As Baralai laid Rikku next to Gippal in their bed, he regretted that she passed out before she fully agreed to see his trophy room. He hadn't been too steady on his feet himself while carrying her to her and Gippal's room, and his hands kept feeling too much of her. Now as she slightly turned in bed, her short shorts she always wore moved enough to give him a good view of her blushing cheeks from the birthday spankings Gippal had given her. He stared at the sight for a few moments before heading to his guest bedroom and throwing himself down on the bed.


Nooj had a very busy morning providing painkillers and water to his friends, then coffee. By noon Gippal, Rikku, and Baralai had made it to the living room, all looking worse for the wear over the previous night's excesses.

"Why do people drink?" Rikku quietly asked, hoping no one would raise their voice.

"To give their sensible friends some entertainment." Nooj replied. He had taken plenty of pictures to remember the drunken foolishness of his friends. Watching them was better than watching the programs put out by the emerging television industry.

"I think we should never talk about last night again." Gippal said.

"I can't even remember last night!" Rikku exclaimed.

"Then there's nothing to talk about, so it's no problem." Baralai smiled with relief. He remembered the previous night only vaguely, but it was enough to give him the most erotic dream he had ever had about a woman…the things he was doing to Rikku while she was begging for more in his trophy room…Baralai shook his head, and groaned as it brought his headache back. He deserved to feel like crap anyway, lusting after his best friend's wife! Well Gippal and Rikku might not be officially married, but they might as well be…


Rikku was glad Yuna and Tidus had asked her to deliver a message to Baralai. She was feeling rather lonely, with Gippal heavily involved with some new inventions at Djose temple. She had grown up with machina just like him, so she really wasn't as fascinated as he probably wanted her to be when he would describe his work like he was creating the world's first ever machinery. She knocked on the door and it was opened almost immediately by a butler.

"May I help you, Miss?" he asked her.

"I have a message for Baralai." Rikku took the sphere out of her satchel and held it up.

"Follow me." The butler gestured her inside the mansion and closed the door.

Rikku looked all around her as the butler led her somewhere. She had never been to Baralai's place in all this time, and even though she had seen plenty on her journeys with her cousin, she thought this must be one of the best mansions in all of Spira. Being the elected ruler of Bevelle and Praetor of New Yevon must pay really well. Finally the butler stopped in front of an elaborately carved wooden door and knocked before entering when Baralai's voice was heard telling him to.

"Rikku! What are you doing here?" Baralai was not all that pleasantly surprised to see her in his study, he had been trying to avoid her in the six months since her birthday party, wanting his fantasies about her to stop.

"Tidus and Yuna wanted me to give you this." Rikku placed the sphere on his desk before sitting down in the nearest chair. "So how you been?" She wasn't happy that she hadn't seen him or Nooj that much lately, having Gippal's best friends around was almost like having him around.

"Would you care for some refreshments, sir?" the butler asked Baralai.

"Yes, I could use a glass of wine." Baralai needed a drink to steady himself.

"Very good, sir. And you, miss?" the butler asked Rikku.

"Just one glass sounds good to me." Rikku had been limiting her drinks since the party. Two at the most was her limit. "You're living the good life, aren't you?" she questioned Baralai when the butler poured her glass and then left the tray with the bottle of wine on it on the desk.

"When I have time to enjoy it." Baralai admitted. "You wouldn't believe how much work I have to deal with." He tapped the small stack of papers in front of him. "People have been so used to Yevon telling them what to do, that they're hesitant to go at it on their own, even years later."

"Tell me about it." Rikku wanted to hear about something other than machines.

The bottle of wine was empty when the butler returned. "I have a message for you, sir. Tomorrow's ceremony preparations are complete, and they are looking forward to your presence there." The butler took the bottle and glasses out on the tray.

"There's a ceremony tomorrow?" Rikku asked. "Why haven't I heard about it?"

"Oh, it's just the annual awards ceremony for the best performing students. Academics and athletics both. It'll be boring, but I have to hand out the trophies, since I am the one who initiated the ceremony in the first place." Baralai explained.

Something triggered in Rikku's memory. "Trophies? You told me you have a trophy room, didn't you?"

Baralai flushed and stammered. "Uh…it's…I mean…um it's not…I don't think you'd be interested."

"Of course I would!" Rikku insisted. "That wine was too relaxing, I need to do something or I'm gonna fall asleep."

Baralai sighed, knowing how stubborn Rikku could be, and that she wasn't going to let it go. "Very well, I'll let you see it, but you must promise to never tell anyone about it."

"Sure, whatever." Rikku was very curious now about what kind of a trophy room required secrecy. She watched Baralai take certain books out of the bookshelf behind his desk, and gasped when the bookshelf suddenly moved and revealed a passageway.

"Come and take a look." Baralai gestured for Rikku to go in first, and once she had, he pushed a button on the inside wall, closing the bookshelf door behind them.