Author's Note: For a Tumblr prompt asking for Lissa overestimating her tolerance and Lon'qu having to deal with it. It's a little hasty, but I hope it'll at least be amusing.

Lissa's seventeenth birthday came in the middle of the campaign, but the army wasn't about to let the event pass without a celebration. Not for the girl who made them all smile.

Cherche and Maribelle, with their (nefarious?) womanly magic, managed to bake a towering cake. Owain and Brady spent the entire day picking flowers and decorating camp with them. Vaike and Sully rode off to town and came back with an absurd amount of ale.

"Calm down," Chrom had said while Lissa and Ricken promptly got into a drinking contest to prove their adulthood, to a Frederick who was loudly protesting and pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's old enough. And gods, none of us have had much fun these last few months."

Lon'qu would not have classified the night as "fun."

Lissa was easy to handle when she held his hand or stood close. When she knew to behave and let him overcome his fears at his own pace. But she had clearly underestimated her tolerance. She found him in the crowded dining tent and leaned her body against him, murmured something about that first kiss he'd been putting off. He pushed himself away and fled to his own tent.

Why did she have to be so lovely?

Gradually the noise of the party died down and torches flickered out. Lon'qu sighed in relief and slipped into his bedroll, feeling exhausted, but couldn't manage to sleep. He hoped he hadn't hurt Lissa's feelings. He hoped she understood. With his curse, it was so hard to believe that he wouldn't hurt her. Watching her make herself vulnerable, dim her own senses, was too difficult.

Someone stumbled their way into his tent. He was up in an instant, reaching for his sheath, until the intruder giggled.

"Lon'qu, you're supposed to be asleep! I was just gonna come snuggle."

"How did you even get over here?" he demanded as he looked her over. Her hair hung loose and she was wearing only her nightgown. She was in no state to be up and about; she looked like she could hardly stand on her own.

"I dunno! I fell once. The grass is soft." She giggled again.

"Where is your brother."

"Sleeping. He and Freddy put me to bed but when they left, I sneaked out. Hey, I beat Ricken, you know! Drank him right under the table. I'm invincible."

"You are no such thing."

"Jeez, it was a joke." She swayed a little, took a step forward, and half-fell against him in a warm embrace that melded her form against his. She was very warm. His mind raced nervously while his body responded the way it was supposed to: breath catching, heartbeat quickening. It was so confusing.

"Can I stay?" she asked softly.

"No, Lissa."

"But I miss you at bedtime." Her lips pressed against his throat and he gasped, unsure if fear or desire drew it out of him.

"This isn't—"

"I stay up every night and wish you could be with me. I'd be so good for you, too. I want to undress you and feel all your skin and make love but I wouldn't. I'll wait forever if you need me to. But just having you close would be—"

He tore out of her hold, panicked at this admission, and when she stumbled forward he had to catch her again. "Lissa, this isn't fair to you. You would not say all this to me if you were sober. I'll walk you back to your tent."

She just groaned. "Why'd you do that? Now I feel all sloshy."

"Oh, gods."

The night was precisely what he'd expected, after that point. He managed to get Lissa outside the tent before she threw up in the grass, and also managed to hold her hair back for her. They were out there for a long while. She moaned about how stupid she was and he rubbed her back and prayed Chrom and Frederick wouldn't find them. Then he hauled her back in, tucked her into his own bedroll, and made her drink a little water from his canteen.

"I think Ricken really did win, all things considered," she mumbled.

"He'll have a headache tomorrow, too."

"I'm so sorry, Lon'qu."

"You got your wish, didn't you? I'm here."

And as much as he hated to admit it, she'd pushed past a lot of his physical boundaries. Maybe those same gestures would be easier, next time: back rubs, tighter hugs, his fingers in her hair. Talk of nights together. He could take it.

It was close to dawn, so he resigned himself to sitting by her side and watching her breathing while she dozed.

"Know what?" she said when she woke, all smiles, obviously still tipsy. When he didn't guess, she answered her own question: "Maybe you should drink, next time. It might help you get over all this."

He snorted and gave her his coat to cover up her nightgown with, so she could walk back to her own tent. "I think not. And please, for the love of all gods in all nations, don't tell Chrom where you've been."