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Title: safety net
Prompt: trust
Character/Pairing: Niles&Leo, Niles/Corrin, Niles&Elise, Niles&Odin
For: @1bulbasundae, for the FEF Trick or Treat. This one contains bits of fluff. (I tried)
A/N: Odin/Owain remains impossible to write, but I think I got a better grasp on the other characters. *sighs*
Summary: Five times Niles was touched and the one time he reached out instead
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omg hello, i was ur gifter for the halloween exchange! were you able to get your gift?? I asked the mods to post it for me (bc time zones and all) but I’m not sure if you received it. If you didn’t, sorry for being late!! but here it is!! I hope you like it and had a nice halloween!! ^^
^^^^^ @mimiblorgh ooooomg no i hadnt seen this asdfghjk this is the most beautiful thing i could have ever recieved thank you so much for drawing the boys ;;!!!! 💙💙
Takumi for @neudios as part of the Fire Emblem Trick or Treat exchange
Apologies for the lateness ^^; - it’s a bit unfinished...
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
by @lifeonvega for @garbagebird
Takumi for @doriites with his little spirit friends
Hey @rwbysrose, happy halloween!!! I’m really sorry if this came out weird, I’ve actually been sick for a week straight now and trapped in the middle of midterms so my ability to put out quality content has been... uh... compromised. |D;;
It seems like you’ve changed URLs since then, so I THINK your new URL is @sonianvms? But if I’m wrong please let me know! I hope your gift finds its way to you, and have a spoopy day! <3
(This image brought to you by @fef-trickortreat~)
[ShiroSieg] A handful
Summary: Shiro just wants to hold Siegbert's hand. / pre-established relationship.
Note: AO3 link. Gift for @thecapturedspy (@munkustrap)! I hope you will like it, it’s full of fluff.~
One-shot: A handful
Shiro's plan was pretty simple, in fact, and didn't require formidable intellect to put it in motion. He wasn't known for his brains, after all, so he shouldn't do something that couldn't match with his personality and reputation. Asugi told him that he should be natural. Caeldori suggested he tried to be more romantic (how the hell, he didn't know). Kiragi thought that displaying his raw strength was already a token of his devotion. Yeah, right, Shiro wanted something better than all this, and he was gonna do it.
Holding hands shouldn't be too difficult to achieve.
***
Siegbert had the annoying habit of talking with his hands to illustrate his point, much like Shiro himself, but the difference was that his gestures were small, slow and quite repetitive, a simple flick of his wrist or a circling motion. Thus it proved very frustrating to just as brush their fingers together, let alone grab a hand. Shiro surprised himself by not noticing this habit before; Siegbert wasn't talkative, sure, but every couple of sentences was accompanied with a gesture. Great.
Right now they were spending time alone, sitting on a patch of grass away from camp, and Siegbert had been explaining the various plants that could been found in Nohr. He must have realized that Shiro was distracted since he stopped right in the middle of his speech.
“You are awfully quiet, today,” he said. “Which is a bit strange, since you usually display such an exuberant behavior.”
Shiro shrugged, his hands firmly grasping on grass (that made his shrug quite stiff and not very visible). He was leaning backward while Siegbert was sitting straight, like the good prince he was. How did they end up together, that was a question that many of their friends still had on their minds.
“Nah, just feeling the peace we're enjoying right now,” he offered. “With all this fighting we can't really relax like that very often, right?”
Siegbert nodded, a small smile stretching his lips.
“Yes, this is true. I am glad we are able to enjoy this together.”
Well, Shiro couldn't hold hands with Siegbert, but at least he got to see him smile, and that was worth it.
***
He felt more confident in his second attempt, because Siegbert requested he taught him how to properly wield a lance. Having been in the army for a few months now, the prince of Nohr decided that mastering both the sword and the lance would be a great asset on the battlefield, and Shiro couldn't disagree with him despite the fact it meant he was going to have a much harder time beating Siegbert in their next spar. A few lessons weren't enough to fully put them on equal footing, but well. Shiro liked winning.
