The first thing Robin noticed was Gaius sprawled on the floor with a black eye. Robin worked his jaw up and down slowly before sighing and sitting down on Chrom's bed. Chrom was pacing back and fourth in his room, the walls matching the azure of his hair.
"Alright." Robin began. "What is it and why is Gaius on the floor, unconscious?"
Chrom finally stopped pacing and sat in a chair across form Robin. He wrung his hands together nervously before speaking. "I-I punched Gaius pretty hard."
"Yeah I can see that." Robin snarked.
"No! I mean, well yes, but-"
"Chrom!" Robin interrupted. "What the hell is going on?"
"Well...I woke up and was talking to Emm before she left for work. Then Lissa woke up and she made her breakfast, but she left her phone on the table. I saw HIM-" Chrom pointed at Gaius, "Sending her messages with hearts and 'I love you's' written all over!"
Robin face-palmed. "You do know that everyone else was aware of this, right?"
"What?" Chrom's jaw dropped.
"Yeah they were pretty obvious about it...then again, you aren't the most attentive when it comes to romance..."
"What's that mean?"
"It means..." Robin began, but stopped when Gaius stirred on the floor.
"Ugh...blue? And Bubbles? What happened?" Gaius slurred. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide and he scrambled to the far end of the room in terror. "You hit me!" The orange-haired man lifted a hand to his eye, gingerly feeling around his face.
"You're dating my sister!" Chrom shouted.
"Yeah? You didn't know?" Gaius said plainly.
"How would I know? I Would think you would have told me, or at least Lissa would have."
"Heh." Robin laughed, followed by a sigh. "Listen, man I wanna just sleep. This has been fun and all..." He trailed off, heading for the door.
"Robin." Chrom's 'serious' voice stopped him.
"What?"
"Help me do something to Gaius!"
"Like what?"
"I dunno. Beat him up?"
Robin stopped for a moment, a very brief moment, to actually consider it. "Nah, this is your problem." He waved and walked back outside. Snow was now falling in heavier flakes, getting in Robin's already snow-white hair.
He got back into his car and drove around a large circular path that lead back down to the iron gate. After waiting for a short while, he pulled back into traffic. Rolling up to a red light, infamous for being up to five minutes of waiting time, Robin rolled down the window and breathed in the cold air.
"Hi!" A cheerful voice spoke in the car next to Robin. Looking over, Robin saw Sumia, with Cordelia at the wheel and his sister in the back. A look of confusion passed briefly over his face before he waved and spoke.
"Hey Sumia! And Cordelia!"
"Not even going to say hi to your sister?" Rose spoke up from the back, her window rolled down.
"I saw you thirty minutes ago." Robin deadpanned.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"Home. I don't wanna be awake anymore." Robin said.
"That won't do!" Sumia said excitedly. "You should meet us at the mall!"
Cordelia flashed Sumia a look of annoyance. Robin sighed. "I really want to sleep..." He mumbled. Seeing the pleading look in Sumia's eyes, and knowing her personally, Robin knew he couldn't get away.
"Alright...I'll follow you there."
A squeal of joy burst from Sumia and Robin rolled his window back up.
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The group of four were sitting in the food court, having just finished eating and shopping. The white-haired man hadn't even shopped, it was just him being dragged around by the girls. Robin was leaning back in his chair, eyes on the ceiling as he almost fell asleep.
"Robin!" Rose spoke up, jolting the man forward.
"What?" He asked, annoyed.
"Is that Morgan over there?" Rose pointed towards the entrance to a movie theatre across the large food court. Just as Rose said, Morgan was standing there. She was leaning against the wall, eyes darting around the crowds.
"Is she waiting for someone?" Sumia asked.
"I dropped her off at Nah's earlier. They probably went to a movie." Robin replied.
The table watched as Morgan perked up, eyes flashing in excitement. Robin smiled, expecting Nah to emerge from the crowd. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a tall man in a leather biker jacket and jeans. His hair was brown and slicked back.
Robin visibly darkened.
"Who's that?" Cordelia asked, speaking for the first time since Robin met up with the girls.
"I think that's Cherche's brother, Jeremy or something?" Rose said.
Robin stood silently and made his way to the couple, but they had already gone inside. Without a ticket, he had no way of knowing which theatre they went to. Plus the ticket usher would stop Robin, and he didn't have any spare change on him...
With a sigh, he turned and sat back down at the table. All eyes were on him.
"Wow, you looked like you were gonna kill him." Rose said plainly.
Robin nodded slowly.
"Does he get like this often?" Sumia whispered to Rose. The twin nodded in response. "I last saw him like this when I agreed to go on a date with Inigo."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Really, do you have to go 'protective brother mode'? Morgan's almost as old as you were when we used to date."
"This is different!" Robin snapped. "He must be taking advantage of her somehow..."
"Really, Robin you should just let it go." Cordelia said.
Robin scowled. "I'm heading home." He stood and silently made his way out of the packed mall. Some people in the crowd caught his viscous glare and stepped aside. It was quite the spectacle for the usually reserved man.
"Honestly, I'm kind of glad we broke up." Cordelia shrugged.
"You two were cute together..." Sumia trailed off.
"Eh." Cordelia shrugged. "He just isn't my type."
"Yeah, your type is rich guys with blue hair named Chrom." Rose remarked with a cheeky grin.
"Rose!" Cordelia blushed.
