Who:  Serena (Siren), Terra Branford, Lucrecia Blankenship, Irvine Kinneas, Ward Zabac, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, Vincent Valentine.
Where: Garden Atrium.
Why:  Well... it started out innocently enough!
Date of Log:  August 6th, 2000.     


Siren is just descending the stairs from the elevator, tugging for a moment on her sleeves as though uncomfortable wearing the uniform. But... well... she should be used to it, right? She pauses near the directory, looking around at the passing youngsters. But really, she can't be much older than the rest, right? A smile curves her generous lips, pleased with what she sees. Or is that amused?

        Terra is sitting upon one of the benches, leaning against the wall dividing the indoor pool from the pathway and looking thoughtfully at a book. One hand's fingers are splayed through her hair, and her face looks rather distant; all in all, it's an amano_pose. Although she's not wearing anything all that frilly, nor is she looking THAT unhealthy.

For those that remember seeing her, she doesn't look like the woman that once came to this place, afriad of whispers and stares, looking at this place with more than a mild spate of disbelief. She also looks young enough to blend in with some of the older students... maybe the faculty, but that's pushing it, as a hand moves to rub at her neck. In her other fingers is grasped an old leather bullwhip, fingers clutching the item here and there, before she glances around. Hmm. No Quistis. Just as well, as Lucrecia's been practicing on her own, but... it would be nice to show her teacher how she's been improving, bit by bit. But for now, she comes to pause near the directory, but her gaze doesn't stop at the person there, but the one on the bench. Familiar.... oh yes. The one that helped her with the questions, earlier.

Ding dong, Kefka's gone... well, severely injured anyway. Too much to ask that he be mortally wounded or something. Or just plain dead. Anyway, Irvine's been fairly well holed up in, at first, the infirmary, and after that in his room. He's almost been afraid to wander back out into the rest of Garden, having tried so hard to seperate himself from everyone before the execution of the mission. Now, however, he's decided to wander and see who's about while Selphie's asleep in his room. *shhh* Hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, he's strangely without most of his cowboyish gear. No duster, no chaps. Just the hat and his usual vest plus the fingerless gloves he's fond of wearing. He pauses as he recognizes a few, Terra, he talked to her once, and Lucrecia... though she's only vaguely remembered and the gunman can't quite place where he last saw her. (And believe it or not, he doesn't immediately notice the disguised Siren.)

Siren looks around, considering. She spots Terra and her smile grows... mischevious. Well, let's see just how alert Terra is. Will she recognize her aunt? Probably not, but it should be fun to confuse her. Good target, yes. That decided, the Esper heads toward the bench, her walk too full of grace to be human, for those who would watch that closely.

Terra does have an ace in her sleeve; while she isn't an instant-recognizer type, she did catch onto Phoenix pretty quickly. Of course, Phoenix was kind of helpful - and she had another bird sitting in her head to help out. She turns a page, letting out a faint sigh; maybe she ought to take a day off soon, but what could she do? She can't catch the train into Timber and take a tour or anything like that... maybe go skiing. But there's so much to do. Sigh. No, she's not Ami Mizuno; she has -green- hair, not blue.

If only the Clown had gone down in a smear of paint. Then Lucrecia could do her study in earnest... and probably less physically. But she decided to learn, for good or ill, how to protect herself, in Vincent's absence. Whatever brought it on, it's clung, and she plans on seeing it through. Just how far? As far as her body will let her, most likely... and it seems to be heading well so far. Still, there is a slight pause when another person comes into her field of vision, and there's a moment of quiet introspection at her movements. But it's brief, head shaking just a touch. Almost too graceful, but there's no example to append the movement to... so she doesn't. Instead, gaze wanders, coming to spy Irvine.... at the lack of his duster, she idly wonders if Selphie got a hold of it, after the girl came in and found her dressed in Vincent's clothes? It isn't asked, however, as she leans back against the side railing, gaze unconsciously coming back to Siren. Something's... off, but she can't place her mind on what it is yet.

Siren's graceful walk is most definately noticed by the cowboy, though it's not viewed with suspicion so much as a bit of fascination. Though Irvine *really* does try to behave himself for Selphie, old habits die hard. Transfixed, he watches her approach Terra and considers walking over there himself, if for no other reason then to possible meet the strange Cadet. Odd, he knows most of the populace of the Garden's students (especially the females) and he doesn't recognize her in the slightest. Indeed, he does start in that direction, finally.

Ward approaches from the direction of the West Atrium, legs finally having started to cramp juuuust a bit from sitting in the Quad staring out the window forever. Harpoon slung over his shoulder, he begins to walk towards the entrance with the intention of going outside to see what's going on...once he stops by his room for something warm, anyway. If he has anything. Admittedly, white tank tops aren't particularly good winter wear, hey, Ward's got a layer of muscle.

Siren doesn't speak until she is near enough to Terra to converse without raising her voice. "Good evening... Terra, isn't it?" When she speaks, her voice is musical... a pure pleasure to listen to. But alas, it is unrecognizable, with just a slight southern style drawl to her words. Her smile is warm and outgoing. This lady could be a real charmer if she ever put her mind to it.

