No matter what I do, I can't convince you for once just to hear me out Who: Celes and Setzer When: Backdated to Monday night Where: Rehearsal --> Near the quad-ish Notes: A wee bit of drinking shenanigans!
There was a reason why the week before opening night was called Hell Week. Setzer hadn’t really been part of a play before, and now he was getting a crash course on what actually putting it all together was like. It wasn’t like having all those rehearsals bothered him, exactly - he preferred it to doing homework, and he loved the role of Ahchoo, so it was a win-win for him. But everyone’s tensions were starting to run high, everyone was stressed, and it almost felt like there was an invisible countdown clock hanging over the crew’s head, ticking down into oblivion.
And there was Celes.
Yes, Setzer got that she was perfectionist. Yes, Setzer got that she didn’t exactly like the fact that she had to work with him. But as hell week wore on, he could have sworn that she must have several sticks shoved up her ass, not just one. She needed to blow off some steam and so did he, because he was convinced that he wasn’t the only one screwing up here. Their tenuous truce called a few weeks before had long since worn thin, and if she wasn’t going to kick the shit out of him, they had to do something.
The thing was, Setzer was trying so damn hard to make this work. He admired the fact that Celes was so hardcore about the play. She worked her tail off to make sure she made the best Robin Hood she could be, and she was doing a hell of a job. But if she didn’t relax, they were all going to break. He’d rather she took it out on him than the rest of the crew.
This being Setzer, his first thought was of the bottle of tequila that his roommate helped him smuggle in from Balamb Town. Tequila wasn’t normally Setzer’s drink of choice, but for what he had in mind, it would do nicely. He and Celes were going to settle whatever was between them once and for all or die trying. Otherwise, come opening night, the only show Garden was going to see was the two of them wrestling on the floor, trying to beat the other’s face in. Setzer was trying to avoid that.
With rehearsal wrapping up for the night, Setzer found Celes off to the side, grabbing her things. “Come on, Chère,” he said. “Let’s take a walk.” The tone of Setzer’s voice said he wasn’t taking no for an answer, either.
Plays weren’t anything new to Celes. Then again, it was a part of her activities growing up in the upper crust of Deling City. It gave the socialite mothers something to do with their children, mostly bragging to the others how well so-and-so was. That combined with a hardass military father made Celes the perfectionist she was. And she had seen plenty of plays performed live, whereas everyone else would have settled for going to a cheap movie. So when she landed that lead role, Celes refused to do less than 110%. She had her lines memorized several days before they officially went off book, she practiced her blocking in the morning, and she knew everything she had to do by heart. It was an art form she perfected.
Though there were minor setbacks, mostly the other cast members. She got along some what well with the others. No one was nearly as serious as Celes was, which perhaps was why they picked her for the lead role to begin with. She didn’t know. Terra made her giggle far too much and she got along alright with Lil and Locke in their respective roles. And at least it was in character for her and Red to be butting heads. It was almost nice to let out that frustration with the redhead in character, channeling her own anger. But then there was Setzer. The damn guy annoyed her to no end and they were suppose to be buddy-buddy during the play. It didn’t help that they still hadn’t gotten the blocking down for their first scene together and Celes was seriously two seconds away from grabbing her rune blade from her dorm room and gutting the jerk alive.
Of course their scene wasn’t perfect. Again. Big surprise. Celes had walked away quietly to organize her belongings once rehearsal was over. And she was exhausted. She still woke up her usual 5am time for her running, which gave her some energy, but it was a long as hell day, especially with tech week going on. She somehow managed to balance the play with her school work, which left no room for error or messing around. Celes was in the middle of double checking her notebooks so she could be ready to study the second she reached back to her room.
And then she heard him. Setzer’s voice was the last thing she wanted to hear, though she recognized the seriousness that was laced within his words. She couldn’t recall if she ever heard him sound like that before. Maybe said walk involved going outside and finally settling this in a physical fight. Celes needed to let out the stress somehow and sparring happened to be her optimal way of doing so. Rising up with her tote bag slung over her shoulder, her icy eyes shot through him, one eye twitching over the use of her last name. “A walk?” She scoffed under her breath. “Should I bother asking why?” Can I just punch you now?
Some people thought that Setzer couldn’t be serious. They only saw the joking side of him, the witty comments, not realizing that he often acted that way so he could control how much of him people got to know. It wasn’t to say that he didn’t have friends, and some of those friends were in the play with him - Lil, especially, was doing awesome as Maid Marian - but some were closer than others. And while Setzer might give off a lot of bravado and sass, he kept a lot of subjects close to his chest. Hence why he lied about all his scars and how he got them. He couldn’t hide the ones on his face, but he could hide what they meant to him. In his book, that was close enough.
And when dealing with someone like Celes, sometimes he felt he needed to show that, yes, he could get the upper hand if he needed it, that he wasn’t all smiles and sass. This was one of those times. “Because if we don’t get this out of our systems, we’re going to kill each other and let’s face it, neither of our understudies can really take this part. Also, we’d be dead and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to keep on living.” He adjusted his bag over his shoulder and gestured with his head towards the door. “So come on. I got an idea of how we can sort this out once and for all.” If his idea didn’t work, well, there was always the training center and a good old fashioned brawl. She’d kick his ass, but Setzer would probably be okay with that.
But she also didn’t have her sword and he did have his cards, so maybe the odds would be in his favor after all. But hopefully it didn’t have to come to that.
While she didn’t have her sword on hand, Celes did have her bangle and she wasn’t afraid to use a few spells on him. Her blood boiled while she listened to what he had to say. Muscles tensed in her shoulders while the grip on tote bag’s straps tightened tremendously. Doing something to relax was going to be beneficial for both of them and while she actually liked the fact Setzer suggested they do something to get everything out of their systems, Celes remained quiet. But he was still right, even though Celes didn’t want to admit it. And dear Hyne, their understudies would butcher the hell out of their roles. Though at least they’d get along way better than Setzer and I do….
“For the record, don’t exactly have a problem with killing you, though it’s in everyone’s best interest-” She rolled her eyes at that. “-that we don’t do anything stupid before opening night.” A heavy, frustrated sigh left her, yet her shoulders remained tense as ever. “But fine. Whatever. I’ll play your game for now.” Because Celes had a feeling if she tried to walk away from him, he’d pull some gambling bullshit on her to convince her to stay. And that was a level of stupid Celes didn’t want to tolerate at the moment. “What do you suggest we do to ‘get it out of our systems,’ as you put it? Because honestly, I can only think of one solution.” Now her words were just as cold as the stare she gave him. But despite that, she didn’t walk away. Not yet. In fact, her eyes flicked away to look at the door. Another breath passed through Celes as she waited for Setzer to explain what his brilliant plan was. This better not be an utter waste of my time.
Of course he was right. He knew he was right, she knew he was right, and that was a pretty good feeling. Setzer also knew that if he flaunted that in front of Celes, he really would get his ass kicked. He was hoping to avoid that if he could… especially when she mentioned, almost offhand, that she didn’t have a problem with killing him. “Well then, good to know,” was all he said, dryly. So maybe he would have to watch for a sword in his back after all, and not just one of the prop ones they were using in the play.
He led them down a hallway and into the Quad, searching for a little alcove he knew was there. That way they could sit somewhere that was kind of comfortable, see everyone else who was coming, and yet weren’t easy to spot. Setzer knew every little hiding spot in Balamb Garden, and better yet, he knew how to not get caught outside of curfew too. “You’re right, we are playing a little game,” he said, taking a seat and setting his bag in front of him. “It’s called I Never.” With that he pulled out the bottle of tequila and two plastic shot glasses. His nice glass set was back in his room. Hidden, of course. Setzer wasn’t stupid. “You ever played it before?”
No swords in the back. Celes didn’t like playing dirty. A handful of people taught her to be honorable in a fight, mostly Christophe and Auron. If she was going to attack Setzer, it was going to be on fair terms and she wasn’t going to randomly lash out… unless he said or did something that offended her onto new levels of utmost rage. Still, she was at least going to make it known how she felt. And Celes didn’t say things like that lightly. She would’ve been happy if he wasn’t in the play at all, but their truce only lasted for so long and both of them were dangling by bare threads. You need to get this over with. Just go along with whatever crap he has in mind. Maybe this will be good for both of us. I don’t know.
Celes quietly followed Setzer down the hallway, wondering where the hell he was taking her. It was by no means the direction she’d go to Training Center, so he had to have other ideas in mind. She paused once they came to the alcove and her brows knotted up together as she watched him. Celes wasn’t the most familiar with alcohol, but she knew what it was that he placed down in front of them. At one point an old roommate from Galbadia had snuck it in and tried to have a mini-party while Celes was at the library. Yeah, that cadet didn’t stick around for long. But then there were also shot glasses and he was talking about a game of some sort. Celes continued to stare, confused about what was going on until it suckerpunched her in the face.
...fuck, he wants to do a drinking game.
Her face went several shades lighter than usual as she stared at the tequila bottle. She didn’t know what to say, completely shocked. Celes Chère didn’t drink, save for those few holidays with the family, where her mother said it was ok for her to have half a glass of wine or whatever fancy drink they were having. Celes were certain she didn’t know what it was like to be buzzed, let alone hammered. She doubted that Setzer’s aim was to get her drunk, because he wasn’t that malicious, was he? Christophe and Mariann had done well to keep Celes away from things like alcohol and drugs and sex, though the latter never appealed much to her when all the boys she knew were idiots and all the ones she swooned for were in her favorite novels. But… what the hell was she suppose to do? Her fingers fidgeted as she chewed on her bottom lip, all subconsciously. After fluttering her eyes, Celes finally shook her head. “I… no…. I won’t do this, Setzer. I-” Now her cheeks had a hint of pink. “...I don’t drink.”
For a few moments, Setzer simply looked at Celes, waiting. Watching her put it all together in her head. Honestly, it wasn’t a hard question and while yeah, it was a school night and yes, they weren’t supposed to do it, it wasn’t like they were going to hurt anything. Each other, maybe, but the jury was still out on that one. And he watched her come to that realization that yes, Setzer was proposing a drinking game. He might as well have asked her to rob a bank or something from the look she was giving him. Didn’t Celes do anything to have fun?
...Come to think of it, maybe she didn’t. He wouldn’t know either way.
Setzer sighed, flicking his hair out of his eyes. “Look, the point is not to get drunk,” he said. “We both have class tomorrow and more rehearsal after that and going through it hungover would suck. I just figured that it might be a way where we could blow off steam without hurting each other.” He shrugged, “And if that didn’t work, then we could always have some tipsy sparring in the TC, I don’t care. I just thought…” His voice trailed off for a second, and he didn’t look at her, fingers toying with one of his many necklaces. “You don’t really know me, and I don’t really know you. I thought we might fix it. You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”
In her mind, Celes did plenty of things that were fun. It just so happened that almost no one else thought they were fun. She loved her books to death and thought learning new things was amazing. Who didn’t want to do that? Apparently a lot of people, seeing her peers liked to gravitate towards things like what Setzer was proposing. It frustrated her to no end, even more so when she tried to do things like the play in hopes she could connect with more people. Turned out that she only got on more people’s nerves. At the same time, Celes couldn’t change who she was just for the sake of making friends.
But concepts of fun aside, Celes once again froze when Setzer mentioned that they should get to know each other. That raised the biggest of red flags that Celes had ever seen. She didn’t do “getting to know people better.” Back in Deling City, everyone was all about gossip and rumors, things she didn’t care for. She preferred facts and sadly, no one seemed interested in that. Her mother put on quite the show when she saw her “friends,” only to react differently when they returned home. There was none of this getting to know others on a deeper level. And Celes knew from experience the hurt that came with letting people get too close to her. She hurt herself and hurt others. It was why she was so cold to everyone she knew. It was why not a lot of people knew much about her other than she came from Deling City from a rich as fuck military family.
...but they’re not your real family. And I can’t remember anything before that. I… I just cant.
