"Gaius, I am so sorry about earlier!" Robin apologized nervously, walking towards the mess hall tent with the thief. "I had no idea you were in the tent."
"No worries," Gaius shrugged indifferently. "At least I hadn't taken off my smallclothes yet, eh?"
Rushing into the bath tent, Robin barged in on Gaius accidently while he was taking off his ragged clothing. Immediately, the tactician escaped from the tent, very embarrassed. He thought about continuing to run off, but decided to remain until the thief was finished for two reasons. The first was to apologize to Gaius, wanting to do it sooner rather than later.
The second was the strange marking he saw on Gaius' right arm. Robin swore he saw the same image in a book before covering the laws of Ylisse. Of course, knowing the thief, he figured it would not have been too much of a stretch if he had been branded as such before. Still, the tactician thought it would be best to discuss this with Gaius before deciding on revealing it to Chrom or the other Shepards.
"Yes, but, I may have seen more than you intended," Robin started carefully.
"What?! You saw that?!" Gaius exclaimed, alarmed. "Gods, how embarrassing. It's just, uh, some poison oak I got the other day, I swe-"
"Not that!" Robin interrupted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm talking about the tattoo on your arm. It's the one they use to mark convicts, isn't it?"
"Oh, that?" Gaius regained his composure. "Yeah, I got caught once doing a favor for a mate. Paid the price. But, uh, I'd appreciate it if you kept that little nugget under your hat, Bubbles."
"You're still going to call me Bubbles," Robin sighed, arriving in front of the mess hall tent. "But don't worry, I won't tell any-"
"You'll tell everyone, you say? So, it's to be blackmail is it?" Gaius quickly interrupted, ignoring Robin. "Fine then. I can understand taking an opportunity to line your pockets. You can have my portion of dinner tonight, okay? Will that stake your greed for now?!"
Robin turned to Gaius, surprised by his reaction. The tactician was just telling the thief that he was going to keep the tattoo a secret, but he was not listening. Perhaps it had something to do with Robin saying he did not trust him yesterday, something he hoped to clear up later. Seeing Gaius stand up to protect the tactician and Lissa instead of running was enough to prove the thief worthy of being part of the Shepherds now. For now, Robin needed to clear this situation up first though.
"One helping of bear is already more than enough, thanks," Robin denied politely. "Also, I'm not blackma-"
"You drive a hard bargain, Bubbles!" Gaius declared, pulling out a slice of pie from his sleeve. "Very well. Take this custard pie!"
"Where did you…" Robin started, shaking his head. "Never mind. I'm not-"
"If you're looking for ransom, I can assure you I don't have any money," Gaius told the tactician. "But what I do have are a very particular set of honey cakes."
"Look, I don't want any treats from you. I'll keep your blasted secret!" Robin declared loudly.
"Woah, easy there, Bubbles!" Gaius said, now pulling out a bottle in his other hand. "Here, maybe a little sweet wine will put you in a better mood."
"Gaius, it's morning, and I give up," Robin sighed, heading into the tent.
"Well, looks like I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you just so you don't go telling anyone my secret," Gaius followed suit, the sweets disappearing from his hands.
The two walked into tent, where three, long tables were set up. The Shepard's breakfast was set out on the center table, ready to be taken. For today, it was two slices of bread with jam spread on and water skins. Robin was not sure who made breakfast for today. He remembered how it was supposed to be Stahl, but given his current condition, the knight was still resting in the medical tent.
The remaining Shepherds were sitting on benches at the other two tables, the tactician realizing that he and Gaius were the the last to arrive. Most of their comrades sat at one table. Chrom and Lissa at at one end, still eating, while Sumia and Cordelia sat towards the middle, having finished breakfast and were talking to each other. At separate ends of the other table sat Lon'qu, sharpening his sword with a whetstone, and Donnel, eating. Asides from those injured in the previous battle, the only Shepherds missing were Frederick, Maribelle, Panne, and maybe Kellam. Robin grabbed a plate and took a seat next to Chrom. Gaius followed suit, sitting in front of the tactician and next to Lissa.
"Good morning, everyone," Robin greeted with a smile.
"Morning, Robin," Chrom said, taking a bite from his food.
"So, Blue," Gaius started. "Where is everyone? I don't think this is even half of us."
"Blue?" Chrom asked, confused.
"Well, Maribelle went to check on the wounded," Lissa answered, giggling lightly. "Truth be told, they're mostly fine though. I think she's just using it as an excuse to see Virion."
"In all seriousness, some of our injured should be back in action today," Chrom reported. "Asides from Virion, Ricken and Miriel should be able to march with us today. And everyone else should be in fighting condition tomorrow."
"That's good to hear," Robin commented. "How about Frederick, Panne and Kellam?"
"I'm right here," Kellam announced, suddenly appearing to the side of Donnel much to everyone's surprise. "I was the one who made breakfast, actually."
"Gods!" Gaius jumped up from his seat. "How lon- Where did he go?"
"Oh, Kellam does that a lot," Lissa told him, holding back laughter. "You're new, but you'll get use to it, just like the rest of us!"
At the mention of new members, Robin turned his head aside to check on how Cordelia reacted to Kellam, realizing the two probably have not met yet. She and Sumia stood up and were about to leave when the knight announced himself. While Sumia was not that surprised, Cordelia instinctively reached for her lance before dropping her guard. The two pegasus knights nodded at each other before leaving the tent. Robin turned his attention back to the others: Chrom and Lissa had just finished eating while Gaius looked at the tactician, giving off a strange, knowing smile.
