fic: Get Well Soon
Nov. 21st, 2022 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonnefoisTitle: Get Well Soon
Series: FE4/5 Jugdral / FEH
Character/pairing: Fred/Olwen
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Olwen gets sick and is stubborn.
Word count: 2,868
Author's note:
Feel better, MissFranKitty.
This Olwen is summoned earlier than The River Thracia fight and isn't hostile to him. Also there is background Reinhardt/Ishtar, but not enough to tag.
,
The snow outside the window was so heavy she could hardly see outside, not past the frost. Of course, what else was there to see but lots and lots of white? Even the trees were covered.
Olwen coughed, slightly unsteady. She forced herself up. She was from the Schutaeze family. A little sniffle couldn't keep her from her rounds. Her father had gone through an entire battle with a wound which would lead to him losing one of his limbs, and he'd never even complained once from the agonizing pain.
She let out a groan, and buttoned up the rest of her blouse. Oh, it was uneven. That wouldn't do. A glance in the mirror confirmed that she was a fright. If the soldiers from Ylisse saw her, they'd think she was one of the Risen at this rate.
Her complexion was pallid, except for her very red nose from all the times she'd had to blow her nose. Her hair needed to be washed, but she'd felt poorly and the season was so cold, she didn't want to aggravate her cough. She'd have to visit the hot springs and hope that her cough stopped soon.
Her bed seemed so inviting. She covered her mouth as she coughed, again and again until her throat was ragged.
Even though she'd just woken up, Olwen felt exhausting. And the covers would be so warm, and feel so good...
No! She had standards to uphold! A little cough wouldn't keep her down.
A knock at the door. Olwen looked alarmed at it. Was it Reinhardt? Who was she on duty with today?
"Olwen? Are you there?"
That was Fred's soft voice.
She blushed. The last thing Olwen wanted was for Fred to see her like this. Okay, Reinhardt seeing her like this would be bad enough. But Reinhardt was her older brother. He'd seen her with muddy clothes when she'd fallen from her horse, and when she'd skinned her knees or gotten sick before. Reinhardt would just worry. He was very good at it, after all.
But, Fred? Surely he'd never seen her like this. And, she thought, with a faint blush, she wanted him to think fondly of her.
"Olwen?"
"Yes, I'm here."
The door opened before she could add the part where he shouldn't come in. Olwen nervously touched to her hair.
It shouldn't matter. Fred had seen her when she was in battle. When she smelled like dirt and death. Still, she wanted to look good around him. To--keep up appearances. She had a heritage to uphold.
"You look quite ill," he said.
Fred was no doctor, but he could tell on sight. Which meant she must even look worse than she thought.
She'd not gotten a chance to fix her buttoned blouse, either. She tried to undo her blouse to fix it, only to realize it would look like the worst seduction ever. She left it be.
"Go back to bed. I'll inform Commander Anna that you need to rest, and bring you some food and medicine from the monks."
"It's just a slight cough--" Olwen protested.
Which made her break into a series of coughs which left her throat even more sore. Her voice came out so hoarse.
"It's not as bad as it sounds, really. Probably just from the cold air."
"Don't be silly, Olwen. You look like you can barely stand."
She'd insisted he drop the title here. And maybe, because she wanted it to be more even. And for him to see her as the kind of woman who was his equal.
And it was kind of nice, and even intimate to hear him say her name without an honorific.
"You need to rest."
"Ah...I'm strong. I can make it through. People in my family have still done their duties even when they've been through far worse."
"This is Askr, not Jugdral. There's many heroes here who will do the rounds. Commander Anna won't be angry at all."
"You sure about that? I might get a bill," Olwen said skeptically.
"Perhaps...but I'm sure your brother can convince her. He can be rather...persuasive."
She was too tired to think, too tired to argue, to even stand.
"All right, I'll come in later after I take a little nap."
"I'll bring you breakfast, and tell your brother," Fred said.
Usually Reinhardt would meet her for breakfast.
"Thank you, he'd get worried if I didn't show up," Olwen said.
And...bad things happened if Reinhardt got worried. To enemies, at least. Though there was no enemies, just a horrible illness. Which Dire Thunder couldn't cure.
