Starcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Interstellar Explorers ❯ Flυcτυατiοηs αηd Ραlρiτατiοηs ( Chapter 14 )

I know it's been aaaaaages but that's what happens when you don't write reviews! Maybe I'll continue to have such an eclectic update schedule? Hmmmmm.

~ Flυcτυατiοηs αηd Ραlρiτατiοηs ~

Their lesson was quite typical. Lauren hit all of her targets perfectly and was proudly complemented by their teacher, while basically everyone else was yelled at. Milo tried hard not to mess anything up and incur specific berating but he didn't work well under pressure. He guessed Ms Jennings believed fear was a good motivator to get someone to do the right thing but that is rarely true. He was careful with his gun however so didn't make any mistakes. If the fuel cell clicked out of place with the rebuttal of a gunshot the next blast would discharge improperly and sear off his eyebrows, which had happened to a student in their class. Ms Jennings walked past Milo and barked at him, calling out when he wasn't holding the gun at the right angle or if he was raising it too high. Lauren gave a slight smile at the passing compliments but when their teacher went by she made a gagging face at Milo and he snickered. Elliot wasn't doing very well which was to be expected since he hadn't been practising. Ms Jennings started on him for a bit and he gave no reaction other than a grimace. He still got off pretty easy, if it had been Milo in his position... sheesh. Weaponry itself was a cool subject even if their teacher made it shitty a lot of the time. Milo rode out the rest of their lesson and when the bell rang he felt nervous jitters in his chest. They had just been packing away their weapons and their teacher dismissed them dismissively.

"Well see you guys round~" Milo almost sang.

"Whatta you so happy about?" Lauren asked while Elliot raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing, nothing. I'll see you in Maths, Elliot. And Lauren, I might see you second lunch? Catch ya!" Milo swung his bag over his shoulder and made his way back to the Atrium quickly while his friends looked at each other. He beat the others to the trolley and made it back to the central dome by himself. He crossed the grassy fields merrily and kept an eye out for the group of girls on his way. Spotting them he smiled before stopping, his plan had been to keep going and meet Paige in the labs but she was out here for some reason? She sat with Sayuri and Willow, the three of them were huddled together and talking about something. Crossing the distance towards them, Sayuri and Paige didn't seem to notice him until he walked right up.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi Milo!" Sayuri greeted cheerfully.

"Hey," Paige looked awkward and glanced the other way.

"Paige, do you mind if we like- talk in private or something?" after he asked the question Sayuri snickered immediately.

"Alright," she responded casually despite the flush colouring her cheeks.

"Oh, hello Milo." Willow looked up from where she'd been prodding the grass, only just noticing him. He smiled at the red-head briefly while Paige got to her feet. They started walking together.

"So... I thought you would've wanted to meet up first thing at lunch to... talk about stuff."

"Yeah..."

While looking at the short bespectacled girl Milo's peripheral seemed to be fogged. It was like he was in a haze and he'd even lost track of his erratic heartbeat. Something didn't seem right though, Paige was being sketchy. She might just be really shy, which would be incredibly fucking adorable. Yet Milo got the feeling something else was the issue.

"Did you want to hang out at the Arcadium...? Or maybe one of the labs?"

"The Arcadium sounds fine!" she responded quickly.

"Alright..." he tried a laugh and she kept her eyes forward. Milo felt compelled to continue "I know I asked you this yesterday... but you do like me too, right Paige?"

"Yeah... I think." she tacked on, sounding uncertain. Milo immediately stopped, understanding all of nothing.

"You think? Paige what does that mean?"

"I- ah, Milo what are you really trying to get out of this?" she demanded, tomato-red again.

"I told you." he pressed. "I've made it pretty clear. I like you. Paige, that's it." he watched while she looked away embarrassed. Suddenly something clicked in his mind "Wait, have you been talking to Amelia about me?"

"What are you talking about? No, Milo. Amelia never tells anyone anything unless she's sure it's common knowledge. You know that. Why? What did you say to her?"

"Nothing." he looked away and then realised both Sayuri and Willow were probably still watching them. He continued walking and Paige kept pace beside him.

"It sounds like you've got it in your head that I have ulterior motives or something?"

"No... Milo, I know you're a good guy. Don't worry about it."

"What do you mean by you think you like me? I might not be all that observant but there's been clear flirtation going on for a while. Everyone probably noticed it. I'm pretty sure you like me, Paige."

"It does seem that way doesn't it... gosh, Milo. I was just so used to it being subtle and psychological that I'm frankly a bit put on the spot by your directness. Like, kissing me outright was quite the solicitation."

"Did you like it?" he teased coyly.

"Yes, Milo." she admitted with a sigh. "And I like you."

"Sweet! And you're absolutely sure about the liking me part?"

"Yes."

"Awesome." he replied. "So, uh, I don't know what you were thinking I was going to propose but... I think it'd be cool if we could date."

"Ahuh..."

"Like boyfriend girlfriend."

"Well... let's hang out at the Arcadium for a while and see where it goes from there."

"Cool. Oh boy, date with Paige." he smiled at her and she rolled her eyes despite the corners of her mouth rising.

