a/n: Sara-Ariel can be found in the Harriers' tent on Division Drive. She's never been in love and never will be. I like her.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, including Sara-Ariel.

Sara-Ariel (11 roses, then 10, then 9)

All of Sara-Ariel's good intentions evaporated when she saw Brian making his way towards the Harrier's mini-base. She'd promised herself she wouldn't jump down his throat about today's mission, that she'd wait to let him explain, that she wouldn't deck him. She wasn't going to keep all of those promises, maybe not any of them. Because here she was, watching him saunter towards her, a raggedy bunch of vegetation in his hands and a pleased expression on his face. She gritted her teeth, took a breath, and counted to ten. The breath whooshed out of her with a hiss when he came close enough for her to hear him whistling.

"You have got some explaining to do, boy!" she growled. The dopey smile vanished from his broad face, replaced by sickening guilt. He better feel sick. He'd scrubbed during an easy mission, losing one of the team's skells. Her group had pooled their resources to afford four of the best rides in the Harrier division, if she did say so herself. A lost skell meant everyone was going to work under bad conditions, not just Brian.

"Uh … Sar', uh ... you been waiting for me?" he squeaked.

"I shouldn't have to wait. You're supposed to report back to me immediately on return. Instead, yes, I've had the pleasure of waiting for you. During which time I have heard things about you letting yourself get caught by an enemy with well-recorded spike abilities."

"Yeah, well, I didn't realize it had spotted me."

"You had no business catching its eye. Daytime. Oblivia. It spots every stinking skell that doesn't spot it first. What is wrong with you, boy? And why do you have a garden in your mitts?"

"Uh, well, those are…"

Sara-Ariel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms more firmly, not so much to be intimidating as to keep herself from punching him then and there. "I warned you plenty. You let this romance nonsense distract you on a mission, and so help me…"

"They're for you!" Brian blurted, shoving the roses at her, then jumping away. It was either grab them in a cradle-hold or let them fall to the deck. Sara-Ariel narrowed her eyes as she tried to avoid the thorns poking through the swaddling of paper towel. "For you, Sara! Uh…"

"You have got to be kidding me. You expect me to believe that you got me flowers?"

"No way! Uh … no… it was … uh…." His head swiveled madly, until he suddenly focused on a someone behind her. "Uh…. Roo! Roo asked me to do it. For you. Yeah! That's it!"

"That's a load of…" growled Sara-Ariel.

"Except one. One I need for, uh, ... something .…" Brian snatched one rose from the bouquet, setting the other flowers flying. "Oh, uh, whoops. Um, gotta go! See ya!" With that, he sprinted away, headed towards BLADE tower, possibly towards the East Gate where he would continue to sprint, possibly back to Oblivia, possibly forever. In Sara-Ariel's opinion, forever might be a good length for her not to have to deal with him.

"Somebody call my name?" a good-natured voice said beside her. A lanky, grey-haired Pathfinder had reached her side.

"Brian is being stupid, I suspect. Said you asked him to get me these." She gestured at the mess on the ground.

Roo looked down at the roses scattered on the deck, then bent to pick them up. "That's yet another thing I don't remember." He wrangled them into some sort of a bunch, then offered them back to her. "Why would I want to do that?"

Sara-Ariel made no move to accept the flowers and looked at Roo with honest consideration. Finally, she made her best guess. "Valentine's Day, maybe?"

Roo looked blank. "Why would you want roses instead of candy? Why would ANYONE want roses instead of candy?"

She scratched her short curls. "Romance, I guess." She looked at Roo's uncomprehending face for a moment, a face that perfectly mirrored her own.

Finally, his lips twitched in a slight grin. "Wow. He really is dumb." He started to snicker, matching her own louder huff of laughter.

"Lord, I think all the lovey-dovey junk has poisoned his mind. Sorry to pull you into this mess, Roo. I love that kid like a brother, but I need to learn him something about manners and responsibility."

"No, worries." He juggled the roses in his arms gently. "Say, are you and Doug still planning on giving classes for taking down the No-Neck on foot?"

"Yeah." She looked at the Pathfinder's unimposing frame with skepticism. "Nothing personal, but soon as that monster drops a gravity attack, you're going to be in trouble."

"Hey, I'm up for setting the new record for distance launched. Sign me up, okay?"

"Sure." When he tried to give the roses back to her one more time, she held up her hands. "Keep them to put on your grave, Roo."

He pulled out one blossom, pink and innocent, and handed it to her with a smile. "You should keep one, Sara. Just for when you need a good laugh."

a/n: Like I said, she's real, she's named, and you can chat with her on Division Drive about her idiot semi-brother. I like her plenty, and she is another reason why I love XCX.

Next up: It's my boy, Roo!