Ok sea monkeys! I am back and finally able to eat real food! Yay! I had such a wonderful breakfast. My father always makes me breakfast on Sunday's when I come to my parents house. Isn't that sweet? Unfortunately, my dogs get some of my bacon before I get to it. They are so spoiled.
Anywho, story time. You likes it so far? I hope so, cause I keep going over it and deciding what to do when I should be working or learning. My boss thinks I need more sleep or something, but I am just daydreaming. So, let's get started!
I don't own FFX-2, but if I did, I would buy the worlds supply of cookies and hoard them all! Mwahahahaha! (j/k. Of course I would share with nice reviewer-type people...)
Chapter 10: It's too Darn Hot...er, Cold
It had been raining for five days straight and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Everything was either wet or damp. Streets and the few gardens in Luca were all water logged. An unmistakable 'squish' sound followed people around when they came indoors. Every building had a mop ready at the door to clean up the water that got tracked in. Only a few determined people ventured outside for any reason. These poor souls ran, or tried to, to their destinations. It had also brought the influx of ships to a stand still. Most were stuck out at sea, fighting the waves and wind.
Rikku stood staring out of a window in the kitchen of the Sun Rose, frowning at the rain. There was not much to do on rainy days, for her anyway. Fortunately, Elizza kept her busy making food stuffs or helping with some housework. Chores were not her forte, but it was a safe way to expend her energy. So she dusted and polished away, Elizza right beside her the whole time. Between the two of them, the Sun Rose was squeaky clean. Rikku had become very defensive of the hardwood floors, seeing as she had put a new wax coating on them and they shone brilliantly. The only problem was that there was no more cleaning to do. Thus the reason she was staring out of a window in the kitchen.
She and Gippal made it a point to see each other everyday, if only for a little while. Rikku had a new appreciation for Gippal. He worked all day and most of the night, barely stopping to rest. He usually came to visit her; it was his way to make sure she did not go out into the rain unnecessarily. There would probably be no visit today, because one of the ships from Bikanel had docked last night and was being unloaded while she sat in comfortable warmth. Gippal was out with them, getting the boat emptied as fast as possible. He was not about to ask his workers to be out in the rain if he was not going to be out in it. Rikku felt sorry for him and the others out in the miserable weather. The rain had a way of creeping inside raincoats and the chill in the air sank into the bones.
Seeing that Gippal would be miserable all day, and probably be awake all night, Rikku was bringing him a surprise. She was waiting for it to finish cooking so that she could bring it to him. There was nothing better in the world when one is cold than something warm to eat. She had made a delicious stew, and fresh bread to go with it. Rikku was in all actuality a very good cook. She rarely had any reason to show off that particular talent so no one knew except her family.
She smiled, thinking about his expression when she gave him his surprise. He most likely had not eaten a real Home cooked meal in a long time. He was rarely at Djose Temple for very long and even there he usually forgot to eat. She made him have at least one meal a day with her, even if he said he was not hungry. He was always hungry, he just did not think about it to know it.
"Rikku, dear, this smells wonderful. Do you really think we needed this much though?" Rikku turned away from the dreary view and smiled at Elizza. She was stirring the pot, sniffing appreciatively.
"Yup yup. Raas will eat half of that pot when he gets home. It's kind of a treat for us Al Bhed. We never used to be able to sit and enjoy a meal, let alone make something that needs to cook for hours on end."
"Well, if there is any left, we can freeze it for some other time. Will you write down the recipe for me? Raas would love to have some again I dare say."
"Sure! Give me some paper. Although there aren't any precise measurements. Just a pinch of this, a double handful of that."
"That's not a problem, dear. Is it ready to eat, yet? I think my breakfast is wearing off." Elizza said with a laugh.
"Um, good question." Rikku had woken up early to start cooking so that it would be done by late afternoon. She had made the bread dough last night, so that it would have time to rise. "It should be. Let's find out!" She made her way over to the stove, and took a spoonful for a taste. "Yup! It's done. Dig in!"
