(Gundam SEED: Dearka x Milllie) Bad Mood
For 30_kisses

Title: Bad Mood
Author: hemlocke
Pairing: Dearka Elthman x Miriallia Haww
Fandom: Gundam SEED / SEED DESTINY
Theme: #12 (in a good mood)
Rating: G but has some strong language.
Disclaimer: Gundam SEED and its characters belong to Sunrise and Bandai. Pity about that. But I want to play with them so don't sue me please.

And yes, I DO know what happens in Episode 27. Just read the fic, really. *stalks off in a huff* XD


Bad Mood

Dearka marched into the hangar, heading straight for the chief mechanic. He took a brief glance upwards at his Zaku which currently undergoing extensive repairs after that last skirmish. He frowned.

"Ed, how's the repairs on my Zaku going?"

"Err, they're not done yet, sir. We need about 2 days more."

A blonde eyebrow arced upwards, the expression in cool disdain. "I thought I made it clear I wanted it ready by today."

"But sir! We're going to have rehaul the whole defence system. Not to mention uploading the new software for the OS," Ed protested.

"24 hours. I want to see my Zaku combat fit by tomorrow for a test flight," Dearka's cold tone left no room for negotiations. The poor mechanic frantically redid all his calculations. That would mean having to reassign men to repair Dearka's mobile suit with them working extended hours.

Ed scratched his head. Whatever happened to the usually congenial subcommander?

"Boy, he's in a bad mood today."

======

"Dearka? Got a moment?" Yzak walked into the parade ground where Dearka had been carrying out combat training. All the men quickly snapped to attention.

Yzak nodded in acknowledgement. "At ease."

Dearka turned to Yzak. "Yes?"

Yzak sighed inwardly and looked at his squadron. They all looked dead tired and some were ready to drop. A remarkable feat, considering they were Coordinators and had excellent stamina. Dearka however, stood impassively, seemingly unaffected by the training though he had been doing exactly the same activities as his men.

"Mind coming to my office later?"

A wary expression entered Dearka's face. "Why?"

Yzak tapped his foot impatiently. He hated it when Dearka pretended to be dense. He leaned closer to Dearka.
"Either you come to my office and we discuss this personally or I can bring up what I wanted to talk to you about in front of our men."

Dearka scowled. He hated it when Yzak pulled rank. "Aaa. Will be coming then, sir. Just let me shower first." Dearka stalked off.

Yzak pursed his lips, choosing to ignore Dearka's insolence. Before he left, he dismissed his men from training, noting the looks of immense relief on their faces. He wondered how far Dearka had been pushing them the past few days.

After their dismissal, the soldiers' orderly lines immediately collapsed and they left for the canteen, all ready for a good meal and drink. They huddled together at a table, discussing the fate of their subcommander.

"Wonder what he's going to talk to the subcommander about?" One of the sergeants wondered, taking a big gulp of his drink.

"Hopefully something about his bad mood," Another sergeant replied back. "I don't know what's been eating him. He's been a total ass these past few weeks. And I thought the commander was the prima donna!"

"Didn't you hear? He got dumped."

"WHAT?! You mean there's a chick out there who actually said 'no' to him?" The men whistled in admiration at this brave lady.

"Some girl he met when he was a POW on the Archangel. Fell crazily in love, they said. Been together since then but I've got sources who tell me she dumped him just a few weeks ago."

"Any idea why they broke up?"

"Not sure but I heard it was about her job. She's some photojournalist out there. I've seen her work in some magazines - pretty good stuff, if you're into these documentary-type things."

"He got dumped, eh? No wonder he hasn't been in a good mood lately."

======

Dearka dragged his feet unwillingly to Yzak's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Despite their difference in rank, Dearka didn't bother saluting Yzak and immediately dropped bonelessly into the seat opposite Yzak.

"What's this all about?" He asked without preamble.

"This is about the grand temper tantrum you've been having the past few weeks."

Dearka grew defensive. "I have not been throwing a tantrum."

"Then what's this I hear about you giving the mechanics unrealistic deadlines? And the soldiers have been training twice as hard with lesser breaks in between. They looked ready to drop from exhaustion when I saw them just now!" Yzak's voice raised a notch. "Honestly, what's been eating you?"

