Final Fantasy X-2: An Unexpected Visitor (Closed for Grail and I)

[Pywakit]

(OOC: This is a closed thread for Grail and I. It takes place in the Final Fantasy X-2 worlld, about a year after the game ends. We pick up the story in the Calm Lands, where Rikku often goes for entertainment when her friends are otherwise involved.)

"Cuh uv y pedlr!" Rikku cursed in her native tongue as the candied apple she'd bought from the vendor fell off the stick and landed in the grass at her feet. Gingerly, she squatted down and picked the half eaten sweet up off the ground, then stood up and examined it closely. It was nearly covered with dead grass, dirt, and even a couple of squirming ants now, and despite the fact that she was still really hungry, she couldn't help but make a face.

"That's it for that, I guess," she said, then tossed the ruined snack to the side, where a tethered chocobo squarked in delight and immediately gobbled it down. Rikku giggled as the bird ate. "At least one of us isn't gonna go hungry!"

She reached into her pocket, knowing she wouldn't find any gil in there. Seems like every time she came out here to the Calm Lands over the past year after she, Yuna, and Paine had defeated Vegnagun, she ended up in the same boat. All her money went into the games in a flash, and before she knew it she was out of cash and hadn't bought dinner, or even lunch. She thought she'd saved up more this time, but it looks like that candied apple used up all of her remaining cash.

Rikku huffed in frustration. It wasn't even an hour past noon yet! How was she supposed to entertain herself for the rest of the day without any money? She thought about calling up Brother's ship for a moment, then discarded that idea. After their latest argument, she wasn't quite ready to give him OR Yuna OR Paine the satisfaction of admitting they were right... again.

"There's got to be something here to do that doesn't cost money..." she muttered as she wandered down the road between row after row of merchant stalls, game booths, and other tents. The crowd was thick here, with people brushing shoulder to shoulder. She smiled to herself, and suddenly found her right hand in a passing man's belt pouch, clutching something cold and round, and then she was around the corner, her pickpocketing undetected and successful.

The object clutched in her hand was round and smooth. "What do we have here? A pearl? A tinly little sphere?" She opened her hand and gagged in surprise at the dull glass eye that stared up at her from her palm. With a squeek, she threw the unlikely prize down on the ground and skittered away.

And as she looked around to see if her sudden actions had been noticed... she suddenly froze, all thoughts of food and glass eyes whisked from her mind. There, standing only fifty feet away, across a sea of people, stood a shockingly familar figure.

"Auron?" she managed to ask in a tiny voice that even she could barely hear. Suddenly, a huge carriage covered with rattling pans and other supplies rattled by in front of her. When it had passed, the place between the two tents where she had thought she saw the one-time guardian standing was empty.

Rikku blinked three times, then rubbed her eyes and blinked again before dodging through the crowd to race over to where she had seen him, hoping to find a clue as to what was going on.

 

[Grail]

The world was different, the world was happier. It was a strange thing to the man that had given up his life so long ago to combat that which was evil, Yunalesca had done a number on him centuries, maybe even millenia's ago, and a part of him easily laughed when they had finally over come her. To see the world like this now, people playing in the very area where a few select heroes battled Sin so long ago, it blew his mind...and actually made him smile a little. This was a world without Sin...it was paradise.

Oddly enough, in the years since he and Tidus had dissapeared from this world, rightfully so, Auron could not remember barely anything that went on in that place they traveled to. It was almost as if he came back to this world for no reason at all, and that worried him. He had no idea what time and place this was, no idea that Tidus had made it back to Yuna, or that any of his friends that he made while he was a ghost were still alive. If they were, he would perserve them forever in his memories, especially that Rikku girl...she was so full of spunk and energy that he was shocked she didn't litterally bounce off the walls all the time she was awake. He did enjoy that short time he had to live again, and he wanted to make the best out of this life now, in case it wasn't forever.

