FF-X2: Desert Lust (Closed for Zax and myself)

[Pywakit]

Rikku's eyes widened as the shovel hit something solid. The sound was of metal on metal, a welcome sound indeed after nearly two hours of toil out here in the desert. She paused in her work, feeling the sweat slither down her neck and back, and felt a tremble of excitement building in her knees.

She'd headed out to look for artifacts in the desert before, but it was dangerous work. There were all sorts of fiends out here, and you had to be careful. In fact (although she'd never admit this to anyone else, especially Yuna or Paine) it was actually kinda stupid to do this alone. Normally, one or two people did the digging while the rest of the expedition kept an eye out for trouble. But then, if you brought along extra bodies for help, you had to split the take extra. And since Yuna was busy with Tidus and Paine was off with the ship to investigate rumors of a fiend uprising near the Mushroom Rock Road... Rikku had taken it as a sign to get some quality time in with her favorite shovel.

She bent over again, brushing blonde braids away from her eyes with one hand and sand away from the object she'd unearthed with the other. It was a long, thin, metal box, the type musicians sometimes used to carry their instruments. The box was embossed with strange carvings, and when she saw the lock on its front face she shook her head in pity. Locks... if ever there was a greater sense of false security, she had yet to find it.

Rikku pulled the box up from the hole and set it on the sand by her shoulder, and was fishing about in the toolbox she'd brought for some picks when she heard the sound of wing beats above, and a shadow passed over her dig. Her eyes widened as she caught the familiar, acrid stink... zuus!

She leapt up out of the hole just as the massive bird struck. It cried out in rage through a mouthful of sand as it reeled back. Rikku rolled to her feet in a crouch, and pulled her daggers. The zuu was big, bigger than most she'd seen, but it was also trying to eat her, so she wasn't ready to take the time to admire its size. She ran toward it, leaping into the air at the last minnute with knives flashing, and missed; the zuu swooped out of the way at the last minute. She spun, a curse on her lips

"Damnit! Stay where I can reach you, ya stupid bird!"

The zuu complied, swooping down with frightening speed and a deafening shriek. Rikku squeeled in shock and dove aside at the last minute, landing on her ass back in the hole she'd just dug. She scrambled back to her feet... just in time to see the zuu swallow the mouthfull of sand it'd grabbed up instead of her. A mouthful that included her newfound box.

"AAAUGH!" she cried out. "GIVE THAT BACK!" She clambered out of the hole and swung again with her daggers, but the fiend dodged again, flapping higher into the air just out of reach, it's great wings kicking up plumes of sand that stung her skin and forced her to squint. Suddenly, she realized she'd made a terrible mistake. The sand blinded her, but the zuu could see her perfectly. She froze, trying to locate it with hearing alone, but when the shadow fell over her from the left she realized it had tricked her. She gritted her teeth and prepared to meet the beast as a simple thought danced in her mind...

"I should have brought Yuna or Paine along after all..."

 

[Zax]

The sand around the al bhed woman and the large, aggrivated Zuu was whipping around in a small, reckless cyclone, enveloping the two combatents inside. It would probably make it difficult for the two of them to hear the roar of the motor off in the distance. If either of them could have seen over the sand dune behind them, they would have been able to make out a glint of metal in the hot sun, followed by a nearly half mile long trail of upchurned sand that clouded out behind it, accompanied by the roar of a large motor that could have only been housed by one of the Al Bhed's beloved machina.

The rapidly speeding machina ripped over the dune, a tongue of thrown sand licking at the back wheel as it became air born. The front wheel spun like a windmill as it crashed headlong into the Zuu's torso, throwing the large fiend off of it's divebomb, and causing it to crash into the hot desert floor. The machina landed, and the man riding flipped up the visor on the helmet he wore, reaching behind him to grab the machina projectile weapon he had stored in the back pouch incase he ran into any fiends he couldn't run over. Inside the visor, you could see only one eye, the other covered by a patch as he lifted the gun and lined it with his one visible optic.

The sun was behind him, making it easier for him to aim and a bit harder for the Zuu to see where he was. Reaching to the side of the gun, he grabbed a small piece of metal that protruded from the side, pulled back on it and locked it into place, a loud "Ka-chck!" coming from the small machina. It was followed by a loud crack that echoed off into the distance as a projectile fired from the muzzle at high speed. It left a trail of light behind it before cracking against the side of the Zuu's head, and exploding out the other side in a mess of Feathers, blood and the rapidly forming pyreflies.