At least, she was fairly sure it couldn't.
*
Some of the cats from the castle had come to visit and sleep on her bed. She idly petted one of the ginger ones. Fred had returned with very full arms. His red scarf trailed down his shoulders, with snow still on it. His fluffy hair had little bits of snow, too.
First, the medicine. She lifted up the flask and drank it all at once, and nearly gagged. She'd never quite tasted anything so bitter in her life.
"Ugh!"
Olwen couldn't keep herself from gagging. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Fred flinched, as if in sympathy.
"Was it bitter? I'm sorry. I the monks warned it might be difficult to take. But that it would shorten your illness significantly."
"No, I'm being childish. You took all this trouble. I'm a knight of Friege, and a member of the Schutaeze family. I can't simply let some medicine get the best of me."
"Well, perhaps this will help take the taste away," Fred said. He'd brought soup in an insulated flask. She took a sip. It was still warm after the trek from the kitchens, but not enough to burn.
The soup was spicy, and full of onions and garlic. It helped cleanse her palate, at least a little.
"The monks said it would help you feel better," Fred said.
"I certainly hope so. I'd much rather be fighting bandits than fighting off this cold," Olwen said.
Fred smiled. "I'm sure you'll fight off this sickness with just as much fury as you would those enemies."
*
Reinhardt ducked in the door with several tomes. Reinhardt brought her magic, because of course he would have her keep up her studies. Ishtar sent the newest book from Sumia's book club. Ishtar had become rather addicted to romance novels as of late. Which was surprising to Olwen, but anything which made Ishtar's life happier was certainly welcome.
(Reinhardt had told her. This Ishtar was called from a later time than Olwen herself, and had endured much tragedy. He hadn't gone into the details, but had always told Olwen to be gentle about her. No wonder; Reinhardt was always protecting Princess Ishtar, even here.)
The offer of books was kind, but she could hardly focus in her current state. Still, maybe later she'd be able to turn the pages and not nod off to sleep midsentence.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Not really, but I'll be fine. I should be out there on patrols."
"Going about and getting yourself even more ill due to the cold would help no one, least of all yourself," Reinhardt said.
"You sound like Fred," Olwen muttered.
"Then he's a wise man."
"Father wouldn't give up so easily," Olwen said.
"As much as I love and respect father, I'm not sure he would be the best example. He nearly died for his stubbornness."
All right, he had that match.
"Are you well enough to look out the window?" Reinhardt said.
"The window?" She looked to the window. People had already started to decorate the trees with little magical flashing lights and garnishes that the cats loved to take down and play with.
She'd only gotten up when she had to.
"I...guess."
"Do you need help to get up?"
"No, I can get up," Olwen muttered.
"Don't stay too long and catch cold," Reinhardt said.
"You're about as fussy as a mother hen," Olwen said.
She opened the window and cold, fresh and crisp air came in. The snow was falling steadily down. Through it, she saw that Ishtar was outside. She had on a very thick coat of white, with several buckles across her waist. Her hat was fluffy, and came down over her ears. Her long, lavender hair fell down her shoulders. She'd left it long today, with no ponytail.
She smiled up.
"Olwen, I'm glad to see you up. I wanted to come inside, but Reinhardt worried. I've been ill recently. Reinhardt worried and cared for me the entire time. He even quit all his duties to devote more time to checking in on me. He was so concerned.... I didn't want to worry him again..."
Ishtar blushed at the memory, and touched to her cheek. "In the end, he caught my illness too. I got a chance to take care of him."
"He's right. I would feel horrible if I gave this to you. I've been feeling awful," Olwen said.
"I hope you feel better," Ishtar said. "I've sent something to help pass the time. I'll send Reinhardt up with more later. Ah, don't catch a chill from too much cold air," Ishtar said.
"Thank you, and I'll go back to bed now," Olwen said. She closed the window. The cold air made her cough a bit more, but it'd been good to see such an old friend.
"I'll leave you to your rest," Reinhardt said pointedly.
Olwen was tired enough not even to make a sharp retort at that.
