"Can't keep up?" a smug voice asked Robin. She was furiously crunching through the forestry to look for game, while Chrom and Lissa went to look for firewood (though the Princess had originally wanted to hold down camp, when it was pointed she'd remain alone she was more than eager to look for supplies).
Robin would have enjoyed the fresh pine-scented air hugging her body, but his incessant lecturing was becoming tiresome fast. If he's trying to drive her out, it wasn't working (despite her temptations to grab a log and hit him over the head with it).
"Forgive me, I just woke up a few hours ago with no idea as to what the hell happened in my life before I saw a dashi—a man with blue hair pick me up from a field. So excuse me if I'm not up to par with your standards!" she snapped at him and he paused to look back at her with a curious look that flickered with something she was sure was suspicion.
"As you claim," he shrugged, and glanced over his shoulder. "What were you going to call milord? Dashing? Forgive me woman, but I must ask you do not set your sights on him." And with that he turned his back to her once more and crouched down, somehow managing not to rustle any leaves.
That did it.
She took a handful of berries and pelted them at his back. His armor impeded the projectiles from hitting him directly, but it clanged loudly and she heard the sound of hooves retreating.
Ever so slowly, he turned back to look at her with a grimace.
"Sorry?" she raised her hands in apology and offered what she hoped was a cute smile. But he was not pleased.
"Thank you for chasing the elk that I managed to get a good aim on, in spite of your ruckus. Now what do we do about dinner? Maybe you should just get back to camp and sit there like a good little girl." The calm coldness was slipping into something that was akin to hate. What was it? Did he so hate being proven wrong? She could admit it was something that would bother her too, but surely not to this extent!
"Well maybe if you could afford to be a little more kinder, we wouldn't have this mess to handle! Anyway I'm sure there's plenty of other options for us, why you must have a—" she swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth. There was only so much she could do to intrude upon their hospitality. And she was alone in the forest with him. Who knew what this bizarre man was capable of?
"I have a what?" he challenged her with a frost-covered voice. "Continue, woman."
She shook her head and offered him a sardonic smile instead. She started to walk off to bring attention back to their task at hand, but he caught her wrist. His fingers were surprisingly warm, and firm against her skin. She breathed out a gasp, but came to her senses long enough to face him and wrench away from his grip. He was staring intensely at her and flexing his fingers, but something a bit direr came to her attention.
"Bear! Behind you!"
His normally lightning-fast reflexes failed him, and she had to use a wind tome to hinder the animal from harming Frederick; it was a close shave, too, for it surely would have gotten in a good swipe or two.
"Stay back!" Frederick said, and recovered enough to push her back behind him and pull out his spear.
"I'm capable of protecting myself," Robin said, but once the bear roared even she shrunk back a little. But she gave him begrudged admiration; he didn't even wince. He wound his arm back and plunged his weapon into its skin.
The creature cried in pain and swiped for him, and he sidestepped away smoothly, letting the spear finish the job.
She watched with fascination; she was more equipped to fight humans than a bear, and even then hand-to-hand combat was something she had no experience in. Or at least, she felt so. Perhaps he was right in being a bit stern with her.
Eurgh, whatever it was, Robin just wanted to eat and go to bed. "Help me tie this, will you?" the man asked, with a bit less animosity in his voice. Perhaps he recognized what she did for her. Or maybe he was just absorbed in his work. She nodded and took a seat next to him, and winced as some debris poked into her skin.
He took no notice, or at least, pretended not to, and indicated for her to pick up some loose ends to fix up. "Do you know how to tie a knot?" he asked after watching you fumble with the frayed material for a while. For the first time that day, his voice wasn't condescending, but almost gentle.
His tone was promising, so she shook her head. If she knew how, it would have come to her by that point. "I see." He pressed his lips together tightly, and then sighed. He scooted over to her and she could smell the musky scent he was exuding. His features were sharp, she noted, as his brow furrowed and his lip curled. Oh, how pleasant a smile would look, she thought wistfully. For the sake of curiosity, she assured herself. Nothing more. "Let me show you," he said, and in slow deliberate movements, he eased the rope into becoming a formidable hold. "Think you got it?"
"I think so," she replied, and took it into her hands. "Let's see…" She got through the first steps easily, but then blanked out. Was it over, or under? Or do I just twist the damn thing around?" Frederick tutted and took her hands in his.
"Pay attention," he ordered her, and started to help her finish up the knot. He was unbearably close and she tensed up. The proximity made her highly uncomfortable. What made him think he can just touch her?
"I got this. Please, move back," it came out rougher than she intended, and she could see the discomfort shadowed in his visage.
"Gladly," he said, and made a show of moving away from her. "I can finish this up. Your position doesn't seem to be kind to you." He nodded at her knees. Ah, so he had noticed.
"I can do this," she insisted and stayed put. Just when he was being a bit more bearable, she had to go and bungle this up.
He shrugged. "No loss to me."
"Good."
"Fine."
Chrom beamed at Robin when the disgruntled pair returned to camp with a dead bear in tow. "Ah, you've returned with dinner I see! Well done, Robin." He said this with such warmth, it's as though he's been waiting ages to see a dead bear, and that she'd delivered one just for him.
"Oh thank you Chrom," she said and glanced down at her feet. She felt a bit warm all of a sudden.
Frederick snorted beside her, and was loud enough to only be within her earshot.
How rude!
"This young woman indeed was helpful. She managed to cast some wind to spare me time to wrangle the animal into dinner. She's a marvelous addition; I've even taught her to tie knots!" Robin bristled. She knew a backhanded 'compliment' when she heard one. Two could play at that game.
"Oh yeah, but Frederick would have done all the work if I hadn't stepped in to keep the bear from taking a good swipe out of his face. Really, he's so dependable!"