The rider sighed, and pulled his helmet completely off, revealing himself. He was clearly al bhed, even if you could only see his one eye. He shook his head, shaking his hair out as he re-holstered his gun and stepped off of the machina he had been riding. Setting the helmet down on the front seat, a similar helmet rested on the back, he then turned towards Rikku and folded his arms over his chest with a look like a dissapointed older brother.

"Cxiend, E druikrd oui't pa csynd ahuikr hud du lusa uid rana ymuha. E sayh, E ghuf oui drehg oui'na cusa knayd fynneun, ryjehk cyjat ed dfela yht ymm, pid lusa uh. na oui dnoehk du tea ouihk?" Despite his slightly sarcastic tone, he walked over to her and tilted her head up with the back of his hand towards the light. "Ubah ouin aoac y ped." He took a small flask of water from his side, pulling the top off with his teeth and lightly splashed a few drops to help wash the sand clear. It wasn't comfortable, but at least it would let her see again.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku squealed in shock as she felt the water splashing over her eyes. She staggerd back, shaking her head and sending her braids into a storm of their own, and then promptly tripped over the sand and sprawled back onto the ground. She reached up and rubbed at her eyes, leaving dark smudges of dirt as she opened them.

She'd recognized Gippal by his voice, of course, if only because he used that annoying little nickname "Squirt" he used on her all the time. But she was still a bit surprised to see her standing over him one she blinked the brightness of the desert away.

"Gee... thanks for the bath, Gippal!" she huffed as she clamberd up to her feet again. "Although... hey! You killed it!" She scurried over to the rapidly decaying zuu, its body fading from view as the pyreflies swarmed around it and themselves faded. By the time the carcass had vanished, all that remained was the mysterious box the thing had swallowed.

"HA! That'll learn it for messing with me and taking my stuff!" Rikku exclaimed as she swept the box up into her arms possessively. Clutching it to her chest, she turned back to Gippal.

"Thanks, by the way... for killing it. I woulda had it, you know, but it just kinda got the jump on me." She rubbed at her cheeks, trying to rub the water away but only smearing the dirt and sand around more. The act caused her box to slip a little, and as it did she abandoned her feeble attempt to clean and clutched it tighter to her chest.

"And you know I hate it when you call me Squirt!" she protested stubbornly, although at the same time she couldn't help but feel a bit excited that he'd apparently followed her all the way out here. What was he up to?

 

[Zax]

Gippal shook his head and let out a light laugh, bracing his hand against his forehead. "..you look like you just got out of a grease pit, Squirt." He emphasized the last part just to give her a bit of a raz before he took the cloth hitched at his belt and tossed it at her. His gaze dropped down to her chest, and scanned over the little relic she clutched between her breasts before he pulled his eye away and looked back at her face. "You really should have done more then come out here alone. I mean, you didn't even take a hover with you, you could have been wasted and no one would even know you were gone..."

On this note, he walked back over to the machina he had ridden. It consisted of two wheels, one at the front and one at the back, a pair of handle bars protruding out near the top of the front wheel, a pane of glass to act as an eye shield and a small compartment at the back for holding items. The seat appeared to be made of chocobo hide, and it was large enough to fit two people, three if they squeezed on tight, but that probably wasn't a safe idea.

He sat on the seat, and took a deep sip from the water flask he had in his hand before looking back towards the al bhed girl. He had always found her to be kind of cute, in a kiddy sort of way. She hadn't even gotten any of the tatoo's the Al Bhed had been known for, and that always made her seem like a small child to him, since kids never got them. It was sort of a social thing, to prove you were tough, to get those markings burnt into your skin.

He pulled the flask from his lips and let out a light sigh, tugging at the collar of his shirt, and rolling up a sleeve. "...so...what's that little trinket you dug up? Is it really worth almost dying for?"

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku's eyes narrowed slightly as Gippal asked her about the box.

