Where: Balamb Garden Atrium.
Who: Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmitt and Dragonclaw
When: June 26, 2000.



As the Rumor-Mill Turns... Cue a passing-by girlie-type, giggling and whispering with one of her friends. "...Can you... it? I... and I bet... told... yet!" Tee hee, tee hee. No Selphie yet, though. -She's- just waking up from a nap she didn't mean to take. =_o

The rumor mill, bah. Irvine rarely pays attention to it, or at least he _tries_ not to. The sound of a giggling girly type does turn his head though, ears trying to pick up on the conversation. He's been hearing things despite his tendency to ignore it.

One of the girls -- we'll call her 'Cathy,' for convenience purposes -- oh!'s, her whispering growning much faster, and -louder-, as she spots Irvine. Psspsspsspss! Something along the lines of, "Ohmihaw," "Should I?" and "Okay, I'm gonna!" Huh. Cathy, clearing her throat, stops near Irvine. Looking left and right, she leans forward a bit. "...Hey, Irvine!" Tryin' to act natrual. Uhhuh. "Did you hear?" THAT narrows it down.

Irvine tips his hat back slightly, leaning against the guardrail of the bridge. One eyebrow lifts slightly, not so certain he wants to hear this, but it's like passing by what you think is a car wreck up ahead. You can't help but slow down to look, or in this case, say, "No, I didn't hear."

A brief aside to her friend, and a deep breath later, Cathy nods. "I didn't think you had...! Tsk. -Well-, see, if this happened to -me-, I'd wanna know. So I'm, like, doing you a favor, and stuff! Trust me." She's making it sound worse than it is. o_- "See, like, I -heard- -- so it, like, might not be true, but I think it is! -- that Zell..." She gets nudged by her friend, who looks a little concerned. "...-What-? He should, like, -know-! So anyway. I -heard- that Zell has this -huuuuge- crush on Selphie! And he -TOLD- her! Can you believe that?! I'd -never- tell someone I liked that, especially if they had a great guy like you!" Swoon. Pause. Well, maybe that's not exactly worded right, but oh well.

Wait a minute, hold on, stop the picture. Irvine blinks. It's not often that the cowboy is so easily thrown for a loop, but by expression on his face and the slightly slack jaw, he's most definately stunned. Reason No. 1: Zell's crush on Selphie. Talk about coming out of left field. No wonder he's been avoiding the cowboy like mad lately. Reason No. 2: Great guy like him? Just what was going around about him and Selphie anyway? Maybe he shoulda been paying attention to the rumors after all. "Uh," he says, lack of a response making him sound slightly dumbfounded, which he is anyway, "Well, thanks..."

Dragonclaw enters from one of the other atriums. Having ditched the bow, Dragonclaw today wears - still - the baseball cap, pushed low over his head. He's also, contrary to Garden rules, eating in the hall. A bag of potato chips, every bite only after staring at the chip for a moment before eating the piece. When he hears the others, he quiets down, still moving slowly.

Cathy nods, smiling widely for some reason. Kaniving little...! "Oh, you're welcome! Say, are you like, busy later...?" Another elbow from her friend, and a hushed complaint. "...Ooooh, never-mind-." See, it goes like this: Half the Student Body (that gives a damn) thinks that Irvine and Selphie are in denial, and they're secretly -- even unbeknownest to themselves -- in a relationship. The other half, of course, thinks Irvine is playin' her to the full extent of her energy. Which is, suffice to say, a heckuvalot. Waving happily, Cathy starts off again with her friend, walking back the way they came, for some reason -- and thusly avoiding Dragonclaw, though not on purpose. Her friend says, rather clearly, "...You are -so- bad...!"

Irvine stands there in a state of dumbfounded silence in the wake of Cathy. The hat tips forward again as he shakes his head. Time for a talk with Selphie. That was about the most _confusing_ conversation he'd had all day. Clearly used to being the hunter and not the prey, the wiley Cathy goes down in Irvine's mind under the heading of: Vixen. To be Avoided.
Luckily for him, a distraction presents itself in the form of Dragonclaw. It's not as if he's easy to overlook, not in the slightest. The uncertainty is replaced with a slight smile, the cowboy walking toward Dragonclaw to greet him.

