When Squall climbed back into the truck, Quistis whirled around in her seat. "What happened?" she asked, her aquamarine eyes large with concern. "Is Rinoa ok?"

Squall nodded and strapped himself back in. "Family shit," he told her lowly. "Her dad's sick. Those were his associates."

Zell let out a low groan and gripped the steering wheel. "Should we stay with her? I mean, is it really ok if we leave her alone?" Though he didn't know the whole situation, he couldn't imagine leaving Rinoa behind if she needed support.

"She told me to go," Squall said. "I don't think it's really "ok" to leave her alone but that's what she wants right now."

Quistis clamped her lips together but softly nodded. "Well, she has our numbers," she murmured. "She'll probably call Selphie later, those two have definitely rekindled their close friendship over the last two weeks."

The little fact caused Squall to still. Had it really only been two weeks? As he mentally relived through the days that had passed since he met Rinoa, he found that they all blurred together. He had seen her nearly every single day since the day he met her outside of the diner. She had walked right in front of him, not even noticing that he was standing in front of the entrance. He remembered how she jumped when he had made his presence known. She looked so pretty in that long flowing blue top that she wore that looked more like a dress on her petite frame. Her legs were so slender in those tight black leggings. And then that tattoo…he wanted to press his fingertips into where the ink was dotted across her shoulder blades and arms, wanted to feel the detail that was permanently marked into her flesh.

When he met Rinoa, the physical attraction was most certainly there, but when she opened up that pretty little mouth of hers and was able to easily slip him one liners that left him speechless—if only for the briefest moment—his intrigue was piqued. It became his mission to render her thunderstruck with his own comebacks, but not because he liked having the final word (although he normally was one to have the last word), but because he liked the little drop of her jaw that happened when she was without words, liked the way her eyes widened and the way he could tell that the wheels in her head were turning so she could come back with something else.

He was captivated with simply her presence. She was free spirited and quirky and held her own. She was independent and knew what she wanted for her life, she didn't need—or want—someone to map it out for her. He liked that about her…it was admirable. For someone like him, who had been told what to do and where to live and how to act for nearly his whole life, Rinoa's carefree lifestyle was both enviable and intimidating.

Of course, he made his own decisions when it came to his life, but for him, his life wasn't just his. He had to make decisions that would benefit Ellone as well. Going forward with the band was something he never thought he'd do, he thought it some dream that would never be fulfilled and instead looked at Absolute Lore as the hobby he enjoyed the most. Now that he was retired and financially set (perhaps not for life but for many years to come) he decided that perhaps going forward with the band could be worthwhile.

And now…here they were, preparing to have a meeting with some big shot producer who worked with an equally big shot record company. The fact hadn't quite hit him yet…half his mind was still very much trained on Rinoa and the way he felt her body clench beneath his hand as she learned of her father's whereabouts.

Squall's phone started ringing and he pulled it out of his pocket. Irvine's name flashed across the screen and Squall answered. "Awake finally?"

"Yeah…where'd everybody go?"

"Quistis wanted pancakes and we had to take Rinoa home."

Irvine let out a groan. "Selphie's calling her right now, she feels really bad that she forgot she drove her here…" He made another noise within his throat and Squall could hear him shifting around as if he were sitting up. "Anyway, I saw that I missed a call from Cid so I called him back—are we all on the same page?"

"The meeting with Kiros Seagill at eight?" Squall clarified.

"Yep. Fantastic. Also, I just got off the phone with Seifer, he said that we can all meet up at Hyperion Image's studio if we wanted to go over the footage from last night. Me and Selphie are gonna head back to my place and shower real quick."

"Zell's dropping me off right now, just send me the address." Squall relayed the message to the Zell and Quistis and they all concurred that they would head over after they had cleaned themselves up. "So…what? Get there around one-thirty?"

"Ish," Irvine said. "Cool. See you there."


When Squall pulled up to the studio Selphie immediately bounded up to him. Her large green eyes looked up at him and she tugged on his arm. "You were there with her," she whispered. "Is she ok?"

Squall glanced behind him and watched Zell and Quistis pull themselves out of his Jeep. "She said she was fine," he told Selphie. "But you know her situation better than I do."

"I only just found out about her dad's alcoholism," Selphie admitted. "I knew that she and her dad never had the greatest relationship but I never asked why." She ran a thumb over her lip in worry. "I only knew that it was something she didn't like talking about."

