fic: The Literal Curtains
Feb. 21st, 2020 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonnefoisTitle: The Literal Curtains
Series: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Character/pairing: Heather/Nephenee
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Heather steals curtains and Nephenee's heart (again) in exactly that order.
Word count: 2,3423
Author's note:
Putting the curtains in curtainfic
A treat for Hyacinthus in Chocolate_Box.
CW: Mentioned off screen sexual harassment by a villain.
She'd only been in that well furnished room shopping the five finger discount for a short tie, but, the minute Heather saw them, she knew she had to have them. Long, a lovely shade of green, and gold-trimmed. She pulled free the gilded ties and set the room into darkness.
Besides, the owner had grabbed her ass just the night before, and right then and there, she'd sworn to ruin him if it took her a lifetime. Killing him wouldn't be half as satisfactory. Considering that she was a little too good at her job, as her mother always put it, it wouldn't take nearly that long.
Usually, Heather stole little things. Jewels, women's hearts (though she'd stopped doing that so much since she'd taken up with Nephenee), the occasional lovely dagger that caught her eye, and anything that could be easily carried away to be sold off to cute shop girls who didn't ask questions where the inventory came from.
Stealing large things would take skill and timing and planning. And most of the time, it wasn't even worth the price to fence. Even if a thief managed to steal something big and unwieldy, there was hardly any place to hide it.
Heather glanced around the decadently furnished room room. There were so many precious treasures she could take. Rings and jewel encrusted daggers which were more show than actually useful. She grabbed a few gems that were easy to fence, for good measure. And she left the letters there, right upon the desk where they were sure to be seen.
Full of another woman's perfume, and love letter to the lord of the house.
"My regards to the lord of the house," she said softly.
She glanced back. It would be a dangerous move, but the craven deserved it.
With some effort, she took the very curtains off the walls, just because she could. Heather whistled to herself as she left. The guards were all busy at lunch, drinking the cases of wine that were oh so mysteriously gifted to them. Oh, how very careless of them.
*
It took some time to put them up, but Heather had to admit they truly livened up the room, filling it with a bright spot of color. A lovely, verdant color that reminded her of spring--and her favorite girl. The one she'd given up all others for.
And how those curtains livened up the small cottage she'd purchased with the money she'd rightly earned from corrupt noble's pockets. She liked to think of it as her service to the lovely queen Elincia, who truly did her best to staunch the corruption in Crimea. If these pathetic noblemen were bankrupted, and all their dirty laundry aired, then they couldn't be making anymore attempts at coups, now could they? She'd keep the queen safe, one incensed, wronged wife turned upon deposed noble at a time.
There wasn't much to take. Her mother had insisted on giving her some of her 'birthright' chipped cups, quilts made for the day when Heather would marry, and a litany of cookware that Heather scarcely knew how to use. Nephenee could teach her, surely. And the thought of that made her accept these tidings f the future. There was still a rather bare back corner, for the double bed she'd ordered was still being delivered, leaving her nothing but a bedroll in the corner.
She hoped it came soon; she ever so much wanted to break in that bed with Nephenee, and celebrate this new part of their life together.
A knock sounded at the door. It seemed hesitant, and there was no demand, so it couldn't be the police. Still, Heather peered out the window, just to be sure. She smiled as she opened up to her favorite, lovely girl, Nephenee.
"There you are, beautiful. Come to grace my day with your presence?"
Nephenee ducked her head, and blushed. "Ah...."
"And something else, I see," Heather said, nodding towards the package held to her chest.
Even this many months in, she still got so adorably flustered at Heather's attentions. Of course, that only made Heather want to kiss her more. Ah, the way her long hair fell down her back, and how that slightly oversized helmet would dip down and hide the embarrassment, save for her flushed cheeks. To say nothing of those killer curves. Nephenee was a country goddess of a woman, who had caught Heather's eyes ever more than actual goddesses--though the fact that Nephenee never turned half the population to stone helped her case, certainly.
"Ah...Ahm, I guess," she said. Nephenee shyly glanced about the room.
"Good, my day is better already," Heather said.
Nephenee cleared her throat. "So, you all moved in, Heather? You need me to get anymore boxes for you? I'd be happy to, just ask me anytime you need. I'm always right glad to help you out."
"Thanks to you, I got all my old things moved in, though I got something new myself. Isn't it lovely, Nephenee?" Heather admired her handiwork. It took some talent to steal the curtains right off the walls, right past the guards who were left in some drunken stubor.
Well, alcohol certainly helped.
