Dincht

A/N- So it's been a very long time since I have written anything for FanFiction. But I just wanted to get back into the swing of writing for fun, rather than because I had to. So I decided to write a new story and I wanted to do something a little different so I decided to center it on one character instead of like a lot. So here it is, please read and review, they keep me alive.

Chapter 1 – Mundane

Zell tapped his foot anxiously on the grey carpet of the office and checked his watch. He had another interview today for a law firm in Esthar. He had already gone to three and had already been declined by three, which he found hardly surprising. Zell had no real law experience or that much schooling on the subject, and it seemed as if he had just decided over night to become a lawyer; which wasn't entirely untrue. After much deliberation of his future (a six-pack and three burritos) Zell had decided that maybe he should finally take his Ma's advice and do something normal with his life, like become a lawyer.

Zell had found this rather hilarious since he thought of his life as little much more than normal. Apart from the whole, I-saved-the-world thing, and the fact that he had weapons training, there wasn't all that much going on in his life that would make it anything other than ordinary. In fact there was nothing; unless of course, you count those burritos or a job as a trainer at the gym in Balamb Garden, which was neither fun nor glamorous.

The glass door behind him opened and a brunette wearing heels and a pantsuit entered the room. She sat behind her desk and shuffled some papers around in search of something.

"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, I just had to wrap up a meeting," she said as she continued to look for something on her desk.

"Not a problem," he responded. She finally found the paper she was looking for and looked up at Zell.

"So Mr. Dincht, you have sent us your resume as consideration to become a member of the firm."

"Yup. I mean I'm not trying to be your number one lawyer, but I was hoping to get some kind of a job in the law and justice field," he answered. He had used this explanation twice before; after that first interview crashed and burned when he said under pressure that he wanted to 'practice law and junk', he wanted to be prepared for the next ones.

"Why law? I mean your resume here shows that you have no real experience or education in the field." Clearly the paper she was looking for a second earlier was his resume, which was less of a list of things he had accomplished in life, and more of a post-it note. "I mean it seems like you decided to work in this business almost over night.

"Not at all," he lied, "I've actually always been interested in law and… justice…" he stalled and read her face. It was emotionless as most interviewers faces are. "I just needed the right… I needed to really examine my life and decide where I wanted to go with it."

"Right," she took a moment and wrote something down. "I also notice you have a facial tattoo." Zell didn't know if he should respond to that or not since it didn't sound like a question, and he clearly had one. "Look, Zell I'm gonna level with you." Zell sat up a bit in his chair. It was black leather and he was beginning to overheat in the office since the summer sun was pouring through the floor to ceiling windows. The whole building was made of glass, and he had first thought when he entered it that Selphie would not be well liked here since her clumsiness would undoubtedly cause the destruction of something.

"So here are the facts Zell," continued the interviewer, who he just noticed he didn't know the name of. "You have very little experience and a limited education on the subject, and law firms are a very… how do I say this… Okay, being in a law firm is kind of like being in the government; it's very hard to get in if you aren't either overly qualified, or you don't know someone who's already in the business fairly intimately."

"So… your saying I need to sleep with you?" he asked honestly. The woman chuckled and shook her head.

"No; I'm saying that if you don't have connections it's hard to get into this business. Also you're tattoo doesn't really go with the conservative image most firms try to maintain."

"Okay…"

"Plus, the whole 'weapons training' isn't exactly the firms favorite aspect of someone's personality. I mean, working at the Garden is great, I mean you probably saved the world or something; it's just not really what people are looking for. I'm not saying that it's never gonna happen for you Zell, but I'm saying, with this lack of experience, that it is very unlikely." Zell hated moments like this. Not the rejection part, he had gotten used to that a long time ago. He never liked the moment right after the rejection. What was he supposed to say? 'Thanks for taking the time out of your day to crush my dreams'? 'Sorry I wasted you time looking at my tattooed face, when you could have been doing something more productive'?

"I appreciate your honesty," was what he decided and he shook hands with the woman and exited her office. This had become a typical day in Zell's life. He tried to get a job as something, he got interviewed by some nameless higher-up and he got rejected after about four minutes of conversation. He was beginning to wonder why he kept wasting the Garden's fuel with flights to these pointless encounters that achieved little more than bruising his ego.

On the flight back to the Garden, Zell looked out the window and sighed as he watched some birds flying alongside the plane. They were so free and alive. Lately the only that made Zell feel alive was the fact that if he didn't eat he got hungry, and that he hadn't had sex in about five months and he was hornier than a sixteen year old boy. And in regards to freedom? Technically he could do anything he wanted to with his life, but it seemed lately, like his life had peaked when he saved the world with his friends.

He told this to Rinoa a month ago and she responded with, "Some people would call that a pretty good peak." And some would; but when the days afterwards consisted of finding ways to waste the hours until primetime T.V. came on, it hardly seemed like the best way for your life to plateau.

When he arrived back at the Garden, he walked through the front doors and was immediately greeted by Selphie. She was busy telling some students on the Garden Committee where they should hang signs advertising the upcoming summer dance. Zell was technically on the committee, but he rarely attended meetings. But he was there when they were discussing the dance. The theme this year was 'Tropical Luau', which was only slightly different from last year's theme of 'Steamy Clam-bake', but way more appropriate than the suggested idea of 'CEO's and Office Hoes'.

"Hey Zelly how did your interview go?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Our personalities weren't exactly a match," he responded.

"I'm sorry about that… But on the bright side you don't have to really think about it that much. I mean the dance is coming up soon, and it will take your mind right off of it. Maybe you'll see that library girl you like there." Zell pulled a face. "What? Didn't you go on a date with her like a few days ago?"

"Yeah, we did… But I mean things didn't work out with her either."

"Bummer. Why not? Not enough in common?"

"No, we actually had a lot in common, including our attraction to girls in glasses."

"Oh… OHHH… Really?" she asked. Zell nodded. "Well it's been a bad week as a whole for you it seems." One of the members of the Garden Committee came over to Selphie and asked her where to put a poster. She pointed with her left hand where she wanted it and the light coming through the front doors illuminated the engagement ring that was around her ring finger. Irvine had proposed to her about a year after they had defeated Ultimecia. That was almost a year ago, and Selphie still had yet to decide a date, because she was so busy planning other Garden related events that she hadn't had the time to plan her own wedding. Irvine just wanted to elope, but Selphie wasn't having it.

Zell hated to think of their relationship, or any relationship for that matter. It wasn't like he was jealous, but he was jealous. The only relationship he had was with his cat Spike. He was given the cat by some old lady one day when he was walking through Balamb. She had thrust the animal into his arms and told him that 'The apocalypse is coming, you should prepare.' Zell always thought of himself as a dog person, but he decided to keep it when the he saw the cat scare off Rinoa's dog, Angelo.

"Well I actually have to get going; I have an appointment in an hour at the gym," said Zell.

"Who are you training today? Some ditzy blonde who just wants to get in your pants?" said Selphie jokingly.

"I hope so," he thought to himself. Although that seemed like both a great occurrence and the back-story of a porno, the truth of the matter was that most of the people he trained were overweight guys who wanted to pass their field exams. One time he worked with a guy who clearly had a crush on him, but obviously Zell wasn't interested. However Zell hadn't got any action in so long, that if that guy ever showed up again he might just go for it.

"I'll see you later," he said walking toward the elevators.

"Okay remember that we're going into town tonight!" she called after him. "DON'T FORGET!"

How could he forget? It was literally the only thing in his calendar; he had been looking forward to it all week.