After the stress of the last month or so, Robin found that there was nothing better to sooth her sores than a long shower. She probably used up all the hot water every day, but she truthfully couldn't find it in herself to care. No one had complained to her yet about it, and she wasn't about to ask anyone if they found they had enough hot water. It wasn't the sort of thing you start conversations about.

She dried herself off with the fluffiest towel she could find, and wrapped another around her hair to absorb some of the water to save her time while blow drying. She wasn't working today, and upon hearing that news, Tharja had immediately planned a night out, with details to be ironed out when the pharmacist got home. Robin made her way downstairs to pull clean laundry from the line, praying that her t-shirts would be dry. If she wasn't going out until later, she certainly wasn't about to dress as if she was. To her horror, when she entered the kitchen, she discovered that she was not alone as she thought she was, as Lon'qu stood behind the ironing board, a pile of neatly folded clothes beside him. If it was any other time, she would have been thankful for him ironing their laundry, but now, Robin just wished the ground would swallow her up.

"Why are you not at work?" She all but yelled at him, too stunned to do something sensible like leave the room and pretend that that didn't just happen.

"P-put some clothes on," He retaliated, lifting the first t-shirt off the pile and throwing it at her.

"That's what I was trying to do," Robin hissed, before slinking out of the kitchen, top in hands. Fortunately for her, it was one of her own, but unfortunately, she was never going to forget or live down what she would most definitely rank as the most embarrassing moment of her life to date.

Once she finally dresses herself, Robin flops down in the middle of her bed, staring at the ceiling. All of her plans for the day thrown out the window. She planned to have a quiet day and a loud night, but Lon'qu in the house, that wasn't really going to be possible. Not that he was loud, not by any stretch of the imagination, but his presence was enough to disturb her from doing nothing. Unless he locked himself in his room again, which she doubted, because he'd been doing that far less often as of late, she was going to have to deal with looking at him and his stupid handsome face all day.

And of course, as soon as that thought entered Robin's head, her day was ruined even further.

Perhaps Tharja was right after all, as loathe Robin was to admit it. Perhaps she and Lon'qu would be good together. But that wasn't something she particularly wanted to think about, because once she let herself consider that possibility, she could easily fall down a deep hole of daydreaming and find herself in a place where she would really rather not be. So instead of moping in her room, she decided that she would go and confront Lon'qu and his stupid handsome face.

He was still in the kitchen when she managed to make her way downstairs, after at least ten more minutes of stressing. Now though, he was seated at the table, with stacks of exercise books on either side of him. He looked busy, thankfully, so Robin quietly made coffee before leaving. Of course, since her luck today has been nothing but abysmal, he lifted his head and spoke to her just as she was about to leave the room.

"It's a bank holiday today."

"Huh?"

"You asked me earlier wh-why I wasn't at work. It's a bank holiday today," he explained, eyes carefully trained on her face and nowhere else.

"Oh. Right."

She left the room then, speedily walking away from a situation that was quickly becoming uncomfortable for the both of them, despite very few words being said by either party. She settled on the armchair with a novel that she bought from the used book store across town last week, tuning out the outside world and any thought of the man that was situated in the room behind her. It was only when Tharja entered loudly, Henry behind her, that she moved, setting her book on the table.

"Right," Tharja said, in the tone of voice that suggested she was about to make a plan. "Henry is going to make dinner tonight, and then we're going to have pre drinks, and then we'll go out." Henry nodded behind her, before wandering into the kitchen to make whatever food he could. Robin knew for a fact that Henry was a terrible cook, but as long as there were carbs involved, she couldn't complain too much- pasta was almost impossible to ruin, and if he had any sense, he would just cut some bread.

"Have you decided where we're going?" She asked Tharja, who shook her head.

"I was going to leave that decision up to you."

"Good," Robin said with a smirk. "I discovered today that Lon'qu is very easily flustered."

"How did you come across that information?" She pondered, and then paused, staring straight into Robin's eyes. "What did you do?" It wasn't a question, more of a demand; a 'tell me right now or you'll regret it'.

