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When plot bunnies attack
Title: Shirt
Fandom: FF X-2
Rating: PG-13
Set: Post-game
Spoilers: None, really
Pairings: Paine/Nooj
Words: 700ish
Notes: I blame![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cupcakemonster. Totally and completely. See, she wrote this whole series of Rikku/Nooj ficlets the other day, and then mneme_forgets had to go and wonder how Paine would react if she found out. Now tell me, how was I supposed to resist that? So here you are. (Perhaps this goes without saying, but this bears no relationship to any of the other stories I've written about Paine and/or Nooj.)
Paine swung her legs out of the bed and padded over to the closet, reaching for the shirt she typically slept in when she spent these nights with Nooj. As she pulled it out, her fingers brushed a swatch of unfamiliar fabric at the back. Gathering it up in her hands, she pulled out another oversize shirt. She considered it for a moment before turning around.
"Hey," she said. "Where did this come from?" Casually, she tossed the garment onto the bed, then pulled her own shirt over her head.
Nooj stirred, reached for his spectacles, switched on the bedside lamp. He looked at the shirt, then back at Paine, a flash of guilt in his dark eyes. A struggle between saving face and his commitment to honesty commenced, but Paine knew that he would tell her the truth in the end. Finally, he spoke, his voice low. "It's Rikku's."
"Rikku's?" Paine crossed her arms across her chest, incredulous. "You've been sleeping with Rikku?! "
He looked away, staring at their reflection in the window. Then he nodded, reluctantly.
"Huh." She dropped her arms and then sat on the edge of the bed, pressure building up like a bubble in her chest. "Well, I suppose it could be worse. You could've gone back to Leblanc." At the utter look of horror that crossed his face, the bubble broke, taking her with an outburst of mirth. She doubled over, shaking with laughter, her face in her hands, releasing her conflicting emotions. When she recovered enough to sit up, she glanced back at Nooj to see that he was smiling, a small wry grin.
"It does seem rather unlikely, doesn't it," he said. "I'm not always sure I believe it myself."
Paine shrugged. "Maybe. But it explains a few things, too."
"Such as?"
"Such as the cookie crumbs I found in the bed the last time I was here." She smiled again, and Nooj looked back down to cover his amusement, picking at the covers with his machina hand. "Also, your mood, which has been oddly cheerful lately. Maybe she's contagious."
Nooj grunted. "She can be, at that." Finally, he was able to meet her eyes. "Are you upset?"
Still seated, she pulled up her legs and crossed them, turning around to face him. "It's not like I have any claim on you. Go to bed with whoever you want. Well, maybe not Leblanc." She quirked an eyebrow to show that she was joking; then she recomposed her face into a more serious expression. "As long as you remember where you belong when you get tired of her."
"Like when you get tired of Baralai?" The undercurrent of bitterness in his voice surprised him a little.
"Exactly like that," she replied calmly. In a single smooth motion, she rolled herself over on top of him, her thin shirt all that separated skin from skin. "Cookies are tasty and gentlemen are pleasant, but one can only take a steady diet of either for so long. In the end, I need someone with an edge, and so do you."
He began to compose a retort, but then she was kissing him, stealing all the words away, one hand gripping his braids, the other running down his right arm, finding his living fingers and tangling with them. The desire they had thought already satisfied earlier in the evening blazed up again, a fire that threatened to consume them both, and they slid down on the bed, twining limbs of flesh and metal in their need to become one, to find home.
When Nooj woke the next morning, he was alone. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he sat up and looked into the closet, which Paine had left open when she departed. Two shirts hung there, side-by-side, neatly pressed and ready for whoever might come by to wear them. He shook his head with a sigh, then got up to start his day.
Fandom: FF X-2
Rating: PG-13
Set: Post-game
Spoilers: None, really
Pairings: Paine/Nooj
Words: 700ish
Notes: I blame
cupcakemonster. Totally and completely. See, she wrote this whole series of Rikku/Nooj ficlets the other day, and then mneme_forgets had to go and wonder how Paine would react if she found out. Now tell me, how was I supposed to resist that? So here you are. (Perhaps this goes without saying, but this bears no relationship to any of the other stories I've written about Paine and/or Nooj.)Paine swung her legs out of the bed and padded over to the closet, reaching for the shirt she typically slept in when she spent these nights with Nooj. As she pulled it out, her fingers brushed a swatch of unfamiliar fabric at the back. Gathering it up in her hands, she pulled out another oversize shirt. She considered it for a moment before turning around.
"Hey," she said. "Where did this come from?" Casually, she tossed the garment onto the bed, then pulled her own shirt over her head.
Nooj stirred, reached for his spectacles, switched on the bedside lamp. He looked at the shirt, then back at Paine, a flash of guilt in his dark eyes. A struggle between saving face and his commitment to honesty commenced, but Paine knew that he would tell her the truth in the end. Finally, he spoke, his voice low. "It's Rikku's."
"Rikku's?" Paine crossed her arms across her chest, incredulous. "You've been sleeping with Rikku?! "
He looked away, staring at their reflection in the window. Then he nodded, reluctantly.
