Archive of Our Own ^beta

“If you’re bored you can come with me. I need to pick up a few things at the market.”

“Yeah. Uhm… OK.”

The market was crowded.

The tents set up outside of the crumbling buildings in “Colony 9” were buzzing with people trading goods and chatting about the sunny weather. Nikol had passed through this part of the colony yesterday with everyone else, but it was so… different. Different from… everything he was used to dealing with.

What looked like a former Agnian soldier passing by carrying a bucket of rainbow zirconia almost bumped into Nikol as he and Glimmer worked their way through the market. The soldier had those fluffy ears on his head Nikol had seen on several people around here. Nikol, narrowing his eyes a little, slowly reached toward the top of his head. Distracted, his foot hit the other one sending him lurching forward.

Nikol felt a strong hand grab his elbow and steady him before he could fall to the ground. Glimmer. 

“Thank y-”

“Hm…” Glimmer kept her eyes forward and didn’t stop walking. She was still sizing up the quickest route through the crowd to the tent she wanted to visit. Nikol hurried to follow her.

Nikol was trying to stay as close to Glimmer as possible. Being around Matthew, A, and Glimmer was easier after several days, but this many new people at once in the crowded marketplace made his breaths more frequent for some reason. Made him dizzy. He wondered if Shulk…

“Spark. Which one was it again? Oh. Over there.” Glimmer’s ponytail bounced as she walked a bit faster.

Nikol’s arm brushed against Glimmer’s as he tried to keep pace with her. He looked up toward her face. If Glimmer was irritated about his intrusion into her personal space she didn’t show it. 

The tent Glimmer picked out seemed to be a general goods store. Several different items were sorted into baskets. There were even some trinkets Nikol was sure could be useful for repairing their group’s Blades! That nopon Riku and his workshop could…

“Yeah. That’s all I need. Thanks.” Glimmer grabbed the bag of supplies from the shopkeeper.

“U-uh…” He looked down at the basket full of rabbit diodes. What did he want to say?

“Would you like something, sir?” The shopkeeper was clearly talking to Nikol. 

Adjusting the straps of the weapon he made for himself, Nikol looked to the right toward Riku’s workshop. Chatter around the marketplace seemed to get louder for some reason. It was hard to think about anything else but the noise of the people. The air seemed to get thinner sometimes when trying to talk to strangers. This would happen when talking to his fellow Kevesi soldiers back in Colony 5 too. 

Before he was free. Before fighting Glimmer.

“All part of life’s rich tapestry.”

“Sir? Can you hear me?” Aside from his inability to summon a Blade, maintaining eye contact with strangers he guessed was his biggest weakness. Well, one of his biggest weaknesses.

“Nikol?” Glimmer turned her head and looked down. Her golden-red eyes were narrowed. “He’s talking to you.”

“Y-yeah…” Nikol looked up at Glimmer. Her narrowed eyes becoming wider as she gazed at him afforded him more of a view of their fire-like color. He didn’t know when the loud chatter of the market seconds ago, making it hard for him to think, silenced. 

Did it even silence? Glimmer’s eyes…

 “These rabbit diodes… I’m sure three of these could be useful for Riku. In the workshop, I was thinking of…”

Glimmer nodded. “Excuse me, sir. We’ll take three of these.” She pointed to the basket Nikol was glancing at.

Nikol felt his face get hot as the shopkeeper handed him the bag of rabbit diodes. He turned around and followed Glimmer in the direction of their tent beyond the market.

“Thank you… Glimmer.”

“For what?” She didn’t turn around.

He clutched the bag of rabbit diodes a bit harder. “For talking to that man. Helping me.” They had both been soldiers, but she was better at strangers so much more than he was. When she wasn’t trying to run away from them.

“Oh,” Glimmer said, turning around and tilting her head down at him. As she did, Nikol looked up from the green trinket on her chest to her eyes. Her mouth curved upward and Nikol almost mistook it for a smile. “‘That day we became friends’ …right?”

Nikol couldn’t help his mouth dropping open a little. Glimmer laughed.

“Y-yeah!” All he could do was get that out in response.

“That’s what friends do right?”

She turned and began walking through the crowd again. He followed her closely. 

Friends. She used his words. From that night.

Friends.

He looked up at the side of Glimmer's face. Her eyes were aggressive… like the process of making it through the marketplace crowd and back to their camp was an enemy she needed to defeat.

Friends. His word.

Nikol looked ahead toward the command center. For whatever reason, his word made him feel… unsatisfied.

Nikol was so lost in thought he didn't immediately notice Glimmer had stopped walking. He turned around and joined Glimmer standing on the edge of the Colony 9 market in front of a food stall. The woman running the stall was selling dance apples, clearly a popular item judging by the length of the line in front of the place.

Glimmer's lips parted briefly. Nikol caught her expression when he looked up at her. He was also just in time to see her size up the length of the line.  

“Glimmer? D-did you wan-”

“Hmph! No! Let’s go. We have to meet everyone at your workshop again.”

Glimmer spun on her heel and walked off. Nikol noted she was walking much faster than she was before.

