Work Text:
‘101 ways to kill Sylvain Gautier and why’
Felix had long wondered whether he should be publishing this book. It was the fruit of years of hard work and creativity; the first tome of a saga which he was convinced he would be receiving a Nobel Prize for.
Once again Sylvain had begged him on his knees and pestered him as much as a stalker would for Felix to take his shift at the library in his stead and when he had agreed while physically restraining himself from turning into a murderer, he had been greeted by a knowing exasperated sigh from Ingrid at work and a comforting look from Mercedes.
The library was a decent place he and his friends had built up from scratch; it was not linked to any municipality and mainly relied on rents, donations and their café to run. Most books were given away by others, and they managed to build up quite the collection; or at the very least, one grand enough that their place could be considered a library. The boar usually planned everything and left Sylvain, Ingrid and Felix to divide their tasks and arrange their shifts among themselves. To take care of their café, he had Dedue on the job and the latter had introduced them to a new helping hand in the person of Mercedes.
No matter how busy a Saturday could be, it would remain quiet in a library and Felix was in fact too annoyed to be grateful about it. Especially when he was in charge of check out, something Sylvain was obviously suited for and something he obviously hated. He was pretty sure that most of their loyal readers were barely reading a page of their books and preferred flirting with the ginger idiot. This is why he was not that much surprised at seeing some disappointed faces and if he had been an asshole through and through, he would have added that Don Gautier was out on a date with a new belle after bailing out of his shift and dumping his work on his “bestie” during said bestie’s day off .
But he wasn’t and Felix kept his mouth shut in addition to a glorious scowl on his face despite Ingrid’s best attempts at keeping him in line.
By then Felix had considered his Saturdayㅡnay, his weekend ruined until he heard a faint sound of humming when the library started to empty out a bit. Truthfully, he didn’t care much about remembering anyone’s faces and the only regulars he knew of were that freckled kid who has skimmed through all their chivalry selection and that pompous idiot with the ridiculous purple hair. His shifts rarely overlapped with Sylvain when he could help it and Ingrid usually had him doing something, anything other than check out when he replaced him. But it was a Saturday and Saturdays were busy, even for a library.
Felix had kept the intermittent humming in mind for the next hour, and he had been startled to find himself wholly focused on the soft voice, waiting for the person to resume with bated breath. He chastised himself for it at first but was soon unapologetic in his attention. When the library cleared out and only one patron was left, the humming turned into full-fledged singing, and he finally could put a face to that voice.
Seated nearest to the café area and under Mercedes fond gaze was a young woman, hunched over a book, a pen in hand and writing furiously. Her bright ginger hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she occasionally tried to slide her fringe when it bothered her too much. He couldn’t catch the color of her eyes from where he was but could make out her focused expression nonetheless.
Her singing suddenly stopped, and she looked like she finally came aware of where she was, Felix had instantly moved his gaze away and pretended to be very busy and engrossed with a game of solitaire. He swore he caught Ingrid grinning his way, but he will definitely ignore it. What he would not ignore however, would be Ingrid suddenly remembering she had to ask Dedue something and leaving him, alone to take care of check out when the ginger girl approached.
Up close, he had a better look at her face, an adorable freckled face with delicate features and ohㅡ gorgeous blue eyes. He had never seen a pair of eyes this deep and dusted with a gray akin to a stormy sea. Felix had almost lost himself in them and didn’t realize he was staring until he heard her voice.
“Yeah...uh-sorry, check out right?”
She nodded and tried handing him the book before tripping on air and hitting the counter with a hiss.
“Oh shucks this one hurt!” she managed through gritted teeth with a grimace.
Felix almost smiled but he nipped it before it made its way on his face “Hey, you alright?”
“Fine! Perfectly okay! Why wouldn’t I be? Just forget you saw anything.”
She brushed the non-existent dust on her clothes and straightened herself with a quirk of her eyebrow as if saying ‘see?’ and Felix swore he felt his heart skip a beat at that (while trying very hard to ignore how well her dress hugged her curves, he wasn't Sylvain for Goddess's sake)⚊ Somehow, he felt the need to escape and rush the exchange or whatever this was. He grabbed the book, registered her and mumbled a ‘thank you and have a nice day’ before wincing when he saw her tripping once more on her way to the entrance.