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Robin sat in the driver seat, still parked at the mall, and pulled out his cell phone. He ran through his contacts until he found 'Nowi and Nah's home #' listed. He punched the button and held it to his ear.
"Hello?" A voice, clearly Nah's, answered.
"Hey Nah, can you put Morgan on the phone?" Robin asked, faking a cheerful voice.
"Uh, she's in the washroom right now. I can take a message for her?"
"Nah..." Robin said dangerously.
"What? She's gonna be awhile I think?" Nah said with a squeak.
"Cut the shit. I just saw Morgan at the mall with some guy. Who is it?" Robin questioned.
"Eep! Sh-She's with Gerome, Cherche's brother. I swear! Sorry!" The phone line went dead.
Robin sighed. "Can't do much right now...I guess I'll just head home."
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Cherche stood back and admired her handiwork. Her motorcycle sat glistening with a fresh polish, all clean and ready for the road. She sighed as she looked out the garage door. The snow was starting to come down harder. She wondered if it would be a snowday tomorrow.
A tall man in a biker outfit, similar to her own, stalked up the drive way. Cherche waved at her brother, easily recognizing the jacket and hair. Beside him, a cheerful girl with black hair walked with a spring in her step.
"Hello, Gerome." Cherche greeted with a smile. Her brother grunted in response. "And who is this? She asked.
"Hi! I'm Morgan!" The black-haired girl introduced herself.
"Oh? Is she your girlfriend?" Cherche said teasingly.
Gerome visibly blushed before pushing past her into the house. "Bye Gerome!" Morgan waved with a jump.
Cherche raised her eyebrows. "Were you not going to follow him?"
"Are you kidding?" Morgan spoke, bewildered. "It took everything I had just to get him to agree to go to the movies with me!"
"That...does sound like him."
"Yeah." Morgan trailed off. "Well, I better get headed home..."
"Would you like a ride?" Cherche asked.
"I couldn't ask that of you! Besides, isn't it unsafe to ride a motorcycle in the snow?" Morgan asked.
"I've ridden Minerva here for years," Cherche patted the motorcycle affectionately. "We'll be fine."
"Well...if you insist!" Morgan replied cheerfully.
Cherche smiled and passed Morgan a smaller sized riding helmet. Morgan clipped the strap on and gave her a thumbs up.
Cherche got on the vehicle, patting the seat behind her. She helped Morgan on. "Does Gerome have a bike too? He always dressed like he does, but I've never seen him ride it." Morgan asked.
"Yes, it's in the shop currently."
"Ah."
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Robin dropped Marc on his bed, the boy passed out long ago. Robin had come home in quite the mood, only to have it softened by Marc sleeping soundly in the same armchair he had left him in.
The white-haired man heard the door open, and two feminine voices talking. He walked out into the open living room, spotting Morgan and Cherche. The pink-haired woman was wearing tight-fitting jeans and a sleek black jacket. Black boots went almost up to her knees, and Robin couldn't help but admire her figure for a brief moment before snapping into 'brother mode'.
"Morgan!" He almost yelled, almost.
"Eep!" She cowered visibly. "Y-yes...?"
"How was Nah's?" He asked with venom.
"I...u-uh..." Her eyes darted around the room. "I guess you caught me?" She replied sheepishly.
"One, I saw you at the mall with Gerome. Second, you got a ride from his sister here, so yes." Robin deadpanned.
"Morgan." Robin spoke seriously, still ignoring Cherche, who had stepped back towards the door to give the siblings a moment. "Is he taking advantage of you in any way?"
"Wha!? NO I asked him out and-" Morgan spluttered.
"Excuse me." Cherche cut in with a stone stare. "I don't appreciate you talking about my brother this way."
Robin exhaled. "I'm sorry, Cherche, but you have to understand how it is from my point of view. My little sister disappears with some ominous biker I've never seen before, and doesn't tell anyone about it? I mean no disrespect, I'm just concerned for my little Morg."
Morgan blushed and hung her head low. "I'm sorry, brother, I just wanted to see if he would ask me out but I don't think he's interested in me..."
Robin walked over to his sister, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Just don't make me worry about you like that. I love you." He hugged her tighter for effect.
Cherche smiled. "You care deeply for your family..."
"A trait I got from my mother." Robin said with a grin, finally releasing Morgan.
A loud text tone emanated from both Robin and Cherche's phones at the same time. Both pulled out their phones and read the same text message; Hey! It's Chrom Exalt. I want you and your siblings at our school to come to my house for a big dinner. Not fancy or anything, wear what you want. Cya soon.
Robin shrugged. "I'm going to take a nap and then head over. God I just want to sleep. Morgan, you wanna come?"
"Sure!" She replied cheerfully.
"Alright, I'll get Marc when I wake up. I assume Rose got the text too..." Robin coughed. "Nice meeting you Cherche, I hope to see you at Chrom's."
"You too, Robin." The pink-haired woman turned to Morgan. "I'll make sure to bring Gerome." She winked and slipped out the door.
Morgan blushed.
Robin bristled.
So that was a thing. I'm goign to make this a thing that lasts awhile, I hope. I will continue The Soft Side, I promise. Just out of ideas right now. Also, who do you want Robin to end up with. I'm going to bring in all the Shepherds, save for Basilio and Flavia and a few minor ones.I want to hear your imput, help shape the story, etc. 3