Gravitational Tides

by My Eyes Are Black

AU: Sharks swim in these seas, where there's no air to breathe, where the dark's not as empty as it seems. Keep your head up, the engine running, and life support on. If you're very, very lucky, you may just make it back to port alive. You've got one hell of a distance left to go.

So, yeah. This is something I've kinda wanted to do for a while, but just never really felt comfortable attempting it. Obviously 'til now. Science fiction AU, with a hefty amount of original content here and there. So, lemme know what you think? Never tried sci-fi in a fanfic, before. Interested to see how this turns out. Minor warning: First chapter's really dull. I guess I'm just bad at trying to establish things. I hope that's it. Oh, and of course! I do not own FFX/X-2, or anything therein. Bleh...

Title: Gravitational Tides
Summary: AU: Sharks swim in these seas, where there's no air to breathe, where the dark's not as empty as it seems. Keep your head up, the engine running, and life support on. If you're very, very lucky, you may just make it back to port alive. You've got one hell of a distance left to go.
Author: My Eyes Are Black
Rating: M
Pairing: We'll see.

Chapter One: From One Long Night to Another

It's been a long time. A very, very long time. I doubt anyone remembers, or that anybody even cares. The past seems so inconsequential, doesn't it? Dead events clogging history, shoveled heedlessly into unadorned graves. Well, I've been digging them back up, and what I've seen on those corpses rattled me to my core. People pay no mind to whatever's already far behind them. Because, when life is churning around you, the present feels so much more important. At least, until the dead come back. - excerpt from Navigator's Accounts, Auxiliary Log #0114

XXX

The sky was sundered.

Something about the shape of the vessel reminded her of a jellyfish, with its mushroom cap top and funneled lower body. There were no angles or edges, only gently sweeping curves; the onyx hull wholly void of decoration. No marks displayed state or creed. Turning slowly upon its axis, it hovered in low orbit above the city. Air raid sirens whined, drowning out screams as everyone ran for safety. She should have been panicking. Her heart was thundering in her chest, but her legs refused to move. It captivated her, the sheer horror of knowing what was about to come anchored her feet. She could not take her eyes off of the ship. Flinching when it emitted a low rumble, her fingers curled tightly into her palms. They were sweaty. The sound rippled across the metropolis like thunder, and a ventral port at the base of the vessel began glowing brilliantly.

It was beautiful. A beam of energized particles lanced the planet below, a resonant hum hitting her ears over the cacophony of the horns. Her vision was filled with a dazzling light. Everything looked fuzzy, as if the air were packed with particulates that fragmented the energy radiating from the beam. Nothing was spared- all were swallowed, evaporated instantaneously. Not even ash would remain. It was not just some weapon meant to destroy. She knew, from the reports. They were everywhere, inescapable even as everyone struggled to focus on something happier. The planet was not so much being destroyed, as it was devoured.

She was going to die.

XXX

Reality came crashing in as an audial cascade, pulsating around her brain and flashing behind her eyes. Sensation of breath returned, along with the steady drumming in her chest. The processed, overly sterilized air was stale on her tongue. Paine didn't notice it often. There were only rare cases when she could tell. She was so habituated that, oftentimes, the difference became negligible. Gasping and coughing, her hands raised reflexively and landed on the tinted barrier in front of her. She very nearly slammed her forehead into it. Thankfully, she hadn't the strength to really propel herself at all. The glasslike material polarized, becoming translucent. Though she couldn't see it, a holographic interface on the exterior of the pod displayed her vitals, readings indicating all was in order. No matter how many times you had to enter stasis, you always came out the same way. It was like getting born again. Without the burden of Yevonite dogma, thankfully.

Once she began to settle, her eyes lazily roamed the room beyond the barrier. Pristine, steely walls, storage units, a row of recovery beds, and even more chambers to her left and right. All drowned in that sickeningly fluorescent lighting. Lifting her gaze, she wondered when the system would register she'd recovered and let her out. Being at the mercy of an artifice, particularly a very basic one, wasn't exactly comforting. She flexed her fingers, feeling the wall of the pod and focusing her attention on waking up. Sleep left you groggy, but stasis was next to dying. Paine had always seemed to react to it somewhat worse than everyone else. Doctors had assured her it was not dangerous, even if uncommon. At least it didn't have to happen frequently. Her brow furrowed quizzically. What had she...