He turned around, hearing a carrige roll by and ignored it. He soon was walking away from the spot where he was standing still and through the crowds. He never would have seen Rikku looking right at him...in fact even if he did he wouldn't have recognized her...how cute she'd grown up to be, so well...let's not go there now. He made his way up past the fairgrounds and began to walk towards the temple that was just behind the large walls of the calmlands. Of course, people had torn down a peice of that just so people could gain entrance. He stood just before the rope bridge, his hand on his large jar of sake...oh how he loved that, and he just took in how beautiful this place was now, and enjoyed the fact in that he helped make it this way.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

She had to dodge a dozen shrieking children, a pair of teens racing on chocobos, and two large carts before she arrived at the place she'd seen, or at least thought she'd seen Auron. But of course, when she got there he was nowhere to be found.

A chill crawled down Rikku's spine, and despite the heat of the summer sun she shuddered. She'd neer really gotten over her fear of the Far Plane (or lightning for that matter), and even though she still kinda harbored a girlish crush on Auron, the fact that he was... dead... all the time he was traveling with them on Yuna's pilgrimage to battle Sin still creeped her out.

But he'd left them, just as Tidus had left them, once Sin had been defeated. So why was she seeing him here? She decided it must have just been someone in a similar outfit, and was about to wander back toward the racetrack to see if anyone had misplaced any winning tickets when she froze, mid-step.

Sure, Tidus had left them. But he'd come back.

Why couldn't Auron have come back as well?

That shivver shot back down her spine again, and she stopped to look around. And then she saw them. Plain as day.

Footprints. Large booted footprints. Right where she was standing, and right where "Auron" had been standing. She followed the footprints with her eye, and noticed that they lead away from the midway, up along the ledge toward the temple.

Rikku followed them for a little bit, her eyes wide but her curriosity unstoppable. Of course, by the time the tracks had reached the ledge and left the soft ground behind, she couldn't see them. But there really wasn't anywhere else to go but the temple once you were on the ledge.

She gulped. Her hands were sweating and her stomach was all jittery. On one level, she knew that following a ghost wasn't the smartest of ideas, but if Yuna found out she'd seen Auron and handn't chased after him... Rikku knew she'd never hear the end of it.

So biting her lower lip, she started running down the ledge toward the temple, hoping on one level that she'd find the place empty, but hoping on another that she hadn't just hallucinated seeing him. Hoping to find him there just as they'd found Tidus on the beach a year ago.

 

[Grail]

The wind was nearly whipping through the man's greyish brown hair as he made his way over the bridge and to the temple that he and the gang met with so long ago. If he remembered correctly, this was where Yuna recieved her summons that resembled human looking bugs...the three sisters. Auron smiled to himself a bit and felt a little empty inside, realizing that instead of making the most with the people he was with for that short, but fun time, he just squabbled it away because he knew that, inevitably, he would dissapear.

He never did count on coming back.

That was another thing that plauged his mind as his body entered the temple, the outline of his coat seen by the spunky, blonde haired woman that undoubtedly was chasing him down now. Auron wouldn't have thought to turn back yet, but that temple seemed a bit, cold...and he wanted to see the outside just a bit more. He turned around to exit out of the temple's doors and took a left, moving over towards a railing and leaning up against it to just view the canyon around him, and the skies above.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

She was over the bridge in a flash of ribbons and bright blonde braids, cutting the corner at the last minute and leaping down to the trail below where it pulled a switchback and wound down toward the temple. As she scurried around the corner, she came to an aburpt stop. There, standing in the temple entrance, was a figure. He had his back to her, and he was standing in the shadows so she couldn't make out the color of his clothing, but she thought she could see a massive sword strapped to his back... and an arm in a sling...

The man was just standing there now, leaning against a railing to look out at the canyon, or maybe just to think. She stepped gingerly toward him, biting her lower lip as each footfall ground against gravel and half-expecting him to suddenly fade away into a transient cloud of pyreflies at any second.

