked a rock that got in his foots path. "For once I would just like for him to be nice to me."

"I don't know," Selphie piped up. "usually when people want something like that they get it and it sucks."

"Well none of them know Seifer." He waved to someone who said 'Hi' to them when they walked in and he continued. "I just don't get why me, of all people he'd choose to pick on." He tried looking for a reason and Selphie cut in. "Maybe it's because you're short, that whole dominance thing."

Zell stopped turning to her giving her the worlds salute and she froze looking at him too until he popped her in the head with the side of his hand. "Heey?"

"Sorry Selphie but statistics show you're a lot shorter than me." He replied.

"Maybe it's cause you're a guy then? I mean he's not exactly nice to Squall or Irvine either."

"Yeah, but Squall's his rival he's supposed to hate him and Irvine-....well he's Irvine."

"Oh nice." He said turning his head to beside him. "Hey any of you seen Squall?"

They looked at his vacant spot and shook their heads. "No." They said simultaneously. "I wonder where he went."

Back at the Garden Seifer is swearing to himself as he walks through the parking lot until he hears someone clearing their throat to get his attention. He turned himself to the noise with full attitude and then made an aggravated sigh. "Leonhart. What do you want?"

"You're going about it all wrong, you know." He simply said and Seifer smirked to the sound of that.

"Oh really? And what is it exactly that I'm doing?" He tried to stay nonchalant about the whole thing. 'How are so many people finding out?' He wondered to himself hearing Squall huff a laugh out.

"Any one with eyes can see what you're doing. It's too obvious. What you need to do is just be nice to him not by force but genuinely."

"You don't think I've been trying? Everytime I get around him something inside tells me to do something to him and I go along with it- it's like impulse." the knight explained but then started to walk away. "What am I telling you for though, shouldn't you be getting back to Irvine before he gets together some search party?"

"Whatever. Just think about what I said." The commander replied and headed for the exit.

"Everyone is always giving me orders- Seifer do this and Seifer do that, give me a break."

'But maybe Squall had a point.' He thought absent mindedly. 'Maybe if I do little nice things for him, that'll make him like me or at least understand that I'm not trying to be mean to him.' An actual smile came onto Seifers face and he started laughing from it he laughed loud and hard making the few people that came in there turn around running scared.

* * *

Zell stretched his arms up over his head as he returned to the school, tired from a hard days work at Ma's. "More cookies sweety?" She asks him.

"Thanks, Ma." He replied. "Yuuup, nothing like a visit to Ma's to make you forget-....Seifer." He said just as he saw him leaving his room. "Shit." He said and walked down the hall to explain himself. "Listen Zell, I was just-..."

Zell cut him off by lifting a hand in the air for him to stop. "You know what Seif', I don't care anymore."

Seifer looked a little confused replying to that, "You don't?" He asked and Zell shook his head.

"Nope, because if you're gonna be mean to me that's fine, but it doesn't mean that I have to join in the cruelty. Ma said so." And with that he pushed past him to go to his room.

'Ma said so, of course.' He closed his eyes for a second trying to bring on a normal smile as he followed Zell down to his room. "So you wouldn't by any chance want to go- shoot some pool or something with me."

"Nnooope. I might be nice to you but that doesn't mean we have to hang out. See ya." And with that the door snapped closed. 'What does that mean, the only way he can be nice to me is if he ignores me?' Seifer thought to himself going to his own dorm room.

"That's okay Zell, because when I turn on the nice you won't want me to leave you alone." He returned his usual smirk to his face and walked into his room.

...............................................

The next morning Zell was running in the halls again with R.B. and Seifer of course just joined in. He smiled at Zell as a good morning and he returned the greeting running a little faster. Not wanting to be out done Seifer ran faster too. Leaving Tyler behind to scratch his head at the sight of them. "Teenagers." He said to himself.

When they got into the Cafeteria for breakfast the gang was waiting there for them, and once they reached the table Seifer held Zells chair out for him and he took the one beside it and started into his food practically face first as he often did.

Seifer slammed his butt to the seat which Zell must of thought he pulled out for himself and started to eat off his plate. Friends or not Zell had become used to it after so many years of the knight doing it, although he still wouldn't talk to him.

