AN: So sorry for the long wait? I have work, school, woman, and video games, so I'm kind of busy. But anyway, let's get onto the review responses. (There were so many! It surprised me and I'm glad you all liked it!)

Kyzor: I always thought Sumia was left out when it came to lasting favorite characters, being replaced with Chrom, Robin, Lucina, etc. But she's technically Chrom's cameo wife...? So I figured, "Why not give Sumia someone who complements, but is not identical, to her character?" And after reading smileplease91's story, I felt even more spurred on to write this. Sumia is also getting a bit of tragic backstory, so this'll (hopefully) enhance her more (and gives us Stahl's amazingness to comfort her.)

GPuzzle: You requested that? Well, kudos to you sir. I have white haired Cynthia, because yis.

Gunlord: Thanks!

Smileplease: I wanted to incorporate every (or close to) the first generation of the Shepherds, and I think that I will be able to, with a few exceptions like Henry :( Gregor, Frederick, etc. So it will be more circular, but with a few left-outs... if I could have one pairing inserting into FEA, it would be StahlxSumia for sure.

Triple: How do you manage that? Stahl is... meh as a unit! Well if you exclude his decent skill stat, Swordmaster, and pair him with Panne for Astra, then he's all right. Well... Chrom can only marry Olivia, Sully, Maribelle, and Sumia. (I've never tried magic Lucina or suck-Lucina 'Sully cough') I've never done Au's, but this is a lot of fun and I might want to do more in the future! :D Sweet! So... 90k gold out of 100k gold. Glad you like it!

Without further ado, here's ch. 2! (#poetry)

5/7/15 UPDATE: The line breaks didn't show up so I added them.

Cynthia had given her mother a thoroughly hard time about her being with a man, drawing irritated, Cordelia-like sighs from the clumsy brunette's mouth. She'd explained to her daughter that Stahl was a nice man who helped Mommy get into her car after she locked her keys into it. The young girl had ignored every single thing she'd said and kept going on and on about what she thought of Stahl. Eventually, she had to threaten to ground the poor thing just to get her to shut up. She'd never do it, but it worked, that was for certain. Cynthia had said nothing on their way back. However, Sumia couldn't keep the giant grin off of the little girl's face.

However, as she climbed into her Firebird that Gaius unlocked with absolutely no trouble at all (And making him promise that he wouldn't pick his way into her car without her permission), she couldn't help but feel excited as she drove back to her apartment. There wasn't anything else she could describe her and Stahl's meeting... besides as a date. After all, there wasn't anything wrong with this, was there? They were college kids; naturally they date people here and there with no strings attached. Still, she couldn't help but feel that her heart was moving too fast. Sumia mentally reprimanded herself for refusing to listen to her heart's consul. However, love meant throwing yourself into the line of fire with high-risk, high-reward.

Love? What?

Much too soon for those thoughts.

She visibly shook her head as she tried to blast her too-far-gone future thoughts out of her head with music flowing through her Apple EarPods. Either way, she turned back to the mirror, messing with her hair one last time to make sure she got her outfit right. She figured that since he was so laid-back, at least, that's what she thought of him, he wouldn't care if she went casual rather than to impress. So, she simply wore a pair of blue candy-colored skinny jeans, black-and-white Chuck Taylors, and a black polo shirt that hugged her athletic form loosely, but nicely. With one last, final swish, her planned-messy bun fell into place exactly where she liked it to be, leaning towards the right side of her head. She smiled at her appearance; she was satisfied with how she looked.

Grabbing the keys to her car, she plucked her small handbag off of the table and hopped into her Firebird. She kicked the powerful classic vehicle to life, bringing a roar from its engine and a squeal of happiness from her. With a few taps on her iPhone, she set the directions to the local corner cafe, "A Taste of the Borderlines," between Ylisse avenue and Plegia boulevard. Raindrops began to fall as she walked inside. Sumia sat down to wait for 'her date,' smiling and telling the waiter that she'd order shortly when Stahl arrived. The teen, not even out of high school, introduced himself as Ricken and told her that he'd be waiting on her and Stahl this afternoon. She chuckled as the young boy nearly stumbled over a blonde-haired-pigtailed teenage girl walking through door; Chrom's little sister, Lissa.

Sumia smiled. This would be a great day- if the damned man would show up one of these days. She sighed, pulled out her phone, and opened up Clash of Clans to kill some time. With any luck, she'd find someone with enough resources to atone for her horrible raiding strategy...

