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Buddy knew he shouldn’t be laughing, but he really couldn’t help it.
He watched with a smile he failed to suppress as Brother gawked, his eyes glued to the scene taking place in the water below the ship. “It – It – IT CAN’T BE!”
With a snort, Buddy nodded as he waited for the reality of the situation to sink into Brother’s rather thick skull. “Yeah, I think it is. He’s back.”
Brother dramatically collapsed into a heap on the floor, mumbling and muttering in Al Bhed. It was difficult to hear him, but Buddy could make out something about fate being cruel to him and something along the lines of “it would be my luck a dead guy could come back to life.”
Shinra peered over his chair, chuckling as he watched Brother writhe on the floor. “If it’s any consolation, I’m sure their kids will love you.”
That topped it for Buddy. He toppled over, bent over in laughter as the amusement he had tried to keep pent up escaped from its confines. He clutched at his sides, laughing along with Shinra as Brother screamed at the young Al Bhed wonder child.
“THIS IS NOT FUNNY!” Brother flapped his arms as he glared at Shinra. When Shinra continued to just laugh at him, Brother next tried screeching obscenities and curses in Al Bhed at him.
To his further dismay, neither of his companions heard him. They were laughing far too hard to pay any mind to him, even when he let out an ear piercing wail before stomping off the deck.
~*~
Outside, Rikku and Paine paused in their trek towards the beach. They both turned towards the ship, and listened quietly as they heard Brother’s wailing drift towards them. It was faint, but it was distinct enough for them to make out clearly.
After listening for a few seconds, they turned towards each other and stared. Paine’s lips twitched, Rikku began to giggle, and before they knew it, they both burst into laughter.
“Y – You know,” Rikku began to say through her fit of giggles, “We’ll be the ones to suffer for it though. He’ll be mopey for weeks over this.”
Paine shrugged it off, a smile lit on her face as she straightened up after laughing so hard. “It’ll be worth it. At least he’ll no longer be going after Yuna.”
“Finally!” they said in unison, and they broke into another fit of laughter as they stumbled towards the beach.
Regardless of her amusement towards Brother’s agony, Rikku had a feeling they’d be avoiding the Celsius for quite awhile.