Corrin Reacts to Snow and Scales, Part 1!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to Corrin Reacts! Now, you guys kept asking for Florrin fics. Given that, in this fandom, Florrin doesn't exactly have a thousand fans chomping at the bit to take the challenge on (partially because of that blasted- and completely non-canon, to boot- Spooky Scramble conversation), it was a really difficult challenge to find someone who writes Florrin at all. Even harder to find Male!Corrin/Flora, and this is after quite a bit of searching both on and AO3; not that I can't understand why Fem!Corrin/Flora's more popular, their support's WAY more romantic. Luckily, however, we did find a guy in the end- none other than the man, the myth, the legend, ThatOneGuyWhoWrites! If you're reading this, cheers, you're cool, and more power to you for giving this unloved pairing some love. And speaking of unloved pairings, let's give this one some love!
DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem belongs to Intelligent Systems, otherwise that conversation in Spooky Scramble would've actually changed. (You know the one.)

Snow and Scales belongs to ThatOneGuyWhoWrites.

All mentioned franchises and characters belong to their respective owners.

"Aphrodisiac? In my hot springs?" Izana raised an eyebrow quizzically. Corrin tapped his desk, frowning at the duke like a parent admonishing his child.
"Yes, Izana, in your hot springs," Azura, who was sitting next to Corrin with her hands in her lap, added. The expression on her face was unamused; she'd been told exactly what happened and, being as invested as she was in the whole plan around Flora, she was equally irritated. "Aphrodisiac in the mist. It was well-hidden."
"Oh. That certainly makes for an interesting night," Izana mused.
"Was there anyone you let in?"
"Well, there was a friend of yours. He said he knows you and wanted to snoop around the hot springs. I, being the grrrrracious housekeeper I am, couldn't say no!"
Corrin fixed him with an exasperated stare. He stared at Izana for a few moments, trying to gather what he had just been told.

After a few moments, the prince spoke.

"Izana…has it ever occurred to you that showing off isn't the best response to everything?"
"I also might've let him do it because it was funny," the archduke replied with a teasing tone to his voice.
Azura snorted dismissively. "Didn't think you were into that kind of party."
"Two-person pool party? Almost the best kind."
Corrin sighed, rubbing his right temple. "And for once, I agree with Takumi on something."
"What?"
"You really can be annoying sometimes."
"Oh! Surely you don't mean that?" Izana asked in a teasing voice, before clearing his throat. "But…..on a serious note, if you want to know who did it, I can tell you. He was pretty short, his eyes were red, looked about your age…had Flora's hair color, actually."
"Her hair? What, like a relative?" the songstress clarified.
"Blue isn't exactly rare, darling. Why, you and Beruka share the same shade of pastel-blue! Anyway, he also said he went by the name of…..Canas, yes. I'm almost certain he took that from a book on my shelf, but there you go."
The prince sighed. "So a guy with light blue hair, short, red, early 20s, goes by 'Canas'. Seriously, Canas? Must be a gamer, this one."
"Well, if you're done with me," Izana stood up, pushing the chair in. "I have important duke things to be getting on with. I'm still in charge of Izumo, after all."
"You're holding another party, aren't you."
"Parties are basically diplomacy!" Izana explained with a grin on his face. "Besides, it's nice to get to know who you're dealing with, hm? And someone has to take the burden, after all."
With that, he left. Azura spoke, breathing deeply.
"I guess that's all we can go on. This Canas figure sounds…dangerous. In the pranking way." She fixed Corrin with a meaningful gaze. "We need to stop whoever it is."
Corrin nodded slowly. "Yep. I'll ask around and see if someone's seen him before. A prankster who isn't one of us…I wonder who that is?"

