Penelope wasn't prone to fainting by nature, which left her more groggy than she would have liked when she woke on her sofa. For a split second, she thought she had only just woken from a refreshing nap, and then all the events of the past week came rushing back. The cruise ship, the shipwreck, Nemo —

Nemo loved her. He loved her and he was sitting right there. "How could you have ever believed I don't love you?" Penny demanded incredulously once her thoughts cleared enough to reply. "Merlin, Nemo. I mean — I didn't even think it was an option until Paris — not really anyway. And then everything happened with your erection and we weren't speaking and how could I tell you that I love you and possibly ruin our friendship even more?!" She reached for the hand that had brushed her hair from her face and held it tightly before moving to sit up. "But I do, love you, I mean. So long as you promise me we'll never go so long without speaking again."

  

"First of all, I need you to stop throwing the word erection around so casually." Though he laughed, mostly because her first reaction upon waking up was indignation, he blushed because she kept saying it and he really didn't think she understood that it wasn't a word one typically heard in polite company.

He had a host of reasons why he didn't think she felt the same, namely because they were such good friends and he also hadn't wanted to take the chance to ruin their friendship. And well, he was Nemo, what exactly did he have to offer her in life? The youngest son in a huge family, barely twenty-five, unable to support a household for a few more years, he didn't exactly have a lot going for him.

She said she loved him too though and that had to count for something. He smiled slowly, squeezing their joined hands affectionately. Nemo moved off the floor and onto the sofa next to her. "I promise," He said softly. That he could handle, the rest was up in the air, there were so many outside factors now that he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around it all.

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"Well, what else am I to call it?" She asked with furrowed brows. Not discussing their anatomy and natural urges was what caused the initial rift to begin with. While she wouldn't dare have this conversation with anyone else, he felt safe to ask. After all, if Elsie was to be believed intercourse was what people in love did. (Not that Penny could think of intercourse with Nemo without turning crimson.) "Erections are a natural occurrence, same as breathing or any other bodily function." She then added if only to distract herself from her tinted cheeks.

His promise was almost enough of a deterrent from the indecent topic, but not enough to pull her attention away completely. Really, they had already promised that to one another in their admissions over the course of the evening, so there was no need to dwell on it now. That he was still squeezing her hand and sitting so close, though, caused the back of her neck to feel feverish.

"We have to be able to talk about it for that promise to be true. I have too many questions," Penny told him lastly. "Avoiding it was how we got here."

  

This was it; he'd finally confessed to his feelings for her and she was going to kill him out of sheer embarrassment. It was good while it lasted. "Jesus, Penny." He shook his head and laughed.

"You're almost right, natural sure, but not quite like breathing." She wasn't going to drop it, he knew that, he knew her.

"I would like it known that we're not supposed to discuss this, well not until... Marriage." Truthfully, Nemo wasn't even sure that it was really discussed at length, just kind of... Done. He'd never bothered to ask, well Ari, as the only married brother, but Nemo was pretty sure he couldn't bring himself to actually go through with that either. "And even then it's a little weird, but I'll answer what I can." She has a book already, what more could she possibly want to know..?

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"You're also not supposed to be alone with the opposite sex," Penny told him pointedly. Sticking to Society's rules had never been her strongsuit, at least not the ones regarding her friendship with Nemo. "We definitely shouldn't have gone to Paris unchaperoned, or had dinner together ever. Why are erections any different?" Intercourse in general was such a taboo subject.

"We don't have to talk about it if you're uncomfortable ... I just am curious, is all. I can find another book or something." She then said. Obviously, she would never force him into telling her things about himself he would rather not.

  

She had him there, but Nemo still thought there was a huge difference. "There's toeing the line and obliterating it altogether, Pen." He reminded her. Having dinner in the kitchen with cook's knowledge was one thing, sitting here talking about sex and holding hands after admitting feelings for one another was another thing entirely.

"I'm incredibly uncomfortable," He said with a wry laugh. How could she not be? These were taboo topics for a reason. It really was something that was normally reserved for married couples or maybe, well siblings to discuss? He'd heard far too much from Dory and after the trip to the brothel... well he'd gotten some first hand experience, but that was enough for him really. "But since the line has been leapt over, I'm not going to just willfully ignore it." That had gotten them into trouble before this, so he wasn't about to make that mistake twice.

"We've talked about just about everything else there is to discuss, why would this be any different?" He did not want a repeat of Paris.

