C
The front flap for the tent came open without warning, sending Robin scrambling to create some order around her, trying to close as many of her books as possible before whoever was intruding on her could make note of how dirty her surroundings were. "Ah, sorry to come in unannounced," Chrom apologized, sounding out of breath as he looked towards Robin, not even noticing that she was working to clean up. "I was just, er, doing some practicing when a thought struck me and I had to come ask you about it."
"You could have at least announced your intentions of entering before you did so," she said with a sigh, setting her now-neatly stacked books in the corner of the tent. "Gods, I could have been sitting in here half-dressed and you would have just barged on in like that! Don't you have any respect for my dignity?"
"I think I've gotten to know you well enough on the battlefield to know that you wouldn't just sit around in your smallclothes in the middle of the day." Laughing, Chrom brought a hand up to his chest to try catching his breath, his laughter coming out more like wheezing than actual laughing. This caused Robin to raise her eyebrows at him, something that managed to make him laugh harder. "What, is that not a fair judgment to make of you?"
She rolled her eyes, averting her gaze from him back towards her books. "I suppose it is, but the courtesy announcement still would have been appreciated. Why, everyone else manages to do it, I don't understand how the great leader of the Shepherds can't do the same."
"What do you mean, everyone else? Are you telling me that it's not a rare occurrence for someone to need to come to you for something?" Chrom sounded slightly dejected as he asked his question, raising his hand to his mouth as he processed the idea of others needing his tactician just as much as he did.
"It happens all the time, actually. Why, just a few minutes ago, Frederick came calling by, asking me if I needed anything. Didn't bother to come actually check in on me, though. Must still distrust the stranger you rescued." The way Robin's eyes crinkled when she smiled at Chrom was hard not to notice, her smug happiness far too difficult to ultimately ignore. When she heard the ruffling of the tent's flap as he backed out, she had to resist laughing at his behavior—until it dawned on her that whatever it had been to cause him to come running for her tent had been ignored when she'd disapproved of his form of entry.
B
In a scene just like before, Robin found herself hard at work trying to piece a battle plan together, books splayed all over the floor of her tent, only for someone to let themselves in without so much as a word. "Robin, I think I know where we should go next," Chrom said upon entry, not fazed even slightly by Robin's surprised gasp and rush to close her books. "Do you think it would be worth the army's time to go a less-direct route?"
"No, Chrom, I really don't think it would be," she bluntly replied, slamming the cover to a map book shut. "Why don't you leave the tactician work, the planning and the deciding, to the person with the talent for it? I understand that you'd love to help, but perhaps there are better ways for you to do so?"
"Better ways? I don't think I understand what you're getting at there. Surely you'd love for someone else to take the reins of plan-making every once in a while!" For the first time in the two unannounced visits he'd made on his tactician, Chrom looked at her while she was showing her unamused displeasure to his behavior, and it clicked that she wasn't as fond of these encounters as he was. "Oh, I think I get it."
"Just leave me to do my own work, I promise you that I appreciate your eagerness to assist me but your place is to lead us. Not to get involved in the little details." Again she smiled at him, trying to shake off the fact that she had lost all progress in her planning by him coming into her tent without asking. "Wherever we go next, however we get there, it'll all be decided by my hand and your leadership. Just like it's been since I joined."
Chrom's mouth opened slightly as he considered arguing against her, but he decided trying to do so was futile and he used the opportunity to sigh instead. "Yes, well, I just thought that maybe I could help you out this once, since you've done so much for us on your own already. Wouldn't you like some kind of help?"
"Not this time, but maybe if you ask me without first startling me into thinking I'm being ambushed in my own tent, I'll consider it." Her smile grew more genuine, although at the sight of it Chrom went bright red, backing himself out of the tent and the conversation. This time, without there having been some suggestion left hanging, Robin tilted her head at his sudden escape. "Er, was it something I said? I didn't mean to insult you…"
C
Lon'qu had never been one to find himself at any level of comfort around a woman. If he could spend his days on a battlefield where everyone—allies and enemies alike—were only men, he'd feel a lot more at ease when attacking and defending. There wasn't ever going to be the luxury of all-men armies in his life, though, not in Ferox and not in Ylisse, and he was either going to have to adapt or spend his time fighting not just enemies but his own fears.
Adaptation wasn't likely, so fighting the fears was the only logical choice. When half of the people on his side of the battlefield were female, he was going to be spending a lot of time avoiding them and being anywhere near them, something he was more than okay with, if only because the further he could get from the ladies, the closer to defeating all the enemies he would be, and if he'd defeat them all, he'd be done with this war sooner and back home to somewhere where there were a lot less ladies.
