FFXII Fic: Seven Different Spaces (Cast, Slight Larsa/Penelo)
I shall put up all the drabbles from the last fic-bits challenge at some point. I shall. I shall!
Anyway, the next set of mixed FFXII drabbles is ready for public unveiling. I just have... 4 more sets... to go... ::sob::
Title: Seven Different Spaces
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Characters/Pairings: Reks, Penelo, Basch, Fran, Vossler, Balthier, Larsa, Noah, Ashe, very vague Larsa/Penelo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: All the stories of Ivalice ought to be told. Even the stranger, more unbelievable ones.
I. Reks/Penelo, I'm Ready, for mithrigil
Her lips were soft like cherries, sweet like cherries, and even the taste of tears that he could discern from them didn't seem to cool her ardor. "I'm ready," she insisted. "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready..." And it did not matter if he whispered that she needn't do this if she had not the courage, if she wished to slink off from his bed as though none of this had ever occurred. She was with him and she was warm and willing, a living talisman to Dalmasca his treacherous hands could not quite hold onto even now.
"I'm ready," she whispered, and her night-gown pooled underneath her thin young frame in a way that made him want her more than anything, that made him hate himself just a little more each time. "I'm more than ready"-- and out of all who languished in that balmy night before the last battle began, Reks knew that she was perhaps the bravest of them all.
---
II. Basch: Brotherhood, for artemischan
"My brother is all I have left, sir," the boy soldier before Basch begins, and something in him twists. Undaunted, or perhaps simply oblivious, the child barely old enough to fight continues. "He’s two years younger then I. Living in Rabanastre..."
And Basch promises himself that it's not envy that makes him press the sword back into those half-grown hands and send him to the slaughter.
---
III. Fran & Penelo, Magic, for kilraaj
"Thank you," the girl said afterwards, "for believing in me."
Her smile, though always bright, often had a curiously brittle quality Fran did not quite like. "I wouldn't," the viera quietly replied, "if there wasn't something to believe in from the first."
And now Fran had the quiet pleasure of seeing that smile of Penelo‘s, that soft, slightly anxious smile, be replaced by a firmer, wider one. "You really think so?"
Cocking her head to the side, Fran allowed herself a rare smile. “I very much doubt that we would have made it out of that area safely without your magic. After all, who else would have realized the proper way to put out the fire spell that Vaan’s esper inadvertently left upon his head when dismissed?”
In all of Ivalice, there were many who said that there was nothing quite as thrilling as a proper Viera‘s gaze; now, Fran could add that there was nothing quite as charming as hume girl's laugh.
---
IV. Vossler and Balthier: I Don't Like You Either, for sheffiesharpe
"Do not," Fran told her partner in the aftermath, "even attempt to blame me for the predicament. Did you really believe that everything your mother told you was false?"
Even past the vague sneer his face had contorted into after a few hours of attempting to out-quip the apparently indefatigable Vossler, Balthier managed a grin. Sighing, Fran decided not to tell him it made him look like a bull-dog with rictus. "Well, I couldn't let someone with so huge a great-sword rammed up his rear get the better of me, Fran! What sort of leading man could I call myself then?"
---
V. Ashe and Penelo and Fran: Girl Talk, for sheffiesharpe
"I say we impale him," Ashe whispered, the fire light hitting her face at an angle that made her look truly demonic. "My father always used to say that there was nothing better than a good impaling to teach a subject a lesson."
Ever the voice of reason, Fran stepped in to moderate. "No," she said thoughtfully, “that would probably leave him less than capable of fighting with us in the future-- and regardless of how often he attempts to "raid our panties," we do need his help. Perhaps we could simply maim him every few days and heal his limbs as we need them."
As perhaps his sole advocate and best friend in all the world, Vaan fearfully looked to Penelo-- good o' Penelo! cheerful and kind Penelo! the bright, bouncy Penelo that everyone in their party liked!-- to speak up for him. And true to form, she stepped forward with a smile. Relaxing a little behind his gag and restraints, Vaan stopped to hear what he had to say.
"Well, it was just a panty-raid, Ashe, Fran. I mean, I don't think permanent damage is the way to get a good revenge, even if Vaan is a total idiot sometimes. In fact..."
Then her face turned terrifyingly... thoughtful. "In fact, I think maybe an even better way of getting back is to make him try on every single panty he tried to steal-- in front of us all. Don't you think that'll be a dish best served cold?"
And as all three avenging harpies turned on him as one, Vaan reflected that maybe the impaling would have served as a far kinder end.
---
VI. Gabranth and Larsa: Daydreams, for sheffiesharpe
"Tell me," the boy before him whispers faintly, "of what it is that you see when you close your eyes and give me that smile and look so far away--"
But even if Noah had permission, he had not any hope of gaining adequate words, of saying what needed to be said, of sounding out in mere human letters all that had been left in rust and stardust beyond him. So in the end, he simply held his silence and the child before him lifted his hand to his greaves and wondered what passions moved beneath the carapace and what was held within.
---
VII. Vaan and Penelo: If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It!, for amos_hunter
"...So tell me, exactly how much dough am I going to bribe you with to get you to keep your trap shut?"
