The Honorary Ball

[raydensharpola]

Rayden grinned at Quistis when she approached him with his medal. She was still beautiful even with her increased years, outshining many of the young girls with her poise and elegance. This was the reason why The Trepies club were still a strong-going force even twenty-something years after its creation. He wasn't surprised at all.

"Well done." She smiled, her blond hair glinting in the light, almost dazzling him. "Looks like underneath your 'reputation' you still have what it takes to excel in your mission."

"Yes Ma'am." He said, bowing his head respectfully. He looked across at his teammates, some of them already made speeches and already went down the stage. He thought he caught Stella's glance at him. He raised his eyebrows, not knowing what to make of it. He winked playfully at her, then stepped up to the podium.

"I know everyone's expecting me to make a speech declaring that all fangirls are allowed to throw themselves at me." He laughed mockingly at himself. "But naaah. As from this day onwards I'm reserving all that 'throwing-themselves-at-me' for one person, whether she wants or not." He sneaked a little look at Stella, then turned back to the mic. "And as for my fangirls, I leave them all for Hadrian. And don't get drunk even if this is an excuse for everyone to drink, it's not pretty." He laughed lightly again, stepping down from the podium and headed for the stairs, throwing a meaningful glance at Stella on the way.

[Reese]

"You really love to drink, don't you?"

Stardust seated herself next to Reese with a smirk. He looked over at her. "Seriously, drinking just after you woke up." She shook her head. He looked at the empty glass on the table in front of him. Should he not have had it? It was only wine... compared to what he used to drink, it was pretty harmless, right?

He looked back at Stardust again, only now her attention was on Brooke.

"Alive?" Brooke replied, her giggly demeanor quickly switching over to full-on attitude. "DUH I'm still alive. Why would you think I died?" She rolled her eyes and assumed a fake smile again, handing a glass of wine to Stardust. She then lifted the bottle and went to pour more for Reese.

He placed a hand over his glass. "No more for me, thanks." he said quietly. He looked at her.

She rolled her eyes again. "You guys suck." She turned to Lawric and Jun and began pushing her bottle at them. "Another toast another toast!" she said in a sing-song voice.

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blaze felt herself being shoved by Stardust. She had half a mind to grab the pinkhead and start another brawl. Her fists clenched and she imagined herself ripping out chunks of Stardust's hair and feeding it to Melvin, tellling him that it was cotton candy.

"If you don't want to sit there, then where are you sitting?" Zacke asked blandly, "Those are our tables."

Blaze stared at him coldly. She suddenly remembered the time he almost ran her over and she wanted to bring it up but she didn't. Then she remembered them killing Terry together, throwing him in front of an oncoming truck. She almost laughed, but caught herself just in time.

Zacke was smirking. "I bet that's where Hadrian's gonna sit." He said confidently as if he was sure he had struck a nerve.

Now that the beginning of the dance was over and the announcements were through Blaze decided she didn't give a fuck anymore. She yanked on the tie in her hair, letting it flow wildly over her shoulders.

"You think I give a fuck where Hadrian sits?? He can sit on my lap for all I give a shit, he promised to buy me anything I wanted." Blaze gave Zacke a smug look like he wished he could have gotten a deal as good as hers.

"And I'm not sitting anywhere I'm going to stand right here," Blaze decided, "Why don't you go over there. You're such a soft coward, playing it safe with Jun. At least Hadrian had the guts to ask me to the ball, so don't give me shit about it. I bet you wouldn't even have the balls to Squank Stardust. I mean... if you did then I'd change my mind. But until then you'll always be a scared little boy to me."

[Zacke]

"You're such a soft coward, playing it safe with Jun... "

WHAT?! Zacke looked at her, his eyebrows clashing together instantly, his lips parted slightly. Playing it safe?! She had definitely struck a nerve...

"At least Hadrian had the guts to ask me to the ball, so don't give me shit about it." she continued ruthlessly. At this point, he was fuming with indignation. So much so that he couldn't even speak, he just stared at her in completely stunned and angry silence. "I bet you wouldn't even have the balls to Squank Stardust. I mean... if you did then I'd change my mind. But until then you'll always be a scared little boy to me."

"Scared little boy, huh?!" His eyes narrowed slightly. Tch. "WATCH THIS!!" He spat obnoxiously, purposely bumping shoulders with Blaze violently as he moved past and strode toward Stardust. He had the whole confident-male-strut thing going on in full scale, and probably looked ridiculous to anyone who might have noticed.

He would show her.

