Chapter Six: Put a Ring on It
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"I-I have a SON?!"
The loud, shocked exclamation could have been heard from the other side of the camp. Gaius himself stepped away from the oven for a moment, peeking at the scene not too far away. Chrom was scratching his head while introducing a young man to Lon'qu. A young man claiming to be his future son.
Lon'qu was red up to his ears. Gaius sniggered. The Feroxi swordmaster couldn't even be forced to touch the tips of a woman's fingers. What more making children? That, and Lon'qu wasn't married at all—or at least that's what everyone knew. Clearly Lon'qu was confused, looking uncharacteristically panicked. Gaius was grinning now. This is so damn funny.
"…That's exactly how I expected you to react. You haven't changed at all," the young man sharing Lon'qu's dark hair color said.
"But I haven't even…"
The young, masked man was frowning now—ohh, that was a rather very-Lon'qu frown, Gaius noted, he is definitely his son —and took off a ring from his fingers, offering it to Lon'qu. "Go," he said. "Propose to her. This was the ring you gave her."
Lon'qu, still blushing from embarrassment, bit his lip in frustration. Gaius saw him put a hand inside his trouser pocket, as if feeling for something that was in there. "Tch. No need for that," Lon'qu said, almost grudgingly. "I already have one—the same one." And he stormed off and went to find Cherche, muttering about how he had been trying to take it slow and find the right timing. But, alas, he practically had no choice now.
Gaius smiled, amused at Lon'qu's expense. He turned back to the oven, peeking at the fruit pie that he was baking. At least Gaius knew that he probably wouldn't have full-grown "children" popping up on him and calling him dad.
…Perhaps his future wasn't here. He went off as soon as the campaign was over and Grima was defeated, went back on his merry way as a brigand, spent his entire life with nothing but candy and sweets. If completely honest, Gaius was not overly fond of children—and felt rather weirded out seeing these "children" in their camp who were not much younger than their parents. But at the same time, not having some ginger-haired mini-me trailing him at camp made him sad.
…It means I have no future here.
"H-Holy cripes!" Gaius was startled from his deep thoughts when he noticed smoke coming out of the oven. Panicked, he immediately put on some mittens and recovered his pie from inside. The thing looked… not bad… just… rather… terribly browned on top. …Stahl and Panne would probably still have a go at it. …Probably.
"Gaius, I thought I smelled smoke-Oh." Chrom dropped by, checking in on Gaius. He was stunned though as he saw around five burnt pies in the trash basket, and one more on the table, looking like Ricken just cast an Arcfire on it. "I-Is anything wrong?" Chrom asked, confused. Gaius' baking skills were exemplary, and yes, sometimes he'd bake twelve pies in one day in claims that they are for his weekly stash, but none of them ever ended up burnt. This was unusual.
"Nothing wrong, Blue, nothing wrong," Gaius said, waving the smoke away from the oven with his hands. "Just… Just not my lucky day." All that thinking about the future is bad for my sanity.
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"Hey, Anna, about that shirt I lent you..." Gaius walked straight into Anna's tent, but was surprised to find it in quite the disarray. Various papers with sketches and illustrations were all over the tent flooring, Anna in the middle of all of it, finger to her chin. Gaius looked carefully at the papers.
They were ring designs.
"Red? What's all this fuss? Getting married?" He asked, although he was positive her answer was no, and that this was some merchant-related endeavour instead.
"Since our campaign is drawing near its close, the sales on engagement rings have been going up," Anna said matter-of-factly. "Of course I have to be on top of the competition. I'll have to figure which rings are great to produce and put on the top shelves-oh, that looks gorgeous." Anna picked up a photo of a silver ring with a purple gem on it. "Hmm... is this too forward? Too different from the classic? Hmm..."
He was right-this was totally some merchant-y endeavour. "For a moment there I thought you meant to buy yourself a ring," Gaius said.
"It has to be something you can afford on a soldier's pay... And Gaius, marriage and the merchant life don't mix. I'd hate to drag some poor sap to and fro the entire world, selling wares, finding suppliers, and opening an unattended chest here and there."
