A buzzing woke Rikku from sleep the next morning. When she looked around, she was still inside her bed. Lifting her head up, she reached her hand outside the curtain and grabbed her communicator on her side table. The smell of coffee was coming from the next room, that made her wake up a little bit. Grumbling, she pressed the answering button on her communicator and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" she muttered, rolling over on her back.

"You're still in bed?" came a voice from the other side.

She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and made a surprised face. "Paine? What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

With a sigh, she sat up and moved aside the curtains to get out of bed. She turned her clock towards her, her feet on the floor. "I had a late night," she said. "And it's Sunday, everyone's day off. No one works today."

"Yeah, I know, Al Bhed day of rest, whatever," her friend said dully. "What are you doing tonight?" she asked.

She grinned. "Aw, Paine, I didn't know you felt that way," she replied, words dripping with sarcasm. "No offense, I'm straight and not to mention you're getting married at the end of this week."

There was grumbling on the other end. "Ha ha, very funny."

"I thought so."

"Baralai wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come to dinner with us," she said calmly. "Yuna and Tidus are coming and so is Gippal."

"What for?" she asked, standing up and stretching a little bit.

"Well, since we all are...friends, he thought it be nice. I don't know, I didn't ask into it. I'm doing what I'm told."

Barefooted, she headed out into the main room. "Okay," she said. "Never knew you were one to take orders."

Opening the door, she found Gippal in the kitchen making a pot of coffee, still in his night clothes, which consisted of surprisingly a pair of sweatpants; there might have been boxers underneath, but she wasn't sure. She rolled her eyes at his appearance, but when he poured himself a mug, she took it from him. He gave her a look, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

The machine leader was looking quite well that day, even though he probably just got out of bed himself. His hair was a mess and his eye patch was missing again. Apparently, he took it off when he slept. She avoided staring at his chest, since he was topless.

Rikku only stuck out her tongue at him before going over to the other side of the kitchen. "Is it a formal event?" she asked into the receiver.

"The guys are wearing tuxes," her friend replied. Rikku heard her laugh. "And guess what I have to wear?"

"No...a dress?" she asked, hidden meaning in her tone. "You know, that is an absolute sin, Baralai making you wear a dress—in public even. How cruel and unusual."

"Isn't it?" Again, she chuckled. "But that's not the only reason I need to talk to you. Actually, Baralai does."

"Okay, put him on." She finished and took a sip of her

"Why talk to him on here...?"

There was a short knock and the door opened. Who should walk in but Paine, followed by Baralai. Holding the handle was her warrior friend, who had the communicator to her ear. Both of their jaws dropped when seeing them.

"...When you can in person?" Paine finished, eyebrows raised.

Rikku hung up. "Well, at least you knocked," she said, calmly as ever, still drinking her coffee.

Gippal waved, seeming perfectly content with their two friends seeing him in his nightwear. At least she was completely covered. She put down her mug. "What?" she asked.

They looked at each other. "Nothing," Paine said. "Baralai..."

He smiled, still looking a little weary to them. "Lady Rikku," he started. "I wanted to discuss something to do with construction, a business matter."

She nodded. "Okay, hold on," she said. "Have a seat you two."

Disappearing into the next room, she retrieved her robe. Being half dressed in front of your best friend's fiancé was not a good idea. She put it on and came outside, Paine was in the kitchen and both of the guys were in the living area, sitting down. Gippal had somehow managed to put on a shirt.

Grabbing the crook of her arm, Paine dragged her over to the corner and gave her a look. "Rikku, is there something you wanna tell me?" she almost whispered.

Looking around, she glanced over to the guys before her. "No..." she replied. "Did I miss something?"

"Rikku," she sighed and paused, "I know you're slow in the morning without your coffee, so I'll explain." She glanced over to the guys too, before her gaze turned back to her. "We found both of you in pajamas, near noon, looking like you were run over by hover crafts, in the same room. And you're enjoying coffee together." She gave her a minute to compensate the meaning. "Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

Again, the blond took a sip of her coffee. She didn't get at all what she was talking about, so maybe more caffeine would make her understand. She tried as hard as she could to get anything out of what she said.

Pajamas, noon, messed up, same room? What did any of those things have to...oh. Well, that would explain why they looked so... Wait a minute, the two of them thought that—no!

She choked on her coffee and spit it back into her cup. Eyes wide, her breathing became uneven. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "No no no no!" she whispered with a pointed finger to get her point across. "Get that thought out of your head. I did not..." She looked over, the guys weren't even paying attention to them. "I am not sleeping with Gippal."

Paine let out a sigh. "Well, doesn't look that way. What are you two doing together like this?"

"Hey, Princess," Gippal called.

Rikku looked up, seeing that the two in the living room were looking over at them. How was she going to explain this? She smiled falsely and and came over. "It's Rikku, and what?" she asked, with her smile towards their visitors as she sat down. "Sorry you both had to see us like this." She gave him a look. "Isn't it tragic how there were so little rooms that we had to bunk together?"

Baralai seemed to catch on and looked at Paine, who sat next to him. She nodded and so did he with a smile. "How awful," he said. "What happened?"

"Pipes burst," Gippal said. "Entire two floors flooded up to your ankles."

