Who:  Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmitt, Raine Leonhart, Zell Dincht.
Where:  Balamb Training Center, Atrium.
Why:  Irvine and Selphie rush to Raine's rescue, then run into Zell. Awkward? Yes.
Date of Log:  August 2nd, 2000.






Not immediately visible, Irvine is in fact not even on the -ground-. See, tomorrow he has to go shoot Kefka, so he's decided to hone his skills a little in the training rooms, and has thusly climbed up a tree to practice with the sniper rifle. He's only just gotten here, actually. And the sound of 'ka-click' and 'chink' is heard by anyone nearby possibly, as he puts together the various parts of the rifle. One would have to look up to actually see him, however, leaning against the trunk of his chosen tree, one leg propped on a branch and the other dangling off it.

Looking for Irvines isn't, surprisingly enough, on Selphie's agenda currently. No! Killing things, however, -is-. In fact, it's top priority! You see, Selphie has to fill her thirst for destruction, death, and chaos every so often, else things might get messy. And lately, it just so happens, the 'glass' that she must fill has been getting steadily bigger, and bigger, and the same amount of carnage and whatnot just isn't cutting it. So! Here comes Selphie, nunchakus resting against her shoulders, ready for a fight. Bring it -on-. She walks as if she were just in the normal halls of Garden, no defenses up -- those'll be switched on when there's a threat, duh.
Peering around, she stops just about a few hundred feet from the entrance, swinging her hips in an impatient manner, one foot supporting all of her weight as the other taptaps the ground. "...Come on! Bring it on, suckers!" Silence. Well, save for the tapping, and the chain of her nunchakus swinging with her motion. "...Dang!" Stomp, stomp. "What wusses!"

'shick'

'klack-click-klach'

'cha-chink'

The gun is finally assembled, the magazine loaded into the chamber. Irvine closes his eyes a moment, taking in a few deep breaths, then draws his legs up beneath him to crouch atop the thick branch , scanning the brush now for a victim or two. Sniping, though he's damn good at it, isn't a skill he practices very often. Instead it seems to be both a gift and a curse that sticks with him no matter how much he neglects the ability. Ah, a grat. Easy enough to kill. Peering at it through the scope, the little crosses zooming in on the spot he knows is the weakest area on the plant-like creature, he pulls the trigger, the bullet zooming forward like the kiss of death. Yet it's strangely silent, whistling instead of the normal thunderous crack of sound echoing from the barrell of a gun. Squall said there were an abnormal number of guards in Balamb, Irvine was gonna have to use a silencer, best to get used to the absence of sound.
The grat doesn't make a sound, merely falling over with the precise strike. The brush rustles as it falls, fronds pattering against the leaf strewn floor of the training facility. Lowering the rifle, Irvine can't help but smirk, it's so easy, too easy. It's about that time that he hears someone else rustling through the facility, a human voice, though it's muffled. He frowns slightly, better be careful what he's shooting at lest he hit another Garden resident.

Indeed, Irvine -had- best be careful. Selphie getting shot by his own bullet would most definately -suck-. Anyway, the unawares Selphie doesn't hear the silenced sound of the gun, mainly because it's silent, and the thump of the Grat is brushed aside as a normal Training Center type sound. Wrinkling her nose up in impatience, Selphie stompstomp!s again, grr!'ing. Stupid monsters! She's never had this problem before. --Wait, she's not -moving-. Maybe that's why. Okay, so -- pausing in her fit, the brunette heads further towards Irvine's perch, unknowingly. Pushing bushes and such out of her way as she walks -- swish, swish -- the girl reeks of 'come n'get it, vermin.' "--Tch," swish, "Maybe they're all," swishswish, "on coffee break," swish, "or something."
While it is well known that animals can smell fear, they can also smell danger, and Selphie accurently is apaprently wearing Kalvin Clein's newest fragarence, 'Danger.'

