Gaius was fine living the way he was, but when the red-haired genius confronted him about how he dressed, he couldn't have been more peeved. He thought he looked fine and when she kept pestering him, he just gave in and let her do as she pleased.
She kept nagging him over and over, feeding him bits and pieces of advice for laundry and smelling nice and how to look "presentable". The list goes on and on.
"Halt Gaius!"
The thief froze and for a moment, thought about bolting into the next tent or even the forest to escape this conundrum. But he could already see her form moving quickly towards him; her armor was on for once, shiny and polished. He drew in a breath and steeled himself for her nitpicking behavior.
"Well, hello Mother." He held back on the name as he could feel her eyes on him.
"Gaius." She greeted him in a neutral tone, stopping just a couple steps away from him. "Are you wearing the same clothes from yesterday?"
Cripes, here we go. "Sure. But if they were clean yesterday, there's no harm in wearing it an extra day right?"
"And have you combed your hair?"
"Crivens woman, why do you care so much? Do you treat everyone like this or am I just a special case?"
"No, just you." She scoffs, placing her hands on her hips. "Have you washed your hair lately?"
"Well, I did stick my head in a horse trough a couple days ago, if that counts." Gaius reminisced on that day as he and Chrom went out to the nearby town and drank him under the table. A good day to get that noble into some sort of mischief.
"Good heavens," Cordelia sighed. "Come here, we're going to trim your hair. It's beginning to look shaggy. And don't even think about running, I have my pegasus saddled and ready to go."
Gaius went with her reluctantly, not wanting to get stomped on by a horse today. When she entered her tent, he could smell a soft scent of lily of the valley wafting out from inside her tent. Or was it hyacinth? She returned with a chair and set it down beside her tent, gesturing for him to sit down in it. He slouched in the chair, while she wrapped a cloth around his neck. He gripped about how his looks don't affect anyone and that he likes his hair in a certain way. Cordelia had already paid heed to his words and was already snipping away.
She tried making conversation with him, answering his retort and telling him that he was Chrom's most staunch ally. Why she threw in that sentence had confused him at first, but it made him feel prideful. Being a staunch ally was boastful enough, but if she had decided to play this game, then he shall abide.
Cordelia's motherly character makes Gaius question if he likes her or not. He had never felt or received motherly love and that makes him confused. He realizes that he may be in love with her when she gives him a haircut for the third time. She had beckoned him over as Stahl was leaving from his appointment with her, claiming that his hair grew faster than anyone she had ever seen. She already knew how he liked it and he was ready with one of his whittling knives and a piece of wood he was carving for Nowi. She requested one made of her in her dragon form, spewing fire from her mouth. When he sat down, Cordelia immediately got to work. Her fingers slid through his hair so easily and her voice was so soothing when she spoke to him. She asked the daily questions: how was his week going? Has he been on any patrols to the nearest town? What is he making this time?
Gaius felt his stomach turn, do a somersault, and then settle, before doing it again. He had to question it at first, but shook it off, thinking nothing of it. It didn't take long for her to appear in his dreams and his head began swarming with explicit thoughts.
He may be slick about hiding his feelings, but he secretly likes to spend time with her and sneaks desserts or sweets into her knapsack whenever he can. (He does this with others but leaves extra for her). He visits her whenever he has free time, joking around and using cheesy lines to sway her.
He isn't sure if she was catching on to what he was doing. He felt so obvious! Throughout the next months, the two bantered back and forth. Cordelia checked up on him whenever he passed her by and Gaius came to bother her whenever he saw her in the kitchen or the training grounds. When she would go through the motions of a mock fight, Gaius couldn't take his eyes off her. Her motions were as graceful as a waltz and as exact to where he could feel the blow from where he sat.
When she was done, he would clap and whistle for her. At first, it was sarcastic, but he soon gazed upon her in awe. He would think about her at random times and in a fit of anxiety, he went to one of his closest confidants and tried to get advice from him.
"Just do what you normally do," He chuckled, leafing through his book. "She should like you for who you are. You shouldn't push or pull-as they say, patience is a virtue."
Gaius was stumped. The advice was too…sage..ey. How could he win the love of the most perfect knight who was in love with a prince? He was lower than that. He decided from that day on, he'll make more of an effort. For her!
Then disaster struck, their friend and chief tactician was taken away from them. Everyone was grieving and depressed. During gray days, Cordelia would visit him and the two of them would sit together in silence. The presence comforting the both of them.
Eventually, things got better. Everyone started to go on with their lives. Some handle grief through training or battling with the Risen or enemies. Gaius tried not to think about the day it happened, going off and finding his own confectionery treats while he drank away in town with most of the men. Gaius knew that Cordelia was close with him and made sure to check up on her from time to time. Her motherly affection began to show and she treated everyone with even more care than before, her anxiety and worry showing across her face. Once during a surprise attack in the middle of the night, she made sure to go directly to him and pressed an extra vulnerary in his hand as he left to fight the nearby Risen, squeezing his hand tight before letting go.
"Be safe."
