Life of the Blitzed
a/n: FINALLY! This began as a mission to get myself out of writer's block, and then the usual 10 pages of my chapters became 20 pages, so IT'S A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! One update now on Christmas eve, and part 2 tomorrow on Christmas day. This chapter is a little different... you'll notice it's an interlude, which means things will change a little bit in the story from here on out. I'm going to start developing the other characters and story lines, using their perspectives. The main perspective will still be Yuna, but I'll be switching around too, so expect more "interludes". This one in particular is from Rikku's perspective... it goes back in time a bit, back to before Rikku's outbursts of chapter 5. IT HASN'T BEEN BETA'D, SO FORGIVE MEEEEE! Oh, and merry x-mas!
INTERLUDE: KUUT AYDC!
It was as if Rikku's horrible life had lead up to this: the climax of absolute pain. It was called "KUUT AYDC!" … 'Doesn't look very good to me…' Rikku couldn't help but think with that disgusted look on her face. She just stood on the sidewalk across the street, staring in horrified disbelief for ten minutes.
It had all begun on Saturday when Rikku, sitting at the kitchen table in her blue and white striped pajama shorts and thin white tank top, glimpsed that article in Gil Magazine—the article that featured a rather large photograph of a rather attractive, rather muscular, rather shirtless Al Bhed man. Any one of those things alone would have been cause for Rikku to stop eating her morning yogurt for a moment to read the entire article… or at least clip out the picture (which would cause Brother to throw a hissy fit upon finding the half-missing page… he should have been used to it by now). Yet the reason Rikku began to choke on a substance previously thought un-chokable-on was not the mere combination of the three, but the fact that she recognized that particular Al Bhed male's exposed muscles.
Brother poked his head into the small kitchen of their apartment.
"Oui kuhhy cinjeja drana, Rikku? Ed cuihtat mega oui fana teaehk… raaaaao, ec dryd… oukind?! Oui fana lrugehk uh oukind?! E teth'd ajah ghuf dryd fyc ajah buccepma! Oukind, mega, tuach'd ajah naxiena lrafehk…!" (You gonna survive there, Rikku? It sounded like you were dieing… heeeeey, is that… yogurt?! You were choking on yogurt?! I didn't even know that was even possible! Yogurt, like, doesn't even require chewing…!)
"UID! UID UV SO GEDLRAH!" (OUT! OUT OF MY KITCHEN!)
"Pid ed'c hud zicd ouinc…" (But it's not just yours…) Brother sulked as he slunked out of the kitchen.
In a frenzy, Rikku rifled back to the page in question, holding it with both hands as close to her face as she could.
Hottest Playboy Gillionaire?—Gippal Speaks
With the rise of controversial Machina technologies, the Machine Faction has become a force to be reckoned with. Gippal, the charismatic and attractive leader of said faction, has thus gotten more than his fair share of fame. At an extremely young age, Gippal has founded one of the most successful organizations of our time, yet his personal life remains shrouded in mystery. We sat down with him to finally get out the juicy details of his playboy ways…
GM: First off, how are you doing today, Gippal?
Gippal[laughs A little tired, I guess, but just as good as anyone.
GM: You just finished classes for the day, didn't you?
Gippal: Yes, I'm attending my last year of LAHS. I'm only 18… I'm guessing that's where this is going next, right?
GM: You knew! Can you see my notes or something?
Gippal: I'm too distracted by you, babe.
GM: Ah! I'm already going to write a good article about you, so the flattery isn't necessary, though I can't complain.
Gippal: Unless the write-up comes with a hot date with you, I can't say I'm satisfied.
GM: Well, I get off at 5[Laughs Anyways, how do you even have time for dates? You do so much already! Would you mind telling us at GM all you do?
