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His smile had never before felt so much like a mask. Claude wanted to sigh, to lean back with his hