Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening, all rights to the owners.
Minor: Dark Flier, Immortal, Exploitive, Swordmaster, Tripping, Perpetual Cheer, Chef, Blacksmith, Pegasus Knight, Teacher, Librarian, Masochist, Literal-Minded, Authoritative, Phobia, Thicc, Tsundere, Damsel in Distress, Gangrel's Child, Communist, Bomber, Bear Cavalry, Flying, ADHD, Super Strength, Patriotic, Sassy, One Liner, Seamstress, Shephard, Speedy, Cool, Shy, Bookworm, Sweet, Kung Fu, Buff, Lazy, Wingless Flight, Blunt, Elf, Dwarf, Scottish, Melancholic, Punny, Dark Mage, Dragoon.
Standard: Elemental, Deaf, Nurse/Medic, Valmese Tactician, Medusa, Gift from Validar + Evil to Good, Mimic, Emotionless, Crippling Overspecialization (Idiot Savant), Coward, ESP, PTSD, Magician, Handicapped, Secret Helper, Morpher, Dreamwalker, Twins, Animal Whisperer, Tiki Assistant, Deadly Touch, Mind Reader, Doppelganger, D&D magic, Dominatrix, Songstress, Kinky, Matchmaker, Androphobic, Illusionist, Ring Maker, Teleporting, Crippled, Depressed, Slave, Love Curse, Geokinetic, Trauma, Siren, Changeling, Shapeshifter.
Unlikely: Chrom's child, Minotaur, Paladin, Werewolf, Future Soldier, Bounty Hunter, Weather control, Kleptomaniac, Druid, Steampunk, Shadow Familiar, Magic Augmentation, Lucky, Exile, Piper (Charmer), Gladiator, Witch Doctor, Centaur, Drunk, Punk, Harpy, Revenant, Luck Manipulation, Demon Summoner, Megalomaniac, Kitsune, King of Plegia, Mood Ring, Reverse Aging, Hammerspace, Prostitute, Demon Hunter, Cyborg, Rebellion, Einherjar, Trap, Yandere, Living Weapon, Size Shifter, Queen of Plegia, Gluttonous, Stretchy, Alchemist, Protoss, Spirit Manipulation, Invisible, Plegian Honor Guard, Mecha, Kryptonian, Creator, Orc, Memory Stealing Respawn, Racer, Khan, Misfortune, Vampire Hunter, Imaginary Actualization, Death, Resurrection, Force, Merchant, Background Music, Variable, Civilian, Natural Disaster, Mental Noise Projection, Hidden OP, Summoner, Cyclops, Teleporter, Cryokinetic, Genie, Judge, Intangibility, Fortune Teller, Serial Killer, Magic Fixit, Drakengard Restoration, Ying-Yang, Childhood Friend, Cyberpunk, Chrom's Mother, Obsessed, Berserker, Phase Shift, Gravity Manipulation, Hallucinating, Bladesoul, Zombie, Double Entendre, Shared Body/Two Souls, Cannibal, Violent, Waterbender, Casanova, Cupid, Undertaker, Master Thief, Guard, Faceless, Shadow, Age Control, Cradle Snatcher, Emo, Nun, Courier, Haunted Knight Armor, Egyptian, Sentient Object, Shit Lord, Court Wizard, Naga's sibling, Mad Queen, Artist, Predator, Cheshire Cat, Radio Host, Chimera, Wendigo, Symbiote, Hivemind, Hammerspace, Anna, Mother Nature, Psychopath, Stripper, Painting, Grima Parts, Knightmare, Super, Swimsuit, Bunny Outfit, One Punch, Idol, Chef, Rampage, Housewife, Determination, Vessel of Naga, Instant Expert, Time Travel, Hermit, Alternate Dimension 'Twin', Legendary, Resistance, Memory Regain, Umbra Witch, Naga, Aquatic, Hexblade Warlock, Dragon, Demon of Choice, Demon of Temptation, Affliction, Good Samaritan, Gallant, Rosannite Tactician, Leeroy, Dungeon, Apparition, Unwilling, Wildlife Commander, Consistent Kidnapee, Grenadier, Magic Creature, Alternating Mind Control, Sothis in the Mind, Exalt, Unicorn, Pegasus, Alicorn, Star Lord, Slenderman, Bird Laguz, Junk Dealer, Gate Guardian, Shaman, Ghostbuster, Exorcist, King, Soldier, Bird Wings, Failed Vessel, Of the Corn, Valentian, Harem, Car, Incubus, National Personification, Gravity Magic, Kraken, Zora, Kirby, Moon, Quadruplets, Unnoticed, Inventor, Bastilio's Kid, Treasure Hunter, Future, Mind-Swapping, Criminal, Hunter/Tracker, Biker, Gigantic Sword, Miracle, Medium, Warlord, Greater Good, Acrobat, Mother of Chrom, Soul Stealer, Mid War Memory Loss, Reverse Memory Loss, Sentient Item, Necron, ARMS, Naga's bride, Titan Sinkhole, Squire, Anti-Magic, Tomesmith, Dimensional Traveler, Falchion, Unbreakable Shield, Many Robins, Muscle, Fearful Knight, Narcoleptic, Big Eater, Aversa's Sister/Mother/Daughter, Evelynn, Witch, Frankenstein.
Attraction Aura, suggested by Darkness is complete.
That's his tenth rejection this week. He just asked to share lunch, nothing creepy, but he got every single time.
"Was my hair not clean? My clothes ruffled? Did I not smile enough?" Inigo asks himself in a mumble. "Maybe I needed another line or two of small talk?"
Hitting on people is an art, and one other people don't seem to appreciate all that much. Severa scoffs, Nah rolls her eyes, and Noire won't look his way when he talks about it. But it's true! You can't just walk up to someone with no plan wearing whatever you want and expect to get a positive response.
However, like any art, sometimes the artist has a drought. Just because Inigo can't get a date right now doesn't mean he's bad at picking women, he's just having a spot of bad luck.
Really, he is. He's not incompetant, he swears. He just need to change his tone, or maybe it's just a small lack of confidence that the women have noticed and he simply has to believe in himself. He puts so much effort into his appearance and routine, it surely couldn't be a problem with those.
As he wanders around the town center, because it's beautiful and totally not a distraction from his rejection, Inigo can see some of the other Shepherds. Cordelia (shot him down instantly) is shopping with Severa (sneers at him all the time), Tharja (scary lady, he didn't even try) is mumbling to herself while clutching a stained bag and scurrying back to camp, and there's also that short, brown-haired, green-eyed girl- oh, that's Robin, so there's also Robin...
Robin, who is calmly walking on the street with no less than three men from the village around her. One is carrying a heavy bag, a second has his arm looped through hers and is murmuring something while gesturing off to the side, and the third is holding an umbrella over her. She somehow got these village men to act as servants despite the Shepherds only being here for a few hours. How much did she pay them? How much money does she have to burn?
Inigo hasn't actually interacted with the Shepherds' tactician in the week he's been part of the group, but this display certainly piques his interest. He's attempted to take cues from Virion before, but in seeing this display, perhaps Robin has some techniques he could copy or tops he could use.
Of course, he imagines hitting on men requires a different skill set, but there must be something he can learn.
It would be rude to cut in on her date(?) though, so he'll leave talking to her for later. For now, he needs to calm himself, and get back in the saddle. There are too many women that could be deprived of his handsome face if he lets this get to him.
Putting a smile on his face, Inigo picks out yet another woman (one who's not a part of the Shepherds) and tries again.
###
"I can see you hiding back there." Robin calls out calmly as she returns to camp. "I have to give you credit where it's due, you're more stealthy than most people. So why the interest in me? You're out of range, so it can't be that."
Out of range of what? Does she have perfume or something? "Perhaps I'm simply entranced by your beauty!"
"Yeah, sure. You're just enamored by this patchy, bulky coat that completely hides my body, the lack of makeup, and my messy hair. Picture of beauty." Robin laughs. "I've never met someone who acts like you by default! How cute!"
If Inigo had any confidence, Robin saying, "How cute!" stamped it out real fast.
"So, what is it you're really following me for?" Robin asks cheerfully. "Did you think I was Grimleal maybe?"
"No, no!" Inigo says. At this point he should probably just be upfront. "I'm simply curious about your techniques. You had so many men catering to your whim, even with your lack of care to your appearance. You must have some line or… or…" Inigo trails off as Robin starts laughing "Um…"
"You don't know? Oh, that's precious." Robin giggles. She stops walking, turns to him, and beckons with one hand. "Take a few steps forward and you'll see what I mean."
