Head Over Heels Part 2 – A Metallover's Self Insert Apocryphal Tale

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow! What's wrong with you!? 'Ow' means that fucking hurts!"

My head snapped forward as Lon'qu beaned me in the back of it, Lissa giving a small giggle as I glared back at the taller man whose wife I'd just sworn at.

"Thank you, dear," Lissa said, fluttering her eyelashes.

I just rolled my eyes as Lon'qu shifted, blushing a little.

Lissa was sitting at my side, her staff hovering over my right hand as she used her free hand to rotate the appendage so she could apply healing magics where they were most needed. I resisted the urge to flex my fingers as she worked, severed tendons tensing as magic flowed through them, forcing them back into the right spot…

Only to wince as they popped apart again, like a rubber band snapping in my wrist.

"Fuck's sake!" I growled.

Lissa sighed and leaned back, removing her staff from my hand.

"I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do," she huffed. "If I'd gotten to it as soon as it had been wounded, I could have saved it, but…"

I grimaced, looking down at my ruined hand. On the outside it looked fine, but I clenched the fingers into a claw, the closest I could get to closing my hand any more.

I'd taken a hit to my right wrist in the last battle that had severed some of the tendons in my arm.

I'd never jerk off again.

At least not with this hand.

Oh, and wielding a sword just got difficult.

But I was more concerned with not breaking my dick as I tried to learn lefty.

"I'm sorry," Lissa said, looking down.

I glanced up, shrugging. "Meh. I'm ambidextrous anyway. Just gotta teach myself how to do stuff left handed. Shouldn't take long."

I flexed the fingers in my hand again, tilting my head a little as I considered that I could probably still use my trench knife with it if I just adjusted the knuckle guard a little…

"You're taking this… really well," Lissa pointed out.

"Ambidextrous," I repeated. "Means I can use both hands as my main hand. It's a loss, sure, but this just means Virion has to do all my paperwork for a while."

"I thought you'd be more… angry," Lissa sighed, smiling in relief.

"Oh, I'm fucking furious," I chuckled truthfully. "But venting on you won't help any. Plus, Lon'qu made me forget math again with that last hit, so…"

"I've seen you count, you didn't lose much," Lon'qu drawled from behind me.

I rolled my eyes as Lissa snickered, turning to cast a weak glare at the man standing behind me with arms crossed.

"At least my people don't think mathematics is witchcraft," I pointed out.

"Technically I'm Chon'sinian," Lon'qu smirked.

"Yeah, when it suits you, ya bastard," I drawled in perfect Chon'sinian as I stood.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Lon'qu shot back in the same language.

"And yours, too, when you're not looking," I grinned, stepping back out of the healing tent before I could get my ass kicked.

"I'll remember that!" Lon'qu called after me, switching back to Ylissean.

"That's what she said!" I shouted over my shoulder.

I turned forward again, almost walking straight into the kicked-puppy eyes of my second shadow as Su'ko looked up at me. The small, unassuming young ninja had the most stricken look on her face, like she'd been expecting me to keel over dead. I quirked a brow as she bowed her head, holding her sword up for me expectantly.

"Su, it was a flesh wound," I said, rolling my eyes and stepping around her.

She darted back out in front of me, holding her sword up again. I stopped and threw my head back with a very put-upon sigh.

"'Twas my greatest shame that I allowed you to be injured, milord," she said quickly. "I have failed in my duty. Please take my life as recompense."

"No," I said, stepping the other way around her. "Fuck's sake, Su. We do this every time I get so much as a papercut. Knock it off."

"Milord, honor must be-" she started, slipping in front of me again.

Only to find my hand waiting to descend on top of her head in a perfect karate chop. She let out a yelp, almost dropping her sword as one hand went up to cover the spot I'd hit.

"There, you've been punished, now put that away before you put someone's eye out," I said, leaning close to her. "And, for the last time, you're worth more to me alive than dead. If I want you dead, you'll be the first to know. Okay? Okay. Good talk."

