Quistis gave a heavy sigh and dropped her head on her hand, eyes scanning the computer screen absently. The blue words on the screen flashed in front of her as she scrolled down, eventually not even watching the blur of words fly by. A bird alighted on a tree branch outside of her window, and she cocked her head, watching it preen itself. Her portable fan clunked suddenly, and startled, the bird took off.
"Lucky bastard," she muttered, leaning back and running her fingers through her hair. She felt bad – this work that Xu had given her to do should have been finished a week ago, and she was just now starting – if the type of skimming she was doing could be considered starting. There just wasn't gratification in anything anymore. Even fighting – beating the hell out of T-Rexaurs eventually lost its fun as well, and she was running out of things to try. She'd been close to calling Irvine… anyone, actually, that morning, but as she tried to verbalize her problems, she'd discovered how trivial and selfish they sounded.
"What was I going to say?" She muttered, removing her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I've been so distant because… well, I'm perfect, you see… Trepe, you're an idiot." Leaning back in her chair, she glanced at the clock on her wall. It was noon already and she hadn't left her room at all – noon… "Wait a second," Quistis said, jerking upright. "Noon… oh, no," she moaned. Squall had asked her to accompany him to a meeting at ten that morning with some officials from Balamb and Esthar, something regarding some urgent mission. "Hyne, Trepe!" She shouted, slamming her elbows on her desk and wincing as flesh and bone met the hard oak surface. She grabbed her phone and dialed Squall's extension, surprised when Xu picked up the phone.
"The Commander will be right back," she said. "Is this Quistis?"
"Yeah, it is… did he really need me at that meeting this morning? I totally forgot-"
"Not at all," Xu replied, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Don't sweat it." Hesitant to make light of her absentmindedness, Quistis bit her lip. "Here he is."
"Quistis?" Squall's voice came on the line.
"Yeah," she said, the reply coming out as a sigh. There was silence for a second.
"If you're worried about the meeting this morning, I was fine. I honestly wasn't planning on going until Xu forced me into it." Quistis highly doubted that, and frowned. Squall, of all people, was making allowances for her. She'd expected him to remain silent as she blabbed an apology and one of the lame excuses she'd been using for the past few weeks, then drop the subject. But this? Where was this coming from?
"Okay…" She started, not quite sure how to reply.
"I need to talk to you. How soon can you be up here?" Quistis glanced down at her ensemble – her pajamas.
"Give me five minutes," she replied, and hung up the phone without waiting for his reply. That had been a little too weird – or was she overanalyzing it? "I just need to stop thinking about things," Quistis muttered to herself as she headed into her bathroom.
Squall listened to the dialtone for a moment before gently placing the phone back in the receiver. He flipped open the brief in front of him, and stared at the face of his rival. It was a good thing Quistis had forgotten about the meeting this morning – it was all about the mission lying in front of him, and if she'd gone, her eligibility to take the assignment would have been questionable. He shrugged off his jacket and pushed his hair off of his forehead, glaring at the sun as it shone through his windows. Balamb was so miserably hot all year – he'd rather be stuck in Trabia than live another day in this garden. He felt like he was in an incubator – absolutely baking. The training area was an absolute jungle – the humidity soared with the temperatures, and even the monsters were balking. It was hard to work trainees when the monsters refused to fight, and the time for the next SeeD exam was drawing near. It was times like these when Squall wished dearly that Cid would return and take the world off of his shoulders – had he known what running Garden would be like, he would have flatly refused the offer and returned to his status as a SeeD, blissfully ignorant.
He slammed the folder shut, shoving it away from him. Like this mission, for example. Dealing with Seifer directly after destroying Ultimecia hadn't been half as bad as he had expected. The matter was settled quickly without much intervention by the Deling and Esthar states, despite their blatant refusal to admit him anywhere near their cities. It had been decided that Balamb was to take him in, after much arm twisting, and although Squall knew that the residency decision wasn't the end of Seifer in the least, he hadn't expected to see something about him this quickly.
His speaker buzzed, and Xu's voice crackled through the wires.
"Quistis is here," she stated, and Squall looked at the clock. Five minutes on the dot. At least she was still punctual when she put her mind to something, and he felt a little better about pulling the rug out from under his friend. Hopefully this mission would help her get herself back together.
"Okay," Squall replied, sliding the brief across the desk absently, staring at the floor. The door swung open, and Quistis poked her head in tentatively. "Sit down," Squall said, gesturing to one of the chairs across from him. He saw her eyes fall to the folder before him, and as her gaze jumped back to him, he raised his eyebrows. "I called you up here to let you know that I've assigned you to a mission." Her eyes widened momentarily.
"With all due respect, I'm not on active duty-"
"You are now," Squall replied, shoving the brief at her. "Quistis…" Her hand paused on its way towards the folder. "You're the only person I trust to complete this mission as objectively as possible." Quistis' delicate brows furrowed for a moment. "Just read," he said, gesturing and leaning back, watching her reaction intently. To her credit, her poker face was just as good now as it had been when she was an instructor. You couldn't ever read her, and although he didn't try often, it was frustrating during those times when he really just needed to read her mind. After flipping through a couple pages and then resting the pages on her knees, she looked at him again.
"Why just me?" She asked. "From the looks of this, we could use a little more manpower." Squall tilted his head.
"Can you imagine Seifer flanked by a half-dozen SeeDs?" Quistis paused. "Neither can I. He's going to throw a fit when he finds out that Balamb gave us this request in the first place." She shifted uneasily in her chair, eyeing Squall meditatively. She knew exactly why he'd given her this mission – as a sort of test. This wasn't any of the bullshit paperwork she'd been pushing off for the last few months; this was real and required more of her focus and attention than she was comfortable giving, especially going solo. Her blue eyes narrowed in an expression Squall recognized very well from his childhood, and he momentarily panicked – she saw right through the whole thing, and suddenly he stood up. "Quistis, I can see what you're thinking… but that's not it. I'm not sending you off because of the way things are going here or anything along those lines – you're the only person that came to mind when I opened this brief, and when I talked to the representatives from Balamb and Esthar this morning, I was even more convinced. Quistis, you're one of the few people Seifer respects, and by sending you it looks less like he's being babysat. He's going to balk and try to evade you, but I trust you with this." Quistis glanced down at the patterned carpet, blinking back the tears that had suddenly rushed to her eyes. Squall certainly wasn't an idiot, and he had her exactly where he wanted her. She could either break down, throw the folder at him, and run from the room crying… or she could accept the mission. She didn't like the feeling of being manipulated, but if he could justify giving her the mission, couldn't she accept his reasons?
"Did Irvine talk to you?" She asked quietly, shutting the folder with a snap. Squall frowned.
"About what?"
"Nevermind," she said quickly. "It doesn't matter now, anyway. When should I prepare to leave for the mission?" Squall paused, turning his back to her to look out the window.
"As soon as possible. Report back to me once you're ready to go." Quistis blinked.
"Yes, Commander," she said stonily, turning on her heel. Squall leaned against his desk and spun his chair with his leg, watching the ocean peacefully washing on the shore, and wondering if he'd truly done the right thing. It was fine and dandy for the others to suggest plans of action for him, but having to deal with her reaction was the worst part. He hoped she knew he hadn't been bluffing about making her his choice for the job - he'd been speaking what was really on his mind for the first time in awhile.
