"I think the best plan of attack..."
"No, we have to just run in head first..."
"That's not smart. We need stealth..."
"Stealth is boring..."
"I just want some loot..."
It was too loud all of a sudden, Penelo quickly excused herself as Vaan continued to bicker with Luso and Cid about the best course of action to take against their latest joint endeavor. Penelo was a patient woman, but sometimes even Vaan managed to get on her nerves. Her cabin was large, though simple as Penelo had long ago learned that material possessions didn't always survive the trial of life and time, something she'd tried to explain to Vaan so many times that she had given up talking to him as she got more responses from a Chocobo.
Bending for a second, she undid the ribbon that kept her boots on, then toed them off. She stretched out on her bed, thankful that she had gotten Vaan to put some of his plundered loot to good use. Of course, her bed was sometimes far too large just for one and Penelo oft thought about what it would be like to share it with someone. The thought made her blush as it always did, but it didn't stop her hand from trailing down to the hem of her pants, fiddling with the loose fabric as she thought it over. Licking her lips, she closed her eyes and gave into the thoughts in her head because they were a very pleasant reprieve from a day of Vaan's bickering and/or over-excitement about something.
She thought of no one in particular as she slid her hand beneath the flowy, light material, giggling softly at the private knowledge that she wore no panties beneath the navy fabric of her pants -- they were too confining during her dancing, to be honest. Dragging her hand past soft blonde curls, she spread her legs and arched her hips to give her fingers better access to herself. Sometimes, Penelo thought of Vaan while doing this, sometimes Balthier, but usually, Fran was the center of her fantasies. It was a far easier fantasy thanks to the viera's garb leaving little to the imagination and oozing sexuality with each sway of hips. When Penelo first found herself fantasizing about the older woman, she had felt strangely guilty, but as time went on, she became more comfortable with the idea -- especially since she had her best orgasms while doing so.
Finger swirled around her clit, before dragging against it to entice it to stiffness and drawing a pleasant hum from her lips. Fingers dived down then, spreading her lips open and finding the moisture there as she imagined Fran doing this to her. Penelo imagined dark, slender fingers finding passage inside of her as luscious lips nibbled at her throat and shoulders. A soft moan followed this thought and then another as her fingers pushed within her. Her body buckled and rocked as she fingered herself and just when she was right at the pinnacle of orgasmic bliss, someone knocked on her cabin door. Panicking for a moment, Penelo hoped that if she was quiet she would have time to finish but the knock was insistent and with a heavy groan, she withdrew her hand and hastily wiped it on a towel by the bed. If this was Vaan, there was going to be a murder aboard their ship.
"It's you," Penelo said, her eyes widening in surprise as she opened the door.
"Adelle," the silver-haired woman corrected.
Penelo flushed. She'd only met Adelle a few times during Vaan and her's encounters with Luso and his clan, but aside from a few pleasantries, they had never really spoken one and one. Damn be it that Adelle was highly attractive and the blonde's previous activities did nothing to help the shudder that ran through Penelo's body. Adelle raised a questioning eyebrow but seemed to quickly decide she wouldn't ask.
"I was looking for a break from the bickering going on between the guys. Saw you wander off and thought you might like a bit of company." Adelle's eyes flickered away, embarrassment crystal clear in them.
"Uh, yes, that would be nice," Penelo said, stepping aside to allow the other woman access to her cabin. She tried to ignore the slippery feeling between her thighs as she closed the door behind Adelle, thanking whatever god existed that the crotch of her pants did not touch, well, her crotch.
The silver haired woman eyed the room quickly in search of anything shiny, but Penelo's room was simple and boring. Adelle sneered a little in disappointment before she remembered shouldn't be stealing from someone she was trying to be friendly with. Bad habit pushed to the back of her mind, Adelle turned her attention to the large, very comfy looking bed that seemed to be the centerpiece of the room (and the only true thing of value unless the blonde hid the good stuff within the vanity or wardrobe). Pressing down on it, she found it to be soft, but not a mess of sinking fluff. It held firm beneath her prodding but definitely promised happy dreams, amongst other things. With an approving purr, she sat on the edge of the bed and tilted her head at the other woman, finally acknowledging her.
"So what's the deal between you and that Vaan fellow?"
"Eh?" Penelo was caught off-guard by the question and it took her minute to register what the silver haired woman was getting at. Shaking her head and her hands quickly, Penelo chuckled nervously.
