It annoys him to no end that Seifer has continued to try and write himself off as the bad guy. Even before Ultimecia had come along. Squall's expression sours, pushing him to rise back up to his feet.
"Don't do that," he scowls with his arms folding over himself. Falling back into old patterns. "I'm here for you. Not as a convenient way to step out or to ruin my story but to make sure it continues in a way that's meaningful. To me. And it starts by pushing you to take the fucking pardon so I can push you to keep striving for more."
His arm finally sweeps out to gesture at their surroundings. "You're not meant for this. Hiding from the world because they're too cowardly to own up to their own part in all of this. You constantly try to paint yourself as the villain because everyone stood in your way of being a hero. They were wrong. You could have been the best of them but Garden decided profit was more important than promise. And they were wrong."
At some point, Squall had begun to shake, vibrating with all of the pent up fury he's been harboring since the result of the SeeD exam. He can't take these words back. This isn't Time Compression. He won't get to say these words over and over and tailor them for efficiency. He barges on anyway.
"I don't care that you don't want to make a big deal out of coming to our aid. It was. And it wasn't out of some cocky need to prove you could, it was because some part of you cared whether we got hurt. Whether we failed. You could have left me bleeding out in the Training Center before the exam. You could have Cured yourself before the scar set. You could have left me alone to figure out how to survive in Garden or use a gunblade. You have been there for me, pushing me, growing me, helping me and I don't care what you want to call it: rivalry, competition, boredom, whatever, but it meant something to me which made the thought of you being executed the first time around worse than however many lifetimes I spent in Time Compression. I won't let you put yourself in that position again and if I have to drag your ass across Horizon Bridge to protect you, then I will."
The declaration doesn't come with Squall's eyes on the wall or the ground, they are fixed on Seifer, daring him to try and throw his life away again so Squall can pick it up and put it somewhere safe just to prove it belongs there.
no subject
"Don't do that," he scowls with his arms folding over himself. Falling back into old patterns. "I'm here for you. Not as a convenient way to step out or to ruin my story but to make sure it continues in a way that's meaningful. To me. And it starts by pushing you to take the fucking pardon so I can push you to keep striving for more."
His arm finally sweeps out to gesture at their surroundings. "You're not meant for this. Hiding from the world because they're too cowardly to own up to their own part in all of this. You constantly try to paint yourself as the villain because everyone stood in your way of being a hero. They were wrong. You could have been the best of them but Garden decided profit was more important than promise. And they were wrong."
At some point, Squall had begun to shake, vibrating with all of the pent up fury he's been harboring since the result of the SeeD exam. He can't take these words back. This isn't Time Compression. He won't get to say these words over and over and tailor them for efficiency. He barges on anyway.
"I don't care that you don't want to make a big deal out of coming to our aid. It was. And it wasn't out of some cocky need to prove you could, it was because some part of you cared whether we got hurt. Whether we failed. You could have left me bleeding out in the Training Center before the exam. You could have Cured yourself before the scar set. You could have left me alone to figure out how to survive in Garden or use a gunblade. You have been there for me, pushing me, growing me, helping me and I don't care what you want to call it: rivalry, competition, boredom, whatever, but it meant something to me which made the thought of you being executed the first time around worse than however many lifetimes I spent in Time Compression. I won't let you put yourself in that position again and if I have to drag your ass across Horizon Bridge to protect you, then I will."
The declaration doesn't come with Squall's eyes on the wall or the ground, they are fixed on Seifer, daring him to try and throw his life away again so Squall can pick it up and put it somewhere safe just to prove it belongs there.