Calli is up and ready to go by the time I drag myself down the stairs. "G'morning, sleepyhead," she says, way too chipper to my groggy head. I'm usually a little grouchy in the morning, but today is especially bad. My mouth is dry, my head achy. My eyelids are heavy even though I just slept.
"Mmm. What time is it?"
"It's a little past midday. You slept half of today away," she responds cheerily.
"What? Aww, man." No wonder I feel so awful. "Guess I caught up with that nap I missed."
"And then some!" Calli agrees. "Hey, you didn't get that much sleep and yesterday was really big. I say you totally had the excuse."
"Good to know someone's got my back." I slide onto one of the barstools and set about finger-combing my hair. "So did you enjoy yourself last night?"
"Definitely!" She beams. "I love when everyone gets together like that. I got the chance to talk to people I met on the road, before I came on the airship with you guys. Clasko was there."
"I didn't see him," I say, feeling a little guilty. "Guess you got your chocobo-gushing fix, huh?"
"And then some!" She plants her elbows on the table, giving a roll of her eyes as she leans onto her hands. "I like Clasko. He's a really nice person. And you know I can always appreciate some chocobo love. But man, it's all he ever talks about! I don't think he knows how to care about anything but chocobos, poor guy."
"Is that why you're not helping out at the ranch with him?"
"Mostly." She gives a little hum and then reaches forward to tug at a strand of my hair. "Your hair's really long."
"Yeah, I guess." Her own hair is no longer in the little-girl pigtail style she'd worn for years before. She's cut off most of it, and it hangs loose around her chin. It makes her look older, and her cheekbones are wonderful. Older. Did she change the subject like that on purpose? I'm paranoid about romance all over again. I switch from finger-combing to the braid-switching process. "Weird that there hasn't been some sorta mission cropping up, yet."
"I dunno. It's kind of a nice break. Are you bored already?"
"You know me. Gotta keep moving." I really do, especially today. The comment about my hair is bringing up things that I really don't wanna think about. At least if I'm hunting down a sphere I can concentrate on much more preferable things. Like trying not to die, for example.
"No kidding," she laughs. Her eyes are on my fingers, nearly finished. "You braid fast."
"You get quick when you do it all the time." I tie off the end with the ribbon: red, to match this new dressphere. I don't think I'm changing it anytime soon. If I can go invisible, what else can I do? "I think I'm gonna go bug Buddy about sphere waves."
"I think I'll stick around down here." She yawns loudly. "Maybe I'll take a nap if we're not doing anything."
"Good! As soon as you try, something'll come up. Or maybe that's just me." I offer a long-suffering sigh, and then I'm off.
Buddy and Brother are standing around the giant sphere-globe in the middle, laughing about something stupid, I'm sure. I hop off the railing and march over to them. "You guys sure look busy," I accuse.
Buddy raises a brow. "There's nothin' to be busy about. Spira's nice and calm today. We haven't picked up a single sphere wave."
"When was the last time you checked?" I challenge.
"Whoa, where's this coming from? Yesterday you were all about your nap," he retorts.
"I got my nap back—and then some. C'mon, guys, I'm booored," I whine.
"I told you, nothing's coming up." He frowns, a hand going to his chin. "Well, I guess we can go check out Luca if you wanna. Sphere break's in full swing. Plus, they've got the scoop on last night's announcement."
"The scoop? Is Gippal gonna be there?"
"Nah. They tried, but he was busy. They've got Cid and Shinra though. I think they're hoping they'll balance each other out."
"Why?" Brother asks harshly. I peek towards him. His face is all suspicion."
"Oh, uh, no reason. Just. Making conversation," I chirp. "Let's go to Luca, Buddy."
"Sure thing. I'll set the coordinates."
"Put it on autopilot," Brother declares. "I don't feel like steering today."
Uh-oh.
"You got it," Buddy says slowly, his voice lilting up at the end in question. Brother never misses the opportunity to sit at the helm and make orders he doesn't need to.
Brother turns his attention to me. "Let's go to the deck." He grabs at my upper arm, not leaving much room for protest.
"Sure thing." Apparently, a new day isn't making the squeaking today. I think I know exactly what he wants to talk about, though, and I'm really not comfortable. We make our way to the deck in a sort of tense silence.
"It's really nice outside, today," I chirp, making my way towards the end of the deck. It is nice. The wind feels great.
"Rikku." He trails off, sighs. "I'm worried."
"Worried? You? Not about me, surely?" I glance over my shoulder to smirk at him. "Anyway, what for?"
"You know what for." He huffs. "Rikku. You like Gippal. You like Gippal a lot. Gippal likes Gippal a lot. Do you see how bad that is?""
"What?" I whirl around to glare at him. My braid smacks him on the chest. Good. "What are you talking about? I don't even like—"
"Rikku, don't lie to me. You've had a big—crush on him since we were kids. Remember all the discounts you tried to give him? I see how you look at him. Or how you look when you even think about him. But he's bad news. He has to get over himself before he could ever love anyone."
"I—" Ooh, I'm so mad! He acts like I'm half in love with Gippal and doesn't even look at me! It's like he's talking to me about something he found on the road or something!
"You're mad. You always get mad when someone says something you won't admit. Now you're just gonna attack—"
"Crid ib!" I shout. I wring my hands and then bring them to my ears. "You don't know me! You don't know what I want! I don't even know what I want!"
He looks at me calmly. He's not even getting mad, which just makes me angrier. It's not like Brother to just take it. I want him to fight back. I want him to get mad and scream and maybe even exchange fists instead of words, but he's just so…mild! "Rikku," he says simply, giving me this pitying look. "Just…be careful."
I do my best to scoff like Paine. "Right, sure, because there's something to be careful about? You're wrong, Brother. I'm fine."
"Right," he repeats, just as mildly. "But if and when that is ever not true just remember I warned you—and I guess, if you fall apart I'm here. I kind of have to or—whatever."
I can't decide whether this makes me want to hit him more or less. The relationship between Brother and I isn't exactly riddled with affection. I guess if he's taking me into account, I should be a grown-up about it and let him. Being mature sucks. "Hmmph."
He shoves his hands into the pockets of his stupid overalls. His face is neutral, although maybe there's a bit of a grimace. "Rikku. It's not—you I don't trust. I know you can take care of yourself. I just don't trust him."
I grin. "Brother, are you complimenting me? Are you calling me a real-life adult?"
"Crid ib," he says affectionately, reaching over to tug my braid. I fight him, and he drops a heavy arm around my shoulders. "Maybe that's what I'm saying."
"Ya think so, really?" I peek at him.
He nods. "I wish—that more people could be like you."
"Brother!" I squeal and knock into him, wrapping into a side hug that almost sends us both to the deck floor.
He rubs my shoulder. "All right, all right. Don't get us killed!"
"Thank you." I squeeze at his side before dropping my arms away. He removes his arm from my shoulders, stuffing his hands into his pockets again.
"Don't thank me for the truth."
"LANDING!" Buddy's warning comes loud and clear over the speakers.
"ALL RIGHT!" Brother shouts, even though there's no way he can be heard. He offers me a grin. "Let's terrorize Luca."
"That's the plan," I chirp. We fall into step beside each other, normally at first, but then I push at him with my hip to knock him over, and he pushes at me, and we're pushing each other all the way to the door, our arms intertwining to keep each other up even as we try to push each other over.
I guess, really, that's how we always work.