Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[Kailah S Majessta]

Tifa held her still bleeding arm out for Xion, "Thanks, I didn't realize how deep the glass cut." As Xion returned to the conversation/teasing at hand, Tifa spoke to Kailah, "Go ahead and mingle now. You'll see, like I said, everyone here is a friend," her eyes were looking fondly upon everyone present, "I see those kids as my own- although probably not as much as Leon sees Crystal like a surrogate daughter. We'd all protect each other with our lives. I hope you learn to feel that way too."

Kailah finished what was in the wine glass, not quite as starving, but not fully satisfied (but she wouldn't tell this nice woman). Her skin tone had at least turned from pale to a light, but slightly tanned color. He eyebrow raised at what she had said, "So Leon must be the one with a scowl and glaring at Crystal and Roxas."

"You would be correct," Tifa responded with a smile, "Now go, sit, have fun. They were having a party when you arrived."

"Right. I will. Thank you." Kailah smiled, and stood from the bar, stretching and taking this time to examine everyone around. Crystal wasn't the only powerful being, but she DID seem to be the most aware of her own capabilities just from aura alone. And Xion. That magic she used was similar to her own, and from the way Tifa so casually asked for said magic to be used, it shouldn't be an issue in this strange world. That was good to know.

Another thing Kailah realized was the different TYPES of people that were casually joking with one another. There was some cute little magic infused (a summon?) bunny-like creature, and the main person that was doing the crazy theatrics when she walked in had a tail like a monkey.

Right. So maybe she could be welcomed here after all.

Still, she didn't want to risk anything, and hoped she could trust Tifa to keep this secret between them... at least for now.

Kailah walked over to the group of people and took a seat near Crystal, addressing everyone doing the teasing.

"So... are you guys talking about the date I ruined? I'm really sorry about that! I am!"

In the meantime, Tifa looked at Cloud talking with Shiro, glad that it was pure talking and not escalating to anything else, and called for Leon, beckoning him to see her behind the bar. With a frown, she knew she had to tell someone- in case there was a lapse in judgement of anyone's character. Not only that, she couldn't be cutting herself just to keep the new resident fed. There had to be another way.

"Leon," she whispered quietly in a corner away from everyone, "I feel terrible about this, but, we may have a slight problem with Kailah. Nothing TOO bad, but..." She sighed, "Look, I know how to keep secrets, if I didn't, I wouldn't be Cloud's friend, let alone his- well, she doesn't live on food and drink. Not like we do."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Oh, don't worry yourself about that!" Yuffie grinned at Kailah as she continued holding the two struggling teenagers, one under each arm. "I wouldn't be getting to tease them like this if they were still out there!"

"Okay, seriously, you've had your fun, now let us go Yuffie!" Crystal protested as she attempted to slip free. Roxas didn't seem to be having any better luck as Yuffie still had him in a headlock too.

"I mean, aren't they too precious?" Yuffie persisted.

"Hey Yuffie, not that this isn't hilarious, but don't you think you should probably let them go before you get them angry?" Zidane suggested although he sounded more amused than concerned at the moment. "I mean, we can't really press them for details if they can hardly breathe."

"Huh, you're right!" Yuffie finally released the pair somewhat reluctantly. "Now don't you two even think about trying to escape!"

"Um... we weren't going to," Roxas shook his head. Yuffie was possibly even more high energy than Sora so he really wasn't sure how to deal with her overly upbeat and excessively pushy attitude. So, instead of dwelling on that, he decided to sit down, settling in the vacant chair on the other side of Xion's to try to relax after that very awkward ninja ambush.

"Seriously, we weren't planning on going anywhere else," Crystal shot back at Yuffie. "Besides, nothing happened so you're wasting your time trying to interrogate us about it."

She took to the vacant chair on the other side of Roxas. At least now she could relax and breathe properly.

"You've got to be kidding," Zidane sounded almost disappointed as he settled onto the vacant chair on the other side of Sora. "But you were gone at least an hour!" he added dramatically. "How could nothing have happened?"

"That's right, you were gone a long time!" Yuffie chimed in again. "Something must have happened!"

"Stargazing," Crystal scowled at them both indignantly. "We were stargazing! You both damn well know that it's easy for me to lose track of time while I'm out there!"

"A likely story!" Yuffie countered before rounding on Roxas like a detective interrogating a suspect. "Okay Roxas, why don't you tell us what was really going on out there? I doubt it was just the stars you both were watching!"