"About this, you mean?"
"Oh, let me thin-- what else could I be talking about, Penelo?!"
"Well, sometimes it's hard to tell with you, you know that! And in any case, I'd have to say... absolutely nothing."
"...Absolutely nothing? ...Uh, since when are you ever this nice?"
"I'm a perfectly kind person, Vaan! If I wasn't, I wouldn't have hauled you ass-forward out of so many tight spots in the past."
"Ass-forw... can we not use words like that now?!"
"Geeze, are you going to be sensitive about that part of your body forever now?"
"Hey, hey, hey-- it's not like I don't have reason to be!"
"Hee. Heee. Heeeee! Hee hee hee hee heeee!”
“Oh, like nobody's ever made a pass at your rear either. And if you’re done now…”
“Yup, done now! And look at it this way, Vaan. It probably would have gotten a lot worse if I hadn‘t been there to protect your precious maiden virtue..."
"Don't ever call it that again! And how? It's bad enough that it's freaking freezing up north and we‘ve seen absolutely nothing of that bounty we trekked all the way here to get. Sometimes, I think Larsa likes telling us about these “hunts“ up in Archadia just to screw with our minds. And it’s always cold and everything’s too expensive and now I’m find that these freaky ass dudes keep commenting on my clothes and--"
"Well, you already knew Archadians get a bit tetchy when they see Dalmascan gear!"
"Yeah, considering what their emperor tends to get up whenever you're around with your little pink and grey outfit, I'm not surprised."
"Oh shut up! It's not my fault he fainted of a nose-bleed the last time I came around. Larsa's just a little, um, sensitive. And in any case, it's not like he goes around grabbing my butt!"
"Bet you a tenner he wants to, the little perve. And... and I thought you said you'd never talk about this again!"
"No, Vaan, I just agreed to never tell other people about it. I never said I wasn't going to tease the hell out of you when they're not around."
"...You didn't say that in so many words."
"Not my fault you don't pay attention to subtext. Now c'mon, rent-boy, we've still got some high class Archadians to scheme money out of. I'll be damned if we spend that much freaking time getting sandalwood whatchamacallits without getting something out of it."
"They’re called chops. Stupid chops. Stupid, stupid Archadians and their stupid, stupid chops."
"Yeah, I know, I'm not that fond of most of them either, boy emperor not included. But don't worry-- if they want to get a piece of your cute booty again, they'll have to get through me first. I'm supposed to be your pimping daddy after all, right?"
"...I hate you so much, Penelo. I just thought you should know. I hate you so very, very much."
"Right back atcha, partner. Right back."
Anyway, the next set of mixed FFXII drabbles is ready for public unveiling. I just have... 4 more sets... to go... ::sob::
Title: Seven Different Spaces
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Characters/Pairings: Reks, Penelo, Basch, Fran, Vossler, Balthier, Larsa, Noah, Ashe, very vague Larsa/Penelo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: All the stories of Ivalice ought to be told. Even the stranger, more unbelievable ones.
I. Reks/Penelo, I'm Ready, for mithrigil
Her lips were soft like cherries, sweet like cherries, and even the taste of tears that he could discern from them didn't seem to cool her ardor. "I'm ready," she insisted. "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready..." And it did not matter if he whispered that she needn't do this if she had not the courage, if she wished to slink off from his bed as though none of this had ever occurred. She was with him and she was warm and willing, a living talisman to Dalmasca his treacherous hands could not quite hold onto even now.
"I'm ready," she whispered, and her night-gown pooled underneath her thin young frame in a way that made him want her more than anything, that made him hate himself just a little more each time. "I'm more than ready"-- and out of all who languished in that balmy night before the last battle began, Reks knew that she was perhaps the bravest of them all.
---
II. Basch: Brotherhood, for artemischan
"My brother is all I have left, sir," the boy soldier before Basch begins, and something in him twists. Undaunted, or perhaps simply oblivious, the child barely old enough to fight continues. "He’s two years younger then I. Living in Rabanastre..."
And Basch promises himself that it's not envy that makes him press the sword back into those half-grown hands and send him to the slaughter.
---
III. Fran & Penelo, Magic, for kilraaj
"Thank you," the girl said afterwards, "for believing in me."
Her smile, though always bright, often had a curiously brittle quality Fran did not quite like. "I wouldn't," the viera quietly replied, "if there wasn't something to believe in from the first."
And now Fran had the quiet pleasure of seeing that smile of Penelo‘s, that soft, slightly anxious smile, be replaced by a firmer, wider one. "You really think so?"
Cocking her head to the side, Fran allowed herself a rare smile. “I very much doubt that we would have made it out of that area safely without your magic. After all, who else would have realized the proper way to put out the fire spell that Vaan’s esper inadvertently left upon his head when dismissed?”
In all of Ivalice, there were many who said that there was nothing quite as thrilling as a proper Viera‘s gaze; now, Fran could add that there was nothing quite as charming as hume girl's laugh.