But he didn't dissapear. And in a few more moments, she was standing only a few feet away from him, behind him. She could see now that the clothes hew wore were indeed red, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. He hadn't seemed to have heard her yet; he made no indication he knew she was there at all. She took a breath, then called out softly to him.

"Auron? Is... is that you?"

 

[Grail]

The voice that would get his attention off the sky was one that was oddly familiar, but sounded a lot different than normal. Though, not to be rude, the man turned towards the voice and leaned up against the rail with his back, his eyes, barely peeking out of those sunglasses would lay on a rather attractive, albeit barely clothed, long, blonde haired woman. The hand on his jug would come up to his chin, and his eyes would squint just a little to pinpoint where in the world he had seen that face. Such an innocent, yet cute to the point she was beautiful.

Finally that hand would come up from that bottle of sake and soon was rubbing the back of his head, sure enough, the face seemed familiar, and he had his guesses as to who it was, though he didn't want to admit it was true, perhaps he was just seeing things. Though he wasn't going to stand there forever, looking like a complete moron. "Yes, that is my name...and if you are an illusion Rikku, a trick my mind is playing on me, please leave now." He said, his voice cool and calm as he addressed the spunky girl.

He waited for a response from her, his arm coming forth from that sling as it usually does if he is prepared for a fight. He wanted to admit that she was real, but this world seemed a bit too perfect, and he didn't want to end his new found life now just by trusting a fiend that could perhaps change itself into whatever the victim wanted most.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku giggled, then clapped her hands and jumped from one foot to the other in excitement as Auron spoke, his voice, his bearing, his manerism exactly the way she remembered. Wary, self-confident, and so damn sexy!

"HA! It is you! I knew it! This is unbelievable!" she cried out. Unable to contain herself any longer, she jumped toward him and engulfed him in a fierice hug, burying her cheek against his chest and cheering in joy. And a few seconds later, she remembered she was probably hugging a dead man.

Her exuberance caught in her throat, and she froze for a second. Then, as suddenly as she had hugged him, she released him and skittered back a few steps, just outside of the reach of his massive sword. He remained motionless the entire time.

"Ummm... what do you mean, some sort of illusion? And how do I know you're not one yourself? I mean, I'm the one who never hid any secrets, and didn't try to trick my friends and all... And how is it you can be back anyway? I thought... I thought you passed on... to the Far Plane!" Saying those two words sent a chill down Rikku's spine.

 

[Grail]

Well, any doubt that the woman was a doppleganger of Rikku was thrown out the window as she jumped on one foot and did a little dance. The action threw the swordsman off guard considerably, and before he had a chance to draw his sword, he was caught in Rikku's grasp. It didn't last long, however, as she seemed a bit wary herself, jumping back like taht and asking questions all the while. Although for a moment, Auron didn't answer any of them, he just ran his eyes slowly over her body, analyzing her.

"You've grown up." Is all he said for now.

Soon he was walking past her and back towards the rope bridge, not looking back to see if she was following him or not. "I'm going to go find a place to sit down, I've been walking for a while Rikku...and to be honest with you, I don't know how I got back..."

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"And you haven't changed a bit," Rikku replies as she followed him back up the trail. "And as for me growing up... well... it HAS been like three years since... um... since Sin. OH! I know a good place to relax right up here!" She said as she sprinted up ahead of him. "I come here a lot. Well not a lot, but whenever I come to visit the Calm Lands and I run out of money and then there's nothing to do, well, I usually just come up here and sit for a while. There's some nice rocks up here. Quite a view..."

Rikku clambered up onto the rocks and sat down on the edge of one, her feet hanging over a steep drop back down to the beach nearly a hundred feet below. She leaned back on her hands and looked back up at Auron.

"But you should see Yuna! I'm glad to say that I've finally managed to get her to lighten up... she was so gloomy there for a while. She's become a singer now, and she and me and Paine, she's another friend of mine, and wow, I think you'd like her, and now I think I'm starting to hyperventilate..."

Rikku forced herself to stop talking, to breathe, and to relax. But there was just so much to tell Auron... so much had happened since she'd seen him last!