*
Olwen couldn't tell the hour. Only that she was tired of being in bed. The hearth gave quite a firelight across the stone walls of her room. The barracks rooms were
Olwen pushed herself out of bed with all the strength she had. She pushed past the dizziness and exhaustion. She'd rested enough now. More than enough.
Fred rose up from where he'd been kneeling. She hadn't even seen him there.
"I was making sure your hearth didn't go out," Fred said.
"I've been in bed long enough."
She was wearing nothing but a nightgown. She blushed. Fred, ever the gentleman, looked away.
"Never mind that. I'm going to go get dressed in time for the night patrols. I will join them."
"You're not nearly well enough to go out in such cold air," Fred protested.
"N-Nonsense. I'm--Perfectly--cough--fine--cough--"
She bent to put on her boots, which had been put under her bed. As she did, she suddenly felt dizzy. She reached out her hands to try and grab something. Fred had already noticed and risen to steady her. Except they both went tumbling together onto the bed.
Fred landed on the bed right beside her. At least the bed had caught them. But, oh! He was close. In fact, his legs were right up against hers. His mouth was close, and his body was less than an arm's length away.
And that moment, the door opened.
"Olwen, I've brought your medicine."
Her brother at the door, with a flask of medicine in his hands. Her brother, with a faint look of surprise on his face.
Her brother, seeing her right here on the bed with Fred, in her nightgown and with them this close.
"Perhaps I should come back another time," Reinhardt said wryly.
"I-I just fell, really. Fred tried to catch me and ended up falling for--with me," Olwen said quickly.
Reinhardt did not look to convinced.
"Regardless, I heard a commotion, so I didn't wait to knock, in case an enemy had infiltrated your rooms. I'll just leave the medicine on the table. We can catch up later. Goodnight, Olwen. I hope you feel better."
"And Fred," Reinhardt said. He paused a moment, like he was going to say more. But he simply said: "Goodnight as well."
Fred let out a long sigh when the door closed behind Reinhardt.
"Your brother is going to kill me," Fred said.
Olwen gave him an incredulous look.
"What? That's not possible in Askr. Heroes who are contracted can't harm each other. I should know, because Julius tried several times to kill my brother as soon as he got here. It was Reinhardt simply looking at him like that probably caused Julius to go live in a cave."
Smirking, really. Reinhardt had found it all very funny. Though it'd been pretty scary to see the flames of Loptous descend on Reinhardt so many times, only to have Reinhardt walk out of it unscathed like some hero from a novel.
"Either that or the humiliation of seeing Reinhardt smile at his rather pitiful attempts to get him just embarrassed Julius so much that he became even more corrupted and fallen," Fred said.
"Could be," Olwen said.
"Besides! I'm a grown woman. I can take a lover if I want. My brother has nothing to say about who I love. Unless I picked someone who was horrible. Then Reinhardt and I would go after them together and beat them senseless. Though, I have much better taste than that."
She just realized that she made it sound like Fred was her lover. When he wasn't. Probably? Sometimes it felt like maybe their relationship was going towards that, but it then it didn't. Maybe he was just too calm and polite.
Should she apologize for that? Bluntly tell him to date her already? Kiss him so he got the point?
Maybe not the last part, unless she wanted to give him her cold. Her mouth was probably pretty bitter from all the medicine she'd been taking, too.
"I'd hope to live up to your standards. I'm rather ordinary."
"What are you talking about? You're a great knight. You're steady and strong and always help keep your fellow soldiers in line."
Especially her, for that matter. Few people were able to calm Olwen's temper. Reinhardt, Ishtar and Fred were among the only ones. Other than her parents, and they weren't in Askr yet.
"You're great company and--" She stopped. Your hair is very fluffy, like a cat's was true, but not exactly a reason why he was a great knight.
"I don't have a title, I'm not the sort to be remembered in history. And I'm all right with it. I'll never be anything like Reinhardt Schutaeze, and I've accepted that. I can help plenty of people where I am."
"I don't want to take someone exactly like my brother as a lover. That's the last thing I want. I want someone steady and calm and with hair so cute and fluffy I want to pet it."
Olwen stopped.
