Special Delivery

"Vaan! Vaan!! Get up already!" Penelo shouted.

"Huh!? What?" Vaan burst from his sheets, wide-eyed.

"We promised Migelo we'd meet him right at nine, and that was two hours ago!"

"Alright, alright. I'll be down there in a sec, meet me there."

"Jeez, you never change do you," Penelo pouted, and skipped out the front door. "Oh, and by the way," she poked her head back in. "Do you mind cleaning up after yourself next time?"

"What are you talking about?" said Vaan, baffled.

"Gosh! Stains all over the bathroom floor Vaan! Do you have any idea how long it took me to scrub them all off?"

"………..oh god…" His face went pale.

"Uh, is there something wrong?"

"It's….um…err…"

Penelo sighed. "Look, I don't have anything against you taking a shower at night, but I don't want to have to keep telling you to stop spilling the shampoo. This is like the third night in a row!"

"Oh….then ummm, I'll be careful next time…"

"I hope so," she pulled her head back. "And weird smelling shampoo too, jeez…"

Vaan was still sitting cross-legged on his bed, his body as stiff as stone. Does she really know?

"See you at Migelo's!" Penelo's cheerful voice echoed from afar.

"…uh, yeah! I'll see yah!"

He got up and staggered over to the washroom. Clinging on to the sink, he wearily looked at his reflection in the mirror in front of him. Dark rings ran underneath his eyes.

"Ugh…"

Vaan turned the cold water knob and stuck his head under the faucet. The sharp sensation of the freezing water quickly brought him back to his senses. He felt around the wall for a towel. Grabbing what he believed to be a piece of cloth, Vaan pulled it to his face and patted his face dry. It had a bit of a strange smell, but he didn't mind.

He looked at the bathroom floor.

"Yeah….I'll be careful…" he mumbled to himself.

He reached up to hang the pink cloth on the wall. A cute picture of a Paramina Husky was printed on it.

"Hmm? A Husky print? I don't remember having anything like this…"

He unraveled the piece of cloth to discover that it was not a hand towel, but Penelo's underwear.

"Oh……."

He glanced to his right. Penelo had taken the liberty of placing the "to wash" bin right beside the dry towels.

He looked down at the pink pair of panties in his hands. He blushed a little.

"No no no no no no!" He shook is hand, still holding the panties. "Look at me talking to myself! I feel like an absolute pervert, dammit! But wait, it was all by accident. Yes, it's got to be…"

"Vaan?"

He swiveled around, and saw, to his horror, Penelo standing right in the bathroom doorway.

"I just forgot something…umm…what are you doing with my underwear?"

"This?! It's only…err, I saw the Husky and…I was like 'cute Husky!' then…erm…it turned out to be a bit different…"

The two awkwardly looked at each other.

"Oh! You mean the one Fran sent me last week?"

"I…..guess so…"

"Yeah, I love it! I think it's really cute too, but I was actually wishing for one with an Ozmone bunny though."

"I see," Vaan hurriedly threw the pink underwear back in the bin. "Lemme get something more decent on and uhh, I'll meet you outside."

"Sure, sounds good!"

A while later, the two were walking down the bright sunny streets of Rabanastre. Vaan was still uneasy from the little incident at their apartment. Could she really be that ditsy? He was beginning to suspect Penelo of putting on an act, but he respected her too much to consider it seriously. He glanced over to his partner.

Penelo was in her usual belly dancer clothes, and was attracting more attention than ever. Vaan could see men stopping and gawking at her, staring at her rear as it swayed back and forth. Even worse, Penelo would merrily wink at her grinning audience as they whispered amongst each other about god knows what. He couldn't stand it.

"Penelo," said Vaan in a low tone.

"Hmm?"

"Let's run."

"Huh? Why? We're not particularly in a hurry…wah!"

He grabbed her hand and dashed forward. This was immediately followed by a series of obnoxious boos and aww-what-the-hells from the "stands".

"Vaan, slow down! I can't keep up!"

They finally arrived at their destination, and Migelo was tapping his tail impatiently outside of the front door.

"About time you two showed up," he croaked. "You got me worried sick again, just like when you go flying around in your darned ships."

"Sorry Migelo, it's just that Vaan won't stop being the doofus that he always is." Penelo hugged the aged Bangaa.

"Hey! Just because I overslept doesn't make me a…"

"Now, now," Migelo interrupted. "We have things to discuss, and we might as well do it in the privacy at the back of my shop."

He led the two in, past a few store clerks busily organizing the goods on display. Even though the store itself was closed for restocking, it was still as lively inside as operating hours. Migelo leaned over the counter and tapped on a pair of tall ears protruding from behind a pile of cider crates.

"Ktjn my dear, do you mind passing me the key in the left closet?"

"Of course!" The young Viera stood up and noticed the two familiar faces. "Oh, what a pleasure it is to see you two again!"

"Hello Ktjn! How've you been?" Penelo asked.

"Wonderful. And yourself?"

"Great! Umm, can you spare me a moment after we talk to Migelo? I have something I need to tell you."

"Absolutely, just ask whenever you need me."

"Thanks!"

"What was that about?" nudged Vaan.

"Oh, nothing. Well, nothing you'd find interesting, "said Penelo, poking his nose.

"Yeah, yeah. Probably something about another carrot cake recipe."

"Vaan! That's racist!"

"Whaaat, I'm just making a stating well-supported presumption about Viera and carrots."

"Which is blatantly racist!"

Ktjn laughed. "It's all right, I'm used to it."

Migelo had opened an old wooden door to the back of store. "This way you two," Migelo chuckled.

Scowling at Vaan, Penelo went trudging in.

"Jeez..." grumbled Vaan, following closely behind.

The Bangaa seated himself around a hardwood table in the middle of the dimly lit room. He motioned to Vaan and Penelo to do the same.

On the table was a small black box.

"Within this," pointed Migelo, "contains a very important package that must be sent to a very particular individual, according to the instructions I have received for it. Since you two are of the 'trade' so to speak, I'm entrusting the delivery of this box to you."

He lifted the tag attached to the box's lid. It read: "To Bunansa, with love xoxo".

"What the hell?" said Vaan.

"So, where are we supposed to deliver it to?" Penelo asked.

Migelo flipped the card over.

Vaan squinted. "576 Dune Flower Way, hangar one….wait, isn't this OUR address?"

The bangaa shrugged. "The Viera who gave me this said it was pretty urgent, but not much else. Perhaps the recipient will come by your apartment to pick it up? I'm not very certain."

"Anyway," Penelo picked up the box. "We'll hang on to it for now and see what happens."

"Excellent," nodded Migelo. "Oh, and, was there something you wanted to say to Ktjn my dear?"

"Yes, that's right. May I?"

"Be my guest."

Penelo left the room, holding the box in her arms.

"Are you not going to follow her, Vaan?" Migelo asked, getting up from his seat.

"Not before I ask you something. Something important."

The wizened Bangaa sat back down and looked the young sky pirate in the eyes.

"I'm listening lad."

"Thanks. It's pretty personal actually. It's….about Penelo."