Alien Encounters:
Squall sat on the neatly made bed in his new room. The same sort of room all new SeeDs had. It was larger than the shared dorms and this time he didn't have to share a bathroom.
Pressing the tips of his fingers to his eyes, Squall willed away the headache pounding at the back of his skull.
The fresh SeeD uniform hung on the hanger by the door, taunting him. He had thought that when he was a SeeD he would be proud to wear that uniform. Now it only made the bile rise in the back of his throat at the thought of the lives he had had to take to earn it. He wondered again if it had been worth it. They may have found the Crystal Sorcerer, sure, but according to Zell and Selphie he was about as useful as a civilian.
Squall groaned softly in the quiet of his room, the soft ticking of the clock echoed the pounding in his head.
Squall decided that there was no way that he would survive an entire evening surrounded by chatter and music and obnoxious patrons of Garden with a headache pounding in the background. Reaching out with one hand he rifled through the draw in the cabinet and came away with a card of painkillers.
Strictly speaking he wasn't supposed to have these. Dr. Kadowaki preferred that all SeeDs, trainees and students alike go to her for any and all medication. Squall couldn't bring himself to care. They had come in handy more than a few times and he wasn't about to give up the easy access to the small white pills.
Swallowing them down Squall forced himself to stand and grab the dark green uniform from the hanger and make his way to the bathroom. People expected SeeD to present well, after all.
It didn't take him long to change and run a brush through his hair, it still refused to look tidy, but at least now it looked like he had made an effort. Grumbling under his breath Squall left his room with a scowl.
Unfortunately, the door slid open to reveal Selphie, overactive and hyper as usual, dressed in a green and gilt uniform and grinning.
"Oh, hey! You're ready. Isn't it exciting?" She bubbled as they made their way through the dorm corridors and out into the fresh air of the central walkway.
Squall didn't answer, didn't even acknowledge her as he concentrated on separating himself from the trauma that was about to come. He hated social events such as these. If the patrons of the Garden wanted to know the SeeDs then they could come on their own time and pay them, thank you very much.
Unfortunately, Cid thought that the SeeD ball was a grand idea and had made it a yearly tradition to coincide with the graduation of the latest candidates.
This year the Headmaster was ecstatic. The graduation of two gunblade specialists was quite a moment for Balamb Garden. Especially when the last specialist had been a decade ago.
Squall arranged his features to be as blank as possible before opening the door, making a point of holding it open for Selphie. Performing all the subtle niceties that Squall knew Cid was expecting of him. Squall made a beeline for the abandoned corner of the crowded room the strains of music following him through the crowd and setting his teeth on edge.
Settling down with a single glass of wine Squall lent against the wall as comfortably as he could and watched as the coloured masses twirled around the dance floor. They were a pretty sight he supposed, so long as he wasn't expected to join them.
Across the room from him, and as far away as Squall could get was Headmaster Cid, talking to a pretty young woman wearing a pale blue dress. The only blue dress in the room Squall noted.
Letting his eyes wander around the room, he noticed how people gathered in their usual groups. Even graduated they remained in their usual little cliches.
The tall blond head of Seifer caught his attention. Standing in the opposite corner his almost friend was talking to a dark haired girl in a short white dress and frowning.
The girl was clinging to the much taller SeeD and making a painful attempt to get Seifer to dance. If there was one thing that Squall and Seifer could agree upon it was their mutual dislike of dancing. That wasn't to say that they couldn't, it was part of the standard lessons for SeeD trainees. Smirking, Squall watched as Seifer deliberately detached himself from the pouting brunette and said something to her before walking off towards Fujin and Raijin.
Amused at the antics of the taller blond Squall came out of his musings as Zell approached him, the familiar hyperactive jump in his step.
"Hey, Squall! How do you like this man? SeeDs! And Heroes to boot." Zell enthused while holding out his hand.
Squall was tempted to reject the offered hand. But there were people watching and he had to maintain the polite facade that all SeeDs put up for the pompous glittering event.
Taking Zell's offered hand Squall nodded an answer before returning to nursing his drink.
Pleased, and if Squall didn't know any better amused, Zell stood back letting his gaze travel across the room form Squall's vantage point.
"Heh, you haven't changed." It wasn't loud, but Squall still heard him and wondered about the younger man. He was far more observant that people gave him credit for Squall decided.
Watching the room again as Zell wandered off Squall noticed that the girl Seifer had been talking too had moved to the centre of the room looking around as if searching for someone.
For all Seifer's harsh words, she seemed unfazed by the situation.
It was with a sinking feeling that Squall watched her catch sight of him hiding in the shadows of the corner and make her way over to him.
"Hey, you're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?"
Well, thats one way to start a conversation Squall mused even as he ignored the brown eyed girl. Only a few years younger than him, he thought.
She didn't seem to be at all put off by his lack of any response.
