Paine wiped her brow, relieved that she was not using her usual warrior dressphere but her white mage one instead. It was far too hot in Bikanel Desert to wear black, let alone black leather. She considered the effort worthwhile, however, since digging for parts netted her a good pay and (mostly) kept her away from ogling glances she would rather not put up with.
Heading back to her hover, she looked at her most recent treasure, held in her palm. A sphere. Paine observed it briefly in her hand, noting how brightly it shined with the sun's rays hitting it. It was in near-perfect condition with no chips and only a few light scratches on it. Either its previous owner had cherished it or it was quite new. Paine supposed she wouldn't be able to find out unless she turned it on, and so she passed her thumb over the switch, hearing the soft whirring sound of it starting up.
As was characteristic of all spheres, there were lines on the screen making the picture imperfect, but the video was crisp aside from that. Paine leaned against her hover as the field of view began with a stone floor, bare at first, then covered with a woven blanket a few feet further away. Slightly further still was a bed, but only about half of it was shown with bent legs clothed in long boots on top of it.
"So you're filming the room for her now?" It was a male voice, one with a hint of a non-Spiran accent to it. Paine would know that voice anywhere; it was Gippal's.
"Why, something wrong with that?" A different voice responded this time, playful and gentle at the same time. Baralai.
"Not at all, just wondering why you'd want to show her this place." A soft creak of the bed was audible as the sphere moved to show the stone walls of the room and the several machines that stood in front of them.
"I just want to show her how talented you are." The sphere finally shifted to the left side of the room, revealing a shirtless Gippal sitting casually with his legs slung over the side of his bed. He hadn't changed from what Paine could remember, though it had been about half a year since she had last seen him. Gippal and Baralai were busy assisting Nooj in melding the three factions together and while the future looked positive, it was still going to take time and effort to make changes again.
Gippal chuckled and gave an all-too-pleased smirk. "I think you would know best that my real talent isn't making machines, Baralai."
There was a brief silence in which Gippal kept his gaze just slightly above the focus of the sphere. "Yes, I guess that's true," Baralai eventually responded, a slight wavering to his voice that almost went unnoticed when followed by Gippal's loud laughter. He stood up from the bed and held his hand out, smiling even brighter than when he heard they had made the Crimson Squad. His mouth opened as he took his first step toward the sphere, and the video abruptly cut out.
Paine clicked the sphere off. Who was this "her" they were talking about? Briefly toward the beginning she had wondered if the recording had been aimed at herself, but what need would there have been to show her Gippal's talent in making machines? Moreover, Paine had already seen his room before at their last reunion. It would have been a mean joke to film such a thing for Rikku considering her past relationship with Gippal and the fact that Gippal and Baralai were now romantically involved. The two weren't all that close to Yuna, either.
Curious, Paine decided to watch one more time. She pressed the switch once more, expecting to see the floor again, but instead there was static. Following that was a different view, this time of slightly rumpled bed sheets and a pillow with a clear concave shape, as though it had just been used. Without sound, the focus shifted to the left, revealing Baralai for the first time in the recording. Though the view was only from the neck up, his slow breathing and closed eyes seemed to indicate he was asleep. He was lying on his side, facing the sphere, face buried in a fluffy pillow and his soft hair slightly mussed.
"This is how Baralai looks while he's sleeping," Gippal whispered, cautious but certainly amused. "There aren't too many people who get to see this face, so consider yourself lucky."
The sphere zoomed out, showing Baralai's dark arm bent next to his head, his hand hidden beneath the pillow. It also revealed that Baralai's shoulders were bare as well as the top half of his lightly muscled chest.
"He sleeps a lot sounder now that you're here," Gippal continued, his voice warm and soft, before shifting the focus further down Baralai's body.
Paine's eyes widened at the view she was now being presented with. Baralai's other arm, particularly noticeable against the pure white sheet, was gently cradling a rounded bulge.
A hand of a lighter skin tone reached out from behind the sphere's view and rubbed the firm bump in the sheet, flattening said sheet out to clearly outline the altered shape of Baralai's middle.
"Banvald (Perfect)," Gippal whispered in his native tongue, sounding almost breathless with wonder. "He's always wearing those big robes because he's afraid of people noticing, but… I think you're becoming pretty obvious, little girl."
The field of view shifted further to the side and captured Gippal leaning forward and kissing the swollen mound reverently, the look in his eye possessive once it opened to look toward the sphere. Once it closed again, Gippal didn't move for several seconds until Baralai did the moving for him, his arm sliding up from his lower belly to move his hand into Gippal's thick blond hair, not pushing the younger man away, but bringing him closer.
Gippal softly moaned Baralai's name, turning his head to press a kiss to his inner arm before planting another one on his covered stomach. Lazily, his arm reached up and blocked the view of the sphere for a second before it shut off.
Paine found herself a little too shocked to move, staring out at the vast, yellow sand until the sound of the sphere replaying brought her out of her astonished thoughts. She flipped the switch off and held the sphere tightly. First, this was not an elaborate joke; Baralai would never go for it. Second, she had seen something private. Baralai was pregnant and understandably, he and Gippal had yet to announce the addition to their family. But most of Spira seemed to believe that they were simply close friends given their history together. Paine took an odd comfort in knowing that they seemed happy, however, Gippal especially. But how had this sphere gotten lost, and how long ago had this footage been recorded? It had to have been within the past six months since Paine hadn't noticed any sort of protrusion of Baralai's robes when she last saw him. Perhaps this was the reason why their last reunion had been so long ago.
After all, it seemed that Baralai and Gippal weren't so busy changing the politics of Spira so much as they were busy caring for a developing baby and preparing for her arrival. It was time for Paine to pay some friends a visit.