Rikku hopped out of the hover, mentally trying to figure out where to start in his monster of a house. Rikku went into the kitchen and after a 15-minute search, found pen and paper. She made a list of things that needed to be done.
"Dishes, laundry, mopping, vacuuming, scrub the shower, bath, toilet and sink." She sighed loudly. "This is going to take forever… And Gippal will be home in 5 and a half hours. Poopie." Rikku got up from the table and ran to the living room. "Might as well start with the laundry. Whites, darks, darks, darks, lights, towels…" Rikku named each pile as she threw clothes into them. She got so into sorting, she didn't hear the first knock on the door, or the second for that matter. It wasn't until the doorbell rang that Rikku realized someone was waiting for her to get the door. She quickly scooted around her laundry mountains and dashed to the door. Hoping whoever it was wouldn't mind her messy hair and bedraggled self. "Hi!" She answered the door sunily. "Gip-"
"Who are you?" A very feminine voice asked. Rikku stopped and finally took a good look at who was standing on Gippal's porch. The girl, well woman, was tall and thin. You could only describe her body as modelesque. She had long, curly black hair that fell over one shoulder and beautiful violet eyes. This woman could never be called cute or pretty, only sexy and provocative. To top it all off, she was wearing a white chic dress with a gold handbag and gold strappy heels. Not like she needed the height.
"Um, well, I'm Rikku. Cid's daughter." Rikku stammered, feeling like the beast compared to this beauty. As if the woman read her mind, she suddenly gave Rikku a once over and the look in her eyes said she didn't like what she saw.
"Rikku." She drawled. "I didn't recognize you under all that grime. You look very, uh, different from the picture I saw of you."
"Oh! You are…"
"How rude of me! I'm Valentina, Nhadala's hmmm, let's say love child." Valentina was about to reach out to shake Rikku's hand but quickly thought better of it and took a step backwards instead, remembering her white dress. "Anyway, I'm here to see Gippal… You're here because?" Rikku blushed lightly.
"Um, well you see, me and my brother, oddly enough named Brother-"
"Can I have the short version please? The very short version. I don't remember asking for your life story." Valentina interrupted, with her soft as velvet voice. Come on Rikku, just spit it out she told herself.
"I'm living here now. With Gippal. Together." Rikku sighed once she finally got it out.
"I see… that's very… interesting. So may I speak to Gippal then please. After all, he is the reason why I'm here."
"Oh, he's down at Djose Temple. He has work today and I'm… just cleaning up the house before he gets home."
"Hahahahaha." Her tinkly laugh grated on Rikku's nerves. "I see Gippy hasn't changed a bit. Still living in a pig sty." She smiled sweetly at Rikku.
"You two know each other well?" Rikku asked quietly.
"Of course we do. While you were off saving Spira, Gippal was working hard to become the leader of the machine faction. I'm two years older then him and, at Nhadala's request, I taught him everything I know. When he had a final falling out with his parents, he moved into my apartment with me in Bevelle. So I would say we are pretty close."
"I see… Would you like me to leave a message for Gippal?" Rikku hinted that she wanted Valentina to leave.
"Sure, tell him I came by to discuss me taking over Nhadala's position. Ta-ta." Rikku's face paled slightly as she watched the fly in the ointment of her life walk away.
Xxxxxxxxxx – xx
Gippal signed the last paper on his desk and sighed with relief. Since no one could go down to Bikanel, he had spent the day doing boring old paper work that he had needed to catch up on. But, he was finally done, meaning he could go home… to Rikku.
"Boss? Are you finished signing those papers so I can send them to Rin?" Gippal looked up at his secretary, Trina.
"Yes. Once you fax these you can head home. Ok Trina?" Trina's face lit up at his suggestion.
"OH! Thank you Gippal sir. It's my boyfriends birthday and he'll be really excited that I can be home early today."
"Um, sure. Tell him I say happy birthday. Anyway, I'm going to head home now so see you later Trina." Gippal was excited about going home to someone for once. Especially since that someone is Rikku. He quickly walked out of the temple and hailed a hover. Because he was lucky like that, Gippal's hover driver happened to be none other then the guy who was hitting on Rikku.
"Hey. It's Blondie's boyfriend. Where too?" The obnoxious hover driver called out to Gippal as he climbed onto the back of the hover.
"My house on the Moonflow." Gippal said as he gazed around. The hover ride took awhile but he finally got to his destination… Home.
Xxxxxxxxxx – xx
Rikku looked at the progress she had made. So far… she had finished his bathroom. She had kind of been hoping that she would have more done by now. Rikku sighed softly as she folded some laundry. The whites alone took all day, and the worst part is, the dresser and the closet are still a mess. Cleaning this house was going to take forever.
"Making some progress I see." Rikku jumped and screamed at the sudden voice that came from behind her.
"Don't do that! You scared me out of three years growth! And I can use the height!" Rikku exclaimed as she remembered Valentina's model body.
"I like you the way you are." Gippal replied.
"But I'm so short, I'm practically a garden gnome. You might as well put a little red hat on me and sit me out front." Gippal chuckled at her dramatics.
"You're a girl, you're suppose to be small. I like my girls small."
"Valentina isn't small. She's an Amazon princess."
"Valentina? What does she have to do with anything?" Gippal asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, she came by looking for you. You should go see her." Rikku turned and walked into the newly cleaned bathroom. Before closing the door she turned her head back to face Gippal. "She said it was about Nhadala's position." She closed the door and Gippal heard the click of the lock.
"Rikku? Are you ok?" He called to her from the other side of the door.
"I'm fine." She said quietly. "I just really need a shower." The sound of water hitting the tub met Gippal's ears. He shook his head and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. Valentina picked up after two rings.
"Valentina?"
"Gippy! How are you? We haven't spoken in so long. I have so much to tell you about what's happened in the last little while."
"Yeah, Rikku told me you came by. She didn't seem too happy about it either. What did you tell her?"