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Flayn is home with the children for the day, leaving Linhardt to fish by himself. It would have been better to have the whole family, he thinks, but at least he is able to go out and do it. He has a feeling that today is going to be a good day for big catches, a feeling that he has not been able to shake since he woke up, and he hopes that that actually pans out.
There is nothing more relaxing than a day spent fishing in relative quiet, but it is still nice to feel productive and accomplished at the end of the day. Really, it is the best way to both feel like you are slacking off and relaxing, as well as getting something done. If he can’t bring Flayn here with him, he can at least bring a big catch home to her, and see the way her eyes light up in disbelief when she sees it. The kids will be excited too; he can already imagine it.
Of course, by now Linhardt should know that things do not always turn out the way he expects them to, but maybe he has gotten too used to his peaceful life in relative isolation, and forgotten just how wild the real world can actually be. Even so, even if he had thought of all of that, if he had factored everything he already knew into it, he still would never have been able to predict what would happen to him. Some things are just too wild to even begin to expect, even when you are “expecting the unexpected.”
So Linhardt settles in and casts his line and relaxes, without a care in the world. It is honestly difficult not to just drift off like this, and it would not be the first time he contemplated napping instead of focusing on the task at hand, but he definitely thinks today is going to bring in something big, so he refrains, forcing himself to stay at least a little bit awake, enough to notice if he starts to feel a tug on his line. For a while, he doesn’t notice much, but he knows better than to grow impatient this early on. If anything, it’s normal to have a start this slow, and he isn’t bothered by the stillness of it all anyway.
Linhardt is so relaxed right now that he barely even notices the passing of time, even as a few hours get away from him. It is quite a while before he feels a bite on his line, and then, that snaps him out of his daze entirely. Coming to attention, he begins to pull, stunned by the weight that he is met with. Surely this is one of the biggest fish he has ever caught, but now comes the challenge of making sure that it doesn’t get away from him.
The struggle is great, taking strength that Linhardt barely knew he possessed, but he can feel it coming in closer now, and closer, until the surface breaks and he sees-
Not a fish at all, but his father-in-law.
“Seteth?!” he exclaims, hardly believing what he’s seeing, but sure enough, it was not a fish pulled to the surface, but Seteth swimming up after getting the back of his shirt caught on Linhardt’s hook.
And now he is coming closer, scowling as he says, “Linhardt, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Me?” Linhardt asks. “You’re the one swimming out here in the middle of nowhere. How did you even…”
“Never mind that. My wife and I were planning a visit, and since we were in the area, we were trying to relax. And then I got caught on your hook, and rather than giving me a chance to break free, you started trying to reel me in.”
“Because I thought you were a fish. You know, like any reasonable person would?”
But Seteth is already lecturing him, and Linhardt knows that there is no point in trying to argue back, as it is not worth the energy. Today has taken a strange turn, and he can’t help but be disappointed to discover that his “big catch” was actually just Seteth.
~X~
“Your father and the professor are coming to visit,” is the first thing that Linhardt says when he gets home. Though Byleth is no longer a professor, instead serving as the archbishop, Linhardt has a hard time talking about her with such lofty titles, preferring the familiarity of their schooldays.
“Oh? Did we get a letter from them?” asks Flayn, as she looks up to greet him.
“No, actually, I reeled him in when I was fishing,” he replies, and she bursts out laughing, assuming that he’s telling a joke. Well, any rational person would, he supposes, but today has gone far beyond the boundaries of rationality, in his opinion.
“Wait, are you...are you actually being serious?” Her eyes widen as she calms down from her laughter, realizing from his expression that that is exactly the case. And then Linhardt has to launch into the unbelievable story, while Flayn continues to shake her head, and offer commentary on the situation.
By the end of it, they have both agreed that, as unbelievable as it sounds, it is also somehow entirely believable, and something that both of them could have easily imagined Seteth doing, if they had thought of it before it occurred. Now, at least, they have a bit of a warning before his surprise visit, so they can brace themselves for how overbearing he can be.
“I thought I was going to land a really big catch today,” Linhardt tells her. “I had a really good feeling about it, so when it was just him...well, needless to say, despite my disappointment, I’m starting to think I wasn’t entirely off. After all, that was pretty important information for us, wouldn’t you agree?”
“These things do work out rather mysteriously,” Flayn teases him. He lets her tease him without protesting too much, because they need to enjoy the peace while it lasts, before the in-laws descend.