Tumblr prompt: Edea/Ringabel, Legs. Spoilers for Ch 2/Red Mage sidequest.

Was there a man whose eyes wouldn't be drawn to Edea Lee's lovely form? Ringabel took delight in it, though he was, of course, careful not to be seen admiring her, even from a distance. But on the days when she wore the more revealing asterisk costumes, he would hang back and watch her movements. His memory might have been gone, but he still fancied himself an artist, and it was with an artist's eye - really - that he trailed the motions of her arms, toned from years of military training and swordfighting, watching the way her muscles flexed. His gaze would linger on the stances she would take with different weapons, watch her hands carefully for how she gripped weapons. He could tell at a glance how she was feeling from the way she stood, or slouched, or stretched, and when she might need a potion or a healing spell.

But sometimes what really drew his attention were Edea's hips and of course, her legs. They had been walking quite a long distance, and though she usually kept her legs covered, her form could be seen under her leggings. He'd just about fainted the first time Edea changed into the Spellfencer's costume, revealing pale skin just barely hidden by sheer cloth.

"I can see you watching," Edea snapped at him, before she changed back, her face red.

"You looked lovely, Edea," he replied cheerfully, mentally filing away how toned her thighs were, and how they tapered down to strong knees, shapely calves, surprisingly delicate feet. Ah, if only he were so lucky as to be stepped -

"And I can see you thinking!" She had apparently stomped over while he'd been lost in his daydreams and now stood dangerously close. Ringabel leaned back away from her, feeling heat spread across his cheeks and up his ears, one of which she tugged viciously. "Don't get any bright ideas in that empty head of yours."

"Of course not, my dear. That would be ungentlemanly." He waited until she had turned her back to him to rub at his ear, his eyes drifting once more to her legs as she stomped away.

Later, he might open the pages of a journal that he had tucked away in his belongings, more casual and nondescript than the tattered one he kept on his person at all times, that kept his sketches and scrawls while he attempted to see if muscle memory and what he hoped were years of practice could compensate for a complete and total loss of any artistic training.

With all that in mind, he should have been thrilled to see the woman don the Bravo Bikini, especially as she was doing it willingly, and of her own idea, but the sight of her legs, bare for all to see, made him uneasy.

"Perhaps a pair of leggings would go well with it," he suggested to her as he sat on the edge of the bed in the inn, watching her put on the finishing touches in the mirror.

"Are you serious? It's a bikini." She gave him a look via reflection. "Isn't this right up your alley?"

He found himself stammering, not certain how to explain to Edea that her skin - smooth and silky, with only the slightest hints of scars that betrayed how active a woman she truly was - didn't need to be bared on his behalf. He was sure she'd scoff at the idea, but it was his obsession with Dandy DeRosa's techniques that had led to his ill-thought decision.

"If you truly wish to do this, I won't stand in your way… though I confess I would prefer to see your legs in all their splendor in a more private - ow!" He couldn't quite mask the noise he made when she slapped him, and his face was red for an entirely different reason for the next hour or so as they staked out their prey.

Through it all, waiting for DeRosa to show up, Ringabel could not tear his eyes away from her skin. Her breasts were nice but modest, and he found he couldn't look at them for very long before his eyes naturally drifted away toward her hips and those legs. The stockings she wore only emphasized their loveliness, clinging to her thighs and digging in just enough to stay up… He whined a little in the back of his throat, causing Tiz to glance at him.

"Are you okay?" Tiz and Agnes both had been unable to look at Edea once she'd come out of the inn room, fully dressed (as it were), and even now the younger man's eyes were glued to a newspaper he'd found somewhere.

"I will be fine, Tiz. Thank you for your concern." He'd be fine as soon as Edea put on some proper clothes, he thought, and his eyes once again swept over her form.

Hours later, after the dust had settled and Fiore DeRosa lay dead at their feet, he knew just why he had been so unsettled by her exposure.

Edea looked so small in that bikini, so unsure and vulnerable. In the chill of the underground laboratory, she was under-dressed, and her arms wrapped around herself for warmth, goosebumps on her arms. Oh, how he longed to wrap his arms around her to help bring warmth back to her body, but instead, he stripped out of his jacket.

"Here. Just until we get to the inn," he said quietly, his hands firm but gentle as he wrapped it around her. Still warm from his own body, Edea didn't protest, but stuck her hands through the sleeves, though they were adorably large on her.

"Thanks," she said, and she even buttoned the top up to fully cover her torso, hiding the bikini top from view.

Ringabel stepped back to admire his handiwork and flushed, looking away and offering his hand to lead her back to the surface. While he couldn't see it, he hoped she was smiling when her fingers wrapped around his.

He just wished his jacket were long enough to cover her legs.