The Honorary Ball

[raydensharpola]

"I could do that." He said, veering her away from a couple about to bump into them. "Actually that's what I've been trying to do for the past ten minutes. How am I faring, Princess?" He grinned.

[Stella]

"Not too bad, not bad at all" she said feeling safe and confident in his arms. If thats really what he was trying to do then she was a bit surprised he was succeeding, the boy must be near having a heart attack from the effort.

"Now just keep it up and some day you might land a decent woman instead of all those floozies you date" she said with a grin.

[raydensharpola]

His smile froze on his lips.

"Floozies huh." It became forced. "I can't help it though. I seem to have some kind of reputation that draws floozies to me and those decent chicks treat me like plague. But I know I deserve it." He lowered his head, trying to avoid her eyes.

[Stella]

The way he was looking down was endearing. Gently she reached up and cupped his face in her hands lifting it up to look into his eyes. She was drawn to him and if that made her a floozy then so be it. Oh boy, she was getting herself into trouble now.

"Look Rayden" she said softly her voice barely audible over the music, "I admit it, I'm attracted to you... I've told you all ready I'm a mess at relationships... so before we start something... let's just try to get to know each other better. You may find out some things about me that you don't like, okay?"

[raydensharpola]

He lifted his head slowly at the gentle urging of her hands. Her eyes were soft, warm, they told him she cared. And to think he had expected her to agree that he deserved the treatment he got from decent girls... because he had
been a bad boy, there was no denying it.

But still she was offering a chance, not at a relationship, but a chance to know her better.

Would he take it? Would he ruin it with his old habits? He was afraid of exposing underneath those Playboy Rayden mask he was just hollow, nobody would ever want to associate with that hollowness...

"Heh, if you're talking about a mess, you're looking at an even bigger one..." He managed with a weak smile. "And I have to warn you...you might not like what's inside here too.. so I guess that makes us even."

[Stella]

"Just don't hurt me" as she whispered the words she felt like one of those damsels in distress in all those horrible movies she had watched as a kid. The words seemed so totally un-her, but at the same they were so totally her. She almost wished she could take them back but it was too late now.

They had stopped dancing and quite a few couple around them seemed to notice. Way to go Stell, making another scene on the dance floor. At least this time her partner hadn't abandoned her like a leaf in the wind. No, Rayden was steadfast and it showed in his eyes as he gazed at her. Carefully she lowered her hands placing them back on his shoulders.

"I look forward to finding out just what it is you're hiding behind all your bravado but I imagine that will take time" She grinned and got up on her tiptoes to brush her lips across his in a fleeting kiss.

"Come on, our table is looking full, we should go be social" she said taking his hand and leading him off the dance floor towards the other members of their team.

[Blaze Sanaku]

ROTFLMAO ZACKIE CRACKS ME UP!!!! AHAHAHAH OMG *pinches his cheeks* XD He's such a cutiepie *gives him a cookie*

---

"Diego Sanaku," Hadrian explained slowly, "That's your older brother's name, isn't it?" He stared at Blaze expectantly as if waiting for her to have an ephiphany.

No ephiphany came. Blaze stared at her date blankly, trying to piece together what Hadrian had just told her. Of course he didn't come right out and say it. In typical Hadrian fashion he was making Blaze struggle to figure it out herself.

Is he trying... is he saying that Deo is my BROTHER?!? This was definitely NOT what Blaze had been expecting. Didn't Hadrian say he'd tell her something good? Letting her know that some guy whose brain seemed to be on constant "slow" status was related to her, was not her idea of "something good."

"wha-... how is that possible?!?!" Blaze hissed at Hadrian, keeping her voice low so that others wouldn't overhear. "I was an only child, and Deo is older than me. I would have known if I had a brother, wouldn't I? Besides-- didn't Deo say his last name was Stanton?"

It was weird. Deo physically looked as if he could be her brother, but other than that they were nothing alike. If Blaze had a brother, she knew he would be cool and sleek and powerful. Not some retarded Caterchipillar that just sat around all day like he was in a cocoon slumber. Because that's what Deo reminded Blaze of. A Caterchipillar.

Blaze eyed Hadrian suspiciously for the third time that night. "So tell me, Hady, how exactly DID you find out--"

Blaze halted in midsentence as she noticed a couple hobbling toward her and Hadrian at a very fast pace. As they came near she saw that it was Zacke toting a crippled looking Jun. Ah! She had been so absorbed in her conversation with Hadrian that she had forgotten they had arrived at the ball already.

Blaze's face quickly drained of its color at the way Zacke was staring at her. Was there something wrong with her?? Had Hadrian pulled some kind of trick on Blaze and she hadn't noticed it yet? Hell was going to break loose if she found out that Hadrian had posted naked pictures of her all over the ballroom or something to that extent. She waited for Zacke to break the bad news to her but he was silent. Almost scarily so. Hadrian must have pulled the mother of all pranks on her.

".... yes?" she asked Zacke icily.

"Blaze." Jun groaned by Zacke's side, breaking the silence, "Next time you decide to peel off your skin and become another person, give some warning. Zacke had to stomp on my feet to convey his surprise." She grinned wickedly at Zacke. "What I'm trying to say is, you look stunning."

"Oh.." Blaze was completely taken aback at how wrong she had been. Well at least now she knew why Jun was hobbling. "Thank...you?" she asked awkwardly and tried to shrink herself a little, suddenly wishing she was in torn jeans and smelly bandages again. She wasn't sure how to react. Usually when she was at a Ball nobody would even come near her, let alone pay her a compliment. Her eyes latched with Zacke's in a wildly confused and concerned look that said What the hell is Jun smoking, thinking I'm pretty??

"AND YOU CHEATED STARDUST. Why aren't you in a dress?" Jun suddenly shouted, overlooking the look Blaze was excahnging with the silent Zacke. "I was looking forward to seeing you in one. And I think Reese does too."

Blaze broke the look with Zacke and saw that Stardust was sitting not 5 feet away from her and Hadrian. STARDUST WAS SITTING NEXT TO THEM AND BLAZE HADN'T NOTICED?? Blaze immediately scooted to the left, dragging Hadrian with her to escape Stardust's invisible hatred aura she was always emitting.

[stardust]

AHAHAH XD Now the table is all happy again ^.^ "Invisible hatred aura" XDD
---------------------------------------------------------------------

"AND YOU CHEATED STARDUST. Why aren't you in a dress?" Jun suddenly shouted as she and Zacke got nearer to their table. Hadrian and Blaze could be seen too. Compared to Jun and Blaze's appearance, Stardust realized she looked like a doormat. However, none of that mattered. "I was looking forward to seeing you in one. And I think Reese does too."

She glanced at Reese for a moment, then back to her.

"Don't be stupid," she mumbled in response, resting her chin on her hand. She threw a sly glance at Zacke and Jun. They had just arrived at their table. Were they in the dance floor all along? If a stranger saw them right now, they could easily be mistaken for a couple. She also noticed Jun was limping a little. It was hard to not notice.

"Did...." Stardust stopped midway when she noticed Blaze drag Hadrian away from the table. From then, she felt like she was some virus Blaze didn't want to catch. She almost wanted to smirk. Yes, she was a virus all right. So she better stay clear.

/You know she would have to come back later./ Diwata warned. /I think it's about time you and her do the friendship hug./

She cleared her throat and erased the dreadful thought. "Did you break your ankle? What the heck happened to you?" she asked Jun.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

Now, Hadrian was confused too. Stanton. That was her mother's maiden name. How come she couldn't remember? Did Blaze hit her head on the wall, or his sources were salvaged from wikiSeeDia? He was sure as hell Deling was her hood and the copy of her parents' divorce certificate was genuine.

Just when Blaze was about to press him further, Zacke and Jun came into the rescue, saying something about how pretty Blaze was.

