Severa let out an exasperated sigh. "Ugh, fine!" she cried, throwing her hands up in frustration, but immediately slamming the design she had just shown Ananias back down onto the pile of designs sitting on her lap and rummaging through them once more, fully determined not to let Ananias' unusual stubbornness get the better of her. "How about this then?!" she asked, taking a design out of the pile and holding it directly in front of Ananias' face, forcing him to look at it, which was a bit unnecessary considering the fact that he was Severa's official assistant and all. When she didn't get an immediate response, she grumbled, before adding, "Well, what do you think? Do you think it'll look good on me or not?!"

Much to Severa's irritation, Ananias simply shrugged, and nonchalantly answered, "Sure, if you think that it'll look good on you, then why not?"

"Gawds!" Severa cried, loud enough to make anyone who was unfortunate enough to hear it understandably jump up in surprise, especially if they were sitting right next to her like Ananias was, but, amazingly enough, Ananias completely no-sold it, calmly, and borderline apathetically, watching Severa as she angrily and violently grumbled to herself about how impossible Ananias was. He had seen Severa get like this plenty of times before and this was no exception, especially considering the fact that he and Severa had done this exact same dance over and over for the last couple of minutes or so. In all honesty, he couldn't see how anyone could be acquainted with Severa, let alone be friends with her, if they couldn't find their own way of dealing with this side of her personality, especially if one knew her for as long as he did. Just let her get angry, keep your mouth shut, and speak only when asked to, and if you are ever asked to, speak as honestly as you possibly can, because if Severa ever found out you had lied to her to her face, you'd be better off getting killed by a group of unarmed Risen than facing her.

"It's a yes or no question Ananias!" Severa continued to rant. "You either like the design or you don't! There's no 'sure' about it! What the hell kind of answer is 'sure' anyway! That's like, the most spineless answer I've ever heard! Is that what you're trying to tell me Ananias, huh?! Are you trying to tell me that you're spineless and that you don't have an opinion on anything, is that it?!"

Ananias, despite the harsh and biting words and accusations directed towards him, took Severa's words surprisingly well and simply shook his head before answering, "No, but -"

Severa quickly, firmly, and angrily placed her index finger over Ananias' lips, successfully forcing them shut as she looked Ananias directly in the eye and dangerously whispered, "I don't care how 'unqualified' you think you are. I want your opinion, and by Naga, I'm going to get it from you if it's the last thing I do."

Ananias gave her a confused look before gently removing Severa's finger from his lips and asking, "Um… why?"

Severa rolled her eyes and sighed as if the answer was obvious. "Because you're my assistant you dolt!" she answered matter-of-factly, flicking Ananias' forehead with her finger, which did little to actually irritate the pokerfaced trickster.

Ananias rubbed his fingers tenderly over the spot Severa had flicked him before letting out a weary sigh and monotonously and calmly asking, "They why don't you just get yourself a new assistant who'll give you an opinion? Or better yet, why don't you just get yourself a new assistant who's more qualified and interested in fashion than I am?"

Much to Ananias' surprise, Severa seemed hesitant to answer those particular questions, shuffling her feet and fidgeting nervously as she folded her arms defensively, blushed lightly, averted her eyes away from Ananias' gaze, and answered, "B-Because…."

When Severa didn't immediately elaborate, Ananias raised an eyebrow slightly in mild surprise, and decided to help give her a little push. "Um… because what?" he asked.

"Because… because…."

"Because because what?"

"…Because."

"Because what?"

Realizing that Ananias was not going to let up for a moment, and also realizing that, in a game of chicken, Ananias had more of an advantage than she ever would, Severa's mind raced furiously in order to come up with a plausible excuse to cover up the real reason for why she had wanted him to be her assistant. When one supposedly came to her, she answered, "Because if I could get a positive reaction from you, then that must mean that I had made something pretty good, you know?"

Ananias pondered over the logic of that explanation for a second before nodding his head understandingly and replying, "Well, I guess I can see the logic behind that." Just as Severa was about to heave a sigh of relief, Ananias added, "But honestly, I like your designs."

Severa quickly whipped her head around to look at Ananias, with a small, astonished gasp escaping from her lips. "Do you… do you really mean that?" she asked, holding her breath as she awaited Ananias' answer.

Ananias nodded. "Yeah, every last one of them. They're all really unique. Kind of like you."

Severa blushed as she averted her eyes away from Ananias. "You...," she hung her head as she sheepishly shuffled her feet, "you really mean that? You really think that I'm…," she played with one of her ponytails, "unique?"

"Well, you're not exactly typical, you know?" Ananias answered matter-of-factly. "But that's not the point." He stood up and looked the surprised Severa dead in the eye. "You're not going to get any better at this if you're constantly around a guy who likes your stuff, no matter how horrible they might actually be," he explained as gently as he possibly could. "I seriously think that you should get a more qualified assistant, for your sake." He then began making his way out of the tent.

"Wait a second, just where are you going?!" Severa asked, putting the pile of papers on the floor as she stood up.

Ananias rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before answering, "I'm… resigning from my position as your assistant. You deserve better help, and you're not going to get it from someone who doesn't feel qualified giving you the help you want." When he saw how hurt she was from this development, he averted his eyes away from her gaze and softly added, "This is probably for the best." He gave Severa a small wave goodbye. "I'll be cheering for you."

He was about to leave the tent, but stopped once he, much to his surprise, saw that Severa had ran up to him, wrapped her arms around him, and was actively preventing him from leaving. "You idiot! I don't want another assistant!" Severa cried, her voice cracking as she shook her head. "I wanted you to be my assistant! Didn't I make that obvious enough for you?!"

