hair ties/family ties

[misheard]

Title: hair ties/family ties
Fandom: Fire Emblem Fates
Character(s): Corrin, Niles
Pairing(s): Leo/Niles
Genre: Fluff/Humor
Word Count: 530
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Corrin summons Niles to braid her hair.
Notes:

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“Well, well, Corrin. You didn’t summon me here to braid your hair, did you?”

Even someone with as little worldly experience as Corrin understands what Niles is implying when he enters her private quarters. Whether he’s serious about the flirtation or just wants to fluster her, that she doesn’t know, and she may never know him well enough to say.

Luckily, right now it doesn’t matter. She silently holds out a hair tie.

Niles pauses, clearly taken aback. Eventually, he asks, “Don’t you have retainers for this?”

“Jakob is sick and I’ve forbidden him from doing any work until he recovers.” And she’d had a hell of a time getting him to agree to that even after directly ordering him to take a break and rest. She had to threaten to get one of their mages to hex him literally immobile. “And I think Felicia’s pulled out more of my hair than she’s actually braided.”

She loves both her retainers dearly, but they do have their faults.

Niles clicks his tongue in disapproval, but he does take the hair tie. “Well then, allow me to fulfill your deepest desires.”

Laughing softly, Corrin takes a seat on her bed, and Niles joins her. There’s probably a joke about getting in bed with her that Niles will make in the next ten minutes, but right now the potential embarrassment is absolutely worth getting her mountain of hair dealt with.

“Unless you’ve been desperately wanting me to pull your hair, I have to wonder why I was your first choice.” Despite saying that, Niles doesn’t pull her hair any harder than he has to as he starts his work.

“Leo said you’re good with your hands.” And maybe Corrin has some idea of why Leo turned pink as soon as he said it, but she’d prefer to read the most innocent meaning out of that sentence.

“Ohh, yes. Lord Leo has experienced that for himself many times, and always begs for more.”

…it’s very difficult to read anything innocently around Niles. Corrin turns a little pink in the face herself, and silently gives thanks that Niles is sitting behind her wall of hair and can’t see her blush.

For a few minutes she’s silent, eyes closed, simply appreciating the soothing sensation of her hair being braided. She could almost fall asleep if she wasn’t sitting upright.

Almost conversationally, Niles says, “Most people wouldn’t risk my knife in their back like this.”

This again. They’ve gone over whether or not they trust each other, whether they should trust each other, whether trust is a worthwhile thing to have in general, and Corrin is enjoying this too much to get into an argument yet again. So instead: “Leo wouldn’t be upset about you stabbing most people.”

“…You’ve left me without a comeback twice in one conversation. I believe that qualifies you for an award.” Niles finishes tying up Corrin’s braid. “There. Have I satisfied you, Lady Corrin?”

“Completely satisfied, thank you very much.” As Niles stands up to go, Corrin adds, “I won’t be getting any questions from Leo about us being ‘in bed together’, will I?”

“Please. I have too much to live for.”