"That would make it difficult to live down there. So, everyone had to bunk together?" he asked, he looked at his friend and gave him a look. Obviously he hadn't told Gippal of the suspicious yet. "Including you?"

"Yes," Rikku replied brightly.

Gippal was eying her suspiciously, but went along with the conversation. "I offered to give up my room and signed up for a space."

"And I offered the other bed in my room," Rikku said. "Everything else was full or filled."

He nodded. "Oh, well, how nice." He looked over to Paine and she just nodded once.

Gippal spoke again, going back to why he called her over in the first place. "I was saying how Kimahri made us the godparents of his daughter."

Paine raised an eyebrow. "He has a daughter?"

"We only found out yesterday," Rikku said. "Since we had to babysit her and Lian and Ayde," she continued. "She liked us so much, that they decided on that."

"Amazing," Baralai commented. "Anyway, Lady Rikku—."

"Oh, Rikku is fine."

"Alright, Rikku then, I was wondering if you could by any chance start to work on a house that I'd like to buy, that will be in Zanarkand."

Her eyebrows raised. "Oh, how nice," she said. "A house for...you and Paine?"

"That was the original plan."

"Don't you have to stay in Bevelle for most of the time?" she asked curiously.

"Think of it as...a vacation home," he said, trying his best to describe it."

She grinned, legs crossing. "I take it that this won't be just a house, will it?"

"If you mean palace, than yes," Paine commented smoothly, arms crossed.

Gippal laughed and said something in Al Bhed, that sounded a bit like 'Yevonites.' Rikku raised an eyebrow, but smiled again. "Well, I see no problem with that."

"She's a business woman, a big paycheck is always welcome," her roommate commented with another laugh, still sitting next to her.

She turned her head and gave him a look, before she smacked the back of his head again. "These are friends, meanie!" she exclaimed, before standing and going over to her bag.

He winced. "See what I have to live with?" he asked, presenting her with his hands. "And I didn't do anything."

Paine shrugged. "You had that one coming to you."

Gippal turned to Baralai. The Praetor sighed. "I have to agree with Paine and Princess Rikku on this one," he replied with a sad smile.

With Paine's grin, the machine leader rolled his eyes. "Frebbat..." he whispered. (whipped)

Rikku almost growled, coming over and hitting him with a hard bound book this time. "Ow!" he exclaimed. She hit him almost another three times, each time it following with an 'ow', before he stood, so she couldn't reach him. "You know what, I'm getting out of here before I lose a limb." He stood and headed to the bedroom.

"Don't use up all the hot water," she yelled after him.

Gippal stuck his head out from the doorway. "I'm not the one who spends an hour in the bathroom each morning," he sang.

He disappeared before a blunt object came in contact with his head. Rikku turned around and smiled, seeing Paine looking amused and Baralai a mix between the same and confused. She came over and took out a few things from her bag, then handed Baralai a book.

"These are designs you can look through," she said. "Pick one or a few out. We can mix a few, but those are basic floor plans. Coffee?"

He nodded. "I will see to these, but no thank you." Paine nodded, disagreeing to the coffee as well.

"I'll just leave the interior design to Paine."

"Thanks for that, Rikku," her friend said.

Her eyebrows went up and down quickly. "No problem. You two can look at those while I go get dressed," she said. She picked up her mug and started into the bedroom. "You'd better not be using the entire counter again!" she exclaimed, disappearing from view.

They just looked at each other with a look of almost surprise.

Rikku, last to come out of the bathroom, went into the closet and disappeared for a moment. She came back out, wearing a halter top and mini skirt. With boots and gloves, she attached a holster to her leg, placing a gun and knife inside. Gippal, pulling on his boots, raised an eyebrow. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes, going over to her dresser to comb out her hair. "I have some shopping to do," she replied. "I don't have anything to wear tonight. I'll be heading to Luca early."

He rolled his eyes. Women and their clothes. She already had more than half of the closet filled with her stuff. "Whatever," he said, with a sigh, before standing up. "It's your money."

Rikku placed her hands on her hips, and gave him a look. "I'm so glad I have your permission," she said. She finished her hair—it up in a ponytail so it was out of her face. "I have to get my hair done too, so stuff it. All guys have to do is put on a tux, show up and they're done."

"True."

She turned around again, and went through one of her drawers—her underwear one, since it was the top on the dresser. Finally, she took out a wad of bills and placed ones of a larger amount in her cleavage, some in the holster strap between her legs and the last in a miniature backpack in the shape of a moomba. His eyebrows raised. "Protective?"

"Hey, if it works," she said. "This way, I can't get robbed without myself noticing."

"Not that they'd look there."

She shrugged. "You have any better ideas?"

He followed her as they reached the living room, Paine and Baralai already traveled down to her office. "How exactly are you getting there anyway?"

"I'm boarding a cargo ship on its way to Luca," she said. "I'll pay for my way on anyway."

"Neat, I'll come with you."

She stopped and turned. "Why are you coming with me?"

He raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side. "I follow you everywhere, princess, remember?" he teased.

With a sigh, Rikku rolled her eyes. She recalled the Fu incident. He was right. "Whatever," she said. "But you're paying for yourself and we separate as soon as we arrive."