[][Andrew][]

Amber-gold dawn breached the horizon, a lance of light shattering against fading stars. Liquid fragments scattered gleaming across frost-tipped trees, glowing off snow-laden soil. I basked in those first dregs of sunlit warmth, still shivering in the frigid air of frosty Regna Ferox. The cold made my leg ache, nipping at my face and fingertips. It was- like all my injuries- better now; upon our arrival at the wall, Maribelle had freed me from the cane.

Better, but not best or perfect. I'd always have a scar running from my left hip up to just under my ribs. My right leg would probably ache if I ran too fast. My heart...

Well. You know. Better, but not perfect.

I took a long, deep breath, the crisp-cold air filling my lungs and tearing away what little sleepiness remained. I exhaled, watching the whitish puff of moisture fade into the sky. "Told you it was worth it," I grinned, wetting my cracked lips with my tongue, "Sunrises are always worth it, especially when you're somewhere new."

"T-their beauty is quite n-nearly beyond c-compare," Virion agreed through chattering teeth, pausing to breathe hotly into his hands, "A t-truly divine morning, perfect for a good cup of tea by the fire."

Glancing at the man out of the corner of my eye, I huffed, blowing two jets of 'steam' out of my nostrils. Mostly because it looked cool, but partially for effect. "I might join you, but that'd mean going inside. Is it too cold for you, Virion?" I offered a half-grin, shading my eyes as the Sun started to brighten.

"Tea is ideally enjoyed indoors or in warmer weather," Virion stressed, looking off to the side with a dramatic, faraway look in his eyes. "But fear not, my friend! Should I be called to fight, the archest of archers will stride across the stage of battle w-with perfect poise. Brr."

He sunk deeper into his coat, looking more like a blue mop in a jacket than a handsome nobleman. "After tea, of course," he added, glancing towards me, "It would be horrific if I were to do battle without first enjoying the finer things."

Stifling a chuckle, I took a careful step back so I was leaning against the stony wall of the Longfort. Pausing for a moment, I threw my memory back across my experiences with the Shepherds- skipping past the bits where I was incapitated or feeling awful. "I never saw you drink any tea in Plegia, actually. Too warm there? Wait, no," I guessed, frowning thoughtfully, "Robin was drinking that peach stuff constantly, and Maribelle drank it a lot. Too warm for you?"

Virion shook his head emphatically, looking back towards the door. "A true gentleman and noble knows it is never too warm for tea! It is only, I might add, sensible I partake in it... a touch less than is usual. Possibly in the company of lovely Lady Maribelle, or in my tent. Speaking of tea, perhaps I could go and set a kettle on now?"

Rolling my eyes, I shrugged, turning to look more directly at Virion. "The sunrise is pretty... much... okay, Virion, if you didn't like the cold that much, I wasn't going to stop you from leaving. The door opens the other way, actually." I grumbled loudly, maybe a little bemused at Virion pushing heartily on the door.

"Of course it does," Virion nodded, his red-tinged cheeks getting just a bit rosier. Taking a step back and pulling the door open by its iron handle, he gestured for me to go through. "Thank you, my good friend."

As we walked through the door, I frowned. "And thank you. But wait, with Maribelle? I never saw you having tea with-"

Virion chuckled, opening his coat now that we were in the (slightly) warmer indoors. "We had a minor disagreement of sorts. Nothing to worry about."

I couldn't for the life of me remember most of the Shepherds' supports at this point, and I doubted I'd ever actually used Maribelle and Virion adjacent to one another. Rounding a corner, we started descending the stairs to the main body of the fort.

It wasn't hard to guess, though. "You flirted with her, didn't you?"

"Is it so wrong to think a woman beautiful, and tell them so?" Virion retorted, crossing his arms- only to uncross them, so he could hold the railing again. "I recall you declaring something similar for all to hear."

Oh yeah. It felt like months ago now, but before the... failed rescue attempt, I'd apparently said something to the tune of 'everyone is pretty here'. At the time, I guess I didn't realize everyone had heard me. On the upside, at least it means my voice carries.

Utterly failing to hide my blush, I fought back with a wolfish grin. "I think it's the style, Virion. When you do it, it sounds like you're trying to sleep with them."

Virion sputtered, shaking his head.

It was a good morning, all things considered. The tea wasn't my favorite, but vanilla and citrus was still an excellent choice.

