I do not own any of the fate franchise or it's characters.
Thanks to Lehw, BoeJackMan, Matze96, Wolf Strife, njhnaruto, skfju, TotallyNotKyle, LORDCOMMANDERORION, Ochasde, The man who inherited madness, kagemoto, XR3827, evilite99, ktorr16, AkatsukinoRuby, Lancelot Du Loc, Ilaw, Kairu54, DarkVulpine, Jubzy650, Soggy Biscuits, TiorVanRask, UCCMaster, jelkojunpei, Frozin Joker, Ms. AtomicBomb, 111segasonic, Boom1011, Yogwind, Fall2Glory, james2031, CombustibleHamster, Raikaz1210, Tomster627, ALPHILIUS, KV1789, Kairu Kagemori, LokkItsADoggy, Primordial Inscriptor Z-09, Rotciv 557, animefan0126, DeamonRaily, DvmN, Kairu Kagemori, KisekiMa, S3vEn, Severa035, Worldbringer of Joseun, kazuakisama, Viny stark, aheeluu, rstbm, prismprison, Eiskalle1 and sbkleman for following
And to Lehw, BoeJackMan, Wolf Strife, I'm a guest, Eiskalle1, Dinobot14, Jubzy650, AkatsukinoRuby, CombustibleHamster, Raikaz1210, BoeJackman, Lehw, TheKwingDoctor, ALPHILUS, Kairu Kagemori, Primordial Inscriptor Z-09, rstbm, shadowbird852, vinystark, The man who inherited madness, neutral247, gentleman genocide machine, kagemoto, ktorr16, Coppa-Cola, Soggy Biscuits, jelkojunpei, Animean0216, DvmN, Jysrin, KisekiMa, S3vEn, Severa035, Worldbringer of Joseun, kazuakisama, Fall2Glory and skfju for favouriting.
And as always, special thanks to DemonRaily and Fall2Glory for their reviews of last chapter.
Fiore didn't know why she was feeling like this. She watched from her window seat as her brother walked out the castle gates and in the direction of town with Berserker, he walked beside her, doing his best to hold a one sided conversation while scratching his head awkwardly.
"You have no idea what you've got brother." Fiore muttered under her breath. She was alone in her study, having pushed herself out of her wheelchair so she sat with her legs spread across the cushioned seat, with her favourite book in her lap. The mage had contentedly spent many an evening like this so she didn't know why these feelings were suddenly bubbling up now.
Of course there were the obvious reasons. Moving one hand from the pages of her book, she dug her nails into the skin of her outer thigh, eliciting no sensation.
Fiore sighed and allowed herself to have one moment of weakness while she was out of view from everyone else. "What I wouldn't give." She whispered.
There was a knock at the door to pull Fiore out of her thoughts, she promptly straightened her back and tried to make it look like she had in fact been reading her book all this time before calling for the person on the other side of the door to enter.
She'd been expecting one of the homunculus , so she was more than a little surprised when Chiron stepped across the threshold. Given his height he had to hunch over a little to get under the archway, and there was something about the way his body moved when he rose back up to his full height that caught Fiore's attention. Servants' bodies weren't really living biological matter, not entirely corporeal either, it made for something different from humans in the ways that they moved.
While Fiore was caught up in her analysis Chiron was smiling at her, "Now surely this can't be right."
Fiore merely quirked an eyebrow in lieu of response.
"The rest of the Black Faction is out enjoying themselves yet the lady of the house is coped up in her study?"
Fiore chuckled at the tone he was using, "I'm reading about love and adventure Chiron, what more could a girl want?" She held up her book for emphasis.
Chiron's expression took on a more serious edge. "Master, the war will begin any day now, and given the double nature of this Holy Grail War, the fighting is likely to go on for a much longer time than any of us estimate." He spoke with the millennia of experience expected of his legend, "These last few days of calm before the storm are something you are going to long for when you are struggling for breath between assaults, you should enjoy this time while it lasts."
Fiore took a moment to let his words sink in, looking down at the book in her hands, the edges of the jacket well worn from years of being held, then sliding her eyes to the window, to the setting sun of the evening which would soon turn to the shroud of night that would become her families battle field.
"I understand what you're saying, I really do. But Trifas is a rural place, which is to say there aren't many places subscribing to wheelchair access, so there isn't really much in the way of the night life I can enjoy."
At that, Chiron kneeled down in front of his Master and actually smirked. "In that case, I may have a suggestion."
When Fiore's father was instructing her and Caules in Magecraft he taught them that there was more to being a mage than just what you knew, it was the way you acted. Or more acuratley as it sometimes felt, it was how you didn't act. There was a long laundrey list of things mages never did.
Mages never revealed there hands, they never consorted with enemies of the family, they never allowed the weakness of emotion to interfere with their work, they did not get flustered. Mages did not blush.
So when Chiron lifted Fiore up bridal style and carried her downstairs to the waiting car (her spare wheelchair folded up in the back) her face felt warmer and there was a slight increase in the pigment of her cheeks, but she did not blush. That would be... undignified.
XXX
It turned out that Chiron's suggestion was a small cafe hole in the wall cafe, with an all outside seating area. He'd apparently discovered it when Astolfo had dragged him into town along on one of the Rider's many jaunts. It was nice place, with the kind of rustic, calming atmosphere that this area of Romania just seemed to breathe.
And Fiore had to admit the whole situation was making her very happy she left the house.
The brunette girl giggled at the Archer sitting across from her, "I must admit I never would have pegged you as the type to be a fan of frozen yogurt."
The man who was usually a centaur let the spoonful of frozen desert melt on his tongue before responding, "Rider said a similar thing, though I think his comment was more rooted in his inability to understand how anyone could prefer it to ice cream."
Fiore just managed to stop herself from snorting in laughter, "And? Why do you prefer it?"
Chiron took a minute to formulate a proper answer, "It... has a certain charm." He admitted slowly, "There's just something so human about taking something great and ruining it just a little so you can have more."
At that Fiore did snort in laughter, promptly covering the lower half of her face with her hand she nodded, "Yes, that is a very human thing to do."
