Work Text:
“Brother? Are you there?”
“Yes, the reception is very poor, but we can manage a few minutes. How are you, Almiria?”
It was always nice to talk with Brother. Even while on official business he remembered to make some time for her. It made Almiria feel special – not as special, as when she was with Macky, but good nonetheless. She told him everything about the lady skills she was learning and all the newest gossip.
“And Father received yet another engagement offer for you. You have…” she paused, counting in her head. She was getting very good at math; not as good as at making tea, though “nineteen marriage interviews waiting for you at the moment.”
Brother sighed. “I’m afraid I won’t have time for any of them. There’s so much audit work at the moment. It’s a miracle that the Bernstein revolution ended without significant bloodshed, but I still need to be in person at the most important sites…”
“Gaelio Bauduin.” Almiria recited in the most serious tone she could muster. “It is your prime responsibility to marry a respectable, lovely lady and lengthen the Bauduin bloodline.”
“Just stop, please.” Gaelio groaned. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Stupid Brother, he always behaved as if he knew better! She was the one with a wonderful, gallant fiancé and a lovely married life in just a few years, while he had never had any relationships.
“Father and Mother are very worried about you! Every other Seven Star man your age is either married or engaged. You should find someone you like too.”
“And what if I did?” Gaelio’s tone shifted; Almiria has rarely seen him so unhappy. “What if I found someone I liked and Father would not approve? It doesn’t matter whom I want, just who the Bauduin family needs.”
Brother was partially right, but…
“But I like Macky.”
“It’s not a surprise, everyone likes McGillis.” Gaelio laughed. “Anyway, I have to get back to work.”
“Already?” Brother nodded. It was no use arguing; he must have been very busy right now. “Will you come to my birthday party?”
“I’ll try to. Goodnight, Almiria.”
“Mhm. Goodnight, Brother.”
As the transmission fizzled out, Almiria saw the door to Brother’s quarters open. She squinted her eyes, trying to see who it was, but the connection died out before the figure entered the room.
It could have been a coincidence, of course, but just a few minutes earlier Gaelio seemed so sad when he was talking about liking someone. Was he talking about this person? Did her brother have a secret girlfriend?
Almiria twirled in place and clapped her hands. It was a mystery that had to be solved.
The day of Almiria’s birthday party approached fast. She invited all of her friends, not only from the Seven Stars but also children of the Sleipnir officers. Sleipnir was a fun place to play hide and seek, but recently it was rarely at home. Almiria was too old for hide and seek anyway; as a ten-year-old she was practically an adult. She had to behave like a proper lady now. It was a bit sad that Brother didn’t seem to be attending, but dignified ladies did not cry over trivial matters. At least not too much.
Two days before the big day, the Sleipnir suddenly descended onto the Earth. When she heard the news – first thing in the morning – Almiria could barely wait. She somehow resisted running to the door in her nightgown and instead got properly dressed and groomed. By the time she got downstairs, Gaelio was already in the lobby.
And he wasn’t alone.
The man behind him was wearing a Gjallarhorn uniform in a color she’s never seen before. Almiria thought about it for a moment; he must have been from an Outer Sphere branch. The epaulets also looked plain; he must have been a rather lowly ranked soldier. The man was looking around, wide-eyed. He was trembling, but then Brother placed a hand on his shoulder. It seemed that it calmed him down a bit. Smiling, Gaelio looked around too and finally noticed her.
“Hey, Almiria!” He waved, walking down the hallway. The stranger followed close behind him. He was much shorter than Brother and definitely not as handsome as him or – her face heated up a little – Macky.
“Welcome back, Brother. I hope you had a good journey.” She bowed curtly. After a second’s consideration, she bowed at the stranger too. Low-rank or not, proper behavior dictated to be equally polite to everyone.
“As good as it could be without seeing my lovely baby sister for such a long time.” Gaelio spread his arms in a wide gesture. Almiria felt her eyes water a bit; why was making fun of her his usual greeting? “Ah, but I suppose you’ll be an adult any day now. Anyway, this is Second Lieutenant Ein Dalton. He’s my aide, now that I have much more work than a single person can handle. Ein,” he turned to the aide “this is my sister, Almiria. Don’t trust in anything she says.”
Almiria felt a little pang of disappointment. She hoped Gaelio would bring his secret girlfriend, not some aide. Maybe then Father and Mother would finally stop worrying. But no, the secret girlfriend stayed behind and her brother was mocking her in front of his colleague.
“It is a pleasure to welcome you in the Bauduin household, Second Lieutenant Dalton.” She said, trying to hide her tears.