Nephenee, however, looked alarmed at this prospect. She clutched the package held to her chest even tighter.
"I...recognize those curtains. One of the fancy lords had 'em. I saw 'em once when deliverin' apples he---he'd made a pass at me. I just thought I was makin' deliveries."
"Please tell me you clocked him one, and if not, I personally will have to do the honor."
"Left him with a bloody nose, probably broken given the screamin'" she said. "I was real afraid I'd end up in jail for it, but seems he was too afraid I might tell his wife."
"Good girl," Heather said.
"But, Heather, you said you would cut down on the stealin' now, except for the necessaries. These are an awful big indulgence. What if they catch up to you, and you go on to jail?"
"Oh, they have conjugal visits in jail, you can still visit me," Heather said casually.
Nephenee blushed bright at that, and was barely able to stutter out a word. "H-Heather!"
"And you'd surely break me out before the day was done. I'd rather look forward to our life as sexy outlaw lesbians on the run."
"Ah, but then who would take care of your mother?"
"That's your only objection?" Heather laughed. "Darling, I'm teasing. I know you'd rather keep the shackles in the bedroom." Nephenee blushed even brighter at this. "As you said, who would take care of my mother if I were gone?"
"I would look in on her daily, of course," Nephenee said. "But, I'd rather you be there with me. And that's if...we both didn't go. Then guess my family would have to do it. I know they wouldn't just leave her to stave."
"You're such a sweetie, Nephenee. But, you see, he grabbed my ass. I was minding my own business, pickpocketing the vile male nobles who kept making disgusting passes at any woman who so much as breathed in their general direction, and he dared to take my blatant ignoring him as a challenge. So, I stole his curtains. Among other things. His entire life should be in shambles by now."
Nephenee's expression darkened. Sometimes it was easy to forget that there was a dangerous trained killer under the cute country gal. She set down the package carefully. Heather idly wondered if Nephenee had brought her spear along.
Nephenee balled both of her fists, her eyes filled with the kind of fire that left a thousand Daein soldiers defeated beneath her boots.
"I'll help you steal all his cookware and horses myself, then I'll go give him a warnin' he won't be forgettin'," Nephenee said. "A-and...I'll burn down his shed! Nothin' else, I wouldn't want to hurt any of the servants, but just try harvestin' those crops without a scythe."
Heather burst into laughter at the thought. Oh, Nephenee was so cute.Even her vengeance was adorable. Like a hissing kitten. Though she'd seen Nephenee on the battlefield and the kitten sure had claws.
"As sweet as the thought of you rushing in to be my knight in shining armor is, I already relocated some letters from one of his mistresses to his wife's vanity. By now, he's likely tossed out of his estates. I hear the lady of the house is very vengeful and jealous. Even more so, it is her estates and bloodline. He was merely a merchant's son who had the money her family needed, and they made a deal of it. Unfortunately, like most men, he did not appreciate his wife. She even took the accounting of his business, making him entirely helpless and useless without her. Somehow, he grew arrogant and forgot that. His loss."
Heather chuckled. "To be a fly on the wall when she found out, and unleashed hell upon him. Of course," Heather said casually "I could've killed him easily, but some things are worse than death, and that is a woman's wrath."
"It's kinda sad, actually. That poor lady, havin' to be hitched to such an utter craven. At least she's probably thrown his unworthy behind out onto the streets by now."
"Indeed. It's always sad when beautiful, incredible women are married to crave men who aren't even worthy to breathe the same air as them. Hopefully she finds herself someone far better. I'd love to see her find a woman--and be on our side, but a man who isn't completely loathesome would do."
Nephenee lifted her eyebrows. "Never thought I'd hear the day you said somethin' like that."
"Yes, yes, I will admit they exist. Having met Ike and Soren convinced me. Amazingly, they treated me with respect and never tried to make a single pass. If more men were like them, the world would have far less turmoil and strife, I would have far better things to say about their gender as a whole."
"I don't think either of them would be goin' after her," Nephenee said softly.
"Probably not," Heather said, and shrugged.
Nephenee came closer to the curtains and dared to touch them.
"They're real nice," Nephenee said. "It must've taken some skill to get them out of there."
"Oh, a lesser thief couldn't have managed it. And it was a risk, but... They reminded me of your hair," Heather said. She rested her hands upon Nephenee's shoulders, and leaned in to kiss the top of her forehead.
"My hair?"
"Yes. Everywhere I go, I'm reminded of you. You know, darling, I got this cottage for a reason."
