A Strange Friendship

Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction.

This was indecisive's idea (again), so credit to her for that!

This could be considered to be a sort of sequel to 'Hair'.

Mei sat down, awkwardly, looking around for anyone in the close vicinity who was anywhere near her age. It had been Adium's idea, as League President, to hold a dinner party for all those involved in Galactik Football, to have a chance to mingle. This might have been fun had Mei not been seated with near all the League Officials, with Artegor sitting opposite. Micro-ice was the next closest Snow Kid, he was sat 3 seats away, and Mei knew it would be rude to lean over and talk to him- not to mention that he was preoccupied by staring at Yuki who was sitting even further away.

Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to talk to those around her- it was only polite and she could hear her mother's voice echoing in her mind. She supposed she was going to talk to Artegor, she did not know the other men and they were already engaged in a lengthy conversation about League Rules. Besides, Artegor had coached them before; he couldn't be that difficult to talk to right?

"So, what have you been doing lately?" Artegor said, starting the conversation instead. The GFC had just ended so they were all had free time to follow pursuits other than football.

"Oh, you know, just doing a few commercials," she said, wondering whether she was in for a lecture now; Artegor was known for being serious and single-minded, she couldn't imagine he would approve of her doing advertisements in her spare him- at best he might think it was a bit silly.

"Oh yes, I saw you the other day on the Grumbles advertisement, I really do love their shampoo- it makes my hair so soft yet shiny," Artegor said, the enthusiasm that was usually reserved for talking about either football or Aarch creeping into his voice.

Mei was floored for a minute, unsure of what to say, she had definitely not expected this. Looking at it, she had to admit that his hair did look in good condition- she'd never really noticed before. Already, she could feel another hair crush coming on, it had been bad enough when it was Rocket but Artegor was at least twice her age.

"It does look soft," she admitted. "You know they're bringing out a new line of gel, it makes the hair hold shape for up to eight hours without any of the stiffness of traditional gel."

"Really? Well that sounds perfect for me. It takes so much product to get my hair to stay like this and when I was your age all the gels made your hair incredibly sticky, I'm glad times have moved on."

"I can imagine it's a lot of work," Mei said, admiringly.

"Yes, well, I can't imagine what your hair care regime must entail- it's so long, that must be hard to manage and yet it looks in such good condition."

"Oh, well, I get a lot of free hair-care stuff," she shrugged, still not quite believing they were having this conversation. "Also, I make sure to use a protective, moisturising, spray before a match or using a hair dryer."

"Interesting," Artegor said, nodding as if it were a great philosophical insight.

"Oh! And I've always wanted to ask you this, where do you get your sunglasses from? They're designer right?" Mei said, taking the opportunity now that they were getting along so famously.

"They're vintage D'Art Glan limited editions; Aarch got them for me on my 16th Birthday," he admitted more freely than he might have before.

"Oh, that's so romantic!" Mei squealed. "You must come shopping with me; I've always wanted a gay best friend."

Artegor frowned at her description of him as gay, he'd never thought of himself of being so.

"Oh come on, Artegor, everyone knows about you and Aarch," she said, truthfully, for their were enough references to it in the gossip magazines that even if it hadn't been completely obvious from the way Artegor had behaved, she still would have known.

"Aarch is…Aarch," he said, waving his hand around, vaguely.

"I see," Mei said, thinking on her own relationships- she couldn't say she was in a similar situation at all, having been out with several boys. "I'm still seeing Sinedd; he's doing well at the moment."

"He's not feeling sick?" Artegor asked- although he was not Sinedd's Coach anymore, he still worried about him.

"Not at all," she said, cheerfully.

The conversation continued like that until the end of the dinner party.

"Is it really time to go?" Mei asked, astonished that three hours had gone by so fast. And she'd thought that she was going to be bored.

"Indeed it is," Artegor said, a little regretfully. He usually just tolerated these functions, but he'd had a good time tonight, surprisingly.

"Stay in touch, you have my number," said Mei, waving him goodbye, fully intending to meet up with him sometime, as strange as that was.

Perhaps Artegor might help her convince Sinedd that he needed some more clothes, he always resisted going shopping with her but with Artegor on her side, she would surely win him over.

She just hoped that Sinedd wouldn't notice her latest hair crush, he might get the wrong idea…it was just a hair crush after all.

Again, this was not a fic to take too seriously, it was just for fun. Please review!