#alms writes

[alms4oblivion]

The Practical Guide to Getting Out of the Friend Zone, by Beatrice Adeline Silva

Happy Ace Week! This might seem like an odd fic to promo on Asexual Awareness Week, just going by the title, but it's one where I very clearly made Beatrice demisexual without actually intending to. I didn't realize this until a friend pointed out to me that Beatrice has no interest in sex for its own sake, except with Ava, and only does it to improve her ability to give Ava pleasure if and when they finally get together, and I said "oh. OH."

Anyway. Here's a fic written entirely from the perspective of Beatrice Silva as a memoir to her college years, specifically the semester when she finally got together with the girl of her dreams.

[monstrousdesirestudy]

📈Good news: a fellow researcher and I are going to redo the monsterfucker survey officially so we can submit it to scientific journals

📉Bad news: officiating surveys outside of universities and submitting to journals is expensive and lots of moolah

📈Good news: through selling cute and silly monsterfucker stickers, we may be able to raise the appropriate amount of money so hurray people can soon buy our specially made monster fucker stickers!

[t0bey]

getting into the groove of SoV but i still hate the way supports r handled in this game </3 why on earth would i waste a turn in battle for two characters to have half a conversation. thats stupid

[randomnameless]

Is Supreme Leader the worst-written example of the “Evil King/Emperor” archetype in FE?

I'd say the worst written might be Marquis Laus -

But only because FE7 isn't concerned with the Evil King/Emperor Archetype, instead, the main villain is Gharnef !

Bar that, worst written example can only be, imo, Rudy from SoV.

I legit can't find anything positive to say about the guy, who apparently was very worried about the blue people so he sent his only son away in the rival country/state (and sent said son's mom in a monastery/thing?), with the purpose of having his son topple that other country so he can lead an army, in the intercontinental war he will have started, to kill him, become a "hewo" and then kill the lizard turning into goo - something he cannot do himself, despite having killed the lizard with her lesbian harem a few days earlier.

Complete with letting his edgy nephew in the dark, creating a marianna trench rift between his nephew and his son that ends in his nephew losing his remaining sanity by torching his wife - on top of making every Rigelian with half a brain despise his son -

And that was his plan to save the world??

What the actual fuck???

[thelocalmuffin]

As Conrad goes to meet his little sister for the first time face-to-face, he goes to the coffee shop for a quick drink to stay awake. In that coffee shop, he gets a little more than he bargained for.

A little modern AU coffee date fic for @houjitsun! Thank you so much for your patience again, this was a really fun piece to write!

[veriana-rose]

If I ever wrote a story where the female love interest dies (or almost dies) at the climax, her name will end in an ‘a.’

Why? Because Alm’s “CELICAAAA” and Seth’s “GLORIAAAA” both live rent-free in my brain.

[katofvalentia]

A small Echoes related ramble:

While I do agree with the notion that the way the scenarios in Echoes were written to now include Conrad were not beneficial to Celica nor the way she was treated as a whole, I don't think his existence is unnecessary.

Celica's journey is about her internalizing her problems and not sharing the burden with any of the people who are close to her, not even her own brother who also tried to make her realize her self-destructive behaviour. The fact it's not just her friends but also her family that she puts in danger that way, strengthens her very relatable character flaws in my eyes.

Additionally I would like to say that Conrad existing proves for an interesting contrast between Alm and Celica's dynamics with their family members.

Celica was well aware of her father's mistakes as a ruler, she was aware of her station and her fate. She believed she had lost her brother for so many years and having Conrad appear before her lets her regain some of the lost pieces in regards to her life as Anthiese.

Alm meanwhile, was so certain of his connection with Mycen, he took pride in being known as his grandson. That was a big part of his identity, his foundation to improving as a fighter and commander. Once the truth of his lineage is revealed, he is told to deal with it. Alm doesn't even know how act around Mycen in their first 1 or 2 supports. His way of coping with all that was to desperately try to preserve his only remaining family member (Berkut) but he lost even that. In the end, Celica got back the brother she thought she had lost, while Alm lost the family he wished to keep.

