Chapter Fourteen: GQ Wishes It Looked This Good
Amanda's Ramble:
Amanda: *yawn* You guys are lucky. I'm exhausted and here I am, typing another chapter.
Auron: No one cares.
Amanda: Piss off. On to the reviewers.
Jess: What can I say. How would you explain Kimahri? Glad you liked the last chapter.
Arwen Undomiel: Told you. And as for young Auron versus older Auron…I'm twenty, and I like my men just a little older. Thirty-five's not that far away from me, ya? Sorry 'bout that, though. *sheepish grin* Don't knock yourself unconscious, sweetie, that's bad for you health. Ask Auron.
Auron: *grumble*
Amanda: Anyway, on to the chapter.
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Ophelia bustled about the kitchen, giving cooking for eight people another shot. After all, people did it all the time so it couldn't be that hard. So far she hadn't burned anything, so she took that to be a good sign. Normally, she was a decent cook, but for some reason she couldn't get it together in her own kitchen.
The others started flitting into the kitchen, sitting around the bar, and she threw them a quick smile over her shoulder.
"Dad left most of his plastic here, so getting you guys some clothes won't be too hard. After all, it's not like any of them have a credit limit." The others gave her puzzled looks and she sighed, turning back to breakfast.
"I still don't understand why we have to have more clothes. I think what I have on is perfectly fine." Tidus sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. Ophelia shook her head and finished scrambling eggs before commenting.
"Guys don't normally walk around showing off their midriffs around here unless they're into other guys, if you know what I mean." She sent the scowling Tidus a sly smile. "Is there something I need to know about you? I know a couple of guys who'd be interested…"
"Okay, okay, I get the point." Tidus stuck his tongue out at her and she laughed. "I hate clothes shopping."
"Most males do," Lulu said coolly. A small smile pulled at her lavender laquered lips, and she sent Tidus a mock-irritated look. "It's what is wrong with the species."
"Here here," Ophelia said, waving her spatula. "Maybe they should all be killed off. It's not like they really serve a purpose anyway. They're all lazy and good-for-nothing, in my opinion."
Auron chose this moment to enter the kitchen, and he gave all of them a confused look. Finally he shook his head and sat at an empty space at the bar, rubbing his unshaven jaw with a hand. "Don't tell me because I do not care."
"The women are plottin' to kill us, ya? They say we're good-for-nothing." Wakka crossed his arms and gave Lulu an indignant frown. "And just what do men not do that we should?"
"Don't get us started, Wakka." Yuna gave the red-haired blitzer an impish smile. "I'm afraid we don't have that kind of time, and males don't have that kind of attention span."
"Five points to Yuna," Ophelia laughed, seeing the expression on Wakka's face. She then realized she was burning the bacon and cursed loudly. "That's it! I'm through with this cooking thing!" She threw her spatula in the sink and pulled out a bowl and a box of Coco Puffs, earning more confused looks. "Cereal. It beats cooking for eight people."
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An hour later they stood in the driveway while Ophelia tried to coax them into her car. Kimahri was watching from the front window, and if the way his body shook was any indication, he was laughing his ass off at her frustration.
"Look, you rode in the airship, didn't you? This is just like that, only smaller. It's just as safe, I promise."
"We didn't have a choice about the airship, ya? It was get in or be killed." Wakka crossed his arms and shook his head. "No more machina for this little blitzer, ya?"
"Then I guess you're walking. Have fun, considering you don't know the way." Ophelia flung open the driver's side door and hopped into the car, not in the slightest surprised when the others, even Wakka, started piling in. Auron started to sit in the front passenger seat when Ophelia stuck out a leg and halted his progress. "You didn't call shotgun."
"Excuse me?" He sent her a confused look over the top of his glasses, his good eye wide.
"Just say, 'I call shotgun' and you can sit down."
Auron scowled. "We don't have time for this foolishness."
"We have all the time in the world. Now, say it." Ophelia's scowl match Auron's, and he sighed.
