"Holy shit, that's perfect," Paine exhaled in a whisper. Her bare back was grinding into the bark of a tree a few yards from the Celsius. Nooj was doing his job fast, hard and well. Paine had been particularly itchy through all of the photos and autographs. A lot of those Youth League punks liked her best because she was edgy and had spunk. She was able to duck out once they had warmed up enough courage to swoon over Rikku. Paine was sure they all liked her ideals well enough, but she knew it was Rikku's picture that was pinned up in most of the bunks back in Mushroom Rock.

"You moving out of your bunk any time soon so we can do this inside sometime?" Nooj asked between pants.

"What? No. Why?" Paine asked, her voice cracking as Nooj's tongue slid over that spot where her neck started to become her shoulder.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep ten feet away while Gippal drills the princess," Nooj snorted out a small laugh. His hot breath felt good on her wet skin.

"He's not going to be doing that any time soon," Paine chuckled low in her throat. Nooj couldn't help but notice how sexy it was.

"You're kidding me, right? They were bickering like an old married couple at the table," Nooj chortled as he slyly unclipped the buckles on her pants.

"It's all new, she's trying to be nice to him," Paine said, her words fighting to get out as her back arched away from the tree trunk. The slow, deliberate movement of his thigh sliding between hers was agonizing and wonderful all at the same time.

"That should prove entertaining for everyone who isn't them," Nooj purred out a low laugh as he slid a rough gloved hand over her breast.

"No shit," Paine replied, scratching her nails across his back, her breath catching as he found her nipple.

--

"What a night!" Yuna laughed out a sigh as she and Rikku walked arm and arm back onto the Celsius. Their differences were easily set aside when they were on the high a show gave them. They both missed one another lately, but not in the sense that they didn't see each other enough. They missed the older days when they were younger and less complicated. When every ounce of their being was thrown into the same cause, the variations in their personalities weren't as noticeable.

"That was great! You were great! We were great! That was just so great!" Rikku giggled, giving Yuna's arm a squeeze. She liked Yuna around show time. She was more relaxed. She was happier.

"No, YOU were great," Yuna joked back, hugging Rikku around the shoulder with one arm.

"Thanks," Rikku smiled back. "I was working pretty darn hard."

"I bet it's tough to focus with so many…" Yuna trailed off as Gippal and Tidus passed them with a crate of cables. "Distractions," she finished.

"Yunie, not now. I feel too good to get gloomy with boy talk," Rikku rolled her eyes as the pair made their way to the cabin. Rikku waved to barkeep and ordered a round of usuals and sat down on one of the stools.

"Fair enough," Yuna shrugged with one shoulder and took a seat as well.

"But YOUR boy talk doesn't make you gloomy. Talk to me. Will I be getting a bridesmaid dressphere in the near future? Eh? Eh?" Rikku nudged Yuna's shin with the front of her boot. Yuna sighed and dropped her elbows onto the bar. "Uh oh." Rikku gulped.

"No, no. Everything is fine, I love him, we're happy," Yuna said, pausing to take a hefty swig of the cocktail in front of her.

"But?" Rikku urged.

"It's just, oh Rikku, this feels stupid to say and I shouldn't be upset about something like this, it's just," Yuna raked her fingers through her hair a few times. "He could be a little more... attentive. To me." Yuna was struggling.

"What? That's silly," Rikku waved a hand and swigged from her beer.

"No, it's really not."

"But he fawns all over you. That guy follows you around and does everything you say everywhere," Rikku looked perplexed.

"Not everywhere," Yuna said, not looking up at her cousin because she had turned a sufficient shade of crimson.

"What are you talking about? Dinner, shows, in cites, the bridge," Rikku ticked off on her fingers. "I mean, the only place I don't see you two is when you're in your roo-ohmygod," Rikku clamped a hand over her mouth as Yuna flicked embarrassed eyes up at her.

--

"I noticed you and Her Highness are closer than usual," Nooj said, tangling his big hand into Paine's short hair. She was slowly becoming putty in his grasp.

"What?" She squawked, trying to focus on the building heat between her legs and not who she was palling around with as of late.

"Does she know?" he asked, his voice harried as he left a few marks down her neck that were going to need a quick cura spell on before she ran into anyone else.

"Rikku? Know about what?" Paine asked, her brain trying to stay in the conversation but quickly losing focus due to the expansive attentive unit digging into her thigh.

