Chapter 8

A Little Bossy


The afternoon quickly wore on for the camp at the Eastern Expanse. Nhadala's meeting had consisted of reiterating every progress report documented at the camp over the past six months. Gippal tried to hear her out for about fifteen minutes, but then he cut in with the excuse that he really needed to complete his inspection of the camp's equipment before nightfall.

Therefore, he, Cast, and Lorenzon had all escaped outdoors. Cast was still blushing and stumbling around Gippal, who noticed but tried to act like a gentleman. He sighed as he asked Cast to hand him a screw and the young boy tripped and spilled the box in his eagerness.

Oh well, Gippal thought as he watched Cast scurry around, trying to catch all the rolling screws. I can't help it that I'm so damned good-looking...

Meanwhile, Nhadala sat in the tent, obsessively absorbed in record-keeping. Rikku had the unfortunate job of retrieving the boxes of reports from the past six months and hauling them over to her, like a worker ant feeding its queen. Hemi was trying to look busy, cleaning the mess hall and polishing random things while Miles recuperated from his near sun stroke by soaking himself in a bucket filled with ice water.

"I don't get it," he whined as he struggled around in the bucket. "Why can't I soak in the bathtub instead! It holds water too, ya know..."

"Don't be silly, Miles," Hemi said as fluffed a couch cushion. "You'd probably drown in that huge bathtub if we left you unsupervised. No, no, trust me-" she said as he opened his mouth to protest. "It's best if you're standing straight up like that."

"But I can't move my arms!" he complained as he tried to prove his point by twisting around like a washing machine agitator.

Rikku stifled a giggle as she let another box drop to the floor near Nhadala. She didn't quite get what the big fixation with the reports was- when Nhadala had come to inspect the camp three months ago, she hadn't spent this much time reading.

"It's all about data comparison," she had said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world when Rikku had asked her earlier. "Last time there was only the preliminary data, now I have to study that and this quarter's, and then I get to compare the two." Rikku thought that she looked just a little too excited about that as she had eagerly snuggled into the great big armchair like she was settling into a good book.

Rikku sighed and rubbed the sore spot on her back from lifting all afternoon. At least she didn't have to suffer the indignity of taking orders from Gippal yet.

Yet, she thought sourly. She was just beginning to imagine Gippal wedged into an ice bucket similar to Miles's when the tent flapped open and the guys all marched back inside.

It's like being in a men's locker room, Rikku thought to herself with a shake of her head as the three guys stampeded in, laughing and slapping each other on their shirtless backs. She caught Hemi's eye, who winked at her and eyed the guys appreciatively while they bent over and raided the mini-fridge. Rikku pretended not to notice as she stooped down to organize a pile of Nhadala's discarded reading material.

"Okay, break time!" Gippal called out as he pulled out a case of beer. The guys cheered and each grabbed a bottle- Miles managed to squirm his way out of the bucket and waddled over to the party, splashing water everywhere. Hemi was there in an instant, fussing over Lorenzon's dark tan and lecturing him over the dangers of skin cancer.

Rikku tried to ignore them as she stuffed folders back into a box. She was not in the mood to have a good time with Gippal in the room. She was still mad at him. What it was for, she couldn't remember, but just seeing that careless smile on his face made her blood boil.

"What are you doing?" Nhadala gasped in horror while everyone was laughing in the kitchen.

Yes, Rikku smiled maliciously as she kneeled on the ground, still packing away the folders. I hope she tells him off for slacking like that...

"You're messing up all my reports!" Nhadala cried as she pulled the folders out of Rikku's hands. Rikku was stunned for a moment as Nhadala swooped over the boxes protectively, and she realized that Nhadala was yelling at her.

She blushed furiously as she heard titters of laugher behind her. She stood up indignantly and brushed imaginary dirt off of her pants before turning around and glaring at her crew. She stood there with her mouth open, trying to think of something to divert attention away from herself, when Gippal made it his sacred duty to do just the opposite.

"Hey Kku-Ri!" he called out, grinning as he sat in the opposite corner of the room with his feet propped up. "Wrestle some of those papers away from Nhadala and come over here and give me your report. That's an order," he added with a wink.

Outraged at the pure enjoyment he was getting over bossing her around, Rikku had absolutely no intention of coming anywhere near him when Nhadala poked her in the back with a folder.

"Oh good," she said without taking her eyes off of the paper she was reading. "Report these too him and makes sure that he signs all the papers in this stack." She motioned to the mountain of folders next to her.

Rikku just stared at her disbelievingly as Gippal tried not to look too smug, sitting back in his chair and waiting for Rikku to give in. She lingered for as long as she could before Gippal cleared his throat meaningfully. He watched gleefully while she shuffled her feet over to where he sat apart from everyone else, waiting for her.

"Well, go ahead and sit down," he said, gesturing to the beat-up old armchair behind her. Pride stiffening her spine, she resolutely stood before him and began reading the report. He listened patiently as she read in perfect monotone, wondering how long she was planning on standing there just to spite him, when she paused to turn the page.

"What, finished already?" he asked, trying to look oblivious to her obvious annoyance. "You're a speedy reader, Kku-Ri." He winked at her as her face burned red and she bit back a scathing reply. She knew he was just baiting her, so she stoically ignored him and plowed back into reading the report.

After a few more moments of watching her read to him, Gippal looked up at the ceiling and pulled a bored face.

"You know, I kinda get the feeling that you don't like reading these reports so much," he said, biting back a grin.

He looked back at her again, amused, while Rikku tried to squash the desire to tackle him and beat him over the head with the folder. How dare he hold this over her head! She had to hold her tongue like any other employee regarding their boss, and she just knew that he was loving every minute of it.

After a few more moments of figure-reciting that Gippal didn't hear, he interrupted her again, unable to resist another chance to tease her while she couldn't fight back. He guessed it was only a matter of time before she completely gave up the employee/employer act and put him back in his place.

But in the meantime, he decided with a satisfied smile, this is gonna be good.

"So, in your opinion," he began, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in his chair importantly. "What do you believe to be the relationship between the steady increase in the bolt drake population here and with the frequency of the sandstorms in the Southern Expanse?"

Rikku threw down the folders, unable to hold back any longer and glared at him. It was all Gippal could do to bite his lips together and not burst out laughing.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Rikku said, exasperated with her hands on her hips. "Talking about bolt drakes and sandstorms-- are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Gippal offered innocently.

"No it is not a rhetorical question!" she hissed, fighting the desire to scream in frustration. Gippal grinned more broadly than ever as he leaned back further and folded his arms behind his head.

"So, what you're saying is that you don't know..."

"Dammit, Gippal!" she finally, throwing her hands up in the air. Rikku suddenly noticed how quiet the room had gotten, and she could feel everyone's eyes burning into her back as she stood there blushing.

"Why don't we finish this in the next room...?" Gippal suggested, stifling another laugh.

Across the room, Miles looked worriedly up at Lorenzon, who was wearing a smug grin as Gippal held open the tent flap and Rikku marched indignantly into her room.

"Is the Boss going to be okay?" Miles asked in a whisper. Lorenzon shook his head knowingly.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure she's going to be just fine," he said before taking another drink of his beer. Cast just looked on forlornly as Gippal zipped up the tent flap from the other side.

"Why are the good ones always straight?" he asked, wistfully.


Rikku strode straight across the room and flopped into an armchair. She reached over the side where a stack of records that she had unearthed for Nhadala lay and grabbed the nearest one. She randomly pulled out papers and held them in front of her face, pretending to read them. She was too mad to concentrate, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before she was interrupted, anyway.

Sure enough, she heard the tent flap zip shut and without a glance knew that he was standing there with that cocky grin on his face.

Gippal watched her for a moment as she pointedly ignored him from the corner of the room. Deciding that he could return the favor, he strolled over to one of the two beds in the room and sat down on it.

"This isn't very soft," he commented as he bounced a little on it. He waited for Rikku's reaction and saw her eyebrows quirk a little, but she didn't say anything.

"You should send in a request for a softer bed on the next supply list," he offered suggestively. "I'm sure I could hook you up with one in no time..."

Still no reaction. He stood up again and paced across the room, picking up random things and pretending to scrutinize them. When he looked over his shoulder to see if she was watching him, he was slightly disappointed to find her still absorbed in her reading, as if he wasn't even in the room.

Dropping the sock he was holding, he sauntered over to where she sat, still pretending to ignore him. He deliberately leaned over the chair and planted his hands on each arm rest, caging her there. He knew just one swift kick to the unprotected groin would end this situation in a hurry, but he was willing to risk it.

He reached over and pulled the papers down from in front of her face, revealing a very pissed off Rikku.

"Rikku, I was hoping you'd give me you undivided attention," he said in a mockingly sweet voice.

She wanted very much to just bite the nose off of that smirking face, but she gathered her composure and forced herself to relax.

"Yes, Sir?" she said through gritted teeth.

He looked at her for a moment, watching her beautifully green, extremely angry Al Bhed eyes watch his own. When he had come to inspect the camp this morning and first saw her, he had been surprised by her indifference to him. No anger, (well, except for right now, but that was besides the point), no fear, and none of the hyperactivity of a four year-old on a sugar high that he had come to expect from "Little Rikku."

And from what he had heard from the reports that she had read to him, she knew what she was talking about. She'd become a lot more serious and responsible, actually applying her natural genius of chemistry and mechanics to her work.

But he was damned if he was going to tell her that and let the chance to tease her slip away. He couldn't help it if making her angry was so much fun.

"Look, Gippal," she finally said, interrupting his internal monolog. He smiled politely while she scowled at him.

"You're my boss. Why can't you act like it?"

"I am acting like your boss," he said, holding his hand to his heart as if wounded. "I'm annoying you, aren't I?"

"Whatever," she said dismissively as she picked up the papers again.

"Aren't you going to read them to me?" he asked, pointedly.

"You're not illiterate, I hope. Read them yourself."

"Are you still mad at me, Rikku?"

She humphed again.

"Aw, come on, Coo-Coo," he drawled. "I'm sorry I called you flat-chested. You look fine from here..."

"Gippal!"

Grinning so that she could see every tooth in his head, he quickly jumped back before she could slap him.

"Alright, alright- sorry, sorry..." he said, scratching the back of his head. Rikku crossed her arms over her chest and refused to look at him. He knew he had probably pushed too many buttons today, but it would just be too weird to have a serious conversation with Kku-Ri.

He turned his back to her and wandered back to her bed, where he flopped down and lay staring at the ceiling. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, and they could still hear the laughter and muffled conversation in the next room.

"Hey Rikku..." he started in a different tone, almost serious. Rikku looked over at where he lay on her bed with his arms folded behind his head, his sudden change in disposition making her uncertain of whether or not he was just teasing her again.

"I am sorry for making fun of you... and for whatever else I've done to make you so mad." The memory of that day in Luca flashed across his mind again. He wondered if she still thought about it.

He sat up and stared at a suitcase on the floor that served as a night stand. Several picture frames stood on top of it, and he studied them as he tried to think of what he wanted to say. One was an old picture of a little Rikku, maybe five or six years old, with her father and Brother. Little Rikku smiled happily up at him.

"I know I got out of control that day in Luca, but I..." He closed his eye and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I was only trying to protect you. I can't forget that night, Rikku..."

Rikku swallowed hard, unable to speak as he stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of her again.

"Listen, I'm sorry," he said, kneeling down in front of her so that she didn't have to crane her head up to see him. He couldn't tell by her expression if she was scared again or just too angry for words, but he kind of hoped it was the latter.

"Are... you still angry?" he asked with a wince, waiting for her reply. Rikku felt a growing sense of trepidation as the air felt somewhat heavier than it had a few minutes ago. He looked like he might be teasing her, but he sounded like he was trying to be serious... or at least a 'Gippal' version of serious...

It was true that she had been scared of him that day, and later when she thought about it, a little angry, but Paine had told her to not be so surprised. She suddenly remembered Paine and how she had warned her to not get too close to Gippal. Rikku looked at him now as he seemed to be almost nervously waiting for her reply.

"I guess not," she finally said, forcing a small smile.

"Alright then!" he said, clapping his hands together as he stood up. He grinned down at her, relieved to see the tiny smile on her face. He bent down to ruffle her hair.

"Now that we're best friends again, you won't mind coming with me to the Southern Expanse tomorrow."

"W, what?" Rikku stammered as she crashed back to reality. "I can't leave the camp! What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to leave Nhadala in charge here- she doesn't look like she's going to finish anytime soon, anyway." He smiled confidently and stretched, and Rikku suddenly remembered that he wasn't wearing a shirt as she watched his ab muscles flex. She shook her head suddenly, trying to pick up the thread of the argument.

"Wait a minute- that doesn't make any sense! She has to go to the inspection, too, doesn't she? I'm not a director..."

"Listen, I think you might be more help than Nhadala, anyway, considering where we're going."

"Huh?" Rikku asked, still dazed. "What's in the Southern Expanse except sandstorms every five minutes?"

Gippal sighed good-naturedly as he shook his head. "Rikku, Rikku, Rikku- don't you even remember where you lived two years ago? You're more spacey than I thought."

Rikku blinked. "Home?"

"Yep," Gippal said, heading toward the tent-flap door. "You're coming with me to inspect the Southern Expanse, otherwise known as the ruins of Home. Tomorrow morning," he waggled his finger at her. "And that's final."

"H, hey!" she said as he struggled to unzip the door. She jumped out of her chair to stop him before he could get away.

"You can't just tell me to drop everything here and run off to another camp!" she argued, her anger swiftly reigniting. "I have things to do!"

"Oh really?" he asked. "Aren't you the one who just wanted me to act more like your boss? I'm bossing you around now, aren't I?"

"Oooooh!" she exhaled in exasperation, and threw the papers that were clutched in her hand to the ground. Gippal couldn't stop grinning for the life of him as he watched her sputter in anger. For a moment, he was sure that she was going to deck him, but she just glared at him.

"Don't patronize me. I am not a little girl anymore, Gippal," Rikku spoke with barely controlled rage.

"I am entirely aware of that, Lady Rikku," he said with a sweetness to match her anger. "And that is why I require your professional opinion of the Southern Expanse base tomorrow." He flashed her another smile and a wink before turning on his heel and striding out of the room.

"Ooooooooh!" Rikku screamed in outrage, stamping her foot.


In the next room, Miles looked again at Lorenzon when they heard Rikku's temper tantrum through the fabric-thin walls.

"Are you sure she's going to be okay?" he asked worriedly. Lorenzon just smiled and took another drink.

"Yeah," Cast filled in conversationally. "The mating rituals of heteros are kind of weird." The three of them watched as Gippal strode confidently past them and dug into the cooler, retrieving a beer. He winked at them as he popped the top and took a drink.

"What's up, guys?" he asked them as they all stared at him. Cast just sighed.

"Totally weird," Miles said in awe.


The empty halls of Bevelle echoed heavily as Anje's heels clicked hard against the tiled floor. The eerie mist covering the floor parted in waves as she strode down one corridor before turning sharply down another. She detested having to visit the temple under any circumstance, with its winding halls and seemingly infinite levels, not to mention the company it kept.

But all circumstances considered, she thought bitterly to herself, this is the worst one.

Anje's perfectly lined brown eyes narrowed once again as she considered her predicament for the thousandth time. She had been summoned before the Tribunal itself after months awaiting their verdict. She had been dismissed after her report of the failure to assassinate the Machine Faction Leader six months ago, and was therefore forced to leave the Province in disgrace.

Her contract with Yevon had probably been one of the greater mistakes of her life. Taking a job from the sinister remnants of a world power held the promise of the influence and riches of success, but once you were in, there was no out. Failure was not even an option. Some tried to run for it and assume new lives throughout Spira, but that only postponed the inevitable. Anje herself had been sent to find those who defaulted on Yevon, and she knew first-hand that they always got their man.

She supposed she was lucky to have been given this second chance. She had known that fleeing Bevelle would only buy her time until they decided to seek her out, but when they did, it was with a proposition. She would return to Bevelle to face their good justice, or be hunted for the rest of her life. Anje chose the former.

She entered the wide, open hall where the political prisoners were tried and looked up into the balconies above. She could only see shadows of the members of the Tribunal and hear their hushed whispers. She had never seen them in person; all her assignments were through coded Telespheres or private contacts whom she never met again.

Now she stood on the ground floor, breathing deeply and trying to ignore the quickening pace of her heartbeat. A larger shadow seemed to materialize out of the darkness behind it and a deep, sonorous voice filled the stagnant air:

"Anjines Guado, approach the stand."

Anje's spine stiffened at the reference to her heritage, but she approached the lift that hoovered a step away from the ground floor. She turned her face upward at the light that poured from the ceiling but shrouded the Tribunal from sight. She could hear the whispers all around her as the deep voice spoke.

"You have been called here to honor your pledge to the Holy Order of Yevon. Did you not agree to Our terms six months and a day before to fulfill Our purpose?"

"I did," she answered, determined to keep the quaver out of her voice.

"Our purpose remains unfulfilled," the voice rumbled ominously, barely allowing her time to answer. "Under pain of death, you agreed before this Tribunal to purge Spira of the Undesirables. You understand the conditions of the agreement?"

"I do," she said through clenched teeth.

"The heretics live," the voice rolled off the granite walls. "In the Holy Name of Yevon, they must be brought to justice."

"It will be done."

"So be it. The Order awaits your favorable return."

Anje waited while the Tribunal filed out of the room above her. Her fists slowly unclenched, and she stared at the indentations her fingernails left in the heels of her hands.

Gippal, she thought, reclenching her fists. Consider the negotiations to be over.


A/N: Gasp! Anje's a Guado? Hey, Seymour was half and half, too, but my theory is that he took after his father's side. Anyway, it's not important to the story. ;)

Concerning Yevon: Yes, Yevon did fall from grace with the coming of the Eternal Calm, and after the end of X-2, New Yevon seems to have fallen apart as well. However, that would seem to be a very nice cover for more sinister operations... I plan to discuss this further in the next chapter during a certain campfire scene, but for now consider that Yevon's absolute dominion over the people of Spira is too far-reaching to be dispelled in a matter of two years.

Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? I deleted it so many times that I'm surprised that you're reading this. I felt like we needed some definite Rikku/Gippal introspection, but does the couple's apparent bi-polarity seem a little much? I don't know, but I guess we'll just have to delve a little deeper with the next chapter.

Oh yeah, and the next chapter is titled, "A Little Kiss." ;)

-P


Disclaimer: I did not create nor do I own Final Fantasy X-2 (other than a copy of the game, which I bought at Best Buy), its characters, plots, locations, etc. It all belongs to SquareEnix and company, and obviously I'm not making any money off of this. In other words, I'm a day dreamer with no originality to speak of!