 

[Grail]

Well, at least she's grown up on the outside...I think I can deal with that. Auron thought to himself as she started to go a mile a minute with what has happend in the last three years. It would be good again to see the summoner, see how well Waka was holding up, Lulu, and the rest of the gang. He just felt an inkling of guilt that he was here, and Tidus was not.

As Rikku looked up at the quiet sword master, he got a good look down of what that skimpy little outfit was covering up. Indeed she had grown a lot, filled out...it was nice to look at. Thankfully those sunglasses of his covered his eyes enough that it would seem he was looking down right at her, and in a way he was.

One thing that did stick out is the fact that Yuna had changed. "You mean to tell me she's grown a lot more confident as a summoner now? Well...singer I guess." He said and would then sigh, patting his bottle of sake a few times. "I don't really believe Yuna would enjoy seeing me right now Rikku...I was the one that brought Tidus to this world, and took him away...I'm sure she's not happy about that."

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Oh! Right! You don't know! Of course, how could you know? I mean, you just getting back here and all that..." Rikku replied, then forced herself to take a deep breath when she noticed Auron's brow furrow in confusion.

"Well... It all started about a year ago. I found a sphere... a sphere that looked like it had some footage of Tidus in it. Yuna was really feeling down in the dumps at the time. I really felt bad for her. So I showed her the sphere, and I guess I planted a little seed in her mind that maybe he was still out there, somewhere, some how. Anyway, there was no reason to remain a summoner now that Sin had been defeated, so Yuna joined the Gullwings. That's a sphere hunting group Brother and I formed a few months after... well... after Sin. This other girl I mentioned, Paine, she joined two, and for several months whe pretty much combed Spira looking for more spheres that might contain some clues."

She took a deep breath. "Well... it's a long story, but the short version goes like this. Girl looks for boy. Girl finds boy. Boy turns out to be ghost of different boy. Girl gets possessed by different boy's girlfriend. Different boy tries to finish something he did a long time ago and waken an ancient piece of machina called Vegnagun to save girl's ghost. Girl manages to defeat boy's ghost by reuniting him with girl ghost. And then, when girl gets back home, turns out that boy himself came back to life and was waiting for her."

Rikku made a face. "Whew... that's a bit more complicated than I intended, but it was a pretty complicated time. Anyway... I'm sure Yuna doesn't hold anything against you, Auron. I'm sure she never did. She really appreciated your help. And just like you came back, well... so did Tidus! So really, there's nothing to worry about. Well... not for you, at least." She grinned nervously and shrugged her shoulders. "I kinda did something stupid, and she kinda got mad at me, and well, let's just say I'm here in the Calm Lands for a few days while she cools off enough that she'll give me a chance to apologize. And if I can find her a nice apology present, I'm sure that'd help too."

 

[Grail]

Tidus was alive? He was here in this world again? A sudden dread started to fill Auron's body and mind as he was beginning to think that perhaps the two of them were here for a reason, and not just a reward that was bestowed upon him for being such a good little ass kicker. Soon the man was sighing and sitting down next to the blonde, spunky girl, his sword chilling right beside the two of them on the rocks. "So Tidus is back eh? I bet him and Yuna are getting along better than ever now. I still remember her face from when we finally beat Sin...when she went through Tidus...that face haunted me for so long. It hurt me to see it." He confessed....he cared about Yuna, and Tidus, but something inside told him that they would meet once again.

He turned his head a bit towards Rikku, his eyes scanning over her body once again as he went over her story once again in his head. A small smile appeared on his face, something really rare to see from him. "Well, it's good to hear Tidus made it back as well...but what about you Rikku? What have you been up to lately? Er...other than losing money and getting yelled at by Yuna?" He questioned, wanting to know about her strangely after she had grown up so much, it reminded him of someone he once knew before in his life in Zanarkand...sorta a spunky girl as well...but much younger than himself.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku gasped, her eyes wide, and her hands shot up to cover her mouth in suprise. Auron started, then looked around quickly to see if a fiend had suddenly appeared.