He made a mental note to make a meeting with the Antic Order later about that. Orochi's experiments going wrong was one thing; a direct, targeted prank at Corrin himself as another. Something was going on, and someone was intent on pairing him with Flora. This could not be had; Flora would hardly be interested in Corrin anyway, and this interfered with his plan to pair her with Jakob- something he still needed to figure out how to do. Between the Festival and everything else that had transpired, Corrin had hardly had the time to sit down and make a game plan.
'Besides, there's better people for Flora than me to fall in love with,' Corrin wistfully noted. 'Like Jakob.'
Felicia suddenly popped in, poking her head around the door. "Hey, Corrin? Uh, Xander and Ryoma want you to meet them here, later."
Azura looked over to Corrin. "Is he in trouble? Do they know?"
"What? N-no!" The pink-haired maid shook her head quickly. "No, no, they don't know about t-the Antic Order, if that's what you mean. No, t-they just want to talk to Corrin. Something about a-a festival they want to plan."
The prince sighed in relief, writing down a note for himself for later. "Alright. Tell 'em to come over in the afternoon. And without their entire entourage this time. Kagerou, Laslow and the others are fine, but having a thousand different courtiers in the same room…..isn't great."
Felicia nodded hastily. "Oh, and also, Flora wants t-to talk to you! It's about…..w-what happened in the springs."
The songstress raised an eyebrow devilishly. "Oooh. This ought to be fun. Think she might want to finish what you started?"
"Very funny, Azura," Corrin exasperatedly retorted, before nodding to Felicia. "Uh, tell her she can come in."
The songstress stood up. "And I should probably not be here for this. I'm many things, but I'm not a voyeur."
"You do realise nothing actually happened? We didn't even kiss!"
Azura shrugged casually. "I'm not judging, Corrin. It's not uncommon, you know, the best friend falling for the best friend he's trying to hook up with someone else. Happens all the-"
"Just get out."
The songstress, knowing her purpose was served, left the exasperated Corrin with a mischievous chuckle, bumping past Felicia at the door. The maid stared at Corrin.
"O-out of curiosity…..d-do you….you know, like my sister like that?"
"Of course not, don't be silly," Corrin reassured her, smiling. "She and I are good friends and I'd rather not ruin that. Besides, she'd be better off with someone apart from me. Call her in."

"….so, what happened in there, that means nothing, right?" Flora inquired almost too hastily as she sat facing Corrin. The two of them had been staring at each other for the last five minutes, trying to figure out what to say. Neither of them could quite figure out what to say.
Corrin breathed in deeply. "No. It doesn't. It was the aphrodisiacs."
"Oh, thank gods," the blue-haired maid was palpably relieved. The concern that had clouded her face immediately dissipated, allowing her to smile a little. "I….well, I mean, that would've been awkward?"
"I know, right?" The prince nervously laughed. "I mean, we're friends, after all. We can't ruin that."
"No, not at all," Flora concurred. "I'd hate to lose you as a friend over…whatever that was. And anyway, something like that would be improper! A prince falling in love with his servant…."
Corrin smirked teasingly. "Well, I could waive the rules a little-"
"C-Corrin!"
"I'm kidding. Sorry. You know I do that a lot," the prince raised his hands apologetically. "Just trying to defuse the tension."
Flora sighed good-naturedly, smiling and shaking her head. She giggled a little, covering her mouth. "You did that well. Thanks. I did need that."
"…well, we might as well check out some fanfics. Are you busy right now?"
"No, not at all, surprisingly."
The prince smiled at that. "Alright. Hopefully, we can actually get through this without anything going…."
As he opened his laptop, the first thing that leapt at him was that the description of the fanfic on his screen ended with 'Flora x Corrin'.

'Oh boy.'
Corrin squinted. He thought for a moment. Then he sighed for the umpteenth time, trying to close the window. The window refused to shut, however, despite Corrin's best attempts. He slumped in his chair.
'…..Azura, how mature. I swear, I'll get you back for this somehow."
Flora blinked as she looked at what was troubling her friend so, before immediately looking to Corrin. "…we should read something else."
"No, no, I'm not rising to Azura's bait," the prince shook his head. "If she wants to play this game, fine. Won't stop me. I'll get her back later."
"What?"
"I mean I'll have a talk with her later," Corrin smoothly replaced his earlier promise. "Alright, let's go read this then. It's probably not all that bad."
"I-I see…." Flora slowly nodded, sidling up to her friend to look at the screen.
'Yes. It's just a story,' she reminded herself. 'This means nothing.'

Chapter 1

"Ah, this brings back old memories," Corrin remarked, chuckling. "Was it really that long ago now? It feels like it was yesterday we were playing around in the Northern Fortress."
Flora nodded, smiling at that. "Those were hard days, but they were fun. This actually reminds me of our own games of hide-and-seek."
The prince's eyes lit up. "You remember those? Oh, man, I've forgotten them by now!"
"Yes. You were always easiest to find, even when Felicia only hid behind a potted plant," the blue-haired maid recalled wistfully. "We never could find Jakob easily, though. He was always the best at hiding."
"Oh yeah," Corrin nodded in agreement. "Once took us two hours to find him. He'd hidden in the…kitchen?"
"The pantry."
"Ah, yeah, the pantry. I never understood how he fit into that cabinet. He wasn't that small."
…..

