"Ananias!" Inigo cried, enthusiastically wrapping his arm around Ananias' shoulders and grinning widely. "Just the man I wanted to see!"
Ananias disinterestedly looked Inigo over from head to toe, sighed, looked at Inigo, and asked, "The usual?"
Inigo let out a lighthearted and carefree laugh. "Aw, come on! A man can't be content with the company of another man without there being an ulterior motive behind it?"
Ananias did not look convinced. "No, but this is you we're talking about."
Realizing that the jig was up, Inigo sighed, took his arm off of Ananias' shoulders, shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose shamefacedly, and said, "Okay fine, you got me. I didn't want to admit this, but…," he placed his hands on his hips, looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath, and exhaled heavily, before looking back at Ananias, and saying, "I need your help."
Ananias let out an exasperated sigh before folding his arms and asking, "With what?"
Before Inigo answered Ananias' question, he quickly looked around to make sure that no one could possibly listen in on their conversation, and cautiously whispered, "With getting a date."
Ananias' eyes narrowed skeptically. "What?" he asked.
Inigo nodded his head frantically. "With getting a date," he repeated. He angrily pressed his index finger against Ananias' chest. "And don't you ever make me say that out loud again!"
Ananias gently removed Inigo's finger off of his chest and deadpanned, "I'm honored that you think I can help you with that, but what makes you think that I can help you with that?"
"Are you kidding me?" Inigo cried louder than he initially would have wanted. "Every girl who lays eyes you is smitten with you!"
Ananias raised an eyebrow slightly in genuine surprise. "Really? I never really noticed."
Inigo nodded. "Yeah, well, I do! And it's driving me crazy!" He folded his arms and he shook his head disapprovingly. "Honestly, it doesn't make any sense! We're not that different when it comes to looks, but while your looks make you the talk of the town, my looks do nothing but make me look good!"
Ananias was tempted to point out that, if one ignored all of the obvious examples and looked closely enough, he and Inigo were still fairly different in terms of physical features, but ultimately decided not to, as the state Inigo was currently in made him hard to reason with (or, more appropriately, harder to reason with), especially whenever it came to a subject he was highly opinionated on. Instead, Ananias scratched the back of his head sheepishly, blushed lightly, and said, "Yeah, well, they've obviously never had a conversation with me before. One good conversation with me and all of their fantasies would be crushed in one fell swoop."
"I know, right?!" Inigo cried. "You're the blandest guy I know!" Realizing the insensitivity of his statement, Inigo immediately winced and said, "No offense."
Ananias simply shook his head. "None taken."
Inigo sighed. "It's just… there's so many great things about me, you know?" He let out a laugh as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "It makes a guy wonder what he's doing wrong." He then grinned. "And since you gave me such great advice the last time I shared my woes with you, I thought I'd try my luck with you a second time around."
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "I'm flattered, but my point still stands. If I could help you, I would, but I can't. Don't want to cause a 'blind leading the blind' situation, you know?"
"Aw, come on!" Inigo begged. "I'll try anything, anything!"
Ananias' eyes widened even further. "Anything?" he asked incredulously.
Inigo nodded. "Anything! Seriously man, nothing I do works! No matter how much I compliment them on their beauty, they never seem to want to go out on a date with me!"
"Then why don't you stop complimenting them on their beauty?" Ananias simply asked.
Inigo simply gawked at him, slack-jawed and horrified for a moment, before screeching, "Are you insane?!"
Ananias sheepishly shrugged. "It's just… if it's not working out for you, then why don't you try something else?"
Inigo held his chin as he carefully thought over Ananias' point. "Like what?"
Ananias shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe skip all of the complimenting and just ask them out? Like, stop beating around the bush and just get it over with?"
Inigo smirked. "What?" He folded his arms as he chuckled at Ananias' naïve suggestion. "Why would I do that? Everybody loves compliments! Why wouldn't I give them out to ladies who deserve them?"
Ananias sighed. Just as he had expected, despite Inigo saying how desperate he was and how open he was to new approaches to obtaining dates, Inigo had no actual intention of changing his strategy. "Well then I can't help you. Anything past that would be stepping outside of my level of expertise. Sorry."
