Off the Books Reporting

"Phew, finally!" Rikku declared, plopping her butt down on the free bench. The Al Bhed bnehlacc had dropped off her haul at the dock the Celsius was parked in, having paid the workers the extra loading fee because she was "finally" done!

After the slow start, she had placed orders for crates of party food (including Shoopuff cheeses!), wine, Al Bhed spirits, and then a bunch of clothes & accessories Rikku hoped she and the other Gullwings could try on to model for new dress-spheres. Heck, they could just try them on for fun the old fashion way rather than Rikku trying to give some made up excuse. She just wanted her friends, Yunie especially, to have fun and relax. A proper girl's night in...

She'd even bribed the Al Bhed Psyches to take Brother and Buddy out for drinks; they were already friends, of course, but she wanted the ship to at least be Brother free tonight. Barkeep had already taken Darling out for an overnight swim along the Luca bay shores, which just left Shinra... Maybe she could find someone to play Sphere Break with him, they'd need to be real good, or cute, to keep him occupied thou--

"Oh, Miss Rikku! Is that you?"

"EEP!" For the second time that day, Rikku nearly jumped our of her skin as pleasant, feminine voice took her by surprise. Collapsing onto her side on the bench, the blonde Al Bhed looked up to see the concerned brown eyes of Luca's politest spherecast reporter, Shelinda.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss Rikku," Shelinda spoke as her hands fussed over the other woman's form to check for injuries, "I didn't mean to startle you. Are you ok--?"

"Yeah, no worries," Rikku chuckled, raising her hand to push the brunette back gently, "I'm a big girl and-" Both Rikku and Shelinda froze as Rikku's hand inadvertently cupped Shelinda's breast through her old Yevon robes... For a moment, the blonde stared dumbly at her errant hand and slowly felt a blush rising on her cheeks. The moment hung in the air until the anxious tension in her arm made Rikku's hand twitch as if to squeeze...

"Yipes! Sorry!" This time both women startled back, Rikku sitting up straight on the bench and arms planted by her sides. Shelinda, meanwhile, stood back with her hand over her chest and her own cheeks beet red. Her expression wasn't offended at least, but it was Rikku's turn to over apologise, bringing her hands together in front of her and bowing her head to the other girl. "Sorrysorrrysorry! Ijustmeanttopushyoubackabit! Pleasedon'thateme!"

"I-I- Ahem," Shelinda to a moment to collect herself before continuing, her cheeks still pink, "It's okay, Miss Rikku. It was clearly an accident. Hehehe~" The laugh was awkward, but genuine and Rikku let herself sigh in relief. "Apology accepted. I hope you can accept mine for startling you in the first place."

"Oh, yeah," Rikku grinned sheeplishly, scratching the back of her head, "sure thing. It's, um, good to see ya, Shelinda. You looking for a story?"

"Oh, no," Shelinda shook her head with a smile, "I have a couple of days off. My producer kind of insisted that I take a break. This is actually my second day off, so I've slept most of the weariness away already. So, I wanted to get out and see the city again."

"Dang, girl," Rikku said as she patted the space on the bench next to her, "Even in the Eternal Calm you don't stop moving!"

"Well, the news never stops!" Shelinda giggled before sitting down, accepting her friend's invitation. Then her tone took on a mischievous tone, nothing sinister but much more devilish than Rikku was used to from the former acolyte, "Take just now, for example: The Heroic Gullwing ally to the Grand Summoner exposed as a naughty deviant!"

"Ahh!" Rikku went slack jawed at the implication. She knew that Shelinda wasn't being serious, but the trickster held her look of disbelief...

"Oh, oh no!" Shelinda's façade broke first as she believed Rikku thought her threat was for real, "I would never do that to you, Miss Rikku! Please--"

"Hahahahaaa!" Rikku burst into laughter, holding her sides to which Shelinda pouted.

"Oh, you big meanie," Shelinda tried to scold as she turned her head away from the Al Bhed woman, but quickly broke down into her own giggles.

After that, the two women filled each other in on their most recent adventures in sphere hunting and casting respectively, plus a few personal details here and there. Rikku was truly surprised that Shelinda wasn't dating anyone, thinking that camera guy would've asked by now. Maybe he had, but Rikku didn't want to be so obvious about asking.

"Well, I will let you get back to planning your party for Lady Yuna," Shelinda said, beginning to wrap up the conversation. Rikku couldn't help feeling disappointed to be saying goodbye already, but what caught her attention was that beneath the polite smile, Shelinda seemed to feel the same too. Standing up, the cute brunette bowed, "Until next time, Miss Rikku."

"Yeah, bye," Rikku hummed as Shelinda turned and began to walk away. Waiving lightly with one hand, her other brushed the edge of something that was leaning out of her bag. Looking down, she saw the unmistakable ornate pink cover of the SexNote...