Waltzing in the Rain

Twin-Lance

Chapter Two: Homebound Train

Irvine crossed the cobblestone roadway, a bag of honey roasted nuts in one hand and a fountain drink in the other. Off a few blocks away, he could hear a train departing for the East Academy Station. While Timber wasn't known for having the most commuter-friendly rail system, the walking distance between the loading platforms did allow ample opportunity to browse the local shops and vendors. Trotting up the stairs to the train boarding for Balamb, Irvine flashed his ticket before stepping on board.

Squall didn't even look over when the door to the SeeD Car slid open. Irvine paused in the doorway, staring at Squall as he lay stretched out on the couch with one leg hanging off the edge.

"Well don't you just look pitiful," he teased as he shut the door and flopped down on the edge of the bed. "I got something for you," he continued, putting his cup on the table.

"I'm not hungry," Squall replied.

"Psh. I'm not sharing these with you," Irvine grinned as he dug through the medical supplies stored under the table. "If you wanted some you should've went with me to the market."

Squall tilted his head to try to see what he was doing.

Irvine pulled out a medical glove and then popped the top off of his cup. Turning the cup over, he dumped his ice into the glove and tied the end. "For your eye," he grinned, plopping the makeshift ice pack on Squall's face and kicking the supply cabinet door closed.

Squall made a face but didn't remove the glove full of ice. Irvine grinned as he watched him adjust the glove over his eye.

"I don't think it's going to look that bad," Irvine offered.

"Rinoa is still going to notice it," Squall mumbled.

Irvine just grinned as he popped a few nuts in his mouth. "You got the General of the Galbadian Army to punch you in the face," he teased. "That's almost bragging rights."

"I can't believe he hit me," Squall complained as he sat up and held the glove to his eye.

"I can," Irvine stated, getting comfortable on the bottom bunk of the bed.

Squall sent him a one-eyed glare from the couch.

"I can," he defended himself. "You've got to work on your people skills. You never talk to a girl's father like that…. even if he is being a prick."

"I still don't see what I said that was so wrong."

Irvine shook his head. "You took a problem he had with you and turned it around to make his little girl look bad."

"….."

"Whatever caused their bad relationship, he still looks at her as his little girl. And if you knew absolutely anything about daddies and their little girls, then you would know that you never, ever, suggest for an instant, that their little girls have done some kind of wrong." Irvine watched him seriously, resisting the urge to finish off his roasted nuts. "And Squall man, you basically told him his little girl was a slut. You're lucky he didn't shoot you with his pistol or pull one of his decorative gunblades off the wall and try to castrate you."

Squall huffed. Was Irvine's analysis a little extreme? He wasn't entirely certain. "She can't stand him—"

"Doesn't mean he still doesn't think the world of her," Irvine replied with a shrug as he dumped the rest of his bag's contents into his mouth. "She's his little girl Squall, and she'll probably always be his little girl. You've just got to accept the way father's think."

"I never had a father— "

"Yeah well neither did a lot of kids after the first sorceress war. Doesn't make what I said any less true. If you're going to lead Garden you've got to learn how to read and respond to people better."

Squall glared at him as he stood.

"Get mad, storm away, doesn't make what I'm saying any less true."

Squall wanted to leave but didn't. Beneath his feet, the train lurched forward as it started to move. He stood there for a moment before sitting back down on the couch. He played with the glove of ice with his right hand.

"You also need to stop doing that silent judging thing you do and start analyzing people instead."

"What?"

"You're smart. Possibly smart enough to do whatever you wanted if you influenced the right people," Irvine stated. "But right now, most of what you do just puts people off. You've got awful social skills and you come off as judgmental and condescending."

Squall gave him a look before putting the glove back up over his bruised eye.

"It's true. And like it or not, people flock to you so you'd be an idiot not to try to take advantage of that."

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Squall asked.

"What else do we have to do for the next two hours?"

"Sleep? Sulk?" Squall replied as he laid back against the couch.

"But you did that for the first two hours after we left Deling," Irvine complained. "Sit up and entertain me."

Squall watched him as he pulled out a weathered and wrinkled deck of playing cards. "You know you can't beat me at triple triad."

"Bet I can," Irvine grinned.

Squall smiled faintly, setting the glove aside. "Bet you can't," he stated, pulling out a deck of cards from one of the pockets on his pants leg. Moving down to sit on the floor, Squall shuffled his deck. Irvine joined him. At least the train ride to Balamb would be more interesting than the ride between Deling and Timber.

Squall and Irvine made it back to Garden just before nine o'clock that evening. After keeping an ice pack on his face for most of the journey, Squall's skin was numb and pink from his cheekbone to his forehead. Unfortunately, it didn't take away from the bruising around his eye. If anything, it attracted the attention of what few people were still out in the halls.

"Nice shiner," Seifer said as he swiped his key in his door lock. "Were you hit so hard you forgot where you lived?" The door slid open but Seifer remained in the hall, grinning.

Squall hesitated, looking around before sighing. "No," he grumbled. "Old habit," he stated as he turned around and started back for the main circle. "Why didn't you stop me?" he asked Irvine.

