Chapter 12
Silver streaks of the morning sun leaked in through the small parting of the bedroom curtains that draped over the large windows that oversaw Maribelle's room. The noblewoman groggily rubbed her eyes of sleep and lifted her tired head from the down filled, fuchsia pillows and stretched her arms skyward. As the many nights before, she hadn't been able to sleep all that comfortably. Her terrible habit of tossing and turning during her nights hadn't improved and it was beginning to show its wear on her body, as her stretching sent a small twinge of pain up her back.
Nevertheless, she pulled herself from the matching pink blankets of her canopy bed and initiated her daily routines just as any other day: Her mornings started with a warm bath, followed by her extensive hair maintenance. She contemplated finding a new hairstyle one of these days. Constantly having to twist, tease and curle her golden locks was taking more time than she was proud to admit. Perhaps Cordelia could give her a trim one of these days?
Next, her outfit for the day. Not one for the latest in accessories or jewelry, contrast to the garden variety nobles about Themis, she opted for her faithful and familiar garb, neatly folded and cleaned by her caretakers from the night before. She did strive tor more flavorful wear at times, but this particular ensemble felt as if it were made just for her, it was her favorite after all. A defining part of her feature akin to her beloved parasol. With her favorite pair of pink bows complimenting her look and a touch of makeup, Maribelle left her quarters to begin her day.
Her walk through the halls of her home took a bit of extra energy today party due in part to the abnormally early hour she had awakened and the unfortunate fact that her back was still aching her. On her way to the foyer of her home, the noble was delightfully greeted by her mother, just rising from her slumber wearing a vibrant crimson robe, her similar golden hair tied neatly behind her head.
"Good morning, Mother. I hope the day finds you well." Maribelle greeted, bowing respectfully.
"And you as well, dearest." the older noblewoman returned, wrapping her arms about her daughter for a pleasant hug.
"And what of Father today? I assume business as usual?"
"It appears so, dear. But he gives his regards all the same." The two women walked together to the foyer of the manor. The young servant graciously opened the front door for the aristocrats with his usual morning greetings. The pale blue of the morning sky against the orange of the rising sun greeted them as they stepped into the making their way to the front gates where the carriage to Ylisstol was all set to depart, Maribelle felt the warmth of her mother's hand on her shoulder before she climbed into the coach and turned her head to meet her mother's gaze. "Dearest, before you go," her mother started, esoterically. "you should know that your father... has found another..."
"Unbelievable." a heavy sigh accompanied the younger noble's response. Her mother needn't finish her sentence; she knew exactly what she was going to say. Even so, she didn't want to address the mater right now. Or ever. All she wanted was to make her way to Ylisstol and see Robin again.
Mother and daughter shared no parting words, they had nothing to say after all, but tat the very least a good-bye wave was the last they shared before the latter's departure. The usual trip that would be spent having an extra nap before reaching the palace was instead spent with Maribelle furiously pondering what her father was doing. The thoughts running through her head were of pure annoyance. The noble dearly loved her father, but his insistance on this subject was wearing on her nerves.
It hurt her inside. She felt as if her own father was betraying her wishes and above all else, disrespecting her as a person. She very much understood his mentality, and indeed, his heart was in the right place, but... It wasn't what she wanted. No one could question that the man was a caring person as a husband, father, and noble, yet his stubbornness completely irked Maribelle more than anything else in this mortal realm. She had half a mind to not even return home now, completely fed up with his interference. Perhaps he would understand her displeasure and avoidance would stir some realization within the man.
All the while, the carriage pulled into the walls of Ylisstol after the trip. The sun was hanging low in the sky now. It, and the thought of seeing her friends loosened her furrowed brows. The mornings of the city were always so calm and serene, no one could help but be at ease with the way the peaceful folk went about their days. It felt satisfying. Knowing that she fought hard for this along with her companions. She rested her head on an open palm while admiring the simpler life here than the constant hustle and bustle of Themis. It almost made her wish she could live here, far away the pressures of her noble life. Though, she quickly cast off that thinking, as she was proud of her nobility, and she was more than likely thinking out of ire from hearing about what her father had done.
"We've arrived, milady." signaled the coachman, as the carriage stopped at the usual spot in the fountain plaza of the town. Thanking the man, and paying the required fee, Maribelle hopped gracefully off the carriage and started her way up to the garrison of the Shepherds for daily morning training.
