paixaorpg | An Outing Overdue [active]

Entry tags:

An Outing Overdue [active]

Character(s): Squall, Rinoa, and Zack
Content: Lunch, and discussions about the Resistance
Setting: Café Ersesat (K7)
Time: Midday
Warnings: None!

All in all, it had been far too long since he'd last done something constructive, or Squall thought. That had been the reason that he'd decided (on a very rare impulse) to actually propose doing something to Rinoa as opposed to the other way around. Admittedly, it had been much more than a walk, but it was still something. Sometimes you had to start small, after all.

That the walk had ended up at one of the cafés around the places had been an unexpected bonus, more so that it had happened to be more-or-less midday by that point. And so it was that they'd ended up parked at one of the outside tables.

Squall wasn't saying much mind, but then again, when did he ever? It was a nice enough day, he was in a tolerably good mood, and that was all he figured was necessary, at this point.

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Well, it couldn't be said that Rinoa hadn't been surprised the moment Squall had taken the initiative and asked her to go on a walk. Though in the end, all she could think of it was that it was a pleasant change of events, and she was glad that he seemed to be learning.

However, though Squall had managed to step up in one direction, there was still a great lack of conversation, and Rinoa couldn't help but feel a need to break the silence between them as they sat at the café table.

"It's nice today, don't you think?"

Just a SOLDIER strolling along, nothing to see here.

At least, nothing to see on the part of the random passerby. For Zack, there was plenty to see, and if he was going to be even vaguely useful to the Resistance, seeing things and gathering information was kinda vital. Five minutes into his impromptu mission and he'd already spotted something more than vaguely interesting.

Was that...? Could he really...? Seriously?

Less than a block away, the familiar gunblader was seated by a sidewalk cafe table, a petite brunette opposite from him and obviously an acquaintance by the sheer fact that he wasn't straight out ignoring her. Better than ignoring her. Actually, if he tilted his head just right, it might even look like they were...Wait. Waiiiiiiit...

Since when did Squall have a libido?! If Zack didn't know better, he would have come to the conclusion long ago that Squall couldn't get it up for anything besides steel. Squall's level of excitement, that is.

Then again, judging from the pretty brunette girl's sad attempt at striking up a conversation, Zack guessed 'excitement' wasn't quite the word to use for this situation. Still. Squall totally deserved what Zack was about to do, considering how uncooperative the man had been lately.

"Oooooh~! Is this a date? It's a date, isn't it? Squall, man! You're such a slick jones!" As if the verbal attack wasn't enough, Zack tried to drape himself across Squall's shoulder, attempts at unbalancing the man forefront on his mind as he finished the cake of embarrassment with, "Do I need to beg you for lessons or something?"

...Of all the people who had to wander by it had to be the most annoying one. Just great. Not that Squall wasn't unused to to annoying. It just wasn't what he needed or wanted at the moment.

The questions weren't precisely what he wanted to have to answer either. Although they did give him a reason to not get to Rinoa's question right away. Not that he hadn't intended to, of course. It was just there was quite suddenly any number of things that were slightly more important.

Shoving Zack off his his shoulder, for example.

"I'm not giving anyone lessons," he answered with a sigh. "And it's not really a date." Just a sort of impromptu outing. Dates needed actual planning. Or at least they did in his mind.

"You know Squall, asking your girlfriend to go for a walk and then stopping at a cafe usually means it's a date." She told him with only slight annoyance. She couldn't completely blame him for not thinking of it that way since it was Squall, but that didn't mean she couldn't be just a little upset about him saying that.

She turned to look at the other man that had joined them with a smile. "You could take lessons from him, but you probably wouldn't get anywhere with it." she told him in a joking manner. Hey, she might be Squall's girlfriend, but that didn't mean she couldn't joke about him.

And wasn't it convenient that Squall's shove sent Zack straight into the chair sitting adjacent to him? It might have been suspicious how quickly Zack settled into his new resting place, considering he'd just been recently manhandled.

He waved down the waiter and with a few curious hand signals that probably meant absolutely nothing to the worker, was able to order a drink. Half the fun was in seeing what they'd bring him anyway.

"She's right, you know. It's definitely a date," Zack declared, grinning in a friendly manner at Rinoa, then back at Squall. "Well, I dunno about those lessons. He seems to have done well for himself." He stuck out a hand, grin turning softer. "Zack Fair, at your service, ma'am."

"Dates don't usually include third parties," Squall countered. True, he hadn't intended to run into Zack, but that hardly changed the fact that they had. And now... and now they probably wouldn't be able to get him to leave. What joy.

Even if he was likely to be far better at conversation than Squall was, although you'd never hear him admit that.

"Rinoa Heartilly." She took Zack's hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Zack." Well, Rinoa had to give Zack credit for something, he was much more talkative then Squall, and that was certainly bringing a whole new atmosphere about. An atmosphere she couldn't help but enjoy.

"They may not include third parties, but that doesn't mean other people don't surprise you during them. You can't tell me you've forgotten all those times that the others back home stopped by during our dates." She told Squall with one of her smirks.

Zack continued grinning, giving Rinoa's hand a fair shake and squeeze before letting it go to grab at a menu. "So your date's taking a slight detour. Whoop-dee-doo, Squall. Just think of it like a commercial break." He glanced up from his perusal of listed appetizers, a hint of mischievousness peeking through. This was just rich, being able to tease the man to this capacity.

