Blue Meeting:

[callmegladio]

Who: Gladio + Blue Team and Friends.
Where: Dining carriage. (Change of venue, larger space)
When: Grasshopper 15th after lunch.
What: The first Blue Team meeting with the new Leadership in place.
Warnings: Unknown. Possible cuteness. Snack induced jealousy. Will update if something comes up!

To say that Gladio was nervous would be an understatement. He hadn't been able to get much sleep the night before worrying if this would work out the way he had planned. Would people be receptive to what he asked? Would people even come to this meeting? He had been assured by several people there would be at least some (who could resist lovingly prepared snacks?) but it remained to be seen.

Gladio sat at a table, there was a notepad and a pencil in his hand. He would be taking notes of things he deemed important.

Once people started filtering in, Gladio began to feel somewhat better. Calmer. He watched them milling about with a smile. It was only when he thought there was enough that he rose and gave a call to get people's attention.

"First, I just wanna thank everyone for coming. I know it was short notice, but between the mission and platform day coming up, my hands were tied.

In future I'm going to do my best to have a meeting like this before every big mission, once we get the info. I don't think a little organisation can hurt. And... with that in mind. The reason I wanted to get you all here. I want everyone to get to know each other. And I want to learn more about you all. I'd like, if you're all willing, to assign simple roles within the team to each person for missions. If you don't want to be part of that, just let me know. That's your choice." He smiled wider. "If you do... I'll get to you. If you've any questions, I'm open to them. Piccolo and WangJi are also here to answer your questions and concerns. Not just here and not just for missions, but any you have. We're here for you."

With that his smile became a grin. "Now... I know two of our number have been working hard to make delicious snacks, so do me a favour? Make them happy and dig in! Enjoy them and... chat. Mingle. Get to know your fellow blue. We're a small team, lets make us the best team!"

Comments

[blitzcheer]

[ He shrugs lightly, good-naturedly. ]

You got the kind of mission to think about too. Last Blue mission had a lot of villagers to think about too. [ And he thinks, blinking with a small pinch of his brow. ] Were you there that mission? Gyueran?

[ He doesn't think he remembers this guy...? ]

[bethereprompto]

Right?! Gladio and Madoka made them, I think. This one has cinnamon. Too bad they didn't use the cinnamon candy and make them spicy too.

[He glances down at his outfit. It's his usual mismatch of team colors and then grins.]

Thanks!

[bethereprompto]

[If Prompto could purr, he'd be purring right now. It made his heart flutter with delight at the possessive tug he felt around him, keeping him there.]

It's too bad Inigo and Gerome can't come along with the blue team too. Hey! What if we all decide to sort ourselves in whichever team we want? We could swap clothes or uh.. maybe alter them if we don't match up quite right.

[callmegladio]

The ocean world? No, unfortunately I wasn't on that mission... Unforeseen circumstances kept me away.

[Gladio wasn't going into detail there, but he hoped if something like that came up again, they would be more prepared.]

[callmegladio]

Who says they can't? Nothing says you can't go on whatever team you want. Purple have more than enough. They can at least let go of a few. And at least you.

[Because lets face it, they would have a fight on their hands if they tried to take Prompto away from his side.]

[blitzcheer]

Yeah, it got hectic on that one. [ He won't ask why Gladio wasn't there, it doesn't matter enough to pry. ] The entire island was being attacked nonstop after the first night. But there were a few people from all different teams since not everyone could do the other missions, so we had some more numbers than usual.

[ Usual for what Blue has, which isn't many. ]

[callmegladio]

I ended up playing support for Orange, for the most part.

[It hadn't been so bad, until the storm set in and he ended up sick as hell. But he'd still managed to help out where he could.

It still made him feel guilty he hadn't been there with his team though. But helping had eased some of it.]

[blitzcheer]

Nothing wrong with jumping to a different team. I do it all the time!

[ Hey if he wanted to go over to Orange that time, whatever, right? ]

[callmegladio]

It's just how things worked out that time. But, I wasn't a lead for Blue then. Not even a co-lead. So it didn't matter as much.

I won't be hopping around anymore.

