Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.
Author's Note: Well, kids, I'm back by popular demand! After like 2348729384243 years. I won't blather on with excuses. It's just that sometimes I don't—well, I mean, I don't want to disappoint y'all… but then I'm apparently disappointing y'all by not updating. So, uh, here you go! Hopefully it doesn't suck too much. And I am insanely sorry for the wait, so here's (a short, I know) chapter three!
Author's Note X-2 (Ahahaha I'm not funny): My thanks to all you insanely kind reviewers. I probably wouldn't be updating at all without you. (Also, the one person who suggested description of areas: I really don't know the World of Spira, despite playing the game, so I feel weird describing things. In the sequel, I promise it'll be more than character development! I'm going to be cheap and put them back on the Celsius.) Please stalk me and make me feel loved. I'd also like to thank the Aca—er… Oh, anything between - - in the story means the original speech is in Al Bhed.
Chapter summary: Paine gets mixed signals from Rikku who might not be as oblivious as she seems.
Chapter 3: Take On Me
Rikku woke up with a groan. She blinked her eyes open to darkness, patches of light nudging at the corner of her vision. She noticed that the light came from the moon that peeked in through the window. As she wondered why she hadn't drawn the curtains closed before she went to bed, Rikku sat up. She immediately regretted the quick motion as slivers of pain jutted at her temples.
This is why we don't drink, she berated herself then blinked. The events of the night before were coming back to her. Paine protecting her from those thugs then carrying her home…
Turning her head to look at the other woman's bed, she saw the warrior sprawled across it haphazardly. Rikku smiled.
Her head throbbed in pain, bringing her attention back to her hangover.
Rikku pulled herself out of bed, patting at the pyjamas on her body.
She put these on me? Rikku wondered. Well, what else could it be? She would've had to.
At further inspection, Rikku found the hangover medicine and wrinkled her nose in another smile. She went into the bathroom. Several minutes later Rikku came out feeling much better after taking one of the pills with water. But she found herself stopping before reaching her bed and her eyes falling on Paine. The thief quietly tiptoed over and knelt beside the prone warrior.
Paine slept on despite the fact that if there was even the slightest hint of danger, she could snap to alert consciousness in a split second.
In one of her devilish snap decisions Rikku clambered into bed with her friend. Resisting the urge to giggle at the excuses she'd use in the morning, the blonde girl cuddled up next to the warrior. Paine snorted in her sleep and threw a protective arm over Rikku's shoulder then curled into her, all the while still deep in sleep.
With a small, cat-like yawn, Rikku closed her eyes and started to drift back off.
To say that the two were in a very awkward position would be putting it mildly. Paine was almost completely on her back and Rikku clung to her, limbs wrapped around Paine's, her head resting against a shoulder, her face tucked in Paine's neck.
Non-surprisingly, Paine was the first to wake. The pale light of dawn poked through the window, resting on the lower half of their bodies.
Wait. 'Their?'
Indeed, Paine was not alone. Immediately noticing this fact, her body tensed, her eyes darting down for a quick glance.
"Rikku?" Paine mumbled.
No answer.
"Rikku," Paine said, louder this time.
Still no answer.
Paine rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling.
What was Rikku doing in her bed?
Paine glanced around to figure it out. Right, she thought, step by step. The warrior often went through the exercise to calm herself and solve a problem.
First was Rikku's bed. The sheets were folded back messily, the way they might be after person who's half asleep gets up in the middle of the night. She looked at the nightstand between their beds. The hangover medicine bottle was gone. Moving her eyes to the bathroom, she saw that the door was not in the same position as it had been when she went to bed. Now back to the bed.
Clearly, Rikku had gotten up, taken the medicine, then stopped halfway and decided to spend the rest of her night in Paine's bed.
But why? Paine asked herself. Well, no better way to find out than to ask her.
Paine uncurled her arms from around Rikku (more reluctantly than she'd care to admit) and pushed the girl away from her, sitting up in the process.
"Hunh… wha'…?" Rikku slurred, eyes opening a smidgen.
"Why did you crawl into bed with me last night?" Paine asked straightforwardly.
Not fully understanding what was going on, Rikku blinked owlishly at her friend.
Paine sighed. "All right, later then. We're checking out today." With that, she slipped out of bed and let Rikku fall back down on the bed with a light 'whump.'
Her thief companion merely rolled over, hugged a pillow to her body, and fell back asleep.