"…Actually doesn't sound far from how I live," Gaius muttered, without thinking. He paused when he thought of how much implication that statement held—but it was the truth. He was a brigand and thief who went wherever the next job took him. He had no loyalty or position, unlike Chrom and the other knights. Wandering the land, selling wares? He'd put up a stall and sell his "acquired" goods every now and then too. He imagined another man probably not being able to put up with Anna's lifestyle, but he imagined that he could.
…Gods, enough of these thoughts. They're going to get me nowhere.
"You know, you could give some sort of reassuring flattery that I probably will get married and there's some man out there for me, instead of giving that pitiful pained look you're wearing now," Anna suddenly said, snapping Gaius from his senses.
"W-What? Me, looking pitiful? No," Gaius said, shaking his head. He zoned out there more than he should. "Anyone would marry a beautiful girl with savings like yours, Anna."
Anna blanched, and Gaius realized how tactless what he said was. Why can I not do anything right today?! Argh!
Anna just blinked at him, looking wary and critical. "Of course," she said, her tone now sharp. "He'd just have to bum around and eat candy and bonbons while I worked myself tired managing my assets."
I can think of some "assets" of yours that I'd love to manage—wait, what the heck?! Stop being so stupid today, Gaius! "Well, I'm not going to be that type of husband, excuse you!" he retorted.
"Says the man who steals to fund his candy addiction."
"You can't berate me for this—you have a sister who gave me seaweed when she said it was candy!"
"That was my sister—that wasn't me!"
The tent flap opened a bit and Kellam peeked in. "Uhm? Hello? Are you guys okay? I heard shouting…"
"Oh, you're all the same…" Gaius said, continuing the argument, not noticing Kellam. "Strong family resemblance and all that. And who says I even want to get married?"
"You're never getting married!" Anna said, unaware that she was already shouting. "Who'd want to marry a poor, unemployed bloke like you? You'd never earn enough for a family!"
Gaius gasped, taken aback. That one stung. "Well, at least I'm not a poor soul who only thinks about money, unlike you!" He then stormed out of the tent. "And give me my shirt back!"
Anna got up and grabbed said shirt, and threw it after Gaius, hitting him on the head. Gaius grudgingly grabbed it and walked off, and Anna stepped back into her tent, securing the flap close.
"Uhm… Guys? Hello? Did you even notice me?" Kellam just stood there, unnoticed.
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Gaius stormed back into his own tent, collapsing down into the bedroll. He had an intense urge to kick something—wait, not that cookie jar. Anything but that.
He looked down at the shirt that was in his hand—he rather crumpled it. But… wait… it feels sort of heavy…
He laid it out. Anna obviously had it laundered and mended. He felt at the many little secret pockets he had in his shirt—there were multiple lining the hem. They were filled with new candy—very good candy. Anna filled them out for him.
His head cleared and his heart softened a bit, and then he let out a loud sigh and bent down to hit his head against the bedroll. What have I done?! Why can't I do anything right today?
Sure, Anna was money-minded—sometimes annoyingly so—and she knew how to play dirty in her trade, but she wasn't all that. Robin could always count on her to help manage the Shepherd's finances, and Anna pulled strings and used her connections to make sure they were always getting value for their gold. She'd give gifts to fellow Shepherds just because, and she never even told them they were from her. The contented smile he'd see on Anna's face whenever someone enjoyed a gift she gave was stunning. He remembered how she smiled when he enjoyed that snapshot-thing. He looked at their photo, on that end table under his cookie jar.
Dammit, I'm going to have to apologize and at least do something right today.
"Gaius, I heard news that you had an argument with Anna today, tell me is anything—" Chrom poked his blue-haired head into Gaius' tent, but before he finished his statement, he saw Gaius already getting up, grabbing a hidden stash of sweets he had under his bedroll.
"Already on it," Gaius said, looking inside the small stash he picked up and wondering what would Anna like in particular. What sweet communicated "I'm sorry I was a jerk"? Gaius didn't particularly know, all sweets were good enough for that message for him.
"Oh," Chrom said, looking less bothered now. "Well, that's good. The others were rather worried. It's bad to let small arguments like this stand."