Not that I'd deny anyone else doing that. [He glanced around at his time, small as it might be, and felt a sense of pride that he knew at least most of them would stick with blue when the time came. If they went elsewhere, he knew there would be a reason, and he would never begrudge them that. He was proud of them all, no matter what.]

[blitzcheer]

[ ...well, whatever Gladio is thinking about, Tidus allows a few seconds without interrupting him. Sometimes you just need one of those moments to dwell on whatever was going on inside

When he does speak up again, he does so cheerily. ]

So, you think that's all you want from me? [ Gladio likely knew enough about him to be able to figure if he'd want to call him over or not. It'd be peculiar, and he wondered if anything would come of it--but Tidus figured he'd make his own judgments about where he'd be come next mission too. ]

[spikelet]

She looks genuinely doubtful that she's even meant to be here, but she perches on the bench close to Gladio anyway. Her white eyes fix to a point somewhere near his left bicep. What role, he was asking... she huffed.

"I carried food and water, and used the communication array. It's fine if I just keep doing that, right?"

[bethereprompto]

Well, you know, like 'officially' or whatever.

[Although, it did make him feel good that Gladio was clearly on board with Prompto being an unofficial blue.]

So.. uh.. I know this meeting is to tell you our strengths, but you already know everything about me. Am I just here for the food?

[luckydragonsfoot]

Oi oi oi!! That ain't what I said at all, how th' hell is what I said 'running int' fights I can' get out 'f'..!!

[He scowls, already feeling more inclined to leave out any magic nonsense for now. I fight hard not dumb, geeze! Y' think my boss'd have trusted me with crap if I was runnin' in blind? I'll take th' damn staff 'f it makes t' feel better, but I'm jus' sayin' my skills were in usin' what's there! I ain' stickin' around 'f it's too hot t' handle, geeze...

[Case in point, the battles that pushed him to that point were sort of a 'no-run possible' situation.]

...an Romeo's a good kid, but I ain't workin' w'th someone who can't stop callin' me sir, 's weird, [he grumbles. At least it's a secondary excuse though.] Rather go w'th Madoka 'r Mami t' be honest, we fought th' weird crawly things t'gether b'fore already. Plus Mami's got tha' rock she needs clear f'r her magic, an' apparen'tly nothin' kept it clean until Kaseri showed up an' gave it a shot.

[pleple]

"That would be excellent." Although she might just keep carrying a sword around too - for practice, if nothing else, in case they end up somewhere low technology again.

"A headset that is meant to link up to a psychic control system. It was designed to allow me to use... weapons from a distance. But I don't know the technical details to try and make anything of it."

[callmegladio]

[Gladio gave a rather unhappy frown.]

I'll kindly ask you to calm the hell down. [He kept his own voice calm and level, he was doing his best here]

And Madoka calling you 'mister' is any better than 'sir'? Just roll with it, kid. It's no different than your accent, they can't change the way they are. But maybe if you get to know him, become a friend, he'd stop calling you sir and use your name?

And besides... [He tapped his pencil against his notepad with a small smile.] I already have ideas for where those two need to be. I need more defensive types, and I think I'd like to put you on that team.

hurriedly re-reads like four threads to make sure this madoka bit is accurate kjghfdg

[luckydragonsfoot]

[Katsuya hasn't shouted for all that he's been emotional so far, but he'll unhappily 'quiet down' further. Which isn't much, but at least he's doing his best to keep his tone level.

Even if he somehow manages to feel even less calm than he did while protesting.] If y' had a clue how we interacted, y'd know she doesn't do tha', [he remarks.]

An' I didn' say I didn' see 'm as a friend, jus' tha' it's gonna take a bit more time b'fore tha' works out as a partnership deal. I've asked him not t' use 'sir'. He keeps f'rgettin' so far. Sure, ain't been that long, but it's still wiggin' me out, an' I don't want tha' gettin' in th' way. I'm fine fightin' as a big group w'th 'm f'r now, but it's jus' gonna be weird if it's two.

[But, with narrowed eyes he figures he's gotten something to think about here.] Mind, 'f th's is f'r a bigger defense deal, you better have a lot more th'n two planned as it is, so I guess it shouldn' be a problem... [he mutters. He gets that blue's small- didn't take a genius to figure that out when he was watching everyone leave at various platforms- but there has to be more than just two for defense.]