"Well.. to tell the truth, Gippal... I'm not really sure what's inside it. I found these old maps that seemed to indicate that this site was once the location of a powerful noble woman's estate... maybe even a queen's palace. And according to those maps... her personal chambers were right around here. And since nobles and queens are rich, and since they keep all sorts of neat, fancy loot in their homes, I figured that yeah, it'd be worth almost dying for. Not that I almost died. I had it all under control. And anyway, it's locked, so I don't really know what's inside."

She bent over to retrieve her pack, and stashed the box inside it before tossing the pack over her shoulder. She self-consciously tried to wipe away more of the dirt on her face but only made it worse, so she dropped her hand to her side.

"So that covers me... what about you? What're you doing out here? Stalking me?" she asked with an impish grin.

 

[Zax]

He shrugged lightly, attaching the flask back to his belt. "Someone mentioned that they saw some skantily clad Al Bhed woman running off into the desert by herself, half cocked, with no means of transportation. And seeing as you're the only girl I know crazy enough to do that, and that you're constantly getting into trouble, I figured you might need some help, and maybe a ride home after whatever it is you needed to do was done." He motioned with one hand along the chocobo sized machina he was rested on.

"We can get back to camp, and you can pick and poke at that thing all you want in relative comfort. I wouldn't want to leave you out here, and risk having you get eaten again because I -know- you won't do the sensable thing and give that treasure to me and let whatever it is go towards our equipment costs." He didn't sound too serious about the last part, but he felt it couldn't hurt to put the idea on the table.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"What makes you think I'm not sensable? Wait... don't answer that." Rikku quickly ammended her question. She looked out at the sea of dunes back toward camp. It had taken her most of the morning to walk out here, and if she left now, she'd not be getting back until after dark. And of course, dark was when the really nasty fiends came out.

"Well, I'm at least sensable enough to accept a ride back to town." She walked up to Gippal's machina and stashed her bag of tools and the mystery box in one of the containers on the vehicle's side, then quickly and gracefully clambered up to sit behind Gippal. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him her body pressing against him as she looked over his shoulder, unable to suppress her excited grin at being this close to him. Rikku had had a crush on Gippal as long as she could remember, but something always seemed to come up before she could work up the courage to pursue it. And now, here she was, wrapped around him like a coat.

"Thanks for the ride, Gippal. You're a real peach." She thought about giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, but then thought better of it. "Take it slow, kiddo," she thought to herself.

 

[Zax]

He laughed lightly, resting his hands back on the handle bars as he felt her small, slim arms knitted around his waist. He flicked the visor of the helmet down over his eye so he could see through any sand that came his way, and he considered telling her to put her helmet on, but there wasn't really much of a chance that they'd get into an accident on the way back to the camp, plus the fact that there weren't many places they could have much of a rough landing. He just wore the helmet to shield his eyes since he didn't have any goggles.

Turning the engine over, he gave on the gas and peeled out, leaving upchurned sand behind them, and the roar of the engine over their ears. The golden dust of the desert split in their path as they rumbled back towards the camp. Most people would just think Gippal was running in a random direction, but he had a sense of which way was which around here, mostly just from knowing the time and position of the sun.

What would have taken her hours only took them 30 minutes, and the fence that surrounded the al bhed compound came into view. The tents floating up over the dunes like large seeds. The engine began to die down as they split through the opening of the fence and slid to a comfortable stop. "....you ok back there, short stuff?"

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

As the sound of the machina revving up filled the empty desert, Rikku clutched at Gippal a little tighter. With a jolt, they were off. It didn't take long for the wind blasting at her face to start to sting, so Rikku buried her face against Gippal's back, breathing in the scent of his clothes as she clung to him.

The ride was over in a surprisingly short time. Rikku looked up and saw they were back at the camp. As Gippal coasted to a stop, he called back, "...you OK back there, short stuff?" Rikku rolled her eyes. Short-stuff was another one of the names he insisted on calling her... not as annoying as Squirt, but still. She answered him by hopping off the bike.

"Yeah, I'm fine Grandpa. Only I think maybe next time I'll bring my goggles at least... what's so funny?" she asked as she noticed Gippal smiling, and then chuckling at her. He didn't answer, but when she lifted her hands to her head she realized what was going on... the windy ride had thrown her hair into a tangled mess, braids and all.

