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Edelgard stood on the crest of the hill and watched as Ferdinand rode back, triumphant, to the main force. She watched as Hubert quietly detached himself from her side with no prompting, and drifted towards Ferdinand on his horse to help him down. Ferdinand placed his hand on Hubert's shoulder, who placed his hands on Ferdinand's hips and gently swung him down like they were two ballerinas. They both ceased touching each other the minute it was safe to, and just like that the moment was over.
"That is odd." Edelgard murmured.
"What's odd?" Dorothea appeared at her elbow and followed her gaze to the two men, who remained next to each other to greet the enemy force as it surged up the hill towards them. "Oh, them? Yeah, they've been squabbling less. It's been kind of nice, actually - oh!"
For just then Hubert had placed a quick, businesslike kiss on Ferdinand's cheek before winding up a spell like a baseball pitcher. Ferdinand readied his lance like Hubert hadn't done anything strange. The two women both gasped quietly like they had just witnessed a baby fawn stand up on shaking legs.
"When did that happen, do you think?" Dorothea turned to Edelgard, eyes twinkling.
"I have no idea when it could have. They despise each other. At least, I thought so."
"What are you talking about? Why are the both of you just standing here?" Byleth appeared at Edelgard's other elbow, sharp gaze continuously scanning the battlefield for new threats that required the Black Eagle Strike Force's attention. Dorothea pointed wordlessly at Hubert and Ferdinand.
"Oh, them." Byleth's expression didn't change, and Edelgard briefly wondered what kind of monumental force would move Byleth to so much as twitch an eyelid. "Yes, they seem to have put aside their squabbles for Edelgard's attention and embraced the things they have in common. I'd leave them be, if I were you."
"Why?" Dorothea pouted. "I was looking forward to teasing that Ferdinand."
"Because they'll get shy if you point it out, and the both of them fight better near each other." Edelgard turned to Byleth and was shocked to see a faint glimmer of mischief in her eyes. "Besides, I think they think they're being very secretive about it, and I would hate to ruin their fun."
"If you say so, Professor." Edelgard's gaze drifted again towards Hubert and Ferdinand.
Hubert began to head towards a cavalier with delusions of grandeur to strike some sense into him, and Ferdinand briefly took his eyes from the advancing enemy to place a questioning hand on his shoulder. Hubert nodded sharply, and Ferdinand returned his attention to the task. Edelgard resisted the urge to sigh while Byleth was still there; Byleth usually knew best, but she shuddered to think what might happen if either of them were distracted by the other for too long.
//
Dorothea had gotten half of the way back to her dorm before realizing that she had left one of her Reason texts back in the classroom. She could have simply waited until the next day to retrieve it - looking back, she would wish she had - but she wanted to get an early start on the next day’s assignments, and so head back to the classroom she did.
As she opened the door she caught sight of Hubert and Ferdinand talking quietly in the corner. This was the moment when she could have decided to hang the book and go for a walk instead, or relax in the sauna, or do literally anything else but walk back into the Black Eagles homeroom. However, she did not have the benefit of hindsight just then, and so she stepped into the classroom none the wiser until she heard the unmistakable wet noises of kissing.
Garreg Mach Monastery is a collection of incredibly old buildings made largely of stone. This results in quite a pronounced echo whenever people have a conversation at any volume above an incredibly quiet whisper, and so Dorothea found herself eavesdropping on the few words exchanged between the two clandestine lovers quite without meaning to.
"I found your favorite tea on sale at the eastern merchant's cart." Hubert murmured.
"No," Ferdinand gasped, "did you get it?"
"I did. There are three boxes waiting just for you in my quarters." There was a husky quality to Hubert's voice just then that Dorothea would never be able to truly expunge from her memory.
"Oh, you rapscallion, you do spoil me so."
"I enjoy it."
More kissing. There was her book, perched on the corner of her desk entirely oblivious to the goings-on across the room from it. All she had to do was pick it up...
It was just then that Ferdinand, eyes closed in bliss, briefly opened them just in time to catch Dorothea picking up her book and preparing to make a strategic retreat. "D-Dorothea!" Ferdinand cried, and Hubert leapt away from him as if he'd been scalded. "What brings you here?"
"It's a public place." Dorothea mumbled, and then ran out of the room, for she couldn't trust herself not to say something she would regret.
//
“Good morning.”
“Hm?” Ferdinand turned to Dorothea, face framed by the early morning light. Her expression was carefully neutral. “Oh, good morning to you, Dorothea.”
“Just saying, if you’re trying to keep a relationship secret, maybe don’t make your paramour a cup of coffee in a heart-shaped mug where everyone can see you.” Dorothea nodded to the drink Ferdinand was holding.
“Wh - how could you possibly think - this is for me.” Ferdinand declared in an incredibly clumsy save.
A beat passed. The birds chirped in the trees outside, oblivious to the standoff taking place.
“You don’t drink coffee.”
“Well, I have been coming around to it, recently.”
“Have you.”
“I have!”
“Then drink it.”
Ferdinand blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Drink your coffee. I’m not stopping you.” Dorothea made a grandiose sweep of her hand. She looked like the cat who ate the canary.
Ferdinand took a deep breath and a swig of coffee, keeping eye contact with Dorothea in order to keep from spitting it out. It tasted like bitter mud, and he still didn’t understand how Hubert drank it. But he had made it for him anyway.
“Delicious.” He said weakly, and it rang hollow even to his ears.
Dorothea chuckled and left without getting anything to eat.
//
The sunlight was weak and watery over the lady and her retainer's afternoon tea. Hubert only ever took tea with Edelgard, at least until he had entered the Officer's Academy. He sipped the spicy cinnamon blend Edelgard had chosen for that afternoon and thought of how best to go about saying what he planned to.
"Why did you call me here, Lady Edelgard, if I may ask?"
"Is wanting to see one of my closest confidants not reason enough?" Edelgard sipped her tea. Hubert didn't react, but internally he preened.
"I suppose it is. What do we have to do today, after this?"
"Plenty of things, I'm sure, but I don't want to talk about those right now. Let's just... have a break, Hubert. I think we're both in dire need of one. We don't want a repeat of the - "
"The incident where I fell unconscious and Linhardt had to bring me to the infirmary, yes." A smile tugged at Hubert's lips despite the embarrassing memory. "My lady, I cannot help but hope I have lived that down by now."
Edelgard giggled. Hubert noticed the dark circles under her eyes. "Speaking of Linhardt, you've been getting along better with him recently."
"Does it seem that way?"
"It does. You've been... well, kinder is not the correct word. More receptive to our comrades, and they to you, as a result." Edelgard smiled. "More receptive to one in particular, it seems. I trust you know who I'm talking about?"
Hubert's blood ran cold. "I will cease immediately if it would please you."
"No, don't do that. It's made you happier - I can tell. Really, the part I'm upset about is you keeping secrets from me." Edelgard set her teacup down and crossed her arms. "You know I dislike that."
What would Lady Edelgard say, he wondered, if she truly knew the amount of secrets he kept from her. "I am sorry, Lady Edelgard."
"I accept your apology, Hubert. You should know I'm perfectly alright with you having relationships. I don't worry that they'll distract you from your work, or anything like that. I want you to be happy, Hubert."
Hubert felt his worn and weathered heart begin to stir. "Lady Edelgard... thank you."
"You don't need to thank me. You are my friend as well as my general, and friends want friends to be happy. Now," Edelgard gestured to their tea service as if it were a crowd she was giving a rousing speech to. "let us finish all of this before it gets cold."
//
A few days later, during breakfast, Hubert arrived at their long table with a cup of coffee for himself and a cup of tea for Ferdinand. "Lady Edelgard already knows," he whispered in his lover's ear. "It is reasonable to assume others have also figured it out."
"Oh, drat. I had thought we were very sneaky." Ferdinand whispered back. Well, more of a stage-whisper.
Dorothea burst into a flurry of giggles. Byleth's perpetually-neutral expression began to take on a fixed look. Edelgard looked at her plate and said nothing.
"Were we not?" Ferdinand asked no one in particular, dismayed.
"I think we were doing fairly well." Hubert mused.
"You two were very good," Byleth declared, "but we were better."
"Sure," Dorothea said through her laughter, "let's say that."