Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Author's Note: Geez, you guys are crazy. Reviewin' all the time, makin' me feel awesome … Ya'll know how to turn a girl's head. Anyway, this isn't much, but I wanted to keep my promise. There might be another chapter out this month, if things go according to plan. Also, let's face it: This is a fun story to write. Hope you enjoy. (Insecure note: I'm not moving too fast, d'you think?)
Holiday Note: Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Cheerful Kwanza, Fruitful Winter Solstice… okay, okay, I'll stop. I think I got 'em mixed up. Regardless, have a great December holiday of your preference.
Chapter summary: Rikku gets fed up with Paine's aversion to the undercurrents of their relationship. When push comes to shove, what will Paine decide? Is this perfect timing or too much, too soon?
Chapter 5: What Would Happen?
The day began uneventfully. As always Paine woke first, gently disengaging from Rikku to take a shower and get dressed. The Al Bhed thief woke up not too long afterwards, missing her companion's warmth. After taking care of personal morning duties, Rikku wandered onto the bridge, eyes immediately scanning the area for Paine.
"Good morning," Buddy greeted her as he slipped past. "Did you sleep well?"
Rikku grinned and followed him, linking her hands behind her head. "I slept great! You?"
The dark-skinned man shrugged and glanced at Brother, smirking. "As well as I could."
"Have you seen Paine?" Rikku asked, looking around again.
"She said something about training," Shinra piped up from his seat.
"That woman should be more careful," Brother grumbled. He accelerated smartly, making his crewmembers wince as the Celsius growled and surged forward. "She nearly took my head off with that damned sword!"
"Not that we'd miss it," Buddy remarked cheekily.
"What happened?" Rikku ran to the cockpit, scowling up at the pilot. "What'd you do!"
"I did nothing!" Brother protested, glaring at his younger sister. "She was the one in a bad mood!"
"She wasn't in a bad mood until you made that wisecrack about her and Rikku sleeping together," Shinra said disapprovingly.
"What!" Rikku said, spinning around to stare at Shinra. She then spun back around to shake a fist at Brother. "You deserved what you got, then! You know she is about that kinda stuff!"
Brother harrumphed and pointedly ignored her.
Cursing in Al Bhed, Rikku stormed off to Shinra. She folded her arms, looking at him accusingly. "What did he say?"
"I don't know," he replied distractedly. "I'm just a kid."
Rolling her eyes with a heavy sigh, she turned to look at Buddy. "You gonna help me out or am I just gonna hafta go find Paine myself?"
"She's up on the deck," Buddy said. He looked at his friend sympathetically. "But I wouldn't go to her just yet. Brother's recent trick might have pissed her off."
"Perhaps I threw her off ship," the captain of the Gullwings mused. He chuckled at his idea of revenge.
"Better've not or I'll knock your block head off!" Rikku snapped. She shook her head and glanced back at Buddy as she made her way to the elevator. "Thanks, Buddy."
His reply of "anytime" was cut off by the doors.
Rikku ran into Paine, almost literally, in the lift.
"I was just gonna come lookin' for ya," the smaller woman replied. She tilted her head, eyeing her friend. "Are you all right?"
The warrior's hair was in disarray and her clothing was wrinkled; her eyes a little bit crazy, her mouth just relaxing from a sneer. It was how Paine always looked after training or a fight. It was a look that Rikku had come to appreciate rather than fear.
"Hi," Paine said. She leaned back a little and folded her arms over her chest. "I'm fine."
Rikku nodded and turned, selecting the cabin area from the menu. "If you say so. Musta been good practice, then."
The two rode down in silence. At least until something entered Rikku's mind and flew from her mouth.
"I'm sorry about Brother."
Paine looked away. "His behaviour isn't your fault."
"No… I s'pose not." Rikku moved to stand in front of Paine, trying to catch the older woman's gaze. "But bein' his sister does give me some kinda responsibility. So I'm apologising on his behalf."
The elevator stopped smoothly and the doors hissed open.
"Move," the warrior said firmly, looking Rikku square in the eyes. This is so not up for discussion, Rikku. Don't push it.
"No," was the immediate reply. Without even looking, Rikku reached over and selected the deck. The elevator jostled for a moment before lifting once more.
"I'm hot, thirsty, and tired," Paine said, eyes closing halfway as she sighed. "I don't want to talk about this."
"You're certainly one of those." Rikku smiled, her cheeks dimpling. Again without looking, she hit the 'emergency stop' button.
Paine blinked. Usually unflappable, the emotional and mental rollercoaster the past few days had been didn't afford Paine a ready comeback.
