The Kids Aren't Alright [Zell/Sephie]

[Morgan Freeman]

If Squall had to wear this curse of being headmaster of Balamb Garden, he had to accept the headmaster's office as a part of that outfit. The office had its advantages and disadvantages, Squall supposed. One advantage was quiet, a rare commodity around the Garden. The other advantage - well, there weren't any other explicit advantages, really. Quiet was enough for Squall most any day of the week, so the only advantage was a big one. The disadvantages? Squall had never been a big fan of living in such a...sprawling space as the office offered. He was used to cramped quarters in orphanages and dorms, where he barely had enough room to stretch himself out. In an office suite this large, Squall felt...lost. Even as he sat within the room now, he felt as if the room echoed his every motion. Sleeping in a room this big? That would be impossible, Squall believed, so he hadn't tried it yet. He could always try talking Rinoa into taking the room at night. The space likely suited her more, having had space all her life. Squall just couldn't...get used to being up here in all this embellishment, above the rest of the Garden. He still considered himself little more than a soldier in the scheme of things...and wasn't being up here just isolating him from everyone again? Without a doubt, the cons outweighed the pros when it came to this office. Squall simply didn't know what to do with it yet.

Until he finished with his plate of food, he wouldn't do anything with it. Since the cafeteria had been full when he'd been downstairs, Squall had made a plate and carried it upstairs to eat it, dropping the plate down on the desk that sat before the office's large windows. If he needed a second advantage to cite for the office, the view would be that advantage. Squall was glad to just be having a peaceful meal for once. Ever since Ultimecia's defeat, it had been one round of chaos after another for Squall. The good kind of chaos, he supposed...meeting new SeeD recruits and sponsors to the Garden and...other things Cid Kramer had dumped on him when he'd stepped down to return to a quiet life with Edea. Squall felt he was holding up at least as well as could be expected against the onslaught of new and old faces, especially considering he was the same person who'd felt as if he wanted to cover himself in a cocoon to evade the applause and attention of his peers when he'd first become a SeeD. Squall didn't want to handle all this business-type stuff that he'd had dropped in his lap, but he figured he could, if only to make the man who'd believed in him proud and keep the seat warm for a new, worthier headmaster.

"Headmaster?"

For now, Squall was resigned to the fact that they would have to settle with him. He just wished they wouldn't call him headmaster. He'd known too many good people in authority in his life to want to hear people speak to him - a teenager - with that sort of respect. But he didn't need to push back against it, least of all from the secretary who had bee hired by Cid to serve the headmaster's office. Squall peered down at the machine that had spoke to him, only partially disappointed he didn't make it all the way through his plate of food yet. He mashed a button on it so he could speak back. "Yes?", Squall spoke into the machine, managing not to sound bothered. "Zell Dincht and Selphie Tilmitt have asked to come up?"

Squall raised an eyebrow at the machine as if the woman on the other line could see him. Apparently the two of them had spotted him sneaking up. So much for that quiet lunch. At least...the two of them could help fill out this gigantic room. After a short pause and leaning back in his chair, Squall spoke up again. "They can come up." Hearing the speaker fizzle out, Squall let out a breath and braced himself for the wave of...excitement that was headed his way. As if one of his two most outspoken friends didn't incite enough energy into the long days...two of them? Squall could only hope they were both on cold medicine. With a small huff of amusement to himself, Squall went back to his food and waited for the tidal wave.

Words - 816
Tagged - Zell and Selphie
Muse - Great!
Place - Headmaster's office, Balamb Garden
Outfit - Casual
Notes - Not a great starter, but I have to get back into the groove with him. XD This helped.[/size]

[Selphie Tilmitt]

The idea was brilliant.

Trotting alongside Zell, Selphie couldn’t contain the smile from her face. Yes, perfect idea. Having met Zell to eat lunch after morning classes, Selphie had suggested that they go hang out with Squall, since they didn’t get to see him as much anymore being headmaster, and because they had some time to kill. Actually the whole rest of the day, as classes were completely done now. Besides, Selphie still had the personal goal of making Squall lighten up a bit more, what better way then with her good friend Zelly? No better way! Humming her train song as she went, Selphie grinned up at him. “What a great idea! Won’t he be surprised?! I bet he’s surprised!”, she answered herself without giving him time to answer. Giggling to herself, Selphie felt as if she had a secret and wanted to tell it. Oh perfect. The day was nice, Zell was his normal fun self, and there was time to go see Squall. Yup, perfect.

Though she understood them all having to not be around each other all the time anymore, Selphie yearned for the ‘good old days’ where they had been together more. Sure, she could stand to be without the crazy sorceress trying to kill everyone, and without old pompous blondie calling her friends names, but the companionship had been nice! Well…they could make up for it today. Selphie was determined to make Squall see that he needed to hang out with them more again. Okay, so he was headmaster, but big deal! He could still be headmaster and hang out with them. Cid had managed to run things and maintain a social lif-…okay that might be going a bit far. His social life consisted, Selphie was fairly sure, of conversations with himself in front of a mirror, at least until Matron had been freed from her bondage.

