A/N: Hello! It's been a little while since I last updated this, and seeing as how my chapters are all really short, I don't really have an excuse for you ._. Don't worry though! I'm trying my best to keep this story moving. Thanks to everyone who reads this; just knowing that people are taking the time out of their day to read a story that I've written feels amazing, not gonna lie. If you feel so inclined, please review! It means a lot to me!

But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. At first, I didn't want to include it at all since it kind of felt like the last thing eidolons would think of doing, but whatever. I won't include any more of this if you guys disagree with it; I find it hard as balls to write this kind of stuff lol.

"You and me; us fire types have gotta stick together."

Phoenix looked at him warily. This didn't sound good at all.

"You know how the others look at us. They may not control fire like we do, but all of them have that same fiery jealousy burning in their eyes," he said. He nodded sagaciously before continuing. "Everyone envies us."

"And where did you gather such information?" Phoenix sighed. Humoring the other fiery eidolon was probably a bad idea, but she knew he'd keep pestering her until she responded to his attempts at starting a conversation.

Ifrit smiled a toothy grin and beat his chest. "Where, you ask? All you have to do is have some intuition and common sense." He gestured at the other eidolons that were all sleeping a little distance away. "Look at all of them! Just look! Look at how they wrinkle their brows in their sleep! Jealousy, I tell you."

"I fail to see how Carbuncle falling asleep mid-sneeze makes her jealous."

Ifrit pouted. "You're being unreasonable here, ya stupid bird. I told you to look at them! Look at them carefully!" He stalked over to where Bahamut was curled up. "Take, for example, this guy. He always wanted to have power over fire, but he's stuck with his silly impersonation of it. The flames that come out of his mouth? Fake! All of it; fake!"

"Try not to wake him up…"

But Ifrit wasn't done. "And look at how he snorts smoke out of his nostrils. His nostrils… They're angry! Look at them convulsing, like some crazed Gaian polka dancer." He paused, scratching his head. "You know, Bahamut's nostrils are actually kind of gross, if you look closely enough."

"Good God, Ifrit. What's your point?"

The muscled beast turned towards Phoenix. His eyes were unreadable, yet she could feel the beginnings of a mad plan starting to unravel. If her instincts were correct, she was about to be caught up in something she didn't want anything to do with.

"I'm just sayin' that we should team up! Fire plus fire equals more fire!"

Phoenix was wary. If that was all that he wanted, she could deal with that, but there were some things she needed to know. "If, hypothetically, we were to 'team up' as you say, what exactly would we do?"

Ifrit laughed. "Hell, we could do all sorts of things!"

"That doesn't really answer my question."

"Well, what does it matter? All that matters is that we'd be partners. Sounds good, don't it?"

If Phoenix were honest with herself, becoming partners with a creature as beastly and crude as Ifrit was the furthest thing from "good" that she could come up with. He was vulgar and violent, and she was polite and peaceful. Maybe he wanted to balance himself out with someone who he could connect with? After all, her flames had the capability of producing as much heat as hell's guardian himself; who else would he be able to open up to? Maybe, just maybe, if she agreed to his demands, he'd begin to mellow out. She'd be doing everyone else a favor, and if it meant dealing with an unruly fellow eidolon for a little while, she wouldn't mind.

…However, there was a nagging feeling in her gut. What if he was trying to use her? She didn't put it past him to pull a fast ball. The king of hell didn't hold his title for no reason.

Or maybe there was something else? He was a mischievous character; that much was obvious. Everything about him screamed "Don't trust him! He's gonna use you, and then he's gonna… Well, I dunno what he's gonna do, but you're not gonna like it! That's for sure!" and every memory she had of him was stained with his uncaring personality. But she always felt that beneath the hardened exterior, he had a good side (no matter how small) in him, hiding cautiously like a small, bullied youth.

So maybe it was something else. If he wasn't trying to use her, and if he wasn't trying to undergo some serious self-reformation, what did he have to gain from being a "partner" with her? Was he asking to be friends? And if he was, why would he need to ask her? She got along well with everyone; she was used to the other eidolons coming to her to have a nice, peaceful chat about different subjects (although it usually gravitated towards gossip about their respective summoners).

What could he be planning…?

He could be thinking of anything. His intentions were as shady as the mane that covered his nape. She shouldn't trust him; that was what her whole body screamed. He would do something that she would never be able to unsee, and she'd hate herself for going along with his dumb plans. What good could come out of "teaming up" with him anyway?

…Well, there's the off-chance that he wants to look at me as a role model for turning over a new leaf…

That was impossible though. Who, Ifrit changing? That was about as plausible as Zidane falling in love with Eiko.

"What the hell, woman. It shouldn't take you this long to respond."

Uhh, whoops. Looks like he's mad now.

