Celica had to stifle a laugh, biting down into the wood of her tankard. Across from her, the mercenary she had hired a few weeks ago attempted to drunkenly recite some ancient Zofian poem he had heard from a priest. Her eyes were half-lidded but her pupils still shone as brightly as the earrings that twinkled in the candlelight of the room.
"You've impressed me, enough, Saber. You can stop trying now," Celica said, finally cracking up as Saber sat in genuinely confused silence for a few seconds, his eye squinting in hard recollection.
He looked at her then, that roguish grin of his curled on his lips.
"Then you don't need much to be impressed, lass."
"Celica, please," she said, absentmindedly placing a reassuring hand on Saber's arm. She kept it there as she took another swig of wine, not noticing the look Saber gave her, nor the fire that tingled on his skin.
This was the second night Saber had visited her room.
After several weeks of seafaring, hacking and blasting their way through pirate raid after pirate raid, and sieging a pirate king himself, Celica had decided that the party needed a well-earned rest once they reached Zofia Port. With that, the five of them had settled on an inn located above the town's tavern (suggested, of course, by Saber).
Each of the rooms were spacious, housing a bed in the corner next to windows looking down upon the busy seaport streets, a small desk in the opposite corner, and a wash basin with its respective stand. In the corner of the upper floor was a communal bathroom, one that Celica had stayed in for far too long the first night they stayed there.
And when she was finally satisfied, she had walked back to her room, contentedly wringing out her hair with a towel to find Saber in front of her room, a tall dark glass of wine in one hand, two wooden tankards in the other.
At first, she was hesitant. Sure, she had fought with Saber in the past weeks, but he was still a relative stranger, a much older one at that. He easily could have ulterior motives for wanting to share a celebratory drink in her room. Besides that, she wasn't sure she could trust any wine that wasn't made from the grapes of Novis, aged to perfection in the catacombs of the monastery.
But an hour after she took Saber up on his offer, and she found herself surprisingly relaxed, amused, and, for the first time since the forest strolls with Alm as a child, carefree. Saber was a much more entertaining man that she had first assumed. That hard-edged, all-business mercenary melted away once a few sips of alcohol slipped into him (which was not half-bad by Celica's standards; apparently, it was fabled "Ram wine" that he kept a few bottles of in his knapsack).
The Saber who joked and grinned mischievously in front of her that night was hilarious and an expert at helping Celica forget that the weight of the world was quite literally on her shoulders. But the thing that surprised her the most was that on top of all of that, the older one-eyed man was surprisingly charming.
When he joked, she couldn't help but joke back. And when he drunkenly let slip a flirt, Celica couldn't help but slip out a flirt in response.
She could feel his eyes linger and wander when she wasn't looking; the white nightgown she wore in her room wasn't exactly the most modest article of clothing in her possession. And she prayed to gods he didn't feel hers when she admired to strong lines of his face, the sinews of his bared biceps usually concealed with armor. Maybe it was the alcohol that night, but Celica could swear that she felt something that she rarely felt around Saber, amongst other things that she could never feel or talk about in the stuffy halls of the monastery.
So, before Saber left that night, mere minutes before the sun broke from the watery curtains of the sea, she asked if he could come back the next night. He gave her a look of surprise, but then he gave her that roguish grin that made her heart feel like she was committing a crime before he said, "Anything for you, priestess."
The next morning, a miniature headache echoing in her skull, Celica couldn't help but already look forward to the evening. As it drew closer and closer during the day, she found herself feeling self-conscious around Saber as the party did shopping errands and explored the seaport. Occasionally he would crack a joke that nobody understood other than her. He would wink at her, as if it was a dirty little secret, and, without fail, Celica would grin at him with a small blush.
Whatever she was feeling, it felt wrong and right all at once, and she missed that sensation of utter liberty in the atmosphere Saber created the night before. Her hand absentmindedly clutched her turnwheel more than once that day when her heart confusedly hammered in her chest.
Finally, the night arrived, and just as planned, Saber knocked on her door with yet another bottle of Ram wine and two wooden tankards. Celica's hands were clammy and she felt nervous for a reason unknown to her as she stood behind that door. With her nightgown, she had decided to wear the hair band she usually wore, along with the two earrings gifted to her by Nomah when she was a child.
Unbeknownst to her, the auburn-haired man that stood on the other side of the door was as nervous as she was.
Saber stood there, gripping the alcohol and the cups with his heart pounding. What was he even doing here?
At first, he really did mean the words that he spat at her during their journey. He was only in this for the money. But soon…she had caught his interest because of how much he looked like her little sister, the sister he had left behind. And beyond that, the way she swung her sword, the flame behind her eyes…and the way she joked or the way she had looked at him the night before…Saber felt something inside that had been dormant for years.
What it was, he didn't want to acknowledge. And the strange guilt he felt as she opened the door and he felt his heart skip when he saw her in that nightgown again, that could wait another time.
Regardless of the collective nervousness, the two occupants of Celica's room drank on, carefree. Soon, that nervousness dissipated. There was laughter, jokes, but there was something else. There was a strange tension between them that felt like it had been built and fermented for the past weeks. Like a winding spring about to violently snap and explode.
From Celica's side, that tension was due to her sheltered upbringing. Lewd curiosity mixed with the need to relieve stress no girl her age should ever be burdened with.
From Saber's, the tension was just due to Celica herself. Unlike the priestess, he had felt this before, and acted on it more times than he could count. But to be so physically close to her, a girl so regal, untouched, and pure…the thoughts that began to run through his intoxicated head were dastardly.
But the night went on, and the bottle of Ram wine began to empty.
Just like the night before, Celica felt carefree. And soon, for the first time in forever, she finally felt independent. Grown-up.
Which was why, an hour or two after they had several tankards of wine with the blush of alcohol on their cheeks, when Celica felt that strange, heated sensation in her belly, she didn't feel scared.
She leaned rested her cheek on her palm as Saber recounted a story detailing a hilarious escort he once had. In that moment, with the way the light flickered softly on his face, the way it danced on his mouth, and how strong his hands looked when the action of his narrative needed some demonstration, Celica couldn't help but feel her pulse go a little faster.
Was she letting the alcohol cloud her judgment as she bit down on her lip, letting her face leave her hand? Probably.
Would she regret it later as she quietly leaned over to the mercenary whose attention was wholly preoccupied with his story? Also, probably.
Did the fire in her stomach explode into a hot sensation she had never felt before as her hand grasped the side of his surprised face and she pressed her soft, needy lips against his? Yes. Most definitely, yes.
And did she want to stop as the kiss deepened, and she felt him kiss her back with his hand grabbing the back of her head?
No. Most definitely not.
My first foray into Fire Emblem! This is obviously gonna be pure smut, so expect thousands of words of boinking.
Reviews and favs tell me if I should keep going, so they'd be much appreciated.