Ello! Okay, so, item number 1. This is supposed to be a little scattered. Like, Gippal just sort of jumps from one thing to another. Item number 2. Anything (written in parentheses) is Gippal's own little footnotes. I make no author appearances in here. Enjoy!

Spira, it scares me how I'm always right.

Don't believe me? Watch this.

Lazy-Ass-Worker-Whom-I-Pay-Two-Gil-An-Hour-For-Nothing: "Yo, boss, uh, this thing's broken."

Me: "Did you (insert completely obvious thing)." (That's right. I don't even say it as a question. That's a statement. I know what he did wrong just by looking at it.)

LAWWIPTGHN: "Yes."

Me: "Are you sure?"

LAWWIPTGHN: "Yes."

Me: "Try it anyway." (He tries it. It works.)

LAWWIPTGHN: "Thanks, boss."

Me: "Mm hm."

And then I very seriously make a note on my clipboard, just to scare him. Which he should be scared. He'll probably be fired by next week for doubting me.

I invented these machines.

Don't try and think that I don't know how to fix them.

There's part one of my day.

Part two arrives shortly after.

I'm stalking around the temple, making eerie notes on my clipboard, which are usually just, like… stars. And doodles. But they look at me all scared and work harder anyway, so maybe doodling is actually starting to pay off.

Anyway, then, I feel a tap on my shoulder.

By now, I know better than to turn around.

When she's here to just see me, she skips into the temple singing my name as loud as she can. It's almost embarrassing, but then I get some envious looks, and it's all better.

However, when she taps me on the shoulder, I know that if I turn, I am going to promptly be punched in the nose. Or various other places. Most girls would just slap me, and that's so ineffective. Emotionally and physically. She punches.

So, I just smile and say,

"Hey, Cid's Girl. What problem do you have with me today?"

"You should know by now that I have several problems with you, Gippal," she says sweetly. Sweetly. She's pissed.

"What's the flavor of the day then?" I ask.

"What's this I hear about a bet you have with some of the workers that you could get me to sleep with you?" Cid's Girl asks. The sweet tone is gone. It was just to lure me into a false sense of security. But I know her better than that. Which is why I keep my back turned towards her, because A) It's a form of protection, and B) It pisses her off even more that she thinks I'm not listening to her.

"Only half true," I say.

"I want it to be zero true," she screeches. She's making a scene now. My workers are turning to look at us. I draw a few more doodles on my clipboard to make it seem to them like I'm just so busy that I can't deal with Cid's Girl's emotional problems right now. Yeah. That's impressive. That makes me look awesome. "What makes it only half true?" she asks, her tone softening. I finally turn to her. I know that I'm safe now. She's hoping that I'll say something sweet to defend myself.

"See, they wanted to put money on it, but I said I just couldn't do it," I say. Cid's Girl smiles at me, and she's probably about to say something to redeem that smile of hers until I continue on. "Because I think that I could do it so quickly, it probably wouldn't give me enough time to find some delicious ways to up the stakes."

Bam.

Punch in the nose.

Not as safe as I thought.

But, I probably deserved that one.

Run away fast enough before she can do any more damage. Normally, she storms out, or sometimes, she might chase after me.

And then, I can either use my manly ways to kick her out of the temple, or I could shove her into a wall and kiss her, and then she leaves fast enough on her own. Ah, how I love being me.

You would love being me too. If you were me. Sadly, only I am me.

I pity everyone who isn't me, actually. It must be such a lonely existence.

And sometimes, Cid's Girl comes back later in the day and decides to try and do my job for me. She's like a backseat driver, hovering over people and telling them what they're doing wrong. Just because she has nothing to do lately doesn't mean she has to terrorize my workers.

I watch from afar until I'm sure that this guy is gonna crack and turn the sharp knife he's working on the machina with on her, and then I go over and grip her by the arm, dragging her towards the temple doors.

"Gippal! Let go!" she yelps. She sags her body down so that I'll either have to drag her or just let her sit there on the temple floor.

I choose the option of dragging. I lift her arm up even more so that her ankles skim the floor and keep marching towards the door. She eventually stands up and walks on her own.

"Cid's Girl, you are seventeen years-."

"I'm eighteen, meanie!" she says.

"Eighteen years old. Please. Go do something else. Go shopping. Go see a concert. Go play blitzball. Anything that will keep you far away from Djose," I say. Sometimes, she's just too much to handle. The actual Machine Faction isn't busy usually. But on the days it is, Cid's Girl finds a way to get in here and find multiple ways to push my buttons. (Heh heh.)

"What, you don't like me being here?" she asks in her most sultry voice. Again, leading me into a false sense of security. The second I let her wander, she's going to either break something because she thinks she knows how it works, or she's going to take over everyone's jobs and rule the payroll. And I am not hiring her. It's hard enough to concentrate on my doodles when she's just here visiting. Imagine if she worked here. She would use her feminine wiles to make me give her a raise. Every two hours.

"No, I don't like it when you're here. I love it when you're here. Which is why you need to leave," I say, shoving her out the temple doors. She gracefully regains her footing and waves at me over her shoulder. I lean against one of the doors and wave back.

