Taking Care of Business

[shiptoride]

Characters: Gippal, OPEN
Content: Gippal's out working on the guns, checking for storm damage and generally tweaking them. Feel free to annoy.
Setting: Winding Way Main Guns
Time: Morning
Warnings: Depends on who shows up, Innuendo (lots of it)

Comments

[tiny_tinker_toy]

Man, was it chilly out here.

Having nothing else to do, Rikku had offered to run errands for the kitchen (less stuff for Watanuki to do). She was going around, giving warm drinks (and spare clothes from Sophie's pile of enchanted warm clothing) to anyone who was stuck outside for any amount of time. She had on her worn leather work clothes and a shawl-cloak thing.

She wandered over by the guns, seeing if anyone needed something, when she spotted Gippal working on the guns.

Guh.

One thing Rikku would never tell anyone on the ship was that she loved guys who worked with their hands and weren't afraid to get smudgy from the oil and grease. She especially loved them when they were Gippal.

"Hey, Gippal~!" she called out, heading over. "Cold?"

[shiptoride]

Gippal was just wiping some sweat off his head, and smearing a little more grease in the process, when he heard a voice. Nothing suited him better than getting dirty working on an improvement project. Except some company while he was doing it. Even though he loved to tease people, he actually enjoyed being social.

"Hey, it's Cid's girl!" he called out, grinning at the old taunt. He let out a grunt from the exertion of trying to nudge a piece of the gun back into place. "Not too much. Hadn't much noticed it." But now that she mentioned the cold, he was getting pretty nippy when he wasn't moving.

Gippal flicked his head in her direction. "Whatcha got there?"

[tiny_tinker_toy]

Rikku huffed. "I have a name, Gippal!" Really, this was getting old. Regardless, Rikku held up the bag of clothes and the bag of bottles. "Enchanted warm clothing and warm tea and other drinks in bottles kept warm by mana crystals," she explained. "Want any, Mr. Handyman?"

[shiptoride]

Good ole Rikku. She could always be counted on for the cute huffing. "A name? What was it? Mildred? Wait no, Fifi." Gippal made a show of really thinking hard about it. "Mmm. Cid's girl's not it. Gippal's girl?" He figured she'd either freak out on him or slap him. It was really the freaked out reaction he was looking for, but a man had to take a gamble for his fun sometimes.

"Sure, I'll take a drink. I'm not picky what."

[tiny_tinker_toy]

I'm not going to freak out, Rikku told herself. I am going to make him pause for a second.

She handed him a bottle of green tea. "How can I be your girl when we haven't had a real kiss, huh?" taunted the mechanic. There, see how he like that.

Though, honestly, she was fuming, and really wanted to smack him.

[shiptoride]

What a disappointment. Not that he didn't mind avoiding the slap, but he didn't get the response he was hoping for either. Still, he didn't skip a beat. "We can fix that anytime you want," he purred at her, leaning closer for just a minute.

Then, just like that, he took the bottle of tea and opened it, taking a good drink out of it. "Hey, thanks for this, Rikku."

[tiny_tinker_toy]

...Shoot.

Rikku frowned. "Welcome," she sang, sitting down on a nearby box and grabbing one of the bottles herself. "And what if I wanted to fix that, huh?"

[shiptoride]

She wanted him to fix it that bad, eh? Well, Gippal wasn't about to disappoint her then. Still, wasn't any good if he didn't get a good tease out of her first. He took another drink, then sat the bottle down, turning his attention to the gun he was working on like she hadn't said a word.

"Hey, Rikku, c'mere a minute. Got somethin' here I want you to look at." Let her think he was after a little mechanical shop talk.

[tiny_tinker_toy]

Rikku sighed and hopped up. "Honestly, you can't do a thing without me, can ya?" She leaned down. "What is it?"

[shiptoride]

Hah! She fell for it! Hook, line and sinker. Rikku was just close enough, all Gippal had to do was turn around and plant one well-timed kiss on her. Which is where he started. Except once he'd started, he just plain didn't want to stop, and in the matter of seconds, he angled them both so he had her pressed up against the gun so she couldn't escape, snogging her socks off.

When he finally pulled back, he answered her question, "Well there's a few things that require two people." It was flip, and snotty. But he hadn't quite planned on losing control of the situation (or himself) and needed to get back onto an even keel.

[tiny_tinker_toy]

Ah-uh-um-well, uh...

Gippal. Had he...? Was Rikku dreaming here? One second she was next to Gippal, the next she was pinned against the gun, and making out with him!

Knew he was a good kisser, Rikku thought, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing back.

Then he pulled back, and gave her that smart aleck remark. She frowned. "Are you just playing with me, Gip?" she asked, still hugging his neck. "I hope not, cuz you don't kiss a girl like that and then just tease her!" Especially when that girl had had the biggest crush on you for, oh, ever.

[shiptoride]

Was he playing with her? Man, it really had started out that way. It was supposed to get her off his back and satisfy her curiosity so things could go back to the way they were. Easier. Because she wanted way more from a relationship than he was ready to give. And he annoyed her so much. Some of that was his fault, since he couldn't (wouldn't) lay off the teasing. That and well, he knew she was sort of hung up on wanting a big family and he just wasn't sure about any of that at all yet. No point getting her hopes up for more only to hurt her if it wasn't going to work out

[tiny_tinker_toy]

Rikku smacked him in the back of the head. Still didn't let go, though.

"You big meanie," she muttered. "You don't kiss a girl like that and then tease her! Especially when it's me! Especially when it's you!" Rikku didn't get into relationships easily--her last one had ended with her getting dumped and the jerk jumping ship. And there was the fact that her mama and aunt had both died while they were in relationships and there was no way Rikku was going to die like them but anyway. That wasn't the point. The point was Gippal had just kissed her, made her heart go crazy, and he was trying to tease her again.

[shiptoride]

"Guess that's a no." Still, Gippal wasn't making the least bit of a move to turn her loose, even after she whapped him. "What was that for anyway? I thought you wanted me to kiss you." Geez, girls. What the heck was wrong with her anyway?

What the hell was wrong with him?

[tiny_tinker_toy]

"I did! I still do! Geez, Gippal, are you really that stupid? Even Aniki woulda gotten it by now!" Why else would she have asked him to go on the getaway with her? Stupid boy. Rikku reached up and brushed a hand over his eyepatch. "Gippal, I...I...E mega oui. Y mud. Y mud y mud."

And cue the embarrassment and burying her face in his chest. This wasn't going to end well, she just knew it.

[shiptoride]

Any other girl and he would have said to hell with it, she knew what she was getting herself in for and ran with it as far and as fast as he could get away with.

But it was Rikku.

He got it. Probably better than she realized.

And there she was, clinging to him, face on his chest and all he had to do was hold her and pet her hair. (All of which he really really wanted to do.) "Famm, E tuh'd fyhd oui rydehk sa dusunnuf. I better get back to work. If you're gonna hit me again, might wanna get that over with."