Entry tags:

ff10-2, ff7

[drabble challenge - 2 Final Fantasy 7/10-2]
My god, I've been writing for the last four and a half hours straight. _O_ Time for a break! <3

Oh, yes! <3 My good friend thehoyden has gotten into the FMA fandom, woot! I beta'ed a lovely little Roy/Ed drabble of her's and she put it up today. You can find it here: Window Dressing

And onto my fic stuff. :)

24,275 / 50,000 (48.5%)

Fun with your New Head
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Requested by: riskygamble
Request: "How about some FF7 or Sailor Moon, then? OMGtheirloveissoharutastic. :)"
FF7 it is! I admit that's entirely because I just started replaying on sunday. I'm at the Shinra Tower! (Man. HOW did Aeris get the reputation as the innocent one, again? XD XD) Title's taken from a book of poetry I own, but have never read. Major spoilers for FF7, but you know. Ship sinks at the end. Gen! Mostly. Some hints at a Cloud/Tifa/Aeris threesome thing, only, like, it's Cloud, so not. Only sort of. Only not.


Cloud didn't want to admit it where she could hear, but he was a little bit scared of the flower girl.

It wasn't that she could kick his ass -- she couldn't. No way.

Dude, a voice in his head argued, she totally could. I mean, she's got a big stick and no lube, do YOU wanna take these things up with her?

Cloud pretended he hadn't heard that and just pondered her back. She was up ahead, walking and talking with Tifa, and he thought, for some reason, that it should be odd they'd become friends.

Now Tifa -- there was a girl who could kick his ass. Maybe not literally; he'd had SOLDIER training (first class, the voice reminded him, and he had the strangest impression it was sitting back with a bag of popcorn and watching his train of thought) and she hadn't had anything of the sort. But she'd had to grow up fast -- a life serving booze and brawling with thugs was something of a turnabout from being the well-dressed girl in the big house in the quaint mountain town of Nibelheim. He was pretty sure she could at least give him a good match if she wanted to.

No, it was the flower girl's personality that made him nervous. Because she was sweet, she really was, and cheerful, and upbeat, and even cute but she was a complete and utter con and nobody but him had seemed to realize this. As cons went, she was a nice one, and she hadn't done anything to make money off Cloud (Yet, his head added with a certain amount of smug glee, as if it were proud of her), so it wasn't like it was personal. But she was the type of girl who could look sweet and innocent and like butter couldn't melt in her mouth and still threaten to rip a guy's balls off.

Oh, come on, man. The guy deserved to have 'em ripped off. You know that as well as she does!

"Yes," Cloud muttered to it under his breath. "But still -- when she got me in a dress, her first response was to think how she could make money off it."

Good head for business, his head said approvingly. Marry a girl like that, could guarantee a comfortable lifestyle from both your work. And lots of men in dresses for your enjoyment!

"What?!" Cloud sputtered. "I do NOT have an interest in men in dresses!"

For a moment, Tifa and Aeris both turned, giving him a strange look, then went back to their conversation. It seemed to be about someone named Zell 'totally topping'.

Suuuuuure you don't, his head snickered at him. You know all those years you don't remember?

"Shut up," Cloud muttered. "Besides, it's not -- I might not have to protect her from anything, or anything, but that's not really the sort of girl I'm looking for."

Maybe a little, maybe if there weren't other people he couldn't stop thinking of, because the one thing he was sure about himself is that he wasn't the type of man to cheat on a girl, and though he and Tifa weren't really seeing each other -- she'd reminded him of that promise, years earlier, and the fact that she still remembered it made him think that she wanted that too. To go to her if she needed him.

The memories were hazy, but he knew that they were important. It felt like he'd done it once before, and maybe that just meant he'd need to do it again. Even if Tifa didn't need protecting, not any more. But he was sure that there was a part of her that was still soft. Just like Aeris appeared to be the sweet, country girl and had the mind and heart of a slums girl, needing to survive and do her best by herself, Tifa looked every inch the brawling slum tough but was still the lonely mountain town girl, looking for someone to understand her.