"Auron! You smiled! I saw it! You actually smiled! WOW!" She giggled, then playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You should do that more often. You look nice when you smile."

She looked out over the ocean, watching the clouds float by for a bit. "What have I been up to? Not much, really. Since Tidus came back, Yuna's been spending a lot of time with him down south. She's put on a couple concerts as well, and Paine and I usually try to get to them when she does. Paine's really cool, by the way. In one of those ways that's kinda scary but intriguing at the same time. Kinda like someone else I know," she said, giving him a grin and a sideways glance. "You should meet her some day! Although I haven't talked to her in a few months now; she's doing some sort of secret mission or something. Something apparently too important to invite me along for. So in the meantime, I've just been seeing the world, wandering around, and spending too much time hanging out with Yuna and Tidus. That's actually why she yelled at me... I think I was kinda like a third leg on a chocobo. They only really need two. A third leg just gets in the way..."

 

[Grail]

That smile of his would soon turn into an annoyance as the chipper girl pointed out so blatently that he smiled. "So Rikku? I actually have something to smile about...this entire world is beautiful, and you've grown up to be a...well, slightly mature, and beautiful young woman. In a way I'm proud of you, if you weren't just so damn hyper." He said, and then would begin to climb to his feet, listening to her about how Tidus and Yuna were together again, and from the way it sounded, enjoying a lot of peace and quiet right about now.

As for this Paine woman Rikku described, she seems like an interesting character in herself...a female version of the man that had, and always will be, slightly colder than the rest of the group. An idea popped into his head, and he wanted to see this Paine sometime soon, but not now, this was his vacation, his paradise, and he was going to enjoy it fully, not wasting a moment worrying about people, or any responsibilities. "Hey Rikku...do you know how long it's been since I've actually been able to feel the wind? To taste the air? To feel period? It's been a very, very long time." He said, and finally would pick up on a rather intoxicating scent. "Is, that you I smell Rikku? It's...lovely."

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku giggled. "Ummm... I guess it must be. I kinda found this really nice vial of perfume a few days ago and really liked the smell. It reminds me a little bit of Besaid, I think. Anyway... I'm glad you like it." She smiled at him, a little awkwardly, then tossed her head to get an annoying braid out of the way.

"Well... if it's been so long since you've been able to feel anything, you must be hungry! We could go back to the midway and get some food if you want... umm... or maybe not. Since I still don't have any money." She sighed. "Maybe I should just call the Celsius and we can head back up there and go visit Yuna or something? I figure seeing you'll make her forget what a pest I've been."

She realized she was trying not to glance over to him. Trying desperately to keep her cool. Lulu had told her many times that she needed to be calm, to count to three before she talked. Paine told her pretty much the same, but only deducted those precious respect points AFTER Rikku messed something up. In short, everyone she knew kept telling her to calm down. She knew her hyperactivity annoyed Auron, and if she could only keep herself in control maybe he'd pay more attention to her. Maybe.

 

[Grail]

The awkward smile she gave him meant one of two things: Either she wasn't used to compliments, or she found it somewhat odd that it was coming from him. The latter option seemed feasible, given the track record that Auron wasn't that nice of a man...well, at least that open of one anyways. Once again he began to listen to the woman start to talk at her speedy pace, not letting up until her entire thought was finished...it was what made Rikku Rikku, and Auron wasn't about to want her to change.

"I think we should leave Tidus and Yuna alone for a while Rikku, it seems to me that their love for each other is strengthening, and I don't want to intrude on them just yet, alter their lives somehow by having them see me. I'm sure you wouldn't understand, but, well, I think the two of us should just stay away from them for now." He said and turned away from her, walking away from that cliff slowly. "As for me, well, I think I'm just going to slowly wander the world Rikku, see what has changed in the years I've been absent from this world."

