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This was written for Sardonic Kender Smile for the Christmas Fire Emblem Exchange on Livejournal... I hope that that you enjoy it, as well!
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Fire Emblem 8:
"Let It Snow"
by Avi
Artur sat by the window of the inn, and sighed. It had been three days since he and Lute had been stranded here, thanks to the unexpected blizzard that had suddenly come upon them while travelling up north.
Fortunately, they were passing through a village just as the storm hit, and were able to find lodgings at the local inn. There were worse places to weather a snowstorm; the inn was solidly built, with comfy beds, and hearty food. The only concern that Artur had was that he might run out of money to pay the innkeeper before it actually stopped snowing...
And then there was the problem with Lute. Ever since they had arrived at the inn, the girl had shut herself up in her room, and hadn't left it once. Artur had knocked at her door a couple of times, but she hadn't replied; he was certain that she was totally absorbed in one of her books, as usual. At any rate, he made sure that meals were sent up to her room; since the dishes were left outside her room every morning, he took comfort in knowing that she still remembered to eat.
Artur was used to such behaviour from Lute... Yet despite that, he still craved her company; she was the only familiar face that he knew in this place, and being stuck in the inn for three days made him long for human interaction. Granted, there were other patrons moping about the inn, but since most of them were surly from being stranded by the storm, they seemed disinclined to chat with anybody else.
So, this was how Artur had found himself sitting alone in a corner, in the common room of the inn. Apart from him, there weren't many other people in here, and the few that there were were crowded around the crackling warmth of the huge fireplace. Not wanting to disturb the other guests, Artur opted to sit by a window, and stare out at the heavily falling snow.
Artur sighed again, as he idly traced the frost patterns covering part of the window. He wondered what Lute was up to, right now...
"You know, that type of frost forms when a window is exposed to very cold air on the outside," said a clear, concise voice behind him. "Then the water vapour condenses on the glass, forming the icy patterns you see on the window."
Artur smiled. "I always liked to think it was because of the frost pixies painting pictures on the window," he said, without looking around.
"I suppose that's a reasonable explanation as well," conceded Lute.
As Artur turned to face her, he was surprised to see that she was holding a pair of cups, both filled with hot liquid. As she handed one of the cups to him, he caught a familiar whiff of fragrant steam.
"It's peppermint tea," explained Lute. "I had a few extra leaves in my bag, and the innkeeper was kind enough to brew me some hot water."
"Thank you," said Artur, rather touched by the gesture. He blew the steam off the cup, and took a hesitant sip. "And here I thought you only came to see me, because you ran out of books to read."
"Well, there's that too," admitted Lute, and Artur chuckled.
"Same old Lute," he said, but with a smile. Artur took another glance at the falling snow outside. "I still recall the last time you brought me peppermint tea... Do you remember, Lute?"
"Of course," she replied. "It was during that unusually warm winter, when you were expressing a desire for it to snow... So I attempted to fulfill your wish."
"Yes, but by taking a bucket of crushed ice from cold storage, and then dumping it on me when my back was turned?"
"It took me forever to crush that ice, and carry it up from the cellar," said Lute, sounding a tad petulant.
"I do remember the icy water dripping down inside my collar," commented Artur, with a bit of a shudder. "I appreciate the sentiment, though... And you did bring me some hot tea, after I caught a chill from that little incident."
"It was a miscalculation on my part. I didn't think prolonged contact with the crushed ice would have such an adverse effect on your health."
"You always did have a bit of a blind spot when working on one of your so-called 'experiments', Lute," said Artur, with a wry smile. "Do you recall that one heavy snowfall one year, when you wouldn't come out of the cold because you were checking if all the snowflakes were unique?"
"I didn't have a big enough sample of snowflakes to confirm if the theory was sound," explained Lute calmly. "They kept melting on my gloves."
"And when we finally did get you inside, you ended up bedridden with a cold for days."
"That's true. Yet you visited me every day, and one time, even brought me a pot of hot peppermint tea."
"Did I?" Artur blinked. "You're right, I did. I had completely forgotten about that..."
"I didn't," said Lute simply. "My symptoms cleared up completely after I drank that tea; that why I did the same for you, after you caught that chill."
"I'm touched that you remembered that, Lute." Artur looked up, to find himself gazing into Lute's frank stare. As Artur felt himself blush, he hastily turned around to look out the window again; to cover his embarassment, he found himself changing the subject.
"You know, I always did like winter," mused Artur. "The pure white snow blanketing the countryside... I know a lot of people don't like snow, especially during weather like this, but even the land needs to sleep, before it awakens again in the spring."
"I enjoy winter too, even with the stormy weather," commented Lute. "A blizzard in all its fury is quite impressive, don't you think? Especially if it turned into a snowstorm that could rip through a little village like this like paper..."
Artur gave Lute an odd look. "To be honest, I'd prefer not have that happen here," he said.
"Still, it would be impressive to watch, don't you think?"
"But not be in the middle of..."
"I suppose you're right," admitted Lute. She looked so despondant that Artur actually felt a little sorry for her. He placed a comforting hand over one of her own.
"But even though we're snowed in at the moment, I'm just glad that I'm stuck here with you, Lute," said Artur, with a smile.
Lute blinked in surprise. "I'm not quite sure why, but I feel the same way, Artur," she admitted.
The two then turned towards the window, to watch the swirling flakes of snow, together.
END
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I hope Lute doesn't come off as too thoughtless in this story; she always struck me as one of those confident, super-intelligent types that lack a bit of common sense; not intentionally malicious, but well-meaning, in their own peculiar way. ;)