Chapter 8 - Master Fisherman's Fish and Chips

[junkuroki]

Lily~

Jun opened her mouth to reply to Gone's cheeky suggestion, only to be interrupted yet again by the waitress.

"Fish and chips, small serving." She said, setting the plate down with a loud clunk.

Jun stared up at her in irritation, but refrained from voicing out her displeasure. The woman carried on setting down food on the table, seemingly oblivious to her stare.

On closer inspection there's a moustache above her lip. She snickered audibly. The lady stared at her weirdly.

"Desserts will be served later. Is that all?"

"Yes, darling. That is all. We'll be sure to call you if we want anything else." Jun answered her in a patronising manner, then turned to address Brooke.

"Blaze is right. When are you gonna stop tagging along, Miss Highness? We can't jolly well let you into Garden... and you don't expect us to stop halfway just so we could drop you at the vacation spot of your choice, do you?" She finished, grabbing her bag of candy back from where Brooke had deposited on the table.

Then she started eating without waiting for Brooke's reply. She almost wept in contentment as the first morsel of fish slid down her throat into her stomach.

Food... glorious food!!!

[junkuroki]

GC~

Gone grinned in anticipation as the waitress placed his double order of everything in front of him. Mmmm, it look delicious. Gone carefully separated his food, a few of his fries were touching his fish and that wasn't acceptable. He liked to eat all of one thing at a time, without it being 'contaminated' by the other stuff on his plate. He hated it when that happened. He decided to start with his fries. Picking one up and carefully applying ketchup to the single fry, he dug in. Repeating the process as necessary.

"So Blaze, love, what did you order? A plate of raw meat and glass of blood?" He inquired cheerfully between bites.

[junkuroki]

Auria~

Zacke let out a cough-snort-hybrid, almost choking on the bit of fry he was trying to swallow, as Gone cracked his joke about Blaze. He glanced over at Blaze and embellished his cough into a loud hack and thumped his fist against his chest, covering his mouth with his other hand. He straightened. "Sorry, went down the wrong pipe." he explained. His eyes met Gone's and he tried to keep a straight face.

Brooke let out a loud huff and stood. "I don't have to put up with this!" she said in an exhasperated tone that could compete with any princess'. "Excuse me," she said sincerely, edging her way around Tomoe. She turned to them at the end of the table. "I thank you for your help, and even if it doesn't seem like it, I am honestly grateful. I was hoping on sticking with you guys at least until you got into Garden, at least there I would be safe, but since I'm such an inconvenience, I'll be leaving you now. Good luck on your little quest and I hope you find your...princess jewels...or whatever they are." she said, then started to turn, but paused. "Oh, and I seriously doubt your figure is better than mine." she sneered at Blaze, flipping her chestnut curls over her shoulder. She rolled her eyes, then turned and went straight for the door outside.

Zacke cleared his throat. "Well," he said, sliding over in the seat, taking up half of the space Brooke was, a bit pleased that now that Brooke being gone left him next to Tomoe. He smirked, looking down at Brooke's small fry. He lifted it slightly. "Anyone want Pretty Fluffy Powder Princess's hideous, greasy, fatty fries?"

[junkuroki]

Lily~

Jun's gaze followed Brooke until the girl exited the restuarant in a huff. She actually felt a twinge of guilt when Brooke had mentoned feeling grateful to them for assisting her in leaving Esthar - not that she would openly admit it though.

As annoying as she is, she's still not bad person. Just tad nosiy... She conceded.

{If you think in that way, are you going to run after her and ask her back then?}

Of course not. I still don't like the idea of letting her into Garden. I just think I could have phrased it in a gentler manner.

{Then you are nothing but a hypocrite.}

"Anyone want Pretty Fluffy Powder Princess's hideous, greasy, fatty fries?" Zacke asked, holding up a fry.

"Ohhh can I have a few?!"Jun said quickly, breathing an imperceptible sigh of relief. She hated being grilled by Sapphy, and any kind of distraction was a welcome one.

"So after eating let's look around for the Master Fisherman that Blaze mentioned earlier. What do you guys think?"

