Shop Request Fill: {Fan Fic} A Place to Call Home
This is my gil request for the wonderful xinnk who requested a story about the kids at Matron Edea's orphanage from Final Fantasy VIII. :D I went a little above the 2,000 word limit for the story...but since I was cutting it so close, the remaining word count will be a free bonus! I hope you enjoy the story, xinnk! ♥
Username: Yin (of breyzyyin)
Class: White Mage
Title: A Place to Call Home
Summary: A somewhat eventful day at Matron's orphanage.
Characters/Pairings: Quistis, Squall, Selphie, Zell, Seifer, Irvine, Ellone, Matron Edea, and Cid Kramer.
Word count: 3,305
Rating/warnings: G. Spoilers for Final Fantasy VIII.
The kitchen was a bright, tidy assortment of polished wood and shining surfaces: a veritable bastion of cleanliness and order in the middle of the maelstrom of chaos that was life at a heavily populated orphanage.
...At least, she corrected herself as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and stared appreciatively at her painstaking work of the last few hours, it was now that way thanks to her efforts to clean up the disastrous mess that had been the result of lunch.
The entire ordeal would have been humorous if it hadn't resulted in her having to clean everything by herself: Matron and Sis had gone to run an errand, leaving Quistis in charge of her group of playmates...as Matron sometimes did with some of the older or more responsible orphans-- tasking them with watching out for a smaller group that they got along well with, as Cid would normally quickly find an excuse to go to his study unless there was an emergency.
Zell had eagerly volunteered to help Quistis make lunch for everyone...and aside from a few mishaps (why he thought of trying out a cheese and peanut-butter sandwich now of all times she'd never know), the process for making the lunches for all of the children under her watch ended rather successfully.
It hadn't been until she had gone to Cid's study to give him his lunch, which he in turn praised her for and said it was amazing how hardworking and responsible she was at so young an age, that things started to deteriorate.
Seifer had decided to do his usual bossy routine, which resulted in him and Zell having an impromptu food fight in the kitchen.
Thankfully, sharp utensils weren't thrown: but a large salad Matron had put together for dinner earlier had been thoroughly "tossed" and decorated every corner of the space in leafy greens and tangy salad dressing. The bread had somehow gone through the open window and proved a delight to some of the birds in the garden...and a ton of baking ingredients had been taken from their cupboards and thrown about haphazardly-- portions of tabletop and flooring looked like an early winter snow had managed to sneak inside.
The faucet had been left running and piled high with dirty dishes to make room for the food battle...water dripping down onto the tiles and forming a puddle that Zell had subsequently slipped in and fell on his bottom from while Seifer laughed and pointed at him jeeringly.
...So the end result of that ordeal left poor Quistis not feeling very responsible or hardworking at all when she discovered what had happened. Seifer bolted from the kitchen the second the girl came back in, leaving a trail of muddied flour in his wake.
Zell, embarrassed and smarting from a lump forming on the side of his skull from where his head had impacted with a cabinet during his fall, grinned sheepishly in way of apology to her...fighting back tears, for the last thing he wanted was Seifer to accuse him of being a crybaby again, and offering to help clean up.
Noticing his dirty pants and soaking wet backside, the blond declined with a sigh...telling him to clean himself up first.
The whole cleaning up process of "Food Wars" lasted the better part of the afternoon, though she had to admit that the final product was quite spectacular: the kitchen seemed even more put together than it normally did after Matron made them their meals due to all of the extra scrubbing and elbow grease Quistis had to do for portions of the place that were hardly ever used by anyone normally...unless, of course, someone DID happen to be tossing sugar around like a madman.
Hopefully Matron would find the tidying to be something good, so long as she didn't ask WHY Quistis felt the need to clean the place: better to not mention any feuding during her spot in charge unless there was absolutely no way to get out of doing so! Since the woman was always doing so much for everyone else...Quistis wanted to put her mind at ease a bit even if it was in small ways. It was one of the main reasons why she tended to avoid getting into a ton of the shenanigans some of the other kids got into at the orphanage and usually was the first to volunteer for chores.
