For as long as they had known each other (which, honestly, had been just about their whole lives), it didn't come as much of a surprise to Owain when Inigo admitted to him, in full honesty, that he had started becoming interested in one of their parents' generation. Since these people weren't actually their parents, rather just the past versions of who would someday become their parents, it wasn't that big of an issue, and Owain was more than happy to tell his sometimes-friend to follow his dreams and chase whatever girl it was that he wanted. It meant that Inigo would be off his back for a little while, so of course he was going to tell him to do as his heart fancied.

But, unbeknownst to Owain and fully known to Inigo, the particular woman that he was getting a little interested in was one that, in all due respects, had much better things to be doing than hanging around one of the future children. After all, she could have been spending her time trying to learn how to fill the role her life had designated for her, or, at least, she could have been spending her time with her brother, or maybe even the guy that she was romantically attached to. She had no business entertaining any of Inigo's attention, yet that was exactly what ended up happening.

And when Owain found out that the young version of his mother was spending time with Inigo, he didn't know how to react other than to stare in wide-eyed horror at her as she explained, in great detail, how lovely her time with the dark-haired boy was. "Mother, please don't say such glowing things about him," he said, rolling his eyes behind where his hand was obscuring his face. "If there is one thing I know about Inigo—and after years of acquaintanceship with him I know a lot—it's that he cannot be trusted in the presence of a pretty woman. Especially not a woman as lovely as you are!"

"Oh hush, Owain! Your little friend might be sweet to me, but at the end of the day, I know he's one of your friends from the future. You don't need to worry about me being anything more than friends with him." The way Lissa seemed to be beaming as she looked at her son made him feel more uncomfortable than before, and despite his numerous attempts to protest what she had said, she kept silencing him. "Please, please, don't get worried about me making friends with your friend. It's just so that I can know why he's your friend."

"But he is not my friend! He is a scoundrel, the scum of the ground we walk on, and you spending any time with him is certainly going to end in disaster!" Throwing his free hand up in the air, Owain felt a surge of anger overtaking him, one that made the fingers on his precious sword hand twinge a bit. "As your child from the future, I demand that you cease all contact with Inigo and instead focus on the love of your life, the man who will someday bring this timeline's version of me to you!"

Lissa, watching Owain's fingers twitch like they were trying to grasp a sword not in their reach, gave a stern shake of her head. "I'm glad you're all concerned about your potential existence in this timeline, but there's no need to get all worked up and worried like this. I'm just being friendly with your little friend, so don't start panicking that little baby you's gonna be born with dark hair like his or anything."

"Mother! I would never worry about such an absurd thing!" Spitting the words like they were poison, Owain completely realized that he was making it very clear that he was worried about exactly that. And, in his mind, he had every right to be concerned that his mother wasn't going to keep to her word and fall into the seductive clutches that Inigo so badly wanted her in. He was just, well, conveniently forgetting that if there was one thing in life Inigo was bad at, it was actually landing any chances with a woman. "Just stay away from him before he convinces you to partake in anything you shouldn't be doing as a princess and as an already-claimed woman!"

"Calm down, you're overreacting at nothing at all. I promise you, I'm just getting to know your friend better, and that's all that's happening. I'm not going to change the course of your existence over something so silly." Laughing, Lissa hoped that her words would eventually get through Owain's thick head and that he would realize she wasn't lying to him, but as she watched him still twitch in anger, she knew that it was going to be a lot harder than just telling him that things were going to be okay.

If that meant making sure that, if he was around, she was spending as much time with Inigo as she could, that was just how it would have to be. Inigo was a fairly terrible person to be in close proximity to, with how much he craved the attention of any woman, and when he was in the presence of any woman he possibly liked, he became even more of a creep than he normally was. It definitely helped add to the whole "she's going to get with him" thing, though, especially when he'd try wrapping his arm around her shoulders in the middle of friendly conversation, or when he'd attempt to give her kisses on her cheeks. Most of the time she told him to not do any of that, but when she could see Owain spying on her in the distance, quite obviously watching her to make sure she was keeping her word, she may or may not have let some of Inigo's physical displays of affection happen.