He just hoped he didn't have to pay too much for it later.

"Don't tell me date-crashing was a sport back on your world?" He was extremely tempted to ask whether the betting pools went up for those kinds of things, but he really didn't think it'd go over all that well with Rinoa's presence there. Squall might take an exception and think Zack was insulting her honor.

Right. No insulting the lady.

It wasn't really all that hard to be more talkative than Squall, to perfectly fair. Oh, he could and would happily talk about things that were important and could occasionally be quite talkative in his own right. But even then he tended to be rather to-the-point about it.

"That's because they couldn't leave well enough alone." Not to mention the fact that Zell and Selphie were a team that no one in their right mind left together. Especially not when Selphie seemed to be able to get just about anyone to join in on her hare-brained schemes.

"And dates don't have commercial breaks."

"True, but that's what's so much fun about them. I mean, it'd probably be too boring without them around to cause some trouble." And boy did Zell and Selphie cause trouble together, though she couldn't say she didn't help on many occasion. Well, actually, it was usually everyone was involved in the trouble except Squall. But hey, that was half the fun.

"And I'm sure it could have been considered a sport if you count how many times the others have done it."

"Shows what you know about dates," Zack remarked flippantly after Leon's line about commercial breaks. Zack would need an electronic counter to keep track of all the times his dates had been interrupted, and consequently, restarted again.

Zack pointed out the dishes he wanted once the waitress came by again with his suspiciously amber shaded drink. He poked at it after she left, running a cautious finger over the rim before doing a small taste test. Well, what dya know, it was apple juice! So did that meant she thought he was a kid?

Rinoa's words thankfully snatched his attention again, Zack shaking his head at the ridiculously easy manner in which Squall could be ruffled. "Can't let stuff like that get to you, pal. Especially when there are more pressing matters to deal with." It was the most blatant opening Zack was bound to give, at least the most blatant one that didn't involve waving a dolled up banner around.

"I know enough," Squall answered. And as far as he was considered interruptions weren't standard issue. Not infrequent, between Zell and Selphie, but not standard issue. As for the the comment about it being boring, well... that could be safely ignored.

Or at least, safely ignored in light of what else Zack had brought up. "The Organization," he answered, with a slight nod. Or more accurately how to deal with them, but Zack was smart. He should be able to pick up on what wasn't said in that simple sentence.

Squall's mention of the Organization had instantly caught Rinoa's attention, and her facial expression became more serious as she looked between the two men. She had heard about them, and she hadn't really liked them much based on what she had heard, but that was why she felt so much of a need to do something about them.

"So you have been paying attention. That's good." Zack tossed the menu onto a clear spot on the table, leaning back into the chair even as he did so. "Then again, it's kinda hard not to. They've been pretty busy lately."

Zack briefly glanced at Rinoa, mentally questioning whether she should listen in on this. He hadn't met her for more than a few minutes; it was hard to tell a person's loyalties just from an introduction. On the other hand, Zack knew Squall's type and he didn't seem to be the kind to harbor a relationship with one whose loyalty was that flimsy.

"So? What do you think?" Zack grinned a little, though for those more perceptive, the grin didn't reach his eyes. "They're pretty clever at what they do, right?"

...Clever. That was one way to put it. Perhaps a little kinder than Squall would have been, but no matter. The subject had been brought up and really, he doubted that Rinoa would have many issues with them talking about it.

Of course, he mentioned neither fact, but then again that was about par for the course with him.

"They're a problem," he answered. "One that should be dealt with. It's hard to sleep if you're worrying about getting carried away."

Taking a quick sip of her drink, Rinoa placed her glass back onto the table perhaps a little louder then was called for. She wasn't going to lie. From the moment she had arrived and heard about them, she had not had anything close to a positive outlook on the Organization.

"No kidding that they're a problem. I agree that they need to be stopped; preferably as quickly as possible.. As leader of the the Timber Owls, I can't just let them get away with things like that. It's just not in me to let them." She said boldly after Squall's comment. Of course, she was expecting her boyfriend to help her, but even if he didn't, she was hardly the type to not get involved in something like this. After all, it was kind of an unwritten code that a resistance should fight for what was right, and as far as she was concerned, fighting the Organization was the way to go around here.

Zack's grin widened into something more genuine at both of their displays, though yeah, Squall was quite a bit more reserve than Rinoa was at expressing his disapproval for the Organization. But seriously, he would have been suspicion if Squall had suddenly expressed passionate sentiments.

It's hard to know who to trust these days.

But Timber Owls? Seriously? Who picked that name?

Zack leaned forward, forearms supporting his weight on the table as he gave each of them an accessing look. "And how do you propose we stop them?"

Hey, by his standards what Squall had said was fairly detailed. Perfect truth, and all one needed to know cut down in to the absolute minimum of words. There wasn't any need to give impassioned speeches. (Although he could, if you pushed him to it hard enough.)

"We need to know more about them. About their habits, their weaknesses. We need to know how to hit them the best."

Efficiency in all things. Even something like this. It was how he'd more or less always been and that wasn't likely to change any time soon.

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An Outing Overdue [active]

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Sorry, didn't realize it was my turn ^^;;;

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