She huffed, and threw up her hands in defeat as she glanced over to the only inn at the camp. When she saw the "Rooms Full" sign out front, she cursed.

"Damn it! I knew I should'a rented a room there before I went out to the digs." She glanced back at Gippal, annoyed that he was still smiling at her. She put her hands on her hips defiantly. "What'da'ya suppose my chances are of someone checking out of a room in the next half hour before sunset?"

 

[Zax]

Gippal placed a hand to her head as she questioned him about the odds of someone checking out in the next few hours, and messed with her hair a bit, flattening down a bit of her hair. "Well, that's about as likely as your hair staying down right now..." He retorted, giving up his small attempt to pat it down. He hopped off the bike himself, and walked it towards a large machina garage, parking it between two hovers and chaining it to a large metal poll that jutted out of the ground. Yanking the helmet off, he rested it on the bike again, snatched up Rikku's bag of wonders and jogged back over, holding it out for her.

"But I already told you, you'd be using a comfortable place to do your research, didn't I? By comfortable, I meant mine. You can use my tent if you need and anything inside. Just make sure you don't steal anything..." He motioned over to a large, new looking tent that seemed to have been put up recently. "Infact, I might have to give you a quick frisk before you leave just to make sure you didn't take one or two of my more irresistable items..."

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku endured the pat to the head and snatched her bag away from Gippal as he held it out to her. She was quickly remembering why she usually avoided him... he always treated her like a kid. She hadn't minded when she was a kid as much, but those days were behind her. She was a hero, for crying out loud! She'd saved the world twice! Well... not on her own, but she'd definately helped.

She looked over at the tent he indicated. "A quick frisk, huh? Well what do you know, Gippal? I didn't know you cared about me that much!" she said as she slung her bag over her shoulder, squinted her eyes, and looked up at him. "In any case, I think I'll take you up on your offer. Beats sleeping out in the sand with the scorpions and the snakes, I suppose. And I don't suppose you have a bath or a shower or something like that in there, do you? Cause I'd hate to think of you getting your hands dirty when you were frisking me..." As she said the last, she turned and started walking toward his tent, making sure to give her hips a little extra swing as she did. There was more than one way to make him realize she'd grown up over the last few years.

 

[Zax]

He placed a hand to the back of his head, and laughed again. She really was going out of her way to both try to act like she was a grown up, but at the same time, hord the item she found in the desert like a kid with her favourite toy. It was an amusing conflict to see out of her, and he couldn't help but gaze at her hips, and pert ass as she walked away. ...when did she get that?

He shook his head clean of the thoughts and walked along side her at a comfortable pace. "Well, we don't have any baths, but we do have a few shower stalls at the center of the complex. Basicly, it's just a small booth with a shower head. The water's not exactly hot, comes out about luke warm since we're in the desert and heating the water would burn up extra fuel that we need for our machina and other slightly more important things around here." He placed a hand at her shoulder and turned her towards his tent before drawing his hand back and moving towards the flap of it, which he raised and held open for her.

Inside, the tent was mostly plain at first glance. A cloth floor over the sand to prevent any critters from coming up from under the ground, a table in the center of the room with a fairly large cot at one side, a small table beside it, and a couple plain chairs. On the small table beside the bed sat an oil powered lamp that looked to be at least 50 years old, filled with an odd green, glowing liquid. Another open chest sat at the foot of his cot with numerous half wrapped items scattered around it, many packaged inside very carefully. "I'm sorry. If I knew I'd be seducing a supple young lady, I'd have cleaned the place up some..."

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku couldn't help herself; she giggled. "I don't think I've ever been called supple, before! So that'll give you three seduction points right there." She paused for a moment, then peered back at him. "Assuming you're talking about me, that is. And not some creepy machina girlfriend you built out of spare parts. And anyway... isn't it kinda some sort of seducer breach of code to admit you're trying to seduce someone?" She giggled again. "Well... I'll let you do what you think you need to do to bump your seduciton point total up to 10. I'm taking a shower. Here in your tent." She paused as she stepped into the booth at the far end of the tent. Standing mostly behind the waterproof leather screen, so just her feet and head were visible, she quickly undid her top and twirled the yellow bikinni top on a finger where Gippal could see (althoguh he certainly couldn't see her tits from his angle).

