The Corrine chibi is back, hoorah :) I don't think he actually left, he's just been a bit quiet is all. I think he's a he, but I won't left his tails up to check LOL :)
During game one-shot set before the pact with Volt's made. Kinda shows the beginning of where the Colette and Sheena sisterly relationship type thing develops from I guess :)
WARNING: That horrible thing that happens to women every month and the symptoms of it are mentioned. Aggggh, we women are scary, fear us LOL. Nah, just thought I'd warn you in case anyone who is deeply offended about even thinking about what us poor females have to go through every month or any insensitive blokes are reading this :)
Dedication: for Minnie because she wanted to see a fic with Corrine in it and for Urby because she knows that Colette's not the mindless ditzy, unthinking klutz people often try to make her seem to be.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. Namco own it, not me. I don't know where the expression "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" comes from but I don't own that either.
"Horrible, isn't it?" Colette's voice snapped Sheena out of her almost trance-like state.
"Huh?" the summoner lifted her gaze up from the ground to the angel. "What is?"
Colette just sat down, snapped a bar of chocolate in half and gave one of the bits to Sheena.
Apparently Sheena's act of pretending to not know what Colette was talking about and that everything was alright wasn't going so well. She'd wandered away from the rest of the group a little and had been sitting wondering whose bright idea it was to make women suffer on a monthly basis just because of their gender.
Corrine had tried to comfort her but there was only so much the little spirit could do. What the summoner really wanted was some painkillers but she didn't have any gels left in her own bag and if she'd gone asking one of the others for one they'd know she wasn't as alright as she was pretending to be. There was no way she'd ask the healer of the group if she could help either. She and the half-elf did not get on that well and she didn't want her to know that the Mizuho ninja could sometimes be weak, feel pain, as well.
As she finished the last of the chocolate Sheena noticed Colette trying to pass her something else, more discreetly than the way she'd practically shoved the chocolate into the summoner's hand. Casually Sheena held her hand out and blinked in surprise as the angel dropped a gel into it.
"Thanks," she said quietly before tipping the medicine into her mouth and chewing on the jelly-like substance. Colette just smiled a small smile and nodded. Then she shuffled to get a little closer to where Corrine was now sitting on the ground beside Sheena.
"You're so cute and fluffy Corrine, like Noishe, only smaller," Colette giggled and Sheena noticed the sprit roll his eyes.
"Your coat's so pretty, may I brush it for you?" the angel politely asked the creature. Corrine flicked his tails, unsure about the idea of being groomed. He looked to Sheena who also seemed a bit uneasy about the idea. The summon spirits were connected to her, linked to her mana, and she shared something of an empathic link with them, especially so with Corrine, the spirit closest to her. Anyone touching the fox-like creature caused the summoner to feel slightly peculiar.
Corrine sighed. No matter what his instincts told were telling him there was something about Colette's expression he just couldn't say no to.
"If you must," he sighed quietly.
"Yay! I'll be right back," Colette grinned then hopped up to fetch the brush she often groomed Noishe with. A little more slowly than she might normally have done. That and the speed at which she'd eaten her share of the chocolate made Sheena suspect she knew why Colette had known what was wrong, that she was suffering from similar things herself.
The angel returned and sat cross legged on the ground, very gently and carefully picking Corrine up and placing the small creature in her lap. Sheena shuddered a little, experiencing a mild pins-and-needles type of sensation as the younger girl touched the spirit.
"Comfey?" the angel asked Corrine.
"Yes," he replied, still wondering why he, a summon spirit, had to be subjected to this. Soon though he began to settle and started to enjoy the careful, gentle strokes of the brush across his back and tails. The feeling of the brush smoothing his fur was actually rather pleasant.
As Corrine relaxed so did Sheena. The uneasy prickly feeling left her body, simply replaced by the awareness of Corrine being relaxed and content. Now the pain around her stomach area had subsided a little she was beginning to feel drowsy. She closed her eyes, listening to the soft sounds of the group settled around the campfire and Colette humming quietly as she groomed Corrine.
The angel stopped humming to ask Sheena a question.
"Feeling better now?" she kept her voice low. Sheena heard her but felt too sleepy to reply. Colette turned to Corrine and began talking to the small spirit instead, giving no indication of whether or not she thought the summoner was actually asleep.