Terra looks up from her book, with a slight start. Eek! "Yes it is, ma'am," she says, smiling at her disturber and closing the book (slipping a ribbon in it - no, not a Ribbon, just... a piece of ribbon - to mark her place) to give her full attention. Politeness over everything, after all! "Did you need something?" Maybe it's a visiting mother of one of the children she has to shepherd... although how would she have gotten HERE?

No, she doesn't look that old. Unless she had a child /very/ early. But what can Lucrecia say about that? Heck, her own son and she could pass for brother and sister, not some sort of pareental relationship. But she doesn't say anything on the like, head tilting just a touch, continuing to watch... hm? Irvine is heading that way? Now... this should be interesting, if a certain cowboy's reputation preceeds. There's still something off about this particular 'cadet'... she's just waiting to what it is, for the moment.

Woo! Selphie must have a guardian angel keeping an eye on Irvine, cause a nice distraction presents itself, in the form of Ward Zabac, before he actually reaches Terra and the mysterious cadet. The cowboy pauses in mid-stride and suddenly diverts his path toward the larger man, since he hasn't actually seen him since... the attempt to rescue Cloud. He hasn't forgotten that Ward kept him from becoming a blood stain on ShinRa's tile floor. Good thing Ward arrived too, if the sharpshooter had heard that voice, he probably would have melted.
"Howdy, Ward," he drawls, waving at him to get his attention. "Haven't seen you inna few."

Ward passes the infirmary, and begins to go past the directory, when he's stopped by one of the few people in Garden that he doesn't have to bend over to see...just look down a little bit. :P Speaking no more than usual, Ward merely grins, glad to see the cowboy up and about yet again, having heard more than enough about the condition he supposedly returned in after Balamb. Naturally, unable to say hello, Ward merely raises his hand and waves.

Siren tilts her head as she looks at Terra, her smile turning just a bit mysterious. "Just thought I'd come say hi. I saw you when I toured Garden. Your name stuck in my mind." She grins, "Serena Handel. It's a pleasure." She offers her hand, then. Yep, there's definite music in her tone. Man, she could make a fortune as a singer.

Terra reaches out and accepts the hand, shaking it in the cold-fish/limp-wrist way she has. Why? Well, even if she -was- raised in a somewhat more fascist version of Garden, there are some things a lady does not do. Celes might've broken that conditioning, but, well. c.c She's not Celes. As Locke made abundantly clear. "I'm glad to meet you, ma'am," she says with another fleeting smile, sitting up a bit. OK, she's a gosh darn SeeD.

"....." Okay, she's straining, to hear bits of peices of that speech, but there's something oddly... familiar about it all? Hm. It's not really coming to Lucrecia at the moment. And she's getting tired of standing, considering up til now, she was training just outside the more dangerous parts of the Training Center. Eventually... she's going to have to go in. But for right now, it's not possible, as she settles upon the bench on the opposite side, head tilting to rest back against the railing. Ward is spied, just from the corner of her eye -- new? Hmm. Not very talkative, either.

Irvine finds himself having to look up at Ward, which is slightly surreal as he's used to looking down at most of the people around him. Both hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans again, he tilts his head slightly and grins, "I wanted to thank you, hadn't gotten the chance." Funny, there's not a mark on him to suggest ShinRa had turned him into a giant block of swiss cheese not that long ago. Though he seems absorbed in talking to the larger man, he can't quite help but glance over toward Terra and the myserious cadet briefly.

Ward frowns for a sec, not looking angry so much as confused... "....?" Then he determines what Irvine must mean -- the catch on the top floor of Shinra. "..!" He takes on an 'Oh!' expression, and shakes his head, waving his hand dismissively and smiling. He would've done the same for anyone, no worries. ...Of course, with that same human curiosity that keeps people walking past 'DANGER: DO NOT ENTER' signs, Ward looks over Irvine's shoulder as he glances back, but unlike Irvine doesn't see the significance of the sight. What? It's Terra and an anonymous SeeD gal. Even if he doesn't know Terra well, he was around during the Shinra mission, after all.

Siren looks Terra over for a long moment, thought giving an independent life to her glittering crystal eyes. But whatever that thought is, she keeps it quite to herself. "Garden is such a big place," she comments. Her drawl is slow, "Even if we can't really leave right now, there's so much room in here, I hardly know what to do with myself. How do you occupy your time, if I can ask?"

Terra laughs and rubs her neck, a little embarrased. "Well, I don't find myself at loose ends usually.. ah, I help take care of the children here, and I'm studying for exams..." She gestures at the book she'd been reading through ("How to Kill" volume 23) to accent her comment. "And... well, there's all sorts of things." Especially when the idea of 'leisure time' is kind of foriegn.

Obviously Ward doesn't know Irvine all that well, or his reputation for that matter. However, the cowboy does at least know that the larger man is a mute and at the gestures he grins and reaches up to tip his hat as he takes a few retreating steps back, his gratitude now expressed. (Hey, the hat looks slightly smokey around the edges, someone take a lighter to it or something?) That done, he turns, returning to his course in Terra and the mysterious cadet's direction.

Ward blinks, watching Irvine promptly turn around and begin to walk away...eyeing the cowboy for a second, a bit of the gossip floating around as well as what he knows of Irvine comes into play. Giving Irvine a sidelong look and surmising his purpose now, Ward just leans on a railing and pulls out a sheet of paper with a small map of Garden, looking like he's considering the map. Oh, what a twisted web we weave.

