Work Text
You Are My Only Painter
Seifer
White and Gray:
I shouldn't have accepted that solo mission.It was a place of exile with no company but the forest deer, flighty from fast-encroaching monsters, and an indigenous tribe whose bread and butter was island embroidery and textiles.My life was reduced to white and gray: boat-water frozen over, splintered ice-and-rock formations on the horizon, endangered owls that never stayed more than a night.Six months I was meant to be gone, but five is what I worked hard for.I had to return to Garden.I had to return to her.
Quistis
Neon Pink:
On New Year's Eve, Squall treated us to an overnight stay at the new hotel in Deling City.The girls and I commenced the celebration with blowouts and manicures.Beneath a canopy of LED-studded ropes, we dined on whiskey-braised short ribs and balsamic white peaches, the music just loud enough to drown out the arpeggios and clanks from the adjoining casino.I kept getting distracted by my nails. The bright confidence and playful femininity promised by this neon pink was eluding me.At the stroke of midnight, I would be the only one without a significant other.
Seifer
Ocean:
Nobody but Squall knew I was coming back early.I caught a flight to Balamb, just in time for New Year's Eve.I showered, shaved, and swapped out some items from my suitcase.A message when I checked in to the hotel: the guys were at the casino, with dinner and dancing to follow.Blinding lights whirled and glittered around me amid glass chandeliers, ceramic water fountains, and the high-stakes ringing of slot machines.Cigar sommeliers puffed earth, leather, and wood in my face, reposing on crushed velvet cushions in a hue of ocean that matched Quistis' eyes.
Quistis
Black:
After dinner, the girls insisted that we visit the lingerie store, as the hotel boasted an indoor shopping mall.Like my impersonator nails, I felt out of place.Seifer and I had always dated in secret. Just when the two of us could've made our declarations to each other in public, he departed for a long-term mission that left me in lonely despair.The glam marketing of romance and sex was all too much to take in.I stepped outside of the store for some air.I gazed longingly at the black babydoll dress in the window display.
Seifer
Heaven's Gold:
I ditched the guys as soon as I found out where the girls were playing.I found Quistis standing by herself in front of the lingerie store, arms crossed in a careful posture that conveniently hid all the hurt.I vowed never to hurt her again—never to leave her again.When she noticed my presence, her entire body glowed, a vision of Heaven's gold.She trembled with pleasure at our kiss: the extraordinary finale of this long and painful half-year.I bought her that babydoll dress.And we rang in the New Year together.
The End