A/N: As always, thoughts are in italics. A bit of a word dump based on an idea I had randomly one night. I hope you enjoy!

Jaeger Tendencies

"Hmm…"

"What's up, Fie?"

"I have this strange feeling that we're being followed." Fie stopped walking, tilting her head slightly over her right shoulder, her eyes occasionally darting to her field of vision behind them.

Rean raised an eyebrow and gave an apologetic smile. "I had the same feeling too. I imagine it's because of me - "

"Idiot." Fie swatted him in the arm. "It's not like you asked for all the attention anyway." She then looked back at herself in the mirror in front of them, an impish grin spreading across her features. "Hey Rean?"

"Uh oh." Rean shuddered slightly at her expression. "What are you up to now?"

"Mind if we change up the date a little?" Fie grinned like a shark. "I know we've got more than a few things planned, but…"

Fie Claussell was many things - courageous, intelligent, loyal, beautiful, mischievous, and certainly spontaneous. Spontaneous enough to fall asleep nearly anywhere in Trista - a bench, the roof, or the dorms: spontaneous enough to land on top of Rean: spontaneous enough to tell him the day of her birthday during the fireworks at Mishelam: the list went on and on. Another memory to keep in mind, Rean thought.

The two had been walking away from the Celdic Market Square, and now were on the outskirts as per Fie's request. He had no idea what she had planned, and when he tried to press her on the matter, she simply raised an eyebrow and grinned. Now, the two had been idly chatting while sitting on a bench about her bracer duties and his teaching work. Suddenly, she stood up and stretched like a cat. Rean's eyes were inevitably drawn to the motion, and he forced himself to look away in reluctance.

"Hey, Rean?" Fie folded her hands behind her back and tilted her head back towards the town. "It was pretty crowded in the square, but I just realized I forgot to get one of those pastries from the baker. I'm going to go get one for each of us."

"Want me to come with?" Rean tried to stand up, only for Fie to shake her head. "Well, if you're sure."

"Yep." Fie began walking back towards the town, only to turn around again. "I'll be back in a flash." Her left eye subtly dropped in a wink before vanishing from view into the crowd of eager townsfolk and merchants.

Rean blinked a few times before closing his eyes, letting the wind and sunlight gently fall upon, absorbing the feeling into his very being much like Master Ka-Fai had taught him so long ago. It wasn't long before he felt a presence approaching him, but it certainly wasn't his girlfriend's. The Divine Blade opened his fuschia eyes to stare at a young man, who had a sword by his side. He couldn't have been much older than seventeen, if the small signs of facial hair were any indication of his age.

"Can I help you with something?" Rean questioned.

"Uh…" The man stammered and scratched his head, his eyes darting around like a frightened hare. "You…you're Rean Schwarzer, the Ashen Chevalier, right? Divine Blade of the Eight Leaves One Blade School?"

Rean felt a shiver run down his spine. Was the man out for revenge? Did he want an autograph? DId he want a picture? Was he a reporter? "I am Rean Schwarzer, yes. Once again…" He fixed a neutral expression on the man. "Can I help you with - " The Ashen Chevalier's eyes flickered to something behind the man.

A sudden blur of silver hair shot forth as if from a cannon and slammed into the man, who barely had half a second to turn around before he was accosted by the blur.

"- something." Rean finished his sentence and pursed his lips, staring at his bracer girlfriend who was now on top of the man. The sight of his girlfriend on top of another man stirred up some feeling in Rean, which he couldn't quite place.

"You've been following us around for a while now. What are you up to?" Fie shifted her weight around to pin the man's arms down. One of her hands held one of her trademark gunswords whilst the other hand held a wrapped package of pastries. I can't believe she had the time and speed to - actually, wait. She is nicknamed Sylphid, after all… "Rean, take these from me."

Rean wordlessly took the pastries, the strange feeling only growing.

"Wait, who are you?" The man gasped out, fear seeping into his voice. "I didn't do anything wrong - "

"Answer the question." The former jaeger deadpanned, pushing her weight further onto the man.

"It's kind of hard for him to speak when you're putting that much pressure on him, Fie." Rean frowned, that strange feeling lingering until his girlfriend noticed his expression and gave him a quizzical stare. The two stared at each other for a moment before Fie broke the moment with a shrug. Walking towards him, the Senior Bracer positioned herself between Rean and the man, her arms folded.

