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fic: Making Amends
Title: Making Amends
Series: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Character/Pairing: Heather, Brom, Nephenee, (Heather/Nephenee in the background.)
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3,305
Summary: Brom tries to apologize to Heather for their rough first meeting.
Author's note: This came from a thread on r/FireEmblemHeroes and spiraled into this. It is fully intended to be a silly bit of gen fun based on reddit threads and memes, and a missing scene where Brom learns some things about his friends and Heather and Brom make amends from their shaky first meeting and not bashing or issuefic or whatever.
Listen, hot take but: wlw (handshake) "I love my wife" guy solidarity is beautiful. Don't @ me, you know it's true.
This fic has the distinction of being technically gen, but it's gen about lesbians being lesbians as viewed by the biggest (and slightly clueless) dad ever.
Brom wiped the sweat from his brow. He'd spent half the morning looking for that thief girl, and despite her flashy clothes, he hadn't seen hide nor tail of her. Maybe she was a little too good at her job.
What was her name again? The heat made even thinking hard. His armor, as good as it was at keeping him safe from harm, worked like an oven to keep the heat in.
Heaven? Halia? Heza? Hester?
Wait, Heather. That was it. He'd asked Nephenee just this morning. She'd reddened like she'd been working in the sun all day when he asked.
Sweet little Nephenee got embarrassed over the most mundane things. Like a simple name. She sure was a sweet gal, that Neph.
He had began to regret the second helping of grits. It'd been mighty good--thought not as good as his wife's. Nothing ever was. Every letter he sent back mentioned how much he missed his Molly Mae, and her wonderful cooking, of course. Nobody cooked like his dear wife. In fact, nobody could much compare to her at all. He sent letters to her every day, though he never was very good at writing. Even if he was sure the letter was as boring as bean pie with no cheese, he still sent them through back with a prayer they'd end up in the right place after all.
Brom searched every place he could think of. The courtyard, the inn, the barracks, even the front gates of the abandoned fort they'd camped in. Now, Heather probably wasn't the type to end up on guard duty. But, he still checked, just to be sure.
Finally, he caught sight of her on the training grounds.
All around them was the clashing of metal. Brom had to speak above the din to be heard.
"There you are. I been lookin' all over you. Phew, this heat is somethin' fierce."
Of course, it wasn't too bad for her. She wasn't encased in a bunch of armor. In fact, she didn't have much armor at all. She sure was good at dodging blows, though. Plus, he supposed, the point of a thief on the battlefield was, well, to steal stuff. And open some doors, and chests, of course. A big bunch of armor would just alert people to whatever thief things she was doing.
"I told you, I'm not interested," Heather said coldly. She glanced at her nails.
"Go find someone else to lust after, you smelly hayseed."
Brom wiped at his brow again. He'd have thought she'd cooled off a bit by then, but she was still as mad as a hornet.
"L-Lust after? Gosh, Heather! T-There's been some real misunderstandin' here. I'm a happily married man. I never would look at another lady that way, I promise! I sure am sorry if it came off like that. I was just tryin' and recruitin' and findin' fellow survivors. I would never, ever, ever make eyes at a lady who wasn't my wife. It just ain't right. My wife and I have been married for decades now, and we got several beautiful children. Like my little Meggie, who you might've already seen. She came to join in the battle."
Heather tilted her head and considered him. There was something critical in her blue eyes, and wary as well. "You really are telling the truth, aren't you?"
"Sure am. Mighty sorry that I ever made you think I was bein' flirty like at all. My wife is the only one for me. Can't imagine what gave the impression of bein' like that, but I'll take extra care for now on to never make you feel like that again, young lady."
"Well, I suppose you're one of the good ones. Plus, you're friends with Nephenee, so that's worth something."
Brom smiled big. "Sure am! She's the best friend in the militia a man like me could have. Plus, she can shuck a good corn AND haul hay and do real good with a spear. I've known her since she was a little one down in Ohma, so it's good to know some other country folk, and watch out for her. Honestly, she's like my very own kin."
