Janine tapped her foot, arms crossed as she waited for the elevator. Her fingers began a rhythmic tapping, and she pressed her lips together. Hyne's ass! Does everything wait until the A.M. to make me late? Another morning from hell. Another meeting with an authority. Another damned hold-up.
The elevator finally began its journey upward... from the basement. Janine's expression relaxed to a smirk. Sure enough, when the elevator paused at the first-floor, Sub-Lt. Commander Seifer Almasy stood in the back of the elevator. Coffee mug in hand, report in the other, and intense green eyes focused down. She didn't remember black-silk dress-shirts and slacks looking so damned good on a man.
Janine straightened as the elevator doors opened. Seifer glanced up and immediately back down, continuing his reading while sipping his strong-smelling coffee as Janine boarded. She faced front and pushed the already lit third-floor button. The elevator resumed and Janine remained silent, arms crossed, smirking as she watched his reflection in the elevator doors. The aroma of his strong, black coffee filled the elevator. It smelled stronger than the coffee she'd had in the cafeteria.
It smelled damn good.
Her lips twitched as she remembered their last meeting over coffee. The quips. The damned awesome, sarcastic, smart-ass quips. Hyne, I love pushing buttons! And it wasn't often she found someone who pushed back without getting so damned huffy and personally insulted.
Adjusting her crossed arms, she continued to watch Seifer's reflection. He didn't look up from his report, but she noticed his lips twitched upward. Hell. Why not. Janine faced him, taking the coffee mug from his grasp to sip a swallow or two while holding his amused more than surprised gaze. Then the elevator stopped, the doors opened, and Janine handed him back his mug with a lopsided smile and a sultry "Thanks."
She turned and walked off and toward the secondary elevator. Janine felt the reverberation of his steps as he followed; or maybe she felt his eyes. Her brown ones twinkled as she stepped aboard the elevator that would lead to Cmdr. Squall's office. Controlling her expression, she turned within the elevator.
Seifer stepped aboard, taking the little bit of room she'd left and standing closer - well within her personal bubble, if she had one - to stare down at her with that intense green gaze that must have scared nearly everyone at Garden. It reminded her of her own. A damned relief. Hell - Damn sexy.
The elevator halted, and Janine's lips twitched. Too bad. She about-faced and stepped off, giving Cmdr. Squall a salute as he turned to face her. "Janine Larabie, Battle Theory Instructor, reporting for duty."
She noticed the movement of Seifer stepping to her left, but she didn't move her focus from the Commander. He had a similar scar, but opposite in direction to Seifer's. Nice looking kid. Too clean around the edges. No harshness. Though he seemed a little... moody. Janine liked the more bladed and jaded people. A lot more fun to play with.
"At ease." Squall presented a hand. "Welcome aboard." They shook. "Everything settled?"
Janine clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes, sir. Everything's working fine. Thank you again for the permissions."
Squall waved it aside. Then he looked to Seifer. "What do you need?"
Seifer crossed his arms, report still in hand. "A moment. I'll wait."
Nodding, Squall refocused on Janine. "How much time do you need with Quistis before you can take the classes yourself?"
"I met with Headmaster Cid earlier and I feel I can handle the curriculum now. I taught something similar at Trabia. If you're worried about the candidates and me getting along, I'll deal with that." Janine smirked. "I'm charm itself, you know."
Squall's lips twitched slightly. "Alright. Quistis will supervise starting Monday. You'll be responsible for the lesson plans. You and Quistis should work out details if the class times don't work for you."
"They're fine, sir."
"Good. Let me or Headmaster Cid know if you have any problems."
"I will, but I won't."
Squall's lips tilted slightly yet again. He motioned to the elevator. "You can go."
Janine stood at attention and saluted. "Thank you, sir."
She about-faced and stepped aboard the elevator, making a point of meeting Seifer's gaze and giving him a slight smirk just as the elevator headed down. Show me what you got. His response was a similar smirk before he stepped up to Squall and the elevator moved her out of view.
Janine adjusted her hands behind her back, her smirk widening to a smile. This will be fun. And she hadn't had fun since the Galbadian missile attack. They had been too busy re-building Trabia from the ground up. Not that I didn't take a sec to have some fun and remind myself I was still alive.
