Title: Quick Change
Inspiration: Just tons of Rippal stories.
Pairing: Rikku and Gippal
Disclaimer: I don't own anything...because if I owned Gippal, his fate would not be pretty.
Summary: Rikku is playing with her dresspheres and Gippal feels the need to strangle Shinra.
XXX
"Rikku, you cannot wear that around here all the time."
Rikku puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and glared at Gippal, placing her hands on her hips, spreading her legs, and leaning in towards him in what she called her menacing-pose-of-death. Gippal found it to be more of an invitation to look down her barely-there top. Seriously, who gave her permission to run around in a bikini and a belt that was imitating what she called a skirt?
He suddenly wondered if Brother had actually suffered some sort of dire injury on one of The Gullwings' escapades, because the Brother he knew, wouldn't even let Rikku out of the house in sandals because he thought that her cute toes would attract some kind of unwanted attention.
...Okay, so the cute toes part was something that Gippal interjected. But they were cute, and they were especially ticklish. Like that time when they were on his couch watching a movie and he—
"You're not the boss of me! I can wear whatever I want!"
Right, he was arguing with her.
Gippal folded his arms in his I'm-in-charge-so-obey-me sort of fashion. "Actually, I am the boss of you, since you are now commissioned to Djose, and your old man was pretty damn specific about me watching out for you." Cid actually threatened to mount his head on his office wall and bury his body so far in the ground that coffee would pity him. And Gippal believed every word of it.
Regardless, Rikku was...uhm...special to him and he never had any intentions of letting anything bad happen to her in the first place. Plus he was thinking about shooting several of his male workers for leaning a little bit too far over their machines and staring at her back (butt) as she left the workshop.
"Okay," Rikku said whilst rolling her big green Al Bhed eyes, "You're the boss of my work here. NOT my fashion choices."
"There has to be cloth present to call your clothes a fashion choice."
Rikku turned red, from embarrassment or anger he didn't know. "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY OUTFIT YOU POOPHEAD!"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Poophead? Really?"
"...It sounds stupid when you say it!"
"It sounded stupid when you said it."
She threw her hands up in the air in frustration before turning her back on him and stomping off in the direction of the workshop. He followed after her, easily keeping pace.
"And your clothes are affecting work. Not your work, but the work of others around you."
She stopped and looked up at him with the most innocent expression on her face. Which kind of pissed him off. Was she really so naive?
"What do you mean? No one seems to have a problem with my outfit except for you."
He gritted his teeth. "The male workers specifically are distracted by your...outfit."
She tilted her head, seeming even more confused than before. Gippal wanted to pull out his hair in frustration.
"YOU'RE BARELY WEARING ANY CLOTHES OVER YOUR HOT BODY!" He yelled.
Everyone in Djose seemed to freeze and stare at the two of them. He froze, hands in the air and mouth half open. Her eyes were wide...then the most evil expression came onto her pretty face.
"So...you think I'm hot?"
He had to resist slapping his forehead in indignation. He turned briefly to glare at his employees and they automatically returned to their work (though not without a new piece of gossip to take with them).
"You think I'm hot!" Rikku grinned, pleased with her new realization.
Gippal sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Look kid, you're not—...you're not a kid anymore. And you've obviously gone through a period of change where—"
"Oh god, do not talk to me about puberty!" Rikku covered her ears and started singing loudly.
He pulled her arms down and held her wrists. "You're an attractive lady. And when you hardly wear any clothes—"
"I'm wearing plenty of clothes."
"That scarf has more cloth in it than what is on the rest of your body."
She spluttered like a fish. "I—you—butthead..."
Gippal rolled his eyes and continued talking like the conversation had never taken a side trip."I also don't see how this outfit is very practical."
She 'psh'ed and said, "Oh please. I fight fiends in this dressphere all the time."
Gippal processed her statement for a second. He didn't understand how she was capable of an effective attack in her choice of clothing, but opted to ask another question that wouldn't get him hit. "Dressphere?"
Rikku visibly brightened and nodded vigorously. "Yep! A dressphere is a certain outfit that I can change into that gives me specific weapons and abilities! And there are a lot of different dresspheres that Yunie, Paine and I have collected when we were on our last adventure! They're really cool! I get all glowy and I kind of transform into one that I choose. And they're all interchangeable on these things called garment grids that Shinra made for us! The one I'm wearing now is called the Thief dressphere, and I'm especially good in this one."
Gippal's grip had slackened on her wrists, trying to process her changing clothes in front of the whole damn world, so she took the opportunity to reach into one of her pouches and pull out a small brown device with several different colored, shining spheres that seemed to have symbols on them.
He glanced up at her, then back at the device in her outstretched palm. Rikku's grin widened.
Gippal narrowed his eyes. So. Shinra was responsible for her lack of clothing...
He shuddered as a new thought formed. There seemed to be at least fourteen other spheres, and if this one was so...suggestive, then who knew what the others would look like?
"Isn't it awesome-tastic?"
He looked up at her with a plain expression. "I think I'm going to murder Shinra."
Rikku paled. "What? Why?"
"He's responsible for you prancing around in a bikini."
She looked appalled and then gestured to her outfit. "This is not a bikini!"
"Oh, yes it—" Gippal froze mid-sentence. Because of her gesture, he had the time to fully take in her outfit (and her fantastic, curvy, womanly figure...). And he noticed something...disturbing.
The straps on her hips that stuck out from under her skirt were definitely NOT from a bikini...
Gippal opened and closed his mouth, gasping for breath. His right hand clutched at his chest. Rikku raised an eyebrow at him.
"Are you having an episode or something?"
"You...you...you're..."
"Yes...?"
"You're wearing a THONG!"
Instead of the embarrassment he assumed she would feel, she grinned, absolutely overjoyed that he took notice of her choice of underwear.
"I know! Isn't it awesome!" She tugged on the strap for good measure.
Gippal thought he was having a stroke. "You...You are NOT allowed to show your PROVOCATIVE UNDERWEAR to every freaking man in Spira!"
She pursed her lips and actually asked, "Why not? It's not hurting anyone."
"It's hurting me! I'm your boyfriend! I'm the only one allowed to see that!"
Now Rikku did blush. "...Did you just say...?"
He didn't even take notice of what he'd said. He was still ranting about indecency and property and something about Sin spawns.
"Gippal...if it makes you feel better...I'll change into a new outfit."
He paused and looked at her. She was smiling shyly and playing with her fingers and looking every bit like the cute girl that he always knew her to be. He smiled back at her before nodding and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, leading her back towards Djose temple.
"...Hey, Gippal?"
"Hm?"
"...Do you really think I'm hot?"
"...Uhm..."
She pulled her set of daggers out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground.
XXX
Okay! So, this is a multi-chapter story, and it covers all fifteen dresspheres and Gippal's reactions to all of them...let the games begin...