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Gaius stands outside the tent, ring weighing heavily in his pocket. His breaths are quick, but he tries to slow them – after all, he doesn’t even know if he’ll propose today. Marriage is such a big thing, isn’t it? He’s not even sure if he’s ready.
The tent flap opens and Robin steps out. Gaius moves quickly to intercept her before she can walk away. “Hey there, Bubbles.”
She nods in his direction. “Hello, Gaius. Did you need something?”
“Nope. Do I need a reason to want to talk to my favorite gal?”
“What’s that thing you keep telling me? People don’t do anything unless they want something in return?” She smiles at him and it’s like the sun has come out and is shining on him in all of its glory. It’s like he’s looking at a goddess.
Or maybe it’s the real sun that’s really shining on his face. Either way.
His fingers twitch toward his pocket, the same one where he’s stashed the ring. Memories of painstaking hours spent hunched over the small piece of metal, examining his craftsmanship, flit through his head.
“Hello? Gaius?” Bubbles – Robin – looks at him with a concerned expression. “Really, are you sure you don’t need something? Like candy? …Or something else?”
His mouth almost waters at the mention of candy, but he swallows it down. “No, I don’t want any candy right now. I might take you up on the offer later, though!”
“Why do I even bother…?” Robin murmurs to herself. “Of course. Well, if that’s-”
“Y’know, I found this hill where you can see the sunset really well,” he blurts. “Do you wanna, I don’t know, go there? With me? Later?” He wants to smack himself, he sounds so stupid. Usually, he’s much more suave than this.
Luckily, Robin doesn’t seem to mind. “Of course. I think I’d enjoy that.” She smiles softly at him, and Gaius’s heart melts like chocolate left in the heat of the summer sun. The ring in his pocket feels even heavier, demanding his attention.
He hopes that when he gives it to her, even if she rejects him, she’ll at least appreciate his mastery of metalwork.
“Great!” he says, a little bit too loudly. Geez, get a grip, Gaius. “I’ll see you in like, an hour? By the firepit?”
Robin appears to ponder his terms for a moment before nodding resolutely. “That sounds great!”
It seemed like a better idea when he invited her. Now it’s five minutes before he’s supposed to meet Bubbles – er, Robin – for their might-be date and he still hasn’t left his tent. Tiredly, he pushes himself to his feet and is about to leave when he notices the ring in its box, sitting atop his cot. He grabs it and stuffs it in his pocket. His hands linger on the smooth surface of the box, almost contemplatively, before he heads out.
Bubbles – how many times has she insisted that he call her Robin? – sits by the firepit. The sun is just barely touching the horizon, but Gaius figures they should get there early. She’s still wearing her trademark black and purple cloak.
“Bubbles! I almost thought you wouldn’t show,” Gaius calls from behind her. She whips around and looks at him, her eyes softening just a fraction. He tries to ignore that.
“Of course I showed up,” she said matter-of-factly. “So, where is this amazing hill of yours?”
“It’s a secret,” Gaius says, holding up a finger to his lips. “Close your eyes and I’ll lead you there. Unless you want to show me something equally secret.” His mind immediately jumps to incredibly unbecoming secret things, like – Gaius, no, Gaius, no. Gaius stop.
“Ha, ha,” Robin lightly flicks his forehead. “I’d rather not.” Her ivory hair cascades over her shoulder and Gaius has to resist the urge to run his hands through it. She closes her eyes.
Gaius takes her hand and leads her a fair way from camp. A single tree sits atop the hill. As they start up the slight incline, Robin says, “Are we getting close?”
“You’re sharp,” Gaius comments. Like the swords she uses to cut down her foes. Sharp and quick-witted.
…Maybe Gaius should calm down with the metaphors.
Finally, they reach the top of the hill. “You can open your eyes now,” Gaius informs her. Her eyes fly open – beautiful, cocoa-colored irises – and she stares at him, then westwards, toward the sunset. It stains the sky a subdued orange. She leans against the tree trunk and gazes out at the orange hue of the sky.
“It reminds me of your hair,” she says softly. Gaius scoffs.