I shook my head as Su'ko looked up at me with teary eyes before dropping her head again and nodding, sliding her short sword back into its sheathe.

"I do not deserve your kindness, milord," she said, her voice thick.

"I decide who gets my kindness, not you," I scoffed. "Now, where the fuck is the command tent?"

Su'ko quickly wiped the back of her hand across her face, her eyes still red and puffy as she looked up but her expression set in its usual neutral expression.

"Please follow me this way, milord," she said.

She spun on her heel, leading me without an ounce of hesitation through the chaos of the camp that was springing up in the cool evening air. Conscripts ran back and forth, carrying out duties and tasks without sparing me a second glance, but the Regulars stopped what they were doing as soon as they spotted me, all moving to watch my passage with worried expressions. As this went on for more than a few minutes I rolled my eyes and turned a glare on the assembled soldiers, crossing my arms to hide my crippled hand.

"What!?" I snapped.

A ripple of relieved laughter spread through the soldiers as they all relaxed, a few of the braver ones even calling out as Su'ko and I started walking again.

"Good to see our unkillable General back on his feet!"

"You had us scared, sir!"

"You must be getting old, Boss! A hit like that wouldn't have even slowed you down before!"

"Bring us with you next time you make a charge like that, Boss!"

"Immortals, hoo-rah!"

A low chant of 'Immortals' began to circulate through the men, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from breaking into a grin.

'Immortals' they called us.

Because, no matter what, we pulled off the craziest missions with minimal losses.

The Royal Ylissean First, Chrom's Immortals, were what every little boy and girl aspired to be these days, apparently.

I mean, apparently using actual tactics, superior training and halfway decent equipment made us 'immortal' to the eyes of the conscripts. But hey, it was good for morale.

The Ylissean conscripts had suffered a whopping sixty-percent casualty ratio under Chrom and Frederick's leadership. The Feroxi soldiers had fared somewhat a little better, scraping by thirty percent casualties, if my math was right.

The Ylissean First had barely taken ten percent losses, a fact I was very proud of. The elements of the Second and Third regiments had taken even less, although to be fair we'd brought a lot less of them with us than the First. The First Naval Regiment, the Mariners, were practically untouched.

Chrom was already in talks with Frederick and the nobility to institute a watered-down version of my training regime for the conscripts next time they were called to arms.

As we neared the familiar command tent, I raised my left hand, flipping the bird over my shoulder to a raucous cheer from the men and women under my command.

If only they knew how close we came, how close I had just come, to sullying the name 'Immortal'.

As Su'ko and I approached the command tent, the sounds of shouting voices reached us. We exchanged a glance, the diminutive ninja girl blinking in surprise as a shrill voice rose above the din. As we got closer, I realized it was Cynthia shouting, oddly enough.

"… could have gotten him killed!" she was screaming. "And for what!? For your own damned pride!?"

"Cyn, that's enough!" Severa's voice snapped.

"No, it's not enough!" Cynthia went on. "We have protocols! We have strategies! They change literally every single day! I know that Commander Sumia told you about them, I was there when she did! So why did you disregard them for an outdated maneuver that almost got us all killed?! Not to mention my… the General himself!"

I raised a finger to my lips as I drifted closer to the canvas of the tent, pointedly glaring at the two soldiers on guard at the door. Both were men from the First, my men, and nodded their understanding. I wanted to hear how this went.

Besides, it wasn't the first time I'd had my men on guard duty ignore me so I could eavesdrop.

"Cynthia!" Frederick's booming voice growled. "You forget yourself! That is your queen-"

"My liege is Lucina!" Cynthia cut him off. "And you know I'm right! I am! Tell me I'm wrong!"

"Enough," Lucina said, her voice dripping fatigue.

I chose that moment to make my entrance, deciding to not let things escalate any further. I nodded to Su'ko, who helpfully pulled the canvas flap open for me to stride in, hands clasped behind my back and looking for all the world like I owned the place. Which, given that it was the tent for the Royal First's commanders, I kinda did. I took two steps into the tent and stopped, exchanging glances and nods with Robin and Morgan, the latter of whom gave a subtle, relieved sigh when she saw me up and about.

