I've got inflammation of the colon. Yeah. That and a *BAD* case of chronic senioritis. "Deadly" combination, to which I can attest. My mom, who happens to be a Pediatrician, is actually letting me miss school today. Which is unusual...I didn't miss a single day of school until freshman year of high school (excluding the 15+ days every year I got to skip to go skiing...course that doesn't happen anymore). At any rate, it means no school for Mignonne today. And the masses rejoice, because *that* means...TIME TO WRITE! Yes! Hopefully I'll get LOTS done today (though I won't post it all at once, sorry), though so far all I've done is change my desktop wallpaper (new Queen-themed picture!) and gone to the A&P to buy a cocktail shrimp ring (damn, I love those things!). Enjoy the fruits of my strange "illness" as I am definitely in a writing mood. (I do, of course, feel FINE!) Personally, I thought the last chapter was weak filler (I had been up till three the night before reading Oh! My Goddess! manga; so sue me), so I'm trying to make up for it. I'm on a roll... freedom does that to me.
Wow, that's a long author's note.
________________________________________________________
Auron had forgotten how much he disliked Macalania. Especially the butterflies. Damn those butterflies. The place had been bad enough when he was alive. Now he wasn't. The forest was teeming with life, making his lack thereof that much more acute. It was very unfortunate. His odium was only made worse by Rikku's loud commentary.
"Oooh! This place is so pretty! Butterflies, tee hee!" The girl trotted merrily ahead, her delight to be free of the Thunder Plains evident in her rapture. Her green eyes were roughly the size of dinner plates as she tilted her head back and spun in a circle, her giggling sounding dangerously close to the point of hysteria. Damn, she must really be scared of lightning, Auron thought idly. Fortunately, she had made no further attempts at conversation since being told off, though that had only been a short while ago.
He wondered why she kept trying to talk to him. He wished she would stop. He had come up with a theory as to why this phenomenon was occurring. Rikku was used to being the center of attention. When she wasn't, she got mad. He was ignoring her. She wasn't used to being ignored. Thusly, she was mad. He had the feeling that if he continued to ignore her, she would get even madder. Auron tried not to let himself have any fun, as it might interfere with his projected persona, but this opportunity was just too tempting. He decided to play.
***
"Tidus! Stop playing with the butterflies and get over here! We're having an important discussion!" Lulu snapped, annoyed with the blond blitzer's antics. He had been attempting to catch the blue butterflies for close to an hour now, and was having minimal success. It seemed he was either colorblind or just plain stupid. Lulu sincerely hoped it was the former, but had suspicions of the latter.
Tidus ambled over to the assembled group. They were speaking in furtive whispers, occasionally glancing over to where Rikku was *still* spinning and Auron was glaring menacingly at her.
"What's up?" the Meg Ryan clone (AN: sorry, couldn't resist!) asked, running a hand through his hair in a preening fashion.
"This is important, ya," said Wakka. "No one has a bet for Macalania, so we can't let them near each other!" The others quickly nodded in assent.
"If Sir Auron and Rikku kiss now, then we all lose," Yuna added. "We need to work together, to keep that from happening!" She still seemed amazed at her own participation. She knew she, of all people, should not be condoning these activities, but she couldn't resist. It was, of course, a distraction, something that existed in quantities far too small for her liking.
"So we assign babysitting duties, right?" asked Tidus, eager to get back to his butterflies.
"Right. Good idea, Tidus," said Lulu, with a degree of amazement apparent in her voice. Maybe she needed to loosen her corset. The lack of blood flow might be affecting her brain, slowing down functions and allowing Tidus time to come up with coherent thoughts. Time to delegate tasks.
"So Tidus and Wakka will take Auron," said Yuna, before Lulu could open her mouth. Yuna was sorely tempted to go with Tidus, but decided against it, as Auron still made her nervous. Tidus put on a pouty face.
"Kimahri, Yuna, and Lulu get Rikku," Kimahri rumbled.
Of course, during this important discussion, it occurred to none of them that Lulu had already lost. Lulu fully realized, however. She decided that if *she* couldn't win, she didn't want anyone else to.
***
Rikku was annoyed. She didn't think it was very polite of Seymour to leave so soon after his proposal. And she was still mad that the proposal had been made. Auron's utter refusal to talk to her infuriated her even further. She had thought that she had made some headway with him while they were waiting for the others at the Farplane, but he clearly couldn't stand her. Yes, all things considered, she was currently a basket case.
What to do about Auron? She considered her options. It annoyed her that he was suddenly the main occupant of her thoughts. She knew the waiting game wouldn't work...he'd continue not to talk to her and she'd be no better off. Unless he noticed her silence, as he was sure to, and wondered if something was wrong. No, that wouldn't work, because he probably wouldn't care even if there was.