But running into battle wasn't always to his advantage, as much as he'd like for it to be, and whenever he'd get so much as a scratch on him, he'd hear a chirp-like voice call out from somewhere he didn't realize anyone was: "Hey, Lon'qu, is everything okay? Do you need me to patch you up?"
He'd groan every time at Lissa's voice, turning his attention from the battle to see where the little cleric had gotten herself this time. She was always somewhere in plain sight, be it behind a tree that couldn't obscure her giant skirt or hiding behind bushes half her height. "No, I need nothing but for you to leave me alone," he would always tell her, every single time she'd do this, just for her to come flouncing towards him, pigtails flying every which way as she got within range of healing him. Like magic, he'd feel any injuries he'd sustained heal instantly, and she'd bow at him, giggling like the annoying little girl she was when she'd stood back up, jabbering something about his attitude and how he needed to lighten up, things he would ignore.
Of course, her approaching him made her an easy target for any enemies that he had yet to defeat, but that wasn't his problem. She was the one insistent on healing him. If someone were to kill her, that was her fault. It would look bad, however, if he was indirectly responsible for Chrom's sister's death, so he made sure to protect her from anyone who dared attack her, all in the name of keeping his place in the army.
He'd never thank her for her healing services, not even if he needed them.
A
Chrom came around to find Robin, an idea set in his mind that he was not going to let go of, no matter how hard she'd try and shake it from him. He was going to play tactician for a day, let some of the stress leave her shoulders and let her relax while he did the heavy lifting, and there was nothing she was going to say or do that would make him change his mind on that. As he approached her tent, a reminder that he needed to let her know he was coming in crossed his mind, but he disregarded it entirely, throwing the front flap to her tent open with great force.
"Hey, Robin, I—" he managed to get out, before a large and heavy tome hit him directly in the face, sending him stumbling back out of the tent and to the ground.
"Oh gods, you're not an intruder," she stammered, having realized moments after lobbing her book that she was attacking Chrom, of all people. As she watched him fall, she pushed aside her other books and crawled out of the tent, rushing to his side to make sure he was okay. "I had what I remember of my life flash before my eyes there before I threw that, this is why you're supposed to let me know you're coming in before you do it!"
"Yes, I think I get that now." Despite the red mark on his face from where the book hit him, Chrom managed to crack a smile and laugh. "Never thought you'd have that much firepower when it came to merely throwing something."
"You're lucky I didn't have any real weapons nearby, I could have done serious damage to you." Robin was taking the opportunity to check the wound she'd inflicted on Chrom out for herself, trying to keep her hand away from touching the darkening mark on his forehead. "The book doesn't seem to have drawn any blood, thank goodness, but it's going to leave a nasty bruise at this rate."
He brought his hand up to the exact area Robin was looking at, touching it and wincing as he did. "Seems to me that you're right on that. I hope it doesn't take too long to heal, can you imagine the hilarity of seeing the 'scary' leader of the Shepherds nursing a bruise from a wayward book out on the battlefield? I'll become the laughingstock of the land if word of this gets too far."
"Chrom, I'm so sorry…I should have let the possible intruder get the first blow in, rather than me taking the offensive." Withdrawing her presence from his side, Robin scooped her book back up as she crawled into her tent once more, ready to hide herself away from Chrom while he sorted out how to handle his bruising head. When he followed her in once more a few moments later, she was quite surprised, but didn't question it as it was clear that he didn't care about asking to enter at all.
"I'm proud of you for attacking me, despite me not being an enemy force," he told her, sitting down on the floor of her tent and reaching for the first book within his grasp. She gasped and pulled it away. "Why are you hesitant to let me see what you've been in here doing? Not befitting of a leader or something, hm?"
She shook her head, setting the book down right next to her as she reorganized and closed all the others she'd thrown away when she'd first exited her tent. "With the head injury you've sustained, perhaps trying to read wouldn't be in your best interests. Maybe a visit to one of the healers would be best, I'm sure they'd be quick to fix you up."
"Now, now, Robin, I did come here for some reason, and you attacking me didn't make me forget it." He teasingly shook a finger at her, reaching with his other hand for the last book she hadn't managed to put away due to it being too far from where she sat. "I came to ask you a question, and now I'm going to ask it. Would it be too much to request of you to let me play tactician for a day, to give you a break?"