Everyone stopped to look up at me as I crossed the tent, stopping right in front of Cynthia. I glanced down at her for a moment, quirking one brow.

"Uh, are-" she started.

My hand came up and my middle finger flicked her right in the middle of the forehead, earning a startled yelp and sympathetic winces from all who had suffered the dreaded 'flick of death'.

"I'm fine," I deadpanned, glaring at the assembled people around the room.

Chrom and Cordelia stood next to each other, with Lucina standing a small way behind her father. Severa huffed, still wearing her own silver pegasus knight armor and crossing her arms over her breastplate. Frederick frowned, the tall man glowering over the top of the royal family like a big, immaculately-dressed gargoyle. On the opposite side of the map table, Morgan and Robin stood, the tactician still leaning on the table as though she had been studying the local maps while the others had been arguing. Cynthia stood somewhere between the groups, wilting now as she stepped back, glaring a little at Severa and Cordelia.

"Ben, I…" Cordelia started, trailing off.

"Save it," I said. "I don't have anything to say that wasn't already said. Or shouted. By the last person I was expecting, too. Didn't know you had the cajones, kid."

Cynthia gave a little groan, blushing and shrinking away from my smirk.

"Just one more scar for the collection, right?" Robin asked absently, going back to her maps spread out on the table. "You know, most people just scrapbook if they want to keep mementos of the places they've been."

"Yeah, well, I'm not most people," I shrugged, turning back to Chrom's little group. "So… uh… what's up?"

Lucina sighed and Severa rolled her eyes, shaking her head as Chrom smirked a little.

"We were debriefing about the battle," the Exalt said in that infuriatingly calm Chrom-voice he had. "The rebels shouldn't have been able to get that close to the main road without help. We were brainstorming solutions when Cynthia came in with Severa."

"Huh. Okay," I shrugged. "It's an easy fix. Squads of soldiers, armed and ready, with all the supply convoys. Send mid-ranked officers to keep the conscripts in line, maybe some of the Shepherds or something. As for VIPs, aside from Say'ri and Sumia, they're pretty much all in this tent, anyway. Security in Ka'oki is Say'ri's problem, not ours, although making sure the camp guards are in proper order probably wouldn't hurt. Speaking of VIPs, where's Sumia?"

There was some awkward shuffling and averting of eyes before Robin spoke up from the map again.

"She's down by the river, washing her pegasus," the tactician supplied. "It took a hit, but Maribelle already saw to it. She wanted to clean the blood off. What's wrong with your hand?"

I froze as all eyes snapped back to me. Cordelia went pale as Chrom schooled his features into the neutral 'Exalt expression' he always wore when getting bad news, and yes, it's sad I know exactly what that expression looks like.

"Robin, you haven't even looked at me since I walked in," I said evenly.

The tactician shrugged, pushing a few little models around the map.

"Doesn't mean I didn't catch it," she said.

"What does she mean?" Morgan asked, stepping around the table. "Dad, I thought you said you were fine."

I rolled my eyes, holding my right hand out to Morgan.

"Take my hand."

She did so, hesitantly, gently gripping it.

"I'm not pulling your finger," she said weakly.

I scoffed, shaking my head.

"I'm going to squeeze your hand as hard as I can," I warned her.

My time-travelling daughter winced preemptively as I applied pressure. My hand shook, and all I managed was a small squeeze, softer than I usually shook hands. After a few seconds of this Morgan looked down, noticing the fresh scar on my arm, before looking back up with a confused expression.

"That's the best I got left," I said, releasing her hand.

"You're crippled," Morgan whispered.

I quirked a brow, letting that statement hang for a second before lashing out and punching her in the shoulder with my left hand. Hard.

"Agh! Dad, what the fuck!?" Morgan squeaked.

"I still got one good hand," I snarled, turning to glare at everyone in the room in turn. "And I'll use it to kick anyone's ass that calls me a cripple. Do I make myself clear!?"

