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Corrin had a problem. Said problem was entirely Ryoma and Xander’s fault, namely that they somehow managed to be two of the most brilliant men that Corrin had the pleasure of knowing while also managing to be two of the most aggravatingly oblivious. It was obvious to almost everyone in the castle that the two at the very least liked each other more than diplomacy called for (besides maybe Takumi and Leo, who were often too busy trying to out-everything each other to be in denial over their brothers’ mutual pining).
Despite how obvious they made these intentions, neither had seemed to pick up on it. So they pined, oh how they pined, and Corrin’s patience had gradually worn thin as she watched them dance around each other. Often times she had to convince herself that, no, walking up to them and shoving their heads together was an awful idea and would garner more concussions than kisses. Eventually, Corrin acknowledged that if she wanted the two to realize their feelings for each other then she probably would have to use a gentle hand.
So she decided to visit Camilla, who arguably wasn’t the gentlest of hands, but she was gentler than Corrin in handling Xander. When she finally found her, the woman was embroidering something in her tent. Without preamble, Corrin dropped beside her and curled up, “I’m tired of looking at Ryoma and Xander; comfort me.”
Camilla, showing no annoyance at her sister’s interruption, set down her stitching and pulled Corrin closer, using her free hand to pet the girl’s hair, “What did those two do this time? Do I need to talk to them?”
“No, Camilla. You don’t need to hit them with your axe.” Corrin ignored the indignant huff from the women, “It’s just… They’re idiots.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“I just don’t get it! You’ve seen the way they look at each other? Right? It’s not just me seeing things?” Corrin turned to look Camilla in the face, desperate for some validation. She was certain it wasn’t in her mind, but who knew?
“No, my darling, you are not seeing things. Everyone is well aware of Ryoma and Xander’s,” Camilla waved her hand around to finish her sentence, as if she couldn’t find a good enough word to describe the situation.
“If it’s so obvious, why don’t they notice?”’
“Denial, stubbornness, pride, among other things. There are a lot of reasons those two would prefer to keep their feelings to themselves. Who knows how long it’ll take for them to notice if left to their own devices.”
Corrin groaned, “I don’t think I can last. It’s already unbearable being around them. I can’t continue to avoid them; they’ll just track me down and ask me what’s wrong. I’m not sure I’ll be able to lie if that happens.”
“Well, I did say ‘if left to their own devices’, darling. If we want them to notice, we’ll just have to force their hands.”
“Oooh, I like your thinking, Camilla. What do you have in mind?”
“Well to start, nothing helps people bond like fighting together. You are partially in control of battle plans, correct?”
“Yep, already got that covered. Haven’t you noticed that they always managed to be paired up during battles?”
“Oh, I must have been distracted or something.” Camilla diverted her gaze from Corrin’s questioning one. Her hands, as if on instinct, went to cover up whatever she’d been embroidering. The motion caught Corrin’s attention and she managed to make out what look to be the beginning of a name on the handkerchief. Well, that was something Corrin would need to keep in mind. However, her sister’s love life wasn’t as obnoxious as the one at hand, so she would wait until later to bug her about it. Camilla coughed and spoke up again, “What about making one of them jealous?”
“Nah, I don’t think that will work. We’d have to get someone to play along, unless you want to try and fake-seduce Ryoma. Even then, I can only imagine one of them pulling the whole ‘I want my beloved to be happy, even if it’s not with me’ thing.” Corrin pressed the heel of her palms against her eye and groaned, “I mean, I don’t know, we could maybe get Niles to do it?”
Camilla winced, “I’m not sure how well that’ll go. Could you imagine Niles flirting with Ryoma or, Gods, Xander?”
“I can and I almost want to go through with it just to see it in action, but I won’t risk my men’s lives like that,” Corrin said, trembling with ill-contained laughter.
“Oh, how merciful you are,” Camilla replied, rolling her eyes at the younger girl but finding herself chuckling as well. A comfortable silence fell upon the two as the laughter dissipated. They basked in the silence for a few minutes before Camilla hummed, “I think I might have another idea…”
“Oh, do share with us mortals incapable of reading your thoughts,” Corrin said from her place on Camilla’s lap. Camilla’s grin grew wider as she began to explain her idea. Corrin, who’d been hesitant when she began, felt a smile pull at the corner of her lips as her explanation went on.
“That’s… I think that might actually work,” she said, jumping up from Camilla’s lap, “Thank you so much!”
With that, she rushed from the tent, eager to start the preparation for the idea. Camilla gave a halfhearted wave to Corrin’s retreating back before returning to her embroidery.
Ryoma wasn’t quite sure what his little sister was getting at, but whatever it was, she certainly was enthusiastic about it. “Excuse me?” He said, still not believing his ears.
