Wednesday, February 11th: Rarepair/Crackship OR Alternate Universe

Pair: Doug/Forte

The atmosphere is... hostile, somehow. Doug suddenly felt trapped behind the store counter, weighted down by the hostility in the air. Across the room at a shelf, Selphia's flower salesman/ace detective slammed through product after product, taking a break to growl in frustration. If only Blossom were here, so he could make his escape.

"Umm...Illuminata...?" He interrupted her, deciding that he should probably put a stop to her behavior before she damaged any merchandise. "Is there something particular you're looking for?"

The fiery elf spun around suddenly, pointing an accusing finger directly at him. "Hush, you! I'm looking for evidence!"

"...Evidence? What kind of evidence?"

Illuminata silenced him with another jab of her index finger, turning her attention back to the shelf. "I'm looking for evidence to further connect you to the crime!"

The dwarf blinked in confusion. But instead of answering him, the elf simply muttered an affirmative to herself and ran out the door.

"Really...what's gotten into everyone today?" The redhead sighed wistfully. Ever since yesterday, the women of the village had been acting very strangely towards Doug. Margaret would stop playing the piano and storm upstairs in a huff whenever he entered Porcoline's Kitchen, Dolce would mutter an angry insult to herself whenever she walked past him on the streets causing Pico to shout out the insult for her mistress, and Xiao Pai would "forget" to warn him that she heated the bath way too much when he came to unwind, causing him to burn himself in very delicate areas. Even sweet, innocent Amber stopped smiling when he came into Carnations, instead deciding to point towards the bin by there door and say that the "trash belongs over there". He really didn't know what was going on, but as of late it seemed that Doug was public enemy #1 to all women.

All women except one, that is.

The dwarf jumped in surprise as the bell above the general store door chimed, signalling a new customer. In walked the twintailed fake princess of Selphia, smiling politely.

"Good morning, Frey," Doug welcomed her weakly, exhausted from all of the recent negativity.

Frey scanned the room for a moment before responding. Was she...checking to make sure we were alone? "Good morning, Doug."

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

The redhead scowled at her. "Don't play dumb, why did you look around before answering me?"

Frey gave an apologetic smile, embarrassed that he had caught on. "I'm sorry, Doug. I just..."

"Didn't want to be seen being nice to me?"

"...Well, I am a girl too, after all.." The princess fidgeted guiltily, unable to meet his gaze. "It's nothing personal.."

"Yeesh, that's cold... What did I even do?"

Frey looked at him with wide eyes. Was it that shocking that he didn't know? "You mean you don't remember?"

"Umm. No, obviously I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, Doug..." She shook her head, walking over beside him.

"What?"

"You really don't remember what you said? About Forte?"

Doug strained to remember the event from a couple of days ago. Porcoline's kitchen was crowded with people that day. It was lunch hour, after all. He had been sitting at a table with the other guys from the village, save for Dylas who was waiting tables and Arthur who was in his study, working diligently. At the table across from them, sat the girls. Everybody was having a wonderful time, laughing and telling stories about their day.

He remembered Forte was telling the girls about how she was training some new recruits. One of them had been fooling around so she punished them harshly, commanding them to run laps throughout town until she was satisfied. "I wonder why the new recruits can be so disrespectful," she sighed.

"It's because they're not used to seeing a girl as a knight," Doug interjected, putting his conversation with Vishnal on hold.

"I beg your pardon?"

The dwarf took a swig of his drink before standing. "Well, knights are men, you know? They just haven't seen a female knight before. It's different."

"What about it is so different?" The blonde huffed, her gaze piercing through him. "Despite my gender, I am still a knight, and I am their superior. Do I not deserve their respect?"

Doug shrugged. "Maybe they thought you were too stuffy. You are really strict, y'know."

"Sit down, shorty." The waiter hissed, shoving down the dwarf back into his seat. This of course caused them to argue briefly.

"What's the matter with you, horse-face?"

"You're disturbing the other guests!"

"I'm being honest!"

The dwarf began to grumble a few expletives, not knowing how to retaliate. "It's not like she's a real girl anyway. She's not feminine at all! She just marches around barking orders all the time!"

The guests were already chatting loudly amongst themselves. There's no way anyone had heard that.

Right?

"Kiel says she hasn't left her bed, you know. He's really worried about her." Despite how polite Frey was on average, even she looked at him with disdain right now.

Oh crap. Doug felt his chest tighten. He was just venting his frustration, he didn't actually mean it. It was all Dylas's fault!

But everyone wasn't angry at Dylas. Everyone was angry at Doug. And Forte was sad. Man, this sucked. Suddenly, Doug stood and ushered Frey out the door, locking it behind him.

