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“Well well Edea my dear, you must be quite desperate if you’ve come to me for advice~”
“Shut it Ringabel!” The man only let out an amused chuckle, increasing in volume as Edea muttered her infamous “Mrgrgrgr,” while tightening her fist.
It wasn’t as if she had much of a choice! Tiz and Ringabel had just gotten together so he was just as clueless as her, and Agnès? No, this was FOR Agnès, there was no way Edea could go to her about this. That left only one person left, the now smug-looking Ringabel.
To his credit, he likely was the only out one of the four who had the most related experience. Or well, with all his flirting Edea assumed he had to have been on some dates right prior to Tiz, right? Maybe she should have gone to Tiz for this…
“Just… you’ll help me right?” With Edea’s voice so defeated Ringabel stopped laughing in an instant, his expression now serious as he placed a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Of course, I do apologize if my merriment made it seem I wouldn’t help. Now then, what seems to be the problem between you and Agnès?”
“Well, it isn’t really a problem just…” Edea nervously pushed her fingers together causing Ringabel to quirk a brow. It wasn’t often he’d seen Edea be anxious about anything, was it that serious. “Have you and Tiz kissed yet?”
“A gentleman should never kiss and tell,” Rinagebl said with a small smirk. “But I’ll make an exception for you. Yes, Tiz and I have shared quite a few kisses… Have you and Agnès not…?”
“No,” Edea admitted with a sigh.
“Ah I see, so you want my advice on how to have your first kiss with Agnès?”
“Yeah.”
“Well Edea my dear it’s quite simple, just go for it!” Ringabel said with a proud smile. “I’m honestly a bit surprised someone like you would be so hesitant, even if it’s about something like this.”
“...It’s… It’s just, I’ve never kissed anyone before. And I don’t think Agnès has either so, I wanted this to be special.”
“Ahh, I see.” Ringabel nodded his head, now thinking deeply on just how to help Edea. “So you want me to use my expertise to help make your first kiss special?”
“Yeah, you think you can help?”
To this Ringabel opened his eyes, smiling proudly and pointing his finger at Edea. “Why of course Edea! There’s a reason I received the title the Vagrant of Love!” Edea was tempted to point out Ringabel was the only person to call himself that but decided since he'd help she’d be a little nicer to him. “Now let me think, knowing Agnèssomething flashy would probably be a bit much for her. We’d want to go with a simple but effective approach.” He began to pace, back and forth and sometimes tapping his chin.
Edea almost swore she saw steam rising from Ringabel’s ear as he thought until suddenly he stopped.
“I’ve got it!”
“That fast?” Edea was mildly impressed it only took Ringabel a few minutes to concoct something. She’d been agonizing over what to do for weeks.
“Mhm, in Florem there is a curious little tradition where when one person likes another they’ll wait under a plant called a mistletoe. If said person reciprocates their feelings then they will join them and the couple will share a kiss.”
“... this isn’t a “newer” Florem tradition, right?” Agnès had said the city was once one of the most devoted cities in the world when it came to Crystalism, but now? Yeah, not so much. And while Agnès might be aware of older Florem traditions Edea doubted she’d know anything of any newer ones.
“On the contrary Edea, this tradition is about as old as Florem itself. So I’m sure Agnès will understand if she sees her dear Edea standing under a mistletoe waiting for her.”
“Do we even have any mistletoe on the Grandship though?”
“Most likely not, but I’m sure we can spare a trip to Florem for supplies and pick up a spring while we’re there.”
“All right, and Ringabel.”
“Hm?”
“Thank you,” Edea said with a soft smile.
“Of course Edea, anything for a dear friend. Now come along, let’s try and find a place to set up so you’ll both be uninterrupted.”
