The Honorary Ball, Part II

[ST]

Since we're at 15 pages, I figured now is a good time to open a new thread. ;D Continue the postage here!

[Blaze Sanaku]

"HEY!!!!!!" Blaze barked when Hadrian let himself inside of Blaze's dorm, "Just because I'm agreeing to go back doesn't mean I'm changing my clothes!" She launched herself towards Hadrian and used both hands to muss up his combed hair as badly as possible. When she stood back, his hair looked like someone had casted "tornado" on it. Satisfied, she shoved him out of her room and began walking back to the ball, flexing her hands under the familiar feel of her gloves.

"So anyway," she said to Zacke as they headed back, "that squank was just about the most ridiculously amazing thing I have ever seen with my eyes. I... I take back what I said about you being a soft coward. But you're still a horrible driver and you talk too much and you're still a bit of a pansy. I mean, you took Jun to the ball. Not Polaris."

[Diego Stanton]

"Really??" Deo's face lit up, "you don't want to be a seeD either? That's awesome! I mean, now that Adel's dead we can do whatever we want, you know?"

Deo smiled. He had a mental image inside of his head of what life would be like from here on without their lives centering around killing Adel. Jaime would open a restaurant where Vanesse could put up all of her artworks and Lawric would be the waiter. Deo would be at the tables, eating all the food and being a taste tester.

That was.. unless Lawric and Jaime wanted to be seeDs. He noticed that while he always kept himself isolate from the seeDs, those two seemed to be quite busy interacting with the Trinity Team. He frowned when Vanesse kept rambling on about Blaze.

"I don't agree with you keeping your sister in the dark. If you're too shy, Deo, I can tell her for you." Vanesse said in a sing-song voice that was her nice way of saying you'd better do it or else!!! >

"You're right... I'll do it when the time is right." Deo slumped his shoulders in defeat. He looked up when he noticed three people re-emerge into the ballroom. Oh, they were back.

"But now is not the right time!" Deo said, whisking Vanesse the opposite direction that Blaze, Hadrian and Zacke were at. "Ummm dance? Drink?"

[Jax Ridean]

He had never been at such a loss for words. Then again, that had to be the most amusing thing ever spoken by a person.

What the hell...might as well indulge the girl.
Slamming the glass firmly on the table, he smacked his lips loudly, as if he were savoring the lingering traces of the "alcohol."

"You want me to order another one huh? How 'bout I get two for the both of us!" Leaning towards the bartender with his back turned, Jax pretended to order something as he grabbed two empty glasses.

"Thank Horace." he announced loudly as he returned to where Jaime was. "Now then" he said sternly as he held the two "drinks" in his hands. "I have to warn you. This is a very unusual drink. It's got this amazing, sort of...airy taste, almost like you're not drinking anything at all! But it's very alcoholic. So I hope you can hold your liquor because this stuff will make beginners tipsy after one sip." He leaned in closely. "Think you can handle it?"

[Gemma Ridean]

Stella's last words were still repeating themselves in Gemma's head. How could she have known? She couldn't have done..or.said anything to indicate...Anyways, there's no point in dwelling on it. After all, she reasoned. It was just a stupid, girlish crush. Everyone gets them once and a while. Plus, how could she be so attracted to Zacke even though they've only exchanged a few words?

It wasn't just about looks. Granted, the Trinity Team was full of ridiculously good-looking men, save for one. No...there was a certain quality of gentleness about him that she liked. Sure, he was egotistical, as all men are, and yet so humble and warm towards others.

The way he leaned in intently, listening when he spoke to Jun, or how his eyes seemed to soften whenever Polaris was around.

Polaris...

Now there was a question. Listening to the others, she had gathered that the two of them used to be in a relationship. The state of that relationship now..she had no idea.

She gently fingered the gleaming medal pinned to her gown. The solitary diamond winked back at her.

I wonder how many Polaris has..

[Zacke]

---

Zacke smirked when Blaze came up beside him. He'd heard whatever the commotion was Hadrian was causing, choosing just to ignore it and keep walking because he knew Blaze would put a stop to it herself. If he tried to stand up for her and say something to Hadrian it would probably just annoy her. Or make her laugh.

He grinned broadly, filling with pride in himself at the words 'the most amazing.' Hah. Any and all regret and guilt he felt over the squank now vanished. It was pretty awesome... He'd never heard Blaze laugh that hard. And if he hadn't been getting strangled, he would have been laugh his ass off too. It was definitely worth it.

He arched an eyebrow at the comment about taking Jun and not Polaris, passing her a sideways glance. Since when did Blaze notice subtle things like ambiguous crushes and relationships? Wasn't that sort of thing kind of beneath her radar? Then again, Polaris was her friend... or, Tomoe was. Is Polaris? Hell, it didn't matter.

"Hey, that wasn't me pansying out. I didn't want to take Polaris." He said it flippantly and with a smirk, shoving his hands into his pockets as they walked.

[junkuroki]

"It's peaceful, isn't it?" Lawric commented quietly. They had been staring into the night scenery in companiable silence, letting the wind flow over them and drape its soothing touch over their skin. She didn't want to speak out; it was so comfortable to just stand beside him...and feel content.

