by PrettyGothGirl
All Disclaimers Apply
Summary: The Commsphere Network is boring... and one morning Gippal wakes up and decides it's time to think.
A/N: Well, from here on out, I'm going to try to wind this series down. As much as I love it. So, I am taking requests for future chapters. If you have a request either comment with it or send me an email, which is in my profile. It would help me if I knew where in the time line you'd like it. Pre-Game, Post-Game, Post-This Part. Thank You for all your love, feedback and help. I foresee at least ten more parts to this. :D
Looking through his lashes was like looking through the bars of a cage. The image made him grin. Rikku in prison, a prison of a soft bed and fluffy pillows, trapped behind the bars of his- Well, he still wasn't sure what.
He didn't touch her or stroke her hair or skin. Her eyes were closed in sleep and he didn't want to disturb her with his early morning thinking. He needed to do some thinking. This had been going on for a while now and it was past time that he tried to define some things. He wanted to do it while she was there physically beside him so he could feel her warmth.
It wasn't too hard to get her to stay the night. It was simple to keep her in his bed once she was there. All it required was for it to actually be near dark and the night's exertions to end in the bed. It didn't even have to be his bed. It could be a hotel bed just as easily. Never her bed, they hadn't ever had sex in her room on the Celsius. At times, it was for the simple reason that it wasn't anywhere in the vicinity. Other times, it would have made more sense to go back to her "place." They hadn't taken that step though.
It bothered him. Tugged at his brain, made him stare at her in the predawn grayness of a Djose morning.
It wasn't hard to keep her in the mornings either. A word, a look, a touch and she'd stick around long enough for a shower, breakfast, another round of sex. Work did eventually call to both of them and they'd go their separate ways. Then, he'd watch her through the commsphere network and she watched him until they couldn't stand it anymore. Then they'd come back together, surprising or setting up a meeting.
He could make her come. He smirked at the double meaning. He could make her stay. He was fairly certain that she wasn't carrying on an affair with anyone else. He supposed she could have one out of range of the commspheres. Yet, they watched each other so much over them that he highly doubted it. He liked the fact she was faithful to him, as he was faithful to her.
So, they had dinner together. They slept together. They had sex together. It was always his place or a strange place, never in a place she would feel completely comfortable because it was her space. He was so close to her. And he was far away at the same time.
He'd expected a lecture from Cid by now or even a lecture from Anikki on not breaking his sister's heart. He hadn't received either, not even dour and forbidding looks on the few occasions that he saw them. He and Rikku weren't exactly a secret. They were carrying on things in the open. They didn't make announcements or say anything. Unless, Cid and Anikki thought that he had asked her out and they were just dating. Perhaps, Rikku hadn't told either of them the true nature of the affair. If when she was asked, she lied about it.
He frowned. He didn't like that hypothesis. He didn't want a "marry my daughter" lecture before he got the "don't break her heart" lecture. He didn't plan to break Rikku's heart. He wasn't even sure he had it.
The realization sucked the air out of him. Did he have her heart? Did she have his? Was he willing and ready to turn this strange mutual invasion of privacy into an actual romantic relationship? Would she agree to it even if he did? That would mean she would have to let him more into her life, her space. Would she be willing to do that?
And if he was and she wasn't, would he be willing to continue in this relationship that would stay here until she changed her mind or he gave up on waiting? He had everything that most people went into a relationship for, sex, a girl on his arm. Did he really need or want the emotions that went with it? Or was it too late? Did he already have the emotions?
If things stayed like this he could lose her. If he tried for something more, he might win or he could still lose her. It was a lose-lose situation. Could he stand losing her?
He stared at her face, sweet, smiling a little, dimples impressed in her cheeks. He inhaled raggedly. No. He couldn't. He wanted to keep her, her smiles, her laughter, her mischievous eyes, her body, her conversation and everything about her. He wouldn't know how to start over if he lost it.
Yet, there was her behavior to consider. She initiated this and she hadn't taken that next step. He clenched his jaw. Maybe, maybe he was going to have to take it or a half step. Get her used to the idea of being something more than sexual partners and more along the lines of lovers. It was his turn to tip the status quo.
The sun poured light through his little window. It spread over her face and into her eyes. She groaned and they fluttered open revealing their brilliant green color. This was it. His time was up. Heart pounding in his chest he smiled at her. He reached over and brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "Morning, mujan." He murmured. He leaned down and gently kissed her parted lips. He knew they were going to argue about that endearment later. But for right now, shared halitosis was better.
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