[][][][][][][][]

"Hey, Duds. Hey, Ruffles."

My heart jumped a few beats, and I hastily set down my nearly empty cup of tea. "Christ, don't do that," I grumbled, focusing on the newcomer.

Leaning against a wooden pillar, just out of my regular line of sight, was Gaius- lit orange by the firelight and half in the shadow of Virion's chair. His outfit looked vaguely similar to his game outfit, now that I was looking carefully; a greyish-brown tunic, belted at the waist, with loose pants stuffed into the tops of boots just below the knee. And, of course, he had two lollipops stuck in a breast pocket, plus another in his mouth.

I was of two minds on what to say to him, but Virion beat me to... using words, I guess? He huffed, adjusting his long blue hair and setting down his teacup with perfect poise. "Gaius, my friend, you must be more careful! You could have startled us into burning our throats, which would be quite tragic."

Working my jaw, I frowned. "Did you-"

Gaius chuckled, waving a hand. "Nah, Ruffles; I know you. You could drink leaf juice between volleys on the battlefield, no problem. Duds here, though?" He smirked, popping the lollipop out of his mouth and waggling it in my direction, "I can see it. You're more of a mage-y type, right?"

"Duds," I sounded out, rolling the word around on my tongue, "Huh." Blinking, I looked back at Gaius. "Well, I can use magic, just not very well. Why Duds?" I could guess, but it was best to hear it from the metaphorical candy-stealing horse's mouth.

Putting the lollipop back in, Gaius gave me a conspiratorial wink. "You always end up wearing fancy stuff and relaxing with fancy people. So, Duds."

On one hand: somehow, getting a Gaius nickname was validating and cathartic in indescribable ways. On the second hand, he'd called tea 'leaf juice', which undoubtedly was grounds for execution at the height of the British Empire. On the third- uh, hm. I made a mental note to workshop that one for later. Carrying on- "I'll take it, then. You're Gaius, right? Didn't you get a little spooked last time we spoke?"

He winced, looking away. "Stumbles chewed me out hard for that one," he muttered, clearing his throat and glaring as Virion chuckled, "Look, I didn't know you, you knew me, and that's bad for a thief. I'm not sorry for exercising caution, but let's just pretend I apologised so Stumbles doesn't frown at me again."

And it was my fault for not, you know, being polite and asking his name first. All things considered, forgetting something that important could have gone way worse. I smirked, leaning heavily on the arm of the chair as I pushed myself up. "Your 'apology' is accepted, so far as..." I paused, frowning. Stumbles was a bit of a mean name for Sumia, but it wasn't my place to call that out. "As far as Sumia is concerned," I finished. "So, what brings you here, to our hot leaf juice drinking time?"

Virion spat out a mouthful of tea. "And here I presumed you civilized," he sighed dramatically, looking off into the middle distance (in this case, a stone wall).

Ignoring him, Gaius grinned lopsidedly, shifting the lollipop stick to the other side of his mouth. "I think I'll like you, Duds. Blue and Bubbles were looking for you and Ruffles for the War Council. Ruffles, you were supposed to be there already, and Duds, be there before noon."

Glancing down at his teacup, Virion let out a long sigh. "Robin does not truly need my assistance, but if it steadies her hand, I shall be there. Andrew, would you be so kind as to return this tea set to its proper place?"

I distantly recalled Virion's support with Robin involving chess, and Virion winning because he sacrificed pieces. I wasn't because I read the support a lot- I remembered it because they called it chess but it never sounded like chess. Maybe I could teach them a simpler game, like checkers? Dragging myself back to reality with a cough, I looked around the room. Lots of big, fur-draped chairs, including one that nearly hid a door. "It's from the kitchen, right?" I queried, pointing vaguely towards the chair, "Er, whatever that room is. I assume it's a kitchen. I can probably figure out where it goes in there."

Virion lifted himself out of his chair, taking one last sip of tea before setting the cup down on a tray. "Perhaps more of a pantry than a kitchen," he remarked, "I believe the bulk of cooking occurs much closer to the barracks and mess hall. My thanks, Andrew- it is rude of me to leave the cleaning to you, but plain ungentlemanly to avoid my duties. I will see you soon, then?"

I shook his offered hand, rising to my feet carefully. This kind of 'goodbye' always felt stiff to me- too formal, too distancing. Classy, though, and Virion was nothing if not classy. Well, without class, he'd just be a creepy archer who hits on girls constantly, but I think the point stands. "Uh, yeah," I said, "See you then."

