Sick Day
I'm back! Kind of. I'm still taking a break from my main stories for now. Well, a "break" meaning I'm just not uploading them at the moment. I'm slowly working on them, swapping between stories as I come up with new ideas and hit writer's blocks between them lol. I said before that I only had 3 stories to upload in my break, but it's turned into a bit more than that. I also meant to have a story uploaded a few weeks ago but I got way busier than I thought I would and I got hit by a burst of inspiration for this story so here we are.
If you haven't read my stuff before, this is an OC story that's a sequel to one of my stories called "Fixing the Past and Falling in Love." Sorry if you don't like OC stories but that's what this is and is a lot of what I do.
This is just a collection of mostly goofy one shots that don't have a serious tone, set in the "Fixing the Past" universe. They're mostly just random events and insights into the character's daily lives. However, there will be some important chapters as they lead up to Xenoblade 3 content and many chapters will contain pretty major spoilers for Xenoblade 3, including this one. (I've finished the game, aside from a few nitpicks, I loved it. Won't put my full review here, I'll do that when I make it to actual Xenoblade 3 content). I'll mark any story important chapters with a * in the title. I don't plan on writing these in chronological order so there might be some set much later on and some that happen during or even before the events of "Fixing the Past." I guess it's technically spoilers for "Fixing the Past" but I think it's all fairly obvious stuff.
This first chapter is just Nia and Brandon together a few years after the events of 2. Technically this is supposed to happen after my planned sequel as well but I'm not planning on referencing it at all so I'm fine with uploading this in advance.
Keep in mind this is just fluff feel good stories. It's not really meant to be super deep with character development and heavy themes and serious consequences. Hopefully you enjoy.
…
Brandon was sick. He never got sick. But despite that, right now, his forehead was burning up with a raging hot fever, though shivers still sent tremors through his body. He noticed that something was wrong the moment he woke up, with his throat on absolute fire. He got up from his bed and almost fell over from the sudden sense of vertigo. Then things across his whole body slowly proceeded to hurt more as he walked out of his room, being careful to tiptoe around Dromarch as to not awaken the large cat, and made his way down the stairs to the first floor of his house.
"Mornin' sleepyhead," Nia said cheerfully from the living room, the T.V. turned on with the news playing softly in the background. "I made breakfast today so… oh Architect, are you alright?" She rushed over the moment she noticed something was wrong.
Nia was as gorgeous as ever, in contrast to just how awful he felt. She had apparently decided to wear her long hair up in a ponytail this morning. She was in pretty casual clothing as well, wearing a pair of leggings and a yellow tank top. Her Core Crystal shone brightly through the fabric as she analyzed his condition.
"I think I've got a cold." Brandon said, then immediately started coughing, feeling like his lungs were going to pop out.
"That's a lot worse than just a cold," Nia said as she guided Brandon over to the couch to lay down.
"Is it?" He asked, immediately growing more concerned, "then what's my diagnosis, doc?"
"My diagnosis is that you're sick, but you'll live. Now stay there." She briskly moved to the kitchen and set a kettle to boil on the stove. She grabbed a plate of food and brought it over to Brandon with a fork. "Here, I know you probably don't want to eat right now but you have-"
"I know." Brandon croaked, "I'm not five."
Nia rolled her eyes, "you didn't have to interrupt me to state the obvious." She lifted his head and sat down, then set his head down in her lap. "Say aah," as she lifted up a piece of bacon and dangled it over his mouth.
"Again, I'm not- mph!" He was cut off as Nia shoved the food into his mouth.
"Are you really complainin' when you're not only gettin' a lap pillow, but also fed by a beautiful lady?" Nia asked as she set the plate down on a coaster on the coffee table.
"Hm, I wouldn't exactly call you beautiful," Brandon said after swallowing.
"Don't lie to yourself. You know I'm the prettiest lady in all of Alrest."
"Huh, I was expecting a more scathing comeback." Brandon said.
"I'd normally have a bitin' comeback, but I can't do that without feelin' guilty since you're sick," she poked his forehead.
"Ow…" Brandon whined, "you'd feel guilty about verbal sparring but you're not above physical torment? Ugh, can't you do something about that?"
"Can't do much about it to be honest. I don't know what virus you have exactly so I can't manipulate your DNA to account for it to make you immune to whatever it is." She shook her head, "I also can't do much for inflammation or fever since that would require me to turn off your built in responses to disease."
"Can't you do that?"
"If I did and you forget to remind me to turn them back on, you'd just die the next time you get sick without me around."
Brandon hummed. "Then can you at least heal my throat? That's honestly the worst of it."
"Yeah, it'll start hurtin' again in a few hours though if your body doesn't manage to fight the virus off by then."
"I'll take the momentary respite."
Nia nodded and put a hand over his neck. Her Core Crystal lit up as she healed the damage his own body did to itself. Brandon sighed in relief as he put a hand up to his throat.
"Thanks," he tried to get up only for Nia to push him down again. "Huh?"
"Nuh uh. I'm takin' care of you for today." Nia said, "you're not movin' a muscle today."
"But… I have work…"
"No you don't. If you really cared about work that much, you'd have taken my offer and undergone the Blade Eater surgery. Then you'd never get sick and you'd be able to work all you'd like."
"Bleh. Praetorium technology." Brandon made a face.
"Technically Judicium technology if you recall." Nia rolled her eyes, "you'd think that I'd be more disgusted by it than you."
"Yeah well… either way. I don't want to live forever. Only way I'd do that is if the world was going to end and that was the only way to stop it… or well, if the only other option was mass death. Or something." He sighed, "though, it seems like we've saved the world enough. I don't think any world ending threats will happen again."
"Oi, don't jinx us like that. With our luck, somethin' is bound to come up."
"Oh come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
"There are a few things in mind." Nia said.
"Like what?"
"Like what Klaus told us. Remember what he said about there bein' another universe? One where the other half of his body was residin'."
"Yeah, I remember. How could I forget? But why would that worry you?"
"I dunno. Just a gut feelin'. What's goin' on in that universe? What if there's a threat on that side that comes over here."
Brandon snorted, "as advanced as we in Morytha were… we didn't have the greatest grasp of multiversal physics. But as far as we're aware, there's no possible way for universes to connect in a way for anything to pass through."
"Hm… if you're sure."
