To be a Knight

“Well I’m certainly glad you think so.” He would hardly say he always said such things but if it cheered Ashe up any more, who was he to argue? There was always such a light that twinkled in his classmate’s eyes that never dimmed. It was something Dimitri himself didn’t fully understand but could still aspire to be like. He was the very essence of a storybook knight. “Happy endings are something I’d like to believe in too, even if they seem a little … unattainable sometimes.” Happy endings … it felt more like he was running out of those rather than gaining anything. It was hard to imagine he had anything happy to look forward to other than the day by day pleasantries brought to him by his classmates. “I guess we’ve talked long enough for you to finally settle down. We can wake the others now so you can turn in and we’ll pick up where we left off in our conversation when we have more time, alright?”

Ashe could only nod in agreement, finding it was getting harder and harder for him to stay awake. Shakily, he got to his own feet, a yawn escaping from him. The world around him seem muffled, but he could pick up on the sound of other voices sounding in. Familiar voices...Which meant that there was no threat.

He uttered a soft goodnight to Dimitri and the next shifters, trudging over to the tent he was sharing with Felix, quietly slipping inside and falling under as soon as he settled in his cot.

The sounds of voices and bustling outside his tent slowly pulled Ashe from his slumber, eyes flickering open and close as he tried to focus on his surroundings. Where was he? His tent...He had been on night shift duty with Dimitri...He had fallen asleep and-Oh! Oh he had really rambled to his Prince about all sorts of nonsensical things hadn’t he? 

The archer then jolted up, more or less tossing his blanket off of him as he tried to wake himself further. Slapping at his freckled cheeks and rubbing at his eyes. Had he slept in? He was usually an early riser to start helping with breakfast, and the thought that he was shirking more of his duties had him reaching for the tent flap, attempting to bolt out when he accidentally crashed into whoever was just passing by his tent.

Sylvain was glad to see the smile on Ashe’s face, he smiled as well before speaking up again. “Hey, you’re still the archer I came to know as a good friend. Nothing changes that. Especially not a silly crest.” Sylvain said with a smile as he stood up and walked next to Ashe and ruffled his hair a bit. “I promise you. People will not find out about this.”

Ashe couldn’t help but outright laugh as Sylvain ruffled his hair, an act he often performed on his own little siblings. It made him feel a bit closer to Sylvain, odd as the gesture seemed. It was like he was seeing a bit of a different side to the Sylvain he usually knew.

“…….Well… I…” His cheeks flushed a little from embarrassment. “I definitely have enough candy to last me a bit.” He cleared his throat. “I just… dressed up a bit. Nothing too big. I couldn’t because I had to keep an eye on Lady Lucina.” He looked back at Ashe. “….. If… I have any extra candy that you like… you can have some.”

“That’s very sweet of you. I’ll admit I’ve hoarded quite the bit of candy myself. I just couldn’t help it. Got a pretty bad sweet tooth.” Ashe chuckles, amused at Gerome’s reactions. He knew his friend also had a sweet tooth, although he generally kept quiet about it.