Squall watched as Selphie's thoughts raced through her head. He found it surprising that Rinoa had shared this intimate detail with him. He wasn't one for displaying his own personal dirty laundry and he certainly did not take Rinoa to one either. Although…like Selphie mentioned, he was there. If he hadn't have been in the "right" place at the right time, he probably never would have known.

"Well…did she say anything to anyone else?" Selphie asked quietly. "I just don't want to say something that shouldn't be said…I didn't even tell Irvine, only told him that she had to go see her dad today."

"I said something similar," Squall sighed. "Zell and Quistis were in the car but they saw the men who were at Rinoa's door. I just told them that her dad was sick. If she wants to give more details then that is her business."

Selphie gently nodded in agreement. "Ok," she whispered. "Great, just wanted to know exactly what was going on so I don't open my big mouth." She looked over her shoulder and saw Irvine wave to them. "Alright, well…we'll just wait around to hear from her and hope for the best!" She crossed her fingers and turned around on her heels.

As Squall made his way to the door his phone beeped. He stroked a thumb over Rinoa's name and read her text.

R.H: At the hospital, he's sleeping.

S.L: Good prognosis?

R.H: Concussion. They want to keep him for a few more days to see if he has any severe post-concussion symptoms that may require an MRI or CT scan.

S.L: Let me know if you need anything.

R.H: Thanks =)

Squall slid the phone back into his pocket and entered the building. The building housed several different businesses. As Squall followed Irvine he saw that some of the units belonged to other small companies. It was a nice location for businesses to get their start.

Hyperion Images took root on the third floor and faced the parking lot. When Squall entered he found that there were three rooms that opened up to face the center "lobby." He was instantly greeted by Raijin and his large and booming smile.

"How's it going, Squall?" asked the larger man, ushering him into the room where three monitors were set up with Seifer in the middle. "Welcome to our office. Did you want anything to drink? I think Wedge just made a fresh pot of coffee."

"I'm fine for now, thanks."

Seifer whirled around in his chair and grinned at all who entered. "Perfect timing," he drawled. "I'm just about finished with uploading all the footage from the memory card." He gestured toward the small black loveseat that sat in the corner of the room. "Sit! Please, make yourselves comfortable."

"We won't stay too long," Irvine said. "We have a meeting with a producer tonight." He spoke so casually as if he were saying that they were having dinner with a neighbor, but the gleam in his eyes spoke volumes about the excitement that dwelled within him.

Seifer turned his head. "No shit!" he exclaimed.

"I told you!" Raijin called from the other room. "Didn't I tell him?" he laughed, slapping a hand onto Zell's back. "I told you that I overheard some producer was in the crowd!" He gave Zell a congratulatory fist bump before joining in Seifer's room. "Man, that's some exciting shit," he said. "Glad to hear it—you guys are fucking amazing. I had heard one of your songs on the radio several months back, it was great to hear it live."

"Honored to give you the Absolute Lore experience!" Zell replied.

Seifer stood from his chair and crossed over to make himself a cup of coffee. "Where's Rinoa? I thought she'd come with you guys."

Selphie stole a quick glance at Squall before answering. His face showed no reaction when Seifer mentioned Rinoa's name but Selphie caught the movement of Squall's left hand curling into a fist before releasing and extending his fingers. "She's spending the day with her dad," she answered.

"Oh, that's good. I'm sure she enjoys father-daughter time." Seifer stirred in the sugar and reached into the mini-fridge for the creamer. With his back turned he missed the looks exchanged between Selphie and Squall.

Cutting through the rising tension, Zell approached Seifer's desk. "Mind if I watch you edit?" he asked. "I notice you're using this editing software I've been thinking about buying. What're your thoughts on it?"

"Sure." Seifer returned to his desk and the two engaged in a lengthy conversation about the multitudes of design software and programs that had been released over the years while Squall uncrossed his arms and headed outside.

Selphie followed him down the three flights of stairs. "He doesn't seem to know her at all," she said, her eyes squinting at the bright sunlight that welcomed them outside. "But he sure as hell is trying to act like he does. Why?" She twisted her lips in thought, her eyes diligently watching Squall light up a cigarette from his brand new pack.

Squall shrugged and exhaled the smoke. "Who knows," he muttered. "It's not my place."


Rinoa scrawled her name on the visitor's log. "Thank you," she murmured to the nurse who handed her the visitor's day pass. "Which way is room 512?"

"Oh, Estelle, I'll take her up," said a woman in dark red scrubs who happened to just be passing by. She gave Rinoa a sweet yet very tired looking smile and gestured for her to follow towards the elevator. "It's on my way," she told Rinoa as she fussed with her hair and smoothed the dark brown strands into a low ponytail. "Who are you visiting?"

"My father," Rinoa answered quietly. "He uh, fell and hit his head really hard last night. I just found out this morning from his coworkers."

The woman winced and offered a sympathetic shake to Rinoa's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered. The elevator lit up and the woman ushered Rinoa inside.

Rinoa shrugged and pressed her lips together. "I don't even know how he is yet," she said. "I don't suppose you have heard anything about a patient named Fury Caraway?"

The woman shook her head. "No, I'm sorry," she grimaced. "This wing isn't my 'department.' I work on the other side of the hospital with amputees, not patients of head trauma. I'm only on this side because one of my engineers is measuring another patient of ours who is scheduled for an MRI in an hour."

The elevator doors slid open and the woman led Rinoa down the hallway that veered left. "All the even numbers will be on the right," she said, giving Rinoa another supportive touch to the shoulder. "I hope everything goes well with your father."

"Thank you," Rinoa said, watching as the woman in scrubs dashed off in the other direction. When Rinoa found the room she gently pushed the door open.

Caraway was peacefully resting, the rise and fall of his chest even and steady. The sight of the bandage wrapped around his head gave Rinoa a shock, the stark white material so exaggeratedly contrasting against Caraway's dark hair.

With a soft sigh she pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. A nurse came in immediately after, having seen her come in.

"Hello," the nurse whispered. "Are you his daughter?"

Rinoa nodded. "Yes, I'm Rinoa. How is he doing?"

The nurse quietly pulled up a second chair and joined Rinoa. "His vitals are pretty stable," she began. "We have him hooked up to an IV just so he can get some fluids in him. Alcohol poisoning is very dehydrating to the body. Because of the blow to the head we have diagnosed him with a grade three concussion. He's been resting all morning and hasn't been 'popping in and out' much so that's a good sign. The laceration on the side of his head did require some stitches but luckily he missed his temple. Another inch south and the prognosis might not have been as good."

Rinoa inwardly swore and nervously chewed on her thumb. "Does he have any brain damage?"

The nurse took in a slow breath and clasped her hands together. "It's hard to say…but we are very hopeful that he does not. When he did regain consciousness we asked him the normal questions: "What is your name?" "Where do you live?" "What's your daughter's name?" and he did answer them correctly so that is a very good sign. We'd like to keep him for a few days just to keep an eye on him. We don't think an MRI or CT scan is necessary, but we'd like to observe him just to be sure."

As the information sank into Rinoa's brain she found that all she could do was nod. "Ok," she whispered. "Thank you."

The nurse gently smiled and patted Rinoa's knee. "Stay as long as you like," she said. "My name is Artemis and I'll be checking in often. Let me know if you're hungry or need anything to drink, I can grab it from the cafeteria."

Rinoa smiled. "Thank you," she said again, this time lifting her eyes so they met with the nurse's. After Artemis closed the door behind her, Rinoa pulled out her phone.

R.H: At the hospital, he's sleeping.

After she sent the text to Squall she balked, her lips forming a horrified grimace. Originally she meant to text Selphie first, but she didn't know what to blame—her mind or her fingers—for scrolling past Selphie's name and going straight to Squall's. "Shit," she muttered, suddenly berating herself; it wasn't like she was sending anything embarrassing, and he did tell her to let him know what was going on. "Be cool," she demanded herself.

But when the phone vibrated in her hand at the incoming text from Squall, she nearly yelped and dropped it.

S.L: Good prognosis?

R.H: Concussion. They want to keep him for a few more days to see if he has any severe post-concussion symptoms that may require an MRI or CT scan.

S.L: Let me know if you need anything.

R.H: Thanks =)

Rinoa let out a sigh. Texting was amazing. It was so much easier to appear calm and cool and collected through typed out words. On the phone's screen she sounded direct and reserved…in person she knew she would turn into a blabbering idiot.

Caraway made a gruff noise within his throat and Rinoa jumped, suddenly turning her phone into a juggling act that would befit any rowdy circus. One glance was all it took to tell her that her father was simply mumbling in his sleep. With another sigh she slipped the phone into her purse and listened to the rhythm of Caraway's heart beat electrically produced by the machine.