She cursed under her breath and whipped around causing him to flinch in place at the sudden movement; she brought a finger to her lips and shushed him to secrecy before giving a smile so dazzling he actually experienced what ‘having one’s breath taken away’ was.
On second thought, maybe he could wait a little while before he decided to publish ‘ 101 ways to kill Sylvain Gautier and why’ once and for all.
Following that encounter, Felix had returned to his regular schedule and sometimes he begrudgingly accepted replacing Sylvain at work though with less resistance than usual. Ingrid had once tried asking him offhandedly about his sudden change, but he would rather hug Sylvain than admit to anything. Felix would not admit that he had kept thinking about that girl’s sweet voice even asleep. He would not admit that he wished to see her lovely face around, and he definitely won’t admit that he kept on the look out for her and was disappointed when she didn’t turn up after a few days. It wasn’t until during one of their get together that he gathered all the courage he had and let go of his equally annoying pride when he tried to fish for more information, as subtly as he could.
“Felix, if you want to ask something just do it. Stop looking at me like that! It’s creeping me out.” scolded Ingrid.
Felix clicked his tongue and ignored her. So much for trying to gather info . He already grew irritated at Sylvain’s sparked interest and as if it wasn’t enough, Dimitri seemed curious as well, already giving him that confused puppy face.
“Oh! What’s that you’re talking about? I always felt like I missed something since that time I asked you to take my shift!”
That dumb annoying smirk on Sylvain’s face was something Felix had to wipe out. Immediately. Instead, he opted for glaring at him harshly.
“ Which of them, Sylvain.”
“Man, don’t give me that! You really did me a favor okay! I said that you’d get paid in my stead!” the red-head then turned to Ingrid “What’s with him again? Don’t keep me out of it, I’m sure it’s fun!”
Ingrid shrugged but a small smile tugged at her lips. “Maybe he’s got a crush, I guess!”
“I don’t.”
“A what .”
“Felix is crushing?”
Felix had eventually realized that his whole life was a mistake. By then, their small get-together turned into an “Interrogating Felix Session”. Dimitri swore to ask about anything that came to mind and Felix had long tuned out Sylvain. He had mastered the art of selective hearing after years of knowing that idiot. Ingrid had shed her previous reluctant attitude and without adding anything new, grilled him for answers. Somehow, he swore it was supposed to be the other way around, and he couldn’t help but persist in his denial of his feelings. He had only met that girl once, when did it suddenly turn into a crush?
In the end, he knew next to nothing about her and even her name was vague to him. Ann? Anna? He was convinced her name was close and blamed his totally uncalled-for nervousness during check out that made him miss such important details. When he tried asking Ingrid about her again, she kept mum and shooed him away. She claimed that it was better if he found out himself and that he had wasted her good intentions that day.
However, the Goddess had pitied him and one Saturday afternoon as he was replacing Ingrid for once, he met her again. The change in his expression must have been obvious enough when she came because Sylvain shot him a look that instantly triggered him into kicking his calf hard enough to make him lose balance. Who cared about the fake hurt look he sent his way.
She went straight for their counter first with a few books to give back and flashed them a brilliant smile as she greeted them. Sylvain seemed familiar enough with her that Felix couldn’t help feeling the slightest bit of envy.
“Another hard day of studying Annie? You should totally try enjoying yourself for once.” commented Sylvain.
“But I do enjoy myself, thank you very much! Actually, I’m even taking it easy today! Mercie said that I deserve a break.”
Felix eyed her bright orange school bag doubtfully. It was a flashy thing covered in pins and badges of things he either didn’t recognize or were supposed to be cute. Somehow if fit her quite well but at this instant, he wished he could take it off her. The bag seemed a bit worn out along the shoulder straps because of the weight of whatever work out equipment she had fun walking around with.
Felix was broken out of his musing by the sudden brightness in his best friend’s voice.
“By the by Annie, let me introduce you! Ingrid’s called in sick today so this grumpy dude who’s replacing her right here is Felix!” Sylvain eyed him and continued “She usually comes on Saturdays. Cookie day by dear Mercedes.”
And here’s why Felix never caught sight of her before. He didn’t have any shifts on Saturdays. That’s one mystery solved then. He idly thought about trading some shifts with Sylvain or Ingrid in the future.