A pneumatic hiss broke her train of thought, and the doors slid back into their recesses, freeing her from her coffin. Which is precisely what it was. The only difference being you got back out of it. Most of the time. Hiccups happened, you just tried not to think about them. She stumbled out, stark naked. The floor was layered with a soft, mildly adhesive padding, just in case your footing wasn't the surest. Her skin reacted immediately to the cool air, goosebumps raising across her body. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, and glanced about. Nobody else was with her. Heaving a sigh, she trudged her way, shakily, over to one of the beds, and laid down. It was very narrow, almost like a chair, made to fit the contours of the human body. The smart foam conformed to her shape, and she gratefully sank into it. It began to warm, facilitating blood flow and hastening her convalescence.

"Uh..." Her voice came out hoarse and weak. She hadn't wanted to actually say anything, just testing her limits at the moment. The state of suspension your were placed in during the course of your stasis cycle was extreme. Your body just had to, well.. reboot once it was over. The irony was that it was intended to permit healing and recuperation, but resulted in the temporary loss, or interruption, of several basic functions. The process had been augmented, and the technology modified, to fit different niches since the advent of warp drives, as voyages did not take nearly so long anymore.

She didn't close her eyes, because that would mean possibly succumbing to sleep. They flitted furtively across the ceiling, keeping as active as possible. Feeling so weak, despite what she'd just come out of, she was not keen risking her grip on consciousness, again. Not so soon. How long had she been under for, she pondered. She couldn't exactly when her cycle had begun, how long it was supposed to have been for, or even why. The temporary memory loss was worse than the physical enfeeblement. The questions gnawed away at her brain like a rat digging its way through a wall. A positively agonizing sensation.

Glancing downward, she saw that color was beginning to return to her skin. For what it was worth, anyway. She had always been on the pale side. Never getting much sun when planetside, and then spending the majority of her time aboard ships, or wrapped up in protective suits... An unhealthy side effect to working on a starship, but it could hardly be said to bother her. Her eyes drifted to her hand. She was still slowly flexing her fingers, another way of keeping her brain busy. Plus, it helped restore feeling more swiftly. Already her skin was far more sensitive than it had been when she'd first left the pod.

Her ears perked up when she heard the crisp click of the ship-wide comm switching on. "Good morning, Chief!" A male voice greeted, made somewhat tinny by the intercom. "Actually, uh.. it's about 1300. Sorry, looks like your gonna have to skip the pancakes. How you doing in there?" Paine gently nodded her head instead of giving vocal confirmation. She knew he could see her, but it didn't bother her. He had never struck her as being a pervert. Nor stupid. "Good to hear," then, more quietly, "Sort of." He cleared his throat. "Everything looks clear. You check out, congratulations. Uh.. I think Rikku should be down, shortly. She had to take care of a problem with the oxygen scrubbers, but it didn't look to be anything catastrophic, so I'd expect her soon if I were you. As long as we're still breathing." On that cheery note, Buddy killed the comm.

Having to keep from rolling her eyes at his singular sense of humor, Paine puffed out her cheeks and decided it was time to try standing. Swinging her legs off the bed, she pressed her palms into the foam and lifted herself up until she could feel the floor underfoot. That little bit of exertion caused her heart rate to increase dramatically, and dizziness claimed her sight. For a brief moment, she felt like she was going to be sick. The world around her ran like wet paint, colors and shapes distorted into an incoherent mess. She shut her eyes and took control of her breathing, waiting until the erroneous sensation of movement had passed. By the time they opened, everything was back to normal.

Paine pursed her lips as she stood, carefully balancing her weight. Tottering briefly, she raised her arms to steady herself, and acclimated. It was frustrating, being unable to do something as simple as stand without even a modicum of effort. She had gone through it enough times to expect this, but that did little to sway her vexation. Deciding to push herself a little, she slid one of her feet back, turned her upper body slightly, and began to go through the motions she'd learned back in combat training. Preparing herself, stretching her muscles and focusing her thoughts – a comprehensive exercise. It did wonders, psychologically at least. It bestowed a sense of control, and the familiarity was a welcome companion. She felt almost comfortable.

The Stasis Chamber door hissed, and crimson eyes flashed onto the intruding figure. Wild blonde hair was held out of her eyes by a blue bandana, and long braids, adorned with colorful beads, spilled out over the faded cloth. She wore a steely-blue jumpsuit. The arms had been completely sheared off, and the top was unzipped, revealing the white tank top beneath. Rikku halted, cocking an eyebrow amusedly. "You didn't take any time at all. What if your stubborn ass had hit the deck because you just had to go and tough your way through, huh?" She walked further into the room, taking long, exaggerated steps, in no hurry to get too close to her red eyed friend just yet. She was an amateur judge of people at best, but Paine was easily an enigma. The Chief Tactical Officer eyed her passively, showing no signs of breaking her ritual. Rikku groaned and folded her arms, "Okay, just.. keep on doin' what you're doin', I s'pose. Don't mind me."

Wasn't about to, Paine quipped inwardly.

The Al Bhed went to lean against the lockers, casually leering at the silver haired woman's form. Everything about Paine's physique was geared toward one purpose: Efficiency. She was slender, but definitely toned. Not a stick figure by any means. Working out was a mainstay of her routine, which was a vital component to a crew member's lifestyle. Cooped up on voyages, you had to have something to do when you weren't at your station and nothing else immediately demanded your attention. Paine's typically consisted of the usual sort, like weights and push-ups. Rikku found it odd that the she was the only member of the crew who didn't make use of the centrifuge to exercise. Paine just thought it was too slow to get a real workout on.

"H-How lo-..." Paine tried to speak, but her voice still wasn't quite ready to work, yet. Shaking her head in exasperation, she tapped her wrist while looking at the blonde.

Rikku flashed her a smirk. "Only a standard week – seven twenty-four hour cycles. Luckily, no one got it in their minds to try and kill us while you were out. Boy, that would've been messy." Pushing off the personal storage units, she reached into her jumpsuit and produced a rectangular white bottle. Snapping the lid up, she proffered it to Paine. "This might help you feel a bit better. Maybe give you a burst of energy, hoo-hah!" She ducked and danced from one side to the other, mimicking a boxer. Rikku made a displeased noise in the back of her throat when it didn't even earn her a smirk from Paine.

Liquid nutrients. That was mostly what you took on ships. Cheap, easy to store, and with a stupidly long shelf life. Fortunately, the manufacturers cared enough about the poor sods buying them up in bulk to actually make them taste all right. Paine downed it quickly, and tossed the empty bottle back to Rikku. The blonde snatched it out of the air and started twirling it around her fingers. Very deft hands, that one...

"We're about two days flight time from Voce," Rikku suddenly informed, tipping her head to the left. "Broke warp about an hour ago, giving the drive time to cool, and we're just about to jump back in. Unloaded some freight at Sinne earlier in the week, so we're flying a bit lighter. More room for you down in cargo, if you get your legs back before our next job." She slapped Paine's arm, putting on a teasing grin.

Paine swallowed, and nodded. "Good," she managed, voice still pretty rough.

"Hey, look at you. Gettin' better already," Rikku sarcastically applauded, clapping slowly. "Y'know, since I'm not allowed to use these beds to relax whenever I want, I always-"

Malinger, Paine thought.

"-Take my time before jumping back into the grinder, so why are you always the eager beaver? Don't you have any desire to unwind?" She actually paused, watching Paine as if waiting for a response. The futility of this finally occurred to her, a good two minutes later, and she rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, right. You could've at least, I dunno, nodded, or something. Didn't need to let me stand there gawking." Paine threw her a look that said, Which you were already doing. Rikku read into it fairly ably, turning her nose up at the woman. "I'm not sure what you're trying to accuse me of."

I'll bet, Paine mentally rolled her eyes.

"But it's uncalled for," she insisted, moving to poke the woman in the ribs. Paine had her fingers wrapped 'round the Al Bhed's wrist seconds before contact could be made. The younger girl was clearly surprised, going so far as to gape at the woman. "M'kay, so you're a quick recoverer. Good to know. Can I have my hand back, please?" She asked, giving a couple of quick tugs. The corner of Paine's lips raised, and she released her hostage. Rikku immediately started rubbing her wrist, moaning, "Jeez, good thing you weren't back at your full strength, yet."