"Nothing," Dearka fiddled with his uniform sullenly. He hated it when Yzak tried to play shrink on him. Usually it was the other way.

"Is this about Millie?"

"..." An indistinct mumble came from Dearka.

"Is it about her?"

"YES." Dearka sat up in his chair, running his hand through his hair.

Yzak leaned closer to Dearka, concern written over his face. His best friend looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked unshaven.

"What happened?"

"We broke up. Had a fight when I called her the other week," Dearka muttered mutinously and looked away, refusing to meet Yzak's eyes.

Ah. He had his suspicions. Dearka had complained to him about their rocky relationship but he had no idea it would come to an end so soon. Only Millie could inspire extremes in emotions in Dearka. He still remembered the giddily happy subcommander he had the first few weeks when Dearka started seeing Millie.

"Who initiated it?"

"Millie. She-" Dearka took a deep sigh. "She wanted time out. Told me if I refused to understand her job, then I didn't understand her at all. So she wanted out."

"What did you want her to do?"

Dearka shrugged. "I just asked her if she could quit her job and come over to PLANT with me. I mean, it's dangerous stuff she's doing there! Going out to war zones and taking pictures and things like that."

Yzak's eyebrows shot up. "You said that to her? That she should quit the job that she likes and come to PLANT? Because it's dangerous being a photojournalist?"

Dearka nodded.

"You do recall you're a soldier and we're on the brink of another war? What makes you think she'll be any safer here? Or whether YOU'LL be safe?"

"Well, at least she'll be here with me," Dearka protested. He was clearly feeling like the wronged party.

Yzak thought of his fiercely independent mother who was still an active member of the PLANT Supreme Council and shook his head in disbelief at Dearka's naivete. He knew Dearka was fairly conservative about his views on women but this was ridiculous. Which century was he living in?

"So, she'll come, only to have you fly off on missions. I'm not going to stop giving you work just because your girlfriend's here, by the way. And she's a Natural. Ever occurred to you she might not want to be surrounded by Coordinators at a time like this? She might get lynched just by walking on the street!"

"Oh. I didn't think about that," Dearka had the grace to blush at his mistake. Yzak rolled his eyes. Honestly, Dearka could be so silly at times.

"Well, all I can say is that you definitely know less about women then I thought you did. I warned you that she was the stubborn type."

"I know, I know, you did. But well, I thought, you know, if she loved me..." His voice trailed away.

"You thought if she loved you, she'd sacrifice a satisfying career, leave her parents and come all the way to PLANT to take care of your house and have your babies?"

Dearka's silence spoke volumes.

"Well, that's all one-sided. You're asking too much and offering too little in return."

Dearka pretended to be extremely interested in the flower arrangement at Yzak's window.

Yzak sighed again. Dearka had clearly decided to be stubborn.

"Take the weekend off."

Dearka turned his head sharply. "Eh?"

"You heard me. Take the weekend off. Think about it. Is she really worth it? If you think she's worth it, call her and apologise. Beg. You don't want to lose her. If she's not your type after all, could you please go get drunk and just get over it? There's only so much abuse the men can take from you. We need you in top form if this war really breaks out."

"But what if she doesn't want me back? Even after I say sorry and all? What if, what if-" Dearka swallowed, thinking of the unpleasant possibility. "What if she's found someone new?"

A sympathetic look entered Yzak's eyes.

"Then you know what they say. Sometimes love just isn't enough."

Note: You have no idea how hard I had to scramble when I heard about Ep 27. Grr. Anyway, ataiki discussed this and we're of the opinion that hey, at least now we know Dearka x Millie was is CANON!

As such, I'll be re-aligning all my future fics in the 30_kisses themes to match the latest events. Since ataiki's done with his share, I'll be up to me to figure how to get them back together. You coward. *goes off to huddle and think*

And as for Yzak being sensible here, yes I do believe that Yzak can be sensible. That high rank he was given in ZAFT post Gundam SEED is not just for show, IMO. And if anybody can drum sense into Dearka, it will be Yzak.