Ok, so I'm posting my most recent chapter of Essence of Desire, my fanfic that is dedicated entirely to crack pairings I drew from a hat 3nodding But I have to say, this...is the only good one out of the whole blastedly darned thing. Hope you enjoy!!
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Geoffrey stood alone near the camp perimeter, diligent and alert...mostly. Inwardly he was beyond ready to turn in for the night, but his shift wasn't over for another few hours. So here he stood, far enough away from the camp so that he could see properly into the field before him, but close enough that he was in view of it. Spear in hand and horse fast asleep in the tall grass.
The Crimean knight smiled down at his steed briefly. The poor beast probably worked twice as hard as he did in all these battles. He deserved a good rest every chance he got.
A small squeak behind him caused him to jump and ready his lance to stab at anything that dared to move. At first he couldn't make out anything unusual in the dark except for the camp, but he soon spotted a moving white shape nearly drowning in the grass. Geoffrey dropped his spear by his horse, and hurried to the aid of...whatever it was that was there.
Once he got closer, he could see that the white object was actually a pair of white wings. And the wings were attached to a girl with a curtain of golden hair nearly obscuring her from view. The heron princess, Leanne of course, you couldn't really mistake her for anyone else. She was struggling to get up, blowing grass away from her face in the process.
On impulse Geoffrey quickly reached for her hand, and gently pulled her up until she had regained her footing. Leanne froze the moment she was upright again, staring in his general direction with eyes full of uncertainty.
"Are you alright, your highness," he asked, worried that he may have accidentally hurt the fragile-looking girl.
A look of recognition crossed her face, "Geoffrey....Is that...you?" she asked, carefully pronouncing each word.
Geoffrey smiled with relief, remembering that she probably couldn't see him very well, if at all, being a bird laguz, "Indeed it is. I have a small lantern over here if you'd like some light. And you probably shouldn't be wandering around when it's this dark out."
He tentatively brushed his hand against her, knowing she wouldn't be able to see it if he merely held it out to her. A grateful smile came to her face, almost off it's own light in the dark night, and grasped his hand tightly. Geoffrey smiled back, even though he doubted she could tell, and very carefully helped her to where his horse and lance lay resting.
"Just a moment," he instructed, releasing her hand, and messing with the lanturn he had brought with him. Soon it was lit, and Leanne let out a relieved sigh. She knelt down by his horse, smiling contently at the light as placed it next to her.
"Thank you," she chirped as he sat across from her.
"You are most welcome, milady. But if you don't mind me asking, why did you come out here in the first place?"
"Um...." Leanne looked around them, squinting into the dark fields. Soon her eyes lit up, and she pointed at something behind him, "That!"
Geoffrey turned, trying to see what she was pointing at, and the heron princess giggled, "Down," she instructed, pointing again. He glanced back at her, and then back into the grass to see some small pink flowers growing up around a rock, the only place they could probably get their much needed sunlight.
"These?" he asked, picking one and bringing it closer to the light to make sure she could see it well enough.
"Yes! Yes!" she cheered, clasping her hands together, and reaching out to take it from him. He smiled, and handed it to her, before getting some more until she had a miniature sized bouquet.
"So you came out here just to get some flowers?" Geoffrey asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Uh-huh!" she nodded, and softer smile coming to her elegant face, "For my...brother. Rafiel sad..."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Geoffrey sighed, knowing that the oldest of the heron siblings didn't do as well in this environment as Leanne and Reyson did.
"He be ok," Leanne reasured, smiling at him.
"I know. After all, he has you and Lady Nailah to take care of him," he nodded. Leanne's face glowed again at the statement, and she said something in her native tongue. Naturally, he didn't understand her, but to him it wasn't a big deal. He could tell by the look in her eyes about what she meant.
"Sorry..." Leanne mumbled, suddenly realizing what she had done, and blushing slightly, "I still not good at talk..."
"You'll learn," Geoffrey reassured, and began to rise to his feet, "Come. You should be getting back to camp so that you can give those flowers to your brother."
"Ok," she took his extended hand, and stood next to him. Once again, she held onto his hand with surprising firmness as he led her through the darkness back to camp. Geoffrey made a point to make sure there were no rocks or anything else that might trip her in their path, and went around anything he was suspicious of. Leanne giggled as he led her around a small shrub.
"Sticks not hurt me," she laughed, teasing him for being so cautious. He couldn't help but smile in spite of himself.
"I'm just trying to make sure you get back safely is all," Geoffrey mused. He would never forgive himself if she got so much as a sprained ankle or minor cut while he was guiding her. Not only because it would upset every bird laguz on the continent, or his chivalrous nature, but almost more than anything else because he had come to care about her. Maybe even more than he did Queen Elincia. And while he would always be loyal to his queen at any cost, somehow the thought of even the tiniest bit of harm coming to the heron princess made him feel as though an arrow were protruding from his stomach.
He was so lost to his thoughts that he didn't even notice Leanne had stopped walking, and in result, stopped him. But he soon returned to his senses, and gave her a worried look, moving the lanturn so that he could see her face more clearly. But instead of a look of fright or pain, he found her looking at him with a small blush, and sparkling eyes.
"Is something wrong your highness?" he asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. She blushed a little brighter and averted her eyes with a small smile.
"No. I just surprised..." she admitted.
Still, Geoffrey had no idea what was going on, "Surprised? By what?"
"Your thoughts," she beamed up at him, almost teasingly again.
"My..." he felt heat rise in his cheeks. What had he been thinking? A little too much apparently. Leanne giggled some more, and Geoffrey silently wished his thoughts could be turned off completely.
"Aw, it ok," she cooed, now hugging his arm, "You think nice things."
"Umm...." he could only look at her, his face probably about as red as Keiran's armor, "I suppose that's a compliment?"
"Yep!" she chimed again, and then leaned up on her tip-toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. And in result, Geoffrey got his wish of his train of thought stopping all together, getting derailed, and lost in the middle of a desert, never to be found again. In fact, it was all he could do to remain standing at the moment, and not completely collapse from utter shock and the amount of blood rushing to his head.
Leanne just continued to giggle, gently taking the lantern from his hand, and pulling on his arm in an attempt to make him move. Geoffrey did so, albeit numbly, following her for a good ten steps before things started ticking again. Just in time for him to be hit full force with the reality of what had just happened.
"P-princess Leanne?" he looked at her face closely in the dark, trying desperately to decifer what she was thinking.
"Shh...It ok," she smiled sweetly at him, touching his cheek, "You very tired. Not worry, I take care...you..."
"I-I'm supposed to be on guard duty, you highness," Geoffrey attempted to protest, but she just gave him a defiant look, and continued to escort him to the camp.
"You need rest. I tell Elincia. She agrees. I take care of you!" as Leanne went over her plan with him, Geoffrey couldn't help but shake his head.
"Weren't you going to take care of your brother?" he asked. It wasn't that he didn't want her company, he just didn't deserve it, in any sense of the word. Especially if she should be tending to someone else.
Leanne just continued to smile, "I just get him flowers. Nailah take good care him. He understand."
"Ah..." Geoffrey tried to come up with another excuse, but judging by the look Leanne was giving him, he already knew it wasn't going to work. So he sighed in defeat, and allowed her to lead him back to his tent.
"You stay here," Leanne instructed, gesturing to his cot, "I back soon."
Geoffrey did as he was told. There was really no reasoning with the girl, or trying to sneak away. BUt for some reason, Geoffrey found he didn't really want to.
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