Normally a woman smiling at him, beckoning, and saying "come closer" would be a win in Inigo's book, but he can't help but feel a bit unnerved. Maybe it's the feeling that he's being looked down upon, but he doesn't want to step forward at all.
"Come on, don't be shy. It doesn't hurt, promise." Robin says. "Chrom deals with it literally every day and he hasn't keeled over. Or am I just that scary?"
He can't let his pride be ruined any further, so he holds his head high and strides towards her. He doesn't smell any perfume or anything. Does she have an illusion that only works at a distance or close range?
Well, whatever it is, he doesn't really care. He gets to stand near Robin, which is a treat in itself. She's even more lovely close up, and-
"Understand now?" Robin asks.
"I have no idea what you mean." Nothing's changed. Inigo can't see a problem. "Your beautiful face really shines up close."
Robin smiles and shakes her head. "Inigo?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
Robin laughs as she speaks. "Take ten steps away."
"But why would I-?"
"For me, please?" She asks, barely holding back a grin.
Well, how could he refuse such a heartfelt request? Inigo does as Robin asks, turning around and taking ten steps. This really is such a simple request, the bare minimum Inigo would be willing to do for…
...for someone with a charm aura. At nine steps Inigo's mind clears, and he turns around to stare dumbfounded at the grinning woman.
"Weird, isn't it?" She asks cheerfully. "Can't turn it off either."
"How did you get such a power?"
"Beats me. I woke up a few years ago with this power and no memories to explain it." She says. "It took Frederick forever to figure out what was going on! He's surprisingly good at keeping his head under charm magic too. For a while I thought he was immune because he was stern when talking to me, but no, he's just good at maintaining composure and staying focused. Most people react like you. They get all dopey without realizing it."
She's just a master at sapping all his confidence. She laughed at him trying to flirt and thinks it's "cute", and now she's indirectly called him dopey.
He's supposed to be handsome and charming, not cute. Cute is how you describe a nice young girl… or Ricken; and dopey is something you'd call Vaike and Kjelle, not him. Inigo actually uses his brain, thank you very much!
Another thought also crosses his mind. "You're a disgrace to the art of love, you know that? You cheat the system."
Robin shrugs shamelessly, not seeming to care all that much. "Yeah."
"You could at least put in some effort." Inigo huffs. "You make the rest of us look incompetant."
"But you are."
"I am not!"
"Really? How many dates have you gotten in the last two months?" Robin asks.
"Enough."
"That's not a number~!"
"Two…" Inigo grumbles under his breath.
"How many were pity dates from one of your companions?"
"Both of them." Inigo admits through gritted teeth.
"I rest my point." Robin says smugly. "I don't make you look incompetant. You do that plenty well on your own."
"Fine." Inigo says. "You're still making other, more skillful people look incompetant."
Robin shrugs. "I can't say I care. I'm only doing what any sensible young woman would do: use her innate magic powers to manipulate everyone around her. It's not like I'm doing something special."
"Yes, you are. Most girls don't have magical charm auras."
Robin waves a hand dismissively. "Charm aura, flirtation, same thing really."
"It's really not."
"Isn't it? Both get men hanging off your every word with minimal effort." Robin says. "Looks like the same thing to me. Charm or charm magic, men are easy."
"We are not!"
"How ecstatic would you be if someone actually accepted a date with you?" Robin asks.
"Well I'd certainly be happy, but-"
"And it wouldn't matter who the woman was, would it?" Robin smirks. "As long as she wasn't awful."
"Well…" She's not wrong.
"So, again: you're easy. Painfully easy. All it takes is for someone to show interest and you're over the moon." Robin says.
Inigo hates that she's right. He would be ecstatic if someone actually accepted a date offer.
"Besides, if I "put in effort" people tend to literally trip over flat ground." Robin chuckles. "I'm fairly sure my charm aura amplifies my appeal in addition to giving me a certain baseline. It's for the sake of safety that I don't put in effort."
"A likely excuse." Inigo says.
Robin's grin is wide, almost predatory. "Remind me to show you at some point then. I promise I won't let you walk into a wall."
