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Squall had recently made camp out in the field to contemplate the recent happenings following the SeeD Ball. After it had been crashed and following the recent assignment, it turned out he'd be working with Cloud and Karrl on an assignment in foreign territory. He'd come out here to make sure he was at the top of his game and go over the details in his head, but the other reason he'd come out here was to speak to Rinoa and see how she felt about the entire situation. He'd been on an assignment with her before, so she was quite honestly the only one that knew how he handled himself. The other matter of note was the strange lamp he'd be given by the Headmaster.
He held the strange trinket in his hands, going over the curvature and design. What exactly was it for? He remembered in many works of fiction that rubbing a lamp often produced a genie, but the thought of it applying to real life sounded pretty ridiculous. On the other hand, the Headmaster wouldn't have handed him the thing if he didn't think it would have been useful somehow. He sighed and brought his thumb and index finger to his eyes, rubbing them slightly in frustration. The Revolver was leaned up against a tree by his tent and the campfire, and evening had set in as the sun began to set. He'd been out here mock sparring all day, and had even gone as far as to wipe out any fiends that got too close to his camp.
He'd gone out of the norm and informed Rinoa where he would be, though he tried to keep the note strictly professional. He didn't want to be at the Garden since the other students liked to ask too many questions, and he obviously wasn't one for conversation. Out here he could be as lonesome as he wanted, and he could think to himself all he desired. He carefully sat the lamp down in front of him as he unscrewed the lid off of his water canteen, taking a quick swig before resealing it and looking over to the food he had cooking over the campfire.
His thoughts began to wander to Rinoa, and he wondered if she had even found the note he left in his dorm room...
[atrb=colspan,2][style=margin-left: 25px; border-left: 3px solid #555555; margin-top: -10px; padding: 20 2 40 12; text-align: justify; font-size: 11px; font-family: helvetica; line-height: 14px; color: #a09891; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #111111;] With the note Squall had left her clutched tightly in her hand, Rinoa had promptly left Balamb Garden with Angelo following close behind her. She occassionally looked down to make sure he was keeping up, he rarely fell behind unless something else got his attention. Rinoa placed the note into one of her blue pockets as she saw Squall's lone figure by the camp fire he had presumably made. Her heart skipped a beat and Rinoa stopped dead in her tracks, Angelo carried on heading towards Squall and it took Rinoa a few moments to bring herself back down to Gaia. She shook her head and began to jog over to Squall.
"Hmmm I guess the cafeteria is out of hot dogs again hehe."
With a giggle Rinoa ran up behind Squall and knelt down, her eyes moved over to the lamp on the ground next to him. She reached forward and leant against his back with her arms hanging over his shoulders, Rinoa half tried to touch the lamp but she knew if she moved any further forward she would fall over him. Angelo laid down beside them both and placed his head on his legs, Rinoa meanwhile kept her eyes on the lamp and sighed lightly.
"Why would Cid give this to you now? He must think it's necessary...whatever this does..."
Hearing the telltale noise of paws gently bouncing off of the ground, Squall turned his head slightly to see Angelo approaching out of the corner of his vision. It seemed Rinoa had arrived, but she'd stopped dead in her tracks for some odd reason. Apparently Angelo hadn't picked up on what was so alluring; the canine had come trotting over as friendly as ever, like it was just another normal day. He noticed Rinoa shake her head to seemingly regain her senses, then hurried over as Squall focused his attention back forward. He sat cross-legged with his elbows on his knees, interlacing his fingers to form a rest for his chin with his knuckles as he stared down the strange trinket. It really made him wonder if the Headmaster had a sense of humor after all; what was the point of this ridiculous thing? He sighed lightly as his eyes cast down and away toward the ground as he sat and thought.
However, his train of thought would soon derail and slam into a metaphorical brick wall. He had expected Rinoa to just sit down near him and help him investigate, but oh no. With her being her usual self, she knelt down right behind him. Right when he began to wonder where she went and prepared to turn his head and look, he felt her press against his back and her arms quickly hung over his shoulders. He jumped a little at feeling the contact, but rolled his eyes and accepted it even though his shoulders remained tense. He saw her struggle to reach the lamp and blinked slightly, then helped out by carefully lifting the object and placing it between her hands. It was good to see she got there alright, no matter how he wanted to try and hide that.
''Sounds like you're just as lost as I am. I'm actually starting to wonder if he gave me this silly thing for laughs, but I know when it comes to a mission he's too serious for that...''
[atrb=colspan,2][style=margin-left: 25px; border-left: 3px solid #555555; margin-top: -10px; padding: 20 2 40 12; text-align: justify; font-size: 11px; font-family: helvetica; line-height: 14px; color: #a09891; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #111111;] Rinoa gently took the lamp from Squall's hand and began to look over it as she turned it around in her hands. It was dirty or at least worn which meant it was some years old, Rinoa glanced over to Angelo to make sure he was settled. Sure enough he was laid on the ground napping, Rinoa smiled before turning back to look at the lamp.
"Even when Seifer introduced me to Headmaster Cid I thought he was pretty serious but he always seemed...happy. I don't think I will ever get him."
Rinoa rested her full weight against Squall's back as she continued to look at the lamp, there was nothing out of the ordinary on it. For all she knew it could just be something to hold gravy in. Rinoa sighed and turned her head to look at Squall, her nose almost touching his cheek.
"...So is this like something out of a fairytale? Rub the lamp and you get a wish? What would you wish for Squall?"