She'd saved up some gems aside from what she stole to get her mother's elixir. And even Nephenee had pitched in, always sending food and crops from her farm to lessen the costs. Nephenee's Meemaw even sent some of her delectable and oh so famous apple pies.
"Wait--that reminds me. Before I forget again--Actually, I had somethin' for you, but I got distracted. But I always get distracted around you." Nephenee's blushed at that.
Heather wrapped her arms about Nephenee, and embraced her from behind. "Am I distracting you now, dear?"
"Always. Even just your talkin', and playin' with your sunshine hair. Sometimes I dunno what a fancy girl like you is doin' with a hayseed like me."
"Don't sell yourself short, dear. You're adorable, and you managed to make me give up every other woman, and that's saying something. Not even queens have managed that."
Nephenee (with some reluctance, Heather noticed rather smugly) pulled free of the embrace to pick up that package she'd hauled all this way. From it, she lifted up a slightly tarnished silver candlestick. She placed it on the table--the one bit of furniture Heather had actually boughten at the local market. Tables weren't something a thief could just fit in their pockets and walk away with. Unless they had very big pockets.
"One of those travelin' merchants was sellin' this. Thought it'd look nice in your new house. Also, if you got any vermin or brigands skulkin' about, you could clock 'em with it. Figured it was good to have around."
"Multitasking, how delightful," Heather said.
"I know it's nothin' too fancy, and will take some work to be pretty again, but I thought you might...like it."
"Don't be silly; I adore it. And as I was saying, of course, I wanted to be close to my mother and check in on her every day, but I needed some space of my own."
"I don't blame you. I been sharin' my rooms with sisters and cousins for so long, I barely even have room to sharpen my spears without fear of accidentally spearin' one of 'em. It's certainly hard to get used to from when I had my own tent in the war. Half the time I'm tempted to go sleep in the barn--except the racoons like to sleep up there, and I might get bit."
"I bought this cottage for both of us. Just think, it's just far enough to have some privacy, but close enough that I can easily visit both my mother and your old farm."
"I...didn't wanna ask, not when I couldn't buy one on my own, and thought I might drive you away by askin' too quick," Nephenee blushed at that. "And the last thing I'd want is to be without you."
"Darling, darling, you aren't driving me away. In fact, if you keep insisting on being this cute, you'll be stuck with me forever."
Nephenee shyly smiled. "Can't think of anything that would make me more happy," Nephenee said.
Series: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Character/pairing: Heather/Nephenee
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Heather steals curtains and Nephenee's heart (again) in exactly that order.
Word count: 2,3423
Author's note:
Putting the curtains in curtainfic
A treat for Hyacinthus in Chocolate_Box.
CW: Mentioned off screen sexual harassment by a villain.
She'd only been in that well furnished room shopping the five finger discount for a short tie, but, the minute Heather saw them, she knew she had to have them. Long, a lovely shade of green, and gold-trimmed. She pulled free the gilded ties and set the room into darkness.
Besides, the owner had grabbed her ass just the night before, and right then and there, she'd sworn to ruin him if it took her a lifetime. Killing him wouldn't be half as satisfactory. Considering that she was a little too good at her job, as her mother always put it, it wouldn't take nearly that long.
Usually, Heather stole little things. Jewels, women's hearts (though she'd stopped doing that so much since she'd taken up with Nephenee), the occasional lovely dagger that caught her eye, and anything that could be easily carried away to be sold off to cute shop girls who didn't ask questions where the inventory came from.
Stealing large things would take skill and timing and planning. And most of the time, it wasn't even worth the price to fence. Even if a thief managed to steal something big and unwieldy, there was hardly any place to hide it.
Heather glanced around the decadently furnished room room. There were so many precious treasures she could take. Rings and jewel encrusted daggers which were more show than actually useful. She grabbed a few gems that were easy to fence, for good measure. And she left the letters there, right upon the desk where they were sure to be seen.
Full of another woman's perfume, and love letter to the lord of the house.
"My regards to the lord of the house," she said softly.
She glanced back. It would be a dangerous move, but the craven deserved it.
With some effort, she took the very curtains off the walls, just because she could. Heather whistled to herself as she left. The guards were all busy at lunch, drinking the cases of wine that were oh so mysteriously gifted to them. Oh, how very careless of them.
*
It took some time to put them up, but Heather had to admit they truly livened up the room, filling it with a bright spot of color. A lovely, verdant color that reminded her of spring--and her favorite girl. The one she'd given up all others for.
