by PrettyGothGirl
All Disclaimers Apply
Summary: They say good things come in threes, but what happens when they come in five. A five things meme story. Paine has five enounters with Brother that leave her feeling rather unsettled.
Author's Note: So, I know there aren't a lot of people who enjoy Brother/Paine, but I do. So, this story will have "five things" memes that I'm working on focusing on these two characters. Just to sort of keep my hand in and keep their characters fresh in my mind.
One:
"Get your hand off my ass." Paine kept her voice low and as neutral as possible. She didn't want to draw attention herself. She looked over her shoulder.
Anikki's looked back, eyes wide in the most transparent expression of innocence she had ever seen. "I don't know what you are talking about."
Her eyes narrowed and she reached around and grabbed the wrist of the hand resting on her backside. "Remove your hand or I start breaking fingers."
His eyes narrowed. Paine was underestimating him. Perhaps, it was his highly accented and sometimes broken manner of speaking in Yevonite. Maybe, it was his extravagant gestures and mood swings. People tended to forget that there was a reason why his father put him in charge of important operations. He didn't necessarily like making decisions, but he could. Not that he always agreed with his father, usually they didn't agree at all. Home being one of the major examples of their relationship. He could be marginally competent if he wanted. It was the wanting bit that was usually the major hang-up. Most times he plain just didn't care. But he didn't like beingunderestimated.
Paine had forgotten, not that she'd ever paid attention to, that his eyes were the same startling bright green of Rikku's. A color that caught and held the attention and his appeared to be deep set into his face due to the tattoos underneath. She wondered if the tattoos were dark due to accident or design, if they were a way to help him see well in a bright desert environment. His eyes glinted in the artificial light of the bridge and his cheeks sucked inwards a little.
He swapped their grips until he had a much better hold on her arm than she had had on his. He swung around so that they were pressed against each other. He smiled a bit as her head whipped about to keep him in her line of sight, their noses bare inches apart. He put a leg between hers so she couldn't use them against him. "Really?" He unwittingly fell into Al Bhed. His eyes ran down her figure. "I didn't know you were that kinky."
Paine's eyes widened. Anikki was coming on to her. She couldn't think for a moment. Then she noticed something. Her eyes narrowed. She was far from helpless. "I have two arms to lay down the hurt with."
He tilted his head and leaned in a little closer. "Dangerous. I like. Too bad you wear such long gloves. I've always wondered what you would look like if you wore less." She flushed. Anikki smiled, raised and lowered his eyebrows and let her go. He felt he had won this little byplay. He brushed past her. Now it was time for something he did excel at and enjoy, other than piloting his baby and playing his guitar. "We've got a game today. Can't be late." He bounced up the stairs and hummed a tune as he exited the bridge.
Paine stared after him and then looked around the bridge and realized its state of emptiness. What had happened to Anikki's fixation on Yuna? Paine ran her fingers along her wrist where Anikki had grabbed her and crossed her arms as soon as she realized what she was doing. She shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever understand this family." She paused. Did she want to understand this weird family of theirs? Rikku, Anikki, Yuna, Tidus, Dachi, Shinra and strangely herself. Where exactly did she fit in? Rikku and Anikki were brother and sister, Yuna was their cousin and Tidus was her boyfriend and Rikku's good friend all at once. Shinra filled in the surrogate younger brother role and Dachi was Anikki's best friend. So, where did that leave her, Paine? It was too unsettling to think about at that moment. She pushed the thought from her mind. She'd have to deal with it later.
She walked off. Anikki was correct. They did have a game today and it wouldn't do to be late. Maybe Anikki could be a forward. Blitz was his thing after all. Maybe in exchange, he'd let her pilot.
