Silly Boys, Daydreams, and Pictures in the Sky [Penelo, Fran]
Canon Status: In-game, Tchita Uplands.
Genre: General, Fluff.
Rating: PG.
Characters: Penelo, Fran, and the gang.
Pairing: Balthier/Vaan pre-relationship.
Warnings: Implied preslashiness. Possible spoilers.
Notes: Written for mariagoner.
Summary: Penelo likes sharing a watch with Fran, because then she can just be Penelo. Also, there is nothing funny at all about Vaan's way of dealing with his nightmares. Really.
In the cool Tchita night the sky was pure deep blue, like the cloak Penelo's mother had once had, embroidered with small white stars. She leaned against a rock, watching the sky with half her mind while the other half checked for monsters like the wandering Serpent that had woken her from a sound sleep during Vaan's and Basch's watch the night before.
She hadn't thought about it for months, years maybe, but the sky was exactly the same shade as her mother's cloak. It had been a wedding present, the only way a shopkeeper's wife could have afforded something so fine. When she was little, Penelo had been taught to pick out the constellations from that cloak, each one with its own story: Karras the Wolf, the Crown of Nepany, Gryphon, and so many more. She missed that cloak. She hadn't been able to save it from the fire that had destroyed her parents' shop the night they had been arrested. It would have been a nice thing to have.
Penelo was tired after the long day, but she liked having the first watch, when traces of the sunset were still in the sky. Besides, otherwise Basch tended to "forget" to wake her and do her watch himself, and Balthier, when he was sharing watch with Basch, never stopped him, because for all his insistence otherwise, Balthier had a chivalry complex almost as bad as Basch's. That sort of thing was all right if you were a heroine in a five-gil novel, the kind who screamed and swooned a lot, but in real life, when you had perfectly good legs, arms, and brain of your own, it got annoying really, really fast.
On the plus side, Basch could usually be distracted by Ashe, who actually liked having him at her beck and call for some reason Penelo couldn't fathom (okay, she could, but she didn't want to think about it too much, lest the mental images burn her eyes out), and Balthier would leave her alone the minute Vaan demanded information about the terrain, airships, pirates, weapons, or all of the above at once.
So she liked the first watch best, especially when she was sharing it with Fran, who didn't fuss like Basch or flirt like Balthier or talk all the time like Vaan or sit there like being awake was an affront to her royal dignity like Ashe. Fran was just there, sometimes talking but mostly not, letting Penelo be Penelo (not Civilian or Fair Maiden or Big Sister or Commoner).
This particular evening was a rare one, because Fran decided to break the silence.
"What is it that you see in the sky?"
It could have been almost an insult, or a reminder to pay attention to the surroundings on the ground, but it wasn't. Penelo felt embarrassed anyway. "I was just looking--my mother showed me the constellations when I was little." "My mother," she always said now, because "Mama" hurt too much.
Fran said nothing for a little while, and Penelo wondered what she was thinking. Then the viera said, "In the Wood, the trees are thick and hide the sky. Only from the topmost branches can the stars be seen. Yet I was taught, as my sisters were taught, the name of each."
To this Penelo had nothing to say.
The others were sleeping quietly. Basch was so still in deep slumber that he might have been stone, but Penelo knew that he could wake in an instant if necessary. Ashe twitched in her sleep, hand clenching and unclenching. Maybe, Penelo thought, she was dreaming of battle. Vaan snored gently, which would undoubtedly be annoying in an hour or so but for the moment was only peaceful. Balthier seemed to be having a conversation with himself, which was apparently decided when he rolled closer to Vaan and subsided into silence. They all looked strange, lying so still, especially Balthier.
Penelo giggled. Asleep, Balthier's constant "I am the best thing since skystone, as you can clearly see, and I am absolutely in control of everything, no matter what" image slipped off to one side. He didn't look much older than Vaan, actually, and maybe he wasn't. It was hard to tell, what with his worldly-wise attitude and Vaan's…well, Vaan-ness.
As she watched, Vaan started flailing about in the grip of some nightmare. She wanted to comfort him, the way she had in the weeks and months after everything fell apart, when Vaan had woken more often than not reaching for his brother or his parents. But that was far enough behind now that Vaan would never forgive her for interfering. Besides, his grasping hand found Balthier's, and he clutched it close, like the stuffed wolf only Penelo knew he still had. After that he stopped moving and smiled in his sleep. Balthier didn't even stir. Penelo wondered what would happen if they woke up still in that position.