Heather's face slowly softened. "So you know lots of things about Nephenee, huh....Maybe you're good for something after all..."
"Well, good. Then we can be friends too," Brom said.
Heather's expression turned right suspicious like. Like he'd tried to sell her a bridge.
"I don't make a habit of being friends with men," she said curtly.
"Iffen you'll excuse me, why not? You got a jealous one waitin' for you? If you do, you need to tell 'em that just ain't right. You can't just control people like that."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Because it's always 'oh, we're just friends' then they get drunk and try and cop a feel. It never fails. Unless he's a mark, or only into men, it isn't even worth the time anymore. Straight men always disappoint me."
She gave him a cold once over.
"If you'd been rich enough to scam, I might've given you the time of day. But you obviously weren't either, so you had to be someone wanting to catcall or grope me," Heather said.
"My, those are some harsh words," Brom said sadly.
He'd seen her be awful more charming around Nehphenee. She definitely had a nicer side, but she sure wasn't showing it. At least, not to him.
He didn't want to have an ally thinking poorly of him. Brom made an effort to be kind to all the people in the army. Even that tactician with the sharp gaze. Never knew when one day, they might have to be the one keeping him from the flames.
"I'm a thief. You surely know what I do for a living by now."
"Then it's good you're on our side, I suppose," Brom said.
"Don't worry about it; I won't steal your gold. You don't have much of anything to steal, anyways."
"Er, thanks? About the gold, I mean."
He cleared his throat.
"Look, Heather. I think we got off to a wrong start. After work, how about you and me get a drink and share tales?"
"I don't have a good track record with men and alcohol. But....I suppose it won't hurt. You're paying."
And Heather left without another word.
Brom let out a sigh. "Whoo-wee, I got a long ways to go with that one."
*
The bar wasn't too crowded this early, and he was right glad about it. Too much noise and he would've had to shout over it just to get a word in with Heather. And that was no way to mend a misunderstanding.
Brom came right after a nice meal at dinner time. During mess hall, Heather had sat with a bunch of girls, and spent half of it being tight with Nephenee.
Good for them. Nephenee needed all the friends she could get, since she was such a shy thing. Why, Heather had even braided flowers into her hair, like real good friends. They shared a nice smile as Heather brushed Nephenee's long hair back out of her face, one that left Nephenee blushing and blushing.
It was good to see Nephenee getting herself a nice little girl friend.
He took a seat at the bar and ordered himself a nice mug to end the day. Not too much, never too much. Just a little to relax with friends.
He never drank too much. It'd make his wife cry if he ever staggered home drunk, and seeing his dear Molly Mae cry was like an arrow to the chest. And maybe it gave him a little more gut, but he always thought that one drink was worth it just for the company with his fellow army.
He noticed that Heather put a seat between them when she finally got settled. It sure was a shame that men had treated Heather so badly. It made Brom want to apologize on behalf of all the ones that done did her wrong, then give some of them who had made her so guarded about men get a talk from poppa.
The bar was made of rough, dark wood. Behind it were all kinds of casks and kegs of all sorts. Heather kept looking up to that barmaid with watchful eyes.
Heather hadn't touched her drink. The barmaid came and Heather flashed her a lovely smile. "Hey, there. Do you have any pine nuts handy?"
"Course I do."
"Thank you so much," Heather said.
She was almost gushing with praise for that barmaid. That was Heather, always building up other women. She sure did have herself a lot of girl friends.
"So... Tell me more about that cute farm girl," Heather said.
"You mean the one I married?"
Brom let out a soft and dreamy sigh."Her name is Molly Mae. Prettiest girl I ever saw. She had these brown ponytails down her back, flecked with red, and these big blue eyes. And..."
Brom blushed. He wasn't about to describe how wonderfully curvy his wife was to Heather. She might think him a lech! Plus, his wife always worried about her weight. He told her not to worry at all, she was the strongest little wife he'd ever known, and he liked her all soft and curvy. But that didn't stop her fussing every time it was for a new dress and she had to be fitted.
