Author's Introduction Notes: hey there everyone, this is Blue Sun Studios on the air with you all. It sure has been awhile hasn't it? As per course with me, this will be a rather risqué entry. More specifically this three-parter is a fetish fiction and it will not be for everyone (but then again, when are my stories ever for everyone?). Even more specifically, it's for the sect of the Chrom and Lissa fans who are…you know…into these pairings. I have something important to tell you all at the end of the story so please sit tight until the very end if you can. That's enough blabbering from me though, it's about time you read the disclaimer.
The following is a nonprofit, fan based fiction; the Fire Emblem franchise is wholly owned by Nintendo. Please support the official releases. WARNING: this story in its entirety contains content that some viewers (i.e. you) may find inappropriate, offensive, and/or uncomfortable. If you are under the legal age of adulthood, unsure about reading this fiction, or some other third entity that shouldn't be here, I advise you not to not view this. For those of you who can and are all set to read this, please rate and/or review at your own discretion.
Lissa darted through Ylisstol's palace grounds with a recover staff gripped tightly in her hands and not caring for the various glances aimed her way, beelining towards her elder brother's private chambers. She had just heard about how Chrom recently engaged a nest of Risen alone and came back with more than a few grisly trophies from the skirmish. Why the man had refused to request for any sort of medic to tend to him was beyond the princess, shaking her head at her brother's foolishly headstrong nature. As she neared the end of a hallway in the building and came closer to her destination, the scent of fresh blood and burnt matter assaulted her nostrils, a clear sign that someone—likely her brother, was in terrible shape. Stopping at the last door on the left the young girl took a shaky yet hasty hand and grabbed at the door knob belonging to Chrom's room, silently praying to Naga that she was not too late.
Not wanting to startle any occupants inside Lissa slowly turned the knob and cracked the door open to enter the candle-lit room, immediately being hit with the ripe scent of intense bleeding and burnt flesh, sending a morbid fear running up the nun's spine. Quietly stepping inside the room and closing the door behind her, the princess turned her eyes to examine the prince and caught her heart leaping up into her throat when she finally saw him for the first time that day. His armour and clothing were splattered with blood everywhere whether his own or not, multiple deep and jagged gashes lined his lightly spasming body as if he was some broken pavement, and more than a few barely sizzling scorch marks from magic were left behind leaving the affected areas like coal. Looking at his visage she could see it marred from the pain he was in and an ugly scar forming itself across the left side of it, and she could hear that his breathing had turned haggard and hoarse.
"Stupid, stupid Chrom…" Lissa muttered under her breath while looking away from the man on the verge of tears, never before feeling so scared and enraged at the same time; sure he had gotten himself into many tough scrapes before, but this was just taking things a step way too far. 'Why' she thought keeping her moist eyes clamped shut. 'Why didn't he get someone—anyone, to heal him and take this pain away instead of just laying here, suffering…and how could anyone so much as let him walk around looking like this?! Where is Emm, Frederick, Robin, or even Marth?! They would never—' Lissa's inner rant was stopped dead when she heard her older brother begin spitting up blood, the anger inside of her momentarily giving way to panic and worry. Rushing to his side she called out to him, "Chrom?! Please, stay with me if you're awake, I'm here to help you!"
"L-Lissa?" the prince weakly croaked while turning his head to see her. He could barely tell that it was her even with his unscarred eye completely open, his vision having been harshly disoriented from his recent encounter with the Risen horde, but he could plainly see the horror in Lissa's face as her eyes met his. Chrom hated seeing that look on his sister and he knew he was to blame, recklessly marching out to a Risen nest without informing anyone else and coming home looking like he had been through Hell and back without being tended to. "I…"
"Please, no talking," Lissa quickly said to him. "Save your energy until I'm done alright?" Even with her being mad at him she was more concerned patching him up before letting her anger take over. Taking her recover staff and holding it above Chrom's head, Lissa began focusing her magical energies and channeled a fair bit of it into the staff, causing its blue gemstone to shine a brilliant glow. Blue-colored energy began pouring out of the gemstone in the shape of multiple tendrils, each of them reaching into every single one of the prince's injuries and taking root into them. Chrom's wounds lit up the same color as the tendrils followed by the light spreading throughout his body; the glow soon faded completely and the tendrils that were implanted inside of him took their leave back into the staff's gemstone.