"See the infamous sky pirates!" she murmured to Fran, trying not to laugh. "Well, one infamous sky pirate and one would-be infamous sky pirate, anyway. The terror of the skies, and all that."
The corner's of Fran's mouth twitched upward, which Penelo counted as a victory in her private campaign to Make Fran Relax Occasionally. So far, she was meeting with mixed results. "One is inclined to wonder how they would fare as a team."
"I bet they'd never get anything actually stolen, because they'd get lost and never admit it." Penelo occasionally wondered whether all men had problems with the idea of checking their maps on a regular basis. Vaan had been fully willing to wander around the Salikawood for hours before she had wrestled him to the ground and taken his map.
"That may well be so. Certainly I would not offer great odds on their lives without anyone to prevent them from rushing into difficult situations without sufficient thought."
"Does Balthier do that?"
"He is more subtle about it than Vaan, but indeed he does. Or had you not considered why we found ourselves robbing the Dalmascan treasury?"
Now that she thought about it, that was just as dumb when Balthier did it as when Vaan did. Penelo sighed, smiling down at her best friend. "What would they do without us?"
Fran shook her head. "For the sake of all Ivalice, let us hope that they are never in a position to find out."
As if he had heard this, Vaan snuffled in his sleep and tugged on Balthier's arm again, which caused the sky pirate to crack one eye open and make an inquisitive sound. When he saw it was only Vaan, he drifted off again. He did not make any effort to retrieve his hand.
As long as she didn't look at Fran's raised eyebrow and amused half-smile, Penelo could prevent herself from laughing. Barely. She had to watch the perimeter of the camp for encroaching monsters! Yes! She had to watch the perimeter very carefully! Those monsters could be cunning, so she should concentrate on watching. And there was nothing funny at all about anything.
When they woke Balthier and Vaan for the next watch, Vaan never seemed to get around to letting go of Balthier's hand, although from his expression, Penelo wasn't sure he'd even noticed. Penelo made the bad mistake of meeting Fran's gaze.
It took fifteen minutes for her stifled laughter to subside enough for her to fall asleep
Genre: General, Fluff.
Rating: PG.
Characters: Penelo, Fran, and the gang.
Pairing: Balthier/Vaan pre-relationship.
Warnings: Implied preslashiness. Possible spoilers.
Notes: Written for mariagoner.
Summary: Penelo likes sharing a watch with Fran, because then she can just be Penelo. Also, there is nothing funny at all about Vaan's way of dealing with his nightmares. Really.
In the cool Tchita night the sky was pure deep blue, like the cloak Penelo's mother had once had, embroidered with small white stars. She leaned against a rock, watching the sky with half her mind while the other half checked for monsters like the wandering Serpent that had woken her from a sound sleep during Vaan's and Basch's watch the night before.
She hadn't thought about it for months, years maybe, but the sky was exactly the same shade as her mother's cloak. It had been a wedding present, the only way a shopkeeper's wife could have afforded something so fine. When she was little, Penelo had been taught to pick out the constellations from that cloak, each one with its own story: Karras the Wolf, the Crown of Nepany, Gryphon, and so many more. She missed that cloak. She hadn't been able to save it from the fire that had destroyed her parents' shop the night they had been arrested. It would have been a nice thing to have.
Penelo was tired after the long day, but she liked having the first watch, when traces of the sunset were still in the sky. Besides, otherwise Basch tended to "forget" to wake her and do her watch himself, and Balthier, when he was sharing watch with Basch, never stopped him, because for all his insistence otherwise, Balthier had a chivalry complex almost as bad as Basch's. That sort of thing was all right if you were a heroine in a five-gil novel, the kind who screamed and swooned a lot, but in real life, when you had perfectly good legs, arms, and brain of your own, it got annoying really, really fast.
On the plus side, Basch could usually be distracted by Ashe, who actually liked having him at her beck and call for some reason Penelo couldn't fathom (okay, she could, but she didn't want to think about it too much, lest the mental images burn her eyes out), and Balthier would leave her alone the minute Vaan demanded information about the terrain, airships, pirates, weapons, or all of the above at once.