"...The sweetest smile, too. And such a laugh! The minute I saw her, it was like I was hit in the gut. I was so starstruck. It took me months to get up the nerve to talk to her, and then months more to ask her to a dance at one of them barn raisin' parties. Oh, we danced and danced all night until our feet was sore and we laughed so much. It sure was a good thing I was so tongue-tied lookin' at her, because I would've made a real fool of myself and asked her to marry me right then and there. As it was, I asked permission to court her and about six months later we were engaged."
"I guess we have something in common after all," Heather said.
"Oh?" Brom smiled.
He wasn't quite sure what Heather meant, but it was good to have Heather be nicer to him now. It almost gave him hope for the future.
"The farm girl I was talking about was Nephenee, though."
"Oh, aren't you already friends with her? I see y'all together all the time. Thick as thieves, those two, I tell myself. And my wife, too. I write her every day and tell her how happy I am that Nephenee went and got herself a girl friend."
"Yes, absolute gal pals," Heather said dryly.
"Well, of course you're friends. Ain't nobody nicer or stronger than her. She's a real gem. It's an honor to see her grow up like this. She was one of the younger recruits in our militia, from Ohma. She's the eldest daughter of farmers and has been helpin' out in the fields for years. She got a real sense of honor and couldn't abide by the idea of Crimea bein' taken by Daein like that, and joined the rest of us on the battlefield."
"That's good, but I need to start with the basics. Favorite food, color, and so on."
"She didn't tell you? You seem awful tight these days."
Heather let out a little sigh and finally took a sip of her beer. "I wish. She's a bit shy. I wanted to surprise her with a nice gift. So, I'm doing some nice intel. Call it espionage, but for relationships."
"Well, I'm always ready to help a pair of girls who are friends," Brom said.
Heather smirked at that. "The closest friends imaginable."
"What about you?"
"What about me?" Heather said.
There it was again, the walls went up again.
"Like I told Nephneee, she's gonna find some nice man and take him home with her. The whole village will be so surprised. And I bet you too, will find yourself some nice man one day."
Heather took several moments of silence and stared back at him. She licked her lips and smiled.
"No," she said.
"Well, you're a pretty girl, sayin' that only as a papa, not like some lecher. I'm sure you'll find some nice man too."
"Definitely not."
"Oh, you not the marryin' kind? Well, one day you might change your mind. It's a good thing to have a wife. I'd want that kind of happiness for everyone," Brom said.
"You're right. It is a good thing to have a wife. You see, I'm not the type to marry men. I'd like to have a wife too."
Brom had to think on this a few moments, like he was doing his figuring for the month's payments. It was like he'd stumbled into a puzzle and he was missing a piece. Finally, so many little things fit together.
The answer had been so blatant and right in front of him, and he'd missed it.
"Oh, dear. Did I put my foot in my mouth again?"
Come to think of it, Nephenee had dragged her feet and blushed and excused away every single time he talked about her finding some nice man in the army. She'd get awful quiet and not wanna talk about it. She seemed kind of...uncomfortable.
And Heather and Nephenee had been spending lots of time together. Here he'd thought they were just girl friends, when maybe they were girlfriends.
Brom finally started to put the pieces together.
"A little bit."
"Oh, dear. I got the entire wrong idea about you, and maybe Nephenee too. Sorry about that."
Brom sighed. "It seems I'm sayin' that an awful lot these days."
"I have to admit, I'm a little sore at being mistaken for being remotely into men at all, but I think it's more you can't see past your wife. You want everyone to have a sort of happy relationship like that, right?"
"Sure do! I'd want nothing more than everyone else to find their own love of their life, a Molly Mae girl of their own."
"Maybe we need to start this whole thing right over. My name is Brom, and I am married and very not into any other women than my dear, sweet, Molly Mae. I wouldn't want a survivor to get caught up in this war, and you seem awful capable. Maybe you'd like to join us."
Heather took a sip of her drink.
