They sat at the table, staring into their cups of tea. Neither were what anyone would call shy and reserved-in fact, one was the complete opposite of shy. But this wasn't just some random friendly get-together-in fact, the two women weren't even friends. They didn't dislike each other, of course, but they rarely spoke two words to each other outside of battle.
So maybe it was a good thing their daughters were in love, Nowi thought, stirring sugar into her tea for the fourth time. Gaius would be proud, she thought with a grin before taking a careful sip. It was a little too sweet for her liking, but what could she do? Usually she was good at going up to people and talking about anything but all she could think to talk about right now were their daughters. And she didn't want Sumia to feel like she had to be her friend just because their daughters were dating. No one liked feeling forced to do anything.
And she wanted this to work. She didn't want to muck up Nah's relationship by not getting along with her girlfriend's mother-sure, Sumia was hard to offend and would bend over backwards to be nice to people, but Nowi knew she could come on too strong and didn't want to take any undue risks.
So she sipped her tea, occasionally glancing across the table. Finally, Sumia put her cup down and spoke up.
"Nice day, isn't it?" Phew! Nowi almost cheered with relief, glad she didn't have to make the first move for once.
"Oh yeah! It's about time we had some sunshine, I'm so sick of clouds," Nowi agreed. Weather was kind of a boring topic but it was something. They could talk about more fun things as they went on! "I kept thinking it was about to rain and it made me mad, I hate rain."
"Oh...I don't mind a little rain now and then," Sumia said. "Um, it's good for the plants, at least. But so's sunshine! So...at least the flowers are getting some of what they need."
"Yeah! And so are the animals! I saw your pegasus prancing about in the fields earlier," Nowi giggled, then snapped her fingers as she realized she'd just found something they could talk about. "Say, what's it like to fly on a pegasus anyway?"
"Huh?" Sumia paused in the middle of another sip. "I mean, are you really curious about flying? Not that that's bad or anything! I just...well, you're a dragon, I've seen you in battles and I know you gave Robin a ride once! So it's a little...well, not weird, but..." She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling like an idiot! What I mean is-"
"I get it, I get it," Nowi said quickly. "Why would a big dragon like me wonder how flying feels? Well, it's not so much the flying as it's the riding a pegasus. What's it like sitting on a flying horse and all that-oh, and how do you fight? I've seen you trip over nothing but once you're in the air you never fumble with the lance or the tomes or anything!"
"Um..." Sumia looked flustered and Nowi suddenly felt dumb. Silly Nowi! There you go firing off questions like a little girl, not letting her get a word in edgewise! She took another sip of her overly sweetened tea and smiled.
"Sorry!"
"No, it's okay!" Sumia laughed. "You're curious. Besides, you didn't ask nearly as many questions as Lissa did after my first battle. You didn't have much contact with pegasi before you joined us, did you?"
"Well, I've seen plenty of them," Nowi said. "I've been around for a thousand years, remember? But I'd never actually gotten close to them, let alone tried to ride one. I never really gave them a second thought! But yours and Cordelia's make me curious!" Sumia nodded, took another sip of her tea...and then her brow furrowed.
"You know, you could have asked me about my pegasus any time," she said. "In fact, you could have come to me to talk any time you wanted before this." Uh-oh. Nowi gulped, forcing a big smile and a laugh.
"Well...you're a knight! I didn't wanna bother you, knights are always so busy and stuff!"
"Kellam's a knight, too, but you didn't have any trouble forming a friendship with him," Sumia said. "Nowi...are you just doing this because of our daughters?"
Bang.
Nowi sighed, slumping down a little in her chair.
"Well...yeah. Kind of. I mean, it's not that I don't like you or anything, but it just felt like-I mean, if Nah and Cynthia-"
"Don't." Sumia shook her head. "You feel self-conscious and awkward and it's all my fault! I don't want you to feel like you have to be my friend just because our daughters are in love!" Nowi blinked.
"What?! You mean..." She almost laughed, shaking her head. "I thought you felt like you had to be my friend because of that!" And then they both burst out laughing in spite of...no, because of the ridiculousness of the situation and when they finally calmed down Nowi felt calmer and moved her chair a little closer to Sumia's.
"You know," she said, "you could've come to me anytime you wanted to talk, too!"
"I think part of me knew that," Sumia sighed. "I'm just...not very good at approaching people, I always feel like I'll do something stupid. And I didn't think we really had anything in common."
"Aww, that doesn't matter! You're a nice person!" Nowi smirked. "Besides, you're forgetting I'm a thousand-year-old dragon. If I can make friends with other big scary dragons I can make friends with anyone."
"Ah, right..." Sumia laughed a little. "Boy, I feel kind of silly now. I mean, I've always felt like I was too stupid and clumsy to approach people but lately I've kinda proven myself wrong. And I did promise Robin I'd learn to like myself better."
"Eh, we all slip up now and then," Nowi said. "But I definitely wanna be friends! All our kids are friends anyway, we should follow their example."
"And you and I are probably going to be family someday, too," Sumia added. "How about I take you for a ride on Flori tomorrow?" Nowi squealed and nearly knocked her teacup over in her excitement. She hadn't blown it! Well, okay, she already knew she hadn't blown it, but she hadn't expected Sumia to make the offer.
"Really?! Yes yes a thousand times yes! Nowi would love-I mean, I'd love that!" Sumia laughed, as if people slipped into third-person all the time when they talked to her.
"Then it's a date."
They returned to their tea, neither woman noticing their daughters standing outside the tent and sighing with relief.