Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or the poem.
Nowi
Written by: InvaderSunshine
Edited by: vaguekiwi
When I heard I was going to have a roommate, I was elated. I didn't like being alone, so of course having a roommate was no problem with me.
Maybe we can have pillow fights?!
That was what I thought having a roommate would be like; having someone to smack in the face with a big, fluffy pillow.
Unfortunately, my roommate was not the sort to allow one to hit her with a pillow. My guess was she would either smack you over the head with an even bigger pillow, or simply curse you. I was leaning towards the cursing option, though I had no idea whether or not curses even worked on manaketes.
Tharja didn't pay much mind to me.
She didn't speak to me unless otherwise needed. I hadn't minded when we first arrived at the Feroxi barracks. I was too mentally and physically exhausted to mutter anything other than a drowsy 'nighty night' as I plunked my head down on my pillow.
It had started to annoy me. I was kind of looking forward to my pillow fight, but that didn't mean that I couldn't have one. Maybe I haven't always made the smartest decisions, but that didn't mean that I wouldn't stop making them.
On our second night as roommates, I smacked Tharja over the side of the head with a pillow.
Tharja barely swayed from her seat at our desk, but she did give a surprised grunt. Believe it or not, gloom really can fill a room if you anger a dark mage. I swore the temperature dropped several degrees, before she slowly closed the cover of her tome and glared at me.
Tharja's glare was the stuff of nightmares. Her steely grey eyes hardened as she looked into the eyes of her attacker.
Thankfully it was only me.
Her gaze softened.
There are advantages to being seemingly innocent. One of them is that no matter how old I may actually be, as long as I am regarded as a harmless child, I'm going to get cursed.
...At least it's not likely.
"Pillow fight...?" I urged, as I threw the pillow back over my shoulder.
Tharja sighed as she smoothed the frazzled side of her hair. "Not today, Nowi. Run along."
"Ah, please! You know you want to," I pleaded, pouting slightly for good measure. "I promise I won't hit hard. Besides, that's what roommates do, right?"
"Sometimes they do that, yes…"
I started to jump enthusiastically. "So we can, right?"
"We will do no such thing." she snapped. Then, looking a bit ashamed, she patted my shoulder awkwardly.
Tharja wasn't the nicest lady on the block, but she wasn't about to live up to her title completely. She had pride and morals. My childish actions combined with my unfortunate height wasn't making her feel any better.
Despite knowing this, I wasn't pleased and chose to pout at my toes. I would take advantage of any nurturing feelings she had toward the seemingly innocent if it meant getting to enjoy the wonders of a pillow fight.
I was going to have my pillow fight if it killed me.
"I believe that 'pillow fighting' is more of a sleepover thing. Not that I've ever had one…" Tharja stated.
"We can still have a sleepover" I pushed. I knew I was being immature, but I really wanted to get to know my new roommate. She was the one I was going to have to rely on to help me fend off nighttime assassins… and my faulty internal alarm clock. "Besides, it's pretty much the same thing anyway!"
Tharja gave another weighty sigh. "If I say yes, will you stop...?"
"Of course!" I chirped.
"Alright. We can have a sleepover, but no pillow fights. Are we clear?"
"Aw, fine." I whined. It really was too bad, but it was worth a try. Maybe I could work up to a pillow fight.
"Good," Tharja muttered. "Now go to sleep."
"But it's a sleepover!"
"Isn't that what you do at a sleepover; sleep?" she replied evenly. She placed her tome on the desk and sat up, before walking over to her bed and getting into the covers. "Besides, Robin says we'll be leaving soon. You never know when she may decide it's time to head out."
"Really?" I asked, a bit confused. "I didn't hear that."
I knew we were only staying in the Feroxi barracks until everyone was at least partially recovered and a plan was made. It shocked me that Robin would have finished her plan so soon.
It was Chrom.
If there was anything that would keep her going, it would be Chrom. Robin would do anything for him, even if he didn't ask for it. She wasn't about to let the mad king of Plegia go unpunished for long. Not after the way he'd hurt Chrom.
"Yes, we must be ready in case my love needs us."