"I'll just be in here... naked... covered with soap... and wondering how many seduction points that gets me!"

She giggled again and stepped into the shower stall and quickly disrobed. She piled her clothes in the corner, turned to the showerhead, and pulled the tiny silver chain to open the pipes. The water was warm, heated by the sun in one of the big cisterns out behind the tents. As the water poured over her body, Rikku took her time soaping up and cleaning herself. The word "supple" kept running through her head, and as her hands slid over her perky breasts, her ass, her thighs, she smiled to herself. Perhaps Gippal had noticed her body after all. Hanging around with Yuna and Paine tended to get her down; Yuna's legs were much nicer than hers, and Paine's chest was certainly larger. Rikku often ended up feeling like the second or third fiddle in the hot fiddle show, whatever that was. But they weren't here now. She had Gippal all to herself. Soon, she found herself imaginaing him stepping into the shower with her, his hands helping to lather her body, exploring her, sliding down her front and between her legs...

Rikku glanced down at her pussy as her hand rested just above it. She smiled as she saw the tiny little tattoo of the dancing chocobos she'd paid that woman back in the parlor in Luca to give her. Rikku remembered how she'd been nervous about getting a tattoo where anyone could see... what if they didn't like them? But still... she wanted to get one just to see if she liked them. So she chose to get one in a hidden place... just to the upper left of her pussy. The tattoo artist had used some sort of depilatory cream on her before proceeding, to give her a smooth canvas, and and the end result was, Rikku thought, pretty damn cute. It hadn't even hurt, really... the depilatory also worked as a local anesthetic. She slid her fingertips over the chocobo tattoo, then down to the lower right, to her pussy, and sighed at the tingling feeling that lanced up inside her. She imagined Gippal touching the tattoo... kissing it... licking it... as her fingers dipped lower...

Rikku gasped as she realized what she was doing. Her skin felt flushed and her heart was pounding. Who was she kidding? Gippal was the leader of the machina faction... he certainly had dozens of better-looking girls at his beck and call. Certainly they were less obnoxious and knew when to stop talking... stupid air heads always got all the guys. Rikku finished her shower quickly, drying herself with one of the large towells hanging from the peg nearby and then dressing quickly. She just remembered she'd left her bag in the main room. Who knew what Gippal was doing out there? Most likely sneaking a peak at her treasures. She finished dressing by tugging on her boots and stepped back out into the main room, ready to snatch away anything exciting he'd found when he opened the box she'd uncovered in the desert.

 

[Zax]

Gippal lay flat out on his back, his head rested on a pillow, feet propped up on the end of the cot where his boots lay rested on the bottom in a tossed down couple. He held the long, smooth cylindrica causing in his hand with a small shaft of sugar cane that he had gathered from the Mi'hen Highroad in his mouth. He loved the stuff, it was great tasting, but didn't put on the pounds, so he could still keep his abs in check without worrying about eating too much.

One hand rested underneath his shirt as he lightly rubbed his chest. The top was rolled up to just above his navel, exposing his stomach, and it's taunt muscles, as well as several runic styled tatoos he had along his body, as well as scars, some of which cut half way off, and trailed below his waistline. As he scratched his chest, he shook the small container lightly, holding it near his ear as he listened to the clacks of the item inside. It took up most of the space inside the container by the way the weight was thrown around.

Pulling his hand away from his chest, he fished around in his pocket before pulling out a sliver of metal that broke off into two thin, jagged pieces. He then set to work using the pick to unlock the small latch that held the container closed, flicking his wrist around as he squinted at the keyhole. His eye then wandered above, and caught sight of Rikku, which caused him to smile, but before he said anything, the lock popped, the container swung open, and a long, hard shaft like object rolled out, hitting his chest with a thud before rolling off the bed, along the floor of the tent and bumping into the young Al Bhed girl's foot.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Gippal!" Rikku whined as she noticed he was into her stuff, but her complaint caught in her throat as whatever had been kept inside the box fell out and rolled across the floor to land at her feet. She looked down at the object, not comprehending at first what it was she was looking at. She bent, picked it up, and examined it.