"...Quistis?"
Zell poked his head nervously into the kitchen, afraid to step inside at first in case Quistis was still in the "quiet anger" mood she had displayed when she had first seen what he and Seifer had done.
The girl turned her head slightly to stare at him, trying to stifle a giggle at the sight of him: a mismatched ensemble that consisted of one blue sock and one green one, blue shorts with teddy bear prints, and a shockingly yellow shirt with a smiley-face in the middle of it. He had to borrow articles of clothing from several of the other orphans, apparently...the only other ones he had beyond the outfit he'd just gotten dirty were drying in the laundry. Zell looked to be a very large two-year-old, and she could tell from the reddening of his face that he was well aware of that already.
"It's okay. I'm not mad anymore. The kitchen's all clean now."
"...I'm sorry that happened." The boy was looking down at the ground, kicking his foot into the floor softly.
"It's all right. Seifer has a way of getting on people's nerves sometimes." She noticed the bump on his forehead and frowned, "How's your head?"
"It's okay. It only hurts when I poke it...see?" To demonstrate this, Zell proceeded to poke the sore spot with his finger...a grimace following on his face.
Quistis did giggle at this, bringing him some ice in a rag, "Well then, you probably shouldn't do that!"
She put the ice in its makeshift bag up to his bump and held it there until Zell gripped the rag awkwardly. He smiled somewhat as she looked him over, "Quistis...you’re just like Sis!"
"I am?" she blinked, a blush forming on her cheeks. Considering how much everyone adored Ellone, that was a pretty big compliment.
"Yeah, you're just as nice as she is. And you look out for everyone too."
"She does okay."
Seifer was standing in the adjacent doorway, shrugging indifferently at the angry look clouding over Quistis's face.
She was about to yell at him for his involvement in the kitchen mess, when he glanced over at Zell and grinned, "Nice clothes, dork."
Zell's face turned bright red, and Quistis was sure another yelling match was about to start...but it seemed like Seifer's comment was all of the taunting he had left in him after the lunch fiasco.
He turned to look at her, a surprisingly nervous expression on his face, "Are you...going to tell Matron about what happened?"
...As much as the thought of getting Seifer in trouble appealed to her at times when the boy was being a pain, Quistis shook her head.
"No. It would just upset her. I'll say that the kitchen was cleaned as a surprise for her while she and Sis went out."
Seifer looked visibly relieved, a complacent grin over his features, "Sounds good to me! I'm not sure how much more scolding I could take anyways."
...She wanted to tell him flat out that if he just didn't try egging people on to see how far he could push them with his teasing, he probably wouldn't HAVE to get scolded-- but she didn't want to get another outburst since his mood seemed pleasant right now.
"Want me to get some flowers from the garden then for that vase at the window? Matron would probably think that's really nice!"
The smile on Seifer's face was actually genuine this time, and it surprised the girl that he would even think of something extra to do for Matron. She blinked slowly for a few moments and then nodded her head, awkwardly smiling in return, "That would be great!"
"If you’re done being babied...let's go then, dork!"
Zell's face reddened again, but the taunting seemed routine and without venom, "I'm not a dork!"
"...Might want to change your clothes before you say that." Seifer gripped the other boy's arm and pulled him outside, "C'mon, toughen up...fresh air will be good on that bump!"
...The two's voices drifted inside after the door closed, but the teasing seemed mostly mild. Even when he was trying to be nice, it seemed that one of the only ways Seifer knew how to interact with others was through teasing, which she hoped he would grow out of soon...but it seemed to put Zell's mind off of his embarrassment about earlier, at any rate. Quistis sighed, hoping that the two would keep this "truce" up for at least the rest of the day...it would be nice for Matron and Sis to come back to a more peaceful house than when they'd left.
"I think he felt kind of bad that Zell got hurt and you had to pick up everything, even if he didn't want to say it."
Irvine had snuck in through the backdoor when she wasn't looking, surprisingly observant as always.
He had been inside for lunch too, she recalled. As had Squall and Selphie. But she hadn't seen either of them since.
"...Were you playing War again with Selphie?" she asked, surprised that she hadn't heard the commotion if they had.
The brown-haired boy shook his head, "Squall wandered off because Sis hadn't come back yet. Selphie trailed after him because he was acting mopier than usual."
"...And you trailed her?" Quistis knew that Irvine was quite attached to his playmate.
"...I was until some flying bread hit me in the face." Irvine grinned at the memory and held out a huge chunk of a loaf that Seifer had at some point chucked out the window during his fight with Zell.
"..." Quistis bit her lip, trying not to laugh again.
"Five second rule." The boy put it on the table where it had been earlier in the day, "I picked it right up. I didn't spit on it or anything like that."
His grin indicated that he seemed to think her reddening face as she tried to contain her giggles was hilarious.
Shaking her head to clear the mental image of Irvine getting attacked by soaring bread, Quistis managed to finally get out, "Want to help me find them then? Matron and Sis are probably coming home soon."
"Nah." The boy ran past her with an amused look on his face, "I'm going to see how long Seifer and Zell can keep from wrecking the garden!"
Quistis frowned, "Don't wish for that!" she yelled finally in exasperation.
...But Irvine only laughed and left the door open behind him. She sighed: she didn't think she'd ever understand boys.
*****
"...How about now? Does this cheer you up?"
Selphie held a butterfly cupped in her hands, opening them slightly directly in front of the brown-haired boy's face so that he could get a look at the insect as it fluttered delicate blue wings near his cheek.
He turned his head slightly, ducking it between his knees on the spot where he sat on the ground.
"No."
The girl pouted, letting the butterfly fly off. She'd been trying to get Squall to move from the spot just beyond the orphanage ground where he'd sat down after lunch for what seemed like hours now. She was starting to run out of ideas.
Then...
"I know! We could throw rocks at other rocks and see what sounds that makes!"
"No."
"...We could throw rocks at Seifer? You know, as long as we don't hit him? I bet he'd get pretty mad!"
"...No."
...A longer pause that time! But, considering Seifer's penchant for picking on Squall, it made sense that he might entertain the idea of wanting to chuck a stone or two at him. No real success there.
"...We could sit down here then and wait for Sis to come back?" she asked weakly, simply wanting to hear some kind of different response from him.
Squall glanced up at her, an annoyed look on his face that clearly stated that it should have been obvious that's what he'd been trying to do. She took it rather indignantly.
"I meant together! You've just been sitting here by yourself!"
"...You're the one who followed me. And you've been trying to shove things in my face all this time."
"Sitting and being mopey isn't very fun!"
The girl plopped down beside Squall and glared straight ahead. The boy did the same, the two looking at the sky.
After a few seconds, Selphie started to get bored. Her fingers twitched, followed by her knees soon after. After a few more intolerable moments, she shot straight up like someone had touched her from behind.
"See! It is boring!"
Squall seemed somewhat surprised that the effort had been that straining for her, "...Maybe you aren't doing it right then?" he asked, the first real question he'd directed at her the whole day.
"How could I not be doing it right? All you're doing is sitting there!"
"...I'm thinking too."
"So was I! But that just made me want to move around more!"
He frowned and looked away. The moment lost. Squall was back to waiting for Sis to return.
Selphie sighed and settled down on the grass again, this time twirling a small flower she'd picked earlier in her fingers. The meadow area they were in was calm and peaceful, with an idyllic view of the grounds surrounding the orphanage: the flower fields, and one could even make out the beach that was directly behind the orphanage.
Taking in the sight had a rather relaxing effect on her once she took the time to do so.
...But Squall had his eyes focused on the path in front of them: it was a small one, and the one that Matron and Ellone had used earlier. Squall had always been very attached to Ellone, and usually got pretty sullen (even more so than he normally was!) during the times when she did leave the grounds for errands-- even if they only took a few hours.
Selphie felt bad for him in a way, which is why she had wanted to try and cheer him up. If only Irvine were here...an impromptu game of War might do the trick or, at the very least, take Squall's mind off of things, as it would be hard to concentrate on anything else with the noise that War generally resulted in.
