DISCLAIMER: Finally, an update! I apologize for my delayed-ness. Blame final exams. And Paradise Lost, which I've been stuck in for the past few weeks. But I think this chapter's longer than the others, so hopefully that makes up for it.
Thank you again to all readers, especially reviewers, who are delightful confidence-boosters.
Oh, right, the actual disclaimer. I still don't own any of the characters in Final Fantasy X, or the song Afternoon Delight. Now, here we go.
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"Rewind it, Rikku. I wanna see him get tackled again," Wakka said, his eyes streaming with tears.
Rikku obliged and played back the sphere she had made that afternoon. Unbeknownst to Seymour, she had recorded his experience with the dolls for posterity. She supposed it was a little mean. But it was so funny!
Even Lulu was smiling, patting the incendiary Raging Cactuar. "Now you see why I was so amused when I let you watch the dolls, Wakka."
Depending on the individual, the three of them began cracking up or quietly chuckling when the sphere image of Seymour began making faces at the sobbing moogles. Only Auron sat stoically. Rikku noticed this.
"Aww, Auron. Lighten up."
Auron took a swig of sake. "No. I will grant that having a bit of fun with Seymour was fine. But this has become silly."
"So? Silly is fun!" Rikku glanced back at the sphere. "Ooo, this is my favorite part! Skyyyyy rockets in flight/ Afternoon delight...!" she sang along loudly before dissolving into giggles.
Auron scowled at her. "This is ridiculous. You're treating him as though he's some sort of fun pet. You forget that he has tried to destroy Spira and may well be capable of it. So long as he remains unsent, he is a threat." He now had everyone's attention. "We are going to go find Yuna and have her send him."
"But Auron!" Rikku protested. "I've got him under control!"
"What happens if you lose Calhoun? Or it malfunctions?"
"It can't. Not all the way. If the magic nullifier fails, I can still put him to sleep."
"I don't trust that." Auron rose. "We'll call the airship tomorrow. Then we'll head to Luca to look for Yuna. If she, Tidus, and Kimahri aren't there, we'll head to Besaid."
"That's not fair to Yunie, though!" Rikku protested. "She needs a vacation. She's earned it!"
"And what would Yuna think if she knew that we were harboring a powerful unsent without telling her?" Auron asked. "You know her, Rikku; she would feel guilty for being away."
Rikku sighed. Auron was right; her cousin always took the responsibilities of the world upon herself. "Fine," she relented. "I don't guess the sending would take too long. But after that, you have to let her rest."
"Agreed," said Auron. He then addressed the group. "Get ready, everyone. We leave as soon as Cid gets here."
"You plan to bring a half-Guado maester aboard an Al Bhed airship?" Lulu arched an eyebrow.
Rikku had not thought about her father's reaction to Seymour. She began to giggle. Well, she though, this ought to be an interesting trip...
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Seymour boarded the large airship reluctantly. He wondered at the irony. He, a Guado and a master, was riding on a flying chunk of Al Bhed machina. True, his followers had used some machina themselves, and machina devices were even found in Bevelle's temple, but the teachings still forbade objects such as this. Seymour also recognized this particular ship. It had destroyed the wyrm Evrae. It had also crashed his wedding. Well, that may have been for the better. Had the marriage gone through, there was a good chance that Yuna would've sent him in his sleep. But there was also a chance that he would have been stronger than her, and would have been able to harness what power she wielded.
Seymour's reverie was interrupted by the entrance of a rough, bald, middle-aged man. He wore the standard Al Bhed jumpsuit—which appeared to fit him comfortably, Seymour noted—and a pair of goggles. "How's my girl?"
"Dad!" Rikku skipped over and hugged him. Seymour was startled. That man was Rikku's father? He failed to see a resemblance. "Where's Brother?"
"Blitzball," the man replied. Seymour cringed inwardly. The girl had a brother, too? Hopefully he took after his father in demeanor. "You might see him. Aren't you all headed to Luca?"
"Yes," Auron replied. "Sorry if we gave short notice, Cid, but it's important."
