IMPORTANT NOTICE - I had to cut a sizable portion of the romance since this is the FanFiction version. The uncut version can be found on AO3!
Flora takes Keiji to hers and Felicia's bedroom in their childhood home. What follows is a heated and passionate exchange.
Heat
You awaken to the fire's crackling orange flames with a groggy yawn.
Very little light penetrates the window shutters to the side of you compared with earlier - a sure-fire sign that the sun is setting. As ever, you don't feel all too rested.
Exhaling quiet frustration over the fact, you glance leftward.
Flora still snuggles beside you with an arm linked through yours. Breathing outward gently, she opens her eyes and flashes you a small but no less soft smile.
"Did you rest well, Keiji?" the maid asks kindly.
"Sadly not, no." You shake your head. Then you smile thinly, reassurance so that Flora doesn't worry about you. "Fret not though, lacklustre sleep is all too common for me."
Flora frowns gently, regardless of your efforts to ensure the reverse. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is the cold too much for you?"
While it's certainly chilly in the house (even with the fire crackling) your coat staves off the worst of it. You chuckle thinly. "How Felicia and yourself don't feel weather such as this still eludes me. As I said though, worry not. I'll manage. I've gone into battle plenty of times while lacking good rest."
Flora's concerned look heightens a little bit. "And say something bad happens because you're short of alertness, what then?"
"A fair point." You exhale gently, bested. "But still, it isn't as though I have the luxury of resting much longer."
"You do, actually. The sun sets very slowly in these parts. It rises slowly in the mornings, too."
An interesting titbit of information. One you were clueless about until now. "How slowly, exactly?"
Tapping a finger against her chin, Flora ponders. "I'd say about two hours to rise in the mornings, and about the same when setting in the evenings. All in all, I don't think an extra hour's sleep risks hurting our plans at all."
Sleep's allure calls out to you: she's a tempting mistress. "That would be lovely, honestly. Though I don't rate my chances of relaxing all too highly."
Flora gives a short hum of understanding. Her deep blue eyes glint with curiosity thereafter. "Then pray tell, what would it take for you to rest soundly?"
You ponder the notion for a moment or two. "A fair hint of luck, given my frequent nightmares. And I suppose a nice warm bed wouldn't go amiss, either. Try as I might to ignore it, this place certainly isn't warm." You smile for Flora as not to upset her. "Even with you cuddled beside me as you are."
"Well, if that's the case..." Flora's cheeks pinken slightly. "...You could always rest in mine and Felicia's old room upstairs. There's a nice queen bed in there - the sort with thick feather quilts. There's a window overlooking the street, as well. That way, I can watch for any happenings while you rest." Raising a hand to her mouth, Flora yawns deeply. "Well, unless I doze off for a little while, too."
Saying you feel groggy after the long journey getting here is an understatement. Your urge to get warmed up makes your comrade's suggestion even more appealing. Lastly, is the danger factor. While this village is enemy territory, you have faith in Flora. She'd have your back were anything to go amiss during your brief respite period. If you both sleep, doing so with the candles blown out will draw little attention to the house as far as a passing Nohrian patrol is concerned. And beyond that, it isn't as though seen any soldiers walking the streets since you and your men arrived, anyway.
Decision made, you unthread your arm from Flora's middle and get to your feet with a short and groggy groan. "Alright then, you win. I could certainly do to rest a bit longer." You stretch out your arms and turn your neck from side to side to work out the tension from napping.
Flora too gets up from the large armchair. She then nods agreeably. "A fine plan, come on then." She walks over to the living room door and encourages you to follow with a short wave of her hand. "Upstairs we go."
You do as Flora asks and follow her out into the hall. You're then guided up the somewhat creaky staircase and onto a narrow landing. There's a closed doorway to the back of you, and an open door across the landing directly ahead. Above you, the ceiling beams are rather low and laced with cobwebs. If you were about another six inches taller than you'd likely bump your head. What's more, A faint waft of lavender incense colors the air - a welcome change from the slight musty scent of the downstairs living room.
Turning partway around, Flora offers a hand for you to take. You do just that and allow her to lead you across the landing and into the open room.
You cast your eyes across the living space into which you've been invited.
True to Flora's words, a queen-sized bed with an iron frame and headboard sits at the surprisingly wide room's middle, albeit pulled slightly away from the back wall. An exceptionally thick patchwork quilt of several different grey hues covers it: a single (and somewhat large) pale blue snowflake is stitched into the bedding's centre. Bedside tables made of varnished wood sit at both the left and right-hand sides of the bed's headboard. Each is of a middling height and has three draws with bronzed handles. A partway burned purple candle with sits atop the right-hand table in a plain iron holder; its flame is a vibrant and powerful orange. Likely a magical candle, given its intensity. And a lavender-infused one, to boot. A pale blue handkerchief is folded neatly bedside it.
