Quick Info~

Hey guys! Since this is a drabble series told through vignettes, we're going to skip a couple of months in between the last chapter and this one. It's another cute, fluffy chapter, but it also takes a look into Laslow's life. If you've played Awakening, then it's old news. (but definitely not old feels, amirite?) If you haven't, then I suppose I should tag this one as spoilers for Awakening. Also if you can guess where I got the title from, then brownie points for you! Thank you again to everyone reading this! I can't say it enough. I truly am so thankful for all of you! And to the responses mentioning the radio on the last chapter, I suppose I wasn't aware of all of the technology (or in this case, lack thereof) involved in Fire Emblem. I'm happy you guys were still able to finish the chapter, and I'll definitely be more conscious of the nuances within the game in the future!

Drabble 6: A Man For Flowers

"I'm with him, for better or for worse," Corrin said proudly.

"It'll probably be for worse," Leo warned, neatly folding a pile of inside-out shirts. "He may be Xander's retainer, but that doesn't make him any less of a hopeless idiot."

"Says the man folding all of his shirts inside-out," Corrin teased, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Leo groaned and picked up the pile of shirts before throwing them askew in his quarters.

"I don't have the patience for this today," he mumbled, stooping to the ground and attempting to fix a shirt closest to him.

Unfortunately for Corrin, her conversation with Leo was the last one she had before immediately regretting putting all of her faith in Laslow.

"So you're sure that you know where we're going?" Corrin asked.

"Definitely," Laslow said, although the chipper tone to his voice was slowly starting to decay the further they wandered in the darkening woods.

Corrin's navigating skills were great…if she was trying to find the quickest route from her room to the kitchen without alerting Jakob. Finding anything outside of the castle walls was another story. She might as well have been blind. Laslow, however, wasn't born in Nohr. Despite not knowing his origin, Corrin figured he had to have traveled enough to at least know the basics of their surroundings.

And through that thought process, Corrin chose Laslow to accompany her to stake out a band of Hoshidan archers that were presumably camping in the woods near the castle.

But there wasn't a single archer in sight. In fact, Corrin was completely confident that not one living creature ever stepped foot in the woods that they were searching.

"Didn't we pass that boulder an hour ago?" Corrin asked, pointing to a giant, mossy rock in the distance.

Laslow sighed and looked over his shoulder. "There can't be more than one boulder in the woods at a time?" he asked, although Corrin could tell that he knew she was right.

She had found out a lot of things about him since they first started dating. As the months wore on, she figured out that he absolutely loathed dancing in front of people, loved to stay out late and sleep in even later, and that he liked making people laugh, sushi, and blackberries. He was shy as all get out the second that Corrin tried to flirt with him, yet he was nearly irritatingly flirting whenever she was busy.

But she knew absolutely nothing about where he came from or why he was in Nohr.

"Just admit that we're lost and let's call it a night," Corrin said, reaching out to grab his hand.

He took it, though reluctant, and turned to face her. "You trusted me with a mission and I let you down," he said, hanging his head.

Corrin felt her heart pang. She forgot that he was also a complete puppy dog in every sense of the word. Laslow strived for approval like no one she had ever met.

"No you didn't," Corrin said, attempting to sound reassuring. "We can just sleep out in the woods tonight and finish the mission when we can actually see where we're going."

"In the woods? With you? Alone?" Inigo asked flirtatiously, brushing his fingers gently down her cheek.

Corrin rolled her eyes; although, she was unable to keep a small grin off of her lips. She hoped that he couldn't see it in the dark.

"Yes. With me. All alone," Corrin purred, trailing one finger up Laslow's chest and resting it on his lips.

She could feel his skin nearly instantaneously heat and she grinned satisfactorily.

"It's not fair that you do this to me now," Laslow muttered, his words slightly muffled underneath Corrin's finger.

"You could try your best to fluster me," Corrin said, shrugging. "But I promise you it won't work as easily as you want it to."