"Okay, point taken, jeez," Morgan groaned, rubbing her shoulder.

"Indeed," Chrom sighed. "Although I assume this means you're going to abstain from combat for a time. What happened?"

"I took a hit," I said, turning my arm to show the new scar. "Left it too long before I went to see Lissa. It's my own damn fault."

"No, it's not your fault!" Cynthia snapped. "If Queen Cordelia-"

I spun, frowning and waving my finger under her nose.

"You. Out. Now."

"But-" the pegasus knight said.

"Out!" I thundered, before dropping my voice to a whisper. "Take a walk, cool off. Now. Before you do or say something I have to punish you for."

She blinked at me, eyes welling up, before snapping to attention.

"Yes, sir," she said, her voice thick.

Then, ducking her head low and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she all but ran from the tent. I felt a familiar pang of guilt, but quashed it as I turned back to the assembled leaders with a small sigh out my nose. I'd have to go talk to her later, make sure she understood why I'd had to yell like that. Sometimes I had to be a General first, though, and a friend second.

Severa gave an all-to-familiar huff, flipping one crimson twintail over her silver pauldron.

"I'll go after her," she sighed. "We need to check our saddles and brush our mounts properly anyway."

"Yes, I'm sure it has nothing to do with you being worried about her," Morgan smirked.

"Sh-shut up! I'm doing this for the Pegasus Knights!" Severa snapped with a blush.

"Nice tsundere," Morgan, Robin and I all intoned.

Severa groaned, rolling her eyes and stomping towards the exit after the slight brunette. She stopped before leaving, standing right in front of me and giving me a sideways glance before looking away again.

"I'm sorry about your hand," she said under her breath, stomping from the tent.

I gave a sigh out my nose once she was gone, shaking my head and turning to Chrom.

"Was there anything else? Or did I just solve in five minutes what y'all were arguing about for an hour again?" I asked with a quirked brow.

Chrom smirked and shook his head, spreading his hands.

"Yes, once more the running of my army and my country could not possibly be done without you," he said good-naturedly.

"And don't you forget it," I fired back with a grin of my own.

"I am concerned about your hand, though," Chrom added, somewhat hesitantly.

I shrugged. "I'll do a full analysis on just what it's still capable of once we get to Ka'oki. We can go from there. Until then, business as usual. Sound fair?"

"If you think that's best," Chrom nodded. "I trust your judgement."

I turned to Cordelia, my glance and raised brow basically screaming 'see? That's how it's done' in her face for a moment before I turned towards the map table.

"I… I am sorry," Cordelia piped up, speaking for the first time since I arrived.

I glanced back at her, quirking my brow and considering how I should react here.

I was, admittedly, rather upset. But, this was still Cordelia, who was still my friend. And right now, she looked more like the shell-shocked kid I'd had to pull out of her own head than the regal Queen she had become.

With a sigh, I felt all the anger I'd been holding onto seep away, and I shook my head.

Sometimes, being the bigger person really sucked.

"Morgan?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"Do we have any more of the Officer's Manuals for this month?" I asked, turning to her.

"Yeah, I think Laurent was writing out copies for fun the other day," Morgan said.

As she spoke Morgan spun, grabbing a small black book off one of the side-tables.

Constantly updating and printing these things was probably one of the army's biggest cash-sinks, but good lord it balanced out in sheer operational efficiency. Morgan handed it to me, and I took a quick look inside to make sure it was the latest version.

"Good lord that boy needs to get laid," I sighed, pinching the skin between my eyes as I reached out to take the book. "We have printers. I paid a mint for the damned things. Why was he… oh, forget it, I don't care-"

I trailed off as the manual fell to the ground, the weak fingers of my right hand unable to hold it. On instinct I'd grabbed it with my now-crippled hand. Morgan's eyes went wide and she gasped as I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Well, that's gonna take some getting used to," I sighed, grabbing the little book with my left hand this time and thrust it towards an unusually meek Cordelia. "Here. Read this. Memorize it. If you can't recall it from memory, then Queen or not, you'll never march with my men again. Clear?"

