FFXII Fic: Bloom Upon the Bough Chapter 6: Tiny Dancers (Larsa/Penelo)
This is just a small, cute, fluffy bit of nothing for the even more adorable la_xhal, who wanted to see Penelo meeting-- and reacting!-- to hot!older!Larsa. I hope you rock your upcoming exams, hon! ♥ And in case anybody noticed, this was so inspired by this incredibly sexy piece of fan-art so much love also to the original artist whose site, alas, seems to have gone down since I first saw it.
Title: Tiny Dancers
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Series: Bloom Upon the Bough (Chapter 6)
Characters/Pairings: Larsa/Penelo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Puberty can sometimes hold the most interesting of surprises, as Penelo finds out...
When Penelo first met the present day Emperor of the Archadia, he had been perhaps the sweetest little boy she had ever laid her eyes on.
Back then, of course, he had not been the grand and exalted Emperor of Archadia, ruler of everything he could survey from outside of his palace balcony. Back then he had merely been Larsa Ferrinas Solidor, occasionally also called Lamont, a twelve year old boy who had apparently had a yen for running about the countryside in green tights and cherry red heels, rescuing any imperiled maidens he came across along the way. Even now, when she thought of him, the very image of his bright green booties could make her smile no matter what she was doing.
The last time Penelo had met Larsa, he had been as sweet as ever, albeit not quite as tiny as during the first time she had laid eyes upon him. They had danced at Queen Ashelia’s coronation, his hands fumbling around her hips as he had tried to move his awkward adolescent limbs into some semblance of order, and she had put his arms around his flushed neck and kissed his thirteen year old forehead and ordered him to write to her no matter what situations might crop up while he was ruling his country. She had used her bossiest voice, the one that could make even Vaan stand up and pay attention when he goofed around with Migelo’s merchandise, and Larsa had blushed pink in a way he would never have never done a year earlier and promised her plenty of letters, come hell or high water or the fall of important territory.
But this time when Penelo met Larsa, he wasn't simply a boy who was slowly adjusting to his place in the world-- he was fully and truly the person he had been born to be now. As the Emperor of one of the grandest kingdoms of all of Ivalice, he was a true man of the world now-- one who seemed perfectly in control of all that his station required from him, from what she could see. It was… actually kind of surprising considering how tiny and how delicate he had been the last time they had met each other in the flesh.
And he hadn't exactly stopped growing since the last time she had seem him either.
The first thing that Penelo noticed about Larsa, Emperor of the Archadian empire, when she met him again for the first time in years, was how, enshrined within the base of his powers in Archades, he seemed so calm and at ease. Most of the royalty Penelo had seen in her life, Dalmasca's own Queen Ashe not excepted, often went around looking as though they had stray bits of cutlery shoved up various orifices as a sign of good breeding. Thankfully, even half a decade as serving as an emperor hadn't turned Larsa into a self-important fop. When he stood up to greet her, he wore effortless and well-tailored clothes that somehow both suited his station yet had a pleasing simplicity that kept him looking as much of a strutting peacock as most others of his court. And when he walked rose and began to walk towards her, Penelo, began to notice… other things.
The second thing that Penelo noticed about Larsa was that he was now taller than her. When they had first met, the boy that Penelo had come to love as a dear friend had barely come up to her chin. Now, the boy-- the man-- that Penelo still loved (as a friend!) had almost a full head on her. Apparently, age tended to add to a man's stature. Penelo found this perhaps more baffling than the circumstances warranted.
And the last thing that Penelo noticed about Larsa was that, from a strictly aesthetic point of view, he had grown up to be rather... well. Once a charming young boy with delicate, elfin, very nearly girlish features, he had grown into a man who had the sort of face and figure that did not so much match the current standards as ridicule them as being entirely too narrow. Penelo had known men who had far more symmetry to their features than Larsa would ever have… but the aura of power and sheer dignity he held far eclipsed anything she had previously seen.
She'd give the previous Emperor of Archadia this much. Gramis might have been a bastard who had ruled the Archadian empire with an iron fist and sired at least one complete lunatic... but his sons sure did have a tendency to grow up nicely. It had been noticeable enough in Vayne's case... but it was almost ridiculously apparent here.
