I'm so sorry for the very late update. I thought the chaos of my family visiting was over, only for more family that I never met before came to visit. And on top of all that I have writers block.

Ch. 11: Advice Part 1

Morgan's constant cheerfulness was extremely infectious and left everyone smiling after a little talk. To everyone he seemed like a guy without a care in his world and in a way it was true; so long as he had his mother he was fine. She was all he needed; he didn't need that father he couldn't remember.

Yup, Morgan, himself, had no problems. Robin, on the other hand, had plenty of problems and hers were his, even if he didn't know what they were. It pained him that he couldn't be the one to help her with them and that she wouldn't even talk to him about them. And as much as it frustrated him, he knew that he wasn't the one that would help his beloved mother that was up to his potential father candidates.

His mother wasn't his only female problem, his crush developed into something more but he had no idea what to do about it. Even under feeling embarrassed conditions Morgan had no problem talking but when it came to admitting his feelings he was always left babbling like an idiot. He tried asking Owain and Yarne for advice but they, too, suffered the same problems (Owain wasn't that much of a surprise).

"Would you two just hurry up and get out here already! I'm not getting any younger!" a very familiar voice could be heard barking from the other side of the tents. Instinctively Morgan found himself gravitating towards the direction it was coming from. Confused the three young men that were accompanying the tactician-in-training followed silently behind. The source of the voice was none other than Severa, who stood outside her tent grumbling and tapping her foot. "Move it!"

Almost too happily Morgan tried to call out her name but stopped when two new voiced joined in the yelling. "Hold your horses!" the first one order.

"Must we come out looking like this?" the other voice complained.

"Well duh! I'm not letting my hard work go to waste!" Severa shouted back. "Now move it!"

The men sat back, their interest peaked. Morgan wanted to get closer but Inigo held him back, with something about now wanting to spoil the fun. Disappointed Morgan agreed and stood next to Owain, who started to paint an odd story about what the women were up too.

With another shout the two women emerged from their shelter. Robin and Kjelle were in dresses and the very sight caused the men to gasp. Robin's was tight but long giving an air of maturity. Kjelle's hugged her very well accentuating all the curves that her armor kept hidden. The dresses were not the only thing out of the ordinary, they were also wearing makeup. They would have a sight to beauty, if annoyance wasn't so clearly plastered on their faces. For once Owain was speechless, Ingio's goofy grin was wider than ever, and the final man, Brady, was blushing like crazy.

"I can't believe we are doing this," Kjelle sighed as she tried to prevent herself from stumbling on the uncomfortable shoes.

"What are you complaining about?" Robing sighed back. "I really thought we were done with the 'Find Robin a Man' game."

"My, my don't you ladies look more beautiful than ever," Inigo's Sauvé voice added to the ladies' annoyance.

Inigo had taken it upon himself to make a guy code for all the male children. It involved many rules, like don't date your male friend's sister (none of them had sisters so that one was easy to follow) and things like that. The most important rule that he constantly stated was one did not go after a friend's mother, but that rule only seemed to imply towards Inigo's mother. And since Robin was single she was completely fair game or so he said. Morgan was never bothered by the mercenary's flirting as he knew his mother would never fall for it.

Inigo's flittering wouldn't cease no matter how many insults the women threw at him and some were nastier than normal. It wasn't until Severa threaten that he stopped and good because Robin's and Kjelle's strained nerves were at their limits. With graceful defeat he bowed out and returned to the men.

"Mother, you look beautiful." Morgan's compliment earned the smile that the mercenary was fishing for. Thanking him, she patted his head. She had offended wondered if that was the right gesture for her to interact with her son. She saw fathers do it but never any of the mothers. She didn't know how else to interact but Morgan seemed to like it so she continued with it.

With his designated compliment towards his mother done Morgan stepped back and having his determination renewed Inigo resumed his flirting. Discretely Morgan stole glances of Severa from the corner of his eyes but because her back was to him he couldn't see what he wanted-her face. Sighing, he accepted his view and wished he could work up the courage to finally compliment her on her and not just her cooking.