"Not a problem," Cid said dismissively. His voice reminded Seymour of a cowboy's. "Anything for my daughter's friends and my niece's guardians. What's so important, anyway?"
Auron glanced at Rikku. "Why don't you explain it to him?"
Rikku went over to Seymour and led him into the cabin by the arm. "This is Seymour."
Cid scowled and turned a fuming shade of red. "I know who he is. He's that damned Guado half-breed that kidnapped Yuna and tried to make him marry her. Not to mention destroying our Home!"
"Ah, yes. I'd forgotten about that," Seymour said. "But as I recall, it was your own missiles that destroyed it."
A shock longer and more painful than any he had yet experienced jolted around the collar. He turned to see Rikku, her green eyes blazing, holding Calhoun's shock button.
"Cyo oui'na cunno!" she said angrily.
Seymour didn't know a word of Al Bhed. "What?"
"Say you're sorry!"
"No."
Rikku wordlessly jammed the button as far down as it would go. The electricity increased and began to cause sharp, stabbing pains in Seymour's head as well as his neck.
"All right," Seymour gasped. "I'm sorry."
"Say it in Al Bhed."
"No!"
"Say it!"
"I don't know how."
"E's cunno," she said slowly.
Seymour made himself form the heathen syllables. "E's cunno."
At once the shock ceased. Rikku put Calhoun into her pocket. "Good."
Cid was staring. "Rikku, what was that thing?"
"A power nullifier/ sleep inducer/ shock collar," she replied. "It makes it so he really can't do much of anything."
"Did you make it?"
"Yup. Calhoun the great nullifier."
"That's impressive, Rikku," said Cid. "I'm proud of you. Will you show me how it works?"
"Sure!" she nodded. She turned to the others. "You guys just make yourselves at home. Um...I guess just stick Seymour in one of your rooms. If he's any trouble, come get me."
"All right," Lulu nodded. She glanced at Seymour, an uncharacteristic glimmer of mischief in her red eyes. "Shall I place you with the dolls?"
Seymour couldn't help but shudder. "Dear gods no."
Laughing, the other three led him unceremoniously to one of the spare rooms on the airship. After depositing their belongings—minus the dolls—they left and locked the door behind them.
After testing the door—which he had suspected would be pointless before he started—Seymour sat down on the narrow bed and stared out the window. The airship seemed to move very slowly as it made its way leagues above the water, though Seymour knew it was covering miles every minute. He wasn't sure how he felt about the airship's speed. The faster they went, the sooner they would arrive in Luca, and the sooner he would be sent. On the other hand, Luca was a major population center. If he could get away, he would be able to find help from those who remained loyal to Bevelle. He also might be able to find someone with technical prowess to remove Calhoun.
After an hour or so of enjoying the silence, Seymour became astonishingly bored. The view of the ocean became old. Meditation was impossible because he kept having to pop his ears every few seconds due to the altitude. He wasn't sleepy after all the forced naps Rikku imposed upon him. He finally resorted to seeing how many times he could dribble Wakka's blitzball on his knees. He had made it to 26 without stopping when the door slid open.
Rikku stuck her head in. "Watcha doing?"
"Attempting to amuse myself with inane activities." He continued dribbling.
"Is it working?"
"No."
Rikku came over and snatched the ball away in midair. "We're eating lunch now. Up!"
She grabbed his arm and trotted down the corridor to the dining area, dragging him behind her. She plunked him down at the table so that he was across from Auron and between Rikku and Wakka. Cid and Lulu flanked Auron. Seymour noticed Cid scowling at him out of the corner of his eye, but only for a moment.
"It's nice to have some food that isn't flame-broiled, ya?" Wakka said around a mouthful of something. "Mm! This pasta's great! What sauce is this?"
"Family recipe, "said Rikku as she swallowed. She noticed that Seymour hadn't touched his plate. "Try some, Seymour."
He didn't particulary trust any food that was created by the Al Bhed, particularly the clan that had spawned her. "No, thank you."
"C'mon, it's good!" She twirled some noodles around her chopsticks and brandished them at him. "See? Try it."
He turned away. "No." Why did she pester him so?