Siren wrinkles her nose after being shown the title of Terra's book. Evidentally, she doesn't care much for killing. But SeeDs are trained to fight, and kill when necessary. Slip up? Maybe, but Siren just isn't the sort to put on /that/ much of a disguise. Waste of human life is something that she can't help but find distaste in. Even in the cases where the person clearly deserves to lose his or her life (example: Kefka). She smiles again quickly, "Well, I've always been more the sort to plan social events, but taking care of the children sounds like it could be fun. Do you enjoy it?" She notices Irvine's approach with peripheral vision and flashes him a brief grin - mischief still there. But it's Terra who has the majority of her attention.

"Well.. I suppose it is," Terra says with a shrug. Oh, it's that nice cowboy, the one Selphie seems to like. She waves, with a smile; she's seen -him- around, even if he hasn't seen -her-. It's a common enough syndrome; after all, the important people all have other people to deal with, and can't spare time for mere peons like her. She's utterly and completely normal. Yes. "And I do, yes," she adds, in response to the other part of it. Looking back at Serena, she blinks. "Are you sure we haven't met before?"

Selphie's guardian angel seems to have run off to take a nap, or maybe she's doing something that requires the angel to be present. Who knows. Irvine slows as he draws in closer to Terra and the mysterious cadet (tm). Reaching up, he tips his hat to Terra, even being so gentlemanly like to bow forward slightly. "Evenin' Terra." And with the same polite gesture toward 'Serena', "Evenin', Miss." His eyes linger just a little too long on 'Serena' too.

Ward remains leaning on the railing, eyebrows raised in Irvine's direction...not that he considers anything -outright- wrong...after all, teenagers will be teenagers. Look out! Here comes one of Ward's rare mental slips into the past, and for a little while he considers having been a teenager at Galbadia Garden. A trip through memory lane, including a handful of stupid pranks thanks to associating with Laguna and Kiros (well...Laguna) and the occasional interesting girl met while one of his friends was dating, thanks to Kiros and Laguna (well...yeah, both.) Hey, it's not his fault he looked like a refugee from the WWF even at nineteen.

Siren chuckles, "I don't really recall. I've never introduced myself to you that I remember." She can't help but grin. A hand raises to capture a lock of her firelight hair, twirling it around her finger idly. She turns her attention on Irvine and smiles politely. "Gd'evening, sir." Uncurling hair from finger, she offers her hand to Irvine. "Serena Handel. It's a pleasure." For the moment. Might not be for much longer, but we'll see. She glances at Terra with a question in her eyes as though to ask if Irvine is safe to associate with. She might /know/ these people by name, but she really only /knows/ Vincent. Well, and Terra. And Lu, a little.

Terra does a quick doubletake at Siren, mouth opening for a moment; why? Well, after all. She just flirted -at- IRVINE. From what she gathers, that's something along the lines of 'tricking the Devil' or 'out-terseness-ing Fuujin' in terms of likelihood. She nods slightly, not yet really getting over whatever it was that just astounded her, before folding her hands in her lap rather primly and doing her fleeting smile thing at them both. Aw. And it lasted.. *cl-click* 2.3 seconds. She ought to train some endurance into those muscles.

Completely unaware that he's probably about to bury himself six feet under, Irvine seems strangely transfixed by 'Serena', -but- there's a swift kick from somewhere in the back of his mind, perhaps that Guardian Angel coming back and panicking to see the cowboy getting in over his head. So, instead of lifting that hand to kiss it as he used to do before, he merely shakes hands gently with a cryptic half smile crossing his lips. Yeah, he noticed the flirtatious gesture too. "Irvine Kinneas, Garden sharpshooter. Nice t'meet you, Miss Handel."

Dum de dum! Selphie bops down the hall, heading... Er. Somewhere. You see, Selphie has been drinking Soda after Soda after Soda, etc, etc, since early evening. And she quite likes this extra boost of energy! Even if it might be like putting rocket-boosters on a cheetah. Anyway, she boppity-bops down the hall, singin' a little ditty as she does so. "--...candy girl! You are my world! ..Da da da! Hmm hmm laa!" Life is good, la la la, life is sweet, la la la, Irvine's flirting, la la l--WHAT?! Okay, wait -- reassess the situation, Selphie! Pausing in her boppity-bopping to hide behind a largish plant, she looks the scene over. Irvine, okay. Some... chick. Okay. Irvine holding ha--No! No! Shaking hands! Irvine -shaking- hands with a pretty girl. "..." Irvine breathing in another girl's direction is a Bad Thing in Selphie's book, no matter how much she claims to trust the cowboy.
So. The conclusion is met: Irvine is flirting, despite the obvious logic that says 'he's behaving himself' and 'it's just a handshake!' This being said, it rather explains -- well, mostly -- why (not 30 feet away, mind you) the girl suddenly fall!s to the ground on her knees, looking horridly pitiful, tugging at a napkin that she procured from seemingly nowhere with her teeth, and sniffle!'ing. "Wo is meee!" Give her a minute before she starts the physical harm.