She spoke so fast and with such ferocity that he could only really make out every third or so word. “Xander… Flowers… please… Love…”
“Please,” Ryoma said, placing a hand on his sister’s shoulder in an effort to ground her, “talk slower. What was this about Xander? He’s not hurt, is he?”
Corrin took a deep breath and began, “No, he’s not hurt. Not physically at least. It’s just, We, I mean, I noticed he’s been… It’s… You know how he has depression, right?”
Ryoma started at that, “I was not aware.”
Corrin turned ashen as if she regretted bringing it up. “I thought you knew. Gods, I probably shouldn’t have-”
“It’s fine. I do not think less of him for it. Now, what was it you wanted?”
A little color returned to her face at his words, but her smile seemed weak. “Well, when we were younger and it got really bad for him, to the point where he couldn’t just drown it out through training as he usually did, he liked to head out to the Fortress’s garden. It was a little thing; Nohr’s soil isn’t really the best for farming, let alone gardening. Still, he always seemed to like the flowers we had there.”
Ryoma felt a pang of a familiar anger at Corrin’s mention of her childhood spent locked in a Nohrian Fortress. She should have spent those years in Hoshido with her true family. Still, Corrin seemed perfectly fine with these memories, even smiling a bit more as she recounted them. And, another voice seemed to say, if Corrin had not been kidnapped, if so many other things had not carefully fallen into place, who could say that Hoshido and Nohr would be so close to peace as they are now? Not to mention that he’d have never been able to fight alongside Xander as he did now. Ryoma swallowed those thoughts in favor of asking the question that had been on his mind, “As much as I enjoy learning new things about our Nohrian allies, may I ask why you are telling me this?”
“Oh! Yeah, anyway. I’ve noticed that Xander’s been slipping back into those moods. Thankfully never as bad as they were back in those days, but I worry what he’ll do if he does slip too far. We don’t have a garden here in the astral plane and Xander doesn’t like to wander from camp in case of random attacks. I figured that maybe we could help him just a little by giving him flowers that he can fill his tent with.”
“That’s…” Ryoma tried to find the words, “an admirable idea. I’m certain he’ll be thankful, but is there a reason you’re bringing this up to me? I don’t imagine picking flowers is all that difficult.”
“It’s just that I think Xander would appreciate you doing this as well.”
Ryoma hoped that he didn’t show how strongly those words affected him. He allowed himself only a moment to imagine Xander among the brightly colored flowers that flooded Hoshido during spring. He rather liked the idea. “Ah, w-well,” Ryoma voice wavered for a moment, before he steadied it, “even still…”
“Oh,” Corrin frowned, grinding her heels into the ground, “so you won’t help?”
“I haven’t said that.” Corrin perked up at those words and Ryoma let out a sigh of relief that he’d managed to please Corrin.
He should have probably held it for a moment longer as her smile was quickly followed by, “Do you think you could start it?”
Ryoma’s brow furrowed in confusion, “I thought you wanted to do this for him? Shouldn’t you start?”
“Yeah, but,” Corrin said, leaning back on her heals, “you know Hoshidan flowers more than I would. While Nohr’s flowers are all well and good, I think he’d like to see other types of flowers. Plus, we’re closer to Hoshido right now.”
“You’re rather determined in this endeavor, aren’t you?” Ryoma sighed in defeat. Corrin was trying her best to use puppy dog eyes, as if maybe it might convince him to play along.
“You’re smiling and I haven’t heard out right refusal. I like to think my determination is part of what makes me so very lovable. So, dearest brother, will you help me in my grand endeavor to make Xander smile?”
“We’re making him smile now? I thought this was just to help him when his depression gets bad.”
“Oh, I’m certain he will smile as well. He needs to smile more. If he continues down the path he’s headed, his handsome face will be nothing but wrinkles,” Corrin said, a toothy grin on her face, “Oh, don’t give me that look. You’re pretty as well.”
“Prettier, I hope.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Corrin said, before her eyes darted to something behind him. She dropped flat on her feet and stammered, “Oh, would you look at the time. I have to uh, feed Lilith.”
“Was that Corrin?” A voice behind him spoke moments after his sister made her retreat, presumably staring at the white blur that shot across the castle ground. Ryoma, recognizing that voice instantly, turned around and offered a smile to the other crown prince.
“Ah, hello Prince Xander. Yes, that was Corrin. We were discussing… something trivial.” Ryoma found any mention of the flower gifting that Corrin roped him into died on his tongue. Would it be safer to do this under anonymity? Would the prince read too much into his gifts if he just handed them outright? Did Ryoma want him to read more into the flowers?
“Do I want to know what made her react the way she did when she saw me?” Xander’s gaze, no longer held by their runaway sister, was fully on Ryoma. His face was set in its usual pensive look, except for one eyebrow arched in question. Ryoma tried not to think of how Corrin had said that Xander needed to smile more, even if he found himself agreeing more and more by the minute.
