"And who exactly is that?"
Niles quickly turned to the direction that his lord's gloved hand was pointed at; the direction of a certain young woman with blonde curls and armor which left little to the imagination.
"That's Charlotte, of the Nohrian border guards," Niles said, as they watched the blonde swing her axe in reckless abandon towards their enemies. "...She piques your interest, milord?" Niles asked with a small grin. "I didn't think she would be your... type."
"...Far from it," Leo said. "Do the border guards pay so little that she can't armor herself properly? The way she's dressed doesn't make sense. At all." Leo stared a little more, quietly criticizing the blonde's outfit choices. At least Camilla, being an airborne fighter, was at a little less risk of danger despite how she was dressed. But this Charlotte, a ground fighter who was often in close combat with enemies... it made very little sense. It made no sense.
"I believe she outfits herself for... personal reasons," Niles said, staring at the blonde just as his lord did, though his sights set more on the female's certain... body parts. "I think milord understands what I mean."
And then, as if she heard her name called, Charlotte caught their glances. There was a split second of shock in her face, catching her allies staring at her-one a prince of Nohr, to boot-but it was quickly replaced by a smile, and a flirtatious wink in their direction.
Despite himself, Leo blushed.
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It only seemed natural that after that, Charlotte found excuses to approach him, whether it was to offer tea or food, all of which he tried his best to politely refuse. Not because her cooking seemed mediocre—far from it, actually. She'd have probably made a living as a chef if she hadn't become a soldier. It was her intentions—a little too obvious, at least to Leo—that kept him at bay.
If she wasn't trying to lure him into conversation, she was doing it to the other men of the army. One day, she would be trying to get at Xander's side—and while Xander occasionally accepted the food offerings, Leo knew that his brother probably knows better than that. If not the princes, she would aim for the royal retainers, like that one too-susceptible Laslow.
Leo's own retainers were, surprisingly, not foolish enough to take the bait. Odin claimed he could see through her ruse, and if honest, his poetic jabberings probably scared her off for good. Niles, exuding neither breeding or an appearance of richness, was an unlikely target. If anything else, it was Niles who tried to force himself towards the woman, deliberately trying to annoy her and foil her plans to hook in men.
"She's a little too obvious," Niles would say, sounding like he was trying to hold back his laughter. "A little too desperate. It sometimes makes me wonder why, though."
"There's plenty women like her daily in court," Leo said. "And they all want the same thing."
Leo remembered long blonde curls, a woman who threw herself at King Garon's way whenever she could, and a mother who never loved him.
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A/N:
CharLeo is one of my favorite pairings in Fates, and separately they're my favorite characters. It's certainly underrated and is not a popular ship, so I wrote this to give them some sort of representation here on FF! Will update often. ^^