"Huh." She dropped her arms and then sat on the edge of the bed, pressure building up like a bubble in her chest. "Well, I suppose it could be worse. You could've gone back to Leblanc." At the utter look of horror that crossed his face, the bubble broke, taking her with an outburst of mirth. She doubled over, shaking with laughter, her face in her hands, releasing her conflicting emotions. When she recovered enough to sit up, she glanced back at Nooj to see that he was smiling, a small wry grin.
"It does seem rather unlikely, doesn't it," he said. "I'm not always sure I believe it myself."
Paine shrugged. "Maybe. But it explains a few things, too."
"Such as?"
"Such as the cookie crumbs I found in the bed the last time I was here." She smiled again, and Nooj looked back down to cover his amusement, picking at the covers with his machina hand. "Also, your mood, which has been oddly cheerful lately. Maybe she's contagious."
Nooj grunted. "She can be, at that." Finally, he was able to meet her eyes. "Are you upset?"
Still seated, she pulled up her legs and crossed them, turning around to face him. "It's not like I have any claim on you. Go to bed with whoever you want. Well, maybe not Leblanc." She quirked an eyebrow to show that she was joking; then she recomposed her face into a more serious expression. "As long as you remember where you belong when you get tired of her."
"Like when you get tired of Baralai?" The undercurrent of bitterness in his voice surprised him a little.
"Exactly like that," she replied calmly. In a single smooth motion, she rolled herself over on top of him, her thin shirt all that separated skin from skin. "Cookies are tasty and gentlemen are pleasant, but one can only take a steady diet of either for so long. In the end, I need someone with an edge, and so do you."
He began to compose a retort, but then she was kissing him, stealing all the words away, one hand gripping his braids, the other running down his right arm, finding his living fingers and tangling with them. The desire they had thought already satisfied earlier in the evening blazed up again, a fire that threatened to consume them both, and they slid down on the bed, twining limbs of flesh and metal in their need to become one, to find home.
When Nooj woke the next morning, he was alone. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he sat up and looked into the closet, which Paine had left open when she departed. Two shirts hung there, side-by-side, neatly pressed and ready for whoever might come by to wear them. He shook his head with a sigh, then got up to start his day.
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LOVE that line :) Even though I have a particular soft spot for Baralai... I've always wondered about the possibility of Rikku/Nooj, but I never managed to come up with anything. This is good! :)
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As for Rikku/Nooj, I take NO responsibility whatsoever for that pairing. Would never write it, can't believe in it, no no no. But if you're curious, do check out
OH BATMAN! I'M SHOCKED!
Just -wow-.
Um.
Words like "huh!" and "oh lord!" and "fuck!" come to mind and I'm just blown away by the sheer utter coolness that is Paine. Yes, you go Paine, you show Nooj-ster who's boss. Yesiree, bob.
And I'm not sorry I "inspired" you, and I certainly hope to do it again.
Snort. I have to go laugh into my milk and cry a little bit for just the overflowing joy of it all.
Re: OH BATMAN! I'M SHOCKED!
In the end, I suppose I'm not either. :) But man, this was a persistant bunny. I wrestled with it all day, and in the end I had to set it down, otherwise I would probably have never been able to write anything else ever again!
Re: OH BATMAN! I'M SHOCKED!
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"At utter look of horror that crossed his face, the bubble broke, taking her with an outburst of mirth." You just missed typing "the" after "At."
I love the cookie crumbs in the bed and the way Paine feels that Nooj's mood's been lifted by Rikku. That's sort of sweet in a way, because I think Rikku lifts Paine's mood too, even against Paine's will.
I love Paine's final certainty that the two of them will come back to each other. I really don't understand myself how they can do it, but I think it's wonderful the way it works for them. Although I do feel (maybe it's just me) that "go to bed with whoever you want" is not really very heartfelt and is also just a little bit of verbal revenge, just a smidge.
I really like the gesture of Paine's caring for both garments too. It's a nice way to end this ultimately very cozy feeling story.
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That was intentional. Like you say, she's not super happy about it even though she does accept it, and it's heavily suggested that she doesn't really have room to talk. But she couldn't resist a bit of a barb. Which I think is very in character for Paine, as well.
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I don't read a lot of X-2 fic, but that's more because I don't go looking. I love when it turns up from authors I enjoy.
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FF X/X-2 is actually pretty much all I write; I enjoy reading in other fandoms, but when it comes to my own work, I'm firmly grounded in Spira. For whatever reason, that's the world and characters that speak to me.
I
All this does make you marvel about what Nooj might have been before he was maimed. Hm......
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I like this line: "Also, your mood, which has been oddly cheerful lately. Maybe she's contagious."
I don't know how Paine feels about Rikku (again with the game playing), but I'm glad this doesn't have an anti-Rikku vibe to it. I mean, it's obvious she's not thrilled, but she's not like, "omg Rikku that whore." Perhaps this is her character, anyway, but it warmed my heart.
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Because Paine is so close-mouthed about her feelings, it's all up for interpretation. But I've always gotten the vibe that Rikku's bouncy cheerfulness drives Paine insane at times, but basically she likes her and considers her a friend. And I tend to write them both with that in mind.
Glad you enjoyed the story, even not knowing all that much about the fandom! The game gets a bad rap but I actually rather liked it, the Paine backstory thread especially. I recommend it, especially if you don't have your expectations dialed up *too* high.