I feel like this one came pretty well, but I guess it's up to what you readers feel also matter.
Cross felt like he was finally left alone this time around as he casually traversed through New LA's commercial district.
Alone in the sense that he had no one to accompany him.
He was alone within the crowd of faceless citizens of varying races and origins.
Elma had been pulled into another mandatory meeting with the BLADE higher-ups while Lin begun formulating new schematics to implement anti-gravitational modules to improve Skell flight and mobility. As for Tatsu, he was busy stuffing his face with some additional snacks Lin made for him in order to keep him quiet and prevent him from disrupting her thinking processes.
This was not a day off for Cross, but there weren't any particularly dangerous or interesting missions currently available on the Mission Board. In any case, he kept himself occupied with some gathering and bounty missions earlier in the day.
Now was his decided lunch break. There were plenty of old-fashioned Earth restaurants to dine at. Army Pizza was off the list, however, due to it constantly being overcrowded with pizza-crazed Ma-non. There weren't many other restaurants that appealed to him either. He would blame Lin for giving him such an acquired taste for top-notch comestibles that everything else just pales in comparison.
Cross wandered near the south end of Barista Court. The restaurants around this area were a lot simpler and relatively cheaper. Perhaps a simple sandwich and drink café style would suffice for the time being.
Just as he was about to join the line, he spied from his sharp, rather intimidating eyes a familiar dirty-blond-haired Interceptor just idling about. Cross encountered Irina Akulov from time to time, mostly through dangerous BLADE missions. Outside of work, she really wasn't half bad upon getting to know her.
If he were to have L describe the situation for him, he would likely say something along the lines of thawing out the queen of frost… Close enough.
Simply approaching her was enough for Irina to notice the sharp BLADE.
"I feel like I've run into you almost everywhere now, Cross," Irina greeted with an amused grin. "You're probably wondering what I've been up to. Just the usual, of course. I was going to come here with Gwin, but Vandham had assigned him to some tough missions to test his mettle. Anyway, I'm just about to get lunch though, so if you want, you're welcome to join me."
"Hmm," Cross considered the option highly, but was forced to choose quickly as Irina quickly got up in his face with a narrowed look.
"You're really not going to have me eat alone, are you?" Irina questioned.
Cross immediately recalled the last time he encountered her in this type of situation and how Lin remarked that it was kind of pathetic of her doing so. And this was before a couple of BLADE hooligans decided to harass her and by extension, Elma. If he hadn't stepped in to fight alongside Irina, he was sure Elma was more than willing to help Irina teach those dolts to know their place, regardless of her position.
Irina did have a point that he was a bit of a hothead like her despite maintaining a cool façade.
The young woman didn't get as much respect as she deserved for her efforts and loyalty to BLADE. Not wanting things to go south on such a good day, he swiftly nodded to get her to back off with a more contented expression.
It was certainly strange, to say the least. He had assumed after being around Irina for as long as he was that she wouldn't care about what others thought about her, which included whether or not she ate alone at a restaurant. She had always carried herself as the headstrong, dedicated, and independent lieutenant that was also willing to take as many dangerous missions as Team Elma did.
Though it wasn't until he and the rest of Team Elma learned from Gwin that she might be suicidal with the pain of losing her younger brother, Leon, finally taking its toll on her. It didn't help that Marcus had been killed by a Ganglion missile barrage quite a while ago, and he was one of the few men that she respected and cared for.
In any case, he quietly accompanied her to the line in front of the register, which had fortunately shortened during their earlier greeting. At least they could get this little lunch get-together done and over with as soon as possible.
He wouldn't really call it a date due to their meeting being circumstantial, his status being currently involved with Elma, and Irina likely denying and threatening to cut off his tongue would he actually use that term.
After placing their orders and retrieving their food, they found an open outdoor table to sit at. The day was too nice not to sit outside, after all.
"We don't get to spend time together off work," Irina remarked, settling in. "You're one of the few cool guys in BLADE I would hang out with, especially since you're on the Colonel's team."