"Yes it is." She nodded, turning her head slightly to look at his profile. She found her eyes lingering over his features, as if trying to memorise them.

It was strange. She had met her fair share of good-looking men during her many years as a SeeD and cadet, but none of them had such a strong effect on her. She always came up with the same old reason that they didn't click...so did she click with him now? She couldn't explain it with logic but...

She couldn't ignore that whenever he looked at her, spoke to her, or showed the slightest interest in what she was saying, and peered at her face as if he understood whatever she was trying so earnestly to express (she always seemed to be earnest when she talked to him), she couldn't help getting that strange tingly feeling all over again. Like she had been graced by a fairy or something, it was wonderfully light, blissful, and nothing she'd ever experienced before.


But now wasn't the time to induge in her girly feelings.

"Do you feel better now?" She asked him, still tilting her head towards him, concern tinging her voice. "You know...I'm not trying to be nosy. Well...maybe the others on the team will tell you I'm a nosy parker but...just...maybe if you talked to someone about it, you'd be surprised at how much it helps."

[Stella]

Stella stopped short of the Trinity tables spotting Brooke still hanging around there with some of the others. Oh thats just what I need, this time I'll probably dump an entire bottle of wine on myself in front of her. There was no way she would admit it but she was still really embarrassed about the earlier incident.

Glancing around she spotted Gemma standing near by with a dreamy look on her face. Ah a perfect escape plan.

"I'm just going to go talk to Gemma for a while" She gave Rayden's hand a squeeze looking up at him. Last thing she wanted was to see Brooke drooling all over him anyway. Letting her hand slip out of his she made her way over to Gemma avoiding the large crowd of dancers.

"Hey, Gem, what's up?" she said as she approached giving her a grin.

Stella was just about to say more when a group of male SeeD cadets surrounded them all grinning like young boys.

"Hey there, ladies, would either of you care for a dance?" one said trying to be suave. With the way he slurred his words he was obviously drunk. One of the other men reached forward to take Gemma's hand and place a sloppy drunk kiss on it. The third suddenly dropped his drink the splash of the spill coming dangerously close to their dresses.

"Look boys, why don't you just move along?" Stella asked giving them her darkest look.

"Noooo waaaay, we totally bet our friends that we could score a dance with you" one of them said.

Stella sighed in exasperation looking over at Gemma.

[jaimelewis]

Jaime took the drink from Jax. She stared and stared at it, but there was neither the sound that alcohol makes when sloshing around a glass when she shook it, neither any smell, not to mention it looks 100 percent like an empty glass.

She cast a questioning look at Jax. Her eyes widened even more as he explained more stuff about the liquor.

"OOoh I dunno but I wanna try!" She quipped, opening her mouth and brought the glass to her lips, waiting for its taste...waiting for its taste...

And still waiting for its taste.

"THERE'S NOTHING INSIDE!" She cried, looking indignantly at Jax. "THE BARTENDER RIPPED US OFF!" She humphed angrily. "GIVE ME THAT GLASS JAX, I'LL SCOLD HIM!" She huffed her way towards the bartender.

"Hey you! Why did you give him two empty glasses? We wanted the invisible-looking drink not the invisible drink!" She exclaimed loudly, attracting stares the way a sugar cube attracts hordes of ants. "You better bring us replacements!"

[Gemma Ridean]

As soon she saw Stella walk over towards her, Gemma breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Gem, what's up?" Stella called out as she approached her, a goofy smile permanently stuck on her face.

Well she is certainly happy right now..

Gemma was about to respond when two males suddenly appeared besides them, both of them completely drunk.

One of the grinned leerily at them as he slowly eyed them. "Hey there, ladies, would either of you care for a dance?"

His breath was foul enough to make her want to move 10 feet away. She was already feeling extremely uncomfortable. As she tried to move away from the two men, one of them roughly grabbed her hand and planted a sloberly kiss on it.

Yelping, she yanked her hand out of his clasp. Never before had she been felt so violated, and disrespected by another individual. It was enough to make her snap.

"Look boys, why don't you just move along?" She heard Stella say.

"Noooo waaaay, we totally bet our friends that we could score a dance with you" one of them said.

She could feel the wet droplets of saliva running down the back of her hand.

Disgusting

She could easily wipe if off. Or she could...

The blood was rushing to her head, all she could think about was this growing hatred filling her consciousness.

In one fluid motion, Gemma threw a punch aimed directly at the wide, greasy face in front of her.

She felt a satisfying crack as the force of her blow smashed through the soft exterior of a nose.

She stood over him and snickered. "Cover yourself in your own shit."

[Jax Ridean]

"Hey you! Why did you give him two empty glasses? We wanted the invisible-looking drink not the invisible drink!" She was loud enough to attract the attention of everyone around them. "You better bring us replacements!"

She was almost too cute, it was ridiculous. Laughing outloud, Jax joined her at the bar and exclaiming like one those drunken customers, he yelled, "YEAH HORACE! WE WANTED THE INVISIBLE-LOOKING DRINK, NOT THE INVISIBLE DRINK!"