"Fine," Paine said to herself. She went off to shower.
Wonder what she'd do if I dunked her in a bathtub full of cold water? Paine wondered.
Just as quickly as she'd thought it, she pushed it away. Her mischievous side was coming out way too often these days. It was because of Rikku's bad influence, to be sure.
But was it really so bad?
"When're we supposed to be at the docks?" Rikku asked. She looked at the ice cream cone in her hand and gave it a lick.
Paine glanced at her watch and shifted the heavy duffle bag slung over her shoulder. "Fifteen minutes."
"Aw, man," Rikku whined, making a face. "I wanted to get in some last minute shopping."
The taller woman smirked. "Really? Seemed like you bought everything of interest to you."
"As if," Rikku protested. Her gaze slid sideways to rest on Paine, green eyes twinkling as she swiped her tongue along the side of the ice cream. "There's always more to buy."
Shaking her head, Paine made a noncommittal sound and weaved her way through the crowd, her smaller and less intimidating companion following behind cheerfully.
Fourteen minutes and thirty seconds later, they were on the docks. Paine checked the time and rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest. As she leaned back against a crate, Rikku giggled and bounced on the balls of her feet.
"Not everyone can be as punctual as you," the blonde pointed out.
"Especially when it comes to Brother," Paine deadpanned.
Rikku moved in front of Paine and stretched up on her tiptoes, peering at her friend.
This got a small scowl out of the warrior as she straightened under Rikku's scrutiny. "What?"
"You seem… really annoyed," Rikku said, settling back down. "Is something wrong? You were okay last night…"
Paine opened her mouth to make a sniping retort before she thought better of it and switched thoughts. "Speaking of last night…" she said, tone darkening.
The epitome of innocence, Rikku smiled big and swayed slowly. "Yeeeees?"
"Why were you in bed with me?" Paine asked.
"Oh, noticed, did you?" Rikku giggled.
"Well, yeah, it was kind of hard not to," Paine drawled. "What with you curled around me like a land born octopus. You were treating me like I was your body pillow. I can't decide whether to assume you needed somebody to smother with physical contact or you were mad at me for some reason and you were trying to fracture my ribs."
"I wasn't!" Rikku protested.
"You were."
"Wasn't!" This indignantly.
"Were." Responsively teasing.
"Was not!" Rikku said forcefully, pouting.
Paine bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep from grinning. "Okay." She sobered. "Enough. You're avoiding the question."
The younger woman had no qualms with showing emotion. She grinned, broadly.
"Am not," she said.
"Let's not start that again," Paine said, glancing around. She had a reputation to keep up, after all. "Just answer the damn question." A pause. "Please."
With a nod, Rikku let her off the hook.
"Because your bed looked comfier," she said.
Whatever Paine had been expecting, that wasn't it. She blinked. "What?"
"Well," Rikku said, "it's true. I was still pretty groggy, ya know, and I saw you sleeping and I just thought, 'Why not?' and hopped in." She smiled.
Damn… that's right. I didn't wake up, did I? Paine frowned, getting lost in her thoughts. Was I that tired? Maybe I had too much to drink…
"Spira to Paine!" Rikku cooed, jumping up and down and waving her hand in front of her friend's face. "Hey!"
The warrior snapped out of it. "What? Oh. Sorry."
"Gil for your thoughts?"
Paine shook her head. "Nothing. Just looked comfier, huh?"
Again, Rikku smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
"Hmm…"
Before either of them could say anything else, the hum of an airship and a burst of wind drew their attention to the arrival of the Celsius. They looked up and Paine shook her head. Where was…?
"Oh, hey," Rikku said. She giggled and fumbled for a moment with her scarf. "Forgot to turn it on…"
A crackle then Brother's voice came through. "-Hey! Why weren't you at the dock we agreed on?-"
Rikku frowned. "What are you talking about? This is the dock we agreed on."
Frowning as well, Paine fumbled at the neck of her shirt. She couldn't believe she forgot to turn on her communicator this morning. Rikku forgetting to turn hers on was not surprising, but Paine forgetting to turn on her own? This really had to stop before it got out of hand. What if she was absentminded in battle…?
"-This is not! You are on the wrong dock,-" Brother argued.
Eyes narrowing in anger, Rikku opened her mouth to speak. Paine saw it and lifted her hand, now more than ever not in a mood to get between the siblings. "Does it matter? Can we just board?" the warrior asked. She resisted the urge to sigh, wondering if she looked as tired as she felt.