She'd been trying to stay straight-lipped and serious after he'd followed her into her tent, but his question was enough to get her to break into laughter that only ended after she'd fallen onto her side from the force of her chortles, knocking books everywhere once more. Chrom seemed a bit displeased, but he hadn't expected her to actually go along with the idea. All he had to show for what he'd done was a bruised forehead and a stronger desire to do something helpful for Robin in whatever way he could.
B
The attack had happened faster than Lon'qu could adequately react to it, in a skirmish that didn't seem to be too consequential to the overall status of the war around them. He hadn't seen the enemy lance-user until far too late, and by the time he was able to get a swing in to disarm his opponent, he'd already been run through by the lance, the wound gushing more blood than he'd have liked for it to. What was he going to do about this? He wasn't in danger of any other attacks, but he wasn't going to make it very for or for very long with an open wound. If only he knew anything about first aid, or if only he had some handy way of healing himself.
Like clockwork, the chirping voice initially came from behind a tree, words spoken in the echoes of footsteps. "I'm coming, Lon'qu! I watched that happen, and I'm ready to make it all better!" Lissa sounded determined to fix what damage had been done, despite Lon'qu never once asking her to do a thing for him. At this point, he'd fully expected her to have given up on trying to befriend him, leaving him there to die.
This time, with the pain from the wound blocking his initial instinct to act like she wasn't present, he gave her a feeble nod as she came to his rescue, healing him as fast as she could without fear of any ambush. "That could've gotten really dicey if I hadn't been watching," she said to him, playfully waving her staff at him once the majority of the healing had been done. "That's got to be deserving of a thank you."
"Yes, well, I never asked for you to stalk me as you do, so no thanks will be wasted on you, woman." His voice was as cold as ever, but Lon'qu couldn't find it inside himself to give her the response she wanted, even though she had quite literally just saved his life. "You can go back to your trees and get away from me."
Her head hanging low, Lissa sniffled loudly. "I'm just trying to help you out and maybe get to know you better. You know, I've always been the one here for you when you need it, maybe you could lighten up and actually notice that?"
"I have noticed it. I cannot be bothered to care about it." He blinked at her and her dramatic sigh as she turned away, her plan for their encounter clearly ruined. On the surface, he was exactly as he usually was: uncaring. Deep down, though, he could feel slight twinges of regret for what he'd said, because Lissa really did only seem to mean well. She couldn't help that she was a she, but that wasn't his problem.
A
There was no reason for Lon'qu to not be asleep when he heard the sound of unfamiliar voices coming from somewhere inside of their camp. He had just been laying in his tent, dwelling on what he could do to better his swordsmanship when the first cackle rang out, sending him shooting up to a seated position. He had a blade resting next to him, something that he grabbed as he rushed out of his tent to see what was going on. Other members of the army were milling around, all brandishing weapons to attack any enemy they saw, but there seemed to not be a single one visible.
That was because, as he quickly realized, they were all aiming for a specific target, as evidenced by the piercing shriek that broke whatever silence there was left in the night. He hadn't heard that scream before, but he recognized the voice that made it, being the same voice belonging to the girl who'd always been there to save him when he needed it. Of course the enemies would go after the Ylissean princess, and of course he'd know exactly where she was supposed to be sleeping to go and play the role of her savior.
Call it a perk to always making sure he knew where each woman's tent was so he could steer clear of them at all possible times. He was able to locate Lissa's tent with ease, joining a small group of other members of the army who'd found their way there thanks to her screaming, everyone holding their weapon at the ready for when they saw the first sign of any of the intruders making their move. When that signal never came, but a follow-up scream happened, it was decided that someone, the strongest of all of them present, needed to go in for the kill.
Because it was foolish to let the prince of Ylisse rush in, it was decided (rather reluctantly) that it would be Lon'qu's job to handle. He had to steel himself for the moment, reminding himself that Lissa was not the enemy here, nor had she ever been, before bursting into her tent and skillfully impaling a couple thieves who'd snuck in completely unarmed and decided to try robbing the princess. "You saved me," she breathlessly said once he'd pulled his blade out of the now-corpse of the last thief. "I mean, they weren't going to hurt me with anything but their hands, but you came in here and saved me!"
"It wasn't my choice," he replied, wiping blood off his sword with the edge of his shirt. "Everyone chose me for whatever reason. My skill with the blade, perhaps? Definitely not because of who I was here to save."
