He smirked, standing up. "C'mon. You can tell me the truth, y'know."
Rikku threw the dishtowel at him, her face bright red. "W-What are you saying?!"
Gippal smiled, moving over to stand in front of her and blocking off her only way of escape. She looked up at him. "Hm...then why did you ask to sleep with me last night?"
They both paused at the way the words sounded. "I uh...I meant sleep next to me..." Gippal caught himself, his cheeks slightly pink.
"It was for the bet! I was trying to test you!" Rikku replied in embarrassment, trying to move around him. He cut off her path again, smirking.
"Test me?" he laughed. "For what?"
She was about to respond but his voice cut her off.
"Oh, I get it now." He leaned in closer to her, causing Rikku to lean slightly away from him. Her reaction caused Gippal to smile. "You wanted to see if I'd make a move on you so I could lose the bet, didn't you?"
Rikku suddenly straightened up, moving her face closer to his this time. "Did you want me to put moves on you?" she asked teasingly.
Oooh, I got him on that one.
He smirked at her response, moving his face even closer. "I wasn't the one who ended up putting moves on anyone."
She blinked and pushed him aside, moving past him and knowing damn well exactly what he meant. However, she wasn't about to let him know that.
"What do you mean by that?!" Rikku demanded instead.
Bad, bad comeback! But...what else can I say?!!
Angry at herself, she stood, awaiting his answer. Gippal paced back and forth in front of her, a hand on his chin. He was smiling.
"Rikku, you had your body pressed against me the entire night."
He said it so simply, and Rikku had to keep herself from dying right then and there. She opened her mouth ready to deny it, but was stopped short.
"What's this about a body being pressed?" Cid's voice suddenly spoke up, entering the kitchen. Rikku and Gippal's gazes flew to the man and they promptly shut their mouths. Gippal backed away from the sink and Rikku headed towards the refrigerator.
"Ahahaha...nothin' Pops! It was nothin'!" Rikku responded, burying her head into the coldness of the refrigerator. A celery stick was directly in front of her face.
"Oh yeah?" Cid began, sitting down at the chair and looking at the two of them. He grabbed a piece of the toast, munching thoughtfully. "Didn't sound like 'nothin' to me. Sounds like you two are hidin' something!"
"Who's hiding?" Brother's accent-filled voice asked. He had just sat down at the table next to Cid.
"Sounds like these two are pressing bodies or something..." Cid mumbled, tinkering with a piece of a machina part. He reached over to take his mug.
Brother blinked, his eyes immediately flying to Gippal. "Which body are you pressing, kid?!" he demanded, causing Gippal's face to go red. Brother suddenly went quiet, his eyes slowly drifting towards his sister.
Rikku still had her head in the refrigerator, hoping that the coldness would cool down her flaming face. She turned around just as she saw Brother's hands reach over to come around Gippal's neck.
"Let go of him, Brother!" she exclaimed immediately, rushing to move between the two of them. Gippal was fighting to keep a smile off his face and Brother had flames in his eyes. Cid remained at the table, sipping his coffee.
"What are the two of you doing, Rikku?!!" Brother demanded, letting go of Gippal for the time being. She immediately took hold of Gippal's arm and began pulling him. He went along with her.
"It's none of your business!" she replied, dragging Gippal behind her. Rikku turned to her father. "We'll be back!"
Gippal looked down at Rikku's hand that was clamped firmly around his arm. He smirked.
"Be back in two hours. We're leaving for the dive then," Cid simply replied, standing up to get more coffee. He turned to his son. "And you, go get ready and leave the kids alone."
Brother stared at Cid with his mouth open before stomping his foot and heading out of the kitchen.
Rikku pulled Gippal out the front door and shut it behind her, leaning heavily against it with a sigh. Gippal looked up at her from his position at the bottom steps.
"Like I said, is it always that exciting in the mornings around here?" he laughed.
"Only when you're involved," she giggled as well, heading down the steps towards him.
Gippal stood for a moment and watched as she came down to meet him, noting how the early morning sun made her hair shimmer. She looked up at him.
"Something the matter?" she asked in confusion.
He blinked as her green eyes regarded him curiously. "Uh...n-no."
What's wrong with me... I was staring at her...Cid's Girl?!
Shaking his head, he turned to Rikku again, determined to get the answer he wanted. "So..." he began, causing her to look at him. "...like I was saying earlier, you cuddled up to me."
"Argh...are we back to that again? I thought we were done with that!"
"Nope, I want to know," Gippal answered, walking in circles around her.
Rikku groaned, letting her hands fall a bit to the side.
Hm, there might be a way I can get back at him for winning the bet. Pride, there's still hope for you!
She turned fully to him and smiled. He stopped walking.
"So what if I did?"
He blinked. "Wh-What?"
Oooh, good reaction.
"You heard me. What if I really planned to snuggle up to you like that? Then what?" Rikku asked again, her voice teasing.
Gippal smirked and walked up to her. "Then I'd just have more reason to think that you like me," he whispered lowly, his lips hovering near hers.
She was about to reply, when a sound caused them both to pull away from each other.
"Uh...Rikku?"
She turned towards the front gate and saw Riolen, smiling at her. He approached them, bowing a bit. He raised an eyebrow and laughed nervously. "Am I um...interrupting something?"
Rikku spun away from Gippal in embarrassment, hoping that Riolen hadn't seen anything. "Ah, no...actually um...you weren't," she replied, reaching up to brush her bangs to the side.
Riolen looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before his eyes rested back on Rikku.
"Oh, good," he smiled, glancing at Gippal. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to go to breakfast with me, Rikku."
She felt herself blushing under his intense gaze. "O-Oh...right now? I-I mean um...sure..."
