1. Do I really have to say it? ;)
2. Baralai. Yes, really. I know I've argued against it from time to time, but that's only when people promote it at the expense of P/N. There are ways in which they work together quite well, although I can't write the pairing myself unless Nooj is somehow out of the picture.
3. Lucil. Paine clearly respects her, and I could see that respect developing into more quite easily.
4. Rikku. Opposites attract. Sometimes fire and water fizzle out, but sometimes they makes steam. Not as a long term thing, not remotely. But temporarily? Yeah. I can see it.
5. Buddy. It's kind of a crack pairing, and kind of same-frame love, but there is something to it all the same. He seems like a nice, normal kind of guy, and sometimes I think that's what Paine needs more than anything.
(Fine, fine. The first one is Nooj. Satisfied?)
1. Eyeroll. Lifting her eyes to the sky, she shakes her head and walks away.
2. Thwap to the back of the head. He yelps, but he grins all the same.
3. Abrupt chuckle, quickly stifled. She won't catch his eye, because she might break into hysterical laughter, and that would do nothing for her reputation.
4. "Would you settle down?" Exasperated glare. "You're as bad as Rikku."
5. "Hey." Followed by a warm, if brief, smile that reaches her eyes every time. He is one of her best friends, after all.
1. "I don't need any help." (When it's obvious that he could use some assistance.)
2. "I could have killed that fiend much more effectively with my sword."
3. "Stay back from the danger; I'll protect you."
4. "..."
5. Anything whatsoever that has to do with ending his own life. Even once he's given it up, even in jest. It's the one thing she will never be able to take lightly.