Better Every Time

[shinon]

Title: Better Every Time
Fandom: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Character/Pairing: Shinon/Leanne, Gatrie
Genre: Vaguely humorous/somewhat romantic? >_>
Word Count: 2,317
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Shinon being Shinon, language, drinking, Leanne's pretensions to feminine wiles, spoilers
Notes: Rather belated gift-fic for misheard.
Going head-to-head with a goddess was never going to be a smart idea, however you spun it. Shinon had to wonder whether all those statue people were really worth so much trouble. He hadn’t liked them before they’d turned, and he had a feeling they weren’t going to shut up and start minding their own business just because they’d spent a while as rocks.

Fighting gods was stupid, right up there with insulting dragons or asking Gatrie about his latest girlfriend. Doing so with a hangover was stupider.

But if you can look at this damn tower and not want a drink, I don’t want to know you, Shinon thought, squinting sourly. By that logic, the only people he wanted to know were Gatrie and Janaff. Not a bad place to start, but he’d probably ditch Janaff. Anyway, he’d been pretty sure he wouldn’t be one of the lucky bastards who had to actually go in there. This morning he’d found out that Ike had other ideas.

So. Fighting the goddess Ashera on the orders of the great and wonderful General Ike and that silver-haired twit. While hung over. It could’ve been bearable, since the tower was pretty dark. But no, it had to be filled with magic users and their stupid magic stuff, which – if Shinon knew one thing about magic, it was this – always glowed. Always.

Add to that all the stinking sub-humans good ol’ Ikey-boy had decided to bring along and all the yelling and speechifying those stupid Disciples of Order did, and he was ready to open book on whether his head split open or he puked first.

“Shinon,” said an unfamiliar voice, slowly, like she wasn’t sure how to pronounce his name.

“What?” he snarled, nocking an arrow. It was a damn shame, he thought, finally getting his hands on such a high-quality double bow at a time like –

“You… be well,” said the woman’s voice, haltingly.

He shot someone in the throat. That’d shut him up, at least. “That an order?”

There was no answer. Instead, someone started singing. A woman. He braced himself. The expected pain never came. He opened one eye experimentally. Actually, he felt closer to fine than he had since waking up, and he could almost see properly.

He turned, slowly, moving his head as little as possible. “Hey, whatever you just did –” It was that heron girl. Right. It was just that weird song-magic of theirs. That was what she was here for. Why thank her?

She stared at him, and her eyes were huge and shiny and serious. She had that expression that made you want to start making horrible excuses. If she were Rolf, this would be the part where he’d start backpedaling like crazy, saying okay, fine, you can tag along, just for the love of the goddess stay out of my way. He considered saying it anyway. Then he turned away and feathered some other poor fool instead.

The battle went on. He moved away from her – to get a better shot, of course. The day he let some sub-human make him move would be the day… the day something really improbable happened. Whatever.

Then she spoke again, from directly behind him. “Shinon,” and then a string of complete gibberish, and then “I help you?”

“Knock yourself out.” It was probably easier than trying to get rid of her. She had that look, and the songs worked. And he might have just been imagining it, but his head hurt less when she was nearby. He just wouldn’t look at her, so in case she felt compelled to turn into a bird or something weird like that, he wouldn’t have to see it. That way it was like he wasn’t accepting help from a laguz at all. Then, because she’d looked so much like Rolf for a minute there, he added, “But be careful.”

He could’ve sworn she was laughing. Oh, is that how it is? If a sudden wave of nausea hadn’t hit him right then, he would’ve taken back everything. Then she started singing, and it went away. How dare she be so useful?

---

When that battle ended, and everyone was done making a huge fuss over some pieces of paper, they had to climb another small infinity of stairs.

“Think you’ve got an admirer,” said Gatrie, catching up on one of the landings.

“You’re looking kind of green,” Shinon snapped.

“Yeah, I still feel pretty rough. You seem okay, though. I don’t know how you do it.” The marshal shook his head enviously. “But seriously. That Princess Leanne, she’s a real cutie, huh? What’s she like? She’s got such a pretty voice, and such soft, gorgeous hair, and those pretty green eyes all full of light and sweetness, and she’s so gentle and graceful and…”

“Guess she’d be the perfect woman if she didn’t have that annoying habit of being a bird.”

Gatrie laughed. “Guess so.”