Indeed they do, which is why Irvine had a little more luck initially. Catching them completely off-guard tends to kill them a lot faster. Not that Irvine's paticularly proud of this, mind you. Tilting the hat back, the cowboy scans the area again, seeking a new target when he catches... huh? Was that a flash of bright yellow? Now, there aren't that many creatures bearing that coloration, in fact, he can't immediately think of any. So, perhaps this is the mysterious other poking around the training rooms. Hmmm. Whoever it is, is coming closer to his perch. So, the gun gets rested atop his legs for now and he waits, listening to the mumbling voice, trying to discern the words. Female voice, mumbling to herself apparently unless it's more then one person.

"!"

"Selphie?"

Grumble, swish, grumble. Using her nunchakus as makeshift hedge-trimmers, Selphie moves closer, and closer! She really, -really- needs to get in a fight. Really. ...Really. She idly wonders which monster will show first! And how quickly she'll kill it. But then, what if something freak happens? And she gets hurt? And then Irvine swoops in and saves the day, and... Why is he riding on a horse, with a huge sunset in the background? --So caught up in her thoughts, is she, that she responds to her name as if it were a normal situation. "--*What*?" Stopping as she speaks, it takes her only a moment to realize... No one's there. Eyes little dots, now, she looklooks left and right, one finger to her lower lip. "--Uhm?" Sounded kida like Irvine...!

Irvine can't help but start laughing as poor Selphie looks around for him on the ground. He sits on the branch again, legs dangling in the air as the gun rests in his lap. Putting a hand against his his mouth to help to project his voice he shouts, "Up here!" That meaning way up in the tree that's probably about five feet away from the foraging Selphie now. He even reaches up to rustle some of the leaves of a nearby skinny branch so help her pinpoint his location.

Pouting largely as she not only hears laughing, but is -sure- it's Irvine, now. Which means he's laughing -at- her, and not -with- her! Tch, meanie. Turning towards the voice, then moving her gaze upwards at the rustling, she squints a bit as if it were overly bright, one hand acting as a 'visor.' Eyes searching the area for a shortish while, she finally -- "Heeey! Why're you up -there-? There's no windows to peek in!" She is, of course, playing on the 'pervert' comments that she's been making, as of late.
Selphie's somewhere near some random tree, where an Irvine perches. They're a ways into the Training Center, but Selphie's not exactly being -quiet-.

"Har, I see plenty in here anyway, darlin'," comes the reply from up in the tree. The leaves fairly well cover him to anyone at a major distance. You gotta be standing under the tree to really be able to see him. Reaching for the case the sniper rifle came in, he considers putting it away for now and doing some random hunting with Selphie. On the ground. "I take it you're here to run off some energy on something other then me, you little tease?" Hey, these are the training rooms, anyone could -hear- them!

Selphie uh!s, fists on her hips -- right hand holding both of the nunchakus. Nevermind the fact she spares a glance downward -- an elevated position doesn't give him a show, does it? >_> Satisfied that nothing other than the norm is being flaunted, the girl sticks her tongue out up at the cowboy. o_- "Nyaaah! Tease?! Like I'm really like that!" Indeed, anyone -could- hear them. But they don't need to say -anything- incriminating, Cathy and Co. do well enough on their -own-...

Raine walks into the training room glances around, hoping she'll find who she's looking for in the entrance walkway? c.c Nope. o.o The first section just outside the walkway? o.o Nope. She nibbles at her lip nervously as she looks one way then the other. It's not that she's scared or anything. She's just not armed...and even if she was, she probably wouldn't be skilled with it enough to defend herself. And just her luck she'd probably run into some monster 10 times her size with her as it's main special on it's evening menu. What's to be scared about that? Her hands leave her jacket pockets as she calls out, "Selphie?" Wow echo. Cool! o.o

Indeed, the Gossip Group has already been busy whispering about the two of them spending far too many nights together. Unfortunately for the still innocent Sefie, not many others believe she's still Miss Virtuous anymore. Ah, the price one pays for dating a reputed playboy. He lifts an eyebrow as her chin tilts down to check... no way! He starts laughing again, nearly falling off the branch as he leans back just a little too far. Erp. Grabbing the trunk to heave himself forward again, the laughter dies down to a snicker. "I shoulda pulled that zipper yesterday. Going modest on me?"
Then he stops laughing all together as he hears a distant voice calling Selphie's name. Huh, wonder who that is. "You got someone looking for you I think, darlin'." Gee, not only is he Mr. Memory and EagleEye, he's got good hearing to boot.

