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Claude sits in class feeling very... fidgety. His leg bounces of its own accord, he realizes he's been biting his nails minutes after he’s already started it, and his fingers lightly tap the table with an anxious energy he can't expel.
He knows what's bothering him. He glances at the teal mop of hair next to him and wishes he could take notes as freely and undistractedly as his best friend is clearly able to. He wonders how she would react if she knew that the source of his anxious energy was her own absence. Not that she had actually gone anywhere. In fact, the only person who would complain Byleth had been absent from their lives is Claude himself.
Ever since Hilda’s girl-inclusive, house line-crossing sleepover a few weeks ago, Byleth’s popularity was at an all time high. Flayn had been seeking her out for quality fishing time, Annette and Mercedes had been asking her out on shopping trips with them, and Hilda had been asking her to teatime with herself and Marianne more often. It was a pleasant change for Byleth, she really hadn’t had any girlfriends to spend time with until the past few months, and the sleepover really opened her eyes to what was considered normal for girls her age (well, mostly her age).
To make things worse, Rhea decided to announce the White Heron Ball at the end of the month. Normally, this would be seen as an opportunity. A chance to have fun with friends, to act like teenagers and not soldiers of the church. Until Seteth pulled Byleth aside and asked her to represent the Golden Deer in the dance competition. Claude was happy for her, proud even, knowing she would represent the class with the same grace and precision she employed in battle. But competing meant learning the traditional Fódlan waltz, something Byleth hadn’t picked up in her days as a mercenary. So Seteth had offered his free day, Saturday, to give her lessons before the ball. When Byleth told Claude their Saturday poison lessons would have to be postponed for a month, he felt his carefree mask crack just a little. Saturdays with Byleth were something he planned and looked forward to all week, and to have it taken away made him feel a bit rejected. He knew she had a good reason, but...
No. He’d been battling himself over this for weeks. He knows he’s being selfish, and he can admit now that his intentions aren’t completely pure. After not being able to spend quality time with his best friend for two weeks and a day (he couldn’t stop himself from counting) he’d had plenty of time to think, to look inside and analyze his true feelings.
He definitely had a crush on Byleth. Probably had for a long time, but first was too slow to trust, and then was too worried about his own dreams and goals, lofty as they were even for a force of life such as Byleth. He had a lot of secrets he was protecting, hopes he cradled close to his heart, and he didn’t want to burden her or scare her away at the thought of possibly dating royalty twice-over. Not that he wouldn’t understand, because he absolutely would, but thinking about the rejection made his stomach roll.
The bell rang dismissing class, and Leonie immediately came around to collect Byleth.
“Alright Byleth, let’s get to that training spar you promised me! I won’t be bested this time, I got in extra practice with Captain Jeralt this week.” She grabbed Byleth by the arm to lead her in the direction of the training grounds, and Byleth glanced at Claude once in hesitation before following along. She had never been a woman of many words, but as he watched her leave with a bit of regret on his face, he found himself wishing they could have just one moment to themselves, so at the very least he could ask her how she’d been.
Hilda finished talking about fables with Flayn and turned to see Claude staring at Byleth’s seat with a mildly frustrated look on his face. Huh. I wonder…
She got up from her seat and walked over to him. “Come on, you.” She pulled his chair out into the aisle and Claude marveled at the easy strength of the class’s self-proclaimed delicate flower.
He followed her out to a bench outside the classrooms and he looked at her expectantly.
“Good weather for studying outside today.”
“Are you and Byleth fighting?”
They spoke at the same time, and then proceeded to look at each other in confusion.
“You think I actually study?”
“You think Byleth and I are fighting?”
Claude bent over with his head in his hands. He felt a headache coming on. “No Hilda, you can’t fight someone you never see.”
Aha. So that’s it. I’ll switch gears then. Hilda had already been planning to bring this up to Byleth, but now she was glad she’d coerced Claude into having this conversation.
“Are you ready for the ball?”
Claude looked up from his hands, a bit suspicious that Hilda had let him off so easily. “Ready? You do know we’re all expected to be in our school uniforms for the event, right? I know how to dance, if that’s what you’re asking me.”
“Did you know that two people have already asked Byleth to be their date?”
The question “Who?” flew out of Claude’s mouth before he could stop himself, he was sitting at attention now and he took a second to school his face into a neutral expression.
“Ferdinand and Sylvain.”
Claude looked blankly ahead, processing. Ferdinand wasn’t a surprise, he asked Byleth to tea quite often. Claude had no idea what the two of them talked about, but he had a hunch that Byleth didn’t need to do much but listen to the redhead prattle on about his rivalry with her highness and his duties as a noble. On the matter of the other redhead, Claude wanted to feel betrayed, but he expected Sylvain had probably asked ALL the female students to the ball. He could only feel relief that Byleth had rejected both offers.
Wait.
“Did Byleth-?!”
“She let them both down easy, by Byleth’s standards anyway.” Once again anticipating his reaction, Hilda cut him off before he could get too worked up. Claude ran a hand through his hair and leaned back. Ok. He could work with this. Rejection be damned. He was finally going to make a move. He had faith in Byleth.
“So Hilda, if I were to ask you to help me-“
“What was that?” she yelled to no one in particular. “Sorry Claude, looks like I have to go help someone else do something, somewhere. Anyway good luck!” She walked off in the direction of the dorms, no doubt to take a nap.
That girl… is a genius. A lazy genius. Well, if I see Byleth walk into the ball on some other guy’s arm, it’s going to hurt.
Claude got up from the bench and made his way towards the greenhouse, a plan already forming in his mind.
Byleth got ready to leave the next morning with the intent to go swipe some bread from the dining hall before some early training exercises when she noticed a note slipped under her door. “Meet me in the classroom at sunset.” It was written in elaborate cursive but unsigned.
Hmm at sunset. That’s about when dinner will end, but I’d already made plans to go to Lysithea’s room after dinner today so that she can teach me Mend magic. Whoever wrote this should’ve checked with my schedule first. After what I had to rewind during the last mission, I asked Lysithea in advance if she could help me get better at white magic. I won’t cancel on her now.
She threw the note in her wastepaper basket and determinedly moved on with her day.
Claude waited in the Golden Deer classroom, heart pounding as he paced the rows of desks. He skipped out on lunch, didn’t have an appetite really with all the nerves tangling in his chest. He thought of what to say and how to act, mapped out conversation trees in his head (even contingency plans needed contingencies after all), and had taken the time to carefully de-thorn and tie together a few roses from the greenhouses. If he couldn’t properly express himself with words, hopefully the roses would be adequately romantic enough to get the point across. It was a coward’s way out, he knew, but it wouldn’t be the first time Byleth had stunned him speechless.
The door to the classroom opened and Claude leaned on the nearest desk and held the bouquet in one hand, attempting to look casual in defiance of the part of his brain that still wondered whether he was fast enough to jump out of the classroom window without being seen.
When the door opened to reveal Ignatz instead of Byleth, Claude’s cool smile slid into an uneasy frown and he hid the roses behind him despite knowing it was too late for Ignatz to not have noticed them. Seconds, minutes, hours seemed to pass during their silent stand-off. The door slid shut while both waited for the other to speak first, but Ignatz’s concern won out over Claude’s embarrassment.
“Are you cheating on Byleth?”
“Wha—I—That!!” Claude sputtered, completely caught off guard by the question. “Okay firstly, no, I am not cheating on Byleth. Second, we aren’t even a couple for cheating to be possible! And that’s another thing, why do people keep assuming we’re on bad terms with each other?!”
Ignatz pulled a small cloth out of his pocket and started cleaning his glasses, pointedly avoiding eye contact.
“W-Well, with you as our house leader and Byleth as daughter of the legendary Jeralt the BladeBreaker, you two have kind of been a leading force for our class this year. And since you two have been practically joined at the hip until the past week or two, well, I guess you could say we’re all getting a little worried.”