Now his attention was diverted. Hadrian didn't know Blaze was capable of feeling shy. The feeling was like watching a lion give birth to cubs. It was educational. Jun didn't look bad herself too. How did Zacke manage to nab her for a date? He bet if he asked Jun to the ball, she'd just gripe him about his debt.

"I was looking forward to seeing you in one. And I think Reese does too."

Reese?

Hadrian caught the bit of Jun's sentence. He swung his gaze towards the table. Together with the oddly dressed Stardust, there was a tall, dark-haired dude with her. He had never seen him before. Was he Reese? Just in time.

Smirking, he was about to approach the guy when he felt Blaze drag his arm away from the group.

"H-hey! Where are you going?" Hadrian followed Blaze in the middle of the dancefloor. Dancefloor? No, she just wanted to get away from the people in the table. Was she that shy from Jun's previous comment?

He matched her pace to get a glimpse of her face. "Hoh? Don't tell me...you..." He started to grin, placing a hand in his pocket. "Is this the first time you got a compliment from someone? Your face is all red," he teased. "Never knew you had it in you." He chuckled instinctively. He lifted his gaze in front of them and saw the Opps team ahead.

"Tsk, look who we have here." His grin didn't fade. Maybe Deo would show some interesting reaction again.

[Zacke]

".... yes?" Blaze's tone was icy.

Zacke blinked. Before he could even formulate a reply, Jun jumped in.

"Blaze, next time you decide to peel off your skin and become another person, give some warning. Zacke had to stomp on my feet to convey his surprise." Jun flashed him a mischievous grin, and he felt a flush crawling its way up his neck. She didn't need to know THAT. "What I'm trying to say is, you look stunning."

He looked back at Blaze quickly, checking for a reaction out of her. "Oh," was all she said at first. Her stance changed a little, as if she wanted to make herself smaller. It was almost... shy?! "Thank... you?" she added awkwardly, talking to Jun. Zacke stared at her, his eyebrows lifted marginally, as if he were watching a Chocobo talk. Suddenly her gaze averted from Jun to him, her eyes screaming her confusion at the compliment. He looked right back, but he could reciprocate none of her feelings. Jun wasn't smoking anything; Jun was right.

"AND YOU CHEATED STARDUST. Why aren't you in a dress?" Jun's exclamation distracted Blaze. It sort of snapped him out of his stupefied stare, too, and he glanced over at Stardust and Reese. "I was looking forward to seeing you in one. And I think Reese does too." He smirked in amusement at Jun's outburst.

When he looked back in Blaze's direction, she had pulled herself aside with Hadrian, who was now talking to her in a low tone. He usually felt really comfortable around Blaze. Being around her was almost like hanging around with a guy, actually, what with the loogey-hacking and the table 'manners' and so on and so forth... But he didn't feel all that comfortable right now. The way she looked tonight definitely killed that whole just-like-a-guy illusion for him. In fact, the dress she was wearing threw a rope around that illusion's neck, dragged it out into a dingy alley, and mercilessly beat it into a red pulpy sidewalk-smear. He could almost hear it's agonized screaming when his eyes slid down from her face to her hips...

Zacke broke his gaze and followed Jun over to the table in a distracted sort of way, sitting and trying to pull himself back to his senses.

Blaze... you freak.

[Reese]

Reese lifted one eyebrow slightly when Hadrian and Blaze came into view. Is she actually attempting femininity? he thought. Her effort was mildly impressive, but of course underneath that red number she was still the same mangy animal.

"AND YOU CHEATED STARDUST. Why aren't you in a dress?" Jun was approaching the table. "I was looking forward to seeing you in one. And I think Reese does too."

"Don't be stupid," was Stardust's replied. Reese looked at her. She was scowling with her chin rested in her hand, glancing between Jun and Zacke. What if I was... ? he thought, watching her for a moment longer before looking back up at Jun.

"Did you break your ankle?" Stardust asked. "What the heck happened to you?"

