Hi folks, Urala here. This is my first fanfic! I hope you all like it! Oh, and be sure to read my sister Kirala's fic too! Oh yeah, and I don't own Skies of Arcadia, nope. Somebody else does.
One day, a few months after Vyse and Aika's wedding, the two were painting the walls of their bedroom. It was all a part of Aika's "home makeover" idea. Everything on Crescent Isle was getting modernized according to what she had watched on Trading Spaces, a popular Valuan-broadcasted TV show. Since the work was tedious, repetitive, and boring, Vyse had the brilliant idea of striking up a conversation.
"So, Aika," he began.
"Yeah, baby?" Aika replied as she stopped painting to massage her sore arm.
"Well, I was just thinking, now that we're married and all," he continued.
"Uh-huh,"
"We should, like, know everything about each other, you know, like stuff about before we got married. Personal stuff." he managed to get out.
"Okay, where are you going with this Vyse? I'm not going to let you start up something only to say 'never mind,' or 'forget about it,'. You always do that and it bugs the hell out of me, just to let you know. Now, I do hope you plan on going somewhere with this." Aika scolded, somewhat irritable from all the work she had been doing lately.
"Geez, I DO plan on taking this somewhere, thank you very much, Miss Grumpy." Vyse contorted. He was rapidly regretting he ever tried to bring anything up. He wondered if Aika would only get angrier with the question he wanted to ask.
But Aika spoke first, "Anyways, sorry, honey, please continue. You were saying something about sharing personal stuff from before we were married with each other."
Vyse gulped. Now there was no way to get out of what he had started. "Yeah," he continued. "Just, you know, everyday stuff that is not all that important, but is probably just a little important for a married couple."
Aika grinned slyly. She knew Vyse was lying, he was never very good at it. "Sure, Vyse, just little everyday things, huh? Come on, spit it out."
Vyse smiled, too. "I was just wondering…" he began, "You know, what is the number on your list?"
"My list?" asked Aika, her eyebrow raising.
"Oh, come on, you know what I'm talking about. You didn't marry me as a virgin, did you?"
Aika's face grew red. It was true that she also had thought about Vyse's "list". "I'll tell you if you tell me, okay? You just want a number, right?" she confirmed.
"Yeah, just a number. It's not huge is it?" Vyse started to panic. What if he married some sort of a hussy? Or even worse, what if she really wasa virgin when they started dating? Then he'd probably feel guilty. Another bad situation would be that she had a good amount more. That kind of stuff can hurt a man's pride.
"What! 'It isn't huge is it?'! What kind of a person do you think you married! Some kind of hussy!" Aika exclaimed. Then, she started to hope that Vyse's number isn't huge. It would be disturbing for her to know that she had married some sort of womanizer. Or if her number was significantly larger than his? The woman's shouldn't be, that would make her feel bad for poor little Vyse.
The two sat there for awhile, not saying anything, frequently glancing at each other. The feeling in the room was awkward, each was waiting for the other to speak. Their heads were filled with questions. They couldn't take it anymore.
"Well! What's your number!" they both shouted at each other at the same time. "Not it!" Aika triumphantly cried, "you have to say first!" she stuck her tongue out, adding insult to injury.
"Okay, fine," said Vyse. "Let's see here, the number of women I have slept with is…" he paused, for added effect, "Guess!" be blurted out, beaming.
"Vyse!" Aika then proceeded to strangle him, muttering, "you jackass, I'll guess all right. Guess where you'll be sleeping tonight, idiot!"
"Heh heh heh, sorry, Aika," he grinned. Aika just sighed and said, "Okay, fine, I'll guess, only for the sole purpose of amusing you. Let's see here…" she was counting silently on her fingers, looking up at the ceiling. Vyse could faintly hear her muttering to herself, "Now there's also Merida and Belleza and Urala…" with each name she put up another finger.
"Hey!" exclaimed Vyse, "do you think I've slept with every young, attractive female I've seen! What kind of a person do you think I am!"
"No, not every young and attractive female you've ever seen, geez." Aika said, exasperated, "Every female you've seen." she redressed.
Vyse fell to the floor in disbelief. "Would you just guess a number, already?"
"Fine. I guess… ten!" Aika managed to get out. It was a hard estimate to make, but she figured that was about average for a man, considering all factors. After all, he's Vyse the Legend, so he's had to be around a bit. "So, mister curious, how's my guessing?"
"Wow, Aika," Vyse admitted, "You are really close. Actually, the exact number is eleven and a half."
Of course the first question that entered Aika's mind was, "Eleven and a half?" she asked, "What the hell kind of a number is that? What exactly is the half, if you don't mind me asking?"
" Well…um… oral," answered Vyse sheepishly, "I was so close to actually, you know, uh huh, but yeah, someone walked in on us."
"Ha ha ha!" Aika couldn't help herself, "Who walked in on you? And you count that and add it to your list as a half? So tell me, do two halves make a whole? Oh, Vyse, you're too much." she said, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Yes! I consider it important! That's why I count it as a half! And two halves do NOT make a whole! Oh, and by the way it was Drachma. That walked in on us, I mean." said Vyse. It worried him that she was not impressed by such a large number. It really worried him that her well-rounded estimate was about double of what the real number was.
"Wa ha ha ha!" Aika was about on the floor with laughter. "Drachma walked in on you! Mind if I ask more?"
"How much more?" asked Vyse, raising an eyebrow.
"You know exactly what I want to know. Who were you 'halfway' with?"
"Hey! I thought we just wanted numbers! We didn't want names!" Vyse cried.
"I know, I know! NO names!" Aika confirmed. She'd probably be in big trouble if names became involved. She honestly had no idea how Vyse would react to learning who she has slept with. "I'm just curious as to know who you were with when we were with Drachma."
"Well, if you must, MUST know, I was succumbing to the lusty temptation of," he took a breath, "please don't hit me. Bellena, er, Belleza." he finished, covering his head with his arms.
Aika just stood there, stunned. She remembered that day in Maramba, how angry and jealous she had gotten; and how she couldn't do anything to express it without getting embarrassed. That was when she was at a point where she had a major crush on Vyse. That day when he looked at Belleza like that, well, words couldn't describe how she had felt trying to fall asleep that night. And now to find out that they senselessly made out with each other in a crazy, animal-like fervor of… Wait, it might not be that way. She had to ask for more details.
She took a deep breath, "Really? That's quite an interesting little story there, Vyse. Tell me," Aika started calmly, then cracked, "You little insensitive bastard!" with that, she started to choke him, again.
"Let…let me…explain," Vyse managed to get out between gasping for breath. Aika was freakishly strong. But, she did want an explanation, so she let go.
"You saw the way she lead me on! You saw her ginormous boobs! You saw her incredibly sexy- I mean- skimpy outfit! How could any male resist? Heck, I don't see how you and Fina resisted! I mean, come on, Aika, I was young, and my raging hormones were too much to handle! I honestly do not know why you are so mad at me. It's not like we actually…did it." he smiled hopefully, adding, "Besides, you know that you are the one I love and the only one I am gonna have sex with for the rest of my life. Now, I'd say that's enough from me to get some slack from you about whom I have made out with when I was a teenager." he finished triumphantly.
"Geez, that man sure does know how to play the field," thought Aika. "You're right, Vyse, I'm sorry. It's not that big of a deal, really." She said this mainly because now that she thinks about it, she wasn't being too innocent that night, either. She silently prayed to herself that that specific topic would not come up.
"Okay," said Vyse, unsure of what to do next, "I'm glad we are clear with that."
For a few minutes after, they stood around, painting once again. There was a knock at the door, and it was Urala, offering lemonade.
"Captain Vyse? Missus Aika?" she asked while opening the door, "Would you like some of the lemonade I hand-squeezed for everybody?" They told her yes, and thanked her for the delicious refreshment.
Urala left, and Vyse and Aika were alone once again. The silence made Vyse suddenly realize something.
"Hey!" he shouted out of the blue, causing Aika to jump, and get lemonade all over her front. She made a very angry face at him. "What?" she said tonelessly.
"You didn't tell me your number! That's not fair! I told you mine!" Vyse whined. Aika just gave him an evil smile, "You're dense," she said.