A chill goes down Inigo's spine. That offer feels like a trap. "I think I'll pass…"
"You don't want to see me in something nice? Suit yourself." Robin hums. "Now come on, it's getting late. Chrom is going to start wondering where we are."
The two of them walk back to camp, with Inigo giving Robin a healthy amount of distance.
###
"I-Inigo, what are you doing?" Noir squeaks.
"Hiding! Shh!" He responds.
"We're sorta busy here." Brady says, unimpressed. "Can you cower somewhere else?"
"I am not cowering, I'm hiding!" Inigo hisses. "Much more dignified!"
"Sure buddy."
"Inigo?" Robin's voice calls from somewhere outside the tent. "I have a question Inigo!"
"See? Someone actually wants your company, a woman no less, now get out." Brady grumbles.
The irony of him hiding from female attention is not lost on Inigo, but Robin unnerves him. She's not any more dangerous than the other Shepherds exactly, but something about her charm aura or maybe her willingness to casually manipulate people sits ill with him.
Or maybe it's how pathetic she makes him feel.
Robin's voice is gone, so Inigo assumes she's moved off. He slips out of the tent, leaving Brady and Noire to whatever they were doing (Inigo doesn't know what that was because he didn't look, he was too busy hiding) and then makes a dash for the training grounds. Surely she won't bother him if he looks busy!
It's just his luck that when he arrives at the training grounds, Robin is already there.
"Ah, Inigo!" She says with a lazy smirk, almost like she knows he was running from her. "Just the guy I was looking for."
"Robin." Inigo says, forcing a (hopefully) suave smile to his face. He needs to act normal, he has an image to maintain. "What brings you to me on such a lovely day? Perhaps you desired a nice companion for tea?"
"Actually, I wanted to spar with you. I haven't properly assessed you yet." Robin says. "And seeing as you've just arrived, clearly you were about to train anyhow. Perfect timing."
Drat. He can't make a believable excuse to get out of this, but maybe… "Can you even properly assess someone?"
Robin raises an eyebrow in amusement. "Are you calling me stupid? No wonder you can't get a date."
Inigo decides to ignore that. "You can't guarantee I'll fight as normal under the influence of charm."
"It's not like I'm asking you to execute me. Surely you can at least spar with someone you like, even if you like them because of charm magic." Robin chuckles. "Unless you're trying to tell me that love completely paralyzes you because you're such a bleeding heart."
Inigo can feel blood pulse in the side of his face, causing it to twitch. "No, I can spar."
"Great! I'll grab some training swords!" Robin says victoriously.
Inigo groans under his breath. He just knows he's going to end up being made a fool of. He's never sparred under the influence of charm magic, and he isn't excited to find out what it's like.
Even knowing the charm is coming, Inigo struggles to focus as he takes his place opposing Robin. As soon as the match starts, he can tell he's sloppy. He's thinking more about ignoring the charm than he is thinking about the fight. His sword clatters weakly against Robin's when she makes a simple block to a very telegraphed attack on his part.
"Focus Inigo."
"Easy for you to say." He growls. "Cheater."
Robin smirks again. "Just focus on what I'm doing. It's not that hard, even under charm. Restrain the horny for twenty seconds."
"That's not it." Inigo says, and he's being truthful. He's too concerned with how the charm is potentially affecting him to be even mildly aroused at the moment. "Just shut up and fight…"
"What happened to your attempts at being suave?" Robin taunts. She deflects one of his stabs, and lazily swings in return. She's barely trying, and it's infuriating because Inigo knows he could punish this if he could just focus. "Am I a lost cause to your flirtations in your mind? I've been nothing but receptive, you know."
Inigo grits his teeth. Robin followed through too much on her last attack, so he makes a swift stab towards her sternum which she calmly bats away while pulling her sword back across her body.
"Come on, even Lucina spoke highly of your combat skill. I'd hate to tell her that she's wrong." Robin continues to goad. "Or did you just tell her you were good and she believed you without actually checking?"
Inigo throws in a kick towards Robin's shins, which she dodges. He then attempts a powerful overhand hack, and Robin promptly swats his forearm with her sword to knock the strike aside, grabs that arm with her free hand to keep him restrained, and then taps him on the head with the flat of her sword.
"That's one for me." She says with unbearable smugness. "What do you say to a best of five, hmm?"
"Fine." Inigo growls.