Don't be so hard on them, Cloud. Just like you, they've done what they've needed to in order to survive, and they live the best life they can. Wake up and look at them -- they're protecting themselves as best they can, just like you. But there's a part underneath that wants to be found, just like

His vision grayed out. When it cleared, Tifa and Aeris had stopped and were kneeling beside him.

"Cloud?" Tifa's hand was hard on his shoulder, the leather of her gloves overheated from her skin. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet. "I'm fine."

Aeris reached out and touched her fingers to his forehead. "You don't have a fever," she said softly, concerned. "Do you need to rest? We've been walking a long time."

Cloud shook his head. "I'm fine," he said. "Forget it."

They shared a glance that said, loud as any words, that they weren't gonna forget it at all. It was a bit sweet, in its embarrassing way, and he rubbed the back of his head, studiously ignoring them until they sighed, nearly in tandem, and turned to go on their way again.

Here's a deal I'll cut with ya, his head said as if they hadn't been interrupted by whatever that was, that bright light and blinding pain and need to not hear. Aeris? Aeris is one fiiiine lady and great in bed.

"Wait, how do you know-?"

And just look at that ass. And Tifa, you have this weird history thing with Tifa, right? Let me have Aeris, and you go for Tifa.

If he could have, Cloud would have looked at his head funny. "But I only have one body," he pointed out.

Dude, can you LOSE?

He watched them, walking together up ahead. Aeris seemed to be identifying flowers, pointing to first one then another, explaining things to Tifa, who was listening closely, her face lit up as if this sort of thing was interesting to her, as if she'd always wanted to know but had never known who to ask.

"...Good point," Cloud agreed finally, and walked a little faster to catch up.


***

To Old for Sleepovers
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Requested by: inarticulate
Request: "Ooh. FFX/FFX-2, Rikkuslash. =D Post some sort of battle, paired with any of the other females in the party from either game, because I am easy to please like that."
Heeee. Final Fantasy femslash. XD; Brad wandered by and suggested Rikku/Yuffie, but no. The double letters, they terrify me. And that's not a FFX game anyway! So it's with Paine, because Yuna and Tidus is cute. And so's Lulu and Wakka. And, um, hey! Boobs! Pretty worksafe, I think.



"You want to have a what?" Paine's eyebrows lifted nearly to her hairline. She wasn't entirely sure she'd heard what she'd thought she'd heard, because there was no way that Rikku would be suggesting that a dignified team of sphere-hunters would have a--

"A sleepover!" Rikku wiggled in spot, trying to get Paine to see exactly how fun she thought it would be. Paine watched, blandly. "Ohmigod it'd be great! We'd have, like, an all-night sphere watching thing, and eat lots of things that're bad for us and hit each other with pillows!"

"Why with pillows?" Yuna asked, her voice soft, hands folded in front of her. "I'd think if we wanted to hit each other, there'd be better things to do it with."

"'cause they're soft!" Rikku gave her a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Yuna gave a little subdued giggle. "Well, I'm out," she said, semi-hesitantly, as if worried they'd be upset at her for suggesting it, or maybe nervous about something else. "I've got something planned for tonight."

Rikku's eyes narrowed at her. "Heyyyyyy, Yuuuuuuunie, this wouldn't be a something with Tidus, would it?"

Within a second, Yuna turned beet red. She flailed, outright flailed, hands waving in front of her in silent protest, her mouth gaping. She could hardly get an answer out for the blushing and stammering, and that was pretty good proof anyway. "I! No, it's not that, it's just! I mean, I don't, I only--!"

"Oooooh!" Rikku flailed at her. "You are gonna be spending some one on one with Tidus!" She grinned fit to burst, as Yuna covered her face with both hands and let out an embarrassed little wail -- but Paine saw that Yuna was peeking through her fingers at them, and that behind her hand, she was grinning just a little.

Paine chuckled. It was a fairly sweet sight, really, and while she hardly knew Tidus as well as either of them, he seemed a nice enough man and a good match for someone like Yuna. Rikku had told her before that Yuna had used to be 'boring' and 'sad all the time', and it had been Tidus who had helped her learn to 'be a little selfish', and really, she could hardly wish a better match for a friend. "Sounds like Yuna's got a more interesting 'sleepover' planned than we do, Rikku."

While Yuna wailed again, Rikku latched onto that like a cutpurse on a merchant's moneybags -- fast, hard, and vicious. "Eeee! So that means you're doing it, Paine?!" She gave a little victory dance right there on the spot, cheering to herself as if she'd defeated some hideous monster or something. It shouldn't have been cute, but really, it was.

Paine felt herself flush, ever so slightly, and kept her expression stony to try to counterbalance it, stern and grim. "I didn't say that," she argued, tone low and dark. "Besides -- aren't you a bit old for sleepovers, Rikku? You have to grow up a little. Join the adult world."

"The adult world is boooooring," Rikku sing-songed at her. "I know, I've seen it. I wanted to be like that -- like Lulu, actually -- when I was a kid, mature and controlled so all the girls would want to be me and all the boys would want me but it's kinda not fun. I'd rather be me. Besides, I don't have the breasts." She gestured.

Honestly, Paine thought they looked just fine to her. She cleared her throat, raising her gaze again -- it hardly helped that Rikku kept them so prominantly displayed. It was positivally unfair to go out of her way to draw attention to them besides that. "I still don't think it's worth it," Paine said.

Rikku didn't exactly give up on arguing, just on arguing logically. "Oh come on! Do it! It'll be fun! Do it! Come on!"

Paine sighed at her. Rikku hadn't stopped moving the entire time, bouncing back and forth, like her wiry Al Bhed body held more energy than it really could contain. She was like electricity in action, and that always seemed odd to Paine, because her previous experiences with the Al Bhed were almost entirely with Gippal. And Gippal was like she'd always imagined them to be -- if she had to classify them with any element at all, it would be with fire. Gippal was fire. Rikku was lightning.

It was strange, but she found she preferred the lightning.

"C'mooooon," Rikku wheedled, almost dancing around her. "Don't be a big stick in the mud, Paine."

"I'm just saying--"

"Muddy stick!" Rikku accused, pointing at her.

Paine shook her head, holding her hands up almost in defense. "It's not that, it's just that I--"

"Muddy stiiiick!"

"Fine," Paine sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine, but don't blame me if you don't have a good time."

"Muddy--" Rikku began, then cut herself off. "Wait, you mean you'll have a sleepover with me? For real? Ohmigod YAY! I'm gonna go and get the storage room all set up with mattresses and pillows and I'll get the hypello to send SNACKS down and it'll be so much fun!"

Despite Paine's best intentions, Rikku's enthusiasm was catching. It was hard not to smile when Rikku would act like that, like she were a kid again, even if the hard planes and soft curves of her body said otherwise. It was pointless to mention that they already all slept in the same room on the Celcius -- if Rikku wanted a private sleepover in a storage room, Rikku would get what she wanted.

"Sure," Paine said.

***

"No, you have to wear PAJAMAS," Rikku was insisting.

Paine held the extra pair to herself uncertainly -- they were Rikku's, and bright green with tulips on them, and were small enough that she wasn't entirely sure they'd fit her. "Um, I can't wear what I brought?"

"You sleep in sweats," Rikku said with some disgust. "For a sleepover, you need pajamas."

Obligingly, Paine stripped down, pulling the pajamas on instead. They fit, if not comfortably, too tight across the chest and rear -- but then, Rikku was awfully skinny. "Is that better?" she asked, and turned to find Rikku watching her.

She hesitated only a second too long, but for Rikku, a second was an eternity. "It's good!" Rikku said cheerfully. "Let's watch some spheres and eat stuff, okay?"

It was an activity Paine could get behind, really; she wasn't entirely sure what one did on a sleepover, trying to vaguely reach back to her childhood, but it wasn't something she minded under normal conditions. They did, watching a few clip spheres of various games. "That's Tidus," Rikku said at one point, pointing. "You know, before."

"He doesn't look any different," Paine said.

"He wouldn't."