--
Two:
She deliberately lagged behind in the locker room after the game. Anikki had a habit of sticking around and not leaving until the place was empty. He loved blitzball. He didn't love the media attention that went with it. To her it seemed contradictory since he tended to jump in front of cameras say if Yuna was being interviewed. So, not liking camera's shoved in his face after a game made no sense. She'd yet to ask about clarification of this habit though she'd come up with some decent theories. Maybe he didn't like the focus being put on Tidus. Though, it never seemed to her that the reporters knew whom to question first, Yuna, the famous High Summoner, Tidus, the blitz sensation, or Gippal, Machine Faction Leader. Dachi and Shinra were virtually ignored. So was she for that matter. Rikku sort of wavered though. Sometimes she was noticed and other times she wasn't. It seemed to depend if there was an Al Bhed behind the microphone or camera. Though she and Gippal had pulled stunts on camera to their own amusement later. Anikki just avoided it all by waiting. Maybe he wanted to wind down.
They'd won the game. Anikki had been on forward for once and she'd dropped back to defense. It'd given her some time to think during the sessions and to watch him. After him feeling up her ass, he needed some watching. She hadn't had a lot of time for thinking. It had been more like idle thoughts between plays. Bubble thoughts, nothing outside could affect her while she had them.
Paine leaned against the lockers. Anikki sat on the bench facing away from her, his weight resting on his elbows. His skin was stretched tight across his muscles distorting the tattoos or what she assumed were tattoos. Were they? And could they come off?
"You know," She said. It broke the muffled crowd noises. Anikki jumped and looked over his shoulder at her. His eyes were wide. He must have thought he was alone. "I've been wondering what you would look like with less colors on your skin."
He smiled. "You've been wondering." He spun and put his hands on his chin looking at her. His lips pursed in thought. "The high and mighty Paine wondering about me, I wonder what brought this on?" He leaned back and shook his head. "Not important." He stood and moved in front of her. Her skin prickled and she felt the urge to press back into the lockers. She didn't move. She couldn't let him know that his crude intimidation tricks were working. He smelled like the water from the blitzdome, but so did she. He placed a hand by the side of her head and leaned down. "So, let's make a deal."
She blinked. "A deal." She kept her voice even, her muscles rigid in an effort not to let her body betray her.
"If I get rid of the colors on my skin." He tilted his head and looked down and then caught her eyes. She flushed. He was checking her out. "You will wear less clothing. Hmm." His eyes and face were full of amusement.
"I don't see what is in this for me." She paused. "Or you."
He flicked his free hand. "A mutual satisfying of curiosity." He smirked. "Because no matter how much you try to hide it. You are curious." He shoved away and walked out. Once again, Paine stared after him for a few moments before following. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant and her gut was telling her that she didn't want to know.
Rikku fell in beside her as soon as she walked up the steps. "You okay?" She asked.
Paine looked over at her. "Fine."
"Well, did you and Anikki have a fight or something? You've been looking at him oddly the entire game and," Rikku shrugged. "You stayed behind. I'm worried."
"No fight." Paine debated inwardly. Should she tell Rikku? Rikku wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut, but other than Dachi, she knew Anikki best. "Just a conversation or two that's confusing me."
"Oh." Rikku looked at her sideways. Paine told her what happened. When she finished Rikku tilted her head back and looked at the sky. "Interesting." It was not the answer Paine had expected. She waited. After a few moments Rikku looked back down. "You may have in five minutes done something that Pop's hasn't been able to do for five years."
"That doesn't answer any of my questions."
Rikku smiled and tilted her head. "All I'm saying is you might want to buy another outfit that does show more skin." Paine gazed at her evenly. That was even less helpful than before. Maybe she should talk to Dachi. It would figure that Rikku wouldn't make any sense. Rikku bit her lip looking like she wanted to say more. Eventually she shook her head. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Great. Just great.
--
Three:
Paine decided she wasn't going to play Anikki's little game. It wasn't likely going to happen anyways. He'd have to take the ink out of his skin and as the days passed she figured that it was permanently embedded there and he was toying with her. It just wasn't going to happen and she shouldn't worry about it.