Paine returned to her warm ups, eyes forward and unmoving. Her companion resigned to watching, sipping on another nutrient "shake" she'd tucked away in her jumpsuit. She wasn't bothered. It gave her an excuse to, erm.. admire the view. Not that she necessarily needed a reason, but there was less guilt involved. Again, not that there would have been much of that anyway, but still. "You look a little stiff," Rikku commented. Paine kept her eyes elsewhere. "Okay. Sure. Ignore my input." A few seconds later, "I wasn't being serious when I said that, y'know. I mean, you really are-"

"Rikku." Paine paused, closing her eyes.

"Eh?"

"Shut up." Crimson locked with emerald, and the blonde grumbled indignantly under her breath. Rolling her neck, Paine decided to ask something that had been on her mind, earlier. "Why was I..." Her voice gave out about halfway, and she finished by pointing at the stasis pod.

Rikku's shoulders sagged. "Oh. You really don't remember?" She sounded a little concerned. Paine frowned, shaking her head. The blonde hugged herself, absentmindedly kicking the floor. "Couple of days before you went under, we were on some.. stupid little backwater moon, retrieving a package. Pretty routine job, y'know? Least 'til we ran into some.. competition." Paine turned away, trying to think back. That sounded.. familiar. "Shit went down, got pretty ugly. We all made it out a bit banged up, but you had the worst of it. Before we even left atmo, you were in medical." At this, Paine could swear she felt prickling sensations across her abdomen, memories of bygone wounds flaring up.

The Al Bhed carried on. "We patched- okay, Yunie patched you up as good as she could, but you needed some time to recover. You," she stressed this harshly, glowering at the older woman, "Were being stubborn. So, Yunie insisted you take some time off in hypersleep to heal."

Paine looked down at herself, trying to remember anything, but reminiscence proved illusive. She hung her head, gaze sliding over to the girl. "If you want.. to help.. then open my locker." Her voice was still breaking, but becoming manageable.

Rikku crawled her way out of the dumps and nodded, pointing at the taller woman, "Now I've got you talking, you're warming your voice back up and everything."

"I'm sure.. it was your plan all.. along." Paine allowed a smirk to show through, if only for her friend's sake. She wasn't as cold as she often appeared.

"Don't question my machinations," Rikku sang, popping open Paine's locker. "Cleaned these again, last night. Figured you might like it if they felt a little.. fresher. I dunno. Catch!" She tossed Paine a pair of white panties.

"Thanks." As soon as she had them on, Rikku threw her a white tank top. Paine rolled her eyes as she pulled it over her head. The next item, which was simply handed to her, was a jumpsuit of her own. After stepping into it, she tied the arms around her waist. The very last thing was a pair of sturdy, black boots.

"Now you look beautiful," Rikku clapped her on the back, walking slowly toward the door. "Although the view's not nearly as good."

"Is that why you.. were in such a rush to get.. down here?" Paine joked, following along behind.

"Oh, yeah," Rikku sultrily breathed, glancing back and fluttering her eyelashes. "It was all I could think about. I've been so very lonely this week, Painey," she pouted. Paine shoved the girl's head forward, garnering a laugh out of her.

"I'll hurt you," Paine warned.

"Doubt it, sweetie." Knowing the woman would try something, Rikku danced ahead and spun about. All Paine caught was a handful of air, and a playful grin, for her trouble. "Ooh," Rikku winced, "You really must be in a state. Or are you just gonna say it's 'cuz I'm fast?" Her smile was a play at innocence; coy, and provocatively fictitious.

Paine barged past her, "We all know you're fast."

Just as she was about to fall in step, Rikku's smile plummeted into a grimace. "Hey!" They took the hallway down to the central lift, which carried them all the way up from medical to the bridge along a slanted shaft. The moment they exited, Paine raised a hand, neural interface signaling the ship to bring up a holographic terminal. Scrolling back, she brought up a log from their last job. Dated 1904 UC, entered by Yuna. According to this, she'd suffered serious burns on her lower abdomen, right forearm, and both her legs from near misses with plasma bolts. A few scattered, but relatively minor wounds from a pulse rifle had been present. As bad as it sounded, she'd been through much worse. After undergoing initial treatment, she was confined to a stasis chamber to heal. With that cleared up, she started sifting through the more recent reports, trawling the database to see what all she'd missed, if Rikku had left anything out. Which was, distressingly, plausible.

