Chapter 6: Forgotten

---Djose, Gippal's apartment early the next morning---

The steam created by the hot water from the shower formed a film against the bathroom mirror, and Gippal partially wiped it off with his forearm, leaving a clear streak big enough for him to just see his face. His hair was wet, slicked back against his head, and he fashioned a slate colored towel around his waist. He reached for his toothbrush, which leant in its gray plastic holder next to Paine's and slathered toothpaste along the perimeter of it. After his daily brushing ritual, he put on his eye patch and turned out the light, exiting the bathroom. A trail of steam followed him out of the door and evaporated into the chilly morning air.

---Same morning, a little later---

Paine lay on her stomach across the queen size bed, the navy blue cotton sheets entangled around her legs. The matching comforter was at the foot of it, mostly hanging off the edge threatening to fall off if she moved her legs just one more inch. The sun shot like a laser through the sheer curtains and right onto her face, causing her to pull the tangled sheets over her head until the spots disappeared from her eyes. She glanced to her left to notice Gippal wasn't in bed with her so she sat up; her hair was stuck to the side of her cheek. Paine wiped the hairs from her face with her hand, separating the bond they created. Then, stretching her arms out as far as they could go, she yawned and climbed out of bed. Her black silk cami and pants slightly damp with sweat, stuck to her body like a second skin as she made her way toward Gippal's closet. Grabbing her silk robe off of the doorknob, she threw it over her leaving it untied and left the room. Her bare feet met with the coarseness of the carpet, and the fibers burrowed between her toes as she made her way to the kitchen.

Paine stood in the doorway watching Gippal; he was sitting at the table putting on his gloves, adjusting the buckles on them to the right comfort level. He flashed Paine a grin and winked at her; she smirked back at him while herself a cup of coffee. Sitting down, she set her mug onto the table's wooden surface and eyed him up.

"What are you doing up so early, trouble?" Paine asked, suspicion saturating her voice. Gippal stood up from his seat and walked over to her. Leaning downward, he kissed her cheek.

"I'm going to Rikku's." he replied, straightening up and resting his hands on her shoulders pretending to massage them. She looked upward over her shoulder at his face, which was right above hers and before she could say anything in protest, he bent down again and planted a kiss on her lips. Paine closed her eyes and put a hand to his cheek, deepening the kiss before he pulled away. She smiled at him; her cheeks flushed a rosy red. Baralai's kisses used to weaken her knees, but Gippal's just plain knocked her on her ass, shooting through her body like jolts of electricity. She felt lucky to be sitting down or else he'd have to pick her up off the floor. Paine wasn't sure if it was the thrill of this being a new romance, or the fact that she always had feelings for him that made her feel that way.

"What are you going there for?" Paine wondered, putting her lips to her cup of coffee sipping it slowly. "I thought you got everything out of there the other night when she wasn't home." Gippal walked into the living room and opened the closet, removing his red and black shoulder pads from a hook and put them on, attaching the straps to the belt on his pants. He turned around to find her fixated on him and he flexed, offering a cheesy smile and undulating his eyebrow in a suggestive manner. She rolled her eyes, but eventually gave in and smiled. Gippal always had a way of getting himself out of answering questions by being silly. Still, he realized that only seemed to work on Rikku and it didn't stop Paine from pressing him about his destination.

"Come on, tell me." She demanded, still laughing slightly at his last gesture. He leaned against the closet door and folded his arms, looking her in the eyes.

"I need to drop my set of her apartment keys off." Gippal replied. "Then I'm going to head over to Baralai's." He pushed his body off the closet and sat back down at the table facing Paine as she continued to drink her coffee.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Do you think he's really going to want to see you now?" she asked, now standing up and walking toward Gippal. Parking herself on his lap she put her arms around him; he in turn put his arms around her, rubbing her back tenderly.

"I want to talk to him, to try to salvage anything if I could. I feel bad about this whole lousy situation." He said, his face to hers, brushing his lips against her soft cheeks. Paine was still very sensitive about their new relationship and was offended by the remark he'd just made. She glared at him, her brow furrowed; she felt a combination of hurt and anger creeping up inside her.

"What do you mean, lousy situation? Is that what you think of us?" Paine implied, getting annoyed. Gippal smiled and kissed her nose.

"No. That's not what I meant." He reasoned, now caressing her left arm with his right hand, trailing it up and down softly. "I mean this situation as a whole. Hurting Baralai and Rikku, that's what I meant. Besides, you had a chance to speak with Rikku, maybe I should talk to Baralai."

"Yeah, but now I don't even know where Rikku and I stand." Paine said mournfully, resting her head to his armored shoulder pad. It felt cold against her skin, but she didn't care. It was very much welcome since she had been sweating all night from the humidity outside the previous evening, making it uncomfortable for any living thing to sleep. "Please think about this carefully, I don't want you two to end up saying things you may live to regret later on." Her eyes stared down at the floor and she traced her finger up and down his chest. He pecked her forehead and rocked her side to side as he spoke.

