Reasons

Timeline: Awakening.

GeromexInigo

For Ninian on FEF.

Because this is the kind of cracky shit we talk about in private IM. xD Thanks to her for hearing out all my headcanons and weeiiiird ass ideas and the utter lunacy of my mind. She are one of the best people I have come to know! So I hope the rest of you enjoy this and don't explode from the fluff at the end. I also hope you don't explode from laughing at the humor.

This is her your fault, I hope you know. xD

I originally posted this, and the other works I will be submitting in the Fire Emblem Forever Guild on Gaia Online. This fic, and some of the Submissions, were requests I took on during November for NaNoWriMo and just continued to work on. So, yeah. Read on, peeps!

-

Shrill, high pitched screaming awoke everyone in the camp mid-morning and when they had flung themselves out of their tents, weapons drawn and looking for the fight, nearly everyone fell over in sheer disbelief at the comical scene of Inigo being dangled high in the air from his pants leg by Minerva who would swish and dip in the air prompting further screams and then would just...drop him.

Cue even more screaming.

Gerome was standing in the middle of the field, a self-satisfied expression to him if anyone noticed and finally the oddity of the scene seemed to strike and Lucina approached the other. "Um, Gerome?"

The male turned to look at her and nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Why is Minerva flinging Inigo about like a rag doll?"

Before Gerome answered, Cherche spoke, stepping up beside her son.

"Isn't it obvious, dear? She feels insulted in some way or another." The woman answered, gazing up at the Wyvern with a smile as she decided to perform a roll in mid-air, hurling Inigo at the last second, producing an even shriller scream.

"OH MY GOD, HELP! I'M GOING TO DIE!"

Lucina blinked. "...Insulted?" She asked slowly.

"Indeed," Gerome replied, his voice holding a strange smugness to it. "She caught him out flirting with a woman...again." His voice dropped to a dark, low note at the last word.

While it wasn't a big secret or anything, it wasn't gallivanted about the camp that Gerome had become recently involved with Inigo and only a few people, namely the future children, Cherche, Olivia, Virion, Lon'qu, and Robin really knew about it. Maybe Chrom did, depending on if Robin had told him or not, but that didn't really matter much. Still, there was the fact that Gerome had been nearly irate in attempting to break Inigo of his flirting habit because of this.

Few of the children knew just how vain and possessive the man could be, and Lucina was one of the few who had witnessed one such outburst from him one time. He had pointedly back handed Inigo and venomously declared that Inigo had more than he could ever wish for with him, and would instead choose to cast that aside for some common woman that could never truly give him satisfaction? Gerome had stalked off afterwards and took off on Minerva and did not return for a whole day.

Lucina had been more than baffled, as the man was so normally reserved and quiet, but a conversation with Cherche had revealed that while he had (to her, thankfully,) inherited most of her habits and nuances, he did unfortunately possess some of his father's personality. While it never showed in public, she had come to see that Gerome did indeed possess quite a bit of Virion's prideful and vain qualities. The man prided himself in his skill, abilities, and looks.

He was always more than indignant and hurt when Inigo would choose to chase after women. Not that she would blame him, Gerome was certainly a cut above the rest in terms of looks and even skill, but why did he even bother with Inigo in the first place if he knew all of the hassle it would be to deal with his flirtatious ways?

Just at that moment, Minerva tossed Inigo high up into the air and let him start plummeting towards the ground below, producing the highest pitched note to leave Inigo's throat yet.

"AHHHHHH! OH MY GOD, I'M SORRY, DON'T LET HER KILL ME GEROME, PLEASE!" He wailed, flailing as he fell and before he could hit the ground, Minerva swooped down and caught him again with her jaws by the pants and whisked him high into the air.

Silly, silly human. I won't kill you. Came a quiet voice that rang throughout his mind.

He stopped in mid-scream, eyes widening before he frantically turned his head to look at the Wyvern that was holding him so high in the air. "D-Did you just...?" He asked incredulously.

While it is not very well known, yes, some of us Wyverns, given enough time and our intellegence, can learn to telepathically communicate with people. I have not had reason to until now. The Wyvern said into his mind again.

"O-okay...so...why are you doing this to me?" He asked timidly.

Because you foolish, silly human, you hurt my human. With your shallow attempts to woo and court such see-through women. I will not abide to seeing him so distraught over your foolish tendencies, regardless of your reasons for doing so. She answered in an almost annoyed like way.

"B-but, I don't do it because I want them anymore!" He said, struggling to right himself in the air so he was at least partially right-side up.

"I'm a mess with people, women especially. I'm shy and I get uncomfortable. By projecting myself out and working on talking to people, women especially, I work past that insecurity." He mumbled, sighing.

Even so, that does not permit you to run around loosing provocative words and insinuations towards women. [b]Especially[/b] when it upsets my human.

Before Inigo could try to reply, the Wyvern tossed him again.

"AHHHH!" He screamed again, eyes widening for a long moment before shutting tight as the ground got closer and closer.

He never hit, as Minerva caught him again and swooped up high. This time she had him by the back of his shirt.

Look well, silly human. She said to him.

His eyes opened slowly to take in the ground below and gulped.

You have no reason to fear me, lest you provoke some reason for my wrath. But if you continue to upset my human...

Her jaw loosened and Inigo tensed up, eyes widening in fear of the long fall, but the Wyvern did not let go and simply let the threat sink in. Slowly she descended back towards the ground and landed beside Gerome and released Inigo, giving him a look.

You will not speak of this to my human, and you will do well to remember this unless you really want me to demonstrate to the other humans what one looks like upon crashing to the ground from an extremely high altitude.

Inigo shuddered and gave a tiny nod, before turning to look at Gerome. He couldn't make out too much from the others expression due to their half-hidden face and the fact he was keeping his lips schooled into a straight line.

Lucina was looking at him and looked like she was going to say something, but just sighed heavily and turned, walking back towards the rest of the camp.

The others who had been watching the whole spectacle were slowly either returning to their tents to go back to sleep, or setting about to starting their day. Finally, Inigo sighed and looked to the ground. He didn't know what to say, and to be honest, was actually quite fearful of another outburst from Gerome once they were alone. His cheek still was sore from that last smack.

Gerome finally just sighed, stepped around Inigo and placed his hand on Minerva's muzzle and patted her, murmuring something quietly to her that Inigo could not make out before he mounted the Wyvern's back and Minerva took to the sky. Inigo watched them go and bit on his lip. Honestly, he wasn't trying to upset Gerome, and he really was shy. This of course could be blamed on the fact he really stood no chance at NOT being such, as both of his parents were the most introverted and shy-like people he'd ever known. He got his shyness towards women from his father, Lon'qu, and the rest of it from his mother, Olivia.

He was startled out of his musing when Cherche let out a thoughtful hum and he turned his head to look towards her. She was watching the spot Gerome had disappeared from in the sky before she finally turned her gaze towards him. "I hope you've learned your lesson."

He blinked at her. Oh, Gods. Here it came. Was he going to get the infamous 'lesson learned' lecture from Cherche, now?

"Look, Cherche, I'm really not doing it because of the women anymore." He said weakly.

She stared at him for a long moment, as if trying to read the truthfulness of his words before she spoke again. "That matters not; what matters is that you stop hurting my son. To be honest, I'm quite surprised his pride and vanity have not driven him to let Minerva simply eat the women you choose to flirt with in jealousy."

A horrified look crossed Inigo's face. "What?" He gasped.

"You really mean something to him, since he has not. I suggest you don't take his adoration so lightly. His Minerva may have let you off easy, but if she catches you again..." Cherche turned her body to fully face him and there was something about the sudden aura she gave off that chilled him even as she smiled. "Then I will let my Minerva come to play as well and trust me," Her smile widened and if anything, it unnerved Inigo even more.