The activity outside in the city streets was in stark contrast to the garrison itself; absolutely no one was here. Completely empty. By this time, everyone would be getting ready to pick their desired training equipment and squaring off into pairs for the next few hours., yet not a soul to be found here. She wondered if she perhaps awakened quite a bit earlier than intended? No, that couldn't be, if anything, she would be perfectly on time. A thought crossed her mind if it was just pure coincidence. Maribelle walked to the courtyards to see if maybe Frederick was out and about. If nothing else, he could always be here getting ready to instruct the army. Just like the building, the courtyards were empty. No soldiers, no Frederick.
"What in the world...?" the noble said to herself, placing a finger on her chin. "Where the blazes could everyone possibly be this morning?"
Seeing as no one would be here for a while, the girl elected to instead head to the palace. Perhaps she could find Robin, or even Lissa there and occupy her time until training was to begin. As she walked through the connecting gardens toward the palace, Maribelle mentally pondered her train of thought, as redundant as it seemed. How strange that her thoughts seemed to turn almost immediately to Robin when she had not much else to do. Didn't Lissa primarily have that affect on her? Then again, with all the time she had been spending with the tactician, could it even be considered surprising?
Her eyes fell on the neatly trimmed hedges that lined either side of the stone path she walked, buds of the fall-blooming albus flowers rested gracefully around them. The particular bloom she eyed was a bulb-like white variant. Her left hand glided overtop the hedge and plucked one of the flowers from it's place. The gentle white sheen reminded her of Robin's similarly colored locks, especially after he had gotten them trimmed. Her mind wandered back to the day she and Robin had gone on their first 'date'. How handsome he looked. The memory in itself caused an absent-minded sigh to flutter from her lips, which curled into a smile. She felt like some sort of giggling schoolgirl who had a hopeless crush on the new boy in class. It was fortunate no one would bare witness to her little slip, lest she be mortified for the rest of her days. Even so, she hardly checked her behavior, and continued walking forward with a noticeable bounce in her step, letting the flower fall to the cold stone floor.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Robin was busy with a new set of paperwork he had gotten the day before. He attempted to tackle some of it, but fell asleep before he could put a dent in the amount he got. Now that he had the whole day, he would try to get through it in the morning, and hopefully salvage the rest of the afternoon to do something more entertaining.
A check here, a signature there, a small list of names and references here and a correction over there. This entire document felt like some sort of academic exam to the tactician. Now he knew how he fell asleep so easily last night; this garbage was completely sould-destroying in just how boring it was! Most of these pages were duplicates, and if he were more awake than he was right now, he would have probably taken note of this, rather than filling out multiple pages of the same content. Oh, how he wished to just take these pages out and hit them with a thunderbolt. The thought was the only driving force behind his pace as he scribbled through all of these papers.
However, one particular page did hold his attention. It was a consultant on projects involving restoration around Ylisse following all the damage that the war had caused. Mainly, it was simply a matter of priority and funding, but with reparation falling to the Plegian treasury, money was no object. Robin tickled his nose with the quill of his pen to think about what should be undertaken first. After all, this was the first big step in repairing the holidom, even months after the war. There was always money needed in medical expenses for the injured and casualties accrued, building repairs, and many other issues to work out. It was hard to juggle all of these in his head. How was he supposed to decide which task was more important than the other? Yes, money needed to pay off the soldiers that protected the halidom was important, as these brave men and women had family and mouths to feed, but what about needing to repair the homes for the innocent people who were dragged into things against their will?
Just when he was starting to get a definitive answer in his head, he could feel his nose itch subtley. Without a moment to react, he sneezed rather loudly from the quill pen tickling his nostrils. The gust and spittle caused the many papers to instantly fly from the tabletop and float in a disorganized pile before him.
"...Well, that's break time!" He announced to no one in particular, slamming his hands on the desk and hoisting himself to his feet. He had a happy expression on his face, but deep inside, he died a little at having to return and eventually pick up and reorganize those pages again...
The tactician walked out of his chambers, shoving the door open with more force than necessary and sauntered down the halls for breakfast. His little accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Had he committed to finishing the paperwork right now, he would have completely missed out on his morning meal.
