Author's Note: Now it's the parents' turn to be exposed in their own little private moments.
Robin & Lissa
Robin awoke in a slight haze, the previous night's celebrations of the Sheperds' return to Ylisse having lasted well into the night. The comrades-in-arms had drank, sang and generally behaved in a manner that would normally have constituted a severe scolding from Frederick. He and his wife had even danced (badly) in the mess hall while Donnel clapped along and Maribelle seemed to threaten to castrate him with her eyes (a very singular talent of hers that both impressed and terrified him).
"Okay… definitely wasn't a heavy drinker," Robin muttered, rubbing his forehead before fumbling in an effort to lace up his boots.
The effect of the liquor did a number on his coordination, partially because it made the room spin rather rudely whenever he moved his head into the wrong place. The only comfort he could take about his clumsy efforts was that his wife was still fast asleep in their bed, missing his pathetic display.
Although, Robin estimated she wouldn't be in much better shape when she got up… likely sometime in the afternoon. Despite Maribelle's best efforts both she and Ricken had taken their fair shares of wine and would probably regret it once they awoke.
Pulling his long black coat on, Robin froze when a familiar sound he couldn't place emanated from within the room. Putting aside the splitting headache that the noise had given him, Robin quickly reached into one of the coats large pockets to remove an Elthunder tome that he always kept handy.
Rather than the comforting feel of paper brushing against his fingertips, Robin encountered a distinctly slimy substance that lubricated his digit enough for it to slip along the smooth surface.
Struggling against his clothing (thank Naga his wife was still out cold), the tactician eventually managed to fling his coat to the ground in a heap and stumbled backwards towards the bedding. Gripping the sword he'd left at its foot, he pointed it warily at the black object.
Apparently disturbed by his actions, something small began pushing about inside the pocket. Robin tightened his grip on his blade's handle just as a small green head popped out.
He let out a sigh of a relief, lowering his sword as the frog hopped peacefully about the room, aimlessly wandering in the enclosed space.
Weak laughter from behind him drew his attention, Lissa's eyes blearily meeting his as her usual energy seemed to have abandoned her.
"I'd laugh harder… but my head really hurts," Lissa half-whined before leaning lazily back into her pillow.
"Why am I not surprised?" Robin mused to himself before smiling at his wife's once again sleeping form. "I must be crazy to have married a woman who likes putting frogs in my robes when she's bored."
"Ribbit," the frog chimed, in what Robin thought sounded like agreement, as it hopped passed him.
"Definitely crazy."
Virion & Cherche
The stable for the mounts possessed the same… unique odour that most animal dwellings did if Virion was being honest with himself. Still, it was a comforting smell, many pleasant memories associating with a sweating Wyvern rider in his mind's eye.
He caught sight of Minerva; both of her munching down on the food Cherche and Gerome had left for them.
"Ah, just the lovely ladies I was looking for," Virion exclaimed as he approached them, the older of the two raising her head to screech out a greeting. "Yes, it's been a while since we were last alone. I must admit to finding your Mistress more alluring than yourself, shameful though it is to say."
The younger Minerva threw in her own higher-pitched growl response, Virion laughing at it.
"I take it that means that you feel the same way about me," he admitted, moving part of his hair out of his eyes foppishly. "I'm so jealous."
His expression sobered as he leaned against the wooden enclosure keeping the two Wyverns in, being certain not to get in between a half-Dragon and her meal.
"I know it is rude to make a request of a lady to do a husband's duty but," Virion sighed, "I want you to promise to keep my wife and son safe, no matter what happens during this war."
Virion's eyes were uncharacteristically obvious in their sadness as he finished his plea, "I've lost a kingdom and the love of all but one of my former subjects, and still, I couldn't bear to lose them. I would be lost completely."
The Wyverns' half-hearted responses made Virion avert his gaze in embarrassment.
"Yes, I shouldn't doubt you; you've never given me reason to before. I just felt I had to say it once."
"How sweet," a deep female voice drifted from the side of the stables, Virion's head snapping to the side to see his wife's usual calmly smiling face staring back at him. Still, he could just about spot a hint of her being touched by his words in her expression after all the years that they'd known one another.
"How long have you been standing there?" Virion grimacing like a small boy caught with his father's bow.
"Long enough. You are so much better with women when you aren't aware of their presence," Cherche said thoughtfully, her tone neither joking nor mocking.
"Such cruel words, my dear… I think," Virion commented awkwardly, embarrassed even further by what he was certain was the chuckling of both Minervas behind him.
Vaike & Sully
One of the first things Vaike and Sully agreed when they married was to split their duties fifty-fifty. So, she wasn't surprised to see him cooking. She was a little bit caught out by how much pride he seemed to take in the activity though.