So she liked the first watch best, especially when she was sharing it with Fran, who didn't fuss like Basch or flirt like Balthier or talk all the time like Vaan or sit there like being awake was an affront to her royal dignity like Ashe. Fran was just there, sometimes talking but mostly not, letting Penelo be Penelo (not Civilian or Fair Maiden or Big Sister or Commoner).
This particular evening was a rare one, because Fran decided to break the silence.
"What is it that you see in the sky?"
It could have been almost an insult, or a reminder to pay attention to the surroundings on the ground, but it wasn't. Penelo felt embarrassed anyway. "I was just looking--my mother showed me the constellations when I was little." "My mother," she always said now, because "Mama" hurt too much.
Fran said nothing for a little while, and Penelo wondered what she was thinking. Then the viera said, "In the Wood, the trees are thick and hide the sky. Only from the topmost branches can the stars be seen. Yet I was taught, as my sisters were taught, the name of each."
To this Penelo had nothing to say.
The others were sleeping quietly. Basch was so still in deep slumber that he might have been stone, but Penelo knew that he could wake in an instant if necessary. Ashe twitched in her sleep, hand clenching and unclenching. Maybe, Penelo thought, she was dreaming of battle. Vaan snored gently, which would undoubtedly be annoying in an hour or so but for the moment was only peaceful. Balthier seemed to be having a conversation with himself, which was apparently decided when he rolled closer to Vaan and subsided into silence. They all looked strange, lying so still, especially Balthier.
Penelo giggled. Asleep, Balthier's constant "I am the best thing since skystone, as you can clearly see, and I am absolutely in control of everything, no matter what" image slipped off to one side. He didn't look much older than Vaan, actually, and maybe he wasn't. It was hard to tell, what with his worldly-wise attitude and Vaan's…well, Vaan-ness.
As she watched, Vaan started flailing about in the grip of some nightmare. She wanted to comfort him, the way she had in the weeks and months after everything fell apart, when Vaan had woken more often than not reaching for his brother or his parents. But that was far enough behind now that Vaan would never forgive her for interfering. Besides, his grasping hand found Balthier's, and he clutched it close, like the stuffed wolf only Penelo knew he still had. After that he stopped moving and smiled in his sleep. Balthier didn't even stir. Penelo wondered what would happen if they woke up still in that position.
"See the infamous sky pirates!" she murmured to Fran, trying not to laugh. "Well, one infamous sky pirate and one would-be infamous sky pirate, anyway. The terror of the skies, and all that."
The corner's of Fran's mouth twitched upward, which Penelo counted as a victory in her private campaign to Make Fran Relax Occasionally. So far, she was meeting with mixed results. "One is inclined to wonder how they would fare as a team."
"I bet they'd never get anything actually stolen, because they'd get lost and never admit it." Penelo occasionally wondered whether all men had problems with the idea of checking their maps on a regular basis. Vaan had been fully willing to wander around the Salikawood for hours before she had wrestled him to the ground and taken his map.
"That may well be so. Certainly I would not offer great odds on their lives without anyone to prevent them from rushing into difficult situations without sufficient thought."
"Does Balthier do that?"
"He is more subtle about it than Vaan, but indeed he does. Or had you not considered why we found ourselves robbing the Dalmascan treasury?"
Now that she thought about it, that was just as dumb when Balthier did it as when Vaan did. Penelo sighed, smiling down at her best friend. "What would they do without us?"
Fran shook her head. "For the sake of all Ivalice, let us hope that they are never in a position to find out."
As if he had heard this, Vaan snuffled in his sleep and tugged on Balthier's arm again, which caused the sky pirate to crack one eye open and make an inquisitive sound. When he saw it was only Vaan, he drifted off again. He did not make any effort to retrieve his hand.
As long as she didn't look at Fran's raised eyebrow and amused half-smile, Penelo could prevent herself from laughing. Barely. She had to watch the perimeter of the camp for encroaching monsters! Yes! She had to watch the perimeter very carefully! Those monsters could be cunning, so she should concentrate on watching. And there was nothing funny at all about anything.
When they woke Balthier and Vaan for the next watch, Vaan never seemed to get around to letting go of Balthier's hand, although from his expression, Penelo wasn't sure he'd even noticed. Penelo made the bad mistake of meeting Fran's gaze.
It took fifteen minutes for her stifled laughter to subside enough for her to fall asleep