Well, yeah, of course it's fun to flirt with Cid's Girl, because she flirts back and doesn't think anything of it. But some day, she's going to get into some trouble with me.

So then, I might take a walk to Mushroom Rock and blow a few fiends up. Clear my head, y'know? Cid's Girl is… well, Cid's Girl, but she still gets me all hot and bothered sometimes. And not in the way you're thinking. Or… I'm thinking…

…

No, I don't like her. But she's hard to keep up with. It's like… I throw her out, and she just comes right back in. How does she have so much energy? Honestly?

Or better yet, how does no one notice me telling her to not come back and then she just saunters back in and nobody cares enough to tell me?

She's one of my best friends, but sometimes, I wonder if I need to get her some ADD meds or something.

Then sometimes, she comes in all depressed and armed with a chick flick or something. And I have to let her into my room so we can sit on my bed and she can either sob or laugh or 'awww' at inopportune times – like when I'm almost asleep.

And sometimes I'll whip her up a bag of popcorn or a bowl of ice cream, covered in all things that taste almost as good as I do: fudge, sprinkles, caramel, pecans. Well, pecans for me. She doesn't like them. But I put banana slices in hers, that's how she likes it. And of course, it can only be with chocolate ice cream. We mutually have decided that chocolate is the only way to go.

Then there are those days that she comes in ready for a fight. And she drags me down all the way to the stupid Mi'ihen Highroad and I have to follow her around while she kicks all this fiend ass. It's boring. And embarrassing. People think I need her to protect me. I most definitely do not. Ugh.

Then there are those days that she's just looking for attention, and so she whips out that old piece of torn fabric that she likes to call a skirt and comes sauntering in here, walking her fingers up my arm and giving me those 'come hither' looks. Although I've never taken her offer up on it, it's always pretty tempting.

I mean… Cid's Girl. The single most beautiful Al Bhed in Spira, hands down. You may think that I would go for maybe a brunette or a redhead, but when she's around, nothing and no one can compare.

Agh… I'm starting to fawn over her.

I mean it when I say that I don't like her.

Seriously.

I just like to compliment.

Except Shelinda, that insane ex-Yevonite I see on TV all the time. She's fricken everywhere, and I know she's about to snap and like… come to the Machine Faction, kick me off my job, take it over, and dominate the world. Yevonites Gone Wild, that's what I'll call my next business. I'll cage up ex-Yevonites who are like, freaking out, and I'll make a traveling caravan. I betcha Cid's Girl would be brave enough to be the ringmaster. I sure as hell aren't. Together, we'll make millions. Me and her, traveling all over Spira together. Like brand new Gullwings.

You know, I wonder what it's like to be a sphere hunter. Because one day, she came in, and she told me all about what she had done that day as a sphere hunter. And it sounds incredible. Whenever she talks about how she gets to go everywhere at the drop of the hat, it gives me that itch in my legs, that I just have to go somewhere. But I can't. Because what would they do here without me? There would be no one to… terrorize them with their doodles. Ah, how I love being me.

I've said that already, haven't I?

Oh well. You would love being me too. If you were me. Sadly, only I am me.

That took brain power.

You know what the thing about Cid's Girl is?

Not only does she have her looks going for her, but she's smart too. Some people just don't think she's smart, but I know better. She's almost too smart for her own good. She could scheme someone out of their weight in gil if she had a little bit of a plan. Or… maybe it's just me. But anyway, she's smart. Bottom line. And she's got the world at her feet.

Not like me. My life is basically over. I am stuck in this stupid, empty temple for the rest of my life. Or until Shelinda comes and takes it from me. Which she's going to have to drag the contract from my cold, dead hands. Hm… I wonder how capable an ex-Yevonite nun is of murder?

I wonder, if I died, who would cry about it?

If we could create artificial intelligence, could it cry? If we gave it tear ducts?

Could it love?

Hmm…

Great. It's going to rain again soon. I can feel it. The temple gets this shaky feeling.

Do you know how terrifying it is to be in the temple of thunder in an area that it rains… frequently?

It's scary.

And boring. All I have to do is sit on my bed and stare at the electric dome in the center of my room. Which is kind of cool, because every time lightening strikes outside, it flickers, turns off, then turns back on. It's so cool.

But today was different. As the rain poured outside, I sat on my bed, once again watching the light flicker on and off, when there's something loud banging on the temple doors. I get out of bed and trek through the empty corridors. It can't be thunder. It's too loud. I know the storm's not that close.

Nope. It's something much more sinister.

A cold…

Wet…

Cid's Girl.

"Well, hello. We're not entertaining today, so I'll have to ask you to return another time," I say, closing the door on her.

"Gippal, I'm gonna send you to the Farplane!" she screeches, pounding those capable fists on the doors again. I laugh and open the door. She bolts in before I can close it on her again, then stands there, shivering.

I hate to say that I'm enjoying this.

"You chose the perfect day to wear that," I say. A simple white dress. Perfect for a nice sunny day. Which, that may be what it is, anywhere but Djose.

