Quick Info~

I just wanted to quickly say thank you to everyone who checked out the first chapter! You guys are all so sweet and I couldn't wait to post this next chapter. Drabbles are probably my favorite form of fanfiction writing. (I can be as fluffy as I want!) So this next chapter is definitely cheesy, but I think it has a lot of heart. Kind of like Laslow? (I also threw in some Xander for my own enjoyment) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the second installment. This one is written in 3rd person POV for a different perspective on their budding relationship.

Drabble 2: You Give Me Butterflies

"But Xander!" Corrin protested, stomping her foot childishly.

"If you're insisting you're no longer a child, you aren't doing a very good job," Xander said sternly.

"That's because I'm trying to match how ridiculous you sound," Corrin muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from him.

Xander sighed, placing his hands on Corrin's shoulders soothingly. "Look, I just don't want to see you get hurt. You haven't been on the battlefield for that long and this mission is better suited towards people who have."

"I don't want you to think I'm weak, Xander," she said.

"I think you're anything but weak, little princess," he said gently. "So please just be strong and stay behind for the good of the army."

"Fine," Corrin said, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "But I don't have to be happy about it."

Xander chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything less. But thank you."

"Mhmm," Corrin mumbled dejectedly, waving away his thanks with her hand.

Xander turned to leave Corrin's quarters without another word. She dropped to the bed as soon as he was gone, feeling frustrated tears prickle at the corner of her eyes. Wasn't she the one who recruited Xander to join her little peace brigade in the first place? Shouldn't she be the one calling the shots?

And now she was stuck by herself while the rest of her army got to fight the battles she was so desperately trying to stop. It was the single worst thing she could think of in the moment.

A knock on her door was soon followed by a lilting, flirtatious, "Corrin?"

Correction. That was the single worst thing she could think of in the moment.

"Laslow, go away," Corrin yelled, her voice muffled by the fabric of the pillow as she sunk her face further and further into it.

"It's urgent business, milady," Laslow called again, rapping on the door in a strangely rhythmic way.

No reply.

"If you don't answer I'm coming in on my authority as a retainer," Laslow said. "This is your last warning!"

Still no reply.

The knob on the door jiggled for a moment before Laslow opened it completely.

"I'm not in the mood," Corrin said, pulling the pillow over her head.

"I'm positively bored, though," Laslow whined.

"That's what was so urgent? You're bored?" Corrin asked, feeling irritation bubble up in her stomach.

But it was useless. It wasn't worth getting mad at him. Especially since he was in the same boat as she was.

So she simply sighed and softened her voice before adding, "Join the club."

"Ah, so Lord Xander didn't let you go on the mission, either?" he asked, and the familiar sound of dejection in his voice made Corrin feel for him.

"You think I would choose to stay here out of my own free will?" Corrin jeered.

Even if she did feel empathetic, he didn't have to know it.

Laslow didn't respond. Instead, he simply looked at her quizzically for a moment, deeply studying her as if he wasn't sure whether to speak.

"Alright, then it's settled," Laslow said suddenly, nodding his head and flashing Corrin a mischievous smile. "We're going out."

"I keep telling you no." Corrin sighed.

"I don't mean on a date," Laslow said, laughing and extending his hand towards her. "I mean out into town. Lord Xander can't keep us from that."

"I don't know, Laslow," Corrin said, sitting up on the bed with her eyes fixated on his hand.

"It'll be fun. I promise," Laslow said, wiggling his fingers and urging her to get up. "And besides, we'll be back before the Kingdom even realizes we're gone!"

Corrin groaned, but grabbed his hand anyway. "If I wasn't so willing to get revenge on Xander for leaving me here, this conversation would've gone a lot differently," she said.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, milady," Laslow said, holding the door open for her.

It was as effortless as breathing to escape the castle grounds. Besides the fact that they were the only ones still there—aside from Elise and Odin, who were strangely nowhere to be found either—they didn't even run into trouble getting to the market. Typically, many a Nohrian would want to stop and meet Corrin, whether to ridicule her for her Hoshidan blood or praise her for her merciful tactics as a leader. And Laslow, strangely enough, didn't seem to bat an eye whenever they would pass anyone who looked remotely female.

"Are you feeling alright today?" Corrin asked, staring at Laslow out of the corner of her eye.

He blinked, confused. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"That girl had the shortest skirt I've probably ever seen and you didn't even smile at her," Corrin said, jabbing her thumb behind her.

Laslow looked over his shoulder, stared at the girl for a moment, and then shrugged. "I guess I just didn't notice."

Bizarre, Corrin thought.

"Anyway, I want to take you somewhere," Laslow said.

"I thought I said no to—"

"Lady Corrin, this isn't a date," Laslow said. "Just some place I think you would like that I've happened to visit before."

Corrin agreed, despite her distrust. Apparently Laslow just wasn't feeling flirty. In a way, Corrin was able to breathe a sigh of relief. She could at least spend some time with him without worrying about what cheesy line he was going to use next. On the other hand, though, part of her felt slightly insulted that she was no longer good enough to be the object of his affection.

"Close your eyes," Laslow said after they had been walking for a good distance.

Corrin eyed him warily for a moment, but complied.

"And no peaking, or else I'll have to embarrass you by taking you to dance with me in the public square," he whispered, steering her gently with his hands on her shoulders.

"I think you'd be the one who gets embarrassed," Corrin said.

She heard a door open and, from the way it scraped against the ground, it sounded heavy. A warm, slightly sweet smell filled her nostrils and it sounded like she was no longer stepping on pavement, but rather on sand.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now," Laslow said, taking his hands off of her shoulders and proudly standing beside her.

Corrin's breath caught in her throat and she held her hands up to her mouth in shock. They were in a glass dome of sorts, surrounded by hundreds of butterflies in every color under the sun. Different flowers and shrubbery sprouted from the ground, and the butterflies flitted between them gracefully.

"Laslow, I—" Corrin started, but couldn't seem to find the words to finish.

Laslow chuckled. "I figured you hadn't been here before. It reminded me of my brief time in Hoshido, and I thought you might like a little reminder of your birthplace."

Corrin looked at Laslow and for the first time, he felt as though she was really looking at him. It was a strange expression, and it made his knees buckle and his heart catch in his throat. She was smiling, positively beaming, and yet the corners of her mouth were quivering as if she were about to burst into tears. Her eyes were grateful, yet slightly confused, as if she were looking upon a stranger who treated her kindly.

"This is beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you."

Laslow shook his head and flicked his bangs to the side in an attempt to regain his composure. "M-my pleasure, milady. Did you know you can feed them if you'd like?"

"Really?!" Corrin exclaimed, and her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

Laslow nodded. "Come here! I'll show you."

He grabbed her hand and took her over to a man standing in the middle of the butterfly garden. He was holding a tray filled with orange slices in little plastic cups.

"Good sir," Laslow said, holding up one hand. "We'd like to purchase one orange slice, please."

The man nodded and Laslow took out his wallet.

"I can pay," Corrin said, reaching for her own wallet

Laslow shook his head, and handed the man the proper amount. "I'm treating you. I owe you one anyway," he said.

"For what?" Corrin asked.

Laslow didn't respond. Instead, he merely took the plastic cup off of the tray and handed it to her, his cheeks tinted pink. Corrin instantly forgot about his comment as soon as she spotted some butterflies, and began to walk towards a bush filled with brilliantly colored Swallowtails.

"Come here, little guys. I've got food!" Corrin whispered, holding out her hand.

Laslow couldn't help but laugh. She was acting completely adorable. As hard as it was, flirting with her would definitely be out of the question if he wanted her to trust him at all in the future. So instead he resorted to watching her from afar, studying the gentle way she handled the butterflies as they landed on her finger. She really was completely unwilling to hurt a single soul.

"Laslow, don't tell me you're afraid of butterflies," Corrin teased. "Come try it!"

"Butterflies are like women, Lady Corrin. They love me," Laslow said cockily, strutting towards her and taking the cup from her hand.

"They love to leave you, apparently," Corrin said, stifling giggles as the butterflies dispersed almost immediately after Laslow took the cup.

Laslow frowned, clenching his fist around the cup and squirting orange juice into his face. He doubled over, letting the peel and the cup fall to the ground as he rubbed his eyes. Corrin was roaring with laughter, clutching her stomach as she stooped to pick up what Laslow had dropped.

"Are you alright?" she asked, gasping in between giggles.

"What did I tell you?" Laslow exclaimed, holding his arms out and smiling triumphantly. "I told you they love me."

Corrin's mouth widened in surprise as she watched a beautiful blue butterfly perch happily on Laslow's nose.

"That's cheating! You got orange juice on your nose," she protested, although her eyes were shining happily.

Laslow went cross-eyed for a moment to examine the butterfly. He crinkled his nose, and Corrin felt her heart leap into her throat. She swallowed, hoping the strange feeling was merely due to the heat in the room.

"Well, as fun as this is," Laslow breathed. "It's quite ticklish."

Corrin leapt forward to help, catching the butterfly on the side of her index finger and lowering it from his face. "Don't want you sneezing and scaring them all away," she teased.

Laslow opened his mouth to retort but was unable to find a good comeback. Instead, he glanced outside and sighed.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but its going to get dark soon," he said.

Corrin nodded. "You're right. And you need to take me back here sometime soon, so we can't risk getting caught."

Laslow's eyes lit up. "Take you back here? Me?"

"Yeah," she said, setting the butterfly back on a flower and then standing to face him. "You're the only person who's ever cared whether or not I miss Hoshido. Everyone is usually so concerned with convincing me that Nohr is better, that I haven't gotten the chance to tell anyone anything that happened to me in my birth country."

"I know what that's like," Laslow mumbled.

"What?" Corrin asked.

"Nothing. It's nothing," Laslow said. "Anyway, we should get going."

They walked in silence for a majority of the way back. Laslow had almost completely clammed up as soon as Corrin's hand accidentally brushed against his. Corrin was concerned if Xander had returned yet and the amount of trouble they would be in if he had.

But the sun was near setting and the castle grounds were still empty when they returned. Corrin let out a sigh of relief and Laslow seemed relieved as well.

"Thank you again for today," Corrin said.

"Anytime, milady," Laslow replied.

"And Laslow?" Corrin asked.

"Hmm?"

"You can stop with the formalities now. I mean, if you want," Corrin said. "Today we kind of got past all of that."

"You mean it?" Laslow asked.

"Of course! You're Xander's retainer, so the formality is for him. But we're friends," she said.

"O-of course, La—err, Corrin," Laslow squeaked.

Corrin smiled, hanging in the doorway to her room. Laslow smiled back and quickly pressed a kiss to his fingers before waving goodbye to her. She rolled her eyes. Looked like Laslow was back to being, well, Laslow.

"Going to ask me out tomorrow?" she called.

"Definitely," he called back.

Corrin laughed, closing the door behind her and sliding down the wooden frame. Laslow was definitely interesting. Definitely thoughtful. And for the first time in her life, she had definitely gotten butterflies.