Chapter 3: Tequila and Whiskey Conversations
Kent smiled at everyone and his eyes rested on Noin a bit longer than the others. She had started to notice the interest that he was beginning to take in her and she didn't really know how to feel about it. He was a handsome man, distinguished, brave and good, all of the qualities that someone would want in a man. Unfortunately her heart still belonged to another. She saw all the familiar faces chatting and talking, drinking their coffee and tea. Ramona was cozying up to a new worker that was sitting in for the laborers and he didn't seem to mind the attention. Khal was friendly with everyone greeting them cheerfully. Baron just sat quietly arms folded in front of himself; he almost looked asleep. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Berta sitting herself by Zechs. She always seemed to place herself close to him. Get a hold of yourself, Noin, no jealousy, you're above that but it was hard for her to gulp down the jealousy she always felt whenever Berta was close to him. Zechs caught her looking at Berta and gave her a look that put Noin's heart to rest.
Kent tapped his coffee mug lightly with his pen, "Okay people, let's get this thing started." Everyone turned to look at him and he had their full attention. "The project is going well and is improving day by day. Now that we have the actual foundations laid and the air circulation stabilized, Ramona is ready to take on the building and highways. It's moving smoothly and it's all thanks to all of you. With out one of you this would not have happened. Thank you to everyone." People clapped a little and grew quiet. "Now for the bad news, we have spotted some unmarked ships moving suspiciously close to Mars. We have reason to believe from Zechs and Noin's data that they could be gathering information to loot us or worst. We need to be on our guard." He continued by giving out the most recent orders and then dismissed the group to their work. Kent came over to Zechs and was talking to him quietly.
Noin wondered what was up and went right over to Zechs after Kent left. "So what was that all about?" She walked next to him as he moved out of the room and down the hall.
He looked at her the normal blank of emotion face, "He just asked me to go up to the satellite today and make some repairs and some readings for a day or two."
Noin looked at him her smile fading, "So when do we leave?"
Zechs walked a bit faster, "We…don't."
She moved up her steps to keep up with him, "We…always go up together. What's Kent trying to pull?" She was angry now.
Zech stopped suddenly waiting for the impending fury that this Italian woman couldn't always hold back, "He's pulling nothing, he needs you here to help and keep guard on the surface. We need more guard on the surface anyway due to the possible threat."
Her eyes flashed and she huffed out an angry sigh, "Fine!" she said throwing her hands up in the air and storming off.
He watched her go almost smiling inside; he liked it when she let her emotions go. Sometimes she could be too subdued and she would let her emotions build inside. He followed the same direction she was taking and was abruptly stopped by Berta. Berta was a rugged beauty. She was tall and thickly built with curves that wouldn't quit. Her hair was the color of ripe wheat and her face was soft and feminine. Berta stopped him, hands on her hips, "So, you goin' to the space satellite?"
He liked that way she spoke, very southern, "Yes, and Kent said alone." He began walking again past her down the hall.
"Hey, Z, you ain't getting' out of it that easy!" She followed him down the hall. "Why cain't I come?"
He stopped, looked at her and sighed, "Berta, why do you want to come?"
She smiled and motioned for him to come around the corner for secrecy, he followed reluctantly, "I have'ta get off this rock fer a few days. Please, Z. That little vixen, Ramona, is killin' my nerves. I didn't know when I signed on fer this assignment that I would be adopting a baby sis." She looked at him plaintively, "Please, Z!"
He couldn't help but like her, she did have a big job keeping Ramona's legs together and it probably was tiring. He could use the help with the repair work, an experienced engineer like Berta would be very useful, "Okay." She squealed, he interrupted her glee, "But you need to make sure that it's okay with Kent first." He continued down the hall toward the launch bay, "Make it quick, Berta, I'm not going to wait all day." She scampered down the hall to find Kent.
Noin downed the second shot of tequila and motioned for another. She sensed Kent's presence as soon as he entered the room. He seeped charisma. She watched him move toward her. He was over six feet tall, broad shoulders, smiling green eyes that accompanied his trimmed auburn hair. "Hmmm…" he pulled a stool up next to her, "Already drinking this early in the morning?" There was playfulness in his tone and part of her liked it.
"Wanna buy me one?" She smiled at him, "I think that I'll need a few more."
He lifted his hand and summoned the bartender over, "A bottle for the lady and a glass of beer for me." She laughed as the bottle was placed on front of her. He liked her laugh; she was a goddess in his eyes, a real beauty in the rough. How she had never been gussied up and taken out on the town was beyond him. As he watched her pour herself another drink he thought he pinpointed the reason. It was that blasted Zechs. Kent knew that winning Noin's heart was out of the question, not while she was so preoccupied by her partner. They chatted a while about this and that, enjoying each other's company.
Berta came bursting in looking for Kent. She glanced at Noin and motioned for Kent to come to her. Noin watched them converse and she was bothered by Berta's periodic glances over at her. They were talking about her. Berta grinned from ear to ear and left quickly.
Kent returned and sat back down next to Noin chuckling to himself. He took a long drink from his beer, "She's a kick. I love Berta."
Noin scowled, "What was that about?"
Kent watched her down another shot of her tequila, "She wanted to go to the satellite with Zechs, to help him with the repairs."
Noin was starting to feel the potent liquor, "And you said yes?"
"Of course!" he smiled at her but quickly acknowledged her anger and frowned, "Why? Should I have not allowed her to go?" Noin huffed and turned away, "Noin, look at me." She turned her head, "Look, Berta is the best engineer we have other than Ramona and the satellite will go faster if she goes. Would you have rather I had sent Ramona, she would be too distracted by your partner to work, plus she would be a distraction for him. Berta on the other hand gets along with him well; that in itself is a miracle. Zechs is not a very likable fellow, a good soldier but not much else." The last comment peeved Noin and she grabbed her bottle and flopped down at a table to move away from him. "Noin…" he called after her and sat down next to her. "Noin, I like Zechs…" he began.
