Warning: I will try to make this as obvious as possible. THIS CONTAINS SLASH WHICH MEANS MALExMALE LOVE. Am I clear? No one will flame asking why we're writing this and such and such? Good! Now on to the legal stuff!
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Disclaimer: All characters (c) Square-Enix, et al. This is written for entertainment purposes only and no profit is made.
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Wai says...Thank you:
Hidama-san – There you have it. I've done my part! *falls asleep* And of course, crack fics help a lot. And having Lai-kun at our (my? *lol*) disposal was great! XD More blueberry muffins for Gips!
Gysecune – Aaw, thank you! ^_^ We both like writing the humor as well as angst, although angst is much easier to write than humor! ^^;;
Liebchen – Nooj won't hit me, so no worries! (At least I hope so) And Nooj is scared of Aki anyway! *gets whacked by Aki* Err, I don't think Auron's last Overdrive is called Zephyr. I think it's called Tornado, actually. ^^;
Cookie Cowgirl – So many questions, so little time. *grins* Sorry, looks like you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out what happens!
YD – *laughs* We should have mentioned that the airship is called "Zephyr" in the prologue, but Aki had this whole "let them know over breakfast" thing going on.
moonwolf0 - *gasps* You haven't read any other GippalxBaralai fics? Hurry, read Hidama-san and Gysecune-san's fics! And make them write the next chapters faster! *hides before Hidama-san and Gysecune-san can kill her*
DemonButtercup – Aaw, thanks! I was afraid that someone was going to be offended because of that blond joke. But Aki's a blond, so no worries! *ducks at anything Aki throws at her*
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Note:
//speech// - Al Bhed
[speech] – CommSphere conversation
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Zephyr
Side Story: Bits and pieces of a beginning
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"I am beat!" Gippal announced to the room, before dropping down on his bed. Baralai chuckled, walking over to his own bed and sitting down.
"Nooj made you work a lot today, didn't he?"
"Yeah! And it's only our first day!" Gippal complained, groaning into his pillow. "You'd think that he'd take it easy on a guy."
"I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough." Gippal raised his head and gave his friend an accusing glare.
"Aren't you supposed to say, 'He'll loosen up eventually' or something like that? You know, make me feel better?"
"Well, I want to make you feel better, but there's really no reason for me to blatantly lie now, is there?" Baralai said innocently. The look of innocence disappeared the moment he saw his friend pouting adorably, making the former Praetor laugh heartily.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pick on the Al Bhed." Gippal grumbled. Baralai lay down on his bed, with more grace than Gippal could give him credit for.
'If he acts anymore graceful, Paine's gonna start worrying about her femininity.' Gippal thought with amusement, although he knew that the gracefulness that Baralai exudes wasn't feminine at all. He was aware of the fact that many people consider Baralai as a fragile being. If he remembered correctly, Rikku mentioned something about one of Leblanc's henchman actually had the nerve to call Baralai a "girly man" which made Gippal shake his head in disgust.
No one knew the real Baralai, the one who easily destroyed a Zu in a single hit, the one who would take two guard shifts just so his friends could have more time to sleep. And of course, the man who had New Yevon under his thumb.
That didn't mean that Baralai was without flaws or any insecurities. It just meant that Gippal didn't see any flaws and any insecurities Baralai might have, well...the Al Bhed was prepared to rid of those too.
"He doesn't need you to protect him, Gippal." Paine had warned him, once. But of course, he wasn't there to protect Baralai per se. He was just there to catch him if he ever should fall.
And what a load of Lupine crap that is.
Gippal snorted, chuckling slightly at his overly sappy train of thoughts. Baralai was staring at him with an amused look, wondering what the Al Bhed was thinking of. As if sensing the gaze, Gippal turned to give him a wide grin.
"Nothing you wish to know, your Praetor-ness." He teased. The reply he got from Baralai was the smack of a pillow on his face. "Hey! No fair!"
"Oh? I didn't realize we were playing by the book?"
"OK! That's it!" And a round of pillow throwing and friendly wrestling—friendly? It's more friendly than plain old friendly—ensued.
~~*~~
"Where's that lazy bum?" Nooj asked.
"Still fast asleep, last time I checked." Baralai replied, biting into his sandwich. It was the third day into their first week and already this was becoming a routine.
"You want me to wake him?" Paine asked, although she looked like she wanted to do anything but that. The day before, when she tried to wake the sleeping Al Bhed, he nearly gave her a black eye.
Who knew that Gippal had the tendencies to smack anyone who tried to wake him up? Of course, Baralai knew this because during their Crimson Squad days he was the one who would wake up Gippal, but he apparently forgot to mention it to Paine. He had to apologize at least 20 times before Paine finally forgave him and it was only because he was using his best "You-have-to-forgive-me-because-I'm-just-too-cute" look.