After a few spheres, Rikku flopped back on her bedroll and stretched, looking for all the world like a contented cat settling down for a sunbath. "Wanna gossip?" she asked, lazily.

Paine blinked at her in sudden alarm. "Gossip?"

"You know. Talk about stuff behind people's backs." Rikku wiggled her fingers.

"I don't--"

"Like, is there anyone you like?"

Paine looked at her and knew, from the utterly guileless expression on Rikku's face, from the innocence that was never damn well written there, that Rikku knew everything.

"Yeah," she said.

"Oooh, and you've kept it from me?" It was almost, but not quite, enough for Paine to start doubting her new revelation. There was an edge in Rikku's voice, uncertainty. "Meanie!"

"What about you?" Paine asked, and gave up on dignity, flopping down on her own bedroll. "Do you have anyone that you like?"

Rikku went red, and that was an interesting sight -- Paine hadn't been certain that anything could make her blush. "...Yep!" she agreed finally, willfully cheerful. "I do! But it's a secret!"

"So's mine."

"No fair!"

Paine smiled at her, and from the look on Rikku's face, it wasn't something she was used to seeing. Which was weird -- she was sure she smiled more than that. "Tell you if you tell me."

Rikku stared at her and if Paine had any doubt before, she was sure now. "Meanie," Rikku said.

So Paine leaned in to kiss her.

Rikku kissed with blind, hopeless enthusiasm and almost no talent, her tongue prodding at Paine's mouth, and Paine moved closer, slid a hand down her side as if she were trying to soothe a skittish chocobo, gentled the kiss with nips to Rikku's lips, guided Rikku's tongue by showing how it was done, a slow slide of her own, lips meshing.

"Mmph," Rikku murmured, and it was like harnassing lightning, like Paine was suddenly energized, her breath thick in her throat, fast, her entire body alive and aware of every brush of Rikku's skin against hers. Rikku pulled back a little and looked at her with wide eyes. "...If I said it wasn't you I liked, you'd hurt me, right?" Despite the sort of stunned edge to it, her voice had its usual teasing edge.

Paine laughed at that with a strangely deep sense of relief, poking the centre of Rikku's forehead with a fingertip. "You bet I would," she said. "A lot."

"Better not say that then," Rikku said, and snuggled forward like she was burrowing into sand. "You know what I like?"

"Candy?" Paine suggested, grinning. Rikku's eyes widened further, but she played along.

"Yes! I mean no." Rikku paused. "...I mean yes, but that's not what I'm saying. ...I like that I can grow up and still have fun. And be grown up. But have fun."

Paine tugged at one of Rikku's braids lightly. "I've not got much experience with it myself," she admitted. "The having fun."

"I've not had much experience with growing up, so I figure we even out," Rikku said, and grinned. "...wanna try that again?"

Paine smirked at her. "That depends," she said, and kept her voice light enough that Rikku's expression didn't turn disappointed at all. "It really depends."

"Oooooon?" Rikku prompted.

"Well -- whether or not you still think the adult world's boring," Paine told her, and let out a startled and embarrassingly girly shriek as Rikku picked up a pillow and began beating her around the head and shoulders with it. She scrambled back, twisting to reach for a pillow of her own and flailed back ineffectually, because Rikku kept getting her own pillow in the way and blocking.

Rikku scrambled on top of her, pressing their joined pillows down against Paine's chest and leaning over that. "I miiiight be willing to agree to that," she sing-songed. "If you are willing to agree that neither of us are too old for sleepovers!" She giggled at that, then yelped as Paine managed to twist, flipping Rikku off her and nabbing onto Rikku's pillow, twisting it out of Rikku's grip. "OH NO FAIR!"

"You're right," Paine agreed, grinning, dancing up to her feet to hold the pillows out of Rikku's reach.

"Right that neither of us are too old for sleepovers?"

Paine snickered. "Nope. That it wasn't fair."

"So I can have my pillow back?"

"Hey, I'm getting back to my childhood," Paine told her, almost airily. "I never played fair."

"But--!"

Paine hit her with both pillows at once, and followed her down as Rikku collapsed with the giggles.