Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem. Anything you recognise is property of Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.
Characters: Eliwood, Ninian, Hector, Lyn.
Pairings: Eliwood/Ninian, Hector/Lyn.
Author's Notes: Yeeeaaaaaah I got nothing. A friend and I were browsing the interwebs looking for Fire Emblem fanart and I saw a particular picture that cracked me up. As I tend to do, I overthought it, and then I produced this. It's basically plotless silly fluff, offsetting the angst and drama I've been writing lately. Enjoy!

Rescue

Most of the fighting troops had already made it back to camp, making it a lively and noisy place again by the time Eliwood and Ninian arrived. They turned quite a few heads as Eliwood leisurely weaved past tents and horses, one arm hooked under Ninian's knees and the other supporting her back. For her part, Ninian had put her arms around his neck to help balance herself. She wasn't hurt –Eliwood had made sure of that- but she had danced all throughout the battle, pushing herself to her limits and leaving her no strength to walk.

"My lord?" she asked when he walked by her tent without even looking at it, "Where are we going?"

"There's a cot in my tent," Eliwood explained, smiling at her sweetly. "I'm willing to bet it's much more comfortable than your bedroll and I want you to rest there." Ninian smiled back in understanding and nuzzled against him. She was normally shy, but she and Eliwood had confessed their feelings for one another so long ago that she had grown comfortable lying in his arms, even with people watching. It was as if his warmth shielded her from judgment, scorn, and ridicule. Eliwood was simply satisfied to be so close to her and do something meaningful for her, and that was something no amount of ridicule could take away from him.

"You should have someone treat your wound, my lord," she said, quietly. Eliwood had taken a blow that had been meant for her, one he hadn't seen coming until it had already been too late for him to parry. He'd managed to slay the bastard before anything worse had happened, but not without taking a nasty gash in his right side. He ignored the pain for now, but he knew it would get worse if he didn't get it seen to.

"Don't worry about me," he said, "I'll take care of it. But I want you in bed, first." This turned some more heads, but Eliwood blissfully ignored them as he stopped outside his tent. "I'm going to set you down," he said as he lowered her knees towards the ground. "Do you think you can go in and find my cot on your own?"

"I should, yes." She set her feet on the ground and let him help her stand straight, tentatively letting go of his hand to test her legs. She then smiled at him. "I'll be fine."

"Great. I'll go see a healer and then send them your way. Maybe they can do something for your exhaustion, too." He put a hand on her face. "Do you have a preference?" He knew that around anyone who wasn't him, she was still as shy as in the beginning, and if she was tired then she probably didn't want the high-energy Serra around.

"Perhaps… Brother Lucius, if he's free?" Eliwood smiled. Ninian was more familiar with Lucius than with any of their other healers; they had met before this whole mess had started, when they had helped Lyndis regain her position in Caelin. She usually asked for him.

"Lucius, then. I'll have him over in a few minutes. You go inside and rest." He bent down, but before he could kiss her forehead as he had intended to, a racket nearby caught his attention.

"Would you stop squirming?!"

"For the last time, Hector, put me down!"

"I'm carrying you to the healer's tent and that's final! Lord Hausen would murder me if I let you die!"
"I will murder you if you don't put me down!"

From behind the nearby tents, Hector emerged, unceremoniously carrying a red-faced and furious Lyndis on his shoulders. They kept bickering even as Hector barged past Eliwood and Ninian towards, as he had said, the healer's tent, and the noise of their argument died away only slowly. Eliwood only stood there for a moment, staring in utter shock and confusion. Had he just seen that? Surely even Hector couldn't be that insensitive…

"Er, yes. As I was saying." He finally turned back to Ninian, who looked as confused as he was, and kissed her forehead. "I won't be long." He then left, following Hector and Lyndis.

He caught up with them at the healer's tent, just as Hector bellowed for Serra to 'get her ass outside and make herself useful.' As Eliwood caught up with him, he finally slung Lyndis back over his shoulders and set her on the ground, although he didn't let go of her. Eliwood briefly considered asking her if she were alright, but feared she would misinterpret his words and kept his mouth shut. He managed to avoid having to talk to either of his agitated friends, as he spotted Lucius behind Serra almost immediately and walked up to him, away from the two.

Much later that evening, Hector pulled back the flap to his and Eliwood's tent. Ninian had already left, having regained enough strength that even Eliwood felt comfortable letting her wander the camp alone. Eliwood, however, was there, sitting on the ground with a few maps and reports around him. The redhead looked up when he entered the tent and sat down opposing him. "How's your wound?"

"It's fine," Eliwood said, stacking some of the reports on top of each other. "It was pretty deep, but it's been cleaned and closed up now and it mostly itches." He put the papers aside. "I'm to see Lucius tomorrow morning for a check, but we don't expect it will trouble me anymore."

"And Ninian?" Eliwood smiled. Hector teased him relentlessly for his relationship with Ninian –most of the ridicule Eliwood had suffered had been from Hector- but at the same time, he supported it fully.