Dragonclaw looks back up. Crunch goes another chip, and Dragonclaw greets Irvine with, "Hello. Want one?"

...Aaaand, as if on cue... Selphie! Ta-daaa! Maybe she should've -stayed- in her room though. >_> Trotting down the hall, from the direction of the dormitories, she slings a backpack over her shoulder, then slips her other arm through the other strap, securing it on her shoulders. It's empty now, but it won't be soon! She's on her way to town, it seems. Trot, trot. That is, until she spots -- not Irvine, not at first -- Dragonclaw. Slowing her pace, she blinkblinks at him, suddenly feeling sorry once more for her reaction. n_n; Oops. And then, with another blinkblink, she notices Irvine -- mainly due to DC's greeting to said cowboy. Now, she had -no- intention of telling Irvine about what Cathy just revealed, if not to keep out of trouble, herself. Too late for that. Blissfully ignorant, she wavewaves her hand in the air, calling out to the two. "Heee~eeey! You guys--!" She trots on over, smiling as per usual.

Irvine shakes his head at Dragonclaw, waving a gloved hand at the same time, "No thank you, not hungry." Not after what he just heard, oh no, definately not. "How's things working out for you lately? Hadn't seen you in a fe--" And then, Selphie's sudden intrusion. He glances in her direction, trying to swallow the sudden lump that forms in his throat. This wasn't a confrontation he was ready for yet. Should he mention it to her? What if she's decided on Zell over him? Bah, teenage drama, it's not as if someone else has asked her to the prom or something. Still, he's suddenly glad for the fingerless gloves on his hands so no one notices his palms sweating.
"Heya, Selphie." Though he didn't mean for it to sound half-hearted and weak, it came out that way anyway. So much for suave, cool, Mr. Flirt <tm>.

Dragonclaw cheerfully crunches on another chip. "Okay," he says, then turns toward Selphie once she speaks. He stays quiet, except for a "Hello," in pretty much exactly the same tone of voice he used before. "Want one?"

Selphie tries to look -as- cheerful -as- possible. More so than usual! Huh. Go figure. If Irvy knows her well enough, this is 'Gotta stay happy, gotta keep up appearences!'-Selphie. Not to be confused with 'Sugar-Rush'-Selphie. Blinking only slightly at Irvine's tone, she returns his with a bubbly, "Hi~ee Irvy! S'wrong?" Not a seconds pause between the two, it's seemingly just a pleasentry. Blinking her attention to DC, she -- ooh!'s, and smiles. "No thanks-- I'm on a diet! No greasy-things at -all-. Thanks though!" n_n Uh huh... So that stash of Chips in her room's just a center piece. n_-

Irvine reaches up, holding a hand around the brim of his hat. Nervous gesture #1. He looks Selphie over at the mention of 'diet', seeing nothing wrong with her in the slightest, but he doesn't comment on it or contradict her. Not knowing what he knows now. To her first question directed at him, he shrugs his shoulders, trying to force a smile onto his face. Nervous gesture #2. "Nothing..." What a horrid liar.
Dragonclaw, unfortunately, has drifted out of the cowboy's immediate attention. He's not doing it intentionally, but it's clear something's not right with him today.

Selphie doesn't -need- to diet, but she sure thinks she does. Girls are -weird-. Brow furrowing lightly -- cutely, even -- up at the cowboy, she -knows- what 'nothing' means, in regards to a 'What's wrong?' "You su~ure?" Maybe some girl turned him down. Hrmph. She-- ...Uhoh. ._. It dawns on her that perhaps Irvy -knows- about what Zell said. >_> Knot forming in the girl's stomach, she fidgets a bit, zoning ala Squall. . o O ( But there's -no- way that he knows...! I mean, I only -told- that one girl! And she -totally- swore she wouldn't tell -anyone-. ) Selphie, Selphie, Selphie... Tsk. (Besiiides, he'd be -mad- if he found out! He's all -mellow-. Right? ...Yeah, that's it. He's mellow, so there's -no way- that that's it! Yeah. ...Yeah. ...waaah... )

As Dragonclaw meanders off, Irvine's attention completely focuses itself on Selphie, turning slightly so he's facing her fully. "Hey... um, you got a moment?" Noticing the backpack, he bites at the underside of his lower lip, half hoping she says no, and half hoping she says yes. Women are intriguing, but extremely frustrating creatures at times. Her attempt to wrangle out 'what's wrong' lightens his mood just slightly. She wouldn't ask if she didn't care, right?

Selphie blinks widely, cocking her head to the side a bit. Uh. Oh. Did she do something wrong lately? Her imagination -runs- in circles with ideas of what might be wrong, always seemingly to come back to 'he found ooooout!' Not that anything happened, and in fact, she even basically turned the blonde down. Crap, crap, crap! Nodding pleasantly, if not looking a little worried (seemingly for Irvine, but more for herself... oops.), she forgets about her trek to town. It can -wait-. "Yeah, sure...! Got as many as you need!" She idly wishes that she had told Zell that, 'Sorry, Irvine and I are together...!' Even if they aren't, -that- rumor going around wouldn't be bad at all. Irvine'd prolly have a field day with it, and she'd -much- prefer that to what her imagination is coming up with. Rrr! Smile!

Now, how in the world does one manuever around these sorts of things without upsetting someone too much? Irvine's brows furrow slightly, the hand coming off his hat to rub at his chin, considering his words. This is unusual, he's normally a fly by the seat of his pants kinda guy, especially with the women. But, this paticular one is totally different. Then, glancing around, he realizes an audience is gathering. Tons of faces that hadn't been there that long ago seem to be gathering in the southern atrium, trying hard not to look at Selphie and Irvine, yet eventually failing. He frowns slightly, not liking this rumor mill thing one bit. "Er, maybe we should go somewhere else to talk." He avoids using words like 'private', that'll just encourage the little buggers.

Selphie mentally whines. Somewhere else to talk? Now she -knows- she's in trouble! She'd say -no-, but... She doesn't even consider than an option, for some reason. Biting her lip as she nods, the girl more and more resembles the little girl that broke a vase, didn't tell her parents, and is now getting approached about it. The problem -is-, she's not -guilty- of anything. Women -are- weird creatures. "...Okay...! Lead the way," she chirps, -obviously- putting on that facade, this time. n_n;

Irvine sighs, tipping the hat forward in frustration as he leads Selphie to some place more 'private' (i.e. no gossip mongers present) to talk. Even as he strides past those present, all the little students suddenly turn away suddenly, trying to appear nonchalant. His ears are burning even now, and he knows it's not an allergy this time. Walking around the Atrium Circle, it's just an effort to keep one foot in front of the other.

West Atrium - Balamb Garden

   
        The atrium is the heart of Balamb Garden.. a nexus leading to all the other areas that this academy has to offer. The design of the atrium resembles a moat, water flowing around the parimeter, poured forth by the marble fish-shaped fountains surrounding the upper atrium. A wide walkway is built over this like a bridge, surrounded by fine brass railing to prevent anyone from stepping or falling into the water around the sides.
        In this section of the atrium, there are two exits which lead into different parts of the Garden. A sign is near each exit, marking the "Infirmary" and "Quad", respectively.The path around the atrium leads north, and south.. and exits to other areas can be seen on the other side of the atrium.



Selphie trots after, obediently, only semi-aware of the 'gossiping' going on behind them. She's too busy letting her hyper-active imagination run wild! She -did- wave at a couple of the girls that she knew, recieving -weird looks- from both. Huh. o_o; That doesn't help her at all! Her pace slows for one reason or another, and as she realizes that she managed to lag behind, the girl quickly catches up. "...!" She's -quiet-. That's -bad-. n_n

Irvine is quiet too, pausing to look over his shoulder. Paranoia central over here now! Seeing a few faces peeking after them, yet remaining out of earshot now, he relaxes, shoulders slumping slightly. Now maybe he can hold a conversation without worrying about eyes being on him.
Leaning up against the brass railing again, he goes back into agonizing over how to ask this. It's clearly written on his face, the confusion, reluctance... but, it's now or never. "Selphie... I um, heard something. I was just wondering..." oh sheesh, he sucks at this and realizes it. So, finally he just blurts it out, "If you want me to stop being such a flirt and everything, I'll just leave you alone, ok? I mean, if you like Zell or anything." Boy did that come out just _wrong_.
    
