http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/bf8.txt </head><body><pre> Between Friends Part Eight Eagle sighed, turning over in his sleep. Slowly, his eyes flickered open as he became aware that the comforting presence next to him was no longer there. That vague impression grew stronger as he saw that Lantis was clearly no longer where he had been when Eagle settled down for his nap. Eagle pondered for a few minutes if he wondered to get up and look for Lantis or just go back to sleep. He listened to the sounds of birds in the trees for a few more minutes, and slowly became more inclined to move. He eventually moved over to the edge of the FTO's hand and peeked over the edge. Lantis stood on the ground below, silently running through a series of complex maneuvers, his energy-blade softly humming. Eagle smiled and rested his head on his crossed arms, watching Lantis adoringly. It was all right to be sappily obvious, so long as no one saw him. Zazu smirked, perched merrily higher up on the FTO, watching Eagle. _Now_ he got what was going on. Eagle _liked_ Lantis! So that was what everyone had been keeping from him. Zazu smirked more widely, pleased with his ability to spy on others. He might just be a kid compared to all his friends, but he was neither stupid (as proved by the fact that he was in college at eleven) nor dense about relationships between people. He leaned backwards against the arm of the mech and continued watching as Eagle gazed sappily over Lantis. This was something he could deal with outside of his studies. That was basically his life, his school and his few friends. He had been lonely until Eagle had befriended him... no one his own age liked a kid genius, and no one older really liked him either. Then he and Eagle had been assigned to be lab partners in a physics course, and to Zazu's surprise, Eagle had shown a real interest in him. Friendship with Geo had come after that, and when Lantis had showed up one sudden day on Autozam, Eagle had brought him into the tight circle of friendship the three of them had made. Only Eagle could have taken all of them and opened the way for them to be friends, Zazu firmly believed. Eagle just had the knack of making people feel at ease around him and each other. If Eagle liked Lantis, Zazu mused, he was more than quite willing for Eagle to get what he wanted. Not even the stoic Lantis had proved immune to Eagle's friendship, and surely if Eagle felt something special for him, it would be much more intense a concentration of Eagle's gentle personality on him. _No one_ could resist that, Zazu was sure. Not even Lantis. "Spying, kid?" Geo's voice rumbled softly as his hand ruffled Zazu's hair. Zazu swatted the hand away in annoyance. "Guess you've figured out what's going on, then." Zazu nodded. "Eagle's being sappy over Lantis." "Mm-hmm," Geo agreed, sitting down next to him. "How long?" Zazu inquired. "Coupla weeks since it came out in the open. Few months since Eagle first told me." Geo paused and considered. "Actually, it's kind of cute, isn't it?" "Sickeningly so," Zazu agreed with a smirk. Eagle sighed softly to himself, then dropped to the ground, making as little sound as Lantis. He waited until his friend ceased in his practice and opened his eyes again before stepping closer. "You never stop, do you?" he asked softly. "Stop what?" Lantis inquired flatly, his blade vanishing as his concentration on it stopped. "Everything," Eagle answered, smiling. "You never stop moving, thinking, practicing... everything you do is preparing for a fight, to confront something. You may relax conciously, but you never let go subconciously, do you?" "No," Lantis replied, his amethyst eyes darkening slightly. "I don't." Eagle sighed softly. Lantis was unflappable... infuriatingly so. Once, just once, he longed to do something that would shake that calm and thoroughly startle Lantis. Confessing his love to Lantis hadn't done it, even kissing him hadn't. Maybe it _was_ impossible to shake him, Eagle thought resignedly. But that didn't mean he had to stop trying.... "Knock it off, Eagle," Lantis said abruptly. "They're watching." Eagle blinked, then followed the line of Lantis' sight. "Interesting. I didn't know Eagle could turn that shade of red," Zazu said, smirking more than ever. **** Eagle was still refusing to meet anyone's gaze, Geo noted as he carefully stacked wood chips to start a fire. Really, it wasn't that big of a deal, was it? So he had been mooning quite sappily over Lantis. It was nothing that hadn't been done before, nothing that wouldn't be done again. The only difference was that he had been very obvious about it this time... and he had been caught being obvious. Lantis, of course, had been stoic about the entire thing. Geo sometimes wondered if Lantis actually felt anything for anyone, but he doubted that Lantis was half as reticient as he seemed. He felt _something_ for Eagle. He had to. No one could not feel something for someone as sweet as Eagle. ********* Questioner: So, the plot sickens? Author: YOU are impossible. Go away. Questioner: No! Two parts left, then I'll go annoy you on other things! You'll never get rid of me!! Haha! Author: Shi-chan gets the Troopers. Mari-chan gets the Troopers. Why do I only rate a sarcastic echo of myself in my head? I want a real peanut gallery for once.... *whimper* Questioner: So, having been thrice-complimented and having converted at least one person to Eagle-worship with this story, what are you going to do next? Author <muttering>: Drink a fifth of gin and go to Disneyland.... Questioner: What was that? Author <louder>: Nothing. After this, I take a break for costuming and AX. Then I buy X8 and start working on Crimson Variant. And, as Shi-chan will be staying with me, and I have asked her to bring her YYH tapes, I will be writing more on YYH Christmas and Kurama 1/2. Questioner: But where you're leaving off at isn't an ending! Author: Your point? I may ask Shi-chan to bring her RE2 tapes too, so I can watch all of my favorite Eagle scenes and Lantis scenes and become inspired. "Daijoubu yo!" <smile> Maybe I'll finish this someday... or not. No story ever truly ends, anyway.... </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>