AN: Decided to show some love to the Branch Campus sharpshooters! Is this gen? Pre-shipping? I have no idea and I'm the one that wrote it :P

Pretty Boy

If Maya was being honest with herself, she still harbored doubts about Sidney.

Oh, her fellow sniper might have made it seem like Instructor Rean's message about perseverance had gotten through to some extent, but when all was said and done... well, Sidney was still Sidney, just as insouciant and obnoxiously aware about his looks as ever. In one ear, out the other. Or so she'd thought.

Maya hadn't expected to find the range occupied this late in the afternoon, but instead of coming back later she opted to lurk in the back and silently observe, as of yet unnoticed by the boy carefully lining up his sights.

Well, wasn't this interesting?

Loud cracks echoed around the room as Sidney began to run through the standard sniper drills and it didn't take Maya too long to see that though he'd made some remarkably decent progress, his scores were still on pace to be significantly lower than hers. Apparently the same realization had struck Sidney once he had finished, and the way his eyes narrowed before he viciously crumpled the target sheets spoke more than words ever could.

"Damn it!" he spat out, throwing the wadded paper aside in disgust, and in spite of everything Maya found herself nodding in genuine sympathy, her eyes softening just the slightest bit. As different as they were, she knew exactly what it felt like to apply effort and come up short, to truly invest yourself and still be found lacking. Despite what everyone said or thought, her success wasn't due to sheer talent alone; hard work played a large role too. She understood his frustration, she truly did.

Maya kept watching as he gradually pulled himself together, shaking his head all the while, fully expecting him to throw in the towel and head off once he'd cooled down. He'd probably had enough, hadn't he?

"Nah. You're not done yet."

Maya nearly leapt out of her skin (she hadn't spoken aloud, had she?) only for her racing heart to settle once Sidney took his spot behind the firing line again, unblemished targets automatically sliding into place.

"You were talkin' about dedication, Instructor? Fine," he ground out, hard and focused, a steel in his words that Maya had never heard before. "Check this out."

She carefully watched as Sidney restarted the drills and the shots that had been flying errantly past or barely grazing stationary targets were dead on this time, holes punched precisely in key vital points. Grinding noises rang out as the mechanical arms started moving the targets around at a rapid clip, and she found herself nodding in approval when his natural gifts rose to the fore, crack after crack filling the air.

"Better. Significantly so, in fact," Maya noted, adding up the scores in her head as he wrapped up. Maybe not up to her standards yet, but if he kept putting the time in...

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Sidney exclaimed with no small amount of glee as he looked at the fruits of his labor, punching the air in triumph. "Think these are my highest scores so far!"

"I'm glad to hear it," she said, walking out of the shadows and trying to fight down her amusement when his sudden double-take nearly made him lose his balance. "You have something to work towards to now. I would use that in the future."

"Maya?! T-The hell did you come from?!" he asked, eyes wide with surprise.

"I just got here myself," she lied nonchalantly, knowing full well that this hadn't been meant for anyone's eyes but his own. "Right before you started patting yourself on the back. Good work, by the way."

"Thanks," he mumbled, almost sheepish. It was a new look for him, though she had to say it was an improvement over his usual bravado. "After the thing with Instructor Rean, I kinda felt like I had to - uh, y'know - "

"Work some practice in?" she finished, deciding to throw him a sorely needed lifeline. "I understand."

"R-Right! I mean, can't have you taking all the bows," he replied with a theatrical wink, said bravado returning in an instant. "Plus I gotta prove to the instructor - along with the rest of the fiiiiine ladies around this academy, yourself included - that yours truly isn't just another pretty face!"

And there was the Sidney she knew and... knew. Well, it'd been nice while it lasted. Still, after what she'd just witnessed a little slack wasn't exactly unwarranted, right?

"I can see that," she acknowledged with a small smile as she slid her rifle off her shoulder, more than willing to admit to herself that he was made of sterner stuff than she'd thought. "I hope you intend to keep it up in the days to come."

He grinned back. "That's the plan! I'm gonna catch up with you yet, just you wait!"

"Big words. Talk is cheap, you know."

"Ugh, ye of little faith. But more importantly, I couldn't help notice that you didn't shut me down on the pretty part. Don't suppose you'd be up for chatting about that over coffee~?"

The sound of a rifle cocking.

"Don't push it."

A playful chuckle.

"Had to try."