"Yes," Cordelia nodded, accepting the manual. "I will have it memorized by evening."

"Next time you want to take command, you clear it with me first," I added evenly, eyes narrowing. "You do not assume command during a combat situation unless the existing chain of command is utterly broken. That means unless Sumia is dead or dying. Under any circumstances. Am I clear?"

"Yes, General," Cordelia nodded solemnly.

"Same goes for you," I said, rounding on Chrom.

The bigger man laughed, holding his hands up.

"No thanks, that's why I pay you," he chuckled. "I have enough trouble with the Shepherds."

I opened my mouth to tell Chrom that he could expect a much larger bill from me than normal for medical expenses, but froze at a shout from outside. Or rather, a shrill, ear-piercing screech.

"BLOOD AND THUNDER! FATHER!? WHERE ARE YOU!? I DEMAND TO SEE MY FATHER! TELL ME WHERE HE IS OR SUFFER MY WRATH!"

"Uh-oh, sounds like Noire's on the warpath again," Morgan snickered.

I sighed, pointing towards the tent's exit.

"I should probably… take care of that," I said, smiling awkwardly as I backpedaled to the door. "You're all good in here, right? Luce, you good?"

"Just go," Lucina sighed.

"Right, you've just been kinda quiet, didn't want you to feel left out," I sighed, stepping out of the tent. "Noire! I'm over here! Noire- excuse me, little miss, you put that nice soldier down right this instant! Put 'im down! There! We do not take our anger out on the conscripts! Good girl, now- agh! Stop hugging, I'm fine! Morgan! Morgan, get your ass out here! Help me! Noire sto-ARGH!"

And I could hear them laughing at me in the command tent…


The sun was beginning to sink low in the sky, painting the surrounding forests and hills in a brilliant golden orange hue as I wandered down towards the river near where we'd set up camp. I'd say this for Valm, it was just a beautiful as Ylisse was. I mean, when you weren't schlepping through bloody ankle-deep mud on a battlefield, anyway. I took a moment to stop and admire the scenery, letting the cool breeze wash over me before continuing on my way.

War had a funny way of making you appreciate the little things like that.

It had taken me the better part of the afternoon to assure Noire that no, I wasn't dying and no, there was no one she could 'make suffer' for my injury. In the end, I had sicced Morgan on her, and the two girls had gone off to take inventory of the weapons damaged during the fight just to keep her busy.

The only person I hadn't seen today, since I'd been hurt, was currently sitting by the shore, knees drawn to her chest as she watched her pegasus slowly grazing on the long river grasses.

"Sumia," I called out.

Her head snapped up, eyes wide at the sound of my voice. She was up and on her feet so fast I was almost expecting her to faceplant again, but she kept her feet with only minor stumbling as she rushed over to me.

"Oh gods, Ben! Are you okay!? You were hurt and-"

She stopped when I clamped my good hand over her mouth, quirking a brow as she sucked a breath through her nose.

"I'm fine," I said, leaning forward a little more. "Not perfect, but I'll manage. I heard that your pegasus took a hit, he okay?"

I dropped my heand as Sumia nodded, smiling a little at me as she stepped back.

"He's fine, just resting now," she said. "Leave it to you to be more worried about my mount than yourself."

"Oh, don't get all starry-eyed," I laughed. "I did only come out here when I was assured I'd be fine."

Sumia smirked before snorting and laughing along a little. She grew somber quickly, though, her gaze dropping.

"I… heard from Cynthia about… your hand," she said, making me realize where she was looking.

I sighed, running said hand over my bald head.

"Kid just couldn't keep her trap shut, could she?" I muttered.

I sighed and shook my head, meandering over to where she'd been sitting by the shore. I settled on the soft grass, leaning back and flopping down to relax with my good hand behind my head. It only took a second before I heard Sumia settle down beside me.