While Elizza was sampling the stew, Rikku busied herself with filling a large thermos with the stew and getting a thin, heated brick from the oven to keep her bread warm. Now all she needed were some bowls and eating utensils. All the afore mentioned items found their way into a large, picnic style basket. Once assured that said basket would not let rain water in, Rikku was ready to leave. Elizza bid her farewell, adding a compliment for her cooking. Rikku grinned and left the kitchen feeling that she was the greatest person in the world, bringing her boyfriend a hot, home-made meal on a miserable, rainy day like this one.
After donning her rain coat, Rikku made her way to the docks, hoping that she was not too late to catch Gippal. As it happened, the boat had just been unloaded and the hovers were getting ready to leave for Djose Temple. All the people were headed somewhere warm and dry except for a few. One of these few, unsurprisingly, was Gippal. She made her way over to him, and found Raas talking with him while the last of the cargo was secured onto a hover. They were talking about the next boat to come and what was expected on it and yadda yadda yadda.
"Hey guys!" she said over the pitter patter of rain. They both turned to look at her and broke out in smiles. Being mostly soaked and cold, mustering a smile must have cost them a lot, but they did it anyway. She just had that effect on people.
"What brings you out in the cold rain? I was going to come see you after I got some actual dry clothes on." Gippal reached out his hand to stroke her cheek. It was cold enough to make her shiver. Why he was not shivering was beyond her knowledge. I guess the cold really doesn't bother him. Good thing I came to warm him up! Hehe.
"I brought you a present!"
"You could have waited you know."
"I know. I just wanted to do something nice." she said to him.
"Sooo, what'd you bring me? That's an awfully big basket you have there,"
"It's food. Hot food." She giggled as his eyes brightened. "I made it just for you!"
"How'd you know I was thinking about hot food? You turning psychic?"
"Noooo, I just know that you forgot to eat breakfast, like usual." Rikku turned to Raas and said "There's some for you too, back at the Sun Rose. I just couldn't carry anymore food; else my arm is going to fall off." Raas smiled and shook his head.
"What ever it is, I'm grateful for it. Man am I starved! See you kids later." He walked off towards his home, humming a song. Rikku started when Gippal grabbed the basket from her hands. She frowned at him, seeing that he only needed one hand to carry it while she needed two. The frown left when his other arm went around her waist, directing her to his inn.
After Gippal had changed into some dry clothes, they ate. Rikku enjoyed watching his face while he ate. The bread was the first part of the meal to go. Gippal loved bread, the fresher the better. He could eat entire loaves by himself without even thinking about it. Rikku did the same thing, of course, but she liked something with the bread more than just, well, bread. Gippal sighed when he realized there was still some sauce in the bowl and he had no more bread to sop it up with. Rikku laughed and pulled out another loaf. She tore it in half, giving him one piece while keeping the other.
"Oh, sure, you get the big half!" Gippal said playfully. Rikku snorted at him.
"Hey, I made it! You know how difficult it is to make this stuff? It takes, like, hours."
"I stand corrected then." he said, finishing his half in record time, even for Rikku. He got up and knelt down in front of her, his hands taking hers. "Thanks. You didn't have to do anything like that for me."
"Yes I did." she said, looking into his eye.
"I've got the best girlfriend in the world, you know that?" Rikku felt a silly grin tugging at her lips and a blush crept into her cheeks. They had only been together for about a week, but she always felt her insides turn to mush when Gippal complimented her. He made her feel like a lady, which she was not at all used to. True, there were the suggestive remarks and the teasing, but all in all he treated her with care and respect.
"You do, don't you?" Rikku was rewarded with a kiss for that remark. She made every excuse in the world for Gippal to kiss her, and he took advantage of each and every one. He had even made sure that no one would bother them when they were together unless it was a real emergency. Ever since the door-breaking incident, Plaazt had refrained from bothering them at all. He also took up some extra work, so that Gippal had the time to spend with her. It was not a lot of time, but it was time none the less. Plaazt had removed his name from Rikku's black list.
Gippal pulled her to her feet after the kiss ended. She frowned, thinking he had to go back to working again so soon. He called Plaazt on his comm unit, which squawked something back at him.
