"Enough!" Maribelle forced out, almost through her teeth. "If I want a dog and pony show I shall attend a carnival!"
Gaius had no idea a conversation could turn so sour so fast. Everything Maribelle had thrown at him in the last minute gave him a feeling like his boots were being pulled down into the earth. Standing up at least somewhat straight became his momentary goal as his lips struggled to form the words he needed.
"No tricks here, Twinkles," he began carefully. "I speak from the heart on this one." Being convincing was not his best skill and here he felt it was weaker than he needed. Just by the look in Maribelle's eyes he could tell she wasn't hearing him out entirely. Information was making it, but whether she wanted to hear it or not was up for debate.
There was no other way to put things though. He'd been almost completely honest with her. He couldn't explain himself; there was just no way she wanted to hear that based on the look on her face. The story was a long one, an unpleasant one that he had wanted to leave behind all this time. He was willing to tell it for her sake, but he didn't see that happening. He tried to use the words he knew for this. "Atonement" and saying he felt bad about it didn't stack up if Maribelle's continued glare was anything to go on.
It was hard to keep that easy-going, casual nature in place when this kind of pressure was bearing down on him. Maybe it wouldn't work, maybe it was hopeless.
When Maribelle replied, that pressure swelled down harder on Gaius. "The blackened heart of a brigand is hardly worth listening to!"
Just as suddenly as she had approached Gaius, Maribelle turned and left him. There was an indignant huff out of her as she turned her heel and stormed off the other way. Gaius' gaze followed her until she ducked around a tent. He wasn't quite sure if he could move yet. Other soldiers gave him looks until he got his feet shuffling, carrying him off to the far end of camp.
He was supposed to talk to Lon'qu. He was supposed to work out training and getting stronger. He was supposed to have done a lot of things, but he couldn't see himself carrying them out. Not right then. No, instead Gaius took a mindless lead anywhere but around other people.
He knew to expect something unpleasant; unpleasant surprises were not a new phenomenon for him. There was something heavier here though. Putting words to it felt like the sort of work he didn't want to do at the moment, so he leaves it at that. His path doesn't lead him too far, but he wasn't willing to put too much distance between himself and the Shepherds. Silently, he finds a good spot aside a tree and drops down into a sit leaning against it.
Instinctively he wanted some space to try and think everything through, but now that it was quiet and he was alone he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Hands fumbling, he reached into one of his inner pockets and picked out a candy. With the sweet popped in his mouth, he let out a sigh past it.
That didn't last very long.
It rang out in a disheartening tone through his head a few times. As much as he didn't want to assign that word to it, that was the feeling. Gaius let the feeling run its course for a few minutes, figuring it would come and go like most things. For that short time the breeze lazily flew over the open field, down into the slope of the hill a short distance ahead. Everything was in motion and Gaius remained still. Calm and a sense of ease was born out of that quiet, natural state. Things slowed down and with it Gaius found his thoughts a little easier to set straight.
Of course Maribelle would resent him for all this time. After what he had brought down on her father there probably was no forgiving that; Gaius knew that. He knew it from the start. It takes some forcing, but he gets his mind on the track of where to move, not on what he couldn't change. So the blue blood hated him, it didn't change what he needed to do. Even if it were only a little, he needed keep her from harm. Everything he might try would be too little either way. Trying was the best he had.
Soon enough, the candy in his mouth dissolved away, leaving a solid, sweet taste in his mouth. He lingered on the sensation, enjoying it while it lasted. That at least would always be undoubtedly good.
He'd nearly talked himself into getting up and finding something more productive to do when he heard footsteps from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a familiar face.
"There you are!" the blonde called, giving him quite the huffy glare.
"Hey, Princess. You looking for something to do 'cuz that's definitely not here," Gaius answered as smoothly as he could get out. His voice felt a little stuck for the first few words, but once he carried on it seemed more normal again.
Lissa only gave him a harsher look and sat herself down next to him, finding a way to pout through the whole process. She definitely had a talent for that. "I said I was gonna talk to you about things so I'm here to really give it to you, buddy! Don't think you got out of trouble."
He faked a crooked smile, keeping his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Whatever you say, Princess."
That nonchalance only seemed to put the princess in a worse mood. "I'm only trying to help you. And I heard a lot from Lon'qu so don't think I don't know!"
"That you don't know what?" There wasn't much to learn from Lon'qu. Except he was kind of an ass about training, but a handful of the Shepherds were like that.
"That you're supposed to be training with him. If he finds you here, he's going to be really upset," Lissa insisted, her tone more concerned than anything.
Gaius couldn't help himself or stop the little laugh after that. "That guy is always upset. I don't think he ever even smiles. There's no big change there."
Lissa prodded her index finger into Gaius' shoulder. "It's definitely a big change that I can tell. He sort of smiles and talks more when he's in a good mood. But he's been in a bad one ever since you two got in your little fight."
"Oooh, so Princess knows him best, huh? Maybe you can sweet-talk him into getting off my back."
"Gaius! He's trying to help you. At least, I think that's what he means. If you're trying to get stronger, Lon'qu is the person to talk to and he's offering. If you really wanted to be stronger you would just do it. And not waste time saying really silly things to me," Lissa retorted, poking him a few more times in the process. He tried to lean away from it, but she refused to relent.
He wanted to argue that it did really seem like Lissa knew the guy better than anyone else even if it wasn't really the time. The temptation shoved away, he nods slightly. "Something came up...But I'll talk to him. I just gotta do it at my pace."
"Your pace is by tomorrow, right?" Lissa pressed. The look that came with that guaranteed there were no correct answers except "yes."
"Yeah...by tomorrow. I have to at least try and do this a little bit...Just a little stronger..." he muttered in reply, his focus drifting out partway through.
The princess tilted her head, appearing honestly intrigued yet concerned. "Who are you getting stronger for?"
The directness of the question threw Gaius off a little, his shoulders tensing up as he tried to find the words. ""I didn't say anything about a 'who.'"
"But usually, people try to get stronger for someone else, don't they? I want to be stronger for my brother and sisters' sakes, but everyone around me too. And I know Chrom is strong for everyone else, no matter what happens. So there's someone worth being strong for, isn't there?" she asked once more, her gaze fixed on Gaius' face, even when he would not look her way.
"Yeah...Yeah, I guess that's what it is then." He went quiet for the moment, thinking about what to do say to cut the conversation off, but instead a question left his lips. "If someone hated your guts, Princess, would you even bother with that?"
"With being stronger for them? I think so. I think...I would try even harder. You can't just give up after all. If someone really hated me that much, I think I'd want to understand why better and make them not. I'm sure there's a way we can all get along better if we really try," Lissa insisted without much time spent on deliberating. The answer was natural and spunky; Gaius found himself a little jealous of all that energy for once.
"If you wanted to win someone over to your side, I'm sure you'd chase them to the ends of the earth over it and get it eventually...But you're more likeable than I am Princess. Most folks aren't that happy to see me sneaking around," he answered with a small laugh, find himself smiling as he did.
"No way! I'm just trouble for everyone. But I think a lot of people like you, Gauis. You're a great help around camp...even if you're a big pain sometimes."
He finally turned his eyes on her and was met with a that pout again, but it soon melted away into a little knowing smile. "Maybe we're both big pains then, huh?"
"Yeah, but you're definitely the bigger one!"
Try as they might, neither of them could help chuckling a bit. Once he'd stopped though, Gaius shook his head. "Guess I'm gonna have to find a way to be less of a pain than you."
"Not if I get to be less faster then you. It's a race, okay? So you better be working seriously hard. I'm gonna watch out for you, just to be sure," the princess answered with a very decided look over her face and that same determination in her voice.
