Shanzira and Chrom: B Support.

Fuck it. I'm not going to squirm like a little wimp. I'm going to go out and do it. I don't care how awkward I feel. I need to get this right. I call along the hallways. "Um, Chrom? Chrooooom? I need your help with something!"

"What are you shouting about?" He's right behind me. At this point, I'm used to it, so I stop jumping. Instead, I smoothly about-face.

I brighten my face into a smile with which to greet him. Always greet people with smiles. "Oh, there you are. Can you stand still for a moment?"

He sees the treasure I hold in my fingers. "Is that your sketchbook? It dawns on him at last. "Ah, I see. You want to draw me."

I give him a big, energetic, childish nod. I always try to make myself appear smaller and lesser in front of authority, it disarms people. "Mm-hmm! Wanna make sure I get your face right."

He smiles and pulls up a nearby chair to have a seat. "Well, draw away. May I see it when you finish?"

PFFDSMKSHDJK! "Don't move! And uh," I should answer his question, "that might be a while." Let me explain. "I'm just sketching to get the general idea down so I'll have something to copy later at my convenience. It'll be some time before I finish the final product, I'm afraid!" I put one hand behind my back in slight embarrassment.

He's quiet, looking at me but not moving. Oh, great.

I try to break the awkwardness. "Wow, I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall– Not that it's your fault, I mean, I did tell you to shut up. Sorry." I just told a prince to shut up, oh gods. That's excessively rude. "Umm... I should probably try to fill the silence anyways, to dull the edge off your boredom." That is, provided the sound of my voice doesn't totally annoy him.

It's not like I can tell, he won't say anything.

"So, uh..." Find a conversation topic, Shanz. THERE IT IS! Honest compliments! Yeah! And throw in commentary! It's as easy as writing an essay! "Did anyone ever tell you you look really nice? Even when your outfit's a total mess." There's a strange sort of savage fairness in a mess, i love it. "It's the reason I've been meaning to draw you properly at some point– actually, you're not the only one, everyone around here is drop-dead handsome." Especially Frederick. Oh, gods, Frederick. Hnnnnggggg. I can't wait 'till we hit S rank.

And Chrom might have thoughts on this, but I can't fucking tell, I asked him not to talk.

So I just blabber on with my thoughts. "Especially Frederick, oh gods. I don't know what it is with me and the loyal knight archetype, but for some reason I keep daydreaming about–" The fuck am I saying? "Shit, what am I rambling about? Never mind any of that!" I hit myself in the face with my sketchbook.

A smile and a slight chuckle crack through Chrom's silence. "Haha. I think any man around here would be lucky to have you. You don't need to shut yourself away like that."

"Hush, hush, hush!" I'm still hiding my face, it must look like a cherry right now. "I'm drawing you, remember? Oh gods, this is embarrassing. I rambled about that topic in front of you, of all people." My fucking boss. "Pretty sure you don't need to know all the extraneous details." There IS a thing called TMI, after all. "Anyways, I'm done."

He stands and stretches, then pushes the chair away. I could swear I heard something crack, maybe the wood. "Conversations like these build bonds, and these bonds are what keep this army together. I don't mind listening to you."

Huh...? "Wait, you just... Okay, fine." Quick recovery. I whisper to myself to properly organize my thoughts. "So this is a support conversation? Wait, does that mean...?"

"Did you say something?"

Oh, right, don't whisper when there are people nearby, especially your boss. I brighten up again with a cutesy salute. "Oh, nothing," I sing at him. "Anyways, I'd better go work on that artwork! Bye!" I turn and skip off, though each skip covers little distance. I want to eavesdrop, he's talking to himself.

"She acts timid, yet she had few issues with approaching me and talking about herself." From the tone of his voice, he could be scratching his head. "I don't even know what to make of her..."

This support happened in Chapter Seventeen: Storms in the Chest.