Here's my christmas giftfic for Firefly567! A short piece involving Nephenee and Geoffrey with a side a of Calill and dancing. Takes places between chapter 24/25 of PoR
This was really hard for me to write because of the premise itself. Initially, I thought about making a post RD fic, then moving it to around RD P4Ch5, the moved it forward again to P2Ch3, and then finally to PoR Ch24 simply because I couldn't pull together a good premise. A Geoffrey/Nephnee centred fic has limited, if any basis in canon, which means most interactions are based of our musings and imaginations. Not so much a bad thing as I'm used to writing stories where there's a solid grounding in-game, so i'm not sure if I pitched the characters right.
It's not exactly a genre in particular; I mean, a little action to begin with, then a touch of humor, and maybe something romatic towards the end if you squint. I may have twisted the characterisations a little, like making Nephenee a bit more hillbilly than she actually sounds, or the fact that even though Geoffrey's just joined, Calill seems to be quite familiar with him. Geoffrey may be a little too... not serious. I hope it's nothing too serious :). It's not stated where in the year the events take place, but I've taken the liberty of appropriating it to be around yuletide.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem. If I did, Nephenee would have an Iron lance and a Javelin instead of that silly Steel Greatlance in RD.
"General! Men coming from the flank, sir!" yelled an archer. Geoffrey turned in his saddle and sure enough, a group of soldiers were struggling up the side of the hill to reach their position.
"Noted, I'll handle them," as he turned to meet the new threat. "Hold the line! Engage only if they get too close!"
Geoffrey charged down the hill, and threw a javelin at the soldiers, felling one of them. Another one met their end on the end of his lance as he whirled around, fending off the spears and swords of the remaining two soldiers and two myrmidons
One of the myrmidons rushed in, hoping for a quick kill. Instead, Geoffrey blocked his blade with the shaft of his lance before using his horse to kick the soldier in the face. Whirling around again to fend off the other three, his horse slipped on a patch of mud. Geoffrey pulled away in time to prevent his horse from tripping and himself from being unsaddled, but the soldiers had picked up on the mishap and rushed in for the kill.
Suddenly, a halberdier rushed in from the right. With a single sweeping motion, they felled one of the soldiers and forced the other two back. The other myrmidon tried for an overhead slash, but the halberdier blocked it effortlessly before running him through. The last soldier, now outnumbered, turned tail and fled.
"You have my thanks for your timely intervention." He studied the halberdier. Their stance and skill displayed so far were impeccable, if a little stiff. "You don't look like one of the Delbray regulars. Are you part of the allied forces coming to relieve us?"
The halberdier just nodded and pointed south of the river. "General Ike's over that'a way. Last I heard, he was fighting a paladin or something like that. Me and a few others were sent 'round the side, 'cause there were villages that needed tah be warned and there was less of them Daein troops so he thought we might get 'ere faster. Well, I'm gonna go help some of the others and fight mah way down tah where the general is." With that, the halberdier turned around and left almost as fast as they appeared.
"Hmm. I don't recall there being a division with blue armor. A mercenary maybe?"
Putting the thought aside for later, Geoffrey rode back into the fray.
The yuletide celebrations at Castle Delbray were in full swing. Music, mead and merriment abounded plentifully.
Well, as close to full swing as a celebration could be when scrounged together at a moment's notice by the eccentric Count Bastian given the impending threat of a counterattack by Daein forces at any given time. And of course, Ike's insistence that everyone at least keep their armor on in the even that an attack should occur. He'd agreed to a celebration, but put his foot down firmly on the concept of 'dressing for the occasion' as explained by Bastian. Safety came first, after all.
Nephenee was glad, as 'armor' meant her helmet stayed on. She stood against the wall trying to look as much a part of the hall decorations as a blue-armored halberdier could against the backdrop of the cream coloured wall.
"Darling, how many times have I told you? The helmet comes off – especially when we're inside, dear. It's rude," came a somewhat shrill, but familiar female voice next to her. With a swift, singular motion, the woman reached underneath Nephenee's chin, undid the strap and pulled off the helmet.
"Miss Calill! Give me mah helm…" she started as Calill fixed her with a glare. "I mean, please return my helmet. It's embarrassing."
"Tsk tsk, we can't have that now, can we? I've told you already. Be confident! You've got a pretty face, don't be afraid to show it!"
"But I…"
"So there you are," interjected a male voice. "I didn't get a chance to thank you properly earlier."
"And what, pray tell, would you need to thank Nephenee here for, Sir Geoffrey?" Calill asked, turning to Nepheneee with a questioning look.
"Ah jus… I mean, I happened to run into him earlier while we were fighting. He looked like he could use some help," Nephenee said quickly to stamp out any 'ideas' that might have been forming in Calill's head.
Calill turned to Geoffrey. "Oh really now? To think that the great Sir Geoffrey would need saving, and by a girl, no less," she teased.
Geoffrey chuckled. "I'm not invincible, Calill. I do make mistakes from time to time." Turning to Nephenee, "I was also going to take the opportunity to commend you on your stance and skill."
Calill raised an eyebrow. "So, you were observing her? And on the battlefield, no less… My, my, that's rather bold of you, Sir Geoffrey." Before Geoffrey could stammer an emabarassed reply, Calill looked over to the far side of the hall. "Oh, I think Largo is calling for me. Well, I'll leave you two be then."