"Well… technically I'm not sure. This is just my understanding of physics. I also don't know just how much the Conduit's fucked up our world's physics. Ether for example, just wasn't a thing before the Conduit. Or maybe we just weren't aware of Ether since none of our machines could detect it."
Nia frowned, "are you tellin' me to worry or not to worry. Because it's rapidly startin' to sound like the latter."
"Neither really," he coughed, slightly embarrassed, "well, it's more like I'm saying to not worry about it right now. Not much point in it really. Not when we know so little."
"Mmh. I still don't like it."
"Meh. You don't like a lot of my quote unquote 'science malarky' anyways."
"That's because you pack your sentences full of stupid jargon to make yourself sound smarter."
"I do not." He said in an offended tone, "I say things that everyone who speaks English should understand."
"Which we don't speak," Nia snorted, "you're speakin' Alrestian."
"Which happens to be exactly the same as English." Brandon pointed out.
"No it's not. We literally use a different alphabet."
"You know what I meant. It's verbally the same," Brandon said, "you all speak with different accents from Earth as well. You've got one of the thickest Welsh accents I've ever heard. Which to be fair isn't a lot since I lived in the American region of Earth."
"Gormotti accent," Nia corrected, "you've gotta stop usin' Earth terms since none of that exists anymore."
"Well we're still on Earth… it's just that it's not called Earth anymore… but a lot of Earth still exists. A ton of our cities and structures are still out there."
"And is that supposed to be a good thing?" Nia asked, "the cities are mostly decrepit and useless. Plus they're filled with Guldos, as you recall."
"Hey, there are plenty of useful parts there. We've been taking all of the old technology in salvaging missions and stuff. That's half the reason why Rex's team exists in the first place."
"Heh. You'd think he'd be tired of all the adventure by now." Nia chortled.
"Rex? Tired of adventure? Nah, that doesn't sound right."
"Hm. You're right. I'm sure Pyra and Mythra are both loving it right now."
"Well, let's see. Going out exploring with their oblivious crush?" He laughed, "I wouldn't trade places with them."
"I wouldn't say he's oblivious considering he's the same as them," Nia said, "they are officially going out now."
"Was more talking about how he'd be oblivious to any kind of romantic moves they make while out there." Brandon explained, "honestly sounds horrible. Unlike us two huh?"
She giggled as she leaned down and kissed his nose. "And yet… I seem to recall you also struggled a bit admittin' you liked me."
"Still better than Rex."
"Not much of a benchmark," she teased, "but he got there eventually."
"Crazy to see how much he's grown over the past few years," Brandon said, "he was your height until recently. Now, he's nearly as tall as Morag."
"He's not taller than my ears yet."
"Do ears really count towards height though?"
"Well it's not like hair though," Nia argued, "I can't exactly change my ear shape… don't think too hard on that."
"Well, you've made your ears shorter right?"
"I just said not to think too hard on it. Technically yes. But that's about all I can do. It's not like that was intentional… it's just that that form ended up lookin' like my sister so those were the ears that were given to me."
"Wait, I just realized. Isn't Morag only shorter than your ears when you have your heels on?"
"Uh, technically she also looks taller because of her hat."
"Right… I always forget about it. She wears it around everywhere so I'm kind of used to just seeing her with the hat on."
"It's almost like it's part of her head with how often she wears it," Nia laughed.
Brandon chuckled, "to be fair, it is part of her uniform. She does kind of have to wear it while she works… which is nearly all the time."
"She wears her uniform when she's not workin' as well," Nia pointed out, "I think she's a workaholic. And so are you, you moron. That's why you got sick."
"I am not…" He whined, "I hate working. I'd rather spend my time with you."
"Uh huh, sure. That's why you were resistin' me so much just a few minutes ago."
"Okay, that's because I don't want to be treated like a baby."
"Oh come off it," Nia scoffed, "every guy wants to be taken care of."
"You know like six guys and half of them aren't even human." Brandon said, "so how the hell would you know that?"
She cleared her throat, "uh… instinct?"
"Oh that's bullshit." Brandon rolled his eyes, "just admit that it's what you want."
"I… yeah sure. I want to baby you. Happy?"
"Heh. Yeah," Brandon said, "if that's your wish milady. I'll be happy to oblige."
"You're an arsehole. This is what you wanted huh? Just don't want to admit it?"
"No take backs!" He started coughing again, the sudden outburst not having done his throat any favors.
"Ugh, you moron," Nia sighed, "be more careful would you? You can't just mess around like you'd normally do."
"Noted," Brandon groaned as he turned onto his side. He felt Nia shaking her head as she put a hand on his head. A sudden noise caught his attention. "Uh… is that something boiling over in the background?"
"Shite!" Nia exclaimed and nearly jumped up, stopping herself with a jolt. She gently moved Brandon's head out of the way and put a pillow down underneath him before sprinting into the kitchen to deal with the kettle. He chuckled. Nia really hasn't changed much, personality wise at least. A little more mature and a little wiser, sure. But still kind of an airhead sometimes.
"Ow! Damn it," Nia hissed from the kitchen. "Okay… okay. It's not too bad. Uh, where are our paper towels?"
"If the roll isn't on the little stand then I've got no idea. I keep telling you to put stuff back where you took it from." Brandon chastised.
"Screw off." Nia yelled back, "give me somethin' to work with instead of beratin' me with shite I'm not goin' to listen to."
He chuckled, "uh, did you clean the bathroom recently? You might've chucked it in one of the cabinets and forgotten about it."
"Uh…" The sound of feet hitting hard wood then of rummaging echoed through the halls. "Found it."
"Told ya," Brandon called. Ugh, his sinuses were not in a great spot… and there it was. One side remained clear while the other completely plugged up. Great. "Hey! Could you get me some tissues too, milady?"
"Ugh, you couldn't have said that a few seconds earlier? Fine." He heard the cabinets rattle again then Nia's footsteps as she made her way back. Nia dealt with the spilled water, then poured a cup of tea, then made her way back to the living room, plonking down a roll of toilet paper down on the coffee table. She helped him sit up and handed him the steaming mug of tea and put the plate of breakfast from earlier on his lap before leaving to their bedroom to grab a blanket.
He sat for a few minutes, slowly eating and drinking, relieved that his throat was fine at least. Nia then returned with a massive mound of pillows and blankets and set them down on the couch.