"Fine. I call shotgun. Happy now?"
Ophelia removed her foot and let him sit in the seat. "Very." When the doors shut she started the car and felt everyone else jerk in surprise. Deciding not to comment, she threw it into reverse and backed slowly out of the driveway, being careful not to frighten anyone further. She didn't want anyone to have a heart attack.
She tried, honestly tried, to drive to the mall in the next town over in silence, but it got really old quickly, so without thinking she flipped on the cd player, forgetting that what was normally in there was loud and heavy. As if to prove this, System of a Down blared through the speakers, and the others cringed in fear and pain. She quickly turned the radio down and gave them all a sheepish grin in the rearview mirror.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"What is that, ya? Why would you torture yourself with that kinda noise?" Wakka cringed again, even though Ophelia could now barely make out the lyrics to "Forest", with the volume so low.
"It's music, Wakka. At least, it's a form of music. We call it heavy metal."
"Well, you have the metal part right," Auron commented dryly. Ophelia sent him a sour look and stuck out her tongue.
"Hey, I think it's pretty cool. We had music like this in Zanarkand." Tidus bounced in the back seat (thank god for suv's) to the beat, earning an annoyed glance from both Lulu and Yuna.
"Oh dear," Ophelia said, rolling her eyes, turning her attention back to the highway.
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"Absolutely not." Auron shook his head for emphasis. "There is no way that you will convince me."
Ophelia planted her fists on her hips and glared up at the older man. "You will, and that's final." Auron grumbled, but headed into the dressing room anyway. Ophelia laughed when shirts flew over two stalls and landed directly on his head.
"Wakka! Tidus!" Auron began to launch himself over the door of one of the stalls, but Ophelia grabbed him by his pants and yanked him back down.
"Bad Auron, no lollipop. Now get your ass in the dressing room and see if it fits!" She shoved him into the stall and slammed the door shut, giving an exasperated sigh. This was turning out to be harder than she thought. Wakka and Tidus came out of their own stalls, and at once Ophelia knew they would never really fit in. Wakka refused to wear anything but his blitzball sandals, and Tidus was the same way about all of his assorted Zanarkand Abes apparel. And with what they had on, none of it looked right, not to mention Wakka had buttoned his shirt wrong.
"God, help me," Ophelia whined.
"What's wrong now?" Tidus looked down at the new clothes and then gave a quick spin. "I think I look pretty spiffy."
"Sure, for a guy who just got released from an insane asylum." Ophelia moved to Wakka and began unbuttoning his shirt, and the ex-blitzer jumped back in surprise, his dark eyes wide.
"What the hell are you doing, ya?"
"Your shirt's buttoned wrong. I'm just fixing it, Mr. Prude." She rolled her eyes at Wakka's scowl and rebuttoned the shirt properly. "There. All fixed." She stepped back and gave him a critical going over. "Not too bad, if I do say so myself. You just have to learn to work with what you got."
"And how do you explain what you did with that?" Tidus pointed behind her and she turned, feeling her jaw drop. Sexy. That was the only word that came to mind. How could one man have so much raw sex appeal in just a t-shirt and jeans, she would never know, but that's what she saw.
Auron scowled under their scrutiny, obviously self-conscious without his glasses and collar firmly in place to hide most of his scar. He crossed his arms, pulling the shirt tighter across his shoulders, and Ophelia felt her knees go rubbery.
"What the hell are you staring at?"
"N-nothing!" Ophelia inwardly winced at her stammer and turned Auron around and forced him back into the stall. "Looks really good, now change into your other clothes." She caught a glance of his confused look as she shut the door and then leaned against it, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath.
"What's wrong with you?" Tidus jostled her shoulder and she gave him a weak smile.
"Nothing, I just wasn't expecting-"
"Never noticed how far the scar goes down? Eh, don't see how you would. He's pretty self-conscious about it." Tidus shook his head. "So…"
"No, it's not that. I've seen the scar, it's no big deal. I just-" She stopped and moved away dazedly and out of the dressing room, not bothering to finish her sentence.