"And I'm Heather, very much not into men. Nice to meet you. I'm glad you're nice and faithful to your wife, or I'd have to take your wallet, and steal her away. And I'm not talking about your spear, either."
He held out one graceful and soft hand his way.
They shook on that, and Heather smiled. She had a nice smile, that one.
(He'd said that to Nephenee once and Nephenee had blushed so, and quietly agreed.)
"That's cute. One day I'll get to say something about that. How much I love my wife and how she's the most beautiful person in the world.
"I understand you'd probably want to go hang out with the pretty women and all, rather than me, but I hope we can train a bit sometime. You're real skilled with that dagger and I feel I can learn lots from you. Have us watch each other's backs and keep each other safe. Anybody who's a friend of Nephenee's a friend of mine. I'd sure want to be on good terms with my fellow soldiers, and hope you get to go home and see your kin too."
"What do you know, there's apparently more than five whole straight men in the world who aren't trash. Good to know," Heather said.
"Listen right here, if anybody is mean to you, send me their way. Poppa will give them a lecture to all lecture. Respectin' women is real darn important."
She smiled. "I'll remember that."
"I mean it. Poppa won't put up with women being disrespected now."
*
He caught sight of Nephenee on the way back to the rooms of the fort they'd encamped in. She must be headed out for nightly guard duty. He sure was glad that he didn't have it tonight. Not after his drink. Sure, it was just one drink, but being buzzed on guard duty was no good.
He was also glad to catch her and straighten something else out, while he was at it.
"Hey there, Nephenee."
She smiled.
"Hiya, Brom. You're up late."
"I was just havin' a drink with a friend...or at least, someone I hope can be my friend, now that all these misunderstandin's are fixed up. Speakin' of misunderstandin', I think I got one more to clear up."
Brom cleared his throat.
"You know, Nephenee, if you wanted to bring yourself home a girl instead of a guy, nobody would look down upon ya. Least of all me. Sorry if I ever made you feel like I was pushin' guys on you, if you're not into them. Poppa just wants you to be as happy as I am with my Molly Mae and didn't know you wanted your own kind of Molly Mae."
She nearly dropped her spear. "W-What?!"
"Now, now, I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought you should know."
"W-What made you get on such a subject?" Nephenee said.
"Just been talkin' to Heather. She thought I was tryin' to flirt with her the first time, and I had to make amends and right that, because everyone knows I don't flirt with anybody but my dear wife."
Nephenee was aghast. "She thought that? You'd never even give anyone but Molly Mae another glance!"
"Yes, but she didn't know that. I can't abide by anybody thinkin' that I'd ever love anyone but my Molly Mae. It was a real big misunderstandin', but I think we're right now. Though poppa sure tripped into a pile of muck and had to get himself cleaned up first."
"Turns out, she's into girls. I got a cousin like that. Shacked up with another woman and they're married now and run a whole orphanage two towns away from me. Some people got a problem with that, but I think they've got it all wrong. Nothing makes me happier than my Molly Mae, so I hope all gals like that find good wives of their own. Poppa would be glad to go to your weddin' if you bring back a boy or or girl," Brom said.
"U-Umm....Did...did she say something about me?"
"Oh, she wanted to know all about you. Every other word out of her mouth was 'Nephenee this' and 'Nephenee that'. Kinda reminded me of how I was after I met my lovely wife. Probably plannin' a surprise birthday party or somethin'. O-Oh, oops. Poppa put his foot in his mouth again."
He let out a little sigh.
"I'm no good at stealth, or keepin' secrets. I leave that kind of Epspinach up to folks like Heather."
"She really is very dashing like that? Heather there about planned that attack herself," Nephenee said.
It was almost dreamy, the way Nephenee said Heather's name. It reminded him of the way like he'd felt completely blown down when he met his dear Molly Mae.
"Make sure to invite me to the weddin', Nepheneee, dear," Brom said.
She blushed real hard, and he laughed. What do you know, he and Nephenee had another thing in common. And one day after this whole war was over, they'd talk over tea about how wonderful their wives were.
