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Robin doesn't much care for truth or dare, but he can't stop this game. It's all in good fun, he thinks, watching as Chrom picks dare every single time.
The wine is flowing. Someone has even produced a bottle of expensive cognac, and everyone is a bit tipsy. In the corner, Sumia and Cordelia are getting handsy. Someone set Lissa up on one of the bunks to sleep it off, Maribelle sitting watch over her. Even Lon'qu is getting into the celebrations, trading sips of wine and deep conversation with Libra. Vaike is nearby, but barely contributing to that discussion. Still, Lon'qu keeps looking at him a bit too long.
Robin sits in the midst of his Shepherds - Chrom's Shepherds, more correctly - but they are his, in a way, listening to his every command, even the not-so-bright ones. He's milking what might be his third glass of wine, a haze floating over everything. It's hard to concentrate, and there's a voice in his head that is protesting that, that says that he should be in better control of himself. But they won. They defeated Gangrel and the Plegian armies, took back their city. They've earned this reprieve, and Robin is a part of their number.
Chrom re-enters the room with a flourish. He's radiant, tonight, his face effused with light and warmth. Sully, Stahl, and Nowi enter behind him, all of them cheering and hooting. Robin has to fight through the haze in his mind to remember the dare that Chrom just completed. Stahl... had dared him to do something physical. Robin watches Chrom carefully for a moment, making certain that he's not about to pass out - he's had quite a lot of wine and combined with sudden exertion, he might be in danger.
Chrom's eyes are bright, but he seems aware enough. Robin looks away, not wanting to be caught staring, even here where most of the night will be forgotten. He takes another drink from his glass and is surprised to find it's empty.
Chrom moves back through the room, and his Shepherds all gravitate toward him once more. Even though this is his bachelor's celebration, if it was a normal party, they would still all turn toward him. It's easy to see why people love their prince - he's strong and intelligent, and his heart is golden. He's perfect, and the Ylisseans would die to protect him. Robin would die to protect him. He nearly did, once.
His thoughts go dark, and Robin rises, intent on getting a refill from one of the wineskins. But no sooner does he stand that his empty cup is being taken from him, and a full one is set in his hand. It's a crisp white, rather than a robust red. He prefers white, but has been drinking red all night. He didn't know there was a white wine to have.
"Thank you," he says, and glances into Tharja's dark, contemplative eyes.
"Welcome," she says, in that sultry voice.
She makes him feel both comfortable and uncomfortable. How did she know he prefers white over red? Robin doesn't think he's mentioned it to anyone before. She's been with them barely a month, since Emmeryn... since Chrom took his sister's place. But she knows Robin, knows almost everything about him. Even those secrets he's tried so hard to hide. Especially those.
Tharja smiles at him, then turns to the others and projects her voice. "I think it's time that Robin got to choose. Truth or dare!"
The others cheer at that, and start chanting (Truth-or-dare, Truth-or-dare), and Robin locks his knees so they don't tremble. They know he's got a sordid past, and one that he doesn't like to talk about. The Shepherds know he's Plegian, know that he has been in self-imposed exile from his home country since before he knew how to speak, but he holds his memories close to his chest.
Chrom comes up right beside him and throws an easy arm around his shoulders, jostling Robin and sloshing some of his wine. "Come on, Robin. What'll it be? Truth or dare?"
Robin tries to relax under that heavy arm. Chrom knows he doesn't like talking about his past, and he trusts the prince with his life and his sanity. Chrom won't do anything to him that Robin will regret later.
"Fine, fine," Robin says, and takes a big gulp of wine to give himself a moment to think about it. "Truth," he says to Chrom, and catches the prince's blue eye, letting him know exactly how much trust he's placing in Chrom.
Chrom's smile doesn't fade. If possible, it grows, and he gives Robin a tiny nod.
The others make noises and the general noise of the room lessens, everyone focusing in.
Chrom draws it out for a moment, and his body is so warm against Robin's that it feels like they might combust together, only needing a single spark to burn to ashes. Chrom thinks hard about it, eyes piercing into Robin's mind, and Robin feels a momentary panic.
"Who was your first kiss?" Chrom finally asks.
Robin relaxes and his cheek brushes against Chrom's shoulder for an instant before he straightens. The Shepherds cat-call and holler, Vaike stomping on the floor. Chrom knows this story, because Robin's told it to him before. He's giving him an out.
"He was the village cobbler's son," Robin starts. It feels strange, telling this story from under Chrom's arm, but the prince doesn't move away, as if by being next to him he can offer all his support. It's touching, but also a little strange, telling this story with Chrom so near.
"I was thirteen, and I think he was fourteen. We would sneak into the forest nearby and I would teach him survival skills, what plants were poisonous and what to do if you ran across a bear. He taught me to climb trees, and how to shoe horses, and once he even made me a little horse out of metal." Robin smiles, getting into the memory now. It's a safe memory, of a time when he was happy. Before his mother's death, before he'd been forced to run from village to village, darkening his white hair with dirt. "We climbed a tree in the middle of the summer, and he took my hand and kissed me. I nearly fell out of the tree - I'd never kissed anyone before, and it took me quite by surprise. But he was very sweet, and kind, and he had a big heart." Maybe I have a type, he thinks, but doesn't say aloud, purposely not glancing at Chrom. "His name was Caleb, and I'll always be grateful for what he taught me about kissing. He was quite experienced, I'll have you know." The others chuckle, and for a moment Robin imagines Chrom's arm tightens around his shoulders. A thrill runs through him, but Robin keeps from glancing his way. "We left the village a few weeks later, but we parted on good terms."