“I can’t tell you, since I’m not sure why either,” Ryoma shook free any thoughts of smiles -or a lack of- and focused on more serious matters, “Is there any important reason you came over?”
Xander sighed, “I was hoping to discuss further battle plans with both of you, except I never can seem to get you two in the same place. It’s almost as if she’s avoiding me.”
“Funny you should say that. I think that might have been the most words I’ve exchanged with her this week. Could she be avoiding both of us?”
“Possibly, if only we knew why,” Xander’s features seemed to soften at that and Ryoma thought for a moment that he might have seen the beginnings of a smile, but quickly discarded that as some trick of the light, “Well, I can’t get a hold of Corrin, but you’re here so it’s not a complete wasted effort. I hope you wouldn’t mind my borrowing you for a while?”
“Not at all,” Ryoma replied. Maybe during his conversation with Xander, he could figure out which flower to start with.
When Xander awoke, his expectation hadn’t been that it would be to the sweet smell of something floral. When that was exactly what happened, his immediate response was to assume that Elise had snuck into his room and was waiting to pounce. He cracked open his eyes and was startled by the white blossom sitting in front of him, floating in a small bowl of water. The image so conflicted with all logic that it took Xander a moment to truly register that he was both awake and that the blossom was actually there.
Once he did, Xander concerned himself with how it got there. He’d never taken himself for a heavy sleeper (a childhood spent in Castle Krakenburg quickly trained that out of anyone), but he’d somehow managed to not notice as someone snuck into his tent and placed a white flower in what he know assumed was some makeshift vase next to his pillow. That, of course, begged the question of why someone would do such a thing.
He pushed himself fully up and leaned forward to study the blossom. The flower was certainly beautiful, no matter its reasoning or origin. The white of the petals seemed even brighter against the dark green of its leaves. He’d never seen this type of flower in Nohr. Could it be a flower native to the area? Its scent was strong enough to fill the entire room; Xander couldn’t help but be surprised by how fragrant a single blossom could be. His mind could not fathom why someone would gift him with such a thing.
“Xander, can I come in?” The unmistakable voice of Corrin called from outside the tent, breaking the trance he’d be lost in.
“You can,” he replied, confusion over her appearance at his tent coloring his words. What brought Corrin to his tent so early? Had he slept late enough that even Corrin had begun to worry? Gods, he hoped not. He had too much work to do. He certainly couldn’t afford to sleep in.
Corrin poked her head in, oddly chipper for the time that Xander hoped it to be. “Hey,” she said, drawing out the word as she stepped fully in, “I heard you wanted to discuss battle plans yesterday? Sorry I couldn’t make it. Lilith gets kind of antsy when she’s not fed.”
“Uh-huh,” Xander hoped he managed to get across how little he believed Corrin’s words. “Well, it wasn’t all that bad. Ryoma and I had a rather good talk yesterday.”
“Yeah, ‘talk’. Bet it was great. Anyway, I figured you could explain what you went over with-” Corrin paused for a moment, scrunching up her nose. “Is that? Is that perfume?”
Xander sighs and waves his hand towards the blossom by his side, “No, just a flower. I have no clue where it came from either. It was just there when I woke up.”
“Oh, that makes a lot more sense than my… other theories.” Xander arched an eyebrow, but Corrin plowed on, “That’s actually really cool! Could you have a secret admirer?”
“A secret admirer? Do you remember where we are?”
“Love blossoms, no pun intended, on the battle field all the time. Didn’t we just have a wedding last week? Who knows who might be desperate for your gaze, dear brother?”
“You have been reading far too many romance novels, little princess,” Xander said, shaking his head at the enthusiastic smile set upon Corrin’s lips, “Still, a flower was not what brought you here. You wanted to discuss future battle plans?”
“Ah, yes, but… Well… Aren’t you curious? Someone left a flower there. Maybe it’s just a nice gift, but what if it means more? Didn’t you always talk about the different meanings flowers possessed?”
Xander frowned, “Is there no way to avoid this conversation?”
“We figure out what the flower might mean and I’ll be yours for the day. You can discuss all the ways I must improve for hours and I will be unable to escape,” Corrin said, making eye contact with Xander as if to prove her sincerity. Xander stared at her face, trying to decipher some meaning behind her actions but could find nothing. He let out a huff and nodded his agreement. Corrin’s face brightened. “You know flowers well. Does it look familiar?”
“No,” Xander said, frowning as he tried to recall from memory the flowers of Nohr.
