Packing up her old black duffel bag, Gina carefully laid her Playstation 2 on top of all the cables that would be needed to set the system up in the lobby of her living center of Swanson. She wanted to play some more of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Tiffany was not going to interfere when she was this close to finishing the game.

Tiffany wasn't really that bad of a person. She was just a hard-to-swallow roommate. Annoying habits that Tiffany frequently did at home followed her up to college, and it probably would have been fine if she lived by herself. Gina honestly thought that the reason why Tiffany had some of the most annoying quirks is because she was so comfortable living with a friend from grade school.

Which was a good thing for Tiffany, but not so much for Gina.

There were times where she thought she would be driven to insanity by the way Tiffany acted, did certain things, or even lashed out and then played it off like she was "just messing" with her. Her infatuation with the color pink was also another matter; the entire dorm room that they shared had specks of it everywhere, so it seemed like the whole room was Tiffany's while Gina was the long-term visitor. Gina detested the color pink, while Tiffany had a knack of making everything look like someone washed the room with Pepto Bismol. She was always bugging Gina about being more feminine and wearing skirts and makeup, which Gina wasn't even going to touch. Her style consisted primarily of hoodies, T-shirts with dragons on them, and baggy pants. Any other person who tried to pull off the style that Gina did would portray a certain image that would have many conservatives gasping in dismay, but Gina's own femininity brought out the clothes in a way that made them unique. But no matter what, Tiffany always wanted to make it her job to dress up Gina like a china doll, with the pose of a beauty queen. Which was exactly why a simple trip out to the lobby to play video games was a much-needed savior from it all, as well as those five hour dinners with Sharon.

Speaking of dinners, Gina still didn't know what to think that fateful encounter two days ago. Sharon was insistent in the fact that Irvine was lying about who he was, no matter how close he resembled the actual gunman off of FFVIII. But of course, Sharon was still pissed off at his nonchalant yet arrogant attitude. Neither of them got to interrogate the one who they believed was Squall, because by the time all three of them had pulled themselves together, he was gone. Irvine groaned and said something about how he had been trying to start a conversation with him for a while now, and exited the quiet room with a wink to the girls.

No trace of either of the men since.

Gina was trying to chalk things up, but to what? Nothing was going to make sense if she thought about it too much, but it wasn't one of the situations in which one says it was a dream and carry on with their mundane existence. Sharon didn't stay mad over dreams, and in Gina's mind it was impossible for them both to experience the same dream at the exact same time. And that kiss on her hand the suave cowboy gave her was way too real to just make up.

Shaking her head in an attempt to erase the thoughts in her mind, she lugged the duffel bag to the lobby. Emerging out of the hallway, she saw that the TV was on, and a figure was sitting on the couch in front of it. Dammit. Why doesn't Trevor just get a TV for his room and stop hogging the one in the lobby all the time? Gina walked squarely around the unorganized furniture and prepared to face the absentminded RA. She was going to have that TV. Trevor understood more than any other RA in her dorm her love/hate relationship with Tiffany, and would likely fold if Gina made her intentions clear.

"Umm, Trevor, how long do you expect to have the T-"

It took her a minute to realize that this was not Trevor to whom she spoke, but Squall Leonhart.

Ok, well, that part wasn't certain, but it sure as hell looked like him.

Fortunately, he didn't respond... or even acknowledge her presence. The TV was on, but he wasn't looking at it. He was staring through it, the same stare that she recognized from Kleiner to that fireplace. He was zoned out, effectively casting an anti-social barrier around himself.

Well, Gina expected no less from the Ice Prince, somewhat. Ok, she wasn't sure what to expect anymore, but she knew that Squall was not a social butterfly. She studied his familiar jacket with the fur lining that was shorter than the white shirt that he wore underneath. Wow, all of those belts... I don't think he's missing even one. Gina began to absently think about what other students on campus thought of this young man's choice of apparel. Then something caught in the light, and her eyes immediately focused on it.

Griever. She would know that symbol anywhere. The silver medallion of a lion hung from his neck, as if taunting her. It'd been so long since she played FFVIII, and she was looking forward to taking the three hour car ride home and retrieving the disks so she could re-live the story.

However, the way things kept playing out, she didn't think she would need a couple of disks to capture it.

Blinking, Gina wondered how long she stood there boring holes into every detail of the guy. Praying that he didn't notice, she straightened up and cleared her throat.

"Uh, excuse me... I was just wondering, would you mind if I used the TV for awhile?"

No response. Not even a blink.

Gina nearly fell out. She knew Squall wasn't really the talkative one, but she didn't expect him to be so oblivious. He didn't even acknowledge her existence. I guess this wouldn't be the time to ask what his name is, either. Sighing in defeat, she placed her duffel bag on the floor in front of the TV. If he wasn't going to talk, then she was taking the TV. As crazy as she thought she was at that point in time, it was still a better option to withstand the emo vibes of Squall Leonhart than deal with Tiffany chasing her around the room with neon-pink lipstick and black mascara. If Sharii was here, then I bet she would've been cussing him out, Gina smiled to herself. The whole time while she was hooking the system up, she snuck quick glances back at Squall. It was funny how she just let herself assume in her mind what his identity was, even if it didn't turn out to be true. I think I'm going insane, Gina sat back in the red armchair and held her controller, waiting for GTA to finish its loading time.

A minute later, Gina was driving through the streets of Vice City, hoping to find the assets she so desperately needed as keys to help her complete the game. She wanted to keep looking at Squall from time to time, but driving an Infernus while trying to stake out a cab company to buy while avoiding as many deaths as possible was hard enough with her full attention. All she needed was the police being on alert just because some hooker didn't move out of her way fast enough. Gina's brain was too fried to even do a warning level cheat. Maybe cause there was something bugging her. Her brow furrowing a bit, she tried to sort through her head. What's going on, besides the fact that I'm trying hard to forget the fact that Squall is sitting less than a couple of feet away from me, and still ignoring any human presence. Man, I wonder if he was like that before he started hating Seifer so much? Of course he was, because of what happened with Sis. But I wonder if the duel with Seifer added to his disposition? Wait a minute... the fight... the scar...

Gina breathed in sharply, but still managed to hold onto the controller as she realized something... the scar isn't there.

Without daring to glance to her right, thoughts tumbled out of her like a waterfall. What did it mean? All logic (or lack thereof) stated that the scar should be there. It was a part of Squall, the part that was the most distinguishing feature about him. Why wasn't it there? The situation was getting more confusing by the second. Did it mean that it wasn't Squall after all? But how does that explain the medallion? And how did that explain Irvine? Gina blushed furiously as she relived the events she tried so hard to push to the back of her mind. The gunman had always been a big crush of hers from the game, and encountering him in real life didn't help her sanity any. But his lips were so soft...

CRUNCH. Gina's face fell as her flawless silver Infernus went sailing into a pole. Goddamnit, I lost concentration. Placing the controller on her lap, she dug in the duffel bag for the GTA case, and pulled out a list of all the tedious codes. A health cheat was in demand to make sure that what was left of her car didn't explode before she got to wherever it was she needed to be. "Ok, R1, R2..." She re-memorized the code to compensate for the huge brain fart she was having, and moved to toss it back in the duffel back. She glanced up unintentionally as she was closing the bag.

Squall was looking at the screen.

This time, she could tell that it wasn't his usual soulless stare, but he was actually looking at the game. Nothing in his expression altered; in fact, it was hard to tell if he had even moved... but something in his icy blue eyes had changed. It wasn't the detached stare that he gave everything else, he was actually interested in what was in front of him.

To this, Gina wasn't sure how to react. This was a confirmation that the person sitting on the couch was actually alive. Searching her thoughts for something that would be kind, yet not intruding, but at the same time not causing her to spaz out, she glanced down at the controller in her lap.

"Would you like to play?"

Gina forced herself not to stiffen as his gaze switched from the TV to her face, as if he was just now realizing that he wasn't the only person in the lobby. She let him search her eyes... for what? She didn't exactly know. She kept her eyes calm and friendly and innocent, just in case he decided this was the day where the quiet one snapped and killed everyone, or something.

It seemed like an eternity, just sitting there, staring into those eyes of blue with very faint specks of brown, waiting, hoping for some sort of response.

"...whatever."

Just like that, he had closed himself off from the world once again, concealing any trace that he even considered doing anything at all.

Gina blinked. Whatever? WHATEVER? Her first reaction was disbelief and a little bit of anger at the fact that someone turned down her offer at her video game. Offers from her were sparse when it came to her stuff, and it was a shock enough that she was the first to ask. But unlike her best friend Sharon, she wasn't just going to stand up and start pummeling the guy with insults. She could handle it. Closing her eyes in silent acceptance of his somewhat decision, she turned back to the TV screen, did the health cheat, and continued on her way to the cab company. After awhile, she heard a slight rustle as he got up and silently walked out of the lobby.

Well, I've done my job. Gina never took her eyes off of the game in front of her, because what would it do to crash the car again just to look at someone who wasn't going to return your glance, much less accept the fact that you exist? Yet, she wasn't angry. She was strangely calm. Even though little was known about him, she understood him enough to know that if he wanted to leave, then to just let him leave. She took a step forward, and Squall took a step back. No problem. Maybe now it would be easier to make herself forget that anything out of the ordinary happened after all.