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That night, Ophelia was still a little dazed. After tons of try-ons and purchases later, it was still the t-shirt and jeans combination (which Auron was wearing as she was thinking about it) that grabbed her by her kidneys and yanked her around. One man should not be allowed to be that sexy, and what really annoyed her was the fact the the other three females had noticed as well.
Yuna and Rikku she could forgive, because neither one had a chance, really, to get Auron's attention. But Lulu did. Ophelia sighed and tried not to let the jealousy get to her. She really didn't have anything to worry about, did she? After all, Auron had told her he loved her. That counted for something, right? She glanced up and frowned at Auron a moment, who was staring off into space, his mind obviously elsewhere. Well, there was no use in worrying about it right now. She rose and went upstairs, lying on her bed and pulling out a book she had been reading before she had gotten sucked into Spira. She gave distracted goodnights to the others that walked by her door, not bothering to glance up from her book until her eyes grew a bit tired. She glanced at the clock and her eyes widened at the time. How could she have sat here until after midnight?
With a yawn, she stood and headed out the door, deciding to get one more glass of apple juice in before bed. A third of the way down the stairs she met Wakka, who looked visibly upset.
"What's wrong, Wakka?" Ophelia said this on a whisper, not wanting to wake anyone. Wakka gave her a long forlorn look before taking her hand and guiding her silently down the stairs, turning back once to put a finger over his lips. She nodded and followed, wondering what had the usually cheerful red-head in such a melancholy mood. When she reached the bottom of the stairs and peeked into the living room, however, her own heart ceased to beat, and tears threatened to fall. There, in the darkened room, was Auron and Lulu, engaged in what looked to be more than just a friendly little peck on the cheek.
Ophelia felt Wakka's arm wrap around her shoulders, and he pulled her closer, ducking under the stairs when Lulu and Auron left the living room. Ophelia sobbed against his chest, feeling hurt, betrayed, and mad enough to kill, and Wakka, sensing that, wouldn't let her go when she tried to pull away.
"Let me go. I'll kill 'em, I swear I will."
"I know," Wakka said softly, keeping his grip firm. "That's why you're staying right here."
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Three am. All Ophelia could see when she shut her eyes was Lulu and Auron together. Wakka had fallen asleep on the couch some time ago, leaving her alone with her thoughts. He obviously felt it was safe to leave her be now, thinking her temper had cooled, but he was wrong. Dead wrong. With a sigh she rose and picked up her keys from the counter in the kitchen, quickly disengaging the alarm and slipping out the front door silently.
Where she was going, she didn't have a clue, but she had to get out of the house. She climbed into the Durango and sat staring at her bedroom window, the light from the lamp just visible through the thick curtains. If she had stayed up there instead of going for a glass of juice she would have never seen any of it, would have still been ignorant to the fact that there was definitely something going on between Auron and Lulu, and she wouldn't be sitting in her car, wondering what in hell she was going to do now. She started the car, and it cranked almost silently, thanks to the newness and excellent care the vehicle received.
After backing into the street she drove toward town, wondering what she could find there at three in the morning, and wondering if she'd ever be able to smile again. Would they keep lying to everyone, acting like nothing was going on between them? Or would Ophelia get up her nerve enough to confront Auron, and demand to know just what in hell was going on? She didn't know right now. She couldn't honestly say that she knew if she'd return to Spira with them, after this. At least she was sure of one thing. Her life had stayed true to the pattern it always had. She was always the one to be hoodwinked and screwed over. What was one more in the line of many?
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Amanda: Dum dum dum!!!! A cliff-hanger! Don't you wanna know what was really going on with Auron and Lulu? Is there something between them? Is Auron a good-for-nothing bastard or is there a good explanation for what Ophelia saw? You'll just have to wait.