~*~ When Did This Happen? ~*~
:: Seiftis. Squffie hints. (Quistis x Seifer, Squall x Selphie hints) ::
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Shiny
~Silverium~
Disclaimer: Squaresoft. Not Silver.
The spunky brunette balanced two trays in her arms, eyes staring at the floor to watch her steps and tongue poking out between her lips. Cautiously she moved around the flooded cafeteria to where her friends were sitting. Usually it was Xu who helped Quistis with her foot but this time Selphie had volunteered.
"…It was awesome features, I just got it a week ago," Seifer finished, looking pleased with himself,
"Digital cameras are all the rage now, mainly because the photos are so good," Irvine nodded appreciatively,
At that moment a boy knocked into Selphie. With a squeak she back-stepped, but her balance was off. The SeeDs watched open-mouthed as she teetered backwards, spun, wobbled to her left with the trays in the air, their contents leaning dangerously to the side, and then turned a full three-sixty on her heel.
There was a flash of light, and then Selphie straightened. Her mouth parted in a surprised 'o' and then she beamed and strutted to the table. Irvine was clapping, Zell in awe, and Seifer was grinning, and holding his camera, having caught her final move.
"Brilliant Seffie," Irvine announced,
"What happened?" Quistis asked, feeling downhearted because she had missed it all,
"Selphie stumbled but saved your food," Squall said tonelessly, he had a feeling that if they livened it up any more Quistis might shatter into pieces,
"Here you go Quisty! I brought you coffee too, here," Selphie placed the cup next to Quistis' fingers.
The blonde's natural grace had made her trials much easier. She trained in zero-light, they all had, so she felt comfortable balance-wise without her vision, and as long as food was first placed next to her she rarely made any fumbles. She ate her sandwich as neatly as ever, an achievement her friends admired, considering her disability. Conversation was sparse as they ate but as usual Selphie took command of it soon enough with breaking news.
"So the scientists were working in the mechanics lab today, building this machine to help test, I got to help them…and it was so cool!" She grinned and nodded energetically, "Anyhow…they're taking apart the molecules in the fluid right now. Lucky for Quisty here she didn't get a complete blast of the stuff, they found more in the trap. But ew, they haven't cleaned the trap out yet, it was so gross! Did you guys have to touch the dead guy?"
"NO!" Irvine shuddered,
"Good, cause it was super gross." Selphie nodded, then she sighed dramatically, "I wanted to help build the second machine but they said it was not for 'little girls to play with' can you believe that? How would they think I'm a little girl?"
Wisely they all remained silent.
"But it's going to be SO great because they will be able to reverse everything! And then we can have another party! Or maybe go for a picnic! Yeah! In the fields! It will be sunny and I've got this PERFECT blanket it's so unbelievably big, aw, it's going to ROCK." Selphie did a little dance in her seat and rocked to her own silent music for a moment.
In that time Quistis had finished her meal and had resumed staring at the floor. It was the only direction she could look at and know she wouldn't seem like she was staring at someone. It made her realize why Squall always looked down. You didn't need to make excuses for staring off into a distance or constantly change your view when it became obstructed…though Quistis' view was forever obstructed right now. She couldn't tear her mind from it yet. If it was certain she'd be forever blind, then fine, she could come to terms with this, but that wasn't the case, there was always a glimmer of light.
After lunch Quistis trailed back to her room. She listened to the radio more often now that she had had to give up her romance novels. Seifer and Zell went to fight in the Training Center, both betting they could defeat the most enemies in a certain time slot. Irvine was going to battle Squall on the PS2 but when the new student, Adriana, passed by, he was up and floating over. That left Selphie and Squall.
"Let's go see the scientists again!" She chirped immediately, bouncing to her feet and then hopping in place until he agreed.
As they walked down the hall she kept her arms wound around his own, her chatter echoing in his mind faintly as he lost himself in his thoughts. He wondered what would happen, again, if Quistis never claimed her sight back. How would they make her feel better after such a harsh blow? He felt the weight on his arm lift and it snapped him from his thoughts. Selphie had dropped behind and was crouching on the ground.
"Selphie?" He asked, perplexed,
She shot up and ran back to him, her arm finding his and a brilliant grin crossing her face, "I found a penny!"
Squall rolled his eyes.
