In the Training centre
"I still don't see why you guys can't just put up with it. Yeah so he's boring and…" Squall was interrupted by Selphie who bounced up and down on the spot.
"He's not just boring, he's unbearable!!!" she cried. "You should know Squall, Zell, what's he like in the staff room?"
"Er…" They both stopped and looked at each other.
"What is it?" Selphie bounced and squeaked higher.
"Now you mention it… er…" Zell looked odd, "he's hardly ever in the staff room… tends to stick to his own office." He paused, "And don't look at me like that Sefie, we just thought he was unsociable!"
"Which is exactly what he is! You guys are just jumping to conclusions. So he's boring, distant, he's interested in the Sor…" a worried look passed over Squall's face.
"What IS it?!" Even higher. Quistis flinched.
"Well, when I took up my teaching job" he tried hard not to notice the flame spark up just for a second in Quistis' eyes, "he seemed really interested in hearing all about how we'd destroyed Ultimecia and Adel and…"
"As did everyone else in the whole entire universe! Man, even I got fed up of boasting to the laydees!" added Irvine.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Continued Squall, "but now that I think about it, the things he asked me were really odd. I guess seeing as he's a specialist on the area and all…"
"How odd?" Quistis interrupted as the group gathered round.
Squall saw that his rational explanations weren't going to get him anywhere and began to explain.
"Well, you know all the usual questions we all get" he put on a mimicking voice, "'were you scared?', 'did you cut her head off with your gunblade?', 'was she a babe close up?' that kind of thing?" They all chuckled at Squall's impressions of the same young girl that had hounded them for months afterwards with the same annoying questions. Squall couldn't help seeing a resemblance to Selphie in her.
"Obviously they all weren't quite so annoying!" he grinned around the group, "but his were honestly just plain weird!"
"'Explain to me again how EXACTLY you believe Ultimecia was achieving time compression', 'What happened to her body after you defeated her?', 'Did you notice if she seemed to be drawing her power from a certain place?', 'Did Ultimecia speak any of her future plans?'. I did just presume he was asking out of professional interest but I guess…"
"Sorry guys," Quistis interrupted Squall's mumblings, "but it's my turn to be the critic here. So the professor asks you a bunch of stuff. We've already established that he's a major weirdo, but also that he holds a personal interest. It might be an odd interest, but it's still an interest. I could name others with worse interests…" She eyed the magazine sticking out of Irvine's pocket.
"I really don't know why we're all worrying. If Selphie could go through a lesson without being distracted by the Garden network we'd never even be here talking about this… whatever the Hell we're talking about!" and with that she turned and left.
The group stood stung for a moment, before Zell yawned. "I guess that sorta wraps it up folks… and I wanna head to the cafeteria before I catch some shut-eye. Catch you all later!" he waved and left.
Later on as Squall saw Zangan in the corridor, head-down and scurrying towards his room, he couldn't help feeling that there was something strained and hurried about his greeting, and that the man felt he ought to be elsewhere and fast. But how could he know they'd even been talking about him? And if it had worried him, then what did he have to hide?
"I still don't see why you guys can't just put up with it. Yeah so he's boring and…" Squall was interrupted by Selphie who bounced up and down on the spot.
"He's not just boring, he's unbearable!!!" she cried. "You should know Squall, Zell, what's he like in the staff room?"
"Er…" They both stopped and looked at each other.
"What is it?" Selphie bounced and squeaked higher.
"Now you mention it… er…" Zell looked odd, "he's hardly ever in the staff room… tends to stick to his own office." He paused, "And don't look at me like that Sefie, we just thought he was unsociable!"
"Which is exactly what he is! You guys are just jumping to conclusions. So he's boring, distant, he's interested in the Sor…" a worried look passed over Squall's face.
"What IS it?!" Even higher. Quistis flinched.
"Well, when I took up my teaching job" he tried hard not to notice the flame spark up just for a second in Quistis' eyes, "he seemed really interested in hearing all about how we'd destroyed Ultimecia and Adel and…"
"As did everyone else in the whole entire universe! Man, even I got fed up of boasting to the laydees!" added Irvine.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Continued Squall, "but now that I think about it, the things he asked me were really odd. I guess seeing as he's a specialist on the area and all…"
"How odd?" Quistis interrupted as the group gathered round.
Squall saw that his rational explanations weren't going to get him anywhere and began to explain.
"Well, you know all the usual questions we all get" he put on a mimicking voice, "'were you scared?', 'did you cut her head off with your gunblade?', 'was she a babe close up?' that kind of thing?" They all chuckled at Squall's impressions of the same young girl that had hounded them for months afterwards with the same annoying questions. Squall couldn't help seeing a resemblance to Selphie in her.
"Obviously they all weren't quite so annoying!" he grinned around the group, "but his were honestly just plain weird!"
"'Explain to me again how EXACTLY you believe Ultimecia was achieving time compression', 'What happened to her body after you defeated her?', 'Did you notice if she seemed to be drawing her power from a certain place?', 'Did Ultimecia speak any of her future plans?'. I did just presume he was asking out of professional interest but I guess…"
"Sorry guys," Quistis interrupted Squall's mumblings, "but it's my turn to be the critic here. So the professor asks you a bunch of stuff. We've already established that he's a major weirdo, but also that he holds a personal interest. It might be an odd interest, but it's still an interest. I could name others with worse interests…" She eyed the magazine sticking out of Irvine's pocket.
"I really don't know why we're all worrying. If Selphie could go through a lesson without being distracted by the Garden network we'd never even be here talking about this… whatever the Hell we're talking about!" and with that she turned and left.
The group stood stung for a moment, before Zell yawned. "I guess that sorta wraps it up folks… and I wanna head to the cafeteria before I catch some shut-eye. Catch you all later!" he waved and left.
Later on as Squall saw Zangan in the corridor, head-down and scurrying towards his room, he couldn't help feeling that there was something strained and hurried about his greeting, and that the man felt he ought to be elsewhere and fast. But how could he know they'd even been talking about him? And if it had worried him, then what did he have to hide?