I'm trying to write the story I had originally intended.
I don't own any of the Final Fantasy 8 characters, but the six newbies are mine.
I don't know what Caraway's character is like, so he's going to wind up really snooty... I have no idea why.
I'm not sure whether you wanna call it Rinoa bashing or what, but I'm sure I'm not exactly nice to her...
~
Chapter 5
"Um," Selphie paused, "Wow, uh, what do you, er, what are you,"
"Which subjects do you think you want to teach?" Lynne seemed almost hopeful.
"Well," Rinoa counted out on her fingers, "I was intending to teach manners and the use of magic, but if you need me to teach anything else, I could do that too!"
Selphie giggled a bit, but paused to say, "Rin, there isn't a child over nine here, and that's too young for etiquette or magic. We still have to teach them the basics of survival! So you'd be best off waiting unless you can get the kids to settle down and learn first aid better than Zell, Edgar and Lynne here!"
"Oh," Rinoa thought for a moment, "Why do they need first aid? How is it more important than learning magic?"
Lynne just froze, eying her like she was some strange, unclassified specimen of creature that had just spat up on him.
"Teaching them magic won't be of any use unless they know what to do for their friends after the magic has been cast," the young man that had snapped at her father earlier walked from another area, holding a plate of food, "As anxious as we are to lower the ratio, we aren't going to do it that way, that'll kill our reputation faster than it will the kids."
"Oh," Rinoa paled, "I hadn't thought of that. Sorry! I guess I can wait to teach those subjects. Are there any others where you're short handed. Because Squall and the others I know can attest to how bad I am at first-aid."
"Then we're gonna have to teach you too," Lynne groaned, "At least you aren't going to flinch at the possibility of having to use it maybe on a," he mimed out the warding off of evil, "BOY!"
Selphie nearly fell to the floor giggling, "You've gotta be the only one who can do it that well."
"Just don't show any of the kids that," the other man smirked, "Or that'll turn into their catch act."
"Ugh," Lynne glared at the ceiling, "That really takes the fun out of it."
"I never caught your name," Rinoa turned to the man who, by a sheer lack of luck, had some food in his mouth, "But I remember seeing you when we encased my Sorceress powers in that crystal, and then you threw it into the water."
The man nodded, chewing his food.
"Rinoa, this is Max," Selphie performed the introduction, as Max was still slightly unable to talk, "And Max, meet Rinoa."
He nodded, and Rinoa held her hand out as though he were to shake it. He stared at her hand, glanced at the plate in his hands, and then looked back at her hand.
"I don't think you want him to shake your hand," Lynne laughed, "Max is a messy eater, there's no telling how much he's gotten on his hands and unless you really wanna eat without having to go to the caf,"
"Aw, be quiet!" Max yelped after finishing his mouthful of food, "I'm not that bad, it's just that this is an awkward plate, and I really don't want to cover you three do I?"
"Speaking of which," Rinoa glanced significantly at the amount of food on the plate, "Why are you eating so much?"
"Haven't had a proper meal in about twenty four hours," Max turned and walked toward the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Rinoa asked.
"Headmaster's office," Max didn't even turn to face her.
"Why in the world?" Rinoa looked at the other two, "What possible reason could he have for bringing food to the Headmaster's office," then her face, being about like an open book, showed what conclusion she'd come to, "Oh... He's like that."
This time both Lynne and Selphie cracked up. They laughed so loud that Quistis, who was nearby, heard. She had left the library, since there was only one child in there, and the little one was blessedly asleep, "What is going on, you three?"
"She thinks Max," Lynne fought to say between laughter and gasping for breath.
"Oh," Quistis added up the expression on the dark haired woman's face and the laughter issuing from the other two, "You think he's with the Headmaster for non conventional reasons."
"Ugh," Rinoa shuddered.
"Sorry to disillusion you," Quistis smiled, "He, Kiros and Squall are,"
"Squall TOO!?" Rinoa yelped, interrupting.
"What about me?" Squall raised an eyebrow as he walked out of the training area with three children in tow.
"Not with children around, that's for certain!" Rinoa scolded, "They shouldn't have to hear it!"
"What, that you have a dirty mind?" Selphie finally overcame the giggles enough to spout, "It's really not like that, its just paperwork!"
"Don't try to lie to me!" Rinoa glared at the cheery young brunette.
"Sheesh," Selphie blinked, "We're not! You jumped to conclusions, and we're just trying to get you off those islands!"
The little children started laughing. Lynne held a straight face for a few seconds, and caught his breath, "Okay guys, let's go to the games," and he led the children to the room designated for playing.
"Selphie, why weren't you and Lynne in there?" Squall nodded his head in the direction Lynne had left in.
"Because he was going to meet you here," Selphie looked up, smiling brightly, "And I was wondering what was taking so long."
"They had to clean up a bit," Squall snorted, "After all, running around the training center doesn't leave everyone smelling fresh as a daisy, as it were."
"Okies," Selphie waved as she left.
"So now what's going on?" Squall turned to Rinoa and Quistis.
"It would be bad enough to find out you're with a guy, but two of them?" Rinoa put her hands on her hips, "And you're teaching young, impressionable children?!"
"Actually," Squall glared, "Max, Kiros, and I got a large pile of paperwork from Laguna, Cid, and the Shumi that we're trying to puzzle out. If you want proof,"
"Oh," Rinoa froze, "Oh dear. I really messed up that time didn't I?"
"No kidding," Quistis looked at her sternly, "That was certainly an interesting look into your beliefs."
"Well," Rinoa fidgeted, "Isn't allowing them to teach children kind of messing up the chance they'll come out normal?"
"I'm not getting into this conversation," Squall snorted, "I have work to do."
"Thank you ever so much for leaving me with this," Quistis mock glared at him.
"What are you talking about?" Rinoa looked back and forth between them.
"Let's say your assumption had been true," Quistis started walking, and indicated that Rinoa should follow, "Would you have been able to guess that of any of those three otherwise?"
"No," Rinoa stared at her feet as she walked.
"What's the guarantee that the children would have known?" Quistis approached the library door, punched in a code, and then walked through, "So if they can't tell, it can't affect their decisions down the line, right?"
"I guess," Rinoa looked around at the library.
"And besides," Quistis sniffed lightly, "If you're going to say that having teachers who prefer their own gender will affect their chances of coming out 'normal,' as you put it, then why is there a problem? After all shouldn't we give children equal opportunities to decide for themselves how their lives will shape out? In which case there should be more teachers,"
"I understand what you're trying to say," Rinoa scrunched up her nose, "But I don't like it."
"Then you don't have to remain here," Quistis turned to check on the little girl in the library, sleeping, "Because mercenaries are noted for being open about anything. If they aren't open about this, then the list of other things could be endless. That's another lesson that we try to teach these children. Be open-minded. As far as I know, we don't have any couples here at all, much less any that are single-gendered."
"You're kidding!" Rinoa gasped, "Not even Selphie and Irvine?"
"It's just in their nature to be affectionate friends," Quistis smiled, "So it looks like they're dating, when they're just really, um, touchy, friends. They don't exclude anyone from their affection, though they are hesitant like nothing else with Max. May have something to do with the fact that when Selphie used him as a pillow, he squeaked."
"He squeaked," Rinoa tried not to giggle.
Quistis nodded, "We think he didn't notice at first, since she'd been leaning against him through the little movie, but then he looked down at some point, and realized she'd fallen asleep, and he squeaked. He was as shocked as anyone else, and now, he avoids them for the most part, and they avoid him."
"Almost sounds like he has a crush on her," Rinoa giggled, her previous assumption thrown out the window as she came up with a new one.
"Actually," Quistis smiled, "We think it had something to do with the fact that she was ill at the time, and he honestly was frightened that she'd expired on his arm."
Rinoa laughed outright, "That's hilarious! And now they avoid each other?"
"Well, they certainly don't use him as a pillow anymore, and that's all he'd allow in the first place," Quistis shrugged, "But really, you'll have to be careful if you are going to be an instructor here, not to mention the fact that it still has to be cleared by Kiros."
"Why not Squall?" Rinoa looked at Quistis questioningly, "Isn't he in charge here?"
"No," Quistis shook her head, "He and Max are only in the Headmaster's office because the three of them have to figure out those files. Kiros is the headmaster."
"Oh," Rinoa blinked, then looked around the library, "This is huge!"
"Not really," Quistis shook her head, "The bookcases are only about half as tall as the ones in Balamb Garden, and there are only half as many. On top of that, they aren't even half full."
"That's still a lot of books!" Rinoa glanced around, "Could I look around?"
"I have no problem with the idea," Quistis shrugged, "You'll just have to stay in here with it."
~
That's clearing up a few things. ~Causing a few messes, and intimating that Rin doesn't see many books. Hm... Guess it's a subconscious thing.~
I don't own any of the Final Fantasy 8 characters, but the six newbies are mine.
I don't know what Caraway's character is like, so he's going to wind up really snooty... I have no idea why.
I'm not sure whether you wanna call it Rinoa bashing or what, but I'm sure I'm not exactly nice to her...
~
Chapter 5
"Um," Selphie paused, "Wow, uh, what do you, er, what are you,"
"Which subjects do you think you want to teach?" Lynne seemed almost hopeful.
"Well," Rinoa counted out on her fingers, "I was intending to teach manners and the use of magic, but if you need me to teach anything else, I could do that too!"
Selphie giggled a bit, but paused to say, "Rin, there isn't a child over nine here, and that's too young for etiquette or magic. We still have to teach them the basics of survival! So you'd be best off waiting unless you can get the kids to settle down and learn first aid better than Zell, Edgar and Lynne here!"
"Oh," Rinoa thought for a moment, "Why do they need first aid? How is it more important than learning magic?"
Lynne just froze, eying her like she was some strange, unclassified specimen of creature that had just spat up on him.
"Teaching them magic won't be of any use unless they know what to do for their friends after the magic has been cast," the young man that had snapped at her father earlier walked from another area, holding a plate of food, "As anxious as we are to lower the ratio, we aren't going to do it that way, that'll kill our reputation faster than it will the kids."
"Oh," Rinoa paled, "I hadn't thought of that. Sorry! I guess I can wait to teach those subjects. Are there any others where you're short handed. Because Squall and the others I know can attest to how bad I am at first-aid."
"Then we're gonna have to teach you too," Lynne groaned, "At least you aren't going to flinch at the possibility of having to use it maybe on a," he mimed out the warding off of evil, "BOY!"
Selphie nearly fell to the floor giggling, "You've gotta be the only one who can do it that well."
"Just don't show any of the kids that," the other man smirked, "Or that'll turn into their catch act."
"Ugh," Lynne glared at the ceiling, "That really takes the fun out of it."
"I never caught your name," Rinoa turned to the man who, by a sheer lack of luck, had some food in his mouth, "But I remember seeing you when we encased my Sorceress powers in that crystal, and then you threw it into the water."
The man nodded, chewing his food.
"Rinoa, this is Max," Selphie performed the introduction, as Max was still slightly unable to talk, "And Max, meet Rinoa."
He nodded, and Rinoa held her hand out as though he were to shake it. He stared at her hand, glanced at the plate in his hands, and then looked back at her hand.
"I don't think you want him to shake your hand," Lynne laughed, "Max is a messy eater, there's no telling how much he's gotten on his hands and unless you really wanna eat without having to go to the caf,"
"Aw, be quiet!" Max yelped after finishing his mouthful of food, "I'm not that bad, it's just that this is an awkward plate, and I really don't want to cover you three do I?"
"Speaking of which," Rinoa glanced significantly at the amount of food on the plate, "Why are you eating so much?"
"Haven't had a proper meal in about twenty four hours," Max turned and walked toward the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Rinoa asked.
"Headmaster's office," Max didn't even turn to face her.
"Why in the world?" Rinoa looked at the other two, "What possible reason could he have for bringing food to the Headmaster's office," then her face, being about like an open book, showed what conclusion she'd come to, "Oh... He's like that."
This time both Lynne and Selphie cracked up. They laughed so loud that Quistis, who was nearby, heard. She had left the library, since there was only one child in there, and the little one was blessedly asleep, "What is going on, you three?"
"She thinks Max," Lynne fought to say between laughter and gasping for breath.
"Oh," Quistis added up the expression on the dark haired woman's face and the laughter issuing from the other two, "You think he's with the Headmaster for non conventional reasons."
"Ugh," Rinoa shuddered.
"Sorry to disillusion you," Quistis smiled, "He, Kiros and Squall are,"
"Squall TOO!?" Rinoa yelped, interrupting.
"What about me?" Squall raised an eyebrow as he walked out of the training area with three children in tow.
"Not with children around, that's for certain!" Rinoa scolded, "They shouldn't have to hear it!"
"What, that you have a dirty mind?" Selphie finally overcame the giggles enough to spout, "It's really not like that, its just paperwork!"
"Don't try to lie to me!" Rinoa glared at the cheery young brunette.
"Sheesh," Selphie blinked, "We're not! You jumped to conclusions, and we're just trying to get you off those islands!"
The little children started laughing. Lynne held a straight face for a few seconds, and caught his breath, "Okay guys, let's go to the games," and he led the children to the room designated for playing.
"Selphie, why weren't you and Lynne in there?" Squall nodded his head in the direction Lynne had left in.
"Because he was going to meet you here," Selphie looked up, smiling brightly, "And I was wondering what was taking so long."
"They had to clean up a bit," Squall snorted, "After all, running around the training center doesn't leave everyone smelling fresh as a daisy, as it were."
"Okies," Selphie waved as she left.
"So now what's going on?" Squall turned to Rinoa and Quistis.
"It would be bad enough to find out you're with a guy, but two of them?" Rinoa put her hands on her hips, "And you're teaching young, impressionable children?!"
"Actually," Squall glared, "Max, Kiros, and I got a large pile of paperwork from Laguna, Cid, and the Shumi that we're trying to puzzle out. If you want proof,"
"Oh," Rinoa froze, "Oh dear. I really messed up that time didn't I?"
"No kidding," Quistis looked at her sternly, "That was certainly an interesting look into your beliefs."
"Well," Rinoa fidgeted, "Isn't allowing them to teach children kind of messing up the chance they'll come out normal?"
"I'm not getting into this conversation," Squall snorted, "I have work to do."
"Thank you ever so much for leaving me with this," Quistis mock glared at him.
"What are you talking about?" Rinoa looked back and forth between them.
"Let's say your assumption had been true," Quistis started walking, and indicated that Rinoa should follow, "Would you have been able to guess that of any of those three otherwise?"
"No," Rinoa stared at her feet as she walked.
"What's the guarantee that the children would have known?" Quistis approached the library door, punched in a code, and then walked through, "So if they can't tell, it can't affect their decisions down the line, right?"
"I guess," Rinoa looked around at the library.
"And besides," Quistis sniffed lightly, "If you're going to say that having teachers who prefer their own gender will affect their chances of coming out 'normal,' as you put it, then why is there a problem? After all shouldn't we give children equal opportunities to decide for themselves how their lives will shape out? In which case there should be more teachers,"
"I understand what you're trying to say," Rinoa scrunched up her nose, "But I don't like it."
"Then you don't have to remain here," Quistis turned to check on the little girl in the library, sleeping, "Because mercenaries are noted for being open about anything. If they aren't open about this, then the list of other things could be endless. That's another lesson that we try to teach these children. Be open-minded. As far as I know, we don't have any couples here at all, much less any that are single-gendered."
"You're kidding!" Rinoa gasped, "Not even Selphie and Irvine?"
"It's just in their nature to be affectionate friends," Quistis smiled, "So it looks like they're dating, when they're just really, um, touchy, friends. They don't exclude anyone from their affection, though they are hesitant like nothing else with Max. May have something to do with the fact that when Selphie used him as a pillow, he squeaked."
"He squeaked," Rinoa tried not to giggle.
Quistis nodded, "We think he didn't notice at first, since she'd been leaning against him through the little movie, but then he looked down at some point, and realized she'd fallen asleep, and he squeaked. He was as shocked as anyone else, and now, he avoids them for the most part, and they avoid him."
"Almost sounds like he has a crush on her," Rinoa giggled, her previous assumption thrown out the window as she came up with a new one.
"Actually," Quistis smiled, "We think it had something to do with the fact that she was ill at the time, and he honestly was frightened that she'd expired on his arm."
Rinoa laughed outright, "That's hilarious! And now they avoid each other?"
"Well, they certainly don't use him as a pillow anymore, and that's all he'd allow in the first place," Quistis shrugged, "But really, you'll have to be careful if you are going to be an instructor here, not to mention the fact that it still has to be cleared by Kiros."
"Why not Squall?" Rinoa looked at Quistis questioningly, "Isn't he in charge here?"
"No," Quistis shook her head, "He and Max are only in the Headmaster's office because the three of them have to figure out those files. Kiros is the headmaster."
"Oh," Rinoa blinked, then looked around the library, "This is huge!"
"Not really," Quistis shook her head, "The bookcases are only about half as tall as the ones in Balamb Garden, and there are only half as many. On top of that, they aren't even half full."
"That's still a lot of books!" Rinoa glanced around, "Could I look around?"
"I have no problem with the idea," Quistis shrugged, "You'll just have to stay in here with it."
~
That's clearing up a few things. ~Causing a few messes, and intimating that Rin doesn't see many books. Hm... Guess it's a subconscious thing.~