Ward is snapped free of his reverie more than a little violently. ".....!!!" If he could talk now, boy, you wonder what'd be coming out of his mouth -- his head snaps down to look at Selphie, then up to look at Irvine, then down at Selphie again, and abruptly he groans. The groan comes out as more of an exasperated sigh due to Ward's vocal cord trouble, and he just covers his eyes with his hand...and ponders turning and walking in another direction quickly, NOW, before things get...really, really ugly. "......" Unfortunately, poor Ward is just talking to himself, since nobody in range really gets what he's saying.

Siren smiles, allowing her hand to be shaken. A pity she doesn't see Selphie, or she could save both of the lovebirds quite a bit of trouble. Ah well, she's just an Esper, not an omniscient, omnipresent god. "A sharpshooter?" she asks in her soft, musical voice. "How fascinating. Is it as hard as it looks?"

Terra waves to Selphie, obliviously. She does look concerned at the 'woe is me'; is she unhappy at something? A quick glance at Irvine; no, he's intact, it can't be that. So she just glances over at Siren a bit quizzically. 'Siren?' she thinks/sends/communicates - it's the SHINING, darn it! - at the blonde. 'Oh, the girl over there is Selphie. She's nice, if a little... well... do you remember Relm? She's a bit like that.'

Irvine loves any opportunity to discuss his vocation, and shrugs his shoulders lightly, "No, actually, it's a talen--" Huh? Wha...? As if some sort of spell had somehow been broken, Irvine blinks and glances over his shoulder at the sound of Selphie falling. Cool and collected one moment, suddenly those baby blue eyes are wide and he's whirling around now to face Selphie's general direction. Serena who? Terra who? Of course, he just kinda stands there, stunned. Should he go to Selphie? Or is she about to seriously kick the cowboy all over the Atrium?

Staying in said overdramatic position for a bit longer -- pausing to wavewave to Terra -- she takes Irvine's turning around as her cue. Hop!ing up, she stompstomp!s her foot, looking almost like a little kid having a temper tantrum in a candy store. Or an Irvine store, or something. "Total anti-booyaka!" Now turning that stomp into an advance towards the cowboy, nose wrinkled, looking more cute than intimidating -- unless you know her, in which case, fear -- she stops -right- in front of Irvine. Hands on her hips, craning her neck almost literally to look up at him from this angle, she... beams, suddenly. "Hi, Irvy~! o/~" ...Uh. That's like... bad. WAY too sugary and liltly to be good.

Ward watches Selphie stand and walk over to Irvine with an eyebrow raised...that girl has too much energy. (Note he knows about the photo blackmail. It only serves to reinforce this idea.) Shaking his head, he folds the map of Garden up and slips it into a pocket, pushing himself off from the railing and pondering walking towards the entrance like he planned. ...Of course, that girl is kind of cute, but hey, he's either older than her by about thirty or ten years, so he doesn't bother. Besides, he's not Laguna or Kiros, so he doesn't stand a chance. End result: Ward stands there. Yep. Like a rock.

Siren gives Terra a grin of amusement, then glances Selphie-wards. Her grin fades just a bit then... This could be bad. Of course, with Irvine whirling around, she has to actually peer /around/ him to see the fallen woman. She glances again at Terra, question in her eyes. . o O (Selphie, I'm guessing, is Irvine's romantic interest?) O o . Well, that's one way of putting it.

Terra taps her chin a bit and looks thoughtfully at the two of them. 'I suppose,' she thinks at Siren with the sound of cluelessness in her mental_voice, 'I don't really understand a lot of those things... they're close, I know that much. She was very worried once, when he was badly hurt.' She knows Selphie passingly well, and tries to defuse the situation; clearing her throat a little, she says "He was just saying hello to me, Selphie, that's all." Will it be heard? Heeded? Probably not. But she tried!

Be-boping along without a clue in the world as to the dramatics he's bound for, Zell seems without a care in the world. Typical him, right? Yup. The status quo at its best. Erf. The sweetness he hears in the air makes him want to go brush his teeth and it stops him dead. He's heard that tone of voice before. Several times. Right before he'd be slapped upside the head by some cute cadet he'd've been talking to; not even flirting either. In his innocence, he said something, they responded with solid sugar and he had a ringing in his ear for the next hour. Go figure. Maybe it's a flashback, but a moment later, he cringes and ponders going back the way he came. But waugh! He wants a hotdog and if he goes around they'll be out by the time he gets there! Le_sigh.

Yeah, he's dead. Irvine doesn't wince or anything like that. He just slumps, shoulders first, then his expression, eyes closing as he reaching up with one hand to rub at his temple. So, yeah, he wasn't being a little angel walking up to talk to Terra and, more specifically, Serena but for god's sake, he -was- trying to behave. What's Selphie want him to do? Avoid being anywhere near the large number of SeeD and Cadet female in the Garden? That's impossible! (Not to mention half the time Irvine doesn't even realize he's being a flirt in the first place.) The rest of the Atrium is fairly well forgotten, since he knows Selphie's upset with him, he's too busy focusing on placating her to realize there's a growing crowd. So, let's just cut to the chase, hmmm? "Selphie this is -not- what it looks like." Will it work? Probably not, she's got a -mean- temper when she thinks the cowboy isn't being faithful.

