C RANK
Faye: Sir Lukas!
Lukas: Miss Faye. Might I ask what brings you to my side?
Faye: I wanted to thank you. If you didn't come to Ram Village that day, I'm sure Alm and the rest of us would still be growing bored to death in the farmlands right now.
So, erm--thank you again! Sir.
Lukas: Haha. You've no need to resort to formalities with me. We all bleed the same, yes? And to tell the truth,
I must confess the Deliverance was sorely lacking in proper goals before you all joined us. Many of our former allies fought only for personal glory, not the peoples' safety.
You and your friends are valuable protectors of Zofia, and every breath you take sees her safer.
Faye: Um… You're too kind! Really!
Lukas: Still, you've no reason to feel indebted to me or anyone else. The life of a soldier yields physical and psychological wounds in equal measure-- If anything, we owe you quite a bit for this sacrifice of yours.
Faye: …
Lukas: ...My apologies. That was rather insensitive.
Perhaps we should return to the battle for now?
Faye: … That's probably for the best.
B RANK
Faye: Hello, Lukas.
Lukas: Miss Faye. I must apologize for our last encounter. I really was quite rude.
Faye: No, it's okay. You honestly kind of surprised me.
It's just that… well, I never have any nightmares. I’m never scared by anything I see on the battlefield. It always feels like an honour just to stand alongside Alm.
Lukas: ...I see.
Faye: When I see an enemy fall, all I think about is how happy I am to fight with everyone. I’ve hurt so many people, but Alm and I are spending more time together, and I feel-- grateful, of all things.
Gods, how heartless can a woman be?
Lukas: Miss Faye.
Faye: Oh, gods, I didn't mean to-- I'm sorry, just forget I said--
Lukas: Faye!
Faye: …
Lukas: I must admit that your words embitter me.
You claim to be heartless yet speak of a wholehearted love in the same breath. You claim to carry no burden from this war but the very idea of that tortures you.
You are not heartless, Faye. You are the single most passionate person I have met-- even if you burn too bright at times. Every soldier feels the blows of war differently, and I should never have implied otherwise.
Please, pray that you don't let your feelings slip away from you.
Faye: Lukas...
[sniff] Th-thank you...
A RANK
Lukas: It's a pleasure to see you, Faye. I hope you feel a bit better.
Faye: I do. You really helped me.
Though I have to admit it was a little shocking to see you riled up like that. You're normally so calm!
Lukas: I'm... aware of that, yes. I apologize if it was off-putting.
Faye: No, no! It was the opposite, really.
Lukas: That's good.
I suppose it was rather affirming for me. I've long thought of myself as somewhat, ah, detached from emotion. I hardly feel very strongly about anything... it can be nice to have a reminder that even I am capable of being human at times.
Faye: ...You know, for someone so wise you're a bit of a hypocrite.
Lukas: I beg your pardon?
Faye: Weren't you the one that told me? Your frustration about being emotionless is an emotion in and of itself!
Maybe your cold demeanor is a part of you-- whether you want it to be or not-- but you're not broken, and you're not infallible.
Lukas, you're you. You have your own skills and flaws, but you're human. I hope you know that.
Lukas: ...
...Thank you, Faye. Your words mean more than you could know.
I... I hope we can look towards the future together, if you'll have my friendship.
Faye: Heehee! And here I thought we were already friends.
Lukas: Is that so? Seems I can't let go of some formalities quite yet, then.
Kudos (17)
roraruu, Good_beans, Cheese_Matrix, Moonlitpathtodawn, leonidskies, and u_andcloud as well as 11 guests left kudos on this work!
Bookmarks (1)
Why did I not search the archive for these two before tonight. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I think these two have SO MUCH potential! I come at them from “guy who worries that he feels nothing” and “girlie who enlisted in a war for her crush” and that’s fun… BUT WHAT IS MORE FUN is reading about them essentially calling the other out for being a hypocrite. (“If I’m a hypocrite… and you’re a hypocrite… then who is genuine person in this army…?” This is giving “Garfield are you /j or /s” shitpost levels).
ALL THIS TO EXCITEDLY SAY, I dig this support chain. They should’ve have some face to face time in the game—SOV should’ve had more supports, but especially Lukas and his Ram Village buddies…
I really love the strict formality that follows these two—Sir Lukas, Miss Faye—and the gradual shift to comfort where they both feel at ease to be like “hey you say you don’t mind the fighting but I see how you’d white-knuckling your weapon,” and “you know, you said you don’t feel emotions, but getting angry is one of them…” It’s great. I love this growth and development for Faye and Lukas! I would read a whole longfic about them becoming friends and how their opposites really compliment each other… (the girl who feels so much, the guy who claims to feel nothing at all…)
Final bit, and this is me being delulu: I’ve come to mostly ignore Faye’s endcard (because BOO 👎 🍅 💀) and mostly run off the idea of her being the new Mycen-esque character for Ram—you know, she protects the village, trains some kids, maybe raises a sheep or two (though the idea of her family having the vineyard that makes Ram Wine lives in my brain)… But she keeps in pretty consistent contact with Lukas, they write letters and chat, and she’s the one to mention Ram’s old schoolhouse that’s fallen into disrepair since the war’s end. Lukas, deciding to hang up his Lance and armour, eventually returns to Ram Village to become the new school teacher, educating young students of Ram… And he’s also known to be a close friend of Faye’s, making her smile like no one else can.
Anyways, yap sesh over, this slapped, thank you for writing it!!!
I was so pleasantly surprised to see this comment. I'm glad you enjoyed this fic!! And I'm glad someone else sees the vision. They have so much potential. The girl who feels so much and the guy who claims to feel nothing, so true..... Aughg.........
You're right when you say SOV should have had more supports, that was part of what drove me to write this-- a lot of my favourite FE supports are the ones that start with two seemingly unrelated characters discovering how similar/compatible they are and learning more about each other (which lets the player learn more about both of them in the process. Kellam and Donnel's from Awakening is fresh in my mind), and I wanted to channel that.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your headcanon for their post-war. I'm integrating it into my mind now. That's canon to me now. They coul;d be so friends....... Never apologize for writing so much, this was so delightful to see when I checked my email. Made my morning. Thank you for the comment! Have a good rest of your day!