"It's not that big of a deal," Paine said. She leaned over to get the elevator moving again.
Of course, Rikku was right there to meet her, blocking her way with the same damn smile on her face.
"Move," Paine repeated, but this time it was a growl.
"No," Rikku said. She lost her smile, face turning serious. Lifting her hands, she tried to rest them on Paine's shoulders. "We need to talk…"
"I thought we agreed to talk if and when I was ready to," Paine snapped. She tried to back away from the thief's touch, partially succeeding. There wasn't much room in the elevator, something that was becoming painfully obvious to the warrior.
"The situation's proved something is needed otherwise." Rikku was not to be deterred; she grabbed Paine by the upper arms tightly. A smaller flinch than expected was the result and Rikku noted it mentally.
Paine also noticed and inwardly cursed. "Too bad. Now move."
Ignoring the command, Rikku continued, "I think it's safe to say something's going on between us."
"I think it's safe to say you're insane," Paine said, desperate to get away. Though she was bigger and stronger, she used neither fact to her advantage to escape Rikku's literal clutches. Maybe it's because you don't mind this so much. Shit. This is why we keep emotions in control, remember? This is what happens when we don't.
"Maybe so," Rikku conceded, smiling again. "But then you must be pretty crazy yourself."
Paine rolled her eyes. "Obviously, if I'm friends with the likes of you."
"Hey!" Rikku shrieked, letting go. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm out of here." Paine leaned sideways and reached behind Rikku to select 'cabin' again and let the elevator start its descent once more.
Pouting, Rikku poked the taller woman in the chest with both index fingers. "Hey, that's not fair."
"Life's not fair," Paine said, affecting a bored tone.
Deciding to bring out the big guns, Rikku wrinkled her nose in a smile and chirped, "I like you a lot, Paine. Could we maybe go out on a date sometime?"
It would be impossible to describe Paine's reaction correctly. At first, she blanched. Then a glint of determination set in and could have been followed by a verbal response along the lines of, 'Name the place and time.' But it wasn't, because the following expression was anger with a healthy dose of confusion thrown in for good measure.
Violently, Paine hit the emergency stop button. The elevator halted sharply in response.
"What the fuck d'you think you're doing?" Paine snapped, glaring down at the shorter woman. "Is this some sort of game to you? Because I really don't like playing it. Go screw with somebody else's feelings." Shit. Should've said 'head.' Shit. Panic began to rise in her chest to knot her throat.
Though she was shocked by the venom in her friend's voice, Rikku didn't back off. Her fingers curled into Paine's shirt, tugging slightly, as if trying to rein her in. "I'm not playing," she said quietly, eyes searching Paine's. "I meant it. Even if it does seem like I'm a ditz… Paine, I wasn't born yesterday." She smiled, though it was a little shaky around the edges. "You're attracted to me."
The taller woman hissed as if she was in pain. She jerked away, banging painfully into the rail behind her. Her eyes darkened and she opened her mouth to say something that would hurt but she couldn't find the words. That and she couldn't hurt Rikku for this. Because the other girl was absolutely right.
"Don't." Rikku dropped her hands, fingers twitching with the urge to touch her again. "Don't pull away, Paine." White teeth showed themselves to bite into a soft lower lip. "This is—I mean—it. It isn't bad…"
"No?" Paine asked, voice thick. She cleared her throat, straightening, trying to regain the control she seemed to have lost. "Tell me, Rikku, just what about this situation isn't bad?"
"Well…" Rikku pushed her hair out of her face and attempted another smile. "There's the fact I'm attracted to you, too, for starters."
"Fuck you," Paine growled. Immediately, she wanted to take it back, but… I can't. I can't let her do this.
"But we haven't even gone out yet!" Rikku protested, trying hard not to grin.
The warrior blinked. Then scowled. "This is just a game to you."
"No! It isn't!" Rikku shook her head vehemently. "It's just—if I didn't joke around a little… we'd be a buncha snobs. Loosen up, okay?" She softened. "I meant it. Why can't you believe me?"
"I don't—" Paine cut herself off. 'I don't know.' Oh, you know, all right. This isn't how you imagined it, is it?
"This isn't how you imagined it, is it?" Rikku echoed her thoughts, getting a suspicious glare from her friend. She shrugged, smiling a little again. "It's written all over your face, Paine. What, you expected this would all just go away? That you'd get over me or somethin'? Well, lemme tell ya… gettin' over me ain't easy."
