Part II
Robin spent countless hours in his tent studying new books and writing down as many notes as he possibly could. His messy tent is filled with stacks upon stacks of books, random loose pieces of paper littered the floor along with balled up pieces of paper, a large amount of empty ink bottles and broken feathers lay in their designated corner, and a now cold meal that Libra had brought Robin sat on his desk untouched. Robin's attention was only occupied by the book in front of him, the quill in his hand, and the sucker in his mouth that Gaius had shared with him earlier. By only concentrating on what was in front of him, he failed to notice the sound of his tent's flap opening. Robin felt a small tap on his shoulder, startled he jumped in his seat while his heart caught in his throat.
'Dear gods, please don't let it be Lissa with another frog!' Robin's mind screeched to itself. He quickly turned, ready to see whatever poor slimy creature was being used for Lissa antics. He didn't see a frog, all he saw was Olivia, a silent blush slowly making its way to her cheeks.
"Oh gods! Did I scare you? I'm so sorry! How embarrassing!" Olivia yelled, her hands snapped towards her face in an attempt to hide. "I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!"
Confused at first, all Robin could do was stare, but seeing the dancer fidget where she stood as she apologized with no end encouraged a smile to make a graceful appearance on his face. Robin let out a small laugh, "It's fine, it's fine. I just thought you were Lissa with another prank." Olivia saw no falsehood in his smile and let out a small "oh". Robin looked at the floor and let out a sigh. The treat he was enjoying was now sitting on the ground, filthy. Olivia followed his stare and once she caught sight of the lollipop she was ready to start another wave of apologies. Before she could, Robin waved his hand and offered her a chuckle.
"Probably for the best, Sully would have kicked me my head if she saw I was eating too many sweets again." He bent down and picked up the sucker and threw it on the tray of slop sitting on his desk. "I guess I'll go throw this away right now. I don't want any bugs making late night visits to my tent… again. Do you mind waiting here while I clean this dish?" Olivia shook her head. "Make yourself comfortable." Robin said with a smile before exiting his tent.
Olivia grabbed the extra chair in his tent and moved it on the right of the chair Robin was sitting on earlier. As she sat down, she began to study the contents of his desk, her eyes caught on a roughly bound book, that Olivia assumed to be made by Robin himself. She grabbed the book and opened it to the first page. Chrom's name was the first word to greet her along with his strengths and areas he needs to improve in. "Amazing" was written at the bottom of the page and Olivia smiled to herself at the little compliment Robin had written about his best friend. As she flipped through the pages, she saw that every member of the Shepherds had their own page of stats which Olivia assumes is what Robin uses to make his strategies as accurate as possible. Olivia continued reading some of the entries, specifically the comments Robin wrote at the bottom of the page. Some soldiers' entries help high praise while others had comments that were more constructive like "Needs improvement" and "Needs to become more familiar with weapon". Olivia stopped when she turned to her page, she glanced at her stats and saw that compared to everyone else's they were relatively low. Before her eyes drifted to the bottom of the page with Robin's comment, she quickly shut the book, afraid of what he may have written down.
'He wrote useless. All you can do is dance and not very well I may add.' The voice inside her head spat. 'Or maybe he wrote stupid, how dare you believe you are a soldier.'
Olivia shook her head and began tapping the table trying to make any noise in the quiet tent. She glanced around for any other material that may help distract her from her mocking thoughts. She spotted multiple pieces of crumpled up papers, picked one up and opened it. Underlined and in big bold letters "unusable" ran across the paper. As she examined the paper closely she found the casualty that made the tactic a failure, next to the swordsman were percentages and "too risky" written next to it. Other papers that she unbaled were similar to the first, but the one that caught her eye was one that read "not good enough" on the paper. The battle plans were unfinished and it looked barren, the only thing that stood clear was a tactician, standing in the open field by himself.
"Sorry I took so long." Robin greeted as he entered his tent, causing Olivia to jump. She felt her blush burn her cheeks and creep towards her ears as she quickly baled up the piece of paper in her hands and threw it under the desk. "I ran into Sumia, or rather she tripped in front me when she was trying to get my attention." He chuckled nervously. "She gave me another book to read." He said while holding up a new book and putting it on top of another stack of tomes. He took his seat next to Olivia and raised his eyebrows when he noticed baled up pieces of paper that somehow made it to the front of his desk.