"I was thinking," she replied lamely.

He grumbled. "Whatever. If you don't wanna be partners, fine then. I'll find someone else." He crossed his arms. "Double fire though; doesn't that sound cool to you? We gotta stick together! They're all jealous, and violent, but if we have the combined power of our fires, we should be able to fend them off!"

Okay, maybe he's just paranoid.

"We'd look good together! You know?"

"No, I don't know." She had a bad feeling about the direction of the conversation.

Ifrit frowned. "Whaddya mean? We'd mix the best things about fire together! My fire is strong! Your fire is–"

"You're saying I'm weak?"

"Nononononono I'm not saying that!"

Phoenix rolled her eyes. Why she wasted time worrying about his motives was a mystery to her. So much for the deep personality analysis.

"Look, come on Phoenix! We'd… Uhh…"

"What are you doing? Confessing your feelings or some shit?" Shiva yawned. "Phoenix isn't interested."

Ifrit gawped. Shiva had been still as a stone just a second prior; it was obvious that her sudden intrusion into the conversation rocked Ifrit's train of thought. "Wh-What?! I-I'm doing no such thing! What the hell, you stupid pixie, you pathetic nymph! Go back to sleep!"

Phoenix was completely confused. She had never thought of that before. Ifrit… Ifrit liked her? She could feel herself blushing.

That's so… That's just so...

Shiva yawned again. "You poor, love-stricken ass. Phoenix is gonna break your heart, just you wait."

"Holy balls, do you have a death wish?!" Ifrit charged the smaller eidolon with his arms outstretched. Shiva casually sidestepped his charge and dealt a bone-crushing kick to his head. He went down without a sound.

Phoenix stared at the motionless figure. "…He woke me up to tell me that?"

Shiva shrugged. "I think he's been after you for a quite some time. A while ago, he said something about how we'd be jealous of you two or something."

What? So everyone knows except for me?

"I guess you aren't that good at detecting advances from people, huh," Shiva said.

"Hey! How am I supposed to know he was suggesting such a thing?" She beat her wings in frustration. "I'm an eidolon! Eidolons don't have relationships!"

"You exist, don't you? If you exist, you can do whatever the hell you want. You just have to come up with the ideas to implement in the first place."

"…But, but that's not how it works."

Shiva cocked her head, silently staring at the only other conscious eidolon. She narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me you actually like the insolent brute…"

Phoenix gasped. And blushed. But since the vast majority of her feathers were red in the first place, Shiva didn't notice. "No! No I don't! That's crazy!"

Shiva turned away. "Whatever. Not my business." She laid down and promptly fell asleep.

Phoenix huffed. There was no way she liked Ifrit back! He didn't even confirm it himself; Shiva was probably just over-eager in her methods of stoking Ifrit's anger. And even if it turned out that the insufferable beast did indeed have feelings for her – Oh lord how scandalous! – she'd continue her existence as normal, and heed Eiko's calls for as long as she was needed. Eidolons weren't meant to have relationships.

…Or were they? The bird-like eidolon tittered. Would a romantic "partnership" with Ifrit really be all that bad?

She thought to herself for a while.

Weapons of war were allowed to have relationships, right? She shook her head and sighed. Maybe she was just enamored by the concept of defying the inevitable; if an eidolon were to be in a relationship, it'd undoubtedly fall apart after their legends deemed the connection unnecessary. How cruel the world was!

Everyone's deserving of love! It doesn't have to be restricted to Gaian life forms!

Was she even a life form though? She was created from a legend about a mystical bird. How could that be considered life? She had no childhood, no aspects of growth that she could cling to, and ultimately, she had no true control over her thoughts. They could be predetermined thoughts programmed into her by the now-deceased summoning tribe for all she knew.

Maybe, if they weren't eidolons and were just some little kids running around Gaia, she might've accepted Ifrit's request. But they were eidolons. They had no control over their fate, and any attempt in wresting control of their fates from their creators would end in a predictable and crushing defeat. She didn't hold a grudge against Eiko for it; it was just the way things were.

"If only…" she could hear herself muttering.

…

Wait. I'm not saying I like Ifrit back! Dammit I don't mean that at all!

She shook off the disgusting warm feeling that began to grow in her core. If he really wanted to be "partners" with her, he'd have to woo her like no other being had wooed another before! She harrumphed triumphantly, and nestled down to nap like everyone else. Spying Ifrit's form out of the corner of her half-closed eye, she giggled. He was ugly, vulgar, and violent, (and quite unconscious at the moment) but maybe there was more to him than that. He had the courage to approach her in the first place, didn't he? Ifrit had always been the confidently brash balls-to-the-wall kind of character.

This feels like a cheesy romantic play that Tantalus would perform in their free time. Phoenix lowered her head and closed her eyes. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.