Work Text:
After dinner, Finn sat by the roaring camp fire. She pulled her book out of her pack and quickly found her page. She wasn’t a virgin, but the language was confusing, full of long and flowery words. Back where she came from, sex was just sex. It wasn’t about love. It was crude and uncaring. A man would stick it in, get his kicks, and leave.
Finn sighed gratefully. She wasn’t there anymore. She had a home and family now.
She blinked and focused back on her book. Now, that she knew what titillate and debauched meant, it made a little more sense. She quickly found her place. She started reading, quietly moving her lips to help puzzle out some of the more complicated words. She found another one that she didn’t know the meaning of.
Suddenly, Veronica and Asai sat on either side of her. Veronica glanced across her arm. “Is that the book Marguerite loaned you?”
Finn nodded. “Yeah.”
“What’s it about?” Asai asked curiously.
Veronica smirked. “It’s one of Marguerite’s romance novels.”
Finn grinned. “Well, everyone’s been telling me that I should read more.”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “We didn’t mean trash.”
Finn hugged the book to her chest and stuck her tongue out. “It’s not trash.”
Asai shrugged. “If that’s what she likes.”
Veronica chuckled. “I can just imagine the look on Challenger’s face when you asked him what titillate means.”
Finn laughed. “Embarrassed doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“And I’m sure you learned the meaning of some of the other words when you went back to the tree house for the beetle oil,” Veronica said in an off-hand way.
Finn gaped at Veronica. “How did you know?”
“I saw the look on Marguerite’s face before we left. Neither of them can resist her when she’s in that mood.”
Finn’s face flushed. “At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on when I heard them.” She licked her dry lips and stammered, “Then Marguerite caught me.”
Asai’s eyes got wide. “What did she say?”
“Just told me that now I know what debauched means, too.”
Veronica laughed and held her hands out towards the fire. She rubbed them together. “She’s not ashamed, although I’m not sure how the guys will take it when they find out that you know about them.”
“Hey, it’s all right with me,” Finn replied defensively.
Veronica leaned back and put an arm around Finn’s shoulders. “It’s got nothing to do with you,” she explained. “Where they come from, this type of thing isn’t talked about openly.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Veronica assured her. “In some ways, they are part of a very repressed culture.”
Finn thought on that for a minute. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought. Then she grinned again. “There wasn’t anything repressed back at the tree house.”
“I can imagine,” Veronica answered dryly. She gave Finn a squeeze. “They’ll start behaving themselves when we get back.”
Finn titled her head to the side. “I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing.” She opened her book again and set it across her lap. “Since you’re here, can you help me out?”
Veronica gave an exaggerated shudder. “I’m almost afraid to ask. What word is it this time? Maybe you should try to finish Alice in Wonderland first.”
Finn playfully elbowed Veronica. “That’s boring and stupid.” She pointed at the page. “Please, V.”
Veronica had to look closer to see by the firelight. “That word is quench.”
“Yeah, but what does it mean?”
“To put out.” Asai pointed to the fire. “Like quenching the fire.”
Finn nodded slowly. “Okay, but what does it mean here?”
Veronica arched an eyebrow. “You were at the tree house earlier. Just think about it a minute and it will come to you.” She stood up. “Come on, Asai.”
Veronica and Asai left Finn alone. Finn rested her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm. She thought about what Veronica said. A sly grin spread across her face. “Oh, I get it.”