But ten minutes into the lesson, Shiro wondered why Siegbert asked him for tips and teaching when his stance and moves were already downright great for someone who favored the sword. Siegbert had a really strong defense, not letting an inch of space between his weapon and his body for an opening, always ready to block any attack, and even though his offense was a little bit less perfect, he knew what he was doing and didn't attempt to chain hits at the cost of accuracy. That made him frown and scratch the back of his head, trying to find anything remotely useful to say. But Siegbert didn't give him the chance to criticize anything.
“Sig, I know you want to improve and all to become the perfect prince and soldier, but I think you don't need my advice at all,” Shiro sighed. “I mean, the way you're wielding your lance is almost perfect. As perfect as you can get, for a sword wielder.”
Siegbert seemed sincerely troubled by these words, as he stopped moving altogether and stared at his boyfriend. He must have expected something else. Shiro took a few steps towards him and mimicked Siegbert's moves with his own naginata.
“A lance is slightly different from a naginata, but the way we wield one or the other is basically the same.” He slashed an imaginary opponent vertically. “Your hands are on each third of the shaft, which gives you stability and strength. At this point you can do anything you want, you just need to practice with a weapon that needs two hands. Speed is important but I think that as long as you hit hard, it's not that necessary. And honestly, I might have trouble beating you now...”
Shiro swung his naginata around, a thrust on the left that transformed into a slash to the right, followed by a cut upwards and he finished with a descent supported by a small jump. He knew these moves by heart, after practicing them day and night with the prospect of beating his father one day—he didn't have anything else to do in his Deeprealm, after all. He was aware of Siegbert's sharp eye following his moves, and in the wake of the events he cast a mischievous look at the other prince and grinned.
“Wanna find out if you can beat me?”
Siegbert let out a small sigh, half-exasperated, half-fond.
“These are your words, not mine,” he reminded. “But I will gladly accept your challenge.”
In the end, Shiro completely forgot about his initial plan on taking Siegbert's hands to show him how to wield a lance, since he ended up on his butt while Siegbert was still standing.
***
The most obvious instance where Shiro could achieve his goal(s) without being suspicious would be helping Siegbert on his feet if he fell, but that wouldn't feel natural and the contact would last only so long. The whole ordeal was getting incredibly ridiculous, he noted in the back of his mind, but he couldn't just abandon an idea he would just eventually do. Their relation wasn't explicitly in the open, only their friends knew—he didn't feel comfortable telling his parents yet, and neither was Siegbert. So, could someone blame a guy when he wanted to touch his partner?
The third opportunity that was presented to him took form in traveling through a rather cold night. Corrin had decided they should at least stop in a more covered place to spend the night. Which meant Shiro could use any kind of shitty excuse to hold Siegbert's hand; being cold, making sure they wouldn't lose each other, that stuff. But there was no way he would resort to such sappy lines, it wasn't cool and not his style at all, right?
… It wouldn't hurt to try, though.
“It is getting darker and darker, I hope Lady Corrin knows where we are headed,” Siegbert commented.
“Well, there's my old man and your father with her, so they probably know.” Shiro shrugged. “Sleeping in the open doesn't bother me, but I guess some people prefer being under trees or behind rocks, I dunno, to feel safer.”
Shiro couldn't care less about natural protection since he always carried his naginata around, and getting out of a tent wasn't that hard, even after waking up.
“That is right. It does give a sense of security, although I think we do not really need it, given we are all skilled warriors.”
“Glad to see we're on the same page.”
The Hoshidan prince smirked, and Siegbert smiled a little, like he usually did when he was amused, sending a wave of satisfaction in Shiro's mind. This smile showed some unique characteristics, small but powerful in its meaning, always synonymous of contentment, and Shiro would do anything to preserve it.
So to hell his reputation. He reached for Siegbert's hand, not even looking where he was extending his, and he might have seen his boyfriend's face transform into an expression of surprise—
“Okay, we're going to stop here!” Corrin shouted in the front.
The sudden call made Shiro froze, then he quickly retracted his hand to scratch his head instead, ignoring Siegbert's curious look as he laughed it off.
“C'mon, let's go set up our tent,” he said.
Well, shit.
