#it has been very hard not just blatantly telling both of the recipients here that Hey I'm Drawing You Something. but i enjoy surprises

[theshatteredrose]

Suspicious Flowers - Etrian Odyssey Untold 2

Pairings: Fafnir/Flavio

Summary: Someone left flowers at Flavio’s door. And that someone wasn’t Fafnir. And Fafnir isn’t particularly happy about it either…

AN: What can I say? Jealous Fafnir is my new favourite thing~ Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was sunset when Flavio and his guildmates trudged their way back to the inn. After a long and somewhat unsuccessful day in the labyrinth, all he wanted was a shower, a quick bite to eat, and then a decent night's sleep. He was exhausted.

Wordlessly, they all made their way upstairs in single file to the second floor where their rooms were located either next to each other or across from each other. Flavio's room was closest to the stairs, a situation he preferred for it allowed him to sneak out of his room either in the middle of the night to walk away his stress and anxiety, or to slip out in the mornings so not to disturb his still sleeping teammates.

But as they made their way up the stairs, Flavio at the back and Fafnir at the front, there was a sudden pile up, as it were, just in front of the door leading to his room. He looked up when he heard Arianna ask Fafnir if everything was alright. But she only received a minor grunt in return and, surprisingly, Bertrand snorted while Chloe sniggered under her breath.

"What's going on?" Flavio asked with a slight whine in his voice. His room was so close. His shower and bed were only mere steps away.

As he pushed his way to the front, he found Fafnir staring, no glaring down at the floor in front of the doorway with a...pout on his lips?

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Flavio followed Fafnir's gaze. His confusion only grew when he saw what he was looking at. There was a small potted plant of small white flowers on the floor in front of his door. The ceramic pot had a dark pink ribbon tied with a bow around it and there appeared to be a small white card amongst the sweetly smelling flowers.

Flavio blinked at it for a few silent moments before he bent down and picked it up. The flowers were that of baby’s breath, if he wasn’t mistaken. He hadn’t a clue what the flowers meant, but they were quite beautiful and the scent was refreshing.

His first thought was that someone had made a mistake. Got the wrong room number or something. Or maybe someone had been malicious and removed it from its previous location and just dumped it here. He was sure there was a logical explanation for its appearance at his door.

Figuring if there was a name on the card that was hidden amongst the flowers, he could hand it to Hanna and she can find the true recipient of these precious little flowers.

However, as Flavio plucked out the card and flipped it over, his eye widened when he saw his name written in black ink at the top. And there was more written underneath it.

The note was short and to the point. And it didn’t have a name, other than his own of course. No one signed off on the card. No hint of who sent these flowers or why. Just a short sentence. Nothing more.

“What does it say, Sir Flavio?” Arianna prodded eagerly.

Flavio was reluctant to tell them, but felt he would have more control over this…troubling situation if he kept hold of the card and told them directly. He couldn’t handle someone tackling him and ripping the card from him to read it aloud.

“You're warmer and brighter than the sun itself,” Flavio muttered, his cheeks immediately heating up in embarrassment.

“Oh, how charming!” Arianna immediately cooed as she clapped her hands in front of her. “Did they leave their name?”

Flavio shook his head as he abruptly shoved the note into his trouser pocket, preventing anyone from snatching it out of his grip.

Bertrand unexpectedly placed an arm around Flavio’s shoulders before slipping around to hook him around the neck and he tugged him towards him. “Seems like our diligent survivalist has a secret admirer.”

Flavio didn’t know whether to feel surprised or embarrassed and he found his eyes wandering over in Fafnir’s direction. And he found his childhood friend standing stock still, his body tense, and his right eye…twitching irritably.

He, ah, clearly wasn’t happy.

So, his reaction meant…

“From Fafnir’s reaction, he wasn’t the one who arranged for these flowers,” Bertrand unexpectedly whispered into Flavio’s ear, his voice nothing short of teasing.

Flavio felt his cheeks heat up further and he sent the protector a hopefully scathing glare as he pushed away from him in a huff. But the way Bertrand’s lips twitched into a conceited little smirk, his glare wasn’t lethal in any sense.

