Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, nor any of its characters.
"Two spoons of sugar for your tea?"
"You're very observant, aren't you?"
Stahl's laugh sounded quiet in the empty tent as he took the lid off the sugar jar and placed it on the table, picking up a spoon. Robin smiled as she spread a thin layer of jam on her toast. He carefully scooped up some sugar and added it to the steaming cup of tea.
It had been a week since Robin had begun to come to breakfast early in the morning. The first day she had woken up early, she was unsure if she should go back to sleep or get on with her day. Deciding on the latter, she rose from her cot and stretched. Perhaps she should form more strategies since she was up so early.
Before she could even think about opening one of her strategy books, her stomach growled, reminding her that she still had not had breakfast. Shuffling around her tent, the tactician quickly got dressed and headed towards the mess tent. Eat first, think later.
Stopping a little before the entrance of the mess tent, Robin realized just how early it was. It was peacefully quiet, with the occasional chirp from the birds up in the trees. It was nice for a change, because whenever the Shepherds gathered together, there was always a buzzing commotion as they chatted and laughed with one another.
Appreciating the quiet morning, she lifted the tent flap, only to find that someone was inside. A little surprised, she entered the tent and stepped closer to the person hunched over his eggs. Recognizing the green armor and messy hair, she smiled.
"Good morning, Stahl."
Said knight jumped, almost bumping into Robin. He whipped his head around and smiled as he realized it was just the tactician.
"Mornin', Robin!" Stahl said, his mouth full of egg. She laughed as he quickly chewed and swallowed. "Care to join me, milady?"
"Don't mind if I do." As she sat opposite of him, she could hear the distant shouts of the chefs as they prepared breakfast for the soon to be awake army.
"What can I get you?" The knight asked as he got up and walked towards the wide spread of breakfast already laid out. Robin whistled at the wide array of selections she could make. From scrambled eggs and pancakes, to cornflakes and fruit bowls, they truly had anything one would ever want for breakfast. They even had a large assortment of teas she had never heard of (most likely to satisfy Maribelle's peculiar taste) and carrot cake (Robin knew Panne enjoyed her carrots). The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, and her stomach growled again. She felt her face flush as the knight laughed.
"Bread with jam sounds good to me." She replied as she got up and grabbed a tea cup near the tea display. Avoiding the strangely named teas (what in Naga's name was Rooibos tea?) she grabbed the earl gray tea container and made herself a nice hot cup of tea.
Going back to her place on her table, she chuckled as she realized that Stahl had not only gotten her food, but also seconds for himself. He grinned at her as he dug into his cornflakes.
"Thanks," She said as she applied strawberry jam to her toast. As she sipped her tea, a question suddenly popped into her head, "Do you always wake up this early?"
"Yup!" He nodded at her, his bowl already empty. She stared at him in amazement, not because he had already finished his cereal (although she was quite impressed), but because whenever she saw Stahl around camp, he was always yawning and seemed sleepy.
Stahl noticed the amazement in her eyes and chuckled, "Quite surprising, huh?"
"Um, well, yes, actually," She admitted as she took a bite of her toast. "You look like the type to sleep in."
"Yeah well, I would, but ever since our army has grown, the amount of food left after everyone has breakfast is pretty small." Robin nodded in agreement, realization dawning to her. At that moment, the tactician realized just how big there army was. Sure, there was a large variety of food, but the chefs couldn't make breakfast forever. Food would eventually run out. She felt a little pity well up in her chest as she imagined Stahl walking into the mess tent, with nothing left but a couple of eggs and a measly piece of toast. She suddenly regretted having that extra piece of toast a couple of weeks ago.
"It must be hard for you." She replied, stirring her tea with a spoon.
Noticing the look on her face, he laughed, reassuring her that it was alright, "It's alright, really. Besides, now that I wake up early, I can finally enjoy the chef's honey cakes before Gaius eats them all."
She snorted at that, remembering how the sweet thief had shuffled all the honey cakes he could possibly fit in his mouth just yesterday.
