#yes i will crosspost this to ao3 because goodness gravy there isn't enough ferdigard stuff anywhere and i aim to CHANGE THAT

[onewingedsparrow]

@louwhose Thanks for the tag!!! I really wanted to do Ferdigard for this :)

Tagging @zeldaelmo @zeldadiarist @telemna-hyelle and anyone else!

~ Edelgard's eyes often blazed with ferocity when Ferdinand was in proximity, whether the duel was physical or verbal, but the ire in her gaze this time was a sniper's shot straight at the high doorframe above them both. "Who dared to place that silly thing here?" "If I must make a wager, I would say it was Dorothea," Ferdinand said, with a nervous chuckle. "That is, to say, the odds are not unlikely." "Then I must speak with Dorothea at once. The war room is no place for such frivolous distractions. I will not permit the Strike Force to be hampered in their strategizing!" Edelgard leapt to assault the decor, once and for all. She missed, by a clear inch or two.

The sharp thud of her boots hitting the floor created no visible shockwave, yet, somehow, set Ferdinand's heart a-rattling all the same. He bit back a smile as her glower intensified. If Faith or Reason could be cast with a scowl, he had no doubt hers would blast with alacrity and pierce the plant's berries till they dripped with scorned blood. Never to be bested by a failed first attempt, Edelgard jumped again. Ferdinand had to admit that she got closer that time; her fingertips brushed the grievous leaves. This small victory was not enough, however. If Edelgard's long hair wasn't up in her signature coils, he had no doubt she would have flipped it. "No matter. I will find Hubert." "If it vexes you so," Ferdinand said, inflection rising like a query, "then allow me to assist you." Edelgard narrowed her eyes, clearly expecting some sort of tease about height superiority as he reached the doorframe with ease and delicately tugged the mistletoe loose. He kept quiet then, however, not trusting himself to withhold his true thoughts. "Behold, Edelgard," Ferdinand said instead, daring to grin as he took a light bow and presented her the spoils with a flourish. "A gift for your worst enemies. Let us make haste and send a team of scouts into Fhirdiad, and bid them hang this in secret above their war room door. To distract them from their strategizing, of course." Edelgard's eyebrows lifted at last, and he felt pride bloom in his chest when she traded her glower for a small, sheepish smile at the silly plant. "We can certainly hold onto that idea." She prepared to take the mistletoe from his waiting hands, but when their fingers touched, he felt her motion pause. Then suddenly she was no longer looking at the plant, but at him, and though the scowl had dissipated, the power of her gaze was no less fervid or powerful. Ferdinand swallowed. "I have no need for this," Edelgard said, lightly. "Save to burn, if it strikes me. Why are you giving it to me?" "Its role may well be a distraction in war," Ferdinand said, and attempted to untighten his throat and breathe deeper into his lungs as Dorothea had instructed. "But, when the war is over, there will be time again to...to appreciate the joys of a peaceful time. So...so then, would it not be rash to burn away the living symbols of the very peace we fight for? Perhaps there is...a place, yet, in the future, for the frivolous...and the silly things." Her mouth opened slightly, but no words came to challenge. He longed to close the distance, to touch her face, to hold her near and kiss her as deeply as he had loved her for the past five years. instead, he pressed the mistletoe into her hand, and gently closed her fingers over it. "I give it to you for whatever purpose you see fit," Ferdinand whispered. "Do as you wish." Then he left through the doorway from whence he had come; and he needed not look back to know Edelgard's gaze yet followed him. ~

Can we do a thing?: Fanfic Writers, your main character and the love interest are caught under the mistletoe. What happens next? 👀

Tagging @louwhose, @coruscantiprincess, @xqueenybee, @psychicbluebirdmiracle, @precariousrelic