Blinking her eyes widely, innocently, she cocks her head up at the In Trouble Cowboy. "--Huh? Not what what looks like?" Play it dumb, good girl. As if anyone really -believes- this act. "...OH! Oh!" She leeeans over to peek behind Irvine, to Siren. Beam. Then straightens, turning a now toothy grin up to him. "Silly! Why would I think something like that, when I -know- and -trust- you to never, ever flirt with another girl?" Jeez! Face suddenly darkening, eyes squinting, she adds in a slower, deeper voice, "--Because I know you valued your physical and mental health." ...Good God.

In walks Vincent. He appears, at first, to be on his way from the former entrance to Garden, heading for the right curve of the circular hall. That changes as he sees the scene that is more or less in his way. More or less... Is he sensing the rising tension from the small gathering? The gunman's attention travels from Selphie, to Irvine, to Terra... and 'Serena'... Serena warrants a very long glance and the abrupt change in Vincent's journey. He begins to approach the group - for all intents, it might very well seem his 'honed sense for trouble' is drawing him in, for his attention is forced back to Selphie and Irvine, though his path will put him near Serena. His words? None, but there is a sharp question in his glance returned briefly to the 'young SeeD woman'.

Ward just stands by, yep. Nothing interesting here. Move along, people, show's over, move al--well, you get the idea. In fact, he can't really bear to watch, and yet for some reason rather than walking away he sits down on a nearby bench and occupies himself with the aforementioned map of Garden, this time honestly trying to see if he remembers everything. After all, his experience is essentially limited to the Rotunda, the Infirmary, and the Quad. :/

Siren's eyes travel to Vincent briefly and she winks at him, showing a grin that can /only/ belong to Siren. In fact, where Serena had stood, Siren now stands, feathers and all. Must be nice to be able to do that. She looks over at Selphie then, around Irvine still. Without speaking, she simply waits to be recognized. If those feathers and harp don't give her away, nothing will.

Terra hangs her head slightly, hand coming up to rest at the side of her face, violet eyes closing and a faint sigh escaping her lips. 'Excuse me,' she thinks at Siren - oh, who's decided to stop fooling around, perhaps a little too late - before standing up to walk towards Selphie and Irvine. She heard evvvvery word that Selphie said, and, well, isn't happy with it. "Selphie," she says quietly - and with great assurance! - "he didn't mean anything by it." What 'it' is is perhaps open to (mis)interpretation... Why would she be leaping to the defense? A desire for public safety? Or lust for cowboys?

Oh like that's gunna work! It never has! Nope. Never. It usually ends up with someone dead or effectively castrated for the rest of eternity. Sorry Irvie. Maybe a curaga will fix it? But I don't even think /that/ will cure the psychological effects of a beatdown from a woman half the size of Zell. There's no way to take this like a man. Just cry. It, on the other hand, has an effectiveness rating of 99.9%, unless the target should hapen to be a man hating lez. In which case, you're screwed. So.. Unless Selphie made a discovery in the last thir-... Note to self: Make addition to waterworks immunity chart; Psycho Chicks with Nunchaku... At any rate, our blond hotdog fiend begins to walk past the scene, hands stuffed into his pockets and gaze lowered at the ground as if Selphie's words were directed at him. Just let him get past.. just let him get past...

Now Irvine winces. Selphie -does- have a real mean streak when it comes to her cowboy. And, it's clear to him that she -is- upset, clearly the victim of her sugar coated venom. Now what? Irvine's not quite adept yet at calming the Selphie-Temper (tm) since he's only really ever evoked it a couple of times in the first place. Half of him is really tempted to get just as angry in return. What the heck is her problem? She runs around flirting with Logan and he doesn't get angry with her... well, she wasn't really flirting with him overtly. So, well, he wasn't really flirting with Serena in that way either and dammit, this has -got- to stop. His thoughts are reflected in his expression, the somewhat timid confusion turning harder, blue eyes darkening to a stormy color. "Selphie, that's quite enough. If you can't trust me..." he lets that thought trail off, though his eyes finish it for him. 'Don't you threaten me like that.' Of course, since Siren is behind him, he has no idea that she's changed form. Terra, however, does get his attention and a good thing too as she pulls him back from the brink of losing his own temper. (Which is rare, Irvine's usually too laid back to get that worked up over something.) He nods to Terra, then looks to Selphie for her response.

The GF standing behind Irvine hasn't exactly registered in Selphie's brain, yet. Nor is Vincent! Or Zell. Sheesh! And -hey-! She -so- doesn't flirt with Logan! Irvine's just sooo~ mega jealous that it's not even funny. Not that -she- ever gets that way. Nuh-uh. Of course, never, -ever- did she -ever- imagine Irvine fighting back in this instances. Can't he -see-! She's just totally worried about -her- Irvine running off with some floozy. Which really, you know, is a bad thing, since trust is supposedly a large part of a healthy relationship, but who said it was -healthy-? And -as- Irvine does indeed stand up for himself, any negative features she made have possessed dissapear, replaced by a blank, wide, blink. Wha? Then -Terra- joins in. Heeey! --Oh, didn't she say something earlier? Something about 'just saying' and 'to me'? Ah, well, not important now. What was she worried about again? ....Yes! Terra, sticking up for Irvine. Heck, -Irvine- sticking up for Irvine! Mouth opening a bit, she looks back and forth between the two, looking... Well, like 'mega wow' is what she'd say, if her mouth weren't hanging open.
A few longish moments later, she... smile!s. "--Jeez, guys, can't you tell when I'm joking? Wow! I totally had you guys going, huh!" The SD-Selphie in her mind kicks around some important things.
                                                                