Series: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Character/Pairing: Heather, Brom, Nephenee, (Heather/Nephenee in the background.)
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3,305
Summary: Brom tries to apologize to Heather for their rough first meeting.
Author's note: This came from a thread on r/FireEmblemHeroes and spiraled into this. It is fully intended to be a silly bit of gen fun based on reddit threads and memes, and a missing scene where Brom learns some things about his friends and Heather and Brom make amends from their shaky first meeting and not bashing or issuefic or whatever.
Listen, hot take but: wlw (handshake) "I love my wife" guy solidarity is beautiful. Don't @ me, you know it's true.
This fic has the distinction of being technically gen, but it's gen about lesbians being lesbians as viewed by the biggest (and slightly clueless) dad ever.
Brom wiped the sweat from his brow. He'd spent half the morning looking for that thief girl, and despite her flashy clothes, he hadn't seen hide nor tail of her. Maybe she was a little too good at her job.
What was her name again? The heat made even thinking hard. His armor, as good as it was at keeping him safe from harm, worked like an oven to keep the heat in.
Heaven? Halia? Heza? Hester?
Wait, Heather. That was it. He'd asked Nephenee just this morning. She'd reddened like she'd been working in the sun all day when he asked.
Sweet little Nephenee got embarrassed over the most mundane things. Like a simple name. She sure was a sweet gal, that Neph.
He had began to regret the second helping of grits. It'd been mighty good--thought not as good as his wife's. Nothing ever was. Every letter he sent back mentioned how much he missed his Molly Mae, and her wonderful cooking, of course. Nobody cooked like his dear wife. In fact, nobody could much compare to her at all. He sent letters to her every day, though he never was very good at writing. Even if he was sure the letter was as boring as bean pie with no cheese, he still sent them through back with a prayer they'd end up in the right place after all.
Brom searched every place he could think of. The courtyard, the inn, the barracks, even the front gates of the abandoned fort they'd camped in. Now, Heather probably wasn't the type to end up on guard duty. But, he still checked, just to be sure.
Finally, he caught sight of her on the training grounds.
All around them was the clashing of metal. Brom had to speak above the din to be heard.
"There you are. I been lookin' all over you. Phew, this heat is somethin' fierce."
Of course, it wasn't too bad for her. She wasn't encased in a bunch of armor. In fact, she didn't have much armor at all. She sure was good at dodging blows, though. Plus, he supposed, the point of a thief on the battlefield was, well, to steal stuff. And open some doors, and chests, of course. A big bunch of armor would just alert people to whatever thief things she was doing.
"I told you, I'm not interested," Heather said coldly. She glanced at her nails.
"Go find someone else to lust after, you smelly hayseed."
Brom wiped at his brow again. He'd have thought she'd cooled off a bit by then, but she was still as mad as a hornet.
"L-Lust after? Gosh, Heather! T-There's been some real misunderstandin' here. I'm a happily married man. I never would look at another lady that way, I promise! I sure am sorry if it came off like that. I was just tryin' and recruitin' and findin' fellow survivors. I would never, ever, ever make eyes at a lady who wasn't my wife. It just ain't right. My wife and I have been married for decades now, and we got several beautiful children. Like my little Meggie, who you might've already seen. She came to join in the battle."
Heather tilted her head and considered him. There was something critical in her blue eyes, and wary as well. "You really are telling the truth, aren't you?"
"Sure am. Mighty sorry that I ever made you think I was bein' flirty like at all. My wife is the only one for me. Can't imagine what gave the impression of bein' like that, but I'll take extra care for now on to never make you feel like that again, young lady."
"Well, I suppose you're one of the good ones. Plus, you're friends with Nephenee, so that's worth something."
Brom smiled big. "Sure am! She's the best friend in the militia a man like me could have. Plus, she can shuck a good corn AND haul hay and do real good with a spear. I've known her since she was a little one down in Ohma, so it's good to know some other country folk, and watch out for her. Honestly, she's like my very own kin."