"Zacke stepped on her foot." Reese answered quietly, having had overheard Jun's exchange with Blaze just a few moments earlier. He looked at Zacke, who pulled out a chair for himself and sat down mutely.

Reese looked back at Jun. "You look nice." He observed.

[Diego Stanton]

Deo breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Lawirc and Jaime assured him that the woman he saw was not Signe. All this stress was making Deo tired. He looked around warily and noticed that the Opps had been separated from the Trinity team again.

"Tsk, look who we have here," Deo heard Hadrian's voice from afar. He looked over to the direction the hacker's voice was coming from and saw him standing next to .....Blaze? Neither of them looked too thrilled to be each other's date and Deo haughtily smirked at his handiwork before his smirk faded into a look of worry.

Oh Hyne... He thought, suddenly feeling extremely tired. He remembered once more of the unbearable fact that his dead baby sister was over there with a blow-up doll creator for a date.

Even though he knew it was inevitable , Deo didn't want to deal with the issue of letting Blaze know that she was his brother. It felt like a huge burden that kept growing and growing by the second because Deo was letting it fester. It was like putting off studying for a huge upcoming exam. You knew you would put yourself in pain from putting it off, but you just couldn't help it.

At least he knew three people he could trust to help him out.

"Umm..." he stammered to Jaime, Vanesse and Lawric, "You guys remember when I told you I had a sister who died when she was 11?? Well... her name was Blaze...... ... ... and I don't think she's dead anymore."

[Blaze Sanaku]

wikiseeDia XD

---

"My face is not red!!" Blaze scoffed in response to Hadrian's teasing, "...it's just reflecting off the colour of my dress."

Ugh. This was quickly becoming a battle of wits between Hadrian and Blaze. Each of them were trying to outdo the other, trying to break the other one down.

"Tsk, look who we have here." Hadrian kept smiling, motioning over to the Opps. Blaze paralelled Hadrian's gaze and saw Deo glance at her for a split second before whispering something to his friends.

"I don't have a brother." Blaze announced firmly. She yanked Hadrian's arm out of his pocket and placed it upon her hip, trying to ignore the stares of people unused to her in a formal dress. "Too low!" she suddenly yelled when she felt his hand slip down. She pushed his hand up higher and took his other hand, holding it up so tightly that she was almost crushing it.

"I am assuming since you wanted me to be your date, you want to dance with me, correct?" Blaze asked, forcing him onto the dancefloor. "Then this is your chance. Your lead." Blaze simply stood there, waiting for Hadrian to make the first move. She would win the battle of wits and if Hadrian wasn't a good dancer she was never going to let him live it down.

[Lawric]

poor Deo XD between Blaze and Signe, he's so paranoid.

---

Lawric followed Deo's gaze, which had averted to Hadrian and that violent girl with the claws. Blaze? He looked back at Deo, trying to follow. Was that girl's name Blaze, too, or what? If so... the name definitely fits. he thought, recalling the incident with the elevator.

Deo seemed to be pretty worried about the matter. He must have substantial reason to think that was his sister. Lawric paused in thought. Adel had finally been vanquished, he had come back to life, and now Deo was discovering that his long-lost and thought to be dead sister actually wasn't dead at all. It was miracles left and right--comparable to a poorly written drama series.

He cocked an eyebrow. "The Fire-Breathing Elevator Dragon is your sister?"

The thought kinda made him feel sorry for Deo.

[Zacke]

"You look nice."

Zacke glanced from Reese to Jun, then back to Reese. Hey, he said something civil, and it wasn't to Stardust.

Stardust... Suddenly, he recalled his mental note.

A little smirk played on his lips as his gaze drifted from Reese to the pinkhead, mischief reflecting in his eyes. "Jun does look nice, but honestly?--I feel that Stardust is the real beauty of the night." he flashed a wicked grin. "I don't care that you didn't wear a dress, Sergeant. I think you're a cutie-patootie, no matter what you wear... "

His grin grew. Cutie-patootie... That would drive her nuts.