"Call me in one hour, and don't stop until I answer. Got It?" The comm unit squawked again, then fell silent as he removed it from his clothing. Rikku looked at him curiously, wondering what he was up to. Gippal placed the unit on the night stand and fell onto the bed with a huge sigh. He looked up to see her still staring at him, and with a smirk he patted the bed to his right. It was all the invitation she needed. Rikku jumped over his body, landing on the mattress beside him and making the bed bounce. She snuggled next to him, ready to take a nap. This was beginning to be a tradition for them. Whenever Gippal had come to the Sun Rose, Rikku made him eat something and take a nap with her. She knew he needed more sleep than he got, and for some reason he easily fell asleep next to her. She had no complaint about taking naps, especially with Gippal with her. He was like her own man-shaped furnace, ready and willing to keep her warm at all times.
Before sleep over took them, Gippal wrapped a blanket around the both of them. The rain made it feel colder than it really was. He would wake up with kisses and cuddles for her, then fill her ears with sweet words or dirty jokes. It all depended on what tickled his fancy. Sometimes she got both, if he stayed warm enough. Seeing that she made sure he was close to her at all times insured this behavior. He probably knew she was doing it on purpose; he just enjoyed it too much to say anything.
It seemed that they had only just fallen asleep when Gippal's comm unit started squawking at them, insisting that they wake up. Gippal stirred and opened his eyes in annoyance. He grabbed the unit and threw it across the room so that it landed under the dresser, muffling the sounds it made. Rikku smiled sleepily, and they both closed their eyes again. Only the comm unit would not be silent. It had been making noise for five minutes before Gippal groaned and got off the bed to answer the thing.
"Why do you have to obey orders so well?" he said
"Because you pay me too much not to."
"Good point. I'm deducting your pay. Now lemme go back to sleep." A huge yawn punctuated his words.
"Nice try, Gippal." Plaazt said. Gippal mumbled something and turned the unit off. Rikku had sat up to watch the little scene with an amused expression on her face. Gippal came back to the bed and sat down on it, rubbing his face. She crawled over to him and started massaging his back. He sighed; Rikku could feel the knots in his muscles and was over come with pity. Being that tense was painful and uncomfortable. She tried to get the worst knots out before he went back the insidious thing called 'work'.
"Keep doing that and I'll go to sleep sitting up." he said tiredly. The poor man sounded and looked exhausted.
"And that's a bad thing? You need to sleep." Rikku worked her way down his back and heard him sigh again. "My poor Gippal. You want me to save you again tonight?"
"I don't think I have the energy to go out for dinner, baby."
"Not dinner, silly! I'll give you a real massage. You'll like it. I'll even bring something to eat if you want." Rikku had wrapped her arms around his neck and her chin was resting on his shoulder. She could sense his smile, and knew she had won. "I'll come back later, so don't count on being up late tonight. I want to sleep too, you know."
"Are you spending the night again? I might just decide to have my way with you instead of getting a massage." Gippal leaned back, making Rikku support his weight. He looked at her from upside-down, making her giggle. "I'm serious." Gippal said, turning around and pushing her onto the bed. She let him do it; it gave her an intense rush to be submissive to him. That was odd because she was not at all submissive in anything she did in life.
"Can't we do both?" she asked seriously. He laughed softly and brushed an errant strand of hair away from her face. Rikku closed her eyes at his touch, reveling in the warmth it brought to life within her. She lifted her head slightly, eyes still closed, and met him half way in a kiss. It was not the 'I-want-you-now' kind of kiss, nor was it just a brush on the lips. It was more like an 'I-want-you-but-I'll-savor-you-later' kind of kiss.
Unfortunately, it had to end. Lack of oxygen will make one end, along with a stampede of cattle. Gippal looked down at her for several minutes, stroking her hair. He liked her hair down for some reason. All men seemed to like women's hair to be down and long. She had it up in a ponytail today, so there would be no fingers running through her hair. She would let him do that later tonight.
"Why do I have to be such a gentleman for you, Rikku? It's driving me crazy." Rikku grinned up at him, holding his eyes with hers.