Gippal: Getting back on topic I see [laughs. Well, I go to school, I teach the Machina Science class, I work out the paper work for the Machine Faction, I train for the Al Bhed Psychs, and a few other things that I shouldn't say in an interview, I guess. When I have a spare moment, I like to help alleviate fiend problems in poorer areas and teach lower income children how to work heavy machina such as hovers or small air ships so that they may eventually, as the technology catches on, lift themselves and their families out of poverty. I'm also on the board of ABFER [Al Bhed Foundation for Equal Rights, where we work on issues of racism towards the Al Bhed. On the weekends and breaks I go to Djose to work at the faction or to Bikanal to oversee digging… and sometimes I travel to other places on Machine Faction business as well.
GM: Yevon! How do you do it all?
Gippal: Coffee.
GM[laughs Well you are quite the joker, Gippal. So how about some more personal, fun questions? First something easy: what's your favorite color?
Gippal: Red or gold.
GM: What are 3 words you would use to describe yourself?
Gippal: Hard-working, intelligent, attractive.
GM: Or cocky?
Gippal: That would have been my fourth word.
GM[laughs Where were you born?
Gippal: Actually, I was born while on the road through the Moonflow, if you want to get technical, but I grew up on Bikanal Island.
GM: What's your biggest secret?
Gippal: A secret. What, did you think I'd answer?
GM: If you were an aeon, which would you be?
Gippal: Well, I'm not exactly religious, but I'd say Ixion… or Ifrit, I don't know.
GM: Why do you wear that eye patch?
Gippal: Trying to sneak that in there… let's just say it's one of my secrets.
GM: You caught me! Do you have any pets?
Gippal: There's a little rat that lives in Djose Temple that I sometimes see… I've come to call it Rikku.
GM: What do you look for in a girlfriend?
Gippal: Someone attractive who is independent, but not bossy. I like really feminine women who aren't loud or needy… redheads are cute, too.
GM: I'm taking a note of that!
Gippal: But you don't have to! I always make exceptions exceptionally hot women.
GM: You've already swept me off my feet, Gippal, just let me finish the interview without fainting. [laughs
Gippal: You're welcome to try.
GM: Do you have any hidden talents?
Gippal: Nothing I can say in an interview in a respectable magazine.
GM: How much hair gel do you use?
Gippal: A lot.
GM: Pirates or ninjas?
Gippal: Um… pirates, obviously. [He points to his eye patch
GM[laughs Of course! And finally, what advice do you have to the aspiring young businessmen out there?
Gippal: Take chances. Be yourself. Never forget the little people. Drink lots of coffee.
GM: Thank you so much for your time, Gippal!
Gippal: Thank you… and I'm taking you up on that date.
GM: I'm not complaining there!
Rikku sat, shocked, with the yogurt still in her mouth. She had been sitting motionless for a half an hour now, staring blankly at the interview. She quivered a little before slowly standing, Gil Magazine clenched in her small, manicured hands.
"…"
And then she exploded.
"GWAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!!!!"
The yogurt from her mouth sprayed across the kitchen walls. Brother, in the other room, dove for cover. Rikku was beating the magazine over the chair, yogurt dripping down her chin like foam from a rabid fiend's mouth. Within seconds, she had thrown on her flip-flops and mounted her pink bike, throwing the horrific magazine into the little pink basket for evidence. She was pedaling down the Luca streets as fast as she could towards the up-scale part of town where the apartment of her favorite half-blind man resided.
He had never exactlytold her where it was… or even told her to follow him home to find out, but she did anyways.
'I mean, he was going to say something eventually anyways, so why waste time?! What if there was an emergency or something… yea! An emergency! And he was the only person who could take care of me…! Oh screw this, I don't even care to justify myself.' Rikku's thoughts flew as fast as her bike.
There were silent, clean streets, glistening in the morning dew. And then there was Rikku, muttering obscenities as she threw her bike down in the middle of the street and stormed into a particularly slick-looking apartment building. She took the stairs.
By the time she was huffing and puffing at Gippal's door, half the building was aroused, looking through their peep holes in hopes of catching some of the drama (they were used to it, being Gippal's neighbors). "GIPPAAAAAAAAL!!!" Rikku roared. She could almost feel Gippal wincing through the door. He sullenly opened the door before she had the chance to scream again.
