"Anything Can Change!"

He didn’t need a break, as stubborn as it sounded. Tharja had given him that small relaxation potion (Was that what he should call it?), but then again he had yet to take it. Besides, he had yet to see Chrom sleep. Everyone was on edge, so it was expected if everyone had been falling behind ont their sleep.

❝What I need is to find everyone again before it’s too late. Why should I care about my health while they’re all out there, in danger. The gods know what kind of work they’re being put through, so my exhaustion doesn’t even match up to them…❞

♖ ≻ █ ❝C-Chrom?❞

┌This was his sister’s husband, and he kised him? Oh gods, what would Roxanne say? Robin didn’t want to do anything to hurt her. That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the kiss though.┘

“Details eh?” the mercenary said while scratching his head through his sandy red hair. “Is tough. Slavers are very tricky,” he admitted to Chrom. Although he had never worked for slavers, (not knowingly anyway), he had crossed paths with them during his long history as a sellsword. In his experience, slavers usually came from different walks of life, just as likely to hail from either noble or common birth. He was unsure of how professional this band was; he had heard tales of slavers being both very good and very bad at their jobs. So far, it seemed like their foes knew what they were doing, but Gregor took a deep breath and told Chrom what he knew.  “Slavers are usually take people who can work strong. Sometimes they are takings the wealthy, so that they can be making ransom. And...sometimes they are takings pretty girls so can...” but he stopped there, remembering that The Exalt’s wife and sister were among those counted missing. No need to finish his sentence and burden Chrom with that nasty thought.

“Those dastards...They won’t get away with it!”

He took a deep breath as he listened to the other, now taking in his details of their plans. It was a shame that he had missed such meetings, but it was just as good to get filled in. He was sick after all, so there was no way he could have joined in. When Gregor explained about the Slaver’s movements, he placed his had upon his chin, going into thought. ‘Moving Fast… huh?’ he thought to himself before speaking to Gregor, now actually thinking up things that they could do… Well, he was no strategist, hence why he hired both Robin and Roxanne, but he knew enough to think of plans like this.

He halted as soon as he noticed the pile of papers on Chrom’s desk, though. It was likely what’d been keeping the man occupied for so long, and Morgan didn’t want to interrupt in the middle of something important. “Um, it’s not too important.” He fiddled with the strap on his bag as he paused. “If you’re in the middle of something I can wait, I wouldn’t want to put Ylisse at risk just because I wanted to visit,” he added with a laugh.

“It’s fine, honestly. Take as much time here as you need.” The blue-haired male knew that he needed to finish this but his son wanted him, so he was having a break here and now. “I’m taking a break now that you’re here.”

He watched Morgan take something out of his bag and offered them to him. Did he make him lunch? A smile grew upon his face as he looked at the male, happy that the younger male thought of him. When he was handed them, Chrom took them and placed a hand upon his head, ruffling it gently. He was appreciative of this boy’s effort, that’s for sure.

exaltchrxm

Morgan was practically humming to himself as he navigated the halls of the castle, excited to have an excuse to visit his father. Well, it wasn’t really an excuse; he’d thought that with how busy Chrom had been running Ylisse and all, maybe he’d appreciate having lunch brought to him.

Or at least, maybe he’d appreciate the thought. Morgan had never really been good at cooking, and now that he had to actually remember which room was which, he realized he had very little knowledge of the castle’s layout. In the time it had taken him to backtrack once or twice, the already sub-par sandwiches he’d packed had probably been squished flat as the bag they were in bounced against his hip.

Well, they’d just have to do. Morgan was too determined to back out now; he’d barely gotten a chance to talk to his father since the war had ended, he wasn’t about to pass this up.

Finally stopping at a familiar-looking room – this was Chrom’s study, right? – he cautiously gave the door a couple of raps with his knuckles. Hmm, maybe that had been too quiet. He leaned closer to the door, wondering if his voice would carry through it.

At first, Chrom wasn’t quite sure what to expect, since there was often traps laid for him everywhere by his child, but now here he was at his door. Despite that, Chrom remained where he was, and turned to face the boy instead.

“I’m here! Come on in.”

He cherished his children with all of his heart, and seeing them always brightened up his day- no matter what it was or how they had encountered him. His blue eyes were fixed onto the other as he gazed at him, wondering what he wanted. When he had gazed, a small smile was worn upon his lips, showing him that he was pleased to see him, despite how busy he was with this damn mountain of papers.

It was addictive, the comforting warmth that seemed to follow him - how whenever he was there, everything felt so right. It didn’t matter if it was to stimulate her on the battlefield, reassure her in times of troubles or simply to make up for a long time spent apart - in any case, his mere presence made her life better. He had this way of washing her worries and insecurities away with a few words or a simple gesture - this way of making her feel loved while still being himself.

Sometimes he could even make her feel like she deserved him.

❛Our room feels so cold to me without you,❜ she said half-jokingly, the longing still audible in her voice. She wasn’t sure she should tell him how she went back to live in her old Shepherd lodgement from back when they weren’t married yet while he was gone because she couldn’t handle sleeping in their royal suite on her own.

She bit her lip for a second, not proud to think her sentiments were getting in the way of something as crucial and important as her sleep. Then again, with Chrom barely inches away from her now, she had no reason to ponder on this since it wouldn’t be a problem from now on.

Roxanne shifted her gaze back onto little Lucina who was fast asleep again - it also seemed to her that her daughter was even cozier than before, all wrapped-up in blankets in her father’s arms. The brunette raised her hand to gently run her fingers through her baby’s blue hair, a knowing smile tugging at her lips as the small one seemed to relax even more. ❛I guess the both of us only needed him to return at last, huh ?❜ she quietly asked little Lucina.

“Don’t I? How don’t I have any idea, hm?”

The feeling of having these two around him was honestly irreplaceable. It was something that he always looked forward to when he arrived back from a mission. He just wished that she could accompany him once more, so that he could be with her all of the time. He needed to be around his family always! With the current events happening however, he didn’t want to endanger them, leaving Roxanne behind here to look after her baby, since he knew that she would be able to! She was a good mother and a strong fighter, nothing would get past her!

“My room was also cold without you both as well.”

He didn’t want to really tell her something that would embarrass him but seeing as she said such things, he decided to throw himself out here. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him blush before anyway! He had done it more times than he could even count! The male smiled as he felt a blush grow upon his face, wondering how she would react to what he was about to say.

“I do wish you were there for me to stay with though… Because, you know… I-I missed you.”

He was happy to see that Lucina had relaxed within Chrom’s arms, especially since he was just as happy to see her. She was so relaxed that she had fallen asleep, but that also made him approach the cot that she had and placed her gently in there, kissing her on the forehead before walking backwards, wanting to leave the room so that they weren’t disturbed.

“Sweet dreams, my precious Lucina.”

After leaving the room and slowly closing the door behind him, dragging Roxanne out with him, he didn’t discuss the Ferox thing until they had left, and he had changed into a more serious one. It was as if a button was pressed and he changed instantly to a political Chrom with important duties to attend to. He nodded towards her, giving her the signal that everything was fine before speaking to her. He knew that she didn’t want him to go again, but the next time she would be coming with him instead.

“Oy,” he said while sighing and rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, “People start to sayings things, is true. Gregor think that people sayings these things because they are into feeling scared. They are wantings fast problem solving, but problem like this is takings much time.” The mercenary wished he had more advice to offer Chrom, but he wasn’t particularly a pillar of wisdom in situations like this. Having to advise a lord and getting paid substantially less was partially why knighthood never appealed to him. And currently, nobody was paying him to go butcher the slavers, so he was a bit outside of his element. But he put on a reassuring smile and patted Chrom’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

”I see… He paused for a moment before talking to the other once more, replying to his words. ”So that’s how they feel about this, huh?... Very well, thank you for telling me.”

He let out a sigh as he heard the other say such things. So this is how they thought about everything.. It was shame for them to think of Chrom this way, but then again it wasn’t really their fault for doubting him after going quiet whilst this was happening, was it? Turning his gaze to look at the window for a small moment, Chrom went deep into thought about this whole situation. Now he needed to speak with them and show them that he wasn’t lying, but that was going to be harder than he probably expected.

He was then brought back to Gregor’s attention when the other gave him more words to listen to, now feeling that they had made progress! That was good new! So much so that a smile grew back upon his face, replacing the serious look that was on his face. He was raring to go right now, and get into the action, but with the state of health that he was in, it was going to prove difficult for him to fight. He knew this too well.

For those of you who don’t know, ESL stands for English as a Second Language.

“Exactly. Keep you chin up.”

A smile was worn upon his lips as he said his encouragements, reassuring Robin- or at least trying to - that everything was alright.

“Yeah, that’s true. But you also need to take more breaks than you have been taking. You hardly take one, so please start taking them.”

He knew that Robin hardly slept. He knew that already He also knew that he was probably pushing himself way too hard to find everyone and get them home saftely. He was concerned about it, so h felt like he should probably comment on it. He had tried before and it just ended in an effortless attempt, seeing as Robin still doesn’t sleep- him and Roxanne are the same in that aspect!