Disclaimer: I do not own FFX (though I wish I did ^^). FFX and all the
characters within it are property of Square Soft unless otherwise
mentioned. Raeva Huado is mine though. So please no sticky paws! Thankyou
very much.
A/N: Heeeeere's Raeva! I had to shove her in! I couldn't wait ^^ She's got a few issues and is a bit too proud for her own good but I likes her. So, yes, as I warned you it did turn out a little long, but I think it's fine none the less. Besides, it wasn't as long as I was afraid it would be. What do you think of Raeva? I want to get opinions on her character. I know she seems a bit self-pityish and kind of pessimistic at first but it's just going through some stuff about herself and so on and so on. She's not like that! I swear! I've been trying to stick close to Wakka's original character. Do you think it's working? Help me out here! The reviews are for just that, go ahead and suggest something if you think it needs fixing ^^ I guess that just leaves the chapter. Enjoy and once again R&R please!
--Mystix
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
Chapter 2
Captain Obvious
Wakka drew in a long breath of air, rolling over where he lay. His arm reached out instinctively to the other side of the bed where it landed on nothing but the sheets. Unconsciously he frowned, his hand travelling over the mattress and finding nothing. "'Lu?" He sat up groggily, looking around. Oh... Right.
It all came back to him and with a groan he flopped back onto the pillows, pushing his bright auburn hair back from his eyes. Where the hell was his headband...? With a morose bit of muttering about the early hour and having fallen asleep fully dressed he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"Agh... It's too early!" The sun was just barely a thin slice of light over the horizon. Resentfully he made himself stand up and trudge out into the kitchen. There was a lantern out on the table, the wick partially burnt. He didn't need it... He knew his way around the kitchen like he knew his way around a Blitzball Sphere... Second nature.
Seated at the kitchen table with a cup of that strong tea Yuna brewed, he contemplated what exactly he planned on doing. Not outwardly of course. As far as he knew, no one but Lulu and himself had ever been fully aware of their relationship if you could call it that. So nothing would change in that regard. It was inwardly. Would he and Lulu still be friends? He hoped to the Fates they would. He still needed her... He agreed it was right they end it, but that didn't mean he didn't need support. Or maybe he should push himself away from her. Maybe he should try and leave all that behind. Maybe being with her had trapped him in that state of desolate grief... He didn't know...
Either way, he stood up briskly. His muscles were tense with stress and irritation. He stretched an arm, wincing at the pull of it. Blitzball... Regardless of whatever else happened in his life, he'd always had Blitzball. Bless that sport...
Sighing in relief at the prospect of a dip in the pool he loped out the door, closing it quietly behind him even as the first tendrils of light began to splay themselves across the horizon.
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
The piercing trill of her alarm woke Raeva with a start. Instinctively she swatted at the damned machina, which kept reverberating with it's deafening shrill.
"Kieda!" She spoke sharply under her breath, smacking the clock off the night table at which point it clattered loudly on the floor before fizzling out...
Raeva took a deep breath and sunk back down against the headboard. Sleep was out of the question now, wide-awake as she was. With a moan she pushed herself into a standing position and hobbled to the dresser, discarding her comfortable nightclothes for her usual apparel. As she pulled on one of her boots she caught her reflection in the full-length mirror opposite the doorway.
She studied herself with scrutiny. She could see her own pupils narrow in the irises that were such a muddle of colours. Or one... She could never tell. She took a step closer, trying to discern it. Maybe... Sort of a dark violet. But there was almost a blue tint too it. Or green. She brushed back a strand of her hair to get a better look. The ebony locks fell past her knees. She hadn't cut it since she was nine years old. That was a good twelve years. With a scowl she gathered the mass of it, which was easier said than done as it was rather thick, and wrapped it with a cloth from a dresser top, tying it back. A fair clump of it escaped from the makeshift ponytail, partially covering her right eye. For some reason, it didn't seem to be getting any longer. Her slender brows, the same colouration as her hair furrowed downwards. She winced as this highlighted the faint, oh so faint, lines on her forehead. Still cringing she gingerly lifted a hand, trailing her fingers down the prominent veins. She hated them... Even as she did so she bit her lip, pulling back her hand sharply. It still hurt her to think about it... Her fingers and arms were absurdly long in comparison to the rest of her body. Not to the point they seemed a deformation. In fact they were almost elegant in a way, being as long and slender as they were, but to her they were as good as a deformity. She scowled, flexing the infuriating appendages, watching them move like any hand should and yet so different from the norm. The fingernails were long and thin, tapering to a point. More like claws than true fingernails...