And with that, she disappeared off into the crowd, taking Nephenee's helmet with her.
Geoffrey coughed lightly. "Well, returning to what I said earlier, thank you for the save, Nephenee. I might not be standing here right now were it not for your timely intervention."
"I-it's no problem. I just did what any fellow soldier would do," she mumbled. Seeing a frown form on his face, she wondered if she'd said anything wrong, and began to fidget nervously. "I'm s-sorry. Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no, it's just that I'm surprised you hide your country accent so well."
"Um…" Nephenee began fidgeting again.
Geoffrey chuckled. "It's okay. I don't mind your country accent. It's more natural anyway."
"How... how did ya know I speak with a country accent normally?" upset that she'd been discovered.
Geoffrey looked puzzled. "Hm? Didn't you speak with an accent earlier on the battlefield?"
It suddenly occurred to Nephenee that she indeed had done so earlier. "Oh. I did, didn't I?" she chuckled nervously, feeling rather foolish.
He looked at her again, the frown returning. "I don't recall seeing your colour or division before. Your armor seems to be standard Crimean Army issue, so you don't seem to be a mercenary either."
"I was part of the volunteer milita that signed up when war broke out," Nephenee explained. "I signed up 'cause it was a way to earn good pay, and I wanted to support Ma in any way I could."
"Ah, so you're part of the local levies then," Geoffery concluded. "It's a pity that you were dragged into the war."
"Yeah, me and Brom sometimes feel completely outta place here. I mean, before this whole thing started, we knew spit about war. I sometimes wonder if we really should be here. I mean, there's plenty of other people fightin' now, and most of 'em are trained soldiers, unlike me and him."
"That is not true," Geoffrey countered. "As I've said before, your skill and stance is to be commended. You fight better than many of the soldiers in the Royal Army. Besides, had you chosen not to fight, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
A slower waltz began to play and people began to move in pairs to the dance floor. Ike had, after much needling by many of his company, asked the Queen for a dance. Bastian was by Lucia's side, spouting poetic prose (something to do with "gracing me with but a single dance"). Kieran had somehow managed to convince Marcia to dance with him, and more-than-tipsy Makalov seemed to be trying hard (but failing) to keep up with Astrid's grace. Mist pulled a reluctant Rolf to the dance floor while her brother was occupied, and Boyd finally gathered up the courage to ask a certain flame-haired paladin for a dance. Tanith did her best not to look irate, as a certain green-haired, newly-promoted paladin was unfortunately responsible for ensuring that the mead flowed (albeit at a responsible rate) throughout the night.
"It's nice," Nephenee commented. "celebratin' Yuletide. Back in mah village we'd all gather together in the town square and celebrate late into the night. It's a little different here, but it's still nice, celebratin' with y'all."
"I concur with that sentiment," Geoffrey agreed. "Now, I apologise in advance if this seems rather forward of me, but would you like to dance?"
"But..." Nephenee stammered, "but I've never danced before! I don't know how tah dance!"
Geoffrey smiled. "Don't worry, I'll lead. Besides, if Makalov and Kieran are doing it, I'm sure you'll manage fine." Still seeing her hesitation, he quickly added, "If you don't want to, then that's okay too. As I said, it was rather…"
"Umm, no, no, I'll accept. Jus' that I don't wanna step on ya foot, if ya know what I mean,"
"In regards to that, we're both wearing armor, so it's not going to hurt even if you do step on my foot."
"Oh."
True to his word, Geoffrey led. At first Nephenee was hesitant, unused to the lighter steps that the waltz required and her proximity with Geoffrey. "Relax," Geoffrey advised. "Your movements are stiff; think of it collectively as a single flowing movement, not one quick step after the other. Yes, just like that. I have to say, you're quite a fast learner, Nephenee."
"N-nah, it's just that these steps kinda remind me of the way I fight, just with less force and less speed."
At this Geoffrey chuckled. "The origins of dancing were initially for warriors to train their bodies, but in the case of the waltz, I don't think that was the intention. Although, it speaks volumes about you fighting style if it's as graceful as this."
"P-please don't tease me,"Nephenee looked down, embarrassed.
"I'm not teasing, I'm serious," he replied. The song ended, and they stepped apart. "You danced wonderfully, especially for your first time, Nephenee."
"Uh, thank you, Sir Geoffrey. It was nice dancing with ya," she smiled, "And, um, Happy Yuletide."
"General Geoffrey! Captain Kieran of the fifth…" came a loud but clear shout from behind Nephenee.
"Well, then, I had best see what that is about," Geoffrey smiled as he began to head off in the direction of Kieran's voice. "Happy Yuletide to you too, Nephenee. And I think Calill was right – you do look better without your helmet on."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Nephenee speechless.
"Well, well, not only did you manage to hold a conversation with Sir Geoffrey alone, you even convinced him to teach you how to dance, eh?" Calill winked as she sauntered over. "You must be the envy of many a woman here."
"Calill! That was a terrible thing to do! Ya just left me alone with Sir… Wait, I thought Largo needed ya for something."
"Psh! Don't be silly, girl, that was just a distraction so I could observe you two secretly. Anyway, you'll be up against some stiff competition… I mean, your rival is the queen after all. Aren't you glad I'm helping you out, hm?"
It took a moment for Nephenee to comprehend the meaning behind Calill's words.
"CALILL!"
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