Heather's face slowly softened. "So you know lots of things about Nephenee, huh....Maybe you're good for something after all..."
"Well, good. Then we can be friends too," Brom said.
Heather's expression turned right suspicious like. Like he'd tried to sell her a bridge.
"I don't make a habit of being friends with men," she said curtly.
"Iffen you'll excuse me, why not? You got a jealous one waitin' for you? If you do, you need to tell 'em that just ain't right. You can't just control people like that."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Because it's always 'oh, we're just friends' then they get drunk and try and cop a feel. It never fails. Unless he's a mark, or only into men, it isn't even worth the time anymore. Straight men always disappoint me."
She gave him a cold once over.
"If you'd been rich enough to scam, I might've given you the time of day. But you obviously weren't either, so you had to be someone wanting to catcall or grope me," Heather said.
"My, those are some harsh words," Brom said sadly.
He'd seen her be awful more charming around Nehphenee. She definitely had a nicer side, but she sure wasn't showing it. At least, not to him.
He didn't want to have an ally thinking poorly of him. Brom made an effort to be kind to all the people in the army. Even that tactician with the sharp gaze. Never knew when one day, they might have to be the one keeping him from the flames.
"I'm a thief. You surely know what I do for a living by now."
"Then it's good you're on our side, I suppose," Brom said.
"Don't worry about it; I won't steal your gold. You don't have much of anything to steal, anyways."
"Er, thanks? About the gold, I mean."
He cleared his throat.
"Look, Heather. I think we got off to a wrong start. After work, how about you and me get a drink and share tales?"
"I don't have a good track record with men and alcohol. But....I suppose it won't hurt. You're paying."
And Heather left without another word.
Brom let out a sigh. "Whoo-wee, I got a long ways to go with that one."
*
The bar wasn't too crowded this early, and he was right glad about it. Too much noise and he would've had to shout over it just to get a word in with Heather. And that was no way to mend a misunderstanding.
Brom came right after a nice meal at dinner time. During mess hall, Heather had sat with a bunch of girls, and spent half of it being tight with Nephenee.
Good for them. Nephenee needed all the friends she could get, since she was such a shy thing. Why, Heather had even braided flowers into her hair, like real good friends. They shared a nice smile as Heather brushed Nephenee's long hair back out of her face, one that left Nephenee blushing and blushing.
It was good to see Nephenee getting herself a nice little girl friend.
He took a seat at the bar and ordered himself a nice mug to end the day. Not too much, never too much. Just a little to relax with friends.
He never drank too much. It'd make his wife cry if he ever staggered home drunk, and seeing his dear Molly Mae cry was like an arrow to the chest. And maybe it gave him a little more gut, but he always thought that one drink was worth it just for the company with his fellow army.
He noticed that Heather put a seat between them when she finally got settled. It sure was a shame that men had treated Heather so badly. It made Brom want to apologize on behalf of all the ones that done did her wrong, then give some of them who had made her so guarded about men get a talk from poppa.
The bar was made of rough, dark wood. Behind it were all kinds of casks and kegs of all sorts. Heather kept looking up to that barmaid with watchful eyes.
Heather hadn't touched her drink. The barmaid came and Heather flashed her a lovely smile. "Hey, there. Do you have any pine nuts handy?"
"Course I do."
"Thank you so much," Heather said.
She was almost gushing with praise for that barmaid. That was Heather, always building up other women. She sure did have herself a lot of girl friends.
"So... Tell me more about that cute farm girl," Heather said.
"You mean the one I married?"
Brom let out a soft and dreamy sigh."Her name is Molly Mae. Prettiest girl I ever saw. She had these brown ponytails down her back, flecked with red, and these big blue eyes. And..."
Brom blushed. He wasn't about to describe how wonderfully curvy his wife was to Heather. She might think him a lech! Plus, his wife always worried about her weight. He told her not to worry at all, she was the strongest little wife he'd ever known, and he liked her all soft and curvy. But that didn't stop her fussing every time it was for a new dress and she had to be fitted.