Cheeks turning more than a few shades of red, Selphie huff!s in a manner that she beleives to be pretty dang intimidating. Read: cute. Wrinkling her nose at the laughter, she hrmph!s, turning her face away all snooty-like, nose in the air and all. "I am -so- totally modest," is her lame response. Tch. Well, it's not like she's flaunting anything -special-! Lookit her! She's a little stick-figure! 'Petite,' she likes to think. A whore_dress does not a whore make.
Blinking, and coming out of that little huff, she looks first up at Irvine. "Huh?" She obviously didn't hear it, as she turns, and looklooks around. Who is it? Cupping one hand around her mouth, she responds, "Over here!" Loud enough, she hopes, to be heard, and followed.

Raine looks over in that direction that Selphie's voice is heard more clearly now and she runs, yes runs! Over toward her...looking around paranoid to make sure something doesn't jump out and bite her or something. c.c

Uh, bad idea Raine, running through the training facility usually means you're making noise. Making noise attracts predators. Predators interpret running as weakness. Thus... they leap out at you. And so they do, a long serpentine body with eight legs suddenly crashes out of the brush, hissing at Raine as it fully intends to make her a nice snack.
Meanwhile, the gunman has started down from his perch, deciding he's not really going to get any practice in today. Not that it matters, he's the best sharpshooter in Garden, and tomorrow, Kefka's gonna be a grease spot on the main street of Balamb Town.

Selphie squints into the distance, searching for whoever it was calling her name. When she doesn't immediately -find- them, she glances back up to the descending Irvine, shrugging. "Wonder who it is!" Gazing back into the brush, she searches once more -- and though she really doesn't knows of Raine's predicament, just so happens to start off in that direction, nunchakus lazily resting against her shoulder, chain swinging as she walks. And!, since there wasn't a response, she tries again. "--Hello~?" Surely Raine'll scream, and speed her up -- but for the moment, she doesn't know. Tch! She'll get there soon, though. It's likely just around the corner, now that she's walking in that direction as it is.

You damn skippy she screams. And what a scream it is. Raine jerks back as she sees the monster block her path and she glances around for a weapon or something. c.c If not...she'll just run. Yes running away is good. So she turns around and runs back the way she had just came. o.o

The serpentine critter hisses, the legs skittering after Raine with a speed it normally possesses for climbing trees. (Heh, it -had- actually been eyeing Irvine before Raine suddenly became a much more choice target.) A long greyish tongue snakes out from a lizardish jaw, trying to tag the tasty morsel attempting to escape from it. Oooh, come to me my pretty bit of flailing food.

Irvine, having descended, quickens his pace to catch up with Selphie, though at the sound of someone screaming, namely a -female- voice screaming (he's such a sexist pig), he suddenly starts running whether or not Selphie can keep up with him, the sniper rifle brandished as if it were his normal shotgun.
      
Blink. Hey, someone screamed! Well, okay, whoever's looking for her -obviously- isn't a SeeD, she knows that much. That pause she takes, however, lets Irvine pass her -easily-. "--H-hey!" Selphie takes off soon after, definately not as fast as the long-legg`ed cowboy, but she's not -slow-. Nunchakus now held at the ready, she scrunches her nose in annoyance -- she -wanted- to get attacked, and the monsters steered clear, and now one of 'em goes and attacks someone, she's sure. Stupid, mean, monsters!

Raine continues running, glancing behind her to see how close the monster is to her. At this rate it will catch up to her and simply pounce her from behind. ...She looks in front of her again and slows her run as she notices a thick tree branch on the ground. It's the best she can do on such short notice. She turns to face the beast and holds branch with both hands to possibly defend herself. o.o

Oh drat, the critter's tongue does in fact totally miss the fleeing Raine. Sucking it back in, it does indeed leap into the air, jaw widening to reveal a massive set of really nasty, sharp, pointy teeth. Vorpal serpent? Who knows. It's a treeclawer to those who're familiar with the flora and fauna of the training facility. Ugly lizard thing works just as well for those less in the know. Unfortunately, they're well known for having tough hides.

But, this doesn't stop Irvine from firing at it the second he's on the scene. There's no massive boom as the sniper rifle releases a bullet, sending it spiralling toward the critter, he forgot about the silencer, actually. No matter, silent but deadly is just fine to him. And no, he's the best sharpshooter in Garden, it's not about to strike Raine. Fear not. The gunman's got two reasons for doing this. One: A critter's attacking an innocent. Two: He doesn't want Selphie getting hurt either. Strike hard and fas t now.

Skidding around the corner very soon after Irvine fires, Selphie stops just a few feet ahead of him, falling back into a defensive stance as soon as she sees the situation. Girl being attacked. Not a Cadet, not a Jr. Classman, obviously, so she's just a 'girl' for the moment. That is, until she recognizes her. "--Raine!" What is it with Loire men and falling for helpless, trouble-prone girls? She'll wait for the monster to act again, though. o_-

...That wait isn't long, however, as the Big Ooglay Lizard thing reels back, even in mid-air. It falls short of it's would-be snack as the bullet connects, though doesn't hinder it incapacitated, not by far. Landing with a heavy 'fwump' onto the ground, it quickly recovers, scrambling to it's feet. Reptilian eyes scan the scene, searching for it's attacker -- and upon spotting the duster`ed target... Simply stares at him for a shortish moment, second pair of eyelids blinking horizontally, tongue lazily flicking. ...Before looking back to Raine -- now it's a question of speed. Can it snag her and run before the cowboy does serious damage? Let's find out, shall we...? For the moment, however, it simply -begins- to advance on Raine, not yet at full speed. Rar!
Selphie, meanwhile, wastes no time in jumping into that new fray. Jump! And swings her nunchakus at the thing, since it's no longer looking in her direction. c_c Hrmph.

Raine notices the monster approaching her and she swings the branch at his head. One of those girly swings that has so much force in it that their entire body goes along with it. o.o Die!

Gah! Irvine's just about to loose another shot when Selphie enters the picture. He lowers the gun for a moment, smirking the would be predator as it makes another pass at Raine. Letting Selphie complete her own attack and back off slightly, the gunman waits, not about to shoot the love of his life accidently while trying to protect Raine. Lifting the rifle again, barely taking but a few seconds to target the creatures scaley head, he fires, another whistling bullet flying through the air.

The creature hisses as the nunchakus connect, actually knocking a few dark green scales from its body. Hey... bullets and blunt objects -hurt-. Raine is temporarily forgotten, food becoming less important then survival and it turns now on the closer target, that being the flippy haired girl with the very weapon that just struck it at a closer range then the gunman attacker who stands further away. That's about the time that Irvine fires.

Frowning now, in the heat of battle!, Selphie flicks her nunchakus into a defensive position, jumping back slightly after that attack. Shyeah! She's been wanting this! And as the Lizard-Thingee looks her way, she -smirk!s-, tilting her chin in a 'c'mere' motion. ...And indeed, you know, it starts to! But Irvy, well, shoots it. Which, suffice to say, takes both the Lizard Thingee -and- Selphie by surprise -- the sniper being mainly silent, and all. --Either way, the -Lizard- is a -bit- more effected by it than Selphie is, being that it was the one getting shot. Unforauntely for them, it wasn't a -critical- blow, but it -is- almost down for the count. Now blinded by both rage and the Will to Survive, Mr. Leezard rooowrl!s in pain and other such feelings, Raine completely forgotten, now. She's not a threat. Tail lashing, possibly hitting Raine by sheer accident, the Thingee lunges closer to the couple. One more hit, it seems, and it'll be fertilizer.
Selphie, meanwhile, moves quickly back. c_c; But isn't retreating! Nope. 'Cause she also lashes out to the thing, even as it lunges, and she backs away. Tch! Kill it, Irvy! Kill it, kill it!

