"Okay. Today we will be checking everyone for illegal drugs. Now, if everyone will please be seated and remain perfectly calm, bring in the dog team.
Seifer blinked and looked around. Most of the students, like Chicken Wuss, we're just chatting normally while the door opened.
A police officer came in and a large black dog trotted in after him.
Seifer started to sweat. He was terrified of dogs and knew just what those evil canines could do. He had the scars to prove it.
The dog looked at him for a moment. It's eyes seemed to glow with an unholy red light[1]. Seifer looked ready to bolt.
"Now quiet down class, we're getting ready to start." Across the room, the dog started sniffing people. Most didn't so much as blink. Zell seemed bored by the proceedings. The dog went row by row until it reached the last one. The one Seifer was in, all alone. When he saw the dog coming, he bolted out of his seat, across the classroom and pressed his back against the wall.
The teacher and the officer looked furious but Zell stood up.
"He won't hurt you Seifer. He just wants a sniff. I'll help you." Carefully, Zell approached the officer and took the lead from his hand. He walked slowly towards Seifer, taking the dog with him, close at hand.
He kept a tight grip on the dog so it couldn't possibly escape him. Zell stood a few feet away from Seifer.
"Now don't panic. He's just going to sniff your pockets and that's all. I won't let him bite you, I promise," Zell said soothingly.
Seifer nodded mutely. His eyes were wide and his pupils were dilated in fear. Zell stepped forward. Seifer whimpered but didn't move. The dog sniffed him up and down, then planted his feet on Seifer's legs to sniff at his collar. Seifer couldn't move, his only anchor of sanity was Zell's calming voice.
The dog finished and Zell led the dog away.
Seifer still couldn't move.[2] Concerned, Zell looked over. The boy was obviously still trapped in whatever hell had caused him to fear dogs.
"Seifer, it's okay now. He's gone. The dog is gone, you don't have to be afraid anymore." Seifer looked into Zell's eyes and moved forward slightly. With a look of pure relief, he hugged Zell tightly. Zell smiled slightly and hugged him back. A warm fuzzy feeling stole over Zell.
Seifer came back to himself in a jolt of realization. "What the hell are you doing?" he snarled, pushing Zell back.
Zell opened his mouth but Seifer pushed past him and marched out of the class. Zell turned to see his retreating form stomp down the hallway. Zell sighed and took his seat. Life resumed without a single snicker, comment or catcall.
Seifer walked home, cursing himself for acting like such a wuss, expecially in front of Zell. Zell. Damn, he owed the kid now. He'd never reacted so badly, mostly because he didn't go that close todogs.
He heard yelling and looked across the street. Zell was arguing with a couple of kids that were at least twice his height. Seifer shook his head and ran across the street. One of the boys had a white fluffy creature by the neck and was threatening to crush it's neck. He held the....bunny?!.... high above Zell's head, out of reach. Seifer smirked. He had no such problem. He marched over to the boy and plucked the bunny out of the deadbeat's hand.
"Hey, whatcha do that fer?" the punk asked. The scent of alcohol on his breath wafted towards Seifer's nose. He made a valiant effort not to wrinkle it.
"Don't be an ass Craig. Leave the kid alone."
"Ooh, defendin' him now," said the other guy. He had a furry sinous creature in his hands. Seifer grabbed it too. The ferret curled up around the bunny.
"Now the way I see it, you've got two choices Ralph. You can either leave now, or I will personally make you kiss concrete. Your move." Seifer shifted slightly.
"Le's go," said Craig resentfully. He and Ralph slunk off, shooting looks at Zell and Seifer.
"Meh, idiots," commented Seifer. He stroked the bunny and handed the ferret to Zell. A tender smile appeared on his face as he soothed the frightened rodent.
"Uh..." Zell started.
"So, why did Crevass and Puke want with your pets?"[3]
"Oh, they saw me feeding Bun-Bun and Kiki and thought they'd give me a hard time."
"Bun-Bun?" Seifer raised a blond eyebrow.
"The switchblade bunny from Sluggy Freelance," Zell said defensively. "And Kiki's the ferret."[4]
"I see..." said Seifer.
"Would you like to come in?" asked Zell, not looking at Seifer.
"Sure, why not." Seifer walked towards the house. Zell zipped past him with Kiki clinging to his neck making a high pitched noise that was the ferret equivalent of 'Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!'. Seifer jogged to catch up.
Inside a smiling blond woman was at the counter, peeling veggies.
"Hello there. You must be one of Zell's friends. I'm Zell's mom.
"This is Seifer. Ma, Seifer. Seifer, ma."
"Hello Seifer."
"Hello ma," said Seifer. He couldn't resist. She smiled.
"I like the way that sounds," she said. Zell was bright red.
"C'monlet'sgotomyroom," he rush-mumbled. He grabbed Seifer's arm and hauled him upstairs.
"So, I guess we're even, huh?" said Zell after the eiree moment of silence o' doom[5].
"Not yet."
Around two weeks later, the class was on a trip to the local yacht club. Seifer stood on the dock, hand shielded against the sun as he watched a couple of people on a small sailboat. Zell was among them. The water was amazingly deep in this area, which made it a great place for boats.
Seifer's focus sharpened as the kids on the boat started fooling around. One shoved at Zell who lost his balance and fell in the water. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket and was flailing in the water. The kids didn't seem to notice. Zell cried out just before slipping beneath the water.
"Zell!" yelled Seifer as he jumped into the water. He cut through the water with frightening speed to reach Zell in an instant. He pulled Zell to shore. His lips were already blue from lack of oxygen. Without hesitation, Seifer started CPR. He pumped on Zell's chest all the while praying for him to breathe.
Zell made a choked noise just before half turning over and puking up the water he swallowed. Seifer made sure he got it out and patted his back after the heaving stopped.
"You... saved... me?" said Zell, looking at him through plastered blond bangs.
"Yeah. Now we're even," said Seifer, giving Zell a quick hug.
Around 7 pm, when Mrs. Dincht had finished chewing out the kids, babying Zell and thankingSeifer, they we're alone on Zell's lawn. Well, alone except for Bun-Bun and Kiki.
"So..." said Zell.
"So... said Seifer. They looked at each other than quickly looked away. "Maybe we should start over. My name's Seifer Almasy. What's yours?"
"Zell Dincht. Pleased to meet you." Zell and Seifer shook hands and lay back on the grass, staring up at the sky. A chunk of flaming meteorite flew past their heads.
"Make a wish," said Zell.
"You too." They wished as the shooting star flared out. One large hand reached for a slighly smaller hand. The smaller hand took it and squeezed.
What did they wish for? Ah, that's a story for another time...
The End
Gwynn 'Shooting Star' Whitelock
So Sooth, guys- you like???
1. The glow is the chorionic membrane of the eye. It contains all the blood vessels in your eye. Because the retina is clear, you sometimes see this when a person's eyes are illuminated. It's also why a lot of people (like me) have red-eye in pictures.
2. I stopped here because I had to hurry and finish my exam. Wish me luck! ^^;;
3. I hate the name Craig, it sounds like a crack in the ground (crevass) and Sooth dislikes Ralph because it makes him think of barfing. Lovely pair, huh? ^-^
4. Yup. No joke. www.sluggy.com. I also reccomend Sinfest. www.sinfest.net. I rarely get it to work on Netscape so try it on IE. I think it has to do with Bill Gates being the ultimate evil....^-^
5. When Sooth and I are talking on the phone, this happens a lot. When it's too long, we know it's time to hang up. He normally calls around 10pm though...
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