"Shut up!" said Vyse, "but now you have to tell me! The gig is up!" Aika couldn't help snorting at that. "Fine, okay. You wanna know my number? Huh? Huh? Do ya think you can handle it, mister man?"
Vyse took a deep breath and thought for a second (a rare act to be displayed by Vyse), he was nervous about hearing it. But, he didn't have to worry for long. Aika was already telling him.
"Five. My number is five. Now that is five people, not five times, mind you. Are you happy now, Vyse? Not even double yours. There. I said it, now go ahead and make fun of me." Aika said forcefully, with her voice cracking. All Vyse did was look at her in silence, feeling quite guilty.
"No, no wait," said Aika, "Six and a half, counting you; and a half' that happened to me once." she finished, her eyes almost filled with tears. (She was more emotional than usual because it was that time of the month for her.)
"Oh, its okay, honey," consoled Vyse, giving her a hug. "Um, I kind of have a huge confession to make to you. Well, you see, when you guessed ten… I couldn't bring myself to tell you that… Well, let's just say that that number is too high." he admitted.
A wide smile spread across Aika's face. "Really?" she said, "Oh, I am so glad to hear that! I was honestly worried about you, Vyse. I guessed high so that you wouldn't think that I thought you weren't much of a man." She smiled again, "Thank you for fessing up, you lying, boastful idiot, you." and she hugged him back.
"But I am really am sorry about lying to you. Hey, just out of curiosity, and because you got to ask me, What was your half?" Vyse said, pleased with himself for one: getting away with telling Aika he'd slept with eleven and a half women (and having her believe it), when actually, the true number was not that by a long shot, and two: now getting to hear who she went halfway with. He was sure the story would be quite enjoyable.
"Well, if you really must know," started Aika, starting to get embarrassed and red, "One night, a good while ago, me and Merida got REALLY drunk. You know what, I think it was that one night when you had diarrhea and couldn't join your jolly crew in a night of boozing it up."
Vyse got red, too, "Man, I remember that, it really sucked. I ate some bad leftovers. I could hear you all, and it sounded like you were having a lot of fun." His narrowed his eyes, "You haven't told anyone about that, have you? 'Cause that would be so embarrassing if you did, Aika, and I'd be pretty upset with you."
"Heh, heh, don't worry, silly. They all still think you were throwing up." Aika reassured him. "Anyway, can I get back to my story now?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, please continue."
"Okay. Well, practically everybody was drunk beyond recognition, and I was sitting next to Merida. The general conversation drifted towards, well, hot girls. Me and Merida started to look at each other and realize how hot we both were, and, well, in accordance with the Make out! Make out!' chants, we made out. And we did it for like a whole five minutes, which is a pretty long time considering we were about to pass out."
"Whoa," said Vyse, his eyes wide. "Could you excuse me for a second, I think I need a little time alone with The Captain."
Aika just laughed, and kissed him on the lips, "You are never to think of that image again, you hear me? I do not want it to become one of your many 'I'm horny, but Aika's not complying' images."
Vyse did a mental "Psshhhtttt," but said, "Okay, dearie." But he wasn't fooling anybody. The next time he saw Merida, or if Merida was ever mentioned, his primitive man mind would immediately remember Aika's little story. Or, he'd also think of it whenever he wanted: while eating dinner, while watching TV, or even while flying around in the Delphinus (freshly stolen back from Enrique).
"Okay Vyse, it's your turn." Aika demanded.
"What are you talking abou— Oh, yeah," said Vyse, all contentment fleeting from his face. "Here you go, Aika, just for you. The total number of women I have had sex with is, well," he stopped for a moment. Under his breath, he thought to himself, "Yeah, I guess they count. Six, counting you." he finally told her. "Oh, and a half."
"Really… most interesting, Vyse, most interesting," Aika replied. They both had the same number, in a way it was most felicitous, and in another way, kinda creepy.
Immediately, the two of them both filled their minds with trying to figure out what people could fill in those number slots. Since they already counted each other, and they already told about their halves, each of them had five empty spaces that needed to be filled with names.