You raise your eyes - there is a small and slightly frosted glass window about a foot or so above the bed. Pale orangey light shines through on account of the setting sun.
A dust covered wooden trunk occupies the corner furthest from the bed and the door. A small pile of old children's dresses sits atop of it. They appear faded from both lack of attention and time. What looks to be an old wash bucket sits leftwards of the trunk and old clothes. A chunk of soap folded in a cloth flannel is next to it. To the trunk's left is a rickety-looking and cobweb covered chair. A trio of spiders scuttle across it, the insects having long since made the piece of furniture their home.
"Here it is, mine and Felicia's childhood bedroom," Flora comments with warmth and fondness to her voice. She releases your hand, steps back a couple of feet, and shuts the door. Moving ahead of you again, she folds her arms behind her back and smiles somewhat shyly. "I know it isn't much, but I hope you like it all the same."
You whistle, honestly impressed by the room's size and the inviting looking bed. "I most certainly do." You walk over to the bed and sit down on the edge. The mattress is wonderfully soft - far softer than even Lady Corrin's bed in her treehouse home. "What I would've given for a room as large as this when I was growing up in Hoshido." You smile fondly, memories of your childhood home flashing through your thoughts. "Though I suppose you did have to share this place with Felicia, didn't you?"
"Indeed, I did," Flora answers, joining you by the bed and sitting down next to you. Her expression alight with fondness, she loops her arm through yours. Sighing contentedly, she then rests her head of cool blue hair against your shoulder. "...This room used to belong to our parents. After mother passed, though..." Flora pauses and smiles somewhat painfully. "...Father was all too happy with giving it to us."
Knowing the pain of losing a parent all too well, you draw Flora closer to you with a small hug. "You really care about this village, I sense it."
"More than any other place in the world," Flora replies adamantly, taking your free hand into hers and gently squeezing your fingers. She then gazes into your eyes with tenderness and compassion. "My childhood memories of this place are some of my most precious. And unlike sister with her oftentimes patchy remembrance, I seldom forget things. Tis both a blessing and a curse."
Flora unthreads her fingers from yours and gently pats the bed. "For example, this is the very bed Sister and I brought you to after pulling you from the frozen river that day."
Your eyes widen a touch. "It is...?"
"Umm-hmm." Flora nods. "Felicia and myself stayed by your side all night and into the following morning, until you woke. Our father came and went from time to time, too. He used his magic to aid in your recovery." Flora looks to the head of the bed. "Felicia kneeled by the bedside table on the left - she held your hand all night long. All the while, I sat on the little stool by our old clothes trunk in the corner and watched everything unfold." Flora looks again to you. "...When you finally awoke, I felt relief unlike any other I'd felt before or since. Although we were simple children, Sister and I had saved a life."
Overwhelmed by realization, your heart kicks hard in your chest for an instant. You smile graciously, lean in, and kiss Flora's cheek. "Then I suppose my returning here makes perfect sense. You and Felicia rescued me from death as a boy. Now, my men and I will finally grant your people the freedom you deserve."
"Y-Yes, you will. Flora pulls her gaze from yours, her cheeks burning a deep and powerful hue of red. The maid then throws wraps both her arms around your middle and squeezes you with all the strength she can "...I want more than that though, Keiji... I want far, far more... More than I know I can ever have."
Your heartbeat heightens into a thunderous chorus amidst Flora's immense closeness. Your face heats, too. Given the sweet but sinful kiss you and she shared recently, you have a good idea as to the meaning behind her words. Cupping her reddened cheek, you lean close to her ear and whisper, "...You want me, I take it?"
"I do, I really do," Flora coos, her tone laced with shameful heat. "I want you to treasure me like you treasure Sister. Even if it's only once, I can live with that."
Notions of disrobing Flora flash through your thoughts - each is a pleasurable internal canvas for your amorous enjoyment. You imagine trailing gentle kisses down the nape of her neck, an arm wrapping her waist whilst your other hand unties the drawstrings keeping her maid's dress securely fastened.
Slinking into your lap and pressing a palm to your cheek, Flora tears you from thoughts most delicious. Her breaths are short and her usually pale complexion burns the deepest red you've ever seen.
"Please, Keiji?" Flora pleads heatedly and desperately. "...I've spent my whole life in servitude to others. Now, I want something for myself - something nobody can take from me." Her intimate desires made clear; your beloved childhood friend presses her lips to yours. With fire. With longing unlike anything you've felt in the longest time. Her red-hot passion surges through you and melts away your defences.
