Project ID: Bottles of Summer
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X, or Final Fantasy X-2.
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Author Talk: Hello! Bit of a wait, sorry. It's my only writing project at the moment, however, so prospects are good. As always, thanks for the feedback. It inspires me!
Prompt Used: Edgy – #5
Rikku was comfortable in the warrior dress-sphere. More comfortable than Yuna, anyways, who always seemed just a little bit off-balanced, and held onto her sword much too tightly. It was painful for her.
But it made Rikku feel closer to the dead, instead of missing them.
Paine did not especially appreciate Rikku hogging the garment to herself.
"This is ridiculous," the dark girl snapped, and threw her rod at the ground angrily. Rikku licked at her split lip and made a face.
"You betcha. You're like, healing-retarded."
Paine sent her a look of withering hatred. Rikku, inappropriately thrilled by this, only continued, "I mean, sorry. I'm sure that there are other people out there who take a year to learn the cure spell. I'm sure there are. You know. Somewhere."
Paine wordlessly began shredding the edge of her robe, and stalked away from Rikku with her back stiff.
Rikku beamed, and leapt upon her cousin, crowing, "I think Paine might be having her lady red."
"I think she's going to murder you when I'm not looking," Yuna remarked. Rikku scoffed.
"Oh, Yunie. Don't be ridiculous. Paine loves me!"
There was the sound of a distant explosion from where Paine had disappeared. Yuna winced. Paine reappeared, her eyebrows smoldering.
"I don't like the alchemist's dress-sphere either," she intoned sulkily. Rikku trembled with laughter. Yuna closed her eyes. It was significantly less funny when Paine switched into Yuna's gunner sphere and attempted to blow their heads off.
"You missed!" Rikku screamed, lugging Tidus' old sword through the underbrush behind her. Yuna, against her better judgment, tried to play the pacifist.
"Paine, really, you know she doesn't mean it."
Paine simply looked at Yuna, and the former summoner strategically retreated. Well, she'd tried.
Yuna watched her partners for a few minutes, before slinking over to a safer, more distant vantage point.
"Good to have you back," Buddy greeted while Rikku's brother threw himself around Yuna's knees and lamented the time they had spent apart. Yuna wobbled.
Paine, meanwhile, had run out of ammo.
"Rikku!" she yelled, "Give my back the damn sphere!"
"And in a flash, she steals in on the hideous attacker from behind, contemplates a wedgie, but abstains! There is no place for wedgies in a battle to the death!"
Paine spun, caught the ends of Rikku's hair in her peripheral vision, and threw her guns towards the blonde. They, too, missed. Fuming, Paine swapped out her dress-sphere for the fourth time.
Rikku stopped running long enough to clutch at her sides and giggle. And then Paine started beating her to death with a microphone.
"Rikku," Yuna pinched the bridge of her nose, "You need to give Paine back her dress sphere."
"Why should I?"
"Because I will destroy you."
"Because," Yuna cut in, "Because Paine is very, very good at hacking things into tiny pieces."
Rikku sniffed, feeling quite the brat, and too embarrassed to apologize for it. Still, she knew when she was cornered.
"Baby," she muttered, and tossed the sphere casually. Paine caught it, narrowed her eyes, and stalked stiffly back to her cabin. Rikku made a very flattering face at her back. Yuna sighed.
"Oh, Rikku," she began, more sad than angry, "Can't you please grow up?"
Rikku watched silently while her cousin shook her head, and followed after Paine. The blonde girl pursed her lips and glanced angrily at the bridge. Shinra, Buddy, and her brother were all terrifyingly silent.
"I'm trying!" Rikku said, though she hadn't meant to.
Gippal still hadn't come back to Djose when she went to look for him, and so Rikku proceeded to make herself very small while she indulged in an enormous sulk. Gippal would probably laugh at her if he saw her now. Tidus wouldn't. Tidus would make some lame joke and it'd be totally stupid and not even funny and it'd make her feel better though there wasn't much point in thinking about Tidus now because he was, you know, still dead and gosh, that just bummed her out even more.
"You here for a job?" asked some kid who wasn't an Al Bhed but dressed like one anyways. Rikku gave him the stink-eye, even if he was sort of cute.
"No," she snapped, "I am looking for some emotional guidance."
"Oh...cool," said the kid while he backed away from her. Rikku snorted, plopped her chin between her knees and pretended that Gippal was there, because even if he did always make her feel nervous and stupid, Gippal always had a plan. And that wasn't something Rikku particularly excelled at.
She wasn't especially good at getting along with her travelling partners either, it seemed. Rikku sniffed, and blinked hard, and was so focused on not bursting into tears that when her brilliant idea struck her, it took a moment to register.
Of course.