Or 'Rhys and Ulki C support conversation, the Extended Edition' I blame this on spending four hours pretty much alone with FlamingDoritos and the fact that we devoured an entire watermelon.
Standard disclaimer. I don't own Fire Emblem, it belongs to Nintendo.
Rhys had always been a babbler. Always. He couldn't help it. He thought he'd managed to kick the habit since he joined Greil's mercenaries, but then he'd never been confronted by anyone quite like Ulki before, with those dark, smouldering eyes and sharp features. And that wasn't to mention the wings.
It had taken a while to work up the courage to even go talk to him. But surely, Rhys had decided, there wouldn't be any harm in reaching out. He approached the hawk slowly at first, much like he would with a wild animal.
He cleared his throat once, near silently and couldn't help but notice Ulki's eyes flick in his direction.
"Um...H-hello! Hello there!" he said quickly, trying to cover his brief stutter.
"Mmm?" The hawk turned to him and Rhys felt his legs weaken slightly. Ulki was scowling. This was harder than he'd anticipated.
"Er...I'm...I'm sorry!" Another stammer. Ashera, what was he doing here? That glare was killing his confidence faster than Ike could wolf down Oscar's cooking. He withered under the continuing glare. "I didn't mean to make you mad! I just wanted to talk to-"
"I'm not mad." Ulki said, calmly deadpan. Those three words shut Rhys up instantaneously. "Can I help you with something?"
It took a moment for everything to register. First, Ulki was speaking to him. Second he hadn't made him mad. Third, he, Rhys, was standing there with his mouth hanging open like an idiot. Oh, this was going so well.
"Ooh! Oooooh! I'm so glad! I'm Rhys! N-nice to meet you!" Rhys inwardly cursed himself, that stutter hadn't left, not to mention how stupid he must sound.
The laguz seemed taken aback by his eagerness. He blinked once and took a slight step back. "Er...hello. I am Ulki."
The priest took a breath, attempting to regain at least some semblance of composure. It was hard to do with Ulki watching him in that hard, near unblinking gaze. "Er... Well..." This conversation was getting nowhere fast. Say something, he urged himself, say anything. "Say you can really fly with those wings, huh? I saw you turn into a hawk before... It was amazing! I envy you!" Again with the intelligent conversation, Rhys could've kicked himself.
"Mrrr?" Ulki's brow twitched. Or perhaps he was arching one of his non-existent eyebrows at Rhys. It was hard to tell.
"Oh, sorry... That probably sounds weird. I've always been sickly. When I was little, I spent a lot of time in bed. So...I used to gaze out the window and see all the little birds flying around the sky... It must be fantastic! Flying wherever you what, whenever you want?"
The hawk appeared to contemplate this for a moment. "Um... Fantastic. Yes. I suppose. I never thought of it."
Rhys laughed a forced, nervous laugh. "Oh, I don't blame you! After all, you've been flying since you were born... Soaring through the skies like a puffy cloud!"
Ulki's expression twisted itself into one of confusion. "Mmm? Clouds do not soar... I am confused."
"Oh gosh! No, of course not! Clouds don't soar! What was I thinking? I mean... I mean you'd be able to fly among the clouds, as free as a...well, bird, I guess."
"Yes..."
"I've always loved birds." Oh no. Rhys tried to shut himself up, but it was too late. "The way that they're able to fly, all of the different kinds... And of course they way they sound. It's just like music! But I suppose you'd know all that, wouldn't you?"
Rhys waited for the hawk to say something, but he didn't. Fearing the inevitability of an awkward silence, the priest continued on.
"I remember some mornings, usually just after getting over a fever where I could get up for the first time in ages and the first thing I'd hear when I'd go outside was all of the birds singing. Unless it was winter. But usually I'm not allowed outside much in winter. Everyone's afraid that it might do more damage to my lungs. I hate being so sick all the time! I feel like I'm a burden to everyone when that happens. I... Do you have any idea what that's like?"
"No."
"Well, let me tell you, it's absolutely horrible!" Right then probably would've been a good time to shut up. But he didn't. "Everyone panics because I'm the healer, and if I get sick then they can't bring me with them out onto the battlefield which means that everyone has to be extra careful not to get seriously hurt. I mean, the enemy likes to come after me because they see that I'm a stave wielder and they know that I can't defend myself, so the odds that I'll get killed are pretty high. And I'm trying to teach Mist, that's Ike's little sister – they lost their father a few months ago. It was tragic. Supposedly he was killed by a former pupil.
"I can't imagine why anyone would've wanted to hurt Commander Greil. Well, except for revenge. Not that I'd ever do such a thing, Ashera looks down on people who commit such acts, but I can only imagine that whatever the commander did to earn such a vendetta against him was absolutely horrible. Only, the commander was a good man, and I can't imagine that he would do anything to harm anyone.
"Soren always gives me a bit of a funny look when I say stuff like that. I can't imagine why. You know who Soren is, right? He's the short fellow with the Spirit Charmer mark on his forehead."
Ulki made another strange face at this, but didn't have time to interrupt.
"He's a brilliant tactician and quite good with tomes. Though Ilyana's better with thunder than he is. I suppose it's just based off of where you start learning. But what was I saying? Oh, right! I'm teaching Mist how to use heal staves. She's showing a lot of promise with them..."
The conversation continued on in this strange, roundabout matter for quite some time.
"...ever had a really good baked potato? They're to die for. Oscar knows just how to make them. There's the melted butter in the center, salt, and some sort of spices, I couldn't tell what ones. You'll have to try one next time that he makes them. I wish everyone else here was as good at cooking as he was."
Rhys had wanted to stop talking ages ago, but something about Ulki made him keep going. It wasn't just how much more awkward Rhys felt with every passing moment. It was more like... Ulki wanted him to keep talking, almost like the laguz was enjoying it.
"I've always wondered if it was something he picked up with the Crimean knights. I suppose I could always ask him. Or Kieran. But you know what Kieran's like. He never shuts up and soon enough he's off on a tangent that has nothing to do with the original topic." Was that a small smile on Ulki's lips? Surely it couldn't be. The hawk seemed so serious. "Usually something about fighting a really big something-or-other from somewhere with his hands blindfolded and his eyes tied behind his back while riding upside down on a horse as the enemy is inserting sharp implements into his..." Rhys stopped and gave his head a quick shake. "But that's not important. I mean, I would ask Oscar about his time in the knights, but I just get the feeling that he'd rather not talk about it. It seems like a sensitive spot. I think he really enjoyed himself with the knights, but his father was dying and Boyd and Rolf were both so little..."
If only Ulki weren't so handsome, so interesting, so new. This never would be happening. Or at least not this badly.
"...the whole thing was on fire. I still don't know how it happened." It was about this point that Rhys also realized that he no longer had any idea what he was saying or how he had managed to get there. His cheeks heated and he realized, much to his horror – and possibly Ulki's amusement, that he was blushing. Quite furiously.
In the end, Rhys had never thought he'd have been so glad to hear Kieran's all too familiar surprised yelp of pain. He promptly excused himself and darted away, grabbing a heal staff on his way.
Ulki watched the priest run towards the source of Kieran's yell and chuckled. Silly little beorc.
Um...yeah. That's pretty much it. Fire Emblem crack. Expect more. Eventually.