You're telling me. "We can't. We work together. It's too dangerous." Paine straightened. "So stop." Crap. You're starting to list all the reasons why you can't do it. And now she'll—
"Work? What work? We're out of a job now, remember? Have been for the past year." Rikku laughed. "We could maybe make some gil defeating the remaining fiends, or diggin' in the desert, or something like that… but mostly, we're retired. We're just gonna be regular Spirans. We knew it was gonna happen. What's so dangerous about that?"
—prove you wrong. Damn. Paine shook her head this time, holding up her hands. "I told you to stop it. It'd never work. We're too different. You'd drive me crazy with your silly antics and I'd drive you crazy with my lack of showing emotion." Did the elevator stop yet? I want outta here… away from this…
"No, that's why we'd work," Rikku said. She giggled. "I'm not sayin' it'd be easy… but, Paine, relationships in general aren't easy. Take Yuna and Tidus for example."
"They're the perfect couple," Paine argued.
"Soon enough they'll want their space," Rikku said. "When the novelty of being together all the time wears off. And after that…? Sure, a comfortable familiarity'll settle in."
"You should write a book about this," Paine sneered, "since you seem to be so good at it. There's a way to make your gil."
The thief tilted her head, smiling, eyebrows lifted. "Am I gonna hafta to kiss you to getcha to shut up and accept this?"
As an automatic response Paine looked around for an exit and, not finding one that wasn't blocked by Rikku, obviously started trying to figure out a way to crawl into the ship's systems.
Laughing, Rikku straightened. "I'm kidding." Eyes twinkling, she settled down. "Well… kinda." She sobered. "Look, Paine… can we—can we try this? Just once? Please? You—you can't deny there's something here…"
Relaxing as much as she could, Paine said, "Though I've been trying to…"
"Yeah. So…? Whaddaya say? One date?" Rikku went for the puppy dog look. "Pleaaaaaase?"
Paine rested one hand on her hip, the other moving up to rub her forehead. She refused to meet Rikku's eyes. Afraid I might do something stupid like smile. "If I say yes, will you let me out of this gods-be-damned elevator?"
"Yes," Rikku laughed.
"Then…" Paine nodded, straightening and looking at the other girl. "Yes. Okay. One date." She lifted a finger. "On one condition."
"Name it!" her friend said cheerfully.
"We have it here." At Rikku's disappointed look, Paine clarified, "I refuse to date you for the first time in public. I'm not completely adverse to this idea, but I'm not read to broadcast that…" That? I could be falling for you? "…That I'm turning into a mushball, okay?" She allowed herself to give Rikku a small smile.
"I take it that means we gotta get the others off a ship somehow?" Rikku asked, trying hard not to leap into Paine's arms. She settled for grinning broadly, clearly with happiness.
Paine nodded. "Even Barkeep. We'll… we'll do something like last night. Except we'll do it on a proper schedule and with proper attire. Meaning casual. Got it?"
"Got it." Rikku pursed her lips. "Can I—"
"No. No, uh…" Displeased with her faltering, she trudged on. "No kissing." At least not right now. Oh boy.
Rikku smirked, raising an eyebrow and putting her own hand on her hip. "I was gonna ask if I could cook again, but this time somethin' a little fancier."
"Were you really?" Paine questioned, eyeing her friend.
"Okay, well… maybe that wasn't what I was gonna ask that second, but I do wanna—"
"Sure. Okay. Anything." Paine leaned forward, shoving at Rikku's shoulders. "Can I just get out of here already! Please?"
"Since if you've been such a good girl," Rikku conceded. She stepped away and the doors hissed open, the hallway to the cabin clear in sight.
Rolling her eyes, Paine started down the hall, her stride determinedly casual and a little cocky. That was the only way she would let it show that she was not really angry and maybe a little pleased with their impromptu discussion of their mutual attraction.
Mutual… no surprise there. Paine blinked and glanced down. Rikku had run up and latched herself onto her arm. When she felt Paine's eyes on her, she looked up and smiled, nose wrinkling, amusement shining in her eyes. The warrior shook her head and looked forward again.
Maybe this won't be so bad. Maybe it's just what I need to get out of—this. This phase. There's no way this could work. Paine detached herself from Rikku when they entered the cabin area, and after they had shared greetings with Barkeep. She pointed in the direction of the bathroom and the thief nodded in acknowledgment.
On the way there, Paine stopped when she was out of sight and closed her eyes, leaning heavily against the wall. It could work… if I let it. She opened her eyes, narrowing them in thought. Let's just see how it goes. After all, it's not like we're doomed, but it's not like we're in love and this'll turn out perfectly. …Right?
Shaking her head, she continued to the bathroom.
Right.