Getting to the woman sitting primly at an office, Selphie looked at her, thinking that she was destined to be a secretary of sorts. From the prim way she sat, to the dizzying hairstyle of a bun scrapping her hair against her skull, she thought she was the perfect type of woman for the job. Bouncing toward her, Selphie grinned wide, green eyes dancing with mirth. “We’re here to see Squally!”, she announced, not hesitating when she walked toward the elevator to go up to his office. The voice called back. “Excuse me Miss Tilmitt, but the headmaster Leonhart shouldn’t be disturbed. He’s attending to important Garden duties.” Skidding to a stop, the girl cocked a head to the side. “Whadya mean shouldn’t be disturbed? We’re his friends, I’m sure he has time for u-“, Selphie was cut off by the long winded sigh that came from the woman, as well as the disapproving looks they were getting.“I suppose I can call up and see if he has time for you two.”, she finally lamented. Blinking, Selphie shot a look toward Zell, rolling her eyes slightly. “Yeah, I suppose you can,” she muttered to him.

"Zell Dincht and Selphie Tilmitt have asked to come up?"

After hearing Squall’s faint yes, Selphie didn’t wait around for her to ‘allow’ them to go up. “Comon Zell!” Diving into the elevator, she broke into a fit of giggles as she pressed the right button to get them there. “I bet he’ll be happy to see us! And surprised! I wonder what he’s still doing up in his office during the lunch hour. We should invite him out more, you know? I think he’s going to work so hard he becomes an old man. We’ve gotta rescue-“ The elevator door opened to her voice getting more and more excited, bouncing out of it going “-hiiiiiiiiiim!”, as she surveyed the office, eyes settling on the figure sitting at the desk. “Squally! And here I thought that old Moomba wasn't gonna let us come up.” Turning to Zell, she grinned, “Told her he’d have time for us!”

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Words:; 895
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Squall, Zell
Outfit:; Finally made it!
Location:; Headmaster Squall's office
Notes:; \o/
Listening too:; Letter from a Thief - Chevelle

[dincht]

Any idea that involved food was a good idea. Zell was more than happy to meet with Selphie for lunch after morning classes, but the idea of seeing Squall was even better. That poor guy was probably stuck in the Headmaster’s Office all the time now and had no time for fun! Not that anyone would really say he was the most outgoing person or anything…but still, a guy needed some friends to drag him out sometimes didn’t he? “Yeah, I don’t think Squall is the type to get surprised over things, but it’ll sure be something different!” Zell chimed in after Selphie spoke with a pretty chipper tone of his in. With a rather large grin on his face as he walked by Selphie, he was pretty jazzed to get to see his old pal again, after all, things had sort of gotten crazy lately, and hopefully he’d be in one of those miracle good moods of his…one could only hope, and even if he wasn’t, Zell and Selphie could always cheer him up with their good moods, there was enough happiness to go around.

Trotting alongside the cheerful brunette, Zell looked at the woman at the desk as Selphie spoke up, wanting to see Squall, but the somewhat rude response brought an immediate frown to the monk’s face. Folding his arms across his chest, he sighed quietly. “Squall would rather see us then do stupid Garden work anyways.” He mumbled low towards Selphie while nudging her arm with his elbow as this uptight woman called up to Squall to ask if he and Selph could come up. He was pretty positive that it wouldn’t be a problem and when Squall’s acceptance came back, able to be heard by anyone listening, Zell felt childish, like he wanted to stick his tongue out at the secretary and then dance away towards the office, or something like that, but he refrained himself, trying to remain as polite as possible…for now.

After passing the secretary, following behind Selphie, Zell did turn and stick his tongue out like some small child before hopping into the elevator to stand next to Selphie, a happy grin on his face. “Hell yeah! We’ll invite him out more, not sure how much good that’ll do, but it’s work a shot, isn’t it?” He commented before Selphie’s voice rang through the elevator and soon the Headmaster’s Office. Trailing in behind the cheerful girl, Zell took a good look around, spinning once in a complete circle as he looked at everything, his bright blue eyes then settled on Squall. “Doesn’t it get…stuffy up here all by yourself? You gotta get out more, Squall! And of course he’d have time for us Selphie, I mean…we’re too great not to make time for.” He added as he shot her a glance before moving over towards Squall and his desk, chipper grin and tone as if his companion hadn’t shown enough excitement and happiness as it was, this was like…double trouble for Squall, wasn’t it?

“What’cha doing up here all the time? Garden can’t have that many things to look over…can it? We should go out and do something again, the entire gang, ya know? You, me, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis…Rinoa too! It’d be fun, and less…boring.” It was a nice thought, but he doubted anything super fun would happen for awhile, oh well, that was how things were going to be for awhile. So, what to do now? Just talk? Or force Squall out to do something? The latter sounded more fun, but almost impossible, then again, this was Zell Dincht and Selphie Tilmitt, if anything could accomplish something so ridiculous, it would be them. “You busy today?”

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Words:[/color] 733
Muse:[/color] Good!
Tagged:[/color] Selphie, Squall
Wearing:[/color] His usual
Listening To:[/color] Something!
Notes:[/color] --

[Morgan Freeman]

Squall had no doubts as to what it was Zell and Selphie wanted. The time since the world finally settled down with Ultimecia's defeat, free time hadn't existed. As it turned out, fighting a sorceress had brought them all closer than peaceful times ever would. They were still SeeDs, and along with that title came responsibilities. They couldn't be expected to all have the same responsibilities now that their mission to destroy Ultimecia was over and done with, and Squall had partially known that to be fact. He doubted Zell and Selphie were as ready for things to go back to "normal." Squall didn't necessarily like having this headmaster's job, and he'd get rid of it at the first opportunity, but that didn't mean he was going to screw around with it. Having to explain to Zell and Selphie that he wasn't going to exactly have time to be the "new and improved" Squall they seemed to want wasn't going to be an easy task. He'd never known two more stubborn people in his life. But now that they had finally come to make their move - as Squall guessed, to "free" him from his days of boredom - he supposed he had to explain it to them. This was why he'd once believed friends weren't worth the trouble. Once you had them, having to be separated, even by life's common distractions, wasn't easy for either party.