What harm could there be in a little bit of friendly affection, anyway?

After having witnessed his sort-of mother being kissed (on the cheek) by someone he could never in good conscious refer to as his friend, Owain knew that he needed to do something about this behavior. Going to Inigo to tell him to stop wasn't going to work, and he had already tried talking sense into Lissa on the matter, so who else was there? He could put a permanent end to things by going to Chrom about it, but something about having to explain the situation to his uncle sent shivers down Owain's spine, and he thought of an even better way to handle what was going on.

"What d'ya mean, she's seein' some other guy? Ain't I good enough for her?" There was almost a tangible sadness to Vaike's voice as he asked those questions, because he really was hurt by just hearing Owain, in dramatic detail, explaining the situation, and although he surely wasn't going to cry over it, he couldn't help but sound sad. "Y'know, if you're tellin' the truth, that's not very good for you…"

"Why do you think I've come to let you know this is happening?" On the opposite spectrum, there was nothing sad about how Owain sounded, and his words were filled with anger. "I cannot let my present timeline self be fathered by someone that this version of me has known since childhood! We must preserve something about my future, and I want that something to be that I have simply the bravest and strongest father possible!"

Taking a few seconds to process whatever that was that Owain had just said, Vaike gave a somewhat fake sniffle at what he understood to have just been told. "That means a lot to ol' Vaike, to be told somethin' as great as that by ya. Just hope that there's still time to convince your mother to stay with me and not be with, uh, whoever it is she thinks is better."

"Time is not on our side, I'm afraid, and that's why we must act quickly! The longer we let my mother hang around that scum Inigo, the more likely it is that the last time you and her spoke will have been the last time you spoke as lovers!" His hand twitching, Owain looked at Vaike, expecting to see the man idly nodding along in agreement, but he was surprised to see that something about the idea of no longer being with the woman he loved had caused him to actually tear up. "Er, father? Should I stop bringing that up?"

"No way, bringin' up sad things just makes a man work harder to keep 'em from happenin' for real." This time there was an actual sniffle to accompany the words. "We've gotta stop Lissa from gettin' with this friend 'a yours before it's too late."

"That's the problem, she's already gotten real close with him, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if the next time we see her, she's traded in the ring you gave her for one that he's given her instead!" With his non-twitching hand, Owain reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around his version of his mom's ring, hoping that what he said wasn't going to come true. He had been through so much to get to this point, to be back in the past to see his parents before he actually existed, and he didn't want that existence to be ruined by his mother getting interested in someone who didn't belong in this time. "We're going to make sure that the me that exists as her son in this timeline is your kid too, just like I am."

"Oh, we better do just that. If she's fallin' in love with someone else, then that guy's gonna meet the sharp end of an axe, courtesy of the guy she's supposed to be lovin'!" Vaike rubbed at one of his eyes, trying to erase any evidence that he might have been crying at just the thought of losing the woman he loved to someone else. His attempts were futile, made especially clear when Owain couldn't help but laugh at the sight of this man he revered as one of the strongest warriors he knew having to clear tears from his cheeks. But that crying, regardless of how "weak" it might have been, did serve an important purpose: it showed just how invested in the situation Vaike was. He didn't want to lose Lissa, and he was going to make sure that she stayed his, no matter the cost.

"You're being so sweet on me, my goodness!" Sitting underneath a tree on the edge of a forest nestled up by a village, Lissa couldn't help but admire the adorable little picnic lunch that Inigo had set up for them to enjoy. "This is a whole lot of effort you're putting into things just so we can know each other better. Shouldn't you be saving this kindness for someone you're trying to impress?"