He looked back at her and smiled slightly, something that would soon become a regular thing now that the world didn't seem to have any negativity to it. "I...do need a guide though, a spunky one...blonde hair and upbeat...you know anyone?"

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku grinned, then jumped into the air and clapped her hands together.

"ooh! OOH! Yes! Pick me! Pick me! I've got blonde hair! I'm upbeat and spunky! I know me! I nominate me!" She changed the tone of her voice, cupping her hands over her mouth to make it sound deeper and hollow.

"AND THE WINNER OF THE WHO GETS TO BE AURON'S GUIDE CONTEST IS.... RIIIIIIKUUUUU!"

Back to her normal voice again: "What? Me? YAY! I win!"

After which she had to spend a few moments catching her breath. Finally, she straightened up again and saluted Auron.

"Rikku the Guide, reporting for service! Where'd you like to go, Mr. Auron?"

 

[Grail]

She's going to die of a heart failure one of these days... Auron thought to himself as the girl's excited form leaped up and started cheering. Although when she jumped, Auron did get to see a good part of her chest bounce, even though she dind't have that magnificent of one...it was nice though, he liked her body the way it was.

After she was done saluting, the man turned around and just started to walk off. "Well you're the guide Rikku, where do you suggest we go?" He asked her as he tried to get his mind off the fact that she seemed to have grown up so much in the year or two he was gone...at least physically. He hadn't felt that way in a while about any female, even Lulu, who was, let's not kid ourselves, very maturely built.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Well... if you wanna see how the world's changed, I guess we should probalby walk. The airship's faster, but you miss out on all the cool stuff down here. So let's see. There's been changes all over the place. Mushroom Rock Road's pretty much all hovers now... the chocobos are pretty much a thing of the past, unfortunately. Luca's still the same, but Yuna's concerts are starting to be more popular than Blitzball. And there's this new game called sphere break they all play there. Too many numbers for me. Bleh. OH! There's these really cool hot springs we found up on Mt. Gagazet too! Only, I felt a little inadaquite soaking in them with Yuna and Paine... um... that might have been too much information. And oh! Wakka and Lulu had a baby! I totally forgot to tell you about that! And my dad went and tried to turn Zanarkand into a tourist trap, but then the monkeys got all frisky and it all fell apart. You know... it really would be faster to ride chocobos than to walk... but I assume chocobos are out of the question, eh?"

Rikku paused, then looked back at Auron, who was just watching her silently.

"But then... I bet you'd like to see the world more than you'd like to hear about me chattering about it, right?" she asked sheepishly.

 

[Grail]

Yep, definately a heart failure. Auron chuckled to himself silently as she continued to yammer on about how the world had changed so much. After she was done pretty much telling him all that went on with the group that he had grown so close to, if you could call it close, he gave her a solid nod and turned back towards the rope bridge that the temple was just behind.

He began to cross the bridge when he realized that Rikku was glad to see him, glad he was back. He wasn't used to that sort of attention, being wanted by someone's side...sure it wasn't in a romantic sense, but knowing that Rikku thought of Auron as a friend made him smile once more...this world was beginning to turn out perfect for him. He even thought about leaving his sword behind, but that wouldn't be all that prudent. He looked back to see Rikku and nudged his head foward, signaling her to get a move on. "Come on Rikku, if we're gonna be walking, I want you to keep up with me. I know you're certainly faster than I am, so show it." He said and pushed his glasses up with one finger, turning his gaze from her back to the calm lands.

"Do you know of any nice bathing areas around here Rikku? It's been...well...a while since I've been able to even feel water."

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Well... there's always the ocean. If you're into cold water and nasty-smelling seaweed and sharks. BUT... if you're up for a kinda long walk... I bet we could make it to those hot springs up on Mt. Gagazet by nightfall, if we hurry..." She scurried ahead of him and then turned around to face him.

"And by hurry, I mean chop chop! No strolling, no stoping along the way to smell flowers. We don't have to run, but time's a-wasting!"