He only managed to poke at his food a little while these thoughts filled his mind, and Selphie's voice ringing throughout the room drew his eyes up from his plate before he could even take a bite. The elevator had barely opened and the loudness had already started. Squall had undoubtedly learned to appreciate these two as the most loyal individuals anyone ever had the luck to meet, but that didn't mean it was easy for him to have patience with them. They were polar opposites to him in most ways. Zell tended to completely overreact to everything - the good and the bad. Selphie was...Selphie. She couldn't be still for more than three-second intervals. The two had more in common with each other than they did with the rest of the group, so Squall could understand how they got along well. Their partners-in-crime sort of relationship, though, led to them assaulting others as a duo more often than not. Squall had prepared himself for their onslaught...but as they piled into the room with their eyes wide, Squall had to put his fork down and lean back in his chair, surveying them and wondering how they could react to a room they'd been in several times as if they'd never seen it before. It was a talent he didn't care to learn.

Squall would have answered their questions, but more often than not the pair's questions were more rhetorical than genuine anyway. They tended to interrupt themselves with more chatter, or ask them to one another, and Squall had long since learned never to bother trying to interject an answer until they were done talking unless he explicitly needed to do so. Instead he merely watched them, finding he was right not to answer any of their Zell's questions. The monk seemed content to rattle them off without any answers. They were only there to fill Zell's quota of speaking until he got to his real proposition, which was exactly what Squall had figured it would be - a proposition to go do something "fun." Squall's idea of fun would never exactly be the same as Zell's or Selphie's. They could likely both find some sort of fun in running in a circle. And...Squall wasn't sure he had quite defined what fun was for himself just yet. Maybe that was the next part of social life he'd try to figure out.

Squall wasn't about to lie to them and claim he had a bunch of work to do for the rest of the day, but he also wasn't sure how eager he should be to go along with their idea on their terms. Chances were they had something up their sleeves. He looked between the two, picking up his fork again to go at another set of green beans. "Not really," Squall responded, only bothering to answer Zell's final question. "Nothing I can't put off for later. What is it you two want to do?"

Words - 784
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - I kind of ran out of gas at the end. XD[/size]

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Practically running into the office, Selphie grinned and turned to Zell to talk before she really addressed Squall. Now that they were actually here, she couldn’t wait to convince Squall that he should get out of the stuffy office and come with her and Zell to do something fun! Anything other then this sort of work. Oh sure, he made a great headmaster, but it was going to drain him of the fun loving Squall sid-...’There was a fun loving side to Squall?’ her thoughts interrupted her, but she shrugged them off. Okay, so he hadn’t ever exactly been a fun loving sort of guy, but that was what her and Zell were here for! Giggling at Zell’s words, Selphie advanced on Squall’s desk as well. Jumping up, she plopped herself right there and crossed her legs, green eyes sparkling over at her blonde friend. “Oh well yeah, duuuuuh, it’s us, the most fun loving people in the entire Garden! But Zelly’s right, ya know Squall? It’s so stuffy up here! I think I see mold growing on you already! Pretty soon you’re gonna get a pot belly, some out of date dinosaur glasses and everyone’s gonna call you Cid.”

Yawning, Selphie only then noticed his food, the green beans enticing her. Without thinking she stole one and popped it in her mouth. Squirming then, she wiggled around and became enthralled with the little plaque that said “Headmaster Squall Leonhart”, resting on his desk. “Ooooohhhhh, Squall look! Have you seen this before?! It’s so professional looking! Lookit lookit Zell!”, she burst out, grabbing it off the desk and tossing it over at him. Giggling, Selphie kicked her legs in glee, not hearing the obnoxious ‘thud, thud’ that her cowboy boots kept making against his desk as her heels hit the wood. “I still find it crazy to come up here and not have Cid staring back at me. But look! He wouldn’t have ever let me sit on his desk. Oh man, you’re gonna make a fun headmaster, I mean, if you’d ever leave this place and come actually have fun!”

Selphie didn’t notice that Squall hadn’t said anything up to this point over their talking, but just continued on like he was actually contributing to the conversation. Jumping off the desk, Selphie skipped over toward the corner, looking at how bare it was. “You know Squall, you need something over here…something totally fantabulous. Like…like…oh! You should totally dig up a tree, put it in a pot and put it in the corner! It’d totally make it more homier feeling in here instead of looking like some stuffy headmasters office, you know?” Beaming at her own genius idea, Selphie jumped up and down, finally freezing when Zell started talking again. Of course, the silence on her part only lasted for as long as he was talking before she squealed with glee. “Oh Zell! That’s such a good idea! Squaaaaaall, you can’t say no to us all being together and having fun somewhere! Puh- leeeeeeeaasseeeeee?”

Not realizing that it was the first Squall had spoken, Selphie plopped down on his desk again, stuck a fist under her chin and thought about what they could do fun for awhile. She hadn’t really had any specific ideas, but they did include dragging Squall away if he refused to go voluntarily. At least he had said that he didn’t really have anything going on. Finally she just shrugged and lifted her hands up. “Well I dunno! But something that definitely doesn’t include sitting up here while staring at some boring paperwork about some boring person we don’t care about.”

