Time To Meet The Praetor?

[Strawberry]

This time, Gippal didn't freak out nor did he jump away. He only returned her grin. "Berserk? Hm... sounds like fun," he said, nodding his head slightly. His mind was racing through two different sides. One said 'Go ahead and do it! You know you wanna...' and the other was simply the opposite, saying 'You better not, or she'll hate you for the next five million years.' He shrugged mentally as he looked down at her, at her mouth. Then he just bent down slowly and kissed her, right on the mouth. "I've been wanting to do that for some time now..." he said after pulling away, a huge grin on his face.

Baralai smirked at her. "Never asked for people to like me. I don't care for the title Praetor anymore... Its more of a hassle than anything," he said with a sigh, pushing away from the wall. He ran a hand through his snowy white hair again, messing it up more if it was possible. "Well... I think I'm going to go inside and try to.. get some rest. I have things to do and somewhere to go tomorrow...." Baralai then passed Azul, walking toward the temple. Maybe she really doesn't get a Yevonite's duties...

[Kiwi]

Rikku's eyes went wide, now she really wasn't expecting that. She stood there stunned, staring straight up at him, "Huh....what do you mean...by that?" she said with one of her nervous laughs. Lucky for him she didn't slap him or threaten to cause him any physical harm. I mean...you could do a lot with steel boots.....ouch.
She only hoped Azul and Baralai weren't watching, then she would just die right there in his arms.

Azul stared after him as he went into the temple. Once he was gone she sighed, leaning against the wall not paying any attention to the other two. She slumped down so that she was sitting, legs bent in front of her, arms resting on her knees. Azul had a huge frown on her face, "I guess I really do need my attitude fixed..." she said to herself burying her face in her arms. She sighed again, "It's not like he did anything to me...so why did I have to me so mean?"

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[Strawberry]

Gippal smirked at her. "You'll figure it out soon enough, don't you think?" he said. His swirling emerald eyes then looked past her and toward the entrance of the temple. But instead of seeing Baralai, like he had wanted to, he only saw Azul sitting on the ground. "Uh.. hey, what's up with your sister? And Baralai isn't there either... I hope nothing bad happened...."

[Kiwi]

"I guess..." she replied to his first comment. She blinked and turned around at his second comment to see Azul sitting on the ground looking rather upset. "I don't know...I wasn't really paying attention to them..." she said with another nervous laugh. "Well I better see whats the matter..." Rikku pulled away from the hug and walked over to her sister, kneeling down beside her. "Azul? What's wrong? And why isn't Baralai here?" she asked question after question.

Azul glanced up for a second, "I just said some things I shouldn't have, that's all..." she told her with another sigh. "Come on...maybe we should leave." She stood up and started walking toward the Entrance of Bevelle that led to the Macalania Woods.

"Hey wait!" Rikku yelled running after her and stopping right in front of her. "We can't leave! We're staying here tonight remember?" she asked a slight frown on her face. What could sister have possibly said?

Azul stepped around her, "I don't think he wants us as guests anymore, Rikku. Come on...let's just go. I need to go get Chocobo from the ranch at the Calm Lands anyways." she said staring at the ground. Yes, Azul did have her very own Chocobo that she so cleverly named 'Chocobo'. It was just as unique as her, she even dyed the feathers on it's head to match her own hair.

Rikku gave a frustrated sigh and grabbed her sister's arm, starting to drag her back to the temple like when they had arrived. "We are sating Azul. It's rude to just leave when he invited us! You can get your Chocobo tomorrow, just come on already!"

[Strawberry]

Gippal only stood where he was left, watching the little charade go on. Yep, there was no denying that Azul and Rikku shared the same genes, seeing as they were both as stubborn as a chocobo. He sighed and scratched the back of his head, catching a little bit of the problem. "You know, Baralai is a very forgiving guy, no matter what people say to him. He just mainly leaves for some solitude when he has a lot on his mind. I don't think the recent events and everything is helping him any, so... maybe he just needed to get away for a little bit. Don't beat yourself up so much," he said.

[Kiwi]

Azul gave a sigh of defeat and pulled her arm away from her sister. "Okay, fine. I'll go, I just won't say anything." she told them both, gaze still lowered to the ground as she walked toward the temple. What could she say? It's not like she could go up to him and be like 'I'm sorry for hating you'. You just can't do that....Plus she didn't really hate him, what was there to hate? He seemed like a really nice person even though he was a Yevonite. He had been right all along, she needed to get new views on people.

Rikku stayed put as her sister went toward the temple. She looked over at Gippal, "You come, too. 'Cause um....theres no way you can get back to Djose in time to go to sleep...it's already getting dark out plus it isn't safe to be walking around with all this new commotion going on...." she said to him, blushing yet again. Those weren't the only reasons she wanted him to stay, of course...

[Strawberry]

Gippal put his hands on his waist and looked at Rikku. "Why? Is Cid's girl afraid I might get attacked by the big bad fiends?" he taunted with a grin. But he couldn't help it with her face expression. He laughed slightly, straightening up and beginning to walk toward the temple. "Okay, I'll stay... for your sake. If I suddenly get jumped and killed, who else would pick on you nonstop like I do?" He stopped at the entrance, looking back at her. "I've gotta go find Baralai and talk to him... So I'll see you later, okay?" He then disappeared inside.

Right after Gippal had disappeared, a woman appeared at the door and looked straight at Rikku, then walked toward her. "Are you Rikku, perhaps? Baralai sent me to find you and show you to your room for the night if you're still staying," she said. "If you're still staying, please come this way."

[Kiwi]

Rikku gave a quick wave goodbye to Gippal then turned around when the woman spoke to her. "Yes, I'm staying. Thank you." she told her and followed as the lady instructed.

Azul, who was already inside was gazing around. It somewhat creeped her out with all of the fog and everything. Where was it all coming from anyways? She began wandering around aimlessly hoping she wouldn't get lost. This was the last place she would want to get lost at...

[Strawberry]

Gippal finally arrived at Baralai's room, knocking and entering on his own. "Yo, Baralai. I was just stoppin' by to say I'm going to stay for the night. That is okay with you, right?" he asked, his hands on his hips. Baralai only nodded his head from his chair in front of the fireplace. "Ah, that's good. Thanks. So where's a free room?"

"There is none. I thought you'd be staying so I was going ot have someone take you to your room. I guess I can just point it out to you from here..." he said, standing. He smirked at Gippal and walked to the door, opening it, and pointing to the door two doors down. "Right there. So go ahead and make yourself at home." He clapped a hand on Gippal's shoulder before sitting back in his comfortable chair. Gippal laughed slightly and left, heading to the room and going inside. Shower time! [<-- Kiwi and Strawberry's inside joke. XPPPP ^-^]

The woman finally stopped at a door and turned to Rikku. "This is your room. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some other importance to attend to. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call someone with our Commspheres. They are fully functional and will contact a helper nearby immediately," she said before moving away. A few minutes later, she had found another girl that looked like the Al Bhed Rikku and walked up to her. "Hello, Miss Azul. Could you follow me? Your name seemed to have come up in something and you are needed. So please follow me." And she then began walking yet again, this time ending in front of Baralai's room, though his name wasn't on it. No, he wasn't a sick pervert who was going to take advantage (if he could) of Azul, he just need to speak with her. "Please go on ahead."

[Kiwi]

Rikku nodded slowly to the woman. "Okay...thanks again..." she said with a nervous laugh and opened the door to the room. She walked inside and gazed around. It looked very nice, she was glad she convince Azul to stay. 'Wow...Baralai's done a pretty good job with this place...is that another waterfall I hear?' she thought to herself walking over to one of the two beds that were in the room. She kicked off her boots and they landed with a small thud. Rikku jumped upon the bed, many of the pillows scattering. She laughed and picked them up, putting them back neatly then lay down looking up at the ceiling with her emerald gaze.

Azul nodded, "Um okay then..." she said following the follow with a confused look on her face. What could she possibly be needed for? Especially here. They stopped and she heard the lady tell her to go into the room. "Okay, um thanks?" she said and wearily walked into the room wondering what the heck was going on. She bit her lip, what if it was some kind of trap that he had set for her? Maybe he was going to murder her after what she had said to him. 'I sure hope Rikku's boyfriend was right about him being understanding....'. she thought.

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[Strawberry]

Gippal, done with his shower before Rikku had arrived, finally opened the door and exited, headint toward the closet. But he wasn't exactly... clothed all the way. The only thing he wore was a towel around his waist and walked around shamelessly in it, even when his eyes rested on Rikku on the bed. "Hey, Cid's girl! I didn't know this was your room, too," he said, grinning from ear to ear. How perfect this was...