She even managed to shrug off Rikku's cryptic comments. And in the low possibility if it did happen and he did manage to remove the ink from his skin, she wasn't going to go along with it.
She put the whole issue out of her mind.
Until the day Anikki strutted into the bridge bare-chested and bare armed. Her eyes must have lingered a second too long over the pale pink flesh. He caught her gaze and smirked. She deliberately turned her eyes away. She wasn't going to get into a contest with him. He wasn't going to give her the option. He trapped her in the corridor later.
He stared down at her and she stared back.
"How did you do it?" She glanced over his skin, trying to be casual. It was such a change though it was hard not to stare. Pink skin, slightly darker nipples, it took her a moment to realize that Anikki wasn't wearing pants that needed suspenders. She let that sink in and met his eyes, trying to ignore the smirk.
"Magic."
She raised her eyebrows. "How informative."
He traced a finger down her arm. "So, soon I get to see more skin."
"No." She shifted her arm away from him.
"We agreed."
"Who is we?"
"I am the captain, you have to do as I say." He leaned back and crossed his arms.
She crossed hers as well. That was a flimsy argument and she meant to exploit it. "If you're the captain, don't defer all your decision making to Yuna."
"If I didn't let her decide some things for herself, she'd feel less important, less useful. Yuna has to look to the future, decide her own path, that is who Yuna is." He tilted his head.
"Sounds wise. Of course, you like asses." Her lip curled up into a sneer.
He shrugged. "Yuna has a nice backside. So do you." His eyebrow rose, as if it was a point she needed to consider.
"Tidus is back and you've just changed targets."
"Curiosity."
"You're going to get hurt." Paine said and shifted her weight.
"Then hurt me. And fulfill your half of the deal. Show me some skin, make me feel pain." He smiled. "I like pain."
"No."
"Come on." He leaned in.
"No."
"Hurt me."
"You made fun of my name."
He waved his hand. "It's too easy."
"No."
He sighed. "Paine, every once in a while, every woman deserves a little appreciation." He pressed a wad of gil into her hand and tilted his head. "I'm wise."
"A wiseass." She shoved it back at him.
He grinned and jumped back, hands raised. "Not mine."
She glared at him. "Take it back."
"I gave it to you. It's not nice to return gifts." He walked away. "Even Rikku changes her wardrobe from time to time." He said.
She glared at his back and gritted her teeth. It'd taken her a few weeks when she first came on board to appreciate the tomboy Rikku truly was. Rikku's current outfit had been a joint venture between her brother and Dachi. Dachi had more say than Anikki. Rikku hadn't been sure about the look at first, but over time had claimed the style for her own. And for some odd reason, Anikki's comparison of her to Rikku galled. She stared at the money in her hand and curled her fingers tight, crumpling it.
Fine, he wanted to play a game. They'd play a game and he was going to lose, and lose hard.
--
Four:
It was difficult coming up with an outfit that would show more skin, allow her to move, still make her appear tough as nails and keep her image in mind at the same time. She wasn't sure if she would be able to succeed in finding something different. Her leather pants and shirt had been her armor for so long to keep people out. It didn't help she resented the entire idea. She resented entering every store and looking at their clothes because it was Anikki who had thrown down this gauntlet.
Baralai would never think to challenge her about something so petty as clothes.
It bothered her that she was giving in to something as stupid as a bet from Rikku's eccentric and moronic brother. No matter how many times Cid told Rikku not to call Anikki a moron, Paine had to agree with Rikku on this count. Anikki could be a moron. Except when he was being frustratingly annoying and wise, which just made her wonder how much of a moron he really was and how much of it was Rikku just be a pain in the ass little sister. Rikku had that task down to a science.
And Paine didn't know why Anikki was paying attention to her at all, which is what frustrated her the most. Why? Why? Why had he chosen to take his maleness and try to shove it in her face? Because he was male, he was annoyingly frustratingly male and if she had any sense whatsoever she'd take her sword and just chop off his head.