She began waving the chopsticks in front of his face. "Here comes the airship!" she said in a singsong voice. "Open wide..."
Seymour turned back around in confusion. "What are you doi—"
"Zoom!" Rikku cut him off mid-word by shoving the noodles into his open mouth. "There! How do you like it?"
It was really quite good, but Seymour chewed and swallowed as though it disgusted him. "Adequate," he said with disdain. He saw Cid scowling at him again. Seymour didn't care. Cid could scowl all he wanted.
"Oops, got some sauce on your mouth," said Rikku. She picked up her napkin. "Want me to get it for you?"
"Rikku," Auron said sternly. "Stop."
Cid stopped scowling and turned to Auron. "Is she like this a lot?"
Auron nodded, taking a drink of the soda set before him, which was the first nonalcoholic drink he'd had in awhile. "She treats him as though he is her pet."
"Do not."
Auron ignored Rikku's interruption and continued. "It's ridiculous. Perhaps you will have more success than I in getting her to stop this behavior."
"I'll talk to her," said Cid, but his scowl was on Seymour.
They finished lunch without further incident. Seymour rose and began to exit the room.
"Hold on, Guado," Cid ordered. "I want to have a word with you. You go on ahead, Rikku," he said in response to the girl's questioning look.
The room cleared, leaving Seymour and Cid alone. "What do you want?" Seymour asked contemptuously.
"I'll tell you what I want." Cid stomped up to Seymour. "I want you to keep away from my daughter!"
"So do I, and gladly," said Seymour. "But I am not able to do so."
"Don't give me that crap," Cid barked. "Let me tell you something. I don't care what she thinks of you. I don't like you, and if I see you so much as touch her—"
Realization hit Seymour like a Calhoun shock. "You think that I have feelings for Rikku?"
"Yeah. And not respectable ones, either."
For a moment Seymour just sat there blinking. The very idea that he would be interested in the little brat for any reason was so absurd that he was not sure whether he was appalled or amused. The latter won out and he began laughing. "You fool. Where did you get that idea?"
"Don't play dumb with me," Cid growled. "I've seen how you're always making eyes at her."
"Making eyes?" Seymour repeated. Was Cid referring to the murderous glares he directed at Rikku when she ordered him around? "You mistake hatred for flirtation."
"—And just now you let her feed you," Cid continued.
"Again, I had no choice in the matter," Seymour said. "Do you honestly believe, old man, that I enjoy being dragged about, forced to play games, and undressed—"
"She undressed you?!" Cid exploded.
"I was asleep!" Seymour snapped back. "I had nothing to do with it!"
Cid wasn't listening. "What, you couldn't get my niece to marry you, so you're moving through the family tree to my daughter?!"
"No!" This was insulting. "I have no interest in her, nor will I ever!"
Cid scowled again. "Why? What's wrong with her?" he demanded.
"She is loud, idiotic, childish, incorrigible, and easily the single most irritating individual I have ever encountered. I would sooner be sent to the Farplane than have anything to do with that chipper little monster whom you sired!"
"Oh, so she's not good enough for you, is that it?" Cid shot back. "Well let me tell you something, you piece of Guado scum. Rikku could do a hell of a lot better than you any day of the week, so where do you get off rejecting her? You should be begging her to look at you!"
Seymour was flabbergasted. "What is wrong with you? First you forbid me to look at her, and now you tell me that I should court her on bended knee?"
"Don't try changing the subject!"
"I change the subject? You're the one who's completely reversed the argument!" Seymour threw up his hands. "I don't know why I'm wasting my time with this discussion. Pick whichever answer you wish to hear from me. I'm done here." Seymour turned and strode briskly out the door.
"Don't you walk away from me, young man!" Cid ordered. Seymour ignored him. Cid took a swig of soda from a leftover glass and sighed.
"Why does she always have to pick the odd ones?"
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(A/N) Umm, in case anyone was wondering and getting grossed out: anything between Seymour and Rikku other than intense mutual dislike exists only inside of Cid's paranoid head. The purpose of this section is to increase the poor ickle maester's discomfort, which he brought upon himself by being such a pest on Gagazet.