***
The day after, Shiro, upon leaving his tent, was ambushed by an irritated Ignatius who told him he was on breakfast duty, which Shiro had totally forgotten sometime in the night. He groaned and let out a long sigh, grabbing his naginata before heading towards the mess hall (well, the tent that served this purpose). Siegbert could have at least woken him up! The Nohrian prince was nowhere to be seen, so he was probably training somewhere or talking with his father.
Shiro was greeted with a scowl from Rhajat and a small smile from Forrest (was that a Nohrian feature?), so he went to work immediately. Cooking had never been his forte, if his burnt dishes were of any indication, but breakfast didn't require as much concentration and thoroughness as lunch or dinner. He simply needed to cut bread, grab some cheese, make onigiri, and he would leave the omelets to actual decent cooks. Nothing too extravagant, so.
Forrest was an efficient partner, Rhajat did things in her corner, and Ignatius was of great help despite his rough appearance. They finished quite fast, given that Shiro was late and that they had to produce enough food for an army of over fourty people. But they did it, and they gladly handed over bowls and food to people. When Siegbert arrived he was smiling, and Shiro grinned.
“Hey there,” Shiro greeted. “I was late because you didn't wake me.”
“Apologies,” Siegbert chuckled. “I will keep in mind you cannot be left unsupervised in the morning.”
And then he stood next to Shiro, grabbed a slice of bread and took Shiro's hand in his own as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. The Hoshidan prince's brain short-circuited and he stared at his boyfriend. Siegbert's smile widened.
“If you wanted to hold hands, even for no reason, you simply needed to ask, or to do it,” he said. “I do not mind.”
In the back Shiro thought he heard Forrest laugh quietly, but he didn't comment. Then he barked out a laugh himself, shaking his head as he realized these past few days were really, really stupid. He kissed the corner of Siegbert's mouth, to which the other prince hummed in satisfaction.
“Okay, I overthought a simple thing, sorry,” he offered.
His grip on Siegbert's hand tightened, and they both chuckled.
FE: If Halloween Gift Exchange
For @airimeri, who requested Leo/Takumi, those dorks
The invitation was addressed from Princess Elise, which was the only reason Takumi didn’t reject it out of hand when Sakura ran in, breathless with excitement. He didn’t have a good excuse to avoid Nohr’s youngest princess. Not that he had a real excuse to avoid its younger prince, either.
Sure, he and Leo had exchanged some recipes; maybe they even some common interests. That didn’t mean he had to like the man, or spend any more time with him than necessary, now that the war was over and everyone had gone home.
But now Princess Elise had invited them all to experience autumn in Nohr, and Ryoma seemed inclined to accept. Sakura was certainly eager to go; Takumi hadn’t read the whole letter, but apparently the itinerary proposed by Princess Elise appealed to her.
Takumi didn’t know what was so great about autumn in Nohr, but he was going to find out, whether he liked it or not. Hinoka had made it clear that his whining- he hadn’t been whining, thank you very much! It was perfectly reasonable not to want to travel so far for no reason- wasn’t going to get him out of anything. They were turning over a new leaf in international relations, and spending time with the Nohrian royal family was an important part of that. Or so he was told, in no uncertain terms.
Maybe he would get lucky, and only Princess Elise would have time to show them around. Surely there were more important things demanding the other Nohrian siblings’ attention.
~o~
Surely there were more valuable things he could be doing than accompanying the Hoshidan siblings around the Nohrian countryside, Leo thought, examining Elise’s proposed itinerary for the upcoming visit. What a cliche list of activities. Leo hadn’t visited a pumpkin patch for years, and didn’t need to do it again now.
“I think I have other engagements,” he said, returning the list.
Elise pouted, hand on her hips. “Xander said you’d say that. He said to tell you that he’s cleared your calendar. Besides, it’ll be fun! We can show them everything fun to do in Nohr!”
“I’m sure it would be more fun if you showed them,” Leo tried.
“Well, of COURSE I’ll show them, but you’re coming too,” Elise informed him. It was clear the subject was closed. Sometimes Elise was even more adamant than Xander.
“I’m not rolling in any leaves.” Her laugh in lieu of response wasn’t exactly reassuring, but Leo had to draw the line somewhere. The last time he’d done that… he couldn’t even remember. It didn’t work out well in real life, he knew that.