The doors to the dining hall opened and Robin walked in to greet the royal family already sitting down to breakfast... well most of them. Sully had already finished and immediately set out for her daily exercises. One would think the queen of the realm would act more queen-y. Sitting upon the throne and commanding her loyal subjects and all that. Alas, that wasn't her style, instead leaving all of that business to her husband.
"Well, look who's finally up!" chirped Lissa. Her odd pigtails hadn't been styled yet. It was funny just how much like Emmeryn she resembled without her iconic hairstyle.
"Morning all. And I've actually been up for almost 3 hours." Robin responded, rubbing his tired eyes.
The prince looked up to his friend with a knowing smirk. "Paperwork?"
"Paperwork..." the tactician affirmed. He walked over to his usual spot at the table and picked an assortment of fresh fruit and bread to eat,a glass of chilled water already set by his plate. He expertly sliced through a ripe apple with his knife and ate the individual slivers of it while continuing the conversation. "What took so long to get all of these documents written up anyway?" he asked, crunching into the apple slice.
"Khan Flavia said she would have had them ready sooner, but she felt that she had to pay respects to all of her lost soldiers along the way, and at least make an attempt to rebuild her army." Chrom leaned back in his chair, remembering all those brave souls lost in the final moments of the war. "They had actually come in just a little over half a week ago."
"Ah, well that's understandable." Robin cut the remainder of his apple and moved onto peeling an orange. "But here's another question; who's bright idea was it to have me of all people take care of this stuff? Isn't it the duty of a King or Queen to see to these matters?"
"Yeeees..." the word was stretched out with Chrom averting his eyes and scratching the back of his head. "You're right on that front... But neither Sully or I can really make heads or tails of all the political and financial jargon in those pages, so Sully thought it would be a good idea to hand them off to you... You understand, right?"
"Sure, I understand." Robin narrowed his eyes at his friend across the table. He did understand, as he said... He just didn't approve. "I also understand that it seems to be Sully who makes the discussions around here."
Chrom only shrugged.
"Chrom? I mean this in a brotherly way but... sometimes I have to remind myself which one of you is the wife in this relationship..."
Lissa nearly spat out her drink when she heard that. She covered her mouth to keep her smile covert, and also to keep any more water from leaking out.
"Right, because that's not a stab at my masculinity or anything." Chrom huffed. The joke was good natured at least.
"Just saying." Robin sang, smirking to himself.
As the three were finishing up their meal, one of the maids walked into the dining room and addressed Lissa. "Apologies for interrupting you, milady, but Lady Maribelle has come by today and wishes to speak with Robin. Should I allow her into the palace?"
All eyes instantly turned to the tactician. He stared back, just as puzzled as them. Maribelle asking for Robin directly? Wouldn't it normally be the princess that was the object of her attention most days? Why was she even in Ylisstol to begin with?
"Uh, actually, I'll go and meet with her myself." Robin chimed in, standing from his chair and immediately leaving the dining room before anyone had a chance to protest.
Outside of the palace entryway, Maribelle stood patiently, swaying from her toes to her heels in anticipation. She made small adjustments to her figure, such as running her hands through her hair to smooth it out, and adjusting her clothes somewhat to look just a bit more presentable. Finally, the doors creaked open, and the noble was surprised to see Robin himself had come out to greet her as opposed to the maid she spoke with just moments ago.
"Good morning, Maribelle. I wasn't expecting to see you today." he greeted with a smile.
Hadn't expected? They both had training almost every day together, why was it such a surprise. "I agree I may have been a bit early for training this morning, so I decided to pay my friends a visit to while away the time until we begin." she stated.
"Training?" a chuckle escaped Robin's lips as he heard her explanation. "Maribelle... it's Saturday."
"S-Saturday...?"
"Yyyyeah... No training today, you know that."
The realization hit Maribelle like a runaway carriage. Saturday. Of all days she decided to wake up early, it was the one day out of the week that she could afford to sleep in, and yet she preferred to arise early for an event that would not even take place. "Oh Gods, how embarrassing..." she groaned, cupping her face in her hands.
Robin tapped his foot on the stone pavement to contemplate something to cheer the noblewoman up. "I-It's not so bad... If you're looking for something to do then... Well, we could always do some training of our own?" he asked.
