4. Courage
"Hi."
"Hey."
There's silence, the majority of it being awkward, and Quistis calls herself a number of rude names, probably the worst of them being "coward," before Irvine speaks again.
"You know...we don't have to do this."
"I know."
She sits on the edge of her bed and fiddles with the tie on her uniform. The SeeD crest glints in the early afternoon light–she's all dressed up with nowhere to go since Xu's taken over her classes for the time being. Quistis doesn't know why she's wearing the uniform; any other sane person would have just taken a leave of absence to grieve. It's probably her way of holding on instead of letting go. She's always been too afraid to let go.
She doesn't want to be left with nothing.
The light on the crest disappears as Irvine's shadow falls across her instead.
Wimp. Coward.
Quistis flinches, but only slightly as he touches her head, and Irvine lets his hand fall. He makes a sound that almost sounds disgusted as he sits down next to her, a good foot and a half of space between them.
Coward.
Disgusted with himself? Or disgusted with her?
She's a wreck, Quistis decides, so she reaches for him and lets herself fall apart.