The Honorary Ball

[Zacke]

Zacke blinked, watching Jaime storm off for a few moments before turning back to face Lawric. "I... don't think she liked that very much." he cracked a smirk. Lawric didn't seem amused at all. He mumbled some variation of excusing himself and turned in the direction Jaime went, following her across the ballroom and over to one of the tables in their designated area.

Zacke laughed. For once, he wasn't the male dealing with female mood swings. Watching it happen was sort of funny. Granted, Jaime wasn't nearly as feral as Stardust or Blaze could be...

He shook his head and looked at Jun, flashing a winning grin. "So, 'date,' do you feel like a drink, or a dance? Or should we just go find our table and wait for the others?"

Come to think of it, he was very eager to see what the rest of the girls looked like. Not eager in a piggish male sense. Just eager to see what they all looked like in dresses, because for a select few of them, it was a very funny mental picture.

[junkuroki]

Jun watched as Lawric chased after Jaime in an anxious manner.

Not a couple huh... She thought, a tad disbelievingly. If she wasn't his girlfriend, why would he be so nervous that she had thrown a tantrum?

But what would Jun know about how boyfriends and girlfriends react to each other? She had virtually no experience.


"So, 'date,' do you feel like a drink, or a dance? Or should we just go find our table and wait for the others?" Zacke asked with a winning grin.

"No, I don't want a drink, thanks very much." Jun replied, a tad hastily. "Let's just find a seat for ourselves and wait for the others. I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting sight." She grinned back at Zacke.

[Lawric]

Lawric followed Jaime.

"Jaime,"

She didn't hear him.

He skirted the ballroom dance floor, weaving in between people and muttering polite 'excuse me's' and 'pardon me's.' He barely avoiding colliding shoulders with one man, and narrowing ducked out of the way of another carrying a tray of wine glasses.

"Jaime,"

If she could hear him, she was deliberately ignoring him.

Hyne, she's fast when she's in a huff.

He came up to the table only moments after she'd sat down. "Jaime," he pulled out the chair next to hers and turned it so that he would be facing her before sitting down. She was purposely keeping her gaze off of him. Snubbing him. Of course. He brushed aside the fact that it annoyed him and tried to be patient.

"Jaime, look, I'm sorry about what I said... "

[4P6V3P5]

"Hmmph!" Jaime turned away from Lawric, completely ignoring him and not hearing what he said at all. "YADDA YADDA!" She stuck her fingers into her ears childishly. "Can't hear you can't hear you!" She said in a sing-song voice. She won't let him 'guilt' her into forgiving him by apologising. She always forgot too quickly about what Lawric always did that made her angry, and she deemed that it left her with the losing end of the stick. It was precisely because she didn't bear grudges that he took advantage of her geneorsity and kept humiliating her in front of people they barely knew.

Well, not this time. He should be scared into never committing that kind of crime again!

"Oh yeah I'm a flirt remember?" She whirled around to face Lawric. "There's nothing to be sorry about, you're absolutely right!"

She flounced up and glanced around for guys who didn't have dates with them.

"Hey!" She bounced up to a raven-haired guy. "You fancy a dance?"

"Sure." The guy grinned, giving her a leering once-over that Jaime completely missed. He started to lead her to the dance floor with a hand around her waist.

[Blaze Sanaku]

It had taken maybe 15 minutes for Blaze to get ready. She had put on her heels first, so that when she slipped into her dress her heels ripped through the bottom parts of her dress. It looked as if a wild animal had used the bottom of Blaze's dress as a scratching post but Blaze didn't seem to notice or care. She had just finished tying her hair into a ponytail and applying a shade of blood-red lipstick when she heard her intercom buzz.

"Blaze? Are you awake? It's Hadrian. Let's go." Hadrian's voice echoed off of her walls. Blaze almost dropped her tube of lipstick in surprise. She hadn't been expecting the intercom to buzz for at least another 10 minutes. She looked at the clock.

He's on time? Blaze thought in disbelief. Maybe Hadrian would escape the night without any major injuries tonight. She forcefully yanked open the door and eyed her date, scrutinizing him. Then she noticed the camcorder.

