"Y-yes sir! I won't let you down!"
Gregor smiled as Cordelia marched off to continue her quest for love. As soon as she was out of sight, the smile quickly left his face, replaced with a sad frown.
"Ah, Gregor...You have let fair woman take your heart while you not looking..." he mumbled to himself, sighing deeply. "Ah, well. Gregor must soldier on..." He returned to cleaning his weapons, but his mind continued to wander to the red haired beauty that he had fallen so hard for. She was smart, beautiful, strong, determined, funny, and so many other little things that made Gregor's heartbeat quicken when he thought of her. It was just his luck that he was so infatuated with a woman who was in love with someone else, and it was truly ironic that he was the one helping her win this other man's heart. Life was cruel sometimes.
"Gregor."
The voice snapped the mercenary from his thoughts as he looked up to find Lon'qu standing before him, practice sword in hand. Ah yes, Gregor had forgotten that they were going to train this evening. Gregor quickly replaced the frown on his face with a faux grin and stood up.
"Ah, Lon'qu! Eager to get trounced by old man Gregor again, eh?" Gregor teased, and he chuckled when Lon'qu snorted in response.
"We'll see about that. Shall we?" Lon'qu said impatiently, and Gregor nodded as he followed the fellow warrior to the practice yard, grateful for this much needed distraction from his current thoughts.
Unfortunately, those pesky thoughts we not so easily pushed to the back of his mind, and Gregor found it hard to concentrate on his sparring. He was so distracted that he only barely managed to beat Lon'qu this time, where every previous spar was an easy win.
"Haha! Lon'qu must be getting lots better at sword combat! That, or Gregor's age is finally catching up to him." Gregor said, laughing halfheartedly at his flimsy attempt to hide the real reason he almost lost.
"Hm." Lon'qu grunted, sitting down next to Gregor and taking the towel he was offered. He dried the sweat from his body and Gregor did the same. They sat in silence for a moment, before Lon'qu surprisingly broke it.
"Do you need to talk about it?"
Gregor blinked at Lon'qu, confused. "What?" he responded, tilting his head curiously.
"Do you need to talk about whatever distracted you from our match? I know you were not acting like your usual self. I should not have come that close to beating you." Lon'qu said plainly as he stared at Gregor with an annoyed look in his eyes. The older man sighed and ran a hand though his hair. Lon'qu was the strong, silent type, and Gregor was surprised at how observant he was being, and at his sudden offer to listen.
"Eh, it nothing that Lon'qu need to be troubled about. Gregor will be fine!" he said, shooting Lon'qu what was probably the most unconvincing grin in the universe. Lon'qu stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, before becoming flustered and adverting his gaze. His eyes shifted from the sky to the ground and back again as he rubbed the back of his head. Gregor was perplexed at his behavior.
"It's just...we're, ah, friends, right?" Lon'qu finally said as he glanced back at Gregor. "I just...Gods! Sorry, I'm just, not really used to talking about...feelings. But, well, friends help each other out, and I wanted you to know that I'd be willing to listen if you need to, uh, vent about anything." Lon'qu went quiet as his face flushed with embarrassment, and Gregor couldn't help but crack the biggest smile, and this time it was genuine. He had already considered them good friends by now, but to hear Lon'qu actually say it was pretty heartwarming.
"Ah, Lon'qu's confession bring tears to Gregor's eyes! He blessed to have such a caring friend!" he said, letting out a hardy laugh. He then went quiet for a moment before letting out an uncharacteristic sigh that caused Lon'qu to raise an eyebrow. "Gregor is just lamenting over unrequited love. It...not something Lon'qu need to concern himself with, really." he continued, managing a small smile.
"It's Cordelia, right?" Lon'qu asked.
"You make good with the guessing, heh. Yes, Gregor is in love with the wonderful Cordelia."
"Hmm." Lon'qu's brow furrowed as he stared at the ground for a moment, deep in thought. He then looked back at Gregor and said "I think you might want to talk to her about it."
"Eh, normally Gregor not hesitate to express feelings of the heart, but this different." Gregor said, letting out another deep sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. "Gregor has been helping Cordelia win heart of another man. He not want to ruin treasured friendship by making unrequited confession." It didn't help that the man that Cordelia was pursuing was Chrom, and how could Gregor ever compete with the young and handsome prince?
"Panne...may have mentioned something to me. Something that she had discussed with Cordelia." Lon'qu said, suddenly blushing and becoming flustered. Gregor chuckled; Lon'qu was terrible at hiding his feelings for Panne, and Gregor had already given the poor man all the advice that he could. The only thing standing in the younger man's way now was his gynophobia problem, but Gregor was certain that he would overcome it to be with the one that he loved.
"She was talking with Cordelia and Sumia the other day." Lon'qu said, "and she told me that Cordelia mentioned that she didn't really have feelings for Chrom anymore." Gregor's eyes widened as he gawked at Lon'qu.
"W-what? Really?"
Lon'qu nodded. "That is what she told me. If that's true, then you shouldn't have to worry about stealing her from another man or anything. I, er, think you should talk to her. Not that I'm really an expert in the area..." Lon'qu said, trailing off as he blushed again.
Gregor was uplifted by this revelation. Maybe his days of longing to be with Cordelia were coming to an end, but then again, even if she didn't love Chrom anymore, he did not know if she had any such feelings for him.
"I thank you muchly for sharing this with me Lon'qu! Gregor is in much better mood! Let's get drinks and celebrate great friendship!" Gregor said, draping an arm over Lon'qu's shoulders. Lon'qu shrugged the heavy arm from his shoulders and frowned.
"You know I don't drink, Gregor."
"Ah, yes, he forgets for moment. Ah well, more for Gregor then! C'mon, let's find Vaike and see if he can best Gregor in contest of drinking!" Gregor said, laughing as he pushed Lon'qu off towards the rations tent.
"You know that never ends well. For either of you, but especially Vaike." Lon'qu said flatly.
"Hehe, yes, Vaike is too competitive for own good. Gregor teaches him important life lessons this way!" Gregor countered, and they bantered back and forth. Gregor was glad for the distraction, for he was at a loss of how to proceed at trying to tell Cordelia how he felt. As the night of merriment with his friends went on, his thoughts couldn't help but wander to her, and he was filled with a newfound hope that all of his longing for her had not been in vain.