“Ok, nothing to see here,” Flavio said as he balanced the flowers in the crook of his arm and opened the door to his room. “You can all toddle off to your rooms now. Shoo.”

Arianna giggled into her hands while Chloe smirked that knowing little smirk of hers. “Yes, of course, Sir Flavio,” Arianna said with a smile. “We’ll leave you to speculate who your secret admirer is.”

“It could even be secret admirers,” Chloe added, prolonging the plural.

“Oh yes! Sir Flavio is indeed very precious. He would surely have many who are enamoured with his caring personality.”

“He’s also adorable.”

“Oh Dame Chloe, you are right. Anyone could fall for his sneezes alone.”

“O-ok, that’s enough!” Flavio spluttered loudly. “Off to your rooms now! Go!”

Blushing a beet red, Flavio found his gaze wandering to Fafnir again and he immediately notice Fafnir’s right eye twitch violently once more. He was, no doubt, on the verge of grabbing the potted flowers and tossing them out of the window for the sake of principle.

“Looks like your battles for the day aren’t over yet, kid,” Bertrand said cryptically as he folded his arms over his chest and strolled away.

After bidding him good night and a surprising ‘good luck’, both Arianna and Chloe turned to leave as well. But Fafnir stayed where he was. Right next to the door to Flavio’s room. Positioned in such a way that Flavio would not be able to duck into his room and hide from him.

Heck, even if managed to lock Fafnir out, he would find his way in somehow.

The last thing Flavio needed was for Fafnir to try to clamber in through the window. Especially if he tried to climb in the wrong window. It would be left to Flavio to try to explain to the disgruntled explorer/patron that Fafnir meant no harm.

Instead Flavio sighed aloud as he pushed open the door and stepped inside, Fafnir right behind him.

“Don’t take your jealousy out on some poor, innocent flowers,” Flavio said as he trailed an idle fingertip over one of the small white flowers. “They’ve done nothing wrong.”

Fafnir’s gaze trailed down to look at the flowers, his eyes narrowed and his bottom lip protruding out in a subtle, but very telling pout. It wasn’t hard imaging the swordsman wishing that the flowers would just burst into flames or something.

“You should leave them outside,” Fafnir said, even though he just kicked the door shut behind him. “They’re suspicious.”

“Someone else might stumble into them and damage them,” Flavio returned as he set the flowers down onto the table next to his bed and set about removing pieces of his armour to get himself comfortable. “I’ll hand them to Hanna in the morning. Maybe she can plant them in her garden? They’re lovely flowers after all.”

“I can find you better flowers,” Fafnir unexpectedly said, sounding suspiciously defiant in some way.

Flavio stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Fafnir with an incredulous expression on his face. “You’ve never given me flowers ever.”

For a moment Fafnir looked contemplative, as if hurriedly trying to remember a time he had given him flowers, only for a sheepish, defeated expression to appear on his face a moment later. He quickly pushed that aside with that stoic look of defiance.

“Do you want flowers?” Fafnir asked him before he suddenly took a step forward and pulled Flavio into his arms. His cursed arm immediately wrapped around his waist as the other reached over and immediately slipped into his pocket, the one where he shoved the small white card in.

Flavio immediately squeaked out a surprised noise and reached out to snare Fafnir’s wrist with his hand. “There’s nothing else written on it!” he exclaimed as he tugged Fafnir’s hand out of his pocket and wiggled in his embrace. “And I doubt you’ll recognise the handwriting!”

Unfortunately, Fafnir managed to get a hold of the card and in his clenched hand, abruptly crumbled it out. Honestly, this guy was such a child!

“I could probably write something romantic,” Fafnir muttered as he dropped the crumbled card to the floor and wrapped his arm securely around Flavio’s waist to hold him close.

Flavio was unsure whether he should laugh or grimace. “Please don’t,” he said instead as he rested his hands on Fafnir’s chest.

“I can do romantic.”

“I’m sure you can, but I don’t think I’d be able to handle it.”

“I’m the only one allowed to woo you, right?”

“Yes, Fafnir. You and no one else.”

The corner of Fafnir’s lips twitched into a triumphant smirk. He then suddenly reached up and placed his hand on the back of Flavio’s head, and tugged him toward him so that he could press his mouth against his, smothering his lips in a deep, passionate kiss. Flavio’s eyes widen a fraction and he uttered a soft noise of surprise. But he, of course, made no attempt to push the other away.

Flavio was startled by the sudden action, but not surprised. Fafnir’s jealousy was the huffy, pouty, and possessive kind. He also became ten times clingier.

He wasn’t jealous or protective because he feared that someone would take Flavio away from him. He was annoyed that someone had done something romantic for Flavio. It irritated him that someone tried to ‘woo’ Flavio with him around. And to do it so blatantly. He didn’t like to have someone ‘one up’ him, as it were. He didn’t like show offs.

Honestly, he was such a child sometimes.

Promising himself to roll his eyes in exasperation at Fafnir later, Flavio closed his eyes and leaned comfortably into Fafnir’s arms and allowed for him to kiss him as deeply as he wanted and needed.

A single kiss wouldn’t be enough to subdue Fafnir’s fierce possessiveness and protectiveness towards him, though, and Flavio was already anticipating having aching and sore hips and back in the morning. Walking around without a limp would be extremely difficult. But he would complain about that tomorrow. And maybe even order Fafnir around for a bit, to have him dote on him for the day to make up for it.

But…god help the poor soul who gave him the flowers should Fafnir ever find out.

[kyloren]

Regarding the Finale and the upcoming Season Two

So, I feel like the finale’s purposeful hinting that Jughead’s possible joining of the Southside Serpents might create tension between him and Betty — given that she obviously gives him a concerned look when he puts on the oh, la la~ jacket, which understandably dampens his spirits some, more on that later — is a sort of red-herring.

The same way the pilot queer-baited viewers, the finale is V→A→B→J-love-square-baiting the audience and stirring up drama just to keep us guessing until Season Two premiere.

The finale established Varchie and Bughead as canonical ships, with the former going from semi-dating to actual dating, and the latter being a solid supercarrier (is it? or is it still a dreadnought?). And while sure, both vessels can hit turbulent waters and, hey, Riverdale is an adaptation of Archie comics, so V/A/B tension is expected (although I have an inkling the A/B part of it might be just from Archie’s side) — we have been hit over the head so many times with the Jughead/Betty and Archie/Veronica soulmate parallels that I honestly think that the show-runners intend those two ships to be eventual endgame. Please, please let Bughead be endgame. #CrossingFingers #HopingNoOneJinxedIt.

But back to my original point; it being that I have a few theories regarding the Southside Serpents storyline. One of which is that Jughead will eventually accept being a Serpent — hopefully with Betty’s support, but maybe without — in order to uncover the truth about the drug-ring in Riverdale and clear the Serpents of the allegations. He and Betty are too much of Intrepid Reporters to let that one go. Plus, Betty’s speech to her mother and then later to the town hinted she will take the truth by its dirty underpants and drag it into the light. 

Maybe he won’t even join them in any official capacity, and his putting on the jacket was just the show-runners teasing the audience, but it was a very clear symbolic gesture that his allegiance is now with the Serpents and the Southside, and he will take their side over that of the people of the…err, I guess the Northside…? (Southside is still part of Riverdale, right? Does the better off side of town have a name?) 

Somehow I feel like Betty will join him on the whole support the Southside…side. *face-palms* being real eloquent here. But as much as I would want a serpent!Bughead with Betty going all ‘Full Dark, No Stars’ on everyone’s asses, I am fairly sure Jughead will ultimately return to Riverdale High after an indeterminate amount of time at Southside High. As much as the Southside accepts him, Betty was right in saying he is Riverdale and he will return to where he is needed soon enough. 

Plus, from a meta point of view, it is clear the entire core four is having some sort of Coming of Age storyline with Betty becoming a more confident person who stands up for what she believes in, Jughead coming to terms with his insecurities and finding both a place and the people he belongs with, Archie’s whole find-yourself arc, and Veronica unlocking a well-rounded-person achievement and becoming better, just as she promised to herself to do. So, Jughead’s season two storyline will obviously bring him back to Riverdale High. 