"...You don't have to stay, you know. I'm not going anywhere. Or doing anything."
Selphie made a face at him, but smiled quickly afterwards, "You never do anything anyways. When I want to leave, I'll leave."
"...Fine."
More silence. Squall was a stubborn one, all right...but then again, so was Selphie. This was her game of the moment then: to outlast Squall's expectations and stay put right here. She smiled to herself, already picturing telling Irvine of her victory and imagined stakes in the endeavor.
...And that was how Quistis found them a few seconds later: a surprisingly determined-looking Selphie and a rather sullen-looking Squall sitting on a hill overlooking the path out of the orphanage grounds.
She raised a blond eyebrow, but sat down next to them anyways.
"You missed quite a show in the kitchen." She told the two of them, though Squall only shrugged indifferently.
"I heard some noises. Was someone playing War?" Selphie asked curiously.
"...Sort of."
The three sat in silence for a long while afterwards, waiting.
*****
When Matron and Ellone came back down the path, both carrying some fresh produce from the farm fields a few hours' walk from the orphanage, a welcome sight given the state of some of the depleted foodstuffs now...they were pleasantly surprised to see the three children waiting for them.
"Well, now, what's this?" Matron's smile was warm as Selphie bounded down the hill and gave her a huge hug.
"We were waiting for you, Matron!" the brunette grinned, "Squall was more mopey than usual!"
"..." Squall said nothing to this, getting up and walking over to Ellone...the older girl smiling at him warmly and shifting the bag she was holding so that she could quickly hug him.
A bit of the tension in his shoulders seemed to have lifted, Quistis noticed. Sis always had a way of knowing just what someone needed in any given instance.
"I take it my husband was in his study all day?" Matron asked Quistis, sighing and giving a tired smile when the girl nodded, "He'll lose himself for days in there if you let him. I hope everything was okay while we were gone, no mishaps?"
"Nothing more than usual." Quistis replied, trying her best to keep the mature tone she valued so much in Sis and Matron in her voice despite her smile.
"Thank you, Quistis...I know we can count on you to look out for everyone."
"Quistis is a miniature version of Sis!" Selphie said, giggling at the image.
"...No, she's her own person. And she's a good one at that." Matron's voice was gentle, and she looked over at Quistis appreciatively, "Both of them are excellent helpers though, Selphie."
"Yep!" The girl nodded again, positively beaming as Matron handed a small bag of fruit to her and Squall each to carry up to the house...the latter taking his load with a surprisingly solemn face that looked far too odd on his young features.
"Let's get dinner started then, shall we?" she asked, continuing down the path.
"Okay!" Selphie seemed eager at the thought, her stomach growling slightly in response to the suggestion of another meal. She hurried after Matron, mentioning how she wanted to see what the other three boys were up to in a quick rush of words...Squall trudging along after the two of them once he had quickly glanced over at Sis, who motioned for him to go on ahead.
Quistis was about to turn and follow them, when she paused...noticing that the older girl had stopped altogether and was staring at the sky.
"Sis?"
Ellone blinked, turning quickly to smile down at Quistis, "Oh...sorry, Quistis. I was just thinking of something, is all."
"Do you need help with anything?" Quistis asked, motioning to the bag hanging over Ellone's shoulder.
She shook her head, the two starting to walk slowly behind Matron and the two younger children back to the orphanage. As they continued at their steady pace, Ellone glanced over at Quistis and smiled again...pointing to the spot of flour still caked on the other girl's cheek.
Quistis's face reddened in embarrassment, as she tried wiping it off with the back of her hand.
"So...was it a food fight this time then?" Ellone asked conspiratorially, her voice a mere whisper.
Quistis nodded, "It was pretty bad. Took awhile to clean up."
"...Remember the one time when Irvine knocked over Matron's favorite vase? That was like a gigantic puzzle we had to put back together again!"
The two girls laughed loudly in their reminiscence, the sounds of the younger orphans and Matron's gentle voice drifting through the air to their ears. Soon enough, they heard Cid's tenor joining the cacophony as well when he finally managed to tear himself away from his desk to see what the earlier noise had been about and to greet his wife.
...It might only be temporary given the nature of orphanages, which Quistis was old enough now to know: but right now she was glad that this sometimes very hectic but always comforting place was what she called home.
Username: Yin (of breyzyyin)
Class: White Mage
Title: A Place to Call Home
Summary: A somewhat eventful day at Matron's orphanage.
Characters/Pairings: Quistis, Squall, Selphie, Zell, Seifer, Irvine, Ellone, Matron Edea, and Cid Kramer.
Word count: 3,305
Rating/warnings: G. Spoilers for Final Fantasy VIII.
The kitchen was a bright, tidy assortment of polished wood and shining surfaces: a veritable bastion of cleanliness and order in the middle of the maelstrom of chaos that was life at a heavily populated orphanage.
...At least, she corrected herself as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and stared appreciatively at her painstaking work of the last few hours, it was now that way thanks to her efforts to clean up the disastrous mess that had been the result of lunch.
The entire ordeal would have been humorous if it hadn't resulted in her having to clean everything by herself: Matron and Sis had gone to run an errand, leaving Quistis in charge of her group of playmates...as Matron sometimes did with some of the older or more responsible orphans-- tasking them with watching out for a smaller group that they got along well with, as Cid would normally quickly find an excuse to go to his study unless there was an emergency.
Zell had eagerly volunteered to help Quistis make lunch for everyone...and aside from a few mishaps (why he thought of trying out a cheese and peanut-butter sandwich now of all times she'd never know), the process for making the lunches for all of the children under her watch ended rather successfully.
It hadn't been until she had gone to Cid's study to give him his lunch, which he in turn praised her for and said it was amazing how hardworking and responsible she was at so young an age, that things started to deteriorate.
Seifer had decided to do his usual bossy routine, which resulted in him and Zell having an impromptu food fight in the kitchen.
Thankfully, sharp utensils weren't thrown: but a large salad Matron had put together for dinner earlier had been thoroughly "tossed" and decorated every corner of the space in leafy greens and tangy salad dressing. The bread had somehow gone through the open window and proved a delight to some of the birds in the garden...and a ton of baking ingredients had been taken from their cupboards and thrown about haphazardly-- portions of tabletop and flooring looked like an early winter snow had managed to sneak inside.
The faucet had been left running and piled high with dirty dishes to make room for the food battle...water dripping down onto the tiles and forming a puddle that Zell had subsequently slipped in and fell on his bottom from while Seifer laughed and pointed at him jeeringly.
...So the end result of that ordeal left poor Quistis not feeling very responsible or hardworking at all when she discovered what had happened. Seifer bolted from the kitchen the second the girl came back in, leaving a trail of muddied flour in his wake.
Zell, embarrassed and smarting from a lump forming on the side of his skull from where his head had impacted with a cabinet during his fall, grinned sheepishly in way of apology to her...fighting back tears, for the last thing he wanted was Seifer to accuse him of being a crybaby again, and offering to help clean up.
Noticing his dirty pants and soaking wet backside, the blond declined with a sigh...telling him to clean himself up first.
The whole cleaning up process of "Food Wars" lasted the better part of the afternoon, though she had to admit that the final product was quite spectacular: the kitchen seemed even more put together than it normally did after Matron made them their meals due to all of the extra scrubbing and elbow grease Quistis had to do for portions of the place that were hardly ever used by anyone normally...unless, of course, someone DID happen to be tossing sugar around like a madman.
Hopefully Matron would find the tidying to be something good, so long as she didn't ask WHY Quistis felt the need to clean the place: better to not mention any feuding during her spot in charge unless there was absolutely no way to get out of doing so! Since the woman was always doing so much for everyone else...Quistis wanted to put her mind at ease a bit even if it was in small ways. It was one of the main reasons why she tended to avoid getting into a ton of the shenanigans some of the other kids got into at the orphanage and usually was the first to volunteer for chores.
"...Quistis?"
Zell poked his head nervously into the kitchen, afraid to step inside at first in case Quistis was still in the "quiet anger" mood she had displayed when she had first seen what he and Seifer had done.
