"Gluck." Rikku shucked off her heavy boots with a grimace, dancing back on one heel in the process of kicking one off, ending up in a full twirl with both arms spinning out for balance. One end of her long scarf slapped her in the face and she sputtered, clawing at it and spinning in the other direction as if doing so would magically unwind it. "Aww, nuts!" She seized the scarf and disentangled it at the expense of balance, ending up on her butt with a thud.

Rikku stuck her tongue out at the scarf, then the boots, then her eyes crossed with exasperation. "Oh, poopie." Her pert face screwed up in an expression of dismay. The phrase was literal – it was going to take some disgusting elbow grease to get the monkey shit off her work boots.

She bounced up, discarding the thought of such effort as easily as she shed her clothes on the way to the shower. A trail of garishly-colored scraps demarcated Rikku's trail as the inner door whooshed shut. She paused with one foot on the metal lip of the tub, hand hovering over a row of upright bottles. Bevelle Breeze, Sanubia Sunset, Zanarkand Zest... "Ahh." Rikku snatched up the last bottle, thumbed it open, and sniffed deeply.

The door slid open with a quiet hiss. Rikku didn't notice for a long moment, naked back turned to the door while she inhaled the scent of shampoo.

"Rikku," a voice asked her, feminine but grim. "What the hell are you doing?"

"WAUK!" Rikku spun, slipped on the tub, and dropped the bottle with a clatter. It spun across the floor, spurting clear grayish fluid, and Paine darted forward as the blonde girl plunged at an angle to crack her head open on the tiles.

Paine seized one slender wrist and hauled. Misjudging the heft of her burden, Rikku flew in the other direction, collapsing into Paine's arms and overbalancing them. Down they went in a heap of shapely limbs.

"Ahh." Rikku nuzzled along Paine's neck, snuffling like an overly-affectionate pet.

"What the–" Paine shoved. "Rikku, get off me!" She realized that her hands were full of breasts at about the same the Al Bhed girl did, and the two of them stared at each other.

A grin split Rikku's pixie features. "Paine! You really DO like me!" She buried her face in Paine's neck, nuzzling and plastering sloppy kisses.

"Ack–no, get OFF me...argh–" Paine began, then a knee nudged her legs apart and suckling lips fastened on the spot below her ear that lit her pleasure centers like a sky gone molten with glittering fayth. One slender hand worked its way under belts and the rim of Paine's pants and secured her attention for good.

Twenty minutes later, Paine pushed herself out from beneath a sated, drowsy pile of tanned skin and rumpled golden braids, looking at the girl with bemusement. "So," she questioned the inert Al Bhed, "what the hell WERE you doing?"

One green eye swirled half-open in Paine's general direction. "Oh," Rikku mumbled sleepily, nesting in Paine's discarded clothes. "I just like the smell of your shampoo."

"Right," Paine muttered, and ran a hand through her hair. Ridiculous as it sounded, Rikku's purely instinctive drive was probably the greatest impetus for what they did.

"Monkey," Rikku said, and tucked her head under one arm.

Paine snickered, locating her bottle of shampoo, and stepped into the shower for a good long scrub.