Come one, come all, to this fabulous spectacle that is both my return to writing after a mildly long break, and, more importantly, my gift to Sentury, courtesy of the Fire Emblem Headquarters Secret Santa! Merry Christmas, everyone! And without further ado, let us begin!
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"Tell me, Matthew. Why do you spend so much time with Serra? There must be a woman better suited to someone like you, hm?"
Matthew shrugged. "I don't really know. Sure, she's annoying, and she expects me to constantly come at her every beck and call, and her voice is grating, to say the least… You know, Sain, you're question's not helping."
Chuckling quietly, Sain shook his head. "I'm terribly sorry, then. But I think I know how you feel. Caring for a woman who seems so very different from yourself… It's quite an odd sort of relationship."
"Yeah…" Matthew looked out at the mountains. "But it's not necessarily bad."
"No, it most definitely isn't."
Looking over his shoulder at the faint light of the campfire, Matthew was unable to hold in a sigh. He jumped slightly when Sain's hand landed lightly on his shoulder.
"Go spend some time with her. I'll be able to keep watch on my own."
"Well…alright." Matthew stood up and brushed his cape off. "I'll make it up to you at some point." Hurrying toward camp, he rethought what he was doing. Heading straight for Serra was essentially the exact opposite of what he would normally do. But right now, that was all he wanted.
It wasn't like him at all. But he didn't mind one bit.
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"Serra."
"Hm?" Turning around, looking faintly surprised, Serra gave him a quizzical stare. "Matthew, shouldn't you be keeping watch with Sain?"
Matthew shrugged slightly. "He said he could handle it."
"I see. So then, why are you here? Just to speak with me? Of course, that would be a perfectly valid reason to be here. I am, after all, quite the person to speak with."
"Yeah…sure." Matthew was beginning to remember why he didn't enjoy talking with her often.
"Ah, so you admit it! Well, that's quite nice to hear from you, though I shouldn't be surprised. It's impossible not to enjoy holding a conversation with me, isn't it?"
"Sure." It was getting old to hear her go on like this all the time.
Serra continued speaking, apparently with no end in sight. "So, was there anything in particular you wished to talk about? There's certainly quite a bit. For instance, have you seen Lyndis and Kent lately? They seem to always be spending time together. I'm certain that something is happening between the two of them, and quite frankly it's something that should be looked into much more deeply, wouldn't you sa-"
Matthew had needed to shut her up. He couldn't take it anymore. He'd just gone with the first thing that came to mind.
In hindsight, such a bold move was probably a poor choice in such an open area. He had no idea if anyone else was actually looking, but it didn't matter, because the image of his lips on hers for even a moment would be enough. He quickly separated from her, staring at the ground. "…You need to shut up sometimes."
Serra stared at him, deep red, for several seconds, before smirking slightly and running a finger down his cheek. "You know, Matthew, a simple 'Please quiet down, Serra' would have been more than enough. But I can hardly complain."
"…Remember what I just said? This is one of those times."
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Merry Christmas, Sentury! I hope you enjoyed it!