The girl turned her head slightly to stare at him, trying to stifle a giggle at the sight of him: a mismatched ensemble that consisted of one blue sock and one green one, blue shorts with teddy bear prints, and a shockingly yellow shirt with a smiley-face in the middle of it. He had to borrow articles of clothing from several of the other orphans, apparently...the only other ones he had beyond the outfit he'd just gotten dirty were drying in the laundry. Zell looked to be a very large two-year-old, and she could tell from the reddening of his face that he was well aware of that already.
"It's okay. I'm not mad anymore. The kitchen's all clean now."
"...I'm sorry that happened." The boy was looking down at the ground, kicking his foot into the floor softly.
"It's all right. Seifer has a way of getting on people's nerves sometimes." She noticed the bump on his forehead and frowned, "How's your head?"
"It's okay. It only hurts when I poke it...see?" To demonstrate this, Zell proceeded to poke the sore spot with his finger...a grimace following on his face.
Quistis did giggle at this, bringing him some ice in a rag, "Well then, you probably shouldn't do that!"
She put the ice in its makeshift bag up to his bump and held it there until Zell gripped the rag awkwardly. He smiled somewhat as she looked him over, "Quistis...you’re just like Sis!"
"I am?" she blinked, a blush forming on her cheeks. Considering how much everyone adored Ellone, that was a pretty big compliment.
"Yeah, you're just as nice as she is. And you look out for everyone too."
"She does okay."
Seifer was standing in the adjacent doorway, shrugging indifferently at the angry look clouding over Quistis's face.
She was about to yell at him for his involvement in the kitchen mess, when he glanced over at Zell and grinned, "Nice clothes, dork."
Zell's face turned bright red, and Quistis was sure another yelling match was about to start...but it seemed like Seifer's comment was all of the taunting he had left in him after the lunch fiasco.
He turned to look at her, a surprisingly nervous expression on his face, "Are you...going to tell Matron about what happened?"
...As much as the thought of getting Seifer in trouble appealed to her at times when the boy was being a pain, Quistis shook her head.
"No. It would just upset her. I'll say that the kitchen was cleaned as a surprise for her while she and Sis went out."
Seifer looked visibly relieved, a complacent grin over his features, "Sounds good to me! I'm not sure how much more scolding I could take anyways."
...She wanted to tell him flat out that if he just didn't try egging people on to see how far he could push them with his teasing, he probably wouldn't HAVE to get scolded-- but she didn't want to get another outburst since his mood seemed pleasant right now.
"Want me to get some flowers from the garden then for that vase at the window? Matron would probably think that's really nice!"
The smile on Seifer's face was actually genuine this time, and it surprised the girl that he would even think of something extra to do for Matron. She blinked slowly for a few moments and then nodded her head, awkwardly smiling in return, "That would be great!"
"If you’re done being babied...let's go then, dork!"
Zell's face reddened again, but the taunting seemed routine and without venom, "I'm not a dork!"
"...Might want to change your clothes before you say that." Seifer gripped the other boy's arm and pulled him outside, "C'mon, toughen up...fresh air will be good on that bump!"
...The two's voices drifted inside after the door closed, but the teasing seemed mostly mild. Even when he was trying to be nice, it seemed that one of the only ways Seifer knew how to interact with others was through teasing, which she hoped he would grow out of soon...but it seemed to put Zell's mind off of his embarrassment about earlier, at any rate. Quistis sighed, hoping that the two would keep this "truce" up for at least the rest of the day...it would be nice for Matron and Sis to come back to a more peaceful house than when they'd left.
"I think he felt kind of bad that Zell got hurt and you had to pick up everything, even if he didn't want to say it."
Irvine had snuck in through the backdoor when she wasn't looking, surprisingly observant as always.
He had been inside for lunch too, she recalled. As had Squall and Selphie. But she hadn't seen either of them since.
"...Were you playing War again with Selphie?" she asked, surprised that she hadn't heard the commotion if they had.
The brown-haired boy shook his head, "Squall wandered off because Sis hadn't come back yet. Selphie trailed after him because he was acting mopier than usual."