"Wait, hold on, what are you asking me for?!" Roxas flailed as his face immediately went red again.

"Oh ho! So you were trying to hide something!" Yuffie persisted with growing amusement. "Not that I can really blame you. You must think she's pretty cute or you wouldn't be dating her, right?" And then Yuffie's laughter boiled over into outright cackling.

"It sounds like we've lost Yuffie," Zidane chuckled to himself in amusement. Then he grinned over at Roxas. "Honestly, you shouldn't be ashamed about it. If I had a girl like that I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off her either."

Roxas's face went even redder. Now even Sora was grinning at him. "Yeah Roxas, way to go!"

"Shut up Sora!" Roxas very purposefully allowed his bangs to cover his face as best he could because this was becoming extremely embarrassing.

Leon was, thankfully, preoccupied with having been dragged away by Tifa so they could speak quietly away from everyone else. "Okay Tifa, why don't you start from the beginning and try making sense? What exactly is the problem?"  

[Kailah S Majessta]

Kailah started laughing at the interrogation going on about the teens that helped her. She decided to add her two cents.

"What was your name? Yuffie? Well, I actually tripped over them. And when I say over them, I mean, her head was totally on him while they were stargazing."

Sorry Crystal, she's not a helper.

Tifa on the other hand, was trying to help in any way she could, and she ran a hand through her hair then took a breath, collecting her thoughts. She might as well come out and say it since Leon was head of security after all. She was still whispering, as to not attract any unwanted listeners.

"Kailah. She's a vampire. She needs blood to sustain herself." Her arms crossed around her stomach as she looked at the new girl, "But she doesn't seem like a bad person. Crystal would have said something if she had a bad feeling, right?" Tifa frowned, concerned, "And from what she told me and HOW she told me upstairs... she has no malicious intentions, and seems pure of heart. The only problem is the blood." She looked at Leon, "Any ideas, because I can't think of anything, or any WAY to help without cutting myself again. Someone's bound to catch on with that."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Yuffie's eyes glinted with a sinister light as she leered intensely at Crystal and Roxas. "Were you two making out?"

"Gah, no we weren't!" Roxas was definitely feeling the pressure now. Poor Roxas, he really wasn't used to being the focus of Yuffie's mischief. He was therefore surprised when he felt Crystal reach over to give his hand a gentle squeeze before attempting to take the reigns on where this conversation was headed.

"I was kind of using him for a pillow because I was letting him use my jacket," Crystal stated simply as she glanced meaningfully at Yuffie and Zidane. "I trust there isn't anything wrong with that?"

"Nope, nothing wrong with that at all," Zidane assured her as he settled back into his chair still grinning. "It sounds like you must be pretty comfortable together."

Yuffie, however, was still taking in Roxas's response to her question without any mercy. "Okay, so maybe you weren't doing anything this time, but it sounds like you must have done it before!"

"It seemed like they were enjoying themselves under the mistletoe when we were in Christmastown," Sora spoke up again completely missing the ire in Roxas's expression or simply choosing to ignore it.

"It was really sweet," Xion added. This caused Roxas to almost fall out of his chair in embarrassment.

"Xion, not you too!" Roxas was majorly freaking out right now and by all accounts it was as hilarious as it was adorable.

"Sorry Roxas, but it's true," Xion shot him an innocent smile and Roxas just slumped in his chair looking absolutely and utterly defeated.

Meanwhile, Leon was staring at Tifa with total disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, although he was tactful enough to keep his voice at a whisper out of respect. "So, you're sure she's an actual vampire and not just pretending like Vincent?" He sighed while shaking his head. "Well, like you said, she doesn't seem like a bad person and Crystal would have definitely sensed it if she were harboring any malevolent tendencies so I guess we should probably leave it at that. Look, for now, let's just keep quiet about it and after we send the kids up to bed I'll try to have a word with her to see if we can't sort this out somehow. I mean, she must have had some kind of system in place on whatever world she came from to keep herself fed without attracting attention to herself so maybe we can find out what it was and try to do something similar. Anyway, don't worry about it and let me try to sort it out once everyone is settled in so we don't cause a panic."  

[Kailah S Majessta]

Kailah laughed at Yuffie's reaction, and even more when Xion mentioned the mistletoe.