"Ninian was just tired. She's rested up and went to see if Nils needed anything." He leaned on his hand. "What about you and Lyndis? What was that scene all about?"

Hector rolled his eyes. "Lyn managed to get herself caught between a cluster of mages and instead of luring them to Florina, she decided to stay and try to take them on herself." He rested his head in both hands. "She could barely stand by the time we were done with them. I thought I'd be nice and get her fixed up. How was I supposed to know she was going to throw a tantrum?"

"You kind of had her slung over your shoulders like a sack of grain, Hector," Eliwood pointed out. "It would've been better if you'd only supported her, or at least carried her on an arm." Hector was more than strong enough to support a woman of Lyndis's size with one arm.

Not to his surprise, Hector threw his hands up. "This was more practical!" he shouted. "I wasn't toting her around because I like it so much, I was trying to protect her! I needed a free hand to use my axe!" Eliwood sighed. Hector's practicality had saved him, and he was sure many others, several times. But it had not made him a very desirable bachelor.

"Hector," he said, trying to choose his words carefully, "I am not one to tell you to change your ways."

"Then don't."

"But I think it's best you apologized to Lyndis." He didn't give Hector time to protest. "I know you think she was making a scene for the sake of it, but she's a proud woman. She's not like Dame Serra, who relishes being carried and being doted on. To Lyndis, having a man carry her back from a battlefield is a sign that she was too weak to take care of herself."

"Well, she was." Hector didn't seem to get the point, so Eliwood did something he normally never would, leaning forward and connecting the mouse of his hand with the back of his friend's head.

"Perhaps," he hissed, "But she did not need to be reminded of it, and there was definitely no need for the entire camp to see it." He sat back and crossed his arms. "And this was not to speak of HOW you were carrying her. Anyone would have taken offense to that, proud or not." He shrugged, reaching for the map in front of him and starting to roll it up. "Normally, your relationship with her would be none of my affair, but the fact remains that we run this army with the three of us. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the importance –and difficulty- of our mission, so I hope this won't cause a conflict in command. And that is why I want you to apologize to Lyndis for your actions." Hector grumbled. "It doesn't have to be right now," Eliwood conceded. "But first thing in the morning, alright?"

"This is what I get for trying to be a nice guy," Hector mumbled, but nodded. "Fine. I'll see to that. Now, what were you looking at?"

"The plan for tomorrow…"

The next morning, Hector made his way over to where Lyn slept. She didn't like sleeping in a tent, especially during dry and warm nights like last. Instead, he found her by the makeshift corral in which the horses meandered around, stretching her slender arms and graceful legs. She couldn't have been awake long. "Hey," he said when she looked up at him. "Lyn."

"Hector," she replied, a bit coolly. Must still have been mad about yesterday, he figured. "What are you doing here?"

He ignored her question. "How are you feeling? After yesterday, I mean. Serra said you were pretty messed up."

"I'm fine, Hector. My pride will take more time to recover than my body did." She almost spat out the words, confirming that Eliwood had been right about the pride thing. Eliwood had been right about most things for the past ten years. Infuriating.

"Um, yeah." He scratched his head. "About that. Lyn, I'm sorry."

"You're- what?" Lyn had bent forward to pick up her sword, but stopped to look at him. "You're sorry?"

"Yeah. About making a scene so everyone could see you were injured, I mean." He crossed his arms. "Not about carrying you to the healer's tent. That was entirely necessary." When she raised an eyebrow, Hector shrugged. "Eliwood told me about your pride and that I shouldn't have carried you like that. So, uh, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"…did he tell you to apologise?"

"Yes," he admitted. "But I did some thinking, and he's right. Next time, you can lean on me, but I'll let you walk on your own other than that."

"Well," Lyn said, now picking up her sword and putting it around her waist, "That was certainly more mature than I had expected from you. I suppose I owe Eliwood my thanks." Hector suppressed the urge to ask out loud why this was such a big deal. When Lyn put a hand on his arm, he looked down at her in surprise. "More importantly, Hector, I'm sorry too. I got carried away and said some things I shouldn't have."

"…Florina put you up to this, didn't she," Hector guessed. That same pride that had caused her to be so insulted would never let her apologise to him.

"Yes," Lyn admitted. "A fine pair we are, huh? If we didn't have our friends, we'd never learn to communicate other than by hitting each other upside the head."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Hector confessed, leaning forward and bending down to kiss her. She put one hand on his armour as if she were afraid he would crush her, but let him kiss her until she pushed him away for air.

"I saw that, my lord."

Hector whirled around so quickly he swore he bowled Lyn over, to see a certain blonde-haired, red-cloaked misfit standing just a few yards behind him.

"And I'm telling."

He turned around and started to take off, immediately followed by Hector's massive, slower form. "Blast it, Matthew! You're keeping your mouth shut! Get back here!"

Lyn watched him run, trying to grab the spy's cloak, and chuckled to herself. He was right. She wouldn't have him any other way, either.