Apprehensively, Gippal half-smiled through the crack, using the majority of the door as a shield. His hair fell messily in his face, as it had yet to be gelled. He looked as if he had just woken up. "… Hey Cid's girl…" His eye was darting over the girl for some clue as to her sudden explosion. His gaze fell upon the magazine clutched in her hand, and he immediately tensed. One word went through his mind: 'Cred.'
"Frofuimtouiajahdrehguvcyoehkcdivvmegadryd,yhtehypeksykwehaduu?!Oui'nacilrysyhcmidGippalyhtoui'nakejehkdraAlBhedyhtdraMachineFactionyhtajahouinsudranypythysayhtEtuh'dvunkejaoui!!!" (Whywouldyoueventhinkofsayingstufflikethat,andinabigmagzinetoo?!You'resuchamanslutGippalandyou'regivingtheAlBhedandtheMachineFactionandevenyourmotherabadnameandIdon'tforgiveyou!!!)
The word vomit gushed out of Rikku's hysteric mouth in a steady stream as she pushed past him into his home. "Syhcmid" was the only thing Gippal was able to catch.
"…Come in?" Gippal asked as he closed the door behind them both. As the door clicked, Rikku rounded on him once again, pinning him to the door.
"AND I'M NOT A RAT!!!!!!!"
Gippal was holding his hands up to catch her in the likely event that she would lunge at him. Hesitantly opening his eyes, he looked down at the blonde glaring up at him. She was breathless from her outburst, chest heaving and fists clenched at her sides. In the moment of safely, Gippal found himself amused that such a tiny girl could have him pinned and terrified against the door of his own home, sans weapons or even proper clothes.
"…Well?!" Rikku was growing impatient with his lack of response. Gippal met her gaze and shrugged, bringing his arms back down. "Sorry?"
Immediately he brought his arms back into their defensive position as he caught her flailing arms. Rikku pounced, nails like talons as she bared her teeth. Kicking and screaming, Gippal pinned her arms to her sides in a bear hug and lifted her off the ground. She was screaming obscenities in multiple languages at him as he carried her to his shower and stood, holding her, beneath it. He turned on the cold water.
Rikku yelped and struggled even more in Gippal's embrace, trying to push off of him with her knees. But he held tight, looking into her eyes evenly as the water fell in sheets around them. The cold was biting and Rikku was only wearing her thin pajamas, and Gippal… was only wearing a pair of red-checked boxers, Rikku just now noticed. Realizing she was stuck fast to Gippal's bare chest, her struggle began again with new ferocity.
As the water continued to fall, however, Rikku began to lose steam. Her kicks lost the force behind them and her curses turned simply to shallow breaths as Rikku went limp in Gippal's arms. He smirked and stood for another moment before carefully setting her on her feet, loosening but not losing his grip on her.
"… You calm now?" He looked down at her.
"…Yea," she returned into his chest. He had always been taller than her, and had always looked mature for his age, but Rikku couldn't help but note that he had grown so much in their years apart. She shivered, the cold water still running over them both, and was glad for a moment that Gippal was there… before she returned to reality and realized he still had his arms around her.
She looked up at him, about to speak, but stopped when she caught the fleeting expression on Gippal's face. His hair, sopping wet, clung to his face, as drops of water fell from his chin and nose. His lips were straight and serious—a change from his usual smirk, but his eye… he looked down at Rikku in an intense, protective stare, yet there was some softness to it, too. It was a look as if he was about to cry, but Rikku knew him better than that. It was hard to read his eyes when there was only one, and she must have misinterpreted. She tried to speak once again.
"…I'm not gonna attack you… you can let go of me now."
Gippal blinked before settling back into his normal, bemused expression. "You sure?" he asked, taunting as he tightened his hold. Rikku was struggling again, pushing away from his chest with her hands and squeaking. Gippal laughed and let go of her suddenly. She toppled to the floor of the shower.
"Tysh ed, Gippal, I hate you!!" Rikku shook her fist at him from the cold marble, but the "hottest playboy gillionaire" had turned his soaked back on her and was already stepping through the doorway, grabbing a towel as he left.
Reaching to switch off the freezing cold water, Rikku took the chance to look around. The shower was relatively big, with two different spouts. It had green marble tiling, as did the entire bathroom. In fact, the only thing separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom was a glass wall, which was speckled in droplets of water after Rikku's surprise shower. All the plumbing in the bathroom was in gold—gold sinks, gold bathtub, gold toilet. Rikku sniggered in her head. Only Gippal would insist on a gold toilet. Her sniggering only stopped when Rikku turned her awareness back to her present situation and realized her thin, white tank top was now a wet, clear tank top. Her face turned bright red and she covered herself with her arms, relieved Gippal had left so quickly.
Rikku crawled out of the shower to find some towels stacked by the bath. She wrapped one around herself and took her wet hair down from her matted ponytail, tussling it with another towel. She looked in the mirrors hanging over the counter containing the two sinks, assessing the damage: her hair messily fell over her face and tumbled over her shoulders in thick tangles, but other than that she was relatively safe. She only wished that Gippal had some eyeliner in his cabinets… searching, she was surprised to find an entire lady's makeup kit.
'…Figures, mister "gillionaire playboy"' Rikku lamented disdainfully.
Once she had finished, she began exploring more of Gippal's cabinets. She found shaving cream, a razor, several different studs to put in his ears, MASSIVE amounts of hair gel, an assortment of eye patches, multiple silver chains and rings, a full first-aid kit, and a note taped to the back of the cabinet. The note was what made Rikku grimace, as it read, "I had an AMAZING time, Gippy. Love ya, and call me! xoxo Rosalyn". It was written in curly letters and was signed with a lipsticked kiss. Rikku gagged and tore the note into little pieces, dumping it into the trash.
The sound of knocking disturbed the Al Bhed from her mischief as she looked up, startled, to find Gippal leaning against the doorframe, a bemused expression on his face. A towel was draped over his head, hiding his hair save the strands that fell over his eyes, and he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of long pajama pants.
"Knock knock," he said in his usual joking tone, "making yourself at home, I see."
Rikku snapped back at him. "You owe me the entire worth of you house after what you did to me!"
"It's just water," Gippal chuckled as he sauntered towards her, extending a finger to wipe away a drop of water on her cheek, "water can't hurt you…"
Rikku slapped his hand away. "I'm not a rat, and I don't like it when you do the whole 'playboy' thing… it gives the Al Bhed a bad name!"
Gippal pulled, away, nervously scratching the back of his head. "You remembered…"
"Of course I did! I have more than a three second memory, you know!" Rikku pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and storming past him towards his bedroom. Gippal could only follow her.
Rikku was already riffling through his drawers when he arrived, leaning against the doorways again. "I didn't know you were in such a hurry to get to my room."
"Ha ha," Rikku said dryly, refusing to turn to him, "Now where's the stash of women's clothes I know you have?"
Taken aback, Gippal approached and gently pulled her away by the shoulders, removing her from his drawers and looking through them himself. "Yevon, I'm not a damn child, Rikku, I can make decisions myself…" he grumbled, tossing a pair of sweatpants and a white, ribbed tank top at the girl, disapproving behind him.
"Try those on… sorry they're only my clothes." He spoke tartly.
Rikku turned with a "hmph!" and waited for Gippal to leave the room. He did, slamming the door behind him. As embarrassing as it was, Rikku was slightly glad that she wore skimpy underwear that day, as it dried quickly. Slipping on the shirt and too-big sweatpants, she once again realized just how much bigger Gippal was now. Thankfully, Rikku had gravity on her side with the shirt, but it turned ruthlessly against her when it came to the pants. Even with the elastic band, they wouldn't stay up. She rolled them, she tied them, she even just held them in place, but no matter what she did, they resolved to come to rest at her ankles. Finally she swallowed her pride, waddling out the door.