Pulling her face up again, Maribelle faced the tactician. "Training? You mean you'd cross swords with me just for the sake of filling in time?" she asked back, confused at the proposal.
"That's not what I meant." He waved an arm in protest. "I was referring to our lessons."
"Oh! Yes, of course you meant that!" she laughed nervously, fixing a stray hair.
"So, where should our venue be today? The palace library, maybe? Perhaps the training grounds? I doubt they'll even be in use today."
"Ooh, the training grounds sound perfect." Maribelle interjected. "Plenty of room, and all the privacy we would need."
"Er, privacy?" The tactician raised an eyebrow at the way she phrased her sentence.
"Well, yes. Free from prying eyes and all that?" She motioned her head ever so slightly behind him in reference to Lissa, the town gossip.
"Right. Of course." Robin agreed, catching on to Maribelle's message.
The two left the palace entryway and proceeded back towards the connecting hedge gardens toward the empty training grounds and barracks. The walk was mostly silent between the two, barely striking up a conversation. That wasn't to say that nothing was happening; When Robin was looking elsewhere, he could swear he felt Maribelle's eyes staring straight at him. Yet, when he turned to face her, either to confirm this or ask if something was wrong when he knew it without a doubt, she would look away, her gaze turning to the neatly trimmed hedges.
This was actually not parallel to the noblewoman. Indeed, her gaze drifted to the man more than a few times, but would quickly turn away and act as if she hadn't noticed him at all. Even she, herself, had trouble understanding why she was so sheltered right now. What would she care if he looked back at her? All of these questions passed through her head, yet when she tried to answer them, she would draw complete blanks.
By now, they were close to their destination, but Robin still had something on his mind since their departure.
"Hey, Maribelle, quick question." he started.
"Of course. Go on, Robin." This time, Maribelle consciously looked in his direction.
"Why do we have to keep this whole thing a secret? What's the point of hiding it anyway?"
"Dear me, this again..." she sighed. "The reason remains the same as I told you before Robin." Her response came off as a bit standoffish.
"To be fair though, you didn't really give me a straight answer. It's just the two of us out here, not like the other day when people were around. You can tell me."
His point was valid. It was practically impossible for anyone to hear them out here. Still, the actual reasoning behind it would probably not come off as pleasant. But hurt feelings or no, she did owe him an answer, especially after being so tight lipped about it even around Lissa.
"Alright, here's the truth Robin: I wanted us to keep our arrangement under wraps so as to not spark gossip about our relationship between us." she stated matter-of-factly.
"What kind of gossip...?" the tactician pushed.
Maribelle could see where this was going. Damn that man and his insistance on making her talk sometimes. "About us being in a relationship."
The irony of that statement was laughable. If gossip had spread about it was already likely due to her little white lie she told a over awhile ago. But, that very secrecy made another question surface in Robin's head. One that he wanted to ask about for a while in fact.
"Would that really be so bad?" he asked quizzically, turning his gaze to her. It was half a question, and half edging her onto a possibility of something between them. It wasn't a secret to either of the two that they had some attraction towards each other, one that couldn't sufficiently be summed up with the word 'friendship'.
Again, those piercing eyes of his that were so familiar to the noblewoman stared back at her, almost as if begging for an answer. It made her lose her normally ironclad composure, and she couldn't help but turn away from them. At the same time, she pondered the question thoroughly. There was a lot to think about if something were to happen between them. One of those issues had struck her just today of all days. When she thought back to that singular issue, it made her heart sink.
"Robin..." she sighed. "The truth of the matter is that there are... things between us that cannot simply be skipped past."
"Not this again." Robin rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand. "Is this because you're a noble and I'm not?" His voice bordered on annoyance. After all the time they spent with each other, he could hardly believe she continued to carry that old mindset.
"No! Of course not!" Maribelle quickly shot back. She almost panicked at Robin's misunderstanding. That was certainly the case before, but things were different now. "I will not deny I carried that sort of thinking not too long ago, but please understand that it is not the same situation today."
Another sigh erupted from Robin's lips as he tried to comprehend what the noblewoman was saying. "Then what is it?" he pleaded.
"I simply have other matters in my life right now that I must focus on and being in a relationship with anyone would not be the wisest choice, noble or otherwise."
"Oh!" Finally, the gravity of the situation came to Robin. He had remembered what Lissa told him about Maribelle and her strive to be a politician. It would make sense that she prioritized her future career. "I understand now. I'm sorry, I was being selfish." he apologized.