"Give him 15 more minutes, then go in there with a pitcher of ice water." Paine laughed and Baralai nearly choked on his sandwich.
Unfortunately, Gippal chose this moment to make his appearance, yawning and scratching his head as he plopped down next to Baralai.
"Finally awake?" Asked Baralai.
"Nn. Gimme half an hour. Brain not working." He muttered, muttering under his breath. Paine handed him a cup of coffee, which he accepted with a happy grin. "Thanks Dr. P!"
"I really have to beat that habit out of you."
"What? Calling you Dr. P?"
"You had Rikku doing it too." Paine said accusingly.
"Huh? But Rikku didn't know that we knew each other." Gippal pointed out. "I've never told her about you."
Nooj snorted, shaking his head. "You're making it sound as if you have some sort of love triangle."
"What!" Exclaimed Gippal, just about the same time when Paine scrunched up her face and then raised an eyebrow.
"I would think that I have better taste than this, Captain."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Gippal demanded, rounding up on Paine instead.
"Figure it out, blondie." Gippal sighed.
"Yeah yeah. I can't help it that I'm blond." He said, drawing a chuckle out of Baralai and a grin from Paine. Even Nooj looked as if he was ready to smile.
~~*~~
"Paine, the two fail to answer my question about this, so I might as well ask you myself. What were you doing in the Calm Lands?" Nooj asked. Zephyr's pilot lost her concentration for a moment, causing the airship to swerve sharply. Luckily both Navigator and Captain were sitting down, so they managed to grab a hold of something.
"I, uh...I was just looking for something new."
"You're from Kilika, aren't you?" Nooj asked. Paine was silent, but she managed to nod.
"I bumped into one of you old friends the other day, she was asking about you."
"Oh."
"Paine?" Baralai asked, looking over at the girl who was currently piloting the airship with worry.
"I'd rather not talk about it right now." She said quietly.
"Would you mind if we stop by Kilika some time, then? It might be good if you come by and talk to him."
Before Paine could even answer Nooj's question, in storms in Gippal, looking more disheveled than usual. In fact, he was covered in a layer of black dust from head to toe.
"What happened to you?" Demanded Nooj, the first to react. Paine burst into uncontrollable laughter, along with Baralai. But while Paine continued to laugh, Baralai had to suppress his laughter, having caught the rather nasty look his friend was sending him.
"I was fixing one of the engines because it was making funny noises!" He complained. "I thought I had enough Defense Part A to make it work, but it blew up on me! I had the rotation rate precisely! I had four Special Part Z and another three other types of Defense parts as back up so if it fucked up, it would have still been able to sustain-" He paused abruptly, noting the blank looks that he was receiving.
"WHAT?"
"You sound so...intelligent." Muttered Paine. What impressed her more was that he was able to sound intelligent while saying "fucked up" at the same time.
"Quite true, this is a rare occurrence." Agreed Nooj.
He narrowed his eye, glaring at the two, before directing his glare at Baralai. But Zephyr's navigator was looking elsewhere, trying to avoid the accusing glare.
"You were the one who swerved the airship!" Gippal pointed at Paine accusingly. "If you didn't swerve it, I would have been able to fix it! Now all the parts are jammed!"
Still no sign of remorse from Paine, in fact, she looked even more amused.
//Jackasses!// He swore, stomping back to the engine room. The bridge was silent for one...two...three seconds, before the three people there burst into hysterical laughter. Months ago, the sight of a laughing Nooj would have caused massive heart attack to anyone witnessing this event. Fortunately, this was now common practice and the three former Crimson Squad members continued to laugh, long after Gippal has gone.
~~*~~
"There you are!" Paine exclaimed. Her voice was slightly muffled by the wind, although her intent to berate the Al Bhed was clear. "I've been looking all over the airship for you!"
"Really?" His voice sounded a little too high for his own liking, but the alcohol in the system told him he shouldn't care. So he didn't.
"Yes! What are you doing all the way up here?" She asked, walking over to where Gippal was sitting. It wasn't until she was standing beside him that she noticed the bottle.
"Wait a minute...Gippal, where did you get that bottle of alcohol from???" Exclaimed Paine, eyes widening. It was then that she took note of the Al Bhed's strange smile and his out-of-focus eye. Groaning, Paine leaned over to shake the Al Bhed's shoulder.
"Damn it, Gippal! Get UP! You can get yourself killed up here! Drinking on deck? What were you thinking?"
"Inna minit." He slurred, hiccupping slightly.
"You're going to get yourself in trouble. Nooj isn't going to like this." Surprisingly, Gippal let out a quiet laugh.
"That's the point, Dr. P!" He exclaimed. "Get Nooj pissed, make you and Baralai laugh! Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" Paine paused for a moment, looking at Gippal in shock. Slowly, her eyes softened and she ruffled the blond's hair.
"You know, for someone who's drunk you sure don't sound like it."