[merryfortune]

I'm In Love with the Other Woman

Written for the Rarest of Rare Pairs Fic-a-Thon

Prompt: Any/Any - femslash - 5 times she thought about kissing [the other woman] and the 1 time she did

Title: I’m In Love with the Other Woman

Ship: Celica/Faye

Fandom: Fire Emblem Shadows of Valentia

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3,488

Tags: Post-Canon, Established Alm/Celica, Past/Referenced Alm/Faye, Infidelity, Internalised Homophobia, Incompatible Orientations, Unhappy Ending

   If anyone was going to have an affair in this relationship, surely it would be Alm.

   Men were allowed much more leniency with how monogamy was understood, after all. Chastity only seemed important for those who were women. Men evaded all of that, somehow. Permitted harems, concubines, and mistresses. Alm even had easy access to someone who would throw away all virtue for him and yet… he was entirely uninterested.

   Celica, meanwhile, had begun to view that person in a different light. Faye.

   She was a close childhood friend to not only herself but Alm as well. She had played a pivotal role in Alm’s campaign with the Deliverance as a healer but was unafraid of taking up bow and arrow either. She was sweet and earnest and Celica adored her. She hadn’t realised how robbed she had been of Faye’s company until separation turned to reunion.

   There was something about Faye which caused Celica to much fascination as the hypothetical other woman. A rival to her affections for Alm but that’s not what it was at all. Celica’s fascination with Alm was not as someone who ought to be regarded with suspicion but entirely different.

   She was who Celica wanted to be with more and more. Beyond that of simple companionship and beloved friendship. She wanted to be with Faye more and more. She wanted to kiss her.

   That first thought of impulse reviled Celica. It came from nowhere. She was literally sitting next to her husband at this feast for old friends and yet, her eyes fixated on Faye’s cupid bow lips. She relished the song in her laughter and her brown eyes. She had mellowed out somewhat in the last couple years so far away from the war.

   That’s how Celica felt anyway as she observed Faye over dinner. She sat close to Alm and adjacent to herself at a fancy chair in the long table of the royal dining room. Her voice was quiet, underneath the loud thrum of everyone else as they celebrated the embarking of a new era: the second year of Alm and Celica’s marriage, the birth of a new country, and much, much more.

   Though marriage might be stretching it considering Celica could already feel herself growing cynical to the honeymoon phase as she considered Faye’s demeanour all too carefully. Everything from her table manners to how and what she ate, it was far more interesting to her than anything else no matter how people tried to converse with her.

   And so, where Alm was firmly committed, Celica could feel herself wandering astray from her marital vows of fidelity and chastity.

   She wasn’t sure why though. This was the life that she had been destined for. Born into the lap of luxury, thrust with great expectation upon her, she had burned brighter than the flames around her and could entrust herself, body and soul, to a husband whose fate was the other half of her own and yet…

   A simple farm girl, with dirty knees and fingers pricked from efforts at sewing gone awry, had begun to unravel all which fate had once spun for her on the thread of the universe. Oh, Faye… Celica’s heart broke for her and yet, it beat on.

   Faye came from nothing and despite her role in Alm’s army, she would be returning to nothing. It just didn’t seem fair. She was humble and hard working, a cog in the greater scheme which allowed food from the country into the plates of the palace and yet, her thanks would be to be forgotten by history. So, both Celica and Alm did their best but she knew her place.

   Her crush on Alm was plain as the nose on her face. She knew that she had lost that race and so seemed to have backed down of late, moved on from her feelings. It was admirable. Though the problem was that Celica hardly considered it a competition, especially now that the winners and losers and spectators shifted roles and positions. She married Alm, sure, and Faye was moving on but Celica was falling out of love with her kindred flame because that’s all it was.

   Fire. Scattering embers which dissipated in the void. It was quick and heated and not at all tamed for the dull and tedious. Alm was simply not that person. He didn’t have a head for politics despite a heart for the people. He was trying though. May the gods bless him because he was trying. Because the gods had to know that Celica wasn’t.

   She should be. She did have that head for politics but her heart was in it for one person and one person alone. That rogue thought of Faye, of kissing her, had been aberrant but it was not the only one.