"There, it's finished," Lissa announced to her brother, her voice sounding relieved while her expression began its slow transition into some other emotion. Chrom could feel that he was completely rejuvenated but he carefully sat up from his bed when he noticed her hands clenching into fists and her eyes catching fire. Thinking fast he shot out at her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"I am so sorry Lissa. I never—" Chrom couldn't finish his sentence before he was violently thrown off by Lissa who proceeded to throw a vicious fist straight in his face. "Augh! Godsdamnit Lissa, what did you do—" He never finished that sentence either as he felt his sister's hands harshly yank at him from his shirt, and his startled eyes were met with her fierce ones. He knew that Lissa would be pissed at him over the whole ordeal and he even expected her to even hit him, but he didn't think she'd punch him.
"What. Were. You. Thinking?!" the young sage yelled at the prince, her voice rising in pitch and volume. Lissa continued her rage-induced rant while throttling Chrom in her hands, "You stupid, stupid dastard! What made you think it was a good idea to waltz into some godsforsaken nest of Risen alone, and why didn't you call for someone to heal you while you sat up in your room bleeding to death?! You could have freaking died godsdamn you!" Tears streaming down her face and getting angrier by the minute she took a moment to catch her breath while Chrom tried to say something, still reeling from the coarse language Lissa just spat at him.
"L-Lissa, I'm sorry, I really am! I—"
"You had better be more than just sorry…Do you have any idea how worried sick I was about you when I found out what happened? Didn't you tell me not to put myself in needless danger like how I was scouting the enemy? And what did you do?" Chrom's eyes widened upon hearing that, the implications behind Lissa telling him this already seeping into his head. "What. Did. You. Do?"
"I…" he started, staring into her eyes and closed his own in shame, but he worked up some dignity and continued. "I…put myself in unnecessary danger."
"Yes you did. I hope that you're proud of yourself, giving me a heart attack like that…" By now Lissa was trembling but her temper refused to cool down. "I swear to the gods Chrom if you do this again I'll—"
"Lissa, please…" Chrom said, trying to calm down his sister, "I promise you, this will not happen a second time; It's killing me to see my sweet little sister like this. And I know I've said this already but I am truly sorry for causing you so much worry over me…" Chrom knew that he was treading through volatile territory in doing this, but he decided to tell her something she wanted to know. "I remember you asking me why I did not summon for a healer to patch me up, and the reason why I didn't was because…"
"Because…?" Lissa was all ears on this one, not entirely losing her angry edge but calming down significantly. Then, she saw Chrom moving his hands to wipe the tears from under her eyes and he started smiling for some reason. 'What's he grinning for? I yelled at him for doing something like that and he—'
"It's because…" Chrom started, "…Of all the years I've known you, I know that you'd take care of me the best out of everyone else here…' Looking into Lissa's eyes he could tell she was confused, and not losing any amount of his courage he pressed on. "I specifically refused aid from other medics because I don't think that they'll do a decent job fixing me up. Chances are that they'd pour some medicine on me and bandage me up afterwards, or if they did have a healing staff on their person it wouldn't be as efficient as I would have liked, but you…" Chrom had his hands take Lissa's into his own when he knew that she had loosened her grip on him. "You're not only good at handling staves and possess a potent healing touch, I know that you would have nothing less than for me to be perfectly okay. If I had a broken spine you'd lift me up on your back and walk me to wherever I needed to be, if I needed a blood transplant you'd be the first the offer yours up to help, and if I was ever on the verge of ending myself for whatever reason you'd never stop fighting me until I changed my mind. The other Shepherds may care for me, but not many of them are talented when it comes to mending both body and soul. Emm would likely be busy with other matters, moreso now that we're at war with Plegia, and I don't want to trouble her more with other less-important matters."
"But," Lissa spoke up, still not entirely on page with Chrom, "there's Miriel, Ricken, and even Maribelle who are all good with magic, and Miriel's even smarter than me—"
"As I said Lissa," Chrom interrupted her. "I trust you more than them; I know that Miriel is the best healer we have but I can't count on her as much as I can count on Ricken, Maribelle, or you, in that order. Tell me something Lissa; when you found out about my condition, what was the first thing you did?"
"I-I came running straight here of course. I wanted to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong with you and see what I could do to help…"
"Alright then, now answer me this question," Chrom told her, "If I told you that I was okay and that I could handle myself after seeing me like that, would you let me be?"
"Gods no Chrom!" the princess quickly answered, her voice indignant over what she was asked. "If you so much as gotten even a scratch I wouldn't let you go off somewhere and possibly get infected from it. I—" She would have said more had Chrom not placed a single finger over her lips, quieting her.
"You see Lissa?" Chrom proudly exclaimed as his smile grew. "You know better than to leave someone injured to run off to gods knows where, that and you never left me to myself for too long anyways. Next to Frederick, Emm, and even Robin, you know me better than most others and even more than I know myself at times. You all look out for me, but you especially watch out for me the most." Lissa listened to what the man said, and while she concluded that he was still being a tad reckless at least he was honest. And to think that he explicitly placed so much stock in her much meant quite a deal to her, and her anger and worry towards the man completely disappeared. "Also…" That's when Chrom got a little nervous like earlier, but now it was more "sheepish/embarrassed nervous" as opposed to "scared/uncertain nervous". "I found that I actually enjoy your company Lissa, so there's that…This isn't exactly the best way for us to spend time with each other, but, it's something…" Looking away from Lissa and giving her a lopsided smile, he swore that his cheeks rose a few degrees. The girl could also feel her cheeks turn red from the display and the implications Chrom's words meant.
"Wait…you mean you actually enjoy having me around?" she asked him, her heart beginning to soar a little in excitement. "You really mean that Chrom?"
"Yes Lissa, I mean that in all earnestness. While you do tend to get under my skin…" Chrom heard her "hey" him upon hearing that last statement, laughing to himself despite knowing that he could possibly set her off again. "I do understand that I annoy you too, like most siblings would do to each other. Remember what I told you earlier about how you are a joy for the Shepherds?"
"Yeah…" Lissa remembered Chrom's words then, reassuring her that even if she was not as battle capable as the rest or as important as Emmeryn she still played a vital role as the heart of the Shepherds.
"You make people happy, Lissa. You motivate and inspire them just by your presence. I might instill confidence, but I don't make them happy. And neither would Emmeryn."
Lissa was smiling from ear to ear remembering those words. Chrom really knew how to pick her up from her woes and he looked after her too; he really was a good brother like Stahl once told her, she just couldn't see it until then. She felt Chrom take her hands into his once again and he spoke to her once more.
"You truly are a joy to have around Lissa. You always find a way to brighten everyone's day so there's never a dull moment. Along with Emm and Robin especially, I've never seen so much care about the wellbeing of others—even your enemies. You have a refreshing personality that I find very cathartic, and I love seeing you shine like the ray of sunshine you are." Chrom replayed the last part of that in his head, finding that he damn near sounded like that dandy Virion. He hoped that Lissa would not take it the wrong way and think of him some hopeless poetic or something.
"…You know Chrom, that last part sounded like something Virion would say."
"I know…" the man groaned, annoyed that it seemed like the archer was starting to influence him. He returned to being serious though, pushing that thought to the back of his mind as he looked Lissa dead in her eyes. "With all this being said, you know that I would do anything to make up for giving you such reason to worry so badly over me, to cause you to be so fearful and angry. I hate seeing you like that even though you have every right to be pissed over what I did. I promise you Lissa, never again will I do something that dangerous and reckless. Just say the word, and I'll happily do you a favor without question…er, as long as it's reasonable of course."
At this point the budding princess had completely forgiven her brother with a bright smile; with a face like his it was hard for her to be mad at him anyways. And it wasn't until now that Lissa had just noticed how handsome Chrom was now that she had a nice long look at him. His face had smooth features with a warm complexion, his eyes and hair were both a rich blue hue that would take years to imitate by others, his small nose would have been cute looking she was sure had she not punched it earlier, and his lips were definitely kissing material. Heat rose to her face as she reasoned that this was the reason why Chrom was so popular with many women. Soon she began imagining what he looked like underneath all the armour and clothing she never saw him without, picturing a lean body just about laced with rippling muscle that other men would kill to have.
Meanwhile, Chrom would be lying if he ever said he didn't find Lissa pretty, and looking at her then she was as cute as a button. With her hair as gold as the sun and done in cute pigtails, a vibrant and rich skin tone—not that he had anything against darker shades, bright emerald eyes that just pierced him like a spear in the most soothing way, a face as smooth as a baby's behind, and lips curled into a smile that made him absolutely melt, he couldn't blame any other boy or man for finding Lissa attractive. He couldn't see the rest of her under the sage robe she wore, but he had no doubt that he would like what he'd see underneath. His mind envisioned a smooth, slender body that many women would just die for.