"Did I just blurt that out?"
"Yes, quite loud, too."
Olwen buried her face in her hands. "This is so embarrassing. I have a crush, I guess. Maybe more."
"I've thought as much, though I've held back despite having similar feelings. I'm older than you, you know."
"And?" Olwen said. "What does that have to do with anything? I'm an adult. I can date someone older than me if I want."
"Well, some people wouldn't like such a gap in age," Fred said.
"Eh, it just means you have more experience and maturity. Actually, that's kind of...alluring."
Olwen blushed at the admission.
"I would be honored to be your lover," Fred said.
"Just one thing..."
"Yes?" Olwen said hopefully.
"Just please call you brother off. Even if he can't kill me, I don't want to experience Dire Thunder firsthand," Fred said.
"I told you! He can't hurt you. Besides, Reinhardt is kind. Really."
"Reinhardt in Jugdral could defeat entire armies by himself. He was known as the second coming of Thrud. And in Askr, he stared down the vessel of Loptous and smiled in the face of Julius's attacks. And he's Ishtar's lover now. He laughed in the face of the vessel for the dragon god of all destruction, and then Reinhardt went and wooed away Ishtar, Julius's former lover. I cannot even fathom the kind of daring it takes to stare down a man of such power like that, and then steal his lover. That kind of strength is unfathomable."
"That's condensing the timeline a bit. Julius left Askr before Reinhardt and Ishtar got together. He left Ishtar without ever even saying goodbye and became so corrupted by Loptous that a relationship was impossible. Reinhardt and Ishtar became lovers a while after that. Anyways, I'm sure he won't. But if it makes you feel better, I'll talk to him and make sure he plays nice."
Olwen patted him on the shoulder.
"The only Dire Thunder you have to worry about is from me."
"I'm not sure that's entirely reassuring," Fred said.
"Get used to it. Reinhardt is a gentle scholar compared to me," Olwen said sweetly.
"Yes, dear," Fred said.
They'd get along great, she thought.
Series: FE4/5 Jugdral / FEH
Character/pairing: Fred/Olwen
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Olwen gets sick and is stubborn.
Word count: 2,868
Author's note:
Feel better, MissFranKitty.
This Olwen is summoned earlier than The River Thracia fight and isn't hostile to him. Also there is background Reinhardt/Ishtar, but not enough to tag.
,
The snow outside the window was so heavy she could hardly see outside, not past the frost. Of course, what else was there to see but lots and lots of white? Even the trees were covered.
Olwen coughed, slightly unsteady. She forced herself up. She was from the Schutaeze family. A little sniffle couldn't keep her from her rounds. Her father had gone through an entire battle with a wound which would lead to him losing one of his limbs, and he'd never even complained once from the agonizing pain.
She let out a groan, and buttoned up the rest of her blouse. Oh, it was uneven. That wouldn't do. A glance in the mirror confirmed that she was a fright. If the soldiers from Ylisse saw her, they'd think she was one of the Risen at this rate.
Her complexion was pallid, except for her very red nose from all the times she'd had to blow her nose. Her hair needed to be washed, but she'd felt poorly and the season was so cold, she didn't want to aggravate her cough. She'd have to visit the hot springs and hope that her cough stopped soon.
Her bed seemed so inviting. She covered her mouth as she coughed, again and again until her throat was ragged.
Even though she'd just woken up, Olwen felt exhausting. And the covers would be so warm, and feel so good...
No! She had standards to uphold! A little cough wouldn't keep her down.
A knock at the door. Olwen looked alarmed at it. Was it Reinhardt? Who was she on duty with today?
"Olwen? Are you there?"
That was Fred's soft voice.
She blushed. The last thing Olwen wanted was for Fred to see her like this. Okay, Reinhardt seeing her like this would be bad enough. But Reinhardt was her older brother. He'd seen her with muddy clothes when she'd fallen from her horse, and when she'd skinned her knees or gotten sick before. Reinhardt would just worry. He was very good at it, after all.
But, Fred? Surely he'd never seen her like this. And, she thought, with a faint blush, she wanted him to think fondly of her.
"Olwen?"