What a show. But Vincent, with his calm demeanor, is little affected by the aspect. Siren appears as herself before he reaches her side. His stride isn't in the least interupted, as if the woman had not gone from 'human' to 'bird-woman' in a blink of an eye. "Well?" he asks quietly. Finally, he's spoken. "What brings you out tonight?" he asks Siren, as mildly as if such behavior is expected without resignation. Not that he'd think of interupting Irvine and Selphie's conversation in the slightest. Well... not unless it turns to blows. Then... there may be something said about it.

Ward rustles the paper slightly, turning a bit so the map is oriented the right way, then looks over at the entrance, and then at the direction the 'Library' is indicated...and in doing so spots one not entirely familiar face. He raises a hand to wave to Zell, his fellow avoiding-Irvine-and-Selphie-ier. Actually, he'd like to talk to Zell, since he never really got to know the guy who helped him out all those times in the past...but that can wait. Obviously, they're both busy avoiding watching Irvine or Selphie. Couldn't you notice?

Siren smiles warmly for Vincent. Now here's a guy who gets the full effects of Siren's charm. She just genuinely likes her pet. Can't help it, he's cool. But cool or not, he doesn't immediately get a reply. Instead, she looks over at Selphie, "My dear Selphie, take pity on your young man. He really was being quite innocent." Dare you to argue with her! I mean, it's not like she couldn't smite pretty much anyone she chooses to... really! She tsks Selphie gently, but her smile continues to show amusement. Her attention turns, for the moment, to Vincent. "You've not needed me of late, and I thought I would see what entertainment could be found about Garden. Things progress well for you, I hope my dear?"
Siren's voice, if it was musical before, is a symphony now. And that slight accent fades away. Yep, it's definitely Siren.

Terra .... puts her hands on her hips. That's a fairly bad sign, if not on the same level as Selphie being overly sugary. (Is she being humorless? Mmmmaybe c.c) "You shouldn't try to imply something... something like that," she says in a slightly scolding tone, looking downward and taking full advantage of her five inch overloom of Selphie. =_= Yes, she knows it was (mostly) joking, but she's not very happy at people using threatened violence at -all-. Yes, fight, Terra! For everlasting peace! "Not even if you didn't mean it." Hmph. And with that, she folds her arms in front of her. Irvine's getting... ignored for the moment, since he did nothing wrong other than wear too much leather for any individual person to have on at one time.

And Zell stops. It's the voice he hears at first. Even when she's not singing there's a certain draw from the sound of her words. His gaze lifts and ends up being filled by the mountain of a man they call Ward. He simply eyes the other for a moment before starting toward him, his hands still stuffed deep into his pockets. The scene behind him apparently forgotten.

Pause. Reflect. Selphie-Temper (tm) is gone, poof, flushed. Well. This leaves Irvine slightly dumbfounded for a reaction, seeing as momentum was carrying further forward toward defending himself. Ah, but he does recover quickly, confusion replaced with a sly half-smirk crossing his lips. It's that 'Oh you -so- are not fooling me with that attempted save, little Missy' kind of look. Still, there is a good dose of relief flooding through him. He'll have to remember that, sticking up for himself works better then placating her.
So, with the time-bomb effectively, as far as he knows, defused, the cowboy begins to realize the rest of the world does in fact exist and there's quite an audience here now for this. Suddenly he wishes he could really find a nice rock to hide under. Especially as he hears 'Serena's' voice and glances over his shoulder to see Siren in all her glory.

Pause.

Panic. Guardian Force within close range. He whirls around, those baby blue eyes really really wide again, staring straight at Siren. He's speechless.

Okay, she can handle this. --Uh. That voice. Peering again behind Irvine, she finds that... uh... 'Serena' is a... GF? Irvine was flirting with a GF?! She may very well faint. --But she doesn't, no, she just... blinks widely at the wing`ed lady, nodding ever-so-slowly. Okay, whatever you say, Ms. Guardian Force. '_' Straightening, however, she turns her attention back to Irvine and Terra -- and -- she's getting -chided-?! By -Terra-?! The woman that didn't understand the concept of feminine products?! Oh, man -- this is too much! And Irvine's smirk...! She's in -so- much trouble. Total suckage. "Uh!", is her intelligent response, as she kinda slumps, arms crossing. "I was just -playing-," lie/pouts the girl. Hrmph! What a total bummer. Of course, anything else she might say to Terra is rather forgotten, as Irvine wigs out. "--!" Hey, yeah... Irvy hates magic and stuff! That'll teach -him- to flirt with other girls... "Irvy? Chill out...!" Aww, poor cowboy. Selphie places her hands on his arm, tugtugging at his sleeve. Hers. >_>

Vincent answers, "Lucrecia and I have come to understand a little more..." he manages a nod in response for Siren's words. But then his gaze is brought back to Selphie and Irvine quite nicely by the other gunman's reaction. "Irvine?" He's not asking /what's/ wrong. He'd have to be dense not to realize they're reacting to Siren. He's seeking a response, simple as that. Can't have the poor guy going into shock hmm?