Ananias shook his head pathetically. "Yeah, but -"

"I don't care what anyone else's opinions are!" Severa cried. "I've only ever cared about yours!"

Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… what?"

Severa forcefully turned him around and lightly slapped his chest, giving him a look of disapproval and annoyance. "You know what I said!" she hissed.

Ananias didn't really know what to say after that. All he could really muster was a, "But… why?"

Severa blushed and averted her eyes to the side before quietly explaining, "How else was I supposed to get your attention if I didn't even know what your taste in fashion was? After all," she pulled the ends of her usual attire, "you've already made it pretty clear that you're not interested in the way I am now, with me being dressed like this all the time and all."

"What?" Ananias asked in disbelief, so much disbelief, in fact, that even Severa heard it, causing her to look back at Ananias, her eyes widening in surprise from hearing so much emotion coming from her usually bland and deadpan friend. Ananias placed his hands gently on Severa's shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Severa, how could you say that?" he asked. "You're beautiful. It doesn't matter if you're wearing this or that dress you made me wear the other day, you'd look beautiful no matter what! And how could you say that I'm not interested in you when you're literally one of the most interesting people I've ever met?"

Severa couldn't believe her ears. Was she dreaming? "R-Really?" she asked, blushing slightly as she bashfully averted her eyes to the side. "You really think that I'm one of the most interesting people you've ever met? Like, in a good way, and not in the mean, ironic sense?"

Ananias thought it over for a bit. "Well," he sheepishly said, "maybe both."

Severa gasped. "Excuse me?!" she cried, giving Ananias a look of utter disbelief at the prospect of him even thinking that saying something like that to a girl was even a modicum of a good idea.

Realizing his mistake, Ananias quickly added, "But even when it's in the bad way, I'm still interested in you in the good way, so you could say that I'm REALLY interested in you if I'm willing to overlook all of your negatives, right?"

Severa released an irritable huff and shrugged. "I guess," she said. She then gave Ananias another disapproving look, crossed her arms angrily, and asked, "But if you were always so interested in me, then why didn't you bring it up until now, huh?!"

Ananias let go of Severa's shoulders and simply shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I've always sort of thought that you didn't care for me."

"Well newsflash you idiot!" Severa cried, clearly upset that Ananias had thought of her in such a way. "I did, alright?!" She blushed as she averted her eyes to the side once more. "Yeah, sure, sometimes you can get on my nerves like you wouldn't believe, but," she looked shyly back at him, "that doesn't stop me from… loving you the way I do."

Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… what?"

Severa was going to have none of that. "You know what I said!" she cried, slapping Ananias on the chest multiple times to express her frustration towards her friend's denseness. "Honestly, are you trying to rub it in or something?"

"N-No, of course not," Ananias reassured, raising his hands up to further quell the mercenary's worries. "If anything," he smiled, "I'm glad. The person I love who I thought actually hated me actually loves me back. If anything, I'm trying to rub it in on me, you know?"

Severa thought about it for a moment before finally smiling herself. "Yeah, I guess that's one thing I wouldn't mind being shoved into my face from time to time."

Ananias folded his arms and sighed thoughtfully. "Still doesn't seem real though," he mused.

"W-Well it's not like we confessed in a way people normally do it, you know?" Severa pointed out, blushing lightly.

A blush of equal intensity appeared on Ananias' face as he nodded his head in agreement. "Y-Yeah, I guess that has something to do with it." The two stood there awkwardly for a little while before Ananias asked, "So, um… you want a redo it then? The confessions, I mean."

Severa let out an annoyed and embarrassed huff. "I don't think that's how it normally works Ananias."

Ananias nodded his agreement. "Yeah, but we're not exactly normal, you know?"

Severa thought it over for a bit before letting out another embarrassed and irritated huff. "Fine," she groaned. "So," she blushed a bit and averted her eyes to the side once again, "you want to go first?"

Ananias blushed. "Um… okay, sure." He took a moment to recompose himself before awkwardly walking up to Severa, awkwardly taking a hold of her hands, and awkwardly saying, "Severa… I've loved you… since the moment I first met you."

Severa, blushing furiously, once again turned her eyes away from Ananais' gaze, and murmured, "Y-Yeah, same here."

For a moment, the two of them just stood there, unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do next. Then, they looked at each other, and, realizing just how ridiculous and awkward they were acting, started laughing; the laughter started off soft and intimate before growing into that of what you'd normally hear after hearing somebody tell someone a good joke. They laughed and laughed until the laughter finally subsided, and Ananias asked, "Better?"

Severa nodded her head and smiled radiantly. "Better." She then frowned, shook her head, and said, "But Gawds are we hopeless."

Ananias simply shrugged. "As long as it's just the two of us, I think I can live with that."

Severa smiled. "Now there's something we can both agree on."


Ending: Ananias and Severa

Ananias became the official messenger between the multitudes of Annas. While his relatives aggravated Severa to no end, the time they spent traveling together had made the two inseparable.


Author's Note #1: That's nice and all guys, but the whole "qualified assistant" problem still stands. Ah well, they'll figure that out eventually.

Author's Note #2: And there you have it folks, the end of Severa's supports with Ananias! Hope you liked it! It's was fun, but now, we're finally going to get some mother and son bonding with Anna's supports. Following Anna's supports will be Female Robin, Male Robin, Father, Tan'bay, Lucina, Gerome, Nah, Cynthia, Noire, Kjelle, Zephyra, Lumaria, Yarne, Laurent, and then Brady.