Coughing violently, the man sat up and wheezed, beating his chest with a fist before finally regaining his composure. Dusting himself off, he pointed the pommel of his sword at Fie. "What's the big idea, huh? I only wanted to ask the Ashen Chevalier if he would take me on as a student! That was underhanded! If you want a fight, challenge me face to face!"

"Student?" Fie snorted in disbelief. "Not with those reflexes."

Rean opened his mouth to mediate their conversation when he noticed a small crowd gathering at the entrance to Celdic. Great. He turned his attention back to the increasingly irate "student" and his incredibly smug bracer girlfriend. "Look, we can continue this conversation somewhere else. There's a crowd forming and coming over here, and I'd really prefer not to stand out." Then again, that's already happened, so…

"Of course, sir!" The man bowed, deeply apologetic.

Fie stifled a laugh as she glanced at Rean, then to the windmill in the distance.

"Look, if you want to continue this conversation, then find us at the windmill in the distance." Fie grabbed Rean's arm and took off running. "Catch ya later."

Both the man and the crowd stared in shock after the running pair.

"How long has it been?" The daughter of the Jaeger King let out an elongated yawn.

Rean checked his watch. "About fifteen minutes." He glanced at his girlfriend before patting her on the head like he'd done so many times before.

"Don't think I didn't notice that jealous look on your face." Fie turned around and tilted her head upwards before poking Rean in the cheek. Her deduction was proven correct when Rean turned away, a small pout forming on his face.

"That obvious?"

"As obvious as I am cute." The girl offered him a teasing grin.

Letting out a sigh, Rean conceded the point with a nod. "Yeah, you definitely are." He squinted in the distance. "I think he's here, actually." A lone figure stumbled its way across the bridge, clearly out of breath. "Remember…please don't actually hurt him, okay?"

"Yep.." The girl stepped out from the side of the building and called out to the man. "Let's get started, shall we?" The jaeger girl's eyes took on an unamused glint as she placed her hands on her hips. "If you can land even a single hit on me within the next minute, Rean'll take you as a student."

"Wait a sec - " Rean tried to interject. That wasn't part of the plan!

"D…deal." The prospective student panted. "Just…give me…a second…to catch my breath." He heaved and wheezed for another couple minutes before straightening up. The man drew his sword and pointed it at Fie. "I hope you're ready!" He charged at the girl and swung from an overhand position, but paused when he noticed his sword sliced nothing but air. Turning around, he stared in disbelief at the silver haired girl.

"Well?"

Her prompting caused him to charge again.

And again.

And again…

After about ten minutes of watching the prospective student "try" to hit Fie, Rean stepped forward to interrupt, clearing his throat in the process. That was like watching a crop duster try to fight a zwordar…he literally had no chance.

"Boo." Fie reappeared at Rean's side, an impish look on her face.

"Look, I appreciate you coming and seeking me out…" Rean took a step towards the exhausted man, who laid on the ground, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to regain the air in his lungs. "...but I'm not really looking for a student right now. You don't look all that old…if you're really interested in improving yourself, then I'd suggest you go and attend Thors Military Academy. And maybe after all that time, then come find me."

"I…I see…." The teenager groaned out. "I…I need to devote myself to training…"

"Was that entirely necessary?" Rean casually slung an arm around Fie as their train continued moving towards Heimdallr.

"Yep." The girl casually took a bite of her pastry. "He was following us all day and bothered our date. Plus, I can tell you were trying how to tell him no without crushing him. So I decided to do it for you."

Rean let out a chuckle of disbelief. "You know me so well. I do hope he recovers though…" He was interrupted when the girl stuffed a piece of pastry in his mouth.

"I hope it's still good." Fie's lip curled in annoyance. "It was better when I first got it from the market."

"Anything I eat with you is good, Fie." His comment earned him a poke on the cheek and a playful grin.

As the two continued chatting, another conversation was taking place in the next train car. "You know, her inner jaeger came out with that guy who interrupted them." He chuckled in a carefree manner. "I've never seen her play with her food so much."

"Indeed.." The larger man spoke in satisfaction. "We did well. The boss would be proud."

"How long do you think we can get away with spying on them?"

"She's been getting more suspicious…I wager the next time we cross paths, it will be time." The two members of Zephyr readjusted their gazes to the outside scenery. "We only managed to keep ourselves hidden this time because of the man who was also following them…"

A/N: I can't wait to write a chapter about Rean and Fie getting lunch or something with Xeno and Leo...