"It seemed innocent enough when I, quite literally, stumbled upon them. But who knows what would have happened if I didn't come along. I'm almost disappointed I interrupted them from the way all of you are making it sound." She grinned, "It WAS cute though. He was so valiant and protective of Crystal!" Kailah sighed, almost swooning on purpose, "Like a duel wielding knight in shining armor~!"

She was getting comfortable with them... this was going to be interesting.

Tifa let herself show a small smile when he mentioned Vincent, and calmed slightly, letting a breath out that she didn't realize she was holding in.

"That sounds like a good idea. I just don't want her to feel like we want her out. She put on a brave face, but seemed really scared of the idea. I honestly think this is the first time she wasn't turned away from somewhere." Tifa put a hand on Leon's arm, "Thank you for this Leon. I really appreciate your help."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Well, not everyone is as open-minded as we are," Leon rubbed the back of his head with another sigh. "Anyway, now isn't the time for you to be going all mushy on me. Seriously, you can save that for Cloud." Then he would step back behind the bar to get ready in case they needed to serve any other customers.

"Oh my gosh, that's so perfect because every princess deserves a knight in shining armor!" Yuffie squealed.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that Crystal is actually a princess," Sora realized. Then again, he still had a tough time thinking of Kairi as a princess, although she at least looked the part of one.

Crystal sighed heavily. "And here I thought we could manage to avoid that topic because Riku isn't here, but apparently he isn't the only one incapable of keeping his mouth shut about it."

"No kidding?" Zidane went wide-eyed with surprise. "Our very own Crystal is actually a princess in disguise?"

"What disguise?" Crystal raised an eyebrow at him. "This is how I normally dress!"

"But you never told us before that you were a princess!" Zidane persisted.

"I didn't want anyone finding out at first, but then some stuff happened a few months ago and I couldn't really keep it a secret anymore, but it's not like the part about me being a princess is even that important!" Crystal responded hastily. "It doesn't matter if I'm a princess! It's got nothing to do with who I am or how I choose to live my life."

"Well, you definitely don't have that air of nobility to you," Yuffie admitted. "And with you being such a tomboy you sure don't look it."

"Wow, I can't believe I honestly had no idea," Zidane was genuinely amazed. Then he grinned over at Roxas. "Well then, I guess we really are counting on you to keep her safe as her knight in shining armor."

"Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me whether she's a princess or not," Roxas didn't even fully grasp the direction this conversation was taking. "And I don't know anything about being a knight. In fact, if you asked Crystal she probably knows more about it than I do. But I still intend to do everything I can to protect her. That's one thing I'm sure about."

"You really don't have to worry about being a knight," Crystal placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "You make a much better samurai and, honestly, I think that's much cooler. Although," she grinned somewhat sheepishly. "Since you're already kind of like my personal bodyguard, I guess that would make you more like a yojimbo."

"A what?" Roxas blinked not really getting it.

"It doesn't really matter," Crystal smiled at him. "The point is if someone has to protect me, I'm glad it's going to be you."

"D'aww! They really do love each other!" Yuffie squealed again. Enough so that Leon actually had to cover his ears behind the bar.  

[Kailah S Majessta]

Tifa smiled and laughed at Leon's comment, "Maybe when he's relaxed a little more. There's almost no getting to him when Sephiroth's involved." She began to clean any extra glass from the ground that she missed before, and started cleaning around the tavern itself, briefly stopping by the group.

"Okay okay, no more teasing, you're going to give Leon a heart attack."

"Sorry Miss Tifa," Kailah was still laughing. Princesses?! This world was definitely different from the one she was used to.

"Drop the 'miss', and Kailah, after these," She gestured to the group while picking up empty glasses of punch and the like, "all retire to their rooms tonight, I want you to stay down here with Leon and I so we can get some aspects of your stay better."

A confused look, almost worried, "Oh. O-okay-"

With a smile, Tifa patted her shoulder, "Don't look so worried. Enjoy yourself, you're fine. We just need to go over your diet- since you're allergic to some food."