Raeva pivoted on one foot to face away from the mirror, crossing her arms over her chest, which wasn't hard. Another thing she didn't particularly like about herself. Unlike most of the women she knew she was fairly 'small'. She didn't mind so much, though, rather proud of hers physical condition. Over years of avid sports playing she was toned and fit and she knew it. It curved her lips upward smugly to think about it. She was short, but that just made her agile. And besides, she wasn't that short. Maybe 5"2... Okay, so she was short. So what? Her legs composed a fair portion of that minute height, making her look taller than she truly was.
Raeva hated doing this! But... She couldn't help it! It was habitual. Every morning for as long as she could remember she'd done this. Inspecting herself as though one day she'd just miraculously be normal. Whichever normal. Either one. It didn't matter. But she didn't want to be a hybrid anymore.
Raeva blamed her mother. If her damned mother hadn't been such a romantic she wouldn't be so messed up. Her mother had been near obsessed with the late Lord Jyscal and his relationship with a human. She thought it a sort of fairy tale. Magical and romantic and everything she wanted for herself. So what did she do? Tasheera Guado had married a human. Tekkson had fallen in love with her easily enough. And it wasn't like Tasheera didn't try a bit of seduction. Anything to have that perfect marriage. Just like Lord Jyscal. Raeva wrinkled her nose upward at the thought of such desperation. And then when Lord Seymour was born, what did Tasheera want? Why a little hybrid of her own. And what did she get? She got Raeva. Not Raeva, not Raeva Guado: Raeva Huado...
Raeva cursed loudly and stomped to the closet, rummaging around even as her thoughts continued to run away with her.
Life had been a hell. The other children had made fun of her, the humans thought she looked absurd. There was no in between! Save for Lord Seymour she couldn't think of any other Huado. Of course, he'd kept the last name Guado. But Tasheera, wanting it even more obvious if it was possible, that her child was a curiosity, had dubbed her 'Huado'. The name plagued Raeva. 'Huado'! She couldn't even think of anything more degrading.
In the end, Blitzball had been her salvation. It was her obsession. Every fiber in her being was tuned to the game and all it's nuances. And so she had striven to play. Eventually she had even gained respect for it. And then when Lord Seymour had become so popular, all of a sudden it wasn't so bad to be a Huado. Or at least everyone else thought so. Raeva still despised it. And then the humans had come around.
After Lord Seymour's abrupt descent into insanity or rage or greed or all of them, she had had a little trouble again. All of a sudden, everyone thought that being a hybrid was a disease. That it turned the mind. And from the way people had avoided her, one might think it was contagious. It had been a year, though. Things were back to normal. She had stayed the same and eventually people had accepted it. The Guado Glories had almost dropped her from the team, regardless as to whether or not she was right forward and arguably one of the best players on the team. They'd kept her, though, thank Yevon. Without Blitzball she might as well curl up in a corner and wither away...
All right, so she was exaggerating, but stories were never any good without at least a little exaggeration. But this wasn't a story; this was real life. She sobered herself, locating a blitzball under a pile of clothes in the closet and pulling it out, tossing it up in the air.
"Forget it!" She snapped herself out her reminiscent state. She didn't like pitying herself. It made her feel sort of cheap in a way she couldn't really explain. Besides, life was good! It was still so early... The sun was barely visible out in the distance.
A grin wove its way over her guise and with the blitzball firmly under one arm she set off at an easy jog to the blitzball sphere.
The stadium loomed before her, reflecting the early sun's light off it's primed and polished roof. She used her key to open the Player's Entrance door, slipping into the still dark hallways. She made her way to the change- rooms by touch, changing quickly and quietly. Slipping on a pair of goggles she'd won in a bar bet from an Al Bhed, she tucked her clothes in a locker and trotted out to the swimming pool.
The sphere wasn't filled unless a game was being played, so players practiced in a swimming pool of normal standards. Normal except for the great depth and width, that is, and the fact they curved the bottom into a circular shape for the players' sake.