So it bothered her even more that she was actually shopping and deliberately deciding she was going to spend the money he had given her on clothes. She used two fingers to move the hangars along the racks. It shouldn't matter. The only requirement was that her outfit showed more skin and it wasn't as if there was a timeframe for which she had to wear this outfit. It shouldn't be that important. She shouldn't even have to like it. She could buy something short and skimpy, put it on for ten minutes, strut in front of Anikki and be done. Yet, she couldn't make herself spend money on something she didn't like. It galled. Sat in her stomach like rocks and burned the back of her throat. He shouldn't have this much control over her. It was just Anikki!
She scowled and stalked towards the entrance, exiting the shop. She didn't notice Anikki leaning by the door, didn't notice him follow her a pace behind until he actually said something.
"You seem to be having trouble."
She jumped and turned her head to glare at him.
He smiled back, eyes wide, as innocent as he had been when he'd been feeling her up. She scowled. His smile widened into a grin. "I'm fine." She dodged around a couple and tried not to snarl at him.
"I thought perhaps, you would like some help."
"You thought wrong."
"I'm volunteering."
"No."
"Why not?"
She bit her tongue and counted backwards from ten in Al Bhed. "Because I'm fine."
He took an extra long step and caught up with her. "You don't look fine."
"I am fine."
"You look frustrated, irritated and annoyed."
She clenched her teeth together and spoke between them. "Because some moron wants me to buy new clothes that show more skin and I don't even know why. Otherwise, I'm fine."
"I thought the why would be obvious." He smirked. "Come on, Paine. How hard can this be?"
"If I thought it would get me out of this, I'd prance about in my bathing suit."
He tilted his head and thought about it. He actually thought about it. She watched him think and stroke his chin and make little checklists on his hands. (Gippal sometimes did that, but he wasn't making fun like Anikki was.) Anikki made odd motions with his mouth and finally shook his head. "No. You don't know how to prance."
She swallowed wrong, choked, regained her breath and managed to talk. "Exactly."
Anikki grabbed her elbow and stopped her by the simple expedient of stopping himself. "Have you been in here?"
She turned her head and glanced at the door of the shop and immediately flushed. She couldn't meet Anikki's gaze, but his grin was far too knowing. "No." She muttered. Paine didn't want to think about the type of clothes in the window and what they were used for. In general they looked Al Bhed, but the way they were paired wasn't the way she thought an Al Bhed would normally wear them.
"It's not all Al Bhed style." He tugged on her arm. "You aren't afraid of clothes."
She glared at him. "Why should I be? I wear garment grids and Leblanc's goon clothes." She took a step forward. "Juvenile tactic."
He snickered and tugged on her arm again. "Juvenile?"
"Childish." Don't - use - long - words. He didn't understand them or he just acted like he didn't. She couldn't be entirely sure. She resisted the urge to strangle him.
"Oh, well," he paused. "Yeah." He shoved her towards the door. "Just, don't think about it too hard."
"You've been in there." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"Yep."
She stiffened her shoulders. Fine. If he'd been in there, she could go in there too. She shoved the door open and walked in. But, he was going to pay for forcing her into this and he was going to pay dearly.
--
Five:
Paine fumed.
She felt naked. She'd felt naked for the last three days. She crossed her arms and stared at the back of Anikki's head. It took conscious will not to let an arm slip down and cover her belly. Her belly had always been exposed and she still wanted to cover it. That and she knew her crossing her arms under her chest only pushed up what minimal amount of it there was. She'd been running about in this outfit for three days and Anikki had yet to acknowledge it. She clenched her teeth. He hadn't even overtly looked.
She'd gotten more of a reaction out of Gippal. A, "Nice threads, Dr. P." Then he'd thrown her some barbwire bracelets and a leather cuff. He said her arms were a little too bare. She'd sniffed at that. She was wearing gloves after all. They didn't go above her wrist and didn't have fingers, but she was wearing gloves. She'd accepted the accessories anyways. Gippal did have good taste, even if he did wear lilac and dated Rikku.
