Title: Smooth Talker
Fandom: Bravely Default: Where the Fairy Flies
Characters: Alternis Dim, Lee family
Rating: PG/SFW
Length: 484 words
Content Notes: Spoilers for chapter 4's end!
Summary: Women and men have different ways of talking, and Alternis grew up in a country of women. Adjusting to Eternia comes with a small hitch.

Women and men have different ways of talking, at least in Eternia. This makes the new arrival from Florem stick out like a sore thumb: he is a young man grown in a country of women, and as much as he takes great offense when his manhood is called into doubt, there's no denying that his manner of speaking makes him sound more like the women he learned to speak from. Mahzer is no linguist, so she's not quite able to put her finger on all that makes his words stand out as different from the men's--the higher intonation is obvious enough, but there's more, little things beyond that. The Florem flourish sounds different in a boy's voice, but it's definitely present. When he is patient and in a good mood, which is usually when he is found with little Edea, the little questions stand out: "Right?", "You follow?", always making sure the younger child is keeping up with him when she's not tearing along her own line of thought. It's perhaps a bit strange to hear a young man talk in such a way, but his voice is clear and sweet enough to make it rather becoming.

But he is a young man entering Eternia's army, and Mahzer knows all too well how certain officers, Crowe and Heinkel in particular, feel about women and femininity. Their attitudes infect the ranks and it's all too often that Alternis is in a sour and recalcitrant mood, mocked when he speaks for how he does and mocked when he bites his tongue, and Braev is soon sighing that the only solution the boy seems to have found is to speak with his fists--which is, at least, a step up from his blade, but still not good for keeping order in the ranks. It's easier for one to change than a multitude, so it's no surprise that after some weeks Alternis is deliberately pitching his voice deeper and rougher, and the rolling tones of his motherland begin to vanish. It's a somewhat regrettable change, but as the weeks turn into months and months turn into years, it's all but forgotten by the Lee family. Braev, Mahzer and Edea have all grown used to the clipped tones Alternis has come to use and can hardly imagine him speaking any other way. The memory of how Alternis was when he first arrived into their lives only comes to Mahzer's mind when she is face to face with Edea and her daughter's new friends. She asks them to take care of her daughter and one young man assures her, with a bow even, that he would never do anything but. While his words alone would make her happy, his voice broadens her smile further. He's only got a hint of it, but he has it, that novel Florem flourish. It goes perfectly with his charming manner.