Apropos of nothing, Penelo suddenly wondered if her hair still looked nice after the long and bumpy ride to the capital of her old friend’s empire. And then, aware that she might have been gaping at said long-time friend with something less than completely dignity since the minute she had stepped into his private office for a visit, Penelo managed a smile. "It’s been a long time since we last met each other, Larsa! How have all the years been treating you?" Then, a rather ridiculous notion struck her mind and made her lips curve up even more. “Or should I call you His Majesty now, as Uncle Basch said would ‘befit your station‘?”
With a soft laugh, eyes fixed on her face, Larsa answered. "Yes, quite well, given all the strange circumstances that have passed me by and no, absolutely not, no matter what Judge Gabranth might say. You might even consider the last an imperial order from said Majesty, if that is what it takes.”
She just grinned at him in return, fighting down the distinct feeling of something fluttering in her body. “Would it matter if you did? I don’t think you’re the boss of me-- I’m a lady sky pirate now and the only directions we take are from the skies unceasing!”
It was probably just the lighting that made it look as though a soft flush was chasing itself all over Larsa‘s gentle face. Damn that… unreliable… natural lighting…“Ah, is that right? I should not have held any doubts about that from the first, really. I know you, above all others of my acquaintance, would not bow down to chase my every whim to reality.”
For a minute, Penelo seriously had to consider the possibility that this entire meeting with her friend might just be some sort of fever hallucination bought on by trying to drink Vaan under the table again to get first dibs at pirated treasure. Surely the real Larsa Ferrinas Solidor would never have actually winked at her.
“Well,” she said, faintly. She had outgrown her need to constantly stifle her surprise with her hands over her mouth over the past couple of years but she really, really wanted to do that just now. “That’s… that’s good to know. And really… really, you know that we‘ve still got a lot of catching up do after so many years! So when are you going to start giving me the grand tour to everything?”
"Soon," Larsa promised her, smiling, even as he took a few more steps towards her until he was merely the length of an arm away. "Very soon. There will be time enough in the world for us to do that later. But first, I hope you don't mind if I inconvenienced you with one more act, now that I've been graced with your presence again."
And with hardly a pause to give him away, Larsa laced one of his hands against Penelo's free fingers, curved another against her hip and pulled her into a kiss that dropped the bottom out of her reality.
Penelo had done her fair share of kissing before, of course, but she had never thought she’d find herself smooching an Emperor of any sort. And even more, she had never thought the kiss of a boy-- a man-- she had known for so long could feel so-- astonishing. Taken aback, Penelo could only flail about helplessly for the first few moments, only to calm down as she felt his hand lightly curve about the crest of her hip. Larsa's mouth was warm upon hers, his lips gentle and his tongue exploratory, and the hand entwined in hers trembled a little as he curved his fingers against her palm as he kissed and kissed and kissed her as though this moment meant everything.
And when he pulled back, Penelo could see the wide, almost mischievous smile across his face, the sort of smile she hadn't seen him give since he stopped wearing ruffled silk jabots and knee high pants in public. "I've been wanting to do that since I was twelve years old, Penelo. I'm sorry if I startled you but I used to picture this in my drea-- and in any case, I wanted to try it at least once in the world of waking reality."
Eyes wide and mouth still trembling, Penelo could only stare at him in amazement. "So... all these years... and that's why... you asked me here... and..."
Looking a little rueful, Larsa touched one hand to a rapidly reddening cheek. "I hope you didn't mind that. I don't mean to be forward but, Penelo, I really have wanted to . I thought… well, I suppose I thought it just the act to inagurate me into adulthood. So I-- I can understand if you‘re upset. But... But I didn‘t do this embarrass you. Not at all. It was… the farthest thing from my mind right here…"
And he was speaking the truth, surely, if the way he was looking at her now meant anything. Because Penelo had never particularly been a genius of any sort but she had always been good at reading people. And right now, the look in his eyes and the trembling of his lips and the blush across his face told her quite clearly that…
Finally, shaking off her stupor, she managed one more coherent question. "And if you've waited that long... was it really as good as you dreamed it would be?"