"It's the busy life," Cross shrugged, taking a bite out of his sandwich. He swallowed before deciding to continue the conversation. "What's new with you?"
"Oh, you know, trying to pave the way for humanity's survival and all," Irina responded. "My team fended off a small herd of wild suids by the West Gate yesterday. Though those creatures usually mind their own business, we couldn't take leave the risk that some unlucky BLADE would run into them. I'm sure you know."
"Oh, how so?" Cross prompted.
"I heard from Carl that one of your earlier missions involved clearing out a handful of baby suids from a nearby cave," Irina explained. "You even got the mother on your case. You certainly don't have any qualms about offing the youth."
"I did what I had to do," Cross replied nonchalantly.
"Normally, I'd be against such notions of targeting little ones, but further research on these indigens showed that they were bound to be a major pain in the ass if left unchecked, so I guess we owe it to you for getting rid of them," Irina said, taking another sip from her drink. "It isn't a surprise why the Colonel holds you in such high regard, both as a BLADE and as her lover. I know it's a decision she'd make, giving you two some more common ground."
"You have quite the admiration for Elma," Cross noted with a slightly raised brow.
"We go way back," Irina continued. "The Colonel has earned my respect during our time together, regardless of her species. She's also the kind of woman I aim to be someday, so strong, respected, dependable, and not affected by any cat call some guy would throw her way. So call it whatever you want. Gwin's already made me immune to such comments with his acerbic imagination."
"Admiration is still admiration," Cross brushed off. "I don't have a problem with it, of course. It's also clear that Elma considers you a precious colleague, just thought you ought to know."
"She… she really said that?" Irina asked incredulously, nearly spilling her drink at the excitement.
Cross couldn't help but raise a brow on the notion.
"… Yeah? Why wouldn't she?"
"Well, it's not like the Colonel to just suddenly get sentimental, at least that's what I originally thought. I figured that she was super focused and practically married to the job, which was why I usually never see her close with a man for extended periods of time. But then, you came along and I'm seeing new sides of her."
"But what's that got to do with you?"
"I don't know, really. Just… someone like her looking up to someone like me seems a bit… unlikely."
"Tch, you're not giving yourself as much credit as you deserve, Irina. I know that Elma likes you and respects you highly. She's even told you to drop the 'Colonel' title a few times already."
"What are you saying now, Cross?"
"I think the real question is: do you like yourself?"
Irina felt her voice suddenly disappear. She couldn't reply to the sudden philosophical question that this mystery BLADE just proposed to her. At least, not immediately. Answers to his question had quickly surfaced to the forefront of her mind, but they weren't particularly the kind of answers she liked or favored at all.
She felt that the question she had to answer before answering Cross's question was if she did trust him enough to share her true feelings. Cross had proven himself different than other men she had known since leaving the Earth behind. Much like Gwin, Marcus, and to certain extents and ranges from Doug, L, and even Lao before turning traitor, Cross was one of the few male BLADEs that she was comfortable around with and respected.
Of course, it might have helped that he was initially handpicked by Elma to be on her team, but that was beside the point.
He was straight with people, if not brutally honest. His known personality flaw was his tendency to snark at various scenarios whenever they just happened to set themselves up for the one-liner. She has been prone to doing the same in more infrequent intervals, so that quirk was excused.
I gotta tell him now, Irina decided in her mind before continuing off with her mouth. "Before I say anything more, I have a request for you to do. Just… don't judge me or look at me differently than you would. I don't need the pity, got it?"
Cross simply gave a respectful nod of the head to solidify his promise.
"Good," Irina resumed. "The truth is… I've been blaming myself for a lot of careless mistakes that have costed the lives of those close to me, as well as the resources needed to survive on Mira. I… I used to have a younger brother… named Leon. I loved him dearly. He was the only remaining family I had back on Earth. He was also Gwin's best friend, which is kinda why it looks like we're on familiar terms."
