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Robin falls down rear-first atop his chair, the stress bouncing in his body alongside everything else. He feels his heavy eyelids, and how rugged his skin feels, he hates it. He hates how far it has all been eating away at him, so much so he can’t even fake a smile for Chrom and Lucina anymore. Walhart is too formidable an enemy, one who will not be stopped until someone stops his heartbeat in person. Robin sighs. He cannot waste energy pretending to be okay. He is miserable, but he is trying to make things better.
“ I need to check the spy’s report… I need to check the spy’s report… Ineedtocheckthespsps…. “
He drifts off, head tilting to the side as he loses consciousness. He damns himself before vanishing, knowing very well he’ll be sleeping for too long. In the end, he closes his eyes and is left asleep atop his chair, his lonely office a grim graveyard for a man who is barely hanging on.
The sun sets in the distance. No one came to check on Robin. Chrom and Lucina are busy training, probably. The Shepherds are spread thin with a myriad of tasks such as resource gathering, espionage, reconnaissance, watching over the trade routes, etc. No one could afford to come to check up on the man holding the operation. ‘He is strong, he will pull through’ they say to each other, not knowing the burden placed upon the man who helped bring down Gangrel was chipping away at his soul, making him wish he had never been found on that fateful day, that they would just let him sleep.
The door of the office creaks open, and someone watches the man slumping on his chair. He looks dead. His breathing is too light as if his body is too stressed to breathe on reflex.
“ You finally fell asleep. “
The guest whispers to herself, smiling in a mixture of relief and pain. She couldn’t believe how far he had stayed awake despite her pleas for him to just take a nap. He was a stubborn man, it was his love of others that made him so stubborn. It was one of his greatest qualities, to be sure, and yet it tended to backfire very frequently.
Miriel walks towards him, taking a deep breath as she hooks one arm under his legs and one supporting his head. She is aware she is on the weaker end of the Shepherds, but in times of war, one cannot just advance on brain power alone. Even Robin is a trained swordsman, and Miriel does her best to stay as fit as she can, even if her body usually rejects the strain.
With a clenched jaw, she lifts Robin off the chair. She carries him towards his bed, placed in his office at Miriel’s request of conjoining his bedroom and his office due to efficiency. Less time spent walking between one place and the other is simply the goal that should be strived towards. She neatly, softly places him atop his bed, carefully removing his cloak, and his boots and leaving him in a more comfortable state. She knew he didn’t like to have a blanket placed upon him, he feels as if it restricts his chest, so she left him as he was.
With a sigh, she moves back to his desk, looking at the things he had already finished. He seemed to have a sizable amount of papers left to read, and it was definitely what was currently devouring his sanity. The always calculating Miriel chose to sit down on his chair to do the rest of his work for him. Thankfully, their time spent together meant that Miriel could well do the tasks that Robin was tasked with at a similar level of quality, though she was behind him in terms of sheer strategic prowess.
She began checking the reports, lighting a candle on the desk to provide her some source of light to aid her current mission. She quickly, and efficiently sorted out the papers at a pace that surpassed Robin, making her conclude that he was lagging due to stress. He might have been overworking himself, but he simply wasn’t as efficient as he could be due to his tiredness. And so, that day’s papers had been properly sorted.
The things that needed signing would have to go under Miriel’s signature, but Chrom wouldn’t be against it. He trusted Miriel to be Robin’s greatest ally and thought of them as a single unit. She was Robin’s wife, after all.
“ …port…spy’s… rep–... “
Robin mumbled as he woke up, realizing the gravity of his mistake. He had left so many things undone, this would surely slow progress down. He was such an idiot, such a moron, if not him, then who-...?
His eyes caught sight of Miriel’s precious red hair lying atop his wooden desk. Her body was covered in his tactician’s cloak to provide some sort of heat against the unstoppable, chilling nights. Alongside her were multiple candles that had burned out hours ago, some simply regular candles and some that gave off a nice, relaxing scent. Her glasses were laid neatly alongside the papers, and the desk itself was perfectly clean and orderly.
“ Miri… “
He looked around the room, he could see her hat hanging on the wall. And on a nearby shelf, there was Bonfire, their trusty pet parrot that would certainly alert them had there been an unwanted guest in the room. A bird smart enough to stay silent during the nights, and even recognize its owners perfectly. A trusty choice of support that was agreed upon by the couple, who would consider the small animal their sort of first child until Laurent would eventually be born sometime in the future.
On Bonfire’s cage were the traces of breadcrumbs, a sign that Miriel had fed the small pet the night before. The curtains upon the windows were placed to avoid the sunrise approaching in the earliest hours of the morning, and even the pillows underneath Robin’s head were placed in a position where he would be both perfectly comfortable and his neck would get proper rest. He sighed, realizing how much of a fool he has been. No matter how hard he tries, this would only make Miriel try even harder to care for him. Even after six months of marriage, he is still failing to create a perfect feedback loop between them. They aren’t on the same page at all, and it is his fault.
He gets off his bed, walking towards his sleeping wife. He notices how close her wedding ring is to her face as if it gives her comfort during the night. He clenches his fist.
“ I’m sorry, Miriel. Your husband is a fool amongst fools. “
He leans forward, placing a kiss atop her crimson locks. and then lifts her off the chair. He carries her as she undoubtedly had carried him to bed. He pays back the favor, placing her on the bed as softly as he possibly could, as if she were made of glass. His body could still feel some pain, but he had rested a good amount if he fell asleep around the end of the evening and woke up right before sunrise.
He does all he can to leave her in a state where she can rest properly, but the moment he tries to grab his cloak from her body she clutches the piece of clothing strongly, not wishing to let go. He looks up at her eyes, she is still asleep. He feels his heart overflowing with emotion, enough to bring tears down his cheeks.
She loves you. She may not always say exactly ‘I love you”, but her actions are a million times louder than three simple words. She is willing to put her health on the line for you, idiot. Stop thinking about you, and about how you want to punch yourself. This is about Miriel. It will never NOT be about Miriel.
He takes a deep breath before climbing on the bed. He moves carefully to not wake her, and he finally lies down beside her. His eyes land on her beautiful face, feeling as if she should rest more than he has, and this thought carries his hands forwards, placing his arms around Miriel’s torso as she quietly stirs in her sleep. Her body reacts, and she lets go of the cloak only to hug him back, placing her head on his chest.
The more he thinks about it, the luckier he feels. Even if his self-esteem might waver, he would never deny that Miriel is the best thing that ever happened to him. Damn the moment he ever thought he would be better had the Shepherds not found him, damn every single microsecond he spent giving that thought any limelight. This was his place in the world, and it doesn’t matter how much pain may come his way, he would be able to push forwards as long as he had her by his side.
Yes. It would all be okay. It doesn’t matter how many wars he has to fight. At the end of the day, there was only one Miriel in this world, and she was married to him. He thanked Naga and fell asleep once again as he hugged the most important thing in the world to him.
The sun rose, and morning came and went. Usually, Bonfire would have already awoken both his masters, but it seems that he too wished to oversleep. That might be for the best.