“Just wait, Leo,” Elise giggled. “It’ll be so much fun.”
Something told Leo he wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t be enjoying himself. Xander and Prince Ryoma might humor their sisters, and Camilla might get up to just about anything, but he couldn’t imagine Prince Takumi willingly rolling in leaves. Not that Leo wanted to associate himself with Hoshido’s youngest prince, but it was easier to get out of things with someone else. Leo would do what he had to, and they did have some things in common, after all. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
~o~
Takumi looked up at the mountains surrounding Nohr’s capital and shivered. It was already much colder than back home. The seasons didn’t shift so suddenly in Hoshido, and Takumi wasn’t ready for the biting chill yet. He sighed. This was shaping up to be more of a pain than he’d expected. They’d arrived late last night, and settled into grey, impersonal guest rooms; he’d expected depressing, since this was Nohr, after all, but Takumi had been almost surprised by how dull the stone walls were. The view out here in the countryside was hardly better, just sweeping fields in autumn colors.
“Come on, come on,” Princess Elise cheered. “We have to find the best pumpkin!”
Sakura giggled, taking her hand and skipping into the field of orange squash. Takumi could hear Princess Camilla teasing Hinoka somewhere behind him. Unwise, Takumi thought; even if it was just something like choosing the best vegetable specimen, Hinoka wouldn’t give in without a fight. Sure enough, his older sister bounded into the field a moment later, shouting about how the older Nohrian princess wouldn’t defeat her so easily. So easily as what, exactly, Takumi wasn’t sure. No one had explained what the “best pumpkin” was supposed to look like.
He wasn’t sure it mattered. Still, even Ryoma and King Xander were taking this seriously, accompanying Princess Corrin through the tangled vines.
“If you just pick one, we can make an excuse to go back to the castle,” Prince Leo said, appearing at Takumi’s side.
He jumped. “I don’t need you to tell me that,” Takumi snapped reflexively, then processed what Leo had actually said. He wondered what the catch was.
“Well, if you want to stay out here in the mud.” Leo raised an eyebrow at him.
Takumi looked away. Out in the field, Princess Elise was running through the vines with a pumpkin larger than her torso. Sakura was struggling to follow her with a much smaller squash. Hinoka and Camilla seemed to think the best pumpkins were the farthest away; he could barely see them anymore. No, he didn’t particularly want to spend more time here than he needed to.
“I don’t want one,” Takumi muttered.
Leo rolled his eyes. “Elise won’t stand for that. Come on, let’s just get this over with.”
Takumi grumbled, but let Leo grab his elbow and pull him into the pumpkin patch. It was easier to follow along and complain than make a scene.
“This is ridiculous,” he muttered, trying not to step in too much mud.
“I don’t like it either,” Leo retorted. “Just pick a pumpkin so we can get out of here.”
Takumi did, making sure to find one that was bigger than Leo’s. It was the principal of the thing.
By the look on Leo’s face, he wasn’t impressed by Takumi’s choice. Still, aside from a slight smirk, he didn’t comment. Takumi pretended not to notice.
On the way back, Leo explained that Elise wanted them all to carve faces into the pumpkins; it didn’t make much sense to Takumi, but Leo’s shrug when he asked was equally mystified.
“Does there have to be a reason?” Leo asked. “Historically, I’m certain there is some superstitious basis for it, but we’re only carving pumpkins because Elise thinks it will be fun.”
Takumi didn’t have a response that wouldn’t come across as churlish. So he sat through Elise’s excited explanations, once everyone else returned to the castle; he scooped startlingly cold mush out of his pumpkin; he carved a clumsy face into it, and listened to his family enjoying themselves. The whole process was much more difficult than he had anticipated. He had to admit, though, once the pumpkins were filled with candles and Elise was handing around the roasted seeds, that he was enjoying himself. Maybe it was the low light, or the warm fire, or the fact that Leo’s pumpkin was just was clumsily done as his own; whatever it was, Takumi made sure not to let it show on his face. It wouldn’t do to let them think he could be won over so easily.