"Oh! Thank you Tifa! That's great!" Kailah watched as Tifa walked to the different tables, cleaning more, and turned herself back to the group. "Really though, that's pretty awesome that you're a princess. All teasing aside, you seem pretty badass, Crystal. I hope I didn't offend you-" she addressed Roxas, "Both of you with the teasing. Yuffie's energy seems really contagious!"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro nodded to Cloud, taking a sip from his punch, and glanced over to Kailah, Roxas, Crystal, Axel, and Yuffie, more in particular the woman who had came with Crystal and Roxas, his eyes taking a dull glow a moment, before they had faded a bit with a soft hum on his lips, but given that Leon and tifa seemed to be keeping quiet about it, he would too. of course, Carbuncle would notice Shiro walking at least away from his Conversation with cloud now that he was done saying his piece, and run to hop up onto Shiro's shoulder, which allowed him to at least tickle under Carbuncle's chin before he walked over to the group and looked right at Yuffie "alright alright! let's not hound the two lovebirds here shall we? this is still supposed to be a party yanno." he said with way too much amusement at this point, though the fact that he saw Leon and Tifa whispering in the corner he might need to at least let them handle the rest of the situation, though he was wanting to do a bit more summoning, he could wait until later, as Carbuncle seemed to understand and faded away into green and red sparkles.

Axel of course just chuckled as he sipped on some punch in way too much amusement seeing the goings on of the group, though he did seem to pout only slightly at shiro's trying to defuse the situation of Roxas and Crystal's teasing. "Oi, Shiro! how about showing us some more of your summons?" Shiro had turned his head a moment to Axel and raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head "maybe later, Axel, as the method of summoning i use outside of the Zodiac Bangle and the Gestalt Eidolons is a bit.. well, time consuming." he said, chuckling a bit, maybe he should surprise them with the 'beginner' one tomorrow?  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Yeah, that's definitely Yuffie for you," Crystal nodded thoughtfully. "She's been like this as long as I've known her, but I wasn't always the subject of her teasing. That's only been since she found out about me and Roxas." Then she flashed Kailah a quick smile. "Anyway, if it helps to set your mind at ease, don't worry about it. Believe it or not, there's someone I know whose a lot worse." Oh yeah, she was definitely referring to Roveth. What Yuffie accomplished in terms of embarrassing Crystal and Roxas with Zidane and Kailah's help he could accomplish single-handedly. And all it would have taken him was a single comment to get a rise out of either of them, although Roxas was definitely easier to tease because he was only really used to being teased by Axel and Xion, both of whom were way less ruthless than the likes of Roveth or Yuffie.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Roxas added now that he was feeling somewhat more relaxed thanks to the fact that the teasing had stopped for the moment. "No harm done, right?"

"Actually Shiro, I'd say the party should be over," Leon nodded sagely to himself. "You know, it's getting kind of late and some of us have had a rather strenuous ordeal at Olympus Coliseum so I think you kids could probably use some rest. So, with that in mind, unless you need to hit the showers, I'd say it's time to get to bed."

"Aw, Leon, do we have to?" Sora pouted. "I was hoping to have some more fun with Zidane."

"That's okay, Sora," Zidane grinned at him. "You can bunk with me in my room. Otherwise we might not have enough rooms for everyone anyway. Besides, I want to hear more about this Kairi of yours."

"Oh, um, sure!" Sora perked up at the offer. "That sounds great!"

"Come on, I'll show you my room first and then we can take a bath!" Zidane headed upstairs by climbing up the banister just to show off his dexterity while Sora simply ran up the stairs behind him.

Leon watched them go with a slight shake of his head. "I forgot what it was like to have Zidane living here with us. He's a real handful. Oh well, at least he's doing a good job of keeping Sora entertained and out of trouble," Leon admitted with a sigh.

"I guess it can't be helped if the party's over," Yuffie sounded slightly disappointed. "Anyway, holler if you need me! You know I'm a light sleeper!" So saying she would perform a somersault off one of the tables to launch herself up into the rafters over the bar where she had a hammock waiting.

"Okay, that's three down," Leon was glad to see that his attempt to clear the room was going smoothly so far. He glanced over to where Crystal was with Roxas and immediately regretted it when he saw her kissing him, lingering long enough that it caused Leon to bristle and look away again.

"Goodnight Roxas," Crystal smiled at him as she took a step back. "I'll see you in the morning." They had decided to give Leon some piece of mind by not sharing a room so Crystal would be bunking with Xion and Roxas would be spending the night with Axel. "Seriously Leon, you'd better work on getting over this because I am not going to keep holding back forever just because it makes you uncomfortable to see me with Roxas!"

Leon stopped and stared as Crystal turned away to head upstairs, nabbing Xion along the way so they could hit the showers before bed. Cloud, still seated at the bar, actually burst out laughing. "Oh s**t, Leon, I think Crystal just hit her rebellious phase!"

"Shut up Cloud!" Leon scowled pointedly in his direction. "It's not that funny!"

It was too late though. Yuffie heard Cloud laughing and had burst out cackling as well. Leon sighed heavily in indignation. Seriously, what was it going to take for him to be taken seriously around here? Then he noticed Roxas was still downstairs looking mildly dazed. "Go on, scram!" Leon was definitely losing patience by that point.

"Right, um, goodnight Axel, I guess I'll see you later!" Roxas ducked under Leon's piercing gaze and dashed upstairs as fast as he could.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had turned and was about to speak up, but then that whole thing with Crystal and Leon happened, which made him actually give off a small snort a bit while putting his staff in his sleeves once more,, but he did cross his arms and looked amused at Leon getting agitated "... you know Leon, if you ever did this kind of thing when i got a girlfriend, i would be seriously questioning your gender at that point." he would say, shaking his head a bit in his own flair, given he was in full snark mode now at seeing things. however he did follow everyone else and made his way upstairs at a slow casual pace, just so he could throw back any rebuttals in case Leon decided to fire back at him.

Axel of course was cracking up in laughter at Crystal's 'rebellion' on Leon, not to mention Cloud's own quip about it just made him almost in stitches at that point, but hearing shiro turning on the snark actually for the moment calmed him down, but he was smirking -way- too easily knowing that this will be -priceless- if Shiro actually one-ups Leon in the snark game.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"When you get a girlfriend?" Leon raised an eyebrow at Shiro. "Now that would be something," he shot back with some amusement. "I guess this means you really are attracted to girls. You know, some of us were beginning to wonder about that. Did you have someone in mind?"

Cloud did calm down after several minutes of laughing at Leon's expense. That actually went a long way toward cheering him up after that ominous aura of angst he had been carrying with him all day. Oh look, he even managed to smile at Tifa to show that for the moment at least he wasn't contemplating anything stupid.


Crystal and Xion were, of course, in the girl's shower room getting ready for bed. Crystal, as per her usual routine in this situation, settled in for a nice soak to help her relax so that she would have an easier time of getting to sleep.

"You know, the last time we were here like this you wouldn't even admit that you had feelings for Roxas," Xion was still in a teasing mood, yet more proof that being around Yuffie was potentially contagious.

Crystal's face went red as she slumped down into the tub looking embarrassed again. "Well, at the time I really didn't fully grasp what these feelings were and I know some part of me, being childish I guess, didn't want to understand. Remember, the original plan was that you both were going to stay in Twilight Town with Axel and that would have been the end of it as far as I was concerned at the time, but things don't always go according to plan and the situation changed pretty drastically when we were all suddenly whisked away to Angel Grove without any warning. And then there was that whole thing with Cosmos. It's weird because ever since I released her it's like a fog has been lifted. Like I'm remembering certain things more clearly, but at the same time I'm forgetting things that never made much sense to begin with. I think, maybe while I was in contact with Cosmos I was actually reliving bits and pieces of my past lives, memories I was never even meant to have in this lifetime. And now that she's been set free those memories are gradually slipping away like a bad dream. Who knows, maybe it's for the best. All those memories ever seemed to do is traumatize and confuse me."

"That would explain why you seemed to keep contradicting yourself so much before now," Xion admitted. "You're definitely becoming calmer and more coherent lately."

"Anyway, taking that dive into the Realm of Darkness is what made me realize that I love Roxas and I don't want to lose him," Crystal continued with a thoughtful smile. "I didn't even stop to think about what I was doing or how I was going to get us out of there. It wasn't a crush. It wasn't stupid or hormonal. I hadn't even admitted it yet to myself, but I must have already known it in my heart. Actions speak louder than words in any case and I knew after that I wouldn't be able to keep it hidden for long. But then as I was trying to figure out the right way to say it I realized it was more than that and that's what scared me so much before Roveth spelled it all out with his powers of deduction. Sure, it seems foolish now, but that's why I got all confused at the time."

"But when Roxas admitted he liked you too you accepted it and it all kind of just fell into place from there," Xion pointed out.

"That was partly luck," Crystal mentioned as she got out of the tub to dry off and put on her pajamas. "But it's also because we decided right then and there that we wanted to give it a chance to see if it could work. And since then it just feels right somehow."

"So then, what do you think will happen with Shiro?" Xion wondered vaguely.