But then Second Lieutenant Dalton knelt on one knee in front of her and said “It is truly a pleasure to be able to meet such a beautiful lady as you, Lady Almiria.” He bowed his head. “May I have the honor to kiss your hand?”
Tears dried out momentarily. Blushing, Almiria raised her arm. The aide pressed a short kiss to her fingers and stood up.
“Thank you for that honor, my lady.” He said and Almiria thought that while Ein Dalton wasn’t as good as Gaelio’s secret girlfriend, he wasn’t that bad either.
On the day before the birthday party a smaller, half-official dinner for the Bauduin family and closest friends has been planned. Almiria didn’t like these occasions and it seemed her brother felt the same. When they were younger they called these dinners “air raids”, because when one occurred, you could only duck and hide.
But there she was, seated at the head of the table, with Macky to her right and Father to her left. Brother sat next to Macky; the aide was at his side. Originally he was supposed to sit somewhere further, but Gaelio complained and moaned about it so loudly that Mother gave up. Ein Dalton didn’t seem too happy about the dinner, though; he was just staring at the table and fixing his tie from time to time.
Almiria tugged at Macky’s sleeve. “Macky. May I ask you something?”
“Yes, what it is?” Her fiancé smiled and lowered his head to her.
“Do you know this Second Lieutenant Dalton?” she whispered.
Macky raised an eyebrow. “Ein Dalton? Yes, he was one of the pilots we were assigned to work with during the Bernstein rebellion. Gaelio took a shine to him after Ein saved his life during a skirmish. Your brother made him his direct subordinate.” He laughed. “Poor Ein had to swap the Graze for piles of paperwork. Which is quite unfortunate, he is an excellent pilot.”
Almiria’s brow furrowed. Saved Brother’s life? She didn’t know that Gaelio was in such a danger during the revolution on Mars. Well, it was war after all, obviously not the safest of places, but she thought her family was far from the actual battles.
With a fork in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, Ein Dalton didn’t look like a war hero. He looked nervous and didn’t talk with other guests, but he smiled every time Gaelio whispered something into his ear. Almiria didn’t have much time to observe him, as one of the aunts approached her.
“My dear, you’ve grown up so much since I last saw you!” The older woman placed two sloppy kisses on her cheeks “A few years more and we all will be meeting at your wedding!”
Please no, Almiria thought frantically, not in front of Macky, no… She looked around with pleading eyes. But Mother was against her too.
“Oh, she’s been making plans for it already! She just loves looking at bridal dresses and bouquets. Now, Almiria, tell your Aunt about your dream wedding.”
Almiria hoped for an actual air raid now. Why does she have to say all of this childish nonsense in front of Macky? She was rooted in her place, suddenly unable to speak, feeling fainter and fainter…
“Whatever she came up with, my scenario is more interesting.”
Her eyes widened. Brother! She looked at him meekly; he was standing with one hand placed on Ein’s shoulder.
Mother scoffed at him. “How lovely of you to think about it when you’re not even engaged.”
With his free hand, Gaelio made a dramatic gesture. “Just because I’m not engaged yet it doesn’t mean I will always remain unmarried. And I have figured out a perfect wedding setup that will make all the Seven Stars weddings pale in comparison.”
Father started to rise from his chair, red-faced and fuming, but Mother stopped him with a hand wave.
“Enlighten us then. How would the greatest wedding in the history of Gjallarhorn look?”
“I thought that a standard setup is much too boring. There’s the happy couple, a lot of alcohol and more family than one person can remember.” Brother took a sip of wine and then continued. “Therefore I suggest a Mobile Suit wedding.”
“This is ridiculous.” Father grunted, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“Really? I think it’s wonderful.” Gaelio looked at the guests. Almiria – who was observing him intently all that time – did the same. Most of the people looked horrified. Macky looked mildly amused; Ein’s expression was completely blank.
“Just imagine it: me, piloting the beautiful Kimaris and the love of my life in some other Gundam frame – I think a Gundam frame can be arranged. Saying our vows twice: once in the cockpits and then after getting out of them, while sharing our first kiss. Think about it, ladies and gentlemen.” Brother raised his glass one more time and sat down. The whole table fell silent.
Somebody cleared their throat to Almiria’s right. Oh, Macky.
“If I’m not mistaken using a Gundam frame is a horrible strain for the pilot. I hope that the love of your life has some practical experience or else you’ll be spending your wedding night in the medical bay.”
Gaelio laughed. “I assure you, McGillis, if I ever get married it will be to an ace pilot.”
At night Almiria couldn’t sleep. She desperately wanted to climb into someone’s arms and just stay there until morning. At first she thought about Macky, but it would be much too improper for a lady of her class to just barge into her fiancé’s room.