"Let me guess you only dance with people you like?" She said with a smile.
Saying that she lifted a hand and began waving her fingers around Squall's face, chanting "You're going to like me, you're going to like me."
Squall scowled, if there was any way to make him NOT like the girl then she was going about it the right way.
"Did it work?" It was pathetic how hopeful she sounded.
Squall continued to ignore her and took another sip of his drink.
"Oh, come on! I'm looking for someone and I can't dance by myself!" She sounded exasperated.
Looking down at her Squall raised an eyebrow wondering what it would take to get rid of her.
"I don't dance." He said, hoping that would get rid of her.
"Oh, don't worry it's easy!" She chirped before seizing his hand and all but dragging him across the room.
Squall wanted to say that just because he DIDN'T dance didn't mean that he COULDN'T.
By that point though it was too late and she had grabbed his hands and went about trying to lead him for a few moments causing them both to stumble into another couple. Before he sighed and gave in. A decision he would regret.
No sooner had he taken control of their movements, much to the girls surprise, did the fireworks begin.
The one part of the evening that he had been looking forward to and he was stuck in the middle of the dance-floor with a bossy girl he didn't even know. Ceasing all movement to the music Squall looked up to see the brilliant greens and reads spread across the sky and showing through the high glass roof of the ballroom.
Squall didn't notice what the girl was doing until she tapped him on the shoulder and waved a quick goodbye and dashed across the floor to the far side of the room. Leaving Squall stranded in the middle of the dance-floor and looking like an idiot.
Shaking his head at how some people couldn't even make a pretense at being polite, Squall hunched his shoulders left the ballroom proper for the attached balcony overlooking the Garden.
It was a beautiful night, Squall decided as he let the slight breeze drift over him. Bringing the scent of the flowers and other plants that grew around the whole complex.
It wouldn't be much of a Garden without the plants.
Looking up at the sky and the giant ring that circled the whole Garden, Squall let his thoughts wander for the first time to the boy in the Medical Bay. If he was the Crystal Sorcerer then they were in for a letdown, but then again...
Remembering the condition of the scrawny young man Squall thought that maybe he was no stranger to war.
Whether he was any good at it or not remained to be seen.
"I thought I saw you come out here." The voice of Quistis Trepe sounded behind him, Squall was rather proud of his complete lack of reaction.
"So you'll dance with a complete stranger but you won't talk to me?" Quistis sounded exasperated causing Squall to turn and look at her before replying.
"It's hard to say anything when you don't say anything." Squall said in an even tone.
Quistis looked down.
"I suppose you're right." She muttered. Looking up again she squared her shoulders, "I'm here to give you orders. The last orders I will give you. You're to go to the training area, the secluded area where the monsters can't go. Get changed and meet me there in half an hour." Quistis said, in her usual bossy tone.
Squall frowned, as orders they were odd. What on Terra could they have to do in the training area? All the same, he thought as he brushed past Quistis with a simple "Understood", orders where orders.
The training area was dark when he arrived. The nocturnal creatures were more of a challenge to the trainees so they regulated the lighting to mimic daylight.
Dodging the monsters, dispatching the few that pursued him, Squall worked his way through the faux wild area and into the small balcony section known as the 'respite'.
Quistis was already there when he arrived her whip tucked into a pouch at her hip.
Pausing by the entry to the respite Squall waited for her to notice his presence, it didn't take long.
Squall was expecting some mission or another though it would have been odd to send out a made SeeD so soon. Instead, Quistis said nothing that seemed of any use.
"I was sixteen when I graduated as a SeeD, and seventeen when I got my Instructor's license." Squall shifted against the edge of the balcony, wondering if she had ordered him here for her life story.
He would have thought that she would have gotten the point that she had to issue an order to get him alone.
"What time is it?" The question prompted a raised eyebrow, but Squall answered nonetheless.
"After twelve."
"Then I am no longer your Instructor," Quistis said, stepping back away from the walled edge of the balcony and stretching her arms above her head.
Well, if that was the case...
"Did you order me here just to tell me this?" He snapped. He hadn't been sleeping all that well and the late night of the ball wasn't going to do him any favours.
"I just wanted someone to listen..." Quistis started before Squall cut her off as he moved towards the nearest exit.
"Then talk to a wall."
Squall fumed as he stormed down the hallways towards his dorm room. The few people still awake in the halls ducked around convenient corners and doorways as he passed. That only served to make him angrier.
Reaching the door to his room Squall wished for the first time that they weren't automatic. He wanted to slam something.
Instead, he punched the wall. Which he regretted as the walls were metal plating over the stone and solid.
As he nursed his bruised hand, Squall slumped to sit on his bed as his anger drained away, leaving him tired.
He was better at keeping his temper in check, but he was tired. With that in mind, Squall shed his jacket and let himself drift off. Praying that, this time, the screams and smell of blood would not plague him.