Chapter 2

"…zero to a hundred in one chapter," Corrin sardonically remarked. "Oh boy."
Flora frowned, instinctively rubbing the skin on the back of her hand. "I mean…..my skin's not that cold..."
"Couldn't you make yourself warm if you could control temperature like that?"
"That's true," the maid nodded affirmatively. "People assume we only have power over the cold, but of course, a power like that comes with the opposite power too. We can make our surroundings colder and ourselves warmer…..and, as you know, we can take the cold in ourselves to warm someone else up."
"…yeah," Corrin's voice faltered slightly. His mind had been, for a moment, drawn back to the knowledge that Flora had done precisely that to save his life. "….hey. I, uh, still need to say thanks, by the way, for doing that."
Flora smiled. "You've said that a lot about that day. I should thank you, really."
"For?"
"If you hadn't tried to take me home, I…..well….I might've not met you properly, or Jakob or the others," the maid reminded him. "And…..I don't know what I would've done back in the Ice Tribe, now that I think about it. I think it's for the best that I ended up here, with you."

A moment passed in silence.

Flora's cheeks reddened. "Not like that, I mean."
"A man might take your meaning for another," Corrin gently teased her. She sighed.
"You can be so mean sometimes."
"I live to please."

….

Chapter 3

"I really have to introduce you guys to board games," Corrin laughed. "I played quite a few while I was staying in the Outrealms. I had to share an apartment with a roommate and he really loved those things."
"Oh? Like chess?" Flora tilted her head curiously. The prince shook his head.
"No. Munchkin. Or Monopoly. Or Cards Against Humanity. That one, I suspect, Niles would be great at."
"…..that last one doesn't sound very comforting," the maid pointed out, a suspect look on her face.
"Yeah, you're right."
"…..so you'll play it anyway, but not let Elise anywhere near it."
Corrin sighed. "You know me too well. Anyway...Kana, again? Our daughter? If I had a kid, I'd name them something cooler. Like…Eurus. Or Janus. Kana doesn't have that ring to it for me, you know?
"That first one sounds rather suspect too," Flora nodded slowly. "And I personally think Kana's a nice name for a child. It sounds poetic, in a Hoshidan way."
"Well, I suspect you named our daughter here, then. Also, really? You cheated?"
Flora smiled almost mischievously. "Well, against you, I think I'd need to. You'd play dirtily."
"Of course not! How could you say such a thing? I'm a perfectly fair gamer! I never cheat actually yeah you're right I totally would."
The maid burst into laughter. "I knew it!"
"All's fair in love and war, like you say here."

….

Chapter 4

Corrin nodded. "Yep. I think Elise really would be great with kids. She's basically a bigger version of one."
"I don't think I'd trust her to watch over my children for a night, seeing what she does in the kitchen here," Flora replied, an irritated edge to her voice.
"Well, she'd be good if Sakura was there to make sure she didn't destroy anything important….aaaand no, she joined in." Corrin groaned. "Gods, three of 'em. One of them wreaks enough hell for you two. Jakob would have an aneurysm."
"….an aneurysm?"
"Oh, right, Outrealm thing. Never mind, that would change the tone of the chapter too much," the prince waved off his comment. "Also…..a necklace and a resort holiday?"
"That doesn't sound as appealing after what happened in Izumo."
"And it sounds pretty boring," the prince remarked. "If it were up to me, I'd show you my love with something way more exciting."
Flora chuckled. "It's nice to know that you'd do that for me."
"Well, if any man were to have you, you'd be well worth it. Or woman. I don't judge."
The maid smiled at that. "That's sweet of you. Thanks."
"Hardly. I'm just being honest."

…

Chapter 5

Corrin sighed. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Xander and Ryoma. Kings of Hoshido and Nohr. War heroes. Literal champions of their peoples. And they still compete with each other over who looks more attractive."
"Well, I suppose they want to prove who the better older brother is," Flora suggested. "And it's hard to shake old habits."
"True," the prince nodded as he read the chapter.
'Aaaaand this reminds me of the Festival now. I knew watching Flora sleep would come back to bite me. Well, time she never finds out about that!'