Relief came to Maribelle's face for the moment. She was positive he truly didn't understand as much as he claimed, but as long as the conversation could be diverted into a new direction for the time, all the better. But someday, she would tell him.
In the meantime, perhaps it was best to keep the mood light. "Selfish?" she chuckled, crossing her arms. "My, but someone seems confident." A dark smile flitted across her face as if challenging Robin on his perceptions.
"D-did I say that?" Robin stammered his response clumsily. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks after hearing her repeat his comment. "What I meant was... You see, I didn't mean to imply..." He heard another laugh from his noble friend and elected to stay silent rather than try to clarify, lest he say something that would come back to bite him later.
After that exchange, the walk to the training grounds was short and relatively quiet. The wide-open space remained to be so, with nary a soul to be found, just as Maribelle left it. Robin had a mind to continue dancing with Maribelle has they had been for just over a week now. They only focused on the slow dance, but he was smart enough to know that couldn't be all there was to it.
The tactician meandered aimlessly around the empty yard, not really looking for anything, but still staring off into the distance, wondering what they could do next. "
"Maribelle?"
"Hm?"
"Would it be alright if you taught me how to Waltz today?"
The proposition came to Maribelle as a pleasant surprise. She smiled at the mere mention of the idea. "Absolutely!" she chirped.
"Heh, wow. I didn't expect you to be so excited about dancing again." Robin looked over his shoulder, flashing a smirk of his own.
"The Waltz is my personal favorite!" she announced proudly. "Let's get started right away, shall we?"
The two walked toward each other and met at the center of the yard. As before, Robin would let Maribelle teach him the right positions for such a thing. Ironically, he knew the name of the dance, but absolutely nothing else. This next experience was going to be a new one, indeed.
Just as before, Robin allowed Maribelle to guide his hands. This time, his right would go about her waist, while his left would be entwined with her right, while her left would rest on his shoulder. It seems like a common theme with these dances involved his hands allways being around Maribelle's hips. He wondered if this was truly the way to do it, or of she was taking creative liberties... Another difference was that they needed to be a bit closer than before. Where the slow dance had ample room between the two, the Waltz practically had them pressed up against each other.
"Do we... really have to be so close?" Robin asked sheepishly, turning his gaze just over her shoulder.
"Of course. This is how the dance is performed. Do you have issues with personal space?" Maribelle teased, drawing herself up against him just a little bit more. Doing so flustered the tactician enough that he had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat as it grew dry.
He didn't want to say anything because he knew had he done so, the words that would come out of his mouth would surely kill off the mood and ensure Maribelle would never teach him this particular dance again. But, the warmth he felt upon his body from her breasts pressing unceremoniously against his own unsettled him in a way no battle preparation ever could.
"Axes trump spears, while spears trump the sword, and the sword trumps the axe..." Robin recited in his head. They were words from a plethora of tactical books he had read over the course of the previous war. He needed to think of something, anything to keep his mind off of the current situation.
"By the Gods, Robin, you're burning up." The tactician was pulled from his own thoughts by Maribelle's call. "I can see the blush on your face from a mile away and you look as if you're on the verge of breaking into a sweat... Are you perhaps sick with some illness?"
"N-n-no! Just. Fine!" He strained his response with gritted teeth.
The puzzled look he received was a clear indication that Maribelle wasn't buying it. "Are you positive you wish to continue?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Show me those steps, and I should be okay." Thankfully, Maribelle's concern made her back off a bit from Robin, allowing him some breathing room to relax himself. He hoped the new closeness of this dance wouldn't present a problem.
"Well, alright then." She remained skeptical about Robin's attempt at diverting his obvious distress, but Maribelle pressed onward. "The Waltz is actually very simple. It involves the pair moving in tune with each other by way of simple steps to and fro. Just follow my lead."
The demonstration was simple enough. Maribelle made her movements slow and mechanical so Robin would pick up on her pattern and learn easily. As one would expect, he began clumsily, his feet crossing over each other when they ought not to have. Cheerful advice from his noble friend kept him from making the same mistakes, though. He had to repeat one of these nuggets of information in his head; to move his feet as if drawing a triangle with his toes.