"… …"
Cross was reminded once more of Gwin's story from when after Team Elma had put him through a quick but hellish boot camp to toughen him up. Irina probably didn't know that he already knew thanks to her subordinate, but nonetheless waited for her to continue on. She hesitated for a bit and almost appeared close to tears, which was a rather astounding sight to witness.
"Despite my efforts, he didn't make it to the Whale. I didn't want to leave him behind, but it was do or die from there. I'm not one who'd ever leave behind family for anything, so you can believe that stung more than anything in the world. Working with Gwin and the Colonel gave me some reprieve, but that loss still haunts me to this day."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Cross offered.
"You had nothing to do with it, so don't apologize," Irina snapped back before realizing her behavior. "S-Sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry."
"Go on," Cross urged.
"I'm not sure where to go from there, to be honest," Irina replied, tapping her fingers on the table top. "I've just had so much crap to go through since leaving Earth and becoming a BLADE."
"So much so that you've built up an emotional wall not to simply focus on your work, but to also stop the pain inside," Cross surmised, much to Irina's surprise. "When you said you blamed yourself for things like not being able to bring your brother along, you didn't want to deal with the same kind of pain by keeping a careful distance between those you cared about. You had no problem with Elma as she was capable of handling herself, though I imagine Gwin and Marcus might be a different story."
"How'd you…? I…"
"Your case sounds not so different from Lao's, but he chose to cope with it differently instead of taking up dangerous missions."
"Am I really that easily read?" Irina inquired, looking away as though she was ashamed of what she shared.
"I don't parade myself as an 'expert' on people despite being pulled in to do Mediator jobs time to time, but I'll just say that it's hard not to relate to individuals like you," Cross explained. "You don't want to show your vulnerable side at anyone because of past experiences that made you hurt as a result. It only goes to show that you're still human, even though we're technically not human at the moment."
"Oh, yeah," Irina agreed, remembering that the bodies of mankind were artificial mimeosomes and not true flesh and blood. "And here I thought it was because I wasn't the average girly girl."
"Probably part of the layer of your wall," Cross continued. "You wanted to gain respect regardless of your gender. Those dumbasses harassing you back then were just asking for it."
"Heh, glad you agree," Irina grinned, realizing a warm feeling filling into her cheeks.
This sensation was a bit foreign to her and as she quickly pondered on what might be causing her to feel like this, her heart was pounding harder and quicker in her chest. She looked at Cross, who was now casually moving his drink in a circle to swirl the leftover ice and liquid since he had finished his elucidation.
If she was feeling what she thinks she's feeling for him, then she felt even more embarrassed and withdrawn if that was the case. She then realized that she had opened herself to him even more than she would do whenever Cross found her around New LA. She can't. She just can't. Not with him.
"S-Sorry, but I gotta scram!" Irina announced, suddenly getting on her feet and jarring the table with her hips. "I'm needed back at the administrative district!"
Before Cross could even ask, Irina had bolted from her seat and ran. She was certainly a bizarre range of emotions today, to the point that she became another customer for his unofficial therapy sessions. Though she unloaded what he already knew of her, more or less, the fact remained that she did open up to him and showed her more vulnerable side.
Though he wanted to leave her alone, he knew that if Elma found her and traced her odd behavior back to him, she would likely make him fix whatever was wrong with her just so that all the drama would stop.
As he also stood out of his seat and cleared out the trash from his table, Cross had then realized that Irina wasn't even running in the direction of the administrative district. More like…
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous, even for her," Cross sighed.
Irina rested on a bench in Deliverance Park. She didn't bother to look how she managed to cross a wide distance from Barista Court in the commercial district to the park area of the residential district. She just needed time to herself before getting back to work.
However, all she did was reflect back on her lunch with Cross.
"I can't… Not with him," Irina mumbled. "He's with the Colonel, so what does that make me? A homewrecker by thought?"
"Irina," a low, but firm voice called out, pulling her from her thoughts.
"You found me, Cross," Irina said, looking up and giving an uneasy grin and giggle.
"You left your trail open and I heard around NLA about your whereabouts," Cross explained, folding his arms.