"Yes, I'm here."
The door opened before she could add the part where he shouldn't come in. Olwen nervously touched to her hair.
It shouldn't matter. Fred had seen her when she was in battle. When she smelled like dirt and death. Still, she wanted to look good around him. To--keep up appearances. She had a heritage to uphold.
"You look quite ill," he said.
Fred was no doctor, but he could tell on sight. Which meant she must even look worse than she thought.
She'd not gotten a chance to fix her buttoned blouse, either. She tried to undo her blouse to fix it, only to realize it would look like the worst seduction ever. She left it be.
"Go back to bed. I'll inform Commander Anna that you need to rest, and bring you some food and medicine from the monks."
"It's just a slight cough--" Olwen protested.
Which made her break into a series of coughs which left her throat even more sore. Her voice came out so hoarse.
"It's not as bad as it sounds, really. Probably just from the cold air."
"Don't be silly, Olwen. You look like you can barely stand."
She'd insisted he drop the title here. And maybe, because she wanted it to be more even. And for him to see her as the kind of woman who was his equal.
And it was kind of nice, and even intimate to hear him say her name without an honorific.
"You need to rest."
"Ah...I'm strong. I can make it through. People in my family have still done their duties even when they've been through far worse."
"This is Askr, not Jugdral. There's many heroes here who will do the rounds. Commander Anna won't be angry at all."
"You sure about that? I might get a bill," Olwen said skeptically.
"Perhaps...but I'm sure your brother can convince her. He can be rather...persuasive."
She was too tired to think, too tired to argue, to even stand.
"All right, I'll come in later after I take a little nap."
"I'll bring you breakfast, and tell your brother," Fred said.
Usually Reinhardt would meet her for breakfast.
"Thank you, he'd get worried if I didn't show up," Olwen said.
And...bad things happened if Reinhardt got worried. To enemies, at least. Though there was no enemies, just a horrible illness. Which Dire Thunder couldn't cure.
At least, she was fairly sure it couldn't.
*
Some of the cats from the castle had come to visit and sleep on her bed. She idly petted one of the ginger ones. Fred had returned with very full arms. His red scarf trailed down his shoulders, with snow still on it. His fluffy hair had little bits of snow, too.
First, the medicine. She lifted up the flask and drank it all at once, and nearly gagged. She'd never quite tasted anything so bitter in her life.
"Ugh!"
Olwen couldn't keep herself from gagging. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Fred flinched, as if in sympathy.
"Was it bitter? I'm sorry. I the monks warned it might be difficult to take. But that it would shorten your illness significantly."
"No, I'm being childish. You took all this trouble. I'm a knight of Friege, and a member of the Schutaeze family. I can't simply let some medicine get the best of me."
"Well, perhaps this will help take the taste away," Fred said. He'd brought soup in an insulated flask. She took a sip. It was still warm after the trek from the kitchens, but not enough to burn.
The soup was spicy, and full of onions and garlic. It helped cleanse her palate, at least a little.
"The monks said it would help you feel better," Fred said.
"I certainly hope so. I'd much rather be fighting bandits than fighting off this cold," Olwen said.
Fred smiled. "I'm sure you'll fight off this sickness with just as much fury as you would those enemies."
*
Reinhardt ducked in the door with several tomes. Reinhardt brought her magic, because of course he would have her keep up her studies. Ishtar sent the newest book from Sumia's book club. Ishtar had become rather addicted to romance novels as of late. Which was surprising to Olwen, but anything which made Ishtar's life happier was certainly welcome.
(Reinhardt had told her. This Ishtar was called from a later time than Olwen herself, and had endured much tragedy. He hadn't gone into the details, but had always told Olwen to be gentle about her. No wonder; Reinhardt was always protecting Princess Ishtar, even here.)
The offer of books was kind, but she could hardly focus in her current state. Still, maybe later she'd be able to turn the pages and not nod off to sleep midsentence.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Not really, but I'll be fine. I should be out there on patrols."
"Going about and getting yourself even more ill due to the cold would help no one, least of all yourself," Reinhardt said.
"You sound like Fred," Olwen muttered.
"Then he's a wise man."