The subtleties of the dance were sinking into place easily, and Maribelle hardly needed to slow her pace at all. Soon, the two were performing the waltz as if they were in a noble gala, showing off their skills to those around them. The way Robin's feet glided smoothly, and with bold confidence made the noblewoman giggle at how quickly he was learning.
"Very good, Robin. Now, let's try the underarm turns. This is why the waltz is my favorite." Maribelle could hardly hide her smile now. This was much more favorable over the slow dance.
"Just lead the way."
In the supposedly empty barracks, Gaius walked through the hallowed walls of the stone building, after emerging from his room there. With no particular place to call home, he took to staying here for awhile. It was free for all members of the Shepherds and he preferred to pinch his coppers whenever he could. The ginger-haired thief made his way through the long halls into the main room where the tables and stools were, seeing if any of the other live-in Shepherds were available yet. What a shame it was that he was one of the earliest risers in the army. What else would he do to occupy his time?
"Dammit, it's emptier here than the Ylissean treasury..." he huffed, leaning against the unmanned bar. Unwrapping a sweet from his sleeve and popping it into his mouth, he looked left to right, wondering if someone would arrive out of the blue and have a decent conversation. The only other things he could do today would either be to go searching for hornet's nests again, or try to do some more training. He rolled the spherical candy about his mouth while mulling over his options. It probably wasn't best to go nest hunting until the last wealth of stings healed completely. "Training it is." he mumbled to himself.
"Are you sure you've not learned how to waltz before, Robin?" The noblewoman inquired suspiciously. For someone who seemed to have no memory of their past, Robin had learned to waltz almost as if it were second nature. Granted, it was one of the more simple dances to learn, but he had taken to it with such polished verve, praise was in order.
A sheepish chuckle left Robin as he shook his head in response, "I may have, not that I would know, you understand. I suppose I just have an excellent teacher." He couldn't help but smile at the rare compliment he received. They were few and far between with a girl like Maribelle but oh so pleasing to the ears whenever he heard one.
"Hmph, such idle flattery." Maribelle challenged with a smirk, trying to maintain her status as the ever dominant one of the two.
"Such transparent resistance." the tactician shot back. It seems he was growing a silver tongue, contrasting her sharp one.
Their dance concluded after their exchange of quips, them stoping just a few feet shy of the resting benches along the wall of the barracks. They hadn't paid any attention to their surroundings, but their movements had taken them practically to every corner of the area. The lesson plan had concluded, as it seemed like Robin had a firm grasp on the concept of waltzing, yet to Maribelle it left more to be desired. Not in his technique, but more that she had thoroughly enjoyed their dance that she wished for just another.
Before she could voice her request for a second go, the noble felt a familiar twinge of pain bite at her upper back, causing her to seize up slightly, and through no active input, fall slightly into Robin's arms with a pained grunt.
"Whoa, are you alright?" Robin lowered his knees to hold her up from falling. He could tell by her slightly contorted visage that she was in pain; considerable pain at that.
I... I'll be fine... I simply need to rest..." Maribelle stammered her words in between the pulses of agony she felt in her shoulders. She knew precisely what was happening, it was her chronic back pains acting up again. Those damnable episodes she started having many months ago just before the war began, due to sheer stress. How or why they returned, she could only speculate, but no doubt for the same reasons. "Can we sit down for a while...?" she forced herself to speak, trying to sound as calm as possible, while leaning desperately into her friend, a position she felt undignified to be in.
"Sure." Robin obliged and carefully guided Maribelle to the bench closest to them and sat her down gently. He worried that it may have been him that caused her suffering. Was it because he had done something off while learning to dance with her?
A right hand went to Maribelle's shoulders and reluctantly squeezed at them to try and aleviate the pain she felt. No good, she couldn't reach the area of discomfort, not with her now limited mobility. However, this proved to be a telltale sign to Robin. It came quickly to him because he also suffered from the same problems not too long ago, and he knew the perfect solution. He just hoped he wasn't being to forward...
"Maribelle?" he asked, clearing his throught into a balled fist.
"Yes?"
"Can you turn your back to me?"
"...I beg your pardon?" Her voice grew defensive and suspicious at the question.
"Just face me with your back, I think I have a solution."