"...The sweetest smile, too. And such a laugh! The minute I saw her, it was like I was hit in the gut. I was so starstruck. It took me months to get up the nerve to talk to her, and then months more to ask her to a dance at one of them barn raisin' parties. Oh, we danced and danced all night until our feet was sore and we laughed so much. It sure was a good thing I was so tongue-tied lookin' at her, because I would've made a real fool of myself and asked her to marry me right then and there. As it was, I asked permission to court her and about six months later we were engaged."
"I guess we have something in common after all," Heather said.
"Oh?" Brom smiled.
He wasn't quite sure what Heather meant, but it was good to have Heather be nicer to him now. It almost gave him hope for the future.
"The farm girl I was talking about was Nephenee, though."
"Oh, aren't you already friends with her? I see y'all together all the time. Thick as thieves, those two, I tell myself. And my wife, too. I write her every day and tell her how happy I am that Nephenee went and got herself a girl friend."
"Yes, absolute gal pals," Heather said dryly.
"Well, of course you're friends. Ain't nobody nicer or stronger than her. She's a real gem. It's an honor to see her grow up like this. She was one of the younger recruits in our militia, from Ohma. She's the eldest daughter of farmers and has been helpin' out in the fields for years. She got a real sense of honor and couldn't abide by the idea of Crimea bein' taken by Daein like that, and joined the rest of us on the battlefield."
"That's good, but I need to start with the basics. Favorite food, color, and so on."
"She didn't tell you? You seem awful tight these days."
Heather let out a little sigh and finally took a sip of her beer. "I wish. She's a bit shy. I wanted to surprise her with a nice gift. So, I'm doing some nice intel. Call it espionage, but for relationships."
"Well, I'm always ready to help a pair of girls who are friends," Brom said.
Heather smirked at that. "The closest friends imaginable."
"What about you?"
"What about me?" Heather said.
There it was again, the walls went up again.
"Like I told Nephneee, she's gonna find some nice man and take him home with her. The whole village will be so surprised. And I bet you too, will find yourself some nice man one day."
Heather took several moments of silence and stared back at him. She licked her lips and smiled.
"No," she said.
"Well, you're a pretty girl, sayin' that only as a papa, not like some lecher. I'm sure you'll find some nice man too."
"Definitely not."
"Oh, you not the marryin' kind? Well, one day you might change your mind. It's a good thing to have a wife. I'd want that kind of happiness for everyone," Brom said.
"You're right. It is a good thing to have a wife. You see, I'm not the type to marry men. I'd like to have a wife too."
Brom had to think on this a few moments, like he was doing his figuring for the month's payments. It was like he'd stumbled into a puzzle and he was missing a piece. Finally, so many little things fit together.
The answer had been so blatant and right in front of him, and he'd missed it.
"Oh, dear. Did I put my foot in my mouth again?"
Come to think of it, Nephenee had dragged her feet and blushed and excused away every single time he talked about her finding some nice man in the army. She'd get awful quiet and not wanna talk about it. She seemed kind of...uncomfortable.
And Heather and Nephenee had been spending lots of time together. Here he'd thought they were just girl friends, when maybe they were girlfriends.
Brom finally started to put the pieces together.
"A little bit."
"Oh, dear. I got the entire wrong idea about you, and maybe Nephenee too. Sorry about that."
Brom sighed. "It seems I'm sayin' that an awful lot these days."
"I have to admit, I'm a little sore at being mistaken for being remotely into men at all, but I think it's more you can't see past your wife. You want everyone to have a sort of happy relationship like that, right?"
"Sure do! I'd want nothing more than everyone else to find their own love of their life, a Molly Mae girl of their own."
"Maybe we need to start this whole thing right over. My name is Brom, and I am married and very not into any other women than my dear, sweet, Molly Mae. I wouldn't want a survivor to get caught up in this war, and you seem awful capable. Maybe you'd like to join us."
Heather took a sip of her drink.
