Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[Swordstar]

Mim had chosen not to join the others on their adventure. She couldn't quite put a finger on why. Maybe it was because she was happy to see Lucy being willing to do things with people who weren't her. Maybe it was because she still wasn't quite ready to risk another... incident. Either way, she had put the time at home to good use. She stood up, shaking out her newly repaired jacket. A smile graced her face as she slid the jacket back on. Perfect. One thing left to handle then.

 

Heading downstairs, she quickly found Simeon with a grumpy looking Sid in tow. She smiled up at the two men, interjecting herself into the somewhat awkward silence between the two of them.

 

"Hello Simeon! And Sid! I hope you two are both doing well. I actually was hoping to talk to you Simeon about a new weapon... Don't get me wrong, I love my bow. Though it could stand to be slightly larger... But the problem with it is... It slows me down. Not a lot but... Just enough, you know? And it's not very good at close combat. So I was thinking maybe I could start using a lance... Something light and quick, that would let me defend myself close up but wouldn't slow me down or take up too much room with everything else I carry around?"

 

Mim buys an iron lance

[RedMageCole]

When Mim came into play, Sid tried his best to at least put on somewhat of an okay face despite how tired and grumpy he looked.

 

"Yo, Mim... I'm jus' peachy— I'm even startin' to sound like the old man..."

 

"I'm fine as well. As fer a new weapon... aye, ye always need a backup with bows. Crossbows are fine 'n all, but difficult to wield..." He scratches his beard, thinking for a moment. "Let me think... a slim lance would definitely just throw ye off since ye're so used ta usin' heavy artillery... That bein' said, an iron lance would be yer best bet for a startin' lance, but let me see if I can't fine-tune it just a little bit... Actually, now that I think about it..."

 

"Why ya lookin' at me...?"

 

"A'ight. Ye will be the one forging Mim's new lance. It'll be yer first assignment completely on yer own, a basic iron lance that fits Mim's specifications— light, quick, won't slow her down or take too much room, and will still pack enough of a punch that it'll at least somewhat measure up ta her greatbow."

 

"Th-That fifth thing completely conflicts with the rest of everything you just said!"

 

"And if ye don't do it anyway, ye'll make Mim sad." Simeon says with a cheeky grin, knowing that Mim probably wouldn't be sad but knowing that Sid wouldn't be able to resist— indeed, his face immediately looks defeated.

 

"Alright, alright, ye win... ugh! You win! I'll do it! Just give me a bit to actually get it right, Mim... Knowing this guy I'll be at it for weeks..."

[Swordstar]

Mim brightened visibly as the conversation went on, and when Sid said he'd do it, she grabbed his hand and flashed him an extra special smile.

 

"Thank you Sid! I'll be counting on you. I know you'll do an amazing job at it. I look forward to being the first one to get a piece of your work."

[RedMageCole]

Sid's face turned into a slight blush as Mim grabbed his hand and smiled up at him. She was slowly giving him an excess of sweetness, and if she kept it up he might obtain a large excess of blood sugar.

 

"Y-yeah, I'll get to work... or I'll at least try'ta."

[Aurorix]

Baldur was about to respond before being cut off by Lenore followed up by Kane. He grumbled. As much as he would love to retort, doing it now would only stir the fire. Rather he just straightens himself,  "I understand Phoenix but there are somethings  that I can’t guarantee. One of those things is now not smashing Herman’s face into the dirt when I next him. I’m heading back to base.  He starts walking away without saying anything else. He doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to contain the whirl of the emotions inside him. The last thing he wants is to lash out at someone.

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Lenore, to some extent, was right. Lysander admitted that to himself. He still felt mad that Baldur was being let go essentially scot free. However he kept the opinion to himself. Maybe things would have been easier if he was alone, but the lead the Virtuous had given him was far too great now. The Virtuous were attracting the Icons of Sin, one of which was his ultimate target. Leaving wasn't an option. 

"I'll trust your judgement Phoenix. However, as Mink knows, my ultimate goal is to stop Famine. I won't let anyone get in my way of that goal. And as long as the Virtuous work for this goal, I'm more than happy to ally myself with you."

[RedMageCole]

Kane silently watched Baldur leave with a sigh. He turned to Lysander afterwards.

 

"I understand that. And do not worry, I still fully intend on eliminating the Icons of Sin. Famine will be no such exception."

 

...Lucy was quiet.

 

——————————

 

Two weeks had passed since that incident. The works of Virtuous had not gotten any easier, especially with Kane losing his focus from time to time despite all of his dedication.

Emelia, the girl who once danced for Darcy, had been returned to her home safely in Ulux. Though she was thankful for the hospitality, she could not keep up with all of the frenetic work.

Reiko as well had left the group, aspiring to work on taking back what was rightfully hers. Kane could not and did not stop her.

Tensions continued to work up, and so too did the tensions between Ria and Perus. It seemed any day now there would be a war that would break out...

 

...And despite all that, one morning, Arthur came home with a letter.

 

"Official Queen Stella orders." Arthur sounded somewhat annoyed, but not too much. "She says we're working too hard and that we're being ordered to take a vacation day. She also states that we're to spend our day on Languor Beach, having cleared it out specifically for our use."

 

"...What? The beach up north? We can't go, we were planning-"

 

"It doesn't matter what we were planning, if Queen Stella ordered it it's happening."

 

"What kind of a ridiculous order...?"

 

"I think you've completely forgotten what Queen Stella is like."

 

"..." Kane sighed... Dare there seem to be just a tinge of relief on his face? "Change of plans, everyone... Go get something suitable for the beach put on..."

[Swordstar]

Mim couldn't help the smile the burst onto her face at the order. The beach? She had always dreamed of seeing one. In fact, at one point along the way she had actually purchased an outfit for the beach, not that she had ever expected to get to use it with this group. She quickly darted upstairs, shedding her heavy coat. This was going to be so nice. A day of just relaxing, not worrying about anything else...

 

She bounced down the stairs a few minutes later in an outfit completely different from her normal one. Shorts covered the bottom of her swimsuit, but the top half was a bright yellow bikini top matched by the bright yellow hat she wore over top of it. On top of the bikini top she wore a long vest that buttoned at her throat and then flowed open to just above her knees. She gave a small twirl, not intended for anyone but herself when she hit the bottom of the stairs and grinned, striking a small pose. Which is when she saw both Baldur and Crimson still downstairs, unchanged. She gave a small squeak of embarrassment at having been caught being silly like that, but then quickly frowned at them both.

 

"Hey! Come on you two, you have to go get changed! We're leaving as soon as everyone is ready, right? So you two have to get ready too!"

[RedMageCole]

Arthur had just been mulling around, uncertain of what to do— unsurprising when one considered both his Rian heritage and status. He probably had to have a beach explained to him by Stella. Regardless, he was definitely not prepared for beach weather and he knew it. There wasn't much embarrassment though— that came after the fact that he was pleasantly surprised that Mim was talking to him again...

 

"..."

 

...While also wearing that. Arthur attempted to avert his eyes, looking away quite nervously very much trying to keep his eyes away so that he didn't screw up Mim talking with him... or provoke Baldur into hitting him.

 

"I don- I don't have anything to change into......." His whisper trails off.

[Aurorix]

Back before the two week time skip

 

Baldur slams open the door, looking more than a bit peeved. He made his way towards Simeon before speaking directly towards him, however, he tone is calm almost somber/sad in contrast with his entrance,  "Simeon... I... I have a request if you'd hear me out. I don't care how long it takes or how much it'll cost, I just... I need to be completely prepared for whatever happens in the future."

~~~~~~~~~~

Baldur wanted nothing to do with the beach. So he had no intention of preparing for it. Then when Mim bursted onto the scene Baldur instinctively averted his eyes,  "Ugh, could you please save the antics for when you're at the beach? Also put some more clothes on. You're no where near close to the water yet."  

 

"I'm not going to the beach. It sounds boring and a waste of time."

[Swordstar]

Mim frowned. Why was Crimson looking away? And Baldur was telling her to put on more clothes... Harrumph! She walked over to Baldur and poked him in the chest, hard.

 

"Don't you start that. I will wear what I want to wear. This is comfortable and cute! We'll get to the beach and I'll be ready to go. I'm going to be happy if I want to, and you have no right to tell me to do otherwise. And you can stuff your protests. You don't have a choice! I will drag you to the beach myself if I have to, got it mister?"

 

She then hesitated and turned to Crimson, a small, worried smile on her face.

 

"B-besides, I look good! What do you think, Crimson? You think it looks nice too, right? You... you don't think it looks bad, do you?"

[RedMageCole]

Despite the problems that they had earlier, Simeon eyed Baldur with interest and a willingness to comply.

 

"Of course. What do ye need?" Though his tone was business, he was willing to listen without needing to hear about how the mission went.

 

——————————

 

Arthur didn't really say anything in response to Baldur— after all, Baldur was going to be Baldur and as far as Arthur could tell, Mim was already going to be the one to sort him out. As he was looking away, however, he was brought back to attention. He had to engage in a struggling endeavor to keep his eyes fully trained on Mim's face, hoping that his blush wasn't too evident despite it actually being pretty evident.

 

"N-no! No, no, it looks perfect! Great, in fact!" Arthur sounded honest, if not extremely forceful in his attempts to keep it together. "D-do not let Baldur think that you look anything but good in that! You look very good!"

[Aurorix]

"Well it maybe much and I wasn't exactly the nicest when we last spoke so I won't hold it against you if you decline but..." The boy is hesitant to speak,  "I would like you to look into making a set of light magic imbued knifes, something that'd be really effective at taking down dark mages. I don't really know what goes into smithing or enchanting weapons. I don't even expect it to be done any time soon either. I'd actually prefer if you'd took the time to made it as strong as possible..." He stops himself, wrapping an arm around his chest to grab the other and looking down at the ground away from the man,,  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking this. You've been nothing but nice to me and last time I..." He clams up again finding the words hard to form let alone get out.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Crossing his arms unamused, "This has nothing to do with 'how cute you look', and I'm not going to the beach. Nothing about going interests me, if anything I'd be more peeved by everyone's attire then actually having fun. Not like I'll be going out of my way to stop others from enjoying whatever it is they'd get out of it though, I just want no part of it. Besides, I don't even have any swimwear and going in a suit is just begging for a heat stroke."

[Swordstar]

Mim brightened visibly and grabbed onto Crimson's hand.

 

"Really? I'm glad. That makes me really happy to hear. So that means you'll come shopping with me when we get to the beach, right? To get you a swimsuit? And to get Baldur one apparently?"

 

She didn't phrase it like it was an option. Baldur was coming with them, whether he liked it or not. He may not realize it quite yet, but he was going to come and he was going to have a good time, dammit.

[RedMageCole]

Simeon exhaled rather slowly through his nose upon Baldur's apologies.

 

"Don't ye worry about it. When ye get ta be me age, ye don't let things bother ye as much. Ye're still young, so it's quite alright ta be bothered by things. Myself, I've already lived me life and me share of regrets, I can't be gettin' new grudges especially when ye're a valued customer o' mine." As if he hadn't said anything, Simeon went right back to stroking his beard and thinking. "Now, I'm no expert in magic weapons, those were always me weakness and I always just relied on suppliers for me tomes... but for yer sake and dedication, I will do me best to find somethin' for ye. Perhaps Sid might actually be decent enough at makin' magic weapons, I know Jules was quite alright at it..."

 

——————————

 

"E-eh?" As if Arthur couldn't get even redder in the face, Mim went and grabbed his hand. It was a boon that he had red hair— it masked how red he was in the face. "I-I mean, uh, yeah, I'm okay with that, to go shopping, for a swimsuit." Arthur almost stopped registering that Baldur was even there anymore.

[Aurorix]

His shoulders seemed to loosen upon hearing his first words. He was afraid that Simeon would hold it against him.  "Sid? Is he already good enough to work with metal? If so I'd be impressed. I should make him something for his good work..." He trails off before he notices an unfamiliar name,  "Jules? Can't say I've heard you mention him before. Is he a friend of yours?"

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Baldur places a hand to his forehead, arms still crossed, "Look at yourself Arthur, can't you see the finger she has you wrapped in... And that was not permission to drag me on a shopping trip!"

[ElfCollaborator]

"Finally, a well-deserved break."
Lenore makes her entrance, stretching her arms and walking in. Her choice of swimsuit was a one-piece suit, a straw hat to protect her from the sun, with a flower-patterened drape wrapped around her waist to cover her legs save for a small slit. A small, simple golden bangle sits around her neck, a prize from one of Lenore's more fondly-remembered heists. She struts across the room towards Kane.

"Haven't had the occasion to wear this since I went after the Duke of Perrin. An interesting man with his own special set of hot springs he liked to show off. Handsome enough, but drooling over the first scantily-clad woman he met was both off-putting and unwise."

"Well, Phoenix? Aren't you going to follow your own order?"

[Swordstar]

"Good, I'm glad, Crimson. You have to enjoy the time off too."

 

She gave his hand a quick squeeze and a bright smile before turning on Baldur.

 

"Oh, don't worry. I don't need permission. You're coming either way. Though... I do think that Lucy will probably need to get a swimsuit too... And I bet she'd feel a lot more comfortable with you coming along. You wouldn't want to disappoint her, right? You can help her enjoy the day at the beach. Don't you think she needs some time off too?"

[RedMageCole]

"Ah, I wouldn't get yer hopes up just yet. I've been tryin' te find him an assignment on his own... hopefully someone needs somethin' simple like a lance." Simeon stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Aye, ye may not remember him as well as Mim and Fey might. Jules was the guard that helped me bust outta prison. 'S my apprentice, but I suppose ye can say he's a bit closer ta a son. He was just a tyke I found offa the streets and took in to help out... I hope he's well. If we ever pop into Vaa on a mission, I'll have to check on 'im..."

 

——————————

 

"Sh-She is holding my hand if you haven't noticed," Arthur wildly misinterpreted Baldur's words in the heat of the moment, looking just about ready to melt despite not even being in the summer heat yet once Mim squeezed his hand.

 

 

Kane had been digging through the same closet he held most of the typical Virtuous disguises in, two fingers on his head as he tried to gauge what to wear. He turned to Lenore, continuing his deep-in-thought expression... Keeping significantly calmer than Arthur was at the sight of Lenore in a bathing suit.

 

"Prepared as always, Lenore... Guy sounded like a sleazeball through and through. As for myself... I swear I had something decent for beachwear in here, I lived in Vini but my mother surely made something suitable for swimming... My problem is I didn't expect to ever be making any beach trips... though seeing everyone so lively at the idea makes me wonder how I didn't think of one in the first place. I just hope we don't get jumped on our vacation day— I start one up and Ferdiad nearly kills Lizaveta and Lucy in one day..." Kane's voice trailed off as he kept eyeing the outfits, thoroughly distracted... It wasn't hard to tell that Kane needed the break just as much.

[Aurorix]

"J-just what are you trying to insinuate with that!?" Obviously surprised and flustered by Mim’s last comment. Enough to even ignore Arthur being a mess right now,  "If Lucy wants to go have fun at the beach, I don’t care. If she wants to go with you to go get swimsuits, more power to her. I fail to see how me not going would interfere with that!” 

[Swordstar]

"Well... She clearly feels safe around you. If you hadn't noticed. I think you talking with her and being nice to her really helped her feel like she could be ok here. I mean, obviously I already welcomed her, but having someone else... especially someone that is so strongly against the Icons of Sin treat her like a person, I think that helped. A lot. She's so nervous all the time, I think having someone she's comfortable with along would help a lot! Especially since shopping for a swimsuit can be embarrassing sometimes. Or was I wrong? Do you not want to help make her more comfortable around here? Because it seemed like you did..."

[Aurorix]

"When I said I’d help make her feel more comfortable I didn’t mean becoming her chaperon. Besides, wouldn’t having guys around only more things more uncomfortable for her? Even still, speak for yourself. Unless she outright says it, I doubt she’d really want me to come along."

[Swordstar]

"Nu-uh. It's nice to have boys along to tell you if things look good! Like how I asked Crimson. Right Crimson? And you're not her chaperon. You're her friend! You would get to tell her how cute she is. Cause you do think she's cute, right? So you could help boost her confidence! I'll ask her if she wants you along though, that's easy enough~ You're still coming to the beach either way though. You need to relax. Even if you just lay out on a chair in the sun all day, you're coming along."

[Aurorix]

Baldur instinctively began tapping his finger on his crossed arms along with tapping his right foot.  "That was not permission for you to ask her either! Gods... Besides, I can lay out in the sun in the backyard just fine with a cup of tea. It’s not like I need to go to the beach in order to relax.”  He chose to ignore answering certain statements the little lady spoke.

[Swordstar]

Mim was about to say something in retort to the man ignoring her comments when she spotted Lucy out of the corner of her eye. A mischievous grin snuck onto her face and she called out,

 

"Oh! Lucy! Perfect timing~ Come on over here. We were just talking about our group heading to the beach and how wonderful it would be to have you along. I was thinking you probably don't have a swimsuit after everything you've been through, so what I was thinking was that you, me, Crimson, and Baldur could all go shopping for outfits together, since neither of the boys have a swimsuit either. Would you like that?"