Ward offers Zell the seat next to him, starts to turn, and...hellllo. GF on the horizon. Ahoy! Or, better yet, Oy! Ward's fascination with the idea of Guardian Forces kicks into full effect like a Mack truck meeting a brick wall. It's not listed in his information any more, but Ward has had a desire to explore the idea of GFs someday, the idea of having a friend as well as a powerful ally. Of course, he's never really followed up on this. I mean, you don't -ask- for a GF. You nuts? And so it is that Ward merely looks surprised, although a faint chime of recognition rings from the days when Laguna and Kiros and he could summon such powerful beings...Siren included.

Uh oh. Stark terror is never good, and it wasn't even intended. Siren sighs and glances at Vincent, managing a smile for him, "Excellent, my dear." Of course, then there's the whole depression thing about not being needed by Vincent anymore, and that's a real bummer. But... Back to Irvine. Her musical voice is gentle, "I'll not harm you, Irvine, intentionally or accidentally." She, too, waits for a response then. Is she going to have to put him to sleep to get him to relax?

Terra looks at Irvine. For a long moment. Her lips tighten and she just stares for a moment; she's not the most intuitive of people, as far as others go, but she can certainly tell this sort of emotion. Anger, fear, hatred; the Dark Side are they. And she - well, she doesn't like seeing that on someone. Sigh. Now she's in a quandrary; she just lost a lot of whatever fledgling urge she had to be directly associated with Irvine (under the heading of 'if he doesn't like my aunt, wait til he sees me') but she -also- would really, really, really not like to leave someone in some kind of terrified condition in regards to her extended family. Sigh.... "Irvine?" she says, a little gently; yes, she's going to be helpful. ._.

Zell smiles a little and nods toward Ward briefly before the much larger man's attention is stolen away by Siren, in all her feathered glory. The spikey-headed blond gives in after a moment and turns around to look back over his shoulder at the scene. His eyes drift from the strategicly feathered one, to the natural green-headed one, to the undead master himself, to Doc Holiday, and finally the sugar plum fairy before it moves back across the whole lot of them to Siren and Terra. Well.. now that the natural 'duck and run' instinct has gone, things might turn out to be a little interesting. Maybe it's a good thing he came this way after all!

Oh yeah, this'll teach him from now on. He can just see walking up to a new girl and asking her flat out if she's a Guardian Force in disguise first. Sure. -That'll- happen. Feeling the blood drain from his face, Irvine has to fight the desire to just give some poor excuse to walk away. Quickly. Luckily, Selphie distracts him a moment and he just -looks- at her for some sort of understanding. She knows how much he totally avoids magic and the thought of junctioning with anything that eats away the memories he's so carefully stored. Sure it does leave him weaker then those who embrace the idea, but the cold steel of a shotgun is all he damn well needs as far as he's concerned.
*sigh* And Vincent's seen it too. And he's questioning the reaction, just lovely. Ok, calm down heartbeat, stop drumming so loud. He forces himself to calm down, somehow managing to pull up that cool, collected fascade he tosses up like a shield whenever someone tells him he's got another 'mission'. He goes from terrified to completely calm in 0.5 seconds, it's -not- natural, folks. (Heck, he even thinks he's stopped breathing for a moment.) All that just so he can reply to poor Siren, "I'm fine, it was just... unexpected." He twitches despite himself, posture and stance extremely tense.

Sigh! The things Selphie puts up with for this cowboy. Tch! As he offers his excuses to all concerned, she gives a little apologetic smile to Terra -- it was a nice thought. "--He's just a little jumpy lately!", she covers. "After that last mission n'all! You understand, right?" Beaming, she does what she does best -- twist a potentially bad situation into something totally unrelated and wholly strange. With another tugtug on Irvine's sleeve, she beams s'more, bubbling, "So! How 'bout that local sports team, huh!" Riiiight, Selphie. She really is just trying to help! Cover for Irvine's fear of GFs, change the subject, you know.

What's this? Vincent is reaching with the intent of placing a hand on Siren's nearest shoulder. Comfort? Well, that's what it seems. His eyes remain on Irvine however, regardless toward whether or not Siren allows for the touch. Hm. A brief nod is given, "It is late. And you are recently healed." he says now, addressing Irvine for the most part. "May I suggest you seek more rest? And Selphie can help you." He's giving Irvine an out from public eye... an out or a discreet order to relax a bit. It's Irvine's call on how to interpret it, for Vincent's own features show little emotion.

Ward still hasn't pulled his eyes off the scene. It's like a bad television scene, except he's kinda...right there, you know? Hoo boy. Ward turns vague thoughts about the whole GF thing in his mind over, thoughts he's considered for a while (and not just what it's like to junction), and otherwise doesn't particularly do anything interesting. ...Oh, he puts the map of Garden back in his pocket absently. Right.

