"I couldn't say anything. I...I didn't know what to say."
It was late afternoon in the large city Alexandria. The city had been bustling with nobles and peasants alike from all ends of the land, coming to witness the dawn of a new era, the crowning of the new queen. The excited buzz about Princess and soon-to-be-Queen Garnet could be felt all around, even if nobody had been talking about her aloud. And they were.
Through the commotion, however, the small diner situated in the center of the city was pleasantly vacant. Well...vacant excepting for a few lonely souls.
"What are you gonna do?" The meek little mage was sitting beside his friend at a table in the corner, consoling him.
"No idea," Zidane mumbled into his arms. "I still don't know what to say. I don't know what to think, or feel, or do." He sighed in frustration.
"But you really like her, right?" Vivi tried, "I...just, um...tell her that, I guess."
Darkened eyes normally of crystal blue turned over to glance at his friend.
"Do I?" he asked quietly, mostly of himself than Vivi.
"...Zidane..."
Vivi brought his face to stare at his feet and didn't look up again. The dismayed blonde huffed and turned his head to rest his cheek on his arms, staring moodily at the wall.
"HEY! Zidane!"
A bouncing yellow and purple blur called Eiko spun into the lonely diner and stopped before her two companions, brooding in the corner. The blonde looked up tiredly.
"Gah! Look alive, Zidane! Whassa matter with you! Actually..." she paused, "I got a pretty good idea so don't make me hear it." She pouted a little, still a sensitive about being indirectly rejected by her "love."
Zidane half-scowled at her, and didn't bother to say anything; he knew his mouth would fail him if he did.
"Well..." she continued, chipper again, "I'm heading out to some place called Treno with that nerdy guy. Freya and Amarant are coming with. So naturally, you an' Vivi are gonna come too!"
The yellow-eyed mage glanced up quickly, but couldn't reply before Zidane spoke.
"Nah...I'm not coming..." he decided. "You guys go have fun."
Eiko's round eyes got even rounder as her thin eyebrows scrunched down.
"What? Why! C'mon Zidane, don't be a poop." She pouted and crossed her arms, Mog bouncing around in the air around her head, nodding in agreement.
Zidane's tail curled and he pushed himself up off his wooden stool. "I'm just going to take it easy out here for a while. I've been thinking of maybe going back to Tantalus. And then heading out to Lindblum, when we can."
"Oh...you're not gonna stay here with Garnet?" As much as Eiko despised her competition in that respect, she had to ask. Zidane frowned slightly.
"Probably not..." he said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. "I don't the whole queen thing. I couldn't live like that."
"Like what?" Vivi asked quietly.
"If I stayed in Alexandria just to protect her or whatever," the blonde explained solemnly, "it'd have to be from a distance, there'd be guards everywhere, and..." he threw his arms down in a sigh, "...And what do you think would happen if they decided, for the kingdom, that she gets married to some other prince? ...I couldn't do it. I'm not that kind of guy...not gonna waste my time trying."
After his little monologue, he stepped out of the diner and glanced around the town, quick to get lost in the crowd before Vivi or Eiko could find him and pester him into going to Treno with everyone else. It would be better, he decided, to just try to forget about his whole time from the moment they came to Alexandria to kidnap Garnet to the very moment he was occupying.
But it was difficult. He was lonely.
"For such a busy town," he mused, "there really isn't much to do here..."
He stood off to the side a little, leaning against a building, as people bustled about, bumping into him and shoving him some. Many of them were probably pickpockets but he was more wary than that; he wouldn't lose a single gil.
Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a blue bandana, on a man that was about a head taller than most of the people walking about. Pushing himself quickly off from against the wall, Zidane trailed the tall one to a deserted alleyway branching off of the plaza.
"Marcus!" he called.
Marcus spun quickly, hearing his name, and held his weapon carefully out in a defensive position. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Zidane, and his gruff face managed a grin.
"Captured your canary yet, kiddo?" he asked, and the shorter blonde scowled, tail swinging anxiously.
"No way," he said breezily, brushing past Marcus to walk down the stairs into Ruby's previously forgotten theatre that most of his old group was probably hanging around in.
Marcus watched him go silently, following soon after and wondering what happened.
"Well, well!" Ruby clapped her hands together and smiled her sheila smile, "If it isn't Don Juan himself! Where's the lady, Zidane? Pining away for her prince in the castle way up high, hm?" She giggled.
Was everybody going to force him on Garnet? He was trying to forget about her, damn it!
Too tired to scowl, Zidane just mumbled something and threw himself heavily into one of the theatre chairs. Ruby clicked her tongue but let it go, going off to prepare for the performance scheduled for that evening.
The blonde leaned his chin on his arms and watched, bored, as two plain-looking wenches with waist-pinching, bust-hugging and leg-flaunting outfits giggled to each other as they trailed over to an empty table and sat there expectantly, eyeing Zidane off-handedly but obviously there for something else. He looked away, knowing he could easily get the wenches to bed with him but not feeling particularly fond of the idea. They were just warm bodies, after all. There was no sentiment.
Sentiment was a horrible idea, and whoever created it was a fool out to make a fool of the rest of the world. And Zidane had become one.
But he was lonely.
Mostly, the place remained peaceful and quiet, until the two tramps in the corner let out excited shrieks that pierced his eardrums. Glancing up from his half-sleeping state, the blonde scowled up at them to see what happened. Pretty sapphire-blue eyes widened slightly when he saw a familiar red-head smiling blithely (uncharacteristic to him) and taking a seat with the two women at the table. Blank seemed not to have noticed Zidane sitting nearby and the blonde didn't need to open his ears to be able to hear their conversation.
"Well, you lovely ladies are back for more? I have to say, I'm flattered."
"Of course we are," the black-haired one spoke, "you're the best we know. And..." she paused, with a cryptic smirk, "we've referenced you to all our friends."
"Really, now?" A smile was heard in Blank's voice. "You beautiful ladies are spoiling me," he said tactfully.
"Oh, Blank!" the pink-haired one sighed, leaning forward. "We're not spoiling ya! You just do such good work." She giggled.
Smiles all around. Zidane was confused. This wasn't how Blank had wenched in the past, as far as he could remember. Blank had always been more of the cool, laid-back, "don't expect a compliment" type guy. So what was this?
"Actually," the black-haired girl hesitated. "One of our friends is a little shy, and she doesn't know if it's the thing for her, you know...could ya find it in your heart to let her try once for free?"
Blank hesitated. "Well..." and then he smiled again, "...yeah, no problem. I couldn't say no to you two."
"Oh, Blank," the pink-haired one sighed happily, "You're a doll! What would we do without you?"
Blank grinned.
"Okay then..." he started in a low, quieter voice, "for the both of ya, I'll charge...5500 Gil. Sound right?"
"Sure does!" The pink-haired girl got up and latched herself onto Blank's arm. The woman with black hair did the same, looking up at the red-head with a secretive smile.
"Actually, Eirimi..." the black-haired woman spoke to her friend while looking up at Blank, "I was thinking we'd bump it to 6000 Gil just for our sweetie..."
"Oohh! Yeah!" The pink-haired one, Eirimi, nodded vigorously. "He's just precious enough for it! Perfect idea, Chikimi!" She grinned cutely and gripped Blank's arm tighter, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
Blank grinned widely, leading the Eirimi and Chikimi to a back room of Ruby's theatre.
Zidane was now sitting up with hugely wide eyes. He had forgotten about Garnet, and now he could only think about one thing.
What the hell was Blank doing!