"GREAT... AETHER!" Stahl yelled as she unleashed the Radiant Hero's Final Smash onto poor Gaius. Cordelia got caught up in the blast and took some damage as well. As soon as Stahl netted the K.O on Gaius, the match ended, setting him one point ahead of Cordelia and two ahead of Gaius. Cordelia was playing as Female Robin from Fire Emblem: Awakening, and Gaius was playing as the Hero-King of legend. Strangely enough, the Robin they knew in real life shared close similarities between the Robin in Awakening...

"You'll get no sympathy from me," Stahl chuckled as he taunted his friends after his close-comeback. "In this case, I don't fight for my friends!"

"Suck it," Gaius mumbled, sticking a candy bar into his mouth and dejectedly munching on it as he brooded over his loss. "Here," the former thief muttered, tossing a lollipop into Stahl's mouth. "Suck."

"Mff!" Stahl choked, pulling the sugary treat out of his mouth. "I hate suckers!"

"Good thing you didn't marry him, then," Cordelia laughed as she set her Wii U gamepad down. "Besides, don't you have a date with my lovely Sumia?" the redhead stated, glancing at the clock. "Holy... gods, Stahl! You're late!" Cordelia cried, slapping Stahl's shoulder as she would a horse's backside.

"Hunh? WHOA!" Stahl exclaimed, leaping from the couch and stripping off his sweatpants and throwing on a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt that advertised his favorite anime, Steins;Gate. Without taking the time to do his hair, he threw a beanie on and slipped his laceless Chuck Taylors onto his feet, barely grabbing his wallet and keys to Gaius's car on the way out.

"Make yourselves comfortable, you two! I'm gonna go see Sumia!"

"Oh, we will..." Cordelia smirked, glancing at Gaius knowingly. The former thief's eyes lit up and his grin turned feral.

"Don't you worry, Stahl. We'll keep your apartment nice'n sweet," Gaius continued, giving Cordelia a subtle wink.

"Just air it out when you two lovebirds are done..." Stahl grumbled, setting a can of Febreeze down onto the table. Why am I letting them make the beast in my apartment? Stahl thought, wondering to himself why he was so lenient as he ran out the door. Cordelia and Gaius burst out laughing.

"But seriously though. Are we gonna...?" Gaius asked, trailing off to let the unspoken do the speaking for him. Cordelia just nodded with a blush and a glint in her eye. "Whoo, honey, then let's get a taste of that sugar-sweet again."

Cordelia blushed as Gaius trailed his fingers over her thighs.

"He's, like, ten minutes late. Did something happen to him...?" Sumia wondered as she deployed a horde of Archers onto a Town Hall located in the corner of the map. "Although, looking at his hair, it's kinda easy to see how punctual he might be..."

The door to the cafe opened and the bell adorning the top jingled. A messy blob of brown streaked through the door, eyes searching frantically for Sumia. With one final jerk, his eyes locked onto hers, and he gave a small wave and a sheepish grin of apology. Stahl made his way over to her table and sat down across from her, the grin still plastered om his lips.

"My bad, Sumia..." Stahl mumbled, glancing away as he spoke. He took an interest in the passing cars flying by just outside the window in which they sat.

"Oh, you're all right," Sumia laughed, tucking her phone into her pocket- or at least tried to. Girls' pockets were a thing straight from Grima himself. They were nonexistent, forcing many women like Sumia to buy a handbag. Clever move, clothing industry. Clever move. "It's not like I had anything to do, anyway. I was just playing Clash of Clans and marveling at how bad I am at it..."

Stahl perked up at the mention of his favorite money-sucking-mobile-game. Luckily, he hadn't invested any money into it- yet. "What town hall level are you?"

Sumia was surprised at Stahl's reaction. "I didn't know you played this, too. I'm an 8," Sumia responded, mentally reprimanding herself for not leveling up her Barbarian King earlier.

"Sweet, I'm a 9," Stahl replied, pulling his Galaxy out of the phone and opening the game. "Before anything, though, max everything you can at town hall 8. You won't regret it. I know I forgot to max everything and that came back to bite my butt..."

"I was doing that until I forgot that I forgot to level up my King..."

"Then drop to Gold III or go to Crystal I," Stahl grinned, tapping his screen as he collected his resources. "Gold III, everyone has so much loot and not enough defense. In Crystal I, the league bonus from wrecking a town hall is more than enough. Sorta, depending on what resource you need."