“Well, since neither of us can recognize it, maybe someone in the Hoshidan army might?” Corrin said as she moved closer to get a better look at the flower. She reached out to touch one of the petals, “It really is pretty. Oh!” Where Corrin had touched, the flower now sported a tiny yellowish-brown mark. Corrin look mildly ashamed and squeaked out a sorry.
“It’s fine. Flower are fragile, this one probably more so. No need to beat yourself up over it,” Xander said, “More importantly, who do you think might be familiar with Hoshidan flowers?”
Corrin still seemed to be a little upset over bruising the flowers but answered anyway, “Sakura might be a good place to start?”
“Alright, take the flower and get out so I can change,” Xander said, pushing himself up onto his feet.
Corrin picked up the bowl holding the flower and made to retreat out of the tent. She paused as she was halfway out, “Why do we need this? Do you really think it’s a good idea for me to be carrying it around? I could ruin it again.”
Xander shook his head, “Corrin, I have the sneaking suspicion that if we find Princess Sakura and ask her if she recognizes a ‘fragrant white flower, with dark green leaves’ we may have many answers. If we bring her the flower, we’ll mostly only have one.”
“Ooooh, yeah. Smart. I’ll be out here waiting.” Corrin said, offering Xander a little wave as she exited the tent. Xander chuckled at his sister’s antics and started to put on his armor.
When Xander eventually emerged from his tent, he found Corrin in the midst of a heated conversation with Serena. The girl’s eyes flickered to Xander and he though he saw something flash in them before she returned her attention back to Corrin. She gave the girl a smile and cut Corrin off from whatever she’d been saying, “Thank you, Lady Corrin. I’ll give Lady Camilla your message.” Serena nodded and murmured a deferential, “Lord Xander,” before departing.
“What was that about?” Xander asked.
Corrin hummed, “Nothing major. Just owe Camilla something.”
Figuring he’d not get much else out of her, Xander changed the topics, “Where do you suppose we’ll find Princess Sakura? What time is it any way?” Xander glanced up at the sky, though given the astral plan had its own idea of a proper day-night cycle, it gave little hint to Xander’s question.
“About your usual waking time, believe it or not. I couldn’t really sleep last night and woke up early. You’re lucky I didn’t bug you when I woke up. I know how you can be without sleep, Brother. As for Sakura, follow me. I’ve got an idea,” Corrin said and began walking away.
Xander quickly caught up and responded, “If you had done that, you might have run into who ever gave me the flower, circumventing this whole process. I could have sacrificed a couple hours of rest for that.”
“Oh, think of it as brother-sister bonding. We get to learn who’s madly in love with you, and you get to regale me with all the riveting details of our upcoming battles. Honestly, you get more out of this than I do.”
“Madly in- Corrin!” Xander huffed and ignored the snicker from his younger sister. She didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.
It didn’t take long to find Sakura. She was lying on her back at the edge of the little spring to the north of the castle, her uncovered feet dangling into the water. She smiled as she caught sight of Corrin and used her elbows to sit up. “B-big Sister, look what I found,” she said, holding her hand out so that Corrin could see the glimmering white pearl. She caught sight of Xander and her cheeks tinged pink, “A-and Prince Xander. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you.
Xander wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but Corrin seemed to. She smiled at the girl and leaned down beside her, “That’s beautiful. How’d you find it?”
“Ah, I just noticed something shining at the bottom of the spring. Y-you can keep it,” her eyes darted to Corrin’s full hands, “Oh, is that a gardenia?”
“That’s why Xander and I were actually here. Xander found it in his tent this morning. We’re trying to figure out if it might have a particular meaning behind it. In Nohr, certain flowers have certain meanings. Does Hoshido have something like that?”
“Oh, you mean you mean like hanakotoba? Yes, we do. I’m not all the familiar but… I think a gardenia means something like ‘hidden love or crush’?” Sakura said. Xander felt faint. Corrin looked as if she was trying with all of her might to keep a serious face. This quickly failed. Sakura nearly leaped into the pond at the sound of her laughter. “D-did I? Oh no. I’m so sorry!”
“N-no,” Corrin said, taking gulps of air in a desperate attempt to get the words out through her laughter, “you did nothing wrong. Thank you so much for the information and the pearl, Sakura.” She moved the now identified gardenia to her right hand and gently picked the pearl from her sister’s grasp her with her other hand.
Xander remained frozen as she tried to wave goodbye without dropping the stone and even a few moments after she turned to him with a smirk on her face. It was only as she rolled her eyes and made to leave the spring that he came to his senses. He nodded towards the youngest Hoshidan princess and turned to catch up to his sister.
“I told you,” she said, when she caught sight of him. “If that doesn’t prove that someone was trying to say something with the flower, than I don’t know what will.” Corrin blinked in confusion as she noticed the gloomy look her brother still wore, “What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be a little bit happy someone apparently likes you so much as to gift you with flowers?”