"Um, sure." I complied, more than a bit confused. How could she love someone she barely knows?
Yet I knew I wasn't one to have a say on such things when I didn't know romantic love myself. I knew familial and platonic love, but not romantic. Romance was beyond me.
I had a family once. It was just my mom, my dad and me almost a thousand years ago. I could remember toddling on a beach and two figures laughing. I knew and loved two people whom I had never seen again, though I had confidence they were somewhere. They were manaketes like me, and manaketes are strong. Nothing could beat them!
Platonic bonds were something I hadn't been short of since joining the shepherds. I suppose that was a sort of love in its own right.
But like I said, romantic love was beyond me. It was hard to let yourself fall in love when you knew that in under a century they'd be six feet under. To put it simply, I had never let myself be romantically in love. I feared the consequences.
Tharja's love was questionable, but I didn't know enough to question it.
Though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned over the unrequited love situation. I was pretty sure Robin and Chrom would get together after the whole war thing was over. Vaike and I bet against Gaius that Chrom would fess up first, after we took down the mad king. Gaius had a hunch that Robin would get sick and tired of the romantic tension and confess before the war ended during a long-winded rant.
To put things short, things weren't looking up for Tharja on the romantic side of things. I didn't have the heart to tell her, because I thought it might cause her grief. Also, if she truly loved Robin, she'd probably already know by observation that Robin's heart was taken. I wasn't about to rub it in.
"Alrighty, I'll go to bed," I reasoned. I wasn't about to mention something that could completely ruin her day. "But I'm sleeping in your bed. This is a sleepover."
"Fine," she sighed, as she turned over to face the wall. "But if you kick, you're sleeping on the floor with the rats."
"Okie-dokie!" I chirped, grabbing my pillow from my side of the room.
Already in my nightclothes, which were really just an oversized shirt I bought while in the market with Vaike, I climbed up onto her twin bed and bounced on my bottom enthusiastically.
"Go to sleep." Tharja mumbled threateningly.
Not wanting to be kicked off to slumber with the rats in the middle of the night, I slipped under the covers.
There wasn't much room, as the bed was only meant for one person, but I made sure I wasn't smothering her. I really didn't want to be alone in my own bed, as childish as it seemed. There were too many unpleasant thoughts swirling their way around my cranium, and human warmth was a pleasant comfort to my anxious brain. It reminded me that people were still there and living.
Blissfully, I fell asleep. Now, I'm not sure if anyone knows when they fall asleep. I never have, though I do know that there's a significant difference between your emotional state when you go to sleep and your emotional state when you're actually sleeping.
I only jumped one hurdle when I managed to fall asleep, because I tripped over the other one rather ungracefully.
I woke in cold sweat, unpleasant images swirling in my mind. To Tharja's unexpressed joy, I didn't kick during my sleep. I only ever did that during really bad ones, and those were rare. The rats wouldn't have my company that night at least.
That didn't mean my nightmare wasn't terrifying.
I had already suffered through an excruciating visit to a death filled infirmary, all while fearing for a friend's life. Shaken couldn't even describe it.
Not wanting to wake the sleeping mage next to me, I slipped out of the blankets and let my bare feet hit the cold stone floor.
Maybe a snack would comfort me? Surely, there's no rule against a small midnight snack…
I was willing to risk it. It was unlikely anyone would miss a mere apple. I wasn't going to steal a pineapple. Now, that would be tough.
Paying extra attention to not make the door creak, I slipped out of the room and made my way down the dimly lit hallway. I didn't care if anyone saw me in my nightdress with my wild hair sticking up on one end. If they saw the tears welling in my eyes they'd know. It was easy to tell when someone was crying.
The redness around my eyes would give me away, and leaving was the best idea when Tharja was around. I doubted the woman would be angry, but I also doubted that she'd be comfortable. She seemed awkward enough while trying to convince me out of having a pillow fight.
Yes, it was best that I found somewhere to be alone until I managed to calm down. It was late, and I doubted that anyone in service of the army would be up. We had been given orders to be up by nine for breakfast, otherwise we would go hungry until lunch.