Zell's eyes widened when he noticed that not only was one of the cameras aimed on Rinoa for quite some time, it had also captured the shy smile and lip biting that occurred when she focused her camera on Squall. He turned over to see if Seifer had noticed as well, but quickly discovered that he was a bit preoccupied at the time thanks to a very in-depth conversation with Quistis about how she knew how to work the camera.

"Rinoa says that too," Quistis said, shyly touching her chin as she listened to Seifer compliment her.

"And it's true!" Seifer earnestly agreed. "Being photogenic isn't enough—and while, yes, you are very pretty—you also have to know how to be comfortable in front of the camera. And from what I've seen in the videos, you're very comfortable on stage and you just let it out."

Quistis smiled widely. "Well…the stage is where I'm meant to be," she said.

Seifer nodded and arced his chair back to the monitors. "Definitely." He moved his gaze to Zell and grinned. "You, on the other hand, look like a wild dumb-fuck of a chicken squawking around on stage."

Zell scowled and roughly shoved Seifer, nearly causing him to tumble out of his chair. "Fuck off," he snapped.

"Behave," Quistis ordered, sending a swift kick to Seifer's shin.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" he laughed. "A little."

Quistis stood to her feet and moved to join the others. "Sure…" she called over her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around Selphie and rested against her shoulder. "Got any gum?" she asked. "I want this coffee taste out of my mouth."

"Yeah, somewhere in here." Selphie dug through her purse and pulled out the pack. She handed a stick to Quistis and then frowned when she saw Squall hold out his hand. "Can I help you?" she teased.

His response was just him curling his fingers towards his empty palm.

Selphie let out a small laugh and placed a stick of gum into his begging hand. "You're welcome!" she shouted when he placed the gum into his mouth and walked away to toss the wrapper.

"Mm-hmm," he murmured.

"Wow, your camera sure is focused on our lovely little photographer," Irvine commented, causing Squall to glance over. On screen was Rinoa busily snapping shots of random people in the crowd. Her shoulders shook lightly as she laughed. Her hips swiveled a bit to the beat. She turned to the side and aimed her camera in various other corners of the venue before aiming back on stage.

Seifer looked over to the screen and lifted his shoulders casually. "What camera is that…" he murmured to himself. "Camera three…oh yeah. I was using her as a marker in the beginning," he said. "Wait, I wasn't on the ground when this song was playing." He looked down at his notepad that he had scribbled on the night before and matched it up with the song that played on screen. "Yeah…during your third song I was up on the staircase…who was on the ground?" He ran his finger down his notes and turned around. "Biggs!" he hollered.

Biggs popped his head around the corner, his eyes wide. "Yes?"

"You had camera three aimed on Rinoa for quite some time," Seifer said, his lips turning into a teasing grin. "What'd I tell you? Our job is to record the paying subjects, not the pretty girls in the area."

Biggs blushed but returned an earnest smile. "Sorry, boss," he said bashfully. "I couldn't help it. It was hypnotizing watching her work!"

"I can see that!" Seifer laughed.

"Rinoa does have that effect on people," Quistis said to Biggs, giving him a brotherly punch to the shoulder. "When she comes into the room with that long black hair, big brown eyes, and darling laugh…you just can't keep your eyes off of her!"

"Or hands, for that matter," Squall added, pointedly arching a brow at Quistis, who returned the action with her middle finger in the air.

Seifer snickered at the light-hearted comments between the two. "Oh really," he said, his interest peaked. "Shit, what'd we miss last night since we had to bail out early due to someone who couldn't hold their liquor?" He craned his neck and eyed Wedge who was greedily chugging down coffee like there was no tomorrow. Following Quistis's lead, Wedge gave Seifer the finger without averting any attention away from his beloved coffee mug.

"Nothing happened last night," Quistis said firmly. "At least…not with me." She placed her fingertips along her collar bone as she innocently batted her eyelashes. "All I did was fondle her shirt's zipper and that was this morning."

"I didn't see Rinoa much at the party," Seifer said with a shrug. "I want to get in touch with her eventually though, see if we can share some images that she took for our web page."

"You'll see her soon enough, I'm sure," Irvine said.

