Snippet - A small power
Jan. 6th, 2008 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanFandom: Final Fantasy VIII
For: Seifer/Squall longfic
Quality: Barely checked
Characters: Seifer, Quistis, Squall, Xu
Note: I am determined to write this story. So I'm posting this, to help guilt myself into it. And to prove I am working on it, now. This is going in a very slightly different direction than the first snippet I posted for it (Red and Purple), so the two don't quite mesh, but it's got the same destination.
"So what have you hauled me out of prison for?"
"You're going to help us," Quistis said. Squall said nothing. Seifer looked from one to the other, ignoring Xu. It was surprisingly easy to offer them all the old façade, to lean back in his chair, stretch out his legs, and sneer at them all, looking down on them. He'd expected his voice to be scratchy, somehow, disused, but it came out just the same as ever. Mocking. Biting. And bitterly truthful -- he was never a good liar, and he'd gotten worse at it.
"Why should I? Come on, Quisty, you know the drill. You offer me something I want. That's the way Garden works, isn't it? For money, for what people can do for you, right?"
"Maybe the reward could be your freedom," she said. "If you do well."
"If I do well? What kind of promise is that? How long could you keep me dangling with that? I'd rather my cell. Besides, you'll always want to keep an eye on me even if you do let me go." He stretched his legs a little more. No matter what he said, it was good to stretch, to know he could stand if he wanted to, punch someone if he wanted to. He wouldn't get very far -- three pairs of eagle eyes were on him, and no matter what else they were, they weren't idiots. But he could do it.
"Your cell is tiny, cramped, and dirty. You can't even pace in there. One kind of imprisonment isn't the same as another," Quistis said, carefully. Her eyes were on his face. Xu made some movement, impatient and contemptuous as always, but Squall's face was blank, his eyes not telling Seifer anything.
"Tell me what you want and I'll think about it," he said, after a moment -- a small power, that, making them wait. But still. A power. A little freedom. He didn't look up at Quistis. "Tell me what I'm risking and maybe I'll decide it's a better imprisonment."
For: Seifer/Squall longfic
Quality: Barely checked
Characters: Seifer, Quistis, Squall, Xu
Note: I am determined to write this story. So I'm posting this, to help guilt myself into it. And to prove I am working on it, now. This is going in a very slightly different direction than the first snippet I posted for it (Red and Purple), so the two don't quite mesh, but it's got the same destination.
"So what have you hauled me out of prison for?"
"You're going to help us," Quistis said. Squall said nothing. Seifer looked from one to the other, ignoring Xu. It was surprisingly easy to offer them all the old façade, to lean back in his chair, stretch out his legs, and sneer at them all, looking down on them. He'd expected his voice to be scratchy, somehow, disused, but it came out just the same as ever. Mocking. Biting. And bitterly truthful -- he was never a good liar, and he'd gotten worse at it.
"Why should I? Come on, Quisty, you know the drill. You offer me something I want. That's the way Garden works, isn't it? For money, for what people can do for you, right?"
"Maybe the reward could be your freedom," she said. "If you do well."
"If I do well? What kind of promise is that? How long could you keep me dangling with that? I'd rather my cell. Besides, you'll always want to keep an eye on me even if you do let me go." He stretched his legs a little more. No matter what he said, it was good to stretch, to know he could stand if he wanted to, punch someone if he wanted to. He wouldn't get very far -- three pairs of eagle eyes were on him, and no matter what else they were, they weren't idiots. But he could do it.
"Your cell is tiny, cramped, and dirty. You can't even pace in there. One kind of imprisonment isn't the same as another," Quistis said, carefully. Her eyes were on his face. Xu made some movement, impatient and contemptuous as always, but Squall's face was blank, his eyes not telling Seifer anything.
"Tell me what you want and I'll think about it," he said, after a moment -- a small power, that, making them wait. But still. A power. A little freedom. He didn't look up at Quistis. "Tell me what I'm risking and maybe I'll decide it's a better imprisonment."
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-07 12:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-07 12:37 am (UTC)