"Uh, at this point, shouldn't I just go back to bed?" Brandon asked as Nia all but tucked him in by wrapping him up in the blankets.
"I mean if you want to, I'm not goin' to stop you. But the couch isn't leather so it's not like you'll sweat up a storm. Plus it'll be more convenient for me so I don't have to go back and forth to take care of you."
"Uh, speaking of going back and forth… don't you have work?"
"You really are out of it today huh. Today's Saturday, buckethead."
"It is?" He thought back to his week. "It really is huh." He really didn't do that much during the past week. Probably why it didn't feel like a week. What did he do? He did his usual professor work and gave his lectures, though he didn't have anything to grade since he had felt lazy and didn't assign any work. Of course he'd never hear his students complaining about it. They'd only complain if they didn't get their tests back in a timely manner.
"Yeah," Nia sat down next to Brandon with her own cup of tea. "Mister… or rather Doctor buckethead."
"I loathe that," Brandon sniffed, "it's an honorary doctorate anyways. So the students don't riot when they learn their professor is the same age as them."
"As if you don't already have the ability to get a doctorate on your own anyways."
"Maybe I do… but it doesn't seem very fair. I'm basically just a regular student on Earth. I only seem smarter here because Earth was more technologically and scientifically advanced."
"Does that matter if it's relative?" Nia asked, "you're still smart."
"I guess. Just makes me feel like a fake sometimes," he shrugged, then tried to facepalm when he realized Nia wouldn't be able to see it… then groaned as his hand was caught by the blankets.
"And you call me an airhead."
"Cut me a break. I'm sick." He sniffled.
"Right right," Nia rolled her eyes and tore off a chunk of toilet paper and waited for Brandon to untangle a hand from his mound of blankets to pass it to him.
"Thanks," he mumbled, then blew his nose.
"Uh, one moment," Nia got up and ran over to the kitchen then returned with a plastic bag. "Here."
"Thanks." He said as he threw away the tissue. "Ugh. This really sucks."
"Aw," Nia cooed as she put an arm around his shoulders, "my little baby."
"Okay, you're not so much older than me that you can say that," Brandon said.
"Hmph. I can't tell if you're really dumb for commentin' on my age or really smart for commentin' while you're sick."
He coughed, "let's go with the second one."
"So it was the first one," Nia laughed, "you're really out of it today."
"Must be nice, not having to worry about ever being under the weather." Brandon said.
"Yeah well… I'd rather have a few sick days than not knowin' when I could kick the bucket."
"Aren't you effectively a perfect Flesh Eater though? I'm more likely to die at any random point than you are."
"Not with me around you aren't." Nia said.
"We work in different buildings. You can't account for everything. The tighter you close your fist, the more sand slips through. I am squishier than you after all… all it would take is me slipping on a set of stairs and cracking my head open while you're away."
"You forget that you're a Driver," Nia said, "you're not as squishy as a normal human and you can easily summon my weapon and heal yourself."
"Not that I have as much medical knowledge as you."
"You have some just from our resonance. Enough to heal anythin' basic at least. That's why for the rest of it, you should actually take my offer and sit down and learn from me."
"Ugh… yeah sure. I'll have to at some point huh."
"Why not now? It's not like you're doin' much of anythin' at the moment," Nia pointed out.
"Like you said… I'm out of it today. Not sure how much information will actually stick."
"That's a weak excuse and you know it," Nia sighed, "though you're also not entirely wrong. The moment you're better, yeah? The semester's almost over so you can adjust your schedule next semester. I can teach you."
"I… guess I could do that. What about your clinic though?"
"I can take a few days off a week. Not like I get many patients anyways." Nia said as she took a sip of her drink.
"Hm, you'd think you'd get more once word got out that you can revive the dead."
"The Praetorium's doctrine runs deep. They're still too scared of Flesh Eaters, even after all the shite Amalthus pulled."
"Well, screw what they think," he leaned over and kissed the top of her head, "I love you, we all do."
She sighed contently, "and that's all that really matters huh?"
"Yeah. Also, you know that if you want to spend time with me, you can just ask, right?"
"And I'm not teachin' you medicine just to get more alone time with you," Nia rolled her eyes, "even if that's a part of it, I want you to truly understand how to heal someone. That way you can keep yourself healthy and help others if there's ever an occasion for it."
"Of course." Brandon said, "gotta help out where I can."
Nia nodded, "yeah. I do want to spend more time with you though. We should do more together."
"Like?" Brandon snorted, "we spend practically every moment out of work together."
"Well like somethin' a bit more than cuddlin' y'know?" Nia said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Again, like? I'm all adventured out for the next few decades if I'm being honest." He shook his head, "unless you're talking about just doing shit outside. In which case, does that really make a difference?"
"I dunno. Maybe. I just want somethin'... a bit more memorable."
"Uh, fair enough. We'll come up with something then. Ugh, kinda hard to think about this right now though."
"Yeah, we'll talk about it more when you're better. Dinner and a walk would be nice though."
He chuckled, "that, I should be more than capable of."
"Good. Or I'd think I got myself an impotent boyfriend."
Brandon snorted at the double entendre. "And here I thought you weren't going to take jabs at me while I'm ill."
"It's only a jab if you think it is."
"Okay, you could argue that for any kind of insult."
"Hm, I suppose. I guess that means I can insult you all I want then," she blinked innocently.
"Oh fuck no. I'm not subjecting myself to that."
"Kidding. I'm kidding," Nia laughed, "even I'm not that mean."
"Hmph. That does mean you're mean though." He sighed, "why did I choose a sadist?"
"Hey, don't ask me. It's your brain," Nia said, "but you've made the choice so now you're stuck with me."
"Oh no. How cruel a fate to be saddled with." Brandon gave a gravely chuckle before coughing up more phlegm and had to reach for the roll of toilet paper. He tossed the paper and took another sip of his drink. It was probably placebo but it really did feel like it helped soothe his aching body.
"You make it hard for me to want to kiss you. And it's not just the sickness."
"I'm honestly surprised you're not more disgusted."
"Well… I've seen worse," she shrugged, "though I'm sure as hell not goin' to swap spit while you have snot running through every part of your face."
"Fair enough. I'd be the same if it was the other way around," Brandon said, "not that you get sick."
"Are you sure? Not even if I offered the…" she dropped her voice to a sultry tone, "wildest experience of your life?"