   Swathed in malcontent after another trade negotiation which had gone as swimmingly as dropping a hammer in the ocean, Celica retired for the night in a private chamber. She knew Alm needed the alone time as well as her. She collected a blanket and swirled it around her like a shawl, she sat in a reading nook attached to a bay window and looked out over the gardens of the royal castle.

   She truly could not want for nothing and yet, her thoughts meandered back to that home she had known for only minutes: she thought of Ram Village. She recreated it vividly in her mind. The shambling stone walls, the smattering of houses, the beaten path that wound through it, and the orange trees that shaded it. She imagined it so well, she swore she could taste its pleasant air.

   But then she made the mistake of imagining someone there. Someone who was waiting for her in Ram Village. Not Gray or Tobin, not Kliff either but Faye. She thought of Faye and her family’s homestead that she was going to inherit as sole child of the household. 

   Celica imagined its insides. She never had been inside it but she was going to assume it had a cosy fireplace and a spinning wheel for weaving next to it. A comely kitchen that always smelt of baked goods and a little bed. She thought of Faye welcoming her in, taking her by the hand but not giving her a tour. This was theirs to own, theirs to honour, theirs to christen in after a honeymoon with… a kiss.

   Celica didn’t even begin to deny in her internal monologue this time that the thought was intrusive. The dress setting to her fantasy was far too thick and rich to pretend her story hadn’t been coordinated up to that point in time exactly. Even going so far as to imagine the sensation of Faye’s lips against her own.

   Just what was happening to her? A princess seduced by the idea of another woman. A commoner, no less. How gauche, surely. Yet this fantasy of a farmstead became her companion through many a dull night where she couldn’t sleep.

   Even next to Alm.

   Already, he seemed like such a legendary figure. Wrapped up in blankets and rumours, mythos which was grander than the man could ever be. He embodied all of them as he slept like the dead, feeling like a cold brickhouse beside Celica in their bed together.

   Despite his firm physique, the muscle and presence he exuded, lying next to Celica late at night, she felt as though he were hardly there. Maybe that was her fault. Maybe she was haunting him and that she was fit to slip away with the blink of an eye, becoming another shadow in the corner of their bedchambers rather than a source of warmth. 

   His wife. 

   Or heaven forbid, his trophy. Arm candy. 

   Her wistful gaze elsewhere even as she clung to his arm and allowed both himself and her to be paraded around the gala. Celica had already forgotten the occasion - Charity? An excuse to be pompous? To network with foreign dignitaries? - but she did know that it called for a ballgown and a gossamer raiment to be threaded around her arms.

   She looked into the sea of people and saw only strangers. She kept Alm out of her periphery for this reason. She tried to search for someone she knew, someone she could make small talk with and whom she did find, any hopes of actually chatting were dashed.

   They revealed themselves as the crowd ebbed and flowed. From a distance, Celica was initially uncertain but their matching blonde hair was unmistakable even from afar. 

   Clive and Mathilda… Oh, they were so darling. They were wearing matching outfits in navy blue. Together, in mind, body, and relationship they were so strong. Magnificent inside and out with kindred spirits of aflame with justice. Mathilda was with child now. Surely that meant people would begin to wonder when she and Alm were going to commit to such a role, to make heirs, even.

   Her heart ached with jealousy. She saw them kiss. Even here, in public, in the middle of the royal ballroom, they felt free to kiss so steamy. Lips pressed hard against one another. She and Alm hadn’t kissed like that in months and yet here they were, these two lovebirds were doing it as naturally as breathing.

   Though there was someone whom Celica thought she might like to kiss like that. She shouldn’t think such things, however, but when she closed her eyes, looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at Clive and Mathilda, she still thought of that other woman.

   Faye…

   What would she be like here? Would she enjoy it or was she more introverted? Celica felt like she hardly knew her hypothetical lover since she didn’t know the answers to these questions. Her childhood companion was just that. Left in past even though their encounters in the present had been charming enough, there was more to dig deep into this relationship but she really shouldn’t.

   It occurred to Celica, she was just like her father in this way. Her vice was what she could not have beyond the marital bonds. At least she only looked and never touched. Though, she was a fool to think that she was being discreet about her affections for someone who was not husband.

   “Is everything okay, Celica?” Alm asked.