Selphie somehow gets a mental image of Irvine admitting, '...Zell and I had a talk, and we deicded that we liked each other more than we like you. See ya!' And promtply -coughs- into her hand, looking up to see Irvy leaning against the rail -- whereupon she stops, just a foot or so away. -Totally- abandonning her 'Gotta be haaaappy!' look, she just looks... -lost-. Confused! Scared! And it's -cute-. Which isn't something she was shooting for -- but, oh well. At the first sentence, the girl -erks-, looking not altogether unlike a deer caught in headlights. And at the continuation, her jaw -drops-. And her cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink. And she -stops- altogether, save for the repeated blinking. "...-What-?" She's at a -total- loss for words. In all the scenarios in her mind, Selphie never once thought that he'd think -that-.

Confusion reigneth then, Irvine left completely in the dark by Selphie's immediate reaction. He starts picking it apart, trying to interprete it, but it's impossible. Women are just far too complicated. So, he just outright confesses, "I sorta heard that Zell confessed a crush on you. I um..." his own cheeks are starting to turn colors. If he continues explaining this, he's going to have to admit his own crush, which he's been reluctant to do, thus far, "I mean... I... uh..."

Selphie cannot -believe- this. She just -can't-! Still looking as if Irvine just said, "I'm pregant," she listens to him continue. Uh huh... Uh huh... She'd -like- to hear the rest, but before she knows it, words are -spilling- out of her mouth, and she's waving her arms around. "Okay-like-WOAH! Woah. Re-wind-! You heard Zell had a crush on -me-! -Zell- had a crush on -me-!" She's not yelling, and she really doesn't sound mad -- just incredulous. "You didn't hear that -I- had a crush on -Zell-! N'you wanna know whyyyy?" Pause. "...Because I -dooon't-!" Okay, now we're to her 'whiney' tone of voice. >_> "And even if I -did- -- which I -don't- -- it wouldn't matter, 'cause--" Erk. Stop. Stop! Halting in mid-sentence, her blush deepens. "...Er..." Falter, fumble. She's dropped the ball, folks! "...'Cause." *>_>*

Wincing at Selphie's sudden, warranted, outburst, Irvine rests a hand back atop his hat again, wishing he could just pull it down so far it just swallowed him entirely. In fact, he'd rather be facing Ultimecia again then stand here in front of the girl he's utterly head over heels in denial (love) with and listen to her berate him. Not that he doesn't think he deserves it, he's the idiot who jumped to conclusions too quick and he knew it.
Yet, there comes a sudden to the stillness in the storm, Selphie falling quiet. Irvine tips his hat back slightly, daring to look down at her, wondering what he'll see on her face. He doesn't ask, or say anything for that matter.

The silence gets awkward.

Anger. That's what's totally -void- from the girl's face, as she poiks her index fingers together, akwardly. Of course, she looks everywhere -but- Irvine. Hey! Her boots are real interesting. Lookit the scuffmarks -- they kinda look like a little duckie, if you squint real hard. Cheeks a deep pink, she just... looks... pathetic. Totally! "..." Come -on-, say something. "..." Anything! "..." Jeez. What a gyp. "...And stuff." ...D'oh. *6.6*

And, as if on cue, there comes a giggle from somewhere nearby. Seems the Whisper crowd couldn't stay back forever. Irvine's cheeks go beyond pink, his entire face nearly turning red. Well, fine, if he has to put on a show, he might as well make it a decent performance. No doubt they'll be filling in details regardless of truth or validity anyway. Taking off the hat, he rests it against his chest, swallowing that lump only to feel his heart pounding in his chest. Good grief, shooting at the Sorceress was easier then this simple task. "Selphie, I care a lot about you. Probably more then I'm willing to admit..." try _definately_ "I just don't want to hurt you. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. Forgive me?"