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Words:; 853
Muse:; Good!
Tagged:; Squall and Zelly-kins
Outfit:; Click Here!
Location:; Squall's office
Notes:; Don't ask me what this is >.> One should never post after work
Listening To:; I Wish I May - Breaking Benjamin

[dincht]

Selphie was bouncing off the walls with excitement, Zell could see that clearly, not to say he wasn’t happy, he was in a great mood today, pretty excited himself to get to see Squall, it wasn’t every day you got to see the headmaster, usually they were always busy with this and that, but some time needed to be made for the two best people in the entire Garden! Zell and Selphie, that is. When Selphie plopped onto the desk, talking about how people would start calling Squall ‘Cid’ here pretty soon, Zell couldn’t help but place his arms around his stomach and nearly keel over at the thought. It was such a horrible image, but it good a GOOD chuckle out of the blond, almost bringing tears to his eyes as he calmed down his laughter and just tried to shut up for a moment. Driving Squall crazy after being in his office for no greater than five minutes…it wasn’t a wise choice, besides, if they were gonna hang out like good friends…you didn’t want to make them wish you were gone, right?

With a plaque being thrown his way, Zell caught it and turned it around and right side up to read the words on it. Grinning a bit he nodded his head before shooting a glance at Squall, holding up the plaque and just…being really cheeky and stupid about his grin. “You really are a professional if you got one of these-“ turning to Selphie as she spoke, Zell nodded quickly in agreement to her words, walking over and avoiding getting kicked by her swinging legs, he placed the plaque back on the desk and simply stood at the hyper girl’s side, his arms resting now behind his head, the stupid grin still on his face. His mood and hyperness was getting even greater, just by Selphie’s extreme happiness. “He’ll be a great headmaster! He’s just gotta learn to get out and get some fresh air once in awhile, and of course remember to visit us ‘little people’ that totally helped get him this far, right? Right?!” Of course he was right! This was Zell we were talking about, he generally had a good idea what was up these days, he wasn’t stupid, just a bit naïve at times, just as many teenagers were, teenagers that weren’t Squall.

“We should help you redecorate this place…I mean, it’s so bland…like…a bland hotdog. Nobody likes those. We can spice this place up for sure! Don’t you think so, Selph?” Zell said whipping his head in her general direction, bright blue eyes sparkling and excited at the idea even, Squall was probably going to have the biggest migraine after they were gone, whenever that would happen, but they really did need to hang out! Not just the three of them, but Irvine, Quistis and Rinoa too! It would be like a fun reunion, a chance to let go of the stress of everyday life and just enjoy everyone’s company, nothing professional, just kickin’ it together and having a good time, that was a genius idea by yours truly, Zell Dincht.

Looking over at the ‘headmaster’, Zell blinked at his words, actually able to make time for his two bestest friends ever? Well, Zell was pleased, but he hadn’t thought much about what it was they could do just the three of them. Shrugging his shoulders and then moving a hand to scratch the back of his head, Zell let out a long ‘hmm’ sound as he searched Selphie and Squall’s faces, to try and search for an idea, as if looking at them would bring an idea to his head. It didn’t. Putting out a hand to start listing off the different things they could do on his fingers, he spoke. “We could go t-boarding! We could…head to the docks or something. I’d say we could go eat, but some people already did that. You guys got any ideas?”

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Words:[/color] 767
Muse:[/color] Good!
Tagged:[/color] Squall, Selphie
Wearing:[/color] His usual
Listening To:[/color] Something
Notes:[/color] The wait D8

[Morgan Freeman]

The onslaught continued. Rhetorical questions and idle comments to one another came out of Zell and Selphie's mouths a mile a minute, leaving Squall to remain silent with his eyes flicking back and forth between them. Selphie led the charge, ranting about how Squall would start looking like Cid, picking up his nameplate (which Squall had barely even noticed himself) and making Squall wish that she'd never decided her fashion style involved boots with the way she was making new dents in the front of the desk with them. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to say anything when she popped up and moved to the corner of the room, citing that Squall needed to make the room more livable. Well...that feeling, Squall agreed with, though he couldn't get an word in edgewise to state that he did agree, nor did he want to try. He figured Zell and Selphie would take it upon themselves to barge in someday and redecorate the place to make it more livable. Squall wouldn't have any problems with that, so long as they didn't try adding a water park near the lift.

Finally having a reason to speak up, Squall wasn't all that surprised that the pair did not have an answer to his question as to what they wanted to do with the day. To believe that Selphie and Zell were not sporadic individuals would be like Irvine disclaiming his love for women and guns. That left Squall to make the decision, didn't it? Zell's mention of t-boarding was completely out of the question. Squall hated those things. And Squall wasn't completely opposed to heading off somewhere with them. He was tired of this stuffy office too. The pair simply needed some calming down sometimes, but they were still his friends and took his attempts to do said calming without offense, which was why he supposed they could get along so well despite their very different personalities. Or why they'd learned to get along so well... There was a time when Squall would have been just contend to put a bag over Zell's head to get him to shut up. After all they'd been through, to say they all had a better understanding of each other would be an immense understatement. So Squall very much understood their desire to pull him out of here...even if he thought he might have a headache before the day was over unless he came up with something that wouldn't lead to his being driven crazy.