   Oh, here we go. Celica immediately fired up, irate, ready to chew him out. They had been going on like this for months and he waits until the royal night of nights to bring it up? Ridiculous.

   The gala had long since come to a close, it was well past midnight. They were the only ones to remain as this was their home. As icy and frigid as it was.

   Celica huffed and wrapped her raiment around her tighter so it was more akin to a shawl than a flowing piece of silk. 

   “Celica.” Alm demanded of her.

   Their budding argument was about to take place against the inky night behind them at the balcony where they perched with leftover wine and champagne and the empty hall of glittering, white-and-blue tiles. His face was concerned but there were no lights behind his eyes. He was going through the motions of husbandry as much as Celica was going through the parallel of it with wifehood. 

   “I’m worried about you.” Alm insisted. “You’ve been acting weird. Have I done something wrong? You’ve been really distant. I-I know we both have a lot on our plate right now. We’re both new to this whole being king and queen thing but I can’t help but think it's more than that.” 

   His voice cracked and Celica’s heart dropped. He came to the wrong conclusion but that was more than enough to stab Celica in the heart. He licked his lips guiltily and made useless hand gestures which amounted to nothing of substance.

   “I saw you, looking at Clive and Mathilda…” Alm said. “Are you… are you jealous? Do you want a baby or something? I know we’re not super active anymore but I thought it was because you were too stressed.”

   “No, Alm. That’s not the problem.” Celica interrupted.

   “Then what is? Please, tell me.” Alm said and he took her hand.

   He was so sincere. Earnest to a fault. It made Celica sick. Sick with herself. 

   Alm gently encased her small hand inside his own. He brought Celica’s hand closer to him and he kissed her delicate knuckles. He closed his eyes and he silently begged for forgiveness, prayed for Celica’s mood to improve but all it did was worsen it. The tempest of Celica’s contradictory emotions raged inside of her and at the eye of such a storm was the cause. The calm. The other woman.

   She wished, ever so fleetingly, that it was Faye kissing her hand.

   Celica quashed such a thought. What a nasty, two faced thought to have about her kind, loving husband. To be thinking of another woman, of someone else entirely for that matter, when he was affirming his commitment to her. Celica looked away and her facade cracked. She shed a tear.

   “I’m sorry, Alm. I cannot tell you simply.” she murmured. “I am lost in my thoughts. I could not begin to tell you for they are so strange and  tangled.”

   Not a lie. That was not a lie, Celica told herself. But it wasn’t the truth either.

   Alm’s eyes fluttered open and with all the misguided good intentions in the world, he replied, “I understand. Take your time.”

   He, truly, did not deserve someone so duplicitous. Someone who so regularly contemplated infidelity. And someone who would commit said infidelity in a heartbeat.

   Celica tried to assuage her conscience that fantasy was not planning. That thinking about something was not the same as doing it. Especially since her contemplation of such activities - running away, kissing, and more - were entirely contained within the vessel of unrealistic yearning. That it was simply incompatible with reality on account of her infidel headspace being so unrealistically charming and homely farmstead but as soon as she saw Faye again, she felt a throb inside herself.

   It had been a year now since their last meal together.

   Alm wanted to make it an annual thing, a banquet to commemorate the tenure of all the different folks and soldiers who had made up the Deliverance army. Yet their company was so gossamer thin despite the bonds of war. They had hardly been in contact with any of these people after the dust had settled. Lukas and Python and Forsyth or Saber and Genny and Atlas. Least of all Faye and the rest of their friends from Ram Village and yet.

   Once they gathered, the ice melted and it was as though mere hours had elapsed since they had seen each other last. It was nice. Comforting, even. They ate, drank, and made merry amongst themselves in the dining hall. Courses of food never seemed to ease up, entrees and mains and desserts all mixed amongst one another with free flowing wine and other nectars. It was hearty and hedonistic.

   Which is why it might have gotten to Celica’s head. It was the first time in a long time where she felt mirth inside her veins, the blood got pumping and for all the wrong reasons. 

   She hung onto every strand of conversation that Faye was apart of desperately. She was spoken over so frequently, her input usually little as with more men at the table, they discussed more men’s business than not but even so. Faye tried to have her voice heard and Celica tried to hear her.

