Orbital

I wouldn't fool you but I've seen the saucers
So many times I'm almost in tune
Watching them flying in formation
Thinking how I could be so immune
I've seen them I've been there with them
I can tell you all you want to know
Something touched me and I was only sleeping
Wouldn't you, wouldn't you like to go

(Elton John)

one:

Dearka Elsman was being annoying. It was a skill that came easily to him, and one that he had honed over the years to perfection. Especially when he was given a convenient object to do it with, such as the ping-pong-ball he was now using.

Ask question with just the right amount of whininess. Bounce the ball. Catch the ball. Wait fifteen seconds. Repeat question. Repeat bouncing. It was a tried-and-true method, and he had only to do it for a short time before the other occupant of the room decided to either shoot him or answer. And because he was the bodyguard of the other occupant of the room, the former option was just the slightest bit stupid.

"Are you done here yet?" Click. "Are you done here yet?" Clack. "Are you done here yet?" Ptoing. "Are you—"

"Why do you care?" came the annoyed reply at last, a pair of bright blue eyes and several strands of disarrayed silver hair emerging from behind the stacks of paperwork on the desk. "You're not the one reading through these pieces of drivel from a clueless bunch of...hell, it doesn't matter if they're Naturals or not, they're all idiots!" This last emphatic word was directed at the report he was holding, which he had covered in red scrawls of handwriting. "Like we have time to care about every little shipping problem they have when Blue Cosmos is out in force and setting bombs in the PLANTs!"

Dearka allowed the ranting to continue for a while, since it was justified and not aimed at him. Better to let his friend take it out here in the quiet of his private office, as opposed to a broadcasted negotiation meeting. He'd volunteered to be the soldier-turned-Council member's bodyguard after realizing that Yzak, sometime in between the battles they had fought, had learned to control his temper, but not completely. The tanned blonde was still the only one who could keep him calm when his rather short fuse reached its limit – essential in a job where Yzak's punching someone in the face could cause another war.

"A-HA!" the silver-haired man crowed in triumph, stabbing his finger (and pen) at a sentence in the new report he'd picked up while Dearka was musing. "Obsolete! Why is this even in here, anyway?" He proceeded to slash out whole passages of it, mood having swung from annoyed to gleefully vindictive. "No, no, no, and...no!" The report found its path through the air to the wastepaper bin, joining the endless sad multitude of others like it.

From his seat, Dearka just rolled his eyes. "I told you to take it easy on the coffee this morning, but would you listen? Nooo..."

"Oh, shut u—what's this?"

Dearka caught a glimpse of bright pink as his friend waved the latest find, and started onto his feet in surprised recollection. "Oops. I forgot about that. We have a party to attend this evening." He'd been informed about it, and his own envelope was tucked firmly away in a pocket, but he hadn't realized that Yzak hadn't been told as well. They had been out most of that morning, so the messenger must have just dropped it on the desk...

Yzak recoiled, and he grinned.

"Post-war celebration victory, one the one evening where everyone's schedule is free, arranged for six weeks now – any of that ring a bell?"

It did. Yzak was wincing, and his tone was almost petulant as he asked, "Do I have to go?" Duel's former pilot was a notorious wallflower, known for avoiding as many social events as possible. This one, however, Dearka was perfectly willing to drag him to whether he agreed or not, and he knew that Yzak probably knew this, which made things maybe a little less complicated. Or not, since he knew exactly what was going to come out of the other's mouth next...

"WHY?"

"Because Athrun says so."

Yzak's brow furrowed slightly at the mention of that name, but he didn't immediately start besmirching the Zala name...further proof that he'd matured just a little. Instead, there was dead silence, and something stubborn in it that told the blonde he'd have to resort to drastic measures.

"He still has that tape..."

"Tape?"

"You know..."

And Yzak did know, because suddenly the stiff set of his jaw was gone, and he looked just the slightest bit terrified – a very rare sight, and Dearka almost felt guilty for being the one to bring it up. "I'll...go." It was reluctant, and there was the slightest of tremors in his voice.

The blonde knew he'd be paying for this later on, but decided to worry about that when it came. He still had to coax Yzak to wear something that wasn't a uniform, after all...

Authoress ramble: I was on crack when I wrote this, I swear. And it'ssoSHORT, but I couldn't bring myself to type any more.

This is a response to the Yzak/Kira challenge given awhile back, since the idea and pairing intrigued me enough to give me ideas for a fic.

Please don't kill me for writing this. Yzak really belongs with Dearka, I swear...hell, this chapter is interpretable as DeaYza ; But yes, I think you've had enough of my groveling, and Kira, Athrun and a bunch of other people waltz into the hopefully longer next chapter. Review? It'll help get this story out quicker. XD