Just as she was about to say no, that she wanted nothing to do with this, she listened to the tone in Setzer’s voice. She knew that tone. It had be present in her own voice several times before. And the way he played with his necklaces and averted his gaze had her think for a brief second that perhaps they weren’t as polar opposite as she made them up to be in her head. It still made her uncomfortable talking about herself to others, even more so to someone she didn’t exactly want to tell everything about, but the alternative was… well, not getting this off their chests. And they could go back to still fucking up the play and probably attacking each other show night. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place and Celes didn’t know what to do.
With a deep breath, she barricaded herself in her usual, figurative ice armor, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and dropped her tote bag to the floor. “Fine,” she said with a clenched jaw. She then sat down across from Setzer and cross her legs. “Let’s just get this over with. I’d like to not be spending all night doing… this.” She waved her hand at the alcohol and glasses. For the love of Hyne, save me. What the hell am I getting myself into? Just… pace yourself. Don’t do anything stupid…. Ok, don’t do anything more stupid than this.
Everyone had different definitions of fun. Setzer liked playing card games, but he already knew from talking with Celes that she didn’t enjoy that, or even care. So he wasn’t going to get to know her through that, which was normally his opening play with most people. Cards were easy. Despite whatever anyone might say, he didn’t cheat at them either, so if he won, he won on his own merits. And it was a great distraction for him when he was trying not to think about other things, which was why he bet money on his games when he could. Gambling, to him, was fun. He understood if other people didn’t get it, though.
And he actually did understand the whole not wanting to get close to people thing. It wasn’t like Setzer was planning on divulging all of his secrets tonight either, because no. She could ask him about his scars until she was blue in the face, and it wouldn’t matter how much alcohol he had, he was not talking about Davie. No. Setzer refused. No one here knew about Davie and he’d like to keep it that way. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t open up a little. Little stories weren’t going to hurt either of them. It would be all right.
So when she finally agreed, he nodded and cracked open the bottle, leaving it between the two of them. “All right,” he said, “let’s do this. Rules are pretty simple. We take turns saying something we supposedly never did. If we’ve actually done it, then we take a shot. So, for example, if I say I’ve never been a play, we both drink, because obviously.” He gestured to where they’d come from and the rehearsal they just left. “You wanna start or should I?”
Well the rules seemed simple enough. Celes could follow that with no issues. Granted, if she got tipsy, she wasn’t sure what she’d do, or worse, what she’d say. I don’t even know what I’m like when I’ve had a couple of drinks. This was either the best or worst idea ever. She just hoped that she’d be coherent enough to a) find her way back to her dorm room and b) finish up her studying. Yes, she liked studying. Again with the whole things she didn’t have in common with her peers. At all. It was frustrating to say the least.
Watching Setzer pour them each a shot, she almost wanted to ask him where the hell he acquired such a bottle. Then remembered it was him, so this shouldn’t have surprised her much. I just want to get this over with. I just want to get this over with. I just want to- As she repeated the mental mantra, she picked up the shot glass and swished the liquid around. Her actions were remnants of the few times she ever had wine. Christophe showed her how to test for it properly, but she couldn’t exactly remember all the reasons why. And for all she knew, it was only a wine thing and not an alcohol thing, but Celes didn’t know what else to do. Once she was done swishing it, she leaned in to smell it and immediately pulled away to make a face. “Oh Hyne, I hope it doesn’t taste as bad as it smells,” she muttered while putting the glass down.
Celes didn’t have to think hard on Setzer’s question. “You go,” she said, almost begrudgingly. In all honesty, Celes didn’t know what to say to start off. She felt like all the things she had never done in her life were things Setzer did on a regular basis. The drinking, the card games, probably even getting laid for all she knew. At the same time, she knew a handful of things she had done that he probably never dreamed of. But she wanted him to start, not wanting to mess up this game and make it lame right off the bat. Celes sat uncomfortably before him, her eyes looking to the side to make sure no one was in the vicinity. She had to hand it to him; Setzer knew how to find a good hiding place.
Lucky for them both, Setzer held his liquor pretty well. If it came down to it, he’d make sure she got back to her room okay, and he wasn’t being creepy about that, either. No matter what people said about Setzer, he wasn’t nearly the womanizer the gossip painted him to be. He flirted, he made a few jokes, but he didn’t actually get himself into trouble as often as people thought. Not with the ladies, anyway. Everything else was fair game. Hence why he thought this drinking game was a brilliant idea.
When she commented on the shots, he glanced down at the bottle and shrugged. “It’s not top shelf, yeah,” he admitted. “But it could be a hell of a lot worse.” Setzer wasn’t going to get into how he knew about worse, but it had been a fun party. At least, from what he remembered, that night was kind of fuzzy overall. Whatever, he’d survived and no worse for wear, so that was what mattered, right? “Slug it down quick, you’ll get used to it.” That was what you were supposed to do with shots anyway, right? It always worked for him.
Setzer sat back, watching Celes’ face. He didn’t want to start with “personal” questions, because that wouldn’t be fun. That was best saved for when they were both a little buzzed and willing to give honest answers. “I have never been to Deling City,” he said. “Haven’t travelled all that much, all things considered. Hardly been away from Garden, ‘cept for missions and such.” And since he had never done that, he didn’t take a drink, and looked at Celes expectantly. See? Setzer didn’t automatically go for the cheap, low class questions right off the bat. He could be reasonable.
Slug it down quick sounded like a recipe for disaster for Celes. She had never taken a shot of anything before. The wine she had a couple years ago was to be sipped on politely in between conversations with other high standing members of society. Or whatever her parents were calling their “friends.” This was a novel idea to her and she wasn’t sure how well it was going to go over. And considering that the first question Setzer brought up involved Deling City, Celes just stared at him. It was almost as if he knew and just wanted to get her buzzed right away. ...does he even know I’m from Deling City? Well, you don’t even know if that’s where you’re really from, but….