   Celica wanted to get to know her more. Probe her for how her life was going after the war and if she had found her peace and prosperity. Celica was all but manic as she tried to befriend Faye harder than she ever had before because she needed to know.

   Did Faye match her daydream or was she merely in love with an overwhelming urge to run away?

   Either way, Celica got the answers to both when Faye decided she needed a breath of fresh air and since the grounds were so large, even the cloistered gardens poised hidden threats when unguarded, she needed an escort. Celica volunteered all too quickly and so, they were farewelled by the main crowd of the party - and including Alm. He waved them a short goodbye and looked forward to their return ten, twenty, maybe thirty minutes later.

   Faye was awkward as she walked side by side with Celica. Neither woman could recall a time they had actually been one-on-one with each other and so, the atmosphere was as cold as the night air between them. A frosty breeze blew through the gardens, rustling the camellias and evergreen plants that made up the elaborate courtyard. Together, shoulder to shoulder, sneaking glances at one another, they ventured further into the labyrinthian depths of the maze, attempting to make small talk.

   Celica could hardly hear Faye over her thoughts. Faye was going through the calendar, giving Celica the low down on the various crops her and her family were raising at the moment. Or so she thought. She wasn’t listening when all she could hear was her blood drone in her ear.

   Oh, Faye was so cute. Oh, Faye was so hard-working. Oh, Faye was so kissable. The thoughts burned on Celica’s lips.

   “We’ve made it.” Celica announced out of nowhere.

   “So we have.” Faye replied, blinking.

   They rested themselves on a stone bench underneath a gazebo at the centre of the royal maze. Being a fairy tale aficionado, what was a castle without its gazebo hidden in a maze? That’s what Faye joked anyway or tried to. She fidgeted with her fingers.

   “I-I’m glad we’re friends, Celica.” Faye said. “It’s nice.”

   “I’m glad as well.” Celica replied and her mouth dried. Her heart hammered. She didn’t want to be just friends.

   They had all the privacy in the world. They were surrounded by flowers and shrubbery. There was nothing more romantic than a gazebo on a moonlit night. Celica lost her head and so, she swooped on Faye and kissed her, unable to resist her thoughts.

   She kissed Faye and Faye stiffened at the sensation. She could practically taste Celica’s desperation on her breath and she hated it and yet, for Celica, it was everything she dreamed and more. Faye’s lips were soft and supple, she tasted of their joyous meal they had shared at dinner. 

   “Cel-Celica.”

   “Yes?”

   “What are you doing?”

   Faye’s words vibrated on Celica’s lips but her tone of voice… It tugged on Celica’s heartstrings. She sounded scared. Frozen.

   “I-I’m kissing you.”

   “You’re married.”

   Was she though? She hadn’t kissed Alm in months at this point. She was too caught up in her private life inside her head wherein Faye was her heroine of heroines. She tried to kiss harder, she believed deeply against the grain of reality that if she kissed harder, Faye would kiss back.

   “We are both women.”

   “That doesn’t matter to me.”

   That was the nail in the coffin though. Faye recovered from her initial shock and she melted into disgust. She ripped away from Celica and her expression gnarled. Her eyes burned, reviled with Celica’s inappropriate behaviour.

   “I have a boyfriend.” Faye snarled.

   “I-I didn’t know.” Celica replied and she began to break down.

   She hunkered over, hid her face and began to cry. Her heart had stopped in its break. She apologised through tears and reluctantly, Faye patted her shoulder.

   “He’s from another village, he’s tall and burly and makes me laugh.” Faye explained gingerly.

   “He… He sounds lovely, Faye.” Celica said through hiccuping sobs.

   This was humiliating yet illuminating. Her crush had blinded her to reality and what was left of it? The silver lining? The opulence and luxury of being a Queen, she had to be the iron fist inside of a velvet glove, guiding a country forward yet here she was, as a person, brought low by her own stupidity. The idealisation was, well, there was a reason why Faye couldn’t look at her directly and it was not because she thought Celica was pathetic. No, it was all too familiar to her. The proof was in the quiver of her lips. 

   “I-I hope whatever you and Alm are going through… you are able to do something about it. Fix it.” Faye told her.

   Celica heaved. The sob came from the bottom of her throat. Faye, of all people, did not need to comfort her and wish the best for her in her relationship with Alm but she did anyway. That spoke volumes to her kind heart inside her chest but Celica agonised all the more.

   She had no idea how to start over with Alm even now it could not be more than apparent that it was over with even the idea of Faye.��

[i23kazu]

hmmmmmm wld yall want a 3333 flwer event ...

[bgezal]

how would any game dev ever think this is a good-feeling mechanic. is this a joke. is it going to play the worst hand instead. id appreciate that it would mean so much to me

[alms4oblivion]

WIP Wednesday

It's still Wednesday somewhere, right? Got tagged by @the-darkness-does-not-bargain, so here's a little something from the upcoming final chapter of my Bridgerton AU:

“Try this one.”  Beatrice held out a small black candy with the outline of a castle stamped into it. Ava cast her gaze about the confectionary, resplendent with sweet delights in all manner of colors and shapes, and concluded that this offering must be a ruse of some sort, a poisoned “candy” meant to lay low the humorless sort who might favor them and, through dourness of countenance and deficit of congeniality, undermine the bounty and joy that should otherwise prevail in the establishment. “Is it poison?  It’s poison, isn’t it.”  Ava found that, as her comfort in Beatrice’s presence grew, so too did her willingness to speak her mind, however outrageous her thoughts might be at any given moment.  “Or are you trying to intoxicate me, so you can drag me off somewhere without any trouble?” Beatrice smiled at her over her hand, upon the thumb and middle finger of which the object perched, menacingly.  “Perhaps I am only attempting to level the playing field.” “How do you mean?” Beatrice leaned in close and whispered in Ava’s ear.  “You always intoxicate me.” Ava blushed and smiled and shook her head, basking in the warmth that accompanied her when Beatrice, her Beatrice, the Viscount Bridgerton, flirted outrageously with her in public.  She wrapped herself more tightly around Beatrice’s arm, not to prevent any distance between them, but because of a deep-seated desire that she should be closer to Beatrice, impossibly closer.  Impossible in public, in any event. “So it is poison.” Beatrice did not so much as bat an eye.  “You think there’s something fishy about it.  Or would you prefer it to be fish-shaped?  I’m sure they can arrange a custom order.” Ava ducked her head and strove mightily to keep a rein on the smile that blossomed on her lips, though she succeeded only in keeping her teeth from showing.  “Are you trying to impress me with bilingual puns?” A dangerous glint appeared in Beatrice’s eye, and Ava found herself in the mood for risk.  “I always try to impress you,” Beatrice whispered, “especially with my–” She was interrupted, loudly, by Lady Superion clearing her throat behind them.  “When I agreed to chaperone the two of you for this little excursion, I did not do so in order to learn for myself how incapable you are of restraining yourselves in public.  I recognize that you perhaps consider yourselves wed already in your own minds, but please, for the love of God, do try to control yourselves even slightly.”

Tagging in @thistleation, @baez-atwitsend, @pinechips, and @willowedhepatica

[hirokiyuu]

ace/riddle - double agent au

"No, I know how it is," Ace says sympathetically, thumb tracing sympathetic little circles on the back of the girl's hand. There's no trace of artifice in him at all, nothing in his tone or his body language or the gentle slope of his eyebrows to give the game away. Watching through the cameras Riddle is impressed, not for the first time by the thoroughness of the act, even as a part of him wonders what else Ace might be hiding.

[nowis-scales]

Hey, pssst... everyone! Go wish @fayesdiary a happy birthday. They could use some birthday cheer.

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

General Warnings: N/A

Fandoms: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Relationships: Faye/Celica, Faye & Alm, Past Alm/Celica

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern, Love Confessions, School Dances, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Male-Female Friendship, Faye has been to therapy (she's still working on those attachment issues and social skills though!!), The author apologizes for potential minor details in backstories being wrong, Author is loving Echoes but she is very much not done playing

Word Count: 8,313 words

Summary: Graduating university is a momentous occasion in any person's life. Faye cannot be happier to have finally received her degree, though she is nervous about starting her world over in a new way. All she hopes is that she can keep the love of her friends in her life... However, growing feelings for one of those friends' exes is threatening to take that all away.