"Hey, there's our tough girl," Buddy called out from his seat. Craning his neck to look back at them, he raised a hand in greeting. Paine acknowledged with a nod. "Boy, am all I gonna get is head gestures from you, today?" Not even looking at him anymore, she responded by giving him the finger. "All right, a hand gesture! I'll take it," he laughed.

"You are always 'taking it,'" Brother grouched.

"So are you," Rikku chimed, "From her." She thumbed at Paine, who threw her a disinterested glance. "If you want my advice: More gin, less vinegar, 'kay?" Patting her elder sibling's mohawk, she hopped into a vacant station on the opposite side of the pilot's seat from Buddy.

"There really no action?" Paine finally spoke up, eyes glued to the screen. Frowning, she separated one readout from the rest with a wave and enlarged it. "What's this warning for?" All it logged was an attempted "break in", but no specifics on the matter.

"We were almost hacked," a muffled voice relayed. Paine turned, eyes landing on Shinra, still subsumed in his beige environment suit. "Operative word here: Almost. They were sloppy. Triggered every alarm in the system. I didn't even have to do anything, the artifice took care of the problem."

"Any reason it doesn't.. actually say that?" Paine queried. "If you're going to go.. with your usual response, don't.. bother." She waited for a few seconds, and when no response came she turned back to the display with an inaudible sigh. Going through it all with a fine tooth comb came up with nothing of import, just as Rikku had said. Everything was just as she reported: Pretty quiet. While that was a relief, it didn't leave her with much else to do aside from checking the weapons systems.

The C9E4-Celsius was an Al Bhed civilian model "runner". A versatile, all-purpose vessel that could do a little bit of everything, but was excellent at almost nothing. It functioned reliably, and it was fast. Scratch that – it was extremely fast. It was small and light, with little armor to speak of. So, its primary defense was to run, because the energy shielding was shit. The Celsius' main deterrent was a single, axially-mounted railgun capable of firing three rounds per minute. Or, about one slug every twenty seconds, if working at optimal capacity. Aside from this, there were four small phased plasma turrets, and one point-defense energy projector. So, basically, they could hurt rocks, and other small ships. Anything intended to take some actual form of punishment wouldn't even be tickled by them. They might laugh, sure. Right before swatting the Celsius out of the sky.

Paine established an uplink with the ship's integrated artifice and requested a diagnostic. This was accomplished swiftly, registering that all systems were functioning at peak condition. It might have been her imagination, but she caught what looked like a winking smiley face out of the corner of her eye, right before the display closed. Shaking it off, she looked out the portal at the head of the bridge. It wasn't actually glass, just a special, translucent alloy. Beyond were the stars. Billions of glittering diamonds, vast and distant nebulae, and entire civilizations reaching out for it all. She'd heard people talking of space as "unnerving", but to her it was nothing short of perfect. Serene, breathtakingly beautiful, and full of wonders. Proof that there was so much more to the universe than the tiny pocket they dwelled in. A patch of lights nestled in one arm of a single galaxy. To her, that was something to think about.

She was so lost in contemplation that she nearly missed the door opening. "Good afternoon, Chief Tactical Officer," a pleasantly sunny voice broke the virtual silence. Paine turned, nodding to Yuna. She was the head of the Celsius' medical staff, which was pretty much limited to her. Really, the titles were just a formality. Something intended to invoke professionalism, but, depending on the situation, most of them could be called to assist in just about anything. "I'm glad you're doing so well. I apologize for not being there when you came to, I-"

Paine waved, cutting her off, "It's fine."

Yuna frowned, and reached out for the taller woman's throat. Paine, instinctively, leaned away. Yuna gave her the same look a mischievous child might receive from their mother. "Your voice hasn't fully recovered, yet. Does your throat hurt at all?"

"It's fine," Paine repeated.

Knowing how stubborn the ex-soldier could be, Yuna wasn't about to back down so easily. "Any other side effects? Residual pain from your wounds, sluggish reflexes, memory loss?"

"I'm fine." There was more emphasis in her tone, this time.