She must have, because just as Brother started squawking about how important it was to remember what was what—funny, considering how much he forgot—Rikku glanced at her and interrupted.
"We'll talk about it later," she said. "Just let us on already, for cryin' out loud!"
Brother grumbling and Buddy trying to calm him was background noise as the women looked at each other. Without a second thought, Paine gave Rikku a small look of weary gratitude and received a bright smile in return.
When one of Rikku's smiles starts to cheer me up, Paine thought grimly as they began boarding the Celsius, it's a definite sign I need to get my act together.
But the cheerful bounce to Rikku's step and the continuous smile she sent Paine's way clearing stated that the thief probably wouldn't agree with her.
"Did you guys have fun?" Buddy asked, as Paine and Rikku entered the bridge.
Paine shrugged and said nothing while she moved to her usual place. Rikku, however, skipped the last two steps and giggled, nodding.
"Yeah, it was really nice to hang out with Yuna and Tidus like that," the blonde said. She glanced around. "Hey, where's Shinra?"
"-Who cares!-" Brother exclaimed, leaping from the cockpit. He pointed at Rikku and scowled. "-You forgot my orders!-"
"I thought we agreed to drop this," Paine muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, they weren't orders," Rikku told her brother. She marched up to him and poked him in the chest. "And even if they had been, you'd've probably gotten the wrong dock anyway!"
Buddy shook his head and tried to get himself between the two. "Guys, c'mon. It's not that important." He looked at Rikku. "As to where Shinra is… he's down in the engine room, tinkering with something."
"What's 'something?'" Paine asked, looking over.
Buddy held up his hands in a shrug. "He won't say. When I asked if it was some sort of fantastic invention, maybe something to do with dresspheres… he gave me that look." His lips twisted into a small grin.
The warrior snorted. "I know the one…"
"Which one?" Rikku asked, looking back and forth between the two.
"Hey!" Brother yelped, waving his arms. "I am the leader!"
All three were used to it by now, knowing Brother couldn't help but want to be the centre of attention and in control. Frustrated, he pouted and went back to the cockpit, revving the engine a little. He glanced back to see if they noticed, but apparently they hadn't. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the controls.
"The one that's immediately followed by 'I'm just a kid,'" Paine explained to Rikku, trying not to smile.
"Ohhhh." Rikku giggled and stretched. "Well, I'm still kind of tired… maybe I'll pop down there and see what he's doin'. Then I'm gonna take a nap."
"You didn't sleep well?" Buddy asked curiously.
"Mm, no," Rikku said, smiling slyly and glancing at Paine. "I slept great! I just went to bed late…"
Buddy turned to look at Paine, who refused to meet his eyes. "She talked you into going out?" he asked, dubious.
"Well…"
"Actually, it was Paine's idea!" Rikku supplied. She linked her hands behind her back and leaned forward, still smiling. "It was great. Have you ever—"
"I'm gonna go unpack," Paine said, straightening and making her way back up the stairs. "You two can keep your chitchat."
She stepped into the hallway, the sliding door cutting off the sound of Buddy's chuckling and Rikku's soft laughter. Rolling her eyes, she continued to the lift.
Paine heard the low hiss of the doors into the cabin area, quickly followed by Barkeep greeting Rikku. She mentally prepared herself and continued unpacking, resettling the last of her items. Most of the stuff in the duffle bag was Rikku's, and she'd gone ahead and put it all away for her. Why she had acted on that impulse of consideration she didn't know.
"Hi!" Rikku chirped, flopping down on her bed. She rolled over onto her side, head propped up by a hand. "Where's my stuff?" She looked around, noting the empty bag at Paine's side.
The warrior shut the drawer of cabinets and stood, picking up the bag while she was at it. "Mmn," she mumbled, gesturing with her chin.
"You put 'em up for me?" Rikku asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Paine answer was clipped and she walked to her bed, shoving the duffle bag underneath it.
"Paine…" The thief got up and went over to her taller friend.
"You aren't going to hug me, are you?" Paine asked, eyeing Rikku suspiciously.
This got a giggle out of her friend. "Why?" she asked, spreading her arms. "You don't like my hugs?"
Despite herself, Paine grinned a little and decided to have a little fun with Rikku. What could it hurt? More signs of insanity… "Not if they're going to injure me," Paine drawled.