Wedge held up his fingers in air-quotes. "Yeah, "get in touch with her," he says." When Seifer sent him a nasty look, Wedge simply chuckled and leaned against the countertop. "I wasn't the only one paying special attention to her," he said. "I bet that if you looked at the footage on the camera Seifer used for the rest of the night you'd see quite a bit of the girl."

As Wedge continued teasing Seifer for staring at Rinoa during the gig, Squall sighed and turned away, scooping up his cigarettes again.

"Smoking buddy!" Quistis shouted, throwing her arms around his shoulders and walking in time with him out the door. Outside, she shielded her eyes from the sun and graciously accepted the lit cigarette Squall handed to her. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

He wasn't sure if it was because Seifer had always had that tendency to annoy him or if it was because he kept mentioning Rinoa, but Squall had to get out of the building before he said or did something stupid. True, Rinoa wasn't his, but last night she was certainly flocking more towards him than Seifer or any other male at the party. He saw her make small talk with a few guys from the other bands that had played, but she didn't give any of them that slow, meltingly hot smile that she gave him…over and over.

Squall glanced over and cocked his head as he watched Quistis type on her phone. He exhaled the smoke through his nose and lifted his chin at her. "Who's that?"

"Rinoa," she answered, squinting her eyes in the sunlight so she could read the screen. "I texted her to see if she was ok and if there was anything she needed. She said she was fine, her dad woke up and is all groggy."

"That's good to hear."

Quistis nodded and shoved her phone back into her pocket. "Her dad's at LAMH," she said. "You should swing by and check on her tomorrow when you're at work."

Unsure of what she meant by that, he simply stared in response.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "You and I both know she'll most likely be there if he's not going to be discharged for at least a few days. It's not like she has to work tomorrow." Quistis sucked on her cigarette and shoved at Squall's bicep. "Bring her flowers," she commanded.

"Why?"

Quistis made a face. "Dude. You've been with plenty of girls, this should not be any kind of brand new information for you. When a girl is upset—especially in a hospital—it is good form to bring her flowers."

"You've been to the gift shop," Squall scoffed. "You know they're pathetic."

"Then go to an actual florist!"

Squall put out his cigarette and started to head for the door, ignoring Quistis's demands. As he walked through the hallway that led to Hyperion Images, he came across Seifer on his phone.

The other man glanced up and sent Squall a grin that nearly made him pause in his tracks. "Hey, Leonhart," Seifer said, motioning for Squall to come over.

"You're in front of the door I need to enter," Squall stated. "Of course I'm going to come over."

Seifer just snickered.

With an aggravated sigh Squall reluctantly stepped in front of him. "What?" he asked.

"How long have we been friends?" Seifer asked with that grin still plastered upon his face. His eyes sparked with a dark mischief that spoke of ulterior motives. When Squall hesitated in answering, Seifer tilted his head. "Aw, come on, Leonhart, how long have we known each other?"

Squall narrowed his eyes and tried to read Seifer's expression, but all he saw was that stupid and sneering grin displayed on his face. It was true, they had known each other for a very long time—almost as long as he had known Zell—however, Squall couldn't say with a straight face that they were exactly friends.

"Too long," finally came Squall's reply.

Seifer threw his head back and released a crackling laugh. "You're funny," he said. "But seriously, we've known each other a long time…and you think that I wouldn't notice when something is off?"

Squall shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Every time I mentioned Rinoa you'd either storm outside to have a cigarette or you'd make sure to walk into another room."

Squall only looked at him and kept his face stone still. Seifer wasn't as stupid as he acted sometimes and what he did lack in brains he made up for with wiseass comments and the ability to catch people in a lie.

"There something going on between you and Rinoa?" Seifer asked, that damn mouth of his still smiling.

Squall snapped his gum between his teeth. "No," he said simply. "I just met her."

Seifer let out a deep and rumbling laugh. "The fact that you 'just met her' is irrelevant!" he grinned. "Rinoa's got this spark inside her that is just filled to the brim with some kind of magnetic pull."

While Squall agreed with Seifer's statement, he wasn't about to say that out loud. He kept his face expressionless while he waited for Seifer to continue.

As if Squall's blank face was the most hysterical thing, Seifer cracked up laughing and joyfully sent a punch to his left arm. "You are too much, Leonhart," he said, grinning even wider when Squall winced at the blow. "She's got her claws in you."

More like mine were in her, Squall thought.

Seifer held up his hands and turned around to grasp the door handle. "Hey, there is absolutely no judging here, my friend," he said. "She is definitely hard to resist."

