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Happy 21st Birthday, Spirits! I hope you enjooooy! :'D

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Of Storms and Scars
A Vincent and Seifer mini story, from the FM universe.

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Vincent and Seifer were having issues.

It happened every once and a while – Vincent would be mad about something, Seifer would do something that would piss the man off more, certain words would be exchanged and the whole thing would blow up in their faces. Sometimes it would lead to blows, other times it would lead to words being stated in anger that should never be mentioned, but they usually resolved it one way or another, and each fight ended in a series of awkward apologies and whispered promises of never parting. Even as kids they argued so these fights were really nothing new for them, but these days...

School – that’s what Seifer blamed. School was making them stressed beyond belief – himself with his football tryouts for the following year, Vincent with grades needing to be perfect before they were out for the summer break, it was the stresses compounding upon each other, weighing on their respective patience like a python giving the final squeeze, breaking its prey’s back.

If it weren’t for that stupid brother of Vincent’s...

Reno was the reason for a lot of their fights – but most specifically this one. Vincent was a little overly protective of his younger brother – understandable when he practically raised the boy himself when their mother died – but the fire haired boy was much less then grateful... He did what he pleased, when he pleased, and it landed the red head in trouble at school more often than not... and who enforced the rules at the school? None other than Mister Seifer Almasy himself. The teachers gave him and his crew free reign to deal out the punishments around the junior and senior high school, to keep the students in line on and around campus. Seifer was serious about his position, and he showed no favouritism in dealing out appropriate punishments – it gave him a half feared half respected position at school that he was very proud of... and whenever Reno Valentine broke the laws at school, Seifer had to take action.

Vincent should know it.. should respect that he was doing this for the order of the school... but he never did. All he saw was Seifer punishing his little brother... and his brotherly instincts kicked in. Seifer would say something stupid... and the circle continued.

“********...” Seifer breathed, sitting up from his lazed position on his bed, a hand running through his short blond hair in exasperation. This was driving him nuts... This had been the third day that Vincent had refused to talk to him – unheard of in any of their fights – but considering what Seifer had said... Well, Seifer didn’t really blame him. He had been an a**, and if Vincent would have just let him explain... Shaking his head to clear it, he rose to his feat and started to pace his room, arms crossed, shoulders hunched, gaze stern. The smooth skin of his brow knit together in a perpetual scowl, he wondered just how the hell he was going to start this whole situation on the path to getting resolved.

Throwing an angry look at the pattering of rain falling on the windows outside, he made up his mind. He’d just call Vincent and him to come over to talk. Vincent liked to talk... Seifer wasn’t stupid or anything of the like, but Vincent had a much better way with words then he did. Still, Seifer knew that Vincent wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon, so...

Picking up his cell phone and pushing aside his pride, he dialled Vincent’s number.

In all honesty, he hadn’t really expected the man at the other end of the line to pick up, and Seifer had to come up with something really on the fly.

“What,” Vincent demanded, causing Seifer to sigh heavily into the phone’s receiver.

“Hey, uh.. I don’t suppose you could come over...”

“You have seen the weather outside, right?”

“You have a car.”

“Seifer, I-“

“Look, Vin. I just... I want to talk to you in person, alright? My brother’s gone, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. What do you say?”

A sigh, this time from the other end of the line sounded, into Seifer’s ear, which quirked a small smile on his part. The two of them sure sighed a lot when they were in their ‘make up’ phase. It was almost comical. Almost.

“Let... Look, I need to finish editing this essay, then I will be over. Expect me at...” a pause, and Seifer could almost see his lover craning his neck over backwards to see the clock that was on the wall behind him. Seifer would have to buy the man a desk clock or something... Vincent had said that he worked better when he had no distractions, including knowing what time it was, but he was late for a lot of their dates because of it. “Nine.”

“Right, I’ll see you then.”

A hum answered him, and the line went dead. Right, he had an hour and a half to make himself and the house presentable, and come up with a good apology... Shouldn’t be too hard.

The time went by much too fast, and before Seifer knew it, Vincent’s car was pulling into the empty driveway of his small two bedroom house that he shared with his older brother. Crap... he wasn’t sure how he was going to start his apology... well, he could come up with something. He was good on the fly, generally. You know, as long as he didn’t get angry... He said stupid things when the hormones started flying...

Seifer opened the door and was waiting, leaning against the side of the doorway in a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt that Vincent had been so kind to help him buy the fall before. He looked relaxed, but he was anything but... what was he going to say? Sorry your brother’s an idiot? Sorry I have to keep after him for breaking the rules? Those would go over not so well at all...

“Hey,” Seifer called in greeting as Vincent got closer, taking in the mans rather hassled appearance – a pair of black slacks and a button down shirt that didn’t have all the buttons done up properly. Seifer had to assume that something happened at home before he came over... God, what did Reno do now? Didn’t that little idiot know what he did to his brother?

Vincent just eyed him, and slipped past him into the house.

********. This was going to be a little tense...

Seifer followed the man in, walking with him up the stairs to the second floor and Seifer’s bedroom without a word. The slightly smaller man whirled on him as soon as Seifer entered the threshold of his own room.

“What did you call me over for.”

“Well, y’see... uh...” Seifer hadn’t really gone as far as to think up an apology...

Vincent rolled his eyes, levelling a glare on the man, his voice raising itself just a little bit. “Stop p***y footing around, Seifer. You know I hate it when you do this.”

“********, fine! I’m sorry, alright?” Seifer called out, his voice raising a little above Vincent’s.

“Oh, are you,” Sarcasm... Seifer hated it when Vincent used sarcasm with him.. “What ever about?”

Seifer threw up his hands in exasperation. “God – I don’t even know why I even bother to try and do this sometimes!”

That made Vincent stop in his tracks. “What do you mean, ‘this’.”

“This. You and me. You’re so hung up about your little brother-“

“Don’t bring him into this.” The demand was dangerously growled.

“-that I don’t have a PLACE in your eyes when he’s fukkin around, Vincent!” It always felt like that was the truth. Whenever Reno came into the picture, Vincent would take the kid’s side and Seifer felt like he was pushed into the background. He was sick of it...

“I said don’t bring him into this!” Vincent repeated, eyes flashing and nostrils flaring in anger. But oh, Seifer was mad... He would bring whoever the hell he wanted into this.

“You’re not his mother Vincent!” As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them and wished he could take them back, but it was much too late.

It was the last straw for Vincent... The man shook with barely restrained rage before launched himself at Seifer, a fist flying towards the blond man’s face. The two tried to hone their skills with each other every once and a while, but they rarely fought like this... In little to no time, they were rolling on the ground, Vincent trying his best to break free of Seifer’s grasp as the blond man tried to restrain him. “Vincent, just cool the ******** off!” Seifer was yelling, but Vincent wasn’t listening. He was struggling, hand groping around to find something to defend himself. In their fight, they had knocked things off the wall, toppled the chair that had been at Seifer’s desk, knocked over the man’s night stand... Somewhere in the scuffle, Seifer had heard wood splinter, glass break, something go through the wall... It was all a blur to Seifer. He had several bruises, a rather sore arm, a painful set of ribs from a hard kick... Vincent was looking equally as well... and Seifer knew he had to stop this before one of them ended up doing more damage than they meant.

Before he knew it, something in Vincent’s fist came towards his face. Seifer’s neck snapped back as he tried to dodge the attack, and he received a glancing blow because of it. A searing pain threw itself across his forehead running towards his right eye, causing his grip to slacken, giving Vincent the chance to push the bulkier man off. Seifer rolled with the momentum, slamming into his bed frame rather painfully, but it was nothing like the pain on his forehead. It burned, a sickly, sticky pain that robbed him of coherent thought for a few moments as he got to his knees, hand right hand clutching at the pain. He felt hot liquid, and the realization slammed through his slight daze.

He was bleeding...

The man off of him, Vincent jumped to his feet and fled from the room. Pausing at the top of the stairs that led down to the first level, breathing heavily. There was something clutched in his hand... By this time, Seifer should have gotten his bearings and gone after him, but as he listened, the house was quiet, the only sound the soft pattering of rain on the windows from the storm outside. Looking at the item clutched in his hand, he was terrified to see a broken bit of a mirror, a bit of blood covering one of the edges. Throwing the item away from him, trying to get the thing away from him as fast as possible, he turned around and edge his way back to the open doorway of Seifer’s room.