"Hey!" Rikku poked Paine in the chest, returning the grin. "I'm not the warrior here, ya know. I don't have your strength; you've got all that muscle protecting you." To prove her point, she lightly punched Paine in the stomach and winced as her hand bounced off like a ball. "Ow…"
"You really know how to turn a girl's head," Paine muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Stop that."
Paine blinked. "Stop what?"
"Rolling your eyes," Rikku explained. "They'll get stuck that way."
"That doesn't really happen," Paine replied, sitting down onto her bed.
"Oh yeah?" Rikku put her hands on her hips. "How do you know?"
"It's never been proven." Paine shrugged and leaned back on her hands. "You think there'd be scientific evidence and doctors warnings and things like that."
"You're no fun," Rikku pouted, spinning and falling down beside her friend. She laid down flat. "You're always so serious."
"Someone's got to be," Paine said. She glanced down at Rikku then faced forwards again. "You're a lot of trouble."
Rikku snorted in indignation, sitting up and nudging Paine in the shoulder with her own. "I am not!"
"You are too." Paine knew she really shouldn't encourage Rikku, but it made the younger girl smile and… I'm becoming such a mushball.
"Are not!"
"Too."
"Not!"
"Too!"
"Nyeh," Rikku taunted, sticking out her tongue.
Before she could stop, Paine found herself saying, "Don't put that out unless you intend to use it." Shit.
Instead of seeing the shock she expected, Paine noticed that Rikku's eyes seem to brighten with the glimmer the warrior had partnered with her friend's mischievous streak. Which was more than a mile wide.
"Is that so?" Rikku grinned wickedly. Then pounced.
"Hey, hey!" Paine growled, finding her arms full of blonde thief. "Get off… ge—hey!"
Rikku was starting to tickle Paine, or at least trying to. Not really knowing if Paine was ticklish or not and if so where to start, Rikku just went with it, her nimble fingers touching what she could.
Not only was Paine ticklish, but anybody who found out would be killed without remorse. Or at the very least would be tickled back. So, gasping in her effort not to laugh, Paine rolled Rikku over and ran her fingers over the exposed skin of Rikku's stomach. She got just the reaction she wanted; Rikku lessened her attack on the warrior due to laughter bubbling up from her throat.
"Paine, don't!" she squealed, trying and failing to escape Paine's clutches.
"No, no," Paine rumbled, "you gotta finish what you start, meddma dreav."
"Okay, okay!" Rikku conceded, her hands moving to Paine's shoulders, trying to push the bigger woman off. "Okay!"
"What's that? Can't quite hear you," Paine said, keeping up her attack.
"I give up!" Rikku breathed, eyes tearing up. "I—you win!"
"What do I win?" Paine asked, lifting her eyebrows. Her hands stilled, but only somewhat, ready to kick back in full throttle.
"I don't—Paine!" The blonde squirmed. "Anything! Okay, the argument, just—stop—auugh!"
After a few more minutes of Paine tickling Rikku mercilessly and Rikku's screaming laughter—which brought Barkeep up to investigate the noise—the two finally calmed down and lay side by side on Paine's bed. It was a tight fit, but they managed without invading each other's personal space. Well, Paine wasn't invading Rikku's personal space inasmuch as Rikku let her head rest against Paine's shoulder.
Silence for a while, save the sound of the girls' labored breathing.
"Paine?" Rikku asked gently, not risking a glance up at Paine. Just speaking, so softly only her friend could hear it.
"Mmn?"
"That was nice."
Paine shifted a little, the fingers of her left hand ghosting across Rikku's back unconsciously. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" Finally Rikku looked up, but only for a moment. "It was fun."
"Yeaaaah," Paine drawled. "And?"
"Well…" Rikku bit her lower lip. "I liked it. I liked how you let yourself go for a little while." She winced, readying herself to be pushed away and growled at.
Instead, Paine's voice was reflective. "Yeah… a little," she allowed. "I guess." She paused and became aware of her ease with the physical closeness between them. What's the harm with a little cuddling between friends? 'Friends.' Right. You really think of her as just a friend? Dream on. She shook her head.
"What?" Rikku pushed herself up, catching Paine's gaze with her own. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." An immediate and predictable response.
"You're lying," Rikku said, smiling a little.
