A/N: I had a sudden craving to write more of this story, though I have NO idea what's going to happen in this chapter. All well.

This is probably going to be my last chapter before Christmas—so happy holidays, everyone everywhere!

-Jingle Bells starts playing somewhere-

Djose Temple, Late Evening

"Gippal…" She moaned, pulling at her braid exasperatingly. "Just move!" She continued to poke him mercilessly in the forehead, but to no avail. He only let out a rather loud and annoying snore. Oooh, if she had to sleep with that vacuum going all night…

She stomped over to the other side of the room, seething with frustration, annoyance, and anger. She had TOLD him not to sleep here! And now her only choices were to…eugh, sleep with him, or sleep on the floor. She knew immediately which she would prefer.

Incase you're getting the wrong ideas, it was the floor.

Why though? A voice echoed in her mind as Rikku dug through a bin of heavy, hard objects. Uh-oh.

Why what?

Why do you want to sleep on the floor? He DID save your life, you STILL love him, aaaand you said you owed him something.

I was thinking more along the lines of 10 gil or something. She thought back, feeling rather uncomfortable. He'd be just too weirded out if he woke up to see her snuggled up close to him the next morning, because he'd know she chose to sleep with him…

Horrible thoughts of the next morning caused an involuntary shiver to run up Rikku's spine.

"Aha!" She cried triumphantly, taking a number of screws, bolts, and other random bits of metal from the bin. "If this doesn't wake him up, I'll be scared."

She took one of the small bolts to begin. She walked about 4 feet away from Gippal, aimed, and threw.

The little piece of metal struck him right in the eye patch. Nothing happened.

"Probably because there's NOTHING THERE!" She shrieked to herself, throwing a screw driver. It hit his foot-which was well protected by stupid boots.

"AUGH!" She screamed, now throwing as many tools as she could. They all either hit places well protected, or hit somewhere that wasn't even part of her target-the wall, the floor, even through the empty window.

Rikku didn't even know why she was getting so mad and-well-crazed. Probably from over exhaustion, or maybe the fact that Gippal looked so hot sleeping that it ticked her off they weren't still dating—whatever it was, it lit a pretty big fire deep in Rikku.

After 15 minutes of agonizing target practice, the boy still slept, only fluttering an eyelid once or twice.

"How does he DO it?" She muttered, tromping over to his casually splayed body. Before she could either start hitting Gippal again, or kick him hard, she gazed down at him. His arm and leg were hanging over the side of the bed, his face dug deep into a pillow. The other arm clung onto a loose sheet, the quilt messy and upturned underneath him. Rikku couldn't help it—she cracked a small smile-a peaceful one, rather then her exuberant, ready for anything grin.

Kneeling down on her feet, the girl gazed at his face, which had now undug itself from a pillow and was facing her. It was so—different looking. The eyebrows weren't furrowed, and his mouth wasn't set in its usual cocky smirk. You could barely see the stress lines on his face as he slept—he looked just as he should: a boy.

Without even thinking, Rikku brushed a stray strand of hair away from his closed eye. As her fingers were just tucking it behind his ear, he let out a small snort. Rikku froze, eyes wide.

"What am I DOING?!" She almost yelled, jumping back and glaring at her hand. "You work of your own accord, don't you buster?" She narrowed her eyes menacingly at her hand, until a voice in her head chided,

It's not going to answer.

With a huff, Rikku turned her eyes back to Gippal. He was not going to wake up. She was just going to have to face it.

"Well, I AM getting a pillow." She muttered, walking over to him. Slowly and carefully, she arched her arm overtop his head, her fingers ready to grasp the pillow that was so near her. The next movement from the body underneath nearly scared Rikku to the Farplane.

Quick as lightning, Gippal's arm reached out for the pillow, pulling it closer to his face. He let out a small mumble that sounded something like 'Mmmjcab", then letting his head fall into the two pillows, which were now both firmly in his grasp.