Inigo tries to play aggressive in the second round, to force Robin to take him seriously. She's still fighting with a calm, amused expression and casual movements, throwing in banter wherever she wants. She's not focusing at all.
The second round is even shorter than the first. Inigo's aggressive approach gets him punished almost instantly, as a strike that's too slow ends with Robin stepping inside his sword range (not bothering to use her sword) and grabbing him with a headlock.
"Two!" She chirps, and teasingly squeezes his trapped head with her arm. "Better, but you really need to stop with those big strikes. I'm too quick for that."
Inigo snarls silently and tightens his grip on his sword. He doesn't want to get knocked around by Robin! She's already made a fool of him so many times. He needs to retain some semblance of dignity!
Inigo puts all his effort into the next, scrutinizing Robin's every movement and remembering all the lessons he's learned over his years of fighting. Part of the problem is that he's used to fighting Risen, not people, and Risen are a lot more predictable than people.
Still, there are patterns in Robin's movements that can be exploited. Any stab she does is often followed up by holding her sword horizontally in preparation to block. This is a position he can exploit, because it's awkward to turn one's sword horizontally while also moving it across your body. Therefore if he strikes on the opposite side of the body from where she's holding the sword, and does a sideways slash, she should have a hard time blocking.
It's a very specific punishment to her pattern, but for a skilled opponent such a solution is needed.
In fact, it's identifying that pattern and punishing it that lands him his first hit.
"One for me." Inigo says.
"You look so serious now!" Robin laughs. "See, you can focus. Maybe I'll be getting a proper fight after all."
Robin's stab-and-block weakness is fixed on the next round, and Inigo has to identify a new weakness. He finds a problem with her footwork after a few cautious exchanges with their swords. She very twists her back foot when she's about to take a step forward to strike because it lets her push off the ground for momentum, and that's all well and good, but she pauses just a bit longer than she needs to, and he can abuse that to avoid almost all of her attacks.
Inigo wins that round by attrition. He doesn't do anything spectacular, he simply avoids all of her attacks using his newly spotted trick and eventually lands a hit in return using his longer limbs for extra reach.
"Okay! Gloves off, metaphorically." Robin laughs, completely unfazed by her second loss. "I'll stop giving obvious openings this time, now that you're in the right mindset.
Inigo's confidence takes a hit upon hearing that. He identified exactly what she wanted him to identify. He thought he was doing well, but he played right into her hands.
So this is his one chance to show her up and to prove that he's not incompetant. Inigo can't let some stupid charm power get in his way, even if it's very distracting.
"Ready?" Robin asks.
"Yes." Inigo says. He's well aware that he's glaring, but can't bring himself to care. He's focused.
"Begin."
Inigo can instantly see the difference in Robin's style. No longer does she look lazy and amused, no longer does she have easy-to-beat weaknesses, and no longer does she stick to simple stabs and punishing his obvious problems. She exploits every little flaw she can see, and is suddenly incorporating kicks, pommel-strikes, and grabs into her style.
Inigo almost loses the match when Robin locks their swords, pushes them to the side, then body-slams him. It's not a good move except in that it's unexpected. If he was prepared for such a thing, Inigo probably could have won off such a reckless attack, but by the time he's got his sword back in front of him Robin has already returned to a defensive position.
"Come on, you should have either lost or won off that." Robin taunts. "You recovered but didn't counterattack? Perhaps you enjoy having a woman throw herself at you, hmm?"
Inigo isn't stupid. He knows what she's doing. She's trying to abuse her charm powers to fluster him. The problem is that it's working. That's not fair. He's supposed to fluster women, not the other way around! "Cheater."
"All's fair in war!"
He'd love to kiss that shit-eating grin off her face… er, smack. Not kiss. Smack. Stupid charm magic.
They both continue to dance around each other, playing this awkward game of poking and prodding with their swords, made more infuriating by Robin's constant taunts, attempts to kick his shins, and grab his shirt to pull him off balance.
For someone who devotes half her training time to magic, Robin is far stronger of a sword fighter than she has any right to be.
Eventually something gives, and Inigo manages to land a strike on Robin's stomach. He's won, but that was much more difficult a fight than he hoped it would be. It really could have gone either way.