Bringing her to her next option, which was, of course, continuing to bother him. That was probably the way to go if she wanted to elicit an actual response, albeit an annoyed one. Deep in thought, she tripped over a root, which brought her back to reality. She found that she and Lulu were now walking abreast.
"Rikku," Lulu gave a slight nod in the girl's direction.
"Hi Lulu!" Rikku chirped perkily. Despite her mental 'anguish', she was still euphoric about escaping the Thunder Plains.
"Happy to be here?" Lulu asked, though she already knew the answer.
"YES! The Thunder Plains were *so* scary, you know? And Auron was *so* mean!"
Lulu smiled. All too easy. "What's going on with you two?" she asked, doing her best to look concerned rather than smug.
Rikku shrugged and gazed ahead at the scarlet jacket leading the group. She didn't really feel like sharing. Lulu quickly picked up on this sudden unwillingness to converse from the usually overly loquacious girl. She decided to take the bull by the horns.
"You like him, don't you?" Rikku looked up, startled. Lulu continued, "I myself know the allure of the older man all too well."
Rikku stopped walking in her shock, then came to her senses and trotted back up to Lulu, who had continued moving. Lulu was bravely fighting the evil smirk threatening to take over her face.
"You think I...I mean...NO! I don't! Not at all! He's mean and old and nasty and I hate him," Rikku spat vehemently. "And he has a mullet," she added as an afterthought. (AN: Soooo true! Has anyone else noticed that? Auron has a MULLET!!! That's all I think whenever I hear about his long hair, cause it's definitely short in the front. Business in the front, party in the back, that's our Auron!)
"You don't like his mullet? Weak excuse," Lulu informed Rikku, "Say whatever you like, but I know the truth, and I think you do too." There, that should do it, she thought. Plant the seed! And with that, Lulu left a very confused Rikku alone with her thoughts.
***
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Tidus had chased butterflies, Auron and Rikku hadn't talked, and Lulu was still a sore loser. As the speedier route along the bridge was unfortunately out of commission, they were taking the long way. And it was the LONG way. So they decided to stop for the night in the middle of the woods. This made the plotters nervous. What might happen on a night in the woods?
_________________________________________________________
(Sigh) Why are days off so *short*? They were so much longer when I was younger! Well, I'm off to do one more thing to make my grand day off complete. I am, of course, going to go watch one of my Sailor Moon S DVDs and throw popcorn at the screen whenever Chibi-usa/Sailor Chibi-Moon comes on. God, I HATE her.
This chapter was written while watching and listening to Mr. Nice. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to this address. I have an obsession with this thing...so cute. And I love the music. Yeah, I'm a freak. http://www.columbia.edu/~sjt59/mr_nice.swf
Please review...don't make me resort to writing another sad little poem...cause I will, I hope you know that. Seriously, I actually put some time into writing this, and it's nice to be recognized.
Wow, that's a long author's note.
________________________________________________________
Auron had forgotten how much he disliked Macalania. Especially the butterflies. Damn those butterflies. The place had been bad enough when he was alive. Now he wasn't. The forest was teeming with life, making his lack thereof that much more acute. It was very unfortunate. His odium was only made worse by Rikku's loud commentary.
"Oooh! This place is so pretty! Butterflies, tee hee!" The girl trotted merrily ahead, her delight to be free of the Thunder Plains evident in her rapture. Her green eyes were roughly the size of dinner plates as she tilted her head back and spun in a circle, her giggling sounding dangerously close to the point of hysteria. Damn, she must really be scared of lightning, Auron thought idly. Fortunately, she had made no further attempts at conversation since being told off, though that had only been a short while ago.
He wondered why she kept trying to talk to him. He wished she would stop. He had come up with a theory as to why this phenomenon was occurring. Rikku was used to being the center of attention. When she wasn't, she got mad. He was ignoring her. She wasn't used to being ignored. Thusly, she was mad. He had the feeling that if he continued to ignore her, she would get even madder. Auron tried not to let himself have any fun, as it might interfere with his projected persona, but this opportunity was just too tempting. He decided to play.
***
"Tidus! Stop playing with the butterflies and get over here! We're having an important discussion!" Lulu snapped, annoyed with the blond blitzer's antics. He had been attempting to catch the blue butterflies for close to an hour now, and was having minimal success. It seemed he was either colorblind or just plain stupid. Lulu sincerely hoped it was the former, but had suspicions of the latter.
Tidus ambled over to the assembled group. They were speaking in furtive whispers, occasionally glancing over to where Rikku was *still* spinning and Auron was glaring menacingly at her.
"What's up?" the Meg Ryan clone (AN: sorry, couldn't resist!) asked, running a hand through his hair in a preening fashion.
