Friendship Bracelets

"Ah, Delthea."

She turned. Luthier ventured towards her, his ponytail flapping and his face scarily not serious. He stopped suddenly, realizing she was staring at him, and tried to suppress his grin. However, when he got to her, he couldn't help but beam – so clearly, something was amiss.

"What's wrong with you? You're smiling." Delthea narrowed her eyes. "You never smile."

"Delthea," Luthier said, "you will never guess what I managed to obtain by bartering with the shopkeep!"

"Uh-huh." Delthea crossed her arms. "Something boring?"

"Er… I just asked you not to guess. Why did you?" Luthier pulled a book out from underneath his garb. "And no, it's not boring - it's entertaining. Delthea, it's a book. I found a book."

"Congratulations," she said dryly. "No one's ever found one of those before."

"I think they have, actually. Regardless, it's not just any book – it's a book of activities friends can do together! I now have things to do with Alm, my very first friend."

"Uh huh." She raised an eyebrow. "And you're CERTAIN you won't drive him crazy with…whatever your book says to do?"

Luthier scoffed. "Don't be preposterous! Why would my friend not want to do friend things with me?"

"Well," Delthea said, "maybe if he wasn't actually your fri…"

She trailed off. The smart thing would be to not be TOO mean. He was…like a puppy. Break his heart, and he wouldn't stop moaning until someone (read: Delthea) fixed it.

A 22-year-old, dumb, stupid puppy.

"What?" Luthier asked.

She forced a smile. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Tell me, what are some of this book's ideas for, uh, friendship?"

He lit up. "Oh! Well…" Turning a few pages in, he held the book up to her, grinning widely.

"I never learned to read regular books, Lu…" said Delthea, sighing. "Only tome script, dummy."

"Oh." He lowered the tome. "Right. I must have been so excited that I forgot. My apologies."

"Uh-huh. Just tell me what it says."

He cleared his throat and began to read. "When one is introducing themselves to a friend, they must first…" Luthier frowned. "No… Alm and I are unquestionably past the stage of introducing ourselves. I need an activity we can do together - a friend activity.

Ah! Here we are: trust falls. To test one's friendship, friends often perform trust falls with one another. One friend stands on a high platform, and the other catches the first while standing below."

Luthier looked up from the book. "Well, that seems simple enough. I'm going to see if Alm is willing to fall on me!"

"Look. Lu?" Delthea put her hands on her hips. "Instead of that, why don't you, I don't know, help him with chores or something? Seriously, I'm sure he'd appreciate it much more than some stupid trust fall. Hell, even talk about girls or something. Seriously, ANYTHING but the trust fall."

"Delthea!" Luthier scolded. "Please, refrain from using that type of language. An appropriate alternative is heck."

"Do you want me to help you, or do you just want to scold me?"

"Not if you intend on using language like that, young lady."

"Ughhhhh. I try to be nice and help you, and THIS is how you repay me? Can you not scold me for ONE conversation?! Seriously, just one. It'd be a miracle."

"Please calm down. I only asked for you to not use that type of language in my presence. Don't take it so personally."

She huffed. "It certainly sounded like scolding."

"Yes, well… It was not intended that way. Now, will you continue to assist me?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Lu, that trust fall is a bad idea. You're gonna hurt yourself. What if Alm fails to catch you? You could, like, break your hip!"

"Oh… Hm. If that's the reason you didn't want me to do it, you should have simply said so. Thank you for your concern."

"Anyway, do you want some other ideas or what?"

"Certainly," Luthier said. "Tell me anything else you can think of."

"Um…" Delthea stuck her tongue to the side of her mouth. "You could make a friendship bracelet. I remember I used to make those with my friends when I was a kid."

"A friendship bracelet…" He stroked his chin. "Intriguing. Do go on."

"Okay, so…" Delthea paused. "Well, it's like a bracelet made out of fibers. Little kids make them for their best friends. You give one to your best friends, and they make their own for you. It's like…a gift exchange kind of thing? You just need to braid some rope into a little bracelet. It's so easy, even you could do it."

"One can be...best friends with another?" Luthier's eyes lit up. "Does this mean Alm is my best friend, since I have no others?"

"I…" Delthea paused. "I guess…?"

"That's absolutely fantastic! Delthea, my dear sister, I shall make a friendship bracelet for Alm! If he accepts it and makes one for me, then we shall truly be the best of friends!"

"Riiight…" Delthea said. "Listen, you're sure you're not taking this whole thing too seriously? You don't want to scare Alm off. Maybe you should just go out for ale or something? I'm pretty positive that's what adults do for fun."

"Ale?" Luthier frowned. "Is he old enough to drink?"

"He beheaded a man earlier today, Lu. I'm gonna say it doesn't matter."

"Well, yes. However, Zofia does have laws in place to make certain that those who drink are fit to. I sincerely doubt he will be irked if we make bracelets together, Delthea."

"You're insane. Look, just…just go make your stupid bracelets. But don't come crying back to me if he thinks you're a nutter."

"Be seeing you, Delthea."

Luthier found the leader of the Deliverance in the center of the village, talking to Clive. He watched the two of them for a few minutes, observing how they conversed. It seemed that Clive nodded quite often – most likely, Alm was clearly telling him something - perhaps enemy information or something similar. After a moment, Clive exited, his fist clenched. That was a sign of anger, Luthier realized. He wanted to approach cautiously, lest Alm think he was also angered at him.

Silently and steadily, Luthier walked up to Alm. He tapped him on the shoulder, and Alm jumped up.

"GAH! LUTHIER!"

"Hello, Alm."

"Oh gods!" He put his hand on his breast. "Thank gods… It's only you, Luthier! You scared the living sunshine out of me! I… S-sorry."

"Ah," Luthier said. "Sorry about that. Just trying to be careful." He put on a steadfast face, and a free hand on Alm. "Alm, I'll have you know that I'm not angry at you."

"R-right… I…don't see why you would be?"

"Oh." Luthier removed his hand. "Clive seemed rather livid, and I wanted to make sure you knew I was not."

"Clive…has reason to, Luthier."

"Oh."

Both stood silent for the better part of ten seconds.

"Is there something I can help you with? I'm kind of…busy."

"Well, er…" Luthier could feel his chest pumping. Gods, this was much more difficult than he had anticipated – when in the presence of a friend, his heart had started beating rapidly. Why was he so nervous? All Alm could do was reject him, and tell him he wasn't actually a friend, and…oh. Yes, that was a rather unsettling thought, wasn't it? That would probably be why.

"Alm, I wanted to confirm. I once asked you if you were my friend, and you nodded. Would you like to solidify that bond?"

"Oh," said Alm. "I, uh… What does that entail, exactly?"

"Why, making a friendship bracelet, of course!" Luthier handed the book to Alm. "According to this book, there is no better way to exemplify the trust of friendship than with a bracelet we make ourselves."

"Ah, I see…" Alm said. "I have been looking for something to take my mind off of…her… Yeah, that sounds like a plan, Luthier."

"So…you accept?" Luthier asked.

"Of course," said Alm. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

Luthier's heart leaped with joy - Alm had called him his friend! The feeling was mutual!

"Oh, happy day!" said Luthier. "Wait here! I shall fetch the twine!"

"Geez…" Alm scratched his neck. "Well, it'll be something to distract me. Hopefully he won't take too long."

Luthier walked around the soldiers' encampment at a brisk pace. Surely there ought to be rope somewhere nearby.

He'd been in such a rush, he'd forgotten twine for the bracelets. How foolish – he wouldn't make such a mistake again.

"Excuse me," asked Luthier, tapping a man on the shoulder. The stranger turned around, his face stern and his eyes lifeless.

Luthier recognized this man – this was Clive, the man that'd been talking to Alm earlier. He had been…angered, had he not? Luthier wondered why.

"Could you point me in the direction of rope?" Luthier asked.

"How would I be aware?" Clive said. "Find it yourself."

"Oh. I…see."

Clive walked off.

"Thank you kindly!" Luthier called.

Clive ignored him.

Well. Clive HAD seemed rather curt. Hm.

Luthier supposed he should try and find the village's healer. Perhaps she carried something for fastening bandages to wounds.

He scanned the houses, and found one that had its door open; an elderly man was entering. Perhaps that was where the healer resided. He started to venture towards it, but was interrupted by a strange sound.

"Meow."

"Hm?" Luthier looked around. "Did someone say something? Hello?"

"Mrow," said an orange cat next to Luthier's feet, tilting its head curiously. It looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, hello there," Luthier said, bending down. "You must be one of the villager's pets. Good heavens, you are cute. May I pet you?" He reached a tentative hand out.

The cat sniffed him. After conceding he was not a threat, it then rubbed its head against Luthier's hand.

Luthier smiled, gently rubbing the cat's cheeks. It reached its head up, and Luthier rubbed its neck; he could feel the cat purring. Clearly, it liked the attention.

"Would you like to come with me?" Luthier asked the cat.

The cat, being a cat, did not respond.

"Well, it was nice meeting you."

He walked past the cat.

The house was plain. Inside, there were two sickbeds with curtains dividing them. Presumably, said curtains could be pulled back and forth if the patients desired privacy. Right now, they were withdrawn and flush against the tan walls.

The elderly gentleman from before sat next to a sickbed. Surprisingly enough, he was not injured, but in fact was holding the hand of a young, sickly girl about Delthea's age. The girl was excitedly telling him something or other, her face an abnormal pale. The older gentleman was smiling, and he gently squeezed her hand, his face damp – perhaps he was sweaty.

A young, pretty woman with a gentle smile, likely the town's healer, brought a tray, cup, and pitcher of water out to the girl's table.

The older gentleman reached for it, pouring it in a cup for the young girl. She took it, drinking slow sips. She coughed, and he patted her arm.

The healer smiled and retrieved the tray, storing it in a cupboard.

"Pardon me."

The healer looked to him. "Welcome," she said. She paused, seeming to examine Luthier closely. "Sir, are you weary from your travels? We offer a rejuvenation service for only a small payment of gold. Would you be interested?"

Luthier shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I must decline. I'm in perfect health currently."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "If you say so…"

"Actually," said Luthier, "I was wondering if you had twine. I would like it for a friendship bracelet I'm making for and with my friend."

"Oh, uh…" She looked him up and down. "Friendship bracelets, huh?"

He nodded.

She put her hand over her mouth. "Y-yes, we…" She giggled, but attempted to disguise it as a cough. "We have some rope left. Let me retrieve it for you." She walked to the cabinet, and as soon as her back was turned, broke out into a fit of giggles.

Luthier didn't notice.

"H-here you are, sir," she said, handing him a small piece of rope - enough to make two small bracelets with. She was still smiling much brighter than Luthier would have expected. Strange.

Luthier took it, and nodded to her. "Thank you."

"Good luck out there," she said. "May the Mother protect you."

Luthier exited.

No sooner had the door shut behind him than the healer broke out into hysterical laughter.

After a thorough search of the village, Alm was nowhere to be found, worrying Luthier greatly. In the center of the village, where Alm had been prior, Luthier saw a blonde mop of hair – Clair, if he could recall correctly. He flagged her down.

"What?" she stated flatly. "I do not have time to spend mingling, so make it quick."

"Have you seen Alm?" he asked.

Her face turned dark. "Yes, I have. Last I spotted, he was headed in the direction of that hill at the summit of this homestead. Perhaps he's picnicking and eating apples, just having the time of his life, guilt-free." Clair's hands clenched into fists. "Yes, I'm certain he's living it up right now over there! Do join him, Luthier, and perhaps he'll show you his peerless tactical prowess!"

"Er… Thank you?" Luthier paused, not entirely sure what prompted that reaction. He started walking towards the hill.

"I hope he chokes on one," she muttered under her breath.

Luthier turned around. "Pardon?"

Clair blinked rapidly, tightening a hand over her heart. "Ah... Pardon me." She forced a smile. "Enjoy your time with Alm."

"If you…wish," said Luthier, frowning. He continued trekking towards the hill. Was everyone in this army so strange?

He thought back to Clive and Clair. Was the reasoning for their curtness fueled by anger? Emotions from one event tended to bleed into others - perhaps something had happened to them to irritate them so.

Or they could simply be rude individuals. Luthier didn't know.

He finally spotted Alm at the top of the hill, hunched under a tree and staring opposite him, into the sky.

"Alm!" Luthier cried, walking quickly towards him. "Alm, I obtained the rope!"

Alm turned his head; tears stained his face.

"Alm… That's not normal at all. Alm!" Luthier quickened his pace, practically running towards the tree. He arrived there on the verge of death, huffing and puffing.

He practically collapsed next to Alm.

"Luthier," Alm said quietly. "I'm sorry I left you. I thought the bracelets would help me de-stress, but… I-I'm sorry."

"Oh." Luthier processed this. "Well, that's all right. Honestly, Alm, I only wished to spend time with you. If you'd simply told me you didn't want to make the bracelets, we could have sat here together instead. Why…are you sitting here, exactly? The others are back at the village resting. It was not an easy trek up here. You must have come up here with purpose."

"Luthier… Do you remember how you said that Clive was angry?" Alm turned, and Luthier saw that his eyes were bloodshot. "I killed her, Luthier. I killed Mathilda."