"Uh, what were you working on?" Olivia interrupted his quizzical look by grabbing a piece of paper Robin had written on earlier, her persistent blush still dancing on her face. She studied the pictures Robin had drawn alongside the notes he has written next to them. Each note explaining in great detail what each stroke represented and why it held any importance. If Olivia had looked at the drawing itself she wouldn't understand what it was trying to say. Hell, Olivia still didn't grasp the whole concept even with the help of Robin's notes.
"I'm studying new strategies to use in upcoming battles." Robin replied, ignoring the balls of paper as he looked behind him checking to see if anybody there. "I'm actually a little excited to use this next strategy in battle." Robin pointed to the paper that Olivia is holding. Olivia looked behind them as well making sure that no one snuck up on them in the last few seconds. Aside from her, nobody else knew how much Robin liked being in a war – not even Chrom. She figured that Robin is still self-conscious about his true feelings about something that is so disliked. Olivia turned and offered Robin a sincere smile, which he quickly returned to her.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but do you need anything?" Robin asked while running a gloved hand through his hair.
"Nothing in particular," Olivia said, turning her head. "I just thought you might need the company since you missed breakfast and Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour. I know how much you hate missing that." Olivia joked, making Robin chuckle.
"Oh no! Not Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour! How else would I get my daily dose of torture?" Robin responded, sarcasm laced in his voice. The pair shared a nice laugh, as good as Frederick's attentions and work out benefits are, they made any Shepherd more tired than any battle could. After the two had settled down, Robin pointed at a pie that was on top of a stack of books. "I wasn't lonely though. Tharja came by earlier and brought me another eel and liver pie. As gross as it sounds it's quite delicious, I ate that over Vaike's mystery meat goop. Feel free to get a slice if you want."
Olivia shook her head. She knew that anything Tharja would give Robin was safe, but she still had a feeling that Tharja casted a curse on the pie that affected anybody that touched the pie that wasn't Robin. Olivia wrote a mental note to herself to try to talk to Tharja later, she didn't want to have any ill thoughts about any of her allies. Olivia turned to Robin, he began to look over his notes. He had his head resting on the knuckles of his left hand while his right hand rested on his desk.
Olivia managed to become brave when it came to placing her hand on top of Robin's ever since that night at the bar. She's done it multiple times since then, and Robin hasn't showed any discomfort towards it or said anything against it. Olivia took this as her chance to get that comfort she craved from that simple action. Olivia reached out for his right hand, her small feathery touch on the fabric caused Robin to jerk his hand back. Olivia quickly retracted her hand as well. Her face flushed red, unsure of what she did to make him react in such a way.
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't m-mean to make you s-so uncomfortable!" Olivia apologized from behind her hands. "I though since I've done it so many times it would be okay! How embarrassing!"
Robin held his right hand close, unsure of how he should comfort the small pink haired woman. "No, It's okay!" Robin said, which made Olivia peek through her hands, her blush still pretty apparent behind her shield. "If anything, I should apologize, I should have asked you if you wanted to sit on my left instead of my right." Robin said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Olivia sat up straight her blush still intact, but no longer hidden behind her hands. She raised both her eyebrows confusion written on her face. "Uh... why does it matter what side I sit in?"
Robin blinked at her, obvious that he didn't know what to tell her. Now that he mentioned it, Olivia noticed that every time she put her hand on Robin's, it was always his left, never his right. The only time she put it on his right, aside from now, was the night at the bar; which he also pulled away. Throughout the whole night, she recalled that he would trace the back of his hand, as though he were painting a picture that only he can see. Not to mention, he always wore gloves... has Olivia ever seen his bare hands before?
"Oh, gods!" Olivia suddenly yelled out, startling Robin. "Is your right hand hurt? I'm so sorry! I didn't know! Are you okay?" Olivia was about to reach out for his right hand again to examine it, but she stopped herself. "I... uh, I can help you wrap it up. I'm no healer like Lissa, Maribelle, or Libra, but I still know basic first aid. Uh, just yesterday Henry and I helped a dog who was injured – not to say that you're a dog or anything!... I just want to help..." Olivia's voice began to drift off, she couldn't help but feel absolutely useless.
"No, no, it's okay! I'm not injured Olivia!" Robin hated seeing her look so defeated. He knew that she felt inadequate by looking at her expression. Last thing he wanted was for her to feel that way – to feel the same sensation he has felt countless times before.
"Truly...?" Olivia looked up at Robin, unsure if he was just spewing lies in an effort for her to stop overreacting.
"Truly." He responded offering her a small warm smile.
"Then what is wrong with your right hand? You never let me touch it... I don't think I've ever actually seen your bare hands before." Olivia said in a small voice, unsure if he'll even give her an answer.