"Me and you," he replied, slipping his fingers in as if to make a point.

"Ooohh-hoh-hoh THAT," Paine whimpered. "No," she regained a bit of herself as she moved against him. "She doesn't know about that."

"Probably for the best," Nooj nodded before finding that spot he knew she liked best and taping it repeatedly with the tips of his fingers.

"I'd say so. Now can we stop talking about my friends and shut up and get to work here? I gotta be in Luca in two hours," Paine panted, sweat forming along her forehead.

"I won't need that long," Nooj smirked, pulling down his zipper.

--

"Every night?!" Rikku gasped, outraged.

"Yes!" Yuna cried, putting her face in her hands.

"Oh good lord! No wonder you're such a bitch!" Rikku had a hand to her chest and didn't even try and stop the comment.

"I know! It's not my fault!" Yuna pleaded.

"Oh man! I feel so much better now!" Rikku took a deep breath. Yuna gave her a dirty look. "Well, for me, I mean. For me. I feel better that I am not what's making you five shades of crabby. All this time I really thought it was me!" Rikku's eyes were bugging out of her head and she hadn't blinked in a while. A stone sober Yuna was giving her the grim details of her not-so-sex life. "Yikes!"

"You can't tell anyone about this, Rikku," Yuna pleaded.

"How the heck do you expect anything to get done about it then?!" Rikku cried. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Rikku asked sincerely.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Yuna looked like she might throw up.

"Well then you're going to have to?" Rikku sipped her drink.

"How am I supposed to do something like that?' Yuna asked flatly.

"Take charge! Make your demands clear! Trust me. I may not know about yevon and such, but I know a lot about power and sex. I'm about to inherit an entire race of people, by the way, and I've boinked half of them," Rikku said matter of factly. Yuna looked even paler. "Well, maybe not half, but you get the idea."

"No. I don't." Yuna threw back the rest of her drink and waved her hand for another.

"Well, how about with some other guys, what did you do then?" Rikku asked, trying to lighten the mood. Yuna just looked up at her sheepishly. "Oh my god," Rikku stalled, her hand almost over her mouth. "Yunie. No other guys?" Rikku dropped her voice to a whisper.

"Well?" Yuna tried to shrug but didn't quite make it. "No."

"Holy smokes. Even when he was gone for two years and we were gullwinging it up in these foolish outfits?" Rikku pointed down at her thief wear that she typically wore in public. Yuna sank into her seat further. "Oh my GOD! One and only?!" Now Rikku thought she might barf.

"I've made up for it with how much time we've spent together!" Yuna snapped.

"Yeah, bogus time!" Rikku yelped.

"Rikku!" Yuna snapped.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's tough for a girl like me to put something like that into perspective. Save the world? Fine. Half our friends being dead the whole time? Whatever. But ONE GUY and ONE GUY ONLY? Good grief, what are you, Twenty? Twenty-one years old? MAN!" Rikku wiped her hand over her forehead.

"I shouldn't have said anything" Yuna whined.

"Probably not," Rikku finished her drink and stood up. "But I can't work with this. I'm going to bed," Rikku hugged Yuna good night and trotted up the stairs.

--

"He's specifically denying direct orders!" Buddy shouted, slamming his fists down on the console on the bridge. Brother was sitting in Shinra's chair, listening to his friend berate their sound tech for the past hour. Brother didn't really care either way what anyone was up to. He was getting paid to fly the ship, mind his own business, and pray on local girls while staying out of everyone's way. It was the best job he'd ever had.

"What orders?" Brother looked at his fingernails and tried to appear interested.

"No involvement with members of the band! It's in his contract!" Buddy shouted again, punching another fist into the hardware.

"I thought he was not signing that thing?" Brother looked up.

"UUURGH!" Buddy cried, shaking his fists. "He's awful!"

"Actually, considering his normal awfulness, he's not being so bad," Brother shrugged.

"It has to stop. What if he woos her back into his filthy hands and then destroys her again? The whole tour will be ruined!" Buddy yelled.

"Who is caring about the stinking tour? My sister will be wrecked!" Brother shouted.

"There is also that," Buddy was pacing now, a hand to his chin. "Millions of gil down the toilet, Brother! What are we going to do?" Buddy shouted.

"I am thinking there is nothing we can do. We just have to wait it out," Brother yawned, stretching his hands over his head.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," Buddy grumbled.