"...And you trailed her?" Quistis knew that Irvine was quite attached to his playmate.
"...I was until some flying bread hit me in the face." Irvine grinned at the memory and held out a huge chunk of a loaf that Seifer had at some point chucked out the window during his fight with Zell.
"..." Quistis bit her lip, trying not to laugh again.
"Five second rule." The boy put it on the table where it had been earlier in the day, "I picked it right up. I didn't spit on it or anything like that."
His grin indicated that he seemed to think her reddening face as she tried to contain her giggles was hilarious.
Shaking her head to clear the mental image of Irvine getting attacked by soaring bread, Quistis managed to finally get out, "Want to help me find them then? Matron and Sis are probably coming home soon."
"Nah." The boy ran past her with an amused look on his face, "I'm going to see how long Seifer and Zell can keep from wrecking the garden!"
Quistis frowned, "Don't wish for that!" she yelled finally in exasperation.
...But Irvine only laughed and left the door open behind him. She sighed: she didn't think she'd ever understand boys.
*****
"...How about now? Does this cheer you up?"
Selphie held a butterfly cupped in her hands, opening them slightly directly in front of the brown-haired boy's face so that he could get a look at the insect as it fluttered delicate blue wings near his cheek.
He turned his head slightly, ducking it between his knees on the spot where he sat on the ground.
"No."
The girl pouted, letting the butterfly fly off. She'd been trying to get Squall to move from the spot just beyond the orphanage ground where he'd sat down after lunch for what seemed like hours now. She was starting to run out of ideas.
Then...
"I know! We could throw rocks at other rocks and see what sounds that makes!"
"No."
"...We could throw rocks at Seifer? You know, as long as we don't hit him? I bet he'd get pretty mad!"
"...No."
...A longer pause that time! But, considering Seifer's penchant for picking on Squall, it made sense that he might entertain the idea of wanting to chuck a stone or two at him. No real success there.
"...We could sit down here then and wait for Sis to come back?" she asked weakly, simply wanting to hear some kind of different response from him.
Squall glanced up at her, an annoyed look on his face that clearly stated that it should have been obvious that's what he'd been trying to do. She took it rather indignantly.
"I meant together! You've just been sitting here by yourself!"
"...You're the one who followed me. And you've been trying to shove things in my face all this time."
"Sitting and being mopey isn't very fun!"
The girl plopped down beside Squall and glared straight ahead. The boy did the same, the two looking at the sky.
After a few seconds, Selphie started to get bored. Her fingers twitched, followed by her knees soon after. After a few more intolerable moments, she shot straight up like someone had touched her from behind.
"See! It is boring!"
Squall seemed somewhat surprised that the effort had been that straining for her, "...Maybe you aren't doing it right then?" he asked, the first real question he'd directed at her the whole day.
"How could I not be doing it right? All you're doing is sitting there!"
"...I'm thinking too."
"So was I! But that just made me want to move around more!"
He frowned and looked away. The moment lost. Squall was back to waiting for Sis to return.
Selphie sighed and settled down on the grass again, this time twirling a small flower she'd picked earlier in her fingers. The meadow area they were in was calm and peaceful, with an idyllic view of the grounds surrounding the orphanage: the flower fields, and one could even make out the beach that was directly behind the orphanage.
Taking in the sight had a rather relaxing effect on her once she took the time to do so.
...But Squall had his eyes focused on the path in front of them: it was a small one, and the one that Matron and Ellone had used earlier. Squall had always been very attached to Ellone, and usually got pretty sullen (even more so than he normally was!) during the times when she did leave the grounds for errands-- even if they only took a few hours.
Selphie felt bad for him in a way, which is why she had wanted to try and cheer him up. If only Irvine were here...an impromptu game of War might do the trick or, at the very least, take Squall's mind off of things, as it would be hard to concentrate on anything else with the noise that War generally resulted in.
"...You don't have to stay, you know. I'm not going anywhere. Or doing anything."
Selphie made a face at him, but smiled quickly afterwards, "You never do anything anyways. When I want to leave, I'll leave."
