Stern Sechs Empire ex-commander meets strict local nurse

I think out of all the 1/Frontier cast, Lara is the only one I could imagine not shrinking away when Lynette moves into Kardia and having a personal motive to reach out. Aditionally, taking into consideration that Edward is also from the Sechs Empire, I can imagine that Lara would be one of the first people to give Lynette the benefit of the doubt. They're two characters that almost feel cut from the same cloth yet also worlds apart, and I think that's what makes them such a fun pair to think about!

2. Kyle and Rosalind

Now, the dynamic/interest is there, but the problem with Lynette and Lara is that they're so caught up in their profession or past that neither of them would make the first move. But Kyle and Rosalind? The pair that has the most over the top, romantic proposals in RF2 (or potentially, the entire series - I'll report back once I've seen everyone's), would latch onto this immediately. Rosalind got her "fairytale ending" that she dreamed of, and Kyle (in this case, Lynette's son), would want to see his mother happy.

Another layer to this is how Lynette and Kyle share the similar past problem, and Lara and Rosalind share a similar passion of wanting to "cure the world".

The gentle nudge comes from a secure place within themselves: "I know someone who makes me happy, so I'm certain they'll make you happy too."

3. Married Life Foods

It can't be a Christmas-themed celebration without food! Naturally, I had to pick their specialty dishes!

For Lynette, she brough her famous Apple Pie (which kind of blends in a lot with the background...I'm still working on my watercolour background/environment technicques!).

For Lara, I laughed when I redisovered that she prepares RF1 Raguna medicinal herb for lunch (something that would have been incredibly more useful in pharmacy-centric Frontier, funnily enough) and Doria and Stew for RFF Raguna.

The Stew description had me smiling:

Lara really can't hide her sweet tooth, can she? At least she found something sweet and healthy to bring to the potluck!

As for Rosalind and Kyle, Kyle was never allowed to cook in RF2 and the RF2 wives also don't have specialty dishes like in the other games :( The RF2 house had some sort of green bottle on the sink, so I interpreted that as one of Rosalind's favourite gifts: Grape Liqueur.

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I hope that the rest of your year is joyful and merry, and that 2026 brings much more Rune Factory Nonsense!

Lara walked through the heaping wreckage that was the Trampoli library, siftin through the books.

“You must have a cook book in here somewhere,” she said. Behind her, Selphy laughed. 

“Of course I do! But not there, over here,” she said, taking Lara by the arm and leading her to a different pile. She shuffled through the books, glancing at the covers before pulling out a rather large tome, and holding it up in extravagant success. Lara rolled her eyes, smiling as she took the book, leafing through the pages.

“Here we are, this sounds nice and healthy,” she said, showing a recipe to Selphy. Selphy deflated.

“We’re baking, it’s not supposed to be healthy,” she argued. “I’m thinking cookies, cakes, stuff so sweet my stomach will be upset just looking at it.” Lara looked down at the book, pursing her lips.

“Very well,” she said. She continued looking through the book, picking a particularly decadent looking cake, and showing it to Selphy.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Selphy said, standing. She took Lara by the arm once more as they walked back to Lara’s quarters at the church. They snuck to the back kitchen, and pulled their ingredients out form the refrigerator, checking to make sure they had all they needed before laying them out of the counter. 

Lara had a practical approach to baking. She laid out the instructions, reading from the book aloud before measuring the flour. Selphy took the ingredients from her, pouring them into the mixing bowl, watching Lara’s fingers skim the pages as she read from the corner of her eye. A little too distracted, she broke two eggs too hard, and had to retrieve the shells from the batter. Lara tutted, a small smile on her face.

“If you stopped ogling me for a moment, that wouldn’t have happened,” she joked. Selphy rolled her eyes, taking a bit of batter on her finger and smearing it across Lara’s nose.

“Who’s looking at you? I just noticed you had something on your face,” she replied. Lara laughed, wiping the cake batter from the tip of her nose with her handkerchief. 

“Oh, is that so? Well, you have a bit, just here,” she said, taking the batter and smearing it on the side of Selphy’s mouth. Before she had a chance to wipe it away, Lara leaned forward, kissing her on the side of the mouth, gently licking away the batter. Selphy felt herself blush.

“Yes, I think it’s turning out rather nicely,” Lara went on, licking her lips, and winking at Selphy. The other woman felt herself melt.