Welcome!

There's far too little ArcaSui on this site and since its my OTP and I still had this lying around...here you go!
(Although this isn't really a pairing-oneshot, but more like...well, the close relationship they share without romantic intent, which is just as cute to write - I just love these two so much. I hope you enjoy it! 3)

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all its characters belongs to Hiro Mashima. I just decided to borrow Arcadios and Hisui for my little shenanigans~

„Here."

With only moderately hidden wonderment on her tender features the princess took the small bowl the knight handed her and eyed it a few moments. She turned it slightly in her hands, before finally looking up to meet his gaze again, her surprise now no longer hidden on her face – and the small smile that brightened his usually stern face did only little to ease it.

"You know what that is, I take it?", Arcadios asked and Hisui nodded ever-so-slowly, lowering her gaze to the small bowl yet again...she wasn't quite able to shake the nagging feeling of overlooking some painfully obvious secret.

"A sake bowl", she answered finally and earned a smile from her companion that held a hint of complied premonition that only managed to increase her suspicion.

"Indeed", the knight retorted, as he sat down on the lithic garden bench beside her – she would never cease to be amazed by how simple he made such movements appear, even though he wore full armor, "and more."

He leaned over a bit until his armor grazed her shoulder, gently took the bowl out of her hands and turned it upside down in one swift motion; involuntarily Hisui felt the urge to slap herself for not noticing it earlier.
The outer rim around the bowls base looked slivered, as if someone had dropped it once, but the impact had obviously lacked the strength to shatter it completely.
But instead of bright, veiny crevices the porcelain was nerved with little streaks of gold, that glittered and gleamed in the few rays of sunlight that managed to break through the clouds.

"Some cultures hold the tradition of fixing broken objects with gold. Reassembling the broken shards into something new, if you will", Arcadios explained quietly as if not to disturb her awe, while she gently let her fingertips trail over the small, golden rifts.
He tapped the bowls bottom once as if to underline his words with the quiet pling of resonating porcelain, when he continued: "The damaged is not treated as such. It is rather viewed as something unique, something that only adds to its beauty."

The princess nodded, unable to keep a smile of her face while she thought about it. It was faint and probably invisible, but she could clearly feel it on her lips.

"A truly thoughtful tradition", she said softly after several moments had passed in silence, but when she looked him in the eye her gaze was solemn, "You refer to more, however."
She stated the words as a fact – the two of them were acquainted long enough for her to be certain that none of his words were void of meaning or without an ulterior motive in mind.

The smile on his lips seemed to grow for the briefest of moments, appeared almost gentle – a harsh contrast to his stern features but also strangely fitting - before vanishing completely.

"You are as sharp as ever, princess", Arcadios remarked. His armor clattered quitely as he rose to his full height again, only to drop to one knee before her, however - but even on his knees he was almost on eye level with her when she sat before him. Only with great effort the princess managed to keep her face as expressionless as she was able; even though he dwarfed her about nearly two heads he had never bowed down to be on her level. The fact that he did now only proved her suspicion right that he indeed had an ulterior motive with this conversation.
"What I am trying to say, though inexpertly...", the knight continued and took her hands that still held the small bowl in his' - so gently as if he feared she would break if he wasn't careful enough, "...give yourself time. It will get better, that I promise you."

A small, wistful smile tugged on her lips and disappeared again upon hearing these words, but she remained silent.
It had only been a few weeks since the incident revolving around Eclipse - but it very well could have been months. Hisui wasn't sure if she would have noticed if the destruction of the gate had only been hours away...too fresh was the memory of the deafening roars of ancient monsters, too much the stench of spilled blood still stung in her nose and too cold was the grip of cold fear around her heart. Since then a veil had descended upon her it seemed, gray and heavy and sheer impenetrable... But the warmth coming from Arcadios' hands traveled up her wrists all the way up to her shoulders and seemed to push it back.

The smiled returned to her lips and stayed there when she lowered her gaze to his hands that clasped hers; like his entire body they dwarfed hers, surrounding both of her hands and the bowl with ease, clad in metal on their backs that gleamed in the sunlight – now from up close she saw that the metal which she had always thought to be perfectly fine was covered in nearly-erased dents and scratches; just another reminder that this calm, diplomatic and almost gentle demeanor was only one side of him; he had perfected it to such an extent that she often forgot his abilities to become as deadly as a poisoned blade should the need arise...that was, why he wore his armor day in and day out, it protected both his body and himself from false assessment. And now it protected her, too – from the cold air surrounding them both.
Involuntarily her smile grew. It felt foreign, strange and still familiar - it was pleasant and the princess felt her face brighten up when she lifted her gaze and saw that he returned her smile.

"I will try", she said with a nod, voice hushed and as if to underline her words his grip around her hands tightened a bit - less careful this time and the touch was pleasant, like the warmth that went into her fingers and made the tips tingle.

"I can't ask for more", he replied with a smile, "And if you need my help, I will be at your side."

One more time he gently squeezed her hands, before letting them go a moment after – she saw that, for a moment, he had hesitated as if he was unwilling to let her go just yet; the sudden chill on her skin that came when he eventually did made her shiver and let a lump grow in her throat.

"I thank you", she murmured, not daring to raise her voice. Partly because she did not want anyone else to hear her words and partly because Hisui didn't trust her voice to be any louder in fear of hearing it crack - and that was the last thing she wanted to happen in front of her knight. Too much she was aware of his shrewd gaze, that studied her every reaction – he probably already knew of the dark places she was in...he didn't need to hear them, too. When she studied his face for a second she felt the lump lessen with what she saw there; Hisui wasn't sure if he realized that she could read the worry off of his face, although he made meticulous effort to hide it. All of a sudden she felt a lump in her throat

He had risen again and Hisui extended her hands to give him back the small bowl, but he warded her off with a small gesture.
"Oh, no", he remarked, "Consider it a gift, if only a meager one."

The quiet laugh that slipped through her lips rang foreign in her ears, as if it was someone else's and yet sounded strangely right.
"Oh, no", she repeated his words, "I thank you and will hold it in high regards."

As if to underline her words she meekly pressed the bowl against her petite body and couldn't help but smirk when she saw a quick grin, that most definitely held a hint of triumph, make his way over Arcadios' face.
Without speaking another word he put a hand on his iron-clad chest right above his heart and bowed - it was gesture enough to tell her that he was needed elsewhere, words like these were no longer necessary between the two of them.
With a nod she acknowledged his withdrawal and watched him leave the garden at a fast but measured step. She was fully aware of the fact that someone in his position hardly ever spent an hour away from duty, but the fact that he often chose to use his free time to be with her made her heart swell with joy for the briefest of moments.

As soon as the metallic sounds of his armor had faded between the wind, the quiet chirping of birds and the far-off sounds of the city, Hisui let her gaze lower to the little bowl in her hands once again, looked at it from all sides, traced the golden veins carefully with her fingers.
Reparing cracks and rifts with gold was an idea that made her smile - it returned some of her serenity she had thought lost with Eclipse, but now...
Gently she tapped the porcelain with her finger just like her knight had done before and listened to the bright sound until it too faded into the harmonic chaos of nature's noises around her.

Gold was bright to the eye and beautiful to look upon... But in this very moment didn't feel right to Hisui, in regards of herself. Gold had always been her color, but now she found it strangely unfitting...more so, however, steel of glistening white, to which her thoughts seemed to be drawn all of a sudden.

A smile played around her lips as she pressed the bowl against her chest and felt her heartbeat resonate through it. Reassembling the broken shards, he had called it.
What a coincidence it was, that Arcadios had once, years ago, told her that working with steel and gold was something he thoroughly enjoyed.