Wait… others were worried? How did Blue even know about me and Red's little fight, too? "Someone hear us?" Gaius asked, looking puzzled.
"I… I think?" Chrom said, not remembering exactly who it was who told him about it. "Things like this get around rather quickly."
Gaius sighed. Well, he might as well let everyone stop talking soon. He got up, about to go off and find Anna, until a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Say, Blue… when this whole thing is over… do you think you can… you know, give me a permanent gig?"
Chrom looked surprised. "You're… asking me for employment?"
Gaius scratched his head. This was sort of embarrassing, in its own way. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, I could always go off and go back to the old way I did things, completing one arrangement and then moving onto the next—plenty of people could use my skill—but I was wondering if you could give me…you know, something… permanent."
"Of course!" Chrom answered, almost immediate. Gaius didn't brag about it, but he was quite skilled, on and off the battlefield. Ylisse's spies could always use someone of his calibre, and the knighthood would benefit from it, too. "Ylisse would be well-served by someone of your talents."
"Sweet," Gaius said, giving Chrom an appreciative tap on the shoulder. "Let's talk about it when we all make it out of this whole thing alive, hmm? Now excuse me while I find Miss Redhead."
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"Oh, hello, fair and beautiful maiden. Do you mind if I offer you company?"
Anna looked up from her work—staring at various kinds and designs of engagement rings—and found Inigo staring down at her with a wide grin. She looked back down at her work dismissively. "You've inherited your father's silver tongue… and his rejection rate. No thanks," Anna said.
"Yeeouch," Inigo said, feigning hurt as he dramatically put a hand to his chest. "I like to keep my fingers crossed that I have more successes than him. And you ought to be nicer than that, dear miss. We've met before, yes?"
Anna looked up from the photos, staring at Inigo for a bit. Met before? "No, not really. Aside from you being the son of one of my comrades, I highly doubt it. You could be talking about any one of my sisters though."
Inigo smiled. "Nope, I believe not. I believe fate has been kind and let our paths cross once again, o fair miss. I'm positive it's you! That red hair is a match!"
"Everyone in my family has red hair," Anna said, matter-of-factly.
Inigo laughed a little, not yet admitting defeat. He sat down beside Anna on the grass, and then surprisingly, put a hand to her back. "Well, there is one more reason I like to believe you're the very same woman I met. She had… this." And Inigo poked at Anna's back, right where her tattoo was.
Anna froze and felt herself go cold for a moment. She was the only one who had that tattoo. Inigo couldn't possibly had seen another Anna with the same mark, unless…
"…Oh." Anna and Inigo both turned around, seeing Gaius walk into the forest clearing, spotting them. He stood there, trying to understand the situation. Anna was sitting there, with Inigo dangerously close to her, arms around her back. He paled for a moment. Anna wasn't a shy, timid woman. She'd have shrugged off Inigo's arm unless she actually wanted it there.
"Getting cozy, aren't we?" the thief said, with a bit of venom in his voice.
Inigo quickly got up. "Nothing wrong about getting comfortable with comrades, hmm?" When Gaius slightly raised an eyebrow at him and shot him a dangerous look, Inigo laughed a little nervously. "Well then. I supposed I'll take my leave. We will talk again, lady Anna." And then he quickly walked back towards camp.
Gaius eyed him, staring at his back until he was safely out of sight, before moving towards Anna. She reached out for the Levin Sword that was beside her, and for a moment he thought she was about to hit her with it, but was relieved when he realized that she was only pushing it aside, as if making space for him beside her.
He took her up on it, and sat beside her. He noticed that she looked a bit stiff, as if he just caught her in an awkward moment. Well… I did… With some other guy getting cozy with her. "So anyone can just sit beside you and put his arms around you now?" He put an arm around her shoulder.
"Gaius!" Anna shrugged him off, annoyed. Here she was puzzled out of her wits about how Inigo could possibly know about her, and Gaius obviously took it all the wrong way and was acting like a jerk.
Ouch. That kind of stung. This wasn't going well. He was supposed to make peace with her, but here he was, just finding another reason to be pissed off. That was a terrible way to start it. "What was he up to, anyway?" he said. "He's been leering at you since he saw you in the beach."
