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A bell rings, and its sound spreads all throughout the Greil Mercenaries’ base; it’s time for lunch.
Mist and Rolf are just finishing setting up the table, plates and utensils and tankards. They zip around the mess hall and make a game of it, who can do most of the work: Mist is faster, but Rolf has nimble fingers in his favor. They end up getting into a bit of a clash over who’s won, and decide to call it a tie. Oscar helps them out by carrying two jugs of water, one in each hand: no alcohol at lunch, that’s one of Greil’s rules. (Afterwards is another story.)
People soon begin to file in. First is Boyd, grinning to himself and rolling his shoulder. He ruffles Rolf’s hair (much to his consternation) and then goes to bring the big pot: today is Mist’s turn to cook, so they’re having beef and cabbage stew, simple and easy to prepare under Oscar’s supervision. Mist tries to remain optimistic, and though her smile falters when Boyd makes a stupid joke about hopefully not poisoning them again, Rolf wastes no time in kicking him in the shin to shut him up.
(He doesn’t shut up: the room soon fills up with the two brothers’ argument, with Oscar trying to make peace in vain.)
Ike stomps in next, all clenched fists and scowls; he and Boyd must have been sparring, and he must have lost. Mist greets him with a big smile, and he nods back with a short hello. Boyd waggles his eyebrows at him, and he rolls his eyes, then tears a chunk of bread and stuffs it in his mouth. Not even a minute afterwards Soren slinks in, books left in the library, steps almost silent on the stone floor; Ike’s expression softens when he sees him, and they begin talking in low tones as Boyd gets Rolf into a headlock and Oscar lets out a big sigh.
Rhys accompanies a limping Gatrie: he’d been quite injured when he, Titania, Shinon and Greil had returned a few hours before, and Rhys tells them all that he needs a day or two more to completely recover. The man seems to be taking it in stride, however, clapping Rhys in thanks on the back so hard the poor man is nearly bowled over before making his way to his seat with his usual panache. His smile freezes over when Mist chirps how she’s sure her cooking will make him feel so much better, and here he desperately attempts to meet Rhys’ eyes to get him to make an excuse. A voice down the hall tells him to put a sock in it: it’s Shinon, glaring at everyone there (his eyes go particularly narrowed for Ike, and Soren’s own gaze is far from friendly), then dropping heavily into his seat. He’d probably put his feet on the table if Greil hadn’t already scolded him for it multiple times.
Finally, Titania and Greil come in together, and are immediately set upon by Mist: the girl wastes no time in handing out hugs like candy and warbling about how she’s so glad they’re back, how she’s sure this time the food’s gonna be great, how Oscar’s been teaching her and how he says she’s his best student. Titania humors her (and doesn’t say she’s his only student), but her smile is far from forced as she listens to Mist chatter while dividing portions: the biggest for her dad, then Gatrie, then Ike and Boyd. Greil clasps his son’s shoulder, smiles at Soren, and nods at the others, even Rolf—the brothers had stopped their bickering as soon as their commander stepped in.
Greil goes to the head of the table, of course; only after he sits do the rest do so. He wordlessly gestures at Rhys, who says grace—a simple thank you to Ashera—and then…
Well, then they’re supposed to eat. But it’s the third day of the week, and that means it’s Mist’s turn, and so they all stare at each other for a moment, some hesitant, Greil observing, Shinon curling his lip. Silence begins to permeate the room like a smell, and Mist wilts on her seat, her face dropping.
Then Ike, brave, stupid, caring Ike—he takes a deep breath and sticks a big spoonful straight into his mouth. Soren, sitting at his side, looks more alarmed than he’d be if Shinon spontaneously caught on fire, and Rhys almost jumps out of his seat for first aid. They all remember how they’d ended up after Mist’s first cooking attempt, and the following since have been little better.
But Ike’s cheeks don’t go pale. His expression doesn’t scrunch up into a grimace. He doesn’t begin to gag or retch. He blinks, eyebrows raised, and licks at the inside of his mouth, and takes a second, smaller spoonful. It goes down just as easily.
Titania follows his lead, and her eyes widen in surprise: it’s good, quite so, and she doesn’t hesitate in telling Mist so. Rhys echoes the sentiment, taking small little sips. Boyd also says so, but he also adds that he’s glad none of them are throwing up right now before again getting kicked by Rolf under the table. Greil nods, approving like they’ve passed some sort of test, and it’s only after he himself begins to eat that Shinon picks up his spoon with a deep-set frown.
(Mist and Oscar share a look; he smiles at her softly, and she feels a rush of gratitude that he doesn’t mention the dozen of mistakes she’d made and fixed with his help. But seriously, how was she meant to know she was supposed to let the beef brown?)
After their hunger has been momentarily sated, they start to talk. Titania takes the lead, informing them of the bandits they had dispatched, their numbers, strength, weaponry; Shinon scoffs and sneers and grunts, but doesn’t otherwise interrupt. She knows that Ike is itching to go on his first mission, Boyd having gone on his a few days ago, and elaborates in some parts for his benefit: he does not look away, listening in rapt attention, leaning so forward his headband would have dipped into the broth were it not for Soren’s intervention. He is remarkably less interested when Gatrie begins waxing terrible lyrical over the mayor’s daughter; the flirt's mouth instantly slams shut when Greil fixes him with a stare after he begins to go on about her ‘assets’.
Ike then talks about his training, how he feels his stamina has increased: Titania encourages him to keep it up, and Boyd snorts. Soren brings up the possibility of a journey to study at Crimea’s royal library, and Greil hums around a mouthful of meat. Mist, happy with her meal’s reception, informs them that she’s gonna go shopping after lunch, and for anyone to tell her if they want something in particular; Titania volunteers to come along, as per normal, and they both wrangle Rhys into joining after Gatrie grins at him and says he’ll be okay without his ginger angel for a while. Rolf exclaims that he’s been working very hard, but clams up and deflects when Oscar and Boyd press him on what: none of them notice Shinon’s pause before swallowing.
At the head of the table, Greil stays quiet as the squabble between Rolf and Boyd eventually overtakes the entire table and devolves into something else entirely, and as he watches Gatrie passionately argue that of course he’d rather kiss a wyvern than a horse, his lips twitch into something weary yet so fond.
It’s a nice meal. It’s a normal meal, too: there’s no choking on a chunk of cheese (Boyd), no breaking a plate after accidentally throwing it into the wall (Ike, long story), no spilling food on a dress bought two days ago with five months’ allowance (Mist, and oh, how she’d cried), and while those are good memories, funny anecdotes to remind people of months later over the fire, so too are moments like this one, with nothing to them but the happiness that comes from sharing food with family.
Mere weeks later, Ike is the Greil Mercenaries’ Commander, and he feels almost-hopelessly lost. People have gone and new people have come; Soren gives him reports after every battle on the outcome, on what went well, on what could improve; Mist now goes into the battlefield with a healing staff and Rolf inspects his bowstrings for wear; they have a runaway princess to protect and aid in her repatriation. Everyone looks at him for guidance he doesn’t feel he can give. Sometimes he feels like he could blink and be back there, with so many fewer worries and so much less pressure on his shoulders, and with a living father who would sometimes clasp his shoulder after he’d done well and who hadn’t died begging for Ike to stay safe and not run straight into the danger he’s chosen to face.
But when it all gets too much, he thinks of days like those, that simple lunch, and though he doesn’t smile, through the ache in his heart bursts something like gratitude and nostalgic joy, and, even if only for a while, something like peace.