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly. "This is all my fault. If I'd just… told Cordelia about the new maneuvers or…"

"I am not having this conversation twice in one day," I deadpanned, glancing up at her.

Sumia piped down instantly, looking at me with big, glassy eyes.

"This wasn't your fault," I said, languidly holding my ruined hand up. "This wasn't Cordelia's fault. If anything, it was my fault for trying to shrug it off and ignoring operational procedure myself. I should have gotten it healed right away, but I didn't. No one blames you, least of all me."

"Then why does it feel like my fault?" Sumia asked.

"Because you have low self-esteem and a perpetual state of anxiety?" I shrugged from the ground. "I was honestly more worried about you. And, now, apparently, Cynthia. Was she okay?"

Sumia sniffled, smiling a little self depreciatingly.

"She was hurt by what happened, but she understood she was out of line," Sumia said. "I'm-"

"If you try to apologize on her behalf, I will slap you with my useless, floppy hand," I warned, waving the thing for emphasis.

Sumia barked out a laugh before shifting and clearing her throat awkwardly. She looked down, pulling at the grass around us.

"I still feel responsible," she admitted.

"Well, I can punish you, if that'll help alleviate your feeling of responsibility?" I offered.

Sumia's head snapped back up so fast I was worried she'd give herself whiplash, and I grinned.

"I mean, I fucked up my writing hand, so that means…"

The Wing Commander let out a pained moan as she realized what I was getting at.

"… I won't be writing any more of my serial for a while," I finished with a grin. "That make you feel better, sunshine?"

"I hate you," Sumia half-groaned, half-sobbed, resting her forehead on her knees.

I laughed, grinning up at her. "You asked for it."

"No, I didn't! I just said I felt… oh, you're impossible!" Sumia protested with a side-long glare.

I just grinned triumphantly, my plan to distract her having worked perfectly.

We sat there for a while in comfortable silence, each leaving the other alone with their own thoughts as we watched the lone pegasus slowly meander about and chew on the thick Valmese grass. As the first of the stars began to shine through the darkening sky and the temperature began to drop, I slowly sat myself up, wary of letting myself fall asleep out here.

"I was really worried about you, you know," Sumia said.

"Hell, I worry about you every time we go into a fight," I scoffed. "That's what friends do."

"I know why you worry, though," Sumia said darkly.

"I worry because you're all the hell the way up there," I said, pointing at the sky. "Where I can't do shit if something happens except hope that if you fall there's enough left of you to fill a bucket. There's no one I'd rather have watching my back, but the best I can do for you is… what I did today."

"You saved all of the Pegasus Knights today," Sumia pointed out.

"Okay, I see us going around in circles about this again," I smirked. "But you give yourself way too little credit. Without you, there wouldn't even be a Pegasus Knights."

There was another few moments of silence, in which Sumia's mount gave me an odd look for a flying horse.

"I think you're wrong about that," she said finally. "The only reason there's a Pegasus Knights is because… of you."

"Wanna run that by me again?" I asked with a quirked brow.

"When Cordelia stepped down, you encouraged me to become the new Wing Commander," Sumia said, looking away. "You helped make the training regimes. You helped with duty rosters. You're always holding me up. And today… today you got hurt because of it."

Sumia reached over, taking my crippled hand in both of hers and gently holding it.

"So… no more," she said. "You won't have to hold me up. I can stand on my own now. I will stand on my own. I'll be… I'll be the best Wing Commander Ylisse has ever seen! Because… because you believe in me."

"Always have," I said when she went quiet again. "And I always will. Never doubt that."

"I don't," Sumia said with a small grin. "Even if I don't understand it."

"One day you will," I promised her.

Sumia smiled and held my ruined hand to her breastplate, bowing her head and smiling as the sun finally sank below the horizon. I leaned forward until my forehead rested against hers, and we stayed like that until the only lights were from the stars, and Sumia's antsy pegasus was pushing at me with its muzzle.