"GIPPAAAAAAAL!" she whined through the house. He came running, a worried look on his face. As he hurried through the hall, he began to regret leaving her alone in his room. However, as he turned the corner he was met with a sight he found endlessly funny—Rikku, near tears, holding up a giant pair of sweatpants as the top and straps of her lacey underwear poked out from the top. He held on to the wall to keep himself from falling over as he laughed opening, steam emanating from Rikku's ears as she screamed, "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" before realizing her pants had fallen again and trying to cover herself, embarrassed. Gippal held up a hand to block the sight of her as he picked himself up and wiped away his tears of laughter, sweeping past her into his room. He found a belt and tossed it to her, giggling all the while. Now red as a tomato, Rikku hurriedly fastened the thing around her, tightening it to the smallest hole.
After hitting him a couple more times, Rikku angrily followed him to his kitchen. It was as nice as the rest of the house, with black marble counter tops and burgundy wood finishes. Again, all the plumbing was gold. It was nice, but not showy—Gippal, despite being one of the wealthier citizens of Spira, as well as the richest Al Bhed, didn't like to spend his money. Most of his gil was in the bank, or invested, or recycled into the Machine Faction. The only thing he really splurged on was his airship, Zaymuic.
Rikku plopped down at the table as Gippal B-lined for the cupboards. He got out two bowls, the box of "CocobO's" cereal, and some milk, pouring the later into only one bowl. He gave the dry cereal to Rikku, "Just like you like it," and set the other down for himself, dropping a couple spoons and a glass of orange juice on the table before finally sitting down.
Rikku was about to ask how he knew her favorite cereal, much less how she liked it, before she remembered that they had eaten breakfast together many times in years past. She silently sipped her juice, not noticing Gippal's intent gaze.
"I've been meaning to ask you something, Rikku." She nearly choked on her juice, tensing up.
"What?"
"Well, we've known each other from a long time, and all I can think about is how we used to be on Bikanal, and…"
Rikku was all ears now. "What is it?!"
"I was wondering if you would like to…"
Rikku leaned forward in her chair, 'yes' on the tip of her tongue.
"…join the Al Bhed Psych-"
"YES!" Rikku screamed, before realizing what he had been asking was, in fact, not what she was responding to…
"…Really? Great! I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it! I just keep remembering how we used to kick everyone's asses at Blitzball when we played together on the Bikanal coast, and you know the new season's coming up and-"
Rikku felt a sinking feeling in her stomach; like some invisible hand was squeezing her chest. Gippal didn't even notice her crestfallen face, as he was off talking about the blasted Al Bhed Psyches again… he got so excited when he talked about it, it was almost as if he were a little kid again, digging his feet into the sand beside Rikku as…
Gippal was waving a hand in front of Rikku's smiling, spaced-out face. "Spira to Rikkuuuu… hellooooo?" Gippal stopped and let his arm fall with a bang on the table. Rikku awoke with a start, squealing "SAVE THE COCOBOS!" Gippal laughed again.
"Anyways, practice is on Wednesdays, and there won't be a try out for you. Oh, but it costs 1,000 gil for uniforms, registration, and all that, so be sure to bring that, along with your swimming-"
"Waaaaait! 1,000 gil?! GIPPAL I CAN'T-"
"Then get a job," Gippal said, smirking, "though preferably off the streets."
Rikku lunged again across the table at the now-laughing man. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING??!!?"
a/n: PART 2 UP TOMORROW! Sorry for the Al Bhed-heavy-ness and the lack of humor ;-; sowy... I'll also start on the next straight chapter right away, as I'm back to being excited about this story! As always, REVIEW and tell me if they were too OOC , or if you have suggestions on my bit part OC's or on anything, really. And I always need help on my writing style! UNTIL TOMORROW!!!
--bucky