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Unthinkingly, her hand squeezed his again. Knowing he was uncomfortable created a knot in her stomach, for she once again betrayed his confidence by pushing the limit too far. That was how fheir relationship had always functioned, though; Penny had always been the one to pull him from his comfort zone and into the greater unknown. How was she to know there was a limit involved? Elsie and Mr. Kirke had crossed that line already, and Penny and Neml had been friends for even longer than them.

Frowning, she sighed and withdrew her hand. "Well, what about it makes you uncomfortable?" That was as good a starting point as any, wasn't it? She could check in and try to understand his reluctance. Then, if he felt comfortable they could talk about it. If not ... well, Elsie had to have more books elsewhere, didn't she?

  

"I don't know," He shrugged a little sheepishly. Dory had always called him a prude in this respect for his unwillingness to partake in conversations about women and brothels and the link. Nemo liked to think it was because he held a higher respect for women than his brother, but he also knew that wasn't true. Dory didn't disrespect women, of that he was certain, but he definitely didn't mind crossing boundaries if the other party was interested.

"It's intimate for a lot of reasons and frankly what happened in Paris was embarrassing." Merlin, just thinking about it now brought a rise of color to hi cheeks. Penny, though, for whom all of this information was brand new, didn't seem phased. In fact it was rather like she had a new project to work on and she was attacking it with her usual tenacity in her quest to figure it out.

"Not exactly how I would have," Had already. "Envisioned waking up next to you in bed."

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Two thoughts on how to respond warred in her head. On one hand, she thought to argue that if they both loved one another intimacy was an inevitability, not something to be feared. Eventually, they would find a way to make it work (for she had lost any thought of that being tonight) and discussing intercourse would merely be yet another private dinner conversation. On the other hand, she thought to comfort him about his embarrassment. Elsie had warned her that was likely what Nemo was feeling, and still Penny didn't stop to consider it. Mainly because she didn't understand why he was embarrassed by a natural situation.

Men had erections, women bled for a week every month. Such was the way of the world.

A third shyer thought made itself known then. If Paris wasn't how he envisioned waking up together, what did he picture then? Did he dream of them having intercourse? Was that something she was now allowed to fantasize about? Penny bit the inside of her cheek to keep from rambling her long list of thoughts. Nemo couldn't answer her questions, and dhd had to respect that.

"If it matters, I don't believe you ought to be embarrassed," she eventually replied in a gentle tone. Again, Penny thought to remind him it was a natural response to external stimuli and beyond his control, but Nemo didn't seem to much appreciate that view. "If anything, I ought to be embarrassed for having put my leg on you like that."

  

Though he knew he would never not be embarrassed about how everything had happened in Paris, at least he felt a little more at ease. Her fortitude for the subject was somewhat comforting, he doubted she was going to judge him for anything here, including his lack of knowledge, aside from some of the rudimentary basics and smidgeon of personal experience. Frankly he'd very nearly asked all of these questions to the... madam at the brothel while there, but had been too self-conscious.

"I didn't mind." Though he'd been incredibly drunk at the time, curling up next to her in bed had been seamless, easy, comfortable. He'd slept really well, all things considered. In their new, tentative position, he looked forward to doing it again in the future, even if the future terrified him.

Sighing softly, Nemo supposed that he was in an alright spot now to have whatever discussion she wanted to have; he could keep the mild anxiety to himself. "Frankly I thought I was a little too drunk for anything to happen, but I was betrayed by my own body." He laughed. It didn't happen every morning, but waking up next to a warm, half-dressed body certainly had helped.

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Although she knew there was a solid line in the sand, Penny's thoughts immediately went to cuddling with him once again, only this time without the pretense of a pillow wall. They needn't move beyond cuddling, either, it was just the closeness that appealed to her. "I'll remember that," she laughed lightly.

Her ears perked up then. Betrayed by his own body? Did alcohol inhibit erections? How drunk did one need be for their bits to fail completely? "We slept for a long period of time," she explained rather than let loose her list of questions. "Plenty of time to sober up."

  

"I suppose," Nemo shrugged. He was pretty sure just because he'd tried to will himself to just wake up like a normal human being, his hormones had other plans entirely. He could blame her, all those bare legs and soft skin, but that wasn't fair either.

"Ah well," Wasn't much else to say about it now. It had happened, it had caused a lot of grief, but she didn't seem to be holding it against him. Hopefully they could move on from there. She was curious he knew, but he hadn't any idea just what else she could want to know. "In the past now." He added, unsure of what else to add. He was painfully aware of how close they were, the fact that they were still holding hands and that he had a whole host of separate questions he wanted to ask her, but again, no wherewithal to ask.

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