Janine had always been about living life for the thrill of the moment.
She stepped off the secondary elevator and made her way toward the main one. Maybe I'll have him show me how he got the scar. Janine chuckled and boarded the elevator, facing forward and pressing the button for the second floor. Maybe I'll show him my own scars.
It could prove to be an... interesting exchange.
« † »
Seifer presented Squall two reports; one of Marshal and Ahndra's investigation in Winhill. They had discovered the location of an illegal arms sale, its main source of supply believed to be Deling Garden. "Nipped," he reported.
Squall accepted the reports and looked over the top-most one. "It should give Quistis and Zone some extra time." Squall smiled and gave a slight shake of his head. "Damn, Fujin. Good job."
"It's Ahndra," Seifer corrected, glaring slightly. She had finally faced 16 years of hell and 5 years of denial. Fujin was finally gone. About damned time.
Squall set the top report aside. "I know." He refocused on Seifer. "Security-check on Larabie pan out?"
Seifer crossed his arm under the one still holding his quickly cooling coffee. "Still waiting on the Security Chief at Trabia to send me her sub-file." He motioned to the other report. "That is what Quistis had, from Larabie herself and her references."
Squall returned it. "Read it. What do you think?"
He accepted the report. A deaf gunblade expert that designs and builds her own weapon? "Won't until Trabia contacts me." Maybe I'll give her another little push. He smirked. Janine Larabie pushed back.
And that was what he counted on.
"See what you can find out in the meantime," Squall was saying. "I want to make sure everything's the way it's supposed to be."
Seifer's smirk widened a bit. "No problem." He turned and stepped aboard the elevator. It headed down. Gunblade expert. We'll see.
He hadn't yet met anyone other than Squall who could handle the weight of it as well as the buck of the blast. Janine Larabie didn't look to be any more capable than Selphie, and Selphie damn-well couldn't handle a gunblade without looking a blasted idiot. Seifer scoffed as he stared down at his coffee mug, slapping Janine's report on the side of his leg while waiting for the main elevator to return. 'Thanks.' He smirked and tossed back the remaining coffee. Damn.
Yeah. A little damn fun.
The elevator returned, but with an extra passenger not expected. Seifer's smirk remained. Janine Larabie's brown eyes held the same expression as they had when she'd ridden the secondary elevator down. "Lost?"
She adjusted her crossed arms. "Had so much fun riding it, thought I'd have another go."
Seifer stepped aboard and turned, pushing the appropriate button while noticing no others were lit. The door closed and the elevator headed downward.
Larabie continued to watch him. "A bit of a rush. Didn't have one at Trabia."
"I'm sure you found other rushes to ride."
The elevator passed the second floor.
Chuckling, Larabie's focus remained on his mouth and face. "Yeah. I'm all about the thrill of the moment."
Seifer's lips twitched.
"Speaking of thrills, where can a girl pick a fight around here?"
"I'm sure any hall will do."
Larabie laughed, and the elevator passed the first floor. She motioned to his empty mug. "No coffee? Damn. It was good."
Seifer's lips twitched. "You should know." The elevator stopped at the basement level. He faced her, pulling her hand out to push his empty mug into it as the elevator door opened. "You know where to take it. Don't get lost."
Larabie smirked up at him. "Look in the elevator if I don't show. Thrills, you know." She hung the mug from a solitary finger. "Unless I find a different one."
Seifer turned and stepped off the elevator.
"Hot and wet, right?" she called after him.
Seifer chuckled. Damn.
« † »
Janine stared down at the steaming cup of coffee, chuckling and shaking her head while trying to convince herself the fun would probably be short-lived. But who gives a damn how 'short-lived' it is? It's about the thrills! And it was then that the mug's inscription caught Janine's gaze. 'Death is answering 'No'.' Life motto? SeeD motto? She had definitely lived her life by it. Only way to fly.
She chuckled again and pushed the button for the basement. The elevator lowered, opening up onto the security level. She stepped off and headed forward, immediately recognizing Sally Regal.
