It's been a while... I was writing heaps in the holidays, but it's really messy and I need to re-think some bits. Anyway, this was for the quitethecouple fanart challenge. When I saw the fanart (you can find it on quitethecouple) I was thinking, 'why does everyone assume Rikku and Gippal's relationship so sexual?' So I wrote about it! Anyway, this was written in a rush and didn't quite come out right :(, but I hope you enjoy anyway! Tell me your thoughts!
- Icicle Streams
"Oh boy… look at him over there."
Gippal's eye trailed down to where Nooj was pointing and he laughed.
Standing by the stone ledge of Besaid Temple's front terrace was Baralai, looking extremely uncomfortable. The cause of this discomfort seemed to be the busty brunette leaning on the ledge next to him, giggling and tossing her hair flirtatiously at everything Baralai said. Gippal smirked as the dark-skinned praetor turned steadily redder as the beautiful young woman moved closer and closer. He seemed to shrink into his expensive suit, but the girl continued.
"Who knew Baralai was such a ladies man?" said Paine listlessly. She sipped her champagne and smiled, but Gippal could see in her ruby eyes that she was hiding something. She was very good at keeping her emotions secret, but jealousy always shined through.
"He'd better watch himself," muttered Nooj, draining his glass of crimson liquid.
Paine straightened her silver bridesmaid dress and frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Her name's Beyra, a new officer for the Youth League. Smart girl and a good warrior, and very helpful with business. According to Lucil, she's pretty nice. And they say she's very friendly," Nooj replied gruffly.
"Ah," murmured Paine knowingly.
Nooj nodded in agreement. Gippal, still completely in the dark raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, Nooj, those all sound like good things."
"They say she's a little too friendly," he said suggestively, but his subtleties were wasted on Gippal, who just scratched his head and continued to look puzzled. Paine rolled her eyes and slapped her hand to her forehead.
"Well," said Nooj, clearing his throat. "There are rumours going around that she… gets around."
"Gets around?" asked Gippal, unfamiliar with the Spiran expressions.
Nooj hesitated, then began cleaning his spectacles, clearly not wishing to speak ill of one of his officers.
"Nooj? Paine?" asked the bewildered Al Bhed.
"Gippal, basically, Nooj is saying she's a slut," said Paine shortly. Nooj began having a coughing fit.
Gippal glanced over at her and Baralai. He seemed to be laughing, a genuine smile breaking on the praetor's lips while Beyra continued to talk, straightening her low-cut dress as she went on with the apparently hilarious anecdote.
"Slut as in..?" began Gippal awkwardly.
"Cmid. Fruna. Cgyhg. Whatever you want to call it," she explained curtly.
Gippal's jaw dropped.
"What?" he cried. "Wait, does everyone know about this?"
Nooj shrugged noncommittally, but Paine's expression clearly meant 'yes'.
"How can she stand the shame of it all? It's… disgusting!"
"Calm down, Gippal, you're making a scene."
Gippal paused and glanced around at the small crowd of surrounding people who had stopped to stare at him.
"Sorry!" he apologized with a charming smile. He didn't want to ruin Yuna and Tidus's wedding reception.
"Geez, Gippal. It's not that big a deal," said Nooj once everyone had gone back to their own conversations again.
"What do you mean? She's getting up to all this… business, and she's not even married!"
Paine gave him a wry smile and shook her head.
"Seriously, Gippal, calm down. It's not that unusual, ok?"
He stared at her incredulously.
"What do you mean?"
Nooj placed his empty glass onto the tray of a butler passing by and Paine did the same. Gippal, on the other hand, grabbed another to calm himself down.
"It's not that unusual to get up to that sort of thing anymore, you know? Like you and Rikku."
A woman nearby screamed as Gippal spat a huge spray of wine that nearly stained her turquoise dress.
"Excuse me?" he asked, completely ignoring the scandalised scowl on the woman's face.
"You-and-Ri-kku," explained Paine slowly, as if explaining something to a small child.
"And all the stuff you two… get up to," finished Nooj.
Gippal slumped into a nearby chair heavily and ran a hand through his blond hair.
"Are you serious?" he accused his friends.
They glanced at each other, neither wanting to say the next sentence. Nooj cleared his throat and eventually took the lead.
"Well, it's not really a secret-"
"-what with the way you guys act in public-"
"-it's kinda obvious-"
"-yeah, flirting with each other like you do-"
"-and you do have a reputation of being a ladies' man-"
"-and she's always visiting you in Djose for weeks at a time-"
Gippal grabbed an unknown glass from a nearby ledge and drained it. He looked curiously pale.
"But… me and Rikku have never done it!"
"What?" said Nooj and Paine together, the surprise and disbelief in their voices completely undisguised.
"Why does everyone assume we have? Cred…"
"So you mean…" began Paine.
"You and Rikku… have never..?"
Gippal rose and slammed his fist to his chest proudly.
"We Al Bhed, we always wait until marriage! It'd just not… done! We don't 'get around' like you people do! Geez, guys!"
And without another word he strode away and wrapped his arms around Rikku, who was looking very pretty in a pale gold gown that matched Paine's.
"Well," began Paine.
"And this whole time, I thought…"
"Me too!"
They folded their arms thoughtfully and stood their silently for several moments.
"C'mon, we still need to go rescue Baralai."
"Definitely."