Inigo, a huge smile on his face, shook his head at what she had just said. "This required no large amount of effort, don't worry. And I am exhausting all the kindness I could have ever dreamed of using for you, simply because you deserve it, my fairest lady." That earned him a girlish giggle in response, as Lissa's cheeks began to fill with a rosy blush. "Oh my, you are simply stunning when you're impressed. I'm mighty pleased that I've fallen head over heels in love with someone quite like you."

"Me? Stunning?" Stopping her giggling, Lissa couldn't help but snort in surprise, but then the rest of Inigo's comment sank in, and she leaned away from him a bit, her eyebrows raising in shock. "Wait, did you just say you're in love with me?"

"Have been since our first meeting, my sweet." He gave a deep sigh, closing his eyes as he did. "I can remember that day much like it was yesterday, where you and the rest of the Shepherds came upon me as I was doing my typical flirting thing, and since then I've known that my eyes are meant only for you."

"That's, er, nice, but you do know that I'm not exactly in love with you back, right?" When he opened his eyes back up and looked at her, the almost awestruck glance he was giving her was her first hint that maybe he didn't know that. "You didn't know that. I've been thinking that you just got really into this pretend thing just to help me out, but—"

Inigo lifted a finger and placed it on her lips to hush her momentarily, and when he dropped his hand it was to take one of her hands into it; despite her trying to pull away as she evaluated the situation, he resisted letting go of her. "What, did you think that my acts of kindness and appreciation were all for show? Or did you figure that I was playing along with that silly charade of you being my friend to impress Owain? I can tell that your heart beats with the same passion mine does, and now I feel it is as good a time as any to begin acting on those desires." Still with her hand in his grasp, he began trying to remove her ring from her finger, despite her clearly being uncomfortable with his advances. "Please, Lissa, my love, let me do this. Let's move on to the next step and become a romantic pair, joined together as if fate designed for it to happen."

She tried pulling her hand away, but the way he was grabbing it wasn't making for that to be an easy task. "Oh my gods, I'm already with someone!" she screamed, the pitch of her voice hopefully high enough to get him to back off. But for someone as desperate for love and attention as Inigo, it wasn't much of a deterrent at all. "I was just playing along with your advances because making Owain get upset sounded like fun, since he tries so hard to make sure that I stay with who I was with in his timeline—but I guess I should have totally been more careful in picking who I did this with!" Narrowing her eyes, Lissa then added: "Wouldn't your parents be so disappointed in you if they knew you were doing this?"

Inigo froze for a second, ceasing his attempts to get the ring off Lissa's finger, before shrugging and resuming his deed. "My mother would be proud of me for being so naturally comfortable with a woman, and my father…he would probably do the same. After all, getting this close to someone who's female? Who would have imagined this happening?"

The tree above them rustled a bit, but Lissa was too invested in holding her glare at Inigo to inspect what was happening above. "I think it's so disgusting that you think you can use my want to prank my future kid like this!"

"Don't you find it a bit disgusting that you would want to prank him in the first place? And by picking someone who was clearly being affectionate with you? For shame, Lissa, I would have pegged you as being a bit brighter." Inigo gave a small smile at her, ignoring the almost deadly glare she had fixated on him. "But, no matter, you're mine now."

From up in the tree, a voice roared, "Like hell she is, you woman-stealin' punk!" This was enough to cease all conversation between the two, as they both looked up to see who could possibly have said that (although by the sound of the voice, one of them already knew). And jumping down from the tree came a completely livid Vaike, followed quickly by an almost-as-livid Owain, both of whom were brandishing their weapons and trying to look as menacing as possible.

"H-hey there, you guys," Lissa awkwardly said, trying to make herself look less at fault for what was happening. "What brings you around here?"

"Not another word outta ya right now, not until we've got all this sorted out." To say that Vaike sounded upset now would have been an understatement, as it was clear that he was dealing with conflicting emotions of anger and sadness, seeing the woman he loved being hand-in-hand with another guy. "Can't believe ya'd do this to me."