By Leo’s smirk, he had all that figured out, too. At least between their older sisters’ playful bickering, Xander and Ryoma showering Corrin in attention, and Elise loudly forcing pumpkin seeds on Sakura, Leo was the only one paying much attention to Takumi.
~o~
Leo made sure to wear an old pair of boots for Elise’s next adventure; he’d been able to excuse himself from the pumpkin patch by escorting Takumi back to the castle, but he didn’t dare hope he would be able to get out of doing the corn maze so easily. The mud promised to be horrendous.
“Corn maze, Corrin maze, Corrin in the corn maze,” Elise chanted, pushing their beloved sister through the quaint woven archway. Camilla and Princess Honoka were long gone, apparently determined to make a competition of every one of Elise’s activities. Predictably, Xander and Ryoma accompanied Corrin, leaving Leo and Takumi trying to avoid Elise’s attention, with Sakura standing nearly in her shadow.
Behind him, Takumi snorted at Elise’s antics. A critical mistake; as soon as their older siblings vanished into the corn, Elise rounded on the two of them.
“You’re next!” She announced, planting her hands firmly on her hips.
“Shouldn’t someone, ah, stay on the outside, just in case…” Leo attempted, lost for any reason they might need such a precaution.
“Don’t be a spoilsport, Leo,” Elise pouted. “You two, go on.”
Leo sighed. Takumi was looking at him in mild horror. “Nothing to be done for this one,” Leo told him, grabbing the other prince’s shoulder and walking him up to the maze.
Elise cheered. “We’ll see you later!”
“Have fun,” Sakura echoed. Leo narrowed his eyes at them; Sakura had much the same satisfied expression on her face as Elise was sporting.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Takumi said, shaking off Leo’s hand.
“It’s just a corn maze.” Leo looked over his shoulder at their little sisters. Privately, he had to agree with Takumi.
“A Corrin maze,” Takumi muttered. Half a smile floated across his face, vanishing as Leo turned to look at him.
“Don’t encourage her,” Leo sad disapprovingly. Elise certainly didn’t need it. “Let’s get through this.”
Takumi rolled his eyes, with a sideways glance at Leo. “How hard can it be.”
Hard, apparently. An indeterminate amount of time later, Leo and Takumi were still lost in identical corridors of corn, differentiated only by the depth of the mud on the paths. Leo made a sound of irritation, and Takumi turned on him, frustrated color high on his cheeks.
“Haven’t you done this before?” Takumi demanded.
Knowing that he must be looking almost as disheveled as Takumi, with bits of hair loose from his ponytail sticking haphazardly across his forehead, Leo could feel his own face flush. “It isn’t as though the pattern is the same every year.” Elise hadn’t managed to drag Leo out to a corn maze for years, either.
Takumi just glared at him. Leo preferred the expression to the sullen look Takumi had been wearing thus far, but only just. That flicker of a smile earlier had been nice… Leo shook that thought out of his head. Half of an ordinary smile didn’t mean much of anything. “There’s nothing to do but keep trying, unless you need a minute to rest after trudging through all this mud,” Leo finally said.
“We could just cut through it,” Takumi suggested, casting a dark look at the dry stalks.
“Elise would kill us both,” Leo muttered. “Come on, I don’t think we’ve been down this path.”
Somewhat to Leo’s surprise, Takumi let himself be turned down Leo’s chosen path, saying something about his lack of options under his breath. A few turns later, and the churned mud under their feet thinned; Leo assumed they were on the way out. Less mud probably meant less people had backtracked over this spot. Takumi sighed in relief.
“I was starting to think your entire countryside was ankle-deep muck,” he grinned, before looking startled by his own cheerful reaction.
“I was starting to think the same thing,” Leo told him. “This is why I don’t spend much time in it.”
That got a short laugh out of Takumi, as they finally, finally rounded the corner onto a clear path out of the maze. Leo smiled back, enjoying how easily they could get along when Takumi forgot to fight about it. The moment ended quickly enough as Camilla and Hinoka descended on them, full of commentary about how long they had taken.