"Hm." Yuna tilted her head, looking the younger woman over. Paine rolled her eyes exasperatedly, and turned away.

Rikku propped her elbows on the back of her seat and craned her neck, "She can't remember why we had to put her in stasis. I already debriefed her. You don't need to worry about it." She grinned proudly when Paine aimed a black look at her.

"Paine?" Yuna stepped around the woman, into her field of view. "Is that true?" For a few seconds the woman held her ground, but Yuna was a formidable opponent in the will department. Eventually, she caved, and gave Yuna a single nod. "Well, that is to be expected... Just let me know if it lasts for more than three days." She patted Paine on the cheek, then surprised her with a hug. "Next time, be more careful?"

Rikku giggled. "Awwh, isn't that cute. Look, Painey's blushing!" She practically squealed. Paine had to swallow the urge to snap at the girl for such a declaration. Still, she was somewhat uncomfortable with Yuna invading her personal space so suddenly. As the older woman squeezed her tightly, she heard Brother emit a baleful moan. Rikku had the sudden impulse to throw her boot at him. "Oh, shut up and make sure we don't crash into an asteroid."

Buddy interrupted before things could get heated between the siblings. "All right, kiddos, we've got a green light on the warp drive." He played around with the interface for a second, and then nodded. "Trajectory set, space-time envelope ready. We are prepared to jump on your mark," he leaned back, and looked up at Brother.

Sitting up straight, and trying his best to seem impressive, Brother initiated a jump sequence. "Gullwings!"

"Why does he have to call us that?" Paine caviled.

"Hold on to your butts, warp in five!" His macho enthusiasm was nothing short of embarrassing, to say the least, but they'd.. well.. grown numb to it.

Buddy held up a hand, counting down with his fingers, "Three. Two. O-"

"One!" Brother shrieked, eliciting a frown from Rikku and Paine. There was a quick flash, and a tingling sensation spread throughout their bodies. It reminded Paine of ancient superstitions that described passing through lingering spirits. Then.. darkness. No light from beyond the portal. If there was anything about extrasolar flight that unnerved Paine, it was this. Punching a hole through the fabric of the universe, slipping through another dimension in order to skirt the laws of your own. Sure, it had been rigorously refined before anyone was willing to go through, themselves, but that didn't make it any less.. alien a concept, for her. Nor did it mean the practice was perfectly safe. Nothing really was, but the worst fate to befall those traversing the warp was particularly bone chilling. On these exceedingly rare occurrences, the unfortunates simply vanished.

"Two days 'til we hit Voce," Buddy sighed, lazily reading over the success reports on the jump.

"The envoy get us a.. job there?" Paine asked. "The envoy" was a nickname she had bestowed upon Yuna, following her induction into the crew. Aside from her medical expertise, she had quite a few contacts thanks to her lineage. Across the course of their jobs, those eventually led into more, and so on. She was effectively the face of their little coterie, which usually sat just fine with Paine. Save for the occasions she turned into too much of a good samaritan that it placed them in difficult spots. That happened, here and there.

"Mm-hm," the brunette confirmed, smiling at the taller woman. "Just a lead, really. We're going to hear their offer."

"They couldn't tell.. you over the call?"

Yuna downturned her gaze. "They said.. that they didn't feel comfortable discussing it, unless it was in person."

"Oh, I like this," Paine sighed, demonstrating her enthusiasm.

XXX

Paine went down to the Crew's Quarters deck some hours later. Ordinarily, she would spend some of her free time up on the observatory, the highest deck of the ship. However, they were in warp, where there was nothing to see but an empty void. Before anything else, she checked the armory. It was a compulsive habit of hers. Not that she was worried about her private armaments, but the weapons stored in there were seven varying degrees of lethal. Pulse and plasma weapons, shotguns, grenades, blades, and a few other nifty items. Everything checked out, so nobody had been nicking things to play with on their off hours. After that, she had gone down to the cargo bay to stretch her legs a bit. She didn't feel weak anymore, just stiff. Some solid exercise helped alleviate that, but it resulted in her getting rather sweaty. It proved to be a bit of a strain on her, and further substantiated her enduring fatigue. On the other hand, she figured it would have been worse to just sit around, taking it easy. To say she outright resented the notion would not be inaccurate.