The mess hall was inside the barracks and near my temporary room. It was a quaint little place, kept in much better condition than the infirmary. While the edges to the long, rectangular tables were chipped with wear, it was warm and comfortable. A fire burned readily in the hearth and the entrance to the kitchen and counter lay off to the side.
There was just one thing.
...It wasn't empty.
Right near the entrance to the mess hall was none other than the Vaike himself, and just my luck, there had to be creaky doors. His attention snapped towards me the second I threw open the oversized double doors.
The plate of leftover chicken was abandoned as soon as he saw me. He frowned in concern and beckoned me over, as he would any other person who he found blubbering I am sure. That was just the sort of person Vaike was.
"Hey!" he called out in concern. "What's all the snifflin' about?"
"Oh, n-nothing…" I muttered, as I sat next to him on the bench. There was no avoiding questioning, but I might as well of tried. It wasn't a pleasant topic to speak about and I was in no way eager to voice my fears.
As expected, Vaike wasn't buying my terrible lying skills. He looped an arm around my slight shoulders, trying to shake me out of my daze. "Ha! You can't fool the Vaike! I'm a master of psych… Er, psik… Ya know. Mind stuff!"
"I had a frightening dream." I confessed reluctantly.
"A nightmare, eh? What about? Beasts? Ghouls? Snaggletooth witches?" he carried on in an attempt to lift my spirits.
His foolishness made a tiny smile appear on my face, though I felt the need to voice my dilemma. I wouldn't want anyone getting the idea that I actually feared those things. I wasn't a child; I was a mighty dragon!
"I was all alone. Everybody had left me. Even Chrom and Robin." I admitted. The words were starting to flow better now. After all, it was only Vaike.
The dream was just like all of my other nightmares, but instead of my distant parents or past friends, it was the current ones. I wasn't about to tell him that it wasn't just Chrom and Robin lying in their graves... It was him and Gaius too, embracing death while I gazed from above. I didn't want him to be superstitious.
"Well, that's a daft dream! Chrom and Robin would never do that. Heck, no Shepherd would do that!" he consoled.
Vaike didn't understand the reality that was manakete life, so it was understandable that he would think I was talking about people leaving me by means of not dying. Manaketes were few and far between in the world, so it was very possible that I was the only one he had ever met.
"But in a hundred years you will. You'll all be gone." I explained patiently. There was no denying the inevitable. Everyone would die. The problem was I wouldn't die with them.
Vaike frowned. There was no denying the truth."Oh. Well, I guess so, yeah."
"Then I will be alone!" I wailed, smacking my hands over my eyes.
I started sobbing like a baby with jumbo tears streaming down my face and everything. If I wasn't already a mess, I certainly was then. I had to admit, it was a bit embarrassing to let myself cry like that, yet I couldn't help it…
The thought of everyone dying was terrifying for me.
"Look, ya can't go weepin' over what might happen a hundred years from now!" Vaike urged. He shook my shoulder lightly, just enough to emphasize the point. "Ya gotta live in the present and have fun while ya still can."
"That's easier said than done." I choked, lowering my hands to wipe the stray tears away.
"If you've got time to brood about future centuries, you've got time to have fun. In fact, let's play a game right now! How about Headless Soldier?" he suggested, offering a friendly smile as well as an escape from reality.
I didn't accept right away. May I remind you, I was still in a shaken state.
But Vaike knew what to do; he took my hand and dragged me off with him. And as I scrambled to keep up, I felt some characteristic, childish glee make itself known.
"Yay!" I cheered, a smile lighting up my tear-streaked face.
Life was a quiltwork of emotions just waiting to thread.
A/N: Well I hope you all liked the first Vaike x Nowi support. I had some problems trying to add this particular support. It ends so suddenly that I had to fix the ending up a bit. Don't worry. The dialogue is still the same as in the original support. As I have mentioned before, I am going to have to try to spread chapters out a bit more, as I am going to university in September. So while I am currently working on chapter 15, I will have to hoard chapters for the time being. Expect the next update to be around mid July.
Thank you to And26169, and Halfsmile for the wonderful reviews on last chapter, as well as to all who gave this story a follow, a favourite, or simply read. You all have my thanks.
Input is much appreciated. :)