[ action ] Ϟ [ 03 ]

[subjected]

[ Regardless of what some off-world cadets may claim, it turns out that they actually don't brainwash those who become SeeDs. Therefore, even if one goes and gets hired on as part as the staff? There's definitely nothing that says they just magically forget about things that were known as a cadet.

Case in point: the 'secret area' of the training center, which may just become the location of a rather unpleasant surprise for anyone who dares to make a late-night trip up to the secluded balcony there- Instructor Claire Farron, leaning against the rail and looking generally... well, miserable, though as always she's bound to be trying to hide it.

Of course, how she ever found the place to begin with when she has no real friends is up for debate.

In any case, obviously she's not exactly in a good mood, and obviously, she's probably not doing much of this 'sleeping' thing recently. This extends to the day time as well, as anyone who's in her classes or currently being tutored may notice she's suddenly grown even more tense and prone to distancing herself... and if not that, then they should still be pretty hard-pressed to miss that several days ago she cut off most of her hair. The reason for that should be clear; she is not a fan of particular recent arrivals.

Good luck figuring out when she actually does stuff like shower or eat anything besides the occasional in-hand fruit now, although people are still welcome to try.... ]

Comments

[gunblade-grrl.livejournal.com]

[Right outside the secret area, there's a loud roar that could only be from a T-Rexaur, and a very unladylike word. A moment later, Maria dive-rolls into the Secret Area, as outside the T-Rexaur thrashes about and attempts to hunt down and slay the cadet that just successfully ran from it.]

[Her two gunblades are in her hands, and thought her fingers are on the triggers, Claire can take some gratitude in seeing that some inserts quite firmly block them from moving backwards.]

[She continues her roll to her feet, then on seeing her company, smoothly flips her right-hand blade over her shoulder to slap it into its magnetic holster. Then she salutes. After having proper training in the gesture, as well as an embarrassing amount of practice, the gesture is fluid and quite natural now.]

Ma'am! Sorry to bother you, but I hope you prefer it to me showing up to class eaten!

[Please at least smile a little, Instructor, you so need to...]

[subjected]

[ So apparently, the cadet who seems to be competing for the 'most enthusiastic' title amongst Claire's current students has found herself something a little more exciting than the resident grat population. The woman just stares a moment as she takes in this unique little scene, straightens up with a nod at the salute... but doesn't return it this time. Her hand remains on the rail. ]

... Doubt you'd be showing up to class at all if you were 'eaten,' Cadet Cyphert.

[gunblade-grrl.livejournal.com]

[Competing? Who could possibly be her competition?!]

I'd have done my best not to let it stop me, ma'am, I have a feeling that the rope safety lesson will be important.

[Where are they, anyway? She didn't think she'd come so far out of the Garden proper, but the view from here is... well, amazing. Over to the railing she wanders, peering out to take in the view.]

[subjected]

Hard to climb a rope if you're cut in half.

[ Dry as ever, and a touch disinterested to boot. She turns to go back to leaning where she was before, simply watching the pulsing, brilliant lights of the giant structure ahead and above. For once, she seems content to skip the lecturing attitude in favor of remaining idle. ]

[poetry-hero.livejournal.com]

[So much for visiting the secret area in hopes of retrieving the old-fashioned bow and arrow he'd accidentally left earlier. Apollo can't help pressing his lips together as he glances over at Claire... to grab his weapon and pretend nothing happened or to save it for another day?

In the end, his (incredibly expensive) weapon beats his survival instincts.] Hey, Farron! Mind letting me retrieve my weapon?

[subjected]

[ Well, it would help if he didn't throw such an informal tone at her. Her eyes are narrowed as she glances over, lips pressing together... ]

Mind explaining why it's up here without you...?

[poetry-hero.livejournal.com]

[He's a god. It... hasn't occurred to him that she might not actually like that tone.]

Honestly? I forgot. I was kind of pre-occupied with other stuff and left it since I had class. [Translation: He was too busy romancing - and making out with - some random NPC. GJ, Apollo.]

[subjected]

[ Oh, she doesn't approve. Not at all. However, it's kind of hard to say anything when he's not a cadet... ]

You should really take better care of it, Instructor Jones.

[ This is Claire Srsbzns Farron, though. That's pretty unlikely to stop her at all from at least trying. ]

[eiusumbra]

[The training center is littered with remains of T-Rexaurs and whatever creature got in his way. Shadow is more his former self than ever with the loss of Maria. A few cadets stayed clear of him once he made his rounds after seeing the Chaos energy pulse around his body.

He walks into the secret area, making sure no one is out after hours, or rather hoping someone is, just to chew them out. Lightning is there, looking...out of sorts. Shadow raises an eyebrow before walking in further.]

...hey.

[subjected]

[ You'd almost think Claire's motivations are similar... but not quite despite very likely having chased any other of the area's occupants out already. She turns her head at the sound of feet on the metal grate, but doesn't really move otherwise, regarding the new arrival with an expression showing quite a bit more agitation than the neutral look she generally displays. ]

... Shadow.

[eiusumbra]

[Glances around. Figures no one would be here if she is.]

I didn't think you'd want to hang around here. [Leans against the railings. It had been a while since he last came here.] Nothing has changed.

[subjected]

The lights at night remind me of home. [ Very, very matter of fact. She moves on quickly, although her voice remains flat. ] Good. You're learning to adjust well enough?

[ Meaning his aim with a gun and such, of course. It's always about the guns with her. ]

[brightens]

[ Someone is poking around the training center. She's trying looking for this elusive 'secret spot' herself, but to not much avail, considering she's on the entire opposite side of the training center she'd need to be looking on. Maybe she should go ahead and give up on finding it herself, and ask someone on the BBS for help..? Yeah, that would probably be the best way to go about it.