Luthier stared blankly. "I apologize, but I absolutely have no idea who that is. Would you mind explaining?"

"Oh. Right, you wouldn't know, would you?" He paused. "Mathilda was Clive's girlfriend. He was utterly in love with her, and would never cease talking about her. She was…captured by Desaix's forces, and he held her hostage when we battled him. I tried my best to save her, and we almost did. But she was weak, and…a stray arrow, it… I-I was powerless."

The two sat in silence for a while, Luthier absorbing this, and Alm contemplating. After what seemed like forever, Luthier spoke.

"That was not your fault," he said. "Why does it sadden you so? It seems to me that you did all you could."

"Gray and the others feel the same. Still, that doesn't make the guilt lessen. And Clive and Clair… They were close to her. It's no wonder they'd take it out on me. And…honestly? I can't say I blame them."

"I…see," said Luthier. "And you can't will these feelings away, because they're…feelings." He looked at Alm. "Is that right?"

"Yeah. I'd say so."

"My sister, Delthea, once told me that feelings weren't something one could explain or understand well. They simply…exist." Luthier paused. "I can't claim to understand them well. Alm… I wish to ask you something."

"Go ahead. I'm not going to feel any less guilty by wallowing."

"Are you truly my friend, Alm?"

"Huh? Luthier, what do you mean?"

"I'm not sure what friendship entails, really; I thought it was something only found in books. But when I saw how trusting you were, and how you saved my sister…" He looked to the distance. "I mostly wanted friendship, really. I think I convinced myself that nodding meant you wanted it, too. But…friendship isn't so easily obtained, is it? It can't be gained with a yes or no question, or a silly bracelet."

"Wait," said Alm, "is that what this whole friendship bracelet business is about?" He chuckled softly. "Luthier, if I thought you weren't trustworthy or capable, I would never have let you join the front lines of the Deliverance. So, yes, Luthier - I would consider you my friend."

"T-truly?"

"Truly."

Luthier smiled, placing a hand on Alm's shoulder. Alm jolted, but quickly relaxed.

"Thank you, friend."

"Don't mention it, pal."

The two stared into the distance for quite a while, not saying anything.

Luthier broke the ice.

"Come," he said, standing up and offering a hand to Alm. "I have someone I want to show you."

The pair walked through the village, Luthier lighting their path with a palm of flame. Alm followed him, his torch ablaze.

"I'm not sure exactly where, but… Ah-hah." Luthier pointed to a speck in the distance, heading towards it much too quick for Alm to follow. "Come, Alm!" he shouted.

"He can run quickly if he wants to…" Alm finally caught up and found Luthier kneeling, his flame extinguished. A pair of small, beady eyes looked at Alm wearily.

"Approach slowly," Luthier said quietly. "You don't want to scare him off."

Alm dowsed his flame and silently crept up to Luthier's side. The eyes looked at him, and the cat they were attached started to rubbed up against Alm, purring.

"I said I've had no friends," said Luthier. The cat moved from Alm to Luthier, rubbing up against the mage's hand. Luthier began massaging its cheeks, much to the cat's delight. "That was…not entirely the case."

"You like cats, too?" asked Alm.

Luthier smiled. "I do, friend."

Alm smiled, though it was hidden by the dark. "Then we'll get along just fine."

Author's notes:

Luthier is a good boy and deserves more love - friendship love. Because honestly? I can't think of anyone I'd ship him with...and you know what? That's okay! Not everyone has to have someone romantically. Friendship is just as good as love…ship.

Maybe I'd ship him with a cat. Like, I want Luthier to kiss a multitude of cats. Piles and PILES of meowing cats. So many cats that he's just SUFFOCATED with love.

Cat rambling aside, I relate to Luthier on a personal level. He has difficulty with social skills and friendships, and oftentimes turns others away with how overbearing he can be. I…relate to that stronger than I'd like to admit, honestly, with my Aspergers and whatnot.

Anyway, I'm gonna give a HUGE shout-out to TheRepeat for the spell checking and grammar checking of this fic! Seriously, I love that dude.

I gave TheRepeat a Google Doc and explicitly set the permissions to "comment only". I told him to ONLY give me his thoughts on the fic (and let me know if I should rewrite half); I'd check the grammar and spelling later.

He gave me his thoughts – very good and helpful thoughts – and then proceeded to give me about two pages worth of spelling/grammar fixes anyways.

So, yeah. Check his stuff out. He's a really fantabulous writer, and I practically idolize him.

Give me your thoughts and critique in the comments!