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"Claude."
"Hm?"
"Have you ever kissed anyone?"
The question caught him off guard enough that he ended up giving an honest answer, instead of dodging, deflecting, or teasing like he usually did.
"I-- haven't."
Her eyes widened, presumably in surprise.
What, is it that weird that I haven't done stuff like that yet? he thought, but pushed it aside to give her the usual grin.
"Ooh, did you want an insight into the world of adults or something? Sorry, but I think you'd be better off asking other people for those types of things! Like Sylvain or Dorothea or--"
"That's not--"
"It's fine, it's fine, curiosity is perfectly natural! I won't judge~"
"Ugh, forget I asked that!"
The conversation wasn't brought up for rest of the evening, and for a moment he wondered if he did really turn her away from asking some legitimately important questions.
Then again, even if she had them-- he wasn't that much older than her, as she always irritatedly pointed out, and not all that experienced in the romance (and sex) department, contrary to what some people may have thought from his strategic lighthearted flirtings.
He knew his limits. He wasn't suitable to teach or guide anyone in those kinds of things.
And there was no reason for him to ponder them either, especially in regards to Lysithea, he decided, before diving back into a strategy book.
---
"There's something I'd like to try."
A few days later, she called him up somewhere people usually wouldn't pass by, but looked around several times anyway before clearing her throat and saying that.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Close your eyes and lean down."
He decided to entertain her by doing just that.
By all means, there was only one thing that could have happened after that, especially considering the conversation they had before-- but a part of him kept denying that, thinking that maybe, it would be a prank to get back him or something for all the times he teased her and not--
"Mmh..."
--a kiss.
On the lips.
His first.
Taken by the...youngest student in his house?
No way this is real, was his first thought. Oh shit, I hope she has her eyes closed, too, because my face must look ridiculous right now, was his second.
He took a peek to check that she did before closing it again and waiting for her to part.
"...Now, what was that about?"
She avoided looking at him.
"Practice."
"Practice for what?"
It did make him genuinely curious, because if this was practice, then that meant there was a "real" thing she was practicing for, and well...
"Ooh, don't tell me-- you found someone you like?"
"Claude, are you really--"
"A crush? Holy saints, you've got a crush?"
"And what if I do?!"
Her face was flushed and her eyes were squeezed shut in a way that proved what she just said was true.
And he should have looked forward to teasing her for it, because that was their dynamic-- he gets on her nerves, she gets annoyed with him, they put it aside to discuss serious matters for a moment, repeat.
"Who is it?"
Yet the question didn't come out nearly as lighthearted and teasing as he planned.
"...As if I'd tell you, of all people."
"Hey, I promise I'm good at keeping secrets."
The only response he got was a huff. Not that he expected anything else, really.
He just hoped this wouldn't become a regular thing.
---
It became a regular thing, and in between, he might have spent a little too much effort on trying to figure out who Lysithea's crush was.
But that was normal, right? If you were doing "kissing practices" with someone who had a mystery crush, you couldn't not wonder who said crush was-- how important they must be-- to make her practice kissing before doing it "for real," right?
Yet weeks later, he still couldn't catch her acting all that differently towards people he thought might have been possible candidates.
Unless their "practice sessions" counted as different, but even as they kissed multiple times, they always kept their bodies a certain distance apart and their hands to themselves, despite how awkward that made everything due to the height gap.
It really was just practice, as she said-- so that's why, about a month in, he decided to tell her,
"That's enough practice, don't you think? I think you should try and go apply it now."
"..."
She stared at him with an expression he couldn't quite read.
"...There are other ways to kiss. I want to try practicing those, too."
Well, nobody could accuse of her being unprepared, he thought-- regardless of what his feelings (if any) on helping her practice deep kissing for someone else were.
"Sure, if that's what you say."
"Sit down, please."
She straddled his legs, making sure to not have too much physical contact, despite the fact the position would definitely be taken as compromising if someone caught them, regardless of her attempts at not sitting too close to his crotch. (So once again, it was a good thing that people didn't pass by around these parts.)
Their face was level, her hands were carefully placed on his shoulders, and her eyes fluttered shut as she leaned in with parted lips, so he did the same while, and--
"Oops."
"Ouch."
--their front teeth clacked together.
"...Want to try that again?"
"Yes, I-- I think it would be better if we started it off regularly."
"Sure. Go at your own pace, alright?"
He closed his mouth, feeling soft delicate cushions against them for a few seconds before they parted and tentatively licked his lips. It didn't feel too strange, surprisingly enough-- like licking his own lips, except with someone else--
"Uhh--"
--then she bit and pulled on his lower lip, causing his mouth to part slightly and eliciting a strange noise from his throat.
