And, here's chapter two. I have several chapters that I'm currently editing, but I'm doing NaNoWriMo and it might take over my life. Or I might ignore it (which is usual) in favor of writing fanfic. I really hope not, I want to win this year!

The whole point of this story (and its plot) is about what the FE characters might do/be like when they're not under enormous pressure. Oscar in particular, I think, is under pressure--not only is he in the thick of things, he has to worry about his little brothers as well. I think Oscar enjoys his rivalry with Kieran because it lets him relax a little bit/it brings him outside the boundaries of his normal behavior.

I'm babbling about this because I thought long and hard about where the plot would come from and whether readers would get bored of a story that focused primarily on human relationships. But inventing some sort of 'Deus ex machina' situation isn't quite what I want to do. I've read a lot of fic where the chemistry comes from the characters we know interacting in a personal manner and then-- BOOM! --the author worries that the story will be 'too boring' and then brings in a horribly shoddy external plot device. But seriously, if you have any advice about this--there will be some action/fighting going on, but there's not going to be some uber-evil or whatnot.

This fic is an experiment not only in FE characterization and development, but also in style and plot--as such, please bear with me.

***FF NET IS BEING EVIL AND HAS EATEN MY DIVIDER BARS.***

Chapter Two: A Streamside Plot

Though silent all the way to the stream, Boyd and Rolf both began to talk at once when they reached it.

"Do you really think Oscar—"

"How the hell are we going—"

They both broke off. "You first," Boyd said. "It's about Oscar, really?"

"You implied that…I mean, is Oscar…gay?"

Boyd considered for a moment. "I don't think it's that easy," he said. "He's just attached to Kieran. Remember when he talked about Soren looking out for Ike's best interests and what he said about responsibility?"

Rolf nodded.

"Well," Boyd said, "Oscar was only twenty when Mom and Dad died. He had to leave his successful fledgling career in the knights and take care of us. I think he's just attached to Kieran. This whole rivalry thing they have? It's really Oscar's terrible way of flirting, which Kieran obliviously interprets as competition."

"Wow," said Rolf. "I never even considered that!"

"Well," said Boyd, "you were still pretty young during the war. You've grown up a lot during reconstruction, Rolf, and I'm proud of that. But you probably didn't notice the things I did, the way Kieran and Oscar interacted…and Kieran left right after the war ended to help on the Daein border with the other knights in his battalion."

"I guess you're right," said Rolf. "But how are we going to help him?"

"I don't know," said Boyd. "If only we knew for sure whether Oscar even liked him! And that's not even taking Kieran's feelings into account." He shook his head. "Oscar's the one who is subtle and who would normally help us with things like that. But we obviously can't ask him! We need someone who is good at reading people and has an analytical mind…"

"There he is!" Rolf shouted. Boyd turned around to see Soren.

The latter was walking along muttering quietly to himself about table arrangements and liquor volumes when he saw Boyd and Rolf getting some water. "I wonder what they are up to." He was extremely surprised when they approached him; without Oscar's gentle pushing, he was sure that Boyd and Rolf would have had nothing to do with him. Of course, whether he was grateful for that or not, he wasn't sure.

"Soren!" said Rolf. "We need your help!"

"This ought to be good…" Soren muttered, not quite to himself.

Rolf explained excitedly about his brother and Kieran, with Boyd pitching in whenever the situation got tangled up in his words. "So the gist of it is, Oscar's given up so much for us, and we want to pay him back…if we can…"

Soren was moved by their concern. He had not thought that Oscar's brothers had serious sides, or that they appreciated Oscar's sacrifices. "Well," Soren said. "Based on my observations, Kieran and Oscar share a special bond, unmatched by any of their other colleagues. A different bond, of course, than that of brotherhood—one that could simply be the result of their mutual training. They fought together for a long time and they took their first steps towards knighthood together. But it is my feeling that Oscar has been trying to become even closer to Kieran for quite some time, and it is only the silly 'rivalry'—which he plays along with for Kieran's sake because he sees it as the only acknowledgment that their relationship is special—which keeps them apart."

Boyd, who normally would have been snoring after such a long speech from Soren, nodded thoughtfully. "It doesn't help that Oscar sucks at making his feelings known. But what about Kieran? Rivalry or not, oblivious or not, what if he's not interested?"

"It is my feeling," Soren said, "that so-called rivals who are not competing for a desired third party often feel a semi-romantic tension, which manifests in attempts to impress the other by surpassing them. And since Kieran is so insistent on gaining Oscar's admiration—but not, if you'll notice, Elincia's or Geoffrey's or Ike's—it could be that he needs what he seeks from Oscar, and no one else, and that it is not for glory or standing, but for love…"

He looked at the two of them. "I will help you," he said, "because I think you're doing something nice for your brother. I will observe them tonight. If I see anything special, I will call for a glass of juice. After that point, we will rendezvous away from Oscar and Kieran and discuss. I suggest that you too, open your eyes and ears. Being observant is merely a matter of practice, something which you sorely lack." He nodded and walked away.

"Ouch," said Boyd.

"Do you think…that Ike and Soren also share a special bond?" Rolf asked him.

Boyd threw up his hands. "Don't say that! We'll lose the bet if he hears something like that! And, if you become observant, you might start chiding me all the time, so you'd better not!" He ruffled Rolf's hair and added, "One Oscar in the family is enough!"

The two walked back to the kitchen. Or rather, the loud shouting of Kieran drew them to the kitchen like a homing beacon. Kieran was vehemently 'persuading' Oscar and Oscar was bravely resisting. Boyd and Rolf nodded to each other and stopped at the door to listen.

"Stop being silly, Kieran!" Oscar said, stirring the stew vehemently. "I can't go on a vacation! I have duties here."

"PLEEEEEEEASE?" Kieran whined. Both Boyd and Rolf flinched at the whine level, though Oscar seemed immune. All that training for knighthood had made him stoic and hardy when it came to such things. "I have to tell them something really important! And it'll only be a two day trip there and back so we'll only have to stay one night!"

"Will you sleep in the stables? Because, I am never sharing a bed with you again!"

"Maybe he's going to tell them he's gay!" Rolf whispered triumphantly to Boyd, who rolled his eyes.

"But my family's been dying for me to get a promotion and come closer to home! They won't be happy when they hear that I'll be on the border of Daein! If you're there, you can distract them! They love you! Please please please please please??????????"

Even Rolf rolled his eyes. He could tell how desperate Kieran was because he had dropped all pretense of rivalry or semi-flowery speech…

"I have to stay with my brothers," Oscar said stiffly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to bake."

Boyd burst into the room, nearly scaring the wits out of high-strung Kieran. "Hey Oscar! I heard you're going on a trip! How exciting!"

"Yeah!" Rolf chimed in. "This way you and Kieran can spend some time catching up!"

"EXACTLY!" said Kieran, grinning madly. "What better way to catch up is there than going on a lovely jaunt to my home?"

Oscar muttered into the cake batter, "Betrayed by my own family!" He looked at all of them, one by one. Resisting Kieran was one thing; hell, he could even resist both of his brothers when he had to, but resisting all of them at once? His days as an unmovable object surely were over.

Taking the water from Boyd, he stirred the batter together a little harder than was necessary. "Fine, I'll go. We'll leave two days from now and we'll be back two days after that. Any longer and I'll tell your family about the night you thought Cassie's armor was yours in the dark!"

"You wouldn't dare, squinty coward! I can tell them about the night you got drunk and thought your horse was a laguz!"

"…" Boyd and Rolf looked at each other and fell over on the floor laughing.

***ERG FFNET YOU BREAK MY HEART FIRST YOU CHANGE THE FORMAT SO I CAN'T UPDATE MY STORY WITHOUT FEELING LIKE A RETARD AND NOW YOU EAT MY PRECIOUSES!!!***

Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but Soren got roped into playing 'personal' tactician for Boyd and Rolf and chose to end the chapter out of sheer annoyance.

So, if you A support Haar with Jill, during the epilogue it says that Jill "lived with her husband in Talrega"...and it says that Haar did deliveries in Talrega. BUT IT DOESN'T TECHNICALLY SAY THEY MARRIED EACH OTHER. (Sorry, this is totally random, but I just beat the game again and I'm a bit confused about that...)

So for all we know Jill could be ruling with some schmuck we haven't even heard of while Haar lives as a commoner delivering things for people. But then again, I guess that makes more sense than the King of Talrega (or at least the Queen's Consort) running a Tellian version of UPS.

Not that Jill and Haar are going to appear in this fic for a very, very long time.