Rikku stared at him for a few moments, her eyes blinking in surprise. Had he just done that in his sleep? With an exasperated sigh, Rikku finally gave up. Who cared if she hurt him, she wanted a pillow, and she was going to get a pillow.

She yanked Gippal's right arm off of a pillow. He let out a strangled cry, and Rikku forced herself not to burst out laughing. Before his arm could break free of her iron grip, Rikku snatched the pillow, chuckling as Gippal's head thunked lower into the mattress, the pillow no longer there to support him. She snuggled up close to the pillow, realizing it was rather gross and lumpy.

"Eugh." She muttered, dropping it on the floor. She walked over to the corner and picked up a ragged old blanket that had been used for—cleaning machina?

"Man…" She sighed, gazing at the torn, oily cloth in despair. "All well. I'm tired-I'll just shower in the morning." She snuck back over to the pillow and laid the blanket on the stone ground. With a sigh and her face set in a determined grimace, Rikku slowly lay down on the ground, letting out a shiver.

She was in for a long night.

Djose Temple, Next Morning

Rikku woke very suddenly, eyelids bursting open and her back straightening up as if someone were controlling her.

With a sickening 'bang' her head hit the metal bed frame beside her.

"CRED!" Rikku cried, clutching her blond head in such a way it looked as if it had cracked open or something.

"Geez, that stupid bed! I'm gonna make it—fluffy or something, so it doesn't hurt." She muttered darkly, glaring daggers at the inanimate object. Sudden chills crawled up her spine, reminding Rikku of her abrupt awakening.

Why did I wake up so suddenly? She thought, eyes scanning her soon-to-be-bedroom-and/or-living quarters. Everything seemed normal…

Except for the fact that Rikku was sitting on the stony floor, nothing but one lumpy pillow and a thin blanket for "comfort".

"Gippal!" She cried, standing up quickly. She was ready to knock the stuffing out of that big oaf! Taking her bed even after she told him not to! "I'm gonna hunt you down and---"

"And what?" Answered a voice from the doorway. Rikku whirled around, eyes wide. There stood Gippal, his hair messy and floppy. Rikku forced herself not to drool. She glanced back over to the bed, a little shocked. That's what had woken her up.

"Er-I-thought you were still asleep." She answered meekly, feeling her cheeks heat up a bit.

"I have duties to do assistant-oh yes. That's right. Assistant. How's that job coming along for you?" She saw he had a bit of a frown, though a playfulness was hidden in his tone. "I seem to have been missing mine this morning…"

"You could have woken me up!" She cried, throwing the lumpy pillow back on the bed. "Expect me to be cranky, no one really loves sleeping on the GROUND you know!" She screamed, throwing the oily rag at Gippal's face. It fluttered uselessly to the ground inches in front of her. Rikku let out an annoyed little shriek yell sort of thing.

Gippal's eyebrows shot up. "Something wrong?"

"YES! My body is aching, my brain hurts because I hit it on the stupid bed frame, and my body is gross and sticky and oily because I had to use a RAG to sleep on, and I'm SLEEP DEPRIVED!" She screamed, fury building up in her.

And this was Rikku, in a bad mood, in the morning. Poor, poor, Gippal.

"Oh…" He answered quietly, his eye looking anywhere but Rikku.

"You'd think you'd have your own bedroom, being the leader of the Machine Faction and all! Where's your master suite Gippal? HUH? WHERE IS IT?" She cried, still feeling very tired and exhausted.

"Down the hall." He stated, barely above a whisper-but Rikku didn't seem to hear, or she would have caught the sarcasm.

"Just-AUGH-MOVE!" She screamed, tromping over to the doorway. But Gippal blocked her way.

"Move." She growled menacingly. Gippal flinched, but stood his ground, eye narrowed.

"Look Rikku, you want to keep this job? Then grow up. Half of us don't get good sleeps either, all right? If you think this is bad, then just quit. No one here needs your mouthy, arrogant attitude right now, all right? Get a cup of coffee and calm down."

Rikku opened and shut her mouth a number of times, as if trying to find something evil to retort back. But nothing came.