Raine lowers her 'weapon' and watches the monster go toward Selphie and her eyes widen a bit as she watches. Maybe she'll get to see her skills in fighting it. oO

Ooooooh no it doesn't. Seeing the creature advancing on Selphie after giving up on Raine, Irvine wastes no time in firing yet again at the damn thing now that it appears to be nearing its death throes. The sniper rifle almost seems like an extension of him, and that's good, he needs to be fully familiar with it for tomorrow, even the disconcerting silence of the bullet's release.

As for the poor treeclaw, both blows hit it in succession, *bap* from the nunchakus and *thump* as another bullet peirces its hide. With a final hiss of air and life, it slumps to the ground, expiring. Green blood drains to the ground from the mutiple gunshot wounds. Shew.

Seemingly not too concerned with the approaching monster, Selphie just... stops, as soon as she sees another wound hit it. Yeah, it's -totally- done for, are her thoughts, even before it falls. And! As it does so, the girl stares down at it for a moment or two, then beam!s, and giggles. "Shyeah! That was -mega- awesome!" Yeah, she does her victory pose... so sue her. She can't really control it, you know, she just -does- it. And just as she gets to the rear-waggling part, she spots Raine -- pausing in mid shaking of her groove thang. Irvine, for the moment, is placed on the back burner. "--Oh!" Hey, yeah, Raine was the one getting attacked...!
Point!ing at her, she wrinkles her nose. "You should -totally- not ever come in here without a weapon, or an escort! Tch! You mighta been doggie food for Angelo if we hadn't been here, y'know!" After that initial little soap-box show, she adds cheerfully, "You were lookin' for me?"

Raine blinks. "..." o.o Once she hears Selphie's question she nods and tosses her branch aside. "Yes. Some of the students in the hall said they saw you come this way. I was wondering when we could start that training." She glances briefly toward where the monster..."Soon I hope?" She looks back to Selphie. ^^

Blinking at Raine's explanation for entering the training rooms, Irvine really has to fight to hold his tongue. Selphie already scolded the poor girl anyway, no need to add anything further. Turning to head back to where he dropped the sniper rifle case, he mutters in Selphie's direction, "Be right back, darlin'."
      
Selphie oh!s, eyes widening, hand covering her mouth. "Ohmygod! I -totally- forgot all -about- that!" And she did, too. It's not as if she's -seen- Raine lately, anyway. "--Well--!" Glancing back to Irvine with a nod, she continues, "...You -shoulda- just left me a note on my door, or something. But that's totally okay, 'cause you're here now, huh!" And, just to be annoying, a random Grat begins to poke it's head out from a nearby bush. Spotting it right off, Selphie peers at it, glares, grrr!s, and shakes her nunchakus at it. It flees, fearing the Selphieness. "--Anyway, uhm-- Whenever you can catch me, we can go train! I mean, b'sides -now-."

Raine nods, "Should I choose a weapon or something?" She really isn't too sure what she has to do...so be nice, eh? ^^;;

It only takes a moment for the gunman to relocate his riflecase and then the dustered cowboy returns to the scene again. He pauses to see what's going on exactly, "So... you guys gonna hang around in here or what's the deal?" Of course he'll be going too, he just likes hanging around with Selphie. If no one's going anywhere, he'll start actually disassembling the thing right there.

"--Uhm." Selphie blinks at Raine for a moment -- -she- may have forgotten about the training, but since Raine apparently remembered, at least she could've picekd a weapon! But that's okay, she doesn't know. Right. Beaming suddenly, she nods. "Yeah! Something simple, you know -- like a staff, or... yeah. You know! Something you think you can handle!"

Raine nods. Yeah right. oO "Okay." She glances over to Irvine offering a nod before she waves to Selphie and begins to leave the Training center.

