Part Three – Inscribed on the Verso

Chapter Three

3 Years 5 months 2 weeks 3 days E.C.

Despite the festive occasion, Gippal was not in a good mood.

They day hadn't started out o bad, despite having to get dressed up in a monkey suit. Heck, the part where Paine had to wear a dress had been great. Rikku had looked pretty hot in her yellow bridesmaid's dress as well. The ceremony hadn't even been too bad. He didn't even mind being a groomsman for non-blonde Al Bhed number two.

He actually liked Tidus. He wasn't a half-bad guy. True he was a bit dense and asked a helluva lot of questions for someone who had been wandering around with all those all-knowing spirit types, but one got used to it. He was a damn good blitzball player and a fast learner. He'd even managed to help fix a few machina since he'd sorta been around when some of them were still in use.

No things had actually been okay at the start of the day. He'd been able to stare at Rikku and her long legs and poke fun at Paine, non-verbally since he didn't have a death wish. Everything had been pretty good until after the I Do's had been exchanged and the High Summoner kissed her new husband.

From there it had gone down hill. Fast.

He hadn't even been given the chance to talk to Rikku before Cid had come up to her with his latest hopeful. The guy was pretty good-looking and Gippal had to give Cid points for learning a bit of his daughter's preferences over the past five months of throwing guys at Rikku. And Gippal had even expected Cid to have someone waiting for her to be forced into a conversation with. Every occasion the old man got, he was dragging someone with him. It had become something of a joke.

Heck, it was half the reason he and Tidus started getting along so well. The guy was a better older brother than the one she actually had. Very protective of her happiness.

So, no it wasn't the fact that the guy was there that bothered him. What bothered him was the way she was smiling up at the guy and laughing. She was actually flirting with him a bit. Gippal was livid. He stalked off to one side of the village, still keeping is eye on her, and tried to regain his cool. He really didn't want to ruin the party with his bad mood. Yuna and Tidus deserved their day. But Paine just had to follow him.

She was there for two seconds before she started making snarky comments about making Rikku wait. She had made it something of a priority to yell at him about his love life. She even started threatening him any time she thought he'd made Rikku cry, regardless of whether or not he was at fault, and he'd received more than one visit from Auntie Paine and her shiny sword.

Which was kind of funny considering how private she always was about her own life. Double standards.

Still, he knew better than to argue back, especially in the middle of a party, and settled on giving her a fierce glare before stalking away. He grabbed another drink from the bar and made his way to the scenic overlook by the old shrine.

Once there, he began to calm down a little. The drink was helping, as was the fairly peaceful and admittedly beautiful view. He sighed deeply, rolling his head around in a couple circles to loosen up. Just as he was about to go back to the celebration, he felt someone grab his ass. The grope was immediately followed by a giggle and he looked over to find Rikku smiling up at him impishly.

"Hey there, hot stuff. Those pants really show off that fine ass of yours."

He looked at her, momentarily thrown off, before bursting into laughter. "Cid's girl, have you been drinking?"

"A little." She pointed to his empty cup. "So have you though."

"Yeah, well, I didn't just walk up to someone and grab their ass."

She giggled unrepentantly "Well, it had to be done. And why are you over here anyway? I wanted to introduce you to Pops' latest hopeful. He's a pretty cool guy."

"So I noticed," he remarked irritably.

She went on as if she hadn't heard him, saying, "He apparently really looks up to you and wants to join the Faction but doesn't feel qualified. You should go talk to him. You might be able to get some good work out of him. Especially if you let him bring his girlfriend."

Something inside Gippal relaxed and he gave her a lopsided smile. "Cid's bringing you guys with girlfriends now?"

"Pops is kinda dumb, I think we all know that." She shrugged indifferently. After a moment, a twinkle glimmered in her eyes and suddenly she was groping his ass again.

He laughed. "Cid's girl, you shouldn't have done that. Now I'm going to have to retaliate," he intoned, grabbing her around the waist and puling her against him. She grinned up at him happily while his hand slid down her back. Her expression broke into a full on laugh when his eye widened in shock seconds later.

"You aren't wearing underwear again."

"Well, you know."

He groaned before leaning down and capturing her lips in a fierce kiss that left them both panting and more than slightly disheveled when the broke apart a few minutes later.

"We really should get back, you know," she breathed after a minute. "We are supposed to be doing a special dance in a few."

The thought of going back to the party when parts of his anatomy were making his pants entirely uncomfortable was not a pleasant one.

"You really are a tease, Rikku."

"Am not," she protested with a laugh as she backed away from him. "You just keep not taking me up on the offer." With that, she ran back to the party, laughter following in her wake.

Gippal groaned. It was going to be a long night.

I do not own these characters.