Author's Notes
This takes place after the game is finished. That's something the reader should know before reading!
And by the way, this is written under the assumption that only men can hire mercenaries and that Farina has a contract specifically for female mercenaries. This is probably not true in-game, but that doesn't matter.
Contract Woes
"What is the meaning of this?" Farina asked Eliwood, clearly annoyed at him. "Fiora says you want me to go with you to the Hootenanny Ball tonight? No way."
Farina's answer disappointed Eliwood, which surprised Farina. As he lowered his head in regret, he answered, "well, I heard from Fiora that you didn't have a date for tonight. Since you and her have officially become mercenaries in the employ of Pherae, you simply don't seem like yourself anymore. Almost like... you miss the thrill of being a free spirit? Perhaps you merely need some cheering up."
Farina simply shrugged off the question. "The money was enough to keep us away from the uncertainty and danger of other jobs for the rest of my life. It was the smart choice. Plus, the juicy loyalty payments for exclusively staying in Pherae were too good to pass up."
"What's wrong with having a good time with a friend?"
"Well, I also have no contractual obligation to go with you," Farina mumbled. "I'd rather just go out for drinks by myself and count my earnings for the year afterwards. Besides, I can't make any gold at this ball."
Eliwood raised an eyebrow at Farina's comment before he pulled out a large stack of paper from his pocket. "Actually, page 103 of your contract states that you do have that possible obligation."
"What?" Farina gawked, and one glance at the page in question revealed the answer quickly:
"If the employer feels that spending non-combat time with the mercenary is necessary to increase their effectiveness in battle, the employer has the right to do so."
Farina pouted over the printed words. It seemed stupidly irrelevant to her to go to such an occasion, especially when such an occasion had no possibility of making her a few extra gold. But a contract is a contract. "Hmph. Sure, you can go to the word of the contract. It's not like there's any benefit to me, though. There's nothing else in there that I would have to worry about."
Eliwood frowned at the comment, and flipped to another page in the contract. "I... actually hoped you wouldn't find this out, but... I crossed a few things out in your contract that would have been..."
"Give me that!" Farina shouted as she yanked the contract out of Eliwood's hands. She watched angrily as Eliwood very, very lightly blushed at her act, and then her eyes filled with horror as she read the sections Eliwood crossed out:
"When needed, the mercenary may do mundane tasks for the employer."
"The mercenary is obligated to be a lower class than the employer. Any treatment of them as equal partners is not allowed."
Farina's face turned white as she read the final crossed out section:
"The mercenary MUST take care of the needs of the employer on a daily basis. This includes intimate, carnal, and sensual needs if wanted by the employer. Any pain, displeasure, or mental anguish the mercenary may receive as a result are merely 'part of the job' and must be accepted without complaint. Mercenaries doing these deeds have no right to be treated gently and the employer has absolutely no obligation to treat the mercenary that way on their part."
"If I hadn't noticed those things, and if either of us refused after I signed it, it could cause turmoil in the relationship between Ilia and Lycia," Eliwood recollected from his memory as he sighed in sadness. "Even though it's horrible and unfair, a contract is a contract, and it cannot be revoked by the employer until either party dies or after one month has passed. Soldiers would be going to an unnecessary war because of something so ridiculous... Fiora never had this problem in her contract..."
As she read over the words of the contract again, she realized the problem; the contract was an old issue! That meant that a newer contract had been created and made the old one obsolete, yet still usable. Clearly, she had given Eliwood the wrong contract; the new contract contained much fairer rules for the employer and the mercenary, and contained absolutely nothing about fulfilling "intimate, carnal, and sensual" needs of the employer. In fact, the new contract would not allow such a thing.
And yet... he went through the entire thing and crossed out those horrible things... for me...
Guilty over her earlier words, Farina smiled at Eliwood and said to him, "I'll meet you here tonight before sunset, and we can go together to the ball."
Eliwood smiled along with her, and as they both turned around to leave, both remembered something important to say... and, by accident, met their lips together into an accidental kiss. After a moment of shared excitement, they broke off from each other, both surprised at what just happened.
Smirking, Farina said, "Well, that's certainly not prohibited in the contract, is it? That was my first kiss! You took it from me!"
"It was mine too," Eliwood squeaked, and he blushed slightly. "That was... wonderful. Thank you, Farina, even if it was an accident. Can we... share another one?"
"Uh, I thought you crossed off..."
"Page 157."
Eyebrow raised, Farina flipped to the page in question, and then giggled to herself when she read the first section, not crossed out by Eliwood:
"If the employer wishes, he may ask the mercenary for as many kisses as he desires."
As Farina recalled again Eliwood's unselfish actions regarding the contract, she grinned and gave him a real kiss, and this time they held it for a much longer duration than the first. "Just this once!" she reasoned.
However, her racing heart told her that that may simply not be the case. Especially if Eliwood decides to always refer to the contract whenever they speak to each other...
THE END
Author's Notes
This fic is for Tom-ato13! He gave me a HUGE list of people to write for, and he said to pick one or two of them. This is the second of the two I picked. The first was Why Did I Agree? with Hector and Serra. I still have to make an actually serious attempt at Forde and Eirika as well in the future, which isn't part of the earlier arrangement!
It was tough to wrap my head around the explanation for why all of this did happen in the story, but I think that in the end it was explained sufficiently enough. Hootenanny was a hilarious word to use, by the way. :p
It's been hard to find time to write lately since I've gotten a job, so while I'm not superbly impressed by the story itself, I don't know what else I could have added. Sorry if that bothers anyone!
The Kissing Booth poll has resulted in a tie, so if you haven't voted on my poll yet, please do so! The results (if the tie is broken) will be announced on my next chapter of Faithful, which is coming up next! Eventually they'll be announced in AGOH as well.