You Don't Know The Real Me – Chapter 5
Pre Concert Mishaps
Baralai woke up with a stiff neck. As he rubbed feeling back into it, he spotted Gippal and Rikku. He got this big idiotic grin on his face, and he stood up to shake Paine awake.
"Paine… Paine wake up, you've gotta see this, but be quiet."
She blinked, and Baralai pointed over to the sleeping couple. "Amon and Rikku… look." She turned her head, and her jaw dropped. Then, she began to snicker.
"Oh, I'm never going to let her forget this…"
Baralai smiled, and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Now, my question to you is this. Should we be good friends and leave them in peace, or should we be bad friends and record them?"
"Gimme the camera." Paine said, a devilish smirk emerging on her lips.
"You're not very nice…" Baralai teased as he handed her a camera that he got from his bag.
"I'm never nice." She replied, turning on the sphere camera and procedded to record the sleeping duo.
Rikku was lying down on the couch, her head in Gippal's lap. His left hand rested on her stomach while his right elbow was propped up on the arm of the couch, his hand holding his head. They seemed completely at peace. It was like a picture painted by Spira's greatest painter. A Yevonite and Al Bhed in such a unique setting, completely at ease with one another is something that should definitely be recorded.
As Paine turned off the camera, she handed it back to Baralai. "Well, I guess you're not going to let him forget this, are you Blythe?"
He looked at the camera in his hands, then at his sleeping friend. "No, I won't. It… it wouldn't be that funny. He's evidently head over heels for her… that's something I'm not going to tease him for." He said softly, and took the sphere out of the recorder. "Here, I don't have any use for it. The only thing on here is what we just recorded. So… you can use it as a memento of touring with us… I guess."
Paine was shocked. She expected Blythe to give Amon a really hard time about sleeping with Rikku's head in his lap. Then it hit her. Blythe wasn't the player that everyone saw him as. Paine was beginning to see the real him, the one with the heart of gold. She smiled, and took the sphere. "Thanks." She said softly, and went over to shove it in one of her bags. She returned to her spot on the couch, and sat down. She folded the blanket up, and set it next to her.
Baralai came over, and picked it up. But instead of putting it back in the closet, he unfolded it, and sat down next to Paine, covering the both of them with the blanket.
"Weather's getting bad, so we're stopping at the Travel Agency on the Highroad. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Baralai said, looking at the couple on the other couch.
Paine nodded, and leaned her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her silver head and smiled. He put an arm around her, and leaned his head against hers.
"We're here!" The driver called through the pouring rain.
Baralai sat up, and Paine rubbed at her eyes with a hand. "All ready?" she said sleepily, and Baralai smiled. He gave Paine a squeeze, and put the blanket back in the closet, then ran inside the Agency to get two rooms. Gippal opened his eyes, and looked down at his lap and smiled faintly.
Paine watched, "You like her… don't you Amon?" she asked softly.
His head shot up, and he grimaced. "It's… that obvious?"
"No. You're doing a pretty good job hiding it, I'll give you that. I just thought that you might, seeing as her head is in your lap." Paine replied, standing up.
"Think she knows?"
"Knowing Rikku, she won't know until you make it really obvious."
He let out a big sigh. "Well that's reassuring."
"Don't mean to be rude, but I'm getting out before you wake her up. You never know when she might be crabby…"
Gippal glared at her. "Gee, thanks."
Gippal watched Paine run into agency, and then looked back down at Rikku. "Rise and shine Rikku…" he said softly, gently tickiling her stomach.
She gave a sleepy giggle, "Stop that…"
"Not until you get up…" he sang, continuing to tickle her.
Rikku squirmed and let out a laugh. "Okay! Okay, I'm up!" she said, sitting up. Gippal laughed, and stood up. He threw the blanket on the opposite couch, and helped her up. "We're stopping at the agency cause of the weather. We'll probably be in Djose by tomorrow."
The Next Day…
The four pilled off of the hover, and stretched.
"Woo hoo! Concert tonight!" Baralai said happily, heading towards their hotel.
"So, when are we singing with you guys?" Rikku asked Gippal.
He shrugged. "I honestly don't know. We don't have any songs that you guys can sing with us, but we have some that just you and Paine can sing."
She frowned as they walked into the hotel. "Well that's no fun."
Gippal chuckled, "I know. I'll get Blythe to cooperate, and we'll work on something. How does that sound?"
"Great! Thanks bunches Amon!" Rikku said brightly, giving him a brief hug before going into her and Paine's room.
A few hours before the concert, Gippal sat Baralai down. For a few minutes, the both of them took of their spheres, and enjoyed being them selves.
"I'm growing to attached to being Amon, it's official." Gippal grumbled.
"Why do you say that?" Baralai asked, looking up at his friend while pulling down the collar of his coat. It was starting to get on his nerves, and he couldn't remember why he liked this collar in the first place.
"Because I can actually see out of both eyes for a change… I love it." Gippal said softly, sitting in a chair. Baralai nodded, he didn't blame Gippal one bit. He himself was enjoying the fact that he could be much more open as Blythe without some priest judging his actions.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Baralai spoke. "Gippal… what are we going to do?"
"Do about what?"
"Paine and Rikku."
"What - oh. You don't want to lie to them."
"Of course I don't want to lie to them! They think that we're Amon and Blythe, not Gippal and Baralai! We're lying to them, and we can't fix it unless we blow our cover! I… I don't want to hurt Paine because she was falling in love with an Al Bhed that doesn't even exist…"
"Hey, 'Lai, chill out."
"Chill out? How can you ask me to chill out?"
"Okay, then I won't ask you to. Breathe. We can fix this somewhat without ruining everything."
Baralai snorted. "Yeah, let's hear the grand plan." He said sarcastically. When Gippal didn't respond, Baralai looked at his friend. He sighed, and rubbed his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just… everything isn't high and dandy right now."
"Yeah, I'm well aware of that." Gippal drawled, and Baralai winced. 'Great,' he thought, 'Now Gippal's mad at me.'
"What's your idea?" Baralai asked quietly.
"We slowly start acting like ourselves again, and see what happens. So if they do manage to find love within this lie… it might not hurt as much because we would be acting more like ourselves instead of a strange guy."
Baralai nodded once. "Sounds good to me." He said slowly.
Gippal had to get back to the Faction to sort a few things out before the concert, so Baralai had to come up with a lie to where he was.
The three of them were sitting in the lobby when Baralai's commsphere rang.
"Hello?"
"Baralai? Is that you? Dude, this is really bad."
"What's going on?" Baralai asked. Rikku and Paine looked at him oddly, wondering who he was talking to.
"You know the sphere for Amon? IT'S IN OUR ROOM. I can't come in looking like me! You have to bring it out to me!"
"And I'm supposed to help how?"
"Sneak it out! Say… I'm being mobbed by fan girls and I need you as a distraction. Do you have your coat on?"
"No…"
"Okay! I've got it! I'm being chased, and I need to you to distract them right? So, you go get your coat cause it's cold, and put my sphere in your pocket! Dude, please?"
Baralai sighed, and stood up. "I'm on my way."
"Yes! Baralai, you are the best!"
"But you so owe me." Baralai said, and hung up.
"What's up?" Rikku asked, "Who was that?"
"Amon." Baralai replied, bracing himself for his lie.
"Where is he?"
"Uh, well, I managed to piss him off a few minutes ago, so he went for a walk to blow off some steam. I told him that the girls were on the prowl, but did he listen to me? Nope, just like always. So, now he's on the run, and he needs me to come save his butt…again."
Rikku laughed, and Paine smiled. "Classic. Anything we can do to help?"
"Not a lot. Just stay here."
Paine nodded, then hesitated. "Wait… why are you going to help him? Aren't the girls just going to chase you?"
Baralai nodded sadly. "I know… that's the point. Amon so graciously pointed out that I run faster, and I'm not tired like he is. Talk about a great friend huh? I'm going to go get my coat, and then go save his butt. I'll see you girls in a few."
"Gippal… Gippal where are you…" Baralai whispered as he jogged down an alley way.
"Psst! Over here!"
Baralai turned to the voice, and shook his head. "Gippal, you owe me big time for lying to them." He hissed, handing him the sphere.
"Did the buy it?" Gippal asked, attaching the sphere. With a flash of light, Amon stood up.
"Yeah. It was kinda scary how well it worked…"
"Damn…you must be good for it to pass by Paine."
"Yeah, I know. Now, we have to run around the block a few times, maybe catch a few fan girls walking by."
"And we need to do this because?" Gippal asked in astonishment.
"You were supposed to be running from fan girls remember? You gotta look like it, and I have to look like I've been running too. Let's go buddy!" Baralai said brightly, jogging off. Gippal groaned and followed him.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"What was that?" Paine asked, looking out of the lobby window, then burst out laughing. "Oh, they're back."
"Really?" Rikku asked, bouncing over to the window, and joined her friend in her mirth.
Baralai and Gippal were hightailing it down the street, running from a group of fan girls. Gippal jumped behind a box of shipping crates, and pulled Baralai down next to him. The girls rounded the corner, and stopped when they didn't see their prey.
Paine left the hotel, and yelled up the street. "If you're looking for Amon and Blythe, they went that way!" she pointed to a street that led away from the hotel. The girls started screaming again, and took off down the street that Amon and Blythe "went" down.
The guys poked their heads up from behind the crates, and spotted Paine. They came out from their hiding place, looked at Paine, then at each other, then back at her. They fell to their knees, and bowed to her. Paine busted out laughing.
The guys got up with big grins on their faces, and jogged over to the hotel.
"YOU'RE OUR SAVIOR!" Baralai cried, hugging Paine tightly, lifting her off the pavement. She just laughed even harder. Amon hugged her too, and the three of them went inside.
They found Rikku on the floor, laughing her head off. "That… that… was priceless!" she gasped out.
Gippal leaned over her, hands on his hips. "Well, I'm glad that you're having fun at our expense!"
"Whoa! Amon! Look at the time!" Baralai cried, pointing to the clock.
Gippal groaned, "Great. Time to get going guys."
"Concert time!" Baralai exclaimed, grinning.
Gippal just starred at him in wonder. "How you can bounce back so fast after running for your life is beyond me."
The four of them busted out laughing (Rikku laughed harder, if possible). Gippal helped Rikku up, and they went to their rooms to get ready.
A/N: I FORGOT A CHAPTER! Well, it's fixed now... so enjoy!
-VAoC-