He backed out of her tent as fast as he could, earning cheers from the men who'd been gathered there not just when he emerged, but when Lissa came out completely unscathed. "I don't know why any of these guys wouldn't be fighting for my hand for protecting me," Lissa grumbled when she saw the other men, all of whom fell silent quickly when they heard her comment. "Am I not good enough for any of you? You were willing to let me be thief-bait until Lon'qu came around!"
No one refuted the argument, but Lon'qu did find himself sighing as he heard her overdramatic outburst at the other men. "No, they wanted me to fight your potential captors off because I was strongest. You yourself had nothing to do with it."
"I'd be willing to bet that me myself did too have something to do with it." Lissa kicked at the ground, sending dirt into the air. "Now I've got nowhere to sleep and I've got a hero to thank for making that happen. How do you want your payment? Money? A hug?" He shook his head and started walking back towards his tent, leaving her there in the dark of night without an answer.
That was because he honestly didn't know what he wanted from her in that moment, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone.
S
How could someone with status and power like Chrom find a way to help out someone with as mysterious of a past as Robin had? He was already in charge of drafting march plans that she then had to alter and edit for the best tactical advantage, and while he was the moral center of the Shepherds, she was the logical mind behind their actions—was there honestly anything that he could do for her that wasn't already a duty someone had?
Aside from the glaringly obvious answer, he couldn't come up with anything else, so the one thing his mind kept coming back to had to be it. That was how he found himself standing outside her tent, listening to the soft sounds of pages turning from inside the canvas walls, knowing that she was hard at work on some kind of reading inside. Every so often, he would reach for the front flap of the tent, ready to open it and make his entrance, but the reminder of a still-tender forehead existed to tell him that barging in on her was something he couldn't do anymore.
Besides, it wasn't like he was ready to face her, at any rate. At the same pace she was turning her pages, he was outside doing deep breathing exercises, trying to ready himself for what he was about to do. This was his tactician he was dealing with, she had a plan for everything, and he wouldn't have been even slightly surprised if she was anticipating what he was about to do, even though he'd tried his hardest to keep this a secret from her. Watching someone as skilled and talented as her deal with the unruly members of the army had done wonders for his appreciation of her, growing it from just a working partnership to something that he felt could become much, much more if given the chance.
He must have taken in too sharp of a breath at one point, because the page-turning stopped and rustling was heard inside of the tent, followed immediately by Robin poking her head out, looking unamused at the disruption. When she saw that it was Chrom standing there, her face softened and she smiled at him. "Why, hello there. Manage to remember that barging in isn't appreciated?" she teasingly asked him, making him shift uncomfortably where he stood. She took note of that, based on how she followed up by asking, "Is something the matter? Are you okay? Were we ambushed?"
"Y-yes, everything's fine!" he replied, throwing his head back and laughing awkwardly for a moment before abruptly stopping, going right back to standing stiff and tall. "Just time for a talk between a commander and his tactician. A general and his greatest ally and asset."
"Way to make it sound like I'm a possession, but I see your point. Shall I move so you can come inside?" Her smile didn't change even with her uneasy words about how he'd referred to her, a good sign. When he didn't answer her, she sighed and pulled herself out of the tent, standing before Chrom as if they were equals. "Well, sir, now you've gotten me out away from my reading, so whatever this conversation is about, I hope it's important enough as to excuse my future ignorance on other cultures."
His manner of responding was to inhale deeply, letting his cheeks puff out as he held in the breath he'd drawn. As he exhaled, he saw her raising her eyebrows and looking at him questioning, a bit put off by his nervous behavior. He'd never been like this around her before, he really needed to work on handling himself once he'd set his mind on someone. "Excuse me for bringing this upon you so suddenly, but I couldn't help but…er…no, that's not how I want to word this."
"How you want to word what?" Robin's eyebrows raised a bit higher, her forehead creasing as she stared at him. "You're not replacing me with someone else, are you? I understand that there might still be some apprehension about me being in such a leadership role but—"
"Gods, no, it's not that!" Another deep breath, Chrom going over the words he'd been rehearsing in his head before trying again. "I just wanted you to know that, uh, over these past weeks as we've fought side-by-side, you directing and me leading, something feels like it's grown to exist between us."
"It's referred to as a friendship," Robin bluntly said, letting her face relax as she accepted that this wasn't anything to be concerned with. "This is quite an odd way to proclaim your friendship with me, but I appreciate it. I feel like something's there between us as well, a loyalty and devotion that I never wish to shake."