Guilt creeped into Claude’s conscience. He shouldn’t have snapped like that, although in his defense cheating was quite the conclusion to jump to. He sighed and pulled the flowers from behind his back, staring down at them disappointedly.
“I’m sorry Ignatz. I see from your perspective how it might look but the truth is that I just miss her. She’s made a lot of new friends recently and I’m happy for her but…” His face heated up at his almost admission of jealousy, but he moved on. It was better to just tell the truth and leave out his own selfish regrets. “Anyway, I invited Byleth to meet me here at sunset so I could ask her to the ball, but it doesn’t look like she’s coming after all.” He took a seat, the realization hitting him kind of hard. Somehow a silent rejection was worse than any in-person one could’ve been.
Ignatz stood a little straighter at the admission. “Really? Well Lysithea told me earlier that she and Byleth had plans after dinner to study healing magic together. So I’m sure Byleth just didn’t want to cancel. Although, I am a bit surprised she didn’t mention it when you invited her here. Maybe she forgot?”
Claude’s brow furrowed at that. No, it wasn’t like her to forget anything, let alone ignore him, as conceited as he knew it sounded. “Well, I actually didn’t invite her in person. I slipped a note under her door that was addressed…from…me…”
…
“Uuunnh nooooo,” Claude groaned as he sunk to the floor from his chair in an overly dramatic fashion.
“What? What’s wrong?” Ignatz moved his hands about the air around Claude frantically, thinking he was in some sort of pain.
“I forgot to sign it.”
They both were silent. Ignatz was at a loss for words and Claude wanted to bang his head on a desk until he forgot the failed scheme ever happened.
“Well, nothing to be done about it now! Let’s just go and forget any of this ever happened.” Claude’s countenance completely flipped as he sprung off the ground, very much ready to put this humiliation behind him.
“Wait” he snapped his fingers. “I never asked, why did you come to the classroom Ignatz?”
“Oh right! I was just looking for a pencil I lost today. I know it probably sounds silly, but it was part of a set, and… well…” he trailed off, not wanting Claude to tease him about it, as Claude would usually do.
But Claude was grateful for Ignatz, who hadn’t laughed at him once since entering the room. Moreover, he had motivated him to try again. So Claude got back down on the floor and looked around the empty aisles.
“Come on, let’s look around the classroom and then retrace your steps today. We’ll find it together.”
Today Claude had settled on a new plan. Byleth liked sweets. Cake was sweet. So he would bake Byleth a cake using a recipe he had asked for from Annette in secret and he would offer it to her in proposal that they attend the ball together.
It was simple. Easy. Even he couldn’t mess this up.
Baking is a science, essentially. Follow the recipe exactly and get a specific result. It was just like the poisons he spent experimenting with in his free time. One cup of this, a teaspoon of that and in just under two hours Claude had very carefully assembled a delicately frosted vanilla cake that he was kind of tempted to show Ignatz first so he could paint the accomplishment and Claude could appreciate it longer.
But just as he had finished placing it on a silver platter for transportation, a sudden gasp had him whipping his head around desperate to find the source of the noise.
Lysithea stood in the entrance to the kitchen, eyes locked on the cake. She walked forward at such a speed that she was directly next to Claude in seconds. “A cake? Is it for everyone? Did you bake that? What flavor is it? It looks amazing!”
Claude couldn’t resist her light pink eyes staring up at him with such enthusiasm. “ I-It’s for everyone! Go ahead and…” He sighed and ruffled her hair. “Here, I’ll cut you a piece first. I know cake is your favorite.” Lysithea was like a little sister to him, and there was no way he could deny her some now that she had seen it and practically drooled over it. He would find another way to woo Byleth.
“Ugh, Claude! I asked you to stop treating me like a child. But I suppose I can look past it this once, since you did make a beautiful cake for everyone to share. Oh! Speaking of sharing, while you cut the cake, I’m going to go find Annette and Raphael. I know they both especially would love to have some with us.”
And at the mention of Raphael’s name, Claude knew that at least none of his hard work would go to waste. Lysithea zoomed out of the room with the intention of hurrying back for mid-day dessert, and Claude’s brain worked a mile a minute to come up with another plan. His biggest scheme yet; and this time, it would not be interfered with.
It was nearly eleven at night when Claude left his room. All the students should be in bed by now, and he had known the guard’s patrol routes since the week he arrived at Garreg Mach. He walked along the wall in the shadows to Byleth’s room; luckily hers was all the way at the end of the dormitories and somewhat separate from everyone else. He was determined that no one would interrupt this time.
He knocked lightly on the door. Even on the off chance that Byleth was already asleep (she often stayed up late studying), he knew that she would hear him. Years as a mercenary had turned her into a light sleeper. She opened the door a crack and their eyes connected.
“Surprise?” Claude gave a shrug and an easy smile.
Byleth’s eyes lit up and she wordlessly opened the door further, letting him in and shutting it behind them.
“Claude. I’m happy to see you, but why so late? I had just gotten into bed. Is something wrong?”
He looked down and realized Byleth had already changed into her sleep clothes, which was really just black leggings under a loose black shirt. He grabbed her gray jacket off the desk chair she hung it over and held it out to her before his face could heat up and give him away before they even got to their destination.
“Nothing is wrong. Well, mostly. There’s been a shortage of Byleth in my life as of late and tonight I plan to rectify that.”
She took the jacket and remorse flashed across her face in the form of downturned eyes and a pout anyone other than Claude would barely notice.
“Claude… I-“
“No no, I’m not upset. If you were about to apologize, it’s unnecessary.” He took a step closer so they were standing nearly toe to toe. Her bangs were a bit tangled in her hair from lying down, so he reached up and gently untangled and smoothed them out. “I just missed you my friend, that’s all I meant.”
It took a moment of staring, violet eyes peering into his soul and demanding the truth, before she must have assessed that his words could be taken at face value. She nodded and slipped on the jacket, her bright expression restored.
“So where are we going?”
He blew out a breath and held up a black scrap of fabric. “You trust me, right?”
Her brow furrowed a tiny bit, but she nodded. Claude nudged her shoulder to turn her so she was facing away from him. He reached around and wrapped the fabric over her eyes and tied it into a makeshift blindfold.
“I kind of planned out a surprise for you, but to have the ultimate effect I want you to be blindfolded first. I promise it will be worth it.” He walked in front of her and grabbed her hand, softly squeezing in reassurance.
She hesitated for a slight moment, as expected. It was a bit of a strange request but… she felt excited.
“Let’s go.”
~
Byleth followed Claude’s lead, both walked with sure steps, not even stumbling on the stairs. It was good to know she didn’t need to keep him in sight for their movements to fall in sync. Although, she supposed, I guess in battle I’m usually leading with my sword on the front line with Claude behind me firing arrows. We’ve simply traded places.
She mulled over that line of thought until Claude finally slowed her to a stop. She worked out that they were on the fishing dock from the way their steps sounded transitioning from stone to wooden boards. If he wanted to go fishing, he could’ve just asked, she mused.
Still holding her hand, he reached up and removed the blindfold, and her world went from pitch black to an entrancing, luminous display of colors.
Directly in front of her stood Claude with his back to the pond, aglow with a bright yellow light extending maybe 10 feet up into the air. The pond itself was a fluorescent blue-green that complemented the color of the stars above, which were all on full display tonight in an unclouded sky. A glance down showed that the pier they were standing on was covered in red rose petals, which were plucked from the bouquet that Byleth never received and repurposed for the occasion.
And then there was Claude. Framed by stars and magic, he watched her reactions with a softness he’d never shown to anyone else. Her face flushed and she wondered why such a look was directed at her when all the special effects were clearly happening behind him.
“You like it?”
She nodded. “How is it so bright?”
Claude lightly laughed and used their joined hands to spin Byleth around so that she was standing in front of him, overlooking the pond. She knelt on the edge of the pier and watched the fish in wonder.
“Remember that tree sap you found in my reserves? The one that glows when exposed to sunlight.”
"Yes."
"Well I may have fed some to the fish in the pond this morning so that they would sit in the sunlight all day and glow all night. It’s completely harmless! I promise. The sap isn't harmful, in fact it was probably more like a treat."
She hummed in thought. "But surely that isn't enough to cause that tall golden light, is it?"
"Heh, nothing gets past you By." He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I may have also ensured that a Goddess Messenger would be in the pond for our visit."
Her eyes widened and she dragged her gaze from the pond up to where Claude was standing. "Are we going to-?"
"Fish for it? I'm surprised it took you this long to ask." He chuckled and held two fishing rods he'd borrowed from the stall on the docks. Byleth hurriedly stood up and grabbed one before sitting back down with her legs hanging off the pier and patted the spot next to her for him to sit down. Claude laughed again, pleased with her enthusiasm and sat down, placing a box of bait behind them. Casting their lines, they sat in comfortable silence for a while and enjoyed the ambience and each other's company. Claude was the first to speak, of course, and they chatted about everything they'd done in the past few weeks apart.
"....and then Dorothea asked if I wanted to sing in the choir with her tomorrow and I said sure. I don't have the same passion for it that she does, but I couldn't say no to a friend." She looked over at Claude and saw he was smiling, but his eyes looked... sad. "Claude?"
"Hmm?" He looked up and saw the concern on her face. "I'm good, I'm listening. Sounds like you've made a lot of new friends. I predicted a long time ago that one day everyone would realize just how amazing you are. Clever, a good listener, a kind heart." His smile tried harder now, but still couldn’t reach his eyes. “You’ve graduated from outsider status, huh? I guess you’re an ‘insider’ now.”
Her blank stare wasn’t very reassuring, but…
“I was always an insider with you.”
Her words made his heart clench in his chest and he froze. He very slowly looked up at her and tried to speak a couple times, but no sound would come out. Byleth tilted her head to the side like a puppy trying to understand human behavior and Claude decided words weren’t working. He calmly pulled her close with a hand on the back of her head and softly kissed her forehead over her hair before pulling away and purposely staring out into the pond.
They both sat red-faced in their own thoughts. Claude working up his courage and Byleth confused at his entire reaction, yet even more so confused at herself.
He’s never done that before, she started. But I… really… liked it? She turned away a moment and attempted to stealthily feel her forehead. I’m really warm, is this early indication of a fever? I feel healthy, though? More like I could run a lap around the Monastery right now. Twice.
She wasn’t given much more time to ruminate because Claude cleared his throat and made a confession.
“So the real reason I brought you here, well one of the reasons, maybe the most important, was- well, have you ever-? Ugh.”
He tried again. “The White Heron Ball, um, exists, at the end of the month- a-and a lot of students are pairing off for the event, so…”
“Yeah, let’s go together,” she cut in.
“I was wondering, if you would like to- wait. What?”
“You were going to ask me, right? Sure, my answer is yes. I was planning to ask you as well when I finally had the chance.”
“…Oh. Yes. Great.” His smile got wider as he went on and they both looked back to the pond. Claude felt so light you’d think he’d have been carrying fifty extra pounds on his person all day.
“I’ve got something!” Byleth’s line bent heavily towards the pond and she pulled back with as much force as she was capable of. The line wasn’t budging, and she didn’t have much leverage from her sitting position, so Claude dropped his own fishing pole and grabbed onto hers. Working together, their strength was so much greater than that of the fish that they yanked and sent the fish flying overhead and the spring force sent them both to the ground, their backs hitting the pier with a painful thud.
“Ow.” Claude grimaced a bit, but they both turned in unison to look on in wonder at their enormous catch. The fish had to be at least four feet long, and its brilliant scales cast their own light as it flailed around on stony ground. Aware of the fish’s properties, they brought it up to the kitchen, sure that the kitchen staff would know how to utilize it properly.
Claude walked Byleth back to her room, both still buzzed from the thrill of their catch and accepted, returned proposals. Somehow they were both on the same page in two very different books, but they both were happy, and that was all they needed.