Chrom's smile became slightly strained as the two of them started taking digs at each other. He wondered if this is what it was like to take care of him and Lissa. He and Lissa glanced at each other, and she nudged him to cut in.
"Erm, perhaps we should get around to actually preparing dinner? Just a thought."
This cut off the bickering pair. Frederick rubbed his neck sheepishly and bowed his head in embarrassment.
"Of course, Milord. " He threw an annoyed glance at Robin, who, not to be outdone, stuck out her tongue. The knight had the strangest urge to laugh at her immaturity, but he settled for rolling his eyes and getting to work.
Robin nodded silently, put out that she didn't get in the last laugh. She'll win the next round, for sure.
And win she does. Whilst enjoying the hearty meal of bear (which she noted Frederick didn't touch at all; perhaps he assumed she poisoned his portion) she had slipped into the spot between Chrom and Lissa.
"Dinner tastes better already," he said and ruffled up Robin's mess of white hair (turned out going hunting did not spell for a good hair day, and tying it did nothing to help). "Having a new companion sure bolsters the spirit."
"Yeah, even bear tastes a bit better," Lissa agreed, but she still pinched her nose before taking another bite of the leathery scented venison. "But only a bit."
"I didn't really do anything," she said modestly and blushed, and suddenly showed greater interest in her food. It wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be. But she was starving, so perhaps she wasn't the best judge. All in all, it was mostly pleasant. The fire was crackling and warmed her up. The night air provided a cool atmosphere. Her new friends were kind and didn't smell badly. It would be a bit more exciting if it weren't for the man glaring at her.
"Peh" Frederick scoffed from his spot opposite the others. What a disgusting show, he thought to himself. Who was this girl to show up out of nowhere and win their affections? Did they forget who actually prepared the meal?
"Whatever you did was more than enough," Chrom assured her, then suddenly leaned in. Robin stiffened, Lissa was busy making faces, and Frederick seemed like he was about to charge to save the chastity of his charge. "You've got something on your face," he said, and brushed away some meat from the corner of her lips. The skin has flushed right there, and she found that she wasn't hungry anymore.
"Th-thanks." She found herself admiring him a bit longer than she ought to.
"I suggest we tuck in for the night," Frederick stood up and announced, after discarding his untouched meal into the fire. "We've spent long enough fraternizing around the fire."
"I suppose you're correct," Chrom said, and glanced at Robin with an apologetic smile. He was sure that Frederick would warm up to Robin in no time. At least, he hoped so.
Robin wished that the group had thought to bring warmer blankets. Not that she could really complain, but the chilly air was really starting to bite her. The second she lay down an annoying coughing reached her ears.
"What!" she hissed at him, and whipped her head at him with a dangerous temper. Even the hard ground was a relief for her aching body. The scent of grass was welcome to her nose, and she found an acceptable spot away from any gravel. She'd found marks imprinted into her skin from earlier, and was not fond about going through that again.
"You must remain by my side," Frederick said, with an ever-pompous tone not hampered at all by fatigue. She wondered if he was made of the steel armor he had been wearing. Robin was surprised how easy it was to remove. Probably it was needed for times of combat. But they were only shepherds weren't they? Why bother with such armor anyway. She was subconsciously sizing him up. She would have been satisfied to see a lack of muscle under all that, but his frame was lithe and toned.
It irked her to see him so fit and proper, wearing a formal vest and tie to boot. Why did he have to be so damned perfect? She'd bet fifty gold that he could probably knit too.
Maybe he's really hairy underneath all that, she mused. Her grin betrayed her inner babble, and he scowled at her. "I don't mean it in that way. I would appreciate it if you weren't to make such an assumption."
"It's not my fault your statement sounded like you were trying to come on to me." She disguised her real thoughts by playing along with him. She'd rather not explain she'd been contemplating his form so much.
"Please, don't flatter yourself. I will never hold a desire to hold even a flicker of a flame for you."
"And I don't care for you to. Now please tell me what you want of me instead of hovering over like a craven." She'd thrown out whatever bitter propriety she was using for him out of sheer annoyance. It's not like he spared any blows for her.
"I said so. I am warning you that I will remain in close proximity to keep you from any funny business, so as to not alarm you with any unfounded suspiciousness. Understood?" Unfounded suspiciousness, as though he had any room to talk!
She had the urge to complain to Chrom and Lissa, but the two siblings were already steadfast asleep. And they'd done more than enough for her already. Heh, their faces are so cute…Why can't Sir Uptight be as nice as him? Oh well, there can only be so many men that are both kind and handsome.
"If you would stop making eyes at Milord—"
"I'm not making any eyes at him! Goodnight!" She drew her blanket over her face and squeezed her eyes shut. If she couldn't see him, he would disappear.
What she didn't see that he relented being so harsh with her. He would almost find her petulance cute. But duty called first, and he had no room for niceties when she could pose danger for his beloved charges.
"Goodnight," he said almost pleasantly. It wasn't filled with warmth, but he'd decided to drop the curtness…for the present. He lay down on the ground and didn't even bother with a blanket or a sheet to lay over the ground. In truth, there were only three, and he gave her his. He didn't disclose this to anyone, but he was a gentleman. This was easy.
When she heard him settle, she turned back to peek out at him. No blanket? Is he acting tough? But surely it must be uncomfortable. She fidgeted and some sixth sense had him aware she was watching him. "Go to sleep. We have an early start, and I don't want to hear any complaints about being tired."
"Yeah, yeah," she said and drew her blanket back over her, snuggling for the thin fabric for whatever warmth it spared.
He chuckled to himself very quietly, and dozed off easily.
When the chaos awoke him, he found that someone had covered him with a blanket.