"I assumed we were going to my room," he admitted.

Squall looked over. "I'm going straight to bed," he told him.

"Oh. Okay. I'll see you on the Ragnarok then," Irvine grinned. He'd be lying if he wasn't a little excited to head back to Esthar for the weekend.

Continuing his journey to the elevator alone, Squall slid his hands into his pockets. He wasn't looking forward to having to explain this to Rinoa. As far as she'd known, he'd gone into town to look into a gunblade modification, and to meet with a potential client.

Rinoa looked up from her seat on the couch when he came into their apartment. Edea was with her, and from the looks of it, they'd been studying a lot of medical resource books. Squall paused, taking everything in.

"Is someone sick?" he asked as he pressed the release on the door and pulled off his jacket as the door slid shut.

"Squall! What happened to your eye?" Rinoa asked as she stood up and came over. "I could tell you were upset earlier but I didn't imagine you'd be in a fight."

Damn their bond. Thankfully at least it only allowed them to exchange emotions, not thoughts. "I wasn't in a fight," he assured her. "I bent down to get something and was elbowed—"

"Let me get you some ice," Rinoa told him, leaving him standing just inside the door. He groaned quietly. He was just starting to get the feeling in his face back.

"So, what are you two doing?" he asked Matron. He tried not thinking of her as Edea. Edea had hurled a giant ice shard through his shoulder, only to heal him so he could be tortured. Edea had also tried to kill him and his friends. He watched her as she flipped through a handwritten botany book of some kind. He wanted to be able to open up to her but he hadn't entirely gotten past seeing her and remembering everything the evil sorceress had done. In his mind he knew he should be able to separate them, but despite his efforts, it was still difficult.

"I wanted to ensure that I never had to worry about being turned… evil," Rinoa admitted. "And I love helping people. What better way to do that than to become a healer?" she asked.

Squall smiled faintly, despite Rinoa placing a bag of frozen peas on his eye.

"Sorry, we don't have any baggies," she smiled as she moved back to the couch. Squall sat in the chair opposite her.

"What kind of healer do you want to be?" he asked, glad that he was wearing gloves still. The skin on his face was starting to burn from being kept so cold for so long.

She shrugged a bit, the motion causing her bangs to fall into her face. She tucked them back as she pulled her feet up underneath her. "I was thinking of going into nursing to get a bit of a medical background and then interning under Vonguten, the apothecary out on the ridge."

"You've been out to his shop?" he asked.

"I went out there once with Selphie and Fujin," she admitted. "Fujin helps around his shop after classes. I'd like to be able to make potions and elixirs."

"So that's what she's been up to," he said absently. He knew Raijin and Seifer were still next to inseparable, but he'd only seen Fujin with Seifer a few times.

Rinoa nodded. "She's very serious about it," she smiled. "I think it's a way to make up for the things she did to the people of Balamb while she was following Seifer." A brief flicker of sadness crossed Matron's features but neither Rinoa, nor Squall, said anything about it. There were some things none of them liked to talk about if they could help it, and Matron's possession was one of them. "Well, anyway, it was just an idea," Rinoa replied, fidgeting in her seat.

Squall smiled, he could sense she was excited but a little nervous. "I think you could be a great healer," he offered. It also couldn't hurt to have public opinion on her side in the event her secret was exposed.

Rinoa smiled, Squall's approval and support meant a lot.

"I should probably leave," Edea said as she stood. "You two are leaving in the morning aren't you?"

Rinoa nodded with a big grin. "An entire weekend in Esthar with Laguna."

Squall tried not to visibly cringe, even though he was fairly certain Rinoa felt his slight annoyance through their bond. He wouldn't complain though, he'd rather deal with his father than her's. He still wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of bonding with Laguna, but part of him felt like she was the one needing this weekend, not him. It would explain why she'd requested the visit as a birthday gift.

"Good night Edea," Rinoa's voice rang out from across the room. Squall looked over. She and Matron seemed to really get along well. He wasn't surprised. Matron was a maternal figure to any child or teen that came near her. Naturally, Matron had a lot to do with the younger cadets at Garden. She lived to take care of others. Rinoa and Matron were kindred spirits.

"Good night Matron," Squall said quietly, standing and placing the bag of peas on the table.

Edea offered a smile and a wave before she left. Rinoa closed the door and looked over at him. "Ready for bed?" she asked. "We have an exciting day tomorrow!"

Squall smiled. Exciting wasn't the word he'd use but he wasn't going to say anything. Picking up the peas, he carried them to the kitchen and put them away. He shut off the lights and followed her to the bedroom. He had one long weekend ahead of him.

Author's notes: Writing and editing this chapter was a little more difficult than it should've been. It's also a little bit shorter than the other chapters. The next chapter should be out a bit faster than this one, so long as my muse doesn't quit on me. Speaking of which, I'd like to give a great big shout out to Roarke Stratton for proving yet again, that until a second pair of eyes review my chapters, they are NEVER ready to be put online. lol