Thinking over it, he pushed aside a few papers on the opposite end of the desk and picked up his plate to wash it off in the "kitchen" the office sported. Once there, an idea occurred to him, but he let himself mull over it until the plate was sat aside on the counter. It might have even been a little more ambitious than what the other two would have been content to do, but it still made sense. "Selphie...", Squall started, his back still turned. "How badly do you want to see Trabia?" As he dried his hands, he turned to her and Zell. "I need to make a trip there about a student. The business part of it won't take long...then we can do whatever you'd want to do." Was Squall really recommending going off to another Garden with the two most energy-bound individuals in existence? If he hadn't heard the words spoken out of his own mouth, he wouldn't have believed it.

Words - 637
Muse - It was good before...then I lost the post.
Notes - Taiya! Talk to Abbey and I![/size]

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Selphie couldn’t help but giggle when Zell mentioned a bland hot dog. “A hot dog Zell? Really? I think you ate too much before we came up here,” she teased, bouncing off and running around Squall’s office, ruffling Zell’s hair on the way by. Standing with her hands on her hips, she tapped her foot, imagining what they could do to spruce the place up. They could add a few plants –if Squall promised to water them of course- and maybe repaint. Some really nice color! Something…just…super professional and great! Like…yellow. Yellow was definitely the best color out there. And she wasn’t just saying that because she adored the color yellow. No way! It was much more then that. It was just because it was professional! That was totally why!

Selphie shook her head at Zell and his silly ideas. He had promised to teach her how to ride t-board, but she highly doubted that Squall would touch one. He was, after all, the headmaster, and it was a rule that there wasn’t supposed to be any t-boarding in the Garden hallways. The docks…now that could be fun. Especially if that included pushing the boys into the water and watching them flounder around in the water while she got to laugh from the wooden decks. And-…eating? Selphie could only smile over at Zell when he suggested that they go and eat. Did he ever stop thinking about food? She really didn’t think so, but she didn’t say anything about that, jut shook her head.

Before she could open her mouth to name off some of the ideas she might have, Squall surprised her by saying her name. Having bounced back to sit on his desk, Selphie peered over at the older teenager and nodded her head. “What’s up Squally?” At the mention of Trabia, Selphie dove off the desk, whirling around to face Squall, resting her hands flat on the wood and leaning forward, eyes sparkling in excitement. “YOU MEAN IT?! You doooo?! I would love to see Trabia! It’s been so long, and I could-…well yes, I’d love to go to Trabia. I haven’t home seen it since they started on the restoration.”, she excitedly spoke out. Despite having been associated with the Balamb Garden now for so long, Selphie still thought of Trabia as home, and it showed.

Bouncing around, Selphie zipped around the desk, glomping Squall and clinging to his neck, happily patting his head with her hand. “We’re going to Trabia! We’re going to Trabia!” Letting him go as quickly as she had pounced on the poor young man, Selphie proceeded to dance around the office, her booted feet making clopping noises as she did so. Grabbing Zell by the arm, she forced him along behind her as she danced around. He had just made her day with that suggestion. Going back home would completely make her happy. –aside from the twinge of sadness when she remembered the missiles taking down the Garden and destroying things-

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Words:; 709
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Zell, Squall
Outfit:; That one I linked!
Location:; Squall's office
Notes:; XD Hyperness
Listening To:; I Hate Everything About You - Three Days Grace

[dincht]

Giving a look in Selphie’s direction, Zell couldn’t help but grin. “Me? No way, I never eat too much. In fact, I don’t eat enough, ask anyone!” He challenged but knew that anyone and everyone would say that he ate like a garbage disposal, a bottomless pit, you get the point, right? He chuckled a bit through his words, taking a moment to look around the room a bit more. It definitely needed some fixing up, but Selphie and Zell could easily take care of that! Add a bit of paint here, some nice decorations there, and Squall would love it, and if he didn’t, he’d simply reply with his favorite word in the entire universe. ‘Whatever.’ Chuckling a bit at the thought, Zell then started to think more about what it was they could be doing today. Something fun, something…something outside of Garden! Ha, escaping the school itself was a challenge, an exciting challenge at that. Oh well, whatever it was they did would be fun, it was better than doing nothing.

After spitting out his own ideas, Zell listened quietly to see if anyone else would contribute or work off of his ideas. He doubted it though, Squall was quiet and Selphie was…Selphie. If anything, he’d have to come up with their day plan all by himself. Sighing quietly, he placed a hand at the top of his head near his hairline and rubbed at it, trying to think before he heard words come from Squall’s mouth. It was almost shocking, but he remained quiet, listening to see what he would have to contribute to them wanting to hang out today. Then the attack of Selphie hit. She was excited and Zell was lucky to still have his hearing after she started yelling excitedly. Rubbing a hand near his ear he took a few steps away from her with as excited was she was, afraid to get hit by a flailing arm or a zooming Selphie as a whole, probably a wise idea since she whirled around and zoomed around the desk…yes, definitely a good idea to keep some space before someone lost an eye.