Two weeks later and the Ylissean First had settled quite nicely into the fort that Say'ri had loaned us. The Shepherds and the Pegasus Knights were sharing with us, while Frederick's Knights, a few Shepherd volunteers and the Conscripts from Ylisse and Regna Ferox were billeted at the small gateway village at the base of the mountain trail. Yes, unbeknownst to us, Ka'oki was nestled into the top of a mountain range, and it had taken the better part of a week to drag all our shit up here, where the elevation made it damn near freezing.

Snow still gathered in the corners of the courtyards, and the men were all complaining that the thin walls did nothing to keep the heat in.

Still, though, it made for some nice views. And the pegasai all seemed thrilled to have so much open sky.

One morning, after a long run along the mountain trails, I found myself walking through the courtyard where the pegasai and the other mounts were being kept, drinking the last of the water in my canteen as I walked. It was nice to have some downtime like this, I had to admit. Hell, I was even getting caught up on my leisure reading. Fortunately, Sumia brought a huge stack of books with her everywhere she went.

"Ben! General Ben!"

I glanced up at where Cynthia was waving from between Severa and Sumia, the three women stripped of their armor and wearing only their riding dresses as they performed their mounts' daily grooming. I lifted my right hand to wave back, smiling a little as I changed direction.

After some awkward apologies on both our parts, Cynthia and I were back to business as usual. Meaning she was back to amazing me with the fact she could be so peppy without any caffeine in her system, while I was back to humoring her weird little heroic idiosyncrasies.

"How's the hand?" Cynthia asked without preamble.

"Good," I said, reaching down to adjust the little brace that Ricken and Laurent had made for me. "Doesn't even slow me down anymore. I do still have to practice my letters with my left hand a little more before I can start writing again, though."

"Aw…" Sumia groaned quietly in disappointment.

"Where are the rest of the girls?" I asked curiously.

"Some went to town, a few others went to visit the shrine above the fort," Severa supplied.

"And what, y'all didn't want to go?" I asked.

"I had duty rosters to take care of," Sumia said, puffing up her chest a little. "And after this I'm going to look at the joint drill suggestions that Robin sent me."

"Well, good," I smiled. "Glad to see you taking your role so seriously."

"And we can't go because we had a pledge not to-" Cynthia started, before Severa shushed her.

"Gawds, Cynthia, do you have to blab everything to everyone!?" the redhead seethed.

"What? Why is it such a big deal?" Cynthia huffed.

I exchanged a curious glance with Sumia, and she shrugged.

"Well, now I gotta know," I said, a playful grin rising to my face.

"Oh, it's not that big a deal," Cynthia said, waving her hand dismissively. "We promised that we'd go see Ka'oki together after we were finished saving the world. And we're not done saving the world yet. So, we can't go or it'd be like lying to ourselves."

"Cyn…" Severa groaned, blushing.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Sumia cooed.

"You know, if you did go and see it now it'd just be preemptive, right?" I laughed. "This world's getting saved, period. You may as well go have fun while you can. Save yourselves a little travel time."

"But we swore…" Severa mumbled weakly.

"Consider it extra incentive," I shrugged. "If you go now, it just means you won't have a choice; you'll just have to save the world."

Cynthia gave an excited gasp, clapping her hands together as she jumped up and down a little.

"I didn't think of it like that!" she said excitedly. "Sev! Sev! Please!?"

Severa reeled back from the sheer assault of adorable that was an excited Cynthia, Sumia and I both exchanging knowing grins as the redhead spluttered for a moment, before clearing her throat and cranking the tsundere up to eleven.

"F-fine!" Severa huffed. "I'll go, but only because you want to go so bad!"

"Awesome, here," I said, reaching into my pocket for the coins I had floating around in there. "Buy me some of those weird little cinnamon cookies they make in the market."

Cynthia gave a cheer, dancing around in a happy circle before enveloping a startled Sumia in a big hug while I pressed the coins into Severa's hand. The redhead gaped at me for a moment before recovering and frowning.

"Did you talk us into this just so you wouldn't have to go buy your own cookies?" she asked dangerously.

