#nilesleodin

Odin: “Defeat? Allow me to pluck that word out of the air before it spoils the mood.”

Niles: “And allow me to lay it gently back upon your tongue, O prince.”

They like to play off each other! And there are a bunch more examples I could use. But they’re funny! So I think they could also get into a back and forth conversation in the way that they do that Leo would enjoy if he were listening in, even if he were outwardly telling them to be serious. Because it’s something familiar and lighthearted and it can be nice to listen to two people you care about have a fun conversation even when you’re feeling down and out. (And on the flip side I think this might count as cheering up Odin or Niles too, if they were having a bad day and got drawn into this familiar dynamic.)

In terms of spoiling… I think Niles and Odin try to go above and beyond when it comes to retainer stuff already? And Leo does really admire that. But in the romantic sense, I think they’re the same way. Like, “Oh, our anniversary is coming up? I’ll find him the most delectable chocolates in all of Nohr! The finest everything!” And Niles has cleared Leo’s whole schedule so he’s free for the whole day as well, while meanwhile Leo is like “… I like being busy and I don’t like these foods. But thank you.” 

Which isn’t to say it’s always stuff Leo doesn’t enjoy, because I think he does like it in a certain way. And often times it’s stuff he protests and ends up enjoying a ton!! (Like the Beach DLC!) But I think it’s basically Niles and Odin always trying to go that extra 110% in everything. To the point where Leo might say it’s too much, lol. But he really recognizes effort and often really enjoys himself too. They probably do things very right a lot of the time (probably most of the time) and seeing them go through so much work in an effort purely to make him happy even when it’s not strictly necessary probably warms his heart a bit.

Niles:

For Niles being really happy… Niles kind of seems to divide his life into pre and post-Leo world and while there is a lot to say about his and Leo’s support, Niles also says he’s not worthy of “such high praise” by Leo calling himself “lucky to have such a loyal and trustworthy retainer [such as Niles].” So I think anything where Leo emphasized how glad he was to have Niles around and the change their lives had taken as well would probably be pretty good, even if there was a brief “No, it’s the other way around” protest from Niles at first. 

So basically an emphasis from Leo to say he feels similarly to Niles or to validate Niles’s feelings, even if Leo doesn’t entirely agree with the way Niles always frames things, might make him feel pretty good. If it were a big moment or just a casual conversation between them, I think Niles would enjoy that either way.

In terms of Odin in the mix here, there may be another divide in Niles’s life between the time Niles was Leo’s only retainer and when it was Niles&Odin both as Leo’s retainer too? So something that causes Niles to recognize that he likes Odin being around now even if he disliked Odin at first might be a somewhat fun thing too. A here/there contrast, you could say.

Maybe on a particularly bad day or even a normal day where Odin just wants to mix things up or surprise Niles, I can see Odin dropping like one (1) little fact about his past into the conversation and enticing Niles to unravel the impossible mystery of his past a bit more. Just something small. Like the fact his mother also had blonde hair or that he grew up around a castle until he didn’t anymore. Little things that aren’t actually any proof of anything or can be really connected anywhere (or be proven not to be connected anywhere) but might make Niles interested anyway. Just something little that might make Niles perk up with interest.

(This is ignoring the fact that Odin and Niles might even get tense about Odin’s past sometimes? See: Their Support Convo. Like, Leo straight up doesn’t give single fuck about where any of them came from and Niles, though he has his own troubles with memory and his own past, doesn’t like when other people can get away with hiding theirs? Because the mystery might be something dangerous? But, like, in contexts when it’s lighthearted, you know? There can be a back and forth there where it’s fun instead of Tense.)

Plus anytime Niles gets Leo to chill out and indulge himself might count as making Niles happy as well, lol.

For spoiling… That’s a hard one! Hmm. Probably if Leo and Odin made things about him for a while, that’d be good. I don’t think Niles is a super material person? Like, he knows the value of goods and money and especially the absence of them, but I don’t think he has a ton that he wants now that he has Leo (and then later Odin), material-wise. Sure a new bow or cloak or something is nice and he’d probably value it, but I don’t know if that counts as spoiling? I think more along the lines of Leo and Odin telling Niles not to worry about his duties for a while and just sit with them and spend some easy time together without worrying or trying to do work would probably count more. 

Niles doesn’t strike me as being lazy very often since I think even the moments he’s sitting down somewhere, he’s thinking and is in his head a lot. So Leo and Odin spending a bit of time with him and keeping him out of his own head (or letting him be in his head and sharing that headspace/memories with them without feeling uncomfortable) might be a nice time. Just talking, you know? Maybe that sounds simple, but Niles strikes me as the type to like it when people listen when he speaks, especially when it’s about his past. It’s something he’s sharing, you know?

Which might be a weird thing to say since he talks about his past a lot in supports? But that’s usually to explain himself or make a point. So like. Just listening and being there and not apologizing for things none of them had any control over might be nice, outside the usual context of explaining why he likes watching privileged people be miserable and more in the context of just sharing. That might be nice. 

Odin:

This one is weird because it’s a kind of specific scenario I think about a lot? (Like… Idk, my go-to scenario for indulgence stuff, I guess, even though I’ve never written it?) For some reason in my head, I picture Odin as being the type to like “treat” types of food a lot, probably drawing back to Awakening when his whole support with Noire is about eating cake and indulgences they didn’t get because of war rations/Bad Timeline stuff. This definitely covers all dessert type foods but even stuff like a box of strawberries or something probably count too.

I promise you he can eat a whole carton (like you’d buy at the store now, not like a crate, lol) and eat the whole thing for lunch or something. So I like to think maybe Niles buys him some fruit like that from the market from time to time or Leo sets something from the kitchen aside that he knows Odin would really like, and Odin is very happy every time

This might count as spoiling if they did it enough/it was a really good treat, lol. It kind of contrasts by being a physical item as opposed to Niles’s enjoying the company more. Which isn’t to say Odin doesn’t or enjoys that less! It’s just different.

He probably eats off their plates if they don’t finish their food, tbh

In terms of spoiling, probably any time they play along with his theatrics dialogue instead of telling him to cut it out, that feels pretty good. Even though that seems a little obvious, haha. Odin really does enjoy it though! 

And Leo probably finds it really embarrassing (Niles too, but maybe slightly less or he at least hides it better), so for them to really put an effort into playing along would be fun/indulgent for Odin as well as well. Definitely a way to lift the mood if Odin is feeling down and out!

I’ve been dividing these actions into happy/feeling spoiled this whole time, but there’s probably a lot of crossover, tbh? It probably depends on mood and how everyone is feeling at the time and how the day has gone so far/what lead up to some of this extra stuff.

In general spending time together is good too.