As Virion walked out of the room, Gaius moved about half a step before waving his hand and stopping again. "Nah, you know where you're going, right Ruffles?" he drawled, somehow managing to keep the lollipop firmly in his mouth as he spoke, "Best I stay here with Duds, keep him out of trouble. Heh. How's your face feeling, anyways?" He chuckled, crossing his arms and leaning against the pillar as I started to collect the tea set onto a single tray.

Turning around, Virion raised an eyebrow and spread his arms in an apologetic shrug. "I quite forgot to ask if you knew the way, my friend, but it seems all will be well. With that, I really must away," he paused, bending into a flourishing bow, "And I will see you soon, good day."

Letting out a long breath through my nose, I rubbed my cheek absently. Being 'kept out of trouble' didn't sit well with me- I wasn't an invalid or an idiot- but I did appreciate what he was doing. "I'm fine, thanks," I muttered, morphing my frown into a thin smirk, "And I don't plan on getting punched any time soon. If I do, I'll let you know ahead of time, alright?"

Gaius snorted, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth with a pop (heh) and twirling it around between his fingers. "Don't get ahead of yourself there, Duds. Sounds suspiciously like you're gonna pick a fight without Maribelle's permission, and use me as the messenger."

And if I hadn't been an idiot when I first met Gaius, we could've been having these conversations even sooner. I am forever trapped in the consequences of my own actions, or something equally dramatic. More importantly, I noticed he hadn't said no. Smiling more widely, I lifted up the tray and started walking towards the kitchen... pantry... thing. Kantry? Pitchen? "What're your rates like? Do you take raw sugar, or only refined sweets?"

Loosely waggling his hand at me, lollipop held by the stick between two fingers, he shrugged before sticking the candy back in his mouth. "Now you're talking my language. Raw sugar doesn't do it for me, so it'll have to be proper sweets. Not very picky about it, though."

"You know I had to ask. No gold?" I chuckled, stopping as I approached the wooden door, which was quite clearly one of the sort you needed to pull open. Even if I was on the 'push' side, I'd learned pretty early that opening a door with your butt is actually really hard when the door is made of heavy wood and wrought metal. "Mind opening the door for me? Preferably for free? All I have is this little dish of sugar, which is not an acceptable form of payment."

"Eh, sure," Gaius shrugged, striding towards me and lifting the metal hoop attached to the door. Stopping short of opening it, he turned his head to look at me. "Speaking of punching, was that your ex the other day?"

I didn't spit out my drink, because I'd drank it already and the rest was in a teapot. Teapots do not spit, I think. Once I'd gotten over Gaius using the word 'ex' as in ex-girlfriend, which I somehow didn't expect, I reeled myself back in and decided clarification was needed. "By 'ex', you're talking about, uh, Marth, right? Blue haired girl? Gaius, she's like... sixteen. Maybe." Hard to tell, what with years of obvious malnourishment, but sixteen sounded about right.

"Who else?" Gaius remarked, pulling the door open. "She's not your ex, then. What'd you do to get decked?"

"Told her a bad joke when she was in a bad mood," I said bluntly, "Not my finest hour. Thanks for holding the door. Anyways, I asked her-" I stopped short, and couldn't even cover it up with a cough. Crud. I still thought Feeling blue, Princess? was a great pun, just told in bad taste. And, you know, to someone who canonically didn't have much of a sense of humor. More importantly, Gaius was still waiting. "Eh, it's personal," I said lamely, "We do know each other, she just doesn't like me very much." And it broke my heart, but he didn't need to know that.

"I won't pry. Thief, remember?" He gestured to himself, the lollipop in his hand getting stuck to his pants. Prying it off with a muttered curse, he continued, "Good thing I didn't put money in that pool. Duds, it wasn't that funny," he grumbled, turning away.

Trying a little harder to stifle my laughter, I set the tray down and glanced about for a cupboard or something to put it all in. "It balances out the accidental horror you created in my brain of dating someone I see as a kid, Gaius," I shot back, drumming my fingers on the tabletop, "Not intentional, I know. Okay, I'm stumped, where does this tea set go?"

"Why would I know? I drink water or hot cocoa," Gaius rolled his eyes. "It can't be that hard to find, though. It's literally just shelves and a countertop. Just look for the empty space."