"Hey!" he barked as he came up to Reese and Stardust, drawing their attention. He took hold of one of Stardust's arms and used the element of surprise to his advantage, pulling her up from her seat while she was still surprised. "UP!" he shouted. Turning and locking his gaze with Blaze's, he brought his free hand back and smacked it right against Stardust's butt loudly. "HAH! SQUANK." He shouted challengingly at Blaze, staring at her with a fixed indignant scowl as he grabbed a handful of Stardust's cheek.

[stardust]

"UP!" shouted Zacke, grabbing her from her chair. Turning and locking his gaze with Blaze's, he brought his free hand back and smaked Stardust right on her butt. "HAH! SQUANK." he shouted at Blaze, staring at her with a fixed indignant scowl as he grabbed a handful of her cheek.

Stardust blinked for a second. What just happened here? She had to remind herself what Zacke had done to her this time. She had to start on the first scene. First, she was just sitting on the table drinking wine, minding her own business when Zacke approached her, pulled her up, shouted something, and gave her a...squank?

What is a squank? The blood in her veins started rushing through her head.

/Stardust. It's not worth it. Don't cause a scene AGAIN./

Everything hit her in full force and she felt like a volcano ready to erupt. Zacke had slapped her in the butt. Embarassed her in front of the people around their table and IN the table. Whatever did he do to this bastard to embarass her like this?!

"Zacke...Mercutio...." She grabbed his hand on her cheek and twisted it, pulling him towards her brutally. She felt her cheek redden. "WHATEVER DID I DO TO YOU?! YOU BASTARD!!" Her hands encased his neck and she lunged at him, pushing him onto the ground.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!" She got on top of him and pulled his collar up, continuing to shout on his face. "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?" She shook him back and forth. "APOLOGIZE. NOW."

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blaze felt like cocking her head to the side and flipping her hair back over her shoulders in a typical egotistic fashion. She had gotten to him, it was obvious from the way he grew red in the face. He almost seemed to be puffing up and growing larger in offense. Male egos, Blaze thought, gotta love male egos.

"I knew--" Blaze started to say

"WATCH THIS!!" Zacke shouted and began striding off as if he was going into battle. Blaze was completely taken aback. Where was he going??

WHAT IS HE DOING?!! Don't go near the Trinity tables... don't go.... Don-

A loud slap echoed across the ballroom. It was an epic slap. If Zacke had done the same thing in a long tunnel the sound would echo for miles.

"HAH! SQUANK." Zacke said confidently. Blaze was floored. He did it... he SQUANKED STARDUST INFINITY!!! Ok, so he might not live much longer to tell the tale, but Zacke would forever be embedded in Blaze's mind as the boy who squanked.

He did it... He did it to prove to Blaze that he wasn't a coward??!? Whoa. Suddenly she began cracking up. Tears oozed out of her eyes and she gasped hard, trying to calm herself down. "HAHAHAHHHA..... HAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHHAHA"

Zacke's eyes shot her a look of complete satisfaction... or was it stupidity? before he was inevitably mowed to the floor. Blaze's eyes followed Zacke's body as it crashed down in slo-mo. His expression was something Blaze wished she could record with Hadrian's camcorder so she could replay it over and over and over again. It was like watching an unsuspecting bunny rabbit nibbling on a piece of clover, totally unaware that a massive T-rexaur foot was hovering centimeters above its fuzzy ears.

"WHATEVER DID I DO TO YOU?! YOU BASTARD!!" Stardust was screaming. She had completely lost her composure and was shaking Zacke around like he was a rag doll.

Blaze was wiping the mascara off her cheeks and trying to stop herself from crying in laughter. Black was smearing all over her arms but she didn't care. This was probably THE funniest moment of her LIFE. And it was all thanks to Zacke.

Oh Hyne.. I'd better go save the twerp

Blaze began to sprint across the ballroom floor on her high-heels, holding up her dress to keep from tripping on it. She arrived at the Trinity tables where everyone was too shocked to do anything and grabbed an empty glass from Jun's hands as well as another one on the next table.

She had learned this trick when she was 14 and used to do it to unsuspecting people who were bending down in the halls. They wouldn't notice what had happened until they stood up. All you had to do was cast double reflect, it was sooo easy.

"REFLECT, REFLECT" she shouted quickly, aiming one hand at Stardust's butt and the other at the open glasses. She advanced towards Stardust with the most evil face capable by a human being and thrust the glasses downward onto the her two butt cheeks. Reflect had done its job. They stuck magnificently and Stardust wouldn't understand what happened until she stood up.