"Well done." Robin congratulates. Inigo can't tell if she's being genuine, or if she finds this all terribly amusing. He might have won, but he doesn't feel like he proved himself. Robin had to taunt him into getting angry, and then give him some painfully easy victories before he was focused enough to have a proper fight.
"Thank you." Inigo takes several steps back to get out of her charm zone. He still has to be polite though, he has an image to maintain, so he offers a compliment so as to not seem rude. "You fought well."
"I know." Robin smirks. She clearly thinks him backing away is funny. "By the way…"
"Yes?"
"I distinctly remember you making an offer of tea before we started sparring."
Inigo swallows thickly. He did say that, didn't he? "Uh, I just remembered I promised to help… Severa… with her… uh… shopping! Sorry, can't do tea today!"
"Alright." Robin says, seeing through his flimsy excuse. "You might be in for a long trip if that's the case though."
"Uh, why?"
Robin leans forward, grinning. "Because Severa is off on a mission, and has been for two days."
"Well shit." Inigo curses silently. "Genius Inigo."
"But I understand." Robin hums. "You're scared."
"I am not!"
Robin takes a step forward, and Inigo instinctively steps back to stay out of range of her charm effect. She raises an eyebrow at him pointedly, and he sighs.
"I'd rather not be constantly manipulated, thank you very much." Inigo says tersely. "I'm not scared, I'm simply interested in being able to think straight."
"My, you won't enjoy finding love then." Robin says. "A constant rush of hormones influencing your thoughts, nearly all the time."
"There's a difference between charm and love."
"Oh I know, believe me, I know." Robin says. "Incidentally… I'm not trying to manipulate you Inigo. You do know that right?"
"I'll take your word for it." Inigo says skeptically.
"Oh, come on. Do you think I'd try something that might scare off the only person who showed any interest in me for the last two years?" Robin asks. "A lot of people are scared off by the charm thing. They think it's cool for approximately two days before they realize how much potential control it gives me over them. So when I say I'm not trying to manipulate you, I mean it."
Huh. Inigo hadn't considered that. "You also mock me constantly."
"Because you fluster so easily, it's cute." Robin says. "Seriously, you try to be a womanizer, but a bit of teasing or banter and you fall to pieces! I don't even need charm magic to lead you around."
Inigo is mildly insulted, more so because he realizes Robin is absolutely right. She led him to certain actions more by taunting him than through her actual magic. The only times she actually abused her magic was when first demonstrating it to him (she only made him walk away) and in their last fight to try and win (and she even spent the first four rounds allowing him to get his footing and learning to fight under the effects of charm specifically so he was capable of resisting that move).
"So about that tea…" Robin says with a smile.
"You're going to mock me the entire time."
"Well yeah, it's cute."
"I'm not cute!"
"Really not your choice."
"I'm handsome!"
Robin instantly starts laughing, and once again Inigo's confidence just withers. Is it really so ridiculous that he considers himself handsome?
"I'm not that childish…" He says, offended.
"Sorry, sorry!" Robin says after she gets the giggles out of her system. "I don't mean to sound rude. In a certain light you're handsome, it's just that "handsome" implies a certain degree of square-jawedness and you're more lithe and soft-featured. Hence: cute."
Oh. He didn't realize she had an actual precise mental definition of what handsomeness is.
"Also, you're easy to fluster, and that tends more towards cute." Robin teases. "Don't worry, it's an endearing quality. You might have more success with women if you play to that instead of trying this whole "suave and cool" thing, because you're not so great at that."
That's a backhanded compliment if Inigo has ever heard one. "Must you insult me with every other line you say?"
"I'm not trying to insult you." Robin chuckles. "I'm teasing. You're fine Inigo."
He still grumbles under his breath. "You could try being nice…"
"Do you want me to be nice?" She asks. Her whole body languages changes from leaning forward aggressively to standing upright, and her facial expression changes to something soft and wide-eyed. "I'm sorry, were you hurt while we were sparring? Do you need me to fetch a healer? In addition, I would very much enjoy if we could share a meal sometime, Mister Inigo."
"Okay, stop, that's creepy." Inigo says. Watching her trying to be nice is like watching a chicken try to do ballet. It's painfully awkward, and even if the chicken knows how to dance it's viscerally wrong to see.
"Make up your mind, do you want me to be nice or not?"