The budding tactician could only watch as the philanderer said all the words he wished he could say but actually mean it. There was a shove at his side and then another and another until he finally looked the source, Owain. The blonde youth kept jerking his head and mouthed something Morgan had no idea what about. Brady was too absorbed by the sudden change in Kjelle to notice the weird motions coming from the man next to him. When Morgan didn't act, the swordsman did by shoving him into Severa.

"What's your problem?" Several growled towards both boys. Owain shrugged and pretended to engage in conversation with Brady but it wasn't going well as the priest was still lost in his thoughts. Morgan on the other hand wasn't doing too well in trying to play it cool.

"Y-you'll look v-very nice." Morgan cursed inwardly for stuttering.

"Well duh! I take pride in my looks unlike those two muscle, brained idiots." The other woman rolled their eyes but she didn't care.

Unable to think of anything else to say he looked back at his friends. Owain wasn't much help as he just motioned for Morgan to continue. Taking a deep breath the cheerful youth decided to steal one of Inigo's many lines but he never got the chance as the female mercenary started to push the other women way, while shouting insults at the men. In defeat he let the line die with a sigh.

Laughter from the black haired young man broke Morgan out of his uncharacteristically melancholy mood. An arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him closer. He was brought face to face with the smirk that frustrated Gerome and others so often.

"So Morgan, you like Severa?" the older man teased. The orange, haired youth's cheeks burned and he understood a little why so many found Inigo annoying. "I can help you, you know."

"Morgan actually wants to succeed," Owain butted in. That little comment set Inigo off and a fight started with Brady tying to mediate. Morgan watched for a bit before boredom set in and he slipped away, unnoticed.

Morgan used to think that his mother was the best source for advice on everything but with his current girl troubles he believed that she shouldn't be the one he asked (also he was to embarrassed too). Owain and Yarne's advice wasn't getting him anywhere and he didn't even want to bother with Inigo's. Crushes were something a son discussed with his father and he wished more than ever to remember that man.

He inherited a lot of things from his mother, including her cluelessness. He might have missed a lot of things, especially things revolving around love, but even he could see the closeness with his mother and the two young men: Gerome and Laurent. He might not remember his father but he found it safe to assume that one of those two men were his forgotten father.

If one of them were then maybe he should ask them for advice. It was fatherly advice he was seeking but to be honest he wasn't expecting much from Gerome's or Lauren'ts advice; after all they didn't seem that much interested in the opposite sex, let alone love. Regardless, he was excited to hear what they had to offer.

He wandered around the camp in search of them. While Gerome was often a challenge to find, Laurent was usually easy to spot, except for that day. The mage was always about observing someone or something or fixing a problem but as of late he had been slacking and hard to locate. For an aspiring tactician finding the two men was the perfect challenge that he gladly accepted.

It was a surprise and yet not a complete one when he found Gerome before Laurent, the wyvern rider was with his beloved Minerva feeding her. He would have approached the older man right then and there if it wasn't for the argument going between Gerome and the other man, Gaius. Morgan couldn't hear from his position and he dared not get closer, but from what he could see the thief was trying to give his son something.

With a sigh Gaius finally gave up and left. Mumbling under his breath he unknowing made his way to the fidgeting onlooker. Once he spotted the child, from the future, a smile planted itself on his lips and Morgan calmed down. He placed the bag in the young man's hands and before the question could be asked a candy was gently shoved into his mouth.

Savoring the sugar confection Morgan was silent so Gaius spoke, "If Gerome doesn't want them than they are yours, little man." That was most peculiar as Gaius was super stingy with his treats and wouldn't even share them with Robin, who was his closest friend (next to his wife, of course), but he treated Morgan differently. He laughed at the tactician-in-training's confused expression, tussled his hair, and left. If Morgan didn't know any better he would have thought that Gaius was treating him like a grandson; and if his hunch was correct that was probably a possibility.