Chapter 6

Flora snickered at the idea of Corrin in a maid costume. "As confident as I am in your ability to wear costumes, I really don't think you can pull that one off."
"Thanks for believing in me," the prince deadpanned. "And why not? Kaze and Silas totally did."
"Well, dressing like that's not all that comfortable," the maid pointed out. "The thighs are totally impractical, for one."
"…why don't you say anything, then? I'm sure I could grab Oboro or something to help make a better maid uniform."
Flora shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm used to it by now. And anyway, I'd rather not be a bother. It's just a minor trifle. I could wear longer stockings."
Corrin decided not to take up the matter further. This was Flora's decision, after all. Instead, he decided to change the chapter.

….

Chapter 7

"Water Sign 14. Really." Corrin sighed. "Was that the best he had? Might as well have added 'Dual Destinies' to the end, add on the extra knock-off factor."
Flora chuckled. "It's just like Elise to say that. I don't understand why she'd think I'm a good big sister, though. I mean, there's no way you and I would…..you know….."
"Well, you have enough experience watching Felicia's back, and you're pretty cool, no pun intended," the prince pointed out. "Even if there's absolutely no chance of you actually becoming her big sister, she sees you as this mature, awesome lady. Something she'd really like to be. And calling you her big sister really is her way of saying that."
The maid smiled. "I-I see. It's a…..high compliment, coming from her. I know I don't deserve it, but-"
"Oh, come off it. Of course you do," the prince reassured her. "One day, you'll see you really are a better person than you think you are."
'I also think it'd be awkward to mention right now that, unlike this Corrin, I actually do have a thing for maids,' Corrin mused to himself as he saw his story counterpart's reaction to Flora's maid outfit. 'Not Flora, though. That would be awkward. Or Felicia- besides, she's into Kaze.'

….

Chapter 8

"If I were to buy a ring for someone, I really don't think I'd trust this Kana to buy it," Corrin pointed out. "Seems like she'd tell everyone."
"Why…..don't you wear a ring like the other royals?" Flora inquired. "I'm curious. I've never seen you wear one."
Corrin fixed her with a stare, before gesturing down to what he was wearing. "I don't think I'd need a ring to look like this. Also, some technicality involving Valla and everything else. I don't know. We're not in Aftermath!"
"Ah. I see," Flora nodded slowly, not quite getting that last part. "…..Rinkah. Well, I suppose there's worse things to disguise the word 'ring' as. I wonder what Rinkah's getting up to."
Corrin nodded. "I know, right? Haven't seen Rinkah in a while. I wonder where she is."

Meanwhile…..

"This is why I should have held the map!" Rinkah snapped irritably. Keaton carefully read the map again, examining it closely.
"…..huh. I could've sworn we saw that tree before."
"We're lost. I said this already an hour ago," Kaden called over, snuggling on a nearby rock in his fox form, his head nestled in his tails. "And if you guys paid attention, we could've gone and asked that pretty lady with the flowers, but nooooo."
"Of course we should've! We've been travelling in circles since!"
The wolfskin rubbed the back of his head. "Gah. You're just angry 'cause you're hungry."
"Of course I'm angry! I haven't eaten in an hour!" The Fire Tribe woman hotly protested. "We would've eaten by now if you hadn't decided to lead us around!"
"I thought I knew the way back to Hoshido!"
"We're in NOHR!" Rinkah hissed, pointing at the distant Castle Krakenburg. "How could this possibly be on the way to Hoshido?!"
Kaden closed his eyes, trying to tune out the arguing between his travelling companions. He knew it was a terrible idea to trust Keaton with the map. Even more terrible for him to offer to show Rinkah around the world before she settled down.
'Naptime. Man, I miss hanging around Sakura. She's a good naptime partner. I wonder how she is?'

…..

"…I have the oddest feeling she's not enjoying life too much right now," Corrin mused.
Flora stared at him with wide eyes. "Huh. So do I. I wonder why."

END

A/N: Sorry for the early end. To compensate, I'll basically blitz through the other remaining chapters next time. It should make the next chapter around as long as this one, anyway. Also, I really need to fix my sleep schedule so there's that.

Also, shout-out to ThatOneGuyWhoWrites for letting me do his work, as always. It's nice to have some great works to write about and it's even better when the peeps are cool about it.

Anyway, so, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, comments, criticisms, suggestions, thoughts and reviews, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next time!