"Fine." She mumbled, crossing her arms. "But still, I need you to get out of my way."

It was taking every fiber in her body to stay calm—she felt the need to lash out at someone—screaming at Gippal had worked just fine, until he had actually knocked some sense into her.

Stupid Gippal and his good timing.

Amazingly, he had been right. After a warm cup of coffee, Rikku felt semi-okay. She glanced around the main room of the temple, still amazed at the drastic change in its appearance. About 10 Al Bhed were milling around, mostly talking over a cup of coffee like Rikku was drinking.

But she had no one to talk to. She knew Gippal would be too busy half the time to talk to her—she realized this as he talked to about 3 different Al Bhed about 3 different things. She noticed annoyance glinting in his eye, so she decided he had enough to deal with without her getting in the way.

"Excuse me, are you new?" A female voice awoke Rikku from her thoughts.

"Huh?"

The girl giggled. Amazingly, she wasn't wearing one of those really ugly Al Bhed body suits, Rikku thought. She had blond hair that just passed her ears, and green, swirly eyes. She had on two leather gloves, wristbands sealing them closed at the wrist, surprisingly. She wore a dark green t-shirt, smudged with oil and grease stains. She wore knee length shorts, and just below the knee black boots. So, really, her knees were the only things showing on her legs. She looked about Rikku's age-maybe a year younger or so.

"Hello." She said with a casual smile. "My name's Wynter. You're—" She gave Rikku a questioning glance, and Rikku stuck out her hand.

"Rikku." She stated, giving the girl a happy smile. After shaking hands, Rikku was a bit disappointed to see her hand more oily than before.

"Oh-sorry about that." Wynter let out a chuckle. "I just finished my morning work, so they're pretty gross."

Rikku just smiled. "I don't care, worse things have happened to me." She wasn't surprised at all to see a look of dawning take over Wynter's face.

"Hey—Rikku! I knew you were Cid's daughter, but I totally forgot about you saving Spira—twice!" She shook her hand more exuberantly a second time.

"Don't worry-most do forget." She stated, pasting on a forced smile. Everyone did forget-that was the whole reason Rikku felt so forgotten and belittled in Yuna's presence.

Gippal suddenly appeared beside Rikku. She saw him eyeing her coffee hungrily.

"None left?" She asked.

"None." He stated with a hint of sadness. Rikku clung to her cup protectively, but soon enough let out a sigh.

"Have mine, you big baby." She said, grinning. Gippal took the cup happily. Rikku felt the butterflies in her stomach reawaken and flutter around like mad.

Gippal took a huge slurp, letting out a big 'Ah' afterwards.

"Oh, I see you've met Wynter." Gippal said, smiling at Wynter. Rikku saw her blush under Gippal's gaze.

"Oh yea—she's nice." Rikku stated absent-mindedly, still eyeing Wynter with suspicion.

"Gippal, where are the showers?" She finally asked, forcing Gippal to look in her direction instead of at Wynter.

"Down the right hall." He said, looking down at her. Rikku smiled and took the coffee out of his hand.

He let out a strangled sort of gasp as Rikku took a big long gulp. She stuck it back in his fingers. "That was a necessity, unless you want to deal with me later on—WITHOUT coffee."

He grinned. "All right, I'll forgiv—"

"Gippal! We need your help!"

"Oh, bloody—" Gippal glanced down at Rikku. "I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

Rikku just nodded. "Okay."

As soon as Gippal was out of hearing distance, Rikku heard an irritating giggle emit from Wynter.

"What?" Rikku asked, turning around to smile at Wynter. So what if she had stared at Gippal? She still seemed nice-like a friend. Rikku needed a friend.

"Isn't he SO hot?!"

Rikku felt her insides shrivel. So much for the whole friend thing.

"What?!"

Wynter blushed like mad again and pulled at Rikku's arm, bringing her into the corner. "Look, there's like, no girls here. So I've never actually talked to anyone about it, so I'm sooo happy you came!"

Rikku felt her shriveled stomach drop a bit lower. First anger, now guilt.

