Salutations. Yet another one-shot for your enjoyment. I had thought of simply putting all my one-shots together in one story for ease of reference. However..umm..yeah. I just decided against it.
This idea came about because of all those little one-shots and reflections about Dirandau's scar and various other things. In the series, quite a few people mention him in an objective manner, thus I assume that he
Liana sat with his tray of food. Or rather, something which appeared similar to food and was apparently edible. No one but the galley foreman knew what horrors truly lurked within that evil known as Vione food. Perhaps it should be counted towards the foreman's credit that he always ate the food which he was serving rather than make something better for himself.
He was soon joined by a small group of others who were friendly towards him. His co-workers had all taken their mealtime at the same time. The shop foreman would be furious. Then again, the foremen always are. They've got so much work to do and precious little cooperation from their underlings, those who just happened to be on the bottom rung of Zaibach's military culture.
"Hey!" shouted the boisterous Talia. Talia was always the loud and happy sort, though few could guess what he could possibly take joy in while things were so desolate and miserable.
"Chicken and rice today, eh"
"I think so," replied Liana. "Not sure. Could be beef. Or mud"
"Mmmm...delicious"
Liana seemed undisturbed by Talia's loudness, poking about his food in a most uninterested way. Talia was slightly annoyed by this, as he loved to be the center of attention and would not lose out to that slop on Liana's tray. He jumped onto Liana's lap and gave him a sudden bear hug.
"HEEEY! Get off!" shouted Liana. Talia started snuggling with Liana, enjoying the chance to aggravate the fuck out of him.
Liana was not so pleased, however. He decided to put his fork to good use and jabbed Talia in the thigh with it. Talia was surprised and jumped off of Liana. He rubbed his poor leg.
"...Bastard"
Talia whacked Liana in the back of the head and then sat down beside him.
The others snickered about this for awhile, making jokes at the expense of Talia. Talia certainly didn't mind as much as he put off. After all, even if they were making fun of him, he was getting attention, right? His mediocre work skills were not enough to earn him praise in his society, so he had to resort to getting his attention fix from his comrades.
The conversation soon turned to other subjects, such as work and current events.
"Now, really...you're not going to be able to use the form 3855 anymore, so why should you bother learning what is on it"
"Well, I just don't like not knowing. That's all. If I didn't pay attention to things they told me I didn't need to know, I'd feel cheated. I don't know much of my past, so I like knowing everything I can"
"...I still don't see why you want to do that extra work for nothing"
"If my assurance that there is a past and I know something about it is nothing, I am glad to have that nothing"
"You're an idiot"
Favrizo took a sip of his wine. The wine was always more than passable, a benefit of the 'alliance' with Asturia.
"Did you hear about Capt. Dirandau?" he asked.
There were several replies of 'yes', but Talia had to reply 'no'
"How could you possibly not know?" asked Liana. "Everyone has been talking about it. Where have you been"
Talia paused a moment. He then leaned close to Liana, smirking.
"I've been alone in my room, pining for you." He then gave Liana a kiss as big as the ocean. Liana slapped him.
"Quit it! Just because you look kind of like someone I love, you don't have to keep making fun of me for accidentally mistaking you for them. It was five years ago. So get over it"
Grudgingly Talia sat back in his chair. He knew Liana could beat him easily. He certainly didn't want to get a maiming this early in the morning.
"So...what happened?" asked Talia, now deciding that his precious attention was best diverted at the moment.
"He lost a fight"
"Really?" Talia asked, taken aback with surprise. Everyone knew that Dirandau never lost at anything.
"It's true. He was going after that escaped prisoner and...well, the prisoner escaped. So what does that tell you"
"I don't trust it," said Liana. "After all, he has enemies who would love to defile his character. I don't trust a witness that says he lost"
"You didn't hear the full story, then"
"What do you mean"
"Well, no one really saw it. They just found him in the hangar, staring out into the sky and holding the side of his face. They said he was in a complete daze and talking to no one"
"...Maybe he was drunk. It doesn't seem right that they come to this conclusion"
"Yes, but we have the facts to go by. Strategos saw him before he tried to kill that enemy. He was in the hangar. And then the medics found him afterwards, more than a bit unnerved"
"Actually, I heard that his men had been looking for him and then found him afterwards"
"Then why would we have any information at all? You know they will go to any length to cover for him"
"Well, maybe one of them decided not to stay so loyal in the interests of helping their leader"
"Hah! Right. And maybe this is actual food we're eating"
"Yeah, that really isn't plausable. They don't bend in their loyalty. They do everything they're told. Why else would every foreman keep pictures of them in their office to refer to when they yell at their men? Ours is a criminal at this"
"Yeah. That was his speech last week, remember? When we lost our chart for the order of supplies and kept misplacing everything"
"He mentioned them? I didn't notice"
"No one did. We don't listen when he talks, remember? At least, no one but our little memory-lover Jensen here"
"...There is nothing wrong with wanting to remember"
"Then you should've remembered where the forms went"
"Nah. I wanted to have the communal experience of getting yelled at by the foreman with you all"
Talia decided to break into the conversation again.