"Your fur's so beautiful and your tails are lovely and fluffy," she giggled.
"Thanks," Corrine yawned cutely, making the small blonde giggle again.
"You and Sheena are both very beautiful," she nodded. "You two are so lucky. Not just because of that though. You two have so much courage, you're so brave.
"Sheena's amazing, the way she fights, how she can make pacts with all you summon spirits! She's such an important part of the group. I wish I could be more useful, I'm just the plain ugly lump who keeps tripping over."
She sighed deeply as Corrine gave in to the urge to roll over onto his back to see if he could get the angel to scratch his belly. She did so as he began to speak.
"But you're not useless. Look, tonight you helped Sheena. Between you and me she was having a pretty painful time this month, but see, you brought her a gel and chocolate and now she can doze comfortably. And you always cheer people up. You know how important it is for people to smile and do your best to make sure they can. You certainly keep Lloyd happy. And you're the best at washing up plates in a wooden bucket, no one can beat you at that, and that's very important. Especially as you guys camp outside so much," he nodded.
"Really?" Colette asked, temporarily stopping making a fuss of the creature to look into his eyes, checking the sincerity of his words.
"Yeah, I mean I know I wouldn't want to eat off a plate that hadn't been washed properly, yuck!" Corrine stuck his tongue out in an 'oh yuck' face.
"Nonono, I meant about Lloyd," Colette blushed.
"His face lights up whenever you're around, he's besotted with you," the creature assured her.
"Nah," Colette blushed, wanting what the spirit had said to be true but not daring to believe it.
"Look, I don't know a whole bunch about how you humans work emotionally about love and stuff, but I do know enough to know he very obviously cares about you a great deal, and as more than just a friend," Corrine yawned.
Colette blushed and began to absentmindedly brush the creature's fur again, lost in her thoughts.
Eventually she took the spirit into her arms as she stood up. She carefully placed him in Sheena's lap, as close to her stomach as was comfortable for Corrine, knowing warmth helped on these sorts of days, before patting the sprit on his head gently and thanking him. Then she wandered off to talk to Lloyd.
"She's alright that angel, isn't she?" Corrine asked the summoner when Colette was out of earshot. He knew Sheena was awake, she had been the entire time.
"Mmm," Sheena sleepily opened an eye. She smiled as she saw Lloyd fussing over Colette, trying to make her comfortable. She guessed from the blonde's gestures that Colette was trying to insist that she didn't want to be a bother but Lloyd was having none of that. He'd already wrapped a warm, fluffy blanket around her and was now heating water over the fire to make her a hot water bottle with. Sheena was impressed, a guy who knew what to do to make a woman comfortable during that time of the month instead of insensitively complaining about PMS.
"She's too hard on herself though, she should really stop worrying about not asking for help and she could do with some more self-confidence. Poor girl's had to go through so much," Sheena sighed.
"People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Corrine said quietly.
"What?" Sheena frowned.
"I think you two are more alike than you realise," the creature said almost cryptically. "Anyways, if you're tired you should go and settle by the fire, it'd be more comfortable for you there."
"Alright," Sheena was glad of the subject change, not wanting to discuss any faults she might have at that moment in time.
Corrine leapt out of her lap as she stood up and stretched then she meandered over to the fire, collecting up the things she'd need for the night from her bag.
As she was arranging her sleeping bag, mat and pillows she noticed Colette quickly move from where she'd been curled up to shove something under the summoner's pillow, making sure no one but Sheena saw her. Lloyd was walking towards them so Sheena left the whatever it was hidden for now.
"There we are, told you we had a packet left," Lloyd smiled at Colette as he passed the angel a packet of her favourite snacks then curled up protectively around her, blushing lightly at being so close to her. He wanted to be near her but felt shy at the same time.
"Lloyd, thank you," Colette smiled back at him and snuggled closer to the swordsman, causing his blush to become worse.
While they were distracted Sheena got into her sleeping bag and investigated the object Colette had hidden under her pillow. It turned out to be a small box with some more gels in it.
"Thanks," she mouthed when the angel looked in her direction. The blonde simply smiled and nodded as she had done earlier before turning her attention back to Lloyd. Colette snuggled even closer to him, nuzzling him shyly. Sheena smiled at them then giggled quietly as she wondered if the boy's cheeks could get any redder.