Overprotective

by Atheon

Chrom somersaulted into the supply tent, the flaps moving ever so slightly to admit him inside. He glanced nervously behind him to see if he was being followed, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

"And this, Chrom, proves I was right when I said you would make a terrible assassin a month ago," a bored, but slightly amused voice called from further within the tent, causing Chrom to jump to his feet and instinctively reach for Falchion's grip.

"Oh, relax. It's just me." The white-haired man told him with a dismissive wave of the hand. He was currently sitting on the messy desk, surrounded by books on all sides. Chrom noted that only a single lamp was dimly lit, the lack of light was likely intended to make the tent appear empty from outside.

Releasing the fabled blade, Chrom visibly relaxed and exhaled dramatically as he began walking towards his friend with a tired expression. "Sorry, I expected this tent to be empty. What are you doing all the way in this corner of camp, Robin?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Robin replied coolly as the blue-haired lord took a seat across from him. He slid a bowl of fruits across the desk in silent offer to Chrom who gratefully accepted.

"But I'm just hiding it out until Morgan is significantly less likely to kill me on sight," Robin said as his friend munched on an apple. He paused for a moment before continuing nonchalantly, "And until Severa is less willing to run me through with a sword. My entire family is pretty much out to murder me right now."

"Ah, yes, I saw Severa stalking across camp looking for you earlier. She was in a really bad mood – er, bad-er than usual I mean," Chrom said as he recalled seeing the seething twin-tailed girl.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Robin commented in a defeated tone as he took a bite of his own apple. "So, who are you hiding from?"

At this, Chrom made a point of crossing his arms and adopting what Cynthia called his 'stoic hero' look before declaring, "I'm not hiding from anyone."

"Father! Stop hiding like a craven and face me!" A loud voice called from somewhere outside the tent.

"Huh? That sounded like Lucina, do you think something's wro–" Robin paused abruptly as he turned to face the lord.

In front of him, Chrom had crouched beside a spare wardrobe and was covering his face with an upside-down book, acting as if it made him invisible.

"Father!" came a war-cry as the flaps of the tent burst open to reveal an enraged Lucina carrying an unsheathed Parallel Falchion. Her expression quickly mellowed upon spotting Robin surrounded by books in the middle of the tent.

"Oh, Robin! I'm so sorry to interrupt you while you're hard at work," she began as embarrassment began to make their way onto her features.

"Mhm. No big deal," Robin responded dryly while taking a bite out of his own apple.

"If you see father, please inform him that I'm looking for him," Lucina said as she bowed out of the tent.

The wardrobe in the corner exhaled loudly as the Exalt stood and plopped down on the chair across from Robin. "Thanks for covering me."

"Mhm. So," Robin began. "Why's your daughter trying to kill you?"

Chrom sighed, "She found out I've been sending Fredrick to spy on her dates with Gerome."

"Wow, overprotective much? Does Sumia know?" Robin questioned as played with the core of his finished apple.

"Not yet, though she'll know soon enough with Lucina wreaking havoc across camp," Chrom said as he leaned back in his chair.

The lord gestured offhandedly towards his tactician, "What about you? Why are your daughters trying to murder you?"

"Nothing much, really. They're just mad that I kidnapped Owain and Inigo, then left them in the middle of an uninhabited jungle island," Robin told him lazily.

"You did what!?" Chrom exclaimed as he sat up straight.

"What? I saw how Stahl confronted Laurent about his intentions when he started dating Noire; I figured I should do the same with my own daughters," Robin told him defensively.

"So you abandoned their boyfriends in the middle of a jungle? With no escape route?" Chrom questioned.

"What? Of course not! I set up three different trials around the island, each of which designed to test how worthy they were of my daughters. Upon clearing the trials, they could confront the final boss and be allowed to return home," Robin explained with a hint of pride in his voice. After all, the elaborately designed trials were quite genius if he could say so himself.

"Wow. And you're calling me overprotective?" Chrom asked rhetorically with a mixture of awe and fear.

A few moments of silence passed between the two before Chrom asked, "Final boss?"

To this, Robin smiled, "I had Nowi waiting in her dragon form at the top of the volcano."

"Volcano!? Does Cordelia know about all this?"

"Oh, I assure you that she both knows about it and is hunting me down alongside my daughters as we speak. I don't know why they're so mad though, Owain and Inigo both passed with flying colors," Robin said while peeling an orange.

At this, Chrom sighed and mumbled something about how Lucina should be thankful he only went as far as spying on her dates.

. . .

"I swear I am going to slice him into a million pieces," Severa seethed as she stalked across the Ylissean encampment, twirling Parallel Tyrfing with her right hand as she walked.

"Yeah! Me too – ah, but wait! If we rip father's arm out, then he won't be able to show me the new tome he and Aunty Miriel have been developing," Morgan considered as she skipped around camp trying to match her sister's pace.

"And mother is just as much at fault for all this! How could she just sit by and let dad rope half the Shepherds into turning an uninhabited island into a deathtrap. The nerve of her!" Severa continued, seemingly without having heard Morgan in the slightest.

"Eh? I don't think mother is really at fault here though; father told her that it was a matter of grave importance so she trusted him and-" Morgan began only to be quickly cut off by his sharp-tongued sibling.

"Gawds, I cannot believe that you are defending her. She totally should've known better! They've been married for how long now and are always so disgustingly lovey-dovey with each other. She's just as much to blame, trust me," Severa declared with no room for argument.

"Hm. The logic doesn't really add up and they haven't been married for too long in this timeline, but if my big sister says so, then I'll take your word for it!" Morgan agreed happily.

"Ugh. How are you still so cheery after all this? Inigo now has a fear of squirrels and Owain sprained his sword hand so he can't even put his clothes on properly!" Severa said exasperatedly as she made an overly dramatic gesture with her arms.

Around the two siblings, soldiers and Shepherds alike were quick to jump out of the way of the raging blond and her red-haired happy-go-lucky sister.

"I don't really see why that's a problem though? You spend most nights in Owain's tent so I'm sure you can help him with his clothes," Morgan commented innocently.

In turn, Severa came to an abrupt stop and turned to face her younger sister with the most menacing look she could muster. Her voice carried a silent warning, "Morgan."

"Oh, right, that's supposed to be a secret. Sorry!" Morgan said and pretended to zip her mouth.

Resuming her angry pace, Severa sighed, "But seriously, can't he just verbally threaten to hurt them if they ever hurt us like a normal father?"

"He he, but that's what makes our family so fun, don't you think sis? The fact that father forced them to go through trials on a deserted island just shows how much he loves us! And, not gonna lie, those trials were pretty awesome."

The split-second smile that graced Severa's features told Morgan that despite her show of fury and gusto, a part of her sister was really enjoying all this.

"I guess, he's still dead meat though."

Thanks for reading!