That it was some sort of ancient machina was obvious. She could feel the complex springs and gears within shift slightly as she tested the object's weight in her hands. The thing was about a foot long, with a somewhat flexible purple shaft with smooth sides. One tip tapered down to a smooth and rounded head, while the other ended in a narrow grip set with a dial and some buttons.

Rikku giggled as she held the machina up for Gippal to see. "Wow! You know what we've got here? We've got some lonely queen's portable king! It's some sort of ancient machina dildo! Awesome!" With another giggle, she playfully tossed it back to Gippal. It landed in his lap, and for a moment it almost looked like it was actually a part of his body... a purple part, but a part nonetheless. The sight made Rikku burst into delighted laughter.

"Wow, Gippal! I never would have guessed you were this happy to see me!" she managed to tease him between gasps for air.

 

[Zax]

Gippal sat up, dumbfounded for a moment before he looked down at the female companion resting in his crotch. "...that colour can't be healthy..." He mumbled, before picking the machina love toy up and standing, brushing the dust that was covering it off of his crotch. He turned to look at the little Al Bhed girl who was rolling in hysterics and cracked a grin from the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, a comedian, are we?" He asked, pointing the dildo at her like his finger. "I think you knew what this was. You're always on the road, and needed a little lovin', but since Paine and Yuna are obviously not into a little girly-girl action, you decided to come out here and find yourself a little pocket pal. Seeing how you're so cheap, I bet this seemed like a perfect idea, didn't it?"

After he finished his little joke assumption, he began to poke her in the chest and stomach area with the item repeatedly. "I'm right, aren't I?" He said every second or third prod, not being able to help but laugh himself. "Now I see why you were so protective of this..." He stopped poking her for a moment, and stood straight again. "..but either way, this -is- still a relic, and should probably be either stored or sold depending on if we really need the gil right now or not..." He mused, then openly thought. "...I wonder if the queen that used this thing was hot..." He looked over at Rikku, and gave it a little wiggle in her general direction. "Wanna see if it still works?"

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Whether or not I knew it was in there is beside the point... It could have been anything, and whatever it is... well... gimmie that!" Rikku's hand darted out as Gippal poked at her with the dildo again and she snatched it out of his grip. She danced back a few feet to get out of his reach and shook her finger at him to scold him.

"Now be good... remember, I'm the one who found it!" She turned the thing over and over in her hands. It was obvious that the square button activated the thing, but she had no idea what the circular or triangular buttons did, and the dial at the bottom had a big X shape on it. As she mused over it, she glanced up at Gippal slyly and said in a teasing, secretive voice, "And who says Paine and Yuna aren't into the girly-girl scene?"

As she said that, she pressed the square button. The thing immediately came to life in her hands, buzzing and vibrating with what almost felt like excitement after being utilized after so long buried in the desert. She gave a little squeak of a laugh, then held it out at Gippal.

"There ya go. Works like a charm. I assume this thing runs the speed..." she said as she twisted the X dial. Sure enough, the speed of the vibration increased as she turned the dial, and the thing actually started pulsing at the highest setting; swelling and undulating rhythmically.

Becoming more intent on the device, Rikku tentatively pressed the triangular button. The device shudderd, and suddenly a number of thick ribs grew out of its shaft and the head sprouted a tiny fringe of writhing tendrils.

"Woah... looks like the queen was really into some strange stuff. Any guesses what this last button does?" she asked impishly. Gippal opened his mouth to reply but she said, "Too late!" and pushed it. The dildo's ribs and tendrils withdrew and it shortened and thinned a bit, but as it did, a second, much thinner shaft grew up from the base, forming a forked contraption with one small prong and one still fairly large, nine inch prong, one atop the other.

"Wow! Imagine that!" she said. "Looks like that queen was pulling some double shifts!" She giggled, then clicked the square button again. The dildo stopped buzzing and reverted to its plain, inert shape. Rikku looked it over in her hands for a bit longer, then set it in the center of Gippal's dining table, an erotic centerpiece standing like a purple tower.

"Nice. That'd make a fun conversation piece for your dinner guests, don't you think? Of course, you'd probably want to clean it off before you serve any food around it... who knows who was using it before? Or for what? And speaking of which... I think I need to wash my hands!" Rikku stepped over to one of the spigots near the shower and pulled the cord, running the warm water over her hands while she hummed. Finished, she glanced back at Gippal.