~o~
He was getting sick of letting Leo take the lead, Takumi thought grumpily, as they sat side by side in the hay-filled wagon Elise had arranged to take them to an apple orchard. He was getting sick of Leo’s knowing smiles, too, like the one on his face now as he passed Takumi a thick scarf. Still, Takumi took it without protest; the wind was cold. Hoshido wasn’t this cold so early in the season.
Leo scooted a little closer to pull the scarf tighter around Takumi’s neck. “You really are clueless, aren’t you.”
“I know how to put on a scarf,” Takumi protested, making an attempt to press away. Maybe he shouldn’t have chosen to sit right in the last spot in the corner, but it had looked the warmest… Leo jostled him as Elise crowded into his space at the other side. “Careful!”
“Sorry,” Elise giggled, craning around Leo to look at him. She clearly wasn’t sorry, and also didn’t move, turning sideways on the bench seat to talk to Sakura.
Leo dropped his hands and shifted, but Elise hadn’t left him any room to move away. As much as Takumi tried to tell himself it didn’t matter- it wasn’t a very big wagon, and the rest of them were all sitting close!- he spent the rest of the ride very conscious of Leo at his side.
The Nohrian countryside was… not unappealing, as Takumi watched it flow past; stark, maybe, and certainly colder than he liked, but sitting here next to Leo, listening to their families laughing, Takumi had to admit he was happy. A little. Not that he wanted to spend any more time this way, but it was fine. Looking over at Leo, Takumi wasn’t sure whether he should be furious or embarrassed at the other prince’s smirk, like he knew everything Takumi was thinking.
Once they reached the orchard, Takumi couldn’t help shivering as he climbed off the wagon. He’d been pleasantly warm for a minute there, with Leo sitting so close.
There was a picturesque barn, and rows of heavily laden apple trees stretching out past it; the whole place was bustling with more people than Takumi had expected. It was nearly a festival atmosphere.
“Still feeling the cold?” Leo asked, louder than he needed to. Takumi could see some of their siblings turn toward them.
“I’m fin-” Takumi started to hiss- why would Leo care, and why would he draw so much attention to it- but Leo moved in closer with a fixed smile, nudging Takumi to look at the barn.
“Looks like there’s a bonfire over there,” Leo continued, and the look in his eyes definitely didn’t match the pleasant smile on his lips. “Why don’t the rest of you get started, and I’ll take Takumi over to warm up.”
Takumi looked at their siblings, at Leo, at the rows of trees bustling with people, and assumed a bright, fake smile of his own. “I am feeling chilled.” Now that he looked closer, the ground between the trees looked suspiciously similar to the texture of the corn maze.
Xander nodded seriously at them, and Ryoma waved them off; their sister's eyes all glittered with varying degrees of suspicion and satisfaction, but Takumi didn’t feel like thinking about that, at the moment. Between crawling through more uneven mud and sitting by a fire, he had an easy choice to make. Even doing it with Leo was better than more terrain like the corn maze.
Leo looked satisfied as they settled onto one of the rough log benches around the fire. “This is working even better than I expected.”
“Why are you trying so hard to avoid participating?” Takumi asked, holding his hands out toward the flames.
The question seemed to surprise Leo. Takumi wondered if it was the same for him, that he was just too used to protesting. Or even closer to Takumi’s darker feelings, where he still couldn’t quite stop doubting that his siblings loved him just as much now that Corrin was back. Leo didn’t seem like the type to have those kinds of doubts, even if he was similar to Takumi in other ways.
“Well, you are cold, aren’t you?” Leo deflected.
“Just because you were sitting so close on the way here,” Takumi retorted without thinking. “I was perfectly warm then. “ He could feel himself blush as he said it; he shouldn’t have brought attention to it at all.
“I think they’re selling cider in the barn,” Leo said abruptly, striding away before Takumi could so much as blink. He scowled. Great, now everything was even more awkward than before. He’d been getting used to dodging the rest of their siblings’ enthusiasm with Leo, and now… Well, now that he was sure he’d ruined it, he could admit that he liked spending time with Leo.
Leo came back with cups of hot cider before Takumi could get too entrenched in negative thoughts, but the haze of frustrated anxiety he’d raised around himself was more than enough.
