Circle

Gippal/Baralai

"Hey, 'Lai?"

"Hm?" Baralai didn't look up from his paperwork, scribbling furiously with ink-stained hands, his eyes intent on the papers. There were times when Gippal couldn't believe how very dedicated he was.

"D'you still have those nightmares?" Had Gippal been looking closely, he would have seen the wheels turning behind Baralai's sharp amber eyes.

"Which ones? I dream a lot, Gippal – in fact, I do it every night." There was a vague almost-smile on Baralai's lips, indulgent and carefully disinterested.

"You know which ones."

"I'm afraid I don't. I remember when I used to get those awful nightmares about spiders. Do you remember that night on Besaid when everyone fell asleep around the campfire and Rikku woke shouting that there were wasps in her shorts? It surprised me to think that that would be the sort of nightmare she'd have. I would have expected something about storms."

"What, like thunderstorms in her shorts? That's weird, even for her." Gippal grinned.

Baralai smiled back briefly, dipping his pen back into the ink. "Although Yuna tells me she is no longer afraid of lightning."

"She said something about that. My bet's that it's just a bluff. She used to go practically catatonic whenever there was a storm."

"I suppose it is possible she managed to get over her fear, though, don't you think?"

"Sure, I wasn't – hey."

"Hm?"

"Hang on."

Baralai waited patiently, one eyebrow just slightly raised, his face calm.

"What did you just do?"

"Pardon?" Baralai did a very good job of looking innocent, but not so much that it was obvious that he'd actually done anything.

"You just… how did you do that? Man, I suck at this."

"Gippal, may I ask what you're talking about?"

"I asked you something and you totally avoided the question. You just talked me in a circle."

"I'm sorry, did you ask me something? What was it?"

"I… don't remember." Gippal blinked. "What the – don't look so damn proud of yourself, 'Lai. Stop smirking like that."

There were times when Gippal really wished he hadn't fallen for a politician.