Vaike set down two plates of food as he sat at the mess tent table. Across from him, Nowi immediately snatched her meal and began wolfing it down.

"Thanks for playing with me today, Vaike!" she said through a mouthful of venison. "Not many people make as much time for me as you do. Only person who comes close is Lon'qu when he plays house with me!"

Vaike mentally filed away that information in his up-till-now-nonexistent "Things That Could Cause Lon'qu to Drop His Guard in a Duel if Mentioned Offhandedly" folder.

He grinned. "Hey, The Teach can always make time for his star pupil!"

"But don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Nah, the Vaike loves kids! My dream is to help the orphans of my hometown slum get out of the gutter and live better lives! I'd spend my whole life doing it if I had to!"

Nowi abruptly stopped chewing and gave a downcast look at her nearly empty plate. "Your whole life…"

Vaike cocked an eyebrow, realizing the Manakete was now shaking. "Nowi? Hey kid, what's the matter?"

Nowi suddenly burst out sobbing. "Oh Vaike! Y-you're so nice! Everyone in the Shepherds is! I love all of you! But you're all going to die and go away someday, j-just like Gregor! You, Chrom, Robin, e-even R-Ricken! I don't wanna be all alone again!" The girl began to wail.

Vaike frowned and put a reassuring hand on Nowi's shoulder. "Hey, hey, easy there. It's alright. Listen, Nowi. Yeah, we're going to die someday, and that'll be real sad. But we won't disappear, even when we're worm food. We'll always be with you."

Nowi sniffled. "R-really?"

"Yep! We'll all always be right here," he said reassuringly while poking her in the heart.

Miriel chose to enter the tent at that moment.

Miriel looked at Vaike.

Vaike looked at Miriel, his finger still touching Nowi's chest.

Miriel looked at Nowi, then back at Vaike. Vaike looked at where his finger was and immediately snapped it back as if stung.

Miriel cleared her throat. "Ahem. Pardon the intrusion. Vaike, I did not realize you had such… unorthodox physical preferences," Miriel said, eyes obscured by harsh lens flare. "However, I suppose that by most metrics Nowi is a consenting adult, and…"

"WHAT?! NO NO NO, YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! IT WAS ONE OF THOSE METAMORPHOSIS THINGS, I SWEAR!"

"Vaike, I think you mean "metabolism"," Nowi chided.

"Huh? Maybe it was "metaheuristic"?"

Miriel pinched the bridge of her nose. "…Where did you even learn that word? …Never mind. I believe the word you are searching for is "metaphor", but I fail to see how it excuses what amounts to groping a child."

"Hey! You just said I'm an adult!" Nowi yelled. "…I am an adult! I'm older than both of you by at least nine hundred years!"

"I was not groping her! There's nothing to grope!"

"What?!" Nowi shouted indignantly.

Vaike was thankfully saved from a dragon's wrath by Miriel's interrupting question. "So I am to assume that there is no fraternization occurring between the two of you?"

Nowi stuck out her tongue. "Ew, gross! Vaike's one of my bestest friends, but it's not like I'm going to let him fu-" She was immediately cut off by Vaike, who had shot his hand over to cover her mouth. People often forgot that, in spite of her childlike appearance, due to her immense lifespan Nowi knew more about inappropriate words and actions than the entirety of the rest of the Shepherds combined, and was not shy in the slightest about talking about them. She had once even made Gregor physically ill. Gregor.

"Yeah, yeah, there's nothing like that going on between us, Miriel, Teach swears. We're just friends."

Miriel adjusted her glasses. "I see." Vaike had to wonder to himself if it didn't seem like Miriel was relieved. "At any rate, it is quite fortuitous that I encountered you here, Nowi. Robin requested that I locate you and redirect you to him; he wishes to experiment on your flight pattern compatibility with the newcomer Cherche and her wyvern."

Nowi jumped up. "Yay! That sounds like fun! Bye Vaike!" With that she dashed out the tent.

Vaike chuckled. "She sure is rambuggle-… rambuckle-… she sure is energetic, huh?"

""Rambunctious". And yes, Nowi is remarkably resilient to fatigue." She gave a soft smile.

Vaike gestured that Miriel sit before he spent a few more moments polishing off what was left of his meal. He looked up to find Miriel still standing around awkwardly. "Huh? Something the matter, Miriel?"

Miriel hesitated. "Well… It is just that, when Nowi said that she was your friend, I became somewhat curious as to what that was like. Might we… might we become friends as well, Vaike?"

Vaike guffawed. "We already are friends, Miriel!"

Miriel blinked in surprise, then smiled. "I see. In that case, shall we begin with the activity called "playing house" to further develop our bond of friendship?"

It was Vaike's turn to blink. "Erm, no… Nowi's sort of special case when it comes to that. Most grown-ups do things like go to alehouses and stuff."

"I see. I would proposition that we visit said alehouse, but you have just finished eating and-"

"What, this?" Vaike chuckled. "Ol' Teach can pack away way more than that. Besides, I'm always down for a pint!"

As Vaike and Miriel exited the mess tent to make their way towards town, Miriel became conscious of a light, pleasant feeling in her chest. She had noticed this sensation occurring more and more frequently, and exclusively with Vaike. Further experimentation would be needed to determine whether Vaike's presence was the causation of this effect, rather than mere correlation.

She smiled to herself. Miriel didn't understand this feeling, not yet at least. But that was one of the best parts of being a scientist, that anticipation of imminent discovery. Miriel looked up to Vaike, who was talking animatedly with a huge grin on his face. Miriel found that this simple act inexplicably drew out a smile of her own.

Fascinating.