They made it to the Study Dome and walked into the arcade area together. Milo pretty much felt like he was walking on air. The dark room with all its neon lights and games would've been a perfect setting for a date were it not such a mundane every-day means of recreation. Then again, they were isolated to a spaceship drifting in an alien galaxy so didn't have the liberty of choice through exotic locales. It wasn't awkward and Paige was returning to her normal self quickly enough. It wasn't like they were just getting to know each other, they'd already been friends and knew each other quite well. Milo was actually really happy about that, it was how he knew that he liked her a lot. He was making her laugh soon enough and teased her about their date. Paige hadn't wanted to call it that at first out of nerves but he managed to trick that truth out of her mouth, much to her stubborn dismay. It seemed his happiness was pretty obvious and contagious at that. All in all they had a really great time.

"A twenty minute break between classes does not a date make." Paige spoke as they headed to Gadgetry together at the sound of the bell.

"Does not a good date make." Milo corrected, running a hand through the brown curls that were starting to grow on his head. "That's why we should do something after school. It's Friday after all!"

"Are you asking for my verdict on the first 'not good' date? Since that's apparently what it was."

"Date's not over yet. We're still together. Got some romantic laser building to do in class."

"Well, I reserve my right to judgement at the end of the date then."

"Huh! You called it a date again."

"Fuck."

"Mr Flynn and Miss Brewer, please take your seats." Ms McDowell instructed when they walked in the room, she was just beginning her lesson.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry, we're on a date." Milo replied and Paige walked ahead of him to their bench, slapping a hand to her face.

"As long as you came here to focus and learn I don't care what you want to call my lessons." she commented, the delicate chain on her red glasses swinging. She turned back to the holo-projection board and Milo slid into the seat next to Paige. She pouted forward grumpily while he didn't stop grinning at her. The lesson was a lot of fun. When it ended Paige told him she wanted to be alone to work on her Robotics assessment second lunch, she did however agree to hang out with him after classes were over. They parted ways and while heading off to his next lesson Milo turned around while walking backwards to watch her leave. Putting both hands behind his head he turned and moved along to Maths 1. It was well known that Mr Alston was a physical teacher who enjoyed practical subjects, he seemed a bit out of his element inside a classroom not wearing any kind of gym or martial arts uniform. As the least difficult of the compulsory classes it didn't really matter, although it was still a pain at times. Through the open door he was seen leaning on the end of his desk arranging class notes, his shaved ochre hair reflecting the artificial sunlight from the window. Teenagers were filing inside and Milo joined the cue.

Once he was in his eyes met Nolan Keller. The wimpy small kid noticed and his black eyes met Milo's warmer brown ones. He looked the same way he always did: tired, sickly and in physical pain. Turning away first the small boy walked to a desk at the edge of the classroom with a perceptible limp. He would know they were going to be in a crew together, hmm. Normally Milo would've tried to smile and start a conversation but he was still off-put by the mysterious betrayal the girls kept harping on about. Heading for his best bro at the front Milo pulled out a chair.

"Sup!"

"Aren't you cheery." Elliot was beating him in the Maths tests, regrettably. But not by much. Milo would love to at least have one class he could be the best at, like everyone else he knew. Maybe he might actually study some more for the upcoming test?

"Why wouldn't I be cheery? It's a beautiful day on the Exodus. Life is beautiful."

"Okay what the fuck has been going on with you today?" Elliot demanded, looking aggravated.

"I pretty much asked Paige to be my girlfriend and she pretty much said 'yes'."

"Hm." he faced the window.

"Hm?"

"I'm glad you factored my advice into the decision."

"What? That we weren't good for each other? That was bullshit, man. I thought you'd be congratulating me."

"Hm."

"You've been so moody lately. What the fuck is even up with that?"

"Fine, I'm sorry." he answered snappishly. "You two knock yourselves out, it has nothing to do with me."

"I can't believe you dislike her that much." Milo stated, appalled.

"It has nothing to do with what I think of her as a person, I told you..." he sighed, running a hand through his meticulous blonde spikes.

"For someone who likes to be all tough you sure can be a bitch sometimes, Elliot."

His friend whipped around to face him looking furious, those steel grey eyes were ice cold. Milo leaned back a smidgen.

"Sounds like a tricky situation," Mr Alston spoke quietly from his desk while students were still getting their stuff out. "I can hear everything you're saying, by the way. It's a small classroom and you're in the front row." the young teacher typically dropped his commando demeanour while in classrooms as well.

"Mr Alston, can you tell my best friend he's being an utter tool?" Milo whined.

"That wouldn't be my place."

"It's alright, Milo." Elliot sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine and I mean it when I say I'm sorry. I just have difficulty trusting people... I'm not hunky-dory with everyone I meet, that's why those girls are your friends not mine."

"Aw, I'm pretty sure they all consider you their friends! Lauren definitely does, same with Sayuri obviously. And I'm pretty sure Juno has some kind of begrudging respect for you."

"Are you going to be hanging out with Paige today then?" Elliot dissuaded successfully.

"Yeah..." Milo sighed "but she doesn't want to see me second lunch. Working on her stupid Robotics project."

"If I recall correctly, we made plans to practice for the Weaponry exam and work on the Combatives techniques second lunch."

"Oh yeah..."

"Well this is interesting boys but I have to start the lesson now." Mr Alston stated and got onto his feet, seizing the class's attention. Elliot rested his head in his hand while looking forward and Milo frowned as he began listening.

Shit be progressing, romantically if not plot-wise. See you in probably months! ! ! X(