"Hey Morgan," Ananias said, greeting the upbeat girl aspiring to become a full-fledged tactician with a nudge on the back of her shoulder using the back of his hand. As Morgan turned around to return her friend's salutation, she noticed that the hand he had used to alert her of his presence was holding a cup filled with a colorful liquid that she had never seen before; and once she took the time to look, so was the other hand. "How are you holding up?"

Morgan tried to give Ananias her usual carefree smile, but her fatigue was obvious. "I'm holding up alright," she answered. She then frowned, and added, "Gotta admit though, that last battle took a lot out of us."

Ananias nodded solemnly. "Yeah." He offered her one of the drinks he had been holding. "Here, got you something."

Morgan smiled and happily took the drink off of Ananias' hands. "Aw, thanks Annie! I'm parched!" She was about to take a sip, but abruptly stopped herself, eyes widening due from receiving a sudden suspicion. She eyed the drink in her hands suspiciously before turning her attention to Ananias, who had been watching her. "Annie," Morgan asked, "what type of drink is this exactly?"

Ananias simply shrugged his shoulders, and answered, "Don't know, but it's apparently a hit with the Shepherds, so I thought I'd get you some. I know how much you don't like to be left out of things."

Morgan smirked and raised an eyebrow knowingly. "I see. And what happened to that pouch full of chili peppers I gave you?"

Ananias reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the pouch full of chili peppers Morgan had given him, which, oddly enough, looked smaller than Morgan remembered it being. "Right here."

Morgan nodded, obviously amused by Ananias' lousy attempt at a ruse. "Uh huh." She held her free hand out. "Mind if I take a closer look at it?"

A pause. "I'd rather not."

Morgan quickly swiped the pouch out of his hand. "I insist." She placed her drink down and opened the pouch, not surprised to find that it was completely empty. "Wow," she said playfully, giving Ananias a look that feigned surprise. "That's strange. It's completely empty."

Ananias averted her eyes away from Morgan's gaze and blushed slightly. "Y-Yeah."

Morgan placed the pouch down and held out her drink. "You laced it, didn't you?"

Ananias' blushed harder. "Maybe," he mumbled.

"And what would happen if I… switched our drinks?" Morgan asked, already placing one hand around Ananias' cup.

Ananias sheepishly shrugged. "I don't know," he answered.

Morgan laughed at the silliness her friend was displaying. "Annie," she cried, "that's the oldest trick in the book!"

"Just thought I'd bring it back," Ananias lamely argued as Morgan switched their cups.

Morgan laughed as she gave Ananias a supportive pat on the back. "Aw, it's okay. Just remember to try a little harder next time."

Ananias took a deep breath to completely recompose himself. "Got it."

Morgan was about to take a sip of Ananias' drink, but abruptly stopped herself, eyes widening due from receiving a sudden suspicion. "Wait a minute," she said.

Ananias looked at Morgan. "What?"

Morgan looked long and hard at the current drink in her hand. "This is too easy."

Ananias nodded. "Yeah. Like you said, I gotta try harder next time."

To Ananias' surprise, Morgan didn't seem to hear him. "To use the oldest trick in the book," she shook her head, "that's absurd."

Ananias merely blinked in confusion. "Yeah. I know. You told me this already."

Just like before, Morgan seemed too lost in thought to acknowledge what Ananias had just said. "It's absurd." Suddenly, her eyes widened as she came to a previously unforeseen conclusion. "TOO absurd!" She immediately began to switch her and Ananias' drinks back.

Despite how strangely Morgan was acting, Ananias had gotten used to it, and calmly asked, "Morgan, what are you doing?"

Much to Ananias' surprise, Morgan let out a maniacal laugh. "Ha! You thought you could fool me, but I am on to you buddy!" She pointed an accusing finger at Ananias and pressed it against his chest several times. "Oh, am I ON TO YOU!"

Ananias raised an eyebrow inquisitively at his friends' bizarre words and behavior. "On to what?"

Morgan laughed confidently. "On to you!" She once again laughed maniacally before explaining, "You knew that I wouldn't fall for the oldest trick in the book, so you made that trick a red herring for the REAL trick! Simple misdirection! Subtle, but effective!" She raised her cup triumphantly. "But not effective enough to trick me!" She then confidently chugged the drink Ananias had originally given her.

"Um, Morgan…."

"Bleh!" Morgan cried, spitting the contents out of her mouth as her throat had practically been set on fire, causing her to cough violently. "What?" Morgan said in between her fits of violent coughing.

Ananias sighed. "You overthought it," he stated straight-facedly. He offered her his drink. "Here. I don't know what it is, but it's apparently a hit with the Shepherds."

Despite being wary of accepting any type of refreshment from the man who had just managed to successfully poison her, Morgan's throat was begging for release from the terrible spiciness the chili peppers Ananias had somehow managed to conceal in her drink was inflicting on her, so she quickly swiped Ananias' drink from his hand and feverishly chugged it down. Amazingly, the spiciness subsided substantially, resulting in Morgan slowly growing more and more relaxed as she continued to guzzle down the contents. "Ah," she said once she had successfully finished the drink off, "that's the stuff."

"Better?"

Morgan nodded. "Better." Just then, her eyes widened due to remembering why she had desperately needed the drink in the first place. "Wait, no, not better! Things are definitely not better!" She pointed an accusing finger at Ananias as she gave him an angry pout. "What were you thinking, giving me the poison on the first try?"

Ananias nonchalantly shrugged. "I wanted to get it over with," he answered.

"Ugh!" Morgan cried, pulling her hair out in frustration. "I can't believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book!"

"Like I said, you overcomplicated it." Ananias gave Morgan a comforting pat on the back. "Next time, maybe you should avoid overestimating your opponent," he averted his eyes to the side, blushed slightly, and added, "especially if you know that your opponent doesn't deserve to be overestimated to begin with." He looked back at the disappointed Morgan. "It'll just make you paranoid."

Much to Ananias' surprise, Morgan shoved his arm, forcing his hand off of her back, and looked at Ananias with determination evident in her eyes. "This isn't over Annie!" she cried, pointing a daring finger at Ananias. "You may have won this round, but mark my words; I will avenge my loss a thousand fold!"

She then walked away, leaving a flabbergasted Ananias behind to start planning her revenge. "We had rounds?!" an astonished Ananias asked, absolutely slacked-jawed.

Author's Note: So far, the order of the next characters to support with Ananias are: Owain, Inigo, Severa. Remember to request which characters you want to see Ananias support with next! The list of characters Ananias can support with are listed on the first chapter/paralogue. First come, first serve!