Chapter 8: A Partner for the Ball

[Zacke]

lmao

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Zacke simply stared at the girl for a few moments, sort of lost on what he should say. Her outburst was definitely not becoming, but at least the distress she was in over her loss was somewhat understandable. Still...

"Umm, you need to calm down. We're sorry about your loss. But that's what happens in war." he said--simple and straight. You would think, as a SeeD, she would be able to handle this better. He cleared his throat softly. "You should really be glad we ended the war, so that you and the loved ones you still have with you can live in relative peace now."

He turned away, taking a drink of his water. As for what we talk about; well, we'll talk about whatever we damn-well please. he thought, choosing not to voice that portion of his opinion out loud. It would just be unnecessarily rude.

[Lawric]

Lawric exhaled a sigh of relief as he lowered Deo down onto the smooth granite barrier surrounding the fountain. It was a low and flat surface that circled all around the water, and could almost double as a bench, really. Deo's head rolled to one side limply and one of his legs slipped into the water, creating a splash. He didn't wake up though, Of course. Lawric rolled his eyes in annoyance and grabbed Deo's pant leg, jerking his sopping foot out of the water and dropping it down next to his dry one.

He moved around to where Deo's head lay and sat down next to it. He stared down at his friend for a second or two, contemplating where or not he should even try to wake the guy up.

A sudden and very loud metalic banging noise instantly pulled his attention away. He looked at the elevator, which was where the sound was coming from. Behind all the banging he could faintly hear someone screaming and yelling. It wasn't a scared sort of yell--whoever (or whatever) it was, it was furious. He frowned slightly and glanced around. Other SeeDs and faculty in the area were beginning to take notice, too. The yelling was starting to get even more fierce. He looked back at the elevator, and finally stood and took a few steps toward it.

CHINK.

Lawric stopped dead in his tracks as three thin metal blades slid clean through the steel door, screeching horribly, like nails on a chalkboard.

"HOLY SHIT!" some SeeD guy who was standing nearby shouted. He grabbed his girlfriend by the hand and began leading her away from the scene at a very fast pace.

Three more little blades peirced the door, screeching again as they slid through. Lawric winced. What the hell?! It's voice was muffled by the doors.

"OPE--UP YOU GO---AMN---PIECE OF---IT!!"

'It' was cussing. And it was pushing it's blades through again and again--blades that Lawric was starting to think queerly resembled claws. With that animalistic howling going on behind the doors, he wouldn't be surprised...

He stepped backward slowly, his face an absolute perfect depiction of the acronym 'WTF.' Yep, Lawric was quite content to sit down next to Deo and watch. He wanted nothing to do with that freakish thing trying to claw it's way out of a steel elevator.

---

Okay, so like, Blaze can be stuck in the elevator until Ash gets back? XD We can just say it malfunctioned on her.

[Jax Ridean]

The awkward silence that followed was almost unbearable. Not to mention the fact that nearly every person in the cafeteria was staring at them as if they had all suddenly stripped down to their underwear.

"Ummm, you need to calm down." Zacke quickly responded. "We're sorry about your loss. But that's what happens in war." Jax raised an eyebrow. Surely the other pilot could try to be a little more understanding. After all, the fact that they had been heatedly discussing something as trivial as "dates" for the past 20 minutes did seem a bit childish and petty. Now that the war was over, it seemed so easy to forget the lives that were lost. And if he had lost Gemma... Jax shuddered. He could even imagine how he would react if that were ever to occur..

"Hey," he suddenly blurted out. "I think we can all try to be a bit more considerate. Really now fellows," he frowned, "I don't see why the rest of you are so reluctant to take up an opportunity to escort such lovely ladies..." he grinned, "not to mention ones that could also kick all of our asses in battle--now that's a rare quality in a woman isn't it? And as for the SeeD ball," he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see any harm in attending."

Bowing his head slightly, he slowly approached the girl, Carmi and her friend, who was clutching her arm as if she was restraining her from attacking them or something. Jax took another look at the girl. Heck, if her face hadn't been so blotchy and red from crying, she was actually a rather pretty little thing. He nodded gravely. "I'm sorry that you lost your brother. I'm sure he died a courageous and noble death and his efforts deserve to be honored. I think all of us recognize the great cost," he glanced meaningfully at Zacke," of attaining peace. It's just that some of us, including myself, have just been more fortunate to not have experienced the loss of a loved one--yet. And.." he took a deep breathe.

What the hell...might as well set an example..

He smiled, "I'd like to ask if I could be your escort to the SeeD Ball."

[Reese]

Friend?

Reese's eyes lifted back up to hers.

"To lose my trust...." She trailed off, as if thinking. "You have to do better than that," she finished. There was no hardness in her tone. No indication that she was upset or angry. Just pure reassurance. For him.

He looked back down at his lap, his mind reeling with the words he thought he'd heard. She still... how can she possibly still trust me? He'd tortured himself with thoughts of how she would hate him if she knew the truth. That night, at FH... she'd said, all of them deserved to die, 'every damn one of them.' And wasn't he one of 'them?'

She doesn't see me that way. He realized. To her, I'm still just Reese. As dark as his current situation was, he felt a very heavy and uncomfortable weight slowly lift away from him. He looked up at her. Disheveled bright pink hair framed her delicate features. She wasn't scowling like she always used to--her face was impassive. And her violet eyes were just as stark and distracting as he remembered them. The familiarity brought him immeasurable comfort. She hadn't changed one bit.

He swallowed, his emotions barraging him again. I'm still alive. What did it mean for him?

"You shouldn't be sitting up yet. I'm going to call Dr. Kadowaki." She said softly. When he felt her hand come down on his shoulder, he lifted one of his own and placed it down over hers, stopping her from walking away just yet.

"Wait--" he said softly. "Thank you... for being here." he looked downward. A small, sad kind of smile played on his lips, and he spoke very quietly. "I should be dead. I know if you weren't here, I would feel different about waking up."

[Zacke]

HAHA Jax XD

---

Zacke arched an eyebrow, watching Jax ease his way into the conversation and work a charming number on the frazzled and emotional girl. What was her name? Karma? What the hell...

"I'm sure he died a courageous and noble death and his efforts deserve to be honored." Jax rattled on. "I think all of us recognize the great cost of attaining peace." Zacke caught the look Jax gave him, and stared back blankly, as if to say 'What?'

/You could be a little more sympathetic./ Iris commented.

He ignored his Guardian--as per usual.

His mouth grew into a smirk when Jax asked the girl to the SeeD Ball. He shook his head and turned his attention back to eating his meal. Nice choice, dude.

[junkuroki]

Jun chewed away at the fry in her mouth, eyes flitting between the girl, who had began yelling at them, Zacke, and Jax. Nobody else spoke, and the awkwardness hung in the air especially after Jax had asked to escort the girl to the Ball..

Uhhh, yeah great timing, Jax.

She turned her full attention to the girl, lifting her eyes to Carmi's anger-filled ones.

"You may not believe it, but we put every ounce of our soul into fighting Adel and almost lost our lives doing it. And do you know how and why we did it? It's because of the sacrifices that great people like your brother made, that makes it possible. If you're gonna be angry at us for that, there's nothing I can say or do to appease your anger. And I don't mean to, cos nothing anyone does or says will bring him back. So be strong for him. Rejoice for him. No brother would want to see his sister mope about, he'd want you to be happy."

Jun smiled gently now, knowing her earlier words probably were like acid to the girl's ears.

"If you're gonna say 'yeah you didn't just fucking lose someone', you're right. But we'd rather talk and bitch about meaningless stuff like the Ball and our dates, than add to more gloom by holding a memorial service mourning for the lost lives." She offered a napkin to the girl.

"Mourning isn't just done by wearing black faces and crying all day. It's also keeping them in your memories."

----------------

OMG she's such an incorrigible nag even to people she doesn't know -_- *yawns*

[Gemma Ridean]

Let's see...now do I want apple crumbler...or....the fudge brownie...

Gemma stared down at her belly that suddenly released a loud rumble.

No...better stick to the apple...


"Still haven't decided yet?"

Gemma groaned. Not him again.

"So is this the same decisiveness that's going to help you select your partner at the ball?" Rayden laughed "And heh, you know the loads of rabid fangirls throwing themselves at your pilot brother wouldn't let me off if Mr Wendigo becomes his dance partner." He raised his eyebrows. "While I'm more interested in finding a Miss Wendigo...I'm sure he doesn't fit that bill."

Continuing to focus on her task, Gemma cooly replied, "Did you know that Alutian Zabia once said, "God created the flirt as soon as he created the fool" ? I find that you are living evidence for such a statement."

She finally grabbed the fudge brownie that she had been eyeing, and took a large bite..and couldn't help but smile upon enjoying its chocolatey goodness.

Her ears suddenly picked up the sound of loud sobbing and sniffling. Gemma sighed and shook her head. It seemed that everyday someone was suffering from a nervous breakdown in the cafeteria. Perhaps they had a final coming up...

"Have some respect for the dead!"

Glancing at Rayden for moment, Gemma whirled around to see a petite girl practically bellowing at the rest of her teammates at their table.

Raising her eyebrows, she continued to watch as Jax swooped in to make his eloquent speech only to...er...ask the girl to the SeeD Ball.

"I think my brother might be giving you a run for your money, Mr. Wendigo." she murmured.

[Diego Stanton]

CHINK!!

"RRRRRRUREEAGHGHGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Deo opened one eye, then two. Opening both eyes at the same time was always too much of a struggle for him.

Where am I??

Deo rolled over to the side to turn off his chinking, screaming alarm clock and fell into the fountain water. His eyes half closed in a daze before he realized his face was turning purple and he couldn't breathe.

"MMMMFFFFGU---UUUH!" He suddenly surfaced the water like a breaching whale, looking around wildly, his hair covered in gils that people had thrown into the fountain. He immediately spotted Lawric watching him with ... amusement? Horror? Rolling eyes?

"Lawric!!! Dude you're....." Deo searched for the right words, "not dead. When did I fall asleep??" He couldn't remember anything after killing Adel and making the wish that one of his friends (not Signe!) could come back to life.

Animalistic sounds still emitted from the elevator, which the disciplinary committee was setting caution tape around.

"What's goin' on over there?" Deo asked.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

HAHA Karma XD And for some reason, Jax cracks me up. What great timing to ask someone at the ball LOL
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Hadrian averted his gaze from the emotional girl, letting Jun, Jax and Zacke handle her just because he didn't want to. So maybe he was a little heartless with what he said about ditching the Ball. It was his bad.

This is turning into a peep show. It was then he thought that maybe he should pull Jax away from the girl--for now atleast.

Carmi stared back at Jax after he asked her to the Ball. Her eyes were filled with confusion and tears. "You..." she started. "Do you even mean what you just said? Asking me out when I'm like this!" She then shot a look at the SeeDs at the table, particularly to Jun. She didn't say anything next.

"I'm really sorry." Her friend, Ari, stood in front of Carmi, looking apologetic. "She tends to lose it when it comes to her big brother. You all have a point," she said sadly, earning a disapproving look from her friend. "Pardon us for interrupting." She saluted curtly and pulled the reluctant Carmi along with her.

Hadrian let out an exasperated sigh. "Girls..." Thank Hyne, that was over. He slapped Jax hard at the back and said, "Don't mind...I bet you she'll probably just PMS at the ball if she said yes." He grinned. "More importantly, it looks like Gemma already beat you to a date though." He pointed to Rayden and her over at the food stand.

[vanesse]

Sitting beside Jaime, Vanesse was silently staring at Zacke and Hadrian. She didn't like the haughty tone Zacke used, and she especially didn't like the way Hadrian treated her like a nuisance. Somehow, a part of her wanted to do what that girl did too---express her frustrations for losing her friends from the war. And one thing was for sure, giving a sincere response was the least they could do.

"Glad she's gone, don't you?" Vanesse frowned at Hadrian. "It must be so annoying to have someone screaming at you in the face because she felt you're being rude to her brother." She grunted, pushing her chair to stand up. "We sure showed her who ended the war." She refrained from glancing at Zacke.

Normally, if someone was this frustrated over someone's loss, everything's worth gets reduced to nothing. Adel's death probably didn't have much meaning to her now. But who was she to speak for that girl's grief? She was merely saying this because it was from her own perspective.

"I'm going to check on Deo and Lawric," she told Jaime. She was more comfortable with her friends from the Opps afterall. Atleast Jaime, Lawric and Deo were on the same page with her.

[jaimelewis]

Jaime had been uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole time the girl ranted at the SeeDs. Even though she had been acting exuberantly earlier, it didn't help to get rid of the sinking feeling that kept nagging at her, but the more it tugged at her, the more she felt she should smother it with excited laughter and bright smiles. It just wouldn't help to face everyone with a mournful face, it'd only make them feel uneasy.

But the way the SeeDs responded was too much. She didn't know they were so insensitive, she thought they were nice, considerate people.

She looked up at Van when the other girl ranted at the SeeDs, surprised at Van's outburst. Usually Van was the one who had the most tolerance, but maybe she was just as affected as Jaime herself by Able and Signe's deaths.

""I'm going to check on Deo and Lawric," she told Jaime. "Van..." She nodded, and stood up from her chair. Then she turned towards the SeeDs.

"I hope you're all happy now." She said, her eyes reddening, trying to force back the sudden onslaught of pressure around her tear lines. "You may all be unsurpassable in the battlefield but you need to work on your attitude. Don't act like the entire world owes you their lives just because you killed Adel. And you had no right to say what you did to that girl. You haven't lost anyone to battle. You don't know how it feels. And even if you did, you know that makes what you just said even more unforgivable." She stopped, knowing if she continued any longer she would start calling out some choice insults.

"Let's go, Van." She grabbed her friends' arm, wiping at her eyes with the other hand, then started to walk towards the cafeteria exit.

[Zacke]

Zacke silently listened to Van's biting words, and then Jaime's heated reprimand.

"You don't know how it feels. And even if you did, you know that makes what you just said even more unforgivable." Jaime took arms with Van and started to move for the exit.

I just buried my sister three days ago. I don't know what loss feels like?

"Look," his gaze lifted to Carmi, moments after Jaime and Van walked away. "I'm sorry if I came off as rude or unfeeling. I don't expect you to just 'get over it.' I understand the significance of your loss. But you need to know that you can't be rude to us because of it. You have no right coming up to our lunch table and yelling at us, calling us things like incompetent and disrespectful."

He didn't sound angry, but he did sound incredibly serious. "Grieving is one thing. Pointing blame and misdirecting those negative feelings is another thing entirely."

He looked back down at his tray. He didn't like Jaime's tone, or what she had said. Not at all. He could feel his serious SeeD exterior faltering and his real emotions starting to unravel. He shared a brief look with Jun, before standing and heading for the bathrooms.

[Lawric]

Cloosh!

Lawric heard the loud splash and felt water slosh against his back. Deo! He twisted around abruptly. He had been so engrossed in the animal fighting to get out of the elevator (even the disciplinary committee was now getting involved!), he had totally forgotten about--you know--making sure Deo didn't roll himself into the fountain, or something like that. He mentally berated himself for being such a careless friend as he stood and stepped back, watching Deo push himself out of the water. He couldn't help but crack a grin at Deo's expression, the humor only accentuated further by the gil raining down out of his hair.

"Lawric!!! Dude you're.....not dead. When did I fall asleep??"

Lawric frowned in thought. "Uhh,"

"What's goin' on over there?" Deo asked before he could answer.

Lawric looked back over in the direction of the elevator. "Well, apparently the elevator is broken. And I think the reason they're not trying to fix it is that... violent thing, trying to get out." The claws were still coming through the doors--which now sported several dozen holes. "I don't blame them. But they need to either subdue it or put up more than caution tape. It's going to get out of there at some point."

[junkuroki]

Jun gave Jaime a warning glance as the Blonde Opps started lashing out at them. But she didn't seem to catch it, continued ranting to her heart's content then leaving the table.

This girl needs some lessons in tact herself. She thought grimly. But she couldn't interrupt her rant, precisely because she hadn't experienced tragic loss yet but...

Zacke...

Jun caught Zacke's look at her, before he started to leave the table.

"Excuse me." She muttered, leaving the table as well and started to go after him. He looked like he was trying not to break down, and she could only imagine, those words that the two Opps girls (particularly Jaime) threw at him would hardly be easy to swallow.

But halfway across the cafeteria, Jun was slowed down by her own hesitation. What would she do if she did catch up with him? What was she going to do? Ask him to unload all his troubles? Why would he do that, when she can't even empathise with him, having been leading a relatively trouble-free life up until now? But she couldn't just let him languish in grief alone...

Her feet sped up. She didn't care if it would turn up useless. She had to at least try.

"Zacke." She caught up with him just as he was about to enter the male washroom, attracting a few stares from the guys coming out and going in.

She placed a gentle arm on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked, but she just couldn't voice the most urgent thought in her mind.

Talk to me Zacke, don't bottle everything up.
---------

*send pigeon to deliver message >.>*

[Zacke]

First the drama with To--Polaris. He mentally swore. Polaris... yeah, Polaris--whatever Tomoe. And now this. These two naive brats. He didn't need this shit. He didn't need any of it.

Zacke felt a light touch on his arm, and paused.

"Are you okay?"

He turned around to face Jun. He wasn't okay. He was frustrated, angry, and out of patience. He felt so disrespected--but they didn't even know they were disrespecting him when they said what they did, they were only reacting to the situation accordingly. So how could he expect them to be any different? Why should he feel this much resentment? He knew he was somehow wrong in feeling this way. But right now, he just didn't care.

"I'm alright," he said, averting his gaze. "They just... rubbed me the wrong way. Those girls. They don't know what they're talking about Jun. They have no fucking clue."

Now that he was in relative private with her, he felt his emotions magnify. He didn't have to hide as much, or pretend as much. Jun wasn't a new face he wanted to make the 'right' impression with. She was Jun. She had seen all sides of him. Things became harder to keep in check--namely his anger. And somehow, expressing this anger felt good.

"Who are they, anyway?" he asked stiffly. "'Opps'--never heard of it. And that's all I know about them. Please give me a reason I should have more respect for them, because right now I have very little."