---

Some Begnion senators. The king of dragons. The Prime Minister. The Black Knight. They all died, not necessarily in that order. Shinon concentrated on how badly his head hurt so he wouldn’t have to think about the rest in any more detail than that.

But he still couldn’t get rid of Leanne.

“What are you following me for?” he asked at one point, trying to strike the right balance of curiosity and annoyance.

She looked confused, mumbled something in the heron language, then smiled and said “You… need. You are…” She frowned, looking for words. “Difficult. But good. I like you. I… will help you.”

“You’re insane,” he muttered, and resumed fighting, ignoring her laughter. And she followed him, presumably as a heron sometimes, though he ignored that part. Every so often he tried to give her the slip. Not only was her presence starting to get unnerving, but over the course of the battle, both the hawk king and the crow king had warned her, earnestly and individually, to stay away from bow users, especially that one, I know he’s on our side, but he hates laguz and I’d feel much better if you’d… and so on.

She refused to take the hint. Every time he thought he’d gotten away, she reappeared right beside him, or behind him, or sometimes right in front of him, grinning, like she’d just beaten him at hide-and-seek or something. And eventually he stopped trying, because he felt a little better every time. In a rare moment of magnanimity, he suggested that Gatrie might appreciate her company, too.

“No,” she said. “I stay… with you.”

He shrugged. “Have it your way.”

She did. He had a feeling that she always did, and that no one ever had the heart to stop her.

---

Ashera – he recalled later, drunkenly – Ashera had been a bitch. And no one should glow that much. That was how you knew she was a real goddess, because she was glowing like crazy, and surrounded by other things that also glowed like crazy, and also you knew by that pesky tendency to smite things. The world was better without her. And as for Shinon, he was done doing heroic deeds, too much hassle, you know, and the pay wasn’t any good. So the next time Tellius was on the brink of destruction – bah! Go find some other world-class marksman.

“And another thing,” he said, signaling for another drink, “those sub-hu – um, lagu – I mean –” He didn’t remember which word he was supposed to be using anymore. “Them. I’ve had enough of ’em. They can all go…”

Gatrie poked him. “Might not want to say that.”

“Shuddup. I’ll say whatever I –”

“Shinon?” That voice. That voice, of all voices that he could possibly hear in what he had on the word of the Apostle herself was the absolute worst tavern in Sienne.

He turned to face her. “You. Princess… bird… woman.” What was her name again? “Leanne. What’re you doing here?”

She smiled impishly. “Seeing you.”

Gatrie poked him again, harder. “I think she likes you,” he whispered loudly. Shinon had the sudden urge to punch him in the face.

“You shouldn’t… you shouldn’t be here. ’S full of stupid drunk beorc.”

The tavern had gone quiet, or at least, those sober enough to realize that something was going on had stopped to watch it go on. Leanne took a few steps toward him, and the crowd made way. He hoped she didn’t understand the lewd suggestions being yelled at her. “Like you?” she asked. It could’ve been an insult, but from her it sounded like an honest question.

“Yeah, like… like me, I guess. Listen, I don’t care what happens to you, but there’s a bunch of people who do, so you should really –”

“King Naesala, King Tibarn, my brothers… told me to… not come. I don’t listen.” Either he was so drunk that everyone sounded like a great speaker, or she was getting better at talking like a normal person. Maybe both.

“You should kiss her. You should kiss her right now,” said Gatrie.

“Shut up.”

“She’s the perfect woman! You admitted it!” Gatrie drove his finger into Shinon’s ribs. “Do it. Do it.”

“What? When did I say that? Come on, she’s got wings and… and stuff.” He trailed off, muttering, “How would that even work?”

Leanne cleared her throat. “I still am here.”

Shinon scowled. “Know how to fix that? ’S easy. You just turn around and go away.” He pointed somewhere in the general direction of the door. “That way.”

She tilted her head to one side in a movement that was either too cute or too birdlike for comfort. “Why?”

“Because,” he said, forming the words carefully so there’d be no misunderstanding, “I hate” – how could she expect anyone to think when she was there giving them looks like that? He tried again – “I don’t like… uh…”

“He doesn’t like anything,” Gatrie told Leanne helpfully.

Well, that would have to do. “And don’t you forget it,” he said. His beer finally arrived. He focused his attention on that, ignoring Leanne.

She would have none of that, naturally. “I am still here.”

“Really? Good for you,” he said. He forgot whether or not he was being sarcastic about halfway through.