Sally looked up from her paperwork at Janine's approach and smiled. "Hi. Finding everything okay?"
Leaning against Sally's desk, Janine absently fingered the coffee mug. "Basically. Finally found the Training Center. Hyne, does that look like fun." She motioned to Sally. "You and me need to get lost in there and beat the shit out of some things."
Sally nodded. "Okay. Zell's been teaching me some new moves, and I'd love the chance to show you."
"Hell yeah!" Janine sipped the coffee before she could stop herself. Oops. She smirked. "I would love the chance to meet him again."
"Again?"
"Yeah. We bumped into one another at Trabia soon after the missile attack. That was how I found out about Squall and Seifer being gunbladers--"
"Regal."
Janine and Sally both looked to the slender, silver-haired, no-nonsense woman standing to Janine's right.
"Yes, ma'am?" Sally asked.
Janine didn't say anything. She only held the woman's penetrating stare - an interesting thing to do when one eye was marbled - while sipping Seifer's coffee from his mug and enjoying the guarded expression on the silver-haired woman's face.
The silver-haired woman motioned very slightly to Janine. "You are?"
Janine straightened and produced a hand, which the silver-haired woman shook very firmly. "Janine Larabie. Instructor of Battle Theory. Filling in for Quistis come Monday."
She slightly raised an eyebrow. "Ahndra Kelley. Chief Special-Ops Investigator."
"Ahndra." Janine motioned to the security offices while again sipping Seifer's coffee. "You have a nice set-up."
Ahndra didn't comment; she only turned and walked away.
Janine raised an eyebrow. "Damn. Miss Ice Queen." She looked down to Sally while gesturing to Ahndra's retreating figure. "What's up with her?"
Sally continued to watch the silver-haired woman. "That's just who she is. Although she used to practically shout at people all the time. Only spoke in one-word sentences, too." Sally met Janine's curious gaze. "Zell says she's had a hard life. So does Marshal, the Chief of Security at Galbadia Garden? I believe them, too. But she's never let it keep her from doing her job."
Janine leaned against the desk again. "Good, is she?"
Sally nodded. "She's the best investigator/interrogator we have, and I'm glad I've had the chance to work for her. I've learned so much. That's why I wish..." Sally looked down at her desk.
Janine examined the shy girl's face. "What?"
"I just wish I knew how I could get her to respect me," Sally admitted, meeting Janine's gaze.
Janine absently nodded while lowering her focus to the coffee. "You do your job don't you?"
"Yes."
"You do your best?" Janine noticed Sally's nod. "Then that's all you can do. She more than likely already respects you."
"You think so?"
Janine smirked and straightened. "You could always ask," she observed as she moved toward Seifer's office. And something told Janine that Sally really needed to take that step. And if she's anything like who I think she is, she'll ask.
Pausing long enough to lightly knock on Seifer's door, she immediately opened it to step inside. Seifer's desk was covered with reports and records, some neatly stacked and some not-so-neatly stacked. He looked to pour over them with a fine-tooth comb, comparing data within three different reports at the same time.
"Set it down there, Regal," he informed absently, waving his hand toward his in-box.
Janine smirked and moved to stand beside his chair to the left. Then she held the coffee mug under his nose.
Seifer sharply sat back and looked to his left.
"As ordered," she said, setting the coffee down on the most level section of the collection of reports. Then Janine moved to lean her left hip against the side of the desk and motion to the litter of records and reports. "Looks like you need a break."
Seifer lowered his gaze to the reports and moved the coffee aside.
Crossing her arms, Janine arched an eyebrow as she regarded him. His entire attitude had changed from earlier. It had returned to the harsh aggravation and irritation from their first meeting. Hm. She absently tapped her fingers against her upper arm. "So whose head was rammed up their ass this time?"
Seifer actually grunted some unrecognizable answer before motioning to the door with a clearer "Dismissed."
Janine shrugged and straightened. "Fine. I'll just go be bored somewhere else." Turning, she made her way to the exit. Another unrecognizable mutter was heard, so she turned and faced him. He had looked up this time. Shaking her head, Janine once more stepped toward him. "Didn't catch that." She reached up to tap a specific pattern on the inserts behind her ears. They crackled as they tried again to focus on the dialogue and translate it to her brain. "Mind saying again?"
