happilyeverbeginning | Flowers

Olivia hadn't been with the Shepherds as long as some of the other members, but even she knew theirs was unique army with odd individuals. But she loved each and every one of them dearly, and as a result she risked life and limb in battle to protect them. One she'd come to love a little more dearly than the others was Henry - which is why she wanted to help him. She was convinced his eternally smiling face was a mask, and as a result she wanted to help him reach his real emotions - even, perhaps, help him be normal.

Today's "lesson", as she deemed it, was the proper way to express gratitude. Peaceful days were getting rarer in Ylisse, so she was pleased to find quiet time to stray from the camp and find exactly what she was looking for. As far as Olivia knew, mages like Henry needed plants in some of their works - but when she tried asking Miriel what exactly they would need, she had gone into one of those long explanations that completely went over the dancer's head. She'd just have to settle for "it looks pretty, maybe it'll be useful."

Dinner would be in another hour or so, so she made sure not to spend too long before returning to base. To be fair, she didn't know the names of the flowers that were now bundled in her arm - some were white, others were yellow, they all smelled sweetly. But she tried to be optimistic as she approached Henry's tent, hoping she wasn't interrupting him doing any creepy magic. Which, she noted, was an odd thing to hope for if she was trying to give him ingredients for creepy magic. Maybe he would just use them for decoration? Oh boy.

Olivia cleared her throat, not wanting to barge in rudely. "Um, Henry? Are you in there? I, ah, have something for you... if you'd like."

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It was more a common sense thing, but saying that would't help anybody.

"Well... When other people hold each other like that for so long, it, um." Oh cripes. Of all the things she had to teach him, why was this one?! Her face continued to redden and her eyes darted about. This was way too embarrassing!

"It usually means they're... more than friends! Much more! Do you understand?"

So not a regional thing. All these manners could be so hard to keep straight, and that was before Henry tried to figure out how other countries did things. Funny how they could communicate so well with other creatures but other humans could mystify them.

"What, fucking?"

Poor Olivia, she sure had trouble being direct sometimes!

Well. That was certainly ONE way to say it.

With a startled yelp, she dropped his hand completely. Now her face was redder than freshly spilled blood on the battlefield - even her ears were red!

"NO! I mean, well, yes! I mean - that is - oooh, this is so embarrassing! I shouldn't have said anything at all!"

Oh, whoops, she really was shy, not just having trouble saying things. Henry waved their hands to clear the air.

"In a relationship! I understand you, Olivia, you don't have to be embarrassed."

She sure was pretty when flushed, though, Henry could see why some people thought her shyness was cute. Personally they were more worried about her being upset.

Too late for Olivia. Now that she reached her maximum shyness, it was going to be difficult bringing her back. She wobbled from foot to foot, continuing to blush, her hands all over in the air.

"N-N-Not that we're in a relationship! I mean, we kind of are, but that's friendship! That's different from a relationship! Isn't it? I think it is! But ours is different than the other friendships I have... I'm not making any sense at all..."

Funny how in the face of Olivia's bluster Henry could stay so calm, waiting for Olivia to work out her feelings. After all, they couldn't both lose their heads! Ahh, it's been too long since Henry decapitated someone...

"We're friends, Olivia, that's all we need to be."

And all Henry could really ask for, if this was how she reacted; but Olivia promised to stay with them, which was more than Henry ever really had.

"Maybe some tea? I can make some from the honeysuckle."

Usually a hot drink and having something to fiddle with helped Henry when he got overwhelmed and couldn't just murder or magic up some relief.

But unbeknownst to Henry, this extra flustered reaction was because she could ask for more. And perhaps wanted to. Alas, these new feelings and her deep shyness were making her faint - although he brought a welcome distraction.

"T-Tea? ... Oh, right, tea! That would be l-lovely, actually... It might help settle my nerves." Followed by a few deep breaths. There we go. In and out, eyes on the ground. "Thank you, Henry."

They made quite the pair between the two, but Henry was glad she responded well to their offer.

"Yeah, since you brought the flowers and all, I thought you'd like to have some."

Henry dug out a clean jar from his workspace and filled it with water and the flowers. The spell they used to speed up the infusion process was similar to the one used on the potted crops in the caravan. Soon Henry had the tea ready, the fragrance filling the tent as they handed her a cup.

"There you go, no need for sugar with that tea!"

In the time it took Henry to make the tea, Olivia mentally went through her usual calming exercises. It was a little rougher this time around, but eventually she was back to normal like nothing had happened at all - although she'd certainly be thinking a lot about this day when she was all alone.

"Oh, it smells lovely." Olivia replied without a hint of a stammer or shake. She took the cup and took a short ship, smiling. "Mmm, and it tastes even better! I bet everyone would love it."

At least Olivia was calmer, that was nice. Henry didn't know what they'd do if the tea didn't work. They want to help, but knowing what to do is more difficult. Henry took a sip themself, relaxing at the sweetness.

"Yeah? Maybe we could find more flowers later and treat everyone!"

Everyone liked tea, right? Or at least hot drinks.

"Oh, maybe we could make a cake or something to go with it?"

"What a wonderful idea!" Olivia said with a great big smile. "The whole army has felt rather tense as of late... this could be just the thing to lift their spirits." And maybe bring Henry closer to the Shepherds - they'd probably be surprised that sweets and tea came from doom and gloom Henry.

"I've baked a few things before, I'd be happy to help out."

Doom yes, but gloom was more Tharja's thing. Still, a lot of the Shepherds were unsettled by Henry's cheer, perhaps more than Tharja's traditional attitude. Who knew a smile at blood could be creepier than a frown?

More importantly, Olivia offered to help!!

"Really? I'm so glad, I can make bread and stuff but I've never really made a cake well. I tried making a Grimleal molasses cake but I totally burned it until it was a sulphurous mess, nyahaha! It was really funny watching Gaius grimace but I would like to try and get it right."

Still funny that Gaius believed that excuse about there being no sweets in Plegia. Henry may not have had many humanmade sweets but honey and sugarcane still existed in the wetter coastal regions. Even their dates were sweet, if not as good as the Ylissean ones.

"Maybe we could try to make that cake together." Olivia said with a bright smile, getting more excited for this idea with every passing second. "Two heads are better than one! If that cake is as good as this tea, then I really can't wait to give it a try. You could teach me all sorts of stuff about Grimleal cuisine."

Which sounded odd to say, but she had to admit that not everyone on "that" side was evil. They were humans, the same as her, just in a different lifestyle and following different orders.

Ahh, Olivia's offer was filling Henry with the warm fuzzies! Like their chest was filled with tarantulas. Ooh, that'd be a good hex, better remember that. In the meantime, Henry was happy to share.

"That's right, you're from Regna Ferox, where it snows so much! Plegia shares a lot of dishes with Ylisse, but I can make some really distinctive Plegian stuff for you! There's actually a really hoppy beer that's drunk on the same feast day as the molasses cake, but since you're used to mead maybe it'd be too bitter for you?"

After growing up drinking beer and wine, Henry was startled by how sweet mead was. Pleasantly so, since they never had many human sweets as a child, and making booze sweet was a fantastic idea. Still, sometimes they missed the crisper bite of beer, especially after a long battle.

Flowers - Olivia & Henry

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apskdjfdksl i laughed so hard

me too hehe

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