"Well then. You just gonna lie about there on your bed for the rest of the day? Or you gonna whip me up something nice, yummy, and filling for dinner?"

 

[Zax]

He paused, and slid his legs over the side of his cot, raising his arms over his head as he stretched. "Nnn...well, if I'm going to eat, I refuse to do it around that..interesting antique." He responded, then standing, he reached his arms over his head, grabbing the back of his top and pulling it off.

"If you want me to cook, you'll have to let me take a shower myself..." Balling the shirt up, he tossed it back on the bed. His chest was trim and fit, apparently from a mix of hard labour around the camp, and the work of constant digging and machina construction and re-construction. He ran a hand over his ribs, giving a sigh. The skin was a deep crimson colour, a scratch running down his chest, towards his hip. Apparently he hadn't gotten away from that Zuu as clean as he thought.

"...hope that doesn't get infected..." He mused, since Zuu were known for being disgustingly dirty, the fear of "Death by dirty claws" was well known to the Al Bhed. Gippal took a few steps towards the shower, his hand rubbing across the scratch every now and then before he wobbled a step, but quickly braced himself against the table. "Tysh ed. " He muttered, before standing straight again and walking into the stall. Without really worrying about the curtain, he slid his pants down, kicking them off when they were around his ankles, pulled off his socks and then finally, peeled off his boxers.

Since he was facing away from Rikku, she'd only catch a short glimpse of his ass before he closed the stall door and turned on the hot water and grabbed a small bar of disinfectant soap to clean his cut.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku watched, a flush rising in her cheeks and unable to look away or say anything as Gippal stripped on his way to the shower. She couldn't remember the number of times she'd fantasized about seeing him naked, and now, here he was suddenly stripping to the skin in front of her. She only caught a glimpse of his ass before he stepped into the shower, but what she saw was more than enough to arouse her interest. She picked up the dildo from the table and set it down on the workbench, for a moment, considering the wisdom of exploring its settings even further. But something about Gippal concerned her... he seemed a little off... almost drunk. And that zuu slash on his chest certainly didn't look that clean...

Telling herself she was just going to watch him to make sure he didn't collapse from some slow-acting toxin introduced into his system by the zuu's claw, Rikku crept softly up to the shower stall and watched. Gippal's clothes were strewn all over the floor, and she found herself with a sudden urge to grab his boxers and flee, just to keep them as a memento. She could only see his feet and the top of his head through the shower stall, but that was enough for her imagination to fill in the rest.

Rikku sat down on a chair, afraid to blink, ready to take in all of him with her wide eyes when he stepped out of the shower...

 

[Zax]

The twenty-something Al Bhed rested with his back to the shower stall, trying not to place too much weight against it. It wasn't exactly held fast into the sand. His hand clutched the soap bar which he scrubbed along the length of the scratch, soon enough it would just be another scar to match the rest he had. The skin of his chest and back faded into smooth, slightly bunched lines of flesh where it had sealed into long lines of the scars he had gained over his years. A few were just simple cuts, others in patterns like that of three claws side by side, other's just punctures. Some from blades, claws, teeth, even bullets.

Most of these were covered by the runic like tatoos he had along his chest and upper arms, but the ones on his stomach and back were still widely exposed, as well as a few more well hidden ones along his thigh. He broke off a small chunk of the soap, palming it and then firmly rubbing it against the cut along his chest, the water soaking off the tarp at his feet and running underneath the edge of the tent's flap towards a pipeline turned to a soft hue of red. The blood fading out in the water jets as he finished scrubbing, and turned the faucet off. Grabbing another towel from the rack overhead of the showerhead itself, he used it to polish his hair dry, which fell back into messy spikes, before he wrapped it around his waist and stepped out to the watching gaze of the young girl.

He looked at her, catching her gaze that held a bit of concern and at the same time, endearment and interest. He paused, looking off to the side, and back at her again, almost a bit uncomfortable, and at the same time, a little nervous. "....what?"

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Oh! Hey there!" Rikku said as Gippal stepped out of the shower. She tried to hide her disapointment with the towell wrapped around his waist by standing up and wandering back into the central area of the tent.