Robin mulled over whether she should tell her, he's felt very comfortable with her and didn't want to lose their bond over a part of his body he didn't have any say in. Olivia continues to spend time with him even though he told her his actual feelings towards wars. She wouldn't just stop seeing him over a brand, would she?
"What do you think of House Ylisse's brand, Olivia?"
"You mean the brand Chrom has on his shoulder?" He nodded. "Oh! I think it's just wonderful! It's so simple yet beautiful and it's a gift from Naga. Why do you ask? … wait do you have the mark of Naga as well?!" Olivia smiled radiantly.
Robin gave her a crooked smile in return. "Uh, no. The mark of Naga only surfaces on the royalty of Ylisse – the descendants of the hero king Marth. I'm not even from Ylisse, I'm Plegian…" Olivia's expression melted away, embarrassed for yelling that's out so confidently. "However, I do have a brand on my right hand." And just like that her face was lit again.
"Then why do you hide it? You should be proud of it just like Chrom is with his. I'm sure yours is wonderful as well." Olivia offered him the sweetest smile she has in her arsenal, she really wanted to see his brand.
"My brand isn't like Chrom's, it's actually the opposite. His is calming, mine is... eerie." Robin said with a frown.
"Please show me. I feel so comfortable around you; no brand can change that." Olivia said her voice soaked in sincerity.
Robin stared at her for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. He first took of his left glove and began stretching out his fingers, letting them breathe the fresh air. He then carefully removed his glove on his right hand, his mark finally making a presence to Olivia. She studied every centimeter of the mark, taking in the unique pattern it made. She took notice of the eyes on his brand being the same pattern Robin has on her cloak. She reached out for it before stopping herself to look at Robin, silently asking for permission. He gave her a small nod. She reached and carefully stroked the brand. Much to Robin's surprise, his brand wasn't burning the back of his hand, rather he felt great peace at Olivia's tender touch. Olivia took her left hand and laced her fingers with his while using her right pointing finger to trace every stroke of the mark. She let out a smile and blush as Robin held her hand back.
"I... I like holding your hand," Olivia smiled shyly at their linked hands. "You should wear gloves less often."
Olivia felt Robin's hand tense, she looked up at his frowning face. "I'm sorry, I can't. I won't be comfortable having my brand out in the open. It's a bit ghastly, don't you think?" Robin questioned, wrinkling his nose as he looked at it.
"Yeah, it kind of is." Olivia let out a small laugh at the incredulous Robin gave her. "But it's a part of you, and that's enough for me to like it." She squeezed his hand lightly, causing a big smile to form on his lips. "Oh, I know! If you don't want to show your brand why don't you wear hand covers similar to mine?" Olivia showed him her right hand, the top of her hand covered neatly with fabric and a ring keeping it in place. "A lot of people in camp wear them, even Tharja and Henry, so it won't look odd at all!"
"I actually do own a pair. One of them is tattered though, so I just stuck to these gloves instead." Robin said while rubbing his thumb on Olivia's hand, making her blush deepen.
"You could have just worn the one glove." Olivia joked. "Why haven't you asked Cherche to stitch it up for you? She loves to sow and she's quite remarkable at it too. She makes it look like it wasn't ripped in the first place."
Robin shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't want to bother her. I picked up a book on sewing, but I've lost patience trying to fit the thread to the needle."
"Let's go ask if she'll fix it, grab the hand covers." Olivia said while standing up. Robin stood up as well and walked towards his chest to look for the ripped article of clothing. The two were about to exit his tent, but Robin stopped and went to his desk to grab his gloves. He quickly put them on, Olivia taking the initiative of holding his hand once the gloves were in place.
"Holding your gloved hand feels different, you should have really worn the one glove." Olivia said as they walked out the tent.
Robin scoffed. "Why would I do that, it'll look like I forgot to dress myself completely."
"Then you should have worn mine that way you don't look like you forgot to dress yourself." Olivia said laughing.
"Don't be weird."
"It'll look lovely on you."
"It wouldn't even fit me! Your hands are so small!" Robin laughed.
"What do you mean I'm clearly taller than you, my hands are bigger." Olivia said playfully.
"No, you're not."
"What makes you think I'm not."
"You're literally looking up at me right now, I'm a whole head taller than you." He responded with a smile.
"What if I wear really tall heels?"
"You'll break your ankles, don't do that."
The pair continued their odd exchange, earning them looks from the Shepherds around the area. None cared about the words they were telling each other, they were occupied smiling at the sight of their linked hands.