awkwardly comfortable

From time to time, when the Shepherds were on foreign soil, they would sometimes assign a few people to watch over for Risen or any enemy forces that plan to strike when they're asleep. And because everyone was in rotation, it just so happened that Brady found himself sitting outside in the cold as he waits for his shift to be over.

Thankfully he'd been promoted to a war monk so if he was ever in danger he had an axe to throw at people if they came close. The edge had been trimmed down a bit because since his promotion, he's been a little careless with who he's been throwing axes at. Luckily, he was always equipped with a staff.

"Least the stars are lookin' nice," Brady mumbled to himself, resting back and looking up at the sky. Almost the second after he said that however, dark clouds came in and begin to rain heavy droplets on him. He'd never felt so disappointed in himself before.

He stood up and went to look for his umbrella to shelter him from the rain, but along the way he was startled by the sounds of sobbing and whimpering. Confused, Brady halted his current quest to find the person in need for a little healing with his trusty staff.

The source of the crying wasn't so difficult to locate, and she certainly wasn't a surprisingly culprit either. Brady stood still seeing Noire curled up on the ground, back to the world as she sobbed softly. He looked briefly at his staff, before tucking it away and walking over to comfort her.

He sat beside her, regretting it immediately feeling the wet mud go through his cloak, and tapped Noire's shoulder. The Plegian-Ylissean archer turned around to see Brady and hung her head low upon recognising him. Brady averted his gaze momentarily to slap himself mentally, before turning to Noire and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey," he whispered, rather hoarsely. It wasn't his intention to sound so shady, and it certainly didn't help in the comforting area. Sometimes, Brady really just wanted to forget about people and let them take care of each other. But this certainly wasn't the time to do that.

Noire looked up at him from her very vulnerable position and offered him a faint and very fake smile. He couldn't exactly tell if she was crying, or if it was the rain, but with his thumb he rubbed a droplet from under her eye. "Y'all 'right there?" He asked her.

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, shaking Brady's hands off. "N-No," she choked out, turning away. "M-My mum…" she couldn't even complete her sentence before breaking down once again. Brady was thankfully their to catch her before she could've face planted into the mud.

As she sobbed into his arms, Brady gently patted her back, not entirely sure what he was supposed to do to comfort her. There wasn't a lot he could really do, especially since everyone else was asleep and since Brady never had to comfort a girl before. His mother? A different story, one that involved tea. And lots of it.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Brady pulled Noire away from him and looked her in the eyes. "You wanna talk 'bout it?" The archer looked a little uncertain, avoiding his gaze and looking at the tent where he could only guess was Tharja's tent. And from the stories his dad told him, he knew to stay away from that woman.

"I guess," she sniffed, folding her hands in her lap. "B-But can we go somewhere else? T-To keep dry?" It wasn't like Brady had forgotten about the rain, but when Noire had brought it up the sound of crashing droplets and splatters seemed to increase and he almost grimaced in response.

"Yeah, let's." He stood up, and offered his hand out for Noire who was quick to take his hand and hoist herself up. She picked up her bow from her lap, something that Brady had clearly not noticed as he quirked his eyebrow up in confusion at the sight of it.

It was rather awkward once the both were up, since neither had discussed where they had wanted to go. Since Brady was technically still on watch out, it wasn't fair for him to go inside one of the tents, but because of Noire's shyness it was also difficult to know where she wanted to go.

"You got some place in mind?" he asked her, trying to sound as caring as possible but recoiled at how impatient and whiny his voice made his question to be. Why was it that his mother had the voice of a noble he was cursed with the voice and rasp of a scoundrel. No wonder everyone would've run to his mother or Lissa for healing. Then again, Brady would sometimes shout at the to come over here and use some of that old, yet offensive slang he grew up with.

Noire looked around, unsure of where to go and almost broke down once again, but Brady was quick on it and interjected as soon as he could. "Wait I know, lemme just get my umbrella!" Without a word of protest, the two rushed off to Brady's tent, which consisted of the sleeping Inigo and Gerome, and grabbed his umbrella from the pile of weapons and items that had in the corner of the tent.

Brady opened his umbrella over Noire first, letting him soak up the rain a bit more and allowing Noire to stay dry, like a true gentleman. Noire seemed surprised at first, but eased into a smile and for some reason, it made Brady smile too. But the gesture also made him snort too, which was completely out of line causing his cheeks to heat up and Noire to flinch a little.

Great, Brady thought to himself, as Noire turned away to distract herself with her bow. Now you look like an even bigger idiot. Without much consultation, the war monk led Noire to his original spot for watch out and made sure that she was still being sheltered by the umbrella. As the rock he was sitting on was wet, Brady shimmied out of his cloak and laid it down, dry side up for Noire to sit on.

"Here good?" he asked her, sitting on the same rock, but on the wetter parts, as his cloak wasn't wide enough. Noire nodded her head, before laying her bow on her lap and turning to face Brady with an almost determined look, before averting her gaze out of nervousness. Brady slapped his mental self again.

"Here it goes," she whispered, soft enough for Brady to her even though that wasn't her intention. She looked up back at him and continued on, "M-My mother yelled at me."

Brady was silent. It wasn't a bad silence, or even a good silence but it was a what-am-I-supposed-to-say silence, that left him feeling awkward. Sure, his mother may have yelled at him a few times before, but he's never known anyone to become so broken after being yelled by someone who they loved. It makes him wonder what Tharja said.

"Er," he began, unsure of what to say. "D'ya know why?"

Noire squirmed a little bit, fidgeting with her fingers and looking away. It was clear that she wasn't entirely comfortable with this conversation, more so it looked like she was being forced into it, though her determination shone through. Looking back up at Brady, with tears welling in her eyes, she said, "B-Because I'm weak."

Weak. Weak. Weak. The word itself made Brady's whole body flare up with anger. He hated the word and all who associate with it. Weak. It's nothing but an insult, a word of hurt and offence. Weakness, in his eyes, was not a disability, was not something that people should be associated with. People who give up aren't weak. People who can't lift up a certain amount of weights aren't weak. People who crumble easily aren't weak. They're people, and they're themselves.

He turned to Noire and grasped her shoulders tightly, ignoring the squeak she made when doing said actions. "Listen 'ere, nothin' 'bout you makes you weak. Fact is, you're stronger than you think Noire, and just 'cause your ma tells you you're weak, doesn't mean you are!" He shook her slightly, ignoring the soft whines she made while doing so. "There's no such thing as weakness. It's all in your head, it's in everyone's head don't even think that you're weak."

Though his long speech was meant to sound convincing and noteworthy, Noire's response was rather underwhelming. She blinked a few times at him, before laughing awkwardly. "U-Um, thanks B-Brady," she said, moving away from him. "But that's not what she said."

A wave of mild embarrassment washed over Brady, and he felt his cheeks heat up and the will not just be swallowed up by the ground and never emerge ever. He got so riled up over something that wasn't even confirmed, and not only did he do that but he gave a very inspiring speech about it too. Just kill me now.

As he beat himself up in his mind, Noire placed her cold hand over his causing the monk to turn to face her, before turning away again in embarrassment. The archer pouted, hoping that he'd turn back again but she only got little peeks from him and reddened cheeks. "B-But I liked your speech."

Disbelieved, Brady turned to Noire with a cocked eyebrow and she panicked, "It's true! I swear!" She poked her fingers together awkwardly, as Brady seemed to lighten up a bit. He was still bummed out and looked as if he'd just insulted the Exalt, but he tried mustering up a smile for Noire...which happened to look a lot like a shit eating grin that terrified Noire.

Though she ignored her fear and placed her hands on Brady's shoulders, a lot lighter and less grabby-er then he did, and smiled softly. "W-What you said, i-it was inspiring." The monk looked up at her again, bewilderment and confusion written on his face wondering how someone could ever manage to think that about him.

Noire, finished with what she had to say, slowly removed herself from Brady as he didn't respond and sat to herself, again, drying her eyes. "M-Maybe one day, I'll have more to smile about too." Now that little phrase really hit home for Brady as he felt his embarrassed soul brighten up with curiosity, but as he went to question Noire she closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

Brady, who really didn't want to seem like a creep, sat in the rain while Noire rested on his shoulder and continued his job on duty. A few minutes passed by and he rested back on the rock, still holding the umbrella upright for Noire and looked up at the sky.

"Was a good night before the rain came in again," he mumbled to himself. As he said that, the rain started to lighten and soon the rain had ceased and the clouds were clearing, letting the moon and the stars shine brightly in the night sky. Brady smiled to himself at the sight, before letting out a little sigh.

It may have not been a perfect day, or in this case night, but at least he could enjoy the company of a friend as he gazed up into the sky.

This is my other Secret Santa gift for the very talented kamikaze2007! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it c:

- Blue