"Because you know I'm worth it."
"Yes you are. Most definitely worth it. Although I don't know how much longer I can keep it up." he said with a smirk.
"I'll do everything in my power to make you crazy for me, so don't worry."
"You already do that. Quite well, I might add." He kissed her again, this time briefly. She knew he had to go, but was not willing to let him go yet. When he tried to get up, she held onto his neck, stopping the movement. After chuckling at her, Gippal picked her up bodily from the bed and carried her to the door. Rikku sighed and pouted at him. She wanted to spend more time with him. "Don't pout at me like that. The sooner I get all this done the sooner I get to spend all the time I can with you."
"Really? You promise?" she said, still pouting slightly. She always received more kisses when she pouted at him. He just could not resist it. Rikku never used it to get anything more than a kiss, which might explain why it worked so well on him.
"Yes, I promise. Now let's get you out of here so that I can concentrate." He put her on her feet lightly, kissed her, and opened the door. He was carrying her basket for her, so she took her sweet time going down the stairs after him. Gippal gave her an annoyed look at the slow pace she made because he was holding her hand and had to stop every other step to keep his grasp on it. Rikku smiled happily at him, glad of the delay tactic.
Sadly, the lobby was reached and her rain coat put on. Gippal transferred the basket to her, which was much lighter without the food, and kissed her good-bye. He watched her walking away, so she turned and waved.
"See you later, love-muffin!" She blew him a kiss, and he pretended to stagger backwards from the force of it. It made her laugh. Humming while she walked back to the Sun Rose, Rikku thought of all the wonderful ways to drive Gippal crazy. It would be so much fun, teasing him. She was more than willing to make love to him; Gippal was just trying to be a gentleman instead of a horn-dog. He was so sweet to her.
Rikku passed a shop near her destination, and she backtracked to look in the window again. A moment later she entered the shop and purchased several items, including a very nice set of massage oils and a few candles. Romantic lighting would not hurt anything. It might even help a little. With the purchases safely in the basket she headed to the Sun Rose.
Later that night...
Rikku had run all the way to Gippal's inn. Night made the weather even worse. It was cold, and the rain was falling sideways so that she got soaked from the legs down. No one was out on the streets. The city was eerily silent and felt empty. Most businesses were closed, even the bars. It cost more to keep them open than they got in revenues. Rikku was very glad when she came in sight of the inn. It would be so wonderful to be warm again. She entered the inn and nodded to Mr. Helpful at the desk. She did not particularly like the man, but it was rude to ignore him.
Rikku went right to the double doors of the room the Machine Faction were using. The lights were on and voices could be heard talking about this and that. Rikku opened the door quietly and went in. There were only three people inside. Gippal, Plaazt and a woman who was working on some kind of diagram. Gippal looked up at her entrance and gave her a tired smile.
"Is it that late already?" he asked, getting up from his chair.
"Yes it is." She took his hand and led him out the doors. "Lets go upstairs." Gippal followed without a fight. He poked the bag that hung over her shoulder, silently asking what was inside. "Stuff." was all she said, leaving the contents a mystery. He unlocked his door and promptly re-locked it after they entered. "Are you locking me in Gippal?"
"You better believe it. I'm keeping you here all night."
"Hehe. As if I'd leave. Now you go take a nice hot shower. It'll help loosen those muscles of yours." Gippal complied, taking something out of a drawer before entering the bathroom. Rikku waited until the shower was turned on to open her bag. The first thing she did was get out of her wet clothing. I seem to have a habit of taking my clothes off around Gippal. She put on her pajamas, which consisted of a cami and panties. Not the warmest of things to wear, but it was what she always wore to bed. Gippal had snuck into her room to scare her awake back Home enough times to know what she wore to sleep in. It was just too bad if he forgot.
She placed the candles on the dresser and lit them. The massage oils came out next. These she set on the night stand. She would have put the candles nearer the bed but oil and fire did not mix well. Rikku unmade the bed, pulling the covers over to one side. Gippal came out of the bathroom just as she hopped on the bed.
"Please tell me you're not wearing that to bed."