"I suppose you also want an explanation about why I suddenly ditched you at the café without even giving a proper good-bye," Irina surmised.
"I'm listening," Cross nodded.
Irina gave a heavy sigh and continued to internally beat herself up over her carelessness. She knew she would have to face the facts and confront this issue at some point. The truth was that she had this feeling for a while whenever Cross was around, but not to the strong degree it was manifesting itself now.
She recalled the first time she felt like this around him was when he found her sitting by the hangar and having her assault rifle checked on. She had shared her belief that guns and weapons were the only thing worth checking and reinforcing as means of protection as armor would eventually give way after much damage, regardless of how strong it was.
Much like how her 'emotional armor' had finally cracked earlier this day.
"Listen, sharing that story about Leon was something I guess I still wasn't comfortable with," Irina began. "The failure as an older sister still bears its weight on my shoulders on top of helping humanity survive out here in the wilds of Mira. But that's not the main reason why I ran away. The truth is… I… I… I... Oh, the hell with it!"
As though she jumped off of the bench, Cross was caught off guard when Irina seized his face and made him turn his head, just so that she could place a fiery kiss on his right cheek. She backed off after a few seconds of planting a rather wet one on his skin, looking away and blushing heavily.
"… Uh," Cross blinked.
"Truth is I wanted to do it on your lips, but I don't want to betray the Colonel like that," Irina muttered, attempting her haughtily defensive tone. "I can't believe you made me like you. Not to brag about it, but I'm the one who usually lures the guys in, even though they're basically uncivilized beasts. But for men like you, not only are you resistant to my natural charms, but you've made me fall for you!"
This girl was certainly becoming one basket case after another. There has got to be an actual therapist in New LA somewhere. Cross wasn't sure if he could handle any more hidden baggage from her. He only listened to her earlier just to be nice, but now, she was definitely making her regret it.
So Irina had a secret thing for him, but was forcing herself not to act on it due to her overwhelming respect for Elma as well as for the sake of professionalism. He was wondering a bit why she hasn't been this forward with Gwin, who clearly had the hots for her.
Just what was their exact relationship?
Did she only see him as a younger brother substitute for her own late brother? Or did she reciprocate Gwin's feelings and only acted under the pretense of maintaining a professional relationship for the sake of his safety?
In any case−.
"Cross!" a couple of cheerful voices echoed.
A pair of beautiful human women that appeared almost identical, save it for some minor aesthetics, was running up to him and Irina, eagerly waving to get his attention. Irina couldn't help but smirk at this turn of events, especially when she saw Cross's expression.
"Have you decided?" one of them asked, bouncing on her heels.
"Which one of us?" the other continued, gazing at him with an adorably hopeful look.
"Quite the fan club you've got there, Cross," Irina quipped, finding this moment to be a good pick-me-up for her mood. "Or should I say, 'Cross-anova'? Man, I'm good!"
"Fun-ny," Cross remarked wryly before walking between the two and extending a hand out to touch their shoulders, much to their sudden fright.
"Cross, wait!" the two of them warned.
At the slightest touch, their forms sparked and disappeared, revealing their true forms. They were now more identical than ever, save for the color of their unique uniforms varying in dark shades. Irina leapt into the defensive, wielding her knife on hand.
"Definians!" Irina declared. "What are they doing here?!"
"Wait," Cross intervened, holding a hand up to stop her. "They're reformed Definians. This one is Erio while the other is Lyvia. They've… taken a liking to me after helping them with their 'mother' issues."
"I noticed," Irina remarked dryly. "Now I recall a few of them from the reports."
"Cross, choose me!" Lyvia proposed. "I can become whatever you desire!"
"Don't listen to her!" Erio interrupted, comically pushing her out of the way. "I can do it better than she can!"
"Do what better?!" Lyvia rebutted, getting in her Definian sister's face as rivalry sparks crackled between their heated stares.
"Hey, you girls better leave this man alone," Irina warned, stepping in for Cross.