"How good are you with that gunblade?"
Janine's smirk twitched upward as her brown eyes twinkled. She pressed her hands against his desk and leaned forward. "Challenge me to a fight and find out."
Seifer regarded her as he slowly crossed his arms. "I don't hold back."
"Neither do I." Janine leaned even closer. "Up to being beat by a woman?" Hyne, I hope so.
He held her gaze a moment longer before lowering his eyes to the reports on his desk and taking a sip of his coffee. "I'll think about it."
Janine watched him, a slowly growing frown darkening her face and eyes. She'd seen that look before, every time a guy held back because she was deaf. Every time she could tell a person spoke in simpler terms because she was deaf. She slowly straightened. "What the hell was that?"
Seifer looked up again. "What."
"You ask how good I am and then blow me off?"
"I didn't blow you off. I said--"
"You'll think about it." She scoffed and then roughly pointed at him. "I took the same tests as you, asshole, and I'm damn good. Deal with it."
Seifer's expression hardened moments before he stood and strode to his office door. He closed it and immediately lowered the blinds. Then he strode up to Janine, glaring as hard as she did. "Sit."
She sat back on his desk, arms crossed.
Seifer pointed at her. "You are an Instructor." He pointed to himself. "I am Head of Network Security. I rank you by default, so you call me 'sir'. Clear?"
Janine tightened her crossed arms and didn't say a word as she held his gaze.
He pointed to his scar. "See this? This is what happens when I spar. You want one?" He lowered his hand again when she didn't respond. "So I'll think about it. Clear?"
Janine uncrossed her arms and unbuttoned her uniform jacket, still holding Seifer's gaze. She pushed the jacket aside and lifted the pale blue tee beneath to show a jagged scar on her midriff. "See this? Got this going toe-to-toe with a Galbadian soldier outside Trabia. Gunblade. Pretty damn good, too. But I got him."
She turned slightly and showed another scar on her back near her left shoulder blade. Seifer lowered his gaze to the scar. "This one? A shuriken from a rogue ambush." She faced him again and pointed to her ears. His gaze lifted, and the glare was different. "First started losing my hearing when a Wendigo boxed my ears. Ear drums ruptured. But I got him. Like I said, I'm damn good."
Janine jabbed Seifer in the chest. "So don't you dare patronize me with an 'I'll think about it' just because I can't hear as good as you. I worked my ass off for this 'Expert' insignia," Janine snapped as she pointed at the embroidery on her uniform jacket sleeve. "And I bet I can put your ass in the ground!"
Seifer smirked and stepped closer, backing her against the desk as he pressed his palms onto the desktop on each side of her. "Anytime, Larabie. Bring it."
Janine leaned slightly back, frown gone as she stared up into his face in surprise at the sudden change. Then her lips tilted upward. "Name the day, sir," she said in a low tone. "I'll be there."
"Make sure you're good and ready."
One side tilted higher. "Oh I'm always good, and I'm always ready."
Seifer chuckled and straightened. "I bet." Then he motioned to the door while saying "Dismissed" and going around to his side of the desk.
"Where's the fun in that?" Janine asked as she watched him.
Seifer sat and began reacquainting himself with the reports before looking up and saying "You want fun? Go find Dincht."
Janine motioned over her shoulder toward the main security office. "And have shy girl on my ass? No thanks."
Seifer chuckled and focused again on his reports. "She could take you."
Janine gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Probably." She straightened and faced him. "I guess I'll go start a fight in a hall somewhere."
"Be sure to take the bodies to Dr. Kadowaki's office," he said, not even looking up from his work. "She'll give me the report later."
Janine watched him as he worked... She leaned her palms against the desktop. Seifer looked up. "You work all the time? Or does Seifer know how to play?"
Seifer raised an eyebrow.
Janine smirked. "I guess that's my answer." She straightened and started backing for the door. "Don't blame me for what I do." She pointed at him. "You're a challenge. Can't pass it up."
He lowered his focus back to his reports. "Anytime, Larabie. Bring it."