Author's note: You know the deal - I own jack squat and that's all, folks. Oh well. Life goes on, eh?
BTW: Thanks to everyone who read my story and especially those who I got feedback from! Here's your update!
"Ouffffff!"
Uh-oh.
That one syllable was all it took to bring me out of the state of fury I was reveling in and look around for the first time. Somewhere around twenty amazed, but not necessarily surprised, faces were looking down at the heap that was Brother, my father and me.
Not surprisingly, most of those amazed faces were beginning to morph into expressions of pure terror as the fact that Pop was actually on the floor with me and Brother dawned on them and they slowly realized what was about to happen. I could hardly believe my rotten luck today as I pushed Brother's moaning figure off top of me and began to rise up to face the music.
If you can call Pop's bellowing for hours without end "music."
I started fidgeting - straightening out my pink tank top and finger-combing my low ponytail - in hopes of maybe giving my father a second or so to calm down before I looked up.
Just as I had suspected, it didn't work. I stole a glance at my white-faced brother, whose expression had changed drastically from rage and confusion, to fear and… well, confusion.
He probably didn't realize exactly how he had ended up on the floor, but he knew damn good and well what it meant when Pop's face turned that shade of purple. As did everyone else who'd ever met him: which could provide an easy explanation as to why the room was suddenly empty. There was no doubt in my mind, however, that they were all lurking within earshot.
"What in Spira is wrong with you two?"
I was afraid if I opened my mouth, he'd grab my tongue, tie it around the doorknob, and start slamming the door. Brother obviously had similar notions, for his lips were clinched together in a straight, tight line.
"WELL!", Pop bellowed, looking back and forth between the two of us. Then he just looked up at the ceiling and let loose a groan of frustration akin to the mating call of a wild animal.
After a moment, his expression softened (which only frightened me more) and his eyes landed on my older sibling. "Brother", he said in a very strained calm voice," how old are you?"
"Ehh..twe..twen…twenty f..f…four…" he stammered out through clenched lips.
Pop nodded his head slowly.
"Rikku?" I looked up carefully, "Rikku, how old are you?"
"Eight-teen", I spat out as quickly as possible, sensing what was going on.
"Uh-huh", Pop said in mock-interest, "Eight-teen and Twenty-four…. Hmmm. You're not children anymore, are you?"
I remained silent, but shook my head in the fear that I would somehow anger him more if I didn't respond at all. Brother, on the other hand, sat in silent, wide-eyed horror.
"That's right. You're not. SO," he belted out so loudly, I heard one of the eavesdroppers fall over somewhere on the staircase, "what the hell's wrong with you then? Running around screaming and knockin' over my machinas… are you both insane? Huh? Are you! My only son and I could kill you sometimes, and YOU, Rikku, just LOOK at this! Broken cabinet, spheres everywhere, beatin' the hell outta your brother… what the hell'd ya run outta the shop for anyways…."
As Pop continued his tirade, I could feel red-hot anger growing inside of me. How dare he not ask me what was going on? What did he know! He wasn't even there, for goodness sake!
I was about to interject a "feel-sorry-for-me-and-look-at-my-puppy-dog-eyes" apology in the hope of getting this over with, when Brother said what I'd been hoping to avoid talking about. Ever. Especially with Pop.
"But Father! She… She…", he started out, wild-eyed and frantic, "It iz all her FAULT! She vuz laughing at me because I dropped zat stupid machina on my foot. I asked her 'what vuz so funny?' and she said it vuz becuz I vuz staring at Angenala, and I vuzn't and it vuz embarrassing my feelings, so I told her zat she should SHUT-UP…"
He wasn't lying. It had started out that way. The truth is, it was pretty dumb, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt…
15 minutes earlier:
"Oooooowwwwch!"
I looked up to see what he had done this time and saw him hopping up and down on one foot as she walked away and giggled at the mess my brother turned into when she was around
"Vut are you laughing at?" from the look on his face, I could already tell this was going to get fun.
"Nu… Nothing…", I stammered between giggles.
"Shut-UP!"
At this, everyone within earshot stopped what he or she was doing to watch the festivities, and those outside of hearing distance were asking around to see what was going on.
"Maybe if you hadn't have been staring at Angenala so hard you would have noticed your hands were covered in grease. Then maybe you would have realized that the machina was to heavy for you to pick up period, much less with slippery hands, and you wouldn't have dropped it on your big swollen foot and made a total fool out of yourself in front of your newest obsession… Whadaya think?" I finished with a satisfied smile playing on my lips.