"I think he's coming out of his shell little by little and that maybe I was wrong before about what I said," Crystal responded. "He might be distorted and his social skills could still use some more work, but he's probably capable of experiencing feelings of love. He'll just experience those feelings differently than most people because of his predisposition of being a sword. And I'm really not sure how well he'd fair at being romantic. Still, it's the thought that counts and someone might give him a chance. It might even work out if he's willing to take it."


Roxas would also be opting to take a shower, but by the time he arrived in the boy's shower room he found Sora and Zidane already in the bath and he quickly became embarrassed while an attempt by Sora to grab at Zidane's tail to see for himself just how real it is resulted in the two of them getting into an overly enthusiastic splashing battle in the tub. Fortunately for Roxas the two seemed not to notice him and he was able to quickly shower and exit the shower room before the other two even realized he was there. After that he headed for the room he was going to be sharing with Axel finding that this particular room happened to have two twin size beds so there was less of a chance that Axel would disturb him when he came up later. Roxas already had his pajamas on and climbed onto one of the beds feeling a bit strange about not having Crystal there beside him. True, that routine had been disrupted somewhat by recent happenings, but it was still something that Roxas had kind of been getting used to.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro just turned, and looked over the railing at Leon with a raised eyebrow himself. now that's a first, questioning his inability to be attracted to the other gender eh? "yes, i do like girls, Leon, i honestly do fear for future children you'll have with Aerith if you are like this, because it'll be a hundred times worse in their case." he said, turning and calmly walking off with a parting shot "besides, i do have.. someone in mind for a possible girlfriend.. not that i'd ever tell you about it." he said, raising his arm and waving behind him before heading off to his room, gladly taking one that was probably alone like usual, or something, given normally he'd bunk with Roveth, or Xion, depending, this time, he'll take his silence thank you.

Axel whistled a bit hearing that one, actually looking amused enough at Shiro's snark game "wow, i know Shiro's been around Auron and not only that he's usually the snarkiest one of our group, but that was a whole new level there." he said while holding his hands behind his head in amusement.  

[Kailah S Majessta]

Tifa is going to take any and all smiles she can get from Cloud, and smiled back, happy that he was at least feeling a little bit better.

Kailah waved at everyone as they left to go upstairs either to wash up or sleep, and stood up stretching before walking to the bar, leaving Axel (the redhead she didn't get the chance to speak to, but was obviously doing his fair part in the previous conversations) near the now empty chairs and tables.

She looked at Tifa, who nodded and gestured to Leon telling her, "We'll talk together when he's done having a crisis over teenagers and romance," the girls laughed, although Kailah was still slightly worried. She couldn't exactly help it.

Tifa on the other hand, was feeling much better after everything was said and done with her two favorite men in her life. Leon for at least TRYING to accept Crystal's relationship, and Cloud for actually calming down enough to finally enjoy himself (even if it WAS at the end of the evening).

Tifa spoke, a bit louder so it was obvious she was talking to everyone, "I'm making coffee, does anyone else want some? Axel? Since you're still down here anyway?"

Kailah answered for herself with a "yes please," and waited for Leon.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had already turned away, walking leisurely when he heard the exclamation from Squall, as he gave off a smug little smirk in general. truth be told he had multiple candidates in his mind, no thanks to auron, the training, and being forced to think about it, but he hadn't really decided on who yet, though he did have one closer to his heart than the others were, he just wasn't sure if he should approach said person yet.. he -is-, predominantly, a sword. either way it'd take some getting used to, especially when he had -other- girls pining for him as well, back in Spira. the thought of one of them -did- make him cringe a bit lightly, but he just shrugged it off, and entered his room quietly, thankfully he had his own room seperate from everyone because he did like his isolation when need be.

Axel had chuckled a bit, though inside he was actually in stitches laughing his a** off at how bad Squall got Roasted by poor Shiro, before he looked to Tifa, nodding a bit lightly "Black with two cubes of sugar please." he said, moving to sit at the bar, chuckling "man, leave it to Shiro to actually get one up on Leon too.. i swear, Auron was a double edged sword of an influence on him." he said, chuckling a bit lightly "still, i take it there's other reasons as to why you shooed the kids to bed, outside of Leon being a mother hen about their bedtimes?" he said -way- too smugly, clearly making note of the fact Shiro and Crystal -both- rebelling against Leon at the same time was priceless. too bad Roveth wasn't there to add fuel to the fire!