“Flattery will get you nowhere.” His heart palpitates out of his control, like an ornery horse in the stables. Calming it is almost impossible.
“It does, though,” she says, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “I wasn’t lying. Your hair really is the color the sunset. It’s beautiful.”
Gaius scratches the back of his neck. “That’s, uh. That’s really nice of you.” A smile graces her features, and he notices his lips are mimicking hers.
The sunset is beautiful, but he doesn’t tear his eyes away from her for a few moments longer.
Here, even more than anywhere else, she reminds him of bubbles. She’s beautiful, iridescent like a bubble. Gaius wants to unravel each side of her and lay them bare, stare until his eyes hurt. Until he can’t stare anymore.
“Tell me, Bubbles,” he mumbles, “why are you so passionate about winning the war?”
Robin looks at him in surprise. She pauses for a moment, staring out at the sunset once more – a few shades of purple have made their way into the evening sky – before answering. “I suppose… when I first, um, came to Ylisse, and I met Chrom, I saw firsthand the wreckage caused by violent brigands. There was… it was awful, Gaius. People were screaming and crying, and everything was on fire…” She falters for a moment. “This war is against Plegia, and it was Plegian brigands who caused such destruction. I may never forgive them.”
Gaius is silent for a moment. What can he say to that? I see. I’m sorry. That’s rough. It could’ve been worse. He looks back over to the sun, half-obscured by the ever-distant horizon.
“What about you?” Robin asks.
“At first, I was fighting because I wanted treasure. I’m not really the most well-off, y’know?” He laughs wryly. “Now, I’m doing this because it’s important to the people I care about. And because I really, really didn’t want to kill the Exalt.”
Robin winces, but she says, “That’s a good reason. Not killing the Exalt is a good reason. But really… I don’t think there’s ever an actual good reason to war. We do it because we don’t have any other choice. We have to protect the people we love.”
“Bubbles, you really are too wise for your own good.” Gaius looks at her face, her eyes that meet his, and neither of them wants to look away.
The sunset is beautiful. Gaius knows they should be paying attention to that. But he’d much rather stay here, gazing into Robin’s eyes, as cheesy as that sounds. And he wonders, not for the first time, if he’ll ever know everything about her.
The ring in his pocket grows heavy again, almost unbearably so. Gaius is almost tempted to throw it away and forget the whole thing.
But what kind of man, what kind of person would he be if he didn’t at least tell her? He owes her that much.
“Bubbles-”
“Shush.”
“What?”
Her voice is quiet, and he leans in to listen. Her eyes are closed.
“Every time you talk, you ruin the moment. So shush.”
Gaius stares at her, the curve of her neck, her cheekbones, her eyelashes that just barely brush her cheeks when her eyes are closed. He’s leaning against the tree next to her, and he’s so close he could just lean over and kiss her if he wanted to. He could. He almost does.
But then her eyes are open and she’s looking out at the sky, newly navy and violet, and at the small patch of sun that lingers at the horizon.
“Thank you,” she breathes. “I haven’t… I don’t think I’ve talked this openly with many people. So for that, and for taking me to see the sunset… for those things, thank you.”
His lips twitch up in a grin, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “Anytime, Bubbles. Say the word, and I’m here for you.”
“The same goes for me,” she says easily. “Always.”
Gaius doesn’t want to think about what a short time always can really mean.
“Thank you,” he responds.
“Anytime.” She pauses for a moment, as if she’s thinking. Then: “Marauder.”
“Hey!” he complains. “I don’t do that anymore!”
“Do you?” She giggles. “I have my reasons for calling you that. It’s your new nickname!”
“At least Bubbles is a cute one,” he grumbles.
“And Marauder is unique,” she shoots back. “Deal with it.”
He groans, but secretly, he’s thrilled. It may not be a lasting nickname, but she took the time to think of one, and he’s touched. Despite all his nickname giving, he can’t remember getting any from people he cared about.
The proposal can wait, he decides. Tonight, he enjoys her company in the simplest way possible: as friends.
He doesn’t mind. He can wait as long as he needs to.
“So what do you want in return?” She’s being playful, but his heart races.
This might be more difficult than he’d anticipated.