Paine just wanted Anikki to look so she could go back to wearing something that covered her properly. She was thinking about something that fit her neck to ankles to her wrists after this, preferably with pants.
Baralai hadn't commented either. Nooj had just looked over his glasses at her and smiled. She'd ask him what amused him so much and he'd refused to reply. Both responses irked her, Baralai, because he refused to notice or say anything and Nooj, because he did and he still refused to say a word.
Rikku thought both responses might have something to do with the fact Paine was wearing a skirt, a tiny skirt with a slit off center on her right thigh. In other words, Paine was wearing something Rikku would wear. Given the fact Yuna was wearing a skirt more often too. Paine sighed. She wasn't sure what it meant. Maybe Baralai didn't care and Nooj had always been condescending. She just wanted Anikki to look, declare this little wager over so she could get back to her life.
If Anikki didn't look soon she was going to whack him over the head with the flat of her sword.
She turned her head and grimaced. That or she was going to kill Gippal for dunking her head in the water trough and gleefully running his hands through her hair to mess it up. She'd finger combed it but it kept falling over her eye. Sure she could see. It was just annoying. She'd have hit him then, but he'd run away too quickly. Damn his longer legs.
Anikki got up and left the bridge.
She waited a few seconds and followed. It was time this ended. She saw him enter his room and heard the door close as she entered the cabin. She knocked once and entered not even thinking about what he might be doing in there.
She crossed her arms and leaned against the door. "I've played your little game." She focused her gaze on Anikki.
He turned slowly and his eyebrows rose. "Game?"
"The wager you started."
He tilted his head and scratched his chin. "I don't remember it being a game."
"I've done my part. It's over. We're finished."
Anikki took a step closer to her, running his eyes up and down her figure. "It was never a game."
He seemed stuck on that. She hissed between her teeth. "You've had your fun."
"I was serious." He moved another step, ending up six inches from her. His cabin wasn't that large. "I'm always serious." He said. She snorted. He caught her eyes and leaned closer. "You doubt me."
Instincts screamed in Paine to run. She tensed. She knew better than this. This was Anikki's room, Anikki's domain. Sure, the entire ship was technically his but this area was his private sphere and she was the invader. She wrapped her dignity about her and raised her chin. "I find it hard to believe you are serious about everything." His green eyes took up her vision and she didn't dare look away. She should leave, now. Yet, if she looked away he would pounce and there was no room to slowly back up and flee. Besides, she was Paine. She did not retreat.
"Well, if you put it that way, then, no. I'm not serious about everything. I am serious about more things than you'd like to believe." He smiled.
Her pulse raced. "I've been wrong before."
He rested his hands on the door to either side of her. "I'm wrong lots of times. You get used to it after a while." He tilted his head. "You have beautiful skin." He murmured.
Paine blinked. Where had that come from? "Wh-what?" She jumped as his hand rested on her hip, sliding around to cup her back.
"So beautiful in every way and so unconscious about it. Perhaps, you do not know you are beautiful." He ran his thumb around in little circles over her skin. She didn't know what to say to that. She stared at him, furiously trying to come up with an answer. Nothing crossed her mind. She stared at him in shock as his lips came down and brushed against hers. She put a hand on his chest to push him away. He brushed her lips again.
Something inside her broke or woke up. She wasn't sure which. Warmth pooled in her stomach and rushed to her fingers and toes, making her skin tingle. His kiss lingered, gentle but hungry. Her eyes closed and she enjoyed it for a few minutes, responding, exploring the feel of it, the warmth of it.
Her brain snapped into gear and she shoved him back, groped for the switch to open the door and as soon as it opened behind her. She fled.
Anikki leaned against the edge of the door and watched her go. He sighed and then smirked. He doubted Paine would ever underestimate him again. He might have to work harder to get another kiss.
Make no doubt about it. He would get another kiss.
--
reviews are love, love me?!