Looking around the room, I nodded sagely at the room full of... stuff... mostly food, but also a couple chairs and a surprisingly large number of moose antlers. And shelves. Lots of shelves. "Uh-huh. I say we cover the sugar to stop vermin, then just head towards the council meeting. Not much else to do, right? Maybe drop in and see where all the Shepherds are?"

Gaius shrugged. "Eh, why not?"

[][][][][][][][]

The air in the courtyard was bracing, and near complete absence of people in the courtyard made me shiver.

Luckily, Vaike was there to fill up the entire space.

"...Nine, ten, aaand switch! Feel the burn! Teach's muscles are getting bigger by the minute!"

We watched Vaike rotate between different exercises, some of which I recognized, some of which I didn't. "Muscles don't work like that. But, that thing he did with his arms," I started, working my jaw, "Do you, uh-"

Gaius shook his head, removing the lollipopless stick from his mouth and starting another. "Not a clue, Duds. I think it works out the muscles behind your shoulderblades, though. Are there muscles there?"

Watching Vaike flip from crunches to push-ups, I shrugged, trying to concentrate on how that felt in my back. When that didn't really help, I watched Vaike's back as his rather bulky muscles moved. "I... think so?"

"Huh," Gaius said eloquently, crossing his arms. "Maybe the cold helps his workout routine? Nobody else is crazy enough to do that shirtless. Oh, here comes Sully. Got any ideas for a nickname?"

Sully waved at us, grinning widely before putting both of her hands on her hips. "Gaius! Vaike! ...Uh, Tiki's friend? Drew? Perfect weather for some good exercise! Wanna join us?"

I raised an eyebrow at that one, leaning over to stage-whisper to Gaius. "Was gonna say Flex, but I think that's better for Vaike. We can workshop Sully's after the meeting." Clearing my throat, I looked towards Sully and continued, "Close! The name's Andrew. I'm Tiki's friend too, of course, but I prefer Andrew. You're Sully, right? Nice to meet you properly."

"Har!" Sully barked, walking up close- tilting her chin up to look at me, then taking a half-step back. "You're a tall one. Nice to meet 'cha. Here for some training, get back on your feet proper-like?" She stuck out her hand, and I absently wondered how much force it would take to crush my hand. Hypothetically, of course.

Glancing at Vaike- who was now doing pull-ups using the bars on a half-raised iron gate- I stuck my hand out anyways and shook my head. "Nah, I don't think I'm ready for your level of fitness. Maybe some other time?"

Sully furrowed her brow, glancing at Vaike shortly. "Like that musclehead? Naw," she belted out a laugh, taking my hand and nearly crushing it. "Don't need to be so polite about it, Andrew. Vaike's here because he keeps breaking the equipment, right?"

Vaike paused mid-rep, going one-handed so he could flex at us. "You betcha! The Teach is just too big for everyone else's britches!"

"Does he know what that phrase means?" I whispered, glancing at Gaius.

"Nope. He heard it at lunch two days ago and hasn't stopped using it since," Gaius replied instantly, popping the lollipop out of his mouth. "Pretty funny though."

Sully laughed again, slapping herself on the stomach and rolling her neck. "I ain't tellin' him... but I gotta tell him somethin' else. Vaike! It's lunch. Haul your arse to the front gate with everyone!"

"Lunch," I muttered, watching Vaike laugh (and flex). "We had something to do at lunch. Was it eat?" Something important, right? I shouldn't be forgetting anything this obvious.

Gaius frowned, looking at me strangely. "Uh. It was the war council, Duds. How'd you forget?"

The war council. You know, that major plot event before going off to finish the Plegian War. Maybe even more important because Lucina was there, or at least around somewhere. I made a mental note to go track her down at some point today.

"I didn't for-" I paused, cursing under my breath. "Ooops. How fast can we get to... wherever it is?"

"Maybe three minutes, if we jog. One minute, if you feel like climbing," Gaius started, turning on his heel. "See ya, Flex. See ya, Sully. I gotta drop off Duds."

"I am a fan of rock climbing," I muttered, looking up the side of the building, "But not this kind. Let's just- wait, Gaius! Jogging doesn't mean sprinting!"

[][][][][][][][]

A lot of time in my days was spent waiting, honestly.

Not that I minded, usually; it gave me time to think about what I'd say before I say it. Doesn't stop me from putting my foot in my mouth, but it at least makes me do it less. Probably.

Right now, though?