She tossed the blitzball out into the water, watching it sink with a splash into the watery depths. With a grin Raeva backed up and took a running dive into the water. If Raeva had been even partially asleep still, she was now fully awake. The water encompassed her and she allowed herself a moment to revel in the serenity that was this underwater world. And it was a whole different world to her. Life outside was confusing and irritating while this... This was right. With smooth, sure strokes she pushed herself deeper, catching the blitzball in her arms. She gripped it tightly and keeping a hold on it she began laps...
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
Wakka inserted his key into the lock of the Players Entrance only to find it already unlocked. His face fell in dismay at the prospect of maybe a whole other team already swimming around in there. He'd wanted quiet... Ah, screw it. He was going in anyway.
He shoved open the door with a shoulder. He didn't bother changing, as he wore the same thing Blitzing as he usually did. Besides, every time he swam in it, didn't it wash it? All right, maybe not, but it wasn't like it smelled or anything so for the time being he hadn't taken the time to worry over it.
He poolroom was still dark, which surprised him. ~Must've been a janitor or something...~ He concluded in regards to the open door. The dark water's rippled gently and he crouched at the edge, running his fingers along the surface. It was cool, but like always, never cold... Perfect. With practiced ease he slid into the water with nary a sound to betray him. He swiveled onto his back, treading water, his gaze roving aimlessly over the ceiling in a rare moment of serenity. A grin twitching his lips upward he rolled back over, looking out over the water.
Shit.
Only his instincts saved him, arms snapping upwards, head low, muscles loosened to absorb impact as the Blitzball smacked into his forearm. Wakka cursed loudly as a welt immediately began to rise, shaking his arm out and muttering oaths that would make even the gaudiest blush. Then again, if he hadn't acted so quickly he'd probably be out cold at the bottom of the pool right now. He bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood in his mouth, bittersweet, but not entirely unsavoury as odd as it may sound.
He snatched up the blitzball, which was bobbing innocently in the water, clenching it under one arm and looking around the pool.
"One might think you'd never been hit by a blitzball before..."
Even Wakka could hear the slight twinge of humor in the tone. He spun around quickly and pelted the blitzball right back. Hard... He was a bit bitter, to say the least.
She caught the ball easily, though in all fairness she had been ready for it while he hadn't. A laugh caught his ears and he couldn't help the rising of his brows as she pulled the ball back down to the water and left him with a full view of her face.
It took everything in him to keep his mouth closed. His gaze rifled from feature to feature. The dark eyes, the darker hair that was slicked back from the water, the light skin (not pale, but light still), the high cheekbones and full lips. There were a pair of goggles pushed back from her face and up past her hairline, which made him immediately assume 'Al Bhed', but she didn't look it... Wakka had never been the type to pay a lot of attention to women. He liked them as much as the next guy but hadn't really had the time or intentions to study them as some men did. Regardless, he didn't need any comparison or standards to know that this woman, a bemused smile curving her maw, was gorgeous...
She tilted her head to the side, staring at him pointedly in expectation of a reply. He reacted hurriedly and motioned with a flicker of his dial to the blitzball held easily in her grasp. "An' one might think you had, ya." It made no sense, for which Wakka could have kicked himself. Or rather it did but still wasn't exactly eloquent.
His pride took a blow as a chuckle escaped her, though she quickly turned it to a cough. "I see..." Wakka scratched the back of his head, giving a sort of aimless shrug. "It came out that good, huh?" A grin quirked his maw, showing that he knew and had relatively accepted that it was pretty foolish. The woman loosened upon seeing this and with another laugh she swam forward with those swift, assured strokes that Wakka immediately knew meant she was a Blitzer.
"What team you play for?"
She stopped abruptly, her brows arching quizzically. "And how do you know I play?"
Wakka replied quickly, his ego boosting at the thought of proving he was capable of rational thoughts, however much his first words had tarnished that possibility. "You came in the Players' Entrance, ya? And I threw that ball pretty hard. You still caught it."
Another grin played over her features and she nodded. "Well, well. Thanks for the newsflash, Captain Obvious." Her voice inflected in pleasant teasing. "I'm just kidding... I thought I locked the door after me, though." She shrugged her slender shoulders. "The Guado Glories. Didn't think I'd b running into an Aurochs player, though."
Wakka frowned. "How you know I play for the Aurochs?"
A full smile this time as she turned over onto her back, treading water as he had been doing only moments before. "You're Wakka! Hell, who doesn't know about the Aurochs player who helped defeat Sin?" She met his gaze fully, the dark optics glinting with a challenge in form of a question.
Wakka rolled his own russet gold eyes. "Alright, alright! Nevermind, ya... Who're you then?"
The woman took a deep breath and for reasons Wakka couldn't know gave the answer grudgingly. "Raeva..." Wakka, who had been a bit out of the game for the last while because of the whole Sin conundrum, acknowledged it, assuming she was human. Besides the veins on her forehead, which were faint most of the time and near invisible in the darkened room, and her extended arms that were hidden underwater there was little indication of her heritage. It wasn't unheard of for teams to trade players around sending some species into other teams. "Pleasure to meet you." He replied with a mock bow.
The bitterness left her features upon her realization he didn't know who she was and she nodded, curtsying as well as possible when half submerged. "Oh, but the pleasure's all mine."
Wakka gave a laugh. He liked this person... Not just the physical appearance, though he couldn't say she wasn't rather appealing to the eye. She had an interesting, granted rather quirky, personality as far as he could tell. It was... refreshing.
"You came for early practice? You have a game tomorrow, ya?"
Raeva nodded. "Against the Ronso Fangs. We beat them a few months ago, but not by much. We've been practicing..." A wicked grin alighted her maw which stated plainly that she didn't expect much trouble this time around. "And if I'm not mistaken, against you a few weeks after."
Wakka blinked, remembering. "Well," he began, mirroring her own rather mischievous smirk. "We've been 'practicing' a little too, ya..."
Raeva only wrinkled her nose upwards, which was as good as a laugh. Without warning she hurled the ball at him. This time, he was prepared. He caught it easily. "What was that?"
"A challenge of course..." She answered, rolling her shoulders back. "Think you can take me on in a one on one. No goalies, no defense, hell not even any other offence."
Wakka snorted, his body maneuvering into game-mode. "Did you think I'd say no?"
Raeva bared her teeth in a devious grin. "If you're ready..."
Wakka's only answer was a sudden lurch downward into the water. If she wanted a challenge, he'd sure as hell give her one.
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
A/N: Tadaa! Well? How was it? Good, bad, fair, totally craptacular? Personally liked it, but that's just me ^^ Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon and if I don't poke me with something sharp until I do XD
A/N: Heeeeere's Raeva! I had to shove her in! I couldn't wait ^^ She's got a few issues and is a bit too proud for her own good but I likes her. So, yes, as I warned you it did turn out a little long, but I think it's fine none the less. Besides, it wasn't as long as I was afraid it would be. What do you think of Raeva? I want to get opinions on her character. I know she seems a bit self-pityish and kind of pessimistic at first but it's just going through some stuff about herself and so on and so on. She's not like that! I swear! I've been trying to stick close to Wakka's original character. Do you think it's working? Help me out here! The reviews are for just that, go ahead and suggest something if you think it needs fixing ^^ I guess that just leaves the chapter. Enjoy and once again R&R please!
--Mystix
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
Chapter 2
Captain Obvious
Wakka drew in a long breath of air, rolling over where he lay. His arm reached out instinctively to the other side of the bed where it landed on nothing but the sheets. Unconsciously he frowned, his hand travelling over the mattress and finding nothing. "'Lu?" He sat up groggily, looking around. Oh... Right.
It all came back to him and with a groan he flopped back onto the pillows, pushing his bright auburn hair back from his eyes. Where the hell was his headband...? With a morose bit of muttering about the early hour and having fallen asleep fully dressed he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"Agh... It's too early!" The sun was just barely a thin slice of light over the horizon. Resentfully he made himself stand up and trudge out into the kitchen. There was a lantern out on the table, the wick partially burnt. He didn't need it... He knew his way around the kitchen like he knew his way around a Blitzball Sphere... Second nature.
Seated at the kitchen table with a cup of that strong tea Yuna brewed, he contemplated what exactly he planned on doing. Not outwardly of course. As far as he knew, no one but Lulu and himself had ever been fully aware of their relationship if you could call it that. So nothing would change in that regard. It was inwardly. Would he and Lulu still be friends? He hoped to the Fates they would. He still needed her... He agreed it was right they end it, but that didn't mean he didn't need support. Or maybe he should push himself away from her. Maybe he should try and leave all that behind. Maybe being with her had trapped him in that state of desolate grief... He didn't know...