"...Fine."
More silence. Squall was a stubborn one, all right...but then again, so was Selphie. This was her game of the moment then: to outlast Squall's expectations and stay put right here. She smiled to herself, already picturing telling Irvine of her victory and imagined stakes in the endeavor.
...And that was how Quistis found them a few seconds later: a surprisingly determined-looking Selphie and a rather sullen-looking Squall sitting on a hill overlooking the path out of the orphanage grounds.
She raised a blond eyebrow, but sat down next to them anyways.
"You missed quite a show in the kitchen." She told the two of them, though Squall only shrugged indifferently.
"I heard some noises. Was someone playing War?" Selphie asked curiously.
"...Sort of."
The three sat in silence for a long while afterwards, waiting.
*****
When Matron and Ellone came back down the path, both carrying some fresh produce from the farm fields a few hours' walk from the orphanage, a welcome sight given the state of some of the depleted foodstuffs now...they were pleasantly surprised to see the three children waiting for them.
"Well, now, what's this?" Matron's smile was warm as Selphie bounded down the hill and gave her a huge hug.
"We were waiting for you, Matron!" the brunette grinned, "Squall was more mopey than usual!"
"..." Squall said nothing to this, getting up and walking over to Ellone...the older girl smiling at him warmly and shifting the bag she was holding so that she could quickly hug him.
A bit of the tension in his shoulders seemed to have lifted, Quistis noticed. Sis always had a way of knowing just what someone needed in any given instance.
"I take it my husband was in his study all day?" Matron asked Quistis, sighing and giving a tired smile when the girl nodded, "He'll lose himself for days in there if you let him. I hope everything was okay while we were gone, no mishaps?"
"Nothing more than usual." Quistis replied, trying her best to keep the mature tone she valued so much in Sis and Matron in her voice despite her smile.
"Thank you, Quistis...I know we can count on you to look out for everyone."
"Quistis is a miniature version of Sis!" Selphie said, giggling at the image.
"...No, she's her own person. And she's a good one at that." Matron's voice was gentle, and she looked over at Quistis appreciatively, "Both of them are excellent helpers though, Selphie."
"Yep!" The girl nodded again, positively beaming as Matron handed a small bag of fruit to her and Squall each to carry up to the house...the latter taking his load with a surprisingly solemn face that looked far too odd on his young features.
"Let's get dinner started then, shall we?" she asked, continuing down the path.
"Okay!" Selphie seemed eager at the thought, her stomach growling slightly in response to the suggestion of another meal. She hurried after Matron, mentioning how she wanted to see what the other three boys were up to in a quick rush of words...Squall trudging along after the two of them once he had quickly glanced over at Sis, who motioned for him to go on ahead.
Quistis was about to turn and follow them, when she paused...noticing that the older girl had stopped altogether and was staring at the sky.
"Sis?"
Ellone blinked, turning quickly to smile down at Quistis, "Oh...sorry, Quistis. I was just thinking of something, is all."
"Do you need help with anything?" Quistis asked, motioning to the bag hanging over Ellone's shoulder.
She shook her head, the two starting to walk slowly behind Matron and the two younger children back to the orphanage. As they continued at their steady pace, Ellone glanced over at Quistis and smiled again...pointing to the spot of flour still caked on the other girl's cheek.
Quistis's face reddened in embarrassment, as she tried wiping it off with the back of her hand.
"So...was it a food fight this time then?" Ellone asked conspiratorially, her voice a mere whisper.
Quistis nodded, "It was pretty bad. Took awhile to clean up."
"...Remember the one time when Irvine knocked over Matron's favorite vase? That was like a gigantic puzzle we had to put back together again!"
The two girls laughed loudly in their reminiscence, the sounds of the younger orphans and Matron's gentle voice drifting through the air to their ears. Soon enough, they heard Cid's tenor joining the cacophony as well when he finally managed to tear himself away from his desk to see what the earlier noise had been about and to greet his wife.
...It might only be temporary given the nature of orphanages, which Quistis was old enough now to know: but right now she was glad that this sometimes very hectic but always comforting place was what she called home.