Selphie was happy, any fool could see that. “You’re excited, aren’t you!? Trabia will be fun!” Zell assured her before she started her little chant of going to Trabia. Of course she thought it’d be fun, she hadn’t been there in awhile, and it was still her home. Zell was quickly then taken by surprise as his arm was pulled, nearly making him topple over, but luckily he’d caught himself in enough time to move around as Selphie continued her little happy dance around the room, dragging him around with her at the same time. “Very excited by the looks of it!” he chuckled at her while being tugged around. “Say Squall! When we gonna get going? I just wanna plan to make sure I’ll still have my arm by the time we leave.” He said as he was keeping up with Selphie and whatever it was she was doing, at least she was happy, that was all that mattered right? They needed to get to Trabia and soon, Selphie wanted to see it, Squall had business to attend to – only a little right? – and Zell…well he’d just go with the flow and follow whoever wherever. So long as they got away from Balamb Garden for a little bit, then he’d be happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:[/color] 674
Muse:[/color] Good!
Tagged:[/color] Selphie, Squall
Wearing:[/color] His usual
Listening To:[/color] Grace Kelly: Mika
Notes:[/color] Time skip if you wish!

[Morgan Freeman]

The most pleasant of expressions, but not quite a smile, crossed Squall's features at witnessing Selphie's reaction. Chance that she'd knock down Cid's old desk aside, it was good to see that he'd come up with the one thing that she probably wouldn't get bored with in the first five minutes. He figured it'd be good for her to see the restoration, anyway. Internally cringing as she whipped around the desk in a flurry of yellow, Squall was defenseless as she latched onto him, only managing to give her a light pat on the back before she was gone again and dragging Zell behind her. Squall made a recovery from the partially-expected assault and shook his head lightly at the two of them. Better Zell than him being slung around the room like a rag doll, he guessed. It was actually a good sight to see, though.

But with every trip, some planning needed to be done. The annoying part, usually, but Squall was going to make this easy. They'd only be gone a day and a half, max, anyway. He folded his arms over his chest. "I'll need about five hours to finish here and set up Quistis for running things," Squall told them over the sound of the results of Selphie's talent for wearing the loudest footwear imaginable, "One of you can talk to the secretary and tell her to call over to Trabia for rooms. Probably you, Selphie." Naturally, since she knew how the process worked over at Trabia for guests better than Squall did. He'd need to tell Rinoa that they were leaving and give her a time frame for when they'd be back, too... She'd probably be upset he was off on one of his business trips again...though her knowing that he'd have company would probably smooth it over. He would bring her, too, but bringing Zell along for boarding at Trabia was already enough of a stretch. Squall would be there on business, Selphie was a former Trabia cadet, so they'd be welcomed. If they brought all of Balamb over with them, not so much.

Squall looked off at the clock on the wall to his side. "We'll get going by sundown if we don't get held up," he told them, figuring it was unspoken that they would be leaving in the morning if they couldn't make it by evening. Letting Selphie wait until morning to leave, though, would mean bad things for all of them. Hopefully, that wouldn't need to happen. Squall pushed himself off of the kitchen counter and evaded the elated pair as he went back to his desk to be a boring, stuffy headmaster again.

Or something.

-------------------------------------------------------------
A Few Hours Later

Six on the dot. Everything was done. Squall was ready and waiting in his SeeD uniform to grab a shuttle and leave for Trabia with Selphie and Zell. Several times over the course of the afternoon, he'd wondered where that annoyance had gone over the past few months that would have had him grumbling incessantly at the thought of having to go off on a business trip like this with a guy he considered to be a moron - once - and a girl who lived life like she was made of caffeine. Today, though..he partially looked forward to it. He was getting some business done without having to worry about being stuck at Trabia by himself. Now, he at least had people he knew bothering him instead of a bunch of strangers bothering him. And the trip over and back was going to be an experience...

With his gunblade wrapped up in a sheath and a bag full of clothes, he waited propped up against the wall for the other two to either show themselves or arrive at the shuttle bay. They were probably here, knowing them. Just waiting to dive on him when he least expected it. Squall shook his head yet again at the thought.

Words - 715
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - TIME SKIPS HAVE HAPPENED.[/size]

[Selphie Tilmitt]

As quickly as Selphie had started dragging Zell along she stopped. Grinning up at him, Selphie continued to bounce on her toes a bit, making a few ‘clop clop’ noises from her booted heels hitting the floor. Selphie was extremely excited to get to go back to Trabia. Though she didn’t talk about it much anymore, Selphie still missed her old Garden very much, and still viewed it as ‘home’, rather than the Balamb Garden. It was home, how could she feel any differently about it? Well…it had been home. After the destruction with the missiles that had been launched, certain things had changed. A lot of her friends had been killed in those missiles, and though she tried to keep her chin up and not think about it, sometimes she just couldn’t help herself. Usually that was on dates where they had had events that she had overseen, or the anniversary of the actual destruction. Times like that usually made her a bit quieter and reserved, because even if no one else remembered, she did.

Slipping the thoughts out of her head as quickly as they had entered, Selphie clasped her hands behind her back and thought about all the fun they could have once they got to Trabia. Selphie wasn’t so sure she could focus on just business, since that was what they were technically going for. She hoped Squall wouldn’t mind if she goofed off a little bit. Eagerly she nodded when he mentioned calling to make the arrangements. Selphie knew personally how things went down at Trabia, probably better then Balamb even, and so it wouldn’t be any challenge whatsoever to call up and see if they could stay. Raising her hand at that, she bounded on her feet. “Me me me! Oh me! I can get us in no problem!”, she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling with happiness. It was wise for him to stay away on route back to his desk, because otherwise he would have been jumped on by the hyper young girl. Instead she turned her attack on Zell, jumping at him in a big squeeze hug before she was off for the grand duty of finding them a place to stay while they were there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A FEW HOURS LATER *dun dun dun*

Freeeeeedooooom!