She visited her cabin first, after arriving in the Crew's Quarters. Along with a few other things, this was where she kept her favored pieces. An FG92 Phased Plasma Rifle was her old warhorse. It was an iconic weapon, impressive considering the most prominent plasma rifle manufacturers were Yevonite, whereas Fidelio Gunsmiths was based in Luca. Ironically enough, her sidearm was a pulse pistol from the Commune of Yevon. Finally, there was her most prized item, resting upon a stand. An exceptionally lethal tool, slender and elegant, hardly weighing anything at all. A monomolecular sword, tucked away in its custom sheath. The blade was single-edged, and subtly curved. These were notorious for their sheer killing power, raising one alone could prove tremendously deadly in unskilled hands. She had trained for years to master its usage, yet she always felt humbled when wielding it. If any weapon would gladly take their master's life, how eager might her sword – so fluently fatal – be to take hers? Her eyes fell on the hilt as she stepped into her quarters, and she had to resist the urge to take it up.

Grabbing a fresh shirt and underwear, she made her way to the showers, snagging an antibacterial pad and a soluble shampoo-conditioner capsule. Unless you were super rich, life on starships was fairly spartan. Extravagancies were few, as affording them was difficult. To save space, only the captain – which, in their case, was Brother, sadly enough – had a personal bathroom. The shipbuilders made two for the rest of the crew. One designated for men, the other for women. Once inside, the closest thing you had to privacy were dividers separating each of the shower heads. They were more for convenience, than anything. Hanging up her jumpsuit, and setting aside her clean clothes, she stepped underneath the head. The onboard computer recalled her preferred temperature, and the water was already comfortably hot by the time it pelted her skin.

Paine closed her eyes, letting the spray wash over her face and down her body. She felt reinvigorated, like taking a much needed breath of life. After spending a week in hypersleep, this was absolutely wonderful. For a few minutes, she just stood there, letting the heat soothe her nerves and clear her mind. It gave her time to think. She still hadn't the foggiest recollection of their last job, which bothered her. Trying to remember if the memory loss had been this bad in the past brought up nothing, which struck her as sardonicism on the universe's part. Shoving her fingers through her tangled hair, she struggled to reach anything, even the tiniest shred or cracked shard. They proved illusive, and she was already running out of patience. There's no way it was that critical, she griped to herself. What good is the healing going to do if I don't even know what the fuck I did wrong?! Heart thudding angrily, she gritted her teeth and almost felt like punching the wall.

She forced herself to calm down, choking out the flames before they had a chance to burn even hotter. Right at that point, the best way to make things even more inauspicious was to get pissed about it. That would just be like lowering a thick, red curtain over a concrete wall, because that made it easier to break through, right? She berated herself, and turned her attention to the permeating heat massaging her skin. She relegated herself to standing there, silent as a statue. After maybe a couple of minutes, she couldn't be exact, she could almost call her state of mind "peaceful".

By the time Paine finally started bathing, someone else was joining her. Tuning here ears to the sound of footsteps, she assumed it was Rikku. A quick glance proved her right. The blonde took the stall right behind her, and for a few seconds the hope remained she might be left to her cogitation.

Such wishes proved to be in vain. "Woo, look at you! Not even up for a full day, and you already look winded. You sure you're not getting out of shape, Doctor P?" She stared at Paine's back for a few moments, waiting for a response. None came. She rolled her eyes, abruptly dunked her head under the stream, and shook herself off much like a dog would after pulling out. "Maybe it's just me-"

"It is," Paine sniped her.

"Let. Me. Finish," Rikku growled, rearing back as if to hurl her pad at Paine's back. "I always took 'communal' to mean, well, communication. Bonding. Y'know, having fun with the people around you?"

Paine sighed. "Earlier, you asked me about.. taking it easy. Right now, I'd prefer to."

"But that's so boring!" Rikku groaned. "Besides, I don't like it when you ignore me."

Paine could hear the pout in the girl's voice. "Must be hard for you." Why, she wondered, could the girl never let things be?

"Do I, I dunno, offend you, or something? 'Cause that's the vibe I get a lot when I try talking to you." Rikku folded her arms, steadily watching the woman.

"You don't try to start.. conversations, Rikku," Paine informed, a tinge of irritation on her tongue. "You force them."