Irvine waves briefly to Raine as he crouches down to complete disassembling the sniper rifle and set it back into the appropriate slots and areas of the case. "Take care, careful where you run off to." He winks, all joking, see?

Selphie smiles, wavewaving to Raine as she turns. "Bye~!" She looks down at Irvine as he sends his farewell, nodnodding in agreement. Yay. Okay, so -- remember, Selphie, you're s'posed to train Raine... Hey, that rhymes! --Anyway, now that Raine is on her way out, the girl peers down at Irvine's job. "--Looks like a clarinet. Or a flute!" ...Riiight.

A what? Irvine glances up, the scope of the rifle still in his hand. "Huh? Well, darlin', I don't know that many flutes ore clarinets that fire bullets atcha." The last parts are set away and he closes the case, flicking the clasps down. Rising to his feet, he hefts it up in one hand. "Guess that's enough sniping for one night. You still wanna hang around here?"

Tch!'ing, Selphie places a hand on her hip. "Well, duh! But like -- you know, the way it comes apart, and you gotta put it all together, n'stuff. It's like a flute! A big, deadly flute. ...That doesn't play music." Pausing, she adds, "Okay, well, so it's not like a flute at all!" As she talks, she kinda bounces in place, then in front of the cowboy, then turns her back to him, nunchakus resting on her shoulders. "Naa~aah," is her response, as she glances over her shoulder to Irvine, smirking. "The mood's -totally- gone!"

Chuckling, Irvine approaches to wrap an arm around Selphie's shoulders, nunchakus or no. "I get it, I think. I take care of my guns." That's for sure, those things are like his babies practically. As for the mood, he nods, "That makes two of us, let's go."

Shifting her nunchakus off of her shoulders, Selphie grasps both of the sticks in one hand, letting the chain almost drag on the floor. Even as she and Irvine exit Le Training Centre, the cavaties in the immediate area multiply -- and they're hardly -doing- anything yet. Leaning into the cowboy, having an arm around her and all, Selphie starts... complaining. Yes! She does! "--I can't -believe- Raine went in there without someone! Argh!"

Irvine merely nods down to Selphie, solemn suddenly whereas he had been grinning just a moment earlier. "Scared me to death hearing her scream like that. She really could have been hurt, what if we hadn't been there or hadn't heard her?" Good to voice his thoughts out here, at least, seeing as inside he didn't want to embarass the poor girl further. After all, she'd just gotten the scare of her life.

And look who just walked into a mine field. Le Sigh. Zell, bebopping along without muc of a care in the world is in for just about the most embarassing social situation of his life. Witnesses+Irvine+Selphie+Zell=Fun for the whole family; should said family enjoy Jerry Springer.

"--Yeah! I -know-! I mean," Selphie rants, using her free hand to motion about wildly, "it's a -training center-! With monsters! Who goes in there without a weapon?! Or a -guard- even?! -Ca-razy-!" She soon calms, though, beaming up to the cowboy. "Selphie and Irvine to the rescue, though! We totally saved the day, huh!" Ye-ap... Soon they'll be a comic book. ...Riiight.
Glancing up, Selphie catches a bit of siwrly black and some spiky blonde from the corner of her eye, and -- as mere habit -- raises her hand in a wavewave!, not moving from Irvine's side. "--Wow, hey-- Zell!" And... immediately regrets it, though he might have said to act normal around him. >_> Still, she hasn't seen him in... a long time. Maybe everything'll be okay, now! Eh heh.

And ka-boom! Apparently these mines are hunter-killers. o.O; He glances up to look toward the sound of the familiar, highly energetic voice and smiles some. "Hey Selphie!" He offers her a wave and trots over. Everything /seems/ to be fine.

The grin returns to Irvine's countenance, and it's back into full fledged irritating smugness mode too as Selphie mentions 'saving the day'. He winks at her, arm around her shoulders drawing her in closer for an affectionate squeeze. "Yeah, that we did, didn't we. You were awesome, darlin'."
Glancing up, the hat tilting back slightly, the cowboy then follows her gaze and suddenly pauses, um, oh man. Zell. Uh... talk about an awkward moment. How should he react? Retracting the arm around Selphie, he reaches up to tip his hat to him, at least attempting some sort of greeting. His free hand holds some sorta case, probably one of his silly little guns he treats with such care.