"She's not nearly as mellowed out as Gerome's version of her."

A hard shudder of fear ran down Inigo's spine and he paled considerably for a long moment as the woman stared at him before she let out another hum and turned and began walking back towards the rest of the camp.

He stood there, gulping to himself at the mental image of himself suddenly being mauled and thrown about between two Minerva's as they brought their wrath down on him. Cringing, he shook his head to clear himself of it. How was he supposed to get over his timidity and shyness now? It wasn't like he could be like Owain and just march confidantly and spout whatever was on his mind and Gods help him if he ended up even worse, like Yarne.

Slowly he made his way back to his tent to ponder over his predicament. He hated to talk about his shyness to anyone, as it just gave them incentive to laugh. Because with all the poetic he waxed about girls and love and all that, most of the time, it was just a front to hide that shyness and to reveal it now... Hell, he hadn't even told Gerome this. Which was probably why he was so pissed off in the first place when he'd go out talking to girls.

...Come to think of it, he suddenly realized that he was being stupid about hiding his reasons. Honestly, he'd let Gerome watch him dance before, which was something he hardly ever let anyone do, besides his mother, and never thought anything of it. It hadn't felt awkward or out of place, he hadn't been shy or self-conscious, he just danced the way he always did. No stumbles, no slip ups.

Something about that revelation-that he could honestly be himself in front of Gerome, made him feel even more dumb about this whole thing. He probably could have saved himself a backhand, facing Minerva's "punishment", and having a few years of his life scared from him by Cherche if he'd just been honest about his reasons in the first place.

Groaning, he flopped back onto his bedroll and tugged at his hair in frustration. He had to make it up to Gerome. Cherche was right, he'd simply been taking Gerome and their relationship for granted. Their world had had no sense of hope and every day, it was a fight for survival. He took so many things for granted because of the fear of dying. Now, the constant threat of death was a bit lessened, but time was still running out. He couldn't let that time go to waste, just in case everything did come crashing down and somehow they failed to prevent their future from happening.

Nodding to himself, he sat up on his bed and began to think and decide what he was going to do to make it up to his boyfriend.

-

Evening had settled when Gerome finally returned to the camp and quietly entered the tent he and Inigo now shared. He blinked his eyes to adjust to the dim light of the lantern and took in the sight of a plate of dinner set to the side and Inigo sitting on his bedroll, looking at him solemnly with the shadows of guilt and regret flickering in his eyes.

He had changed from his normal outfit to the one he usually did when he practiced his dancing, Gerome noted after another moment as he stepped farther into the tent and let the flap close behind him before he wordlessly walked to where Inigo had set his dinner, took it, and sat down. He slowly reached up and peeled the mask down and away from his face.

In all honesty, he hated wearing the damn thing. It had taken him some time to adjust to the obscured vision, and the suffocating feeling it brought to have something attached to his face. He did it to hide himself from the rest of the world, so they would not become close to him. If he grew attached, and they somehow failed in this quest to change the future, then he would not be able to bear that crushing despair again.

That, and there was also the fact he was very proud of how he looked. He knew he was attractive and good looking, and to hide his aesthetic perfection was something that irked him. But his vanity could be sacrificed for the greater good, and so every day he smashed that vain streak down and placed the mask on.

And yet, he had no qualms at all of taking it off in Inigo's presence. Yes, he had found Inigo's womanizing ways annoying, as well as some of his other, smaller nuances. But he had, after some gradual time spent both on and off the battlefield with him, seen that he was just as broken in some ways as he was. Of course, ask him out right if he was such and he'd be inclined to let Minerva eat whoever it was that asked, but when it came down to it, at the end of the day, that was the truth he had to face down.

His mother, after finally letting her get close, had eased and lessened some of that, but even with his conversations with his father, still felt some kind of wall between the two of them. It wasn't something big, in fact it was probably just his own hesitancy to become attached, but it was there. Inigo managed to take away some of that sense of utter despair and lessen the feeling of desperation he felt with his self-enforced isolation with his smile and laugh.

The first time he had ever been privileged enough to watch Inigo dance, he knew it then: that damned womanizing idiot had made off with the remnants of his shattered heart.

And though he had made some progress in having Inigo for himself, he could not get him to stop chasing after the women. Why? What was about them that he did not possess? He was far better suited for Inigo; he would never be a burden to him as he could take care of himself. He could cook adequetely, he could sew and mend clothes, he could do plenty of things that any normal woman could and then some. He honestly could not understand what made Inigo chase after them and it was wearing his mind and sanity very thin.

It would take all of his effort not to let Minerva simply eat the women, or for him to drive an axe or lance through them, himself. Coming out of his distracted thoughts, he shoved them aside to make his mind blank and picked up his utensils and began to quietly eat.

Inigo still hadn't spoken but he slowly, almost timidly, rose from his bedroll. Gerome slowly looked at him in slight curiosity, watching as he made his way to the center of the tent. Closing his eyes, Inigo began to dance.

Gerome watched as he ate, silently mesmerized by the others fluidity and graceful movements. Though there was no music, there certainly was a rhythm that Inigo followed as he twirled and moved about. There was no hesitancy or little stumbles Gerome usually saw when Inigo danced for others; it was completely solid and because he had no other word to describe it, beautiful, despite how cliche and often overused the term was because it was complete truth. Inigo's dancing was beautiful, Inigo himself was beautiful like that, he put everything of himself in his motions. Emotion in motion.

He could see everything that Inigo was feeling, because he put it into his dance. His sadness, regret, guilt. There wasn't anything he was hiding with his dance and Gerome slowly began to realize that the reason Inigo was not stumbling or hesitant was because he was completely comfortable with letting him see this part of himself. Or maybe, as he watched the other do a slow spin on the ball of his foot before arching back into a graceful arc, that he wanted him to see this.

Inigo was a mess with words when he was not waxing romantic poetic, and often tried to avoid serious conversations with people if he could help it. He always seemed...awkward. The thought never occurred to him that he could possibly be shy. No, he couldn't be, could he? But then, he had overlooked the fact that his parents were both the biggest introverts and incredibly shy themselves. He stared at Inigo. Was that it? Was that why he always threw himself out there? To get over his own introversy?

He set aside his mostly finished meal and tilted his head to the side as he took in this new train of thought, brows furrowing slowly as he thought it over more carefully, still watching Inigo dance. He always laughed and redirected certain topics if they strayed too far towards the topic of being shy or insinuating that he held some sort of hidden fear. He did his hardest to sound confidant and take things in stride, but there were times Gerome would catch Inigo looking utterly lost and broken, but the moment he realized he had let his guard slip, it would vanish and he'd go back to being himself. Or at least, what Gerome had always considered and thought to be Inigo's true self.

But now...

Now, it was beginning to make sense. The little oddities and enigmatic things that never added up and seemed off, now gave him perfect clarity. It wasn't entirely that Inigo was chasing women, although he did suspect that the other male did take some kind of enjoyment from it, mostly did it to improve his social skills. While this still bothered him, it did not nearly as much as it had only moments before. Because now he understood the reasons, and maybe, given some more time and Gods be willing, he could find a way to reroute Inigo's need to improve his socialization towards something less extreme and in the long run, less infuriating for himself to deal with.

With a slight nod in satisfaction in figuring out at least one piece of the puzzle that was his lover, he stood from his cot and slowly walked over to Inigo and gently stopped him in mid turn by placing a hand on his shoulder.

Inigo's eyes snapped wide and locked with his, mouth parting in surprise and his face instantly flushed and for some reason, it made Gerome smile at seeing the honest response the other made at the interruption instead of a more thought-out, schooled reaction. He let his hand slip down from Inigo's shoulder and slowly clasped his fingers around his wrist before gently leading him back towards his cot and sat down, motioning for the other to sit beside him.