"Great," Riolen smiled.
Rikku paused and turned around. "Gippal, I um..."
"Go ahead. I've gotta get ready for the mission anyway," he cut her off suddenly, turning around towards the house again.
"Okay...I guess I'll see you later then," Rikku called after him, seeing how he had avoided her eyes.
"Whenever," Gippal said flatly.
His response caused her to pause in her steps.
What...what was that feeling just now? I'm just going out for breakfast! Jeez!
"Ready to go, Rikku?" Riolen spoke up, holding the gate open to her.
She smiled slowly. "Sure."
xxx
The breakfast was a small one, and Riolen had taken her down to the café for the morning. They talked about little things such as the summer, what her mission was going to be later on, and a bit about Riolen's family.
Rikku couldn't help but lose herself in his green eyes. Every time their eyes would meet, she would find herself staring endlessly at them, but promptly tear her gaze away for feeling bad.
About twenty minutes into breakfast, Rikku realized with confusion that she was thinking of Gippal the entire time. She felt bad for staring so intently at Riolen because of Gippal.
But why? The only reason that would be is if I...if I...oh.
No way. There's just no way that can be.
They had arrived back at Rikku's house about half an hour later. For some reason she was dreading going back. The way Gippal had looked before she had left and the way he had sounded made her feel awful.
Why should I? He deserves it...
"That was a great breakfast, Rikku," Riolen laughed quietly, reaching for her hand. She smiled up at him and watched as he brought it to his lips again.
"Yeah, thanks again for inviting me out and all."
Riolen nodded, heading out towards the gate. "It was really a pleasure, Rikku. We should do it again sometime."
She said nothing, but waved.
Wait...does he mean on a date?!
"U-Um like a date?" Rikku asked.
GOOD one! Now you really look stupid! Wonderful.
Riolen laughed, smiling at her from behind the gate. "Sure! If that's what you want to call it!"
She blushed. "I um...I'll think about it..."
"Great, so let's just make this "date" on Friday then? How does 8 sound?" Riolen asked.
Rikku paused, debating with herself. Why shouldn't she say yes to him? On one hand, there was no denying that Rikku thought he was a sweet guy. Second, nothing was stopping her from saying yes. Right? RIGHT...?
"Sounds good," she answered simply.
Then why do I feel so bad?
"See you then," Riolen smiled, walking away, the sun making his brown hair shine.
Rikku stood for a few more minutes. She sighed and entered the house.
"Your dad already left," Gippal's voice startled her. He was sitting on one of the metal chairs in the living room and had stood up right as she had entered.
"Gippal? Um...how long have you been sitting there?" she asked.
"Not too long. Just saw you and that Rulin guy," he responded, waving a hand in the air.
"Riolen," she corrected, rolling her eyes. "What'd my dad say?"
"Said for us to meet him later when he calls. The machina is ready to use underwater today," Gippal explained, sitting down.
"Finally," Rikku sighed, moving to the closet and opening it. His gaze followed her.
"Had fun?" he asked slowly.
She turned to face him. "Why do you want to know?"
He shrugged. "No reason."
Rikku shut the closet, facing him with her hands on her hips. "Alright, what's the matter."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Something's wrong," she replied.
"You're imagining things," he sighed.
"No, I'm not. You've been like this ever since this morning when Riolen came. I think something's buggin ya..." Rikku answered back, moving closer to him.
Gippal chuckled. "Don't forget, Rikku. You're still my slave, remember?"
She blinked. "And?"
"And...that means I can tell you what to do and you have to do it," Gippal smirked, seeming to return to his old self.
"Doesn't mean that I will!" Rikku replied quickly.
"Ok, I'll make a deal with you then."
She looked up, suddenly very interested. "What is it...?"
He stuck out a gloved hand to her. "You're going to answer this truthfully and...I'll call off the whole servant thing."
"Deal," Rikku replied in a second, grabbing his hand.
He smiled, shaking hands with her. When they let go, he crossed his arms.
"Do you like that Riolen guy?"
She blinked, feeling the blood rushing up to her face.
"Remember, you gotta tell the truth, or I'll know you're lying."
"How would you know?!" she demanded.
He smirked. "Trust me, I know these things," Gippal replied cockily.
"And you'll call off the whole servant thing?" she asked.
"Yup."
Rikku stood for a moment, not really needing to think about it. The answer was obvious to her.
"No, I don't."
Gippal uncrossed his arms and blinked. "You're lying..."
"No, I'm not, Gippal! If I say I don't like the guy, then I don't! Really." Rikku said. She realized for the first time that she didn't. Sure she was attracted to Riolen, but to like him was a completely different feeling. And in Riolen's case, the feeling of like just wasn't there.
"Ok. That's all I wanted to know," Gippal smirked.
"Why'd you want to know anyway? Trying to use it against me or something?" Rikku rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm too nice to do something like that," Gippal replied with a wink, moving towards her.
She shook her head, realizing that it was just no use. "Sure thing..." Her words trailed off as she felt one of Gippal's fingers brush the side of her face. She froze and hesitantly raised her eyes to meet his.
"It would've been great too...having you all to myself..." he said quietly. He smirked and backed away. "It would've been great to have you in the whole maid thing too!" he laughed.
Rikku shot him a glare. "Shut up! I hate you!" she stuck a tongue out at him.
"No you don't. You just hate it when I prove you wrong. Otherwise, you don't hate me." He said the last word teasingly, and reached towards her again.
She moved his hand away from her and headed upstairs to grab her stuff. "Are we leavin' or not?!"
He chuckled, suddenly feeling much better. "Ready to go."
End of Chapter 7