"What the hell are you doing, video taping me?!?" Blaze yelled. The camcorder got a zoom in of her cleavage as she leaned foward and snapped the camera off. She glared at him. Hadrian probably thought the idea of her in a dress would be priceless. Why did he always have to have some kind of mechanical crap attached to him? They were like his life-support or something. At least he actually looked presentable, though the fact that he hadn't taken out his piercings made him look like the same old Hadrian.

"So... You're on time," Blaze smirked "What this something good you were going to tell me, then?"

[Polaris Lyn]

“Oh look,” Teru commented dryly, watching the entrance with keen, amused dark eyes, “a field invasion.” Polaris glanced up and took a sip of the strawberry punch Teru had gotten for her, expression curious. She saw Jaime flouncing angrily, her date stalking after her through the obstacle course known as the dance floor. And then there was a short, abrupt discussion before Jaime jumped up and very nearly attacked one of the other cadets milling around hopelessly, eager for a dance with a pretty girl. He led her off and Polaris had a faint feeling that Jaime wasn’t exactly appreciative of the plight she had placed herself in—especially in that dress.

“Sweet girl,” she commented, “but I’m not sure she’s all that bright.”

Teru sipped at his champagne. “Not your problem, is it? The mission’s over.”

Polaris made a non-committal sound in her throat and set the punch glass down on a passing waiter’s tray, thirst satiated. Teru aped the action and pressed his hand to the small of her back, gently nudging her to the dance floor. “Let me show you off,” he told her blithely, and she laughed.

“Making the girlfriend jealous, are we?” She glanced around. “Speaking of which…”

“She’s trying to figure out how she’ll be able to make it to the party dressed in loose shorts and a t-shirt,” Teru said casually. “Barefoot.”

Polaris smiled absently. Teru’s girlfriend loved her comforts and hated social functions—but the ball was mandatory so Polaris was sure she’d be out of a date soon. She returned her attention to Teru. “She’ll manage, I’m sure—oh, Jun.” She very nearly crashed into the blademaster. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

Teru rolled his eyes, his expression clearly reading, obviously.

[Lawric]

Lawric's eyes narrowed slightly as Jaime went on poking her fingers in her ears and saying childish things about how she couldn't hear him. He looked away and simply shook his head, unable to stomach looking at her. It was JUST LIKE HER to behave this way.

"Oh yeah I'm a flirt remember?" He looked back at her with a startled expression. "There's nothing to be sorry about, you're absolutely right!"

Oh Hyne, Jaime!

She jumped up out of her chair and shouted at the nearest guy who didn't have a girl on his arm, and then did her typical bubbly-cutesy-Jaime thing and flounced over to where he was, flipping on 'charm' like a light switch.

His already narrowed eyes narrowed even more when he noticed how the guy was looking at her.

He turned away as the two of them made for the ballroom floor, thoroughly annoyed with her. She was actually going to leave him to sit here at the table alone. Argh, you... brat. It was without a doubt the best word for Jaime. Brat. He couldn't wait until Deo and Vanesse got here. He was going to tell them how obnoxious she was being and then he would actually have someone who empathized with him.

[Zacke]

They were just on the edge of the ballroom dance floor, Zacke leading Jun through the throngs of people and over to their table, when someone bumped into Jun.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

He turned at the voice. Whoa. She looked really nice. Not that he expected her not to. The dress had a certain flair of personality to it, with the way the skirt was cut and the subtle but bright colors beneath. It blew Tomoe out of the water, actually. Her date moved her deftly away from them, and he smiled. She looked like she was having a genuinely good time.

He repositioned his arm with Jun's and lead her the rest of the way to the table.

It was sort of a humorous sight. Lawric was sitting alone and obviously brooding over something. The 'something' undoubtedly had to do with Jaime. Zacke shared an amused look with Jun before approaching the table with her.

"So, I take it things didn't go so well?" he commented, pulling a chair out for Jun before taking a seat of his own.

Lawric looked up at them, his annoyed expression fading a bit. "Jaime is kind of touchy. I didn't think much of it, but I guess it's a big deal to her for you guys not to think she's flirtacious." He rolled his eyes. "So now I guess I'm dateless."

