"Hey, what does your dad like?"
"I dunno...books? Swords? What does your dad like?"
"Um, axes…?"
"Well, this is just great!" Roy threw up his hands in defeat and began to pace around the room. He stopped briefly to suggest an idea, but then shook his head and continued walking. Lilina sat down on his bed and drummed her fingers on her knees in thought.
"Okay, let's see: Our fathers have known each other for years, and they're bound to know everything about each other, right? Why don't we just-"
"That won't work." Roy cut her off. "My father is too talkative, and he'll tell Uncle Hector and that'll ruin everything."
"How about we cook them dinner?" Lilina rolled her eyes. Roy stared at her blankly for a moment before a smile spread across his face.
"Lilina, you're a genius!"
"Yeah? Thought that was your job."
"So we got dinner! That's easy!" He ignored her snarky remark. "What can you cook?"
"I can make a mean stew, if I do say so myself!" Lilina beamed and sat up straight.
"...Stew. But that's so… wintery!"
"My dad loves my stew, thank you!" She glared at him. "It goes quite well with bread."
"Bread, stew- alright. We need one more side."
"Salad?"
"Lilina, our fathers are 2 manly men. Salad is a terrible idea."
"Fine then. Why not have one side and a dessert?"
"Brilliant! They're out on one of those "Bonding Excursions" so we have plenty of time! To the marketplace!" Roy posed heroically and pointed towards the door.
"W...Wha are you-"
"The marketplace, I say!"
The two snuck out of Roy's room undetected, and made their way to the marketplace in the city square. They discussed the plan: Lilina would get the ingredients for her meal, and Roy would attempt to find gifts for them. They agreed to meet back up at the entrance to regroup. They parted ways, and bid each other good luck.
"Let's see…" Lilina strolled down the street, clutching a basket in her hand. "If I remember correctly, I'll need potatoes, carrots, onions, beef and those...soup cube things mother used. This should be easy!"
"Excuse me, miss!" A shrill voice called out. Lilina turned around to find a young woman running after her.
"Who, me?"
"Yes, you! My, you're a vision of loveliness!"
"O-Oh!" She blushed. "Thank you!"
"But your hair…" The woman gasped and grabbed a few strands of her hair. "It's so dry! And it's breaking off! A child as young and beautiful as you shouldn't have hair like this!"
"D-Dry?!" Lilina fidgeted.
"Come, I'll fix it right up! My family's been in the cosmetics business for decades" The woman escorted her over to her booth.
"Thank you, miss! I'm in your debt!"
Meanwhile…
"Weapons store? Cool…" Roy drifted towards the shop, but stopped himself before he could walk inside. "Wait. They already have weapons, and they're priceless! You can't fool me, store!" He turned on his heel and continued on his merry way, but quickly turned back around and entered the store. The area was full of burly men, who all stared at him when he entered. Roy sheepishly grinned and ran towards the back of the store to avoid them.
"Ooookay. Uncle Hector likes axes, right?" He stopped at a shelf and stared at a mace. "But he'd look so much cooler wielding this thing!" Roy attempted to remove it off the shelf, but he could only slowly drag it off. Once it was off of the shelf, the head of the mace immediate dropped down, bringing Roy with it and nearly smashing his foot in.
"Come on...stupid thing...!" He tried to lift it again. He dropped it on the floor and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, you've asked for it!" Mustering up all his strength, Roy grabbed onto the hilt and began to pull. The mace rose, and hovered along the floor as Roy tried to move it back onto the shelf. "Almost...got it!"
"Come on, sonny! Where's 'ye backbone?!" A patron jeered at him.
"Look at this tiny little thing! He's tryin' so hard that he's poppin' veins!" Another joined in. Soon, a whole crowd of people gathered around to watch Roy struggle against 88 pounds of pure iron. Eventually, he just barely put it back onto the shelf. The crowd cheered, a few playfully shoving him around.
Roy smiled, obviously enjoying the attention but mostly shocked at himself for not breaking his arm. He made a mad dash out of the shop and further down the street.
"Dammit, I should've taken grocery duty!"
He stopped by a bookstore next- at least books can't break his bones. Plus his father had hundreds of books and his own private library, so he must have liked reading, right? Roy looked at the stacks upon stacks of books in awe. Clearly, he was going to be here a while.
"Thank you for your services, ma'am!" Lilina waved towards the woman who kindly treated her hair.
"No, thank you for kindly buying my products!" The woman smiled and waved back at her.
Lilina merrily skipped along, running through her checklist in her head. "Father's going to kill me for spending gold on hair care products, but she fixed my hair for free and it was the least I could do!" She paused at the produce section and let out a sigh of relief. "Perfect! Father's gonna get one taste of this stew and nostalgia's gonna kick him right in the emotions!"
She began filling her basket with the ingredients, thankful that the market wasn't as crowded as it was on Mother's Day. Lilina shuddered just thinking about it.
"Excuse me, miss!" She froze in her spot. Lilina trembled as she turned around to face an old man holding a tin dish.
"Y-Yes...?"
"Free sample?"
Her eyes lit up in excitement. "Ooh! What are these?"
"Crispels, dear!" He removed the dish covering, revealing several round pastries covered in honey. Lilina took one and bit into it.
"This...This is…"
"Yes? Come on, out with it! I can take it!"
"Delicious!" She finished the rest of her treat and pointed at his dish. "May I?"
"Of course!" She took another and quickly ate it.
"Wow, these are amazing! How much would it be for a case of these things?"
The old man looked surprised. "E-Er...well I don't exactly do this for-"
"Here." She dug in her pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. "Would 500 gold work?" The old man was taken aback. He nodded eagerly and pulled her over.
"Yes! Of course, dear! Right this way!"
Lilina smiled. Alright, dessert taken care of!
"Veteran of the Moon, Breath of My Enemies- Geez, all these books seem so...edgy." Roy groaned in irritation and moved on to another stack.
"Hey kid, you gonna buy somethin' or what?" The vendor rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, gimme a sec!" He sorted through the stack and pulled out another book. "Bound By the Traitor…" He thumbed through the book. "A mystery novel? Dad would love this! Now I just have to find one for Uncle Hector…" He glanced at the vendor. "Excuse me, but do you have any joke books?"
"Ugh." The vendor groaned and waved her hand dismissively. "Bottom of the pile."
"Thanks!" He pulled out the last book in the pile. "Huh. Court Jester's Guide to Clowning Around. It'll work!" He shoved past the table, perhaps a bit too quickly as the pile came toppling down on top of the table. He looked back at the vendor, who was visibly upset, then back at the pile. He chuckled nervously, threw his money on the pile and ran out of the store with his books.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE INGRATE!" The vendor chased him down the street. Roy clutched the books close to his chest and began to ran faster.
"LILINAAAA!" He screamed as he made a mad dash through the marketplace, causing other shoppers to drop their belongings as he jostled past them. He looked frantically for her and felt a wave of relief when he saw her paying for herbs. She looked up at the mention of her name and yelled out,
"No! No more free samples! I'm out of money!"
"LILINA!" Roy grabbed her with his free hand and dragged her along. "GOGOGOGOGO!"
"What did you do?! Why are we running?!"
"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! HOME, NOW!" They bobbed and weaved through the crowd. Roy stopped at the entrance briefly before running again. "This way!"
"That doesn't lead to the gates!"
"No, but it leads to the garden which is close enough!" He grinned and pulled Lilina along. After ducking through the alley and avoiding several gardeners, they finally made it back inside.
"That...damn lady sure is quick…" Roy panted and dropped the books on the floor. "But...I got 'em!"
"G-Geez...What was all that?!"
"Less talk, more cooking!" Roy caught his breath and pushed Lilina towards the kitchen. "Come on, we got a whole lot of stuff to make! We gotta speed this thing up! They'll be back here any minute!"
"I'm telling you, I could've taken that damn bear myself!" Hector grumbled as he trudged along the road. Eliwood chuckled lightly and rolled his eyes.
"Hector, please. I practically saved your life from that thing!"
"Saved my life, my ass! Next time, let me handle the vicious wildlife."
"I'll be sure to write that in your eulogy."
"Bah! You're nothing but a load of crap sometimes, I swear." Hector huffed and opened the door to the estate.
"And look at you! You're being such a gentleman towards a 'load of crap'!" Eliwood slipped inside before Hector could close the door. "Ah, jokes aside, would you like something to eat before you head back off to Ostia?"
"You don't even need to ask."
"Just sit down at the table and I'll see...what we can do? Uh, wow." Eliwood's jaw dropped at the sight of a meal already prepared for them. Hector stood beside him, speechless. Lilina hummed as she danced out of the kitchen, placing the freshly baked bread on the table.
"Please, have a seat!" She escorted the two to their seats and stood to the side.
"What's all this?" Eliwood slowly sat down, eyebrows raised.
"Just something to say...thanks!" She giggled. "Go on, eat! I made it especially for you two!"
"I think you mean we!" Roy shouted from the kitchen.
"...One second!" She smiled briefly before storming into the kitchen, whispering mild insults are Roy for interrupting the moment.
"This is...nice." Eliwood picked up his spoon. "Shall we?" He glanced at Hector, who was already halfway done with his stew. "And I supposed that's a yes."
"Did you enjoy the meal I prepared?" Roy left the kitchen, smiling.
"WE MADE!" Lilina yelled.
"Whatever!"
"It was good but one bowl? Kid, I thought you knew me better." Hector grumbled.
"We did that so you'd have room for dessert!" Lilina backed out of the kitchen, holding a box. "They're called crispels! They're super yummy and- Well, just try one!" She placed the box on the table.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Hector reached over, grabbed a pastry, bit into it and a mere few second later, grabbed a few more. "You do not lie when it comes to good pastries.
"Well, you are my father." Lilina shrugged and sat down. Roy stood behind his father and slung an arm around his shoulder.
"Dad, I got you a little somethin' as a present. Check under your chair."
"Under my- Oh!" He bent down and picked up the book Roy bought him. "Is this what's been under my heels the whole time?"
"Uncle Hector, you check-"
"You mean that joke book? Used it to prop the chair up."
"O-Okay...haha..practicality. Nice move."
"Still not entirely sure that you kids are trying to butter us up for, but as long as I get more of these cookie things, I'm good." Hector ate another crispel.
"We just want to say-"
"We love you!" Lilina interjected.
"...That."
"Right..." Eliwood took a crispel for himself and turned to Hector, who simply shrugged. Lilina looked over at Roy and murmured,
"Do you think they like it?"
"If they don't, let's just draw them a card next time, mmkay?"
"They look like they enjoyed it."
"What makes you think that, genius?"
"I dunno." Lilina handed Roy a pastry. "Just a hunch."