“Shinon.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, yer here. I get it. But you look all outta place.”

“Out… of place?” she repeated slowly. “Out of place.”

“Right. ’Cause, y’know, yer pretty, and yer not drinking anything.” A pause. “And yer a half-breed, but that sorta goes… without…” He blinked. She must’ve pried his beer out of his fingers at some point, because she was definitely taking a swig. “Hey! That’s mine!”

She raised an eyebrow at him. Gatrie burst out laughing. Shinon could have shot them both. “C’mon. Give it back.”

“Laguz,” said Leanne.

“What? Look, give me –”

She refused to give it up. She looked Shinon in the eye and said firmly, “I am laguz. Not ‘half-breed.’”

“I think you should apologize,” said Gatrie.

“Screw that, I’ll just get another one.” He never apologized. They both ought to damn well know better.

Leanne held the beer out to him. He made a clumsy grab for it. She pulled it out of his reach. “I give back. You… will… say ‘laguz,’ then I will give it back.”

“I’ll do it,” Gatrie offered.

“Go to hell,” said Shinon.

“It is very easy,” said Leanne.

“Laguz,” Gatrie said brightly.

Shinon shoved him out of the way. “Fine. Whatever. Laguz. Give it back, you crazy… and don’t think you’ve won. ’Cause you haven’t.”

Leanne beamed at him. “Good. Now you talk like ci… civi… like…” She frowned, chewing on her lower lip. “Like ci-vi-lized person.”

“Go, Leanne! That was like five syllables!” Gatrie cheered.

Shinon glared at both of them. “Great. Now hand it over, Little Miss Laguz.”

His next coherent thought was, What is her tongue doing inside my mouth? The next: Looks like she doesn’t know, either. It was obvious she’d never kissed a man before. She was pretty bad at it.

He broke off, stumbling back a few steps. “What the – you – that wasn’t my drink!” He tried to get his control back, standing as straight as possible and giving her his scariest glare, the one that used to always make Rolf cry.

Embarrassed, Leanne finally handed the tankard over. “I thought I will keep it.”

He snorted and tossed back the rest of the beer. “What? Thought you were gonna distract me with yer bird-woman wiles? Sorry, princess, you got the wrong idiot.” He pointed at Gatrie, who was giggling inanely to himself.

“I will… practice. Next time will work.”

“Oh, yeah? Who you gonna ‘practice’ on?” he sneered.

Leanne looked disappointed. “Oh. I did not think…”

“Meh, don’t worry about it,” he said generously. “Not gonna be a next time anyway. Kiss whoever you want.”

Now she looked even more disappointed. “You are not… jealous?”

He started laughing, looked at her again, and thought better of it. “Why?”

“That is what happen!” She seemed actually upset. “Reyson, Nailah, Geoffrey, all get jealous when… their special person…”

“Special… person.” Shinon sighed and shook his head. “Yer outta yer mind.”

She stood up straight and lifted her chin, giving him the evil eye. “Next time. Will be better. You understand?”

“I just said there ain’t gonna be any –” He was talking to the air. She’d found the door after all.

Finally he turned back to the bar. “Hey, Gatrie?”

“Hey, Shinon.”

“What just happened?”

Gatrie thought for a minute, then shrugged. “She likes you. She definitely likes you.”

Shinon grimaced. “She’s got wings ’n stuff.”

“Shoot,” said Gatrie, “lots of people have wings.”

There was a long pause. “Ain’t gonna be a next time,” Shinon muttered.

“Whatever you say.”

On some level, they both knew he would never have any say in the matter.

Comments

[misheard.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Shinon is horribly amusing when drunk/hung over, Leanne is awesome and will not take no for an answer, your writing style is perfect, Gatrie is an amazing wingman, the Naesala and Tibarn cameo was great, and this is just incredibly great~

Marry me plz?

[ergoipsofacto.livejournal.com]

Oh, um, wow. :all flustered and stuff: I think that's the most e's I've ever gotten. Glad you like! xD

I can't decide whether Naesala or Tibarn would flip out more over this turn of events. :cackles: And, a confession: one reason for the delay was a fierce internal debate over exactly how much Gatrie the situation called for.

'K~

[misheard.livejournal.com]

It's totally deserving of those eee's~

Probably Tibarn, in my opinion, although it's close. The fic has exactly the right amount of Gatrie, I think~!