Zacke smirked.

[junkuroki]

Jaime was barely aware that the guy she just randomly chose for the dance had a really shady look on his face. She was glaring right back at where Lawric was seated.

I can't believe he just sits there! Really shows how 'sorry' he really is.

She suddenly felt a squeeze on her bottom.

"Hey, would you mind keeping your hands off my ass." She spoke in a hushed tone, turning and glaring at the guy. Usually she would just shout out in public, but this was a SeeD Ball, she still had the little sense not to create a scene.

"Sure." He grinned, moving his hands to her waist and suddenly greatly reducing the distance between them.

"Stop it!" She raised her voice a little more, trying to pry his hands off her, but they were like steel clamps, and she didn't have the strength to pull away.

She quickly swept a look around the floor, her eyes pleading for help.

-----

Jun followed Zacke's lead across the ballroom, and was nearly bumped into Polaris.

"Ah, it doesn't matter." She smiled. "You look gorgeous, Polaris. Love that dress."

After that little exchange, Zacke again began to walk towards the tables, where a visibly frustrated Lawric sat alone.

"Jaime is kind of touchy. I didn't think much of it, but I guess it's a big deal to her for you guys not to think she's flirtacious." He rolled his eyes. "So now I guess I'm dateless."

"Well she's a girl, she probably cares about her reputation." Jun commented, and looked towards the dance floor for Jaime. She seemed to be having a small struggle of sorts with her dance partner.

"Is it my imagination...? She doesn't look too happy to be stuck with that guy." She turned back to look at Lawric. "Unless that's how she usually responds when she's happy. Which I really doubt it?"

[Hadrian D'arcell]

DKLHSAL;HKAROTFLMAO!!! I've typed that acronyms too many times XD
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The door slid open and out came a girl Hadrian had never seen before. That was probably bit of a cliche, but for a second there, he thought he really had the wrong room and Blaze was really from room 666. His smirk started to lose its fuel as he scanned her appearance through the camera's view finder. She was wearing a hot red cocktail dress all the while looking like a...lady.

She seemed to be shouting something.

Whoa... Hadrian swallowed when Blaze's cleavage zoomed in on the camera when she got closer. That was when his thoughts finally snapped him back from his reverie. Blaze had just turned his camera off in a brutish way.

"What...the..." he blurted out, all the fascination from moments ago had popped. He quickly checked to see if the camcorder was fine. That was close. That was really close. Miraculously, it was okay. This lady was 101% Blaze, all right. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to continue filming after that.

"So... You're on time," Blaze smirked "What this something good you were going to tell me, then?"

Hadrian lifted his gaze to her. "I was going to tell you right away, but since you almost broke my camera, I'm gonna have to ask you to behave more before I tell you," he stated indignantly, slipping the camera in his suit. "I still need to confirm something, afterall."

He lowered his tone. "By the way, Blaze....Have you met Deo somewhere other than Garden before?" he asked, smiling at the next sentence. "You didn't kill some of his homies, did you?"

[vanesse]

"Deoooo...." Vanesse drawled in her usual tone, sitting at a table near the bar and resting her chin on her hand. "Aren't you bored yet?" They had been here earlier than Jaime and Lawric and all they had done was sit, drink, and stare at the people. She didn't know whether she was part of team Trin, since they were outsiders, but she had a feeling they were sitting at the wrong table. "We should probably move over there." She pointed to the islands of seats across the dance floor. She yawned.

Finishing her third glass of lemonade, she lit up when she spotted Lawric and Jaime amidst the dancing SeeDs. However, for some reason, Jaime suddenly danced with some random guy and she couldn't view Lawric anymore.

H-huh? Vanesse looked at Deo. "Hey, Deo look! Isn't that Jaime? Where did Lawric go?" She stood up to approach her friend, crossing the swarm of dancing couples as she did so. As she got closer, she noticed that the guy Jaime was dancing with was harassing her.

Surprised, Vanesse quickly sprinted towards them and kicked Jaime's date on the shin. "Hey! What do you think you're doing to my friend? Pervert." She stood in front of Jaime. "Are you okay, Jaime? Where's Lawric?" she asked, concerned.