"This is important, ya," said Wakka. "No one has a bet for Macalania, so we can't let them near each other!" The others quickly nodded in assent.
"If Sir Auron and Rikku kiss now, then we all lose," Yuna added. "We need to work together, to keep that from happening!" She still seemed amazed at her own participation. She knew she, of all people, should not be condoning these activities, but she couldn't resist. It was, of course, a distraction, something that existed in quantities far too small for her liking.
"So we assign babysitting duties, right?" asked Tidus, eager to get back to his butterflies.
"Right. Good idea, Tidus," said Lulu, with a degree of amazement apparent in her voice. Maybe she needed to loosen her corset. The lack of blood flow might be affecting her brain, slowing down functions and allowing Tidus time to come up with coherent thoughts. Time to delegate tasks.
"So Tidus and Wakka will take Auron," said Yuna, before Lulu could open her mouth. Yuna was sorely tempted to go with Tidus, but decided against it, as Auron still made her nervous. Tidus put on a pouty face.
"Kimahri, Yuna, and Lulu get Rikku," Kimahri rumbled.
Of course, during this important discussion, it occurred to none of them that Lulu had already lost. Lulu fully realized, however. She decided that if *she* couldn't win, she didn't want anyone else to.
***
Rikku was annoyed. She didn't think it was very polite of Seymour to leave so soon after his proposal. And she was still mad that the proposal had been made. Auron's utter refusal to talk to her infuriated her even further. She had thought that she had made some headway with him while they were waiting for the others at the Farplane, but he clearly couldn't stand her. Yes, all things considered, she was currently a basket case.
What to do about Auron? She considered her options. It annoyed her that he was suddenly the main occupant of her thoughts. She knew the waiting game wouldn't work...he'd continue not to talk to her and she'd be no better off. Unless he noticed her silence, as he was sure to, and wondered if something was wrong. No, that wouldn't work, because he probably wouldn't care even if there was.
Bringing her to her next option, which was, of course, continuing to bother him. That was probably the way to go if she wanted to elicit an actual response, albeit an annoyed one. Deep in thought, she tripped over a root, which brought her back to reality. She found that she and Lulu were now walking abreast.
"Rikku," Lulu gave a slight nod in the girl's direction.
"Hi Lulu!" Rikku chirped perkily. Despite her mental 'anguish', she was still euphoric about escaping the Thunder Plains.
"Happy to be here?" Lulu asked, though she already knew the answer.
"YES! The Thunder Plains were *so* scary, you know? And Auron was *so* mean!"
Lulu smiled. All too easy. "What's going on with you two?" she asked, doing her best to look concerned rather than smug.
Rikku shrugged and gazed ahead at the scarlet jacket leading the group. She didn't really feel like sharing. Lulu quickly picked up on this sudden unwillingness to converse from the usually overly loquacious girl. She decided to take the bull by the horns.
"You like him, don't you?" Rikku looked up, startled. Lulu continued, "I myself know the allure of the older man all too well."
Rikku stopped walking in her shock, then came to her senses and trotted back up to Lulu, who had continued moving. Lulu was bravely fighting the evil smirk threatening to take over her face.
"You think I...I mean...NO! I don't! Not at all! He's mean and old and nasty and I hate him," Rikku spat vehemently. "And he has a mullet," she added as an afterthought. (AN: Soooo true! Has anyone else noticed that? Auron has a MULLET!!! That's all I think whenever I hear about his long hair, cause it's definitely short in the front. Business in the front, party in the back, that's our Auron!)
"You don't like his mullet? Weak excuse," Lulu informed Rikku, "Say whatever you like, but I know the truth, and I think you do too." There, that should do it, she thought. Plant the seed! And with that, Lulu left a very confused Rikku alone with her thoughts.
***
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Tidus had chased butterflies, Auron and Rikku hadn't talked, and Lulu was still a sore loser. As the speedier route along the bridge was unfortunately out of commission, they were taking the long way. And it was the LONG way. So they decided to stop for the night in the middle of the woods. This made the plotters nervous. What might happen on a night in the woods?
_________________________________________________________
(Sigh) Why are days off so *short*? They were so much longer when I was younger! Well, I'm off to do one more thing to make my grand day off complete. I am, of course, going to go watch one of my Sailor Moon S DVDs and throw popcorn at the screen whenever Chibi-usa/Sailor Chibi-Moon comes on. God, I HATE her.
This chapter was written while watching and listening to Mr. Nice. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to this address. I have an obsession with this thing...so cute. And I love the music. Yeah, I'm a freak. http://www.columbia.edu/~sjt59/mr_nice.swf
Please review...don't make me resort to writing another sad little poem...cause I will, I hope you know that. Seriously, I actually put some time into writing this, and it's nice to be recognized.