Macho: Pre- Ross/Lute

"Hey! Lute!" Ross shouted, voice echoing off the walls as he headed over.

Lute shut her eyes and slowly counted to ten, then turned and gave her patented 'Hello, 'Son-of-garcia-ross' the village idiot,' look to the pirate coming towards her. "You do know that if you shout, you completely give away our position and risk a clash of unstoppable forces colliding with each other going opposite ways?"

Ross immediately slackened his pace. "...huh?"

"Never mind." her face didn't change expression, except for a slight quirk of her left lip. "Did you need my highly advanced intellect for something?"

"No! Well. Uh, no, not really." the pirate scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. Lute mused silently that the blue bandana looked quite silly under his usual leather... headbrace... head strap... contraption. She was beginning to regret telling him he looked more like the dunderpate he was without it.

Lute closed her eyes and counted to ten. Again.

"Hey, did you fall asleep? How could you fall asleep in a creepy tower like this? Hey! Lute!! I don't want to protect a sleeping log!"

"Firstly, 'Son-of-garcia-ross'--" (she smirked inwardly when he clenched his jaw and fumed,) "I was not sleeping, I was initiating a common exercise to help one ease irritance. Although sometimes the irritance is a constant source," she added under breath as the other blinked, going from confused, to angry, to confused again. "Secondly, the correct phrase you are endeavoring to ascertain is 'bump on a log'. Trees do not sleep in the ways humans do, therefore, your quote is irrelevant. Thirdly," she enunciated clearly, just to make sure it got past the muscles that he claimed to be so huge, "Stop. Shouting. I've not the chance to be able to acquire another Fire book from our storage, and Eirika is on the other side of the building. I don't want to have to waste a perfectly good Elfire on these monsters."

"That's what I'm here for!" Ross said (rather, bellowed. The sage sighed in defeat. Her vocabulary wasn't going to scare him off this time), "My dad and Gilliam are handling the back. He said to go up front to join with the rest of the group, and I said I'll always be by your side to protect you, didn't I?"

Lute vaguely remembered something like that. Was it important? Not very, to her. She had been watching Artur at the time. Said bishop was already in the second part of the tower, so Lute was incredibly bored. There wasn't even any sort of combat to entertain her. She was even debating on just sitting and reading a book until Eirika called the rest of them up to the next floor.

"Lute? Are you listening? Geez, why do you always ignore me when I'm trying to tell you something important?!"

"I'd classify something as important if it were life-threatening, or something to further enlighten me and supplement my already amazing intellect." she replied. "And if I recall correctly, I then told you that you would be the one that needed the protection, not I. And it's 'I'd always be by your side.' Are you heading up? Because I suspect they are almost finished. You might lose the chance to show off your macho."

Ross mouthed to himself slowly. Lute resisted the urge to giggle. She really would have to give him lessons on rhetoric sometime. It was the least an adept like her could do. Then he looked up (rather, down.) at her, confused as ever. "What's my macho?"

"Never mind."

"You were making fun of me again, weren't you?! You always say that after you've made fun of me." Ross pouted. "I... I thought we were friends."

"Friends?" Lute echoed.

"Yeah, you know. I'm sure you've read about them in books." he said sarcastically.

"Yes... yes I have. Friends," she reflected on this quietly. Had she ever had a friend? What was the definition, anyway? Friend. Benefactor. Confidant. Not one explained exactly what a friend did. She did not know the exact definition. This bothered her. "What would you describe a friend to be?" she asked. Ross, for once, sounded enlightened on the subject.

"Whuh? Describe what friends are?" he stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds. "Well, uh. Friends... are there for each other. And they... go out and... have fun, and stuff." He furrowed his brow, trying to concentrate. "They help each other through bad times and cheer each other up when they feel bad. And they protect each other. Not make fun of each other, you know," he added, a heated jab that Lute's oblivious shield vanquished.

"I see," she sighed again. So much for being knowledgable on the subject. She would ask Artur later.

"You know, I think most everyone we travel with are your friends, if you're all worried about it," Ross said a bit roughly, tossing his halberd from one hand to the other.

"Really?"

"Yeah! You... go out and you and Artur have fun... I guess. And you seem to really like talking to him." Something else tinged his voice, but he'd gotten rid of it too soon for Lute to be able to analyze it any further. "And Natasha and Moulder have healed you and gotten you through the bad times, right? And Amelia and Forde cheered you up when you were all miffed about that thief stealing your Thunder."

Lute allowed a smile to grace her lips. "That is true. Perhaps you do know something, for once."

"Hey! What do you mean for once!? And aren't you forgetting someone?"

"As in friends?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, for one, if we are going by your definition," she paused. Ross tilted his head, waiting. "Sir Kyle rescues me on his horse when I'm surrounded by enemies so I can hit them from afar. Franz does like to give me hugs when I seem distraught--"

"Franz does what?" Ross grinded his teeth a bit. "Wait. No! Argh, you're so--"

"And Ewan does like to--"

"NO!" he shouted, and the sage looked at him disapprovingly. "Aren't you forgetting someone else? Someone that's standing next to you?" He continued, quieter, impatience discoloring his voice.

"Hm? Oh, do you feel left out? Yes, I suppose you want to be my friend."

"Not if you're so ungrateful!"

"Alright then, you don't have to."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then what have you done for me to be able to call you my friend?"

"I.. well, uh. I save you all the time!"

"Oh really?" Lute's eyebrows shot up. Ross was taken aback. That was the most expression she'd ever shown him, ever. "Name one."

"Well. Like just earlier, that Gwylligi was tearing up the ground going at you and I sliced one of its heads off."

"Yes," she said, "And then the rest of it hit me anyway."

Ross turned red. "I didn't know it'd keep going, okay? Well, what about the time those archers were all aiming for you and I left my post just so I could take them all out with my hatchet?"

"Yes, I do remember. That was when I ended up having to dodge a few hand axes because you'd left your post and bandits had gotten in from the right, so I had to waste the last of my magic book. So, does this mean you're a bad friend?"

"Of course not! I just..."

"By your definition--"

"At least I try, okay!?" Ross snapped heatedly. "You're not exactly the easiest person to get along with!"

"Because of my superior intellect."

"Will you quit it with the--"

"Quit the truth?"

"You're not supposed to say that! You're supposed to say 'alright'."

"Alright." Lute turned to leave. She was pretty sure the rest of the group was finishing up.

"Hey!" Ross shouted. "I'm still talking to you! Lute!! I'm not leaving you alone till you admit I'm your friend!"

The sage merely laughed. Maybe she'd have to take up pirate-watching as well.