"Hm. A difficult choice," he grinned, "not sure it would be my wildest experience if you actually did get sick though."
"Oi. I'd always be at peak performance. Regardless of my condition."
"Mmhm. I bet you would be. That's not sarcasm by the way. I know you would be," he reached a hand out and tapped the Core embedded in Nia's chest.
"Well, I wasn't referring to that specifically you know. I meant I have conviction up here," she tapped her head.
"Mental game huh? Willpower through it all?" He smirked, "not sure if I can do that."
"Well, I suppose not everyone can do that. Better work on your own willpower in that case then eh? That way you can actually keep up with me." Nia teased.
"Mmh. You implying that I can't keep up with you?" He asked.
"Maybe, maybe not," she grinned, "what are you going to do about it?"
"Right now? Not much. Considering you've wrapped me up in a cocoon of blankets." He sighed. "Not that I'm complaining. This is quite comfortable actually."
"Glad to hear it," Nia snorted, "that was the goal after all. That way today isn't all just pain and sufferin'."
"Well, pain maybe. But I'm never suffering around you."
"That was so cheesy I think I threw up in my mouth a bit." Nia gagged.
Brandon wheezed out a laugh, "I guess it kind of was huh? But even I can like cheesy and sappy romance stuff occasionally. And sue me, I'm feeling a bit sentimental right now."
"You? Mister logic?" Nia gave an exaggerated gasp as she put a hand on his forehead, "are you feelin' alright? Is the fever gettin' to you?"
"Ha ha," Brandon deadpanned, "besides, you like the cheesy romance sometimes as well right?"
"In moderation, sure. But you don't love me because I say lines like… uh…"
"You can't think of a cheesy line, huh?" Brandon chuckled, "how about… can you give me a kiss? I'll give it right back."
Nia snorted.
"But yeah. I'd think you were replaced by some alien if you did start spewing those kinds of lines." Brandon grinned.
"Hm," Nia's face turned red, "I will say that I love you."
"Le gasp."
"Oh just say it back you moron."
"Love you too." He grinned like an idiot. Maybe it was corny, but it felt surprisingly heartwarming.
"There we go. Got all our gushy emotions out of the way?" Nia asked.
"Eh, enough I guess." Brandon said, tilting his head slightly, "I'm definitely going to drop a few more of these lines through today though."
"Ugh, of course you are. Whatever. Just don't make it too sappy, yeah?"
"No promises. I have to embarrass you on occasion."
"You seem to do that on more than just an occasion," Nia sighed, "I swear, we have the most dysfunctional relationship."
"Well…"
"I know there are worse. Tons of bad shite. Obviously."
"Just pointing it out."
"I'm not an idiot, idiot. You don't need to point out the obvious when I'm makin' a dumb joke." Nia groaned.
"Heh. Sorry."
"No you're not."
"What?!" Brandon said, "I'm wounded by the accusation. I'm always only earnest around you."
"I'm sure you are."
"Is it so hard to believe? I'm completely heads over heels for you after all." He said matter of factly.
"So you're still not done with the one liners," Nia rolled her eyes.
"Nope," he grinned, "I'm in the mood."
"So it requires you to get sick to get romantic? What's up with that?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling bored," Brandon shrugged.
"Are you shittin' me?" Nia raised an eyebrow as one of her eyes twitched, "bored?"
"Uh… I phrased that wrong."
"Yeah, you've got one chance to rephrase that." Nia warned.
"Uh… I… I've got nothing."
Nia growled, "you're lucky you're sick."
"I seem to be somehow very lucky today… despite feeling like I'm dying."
"Mmh. Apparently I can't get anythin' out of you without threatening severe bodily harm."
"The fact that you so casually threaten severe bodily harm is the more concerning part to me." Brandon said nervously, "even if I know the worst you'll do is flick my forehead."
"Which you do right back to me," Nia pointed out.
"When you're being an idiot."
Nia rolled her eyes, "and you aren't ever an idiot, huh?"
"Oh, I'm always an idiot-"
"If you say 'around you,' I'm not goin' to be held responsible for what I do next." Nia sighed.
"Oh come on. Give me at least this for today."
"Blegh. Fine. I'll give you a free pass for today… Guess I can have to at this point given how cliche you've already been today."
"I've been cliche? Said by the tsundere?" Brandon scoffed.
"I don't know what that means." Nia scowled, "but I assume it doesn't mean anythin' good."
"Uh… it's a term that refers to a person or character that is usually cold and harsh to their love interest to cover up the fact that they like them."
"Oi, how does that refer to me in any way shape or form?" Nia demanded.
"Well… do you want me to list examples?"
"... Not particularly."
"Well there we go then. You acknowledge it."
"I don't acknowledge anythin'. I've never tried to cover any emotions towards you. If I despise you in whatever moment, I let you know. If I love you in whatever moment, I also let you know. I'm a direct kind of girl like that."
"Uh, does that mean you really felt nothing for me for that long then?"
"Well, beyond bein' a friend, obviously not." She patted his shoulder, "I just didn't see you that way for a while."
"Huh. I… didn't know that."
"Aw," she cooed, "did you have a more romantic image of our first meetin'?"
"Well not our first meeting," Brandon said trying to save face, "we clearly hated each other back then. Because damn, your people skills were not good."
"What? They were immaculate as always."
"Nia… you tried to have me fired the first time we met then stormed out in rage when I had a logical counterpoint."
Nia coughed as she blushed lightly, "I did do that, didn't I."
"You did. I love you, but holy shit that was a horrible first impression."
"But you didn't really seem to care at the time," Nia said.
"I tried not to let it show on my face. We were going to be stuck together on a ship for a few days after all. Would have been miserable if we spent the entire trip at each other's throats."
"I wonder how things would have turned out if you didn't do that…" Nia sighed, "I imagine I'd have stuck with Torna…"
"Don't think about that," Brandon chastised, "you'll just drive yourself crazy. You don't really know what would have been."
"Yeah yeah. Of course. I just, I dunno. It resurfaces sometimes, thoughts of what I could have changed if I wasn't so afraid back then."
"Myeh. No need to beat yourself up over it. There's a lot of things we could have done better, but there's also a lot that could have gone worse." He shrugged, "maybe this is more Rex's influence talking but you should look at the things we've managed to accomplish. All the good we've managed to do."
"You're right, you're right," she sighed, "and here I was thinkin' I was supposed to be comfortin' you right now."
"Well, I'm still mentally here…" He thought for a moment, "mostly." He tacked on at the end.
"Hm. I'd argue less than mostly."
"In that case I could make the argument that my suboptimal brain is somehow on par with your unhindered mind."
"Mostly, it is," Nia rectified her statement.
"Though while I'm allowed to make sappy remarks, I'll say that being around you turns my brain to mush."
"Oh Architect, I'm already regrettin' this." Nia sighed.
"Also, I've been meaning to ask, why do you still say 'oh Architect?'"
Nia shrugged, "habit. Despite everythin', I believed he was our creator for a long time. It was only when Indol started huntin' me that my belief stopped. Then we actually met him…"
"And it turned out that he exists and really was your creator… and still basically just a regular human at the same time."
"Crazy huh."
"Yeah. Though, despite everything, I can't bring myself to hate him." Brandon said, "after all… it was his actions that let me meet you."
"And there it is," Nia grumbled, "I'm goin' to be honest, that whole idea kind of pulls the romantic spin out of your words."
"That's actually fair enough." Brandon said, "perhaps I should be talking more about fluff."
"Yeah no. Your small talk is about as good as your food is for the body."
"Okay, at least I'm not as bad as miss carbon's good for you," Brandon laughed, "Mythra needs to never cook again for our potlucks."
"Why did Rex let her," Nia shook her head, "why did Pyra let her? They live under the same roof when they're not out exploring the world. How she somehow burned her food that badly without setting their house on fire is beyond me."
"It was more charcoal than food to be honest," Brandon snickered along with Nia.
"I know right? I can't believe Mythra made us all take a bite."
"Especially us humans. I don't know how true this is but I believe burnt food is supposed to be slightly carcinogenic. I know you can literally cure cancer, but I'd still rather not increase my chances of getting it."
"Obviously. I doubt you want to die either, even knowin' I can bring you back."
Brandon swallowed, "yeah… I'd like to not die any time soon. I've got a good… theoretically sixty years left."
"At a minimum," Nia said, "who knows, you might just have to take part of my Core as the world gets put into another world endin' situation."
"Well, that is if Rex can't stop it. He may not have his Conduit powers anymore but he still kicks ass and takes names." Brandon said, "he's bulked up like crazy as well. Even if he wasn't a Driver, he'd probably still kick my ass in sparring."
"Speakin' of which," Nia narrowed her eyes, "you've been slackin' on our workouts."
"I've been busy," Brandon said defensively.
"You've made excuses for the past two weeks and you've put some weight on. The moment you're over this, we're goin' on a twenty kilometer run."
"I…" he noted the sharp look in Nia's eye, "understood milady."
"Hmph. Were you seriously goin' to try to make another excuse when you were just complainin' that Rex beats us in spars?" Nia looked at him meaningfully, "we can do better than that. Next time, we hold out for two minutes."
Brandon chuckled, "I love how that's the metric of improvement now. Two minutes. Goes to show how strong the Aegises and their Driver is."
"He's even beatin' Morag and Zeke consistently now. How poor was his diet when he was a salvager?" She gave him a look.
"Okay, don't blame me on that. He did most of his own cooking. We weren't exactly rolling in cash so we took what we could get. Also, technically he hit puberty around when I did."
"You aren't blood related," Nia raised an eyebrow, "you literally cannot claim familial genes to explain that."
"Well sure, but I'm more saying that it's not impossible, and not even that unusual."
"I suppose so," Nia hummed, "it's just that it's a crazy growth spurt."
"Heh, it must be weirder for them right? Going from looking down to Rex then being about eye level."
"Yeah. I can only imagine. Then again, they do live together. It's gradual enough for them to probably not notice day to day. Doubt it's really even registered overall unless we mention it."
Brandon laughed, "that kind of makes me want to compare heights when we next meet. Speaking of which, when do we next meet?"
"Uh, a few weeks from now?" Nia scratched her head, "I can't remember exactly. You remember what everyone wanted you to make right?"
"Pizza?"
"Yeah. Because apparently everyone's addicted to that shite." Nia groaned, "it's so unhealthy."
"Not that it matters to you Blades."
"Technically no. But how many of us are Blades again?"
"More of us than not," Brandon pointed out, "Zeke is theoretically fine. You're a Blade as well. So out of our entire family, Morag, Rex, and me are the only regular humans. I… don't know what makes Tora tick so I can't say anything about him."
"Tora remains ever an enigma."
"Yeah. I'm very conflicted on him being smarter than me now." He frowned, "well not smarter per se. But like, he knows more about mechanical engineering than I do."
"Poppi's goin' to surpass the Architect at the rate which he's upgradin' her," Nia chuckled.
"Actually. Now if only he'd dedicate more of his time to actually being productive."
"Could say that about a lot of people." Nia said.
Brandon shrugged. "Well that could technically apply to most people. But when talking about Tora in specific… it's more to do with his obsession with keeping Poppi the most advanced he could, and not doing much else. He could take those skills and advance our robotics to insanely advanced levels, maybe even more so than even the robotics on Earth."
"Hm. I guess we'll have to give him a nudge at some point. At any rate," she glanced over at the clock that was hanging off their wall and sighed, "how is it already one?"
"I did get up late today," Brandon pointed out.
"That's true. I'll make us some lunch. Is there anythin' you want?" Nia asked as she stood up and collected Brandon's tableware.
"Nothing in particular."
"Salad it is then."
"Uh…"
Nia smirked, "havin' second thoughts? Would you like to reorder?"
"Well… ugh, fuck it. If I'm sick I might as well be somewhat health conscious. How about something simple from my home? Bibimbap."
"Ooh, a rare good choice," Nia teased, "tastes good and somethin' that isn't difficult to make. I approve." Cabinets and the fridge rattled as Nia pulled out the necessary silverware and ingredients.
"Such praise," Brandon snarked, "at least it tastes good."
"Oi, salad tastes good too."
"Not without shit that makes it unhealthy," Brandon countered, "even you put salad dressing on. And that's not healthy."
"Which is not nearly as bad as you. Mister I put cheese on everythin'."
"Cheese is good," Brandon said defensively.
"Not for your health."
"Okay, how many things have we done that aren't good for my health?" Brandon asked. "I don't think losing my arm was good for my health."