He trotted a little to catch back up beside her. “Uh… it’s Riku’s…”

“Yeah, yeah.” Glimmer’s arm brushed against his again as he joined her long stride. He turned and searched her face again, she didn’t seem to care he was walking so close. She turned around and looked over her head at the apple stand for a brief moment before continuing through the crowd.

Friends. His word. Unsatisfying.

What did A and Matthew call each other? 

Partners?

What did that mean?

Glimmer and Nikol exited the market area and started walking the path to their campsite. He maintained his close proximity to his… friend… the whole way. 

The crowd at the market had grown since they arrived, much larger than Nikol would normally be comfortable with, but for some reason he didn’t seem to notice.

X X X

It was well after dark… Nikol was running out of time.

Underneath the glow of ether lights, the stall selling the dance apples was closing up. The day Nikol had spent with Glimmer, Matthew, and the rest helping Colony 9 with random tasks had delayed his plans. 

The market area was much quieter during this part of the evening. Nikol paced back and forth watching the woman, this one with wings on her head (which made a little bit more sense to him), slowly start to pack away the bags of dance apples. 

He was going to miss his chance if he continued delaying like this. He slowly walked up to the stall woman.

“Excuse me…”

The woman looked up at him.

“Hello! Can I help you with something?” Big smile. Very loud. Almost like Matthew. Or Rex.

Nikol looked down at the last bag of dance apples.

“Um…” This all seemed so much easier with Glimmer around. Even with her usual attitude, she always seemed to move the conversation along. Maybe it was because of her attitude.

The sound of insects, the hum of the ether light, and people talking in the distance filled the silence between them.

“Uh… heh heh…” the woman started pulling on one of her wings. Clearly confused.

He needed to talk to her if he was going to do this. He was able to talk to Riku so easily earlier…  

Nikol took a deep breath… Glimmer’s golden red eyes came to his mind. He looked up and locked eyes with the dance apple woman. “I would like some dance apples please!”

“Oh… okay! How many would you like?” The woman opened the dance apple bag between them part way.

“Um… two please!” Nikol wondered if he had said that too loud. He also wondered how long the minimum acceptable time to maintain eye contact was.

“Sure thing!”

The moon made the night sky much brighter.

That wasn’t so bad. Nikol thought to himself walking back to his group’s campsite with the apples in hand. He was near the camp smiling at the dance apples in his hand when she called at him.

“Look who else is out of bed!”

Nikol looked up. Glimmer was sitting near the campfire. She was bathed in it’s flickering light. The green glow of her chest crystal standing out against the softer light from the fire. He had noticed the glow that first night. Bright green.

Nikol swallowed. “Um… hi.”

“What the spark are you doing out and about this late? Did you get lost or something?”

“No.” He walked up to her and sat next to her. Right next to the fire. “I… got this for you.”

Nikol handed Glimmer one of the dance apples. 

Glimmer’s eyes widened. Nikol, paying close attention, wanted to take in as many details of her eyes as he could. He wasn’t certain why.

As quickly as her eyes grew larger in excitement, they narrowed. “Uh… why? Is this a bribe?” She rotated the apple in one of her hands.

“No no! It’s to thank you for earlier!”

“Earlier?” Glimmer tilted her head to one side. Her ponytail made an interesting motion as she did so.

“At the market. For helping me.” Nikol felt his face getting hot, but he couldn’t hide it by looking in another direction. If he did that, he might miss the fascinating green glow Glimmer’s crystal was casting on the bottom of her eyes.

Glimmer turned her eyes back to the campfire, her suspicion seemingly gone. “Oh.”

“Yeah…” Nikol joined Glimmer in staring at the flickering fire. He heard the sound of her taking a bite out of the dance apple. 

“Wow! It’s really good, Nikol!” Glimmer suddenly shouted! Nikol turned to her, startled. 

“Oi! Some of us are trying to get some sleep!”

Matthew’s voice coming from a nearby tent caused both Nikol and Glimmer to give each other a small smile.

“Thanks idiot,” she gestured to her dance apple, “this is good.”

“Mm.” Nikol gave Glimmer a nod.

Glimmer waved one of her hands and tilted her head. “I guess this is what ‘friends’ do huh?” She took another bite of her dance apple.

Friends. His word.

“Um… Glimmer?”

“Nikol?”

The campfire’s flickering light and snapping noises were comforting. Way more than the moveable shelters and ether lamps outside of the ferronis. Nikol wondered if Glimmer felt the same way?

“Matthew and A… they call each other ‘partners.’ I’m not sure why. But… it seems good. Do you think we… could be partners too?”

Glimmer’s mouth opened a little.

Then she started laughing.

“Hahah partners?! What does that even mean?!”

Nikol looked back down at the fire. Then to his dance apple he had been shifting around in his hands. “I don’t… I’m not…”

“Nikol.”

Nikol looked up at Glimmer. The green glow of her crystal in the night might have continued to be distracting if not for the campfire’s flickering light creating what looked like actual flames in her golden red eyes. He couldn’t look away. Glimmer was smiling.

“Wow. You’re an idiot… partner.”