Author's Note: The road less travele

Genre: General/humor/Romance
Rating: Kplus, suggestive moments
Characters: The Lowtown Gang
Pairing(s): Penelo/Reks, wtf, lol
Summary: Penelo gently muses over teasing involving her supposed status with Vaan.

Bashful Memories
By: Mazzie May

Filo and Kytes like to hop about, giggling something about Vaan and Penelo k-I-s-s-I-n-g-ing, perched up in a tree for whatever reason where they're joined by a priest and, eventually, a baby's buggie.

Kid's these days.

Penelo usually just wags her finger and sends them on their way, because, obviously, they're not going to take anything short of a confession as the truth and there's no point in arguing with little things with half formed brains.

It wasn't exactly something she openly spoke about, mostly because nobody ever asks, but truth be told, the children weren't so far off--

--right family, wrong brother.

Back in the day, waaay back in the day, when Lowtown was 'Low' as in sea level, not as in 'life', her brothers used to play Knights and Pirates with the boys down the street and she got to be the princess they fought for.

Reks was always a knight. Always. No matter who was on what team or where they were playing, he got to be a good guy. The hero. Her brothers didn't really care. Thought it was weird, but didn't care. It was more fun for them to take turns being a pirate and try to best him.

They'd swash, they'd buckle and then Reks would save her. And she'd get to give him a kiss. Originally on the cheek, eventually sliding slowly over to the corner of his mouth. Reks was older than her and had out grown his 'cootie' stages of life, unlike Vaan, who was still throwing mud and sticking his tongue out, but that meant that he mostly ignored it, treated it along with the game.

At thirteen, all of her girl friends were whispering suspiciously that maybe they liked girls! Penelo would later come to understand this as a common phase after an embarrassing incident with Filo. At the time, however, due to peer-pressure and other stupid observations, Penelo started to wonder, too. Then one summer afternoon she came home to find her brothers, Vaan and Reks fast asleep on her brother's room floor. They'd all gone swimming earlier and were waiting for their clothes to dry. Leaving them stark nekkid.

Penelo turned her almost purple face from the scene and hurried into her room, knowing she liked boys.

As an after that, she had a hard time not looking at Reks and seeing him naked.

Or talking to and about him and seeing him naked.

Or thinking about him being naked.

Or closing her eyes and seeing him naked.

Of course by this point, Vaan and Naked Reks were living with them, so he was on the 'hard side' to avoid.

Less than a year later, but after her birthday, she was messing around in the bizarre later in the evening, walking back and forth along the wall. Not too many costumers were about, just the shopkeepers getting ready for the slow nights, speaking loudly to each other about Archadia and it's empire, politics she didn't really follow.

She nearly fell off the edge because she was trying to ease drop and leaned too far over. Reks pulled her back (just like a real knight!) and partly out of reflex, but mostly because she wanted to, she kissed him a little thank you.

Afterwards was a little awkward since they didn't know what to do with their noses, but it was certainly the best 'you're welcome' she's ever received.

Right before Reks and the younger of her old brothers got serious about knightly stuff, Penelo noticed her breasts were coming in (she's a late bloomer and don't tease her about it, her brothers'll beat you) and was a little pissed that no one else picxked up on it. She almost decided to announce it at the kitchen table, but ended up not having to because she knew that Reks noticed; after something that had to do with the bookshelf (she doesn't really remember: it wasn't the highlight of the evening) she was laying on the couch and he was sort of on top of her and very shyly inbetween kisses did he inch his hand over her left breast. That was also the first night his tongue was in her mouth.

But then Reks went away, leaving her with a devasted Vaan and some bashful memories. And a lot of confusion. Did he count as her first love, or is that supposed to be someone else? They hadn't really been dating, had they? After all, when he died, he got filed into the 'mourn over my family' loss category. But he wasn't a brother to her. She didn't make-out with her brothers. Ew.

Whatever he was, he's gone. His memory doesn't visit her often. Probably because its too busy haunting Vaan.

With all of that in mind, she just can't quite wrap her head around the thought of dating Vaan. Like… if you were with someone and they died, how could you date their sibling? It just seemed wrong. Even if Vaan wasn't the son she always wanted but had way too early, she couldn't do that to Reks, nor could Vaan.

So when Kytes and Filo start their nonsense, Penelo just sort of tunes them out, recalling a pleasant memory.

And blushes when Naked Reks comes to mind.

Author's Note: Something I've been mulling over with TheDonutMistress for a little while now. Credit to MageWhoSaysNi for title and summary. And for those of you who noticed, yes, that is a cheap shot at another relationship in SquEnix's realm. At the time, I thought it was a pretty good jab. I acted poorly in my anger.

R&R please, any and all commentary appreciated.