"Oh, has he now? I barely noticed, but apparently you did," Anna said. Gaius snorted a bit, making Anna smile. "It's nothing, really. He thrives on flirtation—the same sort of things his father would do, to be honest. I was just about to shrug him off and threaten him with my sword before you showed up. Think nothing of it."
That quelled down the jealousy Gaius admitted he was feeling. Of course. Anna wouldn't prefer some philandering youth coming from a noble family with a rather big inheritance over plain old him… right? Right?!
The silence between them carried a heavy weight, and Gaius knew it was partly because they hadn't made amends over the petty argument they had hours ago. He sighed, knowing he had to end it. He was not used to such an atmosphere beside Anna. He looked down at the papers on her lap and realized she was still browsing through ring designs.
"Finally chose the good ones?" Gaius asked her.
Anna shook her head, looking troubled. "No… it's rather difficult, you see. I can't get inside a man's head and think of what he'd want to buy for a woman. Of course it's difficult, I doubt I will ever need to buy one myself…"
Gaius looked thoughtful, and then he said, "…That's because you choose it depending on the woman you want to marry. You shouldn't think about what the man would want to buy, but rather, the woman. Say, if it was someone like Lissa or Maribelle… you'd want to have something flashy with big stones. If it were Sumia… something with more whimsy I suppose, and a flower motif wouldn't hurt. Now, Tharja… she reminds me of dark onyx stones—dark and untraditional."
Anna's face slowly lit up, and Gaius himself smiled to see it. "Of course," Anna said, and he could almost see the gears in her pretty merchant head turning. "I suppose I should put one out for each type of woman. I must tell my sisters about this. Gaius, you are a genius. A candy-loving genius."
"Heh. Pleasure to be of help," Gaius said, feeling proud of himself. Well, at least that went right. "Wouldn't hurt to give the option to customize the rings too. Say, engrave a little sentiment that they'd like inside."
Anna was smiling even more widely now. "That is smart. You've done some work on jewelry in the past, haven't you? That's why you've such valuable insight. I'm almost impressed."
"Heh." Gaius felt good about himself. He truly was widely skilled. To be able to live and survive out there, alone… he learned everything he could get his hands on. Metalworking was one of them. "I did have a jewelry-making phase, way back. Of course it started because I wanted to learn about the value of the jewelry I was stealing… ooops. I said that out loud, didn't I? Haha."
Anna laughed. And then Gaius took one of the papers off her lap, and reached out for her pen. "Now, if it were you, Anna…" he started drawing on the paper very, very roughly. Anna soon realized he was drawing a ring. "It would have to be gold—because you love gold—and then… ruby stones, maybe, as red as your hair." Gaius then stared at the drawing for a few more seconds, and then continued. "And because you're quite the talented locksmith…" He drew the ring in a key motif, as if the ring had been a rather elaborate, decorative key that was bent over to a round shape to be a ring. Anna laughed at this touch of whimsy. It was quite her. Anyone would have been able to tell it was hers if she ever misplaced it.
"And what would the sentiment engraved on it be?" Anna asked, curious. "Something obvious like, 'you own the key to my heart'?"
Gaius laughed softly, but then looked at Anna, and then back down to his sketch. "No…" he said, almost a whisper.
He wrote the message down onto his sketch.
There's only one you.
Anna turned as red as her hair.
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A/N:
I really enjoyed writing Anna and Gaius having that argument. I think one reason why shippers of them like me wanted them to badly interact with each other is due to how similar they are (in manner of lifestyle and of job class) but the tropes they carry—the noble thief and the money-minded merchant—can have conflicting views. I can just imagine how if they supported they would probably discuss what the value of money is for each other, and how their tropes, lifestlyes, and views, despite being different, push them to be alone.
I'm gonna touch up more on the Anna backstory next and hopefully finish it up. This chapter was rather indulgent, I confess! Even I feel giddy from all the romance that was thick in the air at Gaius drawing up a ring for Anna! Kyaaaa!
Thank you for all the reviews I got! Cormag Ravenstaff, Super duper Sumo, Light1172, and all ye other ppl reading this! Your kind words really fuel me to write this up fast! So plz review okay!