With that, she turned and headed north, singing a catchy little song in Al-Bhed as she went and glancing back now and then to make sure Auron was keeping up.

 

[Grail]

Mount Gagazet was a pretty cold place, one that Auron didn't like trecking through that much to begin with, but Rikku seemed pretty excited, and wanted to revisit it, so he could hardly say no. He did, however, look over her attire and arched an eyebrow, wondering just a few thinsg as he began to follow her trail.

"Rikku, just how do you expect to not catch a cold up in those mountains with that outfit you're wearing on?" He asked as his longer strides eventually caught up with her shorter, yet faster ones. His eyes gazed down at her form once again, and he wanted an answer from her, but he dind't stop, she was her own person and had her own sense of fashion...no need to act like a father figure, or any other advisor to her nowadays.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

"Awww, I'll be okay! And anyway, the key is to just keep moving. Once we get up there, it's a pretty short jog to the place anyway, and the Ronso have actually started to leave blankets and towells for people up there now as well. I guess they finally gave in to the fact that there's gonna be people going up there to soak, no matter what they think. Which is kinda too bad. People can be so selfish!"

As Rikku continued to talk, the two of them climbed higher and higher, drawing ever closer to the secluded hot springs. Before long, snow was crunching under their feet.

"Sh...shoudn't ...b..b...b..be much ...l. ...longer now..." Rikku stammered as she wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to capture some heat with her sleeves and failing. "Yooo...you might have bb.b.b.b..bbbeeen right. It's pp.p...pp preeetty damn cold up here!"

 

[Grail]

Auron could have told the young girl a dozen times that it would have been cold up there, but each time she just would have stubbornly slouched his warnings from her shoulders. Because of this, Auron couldn't help but deliever a low, light chuckle when the Al-Bhed beauty began to get the shivers, and her words came out in stutters. It was cold on the mountain, Auron could never forget how chilling it was that time he was up here with the group, and he felt sorry for Rikku in a way, but then again, she might as well have deserved it.

As his boots made that crunching sound through the snow, the man had no choice but to at least watch out for the young woman. He slid his coat off and then tossed it on her from behind, the weight being a bit heavy for a simple coat, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. "Here, wear that." He said bluntly, his glasses hiding any emotion his eyes might show forth towards her. "Can't have you catching a cold...with the way you talk, I don't think I could understand you with a cough and sneeze to compliment every other word."

He walked past her as he didn't want to stand around and wait for her to get the coat on, he had to keep his blood pumping fast to keep his body warm. Though, he did rather enjoy the feeling of the cold against his skin, he hadn't felt anything for so long, he needed to enjoy every second of it that he could, and well, he didn't know how long he had left, really.

"So, are we there yet Rikku? C'mon, pick up the pace." He said, smirking that cold little smirk he used every once in a while on her.

 

[Pywakit]

Rikku

Rikku had wrapped Auron's coat tight around her. It was warm, almost hot with his body heat, and as she hugged it close she could almost imagine it was his arms wrapping around her. And once that thought entered her head, she couldn't get it out. In fact, since her imagination worked like her mouth did (super fast and often going places she didn't expect), it wasn't long before she was imagining his hands doing more than just carressing her. At one point, she remembered she could have just used her dressphere to change into a warmer outfit, and thanked her luck that she hadn't since that would have meant Auron would have kept his coat. She almost didnt' hear him when he spoke.

"So, are we there yet Rikku? C'mon, pick up the pace."

She shook her head, and tried furiously not to blush, knowing (hoping, at least... he was from the Far Plane, after all... who knows what kind of powers that gave him?) that he couldn't read her mind and see what she was imagining him doing to her. She looked around and realized that nearly half an hour had passed since he gave her the coat.

"wah... OH! Yeah! Yup! Should be just up that hill and ledge thingy up there." She felt his gaze on her, and knew he'd seen her blushing, which only made her blush more. "So uh... let's go!" she said, then raced ahead of him again eager to get to the hot springs but now wondering if there would be more than bathing involved...