Aww, Vinnie! Siren has such a good pet! She smiles gratefully at Vincent and nods her silent thanks. She doesn't speak again to Irvine, having traumatized the poor boy enough for one night. Instead, her words are a soft lullaby directed at the Goth Gunman(tm), "I'll return to my realm. If you have need of me, you know you have only to call." No, her exit isn't really graceful. She's a GF... it doesn't need to be. She glances at Terra and nods to her niece. A thought crosses her mind, and she projects it to both Vincent and Terra, not needing a voice to communicate with these two (for different reasons, naturally). . o O ( I apologize for the trouble I have caused this night. ) O o . And from that tone, it's unlikely she'll be back soon without being called. Maybe it's time for her to restrict herself to the Esper Realm. Maybe her service to the humans should be at an end. It isn't exactly how she wants it, but she'll accept it. And with that, she disappears.

Terra opens her mouth half-way and looks over towards Siren, and - then her shoulders sag slightly, and she glances at Irvine. Who's stiff as a board. And panicked, clearly. Siren's not frightening! She... she could understand how one could be afraid of -Bahamut-, maybe, or -Alexander-. Certainly Diablos or Ifrit. Maybe even Shiva or Quetzacoatl. But... being afraid of Siren is like being afraid of Carbunkle! It just... doesn't work. Heck, if anything, Siren ought to be more appealing than Carbunkle to Irvine, although either of them would probably be as snuggle-able. She walks over to the bench to get her book, and then turns to walk off towards her room; Irvine is hurt, apparently, and was under all this stress, so she won't risk adding to it in any way, shape, or form. Sniff. ._.

Zell's eyes turn from person to person quietly, though the focus most on Siren and Irvine, who seem to be the focus of everyone's attention. As Siren bamfs Zell's gaze begins to wander more freely, looking from person to person in a rather random manner, making guesses as to who will speak first. As terra makes the first move, she draws Zells gaze. He's never met this one. Perhaps once, but it was too long ago. He offers a Zell-smile(tm) and then lets her go without any further distraction. Though, teeth bright enough to blind people could be considered quite the distraction.

Giving a weak smile to Selphie, Irvine really does appreciate her attempts to cover for him, but no, he's the freak with the oddball phobia. Especially for a Cadet trying to become a SeeD. Glancing then at Vincent, he merely nods. That's fine with him, though he doesn't do a double take at the inclusion of Selphie. Seems rumors get around to the higher ups too. Siren's sudden exit is confusing too, almost replacing that cold terror inside of him with a dark sliver of guilt. She seemed so... human in her reaction then. Who knows, maybe it's a beginning to getting over this silly phobia. Not to relishing the though of junctioning, surely, but maybe at least stop looking immediately petrified at the sight of a Guardian Force.
Inside he chides himself, knowing this little incident will definately get marked down on his psychological profile somewhere, along with the myriad other psychoses already there. Great. Just lovely. He really starts to wonder about the comment Emlee made to him before Headmaster Martine handed him over to the Balamb SeeDs. 'Irvine, you're hopeless. You'll never be SeeD.' He'd considered it the derisive comments of a scorned lover, but now... he wonders. This is gonna take a lot of thought time, and he was doing so -good- at not brooding lately too.
He too turns, walking in whatever direction is the opposite anyone else (save for Selphie) is going. Reaching up, he tilts the hat down low over his eyes, then shoves his hands in his pockets.
       
Wow. Poor Irvine. Watching him with all of of the concern of, well, Selphie to Irvine, she wrinkles her nose a bit. Though Vincey -was- nice enough to give him a reason to leave! Smiling to Vincent with a little wave -- kinda a 'thanks,' she even mouths it. He's so cool! Don't know why Irvine thinks he's not! Tch. Anyway, she watches Irvine turn and walk away -- er. Did Vincent say she could help Irvine rest? c_c; Man. Hopefully, at least, he doesn't buy into the rumors that make Selphie into a hussy! Anyway, she'll follow him in a moment. For now, she gives a little helpless shrug, waiting until Irvine's out of earshot to note, "He's embarassed. Would you talk to him sometime, Vincey? Ple~ease? For me?" Hee. If Terra's still in the near vicinity, she wavewaves to her, too.

Vincent doesn't of course, buy into those rumors. But he sends Selphie after the young cadet as someone who cares... who is likely the one Irvine will open up to the best, as far as Vincent has seen. So. With a short nod to confirm hearing Selphie's words, he speaks, "I will try." Such a talk would not be effective if Irvine did not wish it after all. Still. "Good night, Selphie." he turns his attention toward Terra's retreating figure... then passes on toward the others still within sight. And one more, in the mind. Sigh. Poor Siren. Once he seems certain that he'll not be needed for anything else, Vincent turns to be on his way again, striding toward the infirmary on his eventual way to a night's rest.

Ward stands as well. Well, excitement's over now, and Siren's vanishing has banished with it the spell that held Ward frozen and watching. His legs are kinda tired now and don't want to move, though. Time to sleep, undoubtedly, since the crowd is dispersing, so he stands and turns toward Zell with an imaginary tip of the bandanna. (Without a hat, you work with what you got.) "......" Ward turns and pads off towards the Guest Rotunda, harpoon swinging from his back...well...normally. Ain't jaunty.

Zell simply nods at the retreating Ward. He looks away and watches as the atrium clears out. He yawns a little himself and stretches, leaning back all comfortable like. It's just as his eyes are closing for his little catnap that he springs from the bench rather startled. He stares slack-jawed at Ward with that 'Huh?' look plastered all over his face