"So," I started awkwardly, coughing into my fist, "Uh. Hi."

Lucina nodded shortly at me, brow furrowed as she turned her gaze back towards the door. Voices- mostly familiar- emanated from the other side, just soft enough not to be understood. Chairs lined the sides of the room, all but two of them empty; of course, Lucina and I sat on opposite sides.

It was hard not to think about how small she looked, how young she looked with the Falchion by her side. Not that it was my business to judge- she'd done more than I'd managed in my life, and under far more pressure. And, if my gut feeling was right, she was far more useful in her own timeline than I ever was.

That knotted, aching feeling in my stomach returned with a vengeance. Not a good line of thought for me. Deep breaths, Andrew, deep breaths.

"You-" don't like me. You don't trust me. I coughed again, wincing and shifting in my seat. "Hey. Uh. Thanks for sticking around. You didn't need to do that, and I'm sure your knowledge will be invaluable. That's why we're both here, waiting to be invited in, right?"

Lucina tilted her head, looking at me strangely. "I was asked to be here. I was not told why, only that I should be here. Once this is over, I plan to leave again, and-" she caught herself, lips twitching into a frown. "I cannot interfere more than I already have."

I didn't really know what to say about that.

Well, more accurately, I had a thousand things I wanted to say. They crashed around my head, breaking things and demanding my full attention, slipping out of my grasp when I tried to focus. My stomach ached, and my hands tightened their grip on the chair.

Stay, I wanted to say. It's alright.

"Well, if that's what you want to do," I said instead, shrugging and offering a wavering smile, "I can't really stop you."

Catching her gaze drifting to my leg, I sighed. "I'm still recovering, for one. You've probably heard the story by now, right?"

Lucina shook her head. "I have not."

She didn't really like talking to me, or at the very least I made her clam up. I mentally cursed as I reviewed my own words- of course she wouldn't have heard. After I'd cleared everything up, making sure Robin knew 'Marth' was sticking around for a bit, she'd practically gone into hiding. Even if she hadn't, some of the Shepherds still weren't over Emmeryn's death. I didn't blame them, but I hoped they'd recover sooner rather than later.

I'd done my best to try and entertain- to try and cheer people up. Nowi and I took time to try and rope people into board games (which Nowi trounced everyone at), but only Miriel, Stahl, Sumia, and Virion really bought into it. Cordelia, too, but she spent the whole time looking anxious, so we let her go early.

Point is, Lucina wouldn't have heard much about my injuries. Clearing my throat again, I spread my hands apologetically. "Yeah, people haven't been very talkative the last few days. Other than the now widespread story of me getting punched in the face," I added, smiling as I rubbed my cheek, "Hey, I already said it was fine, Lu- Marth. I had it coming. Snapped you right out of your funk, too, so I'll take it as a win."

She flushed sharply, looking away. "It was impulsive and childish of me," she mumbled, fidgeting with her hands, "And for that I should still apologise."

Poor girl. "Anyways," I continued, waving it off, "It's because I have terrible luck. Well, amazing luck, Tiki literally fell from the sky in front of us- er, me, and she's been a great friend ever since. But terrible luck because I keep needing good luck to not die." That wasn't a very happy statement. Can't have that, can we? "So on my first mission, we were trying to keep Risen out of a town. They only really brought me along because I can wrangle Nowi," I admitted, grimacing internally, "Turns out the Risen were already there. And they had a leader- a Deadlord. We ran into him again... well, you know. That first time, Drych grabbed me and used me as bait for Tiki. When she didn't come quickly, he decided to-"

Lucina held up a hand, tensing sharply as the other hand went straight to her Falchion. "The Deadlord's name. Say it again."

I frowned. "Drych. He told me it himsel-"

"Drych," Lucina wavered, "Drych is here."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. I'd already suspected, but my heart sank at the confirmation. "He followed you from the future, then," I guessed.

"He-" Lucina cut herself off, shaking her head. "It is of no importance. You did not die then. How?"

"I appreciate the confidence," I replied flatly, quirking my lips into a half-smile, "Tiki and Chrom were able to hold their own against him," I supplied, gesturing to The Duke, "And then I stabbed him in the back. Didn't kill him, though." Oh, and then I found out someone I cared about didn't care about me. "It wasn't a very good day for me, honestly."

Lucina leapt to a standing position, dusting herself off. "I need to depart immediately," she said, voice cracking, "I must find all of my companions before he does."