"So, it's not plausable that they covered for him, then. But...how could he possibly lose? That certainly doesn't make sense either. I mean, I know we've heard rumors of little things that have gone wrong for him and had to be 'fixed.' So why would this be such big news? They'll just fix it for him and everything'll be fine"
"Can't do that. No way to cover it up"
"Oh"
"It's plain to see for everyone," said Liana. "He recieved a cut from the fight"
"...What"
"It's true. I heard it was a very deep gash"
"Well, I heard that it was hardly a nick and that it'll be gone in a week or two. I also heard that he overreacted completely. You'd think someone like that would be more tolerant of pain"
"Yeah, but those cuts are more painful than they ought to be. Didn't you pay attention in basic medical"
"Do I ever pay attention"
"Rarely"
"Exactly. So why would I want to know about medic information when I will never be in a fight? Let the medics know their job and I'll pretend to know mine"
"Okay. So he recieved a cut on the face. That doesn't prove anything. It could've been an accident. Perhaps he got drunk and stumbled into something sharp"
"...That's the stupidest explanation I've heard yet"
"I'm not saying it is entirely plausable. I'm just saying that a cut doesn't rule out all other possibilities"
"Well, maybe he did it himself," Riana said. That was certainly not a pleasant thought, but not one that others hadn't already thought of.
"Yes, but why? He wasn't depressed or insane or anything"
And this statement proved that they'd never actually met him.
"I know, I know, but still...maybe he became that way. It could happen. Does sometimes. People just snap"
"He's got a job he's good at and that he enjoys. He has the most perfect group of men a leader could ask for. And even his superiors trust him enough to let him do whatever he deems necessary. What would he possibly have to snap about"
Riana shrugged.
"Unrequited love? How the hell am I supposed to know"
"...You don't suppose he's like those leaders we hear about that give their men horrible orders to be followed out in times when they are off-duty"
"Could be. Why not? They never say no and they always cover for him. No matter what"
"So maybe one just decided he'd had enough"
"Right"
Liana cringed. "You're all reading far too many of those damned romance novels. I knew it was a bad idea to import them. Captain Dirandau wouldn't do anything like that"
"You so sure"
"Are you certain that you're correct? This is conjecture. Never ask that for conjecture"
A fight seemed ready to break out. Liana wanted to ease the tension.
"I still think it's plausable that he actually lost. I've heard this enemy was tough. A strange foreigner"
"I heard it was one of those Asturian knights"
"Nah. Couldn't be. If it was, don't you think we'd be going after Asturia right now"
"I'm sure that Captain Dirandau would definitely be demanding they be demolished"
"But Strategos Folken would never allow it. The alliance is one of his personal projects"
"Well, he relents quite a bit for Capt. Dirandau. He might in this case"
"Or maybe he'll just tell Capt. Dirandau to get over it like a Captain should. He's acting like someone far weaker than he actually is"
"I heard he even cried. I didn't know people like that could cry"
"He was acting rather strange from what I heard. Not really like himself. I heard he just let the enemy walk away"
"But why would an enemy walk away? Without killing him"
"Maybe he thought the captain was weak, and therefore not worth it"
"Yes. After all, these Asturians believe in their foolish concepts of valour and honor"
"He wasn't Asturian! I'm telling you, he wasn't"
"You don't know"
"Neither do you."
There was a bit of squabbling, much to the delight of Talia, who was busy switching around everyone's trays Not that they would know the difference between what they had.. As he was about to move Favrizo's tray, something stayed his arm.
"Perhaps," said the force behind this, "these are not matters to be discussed by civilians." His voice was loud and clear enough to be heard over the din. The others stopped their discussion and turned to look at this stranger.
"And perhaps he did cry. If he did, they were tears of blood, as befitting one who lives and dies in battle.
The table was dead silent, filled with an awe-inspiring shame. Once he was certain he had finished his objective, the stranger walked back to his own table, which held a different sort of silence.
Liana looked down at the napkin on his lap. He smoothed it out, waiting for his embarassment to subside.
"So...what are they replacing form 3855 with"
The others looked over at Liana, deciding he had the right idea.
"770, I think. It'll be white instead of gray"
"Good! I'm so sick of gray forms"
"I agree. Everything is gray and then we mix them all up."
They prattled on, each pretending not to be interested in the other table but stealing glances all the same. They ate with precision and maintained their silence, these strange young men in blue. With that same precision, they rose from their table and returned to their own small world. It was different from any other and all that mattered to them.
The talk and the gossip, the conjecturing...how useless. For no matter how much one does these things, one will never understand the truth. One has to see the truth, to live it for themselves in order to understand what it is and how it works.