“Hey!” responded ‘Annie’, indignant “Mercie makes amazing cookies and Dedue’s icing is to die for alright but I’m just too busy during week days, that’s all!”
Then she turned her gaze to him and gave him another one of her lovely smiles and oh he was pretty sure there was something else too. Something conniving? And a pitiful but adorable attempt at a threatening glare. He knew that his face was burning.
“I know! I met him once! I’m Annette Dominic, nice to meet you Felix!” she bit her lip and added “Wait, I can call you Felix right?”
“Uh, yeah, whatever, sure.” Felix was amazed by his vocabulary. Sylvain probably felt the same, barely restraining himself from laughing.
Annette’s pinched her lips into a thin line for a second before her expression soften and even a tinge of red appeared on the bridge of her nose.
“T-that’s good. You can just call me Annie or Annette then!”
“Fine, alright一 Annette. ”
Honestly, what was he even playing at. He had barely breathed out her name and he already felt like he was already done for.
Annette giggled and went to her usual spot with a ‘see you later’. From his seat, he saw her greeting Mercedes with a hug and waving eagerly at Dedue who returned the gesture with a soft nod. Afterward she dropped to a chair, her ginger locks bouncing behind her and prepared herself to start working. Once she set her material before her, it seemed as if her aura quietened suddenly, going from bright as a star to tranquil as a sunset in a matter of minutes.
Felix was truly entranced and sincerely was hoping she would start singing at some point. He didn’t care much about library rules and whatnot. The moment he had heard her sing the first time, he didn’t find the silence he usually welcomed so gratefully that enjoyable anymore.
Once again, the afternoon went as usual. Sylvain was flirting with any breathing creature he found, the library had long had its scent mixed with that of cookies, and he barely had nothing to do when anyone wanted to check out practically flew to his debauchee of a colleague. Eventually he left the counter to Sylvain and tried to look for something else to occupy himself; maybe Mercedes or Dedue had something for him to help with? Of course, it’s certainly not because the kitchen was closest to Annette’s study spot. Of course not.
Surprisingly, they welcomed him and graciously gave him some idle menial task to help; this way he would not impede on their craft and still make it speed up a bit. Dedue had never been anything but amiable⚊or indifferent to Felix’s nasty temper and when the latter had helped in the kitchen previously, it fell on Mercedes to shoo him away with a subtle underhanded remark on his lack of delicacy with the ingredients.
The glimmer in her eyes when she saw him approaching and pointed out something for him to do almost made him turn tail. Almost. Because soon after he started, a faint melody drifted in from outside the kitchen and Felix was glad he didn’t escape then. The quiet air gained on a few decibels but not enough to disturb anyone and truthfully, the chattering by Sylvain’s side was almost too much and way worse.
Annette hummed some song he failed to recognize and his confusion must have been noticeable since Mercedes murmured that “Annie makes them up on the spot! She is good right?” but she didn’t wait for a response and simply made a shush gesture before getting back to work. He obeyed.
Of the few words he caught from her song he could tell they were raw and the lyrics a bit ridiculous. Something about stacks of sweets? It was ridiculous but adorably so and the melody was so catchy he failed to notice his own foot tapping to the rhythm. If she came up with that on the spot, he wondered how good a refined piece from her hand and carried with her sweet voice would be. He found that he really wanted to hear that.
Annette’s singing was, by now, the only thing that could be heard in the library once it cleared. Sylvain was nowhere in sight for a while now as he must have left earlier; Mercedes and Dedue cleaned up the kitchen with Felix’s help and Annette’s singing as accompaniment. Somewhere along the line, the three in the kitchen had stopped in their movements to appreciate the girl’s singing better and Felix swore that he caught a hint of a smile on Dedue’s lips as he watched and listening; him and Mercedes looked like a pair of parents watching their child fondly while they did their thing.
However, when the singing died down and Annette moved, the two chefs immediately went back to cleaning as if nothing happened and left him to be caught staring by sunshine girl herself as she was about to get up. Felix knew that she wasn’t exactly quiet and pretty obvious in her art, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was caught doing something creepy. He wasn’t peeping on purpose right? Dedue and Mercedes did too.