Not answering immediately, Paine studied Rikku's face. When the younger girl smiled, the bridge of her nose crinkled slightly, so slightly that it took their close proximity for Paine to become aware of it. And there were lines forming at the corners of Rikku's mouth and eyes, attesting to a life full of fun and laughter.
But if she said all this… well. At the least, Rikku would tease her. Even though she could tolerate that, the thought of their relationship abruptly changing at the moment, whatever way it might be, unsettled the warrior.
So.
"No," Paine said, letting a small smile turn the corners of her mouth upward. "No, I was just thinking, that's all."
Rikku rolled over a little more, almost on top of her friend. She lifted her hands to rest her fingers at Paine's temples.
"You do that too much, too," she teased.
"Do you want to be tickled more?" Paine threatened, hands finding their way to the small of Rikku's back, fingers tensing.
"No, okay!" Rikku laughed and turned serious. "I just…"
Paine waited patiently for the normally expressive thief to articulate what she wanted to say.
"I've known you for almost four years," Rikku said, eyes searching Paine's. She started stroking Paine's face, though not unconsciously, and was pleased at how little Paine flinched in reflex. "I could count on both hands, maybe just one, how many times we've just goofed off together, ya know?"
She only got a noncommittal sound out of her taciturn friend, who was trying very hard not to lean into the thief's touch and reciprocate.
"I care about you," Rikku continued. "And… I know you—you care about me…" It was almost made into a question, Rikku's brow furrowing a bit.
Without thinking, Paine nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Or move any other way, for that matter.
Rikku exhaled the small breath she'd been holding. Paine felt it and gave her a fondly exasperated look; as if it wasn't obvious she cared of her smaller companion.
"Hey," the blonde protested, "you're not that easy to read. I have a hard time doin' that, ya know."
"Uh huh," Paine snorted.
"Anyway," Rikku went on, "I like you. A lot."
Paine's eyes widened slightly, getting a smile out of Rikku.
"What, you didn't know?" It was Rikku's turn to roll her eyes. "You pek, tisp fynneun, you didn't know I liked you?"
"Rikku," Paine rumbled. "I don't think—"
"Really? Because you seem to—"
Quick reflexes afforded Paine the luxury of clamping a hand over Rikku's mouth before the other girl finished her sentence. The thief's nose wrinkled and her mouth curled up into Paine's palm.
"Not a word, meddma dreav," Paine growled. "Let me finish. Okay?"
Rikku nodded, essentially promising she'd be good. Nodding in return, Paine moved her hand away. Though Rikku's eyes sparkled, she kept her words to herself.
"I don't think," a mock glare to the woman on top of her, "that now is the time for this discussion."
There was something off in Rikku's curious expression. "Oh, why not?"
Resisting the urge to grimace, because she knew it would just make Rikku ask more questions, Paine said, "Because I said so. Weren't you tired? Weren't you going to take a nap?"
Rikku shook her head, fingers sliding into Paine's hair and tugging the silver-grey strands gently. Paine inhaled, having forgotten where Rikku's hands were. In reflex, trying to put some distance between them, Paine let her expression and the look in her eyes go cool, making sure Rikku saw it.
And saw it she did. Rikku pursed her lips, acknowledging the change in mood. "I'll drop it," she said. Then added, "For now. But I'm getting it all out of you eventually." Her elbows shifted as Paine shrugged and she sighed, removing her hands from Paine's hair and moving back down to settle her head on her friend's chest.
"So you won't mind if I take my nap here?" Rikku's lightly teasing voice drifting up into Paine's ears. "Ya know, since I let ya off, and everything…"
"Hmm…" Paine looked around, weighing the pros and cons. Pros? It was really, really nice to have Rikku in her arms. Cons? Someone finding out. But in the end, her desire to keep Rikku to herself for just a while longer won out.
"All right," the warrior agreed.
Rikku hugged Paine in thanks, getting a laugh out of her.
"Yeah, yeah, just—don't bruise my ribs this time, okay?"
"Okay," Rikku mumbled into Paine's shirt. She curled tighter around her friend and closed her eyes, breathing immediately starting to slow.
It was a while before Paine allowed herself to drift off as well. She didn't need the nap, but since she was here… She shook her head slowly and smiled lazily, closing her eyes. I'm such a glutton for punishment, she thought drowsily. But once more won't hurt.
Maybe…
Al Bhed translation:
Meddma dreav means "little thief."
Pek, tisp fynneun means "big, dumb warrior."