"I am. Why? Is there something wrong with them?" Rikku looked down at herself, trying to see if there was something on her pajamas. Gippal shook his head and closed his eyes. She patted the bed where the covers had been removed. "Come on. Lie down." He did so, groaning as he lowered himself down onto his stomach. Once he was comfortable, relatively, Rikku straddled his torso, sitting on his legs. He shifted to look at her, but subsided when she glared at him. Grabbing one of the bottles of oil she set to work.
"OUCH! What do you have back there, a knife?" Gippal complained, grimacing.
"No. Try to relax, ok?" she replied.
"Relax? You're sitting on me mostly naked while I'm wearing boxers running your hands over my body. How am I supposed to relax?"
"Think about something else, then."
"That's not -ouch- as easy as you think, baby."
"Well, you could think about what you're going to do to me when I get done..."
Rikku laughed when he hit the pillow repeatedly with his head. She found another knotted muscle and proceeded to work it out, causing Gippal to hiss and complain once again. Once all the knots were out, she really set to work. Just because he was no longer in pain did not mean he was relaxed.
"What in the world do you do to get this tense? Wrestle with a gug?" she said pouring more of the vanilla scented oil on her palm. She started at his neck and shoulders, using gentle pressure to convince the muscles to relax completely. Now that the painful part was over Gippal was enjoying himself.
"It's not like I do it on purpose. I never get a chance to relax." He was mumbling half into the pillow.
"You'll just have to make time for me to help you relax, won't you?" she said with a smirk that her voice reflected. He turned to look at her again, this time with narrowed eyes. "What?" He laid his head back down in silence.
"You are a little minx, you know that?"
"How so, Luscious?"
"The only way you could make this more difficult for me is to be naked." he mumbled again.
"That can be arranged." Rikku replied seriously. He said something into the pillow she could not quite catch. A smile played on her face with her victory.
"And you would be underneath me with your legs wrapped around my waist." he said, just as seriously. That image made her quite happy. She had actually finished her massage by now. He did not know that, so she kept going. Eventually, she had to stop; her hands were tired. Letting out a small sigh she got off his legs and sat on the bed beside him. Gippal was looking at her. Just looking; there was no smirk or grin on his face.
"What? Didn't you like it?" she asked worriedly. Barkeep, who had taught her, said she was a natural. She could not imagine that she had done something wrong. A slow smile spread on his face and he put a hand on her waist. She thought she was just going to be pulled down, but found herself quickly flipped onto her stomach.
"Your turn, Honey-lips." Gippal took the bottle of oil from the night stand and put some on his hands. Rikku stared at him with an eyebrow raised. "Come on. Off with the shirt. I'll be good, I promise." She kept the eyebrow raised but did as she was told.
"I thought you were trying to avoid this situation Gippal."
"I said I'd be a good boy. Don't worry." She could just picture the grin on his face.
"You are not boy, and you are definitely not a good one."
"True, true. That doesn't mean I can't be nice to my girl, does it?"
"Anything to get your hands on me." Gippal's answer was to start rubbing her back. He had strong hands, but he made sure to be gentle. Rikku smiled and felt herself relax deeply. The skin on her back was extremely sensitive, so a gentle massage like the one she was getting now was stimulating as well as relaxing. She could feel exactly where his hands were going to go before they go there. Her skin twitched slightly when he ran just his fingertips down her spine. "Hey, stop that. It kinda tickles."
"So sorry." He said, removing his hands from her body. Frowning a bit, Rikku went to reach for her top but could not find it. She looked to both sides of herself but to no avail.
"Where's my shirt?"
"Um...somewhere in the general vicinity of the dresser I think."
"Why'd you throw it over there?"
"Because you're not putting it back on."
Before she could react, Rikku found herself flipped on her back and in the receiving end of the most passionate kiss Spira had ever witnessed.
Soooooooooooooo, wasn't it evil of me to end it there? Hehe. You'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out what happens! I wonder if they will be interrupted? Hmmm... Anywho, I hope you likes it! Please r&r!
Thank you to all the reviewers who read my story. It brightens my day to get such wonderful reviews!