[junkuroki]

Auria~

"I guess I'm up for it, if we still have time to kill..." Zacke said with a shrug before taking a bite out of his burger.

[junkuroki]

Lily~

Jun finished the last of her fish and chips, and beckoned for the waitress to bring her dessert.

"Should we ask Stardust along? And Reese? Of course, there's a ninety percent chance they won't come, but at least we can't be faulted for not asking." She shrugged.

{Do you honestly think they'll agree?}

No harm in asking, is there?

{...excercise in futility.}

[junkuroki]

GC~

Gone grinned at Zacke's 'choking'. He was just trying to make conversation... innocent conversation.

Gone zoned out through Brooke's tantrum. He always zoned out when people yelled.

"Should we ask Stardust along? And Reese? Of course, there's a ninety percent chance they won't come, but at least we can't be faulted for not asking." Jun asked.

"Yeesh, way to attract attention. Maybe she wants someone to sweep her of her feet. I would, being the perfect gentleman that I am. But her shoes might stab me or something." Gone grinned not really paying attention to the others as he watched Brooke storm away. Once she was done, he turned his attention to Jun and the others.

"Jun, love, why should we go out of our way to get yelled at? If they're not here when we get good info or whatever, it's their own fault. They're not being 'teammate co-operating persons'. And 'sides that, they'll ruin the mood, and the fact that we're all getting along so well, by being broody and the 'I'm all alone in the world anti-hero' thing they have going." Gone said cheerfully, then looked mock seriously at Jun. "You wouldn't want be responsible for ruining their 'image' would you?"

Gone then sat back in the booth, and looked at his empty plate. "Yo, waitress, where's my desert? I'm a growing boy, I need yummy sugary things."

[junkuroki]

Bun~

"Yo, waitress, where's my desert? I'm a growing boy, I need yummy sugary things," Gone demanded, looking around.

Tomoe smiled at Vacc's obvious need for sweets as she grabbed the small tray of fries Brooke had ordered from in front of Zacke. "Since nobody's eating this..." she said, half to herself, grabbing three or four at once and downing them without a problem. She didn't even need to chew. It was a skill she had mastered, living with three other rowdy boys, not including Wolfe. She had finished the order in less than a minute, and was back to silently sipping her glass of water and looking around.

And there she waited, thinking nothing to herself.

[junkuroki]

Lily~

Jun listened with half-closed eyes as Gone "explained" something about non "teammate cooperating persons" spoiling the mood and what not. Gone's droning always had a lullaby effect on her spirits, although she couldn't exactly pinpoint the reason.

She was almost on the verge of nodding off and wiping her face with the greasy, ketchup and mayonnaise-smeared plate in front of her, only to be jolted into full attention by a loud thump on the table. It turned out "Madam Friendly Waitress" was serving her ice-cream and Gone's apple pie.

"Alright, alright. I was just asking. No need to give me a lecture."She grumbled.

She prepared to dig into her deliciously-creamy looking dessert, spoon poised in hand, only to find the waitress still standing there.

"Yes?" Jun asked in puzzlement, a "you-may-go-now" look spread over her face.

"Two fish burgers to go." The waitress simply dumped a doggie bag in front of her.

Jun stared dumbly at it.

"I forgot. I have a 'package' to deliver." She grabbed the bag and rose from her seat. "Someone help me finish the ice-cream. And if I'm not here when you guys finished eating... order a drink or something. I shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes. Or if you don't want to wait just go ahead without me."

She dashed out of the shop without glancing back.

Based on Stardust's behavioural patterns... she'd probably be waiting at the landing strip. Let's see if my observation is accurate enough.



Five minutes later...

Jun ran up from the flight of stairs that led up to the landing strip. Sure enough, Stardust was leaning against its railing. She didn't look very pleased.

"Kuroki Express at your service." Jun said, holding out the doggie bag towards the pink-haired girl.

She looked around. There was a person missing.

"Where's Reese?"

[junkuroki]

Ani~

Stardust wasn't expecting to see Jun Kuroki coming into the stairs to approach her. With a friendly smile, she stepped up beside her and said, "Kuroki Express at your service." Then held a doggie bag in front of her. The smell of fresh hamburgers reeked out of it.