An immense sigh fell from her lips as she once again reached out for her plastic shot glass and brought up to her face. She tried not to think about it too hard or even smell it. Just get it over with. After taking a deep breath, Celes attempted to knock it back as Setzer had mentioned, trying to mimic it the few ways she had seen actors and actresses done it in movies. She barely swallowed half of it before she was doubling over and coughing. At least she didn’t spit it out, but the mouthful she did managed to drink was horrible. And people wondered why she didn’t drank. Celes continued to make a face while coughing, doing her best not to make too much noise. Last thing she wanted was for a security guard to catch them because she was hacking up a lung.
“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath and between coughs. Once she calmed down, she looked to Setzer with a raised eyebrow. “I’m from Deling City, idiot. Good job.” After a couple more coughs, Celes tucked some hair behind her ear and tried to think of something to ask him. “I have never failed a class.” That was almost common knowledge in Celes’ book, but she didn’t know what the hell else to say. And yes, there was one minor flaw there, because she had failed the SeeD exam, but she wasn’t talking about exams. She was talking about classes. And she doubted Setzer wanted to argue over that nuance, seeing he wasn’t one to talk, either.
Well, there was a first time for everything, so they could both just drink up and see where it took them. In retrospect, Setzer should have gotten a bottle of something a little bit better for this, but tequila was pretty gross regardless. As far as just something to straight up drink, scotch was better. He could still remember the first time he’d had any of it. Davie had snuck it into the house, and Davie shared everything with him. She’d been 14. He’d been 11. It had been good times, and his aunt and uncle were never the wiser.
And why no, Setzer had no idea she was from Deling City. They weren’t besties and she didn’t talk about herself that often and he didn’t do that stupid thing where he tried to find out about her through her friends. Because no, Setzer didn’t work that way. If he wanted to know something, he’d ask her himself. “See, I didn’t know that,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not.” Where he had been from originally, his aunt and uncle never said. “Grew up in Fisherman’s Horizon. Then came here.” Short version of a story he didn’t want to tell. Moving on.
At her question, Setzer snorted and knocked back his shot, shuddering a little as it went down. “Oh god, that is horrible,” he said, wiping at his mouth. “That is the absolute last time I am letting my roommate bring me booze, because damn. That kid does not have taste worth a damn.” He made a face. “And to answer your question, it was the intro to para-magic class. I don’t have any talent in it, thought I could learn, failed miserably.” Watching Setzer try and get the hang of magic had been pretty hysterical to watch, though. “I’ve never seen a real play. Not like, school productions, but one of the big, fancy Broadway-style ones.”
Ok, good, Celes wasn’t the only one who thought this stuff that they were drinking was absolute shit. She rolled her eyes as Setzer made a face, resisting the urge to point out that it was his brilliant idea to do any of this. But shitty alcohol aside, she did learn something about him. Not only had Setzer never been to Deling City, but he was from Fisherman’s Horizon, a place that Celes only knew from reading the many books she took out from the library. One day she’d get to visit it and be out in the middle of the ocean. It sounded like something out of a fantasy novel. She almost wanted to ask Setzer what it was like, but she swallow that question down.
“Para-magic?” She raised an eyebrow. “Really?” Celes had to remind herself that not everyone was stellar at magic. Some people were strictly good with a weapon or just magic. She was grateful that both came easily to her, swordplay more so than the magic, but what magic she could use was easy. Had all other types of magic come as easily, Celes would have contemplated becoming a mage of some sort. After shrugging her shoulders, she added, “Well, guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses.” Celes couldn’t throw weapons to save her life. Not when she could fling ice magic or run up to the front lines and be all up in someone’s face.
And once more, Celes was glaring at him. There was still half a shot of the tequila left in her plastic shot glass and she loathed having to drink it again. Holding her breath, Celes tried to quickly consume it, spilling a little out of the corner of her mouth. At first she tried licking it up with her tongue, but immediately regretted the taste that now lingered there. She acted like a cat trying to get fur off of its tongue before coming back to her sense. “Yeah. Been there, done that.” She brought a hand up to wipe the corners of her mouth clean before settling the plastic glass down. “It’s not like I went to at least four different performances during each summer. And that’s not even including the rest of the year.” Again, lower-class people went to the movies. Upper-class people went to plays and musicals. Not that Celes never watched movies, because she did and also loved them for different reasons, but her parents forced her to come to all the performances and she grew to love them. “Take it it’s mine turn again,” she grumbled and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her mind was still on the the plays, recalling the outfits and the make-up and the hair. Oh Hyne, the shoes…. “I have never worn heels.” After a beat, she realized how dumb that was. “And if you take a drink to that, I don’t even want to know.”
Fisherman’s Horizon was nice to visit, for someone else. Now Setzer doubted he could ever bring himself to go back. Sure, his only remaining blood relatives were there, but just because they shared some genetic history, that didn’t mean they were family. Not since they had him shipped off to Garden instead of letting them all heal and grieve. Setzer had never really gotten over what happened to Davie and at this rate, it was kind of pointless to try. It didn’t help that he’d never been a great fisherman anyway, preferring to play around with the Falcon instead, which also didn’t exist anymore. Moving on.
He nodded. “Really. You know, I thought it would look cool, blowing things up at the snap of my fingers and all, but I suck at it. At least I know better now and didn’t keep trying to do something I’m just not meant to.” He shrugged. Setzer could be confident and cocky when he wanted to be, and he also knew when to cut his losses. He was not a completely hopeless case when it came to schoolwork. He just didn’t always see the point in doing all of that studying when he wasn’t all that interested in the subject to begin with. If they let him take a case on airships and flight, then yeah, Setzer would do better at paying attention.
Okay, it was kind of funny to see Celes try and drink, and Setzer grinned. It was cute in its own way, but he wasn’t about to say that. That was a sure way to get himself punched in the face and he was doing well in that department, too. “It is your turn,” and at her question, he just laughed, “Nope, no heels, I have never been that drunk.” Would he wear heels on a bet? Absolutely, shame wasn’t something Setzer really did, but no. That bet had never been made… yet. “But why not?” This was actually a serious question, coming from him. “I mean, you don’t like ‘em, are they not comfy?” She’d look hot in heels. But then again, Setzer liked girls in heels, so he was biased. “Let’s see…. I have never driven a car. Legit, I know all the mechanics behind it, but actually getting into one and going?” He shrugged. “Not yet.” Probably because everyone in Garden would absolutely not let him get away with taking one out. Again, probably smart about that one.