"Father, this isn't the time to focus on how to deal with her! A monster lurks before us, and as the warriors we are, we must put a stop to his nefarious deeds before it is too late!" Raising his sword, Owain turned its point so that it was directly in Inigo's face. "Any last words before we forcibly have you unhand my mother, you crafty bastard?"

Blinking a few times as he realized that the blade sitting inches from the tip of his nose wasn't there in a friendly and playful manner, Inigo gave a panicked laugh, letting go of Lissa's hands to move himself backwards—until he hit the tree that he was sitting under. "I, er, just unhanded her, so maybe you could stop with the threatening swordplay now."

"Owain, I told you, there was nothing to worry about here! I was just getting to know Inigo better, and that was all!" The lie slipped out before Lissa could catch it, and that earned her a different weapon being held in her face, all the color in her cheeks draining out as she stared at the sharp end of a brutal axe. "W-what's this for? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Huh, that's real funny. Pretty sure we just heard him talkin' to ya like you're so madly in love, and also pretty sure that ya just said nothin' was goin' on here, when clearly it was. How's the Vaike s'posed to trust ya when you're bein' so shady like this?" His axe was shaking, as he hadn't intended to actually hold it against her as a threat, and once his voice had started cracking as he was beginning to be overcome by emotion, it was clear that he meant no harm in anything.

Owain, on the other hand, meant a whole lot of harm in what he was doing. "Going after my sweet and innocent mother to try and ruin my life. You are most definitely more crafty than I give you credit for, Inigo," he said, inching the blade closer to the dark-haired man's face. "However, you cannot and will not ever have the chance to change my existence in this timeline, you scoundrel! Justice will be served here today!" The blade was pushed forward, but also in a downward motion, meaning that when it made contact with Inigo's body, it was slicing through his shirt and digging into the skin of his torso. He screamed in pain, although the cut might not have been very deep, and made an attempt to push the blade away from him to stop there from being any more damage done.

For being a swordsman himself, Inigo really should have thought about how grabbing a sharp sword would result in cuts to his hand, ones worse than the baby ones Owain had inflicted on his chest. Those caused him to scream more, which then attracted the attention of anyone nearby, because when Inigo was screaming in pain, he did it in the most flamboyant and high-pitched ways possible. So anyone who came to investigate what little girl was being attacked was then greeted by a cut-up and screaming Inigo, a sword-wielding and slightly confused at what had transpired Owain, a still-terrified for her life Lissa, and a crying harder than any strong man would do in public Vaike.

This, naturally, would leave people with more questions than answers.

After having his wounds healed by someone willing to do it (which was a hard task, as almost every healer he could find had some tie back to Lissa and wasn't going to help him when he had been trying to ruin her), Inigo made his way back to where he knew his parents were. What had transpired wasn't exactly pretty, but he still wanted to get to talk to them about how he had very nearly gotten a woman to be with him, albeit with both of them expecting different things out of the pairing.

Olivia seemed more shocked at the fact that her future son's shirt was cut open than she was at him "almost" getting a woman. She ignored everything he said about how he was holding Lissa's hands and trying so hard to make her his—and she kept bringing the conversation back to what had happened to ruin his shirt. "I don't want to speak about that part of the afternoon," Inigo said, scratching the side of his head as he did. "Dirty matters. Not pleasant to recount or hear about."

"You got close with a woman and her significant other tried to kill you." Not a question, but a dry and deadpan statement, was what Lon'qu added to the conversation, taking one look at the man who was supposedly his future child standing before him. "Don't do that again."

Inigo went to correct his father, but thought better of it. Having to admit that it was a different member of the family who tried to do the killing didn't seem like it was going to make him sound any braver in the situation.

A/N: Written as a request fill for Dr. Psycho, who wanted some Inigo/Lissa with the sole purpose of making Owain uncomfortable. I hope I filled that prompt to your liking, my dear friend! c: