Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Awakening or any of its characters. This story is for pure entertainment purposes only.
Chapter Three: Show Off the Goods - Men are visual creatures, and the one of the first things they use to judge a woman's worth is appearance. That's not to say that shortcomings can't be overlooked in light of a good heart, but a little skin goes a long way towards getting his attention. So show off your best attributes. Accentuate the good; hide the flaws. Be careful to leave something to the imagination, but it doesn't hurt to spark it!
Cordelia almost tossed her book into the nearest river after getting through the third chapter. It got a little graphic in some parts, and just plain offensive in others.
As far as looks and body image were concerned, she'd always had a pretty good view of herself save for the odd occasion here and there. If she was strong and healthy, she didn't need to concern herself with keeping up appearances or fashion trends, though she did have some primping rituals. She also didn't worry much about what anyone else thought of her, but the book's insistence that it was of vital importance made her second guess herself. Hence, after a great deal of thought and watching Chrom spend time with the elegant and beautiful Maribelle (Sumia seemed to be otherwise preoccupied lately), she decided to give it a whirl.
One of the problems she encountered in trying to instigate this tactic was that she wasn't quite sure what to accentuate and what to hide. She had always been ashamed of her small bust, so that was certainly going to stay covered. But what else did men find attractive, and more specifically, what did Chrom like?
Something of an answer came after overhearing the other women discuss Virion's latest efforts to flatter them with overly embellished praise. Evidently, everything below the waist was fair game. She didn't understand, but she had always been diligent in completing strength training drills for her legs, arms, and core. She experimented with her appearance for a few days before finally settling on simply pinning her hair up into a messy bun, removing the armor from her arms and waist (she refused to take off the breastplate), and switching out her thigh high red boots for sandals to show off her toned legs. Sadly, she did not own any make-up and naturally hadn't thought to pack any dresses or other non-combat type clothes but she didn't look half-bad, all things considered.
She did not think that the minor alterations were entirely inappropriate, but she still felt dreadfully self-conscience and way too exposed. However, she would not back down after going through the effort. Her only consolation was that she intended to wait until after supper, when most of the Shepherds would retire to their tents for the night, whereas Chrom could be found in the mobile War Room. He, Robin, and Frederick frequently met there and spoke long into the evening about travel plans and strategic formations, but the army's resident amnesiac mentioned wanting to take a long bath to relax on this particular evening. That would leave Chrom and possibly Frederick quite alone, and she could loiter in the area until a good opportunity presented itself.
Cordelia slowly peaked her head out of the tent she shared with Sumia and looked around. A few soldiers passed here and there, but otherwise everything was quiet. She took one very deep inhale, exhaled her nervousness, and strolled as casually as she could in the direction of War Room, willing herself to ignore the few leers aimed her way.
She was having second AND third thoughts about this whole thing by the time she'd reached the appointed region. The encampments were always laid out so that the common areas, including the meal tent, bathing tents, War Room, and convoy were generally in the middle along with the personal sleeping quarters of Chrom, Lissa, and a few of the other higher ranked soldiers.
She almost turned around and fled to the safety of her own space, but fortune seemed to be smiling on her tonight. Not only was Chrom outside and alone, but he was heading straight towards her! She stopped and ran her fingers through the loose strands of her hair, soothed down the front of her clothes and reminded herself to breathe, lest she hyperventilate.
As soon as the prince was within earshot, she smiled as sweetly as possible. "G-good evening, Sir Chrom. I wondered if you might..."
He hurried past without stopping, mumbling to himself and giving no indication that he'd seen her at all. His eyes had been completely fixated on the ground as he walked, and in the brief seconds in which she could see his face, it appeared to be tinted a deep crimson. She managed to just barely hear him say something about steam, stupidity, a "damnable deceptive robe", and "bigger than he thought" as he went.
Cordelia was too stunned to try and follow, her heart wilting within her. 'What on earth was that all about?' she wondered.
A rustling noise snapped her to attention, and she turned back in the direction he had just come from. Now a post-bath Robin was coming as well, but her demeanor was like that of an enraged demon.
"Cordelia! Did you see Chrom come this way?" she asked as she neared, pulling on the dark Tactician's robe over her other clothes.
She obediently pointed, taking a wide step back to avoid being run down by the wrathful woman. Robin nodded her thanks and sprinted after him.
Cordelia stayed rooted to the spot, suddenly far too curious about what happened between the two of them to be disappointed anymore. This was a stupid idea to begin with, and she immediately decided that she was too uncomfortable to try anything like this again. If Chrom ever did fall for her, she would want it to be because of her inner beauty, not her body.
Glad for once that things did not go according to plan, she sighed in relief and started back for her own quarters. She wasn't concentrating on her surroundings very much, so she did not see someone exit the supply tent just as she was passing until she ran right into them.
"Oof!" She stumbled back a few steps, but caught herself before she tumbled to the ground. "Sorry!"
"Hey, watch it!" the other person barked at the same time, not quite realizing who had walked into him.
The woman froze as recognition dawned on her, and her ruby irises locked with Lon'qu dark gaze. She stood there helplessly paralyzed as her combat partner mindlessly gave her a quick once-over before his compulsive fear kicked in and he backed away from her, dropping his worn oaken practice sword and stuttering nonsensically.
She felt her whole body heat up, mortified that the gynophobe of all people should see her like this. She squeaked a series of apologies and ran the rest of the way to her tent, determined that no one should hear of this and she most certainly would not bring it up with Lon'qu if she could help it.
Cordelia plopped down on her bedroll and covered her face with her hands. That decided it... she was going to completely rip out Chapter Three of that stupid book and burn it the next time Frederick started a fire.
She took a few moments to let her heart rate settle and concentrated on regaining her composure. When she finally looked up, her line of sight fell on her own reflection in the small nearby mirror that she and her roommate shared.
The Pegasus Knight stared at herself long and hard, considering the way Lon'qu had looked at her moments ago. She had to wonder if she imagined it. Was that really was some version of admiration and approval in his eyes? Or was it wishful thinking on her part?
A.N. I swear that there will be an actual conversation between Lon'qu and Cordelia in the next chapter! Just had to establish a base line first.
Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are very much appreciated! (And I do read them; as I pointed out in my first story, I tend to wait until the end to comment and/or respond)