"Father wouldn't give up so easily," Olwen said.
"As much as I love and respect father, I'm not sure he would be the best example. He nearly died for his stubbornness."
All right, he had that match.
"Are you well enough to look out the window?" Reinhardt said.
"The window?" She looked to the window. People had already started to decorate the trees with little magical flashing lights and garnishes that the cats loved to take down and play with.
She'd only gotten up when she had to.
"I...guess."
"Do you need help to get up?"
"No, I can get up," Olwen muttered.
"Don't stay too long and catch cold," Reinhardt said.
"You're about as fussy as a mother hen," Olwen said.
She opened the window and cold, fresh and crisp air came in. The snow was falling steadily down. Through it, she saw that Ishtar was outside. She had on a very thick coat of white, with several buckles across her waist. Her hat was fluffy, and came down over her ears. Her long, lavender hair fell down her shoulders. She'd left it long today, with no ponytail.
She smiled up.
"Olwen, I'm glad to see you up. I wanted to come inside, but Reinhardt worried. I've been ill recently. Reinhardt worried and cared for me the entire time. He even quit all his duties to devote more time to checking in on me. He was so concerned.... I didn't want to worry him again..."
Ishtar blushed at the memory, and touched to her cheek. "In the end, he caught my illness too. I got a chance to take care of him."
"He's right. I would feel horrible if I gave this to you. I've been feeling awful," Olwen said.
"I hope you feel better," Ishtar said. "I've sent something to help pass the time. I'll send Reinhardt up with more later. Ah, don't catch a chill from too much cold air," Ishtar said.
"Thank you, and I'll go back to bed now," Olwen said. She closed the window. The cold air made her cough a bit more, but it'd been good to see such an old friend.
"I'll leave you to your rest," Reinhardt said pointedly.
Olwen was tired enough not even to make a sharp retort at that.
*
Olwen couldn't tell the hour. Only that she was tired of being in bed. The hearth gave quite a firelight across the stone walls of her room. The barracks rooms were
Olwen pushed herself out of bed with all the strength she had. She pushed past the dizziness and exhaustion. She'd rested enough now. More than enough.
Fred rose up from where he'd been kneeling. She hadn't even seen him there.
"I was making sure your hearth didn't go out," Fred said.
"I've been in bed long enough."
She was wearing nothing but a nightgown. She blushed. Fred, ever the gentleman, looked away.
"Never mind that. I'm going to go get dressed in time for the night patrols. I will join them."
"You're not nearly well enough to go out in such cold air," Fred protested.
"N-Nonsense. I'm--Perfectly--cough--fine--cough--"
She bent to put on her boots, which had been put under her bed. As she did, she suddenly felt dizzy. She reached out her hands to try and grab something. Fred had already noticed and risen to steady her. Except they both went tumbling together onto the bed.
Fred landed on the bed right beside her. At least the bed had caught them. But, oh! He was close. In fact, his legs were right up against hers. His mouth was close, and his body was less than an arm's length away.
And that moment, the door opened.
"Olwen, I've brought your medicine."
Her brother at the door, with a flask of medicine in his hands. Her brother, with a faint look of surprise on his face.
Her brother, seeing her right here on the bed with Fred, in her nightgown and with them this close.
"Perhaps I should come back another time," Reinhardt said wryly.
"I-I just fell, really. Fred tried to catch me and ended up falling for--with me," Olwen said quickly.
Reinhardt did not look to convinced.
"Regardless, I heard a commotion, so I didn't wait to knock, in case an enemy had infiltrated your rooms. I'll just leave the medicine on the table. We can catch up later. Goodnight, Olwen. I hope you feel better."
"And Fred," Reinhardt said. He paused a moment, like he was going to say more. But he simply said: "Goodnight as well."
Fred let out a long sigh when the door closed behind Reinhardt.
"Your brother is going to kill me," Fred said.
Olwen gave him an incredulous look.
"What? That's not possible in Askr. Heroes who are contracted can't harm each other. I should know, because Julius tried several times to kill my brother as soon as he got here. It was Reinhardt simply looking at him like that probably caused Julius to go live in a cave."