"And I'm Heather, very much not into men. Nice to meet you. I'm glad you're nice and faithful to your wife, or I'd have to take your wallet, and steal her away. And I'm not talking about your spear, either."
He held out one graceful and soft hand his way.
They shook on that, and Heather smiled. She had a nice smile, that one.
(He'd said that to Nephenee once and Nephenee had blushed so, and quietly agreed.)
"That's cute. One day I'll get to say something about that. How much I love my wife and how she's the most beautiful person in the world.
"I understand you'd probably want to go hang out with the pretty women and all, rather than me, but I hope we can train a bit sometime. You're real skilled with that dagger and I feel I can learn lots from you. Have us watch each other's backs and keep each other safe. Anybody who's a friend of Nephenee's a friend of mine. I'd sure want to be on good terms with my fellow soldiers, and hope you get to go home and see your kin too."
"What do you know, there's apparently more than five whole straight men in the world who aren't trash. Good to know," Heather said.
"Listen right here, if anybody is mean to you, send me their way. Poppa will give them a lecture to all lecture. Respectin' women is real darn important."
She smiled. "I'll remember that."
"I mean it. Poppa won't put up with women being disrespected now."
*
He caught sight of Nephenee on the way back to the rooms of the fort they'd encamped in. She must be headed out for nightly guard duty. He sure was glad that he didn't have it tonight. Not after his drink. Sure, it was just one drink, but being buzzed on guard duty was no good.
He was also glad to catch her and straighten something else out, while he was at it.
"Hey there, Nephenee."
She smiled.
"Hiya, Brom. You're up late."
"I was just havin' a drink with a friend...or at least, someone I hope can be my friend, now that all these misunderstandin's are fixed up. Speakin' of misunderstandin', I think I got one more to clear up."
Brom cleared his throat.
"You know, Nephenee, if you wanted to bring yourself home a girl instead of a guy, nobody would look down upon ya. Least of all me. Sorry if I ever made you feel like I was pushin' guys on you, if you're not into them. Poppa just wants you to be as happy as I am with my Molly Mae and didn't know you wanted your own kind of Molly Mae."
She nearly dropped her spear. "W-What?!"
"Now, now, I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought you should know."
"W-What made you get on such a subject?" Nephenee said.
"Just been talkin' to Heather. She thought I was tryin' to flirt with her the first time, and I had to make amends and right that, because everyone knows I don't flirt with anybody but my dear wife."
Nephenee was aghast. "She thought that? You'd never even give anyone but Molly Mae another glance!"
"Yes, but she didn't know that. I can't abide by anybody thinkin' that I'd ever love anyone but my Molly Mae. It was a real big misunderstandin', but I think we're right now. Though poppa sure tripped into a pile of muck and had to get himself cleaned up first."
"Turns out, she's into girls. I got a cousin like that. Shacked up with another woman and they're married now and run a whole orphanage two towns away from me. Some people got a problem with that, but I think they've got it all wrong. Nothing makes me happier than my Molly Mae, so I hope all gals like that find good wives of their own. Poppa would be glad to go to your weddin' if you bring back a boy or or girl," Brom said.
"U-Umm....Did...did she say something about me?"
"Oh, she wanted to know all about you. Every other word out of her mouth was 'Nephenee this' and 'Nephenee that'. Kinda reminded me of how I was after I met my lovely wife. Probably plannin' a surprise birthday party or somethin'. O-Oh, oops. Poppa put his foot in his mouth again."
He let out a little sigh.
"I'm no good at stealth, or keepin' secrets. I leave that kind of Epspinach up to folks like Heather."
"She really is very dashing like that? Heather there about planned that attack herself," Nephenee said.
It was almost dreamy, the way Nephenee said Heather's name. It reminded him of the way like he'd felt completely blown down when he met his dear Molly Mae.
"Make sure to invite me to the weddin', Nepheneee, dear," Brom said.
She blushed real hard, and he laughed. What do you know, he and Nephenee had another thing in common. And one day after this whole war was over, they'd talk over tea about how wonderful their wives were.
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