“Corrin, this isn’t one of Elise’s books. I don’t- I can’t-,” Xander struggled to explain, but found the words gone from his mind. What would he say? That Corrin couldn’t just expect him to fall in love with some mysterious person who laid a flower at his pillow? That maybe the idea of someone trying to –what? –court him was more terrifying than exciting? That he had enough problems without factoring in a potential suitor he would probably have to turn down? “I don’t have the time,” the words came tumbling from his mouth before he even registered it. So that’s what he would say.
Corrin froze in place. The look on his sister’s face told him that’s what he shouldn’t have said. “Not enough time?” Her voice cracked, “Brother, I know it’s honestly not my place, but can’t you just enjoy this for once, enjoy the idea of someone wanting to give you something to make you smile? Even- Even if the gardenia is a plea for your affection, they obviously were trying to make you happy with it. You don’t have to make time for it.”
“Corrin-” Xander said, trying to force a better explanation out.
“No- just,” she shoved the gardenia into his hands, “take this and forget about it all. Let’s talk about battle plans. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
Xander nodded, ignoring the water that sloshed out of the makeshift vase when Corrin shoved it into his hands or the upset look that still remained on her face. He could do battle plans; mysterious suitors, he could not.
They stopped by his tent to leave the flower in a safe spot, but beyond that, there was no more discussion of it. Even Corrin seemed to push it from her mind, the sad look making way for a concentrated one. Xander wished he could do the same, but be it Corrin’s words or his own concerns, the gardenia never seemed to completely leave his mind. Even as he talked of the division of weapons, potential reclassing of soldiers, or what the failure of early battles taught them, his mind wondered who could have given him the give, if the meaning behind the flower had been intentional, and if he should really get his hopes up on who it was.
“It’s not working, Camilla,” Corrin said when she caught sight of the woman at the raffle shop.
“Oh? No hello or anything? No idle chatter on how your dear sister has been since we last talked? Not going to try your luck at the raffle, darling? We’re just jumping straight into our brother’s love life?” Camilla said, managing to sound both affronted and amused at the same time.
“Fine, if you want to talk, let’s talk.” Camilla found she did not like the look in her sister’s eyes as she spoke those words. It looked all too much like a look she might give. “How well did your love react to your token?”
Camilla’s face was sight to see: the red of her cheeks offsetting the purple of her hair so starkly. She stammered out a response, managing to look everywhere but Corrin, “A-ah, what was this about something not working? Oh, and while we’re on that topic, why don’t you spin the wheel? See what you get?”
“I’ll accept it,” Corrin sung, “but you can’t avoid this topic forever.”
Camilla rolled her eyes, “I really must find who taught you such behavior and smack them over the head.” Corrin giggled at that. “Now tell me again what’s going wrong?”
Corrin sighed and leaned forward onto the table, “Xander’s being stubborn. I was so certain when Ryoma agreed to the flower gifting idea that this would work, but no, Xander has to be all ‘I don’t have enough time’! How do you deal so well with him? Are you some kind of Xander-whisper?”
“No, I’m just familiar with our dear brother’s emotionally-stunted mannerisms all too well. Give him some time. He’ll warm up to the idea eventually. He’s just defaulting to his usual reaction when faced with a gift right now.”
“I’m starting to suspect that when you said this would speed up the process, you were meaning that instead of it taking decades it would only take years,” Corrin groaned.
Camilla leaned forward and placed a hand on her sister’s, “Oh, sweetheart. Do you have so little faith in me?”
“No,” hummed Corrin, “but I don’t have faith in my brothers’ ability to acknowledge their feelings.”
Xander didn’t wake up to anymore flowers for nearly a week after the magnolia incident. The magnolia began to wither and die, having held on for as long as it could. Xander felt a twinge of sadness at the disappearance of the flower, but the relief he felt overwhelmed it. With its death, Xander hoped he could push all thoughts of his potential admirer from his mind. As if his admirer had read his thoughts and had decided to prove him wrong, he found a surprise when he returned to his tent one afternoon.
Maybe his admirer had felt that the message hadn’t gotten across with the single flower and had decided to up the ante. That was the only explanation Xander’s brain could fathom as he stared at the bouquet lying on top of his bedroll. Had his admirer grown bolder, to risk leaving the bouquet in the bright of day?
He carefully picked up the bouquet and studied the flowers. There were multiple kinds this time and Xander was surprised to see he recognized one. Among the bouquet were jonquils, one of Xander’s favorite flowers. He wondered if his admirer knew this or if they had simply been chosen for their meaning. Though, that did make Xander wonder if he and Corrin had been reading the situation incorrectly. Had the gardenia been chosen for its meaning or were the flowers for some other reason?