~~~
Ringabel was proving to be an even bigger help than expected as he got to work with not only procuring a spring of mistletoe for Edea but even helped her with finding a spot where she and Agnèswould have some much-needed privacy. Good, good, everything was going to plan. All Edea had to do was get her girlfriend to visit her on the bridge of the ship. Ringabel was the only one who piloted the ship, and that night he had things set on autopilot. No one would bother them, and to make sure they were alone Ringabel promised he’d make sure Tiz and the other members of Grandship would stay away. How? Edea wasn’t sure but she trusted her friend with the task. Now all she had to do was slip her letter asking Agnès to meet her on the ship's bridge and then things should be smooth sailing.
Still, as Edea slipped the piece of paper under her girlfriend’s door she couldn’t help but feel a bolt of anxiety spark through her. What if this was stupid? What if Agnès wouldn’t understand what the hanging plant was for? A part of Edea knew these were all just her nerves, but hey even someone as confident and headstrong as her had her moments of insecurity. She just wanted things to go perfectly with her girlfriend, they were both the other’s first relationship so who wouldn’t be nervous in her shoes.
Steeling herself, Edea made her way to the bridge standing still under the spring of mistletoe and waiting.
Minutes passed, but to Edea, they felt like hours. Nerves, anticipation, it all danced under her skin as she waited, her fists tightening as her heart pounded. Who knew something as simple as standing still could be so difficult?
Finally, after what felt like an eternity Agnès came through the door, peeking in with a curious expression that soon became a smile when she spotted Edea.
“You know I had a feeling this might be a prank of sorts, but I came when I saw it was your handwriting.”
“Who’d even think of pranking you?” Edea asked, her face a bit flush. Was someone messing with her girlfriend?
Agnès shrugged. “I don’t know, but sometimes Ringabel can be a bit much with his… antics. So why did you want to meet here, Edea?” Agnès began to slowly make her way to the blonde standing in the middle of the room, seemingly not enticing the white-berried plant hanging high above her.
“Ah well…” Edea waited until Agnès was in front of her. What was she supposed to even say? ‘Hey look a Mistletoe, wanna kiss?’ Maybe this plan had been a bad idea. Unsure of what to do Edea gestured upwards, Agnès gazing up. Slowly her face grew to an even brighter smile a she looked back at Edea. “Agnès I-”
Her words were silenced by the wind vestal softly pressing her lips against hers. Edea was sure her face resembled a tomato with how red she felt, but it was nice. Soft, innocent, Edea shut her eyes and returned the kiss, cupping Agnès’ cheek in the process as her girlfriend did the same. The kiss only last a few moments, but when they broke both women were near breathless. Edea was red-faced, and Agnes had a dusting of pink on her cheeks. They didn’t speak, only gazing into each other's eyes lovingly, Edea moving her hand to brush her fingers through Anges’ long soft brunette hair.
“So yeah… I wanted to do that,” Edea said with a cough, breaking the silence awkwardly and causing Agnès to giggle.
“I see, well if you wanted to do that you know you could have asked. But I appreciate the gesture nonetheless.”
“Look I know, but it’s just, I wanted to do something romantic! I know we haven’t been together long but sometimes I feel I don’t do enough for you,” Edea admitted, her eyes downcast.
“Hey, listen,” Agnès moved her hands to under the blonde’s chin, raising her face so she’d look at her in the eyes. “Just being together is enough Edea, really. You know I’ll always appreciate how you joined us to help me on my journey, and then us becoming more… You do plenty for me Edea, truly you do.”
Edea’s heart sang at the reassurance. Truly, she was very lucky indeed that she had met and befriended the group, but especially that she had met Agnes at the two had eventually gotten together. Smiling almost dreamily, Edea nodded.
“Thank you, Agnès… Do you um, wanna kiss again?”
“I’d love to.”
And those the couple enjoyed many sweet and soft kisses, neither afraid to hold back the show of affections. And once they were done they left the ship's bridge hand in hand, meeting up with Tiz and Ringabel for dinner, Ringabel giving Edea a knowing smile to which both she gave him a thumbs up. Both couples at dinner together in peace, Edea not letting go of Agnès' hand the entire time.