Her words were soft and, even in the dark, he could tell that her eyes were red from crying. He wanted to say something to her, but before he could, she had already torn away from him to help put out a nearby fire that was making its way to camp. He made sure to be extra careful that night.
The new addition of the shepherds made him sure that something was going to happen. They were set to go to Regna Foxx with the Exalt of Ylisse. He made sure to stay closer than ever to Cordelia. His heart almost had an attack when he almost watched her get crushed by the stone golem.
He was lucky the new tactician knew her stuff.
After their arrival to Regna Feroxx, Gaius went on a venture to the local market. He was lucky that there was a tournament happening, that's when the vendors shell out the best items. He found a pretty ribbon that a woman was selling, claiming that it had a good-luck charm embedded into its fibers. Its price was high, but he had some saved money from the last time he went on a mission.
He gifted the present to her later that night when she came to tell him about her entering the tournament. He told her it would bring good luck and that he would cheer her on from the crowds.
When he finally realizes his love for her, he becomes nervous. What if she was still in love with Chrom? Will she ever accept him? On impulse, he forges a ring, specifically made just for her. The band made of pure silver with a pegasus wing flowing onto one side, crested with a small ruby in the middle. He knew that the ring would accent her hair and armor perfectly. Every time he saw her, his heart ached. He had hoped to tell her his feelings before anything disastrous, but he felt that it wasn't the time yet.
When Robin instructed him to come onto the battlefield to defeat Grangrel, he felt nervous and his gut was flipping. He had never felt so worried about a battle before, but then again, this was a battle that could end the war between Ylisse and Plegia.
Gaius was always skulking around and that made Cordelia nervous. She couldn't trust him, even if Chrom made the call to bring him in. When she heard that he began to take Chrom out on the town, she began to worry more and more.
What if people thought Chrom was taking in miscreants and wrong-doers without knowing?! (He was.) When she finally had the upper hand and pointed out his clothes, he said she must have "fancied" him. The audacity! She was never more repulsed. He had run away from the conversation, causing her to become more furious than she ever could have imagined.
Early one morning, she spotted him near where the pegasus and horses were tied up. He looked like he had just risen up out of bed and only wore his undershirt, save for his glove pieces. She was about to approach him when he had suddenly dunked his head in a water trough. This startled her to the point where she could only stare and watch what his next move was. After drowning himself for a solid second, he finally came back up for air. Cordelia didn't know how to feel when she watched him slick his hair back and watched the water drip down his face. She didn't want to admit it, but she felt something.
After that, she made it her personal goal to make him look as if he came from high society; going to give him haircuts and washing his clothes and giving him tips on how to get sticky messes out. She had given him the excuse that he was one of Chrom's staunchest allies, but in truth, she just wanted to give him an excuse to behave more.
Life seemed simple, but war is not. Cordelia was there when she saw him go. They had lost their best warrior, tactician, and to most of them, a friend.
She leaned on Gaius more than ever then. She felt the safest when she was with him.
She found that his company was enjoyable and his teasing had grown on her. She grows out of her crush of Chrom and grows to like Gaius, finding hidden feelings at one point.
She didn't know why he was the first person she thought of when they were ambushed. She had unconsciously gone to him first and gave him her last vulnerary, uttering those words she would repeat in her head before she would go to sleep. She felt like a teenager all over again.
Despite her feelings for Gaius, she was completely oblivious to his own feelings towards her. She would always be too busy to notice him as she tried to distract herself from her feelings with chores and training. And even, when she would forget about him, he would be there calling her name and cheering her on.
Her heart fluttered every time he was there.
When he gifted her that gorgeous orange ribbon, she couldn't contain her happiness. She immediately put her hair up with the ribbon and felt extremely giddy for the rest of the tournament. When she won, she was sure Gaius was watching her and giving good luck. From then on, she had made up her mind to pursue him.
But war and time is fickle and the two of them were thrown into the midst of it. When she found him in the middle of the battlefield, wounded and on the brink of death, she would feel indescribable wrath. She cut down many enemies that got in her way and saved the poor man before a swordsman could deal the last blow.
To Gaius, she was his savior. An angel that had given him another chance in life. As they had made it to the medic tent, Gaius was placed down on a stretcher and held Cordelia's hand tightly.
"Cor…come closer…" His voice was gruff and dry. "I…I need to…tell you something."
Tears welled up in Cordelia's eyes and she shook her head vigorously. He gave a faint smile and took out of his pocket the ring he made for her. It shone brightly in the light, dazzling many around them. Cordelia stared slack-jawed at the ring, tears falling down her face. Before she could say anything, he slipped it on her finger. It was a perfect size.
"I love you Cordelia." Gaius pulled on her hands, his own eyes pricked with tears. "You've captured my heart and soul. You've never given up on me and I want to be by your side forever and I won't ever give up on you either."
Cordelia tried to keep her composure, but his confession was filling her heart and emotions. She broke out in a sob, clutching his hands tightly.
"Will you…marry me?"
"Yes." Cordelia's response was immediate and she spoke so softly to him.
With that, the two shared their first kiss. Gaius soon fainted from blood loss as he was being tended to. All the while Cordelia stayed by his side the entire time, never letting go of his hand once.