This whole drinking thing was not something Celes was excelling at. Wow, I suck at this game so far. Can’t drink and I’m asking stupid questions. And when she dropped the fingers from her face, she suddenly realized the smallest amount of haze creeping into her head. ...am I getting buzzed? Hell if I know. Whatever. I’m still fine. It wasn’t as if she was swaying around or slurring her words. Celes still felt coherent enough, even if her last question was truly stupid in hindsight. And she couldn’t tell if Setzer laughing at it was a good thing or not.
Of course he had to ask an equally as dumb question back at her. “Are you kidding me? Would you feel comfortable walking around on your tip-toes all day with barely a stick supporting you? It’s the most impractical design ever made! And what benefit does any girl get from it unless she really wants a guy staring at her legs?” Celes scoffed and shook her head. “No, not for me. I’d rather wear something I know I can sprint in at any given time. Heels are no one of them.” Even on a bet, Celes was more likely to flip someone off than actually wear said heels. She was more willing to wear dresses than stupid stilettos.
Celes was thankful that she finally didn’t have to drink this round. It was quickly getting old that she drank twice in a row so far and from the looks of it, off of questions Setzer didn’t even realize he’d drink from. Clearly he’s too good at this. And Celes didn’t exactly do well with other people being better than she was. For some areas, it didn’t matter, but others? The girl could get competitive and right now she wanted to not have Setzer best her. ...is there even an end goal for this? The hell is even the point? “You and me both,” Celes said, barely interested. “And I don’t know all the mechanics behind it.” Either her father drove or they had a personal drive take them everywhere. Celes never had to worry about getting behind the wheel. “Do know how to ride a chocobo. Sort of. Not really a car, but it gets you places.” Now it was her turn again and Celes had to make sure she didn’t say something dumb, like hur hur I have never worn heels. “...I have never been to a concert in the pit.” Her parents always made sure they had box seats, where they could easily get food and drinks along with being away from the rowdy crowd below reaching out to the lead singer. Celes always wanted to be down there with them. It looked like so much fun. As she thought about it, a sense of longing was present in her eyes.
Well, all the early questions were stupid because they weren’t quite buzzed enough yet to ask anything really good. Setzer had this vague, warm feeling in his chest, but he’d made sure to drink plenty of water during rehearsal to make sure his hangover wouldn’t be too bad in the morning. He’d meant what he said, going to class with a hangover was horrible and he tried not to do it if he could avoid it. Plus, he wasn’t really trying to get either of them drunk, just buzzed enough where they could actually talk without her being stiff as fuck and him getting annoyed with her. It seemed to be working so far, anyway.
“Dude, if I felt comfortable in them and liked the way I looked, then sure. Why not?” He shrugged. “I mean, to each his own, or her own, however you want to put it. I don’t know, I always thought girls could take off their shoes and use the heels as makeshift weapons if you had to.” Because if Setzer wore stilettos, that was exactly what he’d do with them in a bar fight. But then again, he also fought with cards because he wanted to, so that was neither here nor there. He was of the opinion that people should do what made them happy, and fuck the rules and standards that might hold them back. Most rules, after all, were made to be broken.
Whether or not he was good at the game wasn’t necessarily Setzer’s goal. They could stop whenever, but he was glad they were at least talking. He was just asking whatever questions as they came to mind. “Never been on a chocobo,” he said. “I imagine it would kind of be like riding a horse… but I’ve never been on one of those either, so…. yeah, there’s that.” He shrugged. “I can operate a boat, and a proper sailboat too if I had to. Not all that hard.” Thanks to his uncle, Setzer knew more about a fisherman’s life than he ever wanted to, but he’d always liked helping out with the Falcon more. At her next question, he grinned, and poured himself that shot. “Bottoms up,” he said, knocking it back in one swallow so he didn’t have to taste it as much. “I talked my roommate’s mom into signing the slip so we could go to the show. It was pretty badass, we were right up front. Had to dodge a few flying elbows, though.” Worth it. He saw that look in her eyes, and he remembered how she always seemed to have her headphones more or less glued to her ears. “I’ve never met a celebrity up close and personal, though. Like, a musician after the show or something.”
Celes raised an eyebrow and just made a face at him. “...no. Oh Hyne, no. No sensible woman is going to wear said shoes when they knew a fight was coming up, but even if they were, they’re not going to take them off and start flailing them around.” She outright facepalmed over that. “It’s like a badly written romance novel or some crap,” she muttered to herself. Hopefully they could move on from the topic of heels and them being weapons. Then again, Setzer was the one who used cards as weapons, so none of this should’ve been a surprise to her.
She had a hard time believing that Setzer knew how to operate a boat or anything like that, but it made sense considering he was from Fisherman’s Horizon. Just like how it made sense that Celes had been to more plays than she had limbs and digits to count them on. They simply had different upbringings in that regard. And the second she saw Setzer take a shot, she felt a twinge of jealousy shot through her. She wanted to experience that so badly, but was never able to. She didn’t have the right set of friends who were interested in that and like hell she could convince her parents to buy her the tickets. Sure, they would foot the bill if she and her friends - or whoever they thought were her friends - wanted a private box to themselves. But that wasn’t the same. Celes didn’t like enjoying a performance like a rock band from that far away. She also didn’t know how she would deal with said flying elbows. Probably give someone a black eye if they tried cutting in front of her. Maybe one day….
The next question prompted her to think a little more. She had met several famous people for different reasons, but none of them were celebrities. Just people her father usually knew. Mostly politicians, philanthropists, and so forth. People that everyone else my age doesn’t care about. So in response, she didn’t take a drink. It was probably for the best, because damnit, that shit was horrible. “Well that makes two of us.” Celes was still rather tense, all things considered. Her head felt a bit fuzzy, but she was hanging in alright. Whether or not the alcohol was going to loosen her up properly was still unknown. She looked off to the side, once again making sure that no one else was in the area. “I have never been caught doing something I wasn’t suppose to do and for all I know, that might as well change tonight.” She sighed after that.