Whatever the reason for leaving the flower, whoever had left them hadn’t elected to leave a vase to keep these flowers in. Xander would have to find one himself. He hesitated between leaving the flowers or taking them with him, before deciding to go with the latter. Maybe he could find someone to help him identify them on the way.
His first stop would be the mess hall. Hopefully he could find something to keep the flowers in there. On his way to his destination, he ran into a familiar figure. Xander offered a polite nod to the other prince and attempted to continue on his way.
“Ah, Prince Xander?” Ryoma called. Xander paused and turned to face Ryoma. Ryoma kept his eyes trained on Xander’s face for the most part, but they would occasionally flicker down. It took Xander longer than he was proud to admit to realize that Ryoma must have been curious about the bouquet in his hands. Ryoma opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, before opening it again, “May I ask where you are headed with those flowers?”
“I was heading towards the mess hall. I found them in my tent not five minutes ago and figured I might find something to use as vase there.”
“How convenient. I was also heading towards the mess hall. Would you mind if I joined you?” Ryoma asked, eyes still drifting towards the flowers. Xander decided against pointing out that Ryoma had been headed in the wrong direction when he’d crossed paths with Xander.
“I see no problem with that,” he said. Ryoma jerked his head up and down in a stiff nod and took his place by Xander’s side. When Xander caught Ryoma’s eyes wondering to the flowers once more, he spoke up, “Are you curious about them?”
“I guess you could say that. Do you know who gave them?”Ryoma said, turning his gaze from the flowers towards the path in front of them. His posture almost brought to mind a child who’d be caught doing something he shouldn’t and was no steeling himself for the scolding. It was disconcerting.
“Corrin seems to be of the opinion that I have an admirer,” Xander hummed, glancing down at the bouquet himself. The flowers stared up at him, offering nothing in response but a sweet smell.
Xander almost thought he saw a blush appear on the other prince’s cheeks, but the thought was so bizarre he dismissed it. When Ryoma spoke, there was no sign of any emotion that might bring forth a blush, “Why is that?”
“In Nohr, certain flowers can possess certain meanings. Your sister mentioned that Hoshido has such a language as well. Are you familiar with it?”
“I,” Ryoma said, “I can’t say I am. I’ve only heard of it in passing before. Does this have anything to do with our sister’s belief that you have an admirer?”
Was that dismay Xander felt? He ignored it in favor of focusing on the tone of Ryoma’s voice. For just a second, he’d faltered. It was something to considered. Xander attempted to hide any suspicion from his voice as he spoke, “About a week ago, I received a gardenia placed beside my bedroll while I slept. After Corrin pushed me to find a meaning, we found Princess Sakura who told us that in the Hoshidan flower language, a gardenia represents a hidden love or a crush. This set her off about secret admirers.”
“Are you inclined to this interpretation?” Out of the corner of his eye, Xander swore he could see the beginnings of embarrassment setting themselves upon Ryoma’s features.
“Mm, at first I was hesitant to believe they might have such a meaning, even now I’m less inclined than Corrin towards that explanation. However,” Xander paused. They had reached the mess hall. Using his free hand he opened the door and nodded for Ryoma to head through.
Ryoma seemed mildly annoyed at the halt in conversation, but said nothing as he walked into the relatively empty mess hall. He continued to say nothing as Xander asked Felicia if she would look for something for him to place the flowers in. The girl smiled brightly at the prince and rushed into the backroom. The crashing sound that came moments after her retreat made both princes wince. Xander almost wanted to follow her to make sure she was alright, but Felicia returned before he could. She was no worse for wear, but the vase she carried spotted a noticeable chip.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Prince Xander” Felicia said, when Xander expressed concern about the chip, “It’ll hold the flowers well enough. I promise.”
She was right, as it turned out. The chip didn’t prevent the vase from performing it’s job and it wasn’t even noticeable once they’d arrange the flowers in their new home.
It was only as Xander turned away from Felicia, thank you’s already said, that Ryoma finally asked, “However?”
“Hm?”
“Earlier. You said that you didn’t believe you had an admirer, then said ‘however’. You never finished your sentence.”
“Oh,” Xander said, glancing at the vase. His free hand reached towards the flowers, but stopped before he touched them. They hovered like that for a second before he plucked one of them from the rest. He spun the flower between his forefingers and thumb, “One of my favorite flowers has always been the jonquil. In the Nohrian flower language, one of its meanings can be ‘returned affection’ or ‘a plea for returned affection’. I have no clue if the person who’s giving me flowers knew it was my favorite flower, the meaning, both, or if all of it’s a coincidence, but for a moment, I almost wonder if Corrin hadn’t been on to something. It’s unlikely, but still.”
“Yeah,” Ryoma mumbled, though it was obvious that he wasn’t paying much attention.