And how those curtains livened up the small cottage she'd purchased with the money she'd rightly earned from corrupt noble's pockets. She liked to think of it as her service to the lovely queen Elincia, who truly did her best to staunch the corruption in Crimea. If these pathetic noblemen were bankrupted, and all their dirty laundry aired, then they couldn't be making anymore attempts at coups, now could they? She'd keep the queen safe, one incensed, wronged wife turned upon deposed noble at a time.
There wasn't much to take. Her mother had insisted on giving her some of her 'birthright' chipped cups, quilts made for the day when Heather would marry, and a litany of cookware that Heather scarcely knew how to use. Nephenee could teach her, surely. And the thought of that made her accept these tidings f the future. There was still a rather bare back corner, for the double bed she'd ordered was still being delivered, leaving her nothing but a bedroll in the corner.
She hoped it came soon; she ever so much wanted to break in that bed with Nephenee, and celebrate this new part of their life together.
A knock sounded at the door. It seemed hesitant, and there was no demand, so it couldn't be the police. Still, Heather peered out the window, just to be sure. She smiled as she opened up to her favorite, lovely girl, Nephenee.
"There you are, beautiful. Come to grace my day with your presence?"
Nephenee ducked her head, and blushed. "Ah...."
"And something else, I see," Heather said, nodding towards the package held to her chest.
Even this many months in, she still got so adorably flustered at Heather's attentions. Of course, that only made Heather want to kiss her more. Ah, the way her long hair fell down her back, and how that slightly oversized helmet would dip down and hide the embarrassment, save for her flushed cheeks. To say nothing of those killer curves. Nephenee was a country goddess of a woman, who had caught Heather's eyes ever more than actual goddesses--though the fact that Nephenee never turned half the population to stone helped her case, certainly.
"Ah...Ahm, I guess," she said. Nephenee shyly glanced about the room.
"Good, my day is better already," Heather said.
Nephenee cleared her throat. "So, you all moved in, Heather? You need me to get anymore boxes for you? I'd be happy to, just ask me anytime you need. I'm always right glad to help you out."
"Thanks to you, I got all my old things moved in, though I got something new myself. Isn't it lovely, Nephenee?" Heather admired her handiwork. It took some talent to steal the curtains right off the walls, right past the guards who were left in some drunken stubor.
Well, alcohol certainly helped.
Nephenee, however, looked alarmed at this prospect. She clutched the package held to her chest even tighter.
"I...recognize those curtains. One of the fancy lords had 'em. I saw 'em once when deliverin' apples he---he'd made a pass at me. I just thought I was makin' deliveries."
"Please tell me you clocked him one, and if not, I personally will have to do the honor."
"Left him with a bloody nose, probably broken given the screamin'" she said. "I was real afraid I'd end up in jail for it, but seems he was too afraid I might tell his wife."
"Good girl," Heather said.
"But, Heather, you said you would cut down on the stealin' now, except for the necessaries. These are an awful big indulgence. What if they catch up to you, and you go on to jail?"
"Oh, they have conjugal visits in jail, you can still visit me," Heather said casually.
Nephenee blushed bright at that, and was barely able to stutter out a word. "H-Heather!"
"And you'd surely break me out before the day was done. I'd rather look forward to our life as sexy outlaw lesbians on the run."
"Ah, but then who would take care of your mother?"
"That's your only objection?" Heather laughed. "Darling, I'm teasing. I know you'd rather keep the shackles in the bedroom." Nephenee blushed even brighter at this. "As you said, who would take care of my mother if I were gone?"
"I would look in on her daily, of course," Nephenee said. "But, I'd rather you be there with me. And that's if...we both didn't go. Then guess my family would have to do it. I know they wouldn't just leave her to stave."
"You're such a sweetie, Nephenee. But, you see, he grabbed my ass. I was minding my own business, pickpocketing the vile male nobles who kept making disgusting passes at any woman who so much as breathed in their general direction, and he dared to take my blatant ignoring him as a challenge. So, I stole his curtains. Among other things. His entire life should be in shambles by now."
Nephenee's expression darkened. Sometimes it was easy to forget that there was a dangerous trained killer under the cute country gal. She set down the package carefully. Heather idly wondered if Nephenee had brought her spear along.
Nephenee balled both of her fists, her eyes filled with the kind of fire that left a thousand Daein soldiers defeated beneath her boots.
"I'll help you steal all his cookware and horses myself, then I'll go give him a warnin' he won't be forgettin'," Nephenee said. "A-and...I'll burn down his shed! Nothin' else, I wouldn't want to hurt any of the servants, but just try harvestin' those crops without a scythe."