Her grip got slightly tighter. For support, surely, as she continued to nibble and suck.
Some time later, he decided it was probably rude to let her do all the work, and stuck his own tongue out. The tips met, not particularly gracefully, but the sensation sure was...something, he thought, right as she inhaled sharply and changed the angle of her head, now concentrating on his upper lip.
"Ah...?"
And holy shit, he didn't know that roof of his mouth was that sensitive.
They parted, both slightly out of breath, and he wondered if his face was red like hers, too.
"...How was it?"
"Well, I don't have any metric to compare it by, so--"
She frowned.
"It's a very straightforward question, Claude. Did you-- did you like it?"
Did he like it?
Gods, was she asking if he liked-- making out with a girl while she straddled him?
"Sure. That was nice."
She leaned back in, and even as he attempted to replicate what she just did back to her while feeling her gasp into his mouth, he still had absolutely no idea as to where any of this was going.
---
But the thing was, he got used to it.
Teasing and joking about her being childish then sneaking off to make out with her at the designated time and place.
There really should have been more cognitive dissonance, he knew, but he adapted to it as quickly as he did to anything else. He almost felt guilty, indulging in all this before whoever she was practicing for.
"Hah..."
Almost.
"There's something I want to try."
"What is it?"
She moved her hand from his shoulders to the sides of his face and tilted it upward, before actually sitting on his lap and sliding up.
"Lysithea...?"
"S-stay still."
And despite all the things they've been doing in the name of "practice," he was absolutely not prepared for how a pair of lips on his neck would feel.
He couldn't even moan-- he just stared off into the air holding a hitched breath.
Then she licked, and he gripped the fabric of his jacket, hoping that would stop his blood from rushing to a place that would definitely freak her out and mess things up-- because in all honesty, he didn't want any of this to stop, her mystery crush be damned.
Unfortunately, his attempt turned out to be futile.
"...Claude? What's--"
The moment she slid in close enough for their torsos to touch, her head jerked away in shock, and his immediate thought was, nice going, you stupid hormonal teenage body, you fucking ruined it.
"Look, it's a-- physiological reaction. I can't control it."
"I-I'm aware of that."
"It'll go away soon, if you, y'know, get off and--"
She kissed his neck again, right at the knot in the center, so he had no option but to shut up and let her continue.
Her lips worked their way down all the way down to his collarbones, and somewhere along the way, he gripped her waist, finding fabric to be too flimsy for support in the face of those overwhelming sensations. She didn't protest, much to his surprise, and wrapped her own arms around his chest.
"Oh...shit."
The fact they were now hugging messed with his head as much as the neck kisses, somehow.
All the soft sensations still lingered on his skin when she finally pulled away, and he only realized it had gotten too hot when he adjusted and tugged at his collar out of habit, while she opened her jacket and undid the top buttons of her uniform blouse.
"Claude."
"Yes?"
She tapped at her pale neck.
"I...want to know what it feels like, too."
The house leader and slightly older person in the room told him to back down and ask if she really was okay with where this was going, if she knew what she was doing, all that.
But the horny teenager and stupid virgin who had never gone this far with anyone before thought, well, she just did all that to me, so it's only fair that I reciprocate, before leaning over to--
Tap, rustle.
"Ah, nothing like a nap in a nice quiet spo-- huh, what are you two doing here?"
--Lysithea practically catapulted out of his lap, and the speed at which his blood circulation returned to normal had to be some sort of world record.
He awkwardly waved at the green-haired boy, wondering how he found their (oh, gods, he was thinking it of as "their") little spot, while the smaller girl put her jacket back on, tripping this and that way in the process.
"I could ask the same thing to you, Linhardt. What are you doing here?!"
"You heard me, I'm here to take a nap. And I won't be a nuisance, so feel free to continue whatever you two were just doing..."
The two of them stared as their sleepy interrupter plopped down, put a pillow under his head, and dozed off within seconds.
They did not continue.
---
"So, Lysithea."
He brought it up in the library while they were alone, figuring that was a good time and location as any, as she stopped calling him up to "practice" after that little incident with Linhardt walking in.
"Yes?"
"Did you try using all the...stuff we practiced on your crush yet?"
His tone managed to stay casual, despite the inexplicable sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Why do you want to know?"
"So I can tease you about it, of course~"
She huffed, set down the book she was holding on the shelf, and stepped closer to him.
When he felt himself being snatched and pulled down all of a sudden, he briefly thought she'd finally blasted him with a spell out of annoyance--
"...Mmph?!"
--until he felt something soft and warm and familiar on his mouth.
When it finally left, his face was frozen in what he knew was a ridiculous open-mouthed expression, staring at the white-haired girl triumphantly smiling in front of him.
"Now I have."