Squall watched as Seifer disappeared back into the office. He couldn't deny it; he wasn't entirely sure what it was about Rinoa that just made him want to be beside her. The tiny look of fear that flashed over her face when he confirmed that the men at her door were indeed of the military and the little hitch in her breath when they told her that Carway was in the hospital…it made him want to hold her and protect her from the travesties of this world. It was an entirely male feeling, to want to protect something smaller—not weaker—than him, even when that smaller being did not ask for or want that protection.

He thought of the little smiles of hers that had been caught by Seifer's camera. Because of Biggs' angle, Squall couldn't quite tell what she was smiling about but he wanted to keep her smiling.


At Diablo's Steakhouse, Kiros had been able to reserve the sectioned off portion. He was tall, towering over Irvine, and offered a glistening white smile that glowed against the dark tint of his skin. His suit was trim and well-fitting to his muscular shape. His dreadlocks were tied back and away from his face. As he approached them the lamp's light caught the silver hoops that were threaded through his left eyebrow.

"Kiros Seagill," he said, introducing himself to each of the band members. "Pleasure." He waved his hand at the large and empty table that awaited them. "Please, sit." When everyone sat down, Kiros waited until the server had collected everyone's drink orders.

Cid cleared his throat and spoke first. "So, Mr. Seagill, did you enjoy the show?"

"Kiros, please," he said. "And, yes! It was amazing, I can hardly put it into words."

"Cid mentioned that you heard about us through Djin Theory," Irvine mentioned. "How did that come about?"

"Well, we were going through some old videos of previous shows that Djin Theory had played in the past," Kiros said. He scratched his chin as he tried to remember the exact video he had watched. "I believe it was from the show that was at The Card Queen's Deck," he murmured.

Zell piped up. "Oh yeah! That show was awesome," he exclaimed with a wide grin. That night Absolute Lore had played their set right before the headlining Djin Theory. And then during Djin Theory's twenty minute encore, they brought Absolute Lore back onto the stage and played together. They had played another gig with them about two months later during Christmas and many in the crowd voiced their desires for their "duet" to happen again.

"I was very impressed with the encore," Kiros chuckled. "Especially you, Squall." He turned his head slightly to lock eye contact with the younger man. "Now, these three were easily able to bring their instruments back on stage since theirs are much more portable…but you, on the other hand, obviously could not. So instead…"

Squall remembered, during the last song he came onto the stage and practically picked up Esteban by the collar and forced him off his own throne. While Esteban laughed and accepted his fate, Squall sat himself down and easily played Djin Theory's last song.

"His kit is different than yours though, isn't it?" Kiros asked.

"Yes, he only had one floor tom and his crash symbol is on the other side," Squall answered. It had only taken a moment of him staring at Esteban's kit for Squall to strategize his next move. He wasn't going to add that Esteban's set up was the most basic set up that Squall had ever seen. He tried to remember the last time his own kit looked like that, and he deduced that it was probably around the time he started to learn how to drum, back when he was twelve and had just moved in with Ellone.

Kiros nodded and glanced over the faces of the others. "Well, it was one hell of a show. Even though your bands have different tones and sounds, when you guys played together it was harmonious and complemented each other very well. Which is why I actually came to see your show last night."

The servers approached and took their orders. While they waited, Kiros went on about what he did as Djin Theory's producer. He wasn't just their recording album producer, he also worked closely with their tour manager. "Basically, my job is to ensure that not only will they have a successful album release but also a successful tour!"

"What does that have to do with us?" Squall asked sharply.

Beneath the table Irvine kicked Squall's calf and Cid shot him a look from across the table. "Dude," Irvine hissed, ignoring the snarl that Squall gave him.

Kiros only laughed and waved his hand at Squall. "While my top priority is the success of Djin Theory, I believe that we can help each other out. I'm also interested in your success as well." Kiros saw the servers approach with their food and he leaned back and waited until everyone had a plate before them. "As you know, Djin Theory has been on tour for the last two months and have about three months left of it. However, one of the band's touring with them had to drop out unexpectedly—a family member has sadly fallen very ill, so he has decided to go home to be with them."

The news caused them all to steal glances at each other in anticipation as they waited for Kiros to continue. Selphie gripped Irvine's thigh beneath the table and he quickly laced his fingers with hers.

"We need a band to fill the spot," Kiros mentioned casually as he cut into his medium rare steak. "Interested?"