Annette watched him her mouth slightly agape in shock and those darn gorgeous blue eyes of her open wide. Cute. Annoyingly cute. And as if it weren’t enough, he was staring at her once more as her face went crimson and her brows furrowed in anger. She really was glaring, wasn’t she?
“You⚊you⚊!” she stammered
“...I ?”
Annette pointed at him, and he darted a quick look around him only for him to notice that Mercedes and Dedue had, at some point, fled the scene for the staff room. Those little-! Annette marched towards him putting weight on each stomp of her feet and once before him, jammed her finger on his chest as she demanded,
“Tell me you weren’t listening! Right? You weren’t listening, were you?”
“Uh⚊you’re the only one left here so it’s not hard to miss.”
“How could you! Forget about it! Now. Right this instant. Immediately!”
“No, I’m pretty sure I can’t.” he confessed. A faint hum had haunted him for weeks after only catching it once and from afar. This time he wasn’t about to get haunted. He was possessed and captive.
“What do you mean you can’t!” and she looked indignant, crossed her arms and mumbled to herself “...of all things it had to be a song about food! Really? Why didn’t I sing the library one! Or even the box one!”
That picked his interest.
“Now, those sound interesting.”
Annette went silent for a moment and eyed him before exploding “You’re evil Felix! The worst! The nastiest, villainest of⚊of villains!”
“Hey wait⚊” she got him wrong here, he really was interested.
“Forget about everything! Even last time when I almost tripped flat on my face but didn’t ! Oh this is awful!”
This conversation wasn’t going anywhere soon. Felix watched her as she repeated how awful he had to hear this and how he must forget it about as soon as about now . She went from fuming, to bargaining and ended up pouting miserably in acceptance as she dragged herself back to her studying spot and tidied up her things. Felix fled to the counter and wished to do something about this misunderstanding as soon as possible. He definitely wasn’t cut out for words and Annette looked pretty defensive over her “secret” hobby, but he at least had to communicate his appreciation well enough for her to believe him and maybe, just maybe his growing interest in her too. Sylvain had skillfully made him admit it in the end.
When Annette finished gathering her things, she made her way to his counter, still upset and handed him a book she wished to borrow.
“You really won’t forget, will you? I can...uh⚊give you the meringues Mercie made for me yesterday! I’m being generous so appreciate it!”
“I don’t like sweet” he said matter-of-factly, giving the book back to her as he made sure she didn’t notice the note he slid in it. “And I was being serious earlier. The library song sounds interesting.”
“You⚊Fine! You don’t like sweets! Okay! I can still⚊uh⚊A bribe! I can treat you to lunch! There⚊”
She stopped and stared at him dumbly at him, taken about by her own words.
He was pretty sure he stared at her dumbly too. That really caught him off guard, and he would have nodded if it weren't for Mercedes calling Annette, ready to leave.
“uh..whatever⚊just..see you around!” and she fled.
Felix watched her as she caught up with Mercedes at the entrance and tripped as she reached her. The sudden jolt weakened her grip on the book she had yet to put in her bag and the note he previously slid in had slipped on the ground. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all . His heart beat picked up and as much as he wanted to look away and feign ignorance he couldn’t and watched as she unfolded the note. He really hated the way Mercedes was looking at him as her friend focused on the thing in her hands.
Annette closed it and looked impassive for a second but her face had long gone red up to the tips of ears and down to her neck. She turned to him tentatively and tilted her head as if to ask for confirmation, which he gave with a curt nod. He wasn’t sure if her breath caught in her throat at that from where he was standing, and he wasn’t Sylvain to believe it to be true whether that was the case or not. She gave him a timid smile, took her phone out and fumbled with it for a bit. A minute later, his phone buzzed.
[unknown number]: heres my number! i can bribe you to lunch then??? you dont have to forget about my songs anymore since u like them i guess?
[Annette]: but it’s a secret again okay?
[Annette]: a bribe-date! a brate?
Felix tore his eyes away from his phone and met Annette’s gaze and she gave a smile even more breathtaking than the ones he previously had the chance to see if it was possible. She waved at him and locked arms with Mercedes as she left the building with a skip to her steps.
Honestly, maybe he should publish that other secret manuscript of his temporarily titled '1 01 ways to thank Sylvain Gautier and why'