Setzer just shrugged. “Fair enough.” Hey, it made sense to him, but what did he know? He didn’t go around wearing heels every day, after all, and he didn’t really know anyone who did. He still didn’t know why the SeeD uniforms for women had skirts attached, because while cute in a naughty schoolgirl sort of way, it didn’t seem all that practical. Then again, Setzer just hated uniforms in general. He’d be happier wearing his normal clothes and his favorite jacket, but Garden kind of frowned on that. At least he snuck his necklaces underneath his uniform everyday.
Just because he knew how to operate a boat didn’t mean he was going to volunteer to do just that unless he absolutely had to. Someday a mission might require it, but until then, Setzer was content keeping his feet on dry land. Unless, of course, someone offered him an airship, then all bets were off. “You should go to a show like that, someday,” he said. “You always seem to have your music on you, so you’d probably have fun. Just watch out for creepy guys in the audience and punch anyone who has the nerve to hit you first.” Yeah, the first guy who looked at Celes wrong would get clocked and if Setzer happened to be there to see it, all he would do was laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Okay, so maybe that was the tequila talking, but whatever. All he was really aware of was that he was in a better mood than he was at rehearsal, and Celes hadn’t left, and that was good enough for him.
“Huh. How about that.” He figured her fancy parents might have pulled her strings somewhere, but apparently not. As she asked her next question, Setzer had leaned over, checking the hallway again. Nope, still clear for the moment. He’d have to remember keep checking. “Shit, if I have to take a shot for every incident of that, I’d have to drink the whole damn bottle,” he said, only halfway kidding about that. But still, he followed the rules of the game and took another shot. He was really never letting his roommate buy the booze again, kid had horrible taste. “We should be fine, though. I’ve never been caught in this spot.” He glanced over at her again. “So does that mean you’ve just never gotten caught or you’ve never done anything to be caught for?” He paused, “Okay, I think that made more sense in my head, but let’s go with it anyway.”
Once again the twinge of longing surfaced up in her. She didn’t say anything to Setzer when he suggested that maybe she should go to a concert and enjoy herself. Yes, she always had her music on her and she couldn’t leave her room without her mp3 player. But acquiring concert tickets like that? Not exactly easy. Celes averted her gaze from him as he talked, though stifled a weak chuckle at the mention of decking some pervy guy. “You don’t need to tell me that twice. Already done it before.” Like that one idiot my mother thought I needed to date…. Celes had punching guys in the face down to an art form. She could handle herself.
“You are more than welcome to drink all of it. Less for me.” That and it would bring a swift end to their little game. Well, more like his game. Celes was just there for the ride and hoped this actually did something in regards to their performance. She never would have suggested a drinking game as a way of relaxing, but it just went to show how diverse some people were. It wasn’t a bad thing, just… Celes didn’t drink. Or socialize like a lot of other people did. And in regards to his question, Celes finally looked back to him, eyes narrowed onto him. “Never been caught.” Then she perked up an eyebrow. “Why, do you think I’m incapable of doing anything worthwhile to get caught for?” Yes, Celes had skipped class before. Yes, Celes had snuck out to places she wasn’t suppose to be. Though the few classes she did skip were ones she was already ahead in. And the times she did sneak out weren’t for anything amazing. It involved going to a fancy restaurant late at night or going outside to watch meteor showers or that one time she forgot her books in a locked up classroom and had to sneak her way in there and back. Thankfully her then roommate was handy with picking locks.
Shaking her head, Celes focused her attention back onto Setzer. “I do believe it’s still your turn to ask a thing.” She wondered if he was buzzed already. Probably from what he just asked her, but it was hard for her to tell. Drunk was something she could tell a mile away. Buzzed? Not so much. She never took Setzer seriously, so this wasn’t helping. At the same time, they weren’t screaming at each other and making death threats… so that was a plus, right? Celes still didn’t feel relaxed, though. Her body refused to unwind and let go. Setzer, on the other hand, seemed to have no qualms doing just that.
The last thing Setzer wanted was to make Celes jealous, because that was the opposite of the point of the game. If they stopped having fun, then they could stop playing. Hearing she’d decked a guy for being a douchebag? Setzer raised his empty shot glass to her, and that was not in sarcasm, either. He might have a bit of a reputation for being a flirt and a ladies’ man, but he didn’t mistreat women. Wherever Davie’s spirit was, she was still looking out for him and if he did something that stupid, she was going to come back and kick his ass. Setzer was sure of this. “Good. Put ‘em in their place.” And if he ever needed to be hit like that, she could do the same to him.
“But then we wouldn’t have any alcohol for the game, where’s the fun in that?” Okay, so Setzer and Celes had different definitions of the word “fun,” but it all worked out. They weren’t killing each other, so this was a good start. But he only grinned more when she said she’d just never been caught. “Celes Chère, unknown rebel, I like it. I have a hard time seeing it, though. You just don’t seem like the ‘skip class to go and party’ type.” Come to think of it, he couldn’t see her partying, either. Just like how she stared at him for the thought of drinking, he imagined her in the corner of the room, arms crossed, glaring at everyone who dared to have a good time. Suppose he’d find out at the show’s after party…. if she showed up, that was.
Oh, right. More questions. It wasn’t like Setzer was drunk, but he was starting to feel the alcohol a little, a warm, pleasant feeling. It took the edge off of dealing with her, anyway, and he liked that. “Right, right, let’s see…” The first thing he thought of was I never knew my parents, but that was too personal and went into all sorts of subjects he wasn’t comfortable talking about with others. “I’ve never built a snowman. I’ve never even seen snow that wasn’t from someone casting Blizzard magic.”
The parties that Celes had grown up with were the types that involved buying a custom designer dress and expecting to know how to properly ballroom dance. Any other variation of said parties was unknown to her and she was pretty ok with not experiencing that. That would probably change come the cast party, but Celes was pretty sure she’d be sitting in a corner, talking to a couple of people on and off before leaving early. It just wasn’t her thing. Raising a finger up a Setzer, she spoke. “I never said I skipped class to go out and party, so don’t fill your head with false ideas.” And she wasn’t about to tell him the reasons she would skip class. Most of the people she knew did that to go out on the town or party or whatever. Celes’ reasons were far more mundane and the last time she did it was because the next novel in a series she loved just came out and damnit, she could not wait to read it and had to read it now. And again, she was ahead in her classes, so it didn’t matter that much to her.
She raised an eyebrow at his comment about the snowman. It wasn’t something she expected him to say. As for Celes, she didn’t touch her glass. “Kind of hard to make a snowman when you live in a city,” she said. “Seen snow before, though.” She looked down and fidgeted with her hands, pulling at the hem of her shorts. “It’s pretty great….” The cold weather always appealed to her and was by far her favorite time of the year. That plus her uncanny talent for ice magic made her wonder if there was a reason behind all of that, but Celes didn’t know. Her mind went blank whenever she tried to recall anything before she was eight. It was just a black hole in her mind.
A round of silence washed over her as she tried to think of something to say. Millions of things came to mind, but none of them she wanted to voice. I have never had a week’s worth of solid, dreamless sleep. I have never known my real parents. I have never done anything like this before. I have really told anyone that much about me, because quite frankly, I don’t know that much about me. I have never- She hung her head as she tried to quiet her mind. Celes decided to blame the alcohol for that. You know, the two half shots she consumed and nothing else. Setzer was in way better shape than she was in that regard. Not knowing what to say, Celes stayed quiet and wrapped her arms around herself.
That wasn’t a party, that was a formal event and Setzer had little interest in it. Why dress up only to pretend to be someone you weren’t for the sake of getting someone else to like you? And if you didn’t enjoy doing that, why bother at all? He was a firm believer in going your own way, even if it meant going against the grain, and fuck what everyone else thought. “But you have skipped class,” he pointed out. “That says something. Everyone’s got their reasons. And for the record, I’ve skipped class for other reasons besides partying, so don’t go thinking you know everything about me just yet.” He usually skipped on his birthday, and on Davie’s, because he was just not in the mood to deal with people on those days. It brought up a lot of memories and Setzer felt he was better off just being alone until he could properly be around people again.
Ah, okay. He’d still thought that maybe there was a park or something where she could build a snowman, but whatever worked. “It seems like it would be awesome,” he said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll go to Trabia someday and see it for real.” Somehow, it seemed fitting that Celes would like snow. She’d mastered the Blizzard spell pretty quickly, too, from what he’d seen. Setzer was of the opinion that if you could use magic, then more power to you. He’d just find another way to do whatever it was that he needed to. Hence why he’d made cards into weapons for whenever his daggers just weren’t enough.
But then Celes got quiet, and he didn’t know why. There wasn’t anyone coming, and Setzer leaned over to check one more time, and they hadn’t had so much to drink that she might have passed out or something. Unless she really was that much of a lightweight, but somehow he doubted that. Had he accidentally stumbled onto a forbidden topic or something? Maybe, but he was trying to avoid anything he himself didn’t want to talk about. “Hey,” he leaned his head to the side so he could try to catch her eye, “You okay? Still your turn to ask me another question, you know.” If she wanted to stop playing, that was okay too, but it did kind of feel like they were finally getting somewhere, so Setzer was still game if she was.
To be honest, Celes had judged him more than she usually did with most people. She liked judging people on their actions than making up an idea about them in her head, but it was harder when Setzer crawled under her skin and plucked at her nerves like it was some game. As to what he did during those times he skipped classes for not a party was beyond her and frankly, Celes really didn't care. Just like she doubted that he really cared whether or not she actually made a snowman or if she had done any of the other things he brought up. This was suppose to relax her, to make them less frustrated with each other, and Celes couldn't help but not feel any of that.
And it wasn't that Setzer had said something to set her off. No forbidden topic had been touched upon - not yet, anyways - for Celes was creating her own problems in her head. She wanted to stand up from her seat and walk away without saying a word to him, though she knew that would only create more tension between the two of them. That was the last thing Celes wanted to do. But her damn mind kept jumping over to the darker topics that she didn't want to discuss with anyone, let alone Setzer. And she was afraid if she kept drinking, they would come out on their own somehow. I don't like this game....
"I'm fine," she lied to him, still refusing to look Setzer in the eye. Because she knew if she did, he'd have that same look, the one he usually gave her when they hit a semi-serious note. It made her feel... cornered? Awkward? Exposed? Celes couldn't pinpoint it, but what she did know was that she didn't like it. Knowing Setzer, he probably didn't know that he did that to her, which made him even more annoying than he needed to be. Instead of fidgeting her hands over one another, she grabbed the bottle to refill her plastic shot glass. "I have never-" Been this uncomfortable in a long time. "-missed a morning run."
Setzer was used to getting judged right off the bat. Having a face full of scars tended to do that. Some people thought he was bad ass, like he’d earned them in battle or something. Some people just side-eyed him and looked down on him without bothering to try and get to know him first. Setzer had a feeling Celes fell into the latter category. Hell, if after this nothing changed, well, at least Setzer could say that he’d tried. There was no hope in trying to maintain a friendship - if he could even call whatever it was between him and Celes that, an acquaintanceship? Was that even a word? - if she clearly didn’t want it. Therefore, he’d get through the show and then make a point never to talk to her again.
But at the same time, he was starting to find out things he liked about Celes. The concert thing, for example. It wasn’t that he was trying to find out her deepest, darkest secrets, because everyone had them and they were secrets for a reason. He just wanted to understand the girl a little better so that way he might understand why she treated him like shit sometimes. It wasn’t like Setzer was going to change who he was for her, he wouldn’t change for anyone, not his family, not his instructors, and he’d always live for himself. Either way, he was starting to feel like he shouldn’t have even bothered trying.
Liar, liar, pants on motherfucking fire. If Celes had been looking at him, yeah, he would have looking at her, point blank, completely serious. But Setzer wasn’t going to call her on it. Not yet. That was a one way ticket to getting slugged in the face and that wasn’t on the agenda for this evening. “I’ve never gone for a morning run,” he said, shrugging. “Mornings are for sleeping. I’m more of a night person.” Which wasn’t hard. Setzer had lost count of how many detentions he’d gotten for missing his first class because he overslept. Whatever, his Garden career was never going to be stellar to begin with. “I’ve never turned down a game of Triple Triad.”
Celes would have debated that mornings were the perfect time for a run. No one else was up, it was cooler out, the sky was that perfect shade of blue, and she got to watch the sun rise depending on the time of year. Celes treasured that hour of solitude she had each morning and loved waking up to it. “I’ve been doing it since military academy,” she admitted. “No one slept in the morning.” And it had been etched into her routine ever since. Though she was far happier to be at Balamb Garden than at the academy. A sense of purpose loomed at Garden, where that was lacking in the military, or at least Celes thought so.
She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to roll them or give Setzer a death look. He knew that she didn’t play Triple Triad and had turned down every single game that was ever proposed to her. Celes never understood the draw to the card game, but then again, a lot of people didn’t understand half the things she did, either. Reaching out for her glass, Celes did a poor job of not making a face as she eyed the contents inside. Once more she held her breath in an attempt to drink the tequila done. Half of the shot made it into her mouth as Celes turned her head away to swallow and violently cough again. Several curses fluttered out in between coughs as she placed the glass back down with half a shot left. I am never going to get used to this.
Still thinking about the Triple Triad comment, Celes almost wanted to ask Setzer how the cards she found were working out for him. Almost. Her eyes went to him and her lips parted slightly, only to close them again. Why do you even care? Trying her best to erase the thought from her mind, Celes focused on something else she could bring up. She thought of the various activities she always wanted to do, but never could for one reason or another. “I have never fallen asleep under the stars.” It was something Celes wanted to do, for it reminded her of all the epic fantasies with the group of heroes setting camp for the evening with the night sky hanging above. She knew if it were to ever happen, that it wouldn’t be as amazing as the books she read, but a girl could dream.
Military academy, huh? Unlike some of their friends, Setzer wasn’t necessarily one to pay attention to much of the gossip that went around, and thus he had no idea she’d gone somewhere besides Garden before transferring to Balamb. One, it wasn’t any of his business and thus he didn’t care; and two, Setzer really only paid attention when it was something really sensational. Then he just got popcorn and sat back and enjoyed the show. More fun for him that way. “Which one do you prefer, military academy or being here at Garden?” It was an innocent enough question, but knowing that about her explained a lot about why she was so uptight, needing everything to be perfect. From what Setzer understood, military kids could be like that. Then he realized his aunt and uncle could have shipped him off to some place like that, and he shuddered. No thank you.
If they ever played this again, he was going to get better booze. Not that he thought he’d ever get her to sit down like this with him, but hey, it was something he’d file away for later. With anyone else he would have made a joke about her needing to slug down the rest of the shot too, but not with Celes. Half a shot was enough for him. Probably better for her system, too, otherwise she might really miss that morning run. By now he knew the booze was cheap and he’d stopped caring. It all tasted the same after a while unless you had the really good stuff, which at the moment, he did not.
And yep, there it was, his turn to drink again. “Bottoms up,” he said, knocking it back. “I used to sleep out of doors a lot when I was in FH. My cousin and I liked to make it sort of like an adventure. I was a kid then, it seemed cooler than it probably was.” Whenever Setzer talked about Davie, she was always “my cousin,” never by her name. Her name was precious, a secret he still kept even when it didn’t mean anything to anyone but himself. “But if you like the stars, you should talk to Solace. He’s got a couple telescopes, knows all about the astromony around here. Really kind of fascinating to hear him talk about it.” He really was going to have to talk to Solace himself about that, because it would be a good way to spend the evening sometime, just him and the stars. “I’ve never looked up more information about that stuff in the library, though. Always meant to, always forgot.” Setzer paused, “That wasn’t a question, you don’t have to drink.”
“Being here,” Celes answered without much hesitation, “though I prefer the people at the military academy.” There was no room for error back then and anyone who remotely slacked was kicked out. She got along with more of her peers because of that, but at the same time it didn’t mean she was best friends with everyone. Her reputation for being an ice queen started then and carried on over to Galbadia Garden and eventually Balamb Garden. Neither here nor there. Let them think whatever they want of me.
The alcohol was definitely working on Celes by this point. Her body felt warmer and her head felt fuzzy. Not enough that thinking became a challenge, but it was there. Celes was certain she could still function, she just… felt different. And not exactly a good or bad different. She could live with the weird, warm, fuzzy sensation. And then there was Setzer, knocking back shots like his life depending on it. She lost count of how many times he went through them, wondering how the hell he was so much better at this than her. And then he was talking about the stars and his cousin - I didn’t know he had a cousin - and once more Celes felt a bit jealous. Her parents had always insisted on the nicest rooms money could buy instead of sleeping outdoors. They clearly were not the type of parents who were keen to plan a camping trip.
“Yeah, I know,” Celes nodded. “I’ve known Solace from Deling City years ago.” Both of their mothers went to the same gatherings and always brought their children in tow. And she liked Solace. The conversations they had were intelligent and meaningful. Far better than the mindless drivel that came out of the socialites of the upper-crust. At the same time, Solace wasn’t her best friend, but she respected him and enjoyed his company. And at the comment about the libraries, Celes shot him a look, not wanting to drink again for something that seemed so blatantly obvious that she had done that. Her shoulders dropped a bit when he mentioned she didn’t need to drink, though. “...what do you mean you never looked it up?” Her face scrunched up, genuinely confused on the matter. “There’s an entire section dedicated to astronomy. There’s literally no excuse for not going in to check out a book.” Then again, Celes could have lived in the library and be content. The girl read text books for fun when she was curious about something. She couldn’t understand why people didn’t go there and grab books, especially when they didn’t understand a topic. And the internet was full of idiots that she didn’t trust, so yeah. Books were fucking awesome.