Selphie glanced at her watch as she ducked and dodged past people, her suitcase in tow behind her. She had been perfectly ready and thought she had had plenty of time to get ready and get down to the shuttle when she needed to. Unfortunately that had been the moment that word had obviously spread that they were coming to Trabia. After that, absolutely everyone she knew there, it would seem, had to call and talk to her, and Selphie hated to cut them off when they were talking, since she knew them well, so instead of packing, she had simply sat and talked to all the people that she would be seeing once they arrived. When she had finally realized what time it was, she barely had any time to pack and get down to the shuttle. And that was where the running came in. Selphie was dodging obstacles and people in her rush to get there in time.

When she finally could see where she was supposed to be, Selphie was happy to see that Squall was standing there, but Zell wasn’t. Yeees, she wasn’t the only one somewhat late! Skidding up by him, Selphie came to a stop quickly beside Squall, her bags colliding with her legs and nearly throwing her off balance. She managed to keep her feet, but she stumbled around a bit before she finally got her situation under control. “Whew!”, she gasped out, tucking some hair behind her ear and piling her stuff there by her feet, hands then going to her hips. “I’m here!”, she announced needlessly, before glancing behind her, fully expecting Zell to come flying up as well. “So I got us places to stay. Tracy-…er, the secretary was happy to find us accommodation. So we’re all set up with rooms right next to each other on the first floor, unit B.” Selphie knew exactly where that was, but she might have to show Squall and Zell once they got there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:; 923
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Zell, Squall
Outfit:; That one I linked!
Location:; Shuttle
Notes:; I didn't...notice that Kent had posted u.u
Listening To:; Caught A Lite Sneeze - Evans Blue

[dincht]

Zell…was going to lose an arm here pretty soon with Selphie attacking him like this. Oh well, at least she was happy, right? It was almost surprising to Zell that Squall brought up such an idea, sure he probably had business to attend to, but dragging along Selphie and himself of all people? The two most hyper active and child-like people around all of Balamb Garden. Yes, this was a wise choice, wasn’t it? Zell was actually excited, but he knew that behavior and manners would be a big yes on this trip, not that he was impolite or anything he was just…easily excited and motivated to do childish things, especially with his sugar-high friend around. A grin was plastered on his face when he looked to Squall, Selphie having let go of him for the time being. “Okay! That gives me just enough time to pack, organize my dorm and…eat before we go.” He announced with a small rub against the back of his neck before Selphie was all excited to make arrangements. Really, all Zell was for this trip was a third wheel, oh well. He’d be the best dang third wheel ever.

With another attack from Selphie, a tight hug, Zell patted her shoulder once before she was off like a shot. Boy was she excited, Zell wasn’t sure how Squall was going to handle a nice trip with them….for both to and from Trabia. Good luck to him, if his head didn’t explode after the first fifteen minutes, he’d be able to survive the entire trip with no problem. Well…maybe. With that thought in mind, the martial artist gave Squall a departing nod before taking his leave as well. After all, eating and packing sure did take a lot of time, he didn’t want to be the last one to show up when it came time for them to leave…

----------- LE TIME SKIP ------------

…and Zell was going to be the last person to show up now that it was time for them to leave.

With a groan as he ran through the halls after sprinting out his dorm door and out of Garden area. He was almost there! It wasn’t far now! He just needed to find a bouncing ball of energy and someone a little more mellow than that. As he weaved through a couple people, a bag slung across his back as he even dressed in his SeeD uniform – for professional purposes to make Squall think a little better about bringing him along maybe? – he finally spotted the two. Oh god, he was late. With a sheepish grin on his face, he slowed his pace and finally came to a stop just ahead of Selphie and Squall. Deep breaths working all the way from his inner chest to his lips were both inhaled and exhaled before he rested his hands on his knees, trying to get more oxygen into his body. “Sorry…I’m late. The cafeteria…made me wait on my food just before….coming.” he said before lifting himself to stand tall – because five feet five inches was tall for a guy – as he placed his hands on his waist, adjusting the bag over his shoulder by simply moving his arm slightly. He gave the two a grin and hoped they weren’t annoyed or anything by his brief lateness. “So! Now we’re all here…are we all ready to go?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:[/color] 662
Muse:[/color] Good!
Tagged:[/color] Selphie, Squall
Wearing:[/color] SeeD Uniform now!
Listening To:[/color] Nothing!
Notes:[/color] --

[Morgan Freeman]

They came like two pinballs launched out of the chute, probably having bounced themselves off of the walls too as they'd made their way over and been brought to a quick halt by Squall's presence - or in Selphie's case, by her bags too. Despite the fact that she was late by about five minutes or so, though Squall didn't have on his watch, Squall didn't feel any particular sense of annoyance at her. He just gave her a short nod and kept his arms over his chest, glancing her bags before looking over her shoulder and seeing Zell barreling down the chute towards them too, right on...uh, "schedule". At least Squall didn't have to worry about having an anxious, affectionate Selphie on his hands while they waited for Zell to arrive. His eyes finally returned to Selphie's face, absorbing her words before Zell surely broke his train of thought. "Good job," he applauded her, in his simple way. He knew she'd get them some good accommodations, but having all their rooms on the first floor and all in a row was a bit of a steal. Aside from what would surely be a few too many visits from his two friends at odd hours, it worked perfectly.