"Well obviously, but losin' your arm isn't slowly killin' you from the inside," Nia said, "and you and Tora have built you quite the convincin' prosthetic."
"Weren't you the one who told me to worry about myself more?"
"You still remember that?" Nia asked as she turned on the stovetop. Oil hissed and Nia cracked a few eggs into the frying pan.
"Well, you did kind of drill it into my brain over the course of the few months we spent traveling Alrest," Brandon pointed out, "even excluding that specific moment when I lost my arm."
"Hm. Well it's not like it's false either way. You do need to take better care of yourself. In a lot of ways. I've seen your posture when you're workin' from home. That aside, we didn't really have much of a choice back then. We were the only ones who could stop Torna. You can choose to not have cheese in your salad."
"I… can't argue with that."
"Though I suppose I can make an exception for today," Nia said, "is there anythin' else you want?"
"Not cheese actually," Brandon said, "I kind of want something sweet."
"I think we've got some ice cream." He could hear Nia quickly scamper over to the freezer and open to check before rushing back to the stove. "Yeah. We've got a tub of vanilla."
"Any chocolate syrup?"
"Okay," Nia said, "I don't understand. Why not just have chocolate ice cream? Also that stuff is kinda gross."
"First off, chocolate and vanilla together is great. Second… I've got nothing for that. Do we have any chocolate at all?"
"We've got some bits of dark chocolate I think."
"Works for me."
"I don't get how you like that stuff," Nia said, "sweets should be sweet."
"That's how chocolate is supposed to taste. Also, what happened to eating healthy?"
"I like sweets," Nia said, "just sparingly. Obviously. But you've got no self control and you'd eat an entire pack of chocolate daily if you had the chance."
"Okay, that I actually can dispute by the fact that we still have chocolate left."
"It was an exaggeration. It's also not completely wrong. You've gone through bags of chips in a single sittin' before."
"Who hasn't?"
"I haven't."
"How are you… Uh."
"I am in fact, not human," Nia said. Brandon could hear the smirk in her voice. She turned the stove off and the clinking of a spoon on ceramic sounded as she started mixing the food.
"Oh come on," Brandon whined, "you're practically human."
"Say that again after I lift your metric ton armor onto its maintenance rack for you again," she said as she walked over and kissed the top of his head before sliding a bowl of bibimbap onto his lap.
"Mmh. Just as good as always," Brandon smiled.
"Yeah," Nia said with her mouth full, "your people's food is incredible. As unhealthy as some of it is. I swear, half the foods you eat are either deep fried or covered in cheese."
"Okay, to be fair, that's mostly because I can't cook and it's easy to make things taste good if you deep fry it or cover it in cheese."
"Neither can I, yet I managed."
"Managed being the key word."
"Oi, are you really goin' to sit there and insult my cookin' while you're eatin' it?"
"It's an easy dish to make," Brandon countered, "mix gromrice with assorted veggies, pepper paste, meat, oil, and an egg or two. Boom, done. Delicious and healthy with like five minutes of prep time since it's all meant to be leftovers. Your ruska dumplings on the other hand…"
"You what? I'm considerin' takin' that bowl away from you now."
"Sorry sorry," Brandon laughed as he took another bite, "I love your food milady."
"Now that's better," Nia teased, "maybe I should collar you more often."
"Please don't. I'm not a masochist."
"Oh, are you not?" Nia leaned her arm on his shoulder, "I was under the impression that you were, considerin' who you're with."
"Well it's not like you're an actual sadist," Brandon shrugged, "you just like holding the reins, which I'm completely okay with."
Nia sighed, "which I'd argue is masochistic behavior… if it weren't more likely that you're okay with it purely because you're lazy."
"Got me in one milady. You know me so well."
"I despise you."
"Such sentimentality," Brandon snorted, "you make me feel so loved and appreciated."
"You are loved and appreciated. Just not all the time."
He laughed, "why do I love you again?"
"For my sparklin' personality?" She gave him a sideways smirk, "or is it because you like the fact that my hips are wider than my shoulders."
Brandon's face went red, "w-wha- I'm not-"
"Oh relax, you pervert. I'm jokin'." Nia laughed as she kissed his cheek, "mostly."
"Mostly?" Brandon said indignantly.
"I see you starin' when you don't think I'm lookin'."
"I-I-"
"Y'know I don't mind right?" Nia teased, "I've got a fantastic arse and I know it. As long as it's just you starin'. Just… don't stare for too long or I'd think you have a problem."
"Okay, it's my turn to despise you. You suck."
Nia laughed, "you're too easy."
"Har har. Make me out to be a perv when you can't think of another way to turn it around."
"It worked," Nia pointed out.
"I… ugh." Brandon sighed. Nia really did have his number sometimes.
"Have I left you speechless?" Nia grinned, "as expected."
"I wonder when I'll get a turn to do the same."
"Well you render me speechless every day whenever I think of you."
"Le gasp, is that a corny line from you, milady?"
"Well congratulations buckethead. You've actually managed to rub off on me over the past hour." Nia giggled, "for once."
"Oh is that how it is?"
"Oh, that's how it is," Nia confirmed.
"How often is it that you influence me then?"
"Quite often." Nia said smugly.
"I was implying that you should name a few instances."
"Uh…"
"Right. So you don't have anything to back up your claim." Brandon sighed, "why am I not surprised in the slightest?"
"O-oi," Nia said, "you can't put me on the spot and expect me to come up with somethin' immediately."
"What, so I have to be able to come up with something immediately but you don't have to do the same?" Brandon said, "double standards!"
"What? When have I ever…" She clamped her mouth shut as she realized what she was about to say.
"Mmhm. Thanks for making sure that everything is fair."
Nia coughed, her ears burning a bright red. "Sorry."
Brandon waved her off, "it's whatever. I don't actually care too much as long as you don't genuinely get upset at me if I ever fail to list any examples."
"Didn't you just get upset over it?"
"I was trolling," it was his turn to give her a smirk, "couldn't you tell?"
"I… you're an arsehole."
"I finally got one up on you today," he laughed, "only took forever."
"Hm, we are normally a bit more even." Nia admitted.
"I'll blame that on my sick brain," Brandon chuckled, then coughed a few times.
"I probably shouldn't be makin' you talk this much huh," Nia said.
"No no. I'd go insane if I just sat here doing nothing," Brandon said quickly, "your company makes this bearable."
"What did you do before then?" Nia asked.
Brandon hummed in thought. He must have gotten sick before, he could distinctly remember dying in bed and taking days off of school. "Probably just waste my time on the internet."
"Well, we haven't figured out your smart devices yet."
"Unfortunate," Brandon sighed, "I'd like to be able to go down video rabbit holes again."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, reference slash phrase you don't get." He scratched his head. "Uh, how to describe? Well the meaning is just getting lost on a tangent of stuff that's similar so you keep on consuming that kind of content. It's from the book 'Alice in Wonderland.' Uh, I honestly don't remember the last time I've actually read 'Alice in Wonderland' so I can't exactly give you a summary."
"Hm. I'll take your word for it."
"Maybe you'll get the chance to read it. Once we get those old salvaged archives of data up and running again, we can salvage a lot of old human history and digital relics."
"Sounds interesting. I really hope those things were worth it."
"There are hundreds of billions of pieces of media created by humans over the millenia. From books and movies, to something as simple as a single word post."
"And do you think it's all worth savin'?"
"Yeah. Good and bad, it's all part of human history. And there are definitely those in Alrest who want to learn as well. After all, the land of Morytha isn't exactly a myth anymore since we can literally see old buildings from here."
"That's true. I dunno what's goin' on with all the old myths and religion at this point. I wonder if they've settled down with all the shite that's been confirmed and proven false at the same time."
"It's only been a couple of years. I don't know if that's enough time to really do anything to an ancient religion that's been rooted deep into the people."
"I suppose so. But I feel like people should have already given up on what the Praetorium's taught them." Nia grumbled.
Brandon leaned forward to put down his bowl of finished food but Nia stopped him and took his bowl with her own and took them over to the kitchen sink.
She walked back over to the couch and sat down with a harrumph. Brandon leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Just have a little more patience, I'm sure people will come around eventually," he grinned mischievously, "especially now that Emperor Niall has nominated you as queen of a soon to be independent Gormott."
"Shut it you arse," Nia groaned, "I don't want to think about that shite. I mean me? Queen? Who the hell would come up with such a bloody stupid idea?"
"Apparently Emperor Niall. I'm not opposed to the idea… your majesty."
"If you start callin' me 'your majesty' you're goin' to sleep on the couch for the rest of your life." Nia growled.
"What? But it's just a sign of respect," Brandon said innocently.
"That's why you call me 'milady' sarcastically right?" Nia rolled her eyes, "don't try to hide that it's purely a pet name."
He coughed, "a-at any rate. You were a noble's daughter. You'd be a great queen."
"What happened to you bein' against monarchies?" Nia raised an eyebrow, "only open to it because you would also get the power?"
"Okay, first off, with you in charge? I'd get no benefits. Second, Niall's only offered you power. I wouldn't get any of it. Not that I'd want to be a king anyways. Thirdly, no one wanted to listen to my ideas for implementing a democracy or republic. I guess technically we're now all states under a singular banner, which does make it a sort of republic, but I digress. If we can't have a democracy, there's not many people I'd want as leader more than you."
"And why's that?"
"I have never met anyone as kind and as compassionate as you. There'd not be many people more fair and understanding as a leader."
"Rex would be a far better candidate if you wanted that."
"Rex also has no sense of responsibility. Which I was getting to for your qualities, by the way. I wouldn't get anything done without you after all."
"Hm, are you tryin' to butter me up for somethin'?"
"What? Of course not," Brandon placed a hand on his chest, "today's sappy romance day remember? I'm just being the romantic."
"Oh how romantic, complimentin' your significant other. Be careful or you'll make me swoon," she said in the flattest voice possible.
"You're so mean," Brandon laughed, "do I really do so little to excite you?"
"I thought I wouldn't have to spell it out for you at this point," Nia sighed, "in case you've somehow forgotten, the woman you're goin' to marry is the most sarcastic woman in all of Alrest."
"Yeah I… wait. Who said anything about marriage?"
Nia smirked, "you're proposin' soon right?"
"I… you'll have to wait to find out." He coughed.
Nia snorted, "nice save. I'll be lookin' forward to it."
"Uh… I wouldn't hold your breath." He said, "I don't have anything dramatic planned."
"I'd be disappointed if you did. I am expecting a nice ring though. Somethin' that you'd describe in a really confusin' way with your technobabble."
"Hm, if you're serious about that, I'd like a more specific description. Like do you want it to be combat oriented or utility?" He hummed to himself, getting caught up in the fascination of an engineer.
"Utility probably. I don't imagine I'd need somethin' extra for combat."
He nodded, taking mental notes, "anything within utility specifically?"
"Uh, I dunno. Didn't think about that. Do you have any ideas?"
"I'd suggest something to help with your healing… if it weren't for the fact that it literally can't get any better. Hm. Maybe it doesn't have to be super practical."
"What'dye mean?"
"I could make it something like communicators. They could convey some basic info to each other as well, like if we're alive or not. So we wouldn't worry about each other even if we're ever separated."
"That's kind of sweet actually. I'll go with that then."
"I'll throw in some other functionality as well," Brandon said, "I've already got the framework worked out so… uh… forget I said that."
"You're so bad at keepin' secrets." Nia sighed, "even before when you were tryin' to keep Morytha a secret, you pretty much gave it all away before you actually decided to come out with it."
"I know, I know," Brandon groaned, "I'm a terrible liar. But isn't that a good thing?"
"Well it is now that we're not fightin' to save the world." She nodded, "that way I can tell when you're lyin' to me."
"Why would I ever lie to you?"
"The normal response would be if you cheat," she teasingly put a finger under his chin, "but I know I've got you absolutely enraptured."
"Well, isn't that the truth. Why is it that I can't say the same the other way around?"
"Don't worry. The feelin's mutual." She patted his arm, "I'm just not as obviously head over heels in love. C'mon, have a little more self confidence."
"Eh, you're more than enough to make any man feel self conscious."
"Hm, you'd think that would apply to Pyra or Mythra more," Nia commented.
"Not that either of them would be interested in me any more than I would be interested in them. Especially when I basically see them as sisters at this point."
"True," her eyes narrowed. "And if you did, I'm afraid I'd have to do something quite drastic."
"I… that's uh… terrifying."
"Is it? Good," Nia teased.
"Good?" Brandon tilted his head.