So, now that she's given up... Since it's so late, she should probably head back to the dorm. She'd lost track of time while she was searching around.

Skipping along, she covers the ground back to the entrance of the training center quickly, spotting a somewhat familiar head of hair... Except... ]

... You got a haircut..!

[subjected]

[ New haircut, and a somehow even sourer attitude when it comes to this l'Cie outside the boundaries of her classroom. Her frown is dark as she stares at the girl, letting the pause hang in the air-- sufficiently long enough to make clear that she doesn't want to talk to you, Vanille.

Or so it would seem, if she weren't still standing in the way of the exit and making no move to fix that. ]

Your point being?

[brightens]

[ That response... Isn't the one she'd been expecting. She'd thought Lightning had gone back to normal... But this was just the same as she had been before. Was all of that an act?

Vanille immediately resumes the attitude she'd been taking before the last conversation she'd had with Lightning— keep her head down, and move along. Don't make trouble. Still, that was really cruel of her... Pretending things were back to normal one minute, and then going back to... ]

It's nothing. [ She takes a step forward— meaning to go through the exit— only Claire is in her way. ]

[subjected]

[ And Claire's... just not getting out of the way here. If Vanille wants by, she'll have to go right past her- something that may or may not be a very good idea.

Of course, considering she's in the training center when it's late and she's all alone... that's not exactly the smartest thing you can do, when there's someone like this around and your latest close friends to show up here have managed to thoroughly piss her off. ]

[waylights.livejournal.com]

[ If Elika had a gil for every time her companion had asked her up here with him, she'd be a rich woman. She'd turned him down every time, of course, which didn't necessarily mean she'd never been up here. On the contrary, she'd visited this supposedly 'secret' location quite a few times as a cadet. seeing the sky full of stars was a welcome reminder of nights in the desert, where she could watch them twinkle from her bedroom window. With the last few weeks having been spent readjusting to Garden life and settling into teaching, Elika she was due for a little rest and relaxation, with nothing but herself, the stars, and a packet of honey-glazed dates.

As she reached the end of the steps, however, she glimpsed Instructor Farron's slim, lean form leaning against the railing, and paused. Sharing the space with a few cadets was one thing, but some vague hostility was rolling off the other woman and she felt rude for intruding. Realizing she was too far to simply back away quietly, she settled for a polite nod of her head. ]

I beg your pardon, Instructor Farron. I didn't mean to bother you.

[subjected]

[ At the sound of footsteps Claire's hand falls from where it was pressed against her chest, and she turns just enough to recognize the woman come up to "bother" her. However, if they're brave enough to stick around and actually say something, she's not going to chase anyone off without further reason; though she remains tense and vaguely frowning- ]

It's fine.

[waylights.livejournal.com]

[ Elika almost says that it doesn't look fine, but she lets the gentle arching of a brow speak for her. When her mouth opens, what comes out is: ]

I beg your pardon, Instructor, but... [ She lifts a hand, touching a lock of her own hair as if in a mirror. ] Your hair...

[ It was so long and pretty before. :c ]

[paradoxdestined.livejournal.com]

[Squall finds himself going to the secret area cause having a destination to walk to beats not-sleeping on his bed and I want to tag you so why not FFF. Squall is clueless as always to what's been going on, but even he can tell when he sees Claire something's up. It'd probably be better to go away, but well he's already here. It seems stupid walking away now.

Instead he just walks up to lean against the rail a distance away himself. ...No this isn't awkward at all.]

[subjected]

[ By the time Squall makes an appearance, Claire's managed to work herself back up into a state of irritation again, looking over suddenly with eyes narrowed--

... But she'd been expecting a cadet or something, not the guy who, even though he's about the right age, happens to be the resident commander around here instead. It's kind of hard to chase him away, so... yeah. Not awkward indeed. Especially considering that conversation from right after he showed up here... ]

Commander.

[ Her first instinct is obvious, but considering he didn't make a move to engage her himself, she's perfectly okay at the moment to just... leave it at that. ]

[paradoxdestined.livejournal.com]

[He looks over at that. Wasn't... really expecting her to say anything, but he nods.]

Instructor Farron.

[He just goes back to being quiet, thinking. Lmfao I SWEAR HE WILL DO SOMETHING NEXT TAG he's a slow turtle what can I say...]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[The 'Secret Area' wasn't exactly Quistis' favorite spot to turn to whenever she needed some quiet time; it had a rather unpleasant memory attached to it, but it was something she needed to grow out of. Besides, she found her office too stuffy, the Training Center too humid, and her own dormitory too drab. The Secret Area was admittedly a nice spot, with the outstanding view of Garden's main wing lit up at night.

When she stepped through the door leading out to the balcony, she had prepared herself to find some of the younger cadets canoodling, hoping that this place was as private as the rumors claimed it to be; but to her surprise she saw Claire. Her sharp eyes immediately caught the change in her hairstyle, not to mention the rather stiff posture she held.

Unsure whether or not the woman wanted to be disturbed, Quistis slowly approached her.]

I like your haircut. [Small talk, but it seemed neutral enough.]

[subjected]

... Thanks.

[ Claire looks over but not quite at Quistis, her eyes half-lidded. She's obviously tired and acting a little different than usual, but chances are it's still notably difficult to figure out how she's actually feeling at all; even when agitated, that deliberate neutrality is still firmly in place. ]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[Moving to the railing beside Claire, Quistis leans over to cast her gaze out in the distance.]

It's a nice view, isn't it? With the lighting and all. Quite relaxing, really.