“Anyway, thank you for accompanying me. I enjoyed this conversation,” Xander offered a smile and tilted the flower towards Ryoma. Ryoma stared at it for a moment, not registering the gesture for what it was. Xander extended his hand closer to Ryoma, “You can have this as a thank you.”
Ryoma took the flower from Xander’s grasp as if he thought it might break. He twirled it as Xander had done and then as an afterthought, looked at the man and offered a confused, “Thank you?”
“It’s nothing. Now, I’ll be on my way. You still have things to do here I suppose? I’ll see you around,” Xander said over his shoulder as he headed for the door. The smirk playing at the corner of his lips hinted at a joke Ryoma didn’t quite get.
Ryoma stared at the flower as if it might give him the answers to his problems. It didn’t, much to his dismay. If anything, it only created more questions. What had Xander called it? A jonquil? The meaning repeated in his head despite himself. “Affection returned, huh?”
“Prince Ryoma?” Felicia’s voice diverted his attention away from the flower. She leaned forward, “Do you need something?”
Ryoma paused. There really wasn’t a good way to say that he didn’t need anything. He’d just followed Xander here, motivated by some strange impulse that even Ryoma was having a difficult time wrapping his brain around.
“I… just remembered that I needed to talk to my sister,” he said. He knew it wasn’t a good answer, but it would have to do. He didn’t particularly like the bemused expression on Felicia’s face either, but she wasn’t saying anything. He’d take it.
She offered him a cheerful farewell as he left the mess hall and he returned it less cheerfully. He wasn’t lying about needing to talk to his sister, at the very least. He did need to find and talk to her. Maybe then she could explain what exactly was going on here. His grip tightened on the jonquil still in his grasp.
He found her talking to Saizo near the accessory shop. He thought he saw what looked like ribbons in her hands. When Saizo caught sight of Ryoma, he perked up as if Ryoma could save him from whatever dress up game Corrin had deigned to inflict upon him. “Lord Ryoma,” he said when Ryoma was in earshot, “finally.”
“Actually Saizo, I hope you wouldn’t mind if I borrow my sister for a little while?” Ryoma offered the man a smile. It was the most Ryoma could offer him at the moment. While Ryoma was talking to Corrin, Saizo could hide and hope she forgot about whatever she’d want to shove onto him. Saizo nodded and took a couple steps backwards, already trying to make himself scarce.
Corrin turned towards her brother, her mission to decorate Saizo already forgotten. Her eyes flickered to the jonquil in his hand, “Brother, what do you need? Is that-”
“Xander’s favorite flower, which also happens to have a very interesting meaning in the Nohrian flower language?” Ryoma offered, attempting to keep his voice steady despite the emotions welling beneath the surface, “I am aware. Xander and I had wonderful discussion about flowers not long ago. Do you know what he told me during this?”
“Is it too much to hope that he just taught you the different meanings?” Corrin sighed, eyes trained anywhere but her brother’s. Ryoma’s disapproving look answered Corrin’s question without Ryoma ever having to say anything. She slouched and fiddled with the bows in her hands, “Listen, I have a good reason. Just let me explain.
“It’d better be good.”
Corrin crossed her arms and began, “We- I had good intentions. If you could see yourselves you’d understand why I even attempted this. Actually, if you could see yourself, I wouldn’t have had to do this. You don’t know how absolutely frustrating it is to deal with!” Corrin threw her hands up in exasperation.
“Excuse me?”Ryoma frowned, trying to connect the situation with his sister’s words, “What does this have to do with you setting up this whole flower scheme and then telling Xander he has a secret admirer?”
“It has everything to do with it,” Corrin groaned and met Ryoma’s eyes, “Listen, maybe you two haven’t realized, but the rest of us have. You like each other and not just because it’s a good for diplomacy.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I figured you wouldn’t. Why’d you think I went with this plan to begin with?” Her eyes returned to the jonquil, “Did Xander give that to you?”
Ryoma felt like he and his sister had vastly different ideas as to the direction of this conversation. “Yes, he did.”
Corrin’s eyes widened and she smiled, “Maybe the plan is salvageable after all. I wouldn’t have taken Xander to be so… forward after the way he acted,” she mumbled more to herself than Ryoma. She met Ryoma’s gaze once more and spoke clearly, “You might want to consider that Xander knows the flower language and he’s the type to use it almost religiously. You said he told you the meaning, right? Now consider that of all the flowers there, -and I saw that bouquet, he had many options- he decided to give you a jonquil.”
Ryoma didn’t like what his sister was implying or maybe he did and his brain was too busy trying to acclimate itself to the knowledge to even register the delight among the other emotions that took precedents. His mouth felt dry as he tried to form the thoughts whirling in his mind into words, “What do I do?”