---
IV. Vossler and Balthier: I Don't Like You Either, for sheffiesharpe
"Do not," Fran told her partner in the aftermath, "even attempt to blame me for the predicament. Did you really believe that everything your mother told you was false?"
Even past the vague sneer his face had contorted into after a few hours of attempting to out-quip the apparently indefatigable Vossler, Balthier managed a grin. Sighing, Fran decided not to tell him it made him look like a bull-dog with rictus. "Well, I couldn't let someone with so huge a great-sword rammed up his rear get the better of me, Fran! What sort of leading man could I call myself then?"
---
V. Ashe and Penelo and Fran: Girl Talk, for sheffiesharpe
"I say we impale him," Ashe whispered, the fire light hitting her face at an angle that made her look truly demonic. "My father always used to say that there was nothing better than a good impaling to teach a subject a lesson."
Ever the voice of reason, Fran stepped in to moderate. "No," she said thoughtfully, “that would probably leave him less than capable of fighting with us in the future-- and regardless of how often he attempts to "raid our panties," we do need his help. Perhaps we could simply maim him every few days and heal his limbs as we need them."
As perhaps his sole advocate and best friend in all the world, Vaan fearfully looked to Penelo-- good o' Penelo! cheerful and kind Penelo! the bright, bouncy Penelo that everyone in their party liked!-- to speak up for him. And true to form, she stepped forward with a smile. Relaxing a little behind his gag and restraints, Vaan stopped to hear what he had to say.
"Well, it was just a panty-raid, Ashe, Fran. I mean, I don't think permanent damage is the way to get a good revenge, even if Vaan is a total idiot sometimes. In fact..."
Then her face turned terrifyingly... thoughtful. "In fact, I think maybe an even better way of getting back is to make him try on every single panty he tried to steal-- in front of us all. Don't you think that'll be a dish best served cold?"
And as all three avenging harpies turned on him as one, Vaan reflected that maybe the impaling would have served as a far kinder end.
---
VI. Gabranth and Larsa: Daydreams, for sheffiesharpe
"Tell me," the boy before him whispers faintly, "of what it is that you see when you close your eyes and give me that smile and look so far away--"
But even if Noah had permission, he had not any hope of gaining adequate words, of saying what needed to be said, of sounding out in mere human letters all that had been left in rust and stardust beyond him. So in the end, he simply held his silence and the child before him lifted his hand to his greaves and wondered what passions moved beneath the carapace and what was held within.
---
VII. Vaan and Penelo: If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It!, for amos_hunter
"...So tell me, exactly how much dough am I going to bribe you with to get you to keep your trap shut?"
"About this, you mean?"
"Oh, let me thin-- what else could I be talking about, Penelo?!"
"Well, sometimes it's hard to tell with you, you know that! And in any case, I'd have to say... absolutely nothing."
"...Absolutely nothing? ...Uh, since when are you ever this nice?"
"I'm a perfectly kind person, Vaan! If I wasn't, I wouldn't have hauled you ass-forward out of so many tight spots in the past."
"Ass-forw... can we not use words like that now?!"
"Geeze, are you going to be sensitive about that part of your body forever now?"
"Hey, hey, hey-- it's not like I don't have reason to be!"
"Hee. Heee. Heeeee! Hee hee hee hee heeee!”
“Oh, like nobody's ever made a pass at your rear either. And if you’re done now…”
“Yup, done now! And look at it this way, Vaan. It probably would have gotten a lot worse if I hadn‘t been there to protect your precious maiden virtue..."
"Don't ever call it that again! And how? It's bad enough that it's freaking freezing up north and we‘ve seen absolutely nothing of that bounty we trekked all the way here to get. Sometimes, I think Larsa likes telling us about these “hunts“ up in Archadia just to screw with our minds. And it’s always cold and everything’s too expensive and now I’m find that these freaky ass dudes keep commenting on my clothes and--"
"Well, you already knew Archadians get a bit tetchy when they see Dalmascan gear!"
"Yeah, considering what their emperor tends to get up whenever you're around with your little pink and grey outfit, I'm not surprised."
"Oh shut up! It's not my fault he fainted of a nose-bleed the last time I came around. Larsa's just a little, um, sensitive. And in any case, it's not like he goes around grabbing my butt!"
"Bet you a tenner he wants to, the little perve. And... and I thought you said you'd never talk about this again!"
"No, Vaan, I just agreed to never tell other people about it. I never said I wasn't going to tease the hell out of you when they're not around."
"...You didn't say that in so many words."
"Not my fault you don't pay attention to subtext. Now c'mon, rent-boy, we've still got some high class Archadians to scheme money out of. I'll be damned if we spend that much freaking time getting sandalwood whatchamacallits without getting something out of it."
"They’re called chops. Stupid chops. Stupid, stupid Archadians and their stupid, stupid chops."
"Yeah, I know, I'm not that fond of most of them either, boy emperor not included. But don't worry-- if they want to get a piece of your cute booty again, they'll have to get through me first. I'm supposed to be your pimping daddy after all, right?"
"...I hate you so much, Penelo. I just thought you should know. I hate you so very, very much."
"Right back atcha, partner. Right back."