"I'll keep an eye out for you too. Don't think I wanna lose this one," he replied, crooked smile set as he did. There was something relaxing in a goofy conversation like this, but Lissa had that affect on people. Whatever worries he had seemed a little more distant. The light didn't have to be at the end of the tunnel if there were still things to enjoy in the moment. Getting all doom and gloom wasn't really his style anyway.
Lissa grinned at him and wagged her finger. "If you don't want to lose then what are you going to do first?"
There really was no avoiding this one, no matter how hard he might try to dodge. "I get it, I get it. I'll go find that big, dumb ox, okay?"
"If you're talking about me, you don't have to look very hard." A shuffling from around the tree caught his attention and when both Gaius and Lissa glanced around, there was Lon'qu, relaxed with his back against the bark.
"How long have you been there? How much did you hear?!" Lissa blurted at him, her cheeks a bit red.
"I heard enough. You have something to say, right?" Lon'qu addressed Gaius' way, his speech and gaze always frustratingly direct as always.
Gaius let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping. "I give up. I'll do this training thing with you. Whatever schedule works for you, just tell me when and where."
A smile lit up on Lissa's face and whatever her worries were before, they seemed to disappear with it. It looked like she wanted to interrupt them and was holding back too. For a second, Gaius could have sworn he saw Lon'qu smile as well. It would have been a tiny thing, if that was what it really was. There was no understanding this guy.
"Then I'll see you bright and early tomorrow...right about here," Lon'qu decided, a bit of smugness in his voice. He must have known he was going to win this all along.
Lissa popped up off the ground and stood at Lon'qu's side, a big grin on her face. "Perfect! You two all made up then?"
"We're making up?" Lon'qu asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Yes, you're friends and you were fighting earlier. If you're agreeing to work together, I think you're making up, right?" Lissa looked Gaius' way for approval.
"Uh...yeah. Best of friends," was his fastest reply. It probably didn't sound as convinced as Lissa wanted it to be.
"Nuh uh, not good enough." She grabbed onto Gaius' arm and yanked on him until he stumbled up to his feet. With her free hand, Lissa latched onto Lon'qu's wrist and forced the two men's hands to meet. Lon'qu sputtered something incomprehensible when she grabbed him, but she soon let go and all that was left were Gaius and Lon'qu shaking hands without actually agreeing to the gesture in the first place. However they were already there and it wasn't a bad idea. Gaius shook properly and Lon'qu did the same.
Her hands on her hips in a triumphant, Lissa grinned her hardest. "Much, much better! Now you two look ready to work together."
"About as ready as I'll ever be," Gaius muttered, but chuckled a little too.
Lon'qu removed his hand and crossed his arms. "You had better be more prepared in the morning. I won't go easy on you."
"You could go a little easy on him the first time," Lissa suggested.
Lon'qu's expression soured momentarily, but he did eventually nod. "Just once."
Lissa shot Gaius a not so hidden thumbs up. She meant well at least. The princess took a stop standing next to Lon'qu looking ready for an answer.
Gaius just shrugged at first. "We're settled then. Tomorrow morning...I think I'm gonna rest up in the meantime."
"That would be for the best," the swordsman replied simply.
"See you later then, Gaius. Maybe at dinnertime?" the princess asked as well, looking hopeful.
"Maybe around then," he half-confirmed, starting off for camp again. The other two seemed content to remain behind; maybe they had something of their own to talk about. For now, he was content to take his leave and think on the moment.
For whatever his failings were earlier in the day, at the very least it seemed like there were people he could still count on. Whatever strength he might pick up, maybe it wouldn't hurt to use it for more than just one person. For Twinkles sake he had to do something, but if redemption ever came to pass, would she be willing to have conversations like he'd just had. It wasn't part of the deal; he was sure of that. At best, his existence might become acceptable.
The thought was unpleasant, but even then there were still friends he could turn to at the end of the day.
I can do this.