He continues to suck on the candy debating wither or not to approach Gerome at that moment. He watched at the wyvern rider grumbled to himself. With that mask on it was impossible for Morgan to truly tell if Gerome was angry or not. He wished he had his mother's keen intellect because she had figured out how to read Gerome even with the mask.

Eventually, he decided that it wasn't the time to approach Gerome. Stealth wasn't one of Morgan's many skills as he bumped into a crate and alerted the other person. "Morgan?" Gerome called out and the boy silently cursed himself. Putting on that smile he was so known for Morgan greeted his potential father.

He was already discovered so he decided to just go with it. Finishing off that piece of candy he resisted the temptation to eat another, or at least wait until after their conversation was over with. The bag of sweets didn't go unnoticed but then again he wasn't even trying to hide them.

Gerome rubbed the back of his neck and found it to be a bit hard to look at Morgan as he asked for one. The younger man found it strange as he was sure Gerome wasn't the type to like sweets but he guessed it would be impossible to not like them when Gaius was your father. Not a stingy boy the tactician shared, after all they were originally for the other man, and a soft smile graced the other's lips.

An awkward silence befell the two as Morgan worked up the nerve to ask for advice. He tossed the bag back and forth between his hands, trying to figure out the right way to ask it. The more he thought about it the more embarrassed he got and he was sure that Gerome was getting bored, hurting his confidence even more.

Another minute passed and Gerome finally said his goodbye and his potential son knew he had to act fast. Unfortunately for Morgan the only thing that came to his mind was to shout wait without a plan. He cursed himself a second time for doing something he knew his "perfect" mother would not have done.

That shout had a consequence he didn't think it would have; Gerome had taken it as a sign that something was wrong. Awkwardly the wyvern rider fumbled with words in an attempt to find out what was wrong and hopefully fix it. Morgan would have stopped the other man quickly but he was surprised to see the usually calm, cool, and collected man's demeanor vanish. He let it continue for a few more seconds before finally letting Gerome know that everything was fine.

The aspiring tactician couldn't tell if Gerome was annoyed at him or not so he just assumed that he was. Offering a quick apology he finally asked for the advice he was seeking but discretely left Severa's name out of his explanation. It took a second for the taller man to register the smaller man's question. He then became a stuttering mess as he tried to figure out as to why Morgan came to him out all people. Suddenly Morgan could rival Inigo and Olivia in blushing as he became extremely embarrassed and afraid to tell Gerome that he thought he could be his father; so instead he gave a lie about asking all the men.

"Uh…um…How about giving her something sweet…like chocolate?" Gerome's uncertainty was very evident in his voice. Morgan fault back a laugh; he found it very amusing that the first thing that came to Gerome's mind was sweets; he really was Gaius' son. "Or maybe flowers…Girls like flowers, right?"

Despite being uncomfortable and unsure the wyvern rider actually offered many good gift suggestions that Morgan was sure might actually please Severa, a little at least. All the suggestions, however, always ended in questions and Morgan couldn't help but think it was Gerome's way of trying to get suggestions to get close to Robin, and before he knew it Morgan ended up telling Gerome things that his mother would be pleased to receive; Gerome was very quiet during that part.

Satisfied with the advice Morgan gave his thanks and left, leaving the flustered, older man alone with Minerva. He had some good ideas but he still wanted to see what advice his other potential father had to offer. All that was left for him to do was just find Laurent.

I've mentioned many pairings in this story but only two are actually based off from my play through. Can you guess which ones? The first person to get at least one right, I will write a one shot about their favorite Awakening pair. Please no yaoi/yuri request, I'm terrible at writing those.

Hint: It's none of the main pairings in this story.

Please guess I need help getting over my writer's block and I think a distraction will help.

As usual reviews are most appreciated.