'Wow, Chrom is just so—'
'Gods, Lissa is just so—'
And that's when they both caught themselves staring at each other longer then they should have, faces turning as red as tomatoes and swiftly averting their eyes from one another with surprised yelps.
"Oh—oh man, I'm so sorry about that Lissa…I didn't mean to…"
"Oh no it's…alright—I mean, I shouldn't have been staring…" Silence took them both as they tried to comprehend what just happened between them and clear up any possible misunderstandings. Before they could do that they both heard a flurry of various footsteps stampeding from outside Chrom's door. In a flash the door that separated the chamber from the hallways was knocked down like a domino and Frederick—along with Emmeryn and Robin, came rushing in.
"Milord!" came the frantic call from the knight. He wasted no time closing the distance between them and he began thoroughly inspecting the prince to see if there were any injuries he had on him; he nearly freaked when he saw his bloodied broken nose. Emmeryn had ran up to the prince's other side and began searching for any bruises or gashes, placing her hand upon Chrom's forehead to check his temperature. He was warm from the lack of cool air flowing in his room, but other than that he was fine. Robin took the liberty of opening the large windows in the room for some air and light, nearly stumbling over Lissa on their way over to it. Lissa felt a tinge of pity for Chrom when Frederick had to bend the former's nose back in place, followed Emmeryn shortly taking a heal staff out to mend it back together. Once that was done the uninvited trio started with their questions while some of the Shepherds had stood just outside the room.
"Are you alright Chrom?" his Exalt sister asked him with obscene worry in her voice. "You're not bruised under these clothes, are you?"
"N-no Emm, I'm fine. Really; Lissa here did a good job of healing me."
"She did?" Turning to Lissa, Emmeryn hugged the ever-loving light out of the girl in a tight squeeze. "Oh thank you Lissa for watching out for your brother when I couldn't."
"You're…welcome…Emm…crushing my ribs here…"
"*sigh* That is good news to hear…" Frederick stated, but he wasn't finished with the prince yet. "Tell me Milord, what exactly happened to you? You appear as if you were assaulted by wild beasts."
"Oh…well…" Chrom was in no way willing to tell anyone that he had tried to singlehandedly take on a horde of Risen in their nest, but he didn't feel like lying. Well, not necessarily having to lie about everything. "I was…come upon by a horde of risen—ambushed actually, when I neared their nest on a stroll."
"Good Naga, a risen nest?" Robin incredulously inquired. "How did you survive something like that by yourself?"
"It was mostly revenants there and they weren't much of a problem. The others and the Entombed however? Worst fight I've ever gotten into in my life. When I came back, Lissa took me to my room to heal me from the wounds, and I swear that if it wasn't for her, gods above knew when I would've gotten help, if I got help."
"That is very fortunate for you indeed to have someone like Lissa making sure that you were alright…" Robin stated, their hazel eyes lighting up a little. Chrom looked at everyone present and figured that he already needed to get away fast before they started bombarding him with more questions.
"C'mon Lissa, let's step outside for some fresh air; I'm getting tired of the constant smell of blood in here." Taking a stand from his stained bed, pitying whatever maids got stuck with cleaning up this room and prying Lissa from Emmeryn's hold, he walked past the many Shepherds outside and with a quick order he dismissed them all before they had a chance to bother him. Once he and Lissa made it out into the courtyard he breathed a fresh breath of morning air and relief that no one followed him out here.
"Again Lissa, thank you for everything you do and for playing along back there. I'm not sure how the others would've reacted had I actually told them why I was near a Risen nest to begin with."
"Yeah, and I'm not sure what I'd have say to get you out of that mess." Lissa was a terrible liar as shown when Chrom cornered her about her secret scouting missions. Thinking back to before Frederick had barged in, Lissa thought about how she actually found Chrom an attractive man, and he had apparently been ogling her the way she did him. 'Was he really checking me out back there?' she thought to herself, a fire beginning to brew in her tummy. 'Does he…like me? I mean, does he "like" like me?' She initially didn't even think about Chrom feeling for her like that, but from the way he looked into her eyes then, those words he said to her and him meaning them too, she was nearly beyond a shadow of doubt that he had some small thing for her. And thinking about it further made her little sister crush from years ago return in full but stronger; he was a kind man with his own unique charm to him, making it no wonder why many women wanted him. Now Lissa wanted him—hopefully to herself because she did not feel like sharing him; maybe she would with Maribelle or with Emmeryn (as unlikely as that would be), but the princess wanted no other woman to have him. However, there was something else that came to her mind, a few rather disheartening thoughts.
'Even if I do like him, does he really like me back like that? And even if he does, would this really be okay?' She had to know the answer, but she wanted to test the waters first by taking Chrom up on his offer. "Say, Chrom," she said, snatching his attention from a hole in a wall Marth slipped through once upon an assassination attempt. "Remember when you said you'd anything to make it up to me for the stint you pulled and made me all mad over?"
"Y-yes, I do, but it has to be within reason of course…" he responded, mentally preparing himself for whatever the princess may request of him. "Why, do you have something in mind?"
"Why yes, I do!" she proclaimed while clapping her hands together, a big grin gracing her lips while Chrom began debating if him promising her that was a good idea. Standing up from where she sat and strolling back towards the palace's interior, Lissa spared him one last look before telling him, "Get your wallet ready big brother, because we are going shopping. And I don't want to hear any "ifs" or "buts" either, you got it?" And with that, she disappeared inside, leaving Chrom with a feeling of untold dread creeping into him.
"Aw jeez, shopping…if Lissa is anything like Sumia then she might…Oh gods no—Lissa, wait up!" He ran inside after the girl hoping to Naga that she was not particularly fond of blackmailing and that his gold wallet would survive the upcoming ordeal. Unknown to him though, this was merely setting them up for something Lissa had planned for the two of them, and the gold left in his wallet afterwards would be the last thing he'd be thinking about once everything was said and done.
Chrom found himself and Lissa walking through the streets of Ylisstol with Lissa herself not showing too much surprise at the going-ons of the various people around them. The prince was still new to most of it all; a trip with the noble thief Gaius opened him up to what he'd been missing nearly his entire life. He made an oath to himself to get out more often, and Lissa taking him shopping with her was a good opportunity for him to do that. Children playing in the streets, bakers and butchers proudly displaying their goods and occasionally getting some animal visitors, soldiers working together to build more buildings…while not as extravagant as the flaming ham juggling or acrobatic knife fight he saw before, the sights were still not something he was used to seeing. Lissa's squeal of delight had brought him out of his sightseeing and staring into a fashion store.
"Oh. My. Gods…" she said as she stared right through the windows. "Look at these pretty dresses! I wonder if they have any that are my size…"
"Well, I'm certain that they'll tailor one for you if they don't…" Chrom had to look inside the window to get a better view of what Lissa was talking about. Along with spotting the dresses she gushed about, he also saw several tuxedos inside. A quick look in the glass' reflection told him everything he needed to know about what he currently had on; he had no fashion sense whatsoever. 'Damn, Gaius was right…'
"This is going to be our first stop." Lissa stated. "Now c'mon bro!" After grabbing a hand of the man, the girl darted inside and was greeted with a wide assortment of fashion wear everywhere she looked. Her brother was also fairly impressed at the sheer amount of clothing they had inside, previously convinced that he and his sisters already had a lot of attires. Lissa looked inside her purse to see if it was possibly enough to get what she wanted; if not, she could at least borrow some gold from Chrom. "Emm did give us all this gold too…"
"That she did, but I wouldn't want to spend it all here on just a few suits and dresses." Chrom didn't spend much gold period unless it had to do with the Shepherds, and even in those cases he had Robin who was especially strict with the army's finances and kept anyone from spending too much, themselves included. He did see a suit or two that caught his fancy, though he hoped that they didn't cost much. "Let's look around and see what they have."
Keeping Lissa glued to his side Chrom had the pair of them walk around the building to see what else they had to offer for several minutes, though he eventually found that the establishment they were in had nothing but suits and dresses. Then it hit him: Lissa must have picked this place out of the others for some reason. It looked like it was to be a formal occasion, but Lissa could simply be hunting for nice looking outfits. He had to be sure though, just in case a lot of money were to be spent.
"Hey, Lissa?" Lissa turned her head to face Chrom as they walked, his expression not entirely foreboding for the girl but certainly held a level of seriousness meaning he wanted answers. "Is there any particular reason you took us to this specific market? I literally don't see anything in here but formal and semi-formal attire designed for parties and the like."
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Well…we're going out to a club," she answered, but kept the true intention to herself. 'I'd like to think of it as our first and possibly only date…' "I want us to look our best for when we get there, so we're stopping here first to pick up something…fancy for the special occasion."
"Ah, a special occasion…wait a minute, you said 'special occasion'. Are we celebrating something?"
"After everything's said and done, but the event itself is a surprise~; you'll just have to wait and see."
"I see. And will the others be invited to this as well?"
'Heck no! I don't want anyone else here to possibly ruin this!' "Mmm…no, it'll be just the two of us—you know, like spending private, quality time together? Even though we'll end up going to a public establishment."
"Hmmm…oh well." This was new for Chrom: Lissa planning out something special for only the two of them? While he wondered about the reasoning behind it he ultimately didn't mind; in fact, he was glad it was just him and his little sister spending the day together. He told himself that he'd have to do this with the others soon, but for now he was content with just Lissa. For whatever reason the prince's thick-headedness had reared its head in the forefront of his mind, never connecting the dots between Lissa's supposed intentions and even the way she talked to him.
"Omigosh! Chrom, look at this!" Lissa believed she had found her absolute buy in the entire place: a flowing gown complete with bridal gloves, ball shoes, and even a small parasol. The best part about the outfit was that it was her colors; white near the very top of the gown and parasol with yellow further downwards and on the gloves, then green took over from around the gown's "knees" and the fingertips of the gloves, and lastly the handle of the parasol and the shoes were entirely green, cementing the entire look quite nicely.
"Heh, what do you know? An entire outfit made just for you," Chrom remarked. "This place must have everything for classy clothing."
"And it's not even expensive either! I am so getting this one!" As she grabbed the whole set Chrom could only smile at seeing how happy Lissa was, and he was secretly also happy that Emmeryn gave them each a generous amount of gold to use for themselves; the dress itself wasn't expensive but he was nervous that he would be the one making all the payments. "I can just wear this to whatever party I want! Oh yeah, Chrom, that reminds me; haven't you found something that you like yet?"
"Well…I believe I saw two peculiar suits near the front that really caught my eye. I'm thinking of purchasing one of them."
"You better," Lissa told him wagging a finger at him. "Remember, this is a special occasion Chrom and I want us to look our best, so pick something real spiffy 'cause what you've got on right now ain't gonna cut it." As much as he looked forward to this, the man sighed as felt left out of the loop right now; he wasn't sure if this was supposed to be him making it up to his sister or if she was simply looking for an excuse and planned on taking him out anyways. Once they neared the entrance, Chrom found one of the two suits he had been interested in: a sparkling midnight-blue blazer with matching slacks, a white shirt underneath it and with a white rose pinned to the left breast of the blazer, white hand gloves, and polished midnight blue tap shoes. He didn't see the other suit around; someone else must have bought it, but he didn't care. He now had what he wanted and Lissa's very pleased gaze cemented his choice.
"Oooh, now that is a keeper! It is totally you!"
"You really think so Lissa? I've never been one for fashion apparently as Gaius once eloquently put it, 'Try to wear something that doesn't look like it was stolen from a corpse,' but it means a lot knowing that you like it much."
"Aw, you're welcome big bro. Now c'mon, let's hurry and get in line already!" Grabbing Chrom's arm again and ignoring his protests about pulling so hard Lissa made a break towards the nearest cashier in the attempt to beat the next person heading there, who had a gaggle of different clothes and would no doubt take forever. Lissa managed to cut in front of her and quickly took out her purse to make her purchase, earning a rather nasty look from the woman behind her. Chrom wouldn't exactly approve of this either but he also had no intention of staying somewhere longer than necessary unless it was home.
"I'll be getting this please." The princess announced, placing her dress set on the counter and Chrom followed suit with his own suit.
"And I will be purchasing this." The rather burly and intimidating looking cashier gave the articles' price tags a once over and watched as Chrom and Lissa each took out the appropriate amount of gold. Him biting each of the coins brought a look of confusion to the prince's face.
"Um, Lissa?" Chrom whispered to her. "Why is he biting the coins?"
"I heard that people do that to make sure the gold is real. Fake gold bends easily, so lots of people bite the coins and try to bend them to make sure they're not fake."
"…Isn't that bad for one's health though? What exactly do people make these fake gold coins out of?"
"Beats me. Emm said that we've been having a problem with this happening lately and that it's hurting the economy or something like that…"
"Huh, well I'm glad that some people are—"
"Ye kids 'er all set," came the cashier's voice. "It's nice ta see young'uns payin' with honest coin, 'specially in dese days."
"It's a shame to hear about this happening so much…" Chrom added. "Do many people not have the decency to use real gold anymore?"
"Some people get swindled an' don' find out dey got ripped off 'til someone checks fer 'em; now dat's a real crying shame. Ah herd it's takin' a toll on de Exalt tryin' ta curb dis problem wit dis war goin' on, an'—not ta sound racist er nothin', it's usually Plegians pullin' dis malarkey, like dey ain't got de money fer nothin'…Dat woman must be workin' real hard ta find a solution fer it…"
"If that's the case then one thing's for certain: Gangrel needs to go."
"Ya dern right mah lad!" the affable man laughed. "Anywho, Ah hope y'all young'uns enjoy dem clothes!"
"We will!" Lissa yelled out to the man as she walked through the store's doors.
"You have a blessed day sir!" Chrom said as he waved to him.
"You too, an' thanks fer stoppin' by!" As the siblings left the shop Chrom found himself deep in thought; he'd never heard of people using false gold to get what they wanted and he had no idea that it was such a large problem either. It looked like they all had a lot of reformation work ahead of them. He kept these solemn thoughts to himself and kept going over them until he heard various people murmuring and whispering around him and Lissa as they walked down the street.
"Wow, look at those two…aren't they just cute together?"
"They must be rich or something, look at their clothes…"
"Ain't that guy a little too old for the gal?"
"Ho man, what I'd give to have that pretty young thing right there…"
"Her male friend is really cute, that girl is lucky to have such a stud…"
"You wanna bet that one of em's a virgin? My gold's on the lass."
Chrom had immediately gotten protective of Lissa after hearing several less-tasteful comments about her, most of which were about a few men expressing their desire to have the sprightly young sage. He would not let those people lay so much as a single finger on his junior sibling for any reason without his and Emmeryn's okay, lest they wanted to lose that finger and possibly more. The various women around weren't even helping matters either, gossiping amongst themselves about him and Lissa as if they were together as a young couple in love. Oh how badly he wanted to silence all of them, casting more than a few hateful looks toward anyone who opened their mouth about them. Knowing that Lissa was with him and remembering a few words of wisdom Gaius spoke to him once, he kept his rage restrained but with a loose lid over it to let people know not to give him a reason to lash out at them.
"Hey, Chrom," Lissa said to him getting his attention and wrenching him out of his sour mood, "we're going to make two more stops before we head off to that club I mentioned, so let's get a move on yeah?" Looking at her older brother in his eyes she was signaling to him that they would do well to speed up their pace, and to her relief he was essentially thinking the same thing.
"Yes, it would be best for us to focus on getting this done sooner, and keep myself from having to kill some people here, I swear with Naga as my witness…" The hissed statement that only Lissa could hear had her skin crawling for a short moment; while she was grateful that Chrom was looking out for her like a big brother was expected to, she sincerely hoped that he truly did not harbor an intent to seriously maim anyone that so much as looked at her funny. "So, where is our next destination, little sister?" He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear while squeezing her Lissa's hand a little more as if to emphasize his point about how his sister being strictly off limits and that they were not in any sort of relationship. It worked as people cautiously went back to what they were originally doing.
"O-our next stop will be a jeweler's store. You think you might want something to ice you up a little for the club?"
"Ice myself? What does that—hold on, you mean add some jewelry to my clothes right?"
"Exactly; people use that phrase to mean "put some nice diamonds on you" but you can use whatever jewelry you want, including silver or gold. I heard that watches and eyeglasses are in the now so try to keep an eye out for them."
"Watches and eyeglasses? They're actually fashionable?"
"Yeah. They're quite fashionable among nobility. They pretty much make you look more like a distinguished gentleman with the right outfit, although you wouldn't really think so seeing Miriel wear them would you?"
"No I would not," he laughed, acknowledging that their oldest and second most potent sage was not a fashion-oriented person whatsoever. The two siblings walked and talked to each other for a few more yards until a small jeweler's shop came up beside them, and with both the prince and princess still carrying a sizable amount of gold they stepped inside to inspect the wares and stake claims. The interior of the small store was certainly flashy, with various silver, gold, and diamond pieces hanging everywhere amidst the plain white decorum. Chrom was once again surprised at how he thought they had everything and this business proved him wrong for the second time that day, all while Lissa was busy eyeing every little necklace, ring, band, or whichever that sparkled brilliantly from the sun's rays. Since the jeweler's was much smaller than the suit shop there was sure to be less of a selection to choose from, but this meant that the duo would be finished quicker—or at least Chrom hoped so.
"Oooh, look at all of those huge rings over there Chrom!" Lissa ran over to one of the numerous glass stands and began visually eating up the diamond rings on display like candy with her brother himself slowly tailing behind her. He could see the way her eyes lit up when she saw the rings and her beacon-like smile was undeniable now, bringing a smile to his own face. As the princess continued to awe the precious stones on display, Chrom began to think about how he could possibly make this day even more special for her. While he heard that many women loved jewelry (after all, a diamond was a woman's best friend), he assumed that Lissa wouldn't want to be showered with them; she wasn't a materialistic person he knew that much, but he felt that she deserved a little more than what others would usually get. His mind soon wondered though; Lissa certainly meant a lot to him, but he was starting to think that maybe he felt a little more for her than he thought if he was about to go out of his way to spend some money for her.
'Maybe it's because she's just being herself right now,' he thought, and at the moment she was being adorable. What he wouldn't do to ensure that she was always sweet and sunny. 'Gods, I could wake up every morning to my beautiful, smiling sister and never grow tired of it…' "See anything that catches your fancy?"
"Oh yeah…although I'm not entirely sure if I can afford everything that I might want to buy here. I want a few things for myself ya' know—I mean, who doesn't? But…I'm also getting someone a gift from here too and I still have one more stop to make before we head to the club I mentioned."
"You're buying a gift for someone? Huh…maybe we should see how much gold we have left, because diamonds should be really expensive unless Gaius is lying his arse off…" Taking their wallet and purse out and counting their gold coins, they were both surprised to see that Emmeryn had actually given them much more than they thought. It looked like their exalted sister was in the mood to absolutely spoil them silly even amidst the turmoil that was going on with the Plegian war and the false gold crisis.
"Um, Chrom?" Lissa asked him, his eyes still wide from counting the money he had. "How much gold do you have right now?" His mind didn't even register what she had said yet, still in disbelief after counting the cash he had, but she persisted to snap him from his slack jawed trance. "Hey, Chrom, hello? What's your gold count?"
"Nine thousand, three hundred, and thirteen G."
"Holy cow, that much?! Emm must have really wanted to spoil us, 'cause I have sixteen less G than you!" While Chrom was still trying to comprehend the possible reason behind this, Lissa took this entire thing in stride, internally beaming at having this much money for what she wanted. 'Yes! Thank you so much sis! Now I can hopefully buy a beautiful ring for…him…'
She turned to face her brother, that clueless and lovable man still staring at the large allowance he had, she wanted to show him just how much she liked—no, how much she loved him. She no longer had any doubt that she had fallen in love with Chrom now, her little sister crush having blossomed into genuine romantic feelings. Realizing this, it helped explain why she had reacted the way she did over the risen nest incident and why she was being especially nice to him right now, and she believed that from the way she was acting towards him that he should have seen the obvious attraction. But her brother was a dense man as always, especially when it came to matters of the heart much like her first crush Frederick, but she was certain that it was all real this time around and she was bound and determined to not let it go unrequited just like with poor Cordelia. She had to play it smart if she wanted the chance to be Chrom's woman or at least retain the kinship they had if all else failed, but for the moment she felt that she could afford being a little forward with him.
"Oh Chrom~," she said, finally breaking him away from his daze. "I'll be right back; I'm going to talk to the merchant lady about my surprise gift. You can look around and see if you find anything you might like here, m'kay~?"
"Uh, sure. Go ahead then." Chrom could have sworn that Lissa was acting especially fond toward him than usual—not that she hasn't been much nicer than normal, but this was almost exactly the way Cordelia was around him for some reason he couldn't fathom. From the way she pressed against him with her hands on his chest, to how low her voice was when she spoke to him coupled with her lidded eyes that bore into his own as she looked up at him, and from how she landed a small on his cheek had his face flushed red while gaining more than a few envious stares from other customers. 'Lissa…just kissed me right now…We stopped doing that around the time she turned eight and started screaming about cooties. What's made her want to do that now all of a sudden?' Chrom was aware that kissing was often the sign of showing affection, especially when someone really liked the other person. He eventually concluded that Lissa was simply starting to show her sweeter side around him and he liked it, deciding to hurry on to get some gear instead of standing there like a village idiot. 'I could actually get used to this…heh, you really are something else Lissa…'