Sensing a threat to their romantic prerogatives, both Erio and Lyvia mentally called a temporary truce and turned on the dirty-blond-haired Interceptor. One BLADE shouldn't be too much for them to handle together.
"Oh, are you supposed to be his girlfriend?" Erio inquired.
"That makes you prime target number one over Erio here," Lyvia stated.
"Not me, but someone higher up in BLADE won't like it if you try to take her man away," Irina retorted, taking up a fighting stance. "Plus, women like you irritate me. You make yourselves so desperate by throwing yourself at any man for some sort of affection. At least I don't make it painfully obvious."
"My, we're dealing with a little miss badass over here," Erio smirked, also taking up a fighting stance. "This should be interesting, indeed."
"We don't care who gets in the way as long as I get Cross in the end," Lyvia said, eliciting another furious look from her sister.
"Enough," Cross interrupted, getting in between the women. He first looked at Irina. "Don't go picking fights on behalf of other people." He then turned his piercing gaze on the Definians. "And you two, I've already let you two down as gently as I could. I'm involved with another woman now. If you decide to fight now, you'll leave me no choice but to fight back. Are we clear?"
Erio and Lyvia gave off a frustrated huff. If Cross was to join in the brawl, then failure was a guarantee. They refuse to fight him and even if they could, they were savvy enough to know that this would be a battle they could not win. They backed off and reactivated their holographic disguise programming, resuming their beautiful human forms.
"You haven't seen the last of us," Erio parted.
"We won't give up until your heart belongs to one of us," Lyvia proclaimed. "We'll do it fair and square next time to avoid unnecessary damage, but only for you, Cross."
With that said, both Definians left and went their separate ways. There was no doubt that they had future plans on winning him over. At the meantime, Irina walked up to Cross and gave off a whistle of relief.
"Gee, no high-ranking BLADE is safe from his or her fans," Irina commented. "I should've figured this kind of baggage came along with you."
"They mean well," Cross answered. "They just feel a bit empty since they don't have much else to do. They defected from the Ganglion. Their queen is trapped on top of BLADE Tower. They have new opportunities to explore living here."
"Talk about having a full plate," Irina snorted. "Hey, you listened to me ramble on about my pathetic life. You're welcome to open up to me and share me yours. I heard from the Colonel that you recovered your past memories, and I'm really curious to hear what your previous life was like."
"It's not the most pleasant one," Cross pointed out.
"Neither was mine, in case you forgot," Irina reminded. "It's only fair that I listen to your story. And besides, I owe you a drink. Murderess and I really dug deep in your wallet after clearing her name. It's the least I can do. And I'm certain the Colonel would let you go for just one night. But she's welcome to come along if she wants."
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Cross asked drolly.
"I practically poured my heart out to you and I'm naturally stubborn, so yeah," Irina answered. "I'll swing by the barracks later to catch you or the Colonel. So look forward to it, got it?"
This woman sometimes does not take 'no' for an answer. Cross supposed it was no wonder that she got Gwin wrapped around her finger. But it was an… interesting experience to see different sides of the usually self-disciplined and levelheaded lieutenant.
Especially since she trusted him enough to show a more vulnerable side.
So I'm also liking the idea of Cross and Irina hooking up, though I have no preference between him and Gwin. Speak of the latter, we'll see what he thinks next chapter.
As for the Definians that showed up here, there really exists a mission in which they can fall in love with Cross, regardless of gender. I don't know much of the details about it as I haven't been able to play recently. Supposedly, it's accessible if the player destroys Fortun in Definian Downfall as an alternate mission to Fortun and Glory. However, I don't know if it exists if Fortun is spared, and if so, how far post-game would it have to be? But in any case, I just wanted a reason to write a bit of it.
Also, if you have any particular scenarios you want to see Cross and a recruitable party member that has yet to be written here to be in, feel free to suggest them in a review and I'll take them into consideration, if I can work them in with my initial ideas or not. I'll credit you at the end of the chapter if I do wind up using your concept.
So please review!