Brother was spending a night here, she recalled. Almiria still didn’t thank him for earlier today; Gaelio often made fun of her, but always helped her when she really needed it. She was sure he wouldn’t mind helping her once more.
Gaelio had a suite of rooms just for his use – a bedroom, a study and a bathroom, all accessed from a small hallway. Careful not to make a sound, she crept into the hallway and closed the door behind her.
The door to Brother’s bedroom was slightly ajar. Soft, warm light was illuminating a part of the corridor. There were voices coming from the room, one was Gaelio’s; much to her surprise Almiria identified the other as Ein. Were they still working at that hour?
“Do you think I’ll have to fake a hangover tomorrow too?” Brother was asking in a jolly tone. Ein Dalton laughed.
“You’ll be fine. Your performance was so impressive that nobody will try to question it.” The aide paused. “I think it was very brave. And admirable.”
Almiria crept to the door. She shouldn’t be even listening, not to mention taking a peek, but something about that situation felt very off. She peered through the crack in the door.
Ein was sitting on the plush couch in the corner of the room. Two half-drained glasses of wine were standing on the coffee table. At first Almiria couldn’t see her brother, but when she looked closer she found him, partially obscured by the armrest. Gaelio was sprawled on the couch; his head was resting on Ein’s lap. Speechless, she watched on.
“I just couldn’t stand these old harpies bickering over Almiria’s head and making her uncomfortable. They are supposed to be nobility, but I’ve seen Human Debris with more class.” Gaelio reached for Ein’s hand and squeezed it gently. “You should invite Crank Zent here to teach them a lesson in proper manners.”
“Maybe I will.” Ein smiled, but then averted his eyes. “Were you serious about it? The Gundam wedding, I mean.”
Very gently, Gaelio reached out and touched Ein’s cheek. The aide leaned into the hand.
“In ninety percent.” He said, smiling. “The ‘first kiss’ part cannot be arranged, I’m afraid.”
Almiria somehow regained her footing. It was in bad taste to stay and look any longer. She crept back to her room and was asleep in a few minutes.
The atmosphere at the birthday party was only slightly dampened by yesterday’s proceedings. Some of the Seven Stars children were even bold enough to approach Gaelio and say that the Mobile Suit wedding was the “coolest idea ever”. Almiria herself had a great time – she spent almost all the evening with Macky, which was worth it. But then Father wanted to talk about something with him and she was shooed away.
In Father’s dictionary ‘Excuse us for a moment, Almiria’ was an order, so she walked away to find some other company. Of course, she had to stumble upon Ein Dalton.
Brother’s aide was standing to the side, passively watching the other guests from over a fancy drink. Gaelio was nowhere in her sight; probably called off to some other Gjallarhorn business. She didn’t want to approach Ein, not particularly, but it was her party and she had to make sure that every guest felt welcomed. Almiria straightened her back and walked up to Ein.
“Second Lieutenant Dalton.” She began. “I trust you are having a good time.”
Ein bowed and saluted politely. “Lady Almiria. It is a pleasure to be here. Happy birthday and may all your wishes come true.”
It felt awkward to just walk away without sharing at least a few more sentences. Almiria thought about all the proper topics for discussion, prepared a clever speech and opened her mouth.
“You’re Brother’s secret girlfriend, aren’t you?”
She heard the words and clamped her mouth shut with both of her hands. She looked at Ein, horrified; it seemed that the man was as shocked as she was. He was pale as a sheet and his blue eyes were open impossibly wide. Luckily, nobody around them seemed to pay any mind to what she just said.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to say it.” She blurted out, waving with shaky hands. Second Lieutenant Dalton set his glass aside.
“I must applaud you, my lady.” He said in a quiet, wavering voice, his eyes not leaving hers. “Your intuition is… remarkable.”
It felt weird, hearing it admitted so openly. But it also felt weird to think that a brave soldier of Gjallarhorn, who saved Brother’s life on the frontline of some faraway battlefield, would be so scared of her, even though she was already ten years old. And if Brother was happy…
“Thank you for your kind words.” She took another breath. “And… don’t worry about it. I like you and so does Macky; Mother and Father will probably need some more time but I think they’ll like you too.”
Ein’s expression shifted; his eyes relaxed and he even managed a small smile.
“You are too generous, my lady. I… thank you.” He reached for his glass and took a small gulp. “I’m not an expert on women, but – if I may say so – I think you’d make an excellent officer.”
Second Lieutenant Dalton wasn’t too bad, Almiria decided, but there was still one more thing that had to be established.
“Just remember, Ein Dalton – my wedding will overshadow your stupid Mobile Suit parade without a doubt!”