He's even gotten Cordelia and Sumia's attention, now, and the mood of the party lightens. Someone else shouts out that they want to have a Dare, and the attention moves away from Robin.
But Chrom lingers a second too long, his hand trailing along Robin's back. Robin shudders and closes his eyes, and shifts away from Chrom. It takes rather a lot of effort to move away from that warmth. Chrom isn't his, and he needs to keep distance between them. Chrom is getting married in a fortnight, and Robin needs to be ready for it. He needs to put the nails into the coffin and bury his affection deep inside, starting now.
His glass ends up empty, and Tharja refills it. He's drunk rather too much, but the lights get brighter, the sounds grow louder, and Robin finds himself smiling as he is roped into discussions with the others. It's all fine, and he forgets about this secret ache in his heart - until Gaius gives Chrom a dare that Robin can't turn away from.
"Kiss someone in this room - and it can't be your sister!"
The room quiets, then bursts out into rapid talking. It's too far, Robin thinks, certain that Chrom is going to protest.
When Chrom agrees to it, Robin feels a bit like he's being stabbed. He retreats under the guise of wanting to use the bathroom. He sinks into a chair at the edges of the group, his liquor-swamped mind conjuring up images that he both wants and detests. The thought of Chrom kissing someone else fills him with fury, so much that it sends his hands shaking. But the thought of Chrom kissing him...
I need some air, Robin thinks, and gathers himself. He's going to step outside, until this whole dare is over. He doesn't want to see Chrom kissing anyone else.
As he works his way through the crowd, though, he finds his arm caught by someone. He glances to the side, startled, and sees Gaius, who grins at him around the lollipop. "Found you," he says, and his eyes are twinkling.
Oh god, what now, Robin thinks, but there's nothing he can do except let Gaius pull him along. He doesn't want to see this, doesn't want to be dragged into the circle to watch Chrom awkwardly kiss someone else. He doesn't want to do this --
And then Gaius shoves him forward, and he stumbles. Strong arms catch him, elbow and armpit, and he falls into a steady chest. He knows that smell - it permeates his dreams, sometimes - and Robin squeezes his eyes closed, not wanting to look up into those steady blue eyes.
"Yes," Chrom whispers, soft as anything. Robin is certain that nobody else could hear that word, that it was delivered only for his ears.
He catches his balance and puts a hand on Chrom's chest, then pulls on his best fake drunken smile. "Sorry, Chrom, I think I need..."
But the look Chrom gives him makes the words die in his tracks. Gods, to have those eyes turned on him all the time...
"Chrom?" His voice sounds small, too delicate.
Chrom looms closer, and Robin sucks in a breath, his mouth parting just a bit. The dare...
When Chrom kisses him, Robin comes apart, just a bit. A surge of longing, stronger than any Elthunder he's cast, rushes from head to toe and back.
"Chrom," he whispers, into those soft lips, and surrenders to it. He kisses back, using all the skill he was taught by that cobbler's son in the forest. And Chrom's fingers end up in his hair, pulling his body closer, maneuvering it into a full-body kiss. Gods, he tastes good, a bit like wine and a bit like himself, and Robin could drown in this kiss forever. He runs his hands through Chrom's hair and teases with his tongue, and Chrom groans into his mouth, and Robin swallows the sound, thinking its the best thing he's ever heard.
But all good things must come to an end, and Robin knows this. He closes his lips reluctantly, slides his hands back to Chrom's shoulders, then gives a small little push. Chrom disengages reluctantly, his eyes refusing to focus for an instant. When they do snap back, the look of longing and passion in them almost undoes Robin. There's also a strange sort of sorrow in his blue eyes, of promises made and held. Victoria... his fiancee. In that moment, Robin knows that Chrom won't call the wedding off for him.
Why didn't I try this long ago? Robin thinks, furious with himself.
Then someone is pounding on their backs. "What a kiss!" Vaike crows. The others join in, cheering too loud, and Robin shrinks under the sudden exposure, his most intimate desires made painfully clear to almost everyone.
Including Chrom.
He smiles, and flicks his thumb over the corner of his mouth. The smile feels like daggers on his mouth, but he still forces it, and thinks it looks natural. "Told you I was a good kisser," he says, trying for flippant.
"You are," Chrom says, and gives a half-smile that hurts. "I wish I knew that before," he mutters, and he doesn't mean the kiss.
Robin shivers, and backs away from Chrom. He feels cold even before he breaks contact.
Chrom isn't his and he never will be. That kiss shouldn't have happened... but Robin knows that it will go down in his memory banks forever, alongside some of his most precious memories of his mother. And if it's the most painful memory there, well, nobody has to know.
This is one truth he will never tell - that he loves Chrom, and probably always will.