"Here's one of The Vaike's specialties! Deer meat served hot with a swig of ale!" Vaike boasted as he placed a plate and mug in front of his credulous wife before sitting down across from her. "One of the many things that Ol' Teach can do that Chrom just can't."
"Yeah, but why would he want to?" Sully asked, poking at the meat with a fork the same way one might poke a person they weren't quite sure was dead yet. "I thought he was like your combat rival or something. Isn't this a bit of that range?"
Vaike wagged his finger in her face while smirking wildly, "Not so, Teach is a man of many talents. It ain't enough to be a better fighter than Chrom, The Vaike's gotta be the better man as well."
"Not many people call cooking manly," Sully pointed out, taking an experimental bite of the venison. To her surprise, it was actually quite tasty, the flavour washing pleasantly over her tongue.
"They don't know nothing!" the blond Warrior yelled, raising one arm into the air while tightly clenching a fist. "A true man is master of all around him! A lesser man can skim by on undercooked bear meat and hope for the best, the real man knows how to make the best of any situation!"
"Uh huh," Sully intoned while swigging back the bitter ale, the strength of the alcohol complimenting the meat's gamey taste.
"Yep, The Vaike's cooking hand's nearly as impressive as his axe arm," Vaike boasted while his wife shrugged her shoulders, more interested in her husband's food than his ramblings. "You doubt The Vaike! Then he'll have to cook the next time we do this as well!"
"I'm not objecting to that," Sully said with a slight smile.
"Alright then!" Vaike yelled before standing to his feet. "The Vaike's got something to take care of but you remember what you heard today."
"Alright," Sully chuckled, chewing away at the deer meat, well used to Vaike's eccentricities.
Vaike wandered through to the other side of camp, making sure he was well out of the red-haired Paladin's sight and earshot before throwing his arms into the air and screaming, "WOOHOO!"
Ignoring the few curious stares he received, Vaike began moving with a renewed vigour in his step.
"Splitting duties is fine, but The Vaike saw the face of Naga the last time he tried her cooking," Vaike grinned happily as he spoke to himself, most of the other Shepherds deciding to just file it away as a 'Vaike' thing. "Ol' Teach'd rather cook every day for the rest of his life than risk letting her near his food again."
Ricken & Olivia
Ricken sometimes wondered if he'd fallen in love with two completely different women. That same thought happened to be running through his head a few nights after the Plegian War had ended, his wife snoozing snuggly in his arms while sleep for himself proved elusive.
Olivia was a shy girl who blushed profusely at the slightest hint of anything embarrassing. Olivia was also a daring woman who dressed provocatively and twirled hypnotisingly like a nymph of legend through a bloody battlefield.
Olivia was a cute girl who apologised over the slightest hiccup and could never bear the thought of upsetting someone. Olivia was also a masterful narrator who got a twisted kick out of making him scream like a girl whenever she told a scary story.
It was almost paradoxical (he'd picked up the word from Miriel during their studies together) the way she shifted between the two sides. It had confused him at first, their early dates (not that they'd realised it at the time) consisting of her yawning at his attempts at horror before bending him around her little finger with her own.
The Dancer shifted in his arms, her bare skin rubbing pleasantly against his chest while she slept. Her cute eyes twitched in dreams, her lips curling upwards at the fantasy her unconsciousness weaved.
He'd been slightly enamoured by her, physically, when he first laid eyes on her, the same emotions rushing through his body as they did whenever his teenaged eyes spotted a pretty girl. He briefly acknowledged her looks and moved on, his family's honour being so much more important than his personal feelings.
When they first spoke, she'd blushed and shied away from him, his heart racing at the adorable sight. Once again, the feeling passed and could be brushed aside with only the tiniest bit of extra effort.
Then she'd caught him reading in the camp, the two chatting amicably about the book while her usual fear abated and she'd sat far too close for comfort. He took a quick shift to the left to avoid her noticing before offering to let her join him the next time he rummaged through their literary storage.
She'd scoffed at a tale that had him checking outside his tent with more scrutiny each night and swore she knew better ones. His pride wounded by the implications, he challenged her to prove it.
Throughout their exchanges, he found himself laughing the entire time, his joy mirroring her own at a successful performance each time. Somewhere between screeching like a banshee at her showmanship and laughing his ass off at the idea of a cow becoming a sheep, he'd fallen in love with her.
The way her face lit up like a cherry and the way the excitement gave her voice a higher pitch after he had proposed to her, it almost hurt his chest with the sudden excited pumping of blood to his own cheeks.