"It's good to know that I still strike terror into your heart." Nia poked a finger at his chest, "good feelin'. Means I haven't lost my touch."
He grinned, "oh is that a special talent of yours? To strike terror into the hearts of men?"
"But of course. This is my true power."
"Ack. Don't quote Malos."
"Ah, should I not?" Nia asked, "I didn't think it was a half bad impression."
"It wasn't. That's the problem."
Nia cackled, "yeah, imagine havin' him as a boyfriend."
"I feel sorry for Jin."
Nia sucked in a breath.
"Too soon?"
"Don't know. On one hand, he did help save our lives. On the other…"
"He was a mass murdering lunatic."
"Well… I wouldn't have phrased it like that. Because that would make me also a mass murderin' lunatic."
"N-not what I meant."
"I know what you meant, just givin' you a hard time." She smiled, "just difficult talkin' about him."
"Yeah, I get it. Oh right, hey, did you hear?" Brandon said to quickly change the topic. Nia gave him an appreciative nod. "Apparently Tora's on the verge of discovering something big. He claims it'll change the world."
"Hm," Nia hummed, "that doesn't sound worryin' at all."
"Yeah… that's maybe a bit optimistic. But I guess we'll see what it is."
"I swear if it's just a more advanced version of Poppi," Nia sighed, "I love Poppi. But Tora needs to lay off sometimes. I feel like QTPi was enough. She's one of the strongest Blades alive, and she's not even a Blade or alive."
"Uh…"
"I'm bein' pedantic. I'm bein' technical for the sake of the point."
"Well, can't deny that. Though technically you can look at the technicalities the other way around."
"Hm?" Nia said, curious, "how so?"
"Well it all really depends on how you define a Blade and how you define being alive no? Like of course if you define alive as being made of organic material and eating and breathing and all that comes with being an organic being, then sure, you would be correct. But if you define it as just having free and complex thought and movement, then it wouldn't technically be correct. Same thing with Blades. Do they have to come from Core Crystals? Or do they just have to provide Ether abilities to their Driver partner?"
"Well when you put it that way," Nia said, "yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I do agree with the second set of definitions. Just sayin' what most people would think of her."
"Hm, I guess. You'd only ever think that if you've never met her though."
"She's got more personality than some people, that's for sure," Nia chortled.
"For real."
"Now if only Tora could be motivated by somethin' more than just Poppi."
"Never going to happen," Brandon laughed, "he's too obsessed." He had never seen anyone as obsessed with their work as Tora. Poppi was practically a daughter to Tora.
Nia snorted with a nod. "I could name someone similar here."
"Huh? Who? Me? What am I obsessed with?" He asked in genuine confusion.
Nia sighed, "I even gave you the perfect cue and everythin'."
"Huh? Oh. Oh shit," Brandon facepalmed, "I uh, can I get a redo on that?"
"A redo? After that fail?" Nia shrugged, "sure, why not. I doubt it'll have the same impact though."
"Ugh. You're right about that. Never mind then."
"Meh, not that I'd want you to actually be obsessed with me. That doesn't sound healthy."
"No. That would make me sound like a stalker or something along those lines." He shook his head, "and I'm not a stalker."
"We did bump into each other a lot at the beginning."
"What?" He chuckled, "do you think that I actively sought you out back then? Like I said earlier, I hated you initially. I thought you were the worst of Drivers."
"Okay… you didn't have to be that honest about it." Nia nudged Brandon.
"And here I thought honesty was the best policy."
"Not if you're actively insultin' me."
"What's insulting about that?" Brandon questioned, "I just said my opinion of you. I didn't give justification as to why I felt that way at the time."
"You did earlier though," Nia pointed out.
"Eh," Brandon tilted his hand back and forth, "did I though? I gave one example of social skills. That was it. Unless you think so highly of my opinion that anything negative is an insult."
"I do actually, believe it or not," Nia said.
"Yeah, that's what I… excuse me?" Brandon was flabbergasted.
"I've thought highly of your opinion for a long time. Especially when I was doubting myself. You seemed so confident and knowledgeable."
"Are we thinking of the same person? I was a mess back then. If I recall, you were the one who dragged me up in every situation. Hell, I'd have died a few times over if it weren't for you." He rapped his knuckles against his left arm. It didn't make the metallic clanging sound he wanted, forgetting that it had a pretty good faux skin on it to make it feel as organic as possible, but it got the point across.
"And I wouldn't have been able to do it all if it weren't for you actin' as inspiration."
"I guess we both viewed each other a bit differently to how we viewed ourselves huh."
Nia smirked, "just a bit huh?"
"Yeah well, I think I did develop a bit of a crush fairly early. Though I didn't realize it until later… obviously."
"Or what? You'd have confessed earlier?"
"Maybe," he shrugged, "though my memory's a bit hazy, would you have said yes earlier?"
"Maybe," Nia said slyly.
"Uh, I guess my answer remains maybe then."
Nia snorted, "you were planning on swappin' your answer dependin' on my own answer huh."
"Not like you haven't done the same," Brandon said.
"Not sayin' I haven't. Just an observation." Nia put her hands behind her head as she kicked her feet up onto the coffee table.
"Yeah well…" he yawned, "I guess we're both hypocrites."
Nia grinned, "worn out already? You didn't last long."
"Oh shut up." He yawned again. "Ugh, I'm too tired for your double entendres."
"Mmh," she hugged him then lowered his head onto her lap again, "c'mere. Get some rest."
She started humming. Brandon recognized it as the tune the girl at Abbel's Fountain would play on her torigonda. With the soothing sound in his ears, stuffed full of food, and warm and comfortable where he lay, he fell asleep in an instant.
…
This short happens a little over 2 years after the events of 2. With reverse engineering of Morythan tech and just a little bit of Brandon's assistance, the people of Alrest managed to bring their technological progress and standard of living up to the equivalent of what I'd say is our 2000s. Their tech still isn't the most advanced in most aspects but they still have access to a lot of what we consider to be the basics.
This is mostly just the two enjoying some time together. It's a lot of idle chatter and banter that I think showcases their relationship.
Also, let me know if you enjoyed the longer chapter. I tend to stick to about a 4-5k word count per chapter but since each chapter here is self-contained, I want to make them a bit longer so I can more deeply explore a specific dynamic or relationship. Though I'll consider doing followup chapters if people want that.