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Having only been a few days since Severa has travelled, her clouded thoughts and lack of adjustment to the new environment prevent her from getting a blink of sleep. Her first idea is to head to the barracks, maybe moving around will tire her out. There's no time for a second option besides lying here wide awake, so she gets up.
Her crimson hair isn't tied in her usual twintails - those aren't comfortable to lie down on. It flows straight down her back right now, parts of her bangs sticking out due to the prolonged position she was just in. After removing her armor earlier in the evening she'd collapsed, not bothering to change out of the rest of her clothing for anything more comfortable. One of the buttons on the inside of her pants presses into her hip when she stands, resulting in a grimace but no more from the mercenary.
She tries with difficulty to make little noise as she passes the tents of fellow shepherds, unable to bare the idea of her mother still being awake - thinking about Chrom, undeniably - and seeing her daughter roaming camp. She can picture it more vividly than she wants to, and she doesn't want to think of it in the first place.
Cordelia is the kind of person to check on anyone who's audibly not asleep either. An encounter like that between the two of them specifically? It would be mortifying. Probably more so for her mother, because both of them would know exactly why Cordelia wasn't in dreamland herself. Severa turns on her heel, pausing. She'd successfully avoided Cordelia for three days! Was it worth running into her in the halls? The barracks?
Whatever. She'll make a run for it if she needs to. Severa doesn't have a prim and proper and perfect reputation to maintain. Severa isn't the prim one, the proper one, or the perfect one. To remember living in that shadow and realizing that would only continue in this world makes her grind her teeth. Idiot!
She turns back around, braces herself for the worst. Her steps seem to echo around her louder than before, and she's not sure if that's because her body has tensed up or she's grown more alert. Perhaps a combination.
When she arrives, she sees blue, and she freezes.
She takes a moment to gather herself, nothing is stopping her, after all. The other in the room has her back turned to the redhead, nose in a book, and Severa has apparently entered quietly enough to go unnoticed.
Inhale, exhale. "...Luci."
Lucina gasps, jumps up, and spins around, instinctively reaching for Falchion though it's already put away. The book drops to the floor. She immediately relaxes when she realizes there's no intruder, face tinted with embarrassment. Hand slowly dropping back to her side, she waves for Severa to join her before reclaiming her seat.
"I apologize. I shouldn't get so startled."
Severa rolls her eyes, plopping down next to her childhood friend. The lord hasn't changed at all at her core. She could get comfortable right now if they both managed to ignore that they hadn't directly spoken in... years.
"Gods, it's fine. You shouldn't say sorry so often, you'll start sounding like Noire." Despite only going off of what she's heard of Lucina's speech from a distance in Severa's short time in the future thus far, the merc doubts that she's far off the mark with her statement.
The atmosphere is more somber than either of the two would like. Lucina opens her mouth to speak, make idle chatter, but Severa interrupts her thoughts at that moment to do the same. Trailing at the beginning like she's continuing her last sentence albeit it being unrelated, she twirls a lock of her hair.
"Why're you down here, anyway? A leader should get her sleep," she says, meaning to joke. It comes out bitterly.
Said "leader" frowns, not so much due to her companion's tone (she's used to that) as lacking desire to speak of what awoke her. Absentmindedly watching Severa's pale finger twist around red (a charming contrast, she takes note), knotting it and unknotting it, she resorts to a vague response, hoping such is enough to satiate the budding conversation. "Something woke me up. I had a bad dream, is all. And yourself?"
She shrugs, just fidgeting now. Every time she looks up, those blue eyes are still fixated on her. It's jarring. It's weird. "I don't know. Stress. This..." she makes a motion with her arms, trying to refer to the whole multiverse thing itself. "This in general."
The way Severa expresses this is amusing to Lucina, but she gets the point. She offers a smile to her, then comes a surge of daring to gently push a strand of hair out of the way of the other's face.
It's the redhead's turn to jolt, this time. Admittedly, the action wasn't unpleasant, and probably didn't mean anything. But still... still. She has to follow her own token behavior, if she shrugs off the gesture, she can seem like her mother. Severa won't allow that! Her resting expression turns to a glare and she swats the stray hand away from her face. "What was that? Keep off of me, would you?!"
Lucina blinks. "Once again, my apologies. I'm afraid such is another habit of mine. I don't want you ruining your eyesight because you have to squint through something that can so easily be kept out of the way. Is that out of line?..."
Severa's angry falsetto deflates. For Gods' sake! Lucina really wasn't implying anything, then. How embarrassing.
"No, that isn't out of line. I- I'm sorry."
Sighing audibly in relief, Lucina responds with a curt nod, beaming. "I shall take mind to warn you in advance if similar action is ever necessary in the future, then."
"That should do." Severa cannot help but grin back. This does feel like old times, at least the ones that she idealized over the years. She, Gerome, Inigo, and Lucina were inseparable in their early years, and many a night had she longed for the simpler times where she didn't need to keep up her icy demeanor and try her hardest to ignore the ties she'd once had with them in particular. This is a start. It's late, it's okay for her to let loose. Anyway, Lucina hasn't done anything wrong, so why should she be rude to her?
See, at least she doesn't have to worry as much about her tongue slipping and something spoken coming out far sharper than intended around this girl. At least. It happens increasingly lately, which is frankly quite puzzling. She knows why it scares people away, just not how to break the routine.
After breaking out of her thoughts, she inquires, "Was it difficult?"
She's quite honestly curious, this one leap disoriented her and she can't imagine doing it more than once. Over and over and over. They make eye contact and Severa swears she can feel her face burning. Probably due to the fireplace, despite that it isn't heating anything up (including Severa). Right.
For the second time this night, Lucina is reluctant to answer. Hands clasped in her lap, she takes a few breaths, greatly needing to wave off the vivid nightmare before continuing. When she speaks now, it starts off shakily, but transitions into her typical flow.
"At... at first, yes, very much so. I was, am haunted by what I saw there." She winces. "What all of us saw. Their screams, they rang out, oh Gods... and then I got here, and Aunt Emmeryn died anyway... Robin acted like she was at fault, for attempting to choose, that's what she told me, but... What good am I here if I couldn't stop her death? Under a guise no less? It's truly pitiful."
Lucina pauses to catch up with her racing thoughts, registering that even her heartbeat has quickened from the memories. "Every time I have to kill someone-" her voice cracks, hands starting to shake. "It's- it's fine when they're Risen, but innocent, mislead people- I can't think about-"
She fails at choking back a sob, and then she's buried her face in the other girl's shoulder.
Severa has never been one to comfort people, which is being displayed quite obviously while she stiffly pats a crying Lucina's back. Since the strained noises don't let up, Severa develops a pace to stroking down Lucina's spine, reminding herself that she's been in odder positions with girls that she hasn't had romantic feelings for. One time, Kjelle drank a truth serum, and...
Eventually, Lucina pulls away, leaving her face red and puffy, and Severa with a damp shirt. Nose still running, Lucina emits an undignified snort.
"This is terribly unprofessional of me."
The mercenary raises an eyebrow, incredulous. "You don't have much to impress here, soo..."
Lucina sniffles. "That's incorrect, Severa. Of course I want to impress you."
Well, that's unexpected. Huh. "What do you mean."
"It may be silly since I tend to be regarded as the 'role model' of our generation, however, I do admire you." She's embarrassed to admit it, but she's already made enough of a fool of herself by breaking down like this, she mentally reasons to lift some of her shame.
Severa's cheeks flare. Certainly not at fault of the fireplace, she can confirm for sure now (Not that validation of that was even necessary. She can pretend). "Lucina, I... I don't know why you'd look up to me of all people, but that's. Flattering to hear, especially from you."
Looking quite red herself, Lucina's eyes are on the other as if she's never seen her before. They must look ridiculous, flustered with each other at three or so in the morning, but that doesn't matter. She doesn't say anything, even this silence is comfortable enough.
And then, she's leaning, leaning further, the position is strange because she has to twist her torso a bit to get close, but she deems it tolerable. And maybe Severa is leaning in too. And she's never been kissed by a girl, not by anyone, the time where Gerome missed and they bumped noses and didn't speak for days does not count.
Lucina's never been kissed before, and yet, that's exactly what she's doing right now. Severa tastes like ashes, and peaches, a combination that wouldn't be complimentary on anyone but her. Her lips are on her childhood crush's lips in the barracks and she can not mind any less.
Neither of them have experience, to be exact, so neither of them know whether to breathe and when to pull away. Holding their breaths doesn't work, a fact supported by Lucina suddenly pulling back to gasp for air in the next second. When described in fairytales, first kisses were always a lot more... elegant? That was not elegant.
All Severa can think to do is thank every god that comes to mind that no one walked in on them. She just-as-unelegantly wipes her mouth with her wrist, assuming it awkward to leave any drool there. She sits there, replays the situation over in her mind, and turns twenty more shades of scarlet.
"Could we... Do that again some time?" Lucina whispers, tentatively. The question sounds ridiculous to her as soon as it leaves her mouth.
The redhead can't suppress a laugh. "As long as you remember to breathe next time."
She'll have to ask Inigo if kissing is always this awkward. She'll catch up with everyone, if only to find that out.
And also, maybe, because bonds are a nice thing to have. Just possibly.