She can’t have Celica or she will lose Alm. She can’t have Alm or she will lose Celica. Is there really no way she can have both?

[gentleoverdrive]

Once the last bastion has been conquered, the Deliverance prepare to march towards the Rigelian Capital. The Deliverance's field commander and one of his most stalwart allies allow themselves to take it easy before that happens, however.

(Previous oneshot/chapter is here. If you don't want to read it in AO3, see below!)

“Well met, and salutations, Alm.” Hearing those first two words from someone out of his eyesight would often leave the young leader bereft of any energy and force him to grin and bear with what was needed of him; and while he had grown to adapt to his position atop the Deliverance fairly well, part of him simply wanted to avoid the etiquette of it all when it came to people calling him ‘Sir’ or something to the effect. “Well met, and salutations to you too, Clair!” But he was easily able to make that melodious voice out among the crowd, and luckily for him, neither his ears nor the tap on his left shoulder managed to deceive him, for it was none other than the spirited lady who had become his confidante among said upper echelons of the Deliverance, the cheerfulness that populated his reply all the more apparent now because of that. Following her older brother publicly decreeing that this fortress had been successfully conquered was just as good a time as any to find her emerald-haired friend since, for Clair, having these one-on-one talks with the leader of the Zofian effort was one of the few boons she could still count among, what with almost everything else in her day-to-day life having become mostly stripped away to make way for actual necessities. “May we speak once more?” “As always, I would most certainly love to.” The jovial back and forth allowed Alm to hand his quasi-personal blacksmith the remnant parts of his armor so that it could get a lookup and, perhaps, some proper restoration work done ahead of the march to Rigel Castle the army was preparing towards. “Milord.” Clair deigned to offer her hand for Alm to take… “Milady.” …an offer which the boy quickly took her up on. And before long, they were walking away–respectively letting out a hearty chuckle and dignified titter as they did–from the makeshift tents the Deliverance had set next to the front gate for miscellaneous tasks. --------------------------

As they made their way into the main hall, Alm noticed that his walking companion was barely able to suppress a wince. “Wha–-hey! Clair, are you OK?” “I… well, I deign most unsuitable to lie to you, but I did not want you to worry over such a minor affair.” “This goes beyond my being your commander. Answer me: Are you okay?” For a brief moment, with Alm’s face occupying part of what she considered her personal space, the celebrated falcon knight briefly felt that same funny pang in her chest from back when she was still getting acquainted with the Ram Village boy she now called both her friend and commanding officer. “I…” Clair felt the need to find her verbal footing once more. “...I may have flown afoul of a small deployment of archers as I directed my partner into your general direction. Perhaps I should count my blessings, for all but one arrow was the one that managed to graze my right greave.” “I see… will you be able to hold on until we arrive at the mess hall?” “My my! Could it be, perhaps, that there is something you have in store for me?” Seizing upon the opportunity to lighten up both of their burdens, she teasingly poked at his cheek to dispel that frown that currently inhabited his visage. Along with turning the tables and having his cheeks turn a flush red, Alm’s frown quickly gave way to an awkward smile as he offered his arm for her to hold on to. “Heh, I just might!” -------------------------- “So, you saw my scrap against Slayde.”

After finding appropriate seating arrangements upon a relatively isolated table, the young man from Ram Village and the girl from the Zofian Capital had exchanged pleasantries for some time, before the touchy subject resurfaced.

“I most certainly did.”

At that confirmation, Alm guided his eyes away as he took in a deep breath and his clasped hands became ever so slightly shakier as he remembered his violent act of unfettered retribution against the now slain turncoat.

“You do not have to pretend when around me, Alm.” Just in the moment she felt her friend pulling back, Clair placed her right hand upon both of his. “Slayde visited some sort of heinous act upon you or, perhaps, a loved one, did he not?”

“He did.” His reply came swift and almost as though it were instinct, his eyes still casting their sights elsewhere.

“Then say no more.” Clair’s own response came along with her left index flicking the green-haired young man on his forehead. After wincing from the slight sting, Alm directed his attention towards his confidante once more, her bid to regain his attention a success.

“I have known for quite some time how much of a right craven that man was. Some of said experience came first-hand too, no less. You did Valentia as a whole a favor by besting him the way you did.”

Upon hearing those words, a sense of relief flowed through the leader of the Deliverance, both obvious due to his neutral expression soon switching to a sober but genuine smile and the easygoing sigh after he allowed himself a deep breath.

“...a cutting remark from the Queen of High Society herself? Alas for his reputation!” At his sudden retort, both quickly embraced the levity their back-and-forth allowed them, with his open chuckle and her serene titter.

“I thank you, Clair.”

“Perish the thought. You ought to be in as high spirits as possible if we are to have you properly lead us to victory.”

Her refined manner of speech might have made a good show of hiding it, but seeing as though they were all but knocking at the doors of Rigel’s imperial capital, Alm understood her friend’s burning vigor all too well.

“Right you are, as usual.” Alm quickly cleared his throat after those words. “Apropos of what we briefly talked about earlier and if it’s not too terribly imposing, may I see your right shin?”

“Mm? Is this pertaining to my injury?” The falcon knight suddenly felt put on the spot by such a request. At seeing her friend and fellow in arms reply with a quick nod and brief non-verbal grunt, Clair decided that she might as well allow him this ease of mind.

With a slight bit of difficulty, she put her right leg atop her seat to start undoing the armor covering her leg. Fortunately, her armor was relatively light and well cared for, so it came off without much problem, with Clair’s bare leg now in full display as Alm stood up from his seat and walked to her side.

All of a sudden, Clair felt a slight tinge of embarrassment at her current position, even as she knew the boy would not have any untoward intentions.

“Right.” Upon inspecting her injury, the aforementioned boy quickly closed both his eyes and took in a deep breath; a few words which Clair herself did not recognize started coming out of his mouth, and before she was able to put in two and two…

“And… there!” Alm placed both his hands near her injury, with a faint glow appearing soon after, fading before long.

Caught completely unaware, Clair did not even eke out any sort of reaction… not until she noticed that her injury and the fatigue that came with it both were gone.

“W–wait! W–”

The boy probably did not mean to cut her off, but when he exhaled a breath of relief, Clair’s thoughts were unable to be properly put all in one place.

“Would you kindly keep this a secret?”

The combination of her being unable to suppress her surprise at what just transpired and his plea of secrecy to this soon allowed a small bit of frustration to seep through as he walked back to his seat.

“And what, pray tell, was the meaning of that?” She was careful to not raise her voice, lest she were to bring the attention of the rest of the hall down upon their table, but the Zofian noble still felt like an explanation was needed.

At her line of inquiry, Alm realized he needed to come clean.

“You are absolutely right.” Once he seated himself once more, Alm placed the Royal Sword in front of them both.

“At some point after toppling Desaix and recovering this sword, I started hearing… well, not quite sure what it was, but I think something started to change within me as we journeyed further north. To make a somewhat long story short, thanks to sister Silque, Luthier and Kliff, I have been making strides in an attempt to learn healing magic.”

At that confession, Clair’s eyes widened.

“This is still very much a path I am just starting and to properly walk forth, I’m sure. So, as I previously begged of you, if we can keep this a secret for the time being at least, I would very much appreciate it.”

As he finished, Alm winked at her while bringing his left index finger to his mouth.

Clair was never much for mincing words or enjoying sweet nothings. However, she could not help but to admire as the man she had grown strangely close to throughout these hostilities showed her a side of himself he was still trying to prove worthy of.

At that, she revealed an open-hearted smile…

“Ow!” Before ‘chastising’ him for his transgression with yet another light flick to his forehead. Same as the previous flicker, too.

“Such an underhanded, cheeky friend I must have.”

[allovertheplace-writing]

My phone is so slow on tumblr wth my keyboard is always disappearing on here too

I seriously think it's because of the lag caused by tumblr live- since before, when you could snooze and remove it for 7 days, I never experienced the lag

I hope they remove tumblr live, I cannot do this anymore

[nthflower]

Comic books haterism should come to end because I am having fun right now