"That's very tactical of you, Stahl," Sumia smiled, shifting in her seat. She was curious as to what this young man wanted to do with his life, as he probably was too. But before that, a little friendly on-the-surface conversation never hurt anyone.

"As a friend of mine says, 'A good tactician has nothing to fear.' Speaking of tactics, would you be interested in playing a game of chess? I'm no grandmaster at it like my friend Robin, but I'm no rookie either. Heh. Puns."

Sumia laughed. "I love puns, and chess. Sure! Do you have a board?" the clumsy young woman asked, glancing around as she tried to locate it.

"I keep a wooden set in my backpack. It's a little worn, but that's what I like about it. White or black?"

"Um... white. Reminds me to get a tan," Sumia chuckled, glancing at her pasty-white arms longingly.

"Haha. Me, too," Stahl grumbled, his skin tone nearly matching Sumia's. He scattered the white pieces over to Sumia's side and set up his own on his respective side. With a nod of his head, he motioned for Sumia to start.

"So what do you plan on doing with the rest of your life?" Sumia asked as she moved her pawn forward, tentatively.

"I plan to become a pharmaceutical drug manufacturer, so someone who formulates and concocts the drugs that people use to heal themselves. I'm working on a form of elixir that heals most minor flesh wounds within minutes of consuming. It seems like a lofty goal, yes, but it's actually possible. Just take my word for it," Stahl chuckled, moving his pawn out two spaces. "If I'm not mistaken, our ancestors had a medicine something like what I'm trying to make."

"Well, I bet you can do it." Sumia moved her bishop out into the open field. "That sounds so complicated. I wish my mind was that advanced."

"Meh. Anyone can do it, actually. All you need is a long time in school to memorize everything and nimble fingers."

"And that's where I back out of this conversation," Sumia laughed, eyeing Stahl as he moved his king up to where his pawn was before he moved it. "I have anything but nimble fingers."

"Well, it's mostly thanks to Cordelia teaching me how to play the harp. Before that, all I could so was hold a practice sword and swing it just like another run-of-the-mill ..." Stahl grumbled, noticing that Sumia positioned her bishop to put Stahl into check.

"Check."

Stahl placed his pawn in front of the king to shield it.

"I had no idea Cordelia taught you how to play the harp," Sumia mused, letting her fingers drift over the rook but finally settling on the knight. "She never mentioned you."

"You two best friends or something?" Stahl asked, taking his eyes off of the board and cocking his head.

"Yes, we've been friends for a long time. Ever since we started riding horses together, and that was about fifteen years ago," Sumia giggled, marveling at how long their friendship lasted against the test of time.

"I see."

From then on, no more words were said, as the duo began to concentrate more on chess and less on conversation. Eventually, when only a few pieces remained on the board, Stahl placed his knight in position to check Sumia's king.

"Check and mate," he said, grinning.

Sumia was baffled. He managed to sneak his lone knight past her queen and her rooks? There was more to this young man's brain than he let on, that was for sure. If he could formulate medicine and play a mean game of chess, then she knew his intelligence was somewhere up there, not down in the dumps where he claimed it was.

"Good goddess Naga above," Sumia mumbled, taking Stahl's knight and knocking her king over with it. It clattered hollowly. "You're very good at that."

"I learned everything by Robin. He can best me in an instant, and his wife's just as good."

"You speak very highly of this Robin. Who's he?"

"Well, a friend, mentor, and overall genius guy," Stahl replied, leaning back in his chair and glancing at his now-empty cup of coffee. "Want another? I'll buy," he offered, holding up his wallet.

"Eh, not right now. But an herbal tea sounds good. Anything, I guess." Sumia paused to clear her throat before continuing. He was very charming in his laid-back attitude; he wasn't even trying. At least, that's what she thought.

"Hey, um, Ricken?" Stahl called out to the young teen, loitering around by cleaning a table.

"What can I grab for you, sir?"

"An espresso and a surprise herbal tea, if that's all right," Stahl ordered, hoping he made the boy feel accomplished.

"I'll get right on it. One second," Ricken replied, scurrying off to the kitchen. As the door flapped open and closed, he caught a glimpse of his friend Cherche working in the kitchen and waved. She waved back with a small grin and handed Ricken what he needed to make the tea.

"Y'see, I could tell that that boy feels kind of insignificant, in his mind," Stahl blurted suddenly, startling Sumia.

"Where'd that come from? We aren't playing baseball, y'know." When Stahl didn't respond, she said, "Left field?"

"By reading his facial expression, he feels insignificant compared to the older workers here, like my friend Cherche."

"But how...?"

"Well, Cherche and I go back a-ways. She was an exchange student from a foreign country, but I helped her get settled in college, showed her around campus, and we've been friends ever since. I found that we both have a passion for cleaning, except laundry... that we both hate..." Stahl ended with a grumble, thinking of the time where he had to wash Vaike's smallclothes. Oh, gods, that was nasty.

Sumia bristled, but she didn't know why. "That's nice." She tried to avert her own emotions akin to a porcupine and onto something more pleasant. "But how did you know that Ricken was struggling?"

"Hey, I'm right here, ya know," the brown-haired-boy whined, holding a tray of steaming espresso and tea. "At least talk about me while I'm here."

Sumia blushed and Stahl scratched his neck sheepishly. "Um, yeah. Sorry about that. But you see..." Sumia trailed off, darting her eyes towards Stahl. "... he was talking about how he could tell that you lacked self-confidence."

"My what now?"

Stahl took an interest in the ceiling. "Well, I've been trained to examine someone's facial expression and make a logical guess based on how it looks..."

"And you thought I felt insignificant?"

"Sorry about that," Stahl replied, avoiding the question entirely. His face began to match a shade of crimson, like Cordelia's hair.

"Well, you're absolutely right..." Ricken mumbled. He couldn't believe he was talking about something personal to a random couple. At least, they seemed nice enough. Not to mention cute together.

"Again, I'm very sorry- er, what? Excuse me?" Stahl tripped over his words as the realization of what Ricken had just said hit him. "I was right?"

"Yeah... I feel that I can't do anything as well as anyone else. Everyone is so good at everything they do here and I just get left in the dust..." Ricken softly said, setting the tray down and pulling a chair out next to Stahl.

Stahl turned so he could face Ricken. "I have a question. Have you made any mistakes yet?"

"Besides showing up to work late on my fifth day, nope."

"Then you're fine," Stahl smiled, patting Ricken on the back.

Sumia began to realize why she'd begun fallen for his easygoing and carefree demeanor. It was because he'd hidden such a treasure trove of well-being and care for others under his friendly facade. Not to mention his face was handsome, his hair was adorable, and the way he spoke in his ever-changing tone plucked her heartstrings like Cordelia did to her harp.

And she'd only met him a few days ago.

Stahl continued talking. "You see, Ricken, if you haven't made any mistakes, then it just means that you carry a ton of potential. You're just adjusting to the workplace environment, so don't get down on yourself. Pretty soon, you'll be busing tables better than you can imagine! I guarantee it! And when that day comes, call me up and Sumia and I will come down and get your expert service. Sound like a plan?"

Ricken's eyes brightened and his mouth curled into a huge grin. "Thanks so much, Stahl. It means a lot hearing that from someone I... barely know," he laughed, standing up and grinning again. "But seriously. This'll definitely get me through the week."

"And remember," Sumia added, "Friendly service and a cute face are all it takes to get the fish in the sea to look at you," Sumia winked, definitely implying something. She'd noticed how he had his eye on Chrom's younger sister, who had yet to notice herself and Stahl sitting together in the cafe. "I'm talking about Lissa." Ricken blushed before gathering his bearings and shaking his redness away.

"Great, a doubly overly-perceptive couple," Ricken replied, rolling his eyes and sighing. "I'd best be getting back to work or Maribelle will chew me out." Maribelle was the owner of the "Taste of the Borderlines" and was proud to concoct imported Valmese tea each and every day.

"I'd bet she'd like you if you went up and introduced yourself!" Sumia called after him, leaving him to just shrug his shoulders as he walked away. However, when he was certain they weren't looking, he meandered over to Lissa's table and plastered a smile onto his face as he took her order. Stahl noticed a gleam in Lissa's eyes that wasn't normally there. And Stahl knew that her eyes always held a glint. That time when she stuffed a frog down Robin's shirt as he was walking in the door to pick up his children, Morgan and Nah, was proof enough of her eyes' glint.

"Yep, he's got her attention, that's for sure."

"Well, that was awfully nice of you to give him the strength to get through the week," Sumia smiled, heart warming as she kept thinking about what Stahl had done.

"Meh. It's nothing phenomenal. I mean, I'd want to be encouraged if I was down, too," the messy-haired-man replied, shrugging his shoulders with a lopsided grin.