Selphie erks. And -tries- to ignore the giggle, but -- well, if she -can- blush anymore, she does. She's just as bad at these things as Irvine is, but at least she doesn't have a reputation that says otherwise. Looking up suddenly, as Irvine talks, she -can't look back- away from him. *o_o* How annoying. Mouth opening and shutting, uselessly, she lets those words sink in. And then rolls them about in her mind, shaping them, hanging them up on the wall... "...Y-yeah...!" But can she form -sentences-? "I mean, it's not like you did it on -purpose-!" Whew. Still looking slightly pathetic, she nods, fidgeting. >_> Hopefully, he won't ask details. But she just -feels- he will. ;_;

The blush slowly starts to fade away, though his heartrate is probably going to stay at critical until this reaches some kind of conclusion. He smiles, though it's faint, glancing up once to spot the interlopers. "Seems we have an audience. Come on, Sefie, listen to us. When did we ever have trouble talking to each other as children?" The hat is dropped back onto his head, his feigned bravado returning in the blink of an eye. This really wasn't something he wanted the others to see anyway, that sensitive side of him is private, and he's going to be irritated at the Cathy-Crew for awhile after this. But, first he's got to recover, or get Selphie to somewhere the gossipers can't follow.

Selphie nods at the 'audience' statement, glancing over her shoulder a few times. Even as she glances this way and that, she responds -- slightly pouty. "Weee~eeell," she begins, "Back then, the most we had to worry about was what -game- to play!" A brief reflection, as she admits, "I'd give -anything- to feel that way again." Smiling, slowly, the girl clasps her hands in front of her. Uhoh. A subject change is afoot. "...You're not -jealous-, are you Irvy~?" Embarass -her-, will you! o_o But that bit of courage will fade. And -fast-. n_n;

Irvine hrmphs, his arms folding over his chest as he squints one eye at Selphie, the other hidden by the brim of his hat. "Jealous?" He considers how to respond to this, then grins, "Darlin', I don't think I could hold myself back if I saw him hitting on you." Back to flirt mode, oh the gossip crowd's gotta be eating this up. Half are probably rolling their eyes, feeling this obviously proves their case, Irvine's just playing her. The other half sigh, wishing the two would just kiss and get it over with.

Selphie figured he'd say something along those lines. Which is why she giggles -- he's so easy to predict, sometimes. Othertimes... Well. She's workin' on that. Clapping her hands, she bubbles, "You two could have a duel, like the old days...!" She pictures an SD Zell and SD Irvine, in a deserted Ghot Town, with SD Selphie waving her arms for them to stop. 'Don't fight over me!' n_n

Irvine gives Selphie a smug smile, looking down at her with one eyebrow lifted, "You'd like that, wouldn't you? What would happen if Zell won, hmm?" Oh, time to test this. The more joking that goes on, the more his heart stops sounding like a bongo drum in his ears.

Selphie blinks, and raises an index finger to her chin. "Hmmm~mmmm..." Glancing upwards, she sticks her tongue out a bit, in mock thought. "...He -wouldn't-," she asides, before explaining (with a -beam), "I'd -totally- say that I wasn't a prize to be won!" n_n

"You seem mighty sure of that one," Irvine replies, though he's definately beaming at this point. If he could soar, he'd be somewhere in the stratosphere suddenly. Reaching for her and, he says, "Come on, let's get out of here for a bit, I'm tired of putting on a show for a bunch of students with too much time on their hands and no lives of their own." Ouch. That had to sting.

Selphie nod!s. And of -course- Irvine would win -- he's the cowboy. Zell would be out of his place! And he doesn't have a gun. n_- Being that she doesn't pull her hand away, it's taken! C'mon, it's innocent. Stop blushing. Sheesh. "M'kay," is all she says in response to the too-true statement. Some of the listeners look taken aback, others snicker at the truth.

Irvine waves over his shoulder as he leads Selphie off somewhere else, a flippant flicking of his fingers as if he were waving away flies, "Go away, shoo." Nothing but contempt, after all, they'd caused enough trouble for him today. And, of course, as the two disappear to wherever, the gossip mill starts at full grind.

"Can you believe that? I saw him blushing, I told you he wasn't such a jerk."

"No way, he totally turned on the charm out of the blue. It was an act. Can't Selphie see it? Sheesh."

"Oh you're just jealous, get over it, he doesn't want you."

"Uh, I wonder what Zell will think about this one."

"Hmmm... I dunno, but I wanna be there when the fireworks explode."