(It's been so long since I did anything for New Blood... I really have to get to work on Witchcraft. Maybe I'll work on chapter two later?

But that's not now. Let's begin.

Val, Markus © Nintendo

Cassandra © Me)

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A Passel

Chapter Two- Slight Anxiety

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Whenever Markus got frustrated, he would pace.

A lot.

"Markus, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"I will not."

Valerie sighed, shaking her head as she stuffed papers back into their proper files.

"Well, what's bothering you?" she queried, her brown eyes focused on the manila folders and bright white pages.

"Nothing."

"Markus..."

The dark-haired surgeon sighed, actually coming to a halt for the briefest of moments before resuming his small march.

"...my sister's birthday is... coming up... and--"

She couldn't help it; Val started to giggle uncontrollably, and Markus' dirty glare only made her laugh harder.

"Y-you're worried about your sister's birthday party?" Val beamed. "She's turning what... twenty-three? And you're worried about going to her birthday party?"

"Twenty-four, actually," Markus corrected, "and yes, I am. I haven't seen her since the accident-- and before that, since she graduated high school..."

"Well then, you should go and say hi to your sister, you abandoning jerk," his coworker grinned, who long ago had overcome her guilt from the car accident- guilt created when she mistakenly identified Cassandra Vaughn as Markus' second girlfriend. "I'm sure she'd love to see you outside of the hospital..."

"Hey, I don't need to be bothered by people with inquiring minds, asking me how I got this scar," the dark-haired surgeon grumbled, running a hand through his sable hair, absentmindedly brushing his palm against the cicatrice. "Especially if they're people that I don't know..."

"Ohh... so she has a lot of close friends, huh?"

"Ohhh yeah."

Markus resumed pacing, his clip slightly faster than usual; Valerie, however, had her hand against her chin, her dark eyes furrowed as she thought.

"...hey, Markus-- I think I could fix your problem for you..."

Markus glanced over at Val, pausing in mid-step.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Val nodded, rummaging through her purse. "Get over here and I'll show you..."

Those seven words were rarely followed by good luck for Markus; nevertheless, he sauntered over behind Valerie, albeit slowly and maintaining a slight distance.

"So, what's your grand master plan...?"

He heard a soft, yet all-too-familiar click.

Instantly he began backing up--

Not fast enough.

Val cackled uncontrollably as Markus glared at her, a large blotch of dark foundation smeared across the long scar over his eye. The small sponge fell from the female surgeon's hand, yet she made no motion to pick it up-- at least, not until Markus' severe expression softened, and he too let out a faint chuckle.

"Thanks, Val-- now I'll just have people wondering why I have a giant bruise across the left side of my face. Problem solved."

"Anything I can do to help," Valerie smiled cheerfully, dropping her foundation back into her purse. "So, anything else I can do to assist you in your desperate hour of need?"

Markus paused for a moment.

"...yes, actually..."

Val glanced expectantly at her boyfriend, waiting for him to continue...

"This bruise hurts like you wouldn't believe... can you kiss it and make it all better?"

Val groaned, rolling her eyes at Markus' puppy-dog expression...

Nevertheless, she was unable to keep a faint smile off her face as she rose from her seat, slowly striding over to Markus before gently kissing him on the lips.

She sure seemed to have a penchant for men with peculiar habits and unusual verbiage...

But this one would always be hers.

"Bruised" scars and all.

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(End chapter two.

If you go to my deviantART page, you'll see that Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword has consumed my mind for now. But that doesn't mean I'm not here!

Please review!)