“No. Nah. You are not relying on me to solve your love life. I’ve played my part. The ball is firmly in your corner, Big Brother.” Corrin offered a smile Ryoma presumed was meant to be encouraging and waved the ribbons she held in her grasp, “Now if you don’t mind, I have a ninja to decorate. I wish you the best on sorting out this mess.”
Ryoma watched his sister retreat. Some part of him hoped she’d turn around and help him figure out what to do with new knowledge that Xander might have been flirting with him. If Xander had been trying to say what she implied when he’d handed the jonquil to him, Ryoma had no idea how to respond. Well, whatever it would be, he’d have time to figure it out while he looked for the other prince.
Because the Gods wanted to spite him, he ran into Xander minutes after heading out on his search. He narrowly avoided making that ‘ran into’ literal. Ryoma let out a half-hearted cough and attempted to keep his voice steady, “Oh, good. I was looking for you.”
“Surely something couldn’t have happened in the short period we weren’t around each other,” Xander said. He looked mildly confused, but his tone was light.
Ryoma spun the flower in his grasp. It’d be best that he not dance around this subject, “I was speaking with Corrin and she said something that got me thinking.”
“Hm?”
“You said the jonquil meant ‘Affection returned’ or a plea for such, correct?” Ryoma held up the flower and Xander seemed to notice for the first time that he still had it. His face showed no change, but Ryoma thought he noticed the tips of the other prince’s ears flush red.
“Yes, I did,” Xander said. His expression turned grave. Emotions flashed behind Xander’s eyes that Ryoma at another time would have wanted to decipher. Maybe he would get to later. Ryoma opened his mouth to speak, but Xander wasn’t done, “I apologize if I overstepped my bounds. I misread the situation. If you would please forget about this, I’ll never mention it again.”
Ryoma paused. He hadn’t been expecting that, but it did get rid of any doubts as to what Xander had meant with the jonquil. “I don’t want to forget about it,” Ryoma cringed. That sounded like something out of a romance novel he would deny ever reading, but it got his message across.
Xander blinked, “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Don’t make me repeat that dreadful line. I might not be familiar with the flower language of either of our countries, but I don’t need flowers to say what I need to,” Ryoma said. Xander looked as if he was trying to figure out if he should be smiling or frown. Ryoma took a deep breath and continued, “I was the one who left the gardenia. I had no idea of its meaning when I did, but I am not opposed to it.”
Xander’s lips finally made their decision and steadied themselves into a hesitant smile, “Is that so? And the bouquet?”
“Mostly me, but I suspect our sister had something to do with the jonquils,” Ryoma admitted. He still wondered when she had gotten a hold on the bouquet, but that was a question for another time.
“How much does our sister have to do with this?” Xander’s smile grew and he let out what Ryoma assumed was a subdued laugh.
“Quite a lot, I’m afraid,” Ryoma’s smile grew as well, “Apparently we’ve been annoying about our mutual… attraction, I guess.” The word felt strange on his tongue, but it wasn’t one that he would mind getting use to.
“Mm, and so she schemed up some plan to force us together,” Xander nodded, as if he’d only just understood the situation. “I guess it’s better than what she could have done. I heard stories of her attempts at emulating Eros often when we’d visit her. Supposedly, she’d tried to lock two of her companions in a closet in the hopes they would work out their feelings.”
“I guess we got off easy,” Ryoma laughed, trying to avoid the thought of Corrin using that tactic here. He wasn’t sure if the idea of being stuck in such close quarters with the Nohrian prince was appealing or horrifying.
“Prince Ryoma, I’m sorry if this comes off as rude, but I don’t believe we’ve actually stated our intentions yet. You did say that you didn’t need flowers to say what you need to, but I haven’t heard what it is that you’d like to say,” Xander said and the gleam in his eyes was one that Ryoma was familiar with. Was the prince teasing him?
Behind Xander, Ryoma noticed a blur of purple and white ducking back behind a building. They had an audience then. Ryoma’s smile turned devious. He could work with an audience. “I think it might be best if we move this somewhere a little more private before we talk more on the matter.”
The flush that appeared on Xander’s face and the surprised shriek he heard from the building behind Xander was well worth the embarrassment Ryoma felt at those words. Xander quickly gathered himself and offered back a retort, “Yours or mine?” Whether he’d heard the shriek and realized what Ryoma was doing or if he was just eager to get Ryoma alone, Ryoma wasn’t aware.
“I believe yours is closer,” Ryoma said, projecting his voice so that the two hiding behind the building could hear it clearly. Xander looked to be doing his best not to laugh. Well that answered Ryoma’s question.
Xander took the lead and Ryoma would not deny that his show of admiring the departing profile of the other prince was not just for the benefit of their audience. As he tried to catch up to Xander, the faint chorus of ‘Oh my Gods’ behind him was music to Ryoma’s ears.