Tales of Destiny: A Collection of Suikoden Shortfics
By: Risa
#14#
SUIKODEN TIERKREIS
Tsaubern and Buchse
Halnish needed to blend in without exposing his true identity. It gave him great discomfort knowing that there were already people in this army that knew of his identity as it was, and he tried not to draw attention to himself. After awhile, though, his intentions backfired, and 'Tsaubern' was given the reputation of a suspicious loner.
Not wanting to cause Sieg any trouble, he sought a simple answer to this. He would make friends with the one least likely to pry into his personal affairs. After much speculation and observation he happened upon Buchse, a marksman who barely spoke a word.
So he sat beside Buchse in the castle's pub one evening and tried to make friends. His efforts were met with silence and turned shoulders.
"How rude," he grumbled. When Buchse stood to leave he had dropped a ring of some sort, and when Tsaubern tried to get his attention his hand could only reach the other man's waist.
Buchse gasped and flinched, and gave Tsaubern a sour look. His weakness! That was when the nobleman began to ponder.
After all, he was a stubborn man. He didn't take to being ignored. By the moon he would make friends with this mute bastard if it were the last thing he did.
The opportunity would present itself later that evening when the men bathed in the lake. Normally Tsaubern kept to himself, but when he spotted Buchse off on his own he devised a wicked plan. He would make this man howl so help him.
"I don't appreciate being snubbed earlier," said Tsaubern, having swam toward Buchse who was quite far from him (and everyone else.) "You're not mute, are you?"
"I have nothing to say to you," said Buchse, simple as that. He found nothing wrong or rude with this silent treatment. It was rather frustrating.
"If you have nothing to say then I'll give you something to scream about."
Buchse cocked a disturbed eyebrow at him, and no sooner had he done so then Tsaubern started assaulting his sides with relentless tickles. It was horrible. Holding in the laughter prickled his cheeks and teared his eyes and people were starting to stare. Once the first guffaw broke loose his fist clenched, and he clipped Tsaubern's cheek with much might.
"You... !"
Tsaubern was elated, despite the throbbing in his cheek. He actually got something resembling emotion out of this frustrating person, even if he had to taste blood for it. It filled him with great satisfaction.
"Are we friends now?" Tsaubern dared to ask, even if the answer ended up being another fist. It felt good not to have to be so reserved in the presence of someone.
"If you come anywhere near me, you're dead."
Tsaubern took that as a no, but an incentive to keep trying. This was too fun.
END