"HAHAHAHAHHAH" Blaze cackled. She bunched up her dress again and tore off down the ballroom floor.

[stardust]

Stardust stopped strangling Zacke when she felt Blaze do something on her behind. The next thing she knew there were two glasses stuck on her butt. Her eyes widened. This was humiliating. Totally demeaning. She looked back to see the culprit and found out that it was Blaze.

She had never wanted to make a person bleed the way she does now. Blaze was laughing at her like a hyena. She probably think this is funny, huh? Zacke had no respect for her and clearly violated her. They probably both planned this. Yes, they planned this so they could gang up on her and get back at her.

"Why do you always..." she hissed, her palms coming into a fist. "...Piss me off..." She was shaking uncontrollably. There was too much hate. There was too much anger in her right now. She reached behind her to grab the two glasses stuck on her. She wrapped both hands on both glasses and squeezed them as tight as she could. She heard the glass crack until both of them shattered in her hands, piercing her palms with some shards.

She forcefully stepped on Zacke's chest as she struggled to get up on her feet to face Blaze. "I'm going to kill you," she told Blaze directly, the wound in her hands worsening her anger.

"You'll pay for that!" As expected, wearing pants was the best decision she had ever done tonight. She made a 180 degree spin kick and hit Blaze straight in her chest, sending her flying to the table. She clenched her fist, panting heavily.

Come on... She waited for Blaze to get up. Right at this moment, she couldn't see anyone. What only mattered was this thing she was staring at.

[junkuroki]

Blaze flew back into the table with a bang after a kick from Stardust, the table reverberating and some glasses toppling on the table upon impact.

Jun watched dazedly at the scene unfolding before her eyes. She knew it. She knew their team, the one that had just received medals for exemplary courage and behaviour, would somehow ruin it in front of everyone. They had to fight everytime. They wouldn't stop just because it was a ball held to respect the people who killed Adel. It wouldn't be them.
Well, Jun wouldn't be Jun if she didn't try to salvage the mess.

She scraped her chair back, stalked towards where Zacke was lying on the ground, Blaze leaning against the table looking visibly hurt. Stardust was panting heavily with murder in her face.

Jun went over to Zacke and stood over him with hands on her waist.

"Get up Zacke, it doesn't hurt that much. Or is it your idea to show the entire population of SeeDs what model SeeDs we all are?" She glared at him, then went over to where Blaze was.

"Does it hurt?" She asked Blaze, her tone half of concern, half exasperated. She looked to Reese, locked glances with him and nodded towards the dangerous-looking Stardie, hoping he would understand what she was trying to convey.

"Regen." She cast the spell at Blaze, holding the wild-haired girl back in case she decided to retaliate. Then she bent down to whisper into Blaze's ear.

"Blaze, just calm down alright? Do you want Headmaster Squall to come down and detain all of us? That would be a very bad idea!"

[ST]

"STOP."

It was a voice none of them would mistake--a voice nobody wanted to hear at that volume.

Squall approached them. He stopped and stared in the midst of the silence that ensued, glancing between all of them with a permanent look of pure disdain etched into his features.

"Is this your idea of ballroom etiquette?" He looked straight at Stardust. His gaze switched to Zacke for a few moments, and finally landed on Blaze. His tone was icy. "It will embarrass me to have you all escorted from a Ball I have hosted in your honor, but if you cannot muster enough self-discipline to behave honorably, I will do it."

He looked at Stardust. "I don't care what incited that reaction--pull something like it again and I am suspending your license. You do not assault fellow SeeDs."

He glanced between Zacke and Blaze, who--by now--had both pushed themselves up to standing positions. "I don't have words for how ridiculously appalling this is. Two minutes ago, I honestly felt pride in each of you." He shook his head stiffly. "Needless to say, that feeling has died completely."

He lingered for a moment longer before turning and walking away, back toward the stage.

[Stella]

Is he?...

Oh my god he is... Stella felt just a little bit mortified as Rayden made his speech. Instantly she looked down at the stage trying to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. There were some people from Galbadia here today... imagine if they knew he was talking about her... or what they might say to Rayden if they found out the two of them were involved. She shook her head and slinked off stage as Rayden ended his speech trying not to think about what she would do if that happened.

She swung by the bar ordering two shots of vodka and downing them one right after another with a deep breath. They felt good going down warming her up on the inside. Ordering another cocktail as well she made a move toward the others. As she headed for the Trinity tables all hell suddenly broke lose. She couldn't quite make out what was happening but she heard some shouting and a table break.