"But don't you see, Stahl? No one does that, apparently! He's been down for Naga knows how long now! And you came along and cheered him up! That means that you've got something special in your heart that most others don't have! Stahl..." Sumia whispered, letting her voice trail off. "That's another phenomenal thing about your personality. You're so oblivious to all the good you do. It's the epitaph of humble. You're so one-sided, in a good way, so much that you almost downgrade yourself with the excuse that you ' just wanna help out,' or 'anyone would do it.'"

"Sumia..."

"Stahl, your heart is just... too big for your own good. Think about yourself for a change. Surely there must be something that you've neglected in yourself in lieu of someone else's needs?"

"Well, my friend Donnel likes to learn swordsmanship under my tutelage, so I replaced my free time with him," Stahl shrugged, acting like it was no big deal.

"See? And you told me that your schedule is packed as is! You need to help yourself once in a while... just help others somewhat more. But please, for your own well-being, spend some 'Stahl' time. Even though I've only been around you for a few days, I know that some part of your smile is fake, but I can't place it."

Stahl exhaled heavily, letting the fake excitement fade from his eyes. "You got me there, Sumia. I'm worn out, and I'd kill monsters in another realm just to get some mid-day shut-eye. Or maybe some food. Hey, speaking of dinner..." Stahl said, glancing at his Galaxy to check the time. "Want to eat out with me? My treat. And then we can talk about this a little more."

"But.. you just said you're exhausted."

"I don't feel the need to be cheerful Stahl around you for some weird reason. It's like a tie that binds, for some reason. Hard to place in words, specifically. I can just be... normal. Like without a facade. It's nice, really."

"That's... how I feel, too, and it's kind of awkward to say it, but I don't really know what my facade is. My clumsiness is anything but a sham..."

"Heh. Well, you have a specific place you like to frequent?" Stahl asked, tilting his head and smiling. He began to stuff the chess board back into his backpack as she thought.

"Hm... Well, I kind of like home cooking. Are you a good chef?"

"Eh, I'm nothing special. But I would like to try the world's best food just once..." Stahl replied, making daydream motions with his eyes. "Mmm... pasta..."

"Since you love eating food it's safe to assume that you know how to make food, too. I'm not like that... I can't cook for the life of me..."

"Well, I'll teach you. It's nothing too hard, actually. Anyone could do it," Stahl shrugged, downgrading himself in the process.

"Oh, don't say that. You're talented enough, so stop putting yourself down." Sumia was rather fed up with his everyone-is-better-than-I-am attitude. Her voice rose a little as she spoke, earned her an eyebrow-raise from Stahl who wasn't expecting the action.

"Gee, uh, thanks, Sumia. No one really notices my feats, so it's nice to be looked at without that 'totally average guy' viewpoint." Without warning, Stahl glanced at his watch. "Sumia, I'm really sorry, but I have a job interview at Applebee's in a half hour and I gotta get ready. As much as I'd like to wear my outfit I have on now, you gotta dress to impress, as they say."

"No problem, Stahl. Hey, we should at least exchange numbers so meeting up will be easier in the future. We are meeting up, right...?" Sumia asked hesitantly, desperately hoping he'd say yes.

"Of course!" Stahl exclaimed, pulling out his phone and handing it to Sumia, while making the 'gimme' motion with his other hand. "We'll punch in each other's numbers and go from there, okay?"

"Sounds delightful," Sumia replied, pulling out her iPhone and handing it to Stahl while taking his Galaxy and punching in her name as 'Stumbles.' Gaius had always called her that ever since she tripped in front of him in the high school hallway, and the name just stuck. Eventually, most of her friends started to call her Stumbles in good humor.

"Well..." Stahl droned off while staring out the window. "I better get going." He stood from his chair and slid her phone across the table back to her. Shortly after he stood up, Ricken came around to collect the cash Stahl left for their drinks. After thoroughly tipping the young boy, Stahl waved goodbye to Sumia one last time and headed out the door.

Sumia looked in her contacts list.

There was a new name.

"Totally Average Guy"

Sumia smiled. Her heart was doing trippy things to her. It clouded her judgement and skewered her commitment of staying single ever since... that. It made her feel like she and Stahl had... a chance. But for now, she'd bide her time as aspiring friends. And, honestly speaking, it probably wouldn't even get anywhere further than friends. Their next meeting, whenever fate dictated it, would be strictly un-romantic; as a simple get-together between friends.

Maybe more.

AN: Hope you enjoyed! Drop a review and like, follow and favorite! Thanks so much!

~The Slain Executioner~