Zell strolled through the halls of the Garden, feeling somewhat bored. As it tended to happen on weekends when he had nothing to do, he could feel himself slowly filling with a dangerous energy. The sort of energy which made him want to go look for trouble. It was nothing malicious, just his rebellious and defiant side showing through every now and again. He half-hoped he would find two hot-heads brawling, so he would have an excuse. Just getting involved to stop the brawl would calm him down.
The nineteen-year-old stopped to kick the wall lightly. He then continued on his way, working punches and strikes into his strides every now and again. After a while, when the hallway was completely clear, he decided to take a chance. He took off at a run and launched himself into the air, his right leg coming up in a smooth snapping kick, and landed neatly on his left leg.
Zell preened his slightly mussed hair in satisfaction. With that kick, he could have even hit someone Seifer's height in the face. Whistling the tune of `Wouldn't it be Loverly' jauntily and stuffing his hands into his pockets, Zell continued his aimless path. Maybe he could find Juniko for some sparring? Though they were no longer as tuned in on each other as in the days when they constantly sparred with each other, the thought seemed appealing enough.
Zell wandered towards Iris's room, hoping he'd find her there. He rapped on the door, waiting for a reply.
The door opened, revealing Alia dressed in baggy grey trackpants and a slightly mussed singlet. Judging by the open book and slightly tangled sheets on her bed, she must have been reading.
"Hey Zell, wassup?" she asked cheerfully.
Zell shrugged.
"Not much. Seen Juniko?"
Alia's sapphire eyes took on a look of slight confusion behind the curtain of her too long fringe.
"No, actually, I haven't seen her all day."
Zell sighed.
"Ok, thanks. See ya, Liko."
He waved briefly and made his way down the hallway. He blew a stray lock of his blond hair out of his forehead. He hadn't done a very good job of spiking it up that morning. Zell sighed again, not really wanting to go back to his usual occupation of shadow-boxing. He was in no mood to get strange looks just then, that might cause his mood to worsen enough to have a very bad effect on his behaviour.
The short youth lazily strolled towards the cafeteria. If he was lucky, he would be able to wheedle one of the serving ladies to cough up some hot dogs a little earlier than usual.
Luckily, there was no line at the counter, so he wouldn't waste too much time. One of the serving ladies immediately came to the counter when she saw him.
"No, Zell, you can't have any hot dogs yet," she greeted him.
Zell put on his best puppy-dog look.
"Aaaww, come on, Genevieve, you know I love you... can't you make a tiny little exception for little old me? You know you want to."
Genevieve's mouth twitched, trying not to smile.
"I'm sorry, Zell, but they're not done yet."
Zell heaved a dramatic sigh as if he were going to die of sorrow.
"Fine. Be that way, Gennie. I'll go seek my amusement elsewhere then."
The lady grinned.
"See you later, Zell."
Zell grumbled to himself, and made his way towards The Bowl. It looked like he'd have to train alone.
Zell completed what must have been the fiftieth kata, soaked in sweat. He grabbed for a towel and dried off his face, feeling somewhat better than he had an hour before. A good work-out tended to do that to him. He took out a few gil and bought a bottle of clear mountain water from the beverage machine near the exit.
He was about to leave when a flash of metal caught his attention. Among the other SeeDs and Instructors who were training, a dark figure wielding katals slashed at the air savagely, eyes narrowed. Zell watched, studying the Lloric's technique. He was good. Very good.
Once he was done, Zell walked towards the taller SeeD.
"Hey. Lloric, right?"
The dark youth looked at him in surprise, then nodded.
"What do you want?"
Zell ran a hand through his hair, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Dunno. Just to talk, I guess."
Lloric raised an eyebrow, then dried himself off vigorously. He had also worked up a sweat in his training.
"I should think you would prefer talking to Juniko," he remarked icily.
Zell recoiled.
"What's got you so touchy about her?" Zell asked. "What did she every do to you?"
"I don't happen to appreciate being screwed around by her, in every sense of the word, and then get run out on," Lloric answered coolly.
Zell blinked at him and ran his hand through his hair once more.
"I didn't know you and Juniko were..."
"We weren't. Not until the day before she ran off, the little bitch."
He didn't get to continue, for Zell had immediately grabbed the front of his singlet with a snarl. Despite the fact that Lloric towered over him by almost twelve inches, Zell somehow managed to be menacing enough to intimidate the dark-skinned SeeD.
"I'm only gonna say this once," he hissed. "That is one of my best friends you're calling a bitch, and I'm not gonna let that slide just like that. Juniko has earned my friendship three times over, and if you can't get over one stupid mistake she may have made, then you're the one who's got a problem."
He let go of the taller youth's singlet with a jerking motion, trying to calm his breathing. It had become quite heavy with anger.
"I really don't get how she can still try to make up with someone who'll hold a stupid grudge for such a ridiculously long time."
Lloric straightened his singlet with an expressionless face.
"I was taking a huge chance with her, what with her being white and all. And she knew that."
"Make excuses if you want," Zell growled. "I still won't have you badmouthing one of my best friends. I'm outta here."
With that, he stamped out, fuming. So, at least he had found out what had Lloric so touchy. And what Quistis had been trying to get Juniko's mind off the other day. He sneered. It was truly beyond him how someone strong like Juniko could get upset over such a stupid bastard. Holding a grudge on a small mistake for a whole two years! But really... did Lloric maybe have a point? Zell's eyebrows knitted together in a scowl, dismissing the thought. After all, being the female, Juniko had been the one to take the greater risk.
He was so busy fuming that he ran straight into a tall figure dressed in pale clothes. He was about to snipe at that person to watch where he was going when he saw who it was.
Iris eyed her friend's ferocious scowl in surprise.
"You wanna talk about it?" she asked.
Zell blinked, and immediately found himself cooling down. Maybe it was Juniko's wide-eyed way of asking the question, or just her calm voice.
"It's really just one of your problems I was getting pissed off about, actually."
Iris fell into step next to him.
"Oh? Do tell."
"I just ran into your tight-assed ex back there," Zell explained with a wave of his hand towards The Bowl. "He told me exactly why he's holding that stupid grudge of his."
Iris slowed her pace, forcing Zell to stop and turn to face her.
"Can I defend him without you going off at me about being too weak or whatever?"
Zell sighed. He had forgotten that Juniko could usually predict his actions.
"Go ahead. It might make me understand why you would want to still try for that bum."
"You may have forgotten how sensitive the guy can be. Plus, he tends to have problems seeing things from other people's point of view. I suspect if the whole thing had happened now, he wouldn't have acted like that in the first place, but as it is, he's got himself so deeply into that way of thinking, it's hard for him to get out. He's probably trying to convince himself that he was badly wronged, and it really wasn't a nice thing of me to do, but I don't think he's quite succeeding any more. All I can do is give him some time, I guess."
Iris shrugged, signalling the end of her speech. Zell eyed her and scratched the back of his head.
"I hate you so much. That actually makes sense."
Iris grinned.
"Come on, I'm going to the chocolate factory. It's my treat."
Zell followed his friend, wondering once again how she could act so completely unconcerned about things which got him boiling at times.