Slipping through the crowd she arrived just in time to hear Squall give some of the members of her team a lecture.

Talk about mortifying.

The new guy was still sitting there a full wine glass in front of him looking passive. She slid into the chair next to him giving him a winning smile.

"I'm Stella" she introduced herself as she set her drink down and crossed her legs.

"It seems I always arrive too late and miss all the action, thank Hyne" she muttered the last part under her breath playing with the straw in her drink.

"So what happened, Stardust find a fly in her wine or something?" Stella asked looking back at him.

[junkuroki]

Jun headed back to her seat. What she feared would happen, had happened. The Headmaster himself had to come down and stop the fight from getting out of control, and she felt ashamed when his gaze had taken in all of them, disdainful and looking miles away from when he had handed them the medals. Sure, she hadn't been part of the action but it was something like you didn't want to admit you had Dotna supporters as a relative, the kind of association people make in their heads couldn't be controlled.

She bowed her head as she lowered herself into the seat next to Lawric, burying her face in her hands.

[Reese]

Although it had nothing to do with him, Reese listened to the tongue-lashing Squall dealt them, noting how Stardust had received the worst of it even though she was arguably the victim of the incident. Her temper--it was her downfall. That's what got her into trouble. If she could just learn to control it, Zacke and Blaze wouldn't get away with these kinds of things so much...

He wanted to feel sympathy, but other than the customary burning annoyance he felt over Blaze's existence, he actually felt quite indifferent about the situation. And Stardust, all fired up like that... she wasn't going to want him to try to talk to her or make her feel better about what happened. She'd probably just want to be left alone right now. He stared at the glass of wine in front of him numbly. Whether encouraged by Blaze or not, Zacke had overstepped a boundary in what he'd done. He made a mental note to have a talk with him about it very soon.

"I'm Stella,"

A girl in a teal dress and brown hair planted herself down next to him, right in the chair Stardust had been sitting in. He looked over at her as she rattled something about missing all the action, poking the straw around in her cocktail. "So what happened, Stardust find a fly in her wine or something?"

Reese stared for a second, briefly wondering if she thought he was a SeeD or something. She was being pretty friendly and casual. She must not know.

"No." He replied, looking back down at his drink. "They embarrassed her, and she lost her temper."

[Stella]

Stella tutted softly taking a long drink off her cocktail. Phew this thing is strong... maybe I made a mistake in ordering a triple... With a shrug she took another drink looking over at Mr. Makeup. He saw his glance go to the wine glass and she pushed it towards him with a grin.

"So you're the one that everyone was all excited about waking up, huh? Guess it must be nice to be mobile again" she rambled staring down into her drink. Lame, Stella, really lame.

"Hyne, I'm getting really drunk" Stella said for no reason in particular as she took another swig off the cocktail. Suddenly a loud beat filled the room.

It seemed like some of the older SeeD were leaving for the night and taking the orchestra with them. A DJ had set up in one of the corners of the room. However she couldn't help notice Seifer leaning agaisnt a pillar near by keeping a casual eye on their group.

"At fucking last, something to dance to" she said more musing out loud then anything else.

[Lawric]

Lawric glanced over at Jun when she buried her face in her hands. He had watched everything go down, and it was shocking--to say the least. He almost asked her if they were usually this violent, but she looked so upset, and it probably wasn't the best thing to say right now...

That had to have been embarrassing.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leaning over a little to try and see her face. It sorta reminded him of Van, the way she buried her face. He smirked a bit. It was cute, but in a different way.

He turned his head as the orchestra retired and a DJ took over. He looked back at her. "Hey, you shouldn't worry about it that much, it's not like you were really involved anyway." The song that came on was something slow, but not overwhelmingly Eyes on Me slow. It was simple and sweet, and something that those who couldn't waltz would actually be able to dance to.

"Come on," he stood and offered a hand. "Would a dance help you get your mind off it?"

[junkuroki]

"Are you alright?" Lawric said, and she lifted her head to look at him. He was smirking, but not in an annoying way. She cracked a small smile.

"I'm fine." She said listlessly. There was no point in burdening other people with her whining, and it wasn't as if it was a big deal anyway. Maybe she was just being too big of worrywart, acting like she had her life's decision bothering her.

The DJ played a different song, a slow one suitable for dances not requiring vasts amount of shaking booty and sweating.

"Come on," He stood and offered a hand. "Would a dance help you get your mind off it?"

"Sure." She took his hand, standing up when he helped her with a lift of his arm. "Lead the way."