Leo handed him a cup and Takumi fumbled it, grabbing a handful of Leo’s fingers with it; they both nearly dropped it, overcompensated, left both of their hands wrapped around the cup for a few seconds too long.
“Careful, it’s hot,” Leo said, empty words barely reaching Takumi through the buzz of his nerves.
What was he even nervous about? He didn’t even like- fine, he had already admitted that to himself. He did like Leo, who was sitting there with one ironically arched brow, looking like it was beneath him to be confused by Takumi’s sudden lack of coordination. So what if he did? He was supposed to like Leo now; it was all part of this new era of international relations that had forced him out here in the first place.
He just probably wasn’t supposed to like the other prince so much. He fidgeted, scowled, and glanced over at Leo, who was still watching him with that serene expression of confident superiority. Takumi wanted to take some drastic action, to knock that look off Leo’s face.
Taking a sip of cider instead, Takumi tried to concentrate on the drink. It was surprisingly soothing. “This is good.”
Leo made a noncommittal noise. “Elise would be pleased to hear that. I believe it’s on her list.”
“It’s a long list,” Takumi said, just for the sake of saying something. “This trip has been eye-opening.”
“She hasn’t even made anyone roll in leaves yet,” Leo commented. Takumi could still feel Leo looking at him, and gave in to the urge to look back. His usual smirk seemed warmer, somehow. “Are you still cold?”
Beginning to protest that the entire issue of being cold was just an excuse in the first place, Takumi paused, narrowing his eyes at Leo. “A little.”
Leo looked startled, for a moment, but Takumi remembered Elise nearly shoving them together at every opportunity, and the rather telling fact that Leo himself had initiated this whole dodgy set of excuses to spend time apart from the others.
Leo set his cider aside and moved into Takumi’s space to adjust his borrowed scarf the same way he had on the ride here. He didn’t move back when he was done, even without his little sister there to force him into it.
“I don’t know what else to do about that,” Leo said, voice dropping low as his smile turned teasing.
That look might do it, Takumi thought, as a shiver ran down his spine from the expression in Leo’s eyes. He could feel his cheeks heating, at least. “Don’t you pride yourself on knowing all sorts of unnecessary things?” It was continuing to meet Leo’s eyes that was important, not the words; Takumi was grateful for that, because he wasn’t sure how much more insipid he could sound.
“I prefer to be sure before I jump into things,” Leo breathed, leaning in a little farther.
“I prefer taking action,” Takumi retorted, tilting his face into perfect alignment with Leo’s.
Leo kissed him, brushing Takumi’s hair back from his face with cold fingers, and Takumi regretted the cider he was still holding. He’d like to find out if Leo’s golden hair was a silk-soft as it looked. He settled for kissing back, forgetting for a moment that is was broad daylight in a public place, and their siblings might come back at any time. Nearly giddy with relief, Takumi grinned against Leo’s mouth.
“I suppose I have some ideas after all,” Leo murmured, pulling back a little. Takumi could still feel Leo’s breath, warm against his flushed skin. “For later.”
That sent heat rushing through Takumi’s whole body even more effectively than the fire behind them. This whole visit was turning out to be fun after all.
~o~
Out in the orchard, Sakura dropped an apple into Elise’s bag. “Do you think it’s working?”
Elise looked back at the barn over her shoulder. “I literally cannot think of a single more romantic thing. Did you see Leo with the scarf? If he can’t get anywhere with hot cider and a bonfire after that, he’s more hopeless than I thought.”
Sakura giggled. “They’re so stubborn.”
“They’re so uptight and stupid,” Elise growled. “I think it’s working, though.”
“It would be a shame to have arranged all this for nothing,” Sakura agreed.
“If I have to push them both in a leaf pile I will.” Elise studied the branch in front of them, choosing the most symmetrical apple she could find. “We can give them a little more time with the scenic orchard setting first, though.”
“This is very nice. I’m having fun, even if our brothers aren’t.”
Elise laughed, pulling Sakura deeper into the trees. “Good! Come on, we need the best apples we can find for caramel apples. That might get them, if all else fails. I’m sure I can figure out a way to get them to feed one another.” She had plenty of ideas after that, too. Leo and Takumi weren’t going to foil their scheme; it was for their own good, after all.