"It's not what you think. We've been friends for a very long time and I worry about him a lot. He can be a little bit too careless sometimes and would probably have gotten tossed in a dungeon a long time ago without my gentle prodding in the right direction." Pausing, Penelo let her hands fall to her side and stared down at Adelle's boots. "We were friends who became orphans together. All we had was each other, so we sort of ended up sticking together, like..."
"A family," Adelle finished, her own eyes trailing down to the bed where her hand rested comfortably against it. "I understand."
There was an awkward silence as they both remembered lives far in the past that were their's, but not them, not anymore. Seeking a quick distraction, Adelle undid the ribbons on her boots and tugged them off before making herself comfortable on the bed. Patting the space Penelo had occupied moments ago, the silver haired woman smiled at the blonde.
"Come join me. Let's have some girl talk or something. I travel mostly with a sausage fest and it's rare I get to chat with another girl."
"Okay," Penelo smiled, feeling both nervous and a little bit of a thrill as she sat down on the other side of the bed and made herself comfortable beside the other woman.
They both leaned against the headboard, pillows tucked behind their backs, and talked. They talked about places they'd been to, favorite foods, clothing, and stories from their adventures, some serious, most hilarious. The whole while, they found themselves remarkably comfortable side by side and little by little, they eventually ended up lying back on the bed, pillows now under their heads and shoulders; shoulders bumping lightly against each other. They had fallen silent after a long time of chatting when Penelo finally spoke up.
"Why do you travel with Luso?"
Adelle stared at the ceiling, yellow eyes looking for the answers deep in her heart that she wasn't sure she was ready to confront just yet.
"Because I never really had a friend and he kept appearing in my life, like a beacon from some higher power that was trying to tell me it was time to open myself up to the world," Adelle answered finally, surprising herself with the low tone of voice she spoke in.
"Is that why you came to talk to me?"
"Yes? No?" The silver haired woman rolled over to her side so she could look at Penelo better. "I.. I don't know, to be honest. I was bored, if you want something that resembles an answer, but that's not the full reason why I came to talk to you."
"Oh?" Penelo rolled over too, blue eyes meeting yellow ones, searching for answers to the mystery of this unusual woman.
Adelle frowned as her cheeks burned in embarrassment. It was never easy for her to open up to someone and the fact that she had done it so easily with Penelo was, really nice, though frightening. Of course, she knew what the other half of the truth was, but it felt wrong to say it after the conversation they'd shared for the last two hours, give or take.
"The truth..." she started, but didn't finish, deciding to let her actions speak for her.
Leaning forward, she closed the gap between them, lips pressing against soft lips. Penelo inhaled sharply as they kissed, but didn't make a move to stop what was happening. Her hands trembled slightly as Adelle broke the kiss and stared at her with searching eyes; seeking confirmation or rejection, nothing in between - no room for it. Penelo's earlier thoughts of sharing her bed returned, along with her earlier arousal. They fueled her forward, surprisingly bold as her lips found lips and kissed them hungrily. Her weight shifting just enough so she was pressed against Adelle and forcing her to lay back on the bed. Hands trembled as they reached out to stroke pale skin, so much paler than her tanned skin, and tangled in long, silver hair just to feel it's weight against her hand.
Perhaps this wasn't something Adelle shouldn't be doing, but as she had told Penelo earlier, she'd been traveling with a mostly sausage fest, and her interests lied in the female form. Some of the recruits in the clan had made decent appetizers, but none had proved to be truly satisfying. The Gria giggled too much, the Viera were usually too stotic to get a proper read on, and the hume girls usually were too eager to get wasted before and after an encounter with her. From the moment she had seen Penelo though at the Airport, she could fantasize about no one else and she plotted her moves carefully, like a cat tracking it's prey. Yet this felt different from what she had expected; from what she thought she wanted. There was something that just clicked between them and it unsettled Adelle deeply. Love wasn't something for her. It only promised heartbreak for her in the end; always had.
Still, Adelle let Penelo kiss her and touch her lightly with nervous, trembling fingers. When she grew tired of that, hungry for more, the silver haired woman rolled them over so Penelo was pinned beneath her. She nibbled at lips red from their make out and yanked down her high collar, dragging tongue and teeth down the exposed flesh beneath. Penelo gasped and held onto the other woman's shoulder as tongue and teeth found it's way beneath her top, armor and shirt pushed up, breasts exposed to Adelle. Spotting Penelo's legs rubbing together, desperate for attention in other places, an idea occurred to the older woman and she helped the blonde slide out of her airy pants, highly intrigued with the way the red ribbon held up the pants and colored tanned hips. She would have to do something with those ribbons later, but she had other plans for right now.
"You said you were good with magic before," Adelle whispered against Penelo's lips.
"I'm great with white magic." Penelo's voice with breathy; hungry and needy.
"What about black magic?"
"I'm not the best but I can wield it well enough."
"Good, because I want you to do something with it."
"What?" Penelo asked, honestly confused as she watched Adelle sit beside her, a teasing grin on her lips.
Holding up her own hand, Adelle summoned forth a small ball of fire to her hand, the flames floating in her palm and not touching her skin. "Trust me," she said as she brought the fireball down toward Penelo's leg. Holding it beside an exposed thigh, she let the heat find its way to Penelo's skin, tickling her lightly. Penelo shuddered as Adelle's hand trailed up her thigh toward her knee and back down toward her exposed center. The warmth and heat of the flames touched Penelo like a whisper would, sending more shudders through her body.
"Think you can do that, but with ice?"
"I think so," Penelo said, shuddering again before she brought her hand up and formed a ball of ice in her hand.
"Slide it across your breasts, but not too close or you could hurt yourself," Adelle instructed.
Doing as she was told, Penelo gasped as the cold reached out like the flame did, touching her body like a whisper and sending goosebumps up and down her skin wherever the chill touched. Her nipples harden instantly as the cold touched them, making her shiver and gasp again. Turning surprised eyes to the silver haired woman, Penelo used her eyes to ask the question her chattering lips could not -- How?
Adelle shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to figure out things like this."
Using her fireball, Adelle went over the paths Penelo had taken with her iceball, warming her chilled skin and smirking at the soft sigh it earned her. She was just about to suggest the next part of this game when Penelo surprised her by using the iceball to trail a path down her thigh and to her core, as if reading Adelle's mind. Penelo's body arched as the chill reached out and whispered against her clit, the sensation making her shudder violently, but pleasurably. Moving the iceball, Penelo found she could feel the odd whisper stroking her clit with each movement and used this to her advantage.
Adelle watched with fascination as Penelo began to masturbate with the chill of the iceball in her hand, definitely impressed that the younger girl had figured out how to play with the magic so quickly. The blonde's body trembled in the tell-tale signs of orgasm, muscles growing taut and flexing as Penelo's hips rocked and bucked. Just as she came, Penelo dissolved the iceball, releasing the magic back to the mysterious wellspring it sprung forth from. Her cry was loud, body shivering and trembling from orgasm and residue cold; hands squeezing the bed sheet tightly as Penelo's body arched and came.
"Beautiful," Adelle breathed softly.
Finally, Penelo's body dropped down, tired and sated like she'd never been able to do on her own. With hazy eyes and heavy lids, she looked up at Adelle, saw the way the woman stared at her with this look in her eyes that showed amazement and lust, but held just a slight bit of worry and trouble beneath the surface. Penelo wiggled her finger in her best attempt at a 'come-hither' look and eagerly kissed Adelle's lips once they touched hers, wanting desperately to make that look of constant hurt go away from those yellow eyes.
"Adelle..." Penelo started to speak when they pulled away, her voice soft and low.
A knock came at her door, interrupting whatever she was about to say.
"Yo Penelo! Luso's heading out, you seen Adelle anywhere? He's looking for her," Vaan called, knowing better than to barge in on the blonde woman.
Clenching her jaw, Adelle stared at the door, seeing that this was her chance to go. A chance to leave things as a one time thing and nothing more. A chance to save her heart the heartache that would follow if she stayed and let herself fall in love the way her heart was squeezing itself and begging to happen. Penelo touched her cheek gently, so softly and lovingly that Adelle bit her lip and closed her eyes, remembering that she was a changed person now. Perhaps there was a reason why Lezaford had told her to open herself up to the world, because she needed to love and be loved. Needed friends, lovers, and hope to survive.
"Tell Luso I'll catch up with him, I already know where he's heading," Adelle called, her stomach knotting as the words left her mouth. Regret fluttering in her chest, fear making her stomach sour, and her heart crying with joy as she took Penelo's hand and kissed the soft palm.
"Shouldn't you...?"
"I trip over Clan Nutsy so often you would think they were following me," Adelle joked, hoping the blonde wouldn't see through her words to realize that it was her who always sought them out, time after time.
Penelo sat up and hugged the silver haired woman, burying her face in her shoulder and inhaling the pepperminty scent of her hair. Spotting Adelle's 'tail' she grabbed it and tugged it playful with a giggle, unaware of the feelings tumbling through the older woman.
"Come here, kitty cat. It's your turn."
"Yeah, it's my turn," Adelle agreed, but not to what Penelo meant.
It was Adelle's turn to live a normal life; second time could be the charm.