The quietness of the morning silenced them as they continued to eat. Besides an occasional comment, they generally remained quiet, enjoying each other's company in the early morning.
After a while, they heard footsteps approach the tent. Cordelia peaked inside, smiled, and bid them good morning as she entered. One by one, members of the Shepherds entered the tent, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.
As the mess tent was being filled, chatter began amongst the soldiers. Soon, the whole tent was filled with the voices of the army. Vaike fought with Chrom over the last slice of apple pie. Nowi watched in amazement as Ricken downed a whole cup of milk in one go. Panne had disappeared shortly after entering the tent (curiously, the carrot cake was gone as well.) Lissa chatted animatedly with Maribelle, who wacked Donnel with her parasol after lecturing him (again) about wearing a pot on his head.
Robin smiled to herself as she sipped the last of her tea. Although the quietness was long gone, she didn't mind it much. There was something about the Shepards that made her feel warm and happy, despite being in a middle of a war.
"We're one big, happy dysfunctional family, don't you think?" She looked up from her tea, her eyes meeting those of the green knight across the table. He gave her a sheepish smile as she laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly.
"Good morning, Robin, Stahl," Sumia greeted as she slid next to the tactician. The pair bid her good morning as she buttered her toast. "I heard Robin was up awfully early today."
"I just woke up a tad bit early, is all," Robin replied. As Stahl finished his tea, she commented, "Oh, but Stahl kept me company, so it was quite pleasant."
"Nah, Robin graced me with her presence. To be honest, it feels nicer eating with another person." Stahl said, his eyes shifting to her. A light flush crept up to her cheeks as Sumia's bubbly laughter filled the air. "Actually, I wouldn't mind having breakfast with you again."
The tactician stared at the green knight, before breaking out into a heartwarming smile. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to try my best to accompany you for breakfast, huh?"
In the weeks that followed, Robin had gotten to know the green knight quite well. His family owned apothecary, he was pretty scatterbrained, and was quite skilled at the art of reading people. So skilled that it actually left her amazed at times.
"Someone's in a foul mood," He noted as the tactician rubbed her temples, deep in concentration. She grumbled as she scanned the pages of a thick tome, then flipping through the pages of another, all whilst chomping on her toast. "You okay there, Robin?"
She groaned in frustration as she closed her tome, nowhere near satisfied. "I can't seem to find a way to avoid going through the plains. I would much rather go around it, through the forest; that way, we'll at least have some advantage over the possible Risen out there. However, we're already running quite low on supplies, and the forest is quite far from the next town. I don't think we could last for more than two days at this rate. On the other hand, if we went through the plains, we would get there much faster but…"
She suddenly felt a warm hand on top of her own, squeezing it lightly. Looking up, Stahl smiled at her reassuringly, his hand stroking hers.
"You're worried that Risen will attack us at night, and we won't be able to get prepared in time, since at least in the forest we could hide in the trees. Out in the open field, it's anybody's game," Slowly, she nodded. She sighed, poking at her eggs.
"I don't want to put the Shepherds in more danger than they already are. Maybe there's something in one of these strategy books that I haven't seen yet," Robin opened yet another of her tomes and was about to flip through it when Stahl took both of her hands into his own.
"Hey Robin, look at me," She looked up and stared at the knight, who gave her another reassuring smile. She noted that his hair looked neater than usual, and that he had a few crumbs from his muffin stuck to his face.
"You're our tactician, a genius one at that. You've always known what to do when we were in a tight spot. I'm sure you've already realized that we'll probably have to go through the plains. So be it. I'm positive we can pull through with your guidance," He gave her hands a warm squeeze. "I trust you. The Shepherds trust you. Just believe in us."
"Stahl…" The tactician muttered, left a little speechless at his words. She let a small smile grace her lips as she let his words sink in. Giving her one last squeeze, he let go of her hands and pointed at her half finished toast.
"By the way, are you going to finish that?" Laughing, she thrust what remained of her breakfast into his mouth. As he chewed through the large amount of food in his mouth, he said (as best as he could with his mouth full,) "I'll even stand guard with Fredrick or Kellam today, just in case."
"Thanks Stahl," She replied, her grumpiness and slight panic from a few minutes ago long gone, "For everything."
"Gotcha!" With a shout, Stahl drove his sword through the Risen, effectively defeating it. Kellam gave him a grateful smile and proceeded towards the next pair of Risen. Stahl quickly followed suite, scanning the field for a certain tactician.
The attack had begun well into the night. True to his word, Stahl stood guard along with Kellam and Frederick. He figured he must have dozed off after a while because he was suddenly startled awake by Frederick, who told him to wake everyone up. The look in his eye confirmed his suspicion; they were under attack.
Scrambling to his feet, he mounted his horse and quickly rode around camp, shouting into each tent. Although the reaction was slow at first, soon the whole camp was buzzing with life as the Shepherds grabbed their weapons and prepared their mounts.
Through the crowd, Stahl spotted Robin speaking to a group of Shepherds, pairing them up and preparing them for battle. He allowed a small smile to grace his lips as the soldiers nodded their heads, heeding her words and quickly separating into pairs. Without a doubt, all the Shepherds trusted their tactician's judgment.
It wasn't long before their eyes met. The knight found himself galloping towards the tactician, and stopped a mere foot from her. She gave him a nervous smile, tugging at the sleeves of her cloak. He noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes, and the slight tremble in her hand.
"Just a tad nervous, is all," She mumbled.
Without a word, he dismounted off his horse and wrapped his arms around her. Within seconds, she returned the hug, resting her head on the crook of his neck, and let out a shaky breath. He traced small circles onto her back, which seemed to calm her down. After awhile, she looked up at him and gave him a grateful smile. Unraveling himself from her embrace, he smiled back at her.
"I want you to pair up with Kellam and handle the north side of the camp. I've also assigned Cordelia and Ricken to that area, so don't go rushing into battle alone, alright?" With a nod, Stahl headed towards his horse, before he was stopped by someone grabbing his hand. Startled, he looked back at the tactician, who looked away as she squeezed his hand. With a slight blush on her face, she mumbled, "Good luck out there. I hope to see you at breakfast tomorrow."
With a laugh, he squeezed her hand, a huge grin on his face. He mounted his horse, and quickly galloped his way into the battle field.
Stahl drove another sword into the enemy's chest, assisting Kellam in defeating the last Risen in the area. He sighed, exhausted from the continuous fighting. Kellam patted him in the back, and headed towards another area in the camp.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Robin near the supply tent. His eyes widened as he realized that she was fighting not one, but two Risen, all by herself. He gritted his teeth as he pulled on the reins of his horse, and started galloping towards the tactician.
He tightened his hold on the reins as one of the Risen crept up behind her, urging his horse to go faster. The Risen raised its axe, about to bring it down, when Stahl charged at the enemy and blocked the attack. Wincing, he knocked down the enemy, shouting at the tactician.
In a flurry of motions, Robin turned around, jumped at the sight of the knight, before quickly chanting a wind spell. A bead of sweat ran down Stahl's forehead as he brought his sword down, dealing the finishing blow. Supporting each other, they soon got rid of the second Risen.
Robin whipped her head around, scanning the field. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she realized that that was the last of the Risen. Besides a few cuts here and there, everyone was alright. Exhaustion settling in (it was the middle of the night, after all), she turned around to face Stahl, but was suddenly alarmed at the pale look on his face.
"Are you alright?!" She ran towards the knight, who was starting to breathe heavily. He dismounted off his horse and winced, his hand reaching for his left shoulder. He was suddenly alarmed at how deep the cut had been, as he pulled back his hand, covered in blood. He saw her eyes widened as she realized he must have sustained that injury while guarding her from the attack.
"I'll be alright," He gave her a weak smile before leaning against her small frame. He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. He snuggled closer to her neck, her skin feeling warm compared to the chilly wind of the night. He could feel her struggle underneath him, arms wrapping around him in an attempt to hold him up.
He turned his head to face her, as she frantically looked around for a healer. Their eyes met for a brief second before Stahl closed them and gave her a small smile.
"See you at breakfast…" He mumbled.
Then the world went black.
Stahl groaned as he rubbed his eyes, flinching at the sudden sunlight streaming through the flap of his tent. With a hand over his face, he shielded his eyes from the glaring sun… glaring sun? With a start, Stahl attempted to sit up, only to flop back down onto his pillow. His back felt stiff and a bit sore, as if he had not moved in ages.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" His eyes fluttered opened at the voice and realized he was not alone. He stared at Robin, who let go of the tent flap and approached him. In her hand, she carried a fairly large brown bag.
"Nah, it's alright," He replied, smiling at the tactician. He again attempted to sit up, but this time much slower. After he successfully sat up on his cot, he looked up at her, a nervous look on his face, "Um, you don't happen to know the time, do you?"
She smiled down at him, sitting on a stool near his cot. "It's almost noon."
"Noon?!" He gasped, about to shoot out of his bed, when she stopped him. Sitting on a stool near his cot, she tried to calm him down. "Oh gods, is it that late? I missed breakfast!"
She laughed as he smacked his forehead, groaning in disappointment. As he continued to brood, she reached into her bag and took out a large ramekin. He looked over her shoulder, a curious look crossing his face. She handed him the ramekin, and urged him to open it. Without hesitation he did so, and practically jumped in surprise at what was inside.
Inside the ramekin was an arrangement of pancakes, fruits, slices of bread with an assortment of spreads, and a pair of honey cakes (he could practically see the honey glistening from the freshly baked goods.) His mouth instantly started to water at the sight before him.
"Well? Dig in!" She handed him the eating utensils, and giggled as he immediately went for the pancakes. As he ate, she started to talk, "For the record, half the Shepherds missed breakfast this morning. Not surprised in the least, after the battle last night. Chrom and I decided that we would let you guys rest and then head out in about an hour. That way, we'll make it to the village before sundown."
"I tried to save some of your favorites, but I wasn't sure if you liked your eggs scrambled or sunny side up. The chefs also ran out of syrup, so I apologize if the pancakes are sort of dry," He stared at her for a few seconds, which made her slightly embarrassed. She looked away, her cheeks clearly flushed. "I'm sorry if I'm not as attentive as you. But it's the thought that counts, right? Besides, I owe you, after what happened yesterday. I had Lissa heal your shoulder, but does it still hurt?"
"Besides being a little stiff, I feel absolutely fine. And thanks for the breakfast, Robin," Feeling his shoulder, he could feel a little bump from the scar of the cut. He let out a full blown smile, which practically took her breath away. Her face heated up even more at that, and attempted to hide it with the sleeve of her cloak. He laughed, and continued to eat his breakfast.
After a while, she felt him tug on her cloak. As she looked up, she slightly jumped in her seat as he handed her a honey cake. With a smile, he urged her to take it, as he spoke, "You deserve it, oh master tactician. Seriously, especially since I missed breakfast today."
She hesitantly took it, and stared at the sweet pastry before her. She bit into the cake, and licked her lips as the honey oozed out. A smile adorned her face as she bit into it again, enjoying the treat. As she took yet another bite, she could see Stahl staring at her from the corner of her eye. Turning to face him, she looked at him questioningly.
"Is there something on my face?" She asked, reaching to touch her face. He quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her. He gave her another smile before leaning closer, "Hold on, I'll get it for you."
Before she could register what was happening, he leaned in and their lips met in a sweet kiss. His lips instantly melded into hers, which tasted like honey. As fast as it had come, it was gone, as he pulled away, his cheeks flaming.
"Heh, sweet," He laughed, clearly embarrassed. He stared at her for a few seconds, before leaning in again. This time, her eyes fluttered close as he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as he placed his hands on her cheeks, pulling each other closer. As the butterflies danced in their stomachs, and their hearts raced rapidly in unison, they both smiled at the realization;
They were completely smitten with each other.
Stahl and Robin are just too cute not to write about. Also, for those of you who enjoy this pairing, be on a lookout for a drabble I'll be posting soon.