tammaiya | For Mari.

Title: Watching
Rating: PG
Fandom: Tales Of Phantasia
Pairing: Chester/Cless, Mint + Cless, Arche/Mint
Genre: Humour. Romance. Fluff. ^^
Notes: Mariiiiiii... I hope it isn't OOC, because it's been ages since I've played the game and you don't get face-chat on the SNES version. Anyway. I tried to follow your instructions- I hope I suceeded, and you'll like it. ^^ I also hope you get this at least CLOSE to Christmas... eheh.
Summary: The story in which Arche bides her time, Mint likes Cless, Cless drools over Chester, Chester is oblivious and Klarth laughs at everyone.

The only one not watching anyone was Chester, but that was Chester for you. When it came to certain things, he was downright talented at being utterly oblivious.

“Um. Cless?”
“Huh?” Blinking, Cless turned from staring dreamily at a half-naked training Chester to look at Mint. Klarth sniggered quietly, pretending he hadn’t noticed any part of the exchange. “Yes, Mint?”
Mint flushed lightly, and evidently lost her nerve at the last moment. “I-it’s nothing, never mind.”
Cless frowned. “Oh. Okay.”
Mint sighed and Cless returned to his observation of his best friend.
All of them, watching each other, Klarth mused. Cless was watching Chester like a love-sick puppy, Mint was watching Cless so much that it was a surprise she hadn’t noticed the attention he was paying to Chester, Arche was watching the other three, (but if Klarth was not mistaken, she was tracking Mint just that little bit extra) and he himself was watching all of them. The difference was, however, that he was doing it out of a scholarly interest rather than through romantic intent. And because he found it amusing. He had yet to decide why Arche was watching- she probably found it funny too, knowing her, but Klarth suspected she held an interest in Mint.
The only one not watching anyone was Chester, but that was Chester for you. When it came to certain things, he was downright talented at being utterly oblivious.
Although… come to think of it, Chester had been training a lot more recently than he usually did. Taking into consideration that training was an excuse to remove his shirt and tended to reduce Cless to melting puddles of drool, it was a bit suspect. On the other hand, though, Klarth could be quite cynical about such things. The thought had probably never even crossed Chester’s mind.
After all, they were talking about Chester, here.

As it turned out, Chester wasn’t quite so oblivious as Klarth had thought. He always had been good at pretending he was less intelligent than he really was. He really managed to pick his times, too.
“Wfgle?” Cless gurgled incoherently.
Rocking back on his heels, Chester smirked. “What’s wrong, Cless?”
Cless just blinked at him blankly, so Chester waved a hand in front of his face idly. “Hey, you still there? Hello?”
“Kiss,” Cless replied weakly, currently in a state of mild shock. Having lusted after Chester increasingly more ever since he could remember, Chester had kissed him in the middle of a practice fight. Cless had to wonder how many things Chester had staged to get this result- retrospectively, it would have been impossible for the archer to miss that many signals. They were childhood friends; Chester generally noticed when Cless was acting strange. He could be dense sometimes, yeah, but not that dense.
“Yes, that is what they’re called,” Chester said, deadpan. “Glad to see your vocabulary has increased to one word.”
“Why am I friends with you?” Cless lamented.
“Because we grew up together and I know you better than anyone else?”
“True.”
“And because I’m drop-dead sexy?”
“… Shut up.”
Chester smirked wickedly. “Make me.”
Well, given the circumstances, Cless could think of one very appropriate way of doing so. Laughing, he pounced on Chester, kissing him as they wrestled to be on top. This was a very useful method he’d have to remember; it was the first effective way he’d ever found of shutting Chester up, and this was after years of friendship.
“Ahem.”
Breaking apart, the two teens turned to face Klarth, who had a slight smirk on his face. Cless was blushing a brilliant study in red, but Chester managed to look only vaguely flustered.
“I just came to tell you that dinner is ready,” Klarth said mildly, and left the way he came. Who would have thought it? Looks like his more cynical side had been right- Chester was just acting dumb the whole time. How amusing.

It took a while before Mint finally worked up the nerve to ask Cless out on a date.
“Pardon?” Cless said blankly.
Mint bit her lip and looked down. “A date,” she repeated softly.
Chester considered the situation carefully. He could leave this to Cless, or he could just… not. Hell, he was possessive, and he never claimed otherwise.
“Sorry, Mint!” Chester said cheerfully, slinging his arms around Cless’s shoulders and pulling him back so they rested together. “He’s taken.”
“Chester!” Cless protested, embarrassed but secretly pleased. “I could have handled this myself.”
“Yeah, I know,” Chester said smugly. “I just like having the opportunity to be the jealous boyfriend.”
Mint looked from one to the other, eyes wide. “You… you’re together?”
Klarth tried desperately not to burst out laughing, aware that this was not the time. Poor Mint.
“Um. Sorry, Mint,” Cless apologised.
“Oh.” Mint shook her head and smiled gently. “I hope you two are very happy together.”
Mint was a much nicer person than the rest of them, Klarth reflected. She had taken that a lot better than he would have in the same situation, and he could tell she really did mean her well wishes.
“Thank you,” Cless said shyly.
Even Chester recognised Mint’s response for what it was. “Yeah, thanks Mint. It means a lot to us.”
Arche was observing them from the other side of the campfire, a thoughtful look on her elfin face. “Yo, Mint!”
“Yes, Arche?”
“Wanna come for a flight on my broom?” Arche asked, grinning. “I feel like a bit of speed, and I figured you may like to come too.”
Ah. Klarth smiled. Obviously, Arche had been biding her time, and would continue to do so until the right moment. Maybe she didn’t look it, but she was a lot older than all of them. She was used to waiting.
Eyes shining, Mint clasped her hands together. “Really? I’ve always wanted to fly!”
Arche laughed. “The broom is big enough for two. Let’s go.”
Cless looked stunned, and Chester confused. “Okay, what?” the blue-haired boy said finally.
“You’ll see,” Klarth said airily. “I think it’s sweet.”
Chester glared at him suspiciously. “You find this whole thing hilariously funny, don’t you?”
Klarth shrugged. “Guilty, I suppose. Just remember, I was young once too.”
“What do you mean?” Cless asked curiously.
“It’s nice to laugh at someone else for a change,” Klarth answered dryly. “Just don’t ask Miranda what I was like as a teenager, and no one will get hurt.”