"I only have to when it comes to you, Painey." Looking down at the pad in her hand, she carefully set it on a recess in the divider. Paine's routine was interrupted by somebody sidling up behind her. Two thin arms encircled her ribs, followed by a pair of breasts getting pressed into her back. Rikku's mouth grazed her shoulder, planting a tender kiss.

Paine hung her head. "What is it, Rikku?"

"If what you said earlier's what you actually think, then I must look pretty shallow to you," Rikku murmured, dejectedly.

"What did I say?"

A low hiss. "That I came down to see you just so I could sneak a peek. I really was worried about you, Paine. You took the brunt of it for us, and... Yeah, okay, I've been lonely this week without you around, but that's just because I missed your company. You're not some.. lay." The embrace tightened. "You're my friend, and you got hurt really badly on our last run. All I've been able to do is have faith Yunie fixed you up good enough. I don't wanna lose you."

"I wasn't being serious," Paine very matter-of-factly clarified, just putting it out there totally lacking in decoration.

"It's hard to tell with you, sometimes."

"Why is that my problem, and.. not yours?" Paine queried.

"'Cuz you're so goddamned stubborn that you refuse to learn how to talk to people. I'm not good at reading you, Painey. I need a sign, a signal, a friggin' billboard to get your meaning! Just, y'know.. be clearer." Rikku wriggled against her, and raised up onto her toes. "Like this..." Her right hand fell into a steady descent down Paine's stomach. "When you wanna get a point across, don't go cutting corners." Her lips brushed the woman's ear. "T-"

"Not here!" Paine's head jerked up, red eyes narrowing as she snapped.

Rikku's hand stopped, and she smiled. "I-I know. Good example, huh?" Giggling slyly, "Uhm.. does that mean you're interested?" Her middle finger circled the older woman's bellybutton. There was something possessive about her touch, buried amidst the playfulness.

Paine hardly wanted to indulge her, but the girl's ploys were working. They always did. She certainly was a crafty little thing. "I might have only been.. unconscious, but.. as far as I'm concerned, I was dead for a week."

Rikku snorted. "Yeah, 'cuz sleeping with a zombie really turns me on, Paine."

"It's called 'counter terrorism.'"

"Oh, puh-leez!" Rikku slipped around her, and, before the taller woman could complain, she kissed her. After only a few seconds of pressing her lips wantonly into Paine's, she broke off and skittered back to her own still-running shower. Paine was momentarily shaken, her nerves alight, and a need was beginning to smolder between her legs. She kicked herself into gear, and continued bathing.

Not to spite Rikku, or anything, but she took her sweet time to finish, loitering under the warm water until she decided any longer would be irresponsible. Rikku waited, and watched her silently out of the corner of her eye as they dried. She appeared pensive, and, despite the obvious, Paine wasn't certain as to what all was going on inside her head. Rikku could be easy to read, but she was also frighteningly deceptive. When she wanted to, the girl could hide anything, put on any mask. However, this rarely happened. Despite her talent, she apparently disliked the effort involved. While she was quite curious, Paine's superior self control kept her from ogling the blonde. Mostly because she would have gotten a kick out of that. Paine could almost hear the jeers of, "You're just like me!" Truly deplorable. Rikku hurriedly dressed, and dashed out of the shower before Paine even had her panties back on. Somewhat amused, Paine picked up the pace in order to follow.

As she probably should have expected, she found Rikku leaning against her cabin door. "Figured you'd wanna use yours," the Al Bhed stated, shrugging nonchalantly. Paine hit the control panel. She pushed the blonde inside as soon as the door was open, steeling her gaze and marching in after. Rikku's cheeks flushed a bright pink, her respiration quickening. "I'm getting the feeling you kinda wanna skip over the fore-" Paine forcefully kissed her, shoving her tongue inside the girl's mouth, and thoroughly, finally, shutting her up. Her teeth grazed the blonde's lips, not overly bothering with gentleness. It felt like a pent up beast at long last being freed. Rikku moaned loudly into her lover's mouth, relishing the union between them, but still hungry for so much more. She had to make up for lost time.

AN: Yeah, fuck waiting. I'm just gonna dive right into that, this time. Eh.. next chapter, though. :3