[raydensharpola]

Rayden was grinning goofily at Stella's retreating back. He liked the way she moved, it was like watching a graceful cat in motion. But the grin iturned instantly into a full-blown frown when a group of male SeeDs started surrounding her and Gemma, one of them even taking up Gemma's hand and placing it on his lips.

He scraped his chair back noisly, stomping towards where the guys were harrassing Stella and Gemma. His feet devoured up the distance between him and the spot where they were standing, breaking into a run of sorts as he almost reached them...

One of them brought Gemma's hand to his lips, disregarding the disgust on her face.

"Noooo waaaay, we totally bet our friends that we could score a dance with you" He heard one of them say.


If he even does something like that to my Stella... He thought furiously, not even realising that he had placed a proprietary term on Stella, swooping in trying to grab one of the male SeeDs.

And Gemma threw her fist into the guy who had violated her hand.

"Niiice one Gemma!" He said loudly, breaking into a loud chuckle. " "That oughta show them to take liberties with you, eh?" He grinned at her, then stepped in front of Stella protectively.

"So," He smirked nastily at the other two male SeeDs, who looked too shocked at Gemma's punch to react. "You're looking for someone to dance with?" He grabbed one of them by the collar, bringing him inches within his face and bored his eyes into the SeeD's cowardly ones. "YOU CAN DANCE WITH ME. ALL NIGHT." He grabbed the other SeeD by his collar, and started dragging them towards a secluded spot, bringing their heads together with a hard collision.

"And STAY THERE." He spat at them, returning to Stella's side with a wide grin.

"Pest problem, taken care of." He smirked, dusting off his hands, then nodded towards the SeeD clutching his bloody nose. "So what do you girls wanna do about that one?"

[jaimelewis]

The bartender looked weirdly at Jaime's outburst, then disdainfully at both her and Jax. "My name is not Horace." He said primly. "And there is no such thing as invisible-looking drink." He placed two glasses of Vodka in front of them. "This the most invisible drink I can offer."

Jaime took one glass and downed it in one gulp, but her face quickly scrunched up as the drink slid down her throat.

"IT BURNSSS!!!" She cried, fanning her neck vigorously with a hand. "That's VODKA you think I'm stupid?" She frowned at the barkeeper, before turning to Jax. Her attention span immediately ran out and slipped to something else "Hey where's your date?"

[Stella]

She was getting all geared up to deal with the guys when suddenly a massive form was beside her.

Rayden?... She raised an eyebrow looking bemused. So he had come to her rescue again.

Stella watched in pure awe as Gemma flattened the boy that had kissed her hand. Forget about the whole sweet and nice thing Gemma had going on she was a fire ball.

Stella's eyes grew even wider as Gemma stood over her victim with a snicker and said "Cover yourself in your own shit." Who knew such a dainty little thing could pull off such language.

Then Rayden stepped in front of her giving her a nice view of her backside. So very protective... and so very male... . She watched with a pleased little grin as the blond man gave the SeeD cadets a good telling off. He drug two of them off leaving Gemma's bleeding one behind.

"You all right, Gem?" Stella asked looking at her friend in concern. She glanced up and noticed Seifer Almasy was watching them obviously keeping his eye out for the Trinity team creating another scene. She gave him a weak little smile hoping that he wouldn't come over.

"Pest problem, taken care of." Rayden appeared at her side again looking confident and just a bit cocky as he dusted his hands off. Stella had half a mind to tell him of for not letting her take care of her self but at the same time she did like being rescued all so much. With a grin she made a mental note to kiss him later for it.

"So what do you girls wanna do about that one?" he asked giving a curt nod to the remaining cadet. She grinned thinking of all the wicked things she'd like to do to him for offending her friend. But not tonight here at the ball, tonight they had to act nice and proper.

"Send him off to the infirmary?" Stella said with a shrug looking at Gemma and putting a calming hand on her shoulder, "what do you think Gemma?"

[Gemma Ridean]

Pulling a tissue from her clutch, Gemma neatly wiped the mixture of blood and saliva from her hands and tossed the crumpled ball into the trashcan before she responded.

"Oh, I don't know." She cast another glance at the guy who was now trying to desperately staunch the blood flow with his shirt. Seeing the pathetic state she had reduced him to, Gemma did feel a slight twinge of remorse. That nose was going to be permanenty crooked, no matter how well Dr. Kadowaki sets it. Perhaps she should apologize...

What was she thinking? This guy was nothing but a drunken pervert. Still, they couldn't just leave him there...

"I guess we should take him to the infirmary." she finally announced." Holding her dress, so as not to get any blood on her gown, she knelt down besides the man. When he didn't respond to her, she snapped her fingers twice to get his atention.

He finally looked at her, and spat out viciously, "What do you want now bitch."

Ignoring his comments, she calmy replied, "Get up. You're going to go see Dr. Kadowaki. When she asks you what happened, you tell her that you were being a leecherous thug and that this is what you deserved."

She looked around and spotted Rayden who was protectively standing by Stella.

"Um Rayden?" she called out. "Will you take him? I don't want some deranged lunatic running around the halls unattended." She smiled at the man. "We don't want to scare the children."