"Oh, Severa, please," I said, mock-offended. "You wound me! I thought you knew me better than that! Of course that's why I talked you into going to town."

Severa opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Cynthia had latched onto her arm and was already in the process of dragging her back towards the fort.

"C'mon, Sev, we gotta move! I wanna be in town in time to try that noodle place that the others were talking about!" Cynthia gushed excitedly. "We'll need our coats and our purses and do you think they'd have any cool armor designs in our sizes maybe we should bring our breastplates just in case…"

"Cynthia, take a breath!" I called out after them.

Sumia and I laughed as we could actually hear the younger Pegasus Knight loudly suck in a lungful of air, even from how far we were away. I glanced over to the Wing Commander, silently admiring the way the morning sun shone through her mane of light brown hair, how that hair fell about the shoulders of her riding dress. I couldn't help but admire the simple beauty that she projected.

Sumia glanced back at me, smiling a little in embarrassment.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "So. Paperwork, huh?"

"No, actually, I got that done yesterday," Sumia admitted with a guilty smile. "I just wanted a little peace to do some reading in."

A grin slowly broke out on my face at her admission.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

Sumia perked up a little, blinking in surprised before she flashed her own radiant smile at me.

"Oh! Of course not!" she said happily. "I was going to go now, are you busy?"

"My place or yours?" I asked with a suggestive wiggle of my eyebrows.

Sumia hesitated a moment, quirking her head. "But… we're in the same fort?"

"That was a joke, Sumia," I chuckled. "Give me five minutes to clean up, and I'll meet you in your room. Sound good?"

"Of course!" she said, her smile returning in full force.

I hurried inside, conscious of making it look like I wasn't hurrying, because I'm tsundere like that, and back to my own room. I quickly wiped myself off so I smelled less like I'd been running through the mountains all morning, and pulled on a fresh shirt and some clean breeches. Then I pulled on some clean socks, grabbed my jacket and the book I was reading, and hurried towards the wing of the fort that the Pegasus Knights were housed in.

The book was an utterly terrible adventure novel that Sumia had loaned me, so bad it looped back around to good. Tales of the Southern Island Heroes, part of a series of stories about a small, rag-tag group of adventurers who end up marooned on the Southern Archipelago between Valm and Plegia, and need to survive against both the wilderness and the cannibalistic natives. It was complete, utter, fantastical tripe, and I was totally hooked on the damn series.

Humming the opening tune to Enter Sandman under my breath I made my way through the polished halls of the fort, letting my sock-clad feet slide on the hardwood at every corner just because I could.

Soon enough I found myself in front of Sumia's room, and I reached for the edge of the sliding door. Then I hesitated, recalling what happened last time I opened the door to a woman's room without knocking, and rapped on the edge of the door instead.

Seriously, Olivia still wouldn't make eye-contact with me three years later…

"Come in!" Sumia called out.

I edged the door open with a small grin, seeing Sumia standing in the middle of the room with a matching smile on her face, her own book clenched happily to her chest.

"Take a seat anywhere," she said.

I nodded and settled in against the only wall-wall in the room, the three rice-paper screen walls nowhere near strong enough to take my weight. Then, as I opened my book, Sumia settled in beside me. I glanced up just as a warm blanket settled over my lap, doing a double-take when I realized I was sharing it with Sumia. I didn't say anything as she nestled up against my shoulder, a soft smile on her face as she opened her own book.

"It's cold today, isn't it?" she asked with a small blush, not looking up from her book.

Resisting the urge to shrug, lest I disturb my reading partner, I settled for a smile of my own as I saw to my own reading.

"Yeah, but this isn't so bad," I agreed.

I felt some of the tension leave Sumia's shoulder where it was pressed up against me, and sitting together under her blanket we spent the afternoon reading bad adventure novels and basking in each other's warmth.


AN: I won't lie, I totally forgot I was supposed to upload this three days ago. Whoops. Blame Three Houses for monopolizing all my time. So, this is part two of three, the finale comes out next month! Hope y'all have been enjoying it so far.

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