...Okay. Everything seems alright. Zell seems perfectly happy! At least he's not going postal, or something. Smiling brightly, the brunette wavewaves again, this time less obvious. "How ya doin'?" That's a safe question! Yeah! Eh-heh. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, the small girl idly reaches back, tugtugging on the ankle of her boots -- it's a nervous habit, sue her. Selphie is, though, kinda glad that Irvine moved his arm -- just in case... c_c

Whee! Now does Zell no how to kill a mood without even trying or what?! Man. Open PDA to nervous fiddling in under 3 seconds. Damn he's good. Or is that bad? I mean.. he's not /trying/ to make anybody feel odd. He was just walking. It's /your/ fault you came out when you did.. or something equally displacing. "I'm doin' alright I guess." He reaches up to the back of his neck with his right hand and scratches. Thank god none of these kids are psyche majors. Displacement activities abound. Zell's scratching, Selphie's tugging.. Irvine's.... hat. All of it.. Classic examples! "How about you two?" Eek? He grouped them together! Should you read into that, or was it innocent. Aww... damn complicated social situations!

The scene is awkward enough as it is, but hey, it could be worse. It is. Several Cadets have paused walking by, openly staring at the trio over near the training center hallway. Hey, this is juicy stuff! Of course they're gonna stay and see if there's any fireworks. If not, they can always make a few up as the tale gets retold.
Hey, he said 'you two'. Irvine's not quite sure how to take it either, but well, he'll take it for what it's worth. Shoulders shrugging slightly, he smiles lightly, "Doing ok, saving damsels in distress in the training area. Just another day. You?" Typical Irvine, when nervous, fall into the cowboy bravado.

He must be nervous alot, because that's all ya get from Irvine really. Or well.. THat's all Zell ever sees of Irvine. He doesn't get to see the 'real' dead-eye. Just the Wyatt Erp rip.Eh. Nothin' big I don't suppose. Very few people know the real Zell.. mostly because it's widely accepted that 'what you see is what you get' with the spunky blond fighter. "Sounds like fun." He turns to Selphie and grins, "So what were you doing in there without a partner?" There's a wink dropped and it does appear that Zell is right back to his good ol' self. Atleast. That's what you /see/ anyway.

Selphie may be a variable fountain of energy, and cheery to boot, but she's letting Irvine handle most of this! Yep. Nodnodding happily to his response, she beams Zell-wards. Seems that's what's been up with her, too. Clasping both hands around her nunchakus, her smile sort of fades at Zell's words, as if she were lost. Blinking blankly at the boy for a few moments, she finally -- "Tch--! Heeey! Like I'd really need rescuing in the -training center-!"

Wyatt Erp? Nah, Doc Holiday. He has cooler lines. Irvine can't help but grin at Zell's little aside to Selphie. Yeah, things seem somewhat... normal. So far so good. He's definately -not- Farrell at least. Gotta quit lumping fist fighters in the same mental catagory, sheesh. Reaching over to lightly ruffle Selphie's hair he chuckles, "No, we were helping out Miss Raine." Assuming Zell knows her.
      
Zell blinks a couple times at the name of the person they were saving. "Ohhh... Her..." He grins brightly and shakes his head in that sort of definate fashion of his. "Nope. never heard of her." With a wink he stuffs his hands into his back pockets and crosses his left ankle over his right, standing surprisingly still for.. well.. him.

Ducking her head as Irvine ruffles her hair, she does little more than peer at him sideways, straightening what little of her 'do he mussed. "-Well-," she begins, idly swinging the chain of her nunchakus, "She's got long, brown hair, and she's pretty, and she gets into trouble, and she swings like a girl--" Erk. Hey. Zell was joking, huh. >_> "--Heeey!" She's feeling very, very stupid tonight. >_>

Oh yeah, the dream world. Irvine never experienced that, not that he minds, he shoulders most of the burden of memories for the whole group anyway. Biting his tongue to keep from laughing at Selphie's sudden realization, he merely makes an 'mph' sound, then clears his throat. That hat is so fascinating suddenly, and he's just gotta adjust it.