"Vell... Vell…", Brother began his retaliation looking as if his brain were going to explode should he think any harder, "Vell, maybe you should shut-up BECAUSE AT LEAST I HAVE SOMEONE TO LOOK AT AND YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS! YOU'RE JEALOUS AND LONELY AND NO ONE VANTS YOU AROUND…"
"What did you say?", I said quietly as he stammered on.
"…A.ND YOU'LL NEVER BE…." He trailed off staring at me in confusion. No doubt wondering why I wasn't yelling back at him.
"Vhat? Vhy are you looking at me like zat?"
I just stared at him with my fists clenched at my sides. "I said 'I want to know what you just said'. Now."
"I… I… said that you didn't have…", at this point he realized what he had done, "Oh, no I did it again.. I… Rikku, I'm sor-"
"DON'T."
"I'm sorry, Okay!", he practically screeched.
"…Okay?", I repeated.
"Yez, yez, Okay!" He had said relieved.
I didn't respond.
"Okay!" He said, hoping to reconcile.
Then… well, I went ballistic.
"No, It's not okay! I can't believe you said that! It'll never be okay and you know what, you MORON! FINE! I'm leaving and you can just work alone form now on you big, dumb, jerk! I HATE YOU"
"Ree-Cooo! What in Spira is the matter with you! YOU COME BACK HERE NOW!"
"…And zen she grabbed my head and put it in your stomach and, vell… vell… you know zee rest!"
Pop turned his gaze onto me and I pretended not to notice by looking at all my spheres. No matter what Pop was going to say, I know Brother deserved what I gave him for breaking my cabinet and damaging my spheres.
"Rikku? Is that why you ran through Home screamin' like a bloody banshee? Is that why you jumped on your Brother and made such a dang commotion?"
"Actually," I said, "I jumped on him because he broke my cabinet and it looks like some of my spheres are ruined!" I shot Brother a nasty look with this last sentiment.
"But," Pop continued, his eyes wide with disbelief, "you ran away because of what he said to you… and that's what started all this…?", he finished lamely with his voice raised at the end, as if he were asking a question – even though we all knew it was more of a statement.
I paused for a moment thinking of the best way to respond. After a moment's debate, I decided to reply with a simple nod – but I didn't dare look at my father or my brother. I was too ashamed.
However, when no one said anything, I chanced a glance up and Pop was staring at me in a sad sort of amazement. It was almost like… pity. I didn't like the way it was making me feel, but, in a way, it was oddly comforting to know that my actions weren't completely crazy.
After what seemed an eternity, Pop sharply turned his head to Brother who was still staring at him with wide-eyed fear.
"Whatcha starin' at boy!", he snapped.
"Huh?"
"'Huh'? Don't you 'huh' me! Git off yer butt and git back to work!"
And with that, Pop turned on his heel and retreated to the confines of his office while Brother and I stared at each other in complete and total bewilderment.
"Uhhh… huh? Yeah?", was the only thing I could get out of my mouth.
Brother remained quiet as he stood up, shook his head, and walked out of the room, but not without first giving me another look that suggested fear and wonder at what we had just witnessed.
I remained standing in the middle of the floor staring at the open doorway.
Some of the eavesdropping Al-Bhed began to file out of their hiding places, walking past my door, muttering to one another in astonishment. It was hard to tell whether they where mumbling because of the way Pop had behaved or because of what they heard Brother saying about our fight.
As I shook myself out of the state of shock I was in, I closed the door to my room and took a look around.
Spira, what a mess! I oughta grab brother by the ears and rub his nose in it! My cabinet… my spheres… MY SPHERES!
My eyes wandered around my floor counting to make sure all of my treasures were there. There was one missing. Probably under the bed. Something hit my foot.
I reached down and picked up one of the milky, shining spheres. Upon examination, a thought occurred to me: spheres are very resistant to damages – how else could they have made it though the war of Zanarkand, right? The thought cheered me up slightly.
My room was a total mess. I couldn't live like this – I had to clean it. First thing is first, though. I has to find that missing sphere,
I had just laid myself onto the floor in order to feel around underneath my bed for more valuables, when I felt a pair of hands grab my ankles and I screamed.
oOoRikku4EveroOo : You're m,y first review ever! You'll forever hold a special place in my heart. Glad you liked it, btw. Thank you!
Rikku SWiRLS : Thanks for the tip - I did what you suggested. Sorry about no Gippal yet, but he'll be here sooner than you think!