rosage

Title: Breathe
Fandom: Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Pairing: Kris/Katarina
Rating: G
Prompt: Out
Word Count: 619
Summary: Releasing anxiety is a process, one only somewhat abated by aid.

For the femslashficlets theme 'out.'

Katarina turns in a circle as she scans her surroundings, creating a mental map. No foliage rustles in the forest to one side of her, but she still considers which of the nearby rocks would offer cover if the trees hid an ambush. Though it’s been a fortnight since the army got into a skirmish, she can’t let her guard down, not if she’s to make amends to Prince Marth and protect Kris and the others.

She clutches her tome to her chest and rotates again. Still there is no movement. She examines a grassless patch of ground to see if any of the dirt is muddy enough to cause slipping (it’s not) and identifies the plants at the forest’s edge. Biting back a sigh, she admits she must return to camp. Despite not being sent to scout, she volunteered in order to escape everyone’s eyes. She can always feel them boring into her, and while she deserves it, it still seems as if they can see every one of her mistakes, making her prepare on impulse for a blow. Even out here, where she’s alone, being in the open makes her feel exposed. She holds her breath and tightens her grip on the tome.

A branch snaps, and she whirls. Blonde hair—Kleine—no, that’s impossible. Thankfully, when she spies orange armor she realizes it’s Kris. Her grip on the tome relaxes, then clenches, then relaxes again. She lowers it.

“Kris. What are you doing away from Prince Marth’s side? Has something happened?”

“No, the camp’s almost too quiet. Well, other than Cecille, but that’s only dangerous for our enemies.” Kris smiles, and Katarina mirrors it even as her heart begins to race. Enemies—someone else might have meant it as a jab, a threat, but never Kris. If only Katarina’s body would believe that.

“Did you need me for something, then?” Katarina asks.

“I just wanted to check on you. You didn’t eat with us, so I got worried.”

By now Kris has reached Katarina and is standing in front of her, tilting her chin down the inch it takes for their eyes to meet. Katarina returns the gaze easily; she had to practice making eye contact before infiltrating the group so as not to appear shifty, and that training hasn’t been erased. Katarina thinks she should feel guilty for burdening Kris, but she’s only pleased that Kris noticed her absence and came to find her, enough so to make her want to skip meals more often.

To her embarrassment, her stomach growls in protest at that thought. Growing up hungry hasn’t desensitized her to hunger. Before she can speak, Kris reaches into a pouch and hands over a strip of dried meat. “Here, I asked Rody for extra. And don’t worry, I didn’t have a hand in making it.”

Katarina accepts it, torn between her hunger and wanting to hold onto something as precious as a gift from Kris. Ever so briefly Kris holds her hand before dropping it, sending heat down to Katarina’s wrist in a similar fashion to when she uses magic. Suddenly eye contact is no longer easy, so she looks around again at the terrain. The wide open space still makes her short of breath. She watches a lizard crawl up a rock and wonders if she’d fit in the space behind it.

A hand on her arm makes her jump. She turns back to Kris, amazed that she could forget she’s still there (amazed that she is). “Are you all right?” Kris asks.

Katarina bites her tongue, looking down at the meat she’s now squeezing. Nodding, she breathes out before taking a bite, and then another, and then she breathes again.