Eyes widening in hope, Larsa merely gazed at her in wonder for a moment. And then--
"I might need another try to be certain," he told her regally, seconds before he pulled her in for another kiss-- one that Penelo was happy to be able to reciprocate fully.
Title: Tiny Dancers
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Series: Bloom Upon the Bough (Chapter 6)
Characters/Pairings: Larsa/Penelo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Puberty can sometimes hold the most interesting of surprises, as Penelo finds out...
When Penelo first met the present day Emperor of the Archadia, he had been perhaps the sweetest little boy she had ever laid her eyes on.
Back then, of course, he had not been the grand and exalted Emperor of Archadia, ruler of everything he could survey from outside of his palace balcony. Back then he had merely been Larsa Ferrinas Solidor, occasionally also called Lamont, a twelve year old boy who had apparently had a yen for running about the countryside in green tights and cherry red heels, rescuing any imperiled maidens he came across along the way. Even now, when she thought of him, the very image of his bright green booties could make her smile no matter what she was doing.
The last time Penelo had met Larsa, he had been as sweet as ever, albeit not quite as tiny as during the first time she had laid eyes upon him. They had danced at Queen Ashelia’s coronation, his hands fumbling around her hips as he had tried to move his awkward adolescent limbs into some semblance of order, and she had put his arms around his flushed neck and kissed his thirteen year old forehead and ordered him to write to her no matter what situations might crop up while he was ruling his country. She had used her bossiest voice, the one that could make even Vaan stand up and pay attention when he goofed around with Migelo’s merchandise, and Larsa had blushed pink in a way he would never have never done a year earlier and promised her plenty of letters, come hell or high water or the fall of important territory.
But this time when Penelo met Larsa, he wasn't simply a boy who was slowly adjusting to his place in the world-- he was fully and truly the person he had been born to be now. As the Emperor of one of the grandest kingdoms of all of Ivalice, he was a true man of the world now-- one who seemed perfectly in control of all that his station required from him, from what she could see. It was… actually kind of surprising considering how tiny and how delicate he had been the last time they had met each other in the flesh.
And he hadn't exactly stopped growing since the last time she had seem him either.
The first thing that Penelo noticed about Larsa, Emperor of the Archadian empire, when she met him again for the first time in years, was how, enshrined within the base of his powers in Archades, he seemed so calm and at ease. Most of the royalty Penelo had seen in her life, Dalmasca's own Queen Ashe not excepted, often went around looking as though they had stray bits of cutlery shoved up various orifices as a sign of good breeding. Thankfully, even half a decade as serving as an emperor hadn't turned Larsa into a self-important fop. When he stood up to greet her, he wore effortless and well-tailored clothes that somehow both suited his station yet had a pleasing simplicity that kept him looking as much of a strutting peacock as most others of his court. And when he walked rose and began to walk towards her, Penelo, began to notice… other things.
The second thing that Penelo noticed about Larsa was that he was now taller than her. When they had first met, the boy that Penelo had come to love as a dear friend had barely come up to her chin. Now, the boy-- the man-- that Penelo still loved (as a friend!) had almost a full head on her. Apparently, age tended to add to a man's stature. Penelo found this perhaps more baffling than the circumstances warranted.
And the last thing that Penelo noticed about Larsa was that, from a strictly aesthetic point of view, he had grown up to be rather... well. Once a charming young boy with delicate, elfin, very nearly girlish features, he had grown into a man who had the sort of face and figure that did not so much match the current standards as ridicule them as being entirely too narrow. Penelo had known men who had far more symmetry to their features than Larsa would ever have… but the aura of power and sheer dignity he held far eclipsed anything she had previously seen.
She'd give the previous Emperor of Archadia this much. Gramis might have been a bastard who had ruled the Archadian empire with an iron fist and sired at least one complete lunatic... but his sons sure did have a tendency to grow up nicely. It had been noticeable enough in Vayne's case... but it was almost ridiculously apparent here.