Selphie eyes Irvine sideways, moving to lightly elbow him in the gut -- having heard simply the 'mph.' "...-Anyway-," she lilts, smiling sweetly even as she elbows, "Irvine's gonna assassinate that evil clown guy tomorrow, so~... He needs his rest!" Beaming dangerously up to the cowboy, she adds, "Right?" Yeah, flee. c_c;

Ah-hah! There it is! He's playing with it /again/! You really should train him out of that Selphie :P Give him something else to do with his hands. ... Yes I know how that sounded! Gooooooods you people are sick, I swear! >;<! Eh.. Fine.. just run away from me. "Oh yeah? I'd love to get a piece of that guy.." Not like /that/!!! >.<!!!

Oofing as the elbow connects with his mid-section, Irvine sobers fairly quickly. No, it wasn't the elbowing that caused it. It was the mention of the damned assassination. From relatively amused to broody in 0.6 seconds, niiiiice going. He doesn't even have the humor left to get all smug over Zell's comment regarding his hat and his hands. Maybe later when he thinks about it in retrospect.
"Yeah... tomorrow," he says idly as he rubs the spot just struck by Selphie without thinking about it. He's got to wonder how the two of them can talk so casually about the whole thing. Oh wait, that's right, -they- don't have to do it. He snorts derisively, musing aloud, "And they'll say my mission changed the world and I stood proud or something too..." then, glancing down at the little wonder in yellow, "You staying with me again tonight, Selphie?" Oh let's not be obvious or anything, eh cowboy? Sure, he knows it's all in innocence, but this -is- a reputed playboy in just about everyone else's eyes.

Zell doesn't really think twice about it. He just shrugs his shoulders a little and says, "Well.. I wish I was goin' with you Irvine." Not like /he/ ever gets to actually save the world. He just has a huge mouth and likes to take credit for things that he was actually an infinimatesimally small part of.

Selphie really doesn't think about the impact her mentioning that mission had on the poor cowboy, and almost doesn't even notice it until she hears the detached tone of his voice. Glancing up subtly to Irvine, she mentally kicks herself. Good -going-, Selphie. Jeez. And! Just as she starts to think of something to say to cheer the cowboy up... He goes and asks her something incriminating in front of -Zell-. >_>; Unable to tone down that pink on her cheeks, Selphie nodnods, -trying- to not be phased by the vocalization of her being used as a teddy-bear. "--Y-yeah! I gotta make sure you go to sleep, right?" Eh heh.. Heh.

Thing is, Irvine doesn't -wanna- save the world or anything silly like that. Hell, if he could, he'd just hand the gun to Zell, pat him on the back and gladly let him take over. Unfortunately, the world just doesn't work that way. Some higher power decided to play a sick joke on him and give him the sharpshooting skills and someone else thought it'd be just dandy for him to be an assassin, put that talent to good use, son!
Anyway, the gunman has finally realized what he just asked aloud and really has to resist the urge to facepalm. He sighs, definately time for sleep. "Yeah, darlin'... " Reaching up, he tips the hat again to Zell, "Good to see you around again, man, I need to hit the hay." With a look at Selphie that basically says: Follow when you want, he strides off down the atrium tiles, disappearing around the bend if not stopped by someone.

Zell nods a little at that, "C'ya later Irvine.."

Selphie glances back and forth between the two boys, looking almost torn for a short moment. ...Er. Er. Er! Waving quickly to Zell, even as she steps towards the retreating cowboy, she chirps, "Nice seein' ya again! Drop by, okay? Bye~ee!" And, also, unless stopped, she runs to catch up with Irvine. Tch! She's gonna give him an -earful- later...! Never, ever, -ever- leave a girl in a situation like that! Girls can leave guys in them, tho.