Where's My Music? Final Fantasy XII, Penelo/Vaan
Title: Where's My Music? Author: amphigories Rating: PG Warnings: None Word count: ~850 Summary: There's not a lot of space on an airship. Prompt: Lapdance - or am I just much too much for you? A/N: Takes place post-original game. Penelo also borrows a line from Patty Griffin's Hush Now (Stella's Tarantella).
"I think I want to dance again," Penelo announces as she enters the hangar.
"What?" yells Vaan from inside his airship. He doesn't bother to get up. There's a slow drip somewhere in the engine, and he knows he'd better rein it in before it becomes a disaster.
"I want to dance again," she says again climbing up into the airship. "What are you doing on the floor?"
He tries to explain about the dripping noise, but he can hear Penelo giggling at him. Vaan figures he must look weird on his back with his legs sticking out from under part of the engine.
"Hey, why'd you want to go back dancing anyway?" He can sort of see her stepping around him to peer under the engine. "We're sky pirates now."
"Just because you outgrew slaying sewer rats, doesn't mean I don't still like dancing."
Vaan grunts.
"Pick up your feet, little lazy boy," she says, with a playful kick at his ankles. "Come dance with your little girl."
"Hey!" he says, not looking up. "Who's the lazy one? I'm working here, and even if I wasn't, dance? Are you crazy?"
Penelo makes a huffy little noise, and Vaan can just imagine her making a huffy little face to go with it.
He can hear her moving around, and turns his attention back to the engine.
"Aw, Penelo," Vaan complains as she starts humming very off key. "You're killing me."
"Good," she says before starting up again, the sound of her feet keeping time to her awful humming.
It's an old Dalmascan song, one Vaan doesn't really know the words to, but he can hum it well enough, unlike Penelo who can't carry a tune in a bucket. So he hums extra loud to drown her out, slowing down a little to match the irritating drip, drip, drip of that damn leak.
From his prone position, he can just see her feet. They look happy, he thinks, if feet can look happy, prancing around the small confines of the airship. Vaan smiles and goes back to fiddling with the mechanics again, still humming.
But Penelo is having none of it, apparently, nudging and tapping his legs with her feet as she passes.
So Vaan wiggles out from under the engine and sits up to complain, and finds himself staring up at Penelo standing over him.
She smiles down at him, and touches his face as she spins away.
"Keep humming," she says with an eager smile.
Vaan chuckles. He figures he'll humor her and starts the song again. But somehow the dance is different, slower, less prancing. Or maybe he can't tell, now that he can see more than her feet.
But after a while, Vaan realizes he's not looking at her feet.
Because this dance is different. There's not much room in the airship, definitely not enough for dancing. And...
And she is very close, her body twisting, stretching, reaching upward before dipping low all in time to her feet stepping skillfully over and between his outstretched legs. There's a joyful ease in her movements, as if her body is slipping back into its natural rhythm.
He's seen her move before. Attacking enemies (sometimes attacking him), swinging a sword or spear, lightning exploding off her small hands. All in all, she's become a mean little fighter.
But this is different. Vaan is acutely aware now of her soft curves and warm skin, the smooth lines of her body from fingertip to rocking hip, so very close.
And still. There's something of that mean little fighter there too, in the taut muscles of her arms, the restless energy in her legs, the intensity of her gaze. The sweet smile on her lips belies the challenge in her eyes, the proud toss of her head.
Vaan's voice falters, and Penelo moving, always moving, seems to wrap the air around her like a veil, making the space in the airship contract, drawing her closer, always closer to him. He could reach out and touch her, he wants to touch her, but he's frozen in place.
There is no sound now, except the tap tap tap of the leak in the engine. As it slows, Penelo's steps slow. As it stops, Penelo stops.
Vaan swallows hard, although is mouth is dry. "Are all your dances like this?" he asks, staring up at her.
She leans in close, her cheek almost touching his. "No," she whispers in his ear.
Before he can even figure out what that means, Penelo sinks down onto his lap, her knees bumping the floor on either side of him. It's definitely awkward, but not at all uncomfortable. She's very warm now, and a little breathless, and Vaan finds himself unable to breathe as well.
"Hey," she teases, her smiling face as flushed as his feels. "Where's my music?"
Vaan chokes a little trying to find his voice. "I--I can't--" he whispers, finally.
"Well then," she replies, her fingers light on his chest as she pushes him down. "There must be something else you can do."