"So that gash you got from the zuu doing okay, Gippal? Only... I've heard stories about those things. They aren't the cleanest birds in the world..." She busied herself looking through his food stores, sticking out her tongue at the bland selection. "Geez! Don't you have anything here that isn't healthy to eat?"

 

[Zax]

He moved back to his cot, sitting down on the edge of it while rubbing his chest every so often. "Well, I've got some dried noodles in that small box over in the corner, just toss in some water with it in a bowl, give it a little boil and it's good eatin'." He mumbled, shaking his head. The scratch didn't seem to be too bad, just a little raw. "Hmm...yeah, those birds are a real pain in the ass, but they don't usually give us too much trouble unless we have to run off saving little girls who go out alone..." He spoke the last half of the sentence loud enough for her to hear clearly.

"You're really alot of trouble sometimes, you know that meddma ped?" The name he called her was one he rarely used unless he was honestly worried about her. It was less teasing then squirt, but not overly lovey-dovey. It was just more of a pet name then a teasing name, and he never really used it unless it was just the two of them talking. Couldn't let the big, tough boss man show he had a soft side infront of everyone, oh no. "All that trouble, and all I've got to show for it is a dead lady's pocket pal.." He mumbled, his back into the cot. "...and a really sore back. I'm gettin' old..." He mumbled, rolling onto his stomach and reaching around to finger at his back as best he could.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku found the noodles and looked them over... bleh! She tossed them back into the container and looked back at Gippal when he complained about his back and getting old.

"Aaawww... don't worry, Grandpa! You're not that old yet! I mean, you've barely got more than a few dozen gray hairs, right?" She giggled as she watched him try to reach the spot between his shoulders, then sighed.

"Wow... can't get much more pitiful than that!" she said as she crossed back to his bed, sitting on the edge of it. "Stop that. You're just gonna get an arm cramp." Rikku took him by the wrist and guided his hand down to his side. "Let me," she said. She reached out and put her fingertips on him, feeling the warmth for a moment before she began to massage him. He sighed, and that was all the encouragement she needed. Her second hand joined the first, and in moments, she was kneeding and rubbing away at his back, his shoulders, and his neck. Before long, her own back started to ache from the awkward angle she was sitting at, so she clambered up onto the bed and straddled his waist so she could put her weight into the massage. He mubmled something as she sat down on him.

"Pipe down, you!" she said with a giggle. "Try to relax!"

 

[Zax]

Gippal mumbled into the pillow, his shoulders tensing back towards her small hands before resting once more. He brought his arms up to fold under his chin, and let out a content sigh, his cheek resting against his form arms as he looked at the side of the tent. "You've got great hands...ever considered going into this professionally?" He questioned, but answered it himself before she had a chance to. "Naw, you wouldn't want to do that. You'd end up massaging old bums like me all day, most likely." He gave a little roll of his shoulder, causing it to pop once before he rested back down against the cot.

"I think I'm all healed up, but I can't bare myself to ask you to stop..." He spoke the last line into his pillow, his left arm going limp at the side of the cot, his right tucked along the edge of the cot and brushing across the base of her thigh as he gently felt her silky smooth skin beneath his fingertips. "You've grown up alot since the last time I saw you..." He mused outloud, his index finger caressing along the underside of her knee. "Sprouted, blossomed...filled out is the right term, I guess."

He sighed again at the pressure of her hands on his back, withdrawing his fingers from her leg and cheeking back against the pillow. "You've always been adorable and cute, but now that you're a woman...I think you fit the term...'sexily supple'"

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Awwww... thanks Gip! You sure know how to make a girl feel special, that's for sure! I don't know how long I've been waiting for some handsome man to call me sexily supple." She giggled, and pinched him softly on the side of his stomach before going back to the massage. Her hands were starting to ache but she didn't stop, rubbing every square inch of his back, up and down, side to side, shifting her weight on his waist once in a while. Finally, her hands aching, she clamberd off of him and flopped down on her side next to him.

"Well... that's about all I can do for ya before I start rubbing some fingers down to nubs. And I need these fingers non-nubbed, so there ya go." She looked at him and smiled as he looked back at her, his eyes heavy and relaxed.

She leaned in close so their noses were almost touching.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to return the favor? It's been forever since I got a good massage. Of course... if you're too relaxed now... I suppose I can wait a little longer..."