by PrettyGothGirl
All Disclaimers Apply
Summary: Gippal returns to Djose to find more than one crisis on his hands.
Author's Note: I'm trucking along in writing here. Actually I'm working on more icons than I should because
iconing is just as addictive as writing, perhaps moreso. Yes, there will be a chapter soon. Patience, please.
It was far too early when he stumbled into Djose, actually it was more like a little late. Gippal was sure he'd had one drink too many because his head was swimming and the sun was far too bright and high above the horizon for the time he wished it was instead of the time it actually was. So, he could hope that the fact his employees were out and about and actually working was an illusion so he could go and pretend it wasn't mid morning lay down on his bed and get some sleep.
He didn't notice anything odd until he reached the end of the bridges. He stopped and stared and for the first time he was grateful that he was too tired and slightly too drunk to feel anything other than the intense desire for sleep he wasn't going to get.
Smoke billowed out the temple doors, people ran in and out, covering their mouths or adjusting goggles and masks before diving inside.
And all he could do was stand there and stare and wonder why exactly there was smoke billowing from his temple and ponder the fact he should be doing something about it and unable to conjure the energy to move from where his boots were growing roots into the flagstones.
"Gippal," Someone shouted and a masked figure ran towards him, stopping within a few inches. He took off his mask and rubbed his face and that was the only way Gippal recognized him, Balfour, one of his crew chiefs. Gippal blinked slowly and turned his gaze back to the temple. Balfour peered at him a moment and his lips twitched into a ghost of a smile before he became serious again. "It's not as bad as it looks."
Gippal blinked again. "Oh."
"It's mostly smoldering, so smoke and no real flames. It's almost out."
"Uh huh."
Balfour nodded. "It's good that the temple's stone or we'd have more problems than we do."
Gippal looked at Balfour, his eyes watering slightly from the smoke and lack of sleep. "More problems."
Balfour's jaw tightened. "That job for Rin, the one we shouldn't have because Cid's people know more about that type of thing than we do and are set up to handle it. Well, it's wrong. It's not our fault, appears Rin's engineers miscalculated and no one caught it. Rin's furious and he's refusing to pay to do it over and insisting we do."
Gippal nodded and didn't say anything. He didn't see the problem yet.
Balfour's brow pinched. "Which means, we'd have to eat the cost."
Gippal's body jolted and he started, which started his brain working. He thought it through and his jaw clenched, cheeks sucking in and out. "We can't do that." He hissed.
"Not with smoke pouring out the temple doors, no."
"We can't afford that." Gippal growled. "We don't have the parts or the materials for it."
"And the machine we were doing it on broke on the last one." Balfour grimaced.
Gippal groaned. He was the only one in the complex that knew how to fix that machine. He rubbed the back of his neck. If he was more awake, he was sure he'd be furious. "Damn it," was all he could manage.
"And he wants it yesterday." Balfour finished. "Next time, boss, could you take that call?"
Gippal bit his tongue on another curse. He shifted his weight forward and hoped his feet would follow before his nose hit dirt. Fortunately, it worked. He staggered a bit before he got back into a smooth motion, but it worked.
Balfour put his mask back on. "So, who is she?"
Gippal's mind blanked. "Huh?"
"Your girlfriend, who is she?" Balfour repeated. "You are dragging boss."
Gippal's mouth opened and closed. It wasn't what Balfour thought at all. Gippal would have preferred sex to drinking and information prying, though Rikku wiggling on his lap most the night had been... nice. "No one." He muttered, thus confirming in the mind of Balfour that he had a girlfriend.
Balfour snorted. "That hot and that sexy. Come on, you can tell me."
One of the guards looked over at him. "Long night, boss?"
The other grinned. "Does she let you sleep at all?"
"Wish I had a girl that good in bed." The first muttered. Gippal wasn't sure he was supposed to hear that.
Gippal stopped and turned to Balfour. "Does the entire temple think I have a girlfriend?"
"Consider the facts, you're out almost every night. You usually aren't back until early morning. You smell like a woman's perfume and lessee, that lipstick mark one night was a good clue." Balfour nodded. "So, yes. You have a girlfriend."
Gippal flushed. "But-"
"Personally, I don't like my girls quite so demanding." Gippal could tell Balfour was leering under his mask. "But obviously you must have your reasons."
Gippal flushed more. He entered the temple, Balfour on his heels and pestering him for details and to stop being selfish. No one was going to steal his girl away from him. They just wanted to know. Give him some advice or ideas to make sure Gippal kept things under control.
Rikku had better not ever catch wind of this or his name would be mud. Gippal felt the back of his neck heat. He was too tired to deal with this. He needed coffee, lots and lots of coffee. In fact, he could replace his blood with coffee and it wouldn't be enough. He was going to need his wits about them and in the absence of wits, caffeine was going to have to do.
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