[happyends]

[ Madoka doesn't really need much of a talk about herself with Gladio. She knows that. If anything, he has seen more than ever what she's capable of during the last mission, after all.

But there's an entirely different thing Gladio has to know about someone - just not about her. So she lingers at the gathering, mostly talking to people, but keeping an eye on Gladio and the people he's talking to so she knows when he has a moment.

And when he does seem to be available, Madoka slips over to his side, lightly tugging on his arm to get his attention from all the way down at her height. ]

Um.. Do you maybe have a moment for me..? I was thinking there's something important I should tell you.. A-Ah, it's not about me though, don't worry!

[callmegladio]

[Gladio isn't sure how to take that, so continues to frown.]

... At what point did I say it would be just you two? I said I wanted to buddy you up, because he can use a shield that can protect you. Getting in close with fists is a lot more dangerous than, say, a sword. Or a gun. You're more at risk. Romeo can mitigate that risk.

[He sat back in his seat and lifted a hand to idly rub at his right eye.]

Look. As I see it, we've about a month, give or take, till there's a new mission. They're generally regular. That gives you a month to get to know the kid better. It also gives me a month to get to know all of you better, and fine tune a mission plan.

While I'm probably going to give people roles, teams to be a part of, nothing at all will stop those teams from mingling and joining forces. You get me? We're a team, at the end of the day. And while each person will have a job to do, in the end we're all going to be working together. That... is my plan.

[luckydragonsfoot]

I mean, t' be hones', tha's what buddy up normally means, [he answers with a sheepish shrug. Buddy up just reads as 'two people', or that's how it normally was.

The blond hums a bit, and ultimately shrugs.] I'll take y'r word for it though...

[Which is to say, he's listening, but still suspicious. It's probably as good as it's getting for now though- and it's as Gladio said. There's a decent amount of time to sort it out, by which point the blond will hopefully have softened up to logic.

Hopefully.] So y' want me to stick w'th Romeo b'cause of shields. Got it. What abou' everythin' else though?

[The combat part he gets now- stay with Romeo, Romeo has shields. But if this is a meeting for Blue Team over all, there's bound to be more Gladio wants to ask about...right?]

[loveandduty]

So it's a job one can do at just the beginning part of the mission, right? Or I guess it depends I suppose? I think I can do it as it means a lot less fighting.

[And it means power which she is somewhat all for.]

[deage]

"To be honest, I'm not sure how many missions I'll even be going on. There are people I know from before the train, and they are not keen on letting somebody my age go into danger." That makes sense, doesn't it? "And I'm well aware of my limitations, I have no intention of throwing myself into danger either."

She pauses for a moment, then continues. "Last mission I went with Orange Team's mission because it seemed the least dangerous, but I'm sure you've heard how that turned out." In other words, it was going to be harder to convince the people she knew that a mission would be safe, not when the safest option last mission ended up with the entire group attacked by monsters. Somebody had even been injured protecting Haibara.

"As for what I did, I mostly poked around in computers. After the monsters started attacking, I helped repair the lights. Nothing too complex, but small hands make for good detailed work."

[happyends]

"Really?"

It would be hard for Madoka to hide the excitement in her tone even if she'd have reason to try. It's so obviously there - and also in the way her eyes light up at the answer.

"I-- I wanted to do something special for you! Since I was already making cookies for everyone anyway.. but I wanted yours to be different. They should taste the same, but.. you know.." The light in her eyes doesn't fade, but it's joined by a slight blush. "The shape is important.."

[myblueskies]

[He gets two, no three extra cookies on his plate.]

I think they are sir! It's good to see everyone and talk about how we can all help each other!

[pleple]

Normal cookies are still delicious. Heart cookies are full of love.

"It... it is. It says a lot." Ple Two closes her eyes, smiling. How did she get this lucky after what her life started as. "Thank you."

[happyends]

"Ah?!"

Madoka truly is too easy to tease. It's not even like he went for it that much, and yet Madoka looks so surprised and caught off guard in an instant. Her eyes grow wide as she looks up at him, and the girl quickly shakes her head, as if the very thought that he might be assuming that mortifies her.

"N-No! I didn't try any of them, I-- I promise! You don't have to worry about that, sir! It, um.. it wouldn't be sanitary!"