Heather burst into laughter at the thought. Oh, Nephenee was so cute.Even her vengeance was adorable. Like a hissing kitten. Though she'd seen Nephenee on the battlefield and the kitten sure had claws.
"As sweet as the thought of you rushing in to be my knight in shining armor is, I already relocated some letters from one of his mistresses to his wife's vanity. By now, he's likely tossed out of his estates. I hear the lady of the house is very vengeful and jealous. Even more so, it is her estates and bloodline. He was merely a merchant's son who had the money her family needed, and they made a deal of it. Unfortunately, like most men, he did not appreciate his wife. She even took the accounting of his business, making him entirely helpless and useless without her. Somehow, he grew arrogant and forgot that. His loss."
Heather chuckled. "To be a fly on the wall when she found out, and unleashed hell upon him. Of course," Heather said casually "I could've killed him easily, but some things are worse than death, and that is a woman's wrath."
"It's kinda sad, actually. That poor lady, havin' to be hitched to such an utter craven. At least she's probably thrown his unworthy behind out onto the streets by now."
"Indeed. It's always sad when beautiful, incredible women are married to crave men who aren't even worthy to breathe the same air as them. Hopefully she finds herself someone far better. I'd love to see her find a woman--and be on our side, but a man who isn't completely loathesome would do."
Nephenee lifted her eyebrows. "Never thought I'd hear the day you said somethin' like that."
"Yes, yes, I will admit they exist. Having met Ike and Soren convinced me. Amazingly, they treated me with respect and never tried to make a single pass. If more men were like them, the world would have far less turmoil and strife, I would have far better things to say about their gender as a whole."
"I don't think either of them would be goin' after her," Nephenee said softly.
"Probably not," Heather said, and shrugged.
Nephenee came closer to the curtains and dared to touch them.
"They're real nice," Nephenee said. "It must've taken some skill to get them out of there."
"Oh, a lesser thief couldn't have managed it. And it was a risk, but... They reminded me of your hair," Heather said. She rested her hands upon Nephenee's shoulders, and leaned in to kiss the top of her forehead.
"My hair?"
"Yes. Everywhere I go, I'm reminded of you. You know, darling, I got this cottage for a reason."
She'd saved up some gems aside from what she stole to get her mother's elixir. And even Nephenee had pitched in, always sending food and crops from her farm to lessen the costs. Nephenee's Meemaw even sent some of her delectable and oh so famous apple pies.
"Wait--that reminds me. Before I forget again--Actually, I had somethin' for you, but I got distracted. But I always get distracted around you." Nephenee's blushed at that.
Heather wrapped her arms about Nephenee, and embraced her from behind. "Am I distracting you now, dear?"
"Always. Even just your talkin', and playin' with your sunshine hair. Sometimes I dunno what a fancy girl like you is doin' with a hayseed like me."
"Don't sell yourself short, dear. You're adorable, and you managed to make me give up every other woman, and that's saying something. Not even queens have managed that."
Nephenee (with some reluctance, Heather noticed rather smugly) pulled free of the embrace to pick up that package she'd hauled all this way. From it, she lifted up a slightly tarnished silver candlestick. She placed it on the table--the one bit of furniture Heather had actually boughten at the local market. Tables weren't something a thief could just fit in their pockets and walk away with. Unless they had very big pockets.
"One of those travelin' merchants was sellin' this. Thought it'd look nice in your new house. Also, if you got any vermin or brigands skulkin' about, you could clock 'em with it. Figured it was good to have around."
"Multitasking, how delightful," Heather said.
"I know it's nothin' too fancy, and will take some work to be pretty again, but I thought you might...like it."
"Don't be silly; I adore it. And as I was saying, of course, I wanted to be close to my mother and check in on her every day, but I needed some space of my own."
"I don't blame you. I been sharin' my rooms with sisters and cousins for so long, I barely even have room to sharpen my spears without fear of accidentally spearin' one of 'em. It's certainly hard to get used to from when I had my own tent in the war. Half the time I'm tempted to go sleep in the barn--except the racoons like to sleep up there, and I might get bit."
"I bought this cottage for both of us. Just think, it's just far enough to have some privacy, but close enough that I can easily visit both my mother and your old farm."
"I...didn't wanna ask, not when I couldn't buy one on my own, and thought I might drive you away by askin' too quick," Nephenee blushed at that. "And the last thing I'd want is to be without you."
"Darling, darling, you aren't driving me away. In fact, if you keep insisting on being this cute, you'll be stuck with me forever."
Nephenee shyly smiled. "Can't think of anything that would make me more happy," Nephenee said.
