Head over Heels
"You know, I just noticed something."
"Really? That's new."
"No, it's not really new. I mean, you should know by now. I'm a tactician. I ow!"
"You're also hopeless at this."
Robin didn't like being called hopeless. He didn't like being called "the stranger" or "the Avatar" (he had no idea where that came from) or "newbie." He didn't like being called anything that singled him out from the rest of the Shepherds when they were the only people he really knew. So while "hopeless" was a more general term than those other insults, he didn't like being called it any more than the rest of them.
"But do go on," his sparring partner continued. "Please share your oh so astute observations."
"Maybe I will…"
Sully just smirked.
Robin didn't know how he got himself into this. Or rather, he did, but wondered why on earth he thought it was a good idea. He was fairly good at tactics and magic. Nowhere in that job description did it dictate that he had to spar with Sully, whom he didn't have time to know in the time between her arrival in the woods, and his arrival at the Shepherds' base camp. Apparently the phrase "can you show me what you can do?" translated into having a spear thrust into his hands and leaving him to try and defend himself from Sully's blows. Blows that always utilized the shaft of her spear rather than the point, but were still painful nonetheless.
"So go on," the knight continued, easily parrying one of Robin's thrusts and knocking his spear out of his hands. "What have you noticed?"
"Well…"
Robin trailed off, glancing around the camp and getting a knock on his head for his trouble. "Nevermind."
"Come on kid, no turning back now."
"Well…"
"Spit it out!"
The tactician let out a yelp as he ducked Sully's spear. He let out an ever louder one as it came back the other way against his neck.
"It's just…I think Sumia has a crush on Chrom."
Sully just stared at him. Stood and stared.
Least she's not trying to hit me.
"I mean, maybe it's just me," Robin continued hastily, hoping that the lull would last long enough for someone to summon him for another task. Any task. "But the way she acted around him. I mean, I haven't been with you guys for long, but, well…think she's got a thing for him."
"Course she does."
Robin stared. Sully stared back at him.
"Gods, you think you're the first to notice?" the knight asked incredulously. "For goodness sake, everyone knows that!"
"Everyone?"
"Well, everyone but Chrom, but men are clueless like that," Sully said. "But come on kid, you may as well say that the sky is blue or that the grass is green."
"Or that birds sing?"
"Whatever," the knight said, waving a gauntleted hand. "Point is, it's old news."
Robin pondered his next move. On one hand, he could plough further in. It came as a bit of a blow that what he'd seen when Chrom arrived at the camp wasn't just his own observations, but…well, he couldn't remember if he was into romance or anything prior to losing his memory, but the idea of some love-struck pegasus knight pining for the prince of a kingdom did have potential for a good story. On the other hand, if he wasted more of Sully's time, chances were the next blows she unleashed on him would be even worse.
The tactician took a breath. He chose the former.
"So, everyone knows," he said. "Guess that explains the fall."
"The what?"
"Oh yeah," Robin said, pleased to tell Sully something she didn't already know. "I mean, Chrom arrives, Sumia goes sparkly eyed, walks forward, and…well, falls right in front of him. Face first."
"She does that a lot."
"Yeah," Robin smirked. "I guess you could say that she's, er…head over heels for him."
He smiled. Sully stared. The wind blew and a crow cawed. And somewhere in the midst of all this, the shaft of Sully's spear knocked him to the ground.
"Ow! What the hell?!"
"That…was the worst pun…of all time," the knight said softly.
"Okay, okay," Robin said, trying to get to his feet. "I'll shut up!"
"Good."
"Okay…you forgive me, right?"
He tried to get back up. The spear knocked him down again.
"Now I do."
A/N
I wish I could say this was the only story idea I've ever had based on a pun but...well, that would be a lie. A big one.
Puns aside, what actually sparked the idea was the scene in the Shepherds' base camp where Sumia literally falls face first while walking over to Chrom. IMO, ChromxSumia seems to be in the category of the closest thing Fire Emblem has to a canon pairing, where the story pushes for it outside support conversations (other examples in my mind include EliwoodxNinian and RoyxLilina). Whatever one may think of said pairing, I'll at least give their interactions kudos for 'cuteness.'
Yes, I'm a grown man who used the word "cute." Gah.