"Nothing intentional, I swear. Anyway, I say we go to that one club that's not too far from here, the one we accidentally went to that one time and you-"

"The one that Henry said shouldn't be so close to the church?"

"Yeah, that one." Robin raised an eyebrow in an attempt to egg Tharja on, who sits back in her seat in contentment.

"That sounds like a brilliant plan. And of course, we invite him."

"I'll drive, so we don't have to pay for a taxi."

"Aw. That's a shame."

"I'm still laughing about you doing pre drinks, though. What are we, teenagers?"

"Being drunk before you get there is always more fun. Then we can do shots."

"I am not dealing with you doing shots."

"It's fine, someone else will," Tharja cackled. "Get dressed, then."

Planning all of this was one thing, but inviting Lon'qu was another. He had a million excuses up his sleeve- he had work tomorrow, he was supposed to call his mother, he wasn't feeling well. But these all fell on Tharja's deaf ears, and eventually he relented. Robin had to give him credit- they were all very valid excuses, unlike the ones she generally managed to produce. But there was no saying no to Tharja, as she learned many years ago. Part of the paramedic felt bad for dragging Lon'qu out, especially since he would definitely feel uncomfortable, and the other part revelled in the idea of seeing his face when they reached their destination.

She was probably spending too much time around Tharja.

As per the older woman's instructions, she picked out an outfit- something that made her look not too out of place for the venue, but also doesn't attract too much attention. She wasn't looking for attention, not tonight. When that thought hits her, she had to sit down, but refused to think about why. With glitter on her eyes and her hair up she deemed herself ready to go out, and practically ran downstairs to find that Henry has in fact cooked pasta, and for once it's entirely edible, and she would maybe go as far as to say it tasted good. Lon'qu is already halfway finished his plate, and Tharja arrived a few minutes later, all dressed up, and picked at pasta with a desert fork. Robin suspected that Tharja kept an alcohol supply in her room, and her behaviour now almost confirmed that. She would really have to ask Tharja about alcoholism.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Let me do the dishes before we leave," Lon'qu offered, but Tharja shot him down without a second of hesitation.

"Don't put this off, Lonky. We're leaving." She swanned out of the room, Henry following her with a shrug. Pre drinks were completely forgotten about (Tharja having enjoyed them on her own). Lon'qu looked to Robin for clarification on what was happening, and was met with a blank stare.

"What did she just call me?"

"No idea."

"I really don't want to go," he confessed.

"Tharja will kill you," Robin warned.

He reluctantly got to his feet and trudged out of the house, Robin following moments later with her clutch in hand. When in the car, she started up a different playlist, one that wasn't 'grim' as Tharja put it. Neither Henry nor Tharja were a fan of Robin's classical music, so usually their car rides were done in silence. Even Lon'qu was beginning to get bored of her piano music (even though they had switched to 20th Century oboe music for a while). But Robin was prepared this time, with a playlist full of cheesy hits that were more fun to listen to than they were good music. By the time they reached the nightclub, everyone was in high spirits, and even Lon'qu had cracked a smile. It was when she saw that that Robin thought that maybe she should've let Lon'qu stay at home.

She would be lucky if he ever spoke to her again.

The bass from the speakers in the club could be heard even outside in the street. The neon of the sign illuminated their faces in flashes of pink and blue, Robin's hair practically glowing in the dark. Tharja wrapped her arms around her two Plegian friends as they make their way inside, the queue outside short as it was a Monday. Inside was still fairly busy, however, and as Tharja lead the way through the crowd to the bar in the back left corner, Robin could feel Lon'qu practically shrivel up behind her.

Tharja had once likened the place to a strip club, although there were no strippers. She just referred to the way the girls dressed, and the fact that there were frequently men who went purely to ogle. The three of them had only been there on one occasion, and Tharja had picked up more than one girl then. By the way she was getting on already tonight, Robin suspected that the same thing might happen again.

Henry dragged Robin onto the dance floor, something that was sort of a tradition for them. Tharja, as was Tharja, made her way to the bar, with Lon'qu following her, but sitting at the opposite end. When she put her mind to it, Robin found that it was easier to have fun with Henry and ignore everyone else than it was to deal with either of them. Sure, it wasn't guilt free, but Henry's constant grin made it easy for a smile to eventually make its way onto Robin's face. That was, of course, until he began to speak.