"Is that a challenge…love?" Laslow asked, raising his eyebrows.

Corrin gulped, feeling her insides squirm at the nickname. His accent coupled with his flirty grin was enough to make anyone turn to mush on the spot, and Laslow had a knack for using it at the most inopportune times. She was absolutely mortified the first time that he said it. Out loud. In public. And with her siblings there to witness her cherry-red cheeks no less!

"Gonna have to try harder than that," Corrin said, although her voice had grown ever-so-slightly shaky. "Why don't we make this a game?"

"And what type of game do you purpose?" Laslow asked.

"We'll flirt with each other until one of us—you—either can't take it anymore, or until one of us—you—kisses the other," Corrin said.

"And when one of us—you—loses, what's the punishment? Because if it's just until one of us kisses the other, I'm willing to lose right now," Laslow said, flashing Corrin another brilliant smile.

"Loser has to tell the winner a deep, dark secret," Corrin said, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Deal?"

Laslow eyed her hand warily, but eventually nodded and grabbed it. "Deal," he said.

They eyed each other for a moment, each evaluating the current state of their partner. Corrin wasn't as easily shaken as Laslow, but when she finally snapped, it was insantly over. Laslow, on the other hand, could melt like a Popsicle on a summer day if Corrin got to him quickly enough.

"You know," Laslow started, lacing his fingers with hers and bending down towards her ear. "I was going to bring you some flowers for our mission today, but I just couldn't seem to find any that captured your beauty elegantly enough."

Corrin stifled a laugh, pulling her hands away from his. "Did you try that on girls in the past, too? I can see why they didn't want to go out with you."

Laslow pouted for a moment, staring at Corrin's smiling face indignantly. However, he quickly recovered and moved so close to her face that his eyelashes were nearly brushing her skin and his lips nearly touching hers.

"If I did, I didn't mean it," he murmured. "At least not like I do with you. You're breathtaking, Corrin. In every way possible."

He could feel Corrin's lips quirk into a smile and she moved her hands to clasp lazily around his waist.

"Wanna know something?" Corrin asked, her voice barely a whisper. "I was taking a nap the other day and Elise walked in. She asked if I was having a good dream because apparently I was whispering your name."

Laslow chuckled and he reached up to cup her face with his hands. "I feel like I'm in a dream every time we're together because I didn't believe reality could get this wonderful."

"Laslow," Corrin crooned.

"Mmm?" he managed to utter.

"I think I might be—"

Corrin's words were cut off with a kiss. Laslow pressed her tightly against him, infusing his movements with such an insane amount of passion that Corrin felt as though they might combust. Her eyes fluttered shut as she parted her lips, deepening the kiss. Laslow responded eagerly, and he was never happier to have lost a bet in his entire life.

Corrin wasn't sure how long they stood there like that, but by the time that Laslow broke away, they were both out of breath and red in the face.

"Pride aside, I'm happy you did that when you did because I was about to lose it," Corrin admitted, her gaze glued to her feet as she pushed her hair behind her ear.

Laslow chuckled and pulled her into his arms. "Bet or not, I'm happy to know that you feel just as strongly for me as I do for you."

"Of course I do," Corrin said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Is that the deep, dark secret you want me to tell you?" Laslow asked.

"Not exactly," Corrin said.

"Then it looks as though you're out of luck on getting an answer to that," Laslow teased and Corrin punched him playfully in the arm.

Laslow took the backpack off of his shoulder and pulled out a large fleece blanket. Shaking it open, he set it on the ground and smoothed out the clumps of dirt underneath it.

"Is that all you were carrying in there this whole time?" Corrin asked, turning the backpack upside down and waiting for something to fall out.

"A man can't hope for a little bit of cuddling with a beautiful princess?" Laslow asked.

Corrin scoffed. "Cute, but unnecessary."