Baralai stood when he heard the door open, knowing it was Azul like he had requested. He smirked at her and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh..Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about the room situation. We apparently had a few guests spring up before you and Rikku had come so there aren't really any other free rooms. You can object to my offer and stay with your sister and Gippal, but I was going to say you can use the spare bed in here. I know I'm probably the last person you'd want to share a room with, let alone talk to, but.. I didn't want you wandering the halls or anything all night.." It was kind of awkward giving her this proposal and sharing his room, but it was the least he could do for having lack of rooms. Hopefully she wouldn't spaz... too much.

[Kiwi]

"Oh hey Gip-----What?!" she said looking over at him, eyes going wide. Her face was instantly bright red and she quickly turned away to look at the wall. "Oh Yevon, put some clothes on....thats...so wrong..." she spazzed closing her eyes even as she looked away. Not that she thought he was ugly, Yevon...he was the polar opposite of that. It took a lot of effort to keep her emerald eyes off him. I mean what sensible girl wouldn't enjoy looking at him in only a towel?

Azul just stared at him, thinking long and hard. Would she rather stay with Gippal and Rikku who obviously liked each other? 'Ew....I don't want to know what they'd be doing during the night....' she thought cringing slightly. Or would she rather stay in this room where she wouldn't be bothered....hopefully? "Uh, I guess I'll stay here.....I wouldn't want to interrupt Rikku and Gippal..." she told him cringing again. She took a deep breath, biting her lip again. Mays well get it over with, "Um...about earlier.........I didn't mean the things I said okay? So like yeah...I'm sorry..." she apologized awkwardly with a sigh.

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[Strawberry]

Gippal looked down at himself then back at Rikku. "Clothes? That's what I'm getting. And I think you should be happy for me even having the towel on..." he said, continuing his trip to the closet. "You know you like it, anyway. I'm just that irrisistable." He opened the closet door and pulled out a pair of swishy black shorts, comfortable to sleep in and well.. just plain comfortable all around. Instead of going back to the bathroom, however, Gippal walked over to the bed where Rikku sat and leaned abruptly on the bed, his hands slamming down on the cushioned bed enough to make Rikku fly into the air slightly.

Baralai waved a hand to dismiss her apology. "Don't worry about that. People have their preferences, so it doesn't phase me.." he said. He looked around briefly before sitting back down in his chair, staring at the fire. "Well, make yourself comfortable. You can go to sleep or go roam the halls again, just don't get lost. If you think you might, you can take that Commsphere in case so one of the helpers can locate you should you need help."

[Kiwi]

"I do not!" she denied shaking her head, face a million shades of red. "You are so not irresistible so stop putting false thoughts into my mind!" She jumped lightly as his hand slammed on the bed. Rikku turned around to face him, "What was that for?! Keep your hands off of my bed!" she spazzed. "You beings such a big meanies, Gippal."

"Uh I'll just stay here, I'm afraid of what I might hear going down the hallway...if you know what I mean" she said with a slight smirk walking over to the spare bed and sitting on it. She continued looking around with her emerald gaze. It was a lovely room, she had to give him credit for that. "Um...thanks again for letting us stay here..." she said rather quietly. Azul wasn't used to saying 'sorry' or 'thank you' a lot. "It's....really nice here."

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[Strawberry]

"Last I checked, this is Bevelle's bed and their room, too. And what exactly are those thoughts?" he asked, standing and moving away from the bed with a grin. He stopped inside of the bathroom, the door half closed because his head was still peeking out. "Are they naught? Tsk tsk, Cid's girl, you shouldn't be thinking like that. What would your father think if he found out?" He quickly shut the door before she could retaliate against him any further and changed into his pajama shorts. Oh, this would be one fun night, all right.

Baralai smiled. "There was a lot of work and effort made to make this place better. We're trying to get rid of everything of the past so it won't come up again.." he said. He then stood, heading toward the bathroom and disappearing inside. Of course, she probably wouldn't mind being alone for a few minutes. All he wanted to do was change and get ready for bed. A few minutes later, he exited the bathroom with a white shirt and cotton pajama bottoms and walked over to the fireplace, putting up the fence so none of the embers could jump out and set the room ablaze. Baralai then walked over to his bed and sat down, taking off the blue headband and setting on the stand next to his bed. With a sigh, he moved the blankets and laid down, pulling the comforters up to his waist and putting his hands behind his head. "If you need spare clothes, I had one of the helpers bring spare clothes should you decide to stay here. You can find them in the cabinet right next to the bathroom door when you walk in. You should get some sleep before you head out tomorrow." They were going to go back to the Djose Temple with Gippal, weren't they?