Seifer tried the hold the door open approach when Zell was going into class but it was a sliding door and he nearly tripped in from his foot pressing down on the panel that left it open. Seifer shrugged lamely and the martial artist just looked at him funny as they took their seats.

But for Zell the kicker was when he was looking for pen to use to write a note out and he didn't have one, but lucky for him Seifer was there with what looked like 20. He smiled at him and took one raising it to Seifer's vision as a 'Thank you.' and the knight nodded with a smile that looked kinda scary but it was still genuine.

........................................

"What are you doing?" Quistis asked coming up behind Zell. "I'm looking out for Seifer." Zell replied starting out into the hall way with quistis still behind him. "Why? I thought you two squared everything away?"

"In words we have...but now he's acting like we're best buds and it's getting on my nerves." He replied nearly whining about the situation. "I have to sneak everywhere now, just to avoid him."

"At least he's trying, I don't think ignoring him is helping the cause." The instructor said seeing Seifer come up the hall as they spoke. "Shit there he is, hide me." Zell said jumping behind her back. "Just tell him I'm not he-..."

He was cut off by Seifers voice. "Hey Zell, thought maybe you and me could go play Dueling Monsters or something." He asked eye balling Quistis who had the tightest smile on her face. 'Oh great now she knows too.' He thought to himself swearing at Squall or Irvine for letting the whole world know.

"Hi Seifer." She said moving away from Zells grip on her shirt. "Instructor." He replied tightly then turned his attention back to Zell. "You kids play nice." Quistis said with a laugh and walked away.

'I'll get you Quistis.' Zell thought briefly and looked up at Seifer. 'Now or never, tell him the truth.' He coached himself silently.

"Sure Seifer." He heard himself saying. 'What the-...trader. I'm oughta here.' His brain said. "Lets go play in my room." He said afterwards wishing he could join his brain where ever it had gone at the moment.

"Sounds good to me." The knight replied and they walked down the hall towards Zells room. 'This feels.....nice.' Seifer thought, me and Zell next to each other- going to his room kinda makes sense when you look at the bigger picture.....but if I have to be nice to this twip for another second I'm gonna have a heart attack!' He ended making his face return to it's normal look of- pissed off with either you or life at the moment.

"Well here we are." Zell said taking out his key card. "Yup." Seifer said.

"Nothing left to do now but...open the door." He said feeling like he was getting his teeth pulled.

"Uh-huh." Seifer said through clenched teeth.

"Okay, heeere we gooo-" He said raising the card to the slot to run it through and when the little beep came that meant the door was unlocked, it was as if something inside of Seifer snapped.

"You know what?" He said and Zell had a look on his face that said he knew this was coming. "I can't stand being nice to you- in fact, I hate it so much that I think I hate you more than before chicken."

Zell couldn't believe his ears. This was great!

"If I have to spend another second into minutes being nice to you I might need a therapist. So if you don't mind I'm out of here." The knight said pushing past him. "Hate me all you want."

"Seifer wait!" Zell called after him. "I don't hate you."

Seifer paused in his step and turned around. ".....You don't?" He asked.

"No." Zell said and continued on when Seifer started walking back up to him. "In fact it took this whole be nice to me thing to realize that I need you being mean to me."

"Really?" Seifer asked to confirm. "You mean you aren't going to freak out if I throw you into something, bash into you, or even lift the table so all the food falls on your lap?"

"That's right." Zell stated with a bit of satisfaction that things would go back to normal around here. "Thaaanks chicken." The knight said turning around hearing Zell speak again he paused a second. "This is gonna be great, cause I couldn't take all that nice stuff."

"Neither could I." Seifer replied.

"Cause you were acting like a real pussy." The martial artist leaned his head back and started laughing loudly like Seifer so often does making his face scrunch up with anger.

"I what?" Seifer asked but Zell kept laughing, until he pulled back and punched him in the mouth knocking Zell to the floor.

"Ow!" Zell cried out when he hit the floor and he positioned himself to look back at Seifer who was walking away. "I got your pussy- pansy." He replied stomping off and Zell just lied there and blinked. "Damn."

The end.