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At the first sign of trouble and with the memory of the two hellish days she was confined to solitary fresh in her mind, Aerith had gotten away from the underground festivities before things took a turn for the worst, retreating all the way back to the somewhat dilapidated house she'd been permitted to renovate and occupy before the news about what happened to those who had been caught reached her.

After hearing about the scope of the punishment for those who had been apprehended, it's enough to make Aerith shove off her own fears of returning to one of those filthy little cells and go back to make sure she wasn't leaving a friend to a similar fate.

She lingers on the outskirts of the small crowd, frowning deeply as she looks over the collared group of captives until she spots the familiar, tall shape of Balthier towards the back. Concern stabs at her heart, urging her to move forward and cut through the crowd, doing her best to look as confident as she could to better ensure no one would question her marching up to her captive of choice to claim him for herself.

When Aerith reaches Balthier her expression is dark with concern, angling herself so that she's between him and everyone else.

"Are you okay?" She wouldn't be if their positions reversed, and now all she can think about is doing everything she can to get him away from this.

"I've got you, don't worry. We'll get you out of this mess together."

Their games have fallen into a sort of rhythm. Some variation exists, but a combination of working on Aerith's house, bringing clean food to be cooked, bathing, and passing out together surrounds a consistent centerpiece of Balthier collared and both of them naked. Since that blur of days after the thanksgiving party, though, he's been careful to only sleep with her when the rules are in place. He's always eager to see her, always lingering longer than he should, and something about opening that back up to a place of no bounds is...uneasy.

That doesn't mean exploration and teasing are off the table, though, and at some point the idea of bathing together and others watching comes up, and there's another strange sideways dance that leads to them going to the baths and saunas together, a proposed game of touching themselves until one of them caves. Not their usual game, but a game with rules all the same.

It doesn't take long for Aerith to get that maddening twinkle in her eye and suggest a way to make their game a step wilder. He hesitates, not sure how he feels about watching someone else touch her. He knows she sleeps with others, isn't really bothered by it honestly, but seeing it feels entirely different. And yet --

There's desire, a coil of want, a curiosity that he only ever really chases with her, so he agrees, and next thing he knows she's pulling him by the hand -- stark naked -- to the sauna and he can't help the heat at his cheeks at being so publicly dragged to clearly nefarious ends. At least he thinks that's what the heat at his cheeks is, and by now he's getting old hat at keeping those thoughts in check without glancing to either side of the narrow safe path he's carved.

"Do you think you'll like this more or less than getting to touch me from afar with your toys?" he purrs in her ear as they slip aside, knowing part of the game is going to be not touching her for awhile, so he takes this opportunity to pull her close, squeezing her ass as he plants a kiss on her cheek. "Also, I'm placing bets you beg for me first."

So, you're coming back to the house soon right? And you're bringing all your stuff?

It's late enough in the evening that Aerith's sobered up enough not to be giggling her way through every song on the very strange playlist Tifa managed to get for the party. The music's still going, but as she heads up the stairs to her room it quiets enough that she can hear Balthier down the hall telling a couple of partygoers that the two other rooms aren't up for grabs. The sound makes her smile, as do the retreating footfalls of the pair as they head back downstairs.

She grabs something off her dresser and hides it behind her back before tiptoeing down the hall to peer into his bedroom, a grin on her face.

"But what if I want the penis bed?"

park and ride

Aerith --

impatient florist menaces local man