"Hey, we can't just give up now!" Inigo cried. "My love life is at stake here!"
Ananias folded his arms sternly. "Look, if I could help you, I would, but I can't. I've got no experience when it comes to this sort of thing. None of my advice would hold any water."
"But you've just got to help me out man!" Inigo pleaded. "You've just gotta!"
Ananias sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. "Well then what do you propose I do to help you then?"
"Well…," Inigo said, holding his chin as his mind raced furiously to find any semblance of a credible idea. When he finally found one, he grinned and snapped his fingers triumphantly. "I've got it!"
One of Ananias' eyebrows rose in disbelief. "You do?"
Inigo smiled jubilantly. "Yep!" He made his way around Ananias and began pushing him towards town.
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "Inigo? What are you doing?" he asked as he allowed Inigo to direct him towards town.
Inigo laughed. "Taking you to town with me!" he answered. "If we're going to have dates by the end of today, then we're going to need to start searching for them now!"
"Dates?! We?!" Ananias asked, panicking a bit from still being relatively kept in the dark about Inigo's intentions and not particularly liking where this was going. "What are you talking about?"
He stopped pushing Ananias and wrapped his arm around Ananias' shoulders. "You, my good friend, are going to be my wingman."
Ananias' eyes widened with disbelief. "Wingman?!"
Inigo nodded. "Yep!" He grinned confidently. "You're going to help me get a date, and as thanks for all of your help, I'm going to help you do the same! It's the least I can do!"
"But I don't want a date!"
"Well then, I'll just have to pay you back some other way! But one way or another, you're going to be my wingman!"
Ananias simply stared at Inigo's expectant face in disbelief for a while before releasing an exasperated sigh and mumbling, "Fine… I'll do it."
"I have your word?"
Ananias nodded. "You have my word," he murmured.
Inigo grinned. "Thanks man, I promise to pay you back! And as you know, Inigo always keeps his promises!" He gave Ananias' shoulder an amiable shake. "Just like a certain somebody I know, right?"
Ananias sighed as he nodded his head. "Yeah, sure, but… what's a wingman exactly? And why me of all people?"
Inigo grinned. "A wingman is someone who makes his friend look good, especially if there are ladies involved!" he explained. "Basically what I'm asking you to do is to help sell me."
Ananias' eyes widened horrifically. "Wait, what?!"
Inigo laughed triumphantly. "You heard me. If there's one person who can make me look like the biggest catch in the sea, it's the son of a renowned merchant family! Time for you to go sell some ladies an Inigo! And even by the off chance that you can't, with your bland personality compared to mine, I think my chances of getting a date are at the very least doubled!"
"Inigo, you're making a mistake!" Ananias said, struggling to release himself from Inigo's grasp. "I may be the son of an Anna, but I can't sell to save my life!"
"Aw, look at you, trying to get out of something you've already sworn you were going to do," Inigo said. "Come on Ananias, chop chop! We can't keep all of the ladies waiting!"
Ananias gulped nervously as he allowed himself to be led into town. "This isn't going to end well," he mumbled, shaking his head in trepidation for the events that were about to unfold.
Author's Note #1: Considering the fact that Brady's appearance might scare away most girls, Gerome and Laurent probably not wanting to risk getting involved with such things, Owain being... Owain, and Yarne being of a completely different species, Ananias seems like the best candidate for being the heartthrob of the group, doesn't he? And if any of you are wondering about Tan'bay, well... let's just say that girls can take one look at him and realize just how full of himself he is. Granted, just like Ananias said, a normal conversation with him would probably turn most girls off of him instantly, but compared to everyone else, he's probably the easiest in terms of approachability with the opposite sex.
Author's Note #2: The order of the supports are as follows: Severa, Anna, Female Robin, Male Robin, Father, Tan'bay, Lucina, Gerome, Nah, Cynthia, Noire, Kjelle, Zephyra, Lumaria, Yarne, Laurent, Brady.