Maribelle's eyes narrowed, trying to ascertain what sort of trick he would pull with her back literally turned, but conceded in the end, despite her thoughts. The tenseness in her shoulders only increase in anticipation for whatever it was he had planned. Suddenly, she could feel Robin moving closer to her, much closer, and without saying so, he placed both of his hands against her sore shoulders with a gentle squeeze to each of them. The unexpected contact made her lean forward in protest, but she was brought back to her original position by Robin guiding her with his hands.
"Easy, I promise I'm not going to touch anywhere I don't need to." The wording sounded a lot better in the tactician's head, admittedly, but he made his point: He was only going to help, not harm. Even so, he could practically feel Maribelle's hesitance as her shoulders were practically solidified by her nerves. "Just relax. Breath."
All manner of thoughts ran through Maribelle's head, trying to understand just what was going on. What was it that he knew that she didn't? And why must he be so close to even do so? Surely he could have imparted his knowledge verbally. Her thoughts scrambled completely in her head when she felt Robin's hands once again migrate to her back, and upper shoulders. His grip tightened around her, for a moment exacerbating her pain. It hadn't stayed that way though. Periodically, his hands moved up along her shoulders, kneading the edge of his palms into her muscles. Each press did hurt about as much as the last, but the frequent rests in between lessened the overall pain she was feeling. She turned her head to face Robin, who's face was completely turned away, as if he were embarrassed to look at her.
"A massage?" she asked, her voice much calmer than before.
"Yeah. I used to have terrible back aches all the time during the war." he explained, making some effort to look at her and maintaining his careful hand movements. "Staying up all night with no sleep in a sitting position can be murder on your upper body, even more so when reading a book. So, every now and again, Lissa would come by my tent and give me a massage once in a while to keep me relaxed and limber during the campaign."
"That girl, always looking out for others." The blonde noble turned her head away and allowed Robin to continue. Whatever Lissa taught him, it was quite effective. That would possibly explain the time she walked in on both of them, Robin without his signature coat, and Lissa tending to his shoulders. Her thoughts helped her to forget about the pain she had, as if they weren't there anymore... In fact, it was practically gone.
"How's this? Lissa said she learned this from you once." Robin pressed his arms in a specific way that Maribelle recognized. She had indeed taught that to Lissa, how fitting it was being used for her sake now.
"Ooh, that's... that's actually just right." Within the few minutes of treatment, Maribelle's back had loosened up considerably and the careful, methodical, points Robin hit with his hands proved so effective, she could feel her shoulders returning to normal. This was the first time anyone else had given her a massage for her pains. Yet another endearment Robin held over the noblewoman.
As all of this went on, the two were absolutely oblivious to the only witness of the entire event: Gaius. He stood, leaning against the arch of the doorway, looking on with a pompous smile that practically read 'Gotcha.'
A/N: Umm... You ever have those moments when you promise to do something, then you don't follow through? Next thing you know, the people you promised your business to come to your doorstep with a bat that'll be used on your teeth? Yeah, I kinda have that feeling right now. I promised on my last chapter that it wouldn't take me as long as it would have last time to upload a new chapter. Then I go and upload a chapter that takes a LONGER time to write. I apologize for that, and I'm sure I've tested enough people's patience by now.
Anyway, this chapter was focusing more on Maribelle's insight and her burgeoning interest in Robin, but in small doses... Publicly at least. Girl's got images to keep up. So, some of you may be thinking what this big problem is Maribelle has to deal with. Well, I ain't tellin'! It's secret! And it also directly relates to her back pain, but only in small part. I remember Maribelle's roster entry says she has horrible sleeping positions, so I figure I'd mess around with that and exploit it for another reason for the two to get closer together.
Heh, using pain to make people closer, man I suck. XD
Anyway, that's about all there is to that. On a separate note, the poll for the next fic is CLOSED! The results will be visible right when this chapter goes up, so head over and take a look when you have a chance. Hopefully the girl you chose will be the winner!
In closing, all I have is two things to say, first of all, I thank all of the fans that continue to read this despite my really sporatic update schedule. Know that I appreciate every single one of your views and reviews, they keep me going when I feel pressured on how to continue. Like I said earlier, I really don't think I deserve the followers I get, especially not with how long I make them wait, so thank you all for you unwavering support.
Second, Ike's been confirmed for Super Smash Bros. 4! Board the hype train!
Alright then, that's enough from me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)