"Look, I always go up to the satellite with him, that's what I'm pissed off about." She looked him square in the eyes, "Kent, Zechs is very unlikable, I know that, but he didn't used to be and I knew that side of him. I…I just…I don't know."
Kent brought a hand up to move a stray hair from her face, "Noin, I didn't send you because, one I need you down here and two you need a break." He watched her sigh, "You've been too high strung lately, take some time off."
"Okay…I guess you're right, Zechs can be a full time job sometimes." She hopped up and got dizzy; Kent's arms shot around her and got her back on her feet. He insisted on walking her back to her room. Noin's refusals wouldn't put him off the idea so she agreed.
Noin was really feeling the liquor now after almost a whole bottle of tequila and Kent was being so nice about everything. He opened the door and half helped and half carried her in. "You should lay off that stuff. It makes you weak."
Noin's head was drooping onto Kent's shoulder but she managed to smile up at him, "Yes, sir." Her eyes got glazed and she passed out.
Kent sighed and laid her on the bed. He stroked her cheek, "Poor girl, look what he done to you." He left quietly leaving some aspirin tablets out for her.
Berta came briskly toward Zechs with the good news. Zechs sighed and led the way onto the ship. All the way to the satellite she jabbered about all sorts of things, so happy to be with a grown man and not a promiscuous girl.
She could see that he was looking annoyed and she stopped for a while. A few minutes later as the ship was growing closer to the satellite's location she bite her lip, "If you didn't want me to come you could've said so before I went through the trouble." She crossed her arms, "I'm sorry if I'm a talkative cuss but you knew that 'fore you said yes."
He looked straight at her, "I wanted you to come. I like your company." He gracefully docked with the satellite and put his helmet on handing Berta's to her, he smiled, "Please don't be upset."
She grabbed it from him and swatted him on the back, "That's the way. That's the Z I know and love. Try to be more cheerful more often, people might like you more."
They spent the next four hours fixing some of the problem parts, speaking very little. Berta watched him closely though. She could see sadness in him that she had rarely seen before. He too young for that type of pain, she thought to herself. Berta was what she liked to call the perfect age, the ripe old age of thirty-two, even though she was around ten years Zechs' senior she felt really close to him, almost like an older sister. So the feelings she had for him went along with the whole sister thing, protective, bossy, loving, caring, and sometimes annoying. He sometimes wore the face of a middle-aged man. She could feel the sorrow that emanated from him.
He wiped some sweat from his brow and sighed a sigh of relief, "Well that was one of the toughest parts job I've ever done." He looked over at her, she was looking equally tired, "Thanks, Bert, for coming."
She smiled when he called her Bert. It was a nickname he had given her and she liked it. "Anytime Z."
They lounged for a while watching space. Berta knew that someone had to break the silence, why not be her, "So how's little Relena doing?" Berta leaned forward searching for her bag she had brought and finding what she was looking for she smiled, a ten year old whiskey, she took a big swig then handed it to Zechs, he took it and drank as well, "Heard from her lately?" Berta wasn't about letting Zechs off the hook to talk.
She took another swig and he took it from her looking pensive out into space, "I heard from her two days ago." He took a second drink before handing it back to Berta.
"And?" Berta cocked an eyebrow at him.
Zechs sighed and held his hand out to Berta for the whiskey, she handed it to him hoping that it would loosen his tongue. He nursed it a bit then looked at her with worry on his face, "I worry about her sometimes. She has so much responsibility for one so young."
Berta smiled, Zechs wasn't completely dead to feelings; he loved his sister, "Ain't she eighteen now? She be a woman now, Zechs, whether you're fond of it or not."
He smiled a little, "Yes, she is." He handed Berta the bottle, "I know that she is well taken care of, but that's not what worries me."
"It's that young man…what's his name…the Gundam kid?" She knew the name of the man but she wanted Zechs to talk so she baited him.
"Heero…Heero Yuy." Zechs spoke his name with respect and disdain. "She loves him." Berta handed him the bottle and he took another long drink. "I'm worried for her heart. He's not the type that will ever be able to give her what she needs. He's too much of a soldier."
"Like you?"
Berta's comment caught him off guard, "What do you mean by that?"
Berta took the bottle back from him and capped it, knowing that he had had enough, she didn't want him to get too upset, "What I mean is he's like you. You and he are cut from the same cloth." Zechs turned his face away from her and watched out the window. "Z, you want to know why I know Relena will be happy in the end with him?" She didn't wait for his answer, "He has done something that you still have not been able to do," she pushed his seat so he swiveled to face her, once his eyes were meeting hers she continued, "He's let go of his past and has discovered that by doing so that he is able to rebuild himself the way he wants to be, to become the man she loves."
Zechs grabbed the bottle from her and paced back and forth, "So I'm broken is that it?"
"Yes…" Berta said bluntly, "You are what you think Heero is, and that is why you break that poor girl's heart a little more each day."
"Relena!" he asked loudly.
Berta shook her head sadly, "No you jackass…you're pard…Noin."
Zechs let out a gravely sigh and threw that bottle against the wall shattering it. The bit's of left over whiskey floated into the air and became round balls of liquor, "Why…why does everyone believe that she loves me like that. I'm not stupid, I've known that she loves me for a long time, but it's ever been a friendship, companion type love. We'd die for each other; we'd fight to save each other. She wants me to be the boy she met in academy and I can't be that for her, not anymore." He sat down, emotionally exhausted.
Berta got up and grabbed a tool heading back to a conduit, "If you looked closer, I think that you would notice more in that love than you might think." She left him to his thoughts.