[jaimelewis]

"UGH!" Jaime's 'dance partner' quickly released Jaime, hopping around on one foot and shot a dirty look at Van.

"She asked me for a dance, so I danced!"

"I didn't ask you to grope me!" Jaime made a face at him, grabbing Van's arm to walk away from him.

"Lawric is over by the Trin tables." Jaime told Van. "Ohhhh, you wouldn't believe what he did! He told Zacke and Jun that I was a flirt who would dance with every guy in here! That Lawric! He just bullies me everytime!" She pouted. "Where's Deo by the way?" She asked, suddenly remembering that Deo wasn't with them.

[Blaze Sanaku]

Did he just ask me to... BEHAVE?

"Behave?!?" Blaze's fingers twitched, itching to latch on to Hadrian's neck. "I'll give you behave." Blaze hocked up a huge loogie and spat it on the floor close to Hadrian's shoes, dug her heel in it and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and then wiped the back of her hand on some cadet who was passing by the hall at that moment.

"HEY!" The Cadet shouted angrily, but quickly shut up and just kept on walking when he noticed it was Blaze.

"Well, Hadrian. Since you want to hold out on telling me this something good, I'm not going to tell you what I want you to buy me then either. It was just going to be some new claws from the latest weapons monthly magazine, but I think I'm going to change what I want now." She flashed a wide smile that would have looked happy and pleasant if not for the earlier implied threat.

"And also, don't be so sore over the fact that Deo ratted you out over by the elevator. Whatever you're gonna say about him I know is just to get revenge so don't even bring him up." Blaze continued. "Let's get going already we're going to be late."

[Diego Stanton]

Deo had brought Vanesse over to the tables to drink and that's all they had done since. He just sat there, intently drinking his wine and staring at the dancefloor with dread. He was positively sure he'd have to dance at one point or another and he was trying to ignore the giant weight on his shoulders that he couldn't dance.

Dancing was all grace, flow and tempo, three things that Deo desperately lacked. Just as he was sure he might as well give up and just stand on the dancefloor while someone danced in circles around him, he started to notice that everyone who was dancing had certain footwork movements they would repeat over and over while twirling and twisting at certain times.

Deo's face lit up. All he had to do was memorize their movements and parallel it to time intervals matching with the beat of the music and he would be able to dance! This wasn't dancing, it was math! Deo quickly set his brain to whir mode and he stared at the dancers, counting 1,2,3,4 in his head as the dancers moved.

"Deoooo...." Vanesse said in a bored tone, "Aren't you bored yet?"

"Not really, no." Deo replied, staring straight though her at the dancers. She got up and left but Deo barely noticed. He was busy learning to dance.

[Jax Ridean]

Turns out Caliope was somewhat of a dancer and after twirling her around the dance floor for six songs, Jax decided that he needed a breather. Attempting to conceal how tired he was, he managed to excuse himself by suggesting that he get her a drink. Secretly wiping some sweat off his forehead, he headed over towards the wet bar.

"Hey Horace" he greeted the bartender, leaning suavely over the counter. "Could you get us two martinis?"

Holding a drink in each hand, he steadily made his way through the crowd, being careful to spill any of the beverage's content on any other females.

Suddenly, he spotted Vanesse, and Jaime standing together in the corner. "Hey!" he waved at them.

"I hope you girls have been enjoying yourselves. And may I say that you both are looking beautiful this evening." He cocked an eyebrow. "As always, of course..."

"Ahem." A slender finger roughly tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around to see his date standing right behind him, her arms crossed, eyes narrowed--looking quite displeased that she was being ignored.

Wow...she's got that "Trepe stare" down pat...

"Oh right! You found me did you?" Not pausing for second, he swiftly took her hand and looped his arm around her waist. "Girls, I'd like to introduce you to the lovely Ms. Caliope Trepe. She's with me tonight." He smirked. "That's right. She's MY date." Smiling still, he gazed cheerfully around the room, until he finally noticed the large banner displaying the words, "Thank You Team Trinity!"

Geez...all this for us...?

"I guess we're some kinds of heroes now.." he said aloud, addressing no one in particular.