Smirking, really. Reinhardt had found it all very funny. Though it'd been pretty scary to see the flames of Loptous descend on Reinhardt so many times, only to have Reinhardt walk out of it unscathed like some hero from a novel.
"Either that or the humiliation of seeing Reinhardt smile at his rather pitiful attempts to get him just embarrassed Julius so much that he became even more corrupted and fallen," Fred said.
"Could be," Olwen said.
"Besides! I'm a grown woman. I can take a lover if I want. My brother has nothing to say about who I love. Unless I picked someone who was horrible. Then Reinhardt and I would go after them together and beat them senseless. Though, I have much better taste than that."
She just realized that she made it sound like Fred was her lover. When he wasn't. Probably? Sometimes it felt like maybe their relationship was going towards that, but it then it didn't. Maybe he was just too calm and polite.
Should she apologize for that? Bluntly tell him to date her already? Kiss him so he got the point?
Maybe not the last part, unless she wanted to give him her cold. Her mouth was probably pretty bitter from all the medicine she'd been taking, too.
"I'd hope to live up to your standards. I'm rather ordinary."
"What are you talking about? You're a great knight. You're steady and strong and always help keep your fellow soldiers in line."
Especially her, for that matter. Few people were able to calm Olwen's temper. Reinhardt, Ishtar and Fred were among the only ones. Other than her parents, and they weren't in Askr yet.
"You're great company and--" She stopped. Your hair is very fluffy, like a cat's was true, but not exactly a reason why he was a great knight.
"I don't have a title, I'm not the sort to be remembered in history. And I'm all right with it. I'll never be anything like Reinhardt Schutaeze, and I've accepted that. I can help plenty of people where I am."
"I don't want to take someone exactly like my brother as a lover. That's the last thing I want. I want someone steady and calm and with hair so cute and fluffy I want to pet it."
Olwen stopped.
"Did I just blurt that out?"
"Yes, quite loud, too."
Olwen buried her face in her hands. "This is so embarrassing. I have a crush, I guess. Maybe more."
"I've thought as much, though I've held back despite having similar feelings. I'm older than you, you know."
"And?" Olwen said. "What does that have to do with anything? I'm an adult. I can date someone older than me if I want."
"Well, some people wouldn't like such a gap in age," Fred said.
"Eh, it just means you have more experience and maturity. Actually, that's kind of...alluring."
Olwen blushed at the admission.
"I would be honored to be your lover," Fred said.
"Just one thing..."
"Yes?" Olwen said hopefully.
"Just please call you brother off. Even if he can't kill me, I don't want to experience Dire Thunder firsthand," Fred said.
"I told you! He can't hurt you. Besides, Reinhardt is kind. Really."
"Reinhardt in Jugdral could defeat entire armies by himself. He was known as the second coming of Thrud. And in Askr, he stared down the vessel of Loptous and smiled in the face of Julius's attacks. And he's Ishtar's lover now. He laughed in the face of the vessel for the dragon god of all destruction, and then Reinhardt went and wooed away Ishtar, Julius's former lover. I cannot even fathom the kind of daring it takes to stare down a man of such power like that, and then steal his lover. That kind of strength is unfathomable."
"That's condensing the timeline a bit. Julius left Askr before Reinhardt and Ishtar got together. He left Ishtar without ever even saying goodbye and became so corrupted by Loptous that a relationship was impossible. Reinhardt and Ishtar became lovers a while after that. Anyways, I'm sure he won't. But if it makes you feel better, I'll talk to him and make sure he plays nice."
Olwen patted him on the shoulder.
"The only Dire Thunder you have to worry about is from me."
"I'm not sure that's entirely reassuring," Fred said.
"Get used to it. Reinhardt is a gentle scholar compared to me," Olwen said sweetly.
"Yes, dear," Fred said.
They'd get along great, she thought.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-21 06:11 pm (UTC)L! Is your email still the same? If so, I emailed you. If not, please email me.
Cheers,
M
no subject
Date: 2022-11-21 06:35 pm (UTC)L! Is your email still the same? If so, I emailed you. If not, please email me.
Cheers,
M