"D-Doug? What're you-"

"Sorry Frey. Gotta kick you out early. I totally forgot I was supposed to go do something!"

It was around lunchtime when he arrived. He would have arrived sooner, but he had to make sure That idiot Dylas wasn't in the restaurant before he placed his order.

Steeling himself, he knocked on their door. It opened slightly and a little blonde head peeked out.

"... Doug," Kiel greeted him somewhat coldly, a mixture of anger and disappointment on his face. A look that caused Doug's cheeks to flush in shame.

"H-Hi Kiel... is your sister here?"

Forte's younger brother looked him up and down. Spotting the dish in his hand, his expression softened somewhat. "Yeah, she's in her room. ...Listen, I have some errands to run. Do you think you could watch after her while I'm gone? She had a slight temperature this morning."

"S-Sure..."

"Great!" The boy gave a knowing smile to the slightly taller male and opened the door for him to come in and wished him a sincere good-luck as he left.

"Kiel...?" a shakey voice called out from Forte's room. "Who was that at the door?"

Forte's bedroom seemed a mile away at that point. Remorse coursed through his veins as he kept trying to think of what to say. When he got there, however, all he could muster up was a halfhearted "Hey."

A pair of angry blue eyes peered dangerously at him through her covers. "W-What are you doing here?"

Remember, Doug. Be nice. "You know, you have your army of girls attacking me everywhere I go." Oh yeah. That was real nice.

"I did not put them up to it," she muttered, halfway apologetic.

"You didn't have to. It's 'Girl code' or something. Even Amber's pissed at me. Amber!"

"It serves you right for being so callous," Forte retorted angrily. Anger was good. "I have no idea why they might defend me, though. Seeing as I'm not a real girl."

Doug winced. "So you heard that bit, didn't you?"

"I am not hearing an apology," she said flatly. "You came here to apologize, yes?"

"S-sorry." The dwarf rubbed the back of his head, keeping his eyes to the floor. The guilt on his face was almost as obvious as it was in his tone of voice. "I was just angry at Dylas... I shouldn't have said..."

"Then why did you?" Her voice was soft and shakey, like she was about to cry. Forte never cries...

"Argh... I don't know! I was just angry, and I just said it...! I'm very stupid when I'm angry. It wasn't even true."

The covers were thrown back as the Forte sat up suddenly, catching Doug off guard. She sat, still dressed in her nightgown, her long blonde hair let loose to hang over one shoulder. Doug could feel his cheeks heat up.

When she was like this, she was very pretty.

"It is... a little true," she admitted, looking at his chest rather than his face. "I'm very strict, and I always dive headfirst at the first sign of trouble... Everyone has either said so or thought the same as you. I am more like a man than a woman."

"Yeah, you are pretty manly at times." Forte looked at him incredulously. Why was he laughing at her?

"Do you think something is funny? I thought you were apologizing!"

"I am, I am! It's just..." he gave her a warm smile. "We love that about you. You keep us on our toes, and you're always defying the expectations we all throw at you because you're a girl. Even your recruits: they disrespect you because they think you will be soft and gentle, but you always turn around and surprise them."

A blush crept onto the blonde's face. "So you are saying... it's not a bad thing?"

"It's a great thing! I'm not that good with a weapon. My dad was going to teach me, but... Anyway, knowing that we have someone strong and dependable like you protecting us, I feel safe. If you were any different, you just wouldn't be Forte."

The girl stood up out of her bed, smiling gracefully. "Y-you know," Doug coughed awkwardly, "with your hair down, you look more feminine. P-pretty, even...!"

"I'm... so tall. That's not very feminine."

She chuckled slightly, attempting to cover her embarrassment. It was true that Forte was tall, but given that Doug was a dwarf, she completely towered over him.

"Yeah, well I'm short. That's not very masculine."

Forte shrugged shyly. "I-I like your height."

The pair stood there in silence for a few moments, both of them quite red in the face. Finally, Forte spoke. ""...Thank you, Doug. For all of this" She began running her hands nervously through her long hair. "I-if you want... maybe I could start teaching you how to fight, with a sword."

"Geez," the dwarf uttered, averting her gaze in an attempt to keep his composure. This side of Forte was undeniably cute. "Y-Yeah... I'd like that. We could start tomorrow morning at 10...? I could meet you in the square... if you want, that is."

The knight smiled, seemingly oblivious to the redhead's change of attitude. "Of course! Be prepared to work hard. I won't go easy on even you!"

***The pair began sparring every morning from then on. Kiel reports that occasionally, they've been known to have meals together. He feels bad for poor Doug, as his sister is extremely clueless towards most things romantic, however that didn't stop the other villagers from teasing them mercilessly.