"Maybe that's cause I'm not." Gippal said quietly, looking at her, smiling calmly. "But it's good to pretend once in a while, eh?" She shook her head, grinning at him.
"So why play pretend?"
"Just need to drink, that's all. And I figured, might as well get drunk in the process." He paused, peering at the bottle with distaste. "Unfortunately, I've developed some sort of an immune system to this alcohol or something. It doesn't affect me the way it's supposed to."
"Any normal person would be keeling over with alcohol poisoning right about now." Paine agreed, recalling the times when she caught Brother drinking the same Al Bhed-made alcohol when she was still with the Gullwings.
It took some coaxing, but she was finally able to help Gippal to his room. With Baralai and Nooj busy on the bridge, she was left with the troublesome Al Bhed. And this being day 7, the last day of their first week, surely they were entitled to some form of recreation? Gippal especially?
"Hey Paine?" Gippal asked, after Paine had helped him onto his bed and she was about ready to leave.
"Yeah?"
"What do you do when you like someone, but there's no way you can tell them?" The girl paused by the doorway, heaving a sigh once more. She vaguely noted that around Gippal she sure does sigh a lot.
"Maybe it's time you tell him how you really feel." She suggested. "It got tiring during your training days. It's long overdue, don't you think?"
"It's not that simple."
"Nothing ever is. Look at the lives we lead, it's as complicated as it gets."
"No. What I mean is, there's something that you don't know." Frowning, Paine turned around, looking at the blond who was lying in bed.
"What do you mean?" There was a long pause and absolutely no movement from the person currently occupying the bed. "Gippal?"
For a moment Paine thought he had fallen asleep. She was about to give up and step out of the room, when Gippal finally spoke up. "I'll tell you when I'm ready, how's that?"
"Sure thing." She stopped, smiling slightly. "No pressure."
Long after Paine had left, Gippal was still lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His thoughts were jumbled up, yet there was only one that seemed to stay.
"What am I doing?" He sighed to himself. "This is so stupid, dragging them into this crazy idea. Even if Paine did dream of flying something like this." He chuckled.
"I still can't believe I pulled that on all of them. Forgetting that there are four of us?" He snorted. "I might be blond, Dr. P, but I'm also an Al Bhed. I practically live with numbers, equations and other information swimming around in my head. Of course I remember that there are four of us. And that there should be four cabins." He stopped, gaze shifting to the bed across the room.
"But I want this moment." He whispered to himself. "Even if it's only a moment. Even if I can't touch him, but at least I can watch him sleep." He pushed himself up to a sitting position, laughing dryly and shaking his head. "Just across the room, but he might as well be in Zanarkand and I'm all the way back in Bikanel."
"Guess it's one of those clichés...Sometimes love just doesn't cut it."
~~*~~
(Narrator)
The sound of the blaring alarm and the red light that lit up the bridge made the three lounging crew scramble to their feet. Baralai was quick to move to his station, checking up on various data as to who had sent the distress signal.
Gippal was equally quick, hopping to his station, hoping to pick up any stray waves. Most often than not, the distress signals they have would have been due to a sphere. They were well-known among sphere hunters.
It's not too hard to notice 3 former faction-leaders and one former member of the famous sphere hunter group, The Gullwings acting as a sphere hunting unit. But it was Baralai and Nooj that received the most attention, as their group was bigger than Gippal's and although the Gullwings did raise quite a few eyebrows, it was mostly due to Yuna's presence. Paine could pretty much come and go as she pleases around Spira and only be known as "the girl who used to sphere hunt with Lady Yuna." Well, most of the time anyway.
But the main point is, if anyone sees a sphere, they're most likely going to call the Crimson Team.
(End transmission)
Rikku frowned for a moment, tossing the sphere from one hand to the other. Whoever recorded the sphere must know one of the Crimson members. Of course, Rikku was slightly miffed that Paine didn't tell her about this. And she was pissed at Gippal for not telling her at all.
It wasn't everyday that you find out a former team member and your childhood friend just formed a rival team. But what she really didn't get was...why did the transmission make it seem as if the Crimson Team was already famous?
Last time Rikku checked, only a certain number of sphere hunting groups know about their existence. Furthermore, from what she heard, they've yet to land themselves a mission. So how the heck can the recorder say with certainty that if anyone sees a sphere, they'd call this new sphere hunting group?
Shrugging, she pocketed the sphere. No use to get Brother all riled up over nothing, right?
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Well now, wasn't that just horrible? Those were snippets that we had for two chapters that we had planned about their first week. Unfortunately, laziness is an attribute we both share thus...it's crammed into one jumbled up chapter!
Wai: Originally intended to be a humor chapter. Please blame Aki for any angst! Not my fault, I swear! *hides*
Aki: *shakes head* Don't blame me, she's the one who wrote it. *points at Wai*
Wai: Ehehehe. In any case...please review?