As the night grew on, Corrin found herself cuddling up next to Laslow. Despite the fact that there was only one blanket and that blanket was used to cushion the hard, woodland floor, Laslow was warm enough to keep the chilly night air at bay.

Corrin's eyes were drooping, her head bobbing sleepily on Laslow's chest.

"Finally ready for bed?" Laslow asked gently, squeezing her shoulder and slumping down the trunk of the tree they were propped up against.

"No, wait," Corrin said. "I haven't thought of a question yet."

"Maybe it'll come to you in the morning," Laslow suggested. "We need our strength to finish scouting the area tomorrow."

Corrin nodded, and turned sideways, tucking her bare feet underneath his warm legs and resting her head underneath his chin.

"Goodnight, love," Laslow whispered, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I thought of the question," Corrin said sleepily. "Where are you from?"

Laslow froze, completely and utterly unsure of how to answer. He knew that she would eventually want to know where he was born and how he came to be Xander's retainer, but he had been so engrossed with getting to know her that he completely forgot about his own backstory. Or rather, lack thereof.

He couldn't lie to her. He simply couldn't. But the truth wasn't exactly something easy to swallow in one take. And if he did tell her the truth, would she even believe him?

"Laslow?" Corrin started, peering up at him, her eyelids heavy. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Laslow looked down at her and found himself smiling. In his arms, cuddling up next to him was the most fascinating woman he had ever met. If he was being honest with himself, he was completely enamored with her. So he took a deep breath, looked up at the stars, and decided to tell her the truth.

"I doubt you've heard of it, since it's so far away from Nohr. I won't bore you with geographical details, though," Laslow said, running his fingers through Corrin's long hair as she nuzzled back into him sleepily. "I was born to a loving father and mother. I was so unbelievably shy that my mother was convinced shyness was some sort of genetic disease for a while."

Corrin giggled and Laslow felt the tightness in his chest begin to loosen.

"So she taught me to dance and she taught me how to talk to women, since they were the most perplexing creatures. I was as happy as I could be, and that lasted for all of my childhood."

"Then what happened?" Corrin asked, her fingers gripping the neckline of Laslow's shirt as they brushed against his chest soothingly.

"Well…my mother and father passed away rather unexpectedly," Laslow continued. "Remember that dance I was trying to piece together all of those months ago? The woman I mentioned was my mother. It's the last piece I have of her and preserving that dance is the very least I can do to keep her memory alive."

Corrin was silent and still for a moment. She couldn't believe that Laslow, as happy and dorky and positive as he was, lost two of the most important people in his life. She felt her heart ache for him.

"Laslow, I—"

"You don't have to say anything," Laslow said. "I'm coming to terms with it. You could even say that, in a way, I'm trying to fix what happened."

Corrin sat up, her face illuminated by the moonlight in a nearly ethereal way.

"I think you're one of the bravest people I've ever met," she said loudly and blatantly, as if every creature and every object in the woods needed to know.

Laslow smiled. "Only because I knew that if I kept pushing I would eventually meet you."

"Me?" Corrin asked.

Laslow's eyes widened and he blushed. Taking her hand, he swiftly brought it to his lips and planted a quick kiss on the soft flesh there. "Never mind. You said only one deep, dark secret so quit trying to weasel more out of me with that adorable face."

Laslow tapped Corrin's nose playfully and she scrunched it up in response.

"Fair enough," she murmured, sleep desperately grasping at her once more.

Sometime during the rest of the night, while Corrin drifted in and out of a dreamless sleep, she looked Laslow in the eyes and cuddled up next to him as close as she could possibly get.

"It's a good thing you kissed me," she whispered, her eyes shut tight. "If you didn't, I was going to tell you that I think I'm falling in love with you."

She sighed, letting unconsciousness take over once again. When he was sure that she was asleep again, Laslow opened one eye and smiled.

"It's a good thing I kissed you," he whispered back, placing another gentle kiss on her forehead. "If I didn't, I probably would've told you that I think I'm falling in love with you, too."