Go off into the wild to find the future kids. On her own. I'm no strategist, but that sounded like a terrible idea. She'd been fine before, though, so-

Oh, to hell with it. I'm not letting her run off yet.

I stood up as well, taking advantage of my longer strides to try and get ahead of her. My right leg complained, aching and sending needling outwards, but it could be ignored. "Wait, Lucina! Don't do it. At least, uh-" what reason would actually make her stay? I could lie, but that didn't seem like a good idea.

"Wait until after the meeting, at least. You have no idea where they ended up, or if they're even here yet. We can-"

The door to the council room creaked open, and I turned to watch. Lucina stopped walking away, too.

Someone sniffed. "Oh, pegasus poop. I've done it now," a woman sighed quietly, stepping fully through the door as she dabbed a few tears off her face. Long, wavy brown hair tumbled down onto a soft pink shirt, and the handkerchief she was using on her face went into a pocket on her brown pants. "Chrom's going to have a bruise, and he's gonna be upset with me, and-"

Of all the people to come through- and, based on what I remembered of canon, Sumia was a practitioner of the closed-fist slap. I coughed politely. "Hey, Sumia," I started, struggling to find my words, "Are we needed inside?"

She sniffled again, shuffling over and slumping into a chair. "Y-yes." Somehow, she managed to look pretty doing it, but I suppose that comes with being a physically fit Pegasus Knight.

Lucina looked down at her feet, fidgeting awkwardly. "Of course, Lady Sumia. I- we-" she hesitated, looking off into the corner and flushing.

Oh my god they're both adorable. My heart is liquefied, and I feel bad about it. Not too bad, but bad. Carefully walking over to Sumia, I hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "Um," I started eloquently, "Do you want to talk about it, Sumia? It's the least I can do. Marth, you can head inside if you want to, but I don't think they'll mind if we're a minute or two late."

Clearing her throat, Lucina looked between the two of us. "O-of course." Unsurprisingly- meeting your mom in this sort of situation is probably pretty awkward- she turned around entirely and walked towards the council room door. Just as her hand rested on the handle, she paused, taking a deep breath. "Lady Sumia, whatever the problem may be, I assure you it'll be alright," she blurted, yanking the door open and closing it behind her.

Aww. Sumia smiled too, watching Marth walk away. "Poor girl," Sumia sighed, brown"She looks like she's been through a lot. Makes my problems seem so petty."

I released my grip on Sumia's shoulder, shifting over so I could take a seat next to her. "So," I started, lacing my fingers together, "What's up? You mentioned a bruise, and Chrom being upset with you. I don't believe that last bit."

Sumia buried her face in her hands. "I punched Chrom," Sumia groaned, her voice muffled, "I punched him in the face and he's going to be furious later."

That didn't seem much like Chrom. "I'm pretty sure he'd be mad immediately, Sumia. Let me guess, you tried to slap some-"

"I tried to slap some sense into him. But I've never slapped anyone before, and he looked so sad and I panicked so-"

"So you punched him in the face," I summarized, hiding my smile. Yes, she was feeling terrible and that was awful, but the mental image was unfortunately hilarious. "Did he seem mad at you?"

"No," she sniffled, slowly pulling her head out of her hands. "N-not really, no. But what if he's just trying to be nice? What if he's really mad?"

Where was the steel-spined Sumia I'd met before? These two people were one and the same, and I was envious of her ability to be both. Narrowing my eyes, I shook my head. "You don't believe that, do you? If you apologised, then I'm sure he's going to-"

"Um, Andrew?"

I blinked, turning to see Chrom's head sticking out from between the doors. He did, in fact, have a bruise forming on his cheek. "I'm needed inside, right?"

"You are. And, well," he hesitated, glancing at Sumia. I gestured at Chrom to get on with it. His reaction- mostly bafflement- reminded me I'd spoken to the man maybe three times. Getting on with it, he added, "Sumia? Would you- would you like to have dinner with me, later?"

Sumia brushed her tears away, standing up and nodding furiously. "Yes! I'd love that. To have dinner with you. Later, during dinner."

If I was allergic to cheese I would have died instantly from these dorks. I hated to interrupt it, too, so I just walked over and pulled the door open more so I could walk inside.