Inigo hesitantly did so and looked nervous, he licked his lips and tried to speak. "Gerome..."

But the moment he did, the other shook his head and placed two fingers over the others lips. "Don't," He murmured quietly, and Inigo fell silent. Gerome took a breath, before speaking.

"Inigo, why couldn't you simply tell me you were shy? It would have saved us both some heartache in the long run."

Inigo turned his head and looked towards the floor; his face had taken on an even brighter hue and there was the barest tremble coming from him.

"Because I..." He began, voice shaking. "Because I didn't want anyone to laugh at me. If people knew I was just as introverted and shy as my parents, they'd laugh at me. So I kept trying to brush it under the rug and make excuses for myself to go out and work on my social skills, and women became the most convenient excuse."

Gerome frowned a little, but let out a small nod, knowing the other was watching his reactions from the corner of his eye, even if he wouldn't look at him. They lapsed into a bout of silence.

"But I finally realized how stupid I was being," Inigo finally said after a long pause, glancing shyly over at Gerome, face still bright red and by now it had traveled from not just his cheeks, but down to his neck and even up to his ears.

"You did?" Gerome asked curiously, brow arching slowly.

"Yeah... I realized that if I was so comfortable at being able to dance infront of you, then I should be comfortable at just being honest and myself with you, too."

Again, he looked towards the ground and his head dropped. "So, I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything stupid I've done that has hurt you. I've messed up so much and all I want to do is make it up to you."

The soft timidity and actual emotion that filled Inigo's voice was enough to sway any doubt that lingered in Gerome that the other was simply saying this to placate him. The raw honesty about him, the way he wasn't even trying to hide behind that self-assured front told him all he needed to know.

He reached over and guided Inigo's face towards him, getting the other to look at him again. "You already have." He answered before leaning in and pressed his lips to the others.

Although it took some more time and effort, things between them became much smoother.

Inigo no longer chased after the ladies and instead devoted himself to simply trying to be open and speak with the others in more than just light conversation, and even took a few pages from Owain's book of theatrics to further help his social abilities. But nothing too extreme, Gods forbid that. He wouldn't dream of being able to spout such utter nonsense that Owain could.

Of course, he still had problems when it came to dancing for people, but he was getting more and more confidant as the days went by, enough to even admit to some of his closer friends his own hesitance and shy personality.

"I always knew it, it wasn't hard to see." Lucina admitted with a shrug.

"It's not a bad thing, you know. Just don't let it rule every second of your life, yeah?" Morgan said.

"You? Shy? By the Sacred Staff of L'Arachel, Inigo, if you had needed Divine Inspiration in the form of socializing, you should've just asked!" Owain exclaimed.

Gerome thankfully, was less uptight and considerably less irate at this change and had added this personal challenge of getting Inigo over his introversy to his list of reasons why he had to change the course of the future. It wasn't a long list, but it made all the difference to him.

He wanted his family, he wanted to ensure the world's survival which ultimately saved his family, he wanted to make sure his friends and their families were saved, which meant they had to save the world anyway, and finally...

He wanted to make sure Inigo stayed at his side. They still had much more growing to do together.

End

-

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, that took me less than a day to write when I did and OMG, SO MUCH FUCKING FLUFF I THINK MY GODDAMN CAVITIES GOT CAVITIES. So, uh, this is allllllll Nini's fault. ALL OF IT.

So, yes, my Inigo is spawned from Lon'qu and Olivia, and Gerome from Virion and Cherche, which Nini and I were laughing at because of how utterly DOOMED Inigo is to being shy and how vain and prideful Gerome must secretly be. ("This hair doesn't spike itself, you know!" xDDDDD) So if any of their personalities seem off, it's because they're MY HEADCANON. Get over it. xD

Anyway, that aside, I hope you all enjoyed it!