"Err-why?"

"Well-because! Now I have someone to talk to about my HUGE crush!"

"C-Crush?" Rikku stuttered out, hoping, praying, it wasn't what she already knew it was. "Let's say, that guy over there?" She pointed a trembling finger to a fat, balding Al Bhed in the corner that couldn't seem to stop burping.

"Ew, not Leo!" She gagged. "Him!" She pointed a finger at the back of Gippal, and Rikku felt the butterflies erupt in her stomach—they were angry little insects now.

"Oh?" She said in a strangled sort of way. "For how long?"

"Oooh, for like, EVER." Wynter said, giving Rikku a friendly smile. Rikku gave her a weak one back-she couldn't hate her for liking Gippal-HER Gippal.

No. He's not yours.

I know, I know, but it's just—weird.
SUCK IT UP! You wanted a friend-she wants one too. Make it work.

Aw man…

"How do you KNOW him on such a casual basis? Ooh, I'm so jealous of you Rikku!"

Rikku felt a hint of pride somewhere around her midriff. "Oh, we're childhood friends-go way back." She decided to leave out the couple part, incase Wynter hated her after that.

"Wow! Awesome!" Rikku glared daggers at Wynter as she ogled at Gippal. "I wish he noticed me more. But there's so many of us…"

Rikku just tried to shrug, but that didn't really work out. "Don't worry-you guys will talk more and more."

"HEY! YOU could help me talk to him more! Like, you know, let me hang out with you guys!"

Rikku felt her eyes grow wider. NO! NO, NO! I don't want you hanging out with US! That's OUR time, you—you—

"I think it should happen naturally." Rikku stated, oddly calm considering the tantrum she was throwing inside. Before Wynter could start nagging her more, Gippal was walking over. Wynter squealed again.

"Here he comes—here he comes—"

I'm not BLIND. Rikku thought scathingly.

"Okay Assistant, ready to help me with paperwork?"

"What? No machina?"

"That's for later." Gippal stated, smiling. "You have to do the fun bit first!"

Before Rikku could reply, Wynter broke out into gales of laughter.

"PAPERWORK—FUN—GOOD ONE, GIPPAL!" She cried, slapping her knee. Gippal stared at her for a few seconds, then turned his questioning, frightened sort of gaze on Rikku. She hid a smile as she shrugged, acting just as confused.

"Wynter-er-uh-thanks?" Gippal asked, shrugging. Wynter stopped immediately, as if God had just spoken to her. Her face was glowing, and her eyes were round.

"No problem." She said barely above a whisper. Rikku shuddered, grabbing Gippal's arm and dragging him away.

"Please Gippal, take me to the paperwork!" Rikku said through gritted teeth. She glanced over his shoulder to see Wynter coming closer.

"Quick! She's coming!" Rikku hissed. Gippal just quirked eyebrows, but Rikku's look caused him to walk speedily up the flight of stairs and into the room above.

"Lock the door." Rikku ordered. Gippal obeyed, pressing in a code.

"You know Rikku, we shouldn't have to keep our relationship a secret!" He cried in mock horror. Rikku slapped his arm.

"Whatever Gippa—whoa. Sweet mother of Spira." Rikku whispered, gazing at the desk that lay in front of her. "Is that—"

"The paperwork. Yep." Gippal finished, sighing. "Welcome to the real world, Rikku."

There, on the desk, sat piles and piles of paper, at least 10 piles that seemed to hold a million sheets each. Her head was swimming just looking at it.

"My pity for you grows deeper, Gippal." She murmured. "It grows so…SO much deeper."

A/N: Yay! New character-Wynter the clingy, obsessed girl. Well, maybe not yet, but she'll get obsessed. She's a little girly, I know—but Rikku really needs female companionship, so she'll probably stick to being her friend, because when Gippal's not around Wynter's actually normal, as shown earlier. Long and another filler, but I just keep getting attacked by plot bunnies and they won't—won't let me goooo…and don't worry, Rikku WILL take a shower. X-x

Review please!