[][][][][][][][]

The War Council- capital T, capital W, capital C- was the complete opposite of the rest of my day. I could tell that from the moment I stepped into the room, could feel it radiating from the bodies of all present. Frederick, Robin, Basilio (He looked larger than Boris), Flavia (still not a man with hair on their chest, sorry Robin), and Phila were all here- Phila was a surprise, but it really shouldn't have been. Lucina was also here, but she was standing just as awkwardly as I was because Chrom was behind us being disgustingly romantic.

Back to Phila, she looked... well, older. Not old old, but mid-thirties old, in the way female characters in Fire Emblem sometimes did. Still ridiculously pretty in her own way; pale skin, icy-blue hair pulled up into a bun, and eyes that burned somewhere between pink and red. Faint laugh (frown?) lines creased the sides of her lips, and crow's feet branched out subtly from her eyes. It was fascinating to see, honestly. I'd never really paid Phila much attention in game, but she was here and alive, partially thanks to me. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling.

I took a deep breath, nodding at everyone in turn while Chrom returned to his seat around the war table. That brought my eyes down the the map, which had a lot of wooden blocks on it and scraps of parchment that I couldn't even begin to puzzle out. I looked back up again, only to see Robin looking down at something in her notebook.

Phila cleared her throat, her voice light and hard as tempered steel. "You must be Andrew," she said slowly, giving me a curt nod, "Thank you for your advice, without which I would not be here today. I bear no malice towards you."

I blinked, frowning. "Uh," bear no malice? What? Setting it aside, I squared my shoulders and bowed back. "I'm glad to have helped. It's nice to meet you, Miss Phila. And you as well, Khans." I had a bad feeling about this.

Basilio quirked the eyebrow over his one functioning eye, crossing his arms across his bare chest as a smile crept across his face. "I can't tell if that's casual or formal. I like that. I'm Khan Basilio, and my friend here is Khan Flavia. Just call us Basilio and-"

Flavia huffed, rolling her shoulders and cuffing Basilio in the arm. "That's Great Khan to you, Basilio. Remember when my champions kicked your champions' arses? I certainly do!"

"Great Khan," Basilio amended levelly, smiling, "For now. I thought I had it in the bag- a warrior beating Lon'qu without a single scratch, can you imagine it?" He chuckled, fixing Lucina in his gaze. "But I think I've worked out why, now. Went to knock you over with an elbow, and- ha!"

Lucina flushed, absently rubbing her knuckles. I'm guessing she punched him, or something. "I must apologise for misleading you, Khan-"

Basilio waved it off. "Being Great Khan is a lot of work, but I wanted to make Flavia work for it. If anything, I was the one tricking you!" He tapped his forehead, his smile only widening when Flavia huffed and rolled her eyes. "Now I get to kick back and crack some skulls while someone else does all the paperwork."

Frederick cleared his throat loudly, rapping his hand against the table. "Business," he said curtly, "Apologies, Khan and Great Khan. I believe Commander Phila has been waiting to speak."

Basilio chuckled, sitting himself back down and resting his chin on his hand. Flavia seated herself moments later, leaning back and put her arms behind her head. She waved a hand towards Phila, as if to say get on with it.

"Thank you, Sir Frederick," Phila agreed, putting a hand to her side, "I would normally have no qualms letting this run as long as is desired, but I have an appointment with Lady Maribelle on account of my injuries."

Chrom winced visibly. They must have been bad- Robin turning slightly green only affirmed that.

"Now that all relevant parties are present- Lady Tiki being the exception, as I believe she is resting- I would like to move forward with our next items," she began, tapping a finger on a list in front of her, "Item one: Reviewing what information Andrew and Marth can provide us."

Seemed sensible. I glanced at Lucina, nodding. She furrowed her brow, and after a long moment, she nodded as well. "I will..." she paused, "I will relay what I believe is most important," she said finally.

"Item two," Phila continued, seemingly satisfied-

I didn't like the look in Chrom's eyes. I didn't like how Robin wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Removing Andrew from the Shepherds' roster."

Ah.

Yeah, that would do it.

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Author's Note

Wow, I finally got to introduce Phila to the story! Great. She'll be a fun character to write, I think.

This chapter was mostly fluff- I am aware of this, and I promise to have a lot more plot stuff next chapter. I just had a lot of little character things I wanted to show first. Oh, and drop by the discord, if you want: 9XG3U7a It's pretty relaxed there, and we like talking about writing. See you in two weeks!

Cheers,

Narwhal Lord