"It'll be alright, don't worry." He assured her, staring off into the kitchen as he held her. "I have to do this, I can't just let this go without some explanation, and Baralai deserves at least that much from me." Sometimes he could be so serious it was difficult for her to believe it was the same person in her arms, almost like someone swapped him with somebody else without her knowledge.

Gippal lifted Paine off of his lap and propelled himself off the chair. He strode towards the front door where Paine was now standing, holding the keys to his hover in her right hand as they hung loosely from her fingers. He slid his arms around her waist and beheld her for a moment before moving in for a final kiss. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him as well, a satisfactory moan escaping her lips.

Deciding it wasn't a good idea to continue this mini make out session, Gippal switched over to 'ruin the moment' mode and pressed his fingers into her sides, tickling her incessantly. Paine flung her head back and tried helplessly to get out of his grasp but was unsuccessful. Instead, she resolved to fits of uncontrollable laughter before he finally released her from his grip and she retreated to the sofa by the door. Paine gasped for breath and her heart beat rapidly. Gippal stood in the doorway and blew her a kiss, a sly grin still plastered to his face. She playfully scowled at him before smiling herself.

"I'll see you later, Dr. P." He promised, pointing a finger at her as he closed the door behind him. Paine arose from the couch and walked toward the door. She turned the deadbolt, locking it securely. She then headed back into the kitchen shaking her head in disbelief.

"Just what have I gotten myself into?" she thought to herself while pouring a second cup of coffee. "He's just too much. How ever did Rikku put up with this?" Paine wasn't used to a man behaving in such a manner towards her. Baralai never showed such tomfoolery as this, he was always so reserved. In a way she liked it, it was so different than she was accustomed to. It wasn't that she didn't love the way Baralai was with her; it was just that sometimes he was too delicate with her and her feelings.

She didn't want to be treated like a porcelain doll, she wanted to be told when she was wrong, she wanted another opinion, and not someone who just agreed with everything she thought like Baralai did. Gippal challenged Paine and never tried to placate her in any way. He said what he wanted around her not caring if she was in agreement with him or not. He also wasn't afraid to be himself around her, which was cocky and conceited with a splash of goofiness. Baralai never showed the other facets of his personality around her, probably too afraid of what she would think of him, although maybe it would have kept her from leaving him if he would have.

---Down the way, Rikku's apartment building---

The cold hand of the morning hit Gippal like a smack in the face as he stood in front of the brick building. He looked toward the sky, three flights up where Rikku's apartment was, in the far corner. He remembered how happy she was she got that apartment because it wasn't next to anybody's and they could make love all day without the neighbors hearing through the paper-thin walls. Now he was there, not for an intimate moment, but to drop off the set of keys Rikku made for him just three weeks after they started dating. Rikku was certain they'd be together forever so she had no regrets giving them to him so soon. He was anxious not for himself, but for her. He knew she'd probably be upset seeing him being she still loved him, or at least that's what he thought, as full of himself as he was.

"Better get this over with." He said to himself, walking through the glass doors to the lobby. He used his key to open the door to the staircase and ascended the stairs to the third floor. Gippal opened the hall door and walked towards her apartment feeling more nervous than he thought he would. He rehearsed this moment in his head all morning: He would go to the door, knock, she would open it and they would make nice while he handed her the keys. Then he would leave before she cried, begging him to take her back. Well, he tapped the knocker three times but there was no answer. He then pounded on the door with his fist and waited a couple more minutes, still no answer. He looked out the window in the hallway to the parking lot and noticed her hover roadster wasn't parked anywhere. With a hand to his head he tried to figure out where she would go especially so early in the morning seeing she wasn't a morning person to begin with.

"Where the heck is that girl?" Gippal asked himself. "I guess I could go in and leave a note on her kitchen table or something." He used his key and opened the front door. Peeking inside, he noticed the apartment was quiet, the air was still and everything was in order; that is, all except the mess she left in the middle of her living room floor. Noticing the bin, He walked over to it and peeked inside, seeing all the memories of them stuffed into it. He found himself growing a little sad; it bothered him that she was getting rid of him so hastily; after all it was only two days since they'd broken up. He even took notice that the pictures of the two of them that hung on the walls and sat on the tables were gone too. It was like she totally cleaned him out of her life and so quickly at that.

Gippal stood in the middle of the room and took one last look around before setting the keys in the dish on her island in the kitchen. "Guess she must be over me, I misjudged her I suppose." He said, heading for the exit. Gippal left the building and entered his burgundy hover, speeding out of the area quickly, heading to Baralai's. He didn't want to run into her, since he was embarrassed that she was so eager to forget him.

To my reviewers, I'm honored you're reading this so faithfully it means more than you'll know.