"All I wanted was to go to the Moonflow and enjoy a nice day. But no. I come through stupid Mushroom Rock, and you know, the Youth League, they secretly hate me, so, I came here." She definitely left out half of the story there. Like, the part where it starts to rain. But I can put that part in for myself. Mushroom Rock has the same forecast as Djose. Cloudy with an 88% chance of misery. "Stop looking at me," she whines. "I know my dress is see-through right now."

"You got that right."

"Gippal!" she says. She looks at me with those big eyes, and I sigh and wave my hand at her. She races back to my room and grabs my favorite blanket. And wraps it around her. I already see the wet marks forming on it. I sigh inwardly. Anything for the princess.

"Want to watch TV?" I ask her, turning on the sphere before she answers. She snuggled back into my pillow and starts unbraiding her hair, pulling it out of it's ponytail as well. I pull out a mug and some milk from my mini-fridge (Oh yeah. I'm so important, I have a mini-fridge. And…) and put some milk in the microwave. (… a microwave.) I mix up some hot chocolate for her and then make hot tea for myself, then sit down next to her. She puts her mug down on the desk, and I sigh and put a coaster under it.

I will never understand why it's so hard for people to just use a coaster.

I wonder… why isn't there just wood that it stainless? I mean, they all claim it's stainless, but then, you put a hot cup of hot chocolate on it, and BAM. Instant ring.

She sneers at me and turns back to the sphere.

"So, whatcha been up to?" she asks. I haven't seen her in about a month. And now that she asks, I'm starting to feel that absence. I shrug.

"Not much. People just aren't digging anymore, so, we're not getting as many parts. So, research is slow," I say.

"You're not going to close it down, are you?" she asks, leaning forward and pulling the blanket out, then wrapping one side around my shoulders. She scoots closer to me so the other half is still around her.

"No, I couldn't close this down," I say. As much as I complain, if the Machine Faction weren't around, I would miss it. So much.

"What would you do if you had to though?" she asks. "I bet you could be an artist. All those important notes you have on your clipboard." Oh, yeah. She's seen my clipboard. Has actually added to its beauty many times.

"Ha," I say. "No, actually, I'm starting a circus. If, you know, this falls through."

"Oh, that sounds cool," Cid's Girl says. "I'd pay to see that. You would run an interesting circus, Gip."

"You have no idea," I say, smiling to myself. "What have you been up to, so much that you can't even afford to visit me?"

"Eh, we lost Shinra, so I had to go around with Buddy to try and find him. That took about a week, and then, we find him in Luca." I cringe. That kid could have gotten into… well, anything.

"What was he doing?"

"Playing sphere break!" she says, sounding royally pissed off. I have to laugh. She pushes me with her shoulder. "It wasn't funny! I was worried, and he was just like, 'Oh, why were you worried?' Blah, blah, blah, 'I'm just a kid'."

"What would you do if I went missing?"

"Check the nearest strip club."

"Thanks, you really brighten my rainy day," I say. And she does. She just thinks I'm being sarcastic.

"I'm kidding, I would be worried about you, too," she says. That gets a smile out of me.

And one time, she tried to get me to help her catch a chocobo. Chocobos scare the Guado out of me! It's unnatural for a bird to be that big. It's like… a humongous chicken. It's wrong.

That's why I love the Chocobo Eater. I mean… it's not a very pretty face, but it's like my own personal exterminator. I always get a slap from girls when I say that. Except Cid's Girl, because she halfway agrees with me. At least, when she's aggravated from chasing a chocobo down all day. Sometimes she does slap me though.

Then, there are those days that she comes in, and she just wants to talk. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. And, I talk back. We go back into my room, sit around, and talk about what's been going on in Spira lately.

She tells me about little things I probably haven't heard about yet, and I tell her about big things she probably missed while on her frequent adventures.

However, these days, even though they're my favorite, can easily be ruined if I say the wrong thing. And most of the time, I do say the wrong thing. Ending the day. With a slap, a punch, or a disapproving glare. It hurts most though when she seems genuinely disappointed in me. Usually, when I say the wrong thing, she doesn't care that much, because she kind of expects it from me. But sometimes, I go way out of line. Like, I don't even know what possesses me to say some things. But, she leaves. And then, I go back to work. And no one asks where I've been, because they know where I've been. It's where I always am if I'm missing.

Yes. I know. I'm starting to realize that my days revolve around Rikku. Every day, I wake up and wonder what kind of day she'll bring me. No, I don't actually care about the weather that much.

I don't care about LAWWIPTGHN.

I don't care about Shelinda and her stupid newscasts, and I don't care about my future traveling caravan.

I mean… I do care about it.

But there are two things in this world that I would really work for. The Machine Faction and Rikku. The Machine Faction is my life, and she comes in to tell me off. Because that's just how we are.

And that's how my days go by.

Of course… nights are a different story entirely.

So, this story was my baby for the past two days. It was hard writing "says" and "asks". I'm not used to writing in the moment. xD Anyway, I hope you liked it!

Review…? Possibly…?