The meadow outside Askr's castle was bathed in moonlight. Niles, lying down in the grass, couldn't blame Princess Veronica for wanting this kingdom. The only thing missing was Prince Leo.

He noticed someone walking across the field and frowned. He wanted to be alone. His frown deepened when he saw who it was. He was busy stargazing, why should that 'Hero King' come to pester him with his naivety and sickening idealism?

Marth put out his hand as he came up to the thief lying down in the starlit meadow. "Hello! My name is-"

"Marth," Niles finished for him, without bothering to rise or take the hand of friendship extended to him. "Have a nice night."

The annoying smile grew a little. "Thank you. Actually, I came to ask if you would help me with making this night a little nicer."

"Your mistake."

Marth ignored the remark. "Kiran would like to establish rapport among the heroes in our ranks. I wonder if you would be willing to help me bring together heroes who can build bonds of friendship."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I do my liege's dirty work, not Kiran's."

Marth sat down in the grass beside Niles' head and looked up at the starry sky. "I think you will enjoy this work," he said after a pause.

"Think again."

Marth looked over at him. "No. You think again. Imagine two people who are completely incompatible. They would like nothing more than to tear each other apart. Now you come in and highlight their similarities, set up situations that force them to unite against a common foe, and push them into a partnership that they really didn't want and are constantly annoyed by. In fact, not only are they annoyed by each other, they are annoyed because they are actually a good team, despite being certain that they weren't."

Niles had risen to sit beside Marth as the young hero painted this tempting scene. "When you put it that way... It sounds quite pleasurable."

Marth grinned. "I knew you'd think so."

"But I have to ask, why me? I don't normally come to mind when people consider friendship building."

"Oh, I've noticed that you spend a lot of time watching people. I imagine that you know the heroes around here better than I do."

"Hmm. Sounds like you're plenty observant yourself. I'm no longer surprised that everyone's attracted to you."

Marth gave Niles an annoyed look.

The thief laughed. "I believe I've found the first odd couple. I'm afraid I never properly introduced myself. I'm Niles. Former outlaw. Current disgrace." He put out his hand to Marth. "My loyalty belongs to my liege, and my arrows may be Kiran's, but my social skills - or lack thereof - are yours."

The Hero King shook his hand.