"So, what's up with you and Lon'qu?" He asked, practically yelling at her to be heard over the music.

"What? Nothing!" She yelled in return, although her face betrays her, her cheeks flushing red, something that Henry picked up even in the near darkness of the club.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

"Because I just find it strange that he'd make a cake to apologise for being anti social a loooong time after he started being, well, social."

"And what do you theorise he made the cake for then?"

"That I'm not so sure of," Henry finished with a wink. "But I'll find out."

Robin was confident that he wouldn't. Henry was all talk, no action. Besides, he'd got nothing out of her, and she was sure that Lon'qu would be even quieter on the matter. He seemed just as embarrassed as she did about the whole thing, and could barely make eye contact with her any more. Their car rides home from school were what she was dreading- uncomfortable silence was not her forte. What really scared her was if Lon'qu told her not to pick him up at all. She wouldn't put it past him, and honestly, she wouldn't blame him. So instead of wallowing in self pity on the dance floor, moving with only some semblance of rhythm, she stormed towards the bar, where there was a seat beside Lon'qu. He seemed to exude an aura that repelled people from him. Either that, or they were all crowded round Tharja, who seemed to exude a more magnetic aura. Robin slid into the seat beside Lon'qu and called the bartender, who had cropped red hair, over to order a drink.

"I thought you weren't drinking," Lon'qu offered.

"I could say the same to you," she shot back, nodding her head at the half empty glass in front of him.

"Just one."

"Mine's non alcoholic," she explained, trying to keep hostility between herself and Lon'qu to a minimum.

Robin's drink, which is probably ninety percent ice, is placed in front of her, and her hands automatically reach out to grab it. It was a comfort thing really- if you're in a club, you need to have a drink. She sipped at it intermittently, glancing at Lon'qu to her right and Tharja to her left from underneath her hair. Her eyes eventually stayed on Lon'qu, and she has to open and close her mouth a few times before she can speak.

"Need something stronger?" The bartender asks with a wink- Sully, if she remembers what Tharja said right.

"N-no, no thank you," Robin managed to get out before Lon'qu gave her a look.

There's so much she wants to say to him, and by the way he looked at her, she can tell he has a lot on his mind too. But talking to him honestly is like opening a can of worms that she would really rather ignore. So she turned away. Simple as that.

Tharja was still surrounded by people when the others decided it was time to leave. Robin shouted over the droves to see if she wanted to go home with them or stay out, but the woman dismissed them with a wave of the hand. With a shrug, Robin turned to a silent Lon'qu and a slightly inebriated Henry and led the way through the rapidly waning crowds on the dance floor and out into the street. The air outside was cold, and Robin instantly regretted dressing to look cool rather than to be functional. If Chrom were here, she would've been offered his jacket, but Henry and Lon'qu either didn't notice or didn't care. So Robin kept her mouth zipped and clambered into the driving seat.

The ride home was punctuated by Henry singing along to the last few songs on the playlist from earlier. At first, Robin thought that Lon'qu didn't know the songs, despite most of them being Ylissian in origin, rather than Plegian. But she catches him humming along, not daring to embarrass himself by singing along. She parked the car outside the house and Henry lets himself in first, muttering something about needing coffee before he goes to bed (how that worked, Robin would never know). Lon'qu headed in next as Robin locked her car, but Robin caught his elbow to stop him from going in.

"Wait."

"Hm?"

"Do you... do you still want me to pick you up from work tomorrow?" She asked, her voice unusually squeaky.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"No reason. Good night." She checked her watch before adding, "or should I say, good morning."

"Good night, Robin," Lon'qu said, the side of his mouth quirking up slightly, barely noticeable.

It was only when she was lying in bed that night that she realised she really needed to stop thinking about him so much.

A/N: I'm on a roll with this now lmao im a mess. anyway im also working on a playlist for this that contains the car music and Robin's depressing piano solos so hopefully ill get it ironed out by the next update! (ive been listening to it on the bus and its amazing. get hyped.)