"That's not—you're not—gods, Robin, I'm afraid of coming onto you like a wyvern in heat, but you're misinterpreting what I'm trying to say." His face went bright red at the wording he'd chosen to use, watching as she brought a gloved hand up to stifle her laughter. "Robin, whatever bond we have had, it's moved past friendship in my eyes and my heart. You may not feel the same, and that's fine, you're allowed to be married to your tactics as the war requires. But when the fighting's over…"
He looked at her, his eyes trying to get across the genuine nature of his confession. "Won't you remain the wind at my back and the sword at my side, staying with me to build the peaceful world we and our allies deserve?"
S
"Remember that time that thieves broke into my tent and tried robbing me? I'm sure you can't forget that night, that was a crazy ride." Giggling, Lissa poked her head out from around the tree she was hiding behind, startling Lon'qu with her unexpected appearance. "But there's one teeny tiny issue from that night, that being that you never let me thank you for killing those guys."
"Go away, I'm training." Lon'qu had dropped his sword when she'd spoken, something he'd already picked back up and was swinging around forcefully. "You can stay if, and only if, you promise to shut up and not bother me."
"Sounds like you want an audience," she said, coming out from behind the tree and sitting down cross-legged in front of it, eyes focused solely on Lon'qu. "Don't worry, I am so down for sitting and watching you, no worries. I mean, I already watch you all the time without you knowing, what's the difference now that you do know?"
His swinging became less precise as she spoke, his focus becoming more on her and less on what he was doing. "The difference is that you are a distraction if you're speaking to me, which you still are. At least when you're hidden I can act like you're not there."
"Then consider me not here!" Lissa raised her hands to hide her face behind them, laughing as she did. "Just keep practicing, I'm not here at all right now…"
"No, you are here, and you are distracting me!" With his hand not on his blade, Lon'qu reached out and grabbed Lissa's wrist, pulling one of her hands down from her face. The look of surprise on her face when she locked eyes with him, just for her eyes to track towards looking at where he was actually touching her, was one that made Lon'qu regret what he'd done within seconds. "I, er, did not mean to do that," he stammered, pulling his hand back and going straight to his swordplay once more. "Ignore that it ever happened."
"How can I do that, when my wrist's all tingly from you touching me?" Erupting into giggles, Lissa scrambled back to her feet and cupped her mouth with her hands, dancing around in a small circle. "Oh my gods, he actually touched me! It's a dream come true! Better than any thank you for anything I've ever done for him!"
He could feel his cheeks warming up in embarrassment at what he'd done, but to see her so giddy about being touched had him blushing for another reason. "Ahem, can you stop that before I turn into a tomato?" he asked, his words choppy as he was trying to keep his composure. "I would much rather not have to deal with this here in front of you, of all the possible people."
She stopped her spinning and dancing long enough to look at his reddened face and grin at the sight. "Why's that, huh? Do you have something you want to tell me?"
"I might," he replied, before finding that any subsequent words had caught in his throat, rendering him unable to speak his thoughts any further. While she stared at him, waiting for some grandiose expression of intentions and feelings, he could tell that he was going to be nothing but a giant let-down when the words finally came out. "I-it's not that I care about you, or anything like that, but of all the women I have met you might be the first that I can somewhat tolerate."
"Somewhat tolerate, huh?" she repeated, her grin growing. "Sounds like a marriage proposal to me! I'll have to tell Chrom, he'll be so excited that I managed to break through your shell through my persistence! Do you think he'll let us get married right away?"
"Wh-what? No, that wasn't any sort of a proposal!" His face burning as hot as a flame, Lon'qu dropped his sword to grab both of his cheeks in horror at what had just unfolded. "It wasn't anything close to a proposal!"
"It's the closest I figure I'll ever get with you," Lissa told him, approaching him to pick up his sword and hold it in front of him, tempting him to grab it from her. With one shaky hand, he reached to take it from her, making sure to not touch anywhere close to where she'd been holding it. "You're welcome for that, by the way. I'll keep the marriage proposal thing secret if you'll just say a few words that should've come before that…"
He swallowed down, knowing what she was expecting him to say and still not wanting to say it. But with the stakes either being to say what she wanted or have her run her mouth of a proposal that had never happened, did he really have any other choice? "Thank you, Lissa."
A/N: Sometimes you just feel compelled to write a fic for a friend that involves rewriting the supports for his two favorite ships and posting them in a logical order that would work in the games. I know a lot of people have problems with both the Chrom/F!Robin and the Lon'qu/Lissa supports, so I decided to play with elements from them and make them completely new, all in the name of giving something to a friend who means the world to me. c: