edenbound | FFX-2: Scar Tissue

Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Pairing: Paine/Rikku
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Paine was worrying too much about her scars. For fic_on_demand.

"That's a nasty one," Rikku said, reaching out to touch. Paine only flinched a little bit, to her credit, and Rikku ignored it, brushing her fingers along the raised scar tissue. She realised after a moment that Paine was holding her breath, and glanced up, darting a smile in her direction. "How did you get that one?"

Paine's voice was tight, tense, even if she'd started breathing again. Her stomach was barely moving with her breaths, her body still rigid. "I was careless, the monster had sharp claws. Before I knew you. It's..."

"What are you worried about?"

Paine let out a breath, as if she hadn't been expecting Rikku to pick up on it. Fat chance, Rikku thought, brushing her fingers over the scar once more and then moving closer, putting her hand on Paine's cheek and resting their foreheads together.

"C'mon. Tell me."

"It's... ugly."

"It's a scar. I have one too. Look," she said, and slid out of her clothes easily, like a snake shedding its skin, "here. On my hip. See?" She took Paine's hand, led it to her hip and made her feel it: the raised scar tissue, an imperfectly healed wound. "Yunie was too tired to do a proper job of the spell, unfortunately. Auron yelled at me for getting in danger, but hey, it was me or Yunie and you know how it goes for a guardian..."

Paine was looking at her, tense again, tension gathered in the lines of her shoulders. She rolled her eyes.

"If you don't relax, I'd better give you a naked full body massage, complete with happy ending."

Paine's smile was slow and small, but that wasn't the point. "Sounds like more of a reward than a punishment."