"Maybe don't. Somehow that's more unnerving than your charm powers."
Robin shrugs. "If you say so."
"Also… I suppose we can have tea."
"Can we?" Robin gasps sarcastically. "I wasn't aware!"
"Look, if you don't want to-"
"No, I'm more than happy to accept." Robin says with a grin. "How important is this? Should I wear something nice?"
He remembers Robin's offer to wear something nice when they first spoke… and honestly he's still wary. "No need."
Robin raises an eyebrow. "Are you suuure?"
"I'm sure. Just… please don't mock me the entire time."
"Of course I won't. That would only be fun for me." Robin says. "I can tell you some stories about the things people have done under my charm magic. Some people show their true colours. Sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes I was pretty sure they'd end up in jail in a year."
That sounds mildly interesting. "I look forward to hearing it."
###
Robin must be nearby. That has to be the explanation. Inigo desperately wants that to be the explanation. He peers outside his tent and stalks the surrounding area, trying to find out where she could be hiding.
"Maybe behind the crates…?" Inigo whispers to himself as he pushes some aside. "No, no, of course not."
He's aware some of the others are giving him odd looks, but he continues to frantically look for Robin, praying she's in the area.
"Did she learn to increase the range…? No, don't be stupid Inigo…"
"Okay, seriously, what are you doing?" Brady asks in irritation. "I thought you finished trying to find places to hide months ago."
"I am finished with that, I'm looking for Robin."
"She's off at some sorta meeting with the local duke." Brady says. "Won't be back until dinner probably."
Inigo pauses, and turns to stare at Brady. "Sorry, can you say that again?"
"She's at a meeting. Won't be back until dinner."
Inigo stares for a moment longer, then turns his gaze to the floor. "I am in so much trouble."
Brady sighs. "What did you do this time?"
"Not specifically, generally." Inigo mumbles. He waves goodbye and returns to his tent so he can worry in private.
He was hoping Robin was around because he's having the same feeling he usually has when she's around. You know, because of the charm. The fact that he's feeling that right now when she's nowhere near should have a rather obvious explanation.
But he can't fall for Robin. That's a terrible idea. She teases him all the time! Maybe that's died down over the last few months, and it was never intended to be antagonistic to begin with, but still!
Not only is she the tactician, she's also a friend of his parents. His parents. She's first generation, not one of the the future kids! Can he even consider going after her.
"Why would I consider that?" He mumbles. Robin finds his attempts to land dates funny, so he's not enough of a fool to think he has any chance at wooing her even if he wanted to, and has consistently pointed out his incompetence.
Granted, Robin does spend more time with him than other people, and she's seemingly taken an interest in his dancing after she accidentally stumbled upon his practice, so there might be a chance…
Inigo squeezes his eyes shut and groans. He wasn't prepared to be interested in only one person. He can't just shrug off rejection and move on to the next person this time, if he decides to do anything at all.
Because of course it was going to turn out like this. Of course he'd fall for one of the people who actively makes fun of him. It couldn't be someone who thinks he's cool, or at least somewhat impressive, or has at least seen his competence on multiple occasions. It had to be Robin of all people.
"I am so fucked." Inigo groans.
Robin ended up being a bit more rude than I expected, but I'm still content with this chapter.
RedNephilim: No one wants to deal with Robin's special brand of crazy.
Frost5: Deadlord Robin is one of those stories I feel would be very difficult to continue. I'm going to be hard-pressed to figure out how to do the epilogue for it.
NerdLord2nd: Yay!
Takedo: He knows his enemy is Naga, and he knows that Manaketes are divine dragons which are the same tribe as Naga. He fully understood the distinction in the past, but after literal centuries of not talking to anyone except the manakets that randomly wandered close to his hideout (which he then captured) he went a bit crazy. He thinks all the manaketes he's found are being sent to his hideout because of Naga, so in turn he assumes Naga is using them as vessels and therefore any divine dragon he sees is Naga (in addition to whoever they are at base, hence why he'll acknowledge Nah while still talking to Naga).
Artyom-Dreizehn: It's arguable how "good" Robin actually is, but yes.
Izunama: That's kinda what I was going for. Good to see it crept through.
RedNephilim: Your ideas are noted.
I'm glad you enjoy my works. Some of them turn out better than others, but I try my best.
RedBanzai: Noted.