Stardust silently looked at Jun. She brought me something? Her eyes trailed from her face to the bag, her face blank.

/That is nice of her indeed./

"It's all right. I'm not hungry."

Jun paused for a bit to look around the place. "Where's Reese?"

Reese. Stardust frowned. She stared ahead. "Why the heck should I know?" she mumbled.

[junkuroki]

Auria~

Reese turn after aimlessly walking down one street, and started to head back to the landing pad. He hoped the ship would be waiting when he got there. He just wanted to get on and get to Garden. He didn't want to have to say anything to anyone. Now, more than ever, he wished he were back at DotNA Headquarters. Maybe then he could find some space and just think, just be alone for a while.

/Adel didn't give you this job for no reason Reesie./ Perish interrupted his thoughts, her voice softer than usual. /You're doing this because they know you can. Now suck it up and focus./

It's not easy, you know. Reese shot back mentally, irritated.

/Don't tell me about easy, it's not SUPPOSED to be easy. You should never have expected it to be easy. Now I'm done acting like I don't know whats wrong with you, I know you better than you know yourself and I know you let your emotions get in the way of your mission. Hell, Reesie, you're STILL letting them get in the way./

I'm not letting anything get in the way! Do you realize I'm on my way back NOW?!

/Yeah, and you just keep on moving Reesie, 'cause I ain't taking anymore of this oh-poor-me-just-leave-me-alone-I-need-a-drink sh!t you're going on about. You know I care about you too much to let you throw whats left of your life away because some girl couldn't see the light burning in you./

He wanted to laugh aloud. Light, eh?

/Damn skippy, light. Now focus, right, left, right, left./

He couldn't help but smirk. He probably looked like a fool to people on the streets, a smile creeping at the corner of his mouth for no reason at all, but he didn't really care. He looked up, and along the railing of the landing pad a hundred or so yards away he was two women. One with shocking pink hair, and another with dark. His smirk quickly faded. He knew for sure the one was Stardust, and the other probably Jun. As he approached, his guesses were proven correct.

He leaned against the rail, fervently hoping neither of them would try and start any kind of conversation, or say anything he would have to come up with an answer to.

[junkuroki]

Ani~

Stardust noticed a black figure approach her and Jun from the corner of her eyes. That black suit and a bowler hat. She couldn't be mistaken. It was none other than Reese. He came back afterall.

Turning her head to look at him, the railing gave out a sudden jerk when Reese leaned on it, making Stardust lose her balance and sending her crashing to the hard concrete behind the railing.

"Oww!" she yelped instinctively as her back hit the asphalt. "Damn it!"

[junkuroki]

Auria~

Reese let out a snort. He couldn't help it. Just couldn't help it...

I guess this is the part where I turn and offer to help her up.

/Or you can just say something mean. Or laugh at her./ Perish suggested, the eagerness in her tone evident.

Reese shook his head, turning to face Stardust. Now, you, Perish, you're downright cruel. I would never do any such thing to her...

/Oh to HER. So now she's special./

Reese ignored Perish, bending over slightly and extending a hand to Stardust. "Sorry about that, if it was my fault." he said, his words void of emotion, as dispassionate as his expression, staring straight into her eyes.

[junkuroki]

Ani~


Stardust grit her teeth as she tried to pull herself off the ground. That really did hurt.

The next thing she realized, Reese approached her and extended a hand to her. "Sorry about that, if it was my fault," he said tonelessly.

Stardust looked back at him, frowning. "No, it wasn't your fault," she mumbled and hesitantly grabbed his hand to stand up. "It's the rail."

/Sarcastic are we?/ Diwata laughed.

[junkuroki]

Auria~

Reese was somehow stung by her tone. He wasn't used to being affected by anyones harsh words, and he didn't like the fact that hers made him actually feel the tiniest bit of guilt for what he'd said to her earlier that day.

He pulled his hand away from her. "I was just trying to help." he replied coolly in response to her sarcastic remarks. "Look, I know I pissed you off earlier, and you have the right to be mad at me, so whatever. Carry on with your bitchy mood. But I am sorry and I do know that I was out of line earlier."

He leaned back against the railing and crossed his arms.