On Boyfriends

28th May 2005

Author's Note: This particular fic was inspired by SEED Destiny. Miri did say she'd 'dumped' Dearka, but when I saw him with Yzak he wasn't exactly too angsty about it... so here's my take on what really happened! Hopefully it's a refreshing angle to the DearkaYzak pairing... and disclaimer: I don't own any of SEED's pretty boys, because I don't own SEED. Clear? Now, let me go cry my eyes out in some corner of Alaska...

R&R!

Miriallia Haww here. Technically, I'm a civilian war photographer, but currently I'm sitting on the Archangel's bridge, doing communications for them while Cagalli gives big inspiring political talks to the Orb fighters who're with us. Somehow I've missed this job. I've missed the Archangel's crew, I guess, even if Ssigh and Kuzzey and Tolle – yes, I can say his name without breaking down – aren't here anymore.

Speaking of boyfriends, earlier Murdock-san told me I wouldn't be able to get myself a boyfriend if I continued to stay here, and someone asked me about Elthman. Dearka, if you don't know, that guy who let himself be demoted from that elite red uniform to the green one so he could return to ZAFT with a certain somebody. I told him I dumped Dearka – which is, in a way, quite true. I don't understand why everyone thinks I'm connected to Dearka in more than a friendly way...

Not that he's a bad guy – would probably make a pretty good boyfriend; for all that he was a ZAFT pilot, a bit of a cocky arsehole and the fact that I tried to stab him before, when he was a Earth Alliance prisoner of war. I wouldn't have minded trying, really, and we did, for a while there. Exchanged a couple of letters, vid calls, etc, etc...

But no relationship can survive when there's a third party, especially when your so-called boyfriend and the third party are so obviously in Denial, capital letter and all.

Yzak Jule.

It was almost laughable at first, because the glowering jealousy could probably be felt off Yzak for a mile radius whenever he saw me and Dearka together, but Dearka was patently blind to it. And in fact, I don't even think Yzak was actually aware of the fact that he was jealous as hell. (For goodness' sake, Athrun is the green-eyed one.)

So, now whenever they mention 'Elthman' to me, I end up repressing the terrible urge to snicker and blurt their cute little secret all over the place. I'm just stunned that, firstly, it took them so long, and secondly, that no one has put two and two together. Or if they have, they think it makes three.

For the love of little Coordinator babies (which the two of them might just end up having sooner or later), Dearka sleeps in Yzak's room. Which, for all that it's the spacious accommodations of a Commander, has only one bed. (Bodyguard. Bodyguard, yes.) Are they all blind?

And in fact, Yzak and Dearka make far, far more sense than Dearka and I ever, ever would. They've known each other since military school. They've seen the battlefield together, tried to save each other's lives. Dearka is Yzak's best – only, the anti-social loser – friend. They've been through more together emotionally than I could ever hope for with Dearka. It only makes sense that they should enjoy peacetime together as well.

I get this warm little glow of pride whenever I think of how I got those two emotionally-juvenile losers together.

'Miriallia! Miriallia Haww!' I turned from my window shopping in the streets of PLANT to notice the blond-haired, violet-eyed pilot of the Buster Gundam, waving vigorously in the distance, approaching me quickly. I waved back, noticing he was out of uniform and dressed in a black shirt with black slacks and looking a great deal more relaxed.

'You do remember me, right?' he asked, having caught up to me.

'Well, gee, Dearka Elthman, no, I don't remember the former pilot of Buster whom I tried to stab at all,' I replied sharply, rolling my eyes.

He laughing, falling into stride alongside me. 'Fine, fine, I get the hint, Miriallia.'

'Miri will do fine,' I said nonchalantly, regarding him. He hadn't changed much after all – definitely that cocky personality that had shoved me over the edge in the infirmary was still firmly in place. It was in his stance, the way he walked, the tone of voice with which he talked, even.

'Are you busy?'

'No, not really. Why?'

'Just thought we could go for a cup of coffee and catch up on old times. For instance, what happened during the three months Yzak and I spent rotting in jail for being traitorous bastards to the ZAFT military,' he said, rolling his eyes and shuddering dramatically. 'I'll treat.'

'Ah. Sure, then,' I acquiesced. 'But I'm paying for myself.'

So it was a pretty enjoyable chat – and it was, of course, the first time I'd heard of Yzak Jule. I supposed I should have been clued in even then, because Dearka didn't really stop talking about him. At that time, I put it down to them being best of friends. Boy, was I wrong.

'So let me get this straight. They stuck you guys in prison for three months?'

'Well, I think they were trying to decide what the hell they were going to do with us. And post-war, there are lots of admin things to get done – thank god that being a pilot exempts you from stupid, stupid paperwork... and not to mention the fact that there were actually a lot of deserters, breaches of military protocol...'

'I see.'

'But I should be glad, I guess. Yzak and I would have faced the firing squad if it weren't for the influence of Yzak's mother and Chairman Dullindal.'

Dullindal. PLANT's enigmatic chairman. Yzak has served under him, both as a part of the High Council and later as a Commander... and by all accounts – even by what Athrun said, he's a dangerous man. Not necessarily on the wrong side, or doing the wrong thing... but what he's doing... it's doubtable. (Yes, I may be just a lowly communications officer, while Kira and Cagalli and the rest are Really Important People, but I can still think.)

'Who's this Yzak, anyway?' I asked, curious.

And that set him off immediately. I got a half-hour life story of how Yzak and himself had met, gotten to know each other, how Yzak was such a bastard but not too bad once you got to know him... blah. Blah. You get the picture.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again – Dearka is possibly one of Yzak's only friends (dare I consider myself, a lowly Natural, one too?) Possibly because Dearka is, incredibly enough, not irritated by Yzak in a bad way. He's irritated – he just likes it. (After all, he might just be masochistic. Go ask Yzak.) They met, they argued, they became friends.

Amazing, isn't it? Their story is similar to, but just... different from Kira and Athrun's. Kira and Athrun's friendship is built on their shared childhood, their love for one another from way back. I guess that's why it hurt so much for Kira to fight Athrun in the Strike, because it meant contradicting everything he knew. Yzak and Dearka... they're different, because for most of the time they were on the same side, standing back to back... offering each other comfort, if what I know of a pilot's after-reactions are true. (From a firsthand source: no less than the infamous pilot of Freedom, Kira Middle-Name-Angst Yamato.)

So our first chat – more like Dearka blabbering about Yzak – ended on a pleasant note, after Dearka took one panicked look at his watch, and informed me, panicking, that he had to go and pick up Yzak after the High Council meeting, swapped contact numbers with me in a very panicked fashion and drove off at a very panicky speed.

The next meeting, I actually got to meet Yzak Jule. (Oh, someone catch me, I'm going to faint.)

Signing off, Miriallia Haww.

Author's Note: I wrote this ona flash of inspiration, at an unearthly hour of the day with way too much caffeine in my bodily system. Thank you for reading thus far and stick around for the next chatper! And don't forget - what is crack to a writer? Reviews! And what does crack do to a writer? It makes her write more, and faster! Therefore reviews crack next chapter. Good? -smile-