You surrender yourself to the passion in-turn. Pressing your mouth to Flora's with equal intensity, you deepen the kiss further. Both of you moan with immense satisfaction as you do so. Every fibre of your being swells as though consumed by a flash fire - a radiant contrast to the icy place in which you find yourself. Unwilling to surrender her moment's bliss, Flora slips her tongue into your mouth. Knotting it with yours, she presses her fingertips into the fabric of your shirt. Lust a mutual mistress, the two of you gorge upon one another.
A second slips away. Two. Three. Four. Five. And untangling your tongues, Flora parts her mouth from yours with a messy smack of the lips.
Tangled up in one another, Flora and yourself pant for breath. Seconds pass and the passion cools, if only slightly.
A shred of poise regained; you gaze deeply into Flora's blue eyes - two immense oceans. "As sinful as I feel, I'd like to continue..." you confess.
Nervousness glints in Flora's eyes for but a moment. "...All the way, you mean?" she asks in a soft and slightly nervous voice.
Her fears aren't lost to you. "Are you not ready?"
"N-No, it isn't that. I'm ready, more than you could ever know. Just... be patient with me, alright?"
"I'll be your first, I take it?"
Flora shakes her head and pecks your cheek sweetly. "No, my second. My first..." Flora spares a small, quick frown. "...He wasn't very gentle with me, and a part of me sincerely regrets letting the fool have his way with me those handful of times. But I was younger - filled with desires, and you hadn't come back into my life yet." A look of immense regret tarnishes Flora's pretty features following her admission.
Regret you believe she needn't hold onto any longer. "We all make mistakes, Flora. I know that all too well, both in matters of love and war."
"You're right, I know you are, Keiji. But still..." Flora sighs. Then she pecks your lips. "...I only wish I'd waited for you, that's all."
"We don't act with foresight," you chuckle somewhat bleakly. Eager to set Flora's woes to rest, you gently run your fingers through her icy blue locks. "What matters most is how we deal with things in the moment. Right now, you and I are together. And should you want me, I'm all yours," you finish at a whisper in the twin's ear.
"Y-Yes please," the maid utters tenderly, a shiver racing through her. "Be mine, please."
"As you ask of me, good lady."
You press you mouth to Flora's once again.
Both Felicia and Flora adore you. Tis only fair that you treat the twin siblings equally.
As bare as the day you were born, you lay tangled together beneath the sheets with Flora. Her legs wrapping your back, you make spirited and empowered thrusts inside of her.
"Y-Yes, Keiji! Please, more!" your beloved whines, her eyes hazy with lustful yearnings.
Eager to please, you cup Flora's cheek lock your lips with hers - then you press your hips to hers again. Flora moans gluttonously into your mouth in reward.
Pleasure building, you keep up a smooth pace. Each thrust sees passion's yearnings swell inside you with greater intensity; Flora's heat and warmth are simply sublime.
Lips separating with a sloppy smack, Flora cries out softly - gifts for every push you make.
"You feel amazing, Flora..." you praise at an erotic whisper.
This moment - frozen time - is a moment you and Flora will treasure for the rest of your lives.
Energy seeping away, you slump exhaustedly atop Flora.
Tied as one in a sweaty, sticky mess, the two of you pant raggedly for a good short time.
Minutes pass in blissful silence.
Silence broken by Flora breathing inward and releasing a delighted sigh. "...That was amazing, Keiji..." She clumsily kisses the nape of your neck in thanks.
"...It certainly was," you agree tiredly, peeling yourself from Flora and pecking her lips. "Though I definitely need some sleep now," you add with a weak chuckle.
"Hmm, I bet you do," your lover titters gently. Leaning close, the maid steals your lips in another quick kiss. "I'll go pee, then I'll get dressed and keep watch until sundown," she says afterward, easing back.
Energy reserves well and truly spent, you fall against the mattress and let your head sink into a plush feather pillow. You then close your eyes. "Sounds good. Wake me if there's any trouble, alright?"
Flora kisses the bridge of your nose. "I will. For now, though, you sleep, my gallant hero."
You snicker at the compliment, opening an eye. "Gallant, eh? You're sure you aren't mixing me up with someone else?"
"No, not at all," Flora giggles. "You're more than I could ever ask for, Keiji."
Having doubled down on her kind words, Flora pulls back the covers and swings her legs over the side of the bed. She gets to her feet and then neatly folds the covers back over.
You shut your eye. Sleep's weight descends. An angel's song, it lulls you deeper and deeper into its wonderful grasp.
You'll soon liberate the Ice Tribe Village. But first, a little rest.
To be continued...
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