Scene 9:

Socializing in the cafeteria.

Comrades Meet

Zack looked over the offerings for lunch. He was tempted to order the chips, but reminded himself he had to eat healthy. "I'll have the turkey sandwich and a salad please," he told the lady behind the counter.

"Mmm… That sounds good. May I have that too?" A familiar voice said from beside him.

Zack turned to see Kael next to him in the lunchline.

"Hallo Zack," Kael said smiling, "It's good to see you."

"Kael!" Zack exclaimed happily, a smiling back. They picked up their food and moved out of the way of the rest of the line.

"I didn't see you come back yesterday," Zack said as they walked towards the tables, "I hope… I mean…" he struggled in embarrassment, lowering his voice, "Angeal's not usually like that, sorry."

"Oh, no" Kael said quickly, "I did catch the end of your exercise."

Zack's perked back up, "Really? I didn't see you, so I thought,"

Kael smiled, "Hey, don't worry about it. I didn't want to interrupt, so I watched from the observation deck." He shrugged, "I was going to catch you at the end, when you came out. But, you were in such a rush to get to your next job, I just didn't feel right calling out to you just to say 'hi.'"

Zack shook he head, "I would have been happy to stop and say 'hi' to you."

"But it wouldn't have been right," Kael stressed, grinning, "Surely your mentor would have frowned on it."

Zack smiled, "That's true." He glanced around the cafeteria, then sighed; he'd forgotten Kensel was on a mission.

"No place to sit?" Kael asked, as though reading him mind, "Come sit with us." The scientist indicated a table in the back of the room, by the windows.

Zack gave the table's two black suited occupants a curious look, "Woah. How long have you known the Turks?"

"Since yesterday," Kael replied honestly, "Only shortly after meeting you." Coming up next to the table, Kael turned to the Turks, "Do you mind if Zack sits with us?"

"No," Reno drawled, "The more, the merrier, I say." Rude just shook his head.

"Thanks," Kael said gratefully as he sat down.

Zack followed suit, sitting next to Kael, in the seat across from Reno. Rude got up to get his food, relieved of table guard-duty.

Reno gave their salads a dubious look, "You trying to tell me that's food? Come on, Kael, what happened, suddenly want to match?"

Kael laughed easily, "No, I just didn't know there were turkey sandwiches. Then I heard Zack order one and it sounded like a good idea. I already knew I was getting a salad."

Reno shrugged, "I can't say I understand." He turned his attention to his own plate, steak with a side or potato chips, "Now this is a meal."

Just then Rude returned with a plate or ravioli. Reno stared at his partner's plate as Rude sat. The older Turk had just picked up his fork when Reno asked incredulously, "What is that?"

Rude lowered his fork and blinked at Reno, "Ravioli…"

"Stuffed pasta," Zack offered helpfully.

Reno ignored him, "At least tell me there's meat in it."

Rude shook his head, "Tomatoes. Broccoli. Lettuce. With a little cheese."

Reno groaned and looked away.

"Mmm," Kael murmured, swallowing a mouthful of turkey, "That sounds even better than the salad."

Rude nodded and took a bite of the Ravioli.

"Man. How can you eat that?" Reno asked.

"I like it," Rude told him calmly.

"But…" the redheaded Turk began.

"Your steak's getting cold," Kael reminded him.

"What? Dang!" Reno turned his attention to his steak, cutting it into bite sized pieces before eating it.

Kael saw this and raised an eyebrow, Rude caught his curious look and shook his head. Ok, Kael thought, Not a safe topic.

He turned to Zack, "When you were in the simulation yesterday, at one point you were jumped while putting your sword away. Why didn't you just swing your sword back out instead of sheathing it and spinning away before redrawing it?"

Zack's face lit up at this topic, "I couldn't see them very well, so I didn't want to risk missing them, or worse, having them crush my sword into my back. So I made sure I didn't have the blade pointing at myself and spun away to get a batter view of them."

"What?" Reno exclaimed, "What if someone was waiting for you to do just that so they could have jumped you from behind once you turned? You should have drawn your sword while spinning, even if you kept it flat as you did so to protect your back."

"But if I'd done that…" Zack protested, and the debate began. Reno and Zack went back and forth, debating mob fighting tactics. Rude watched them thoughtfully, nodding every now and then at a comment that particularly struck him.

Kael couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm, it just showed how important fighting was to their lives. To think, Zack had been shocked he even knew Turks barely 5 minutes ago.

Then Kael noticed they had set up the napkins in a frontal attack position, but had the salt and pepper shakers waiting to ambush the steak the instant it attacked. His train of thought was broken, and he cracked up laughing.