Either way, he stood up briskly. His muscles were tense with stress and irritation. He stretched an arm, wincing at the pull of it. Blitzball... Regardless of whatever else happened in his life, he'd always had Blitzball. Bless that sport...
Sighing in relief at the prospect of a dip in the pool he loped out the door, closing it quietly behind him even as the first tendrils of light began to splay themselves across the horizon.
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
The piercing trill of her alarm woke Raeva with a start. Instinctively she swatted at the damned machina, which kept reverberating with it's deafening shrill.
"Kieda!" She spoke sharply under her breath, smacking the clock off the night table at which point it clattered loudly on the floor before fizzling out...
Raeva took a deep breath and sunk back down against the headboard. Sleep was out of the question now, wide-awake as she was. With a moan she pushed herself into a standing position and hobbled to the dresser, discarding her comfortable nightclothes for her usual apparel. As she pulled on one of her boots she caught her reflection in the full-length mirror opposite the doorway.
She studied herself with scrutiny. She could see her own pupils narrow in the irises that were such a muddle of colours. Or one... She could never tell. She took a step closer, trying to discern it. Maybe... Sort of a dark violet. But there was almost a blue tint too it. Or green. She brushed back a strand of her hair to get a better look. The ebony locks fell past her knees. She hadn't cut it since she was nine years old. That was a good twelve years. With a scowl she gathered the mass of it, which was easier said than done as it was rather thick, and wrapped it with a cloth from a dresser top, tying it back. A fair clump of it escaped from the makeshift ponytail, partially covering her right eye. For some reason, it didn't seem to be getting any longer. Her slender brows, the same colouration as her hair furrowed downwards. She winced as this highlighted the faint, oh so faint, lines on her forehead. Still cringing she gingerly lifted a hand, trailing her fingers down the prominent veins. She hated them... Even as she did so she bit her lip, pulling back her hand sharply. It still hurt her to think about it... Her fingers and arms were absurdly long in comparison to the rest of her body. Not to the point they seemed a deformation. In fact they were almost elegant in a way, being as long and slender as they were, but to her they were as good as a deformity. She scowled, flexing the infuriating appendages, watching them move like any hand should and yet so different from the norm. The fingernails were long and thin, tapering to a point. More like claws than true fingernails...
Raeva pivoted on one foot to face away from the mirror, crossing her arms over her chest, which wasn't hard. Another thing she didn't particularly like about herself. Unlike most of the women she knew she was fairly 'small'. She didn't mind so much, though, rather proud of hers physical condition. Over years of avid sports playing she was toned and fit and she knew it. It curved her lips upward smugly to think about it. She was short, but that just made her agile. And besides, she wasn't that short. Maybe 5"2... Okay, so she was short. So what? Her legs composed a fair portion of that minute height, making her look taller than she truly was.
Raeva hated doing this! But... She couldn't help it! It was habitual. Every morning for as long as she could remember she'd done this. Inspecting herself as though one day she'd just miraculously be normal. Whichever normal. Either one. It didn't matter. But she didn't want to be a hybrid anymore.
Raeva blamed her mother. If her damned mother hadn't been such a romantic she wouldn't be so messed up. Her mother had been near obsessed with the late Lord Jyscal and his relationship with a human. She thought it a sort of fairy tale. Magical and romantic and everything she wanted for herself. So what did she do? Tasheera Guado had married a human. Tekkson had fallen in love with her easily enough. And it wasn't like Tasheera didn't try a bit of seduction. Anything to have that perfect marriage. Just like Lord Jyscal. Raeva wrinkled her nose upward at the thought of such desperation. And then when Lord Seymour was born, what did Tasheera want? Why a little hybrid of her own. And what did she get? She got Raeva. Not Raeva, not Raeva Guado: Raeva Huado...
Raeva cursed loudly and stomped to the closet, rummaging around even as her thoughts continued to run away with her.
Life had been a hell. The other children had made fun of her, the humans thought she looked absurd. There was no in between! Save for Lord Seymour she couldn't think of any other Huado. Of course, he'd kept the last name Guado. But Tasheera, wanting it even more obvious if it was possible, that her child was a curiosity, had dubbed her 'Huado'. The name plagued Raeva. 'Huado'! She couldn't even think of anything more degrading.
