[The look is enough to have Nida flinching a little as he moves into a more relaxed stance. He isn't one of what he's heard SeeD Tilmitt refer to as 'the Orphanage Gang'. Doesn't matter that he graduated with some of them, that he's been here almost as long as some of them and longer than others. Measuring up to them was never possible. And feeling confident in front of Squall was... a lot harder. For a lot of reasons.
Honestly, the only thing that he's really had to keep him from dodging one order he didn't want for a while was the fact that he was still a SeeD. Was still stubborn. And was an intel specialist SeeD for all that he'd ended up as the Garden's pilot. It meant he had spent a lot of time looking for loopholes in how things were worded. Including the one that brought him here despite a lot of VERY direct ordering.
Still, the careful word choice from Squall does earn a small smile from the guy. One that says he appreciates the fact that Squall saw through the angle he'd taken and found a way to counter it. A smile that says 'well played'. One that Xu, were she on friendlier terms with her SeeD Commander, would say was rarely given and she owed him a drink for managing it.]
There's a standing order, sir. One that is on the books as overriding any non-priority orders. Given where I was there was no service with the experimental Esthari Long Range Transmission Device, and sir someone needs to tell President Loire to tell his dev teams to give these things a name that isn't a mouthful, and I know there are no SeeDs currently running operations in Timber, the only option was to return in person to convey the information.
[Not, of course, that Nida should know that no SeeDs were currently deployed to Timber. It was one of those 'need to know' things on certain operations so even SeeDs in on gossip might not always know. But Nida says it with absolute certainty.
Granted, intel trained operatives could get up to foolish things when bored.
As for the 'Standing Order', there were a few of those. But only one with the parameters Nida was implying. An order regarding a certain wayward former cadet.]
he really is, my kiddo
Honestly, the only thing that he's really had to keep him from dodging one order he didn't want for a while was the fact that he was still a SeeD. Was still stubborn. And was an intel specialist SeeD for all that he'd ended up as the Garden's pilot. It meant he had spent a lot of time looking for loopholes in how things were worded. Including the one that brought him here despite a lot of VERY direct ordering.
Still, the careful word choice from Squall does earn a small smile from the guy. One that says he appreciates the fact that Squall saw through the angle he'd taken and found a way to counter it. A smile that says 'well played'. One that Xu, were she on friendlier terms with her SeeD Commander, would say was rarely given and she owed him a drink for managing it.]
There's a standing order, sir. One that is on the books as overriding any non-priority orders. Given where I was there was no service with the experimental Esthari Long Range Transmission Device, and sir someone needs to tell President Loire to tell his dev teams to give these things a name that isn't a mouthful, and I know there are no SeeDs currently running operations in Timber, the only option was to return in person to convey the information.
[Not, of course, that Nida should know that no SeeDs were currently deployed to Timber. It was one of those 'need to know' things on certain operations so even SeeDs in on gossip might not always know. But Nida says it with absolute certainty.
Granted, intel trained operatives could get up to foolish things when bored.
As for the 'Standing Order', there were a few of those. But only one with the parameters Nida was implying. An order regarding a certain wayward former cadet.]