"Here's Zell," he added, motioning his head behind her as he pried himself up off his perch and glanced between the martial artist and the shuttle. Of course it would be food that held him up... "They have food on the shuttle, Zell..." It was only once he said it that he remembered Zell probably ate every meal twice. Squall shook his head at his own thought, knowing that though he wasn't annoyed by them being a few minutes late...the shuttle pilot would be, whoever it was. Squall, having been trained to courtesy by Rinoa and her years of life as a "princess", reached for one of Selphie's bags almost without thinking of what he was doing so he could haul it in. Zell was on his own. "We should get in and loaded as fast as we can," he said in confirmation to Zell's words, taking the initiative to lead the way and start up the ramp towards their seats. He knew to hold up a little once he was inside, though. Selphie would probably have her own idea about their seats...and it almost definitely involved windows. He glanced at her to defer.

Words - 444
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - I was figuring...little row of short posts for them settling in before another time skip? Since we probably don't need MUCH here, but jumping again would be tacky. XD I can jump it again if you'd like me to.[/size]

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Selphie beamed at Squall’s approval after she had told him what she had gotten for them. She figured that they would have a blast! “It’s gonna be so fun!”, she squeaked out, jumping up and down once to show that she really did mean what she said. How could they NOT have fun?! Oh…..there was no way! Unless something happened and Squall didn’t say four words while they were there, which was entirely possible! Yawning slightly then, Selphie stretched and watched Zell bound up to them as well, grinning over at him after, eyes sparkling. “Oh you and your tummy,” she teased, poking at his stomach.

Nodding in excitement, Selphie was just about to bend over and grab at her bag again, when Squall beat her to it. “Oh thank you Squally!”, she chimed, before trotting off backwards toward the train. Why could he make it look so effortless, when she had been practically dragging it the entire way here? Well that wasn’t any fair…men and their being all strong and stuff! Oh well! If they wanted to be all strong and stuff, then she would let them! Practically running up the steps toward the shuttle, When Squall seemed to hesitate, Selphie took charge.

Tugging at his arm lightly, she pointed her hand down toward the row of seats that was way at the front, so that she could ask the shuttle pilot all sorts of questions. “Come on! I want a window seat!”, she burst out, before turning on her heels and trotting down the center to get there. Oh boy! Just, ooooh boy! This was going to be so much fun. Plopping down on the three seated chair, Selphie scooted over toward the window and pressed her head up against the side, instantly squealing a bit and squirming in her seat. Before they got there though, she had bounded back up and was running down the hallway in her excitement to be on the shuttle. “Selphie Tilmitt.”, spoke out a warning voice. Oops. Turning around, she gave the conductor a sheepish look. “Sooooooooorry, I’ll be quiet,” she burst out with before he could scold her like he normally did. Instead, she turned again and made a bee line for her seat, jumping onto the cushion and wiping her brow. “Whew! That was a close one,” she whispered loudly. Though the conductor heard her as he walked by, he simply shook his head and smiled. Selphie would be Selphie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:; 609
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Zell, Squall
Outfit:; That one I linked!
Location:; Shuuuuuttle
Notes:; Sounds good to me!
Listening To:; --

[dincht]

It was a miracle Squall hadn’t just suggested they leave without Zell. Then again, who would want to leave without the world’s greatest and most loved martial artist? Stupid people, that’s who. But even still, the blonde was relieved to see Selphie and Squall up ahead waiting for him instead of ditching him for being only a few moments late. He’d done what he could to hurry, but he’d rather make it to the shuttle on a full stomach than on an empty one! Otherwise they’d have to listen to his stomach growl the entire time until the train began to serve food, and Zell planned on eating again of course. With a sheepish grin on his face though, his eyes went to Squall before he shrugged. “Well, I plan on eating again if that makes you feel better.” He said before getting poked in the stomach, a slight tickle but he wasn’t going to turn into a Pillsbury doughboy or anything, he just shot a smile in Selphie’s direction, hoisting his bag over his shoulder and getting ready to trail after the other two.

Following Selphie and Squall, Zell watched the excitement that was one Selphie Tilmitt, she was always full of so much energy, she made the boys look dull, even Zell sometimes! Shaking his head though, she went for an obvious window seat and simply trailed behind her, sitting down next to her and peering past her to gaze out the window towards the shuttle station, as if he’d never seen it before. “This will be fun!” He said with a chipper tone and a large cheerful grin to match, even Squall was going to have a good time, it was just bound to happen, no ifs and or buts about it! Selphie and Zell would be sure to get the new headmaster to have a good time, as serious as he was and as no-nonsense as he was…it was definitely going to be a challenge. A challenge for the two most capable fun loving people in all of Balamb.

Turning away from the window that was just past Selphie, Zell looked towards the aisle of the train, looking as people sat themselves and everything was shut and ready to go. A loud whistle blew from up at the front of the train and Zell felt his eager grin only widen. They were going to get to Trabia in no time, and he would be sure not to start anything ridiculous while on the train. No one wanted to hear a concert of ’99 bottles of pop’ during this train ride, nor did anyone want to play any of those other stupid travel games. Some nice chit chat would be alright, right?! Of course. But first, the more important things that came to his mind. A serious look came to his face as he turned to face the aisle slightly, looking and seeing if there were any workers trailing their way. “When do you think they start serving food?”

Oh Zell...your priorities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:[/color] 596
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Squall, Selphie
Wearing:[/color] His usual!
Listening To:[/color] Everybody Talks: Neon Trees
Notes:[/color] Nada!