He could talk with her for hours over tales she'd heard during her travels or he could stare at her beautiful face endlessly when her nerves got the better of her to the point that words fell apart.
Planting a kiss to her forehead, he finally made up his mind on the issue.
He was completely in love with a complicated woman… and he'd have it no other way.
Gregor, Libra & Donnel
"Libra, Gregor have theory about how to solve your problem of looking like woman," the older mercenary announced out of the blue after finishing his tenth mug of ale.
"Is that so?" Libra asked curiously, his eyes indicating a kind interest in Gregor's idea.
"Really? I already reckon'd a sign woulda worked but Libra didn't want that," Donnel said while still nursing his first glass.
"I meant no offence but I felt silly," Libra gently admonished the young Villager.
"Hey, Gregor be sharing theory now, so listen carefully. Gregor intending to down many more of the ales during the night," he began, pointing to his ceramic mug conspiratorially.
Both men drinking with him shared a confused look before leaning in closer.
"If Gregor drinks enough… you'll become real woman and he can take you to bed without doubts!" Gregor yelled proudly, downing another gulp of alcohol before demanding an eleventh pint from the serving wench. "Is great idea, no?!"
The effeminate War Monk nodded his head once in appeasement before sighing and standing out of his chair the second Gregor's attention shifted back to the cup in his scarred hand.
He fixed Donnel with a serious look, "Make sure he makes it back to camp safe. I'd help but it seems that would be a bad idea in his current state."
"Probably for the best," Donnel muttered in response as Gregor gleefully downed another beer the same way a man in the desert might the water in an oasis.
Stahl & Cordelia
Stahl's fingers plucked at his harp's strings pleasantly, Cordelia hearing the sweet notes floating over her ears as she was gently roused from sleep. Her eyes fluttered open to catch sight of the soft crinkling of his handsome brown eyes while he sat cross-legged next to their bedroll.
Moving a hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, Cordelia sat up in her bedroll to hear her husband finish his beautiful performance. Her lips curled upwards as the two basked in the warm glow of the moment, the rest of the world vanishing for just the briefest of seconds.
All too soon, Stahl's fingers stalled and he gave a small mock bow from his position, Cordelia clapping politely at the performance. The moment ended and both lovers quickly set about gathering their clothing and armour for the coming day.
Cordelia clipped her breast plate into place just as Stahl laced up his boots, offering the extraordinarily average Shepard a wave before heading out into the dawning day. The two were usually amongst the army's earliest risers and she usually used the quiet time before the bulk of their forces rose from slumber to gather her thoughts.
At that moment, she was debating whether she could truly call the food obsessed Cavalier average.
She reflected on her husband's harp playing and the leaps and bounds he'd improved by since taking up the instrument. She was proud to have been able to him better himself, both as inspiration and a playing partner.
Despite being the middle of the Shepherds' road in an every activity seeming a less than stellar compliment… he was the median in everything that the Shepherds turned their attention to.
With a little bit of elbow grease he'd learned the harp, displayed a talent for medicine making, could prepare a meal that everyone at camp could keep down and could even repair his own clothing (albeit not as neatly as Cordelia, Cherche or Gaius).
Cordelia had always considered pointing out a person's flaws to be a kindness, sugar-coating only reinforced a person's shortcomings and could lead to tragedy on a battlefield.
However, aside from gluttony (which didn't really create a weight issue) and a mental block when it came to pursuing victory over others (sparing with Sully, aiming to measure up to her own harp skills rather than surpass them, etc.), Stahl probably had less overt flaws than just about anyone in the camp. He wasn't the best at much, or anything come to think of it, but there was nothing inherently wrong either. All the while his goals seemed to be to aid others rather than improve himself, learning what he needed to and then moving onto the next person who required aid.
"You alright, Cord?" Stahl asked, having apparently noticed her distraction and fallen into step beside her. "It's not often I can get this close to you without you noticing."
"Just wondering about some things," Cordelia answered amicably.
"Anything I'd be interested in?" Stahl queried playfully.
She thought about her husband's usual disposition towards himself and giggled before shaking her head.
"No, I doubt it very much." "You're much too selfless."
The rest of the morning passed without incident but one very strange thought stuck in the determined Pegasus Knight's head, "I wonder if a lack of flaws and all-rounded competency could be considered a type of perfection. He has always called himself perfectly average."
Cordelia could barely mutter her laughter at the thought, her Pegasus briefly wondering if her mistress had gone mad as they took to the air to scout out the surrounding area.
Author's Notes: The Gregor, Libra & Donnel gathering was to make sure I'd have six stories in each half of the adults' turns. That is, provided I get around to finishing this anytime soon with college starting up and such.
