Roguish Charm

by the Legendary Armor

Battle was becoming more hectic day by day, it seemed.

Nephenee hated all the fighting, but in some strange way, she felt so comfortable in her armor, holding a sturdy lance... it was strange now to walk around without them. There was a distant satisfaction in her whenever she took the life of a Begnion soldier too close to her friends, whenever she weakened a man enough so that a certain rogue that never left her alone could finish them off.

It was one of those rare moments of peace at camp when Heather wasn't in the tent, and it left Nephenee to wonder. She sewed a strap of leather on her armor carefully; but the work was slow since she couldn't really pay attention. To her, Heather was beautiful; well, it wasn't even just her that thought so, obviously. Plenty of men in the army were prone to the woman's charms, letting their guard down and realizing several minutes later that their pockets were lighter for it. Every time one of them wanted to take her to dinner or something of the like, they found that their experience had no intimacy or promise of affection in the future.

Yet, she would never leave Nephenee alone.

The blonde was always saying things, strange things, and it made the halberdier nervous. According to Heather, she was cute. Beautiful. Glorious. Majestic. The teal-haired soldier wasn't used to people telling her things like that; this woman was more persistent than even Calill had been, as if she wanted something out of all of this.

Sighing, she wondered if her whimsical thoughts at night had any hope to flourish into something real. It wasn't like her to pine after someone, but this woman... there was an undeniable charm about her, and whenever she focused her attention on Nephenee, she could swear her heart rate was suddenly going far too fast.

Mentally, she scolded herself. This was war, and Heather was her friend. What was she doing, thinking like that? She might just be getting her hopes up... despite how much she could swear the rogue was a little... too interested.

Her heart fluttered as the tent flap was suddenly pushed open; sunlight flooded the area, and a familiar, pretty face greeted her with a dazzling smile. "Well, hello, Nephenee! You look a bit too sad for my liking. Cheer up, I brought you something."

Curiosity spilled onto the country girl's pale features. "Ya did? But why?"

"Wouldn't a better question be what?" She grinned as she pulled out a small necklace--squinting, Nephenee could see it was on a silver chain. The pendant seemed to be a white gem in the shape of a heart. "I got that man at the forge to make this. What do you think? I've got one for myself, too. Isn't that symbolic?"

"F-for me? Thanks a ton... I really do love it. But... why would ya give somethin' like this to me? It's so... it's so nice."

Heather moved around behind Nephenee, pulling up her hair and sliding the necklace around to clasp it shut. "Well, that's how I figure I should tell a beautiful girl they're important to me--a present like this. I don't know any other way. Well, I do, but it's more fun like this, don't you think?"

Nephenee paused, and she felt her cheeks grow warm. "What do ya mean by 'important'?"

The rogue finished with the necklace clasp, and let Nephenee's hair cascade down her back once more. She leaned forward, and without saying a word, planted a quick, soft kiss right on the soldier's cheek.

(end)