Apropos of nothing, Penelo suddenly wondered if her hair still looked nice after the long and bumpy ride to the capital of her old friend’s empire. And then, aware that she might have been gaping at said long-time friend with something less than completely dignity since the minute she had stepped into his private office for a visit, Penelo managed a smile. "It’s been a long time since we last met each other, Larsa! How have all the years been treating you?" Then, a rather ridiculous notion struck her mind and made her lips curve up even more. “Or should I call you His Majesty now, as Uncle Basch said would ‘befit your station‘?”
With a soft laugh, eyes fixed on her face, Larsa answered. "Yes, quite well, given all the strange circumstances that have passed me by and no, absolutely not, no matter what Judge Gabranth might say. You might even consider the last an imperial order from said Majesty, if that is what it takes.”
She just grinned at him in return, fighting down the distinct feeling of something fluttering in her body. “Would it matter if you did? I don’t think you’re the boss of me-- I’m a lady sky pirate now and the only directions we take are from the skies unceasing!”
It was probably just the lighting that made it look as though a soft flush was chasing itself all over Larsa‘s gentle face. Damn that… unreliable… natural lighting…“Ah, is that right? I should not have held any doubts about that from the first, really. I know you, above all others of my acquaintance, would not bow down to chase my every whim to reality.”
For a minute, Penelo seriously had to consider the possibility that this entire meeting with her friend might just be some sort of fever hallucination bought on by trying to drink Vaan under the table again to get first dibs at pirated treasure. Surely the real Larsa Ferrinas Solidor would never have actually winked at her.
“Well,” she said, faintly. She had outgrown her need to constantly stifle her surprise with her hands over her mouth over the past couple of years but she really, really wanted to do that just now. “That’s… that’s good to know. And really… really, you know that we‘ve still got a lot of catching up do after so many years! So when are you going to start giving me the grand tour to everything?”
"Soon," Larsa promised her, smiling, even as he took a few more steps towards her until he was merely the length of an arm away. "Very soon. There will be time enough in the world for us to do that later. But first, I hope you don't mind if I inconvenienced you with one more act, now that I've been graced with your presence again."
And with hardly a pause to give him away, Larsa laced one of his hands against Penelo's free fingers, curved another against her hip and pulled her into a kiss that dropped the bottom out of her reality.
Penelo had done her fair share of kissing before, of course, but she had never thought she’d find herself smooching an Emperor of any sort. And even more, she had never thought the kiss of a boy-- a man-- she had known for so long could feel so-- astonishing. Taken aback, Penelo could only flail about helplessly for the first few moments, only to calm down as she felt his hand lightly curve about the crest of her hip. Larsa's mouth was warm upon hers, his lips gentle and his tongue exploratory, and the hand entwined in hers trembled a little as he curved his fingers against her palm as he kissed and kissed and kissed her as though this moment meant everything.
And when he pulled back, Penelo could see the wide, almost mischievous smile across his face, the sort of smile she hadn't seen him give since he stopped wearing ruffled silk jabots and knee high pants in public. "I've been wanting to do that since I was twelve years old, Penelo. I'm sorry if I startled you but I used to picture this in my drea-- and in any case, I wanted to try it at least once in the world of waking reality."
Eyes wide and mouth still trembling, Penelo could only stare at him in amazement. "So... all these years... and that's why... you asked me here... and..."
Looking a little rueful, Larsa touched one hand to a rapidly reddening cheek. "I hope you didn't mind that. I don't mean to be forward but, Penelo, I really have wanted to . I thought… well, I suppose I thought it just the act to inagurate me into adulthood. So I-- I can understand if you‘re upset. But... But I didn‘t do this embarrass you. Not at all. It was… the farthest thing from my mind right here…"
And he was speaking the truth, surely, if the way he was looking at her now meant anything. Because Penelo had never particularly been a genius of any sort but she had always been good at reading people. And right now, the look in his eyes and the trembling of his lips and the blush across his face told her quite clearly that…
Finally, shaking off her stupor, she managed one more coherent question. "And if you've waited that long... was it really as good as you dreamed it would be?"
Eyes widening in hope, Larsa merely gazed at her in wonder for a moment. And then--
"I might need another try to be certain," he told her regally, seconds before he pulled her in for another kiss-- one that Penelo was happy to be able to reciprocate fully.