"Back on topic, Frederick left earlier in the morning," Chrom told them. "He wanted to see if we could stop by a village on our way to Regna Ferox. Panne is somewhere in camp. I saw her earlier but she left to hunt, I believe."
"Well, I guess we'll meet them on the way there then," Robin thought out loud.
"Well, we'll leave you two to eat then," Chrom decided, standing up. "Lon'qu and I need to get ready to train in a few minutes. I think it's going to be just us two today."
"And I'm going to check on the medical tent one last time," Lissa joined in, standing up as well.
"Wait, Chrom," Robin interrupted quickly. "I was thinking about joining in on the martial training today. After that close call, I thought it would be best if I finally learn how to fight with a sword."
"Good thinking," Chrom complimented. "Although I'm not sure how that'll work out for today. I guess the three of us can take turns sparring."
"I could join in," Gaius offered. "I mean, if my other option is help taking down camp with Farm Boy and whatever his name was, I'll gladly join in."
"You want to spar with my brother?" Lissa asked, giggling. "He's going to wipe the floor with you!"
"Well, excuse me, Princess," Gaius said sarcastically. "Asides, I think I can handle Blue. I picked up a trick or two here and there."
"Don't call me Princess!" Lissa demanded, crossing her arms before walking out of the tent.
"You might want to listen to her," Chrom suggested, grinning as he walked after his sister. "I might not hold back on you. Come on, Lon'qu. We'll have to wait for Robin and Gaius to finish breakfast."
Lon'qu grunted, standing up to sheath his sword. Together, the prince and swordsman walked out of the mess tent, leaving their comrades to continue eating. While eating, Robin took notice of Donnel leaving the tent as well and plates disappearing one by one from the center table. Soon, in a few hours, the Shepherds would be on the move again.
Robin focused on finishing his breakfast so he can catch up with Chrom and Lon'qu. Gaius finished afterwards, grinning at tactician. He blinked at the thief, unsure of what he was thinking. Looking back, Robin realized that Gaius was giving him a strange look all throughout breakfast. After thinking on that, the thief leaned in on the table, speaking.
"So, you and Cordelia," Gaius started, smirking. "I'm a bit surprised, actually."
"What are you going on about, Gaius?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I saw the way you looked at her," Gaius told him. "You find her attractive."
"W-what?!" Robin stuttered, his cheeks turning light red.
"You heard me, Bubbles, although your reaction proves it," Gaius grinned. "I don't really blame you for falling for her of all Shepards. She is per-"
"I'm not falling for her!" Robin declared. "I just met her yesterday and talked to her once! People don't fall in love that quick!"
"You're the one who brought up love, not me," Gaius shrugged lightly. "It doesn't matter. I could tell her that you are in love with her, and she wouldn't care. She's head over heels for Blue, you know?"
"She is?" Robin asked quickly, shocked. "How can you tell?"
"Well, I'll be honest with you," Gaius started. "You were way too obvious with it. Same goes for her. Honestly, if Chrom wasn't so oblivious to romance, he'd probably pick up on it too."
Robin leaned back, sighing while thinking to himself. Much to the tactician's surprise, he did admit there might have been some truth to Gaius' words. Now that he thought on it, Cordelia was rather stunning and beautiful. Kind, hardworking, and a loyal Shepherd. Robin pushed those thoughts aside as quickly as they came to mind. Being the tactician of the Shepherds, he was sure that there was something wrong about having such thoughts about those under his command.
Speaking of command, for a brief moment, when Gaius was talking about him, Robin felt jealous of Chrom. After meeting the prince in the field, the tactician followed him with complete loyalty. After all they have gone through, he admitted that Chrom was practically like a brother. Again, he pushed this emotional thoughts aside, finally noticing that Gaius now stood, looking upon Robin.
"You done daydreaming yet, Bubbles?" Gaius joked, smirking before walking away.
"I wasn't daydreaming!" Robin defended himself, quickly following after Gaius.
"Keep telling yourself that," Gaius shrugged in indifference. "Wish me luck against Blue. I'm probably going to need it."
"Heh, the same goes for me and Lon'qu," Robin smiled lightly.
The duo walked out of the tent, Robin trying to gather his emotions. He cautioned against being emotional, both in the short and long run. For the former, he would have to face a calculating swordsman in battle and needed his undivided attention if he did not want to be defeated so easily. For the latter, as tactician as the Shepherds, he had a war to plan to plan for soon. Viewing the Shepherds as his family, Robin knew that he could not place one Shepherd over the other, excluding Chrom and Lissa of course. Hopefully, this would be the last time he would have such thoughts.
A/N: Great news everyone: I'm back with another chapter!
Alright, I got a bit of explaining to do regarding my absence. It all started with me taking some time off from fanfiction writing to focus on preparing for NaNoWriMo, something I hoped to finish unlike the previous two years. Unfortunately, despite trying so hard, I couldn't reach the word count just yet. Yet, after all that writing, I decided to take a break. I took a bit of that time reorganizing my plot notes for all my fanfics, mainly focusing on the conclusion of my Warcraft one.
And even being absent for months, I was still surprised by the people that were still liking my story. It inspired me to continue focusing on plotting out the rest of the narrative so I can get back to you guys. And for that, I thank you. I shall continue writing, and starting with the next chapter, I will be addressing new reviews (I read the past ones, I assure you. It's been awhile since I did and I lost my thoughts on them. I apologize). The next chapter may be delayed by a week since I will be filling out an important application then.
Until next time.