In the end, Blitzball had been her salvation. It was her obsession. Every fiber in her being was tuned to the game and all it's nuances. And so she had striven to play. Eventually she had even gained respect for it. And then when Lord Seymour had become so popular, all of a sudden it wasn't so bad to be a Huado. Or at least everyone else thought so. Raeva still despised it. And then the humans had come around.
After Lord Seymour's abrupt descent into insanity or rage or greed or all of them, she had had a little trouble again. All of a sudden, everyone thought that being a hybrid was a disease. That it turned the mind. And from the way people had avoided her, one might think it was contagious. It had been a year, though. Things were back to normal. She had stayed the same and eventually people had accepted it. The Guado Glories had almost dropped her from the team, regardless as to whether or not she was right forward and arguably one of the best players on the team. They'd kept her, though, thank Yevon. Without Blitzball she might as well curl up in a corner and wither away...
All right, so she was exaggerating, but stories were never any good without at least a little exaggeration. But this wasn't a story; this was real life. She sobered herself, locating a blitzball under a pile of clothes in the closet and pulling it out, tossing it up in the air.
"Forget it!" She snapped herself out her reminiscent state. She didn't like pitying herself. It made her feel sort of cheap in a way she couldn't really explain. Besides, life was good! It was still so early... The sun was barely visible out in the distance.
A grin wove its way over her guise and with the blitzball firmly under one arm she set off at an easy jog to the blitzball sphere.
The stadium loomed before her, reflecting the early sun's light off it's primed and polished roof. She used her key to open the Player's Entrance door, slipping into the still dark hallways. She made her way to the change- rooms by touch, changing quickly and quietly. Slipping on a pair of goggles she'd won in a bar bet from an Al Bhed, she tucked her clothes in a locker and trotted out to the swimming pool.
The sphere wasn't filled unless a game was being played, so players practiced in a swimming pool of normal standards. Normal except for the great depth and width, that is, and the fact they curved the bottom into a circular shape for the players' sake.
She tossed the blitzball out into the water, watching it sink with a splash into the watery depths. With a grin Raeva backed up and took a running dive into the water. If Raeva had been even partially asleep still, she was now fully awake. The water encompassed her and she allowed herself a moment to revel in the serenity that was this underwater world. And it was a whole different world to her. Life outside was confusing and irritating while this... This was right. With smooth, sure strokes she pushed herself deeper, catching the blitzball in her arms. She gripped it tightly and keeping a hold on it she began laps...
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
Wakka inserted his key into the lock of the Players Entrance only to find it already unlocked. His face fell in dismay at the prospect of maybe a whole other team already swimming around in there. He'd wanted quiet... Ah, screw it. He was going in anyway.
He shoved open the door with a shoulder. He didn't bother changing, as he wore the same thing Blitzing as he usually did. Besides, every time he swam in it, didn't it wash it? All right, maybe not, but it wasn't like it smelled or anything so for the time being he hadn't taken the time to worry over it.
He poolroom was still dark, which surprised him. ~Must've been a janitor or something...~ He concluded in regards to the open door. The dark water's rippled gently and he crouched at the edge, running his fingers along the surface. It was cool, but like always, never cold... Perfect. With practiced ease he slid into the water with nary a sound to betray him. He swiveled onto his back, treading water, his gaze roving aimlessly over the ceiling in a rare moment of serenity. A grin twitching his lips upward he rolled back over, looking out over the water.
Shit.
Only his instincts saved him, arms snapping upwards, head low, muscles loosened to absorb impact as the Blitzball smacked into his forearm. Wakka cursed loudly as a welt immediately began to rise, shaking his arm out and muttering oaths that would make even the gaudiest blush. Then again, if he hadn't acted so quickly he'd probably be out cold at the bottom of the pool right now. He bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood in his mouth, bittersweet, but not entirely unsavoury as odd as it may sound.
He snatched up the blitzball, which was bobbing innocently in the water, clenching it under one arm and looking around the pool.
"One might think you'd never been hit by a blitzball before..."
Even Wakka could hear the slight twinge of humor in the tone. He spun around quickly and pelted the blitzball right back. Hard... He was a bit bitter, to say the least.
She caught the ball easily, though in all fairness she had been ready for it while he hadn't. A laugh caught his ears and he couldn't help the rising of his brows as she pulled the ball back down to the water and left him with a full view of her face.