Seifer was sitting by the time the black haired man looked in. His back was shown to Vincent, cross legged and slouched heavily onto a hand; the man’s raggedy breathing catching a hold of Vincent’s ears. Seifer must have heard Vincent come back in. “Vin..?” The voice he used was tiny compared to the shout he had used before... something was wrong.

“Y-yeah.”

“V-vin. I...” The voice was so small, so quiet. He sounded so young... Vincent didn’t expect the next words. “I can’t see..”

Vincent entered the room, concern washing away the anger he had felt just moments before... This was very unlike Seifer – what was wrong? Vincent dropped to his knees beside the man he had been exchanging blows with just moment before. Seifer’s hand covered the majority of the man’s face, Vincent tries to pry the hand away... Seifer is very reluctant to move his hand away from his face, and only concedes when Vincent begs, “Let... me see..” The larger blond man slowly let Vincent remove his hand from his face, and Vincent’s eyes widened when he saw the blond man’s face, contorted in pain. A large gash splayed across the man’s face, starting above his left eye and reaching downwards towards the man’s right eye, almost looking like it had hit his eye... and there was so much blood. Both of the man’s eyes were covered in the stuff, and the man had his eyes scrunched against the sticky substance that was freely flowing from the wound, slowly making a sickly red trail down his right cheek.

What had he done..?

Vincent found himself grabbing a clean shirt from one of Seifer’s drawers, pushing it against the wound to try and stop the bleeding, repeating over and over again, “I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry..” with whispered, “It’s fine.. It’s okay, Vin” answering him, though Seifer’s words fell on deaf ears.. Vincent was much to distraught to listen to the man properly.

“You are going to need stitches,” Vincent said after a time, most of the blood cleaned up from the man’s face, though his right eye still clamped tight.

“********, no – stitches means Doctors, and y’know how I feel ‘bout them..” Seifer mumbled, holding the shirt he had been given to try and stop the bleeding.

Vincent shook his head, a determined look on his face. “Seifer.. Let’s go. I’ll drive you...”


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Seifer wouldn’t talk to Vincent on the way home from Destiny Isle’s only emergency clinic, and Vincent wouldn’t look at the man beside him. The blond had received 23 stitches and a patch over his eye, the sharp object he had ‘fallen onto’ (as he had informed the intake nurse) had sliced into his eye just the tiniest bit, causing his vision to be blurred rather heavily... And Seifer was not too happy to have some wahoo in a white coat put something in his eye that would keep it closed shut, while giving the eye time to heal... to prevent further injuries, the doctor had said. The Doctor had given Vincent a pain medication prescription, telling the younger man to be sure that Seifer took some that night, and the bottle was pressed deep into one of his deep pockets.

“Seifer..” Vincent started with a sigh when they reached Seifer’s house.

“I swear, if you apologize again-“

“But I hurt you! I could have killed you if you hadn’t jumped back, and I-“

“Well, it’s a good thing that I have the reflexes of a god, then. Now c’mon, we’re going to bed.”

“But-“

Seifer turned around to stare at Vincent through his one good eye, pushing the man against the door of the car, the injured man’s lips claiming Vincent’s as his own, taking them hungrily. Pulling back slightly, Seifer growled, “You. Bed. Now. And don’t let me hear you ******** apologize again...” Seifer left the threat open, pulling away from Vincent and getting out of the car, staggering towards the front door, the pain killers the doctor had given him before beginning to stitch him up affecting his ability to focus properly. Shaking his head, his breath coming is soft gasps, Vincent hopped out of his vehicle, easily catching up with Seifer who was having issues at the front door.

“Here, let me help,” Vincent grumbled, taking the keys from the blond man, unlocking the front door easily.

Seifer snorted. “Oh, the Princess came to the Knight’s rescue! What a twist...”

“Shut up..”

All in all, it was a... productive night.