Coming to an Understanding
Canon scenes happen like normal
"Regular speech"
'Thought'
"Video call or voice chat"
Feldt
Feldt let out a sigh as she was being dragged around by Christina, currently sitting on a bus headed towards the shopping district. The dreaded shopping trip had happened. She had hoped for the day before the Moralia mission would let her relax and do her job, but Christina had other plans. 'Setsuna wouldn't be dragging me around shopping.' She shook her head as the thought passed through her mind. That wasn't fair to Christina. She was the closest person she had to a friend on the ship, and she seemed excited, so Feldt would go along with it, if only to keep her happy. She never got the whole idea with needing a lot of clothes, but then again, the crew never really had this much opportunity to hang out on the planet.
But besides the shopping trip, it was strange to be on Earth. She had grown up among Celestial Being and had only been at various hidden bases the organization had, so seeing the beauty of their home planet was amazing to her. While she did like to keep her head into her work, looking out onto the ocean or seeing the lush greens of the planet sent a happy rush through her. It also just reinforced her desire to see through what Celestial Being was doing. Earth was the home of humanity and had never seen the end of war. Humanity and Earth deserved to see this peace. The world her parents had fought to protect and die for.
She was brought out of her thoughts by Christina right in her face, causing the pink-haired girl to jump back slightly. Christina was looking at her curiously as she asked, "Are you ok? You look kinda… intense. Kinda reminded me a bit of Setsuna. Are you gonna falling asleep on me?" Christina pulled back, giving Feldt more space
Feldt blinked owlishly before responding, righting herself, "I'm ok and I am not falling asleep. Just…thinking about what we are doing, is all. Along with the Moralia operation."
Christina gave her a warm smile, "Well look at you being so thoughtful. But you have to relax. We will always have time to be serious. Sometimes you just have to forget about the mission and have fun."
Feldt's lips formed a thin line, "I could have fun at the hotel. We don't need to go shopping."
Christina rolled her eyes, "Shopping is fun! You just gotta get into the mood! Don't worry, I plan to buy you stuff too. I have a few ideas at outfits that would make you look cute!"
Feldt shook her head, "You really don't need to buy anything for me. I'm good with what I have."
Christina grinned at her, "What about cute outfits for Setsuna? What if he thinks they look cute on you?"
Feldt blushed slightly as she looked away, never having thought of that. 'Would he care? He never seemed to take note of what I was wearing.' She looked down at the long skirt and long baggy shirt she was currently wearing, a thought in the back of her saying that she always wore baggy clothes. 'They are more comfortable.'
She looked back at Christina, who was still grinning at her, "You have never really shown him your figure in that baggy track suit, so maybe he'll think you are cute! He is still a teenage boy. Hormones and everything!"
Feldt pursed her lips at that thought. She didn't think he acted like that. He mostly acted calm and collected on the ship, with his outbursts of intensity on missions. 'That was new when we got data on that. I wonder why he acts that way.' But she didn't know what to do about Christina's words. Could she be right? She was confused by a slight tingle at the thought of Setsuna seeing her in a more revealing clothes. And wondering about how he would react. 'Where did that come from?'
Grumbling slightly, she responded to the brown-haired girl, "Fine. I'll try on a few things."
Christina looked at her with happy eyes, "Oh! I have so many ideas! I wonder what bathing suit would look good on you!"
Feldt looked at her confused, "Bathing suit?"
"Duh! We might go to the ocean or a pool! We have to get you a few of them for that!"
Feldt just sighed at Christina as she continued to ramble on about outfits for herself and Feldt. She looked back out the window, hoping Setsuna was having a more relaxing and better time than she was currently having. And at the same time, she felt a weird knot in her chest thinking about the raven-haired pilot. 'What is this feeling?'
Setsuna
With the intervention in Moralia over, the crew of the ship headed towards the various islands where the Gundams were hidden on Wang Liu Mei's boat. Setsuna was surprised to see that everyone besides Dr Moreno was on earth, and even more when the women on the crew were all in bathing suits. He had even blushed slightly when he looked at Feldt in her green tank top-like bathing suit, showing off her midriff. It had been the first time he had seen Feldt's figure, due to her normal outfit hiding it, and he had been surprised at how cute she was. 'Snap out of it. That's not important. She probably doesn't like the attention.' He had never felt this before, and it was confusing him. Where was this coming from?
Setsuna shook his head, getting the thoughts of out his mind, a growing annoyance inside him. One reason was because the random bombings that just happened. He had been assigned to go to Scotland to investigate. But the main reason was how people reacted to his stunt in the mission.
When he saw the movements of that Enact, Setsuna knew it was him. He fought just like the man who trained him as a child, the man who ruined his life, who claimed to know how to get in God's favor. Setsuna had to know it was him in the mission. He didn't care if it broke the rules. He had to see if it was Ali al Saachez and if he believed his own claims. While he hadn't been able to get an answer to that, he had been able to learn it was him. Setsuna knew the crew wouldn't understand, but he only kept receiving negative attention. He could feel Lockon's disappointment, Tieria's anger at going against Veda and Sumeragi's annoyance at breaking her plan. He glowered at the ocean, one of his fists balling up in anger. They wouldn't understand. He didn't break it for no reason. This was deeply personal. While he couldn't tell anyone, the fact that they had backup plans meant that it can't have been as bad as they said.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Feldt's voice, "Setsuna, are you ok? You look so tense."
He turned around, seeing the pink-haired girl giving him a slightly worried look. He unclenched his fist and let out a deep breath, responding evenly, "I'm fine. Just thinking about the mission." He once again scanned over Feldt's body, blushing slightly. 'Why am I blushing looking at her? I know she's attractive, but I've been around the rest of the women on the crew. Why not them too?'
He saw Feldt following the path of his eyes and she began to blush herself, looked down at the deck of the ship. He heard her let out a breath and she looked back up at him, "You were glaring at something so I wanted to see what was going on with you."
Setsuna felt a smile threaten to come out, surprising him. 'Why did I feel that?' He coughed, responding evenly, "I was just frustrated with how people were treating me."
Feldt moved to stand next to him, putting her hands on the railing of the ship, "Are people still mad at you for what you did?" Setsuna just nodded at her and she gave him a small, reassuring smile, "I can understand why they are, but I just want you to know that I am not. You must have had a reason for it. Everyone thinks you are reckless, but you wouldn't do something for no reason."
Setsuna felt his lips form a slight smile at her words, a twinge of happiness bubbling up in him, "Thank you. I would not intentionally hurt the mission. And it's nice to have someone give you the benefit of the doubt." 'Why do I care so much what she thinks about me?'
Feldt flushed at that, "Oh, it's no problem. I don't want to scare away someone I like hanging out with."
Setsuna then noticed the orange Haro leaning against Feldt's leg, "When did you get him?"
Feldt gave him an even look, "Oh, Lockon gave him to me when we got on the boat. He said Haro should be able to hang out with his friends."
The orange robot chirped, "Feldt friend! Feldt friend!" Feldt picked up the Haro with one arm, the robot flapping its tiny wings.
Setsuna felt a sense of déjà vu looking at how kindly she treated the small robot, "You must really like the Haros."
Feldt looked down, embarrassed, "How did you know?"
"I saw it."
Setsuna got out of the elevator of the Ptolemy, looking for Ian. He wanted to check on the status of the Exia, but as he floated down the walkway, he heard the sound of Haros chirping at each other and fixing the Dynames. What caught him by surprise was Feldt's voce, "Can you please stay on task? You can argue later." The fact that her voice contained a tone of humor made him curious. Normally she was rather monotone and not very emotive, but here she was playfully chiding the Haros and smiling, if only a little.
'She must enjoy being around the Haros.' A warm feeling bloomed in his chest for a second. 'Where did that come from?' He stood there for another minute, watching her guide the Haros as they fixed the Dynames. He then took off, not wanting to disturb the scene.
Setsuna then looked her in the eyes, "You are so much happier around the Haros. It's just so…you."
Feldt nodded at that, "They are nice to be around, even if they can be a bit unruly at times."
Orange Haro spoke up, "Haros nice! Haros nice!"
Feldt patted the top of the Haro with her hand, before putting that hand back on the railing, "I know. I know." Unbeknownst to her, her hand accidentally slid and touched Setsuna's hand. Setsuna instinctively pulled his hand back from the touch, looking sharply at Feldt for second before softening up. 'It's not her fault. She couldn't have known.'
Feldt looked at him, her eyes shining with worry as she took a step back, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to touch you."
Setsuna looked down, knowing that Feldt would never intentionally do that. He realized he never told her about his dislike of being touched. He let out a breath, speaking softly, "Don't worry about it. I just…don't liked to be touched."
Feldt looked away from him, and he guessed she was probably frowning. Setsuna knew she must feel guilty, so he spoke comfortingly, "It's ok. I know you didn't mean to do it. You don't need to be worried about me avoiding you."
It took a minute, but Feldt turned back to face him, Haro in both of her hands, clearly nervous, "I thought you were going to say you didn't want to be around me."
He gave her a confused look, "Why would I want to avoid you? You are the most relaxing person to be with on the ship."
He could see her blush again as she responded, "Well, thanks."
Setsuna began to blush as well, "And you look…nice in that bathing suit."
Feldt blushed even more intensely, mumbling, "Thanks."
Haro spoke up happily, "Feldt pretty! Feldt pretty!"
Feldt smacked Haro on the head, the robot letting out an ow, "You don't need to add to that."
Setsuna smiled slightly at her, "You can join me if you want. We still have a bit of a ride." Feldt nodded, and the two began to talk about her first experience on Earth, along with Feldt suffering as Christina forced her to go shopping. Setsuna noticed he began to drift towards Feldt as they talked, not enough to touch, but enough that he felt comfort just being near her. 'Is this what Lockon meant by getting close to her? Finding her comfortable enough to be around to lower my supposed walls?'
Neil
The Exia and Dynames took off from their pods, starting their route to the intended target. Neil's target was in South America and Setsuna's was in Scotland, so the two would stick together till their paths diverged. Neil grinned to himself looking at the Exia. He had spotted Feldt and Setsuna talking on the boat and they seemed even closer than ever. It was especially fun to see Setsuna blush when he looked at Feldt. 'Good to know that he's still a teenage boy underneath all that emotionlessness.' While he couldn't say if they were friends, they were on the path to getting there. 'It's good to know that Setsuna has someone to talk to. Though I need to remind myself to talk to Christina and get her perspective.'
He opened up communications, Setsuna's hard to read face on his display, "Is there something going on?"
Neil shook his head, "No. The course is set and we should stay low profile." He then smirked at Setsuna, "What I called you for was the fact you looked awful comfortable around Feldt on the boat."
Setsuna just maintained his even look, "We were having a conversation, yes. She is pleasant to be around."
"Well it's nice to see you getting a girlfriend. You may have hope yet."
Setsuna looked at him confused, "Girlfriend?"
Neil looked at Setsuna, baffled, "You have never heard of that term? Never had a girlfriend?"
Setsuna shook his head, "No. What does that mean?"
Neil felt like pulling out his hair. 'Do I really have to explain what a girlfriend is?' Neil sighed and responded, "A girlfriend is a girl or woman you care for romantically who you generally exclusively date. You are more…intimate, like kissing, public displays of affection and generally being closer. Sometimes there is sex, but it depends on the relationship."
Setsuna looked at him curiously, "And how do you know if you care for them like that?"
Neil shrugged his shoulders, "There's no real easy way to tell. You just got to figure out. Though if they make your heart race and get you to blush, that's a good start."
Setsuna looked at him thoughtfully before giving him an even look, "Well, that relationship is not something I have any interest in. We have corruption to clear out."
Neil shook his head good-naturedly, "You are too serious sometimes. Don't throw out an idea like that. Sometimes those relationships sneak up on you."
Setsuna just ignored him, looking forward, "We have missions to do. A relationship is not relevant at the moment." Neil sighed in annoyance but dropped the call. 'What a thick kid. Guess he'll need more of a push to be accepting of a relationship. But he didn't say that he didn't see Feldt that way. Interesting.'
Christina
Christina watched the Exia and Dynames fly into the distance, the wind dying out around them. As Sumergai began walking back to the boat, she turned to face Feldt, "Well, that trip to Earth was fun. We got to shop, hang out in a fancy house and you even got to bond with Setsuna!"
Feldt grumbled at her, "Don't you mean you got to shop."
The brown-haired girl gave Feldt a mischievous grin, "I meant we. You got stuff too, like that bathing suit Setsuna seemed to blush at." She saw Feldt look at her in surprise, "Oh don't pretend I didn't see that. He seems to appreciate you."
Feldt blushed, looking down, "He said I looked nice."
Christina put her hands on the pink-haired girl's shoulders, "Look at you getting close to him! And he thinks you are cute! You are making progress and I am proud of you!"
Feldt blushed even more, "It's nice to be around him…and he looks nice as well."
Christina nodded at Feldt, "Just keep it up and you'll have a friend in no time. And maybe something more…" 'Damn slip! I don't want to play my hand too early. Does Feldt even know what a boyfriend is?'
Feldt looked at her confused, "Something more? What do you mean?"
Christina laughed nervously, "Don't worry about it. I can tell you later, once you get to know Setsuna better."
Feldt looked at Christina for a second before shrugging her shoulders, "Ok. Let's get back to the boat. They are probably waiting for us."
Christina nodded, "Let's go!" As they began to walk back to the boat, she took a sidelong glance at Feldt. She could see Feldt and Setsuna had good chemistry, they just didn't know it. And the fact that Setsuna complimented her gave Christina hope. If he could open up and be more friendly with the pink-haired girl, then there was hope for Christina's plan. 'Just got to get her to open up to him more. Then they can really move forward. Maybe there's someone on the ship that can help with Setsuna. I'll have to quietly ask around.'
Author Note
And that's chapter 3! Our couple is slowly moving along, but they are moving. And Christina and Neil are such good additions to this developing romance. I hope you guys are excited for more. Please review and comment, and I'll see you next week! Also if you don't want to leave a public review, feel free to send me a private message.