It took everything in him to keep his mouth closed. His gaze rifled from feature to feature. The dark eyes, the darker hair that was slicked back from the water, the light skin (not pale, but light still), the high cheekbones and full lips. There were a pair of goggles pushed back from her face and up past her hairline, which made him immediately assume 'Al Bhed', but she didn't look it... Wakka had never been the type to pay a lot of attention to women. He liked them as much as the next guy but hadn't really had the time or intentions to study them as some men did. Regardless, he didn't need any comparison or standards to know that this woman, a bemused smile curving her maw, was gorgeous...
She tilted her head to the side, staring at him pointedly in expectation of a reply. He reacted hurriedly and motioned with a flicker of his dial to the blitzball held easily in her grasp. "An' one might think you had, ya." It made no sense, for which Wakka could have kicked himself. Or rather it did but still wasn't exactly eloquent.
His pride took a blow as a chuckle escaped her, though she quickly turned it to a cough. "I see..." Wakka scratched the back of his head, giving a sort of aimless shrug. "It came out that good, huh?" A grin quirked his maw, showing that he knew and had relatively accepted that it was pretty foolish. The woman loosened upon seeing this and with another laugh she swam forward with those swift, assured strokes that Wakka immediately knew meant she was a Blitzer.
"What team you play for?"
She stopped abruptly, her brows arching quizzically. "And how do you know I play?"
Wakka replied quickly, his ego boosting at the thought of proving he was capable of rational thoughts, however much his first words had tarnished that possibility. "You came in the Players' Entrance, ya? And I threw that ball pretty hard. You still caught it."
Another grin played over her features and she nodded. "Well, well. Thanks for the newsflash, Captain Obvious." Her voice inflected in pleasant teasing. "I'm just kidding... I thought I locked the door after me, though." She shrugged her slender shoulders. "The Guado Glories. Didn't think I'd b running into an Aurochs player, though."
Wakka frowned. "How you know I play for the Aurochs?"
A full smile this time as she turned over onto her back, treading water as he had been doing only moments before. "You're Wakka! Hell, who doesn't know about the Aurochs player who helped defeat Sin?" She met his gaze fully, the dark optics glinting with a challenge in form of a question.
Wakka rolled his own russet gold eyes. "Alright, alright! Nevermind, ya... Who're you then?"
The woman took a deep breath and for reasons Wakka couldn't know gave the answer grudgingly. "Raeva..." Wakka, who had been a bit out of the game for the last while because of the whole Sin conundrum, acknowledged it, assuming she was human. Besides the veins on her forehead, which were faint most of the time and near invisible in the darkened room, and her extended arms that were hidden underwater there was little indication of her heritage. It wasn't unheard of for teams to trade players around sending some species into other teams. "Pleasure to meet you." He replied with a mock bow.
The bitterness left her features upon her realization he didn't know who she was and she nodded, curtsying as well as possible when half submerged. "Oh, but the pleasure's all mine."
Wakka gave a laugh. He liked this person... Not just the physical appearance, though he couldn't say she wasn't rather appealing to the eye. She had an interesting, granted rather quirky, personality as far as he could tell. It was... refreshing.
"You came for early practice? You have a game tomorrow, ya?"
Raeva nodded. "Against the Ronso Fangs. We beat them a few months ago, but not by much. We've been practicing..." A wicked grin alighted her maw which stated plainly that she didn't expect much trouble this time around. "And if I'm not mistaken, against you a few weeks after."
Wakka blinked, remembering. "Well," he began, mirroring her own rather mischievous smirk. "We've been 'practicing' a little too, ya..."
Raeva only wrinkled her nose upwards, which was as good as a laugh. Without warning she hurled the ball at him. This time, he was prepared. He caught it easily. "What was that?"
"A challenge of course..." She answered, rolling her shoulders back. "Think you can take me on in a one on one. No goalies, no defense, hell not even any other offence."
Wakka snorted, his body maneuvering into game-mode. "Did you think I'd say no?"
Raeva bared her teeth in a devious grin. "If you're ready..."
Wakka's only answer was a sudden lurch downward into the water. If she wanted a challenge, he'd sure as hell give her one.
-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-
A/N: Tadaa! Well? How was it? Good, bad, fair, totally craptacular? Personally liked it, but that's just me ^^ Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon and if I don't poke me with something sharp until I do XD