All in all, the show-runners are trying for Romeo&Julet, Westside Story vibe for Bughead in the finale, but ultimately I think it is Varchie that will play out the star-crossed lovers theme in Riverdale, given the blatant allusions to the Hiram Lodge-Fred Andrews antagonism, while Bughead will have a more Neutral Good take on the Bonnie&Clyde-esque Battle Couple of Justice and Truth.

If it wasn’t blatantly obvious already, I could probably gush about Bughead moments in Sweet Hereafter for another 3k words, but I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t. Though I will say this: hand-holding while running through the forest is a pretty underestimated romantic gesture. And now, I’ll try to reign in the Yes, that is my OTP! vibes. 

Tangential observation, but I think the reason why Jughead was #WhenHeSmiles over the jacket was because it was concrete proof, along with the whole biker-gang spreading out at his doorstep, that what FP told him — “Serpents take care of their own” — wasn’t just him wishing on a star and stubbornly holding out on the law, but actually adhering to a code. So, Jughead got validation that his father wasn’t just being a stubborn moron and screwing himself over by not taking the deal, but was “sticking by his own”.

Side-bar: Who else teared up a bit when FP told Jughead in a roundabout way that he was proud of him; please, raise a hand? 

Also, I think that Archie and Cheryl might not have a romance arc, as much as a substitute-sibling arc where a lot of Cheryl’s unresolved feelings regarding Jason will be projected onto Archie, who actually is a legit good person and probably is the best choice to be their recipient. I just really want those two to bond, okay? 

In the same line of thought: Poor Cheryl. She needs a hug and some decent friends because her face in that scene where she was talking to Jughead and Veronica was about to ask her if she was okay, but was interrupted by Archie (or was it Kevin?) who ran there to tell them about Betty’s locker, well, it was just heartbreaking. Seriously #GiveCherylAHug2k17. 

I’m fairly sure that Hiram is behind Fred’s shooting. That’s the reason why Hermione was so keen on buying him out; she was trying to protect her friend-slash-ex-lover from her husband, who, need I remind you, had already used violent underhanded tactics against Fred before.

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Hiram is involved in the drug trafficking and Clifford landing him in jail was his attempt at cutting Hiram out of it. But it might be just me. I tend to assume Hiram has his fingers in all the pies. All of them.

P.S. Can we go back to Jason, pls? In one of the first episodes Archie said Seventeen-years-old and how he will be remembered?, and when you look at Jason in hindsight, that line can’t help but break my heart. 

Although I tend to think of Jason as a Base Breaking Character given how much of his characteristics are expositioned via other people’s subjective opinions of him, so he is very much subjected to Alternative Character Interpretation, he turned out to be a pretty solid kid. I mean, I used to think Cheryl was just waxing poetic about her bro-bro, viewing him through rose-coloured glasses and all that, a point that seemed to have been confirmed in episode 3 with the score-book, but…maybe he wasn’t a wolf in sheep’s clothing like I assumed.

The kid got his girlfriend pregnant, wanted to do the right thing by her, loved her enough to defy his family (Fridge Logic moment, but if Jason and Polly’s babies are ultra-super-Blossom, something Mama Blossom was totes okay with, then why didn’t the Blossoms want him to date Polly? I get why Coopers didn’t want that. Hal is anti-incest and Alice is very anti-Blossom, but C&P are very cool-with-casual-incest parents, so Jason dating Polly wouldn’t have been that horrible a thought for them to swallow.), and started being a drug mule in order to get the funds for them to run away. Which, I guess, was how he figured out Clifford’s involvement with the drug trafficking. Maybe he wanted to do something about that, too; he did have drugs stashed in his getaway car. Jason wasn’t the most upstanding citizen, but he tried to do good and was killed for it. …just…poor kid.

P.P.S. Also, slight confusion over here at my end. Let me get this straight. Jason got drugs A from the Serpents to move them somewhere. Since FP claims they don’t deal with hard stuff, drugs A might be marijuana or something. Somehow Jason found out that Blossoms traffic drugs B, which might be cocaine or something equally hardcore. The same drugs he had stashed in his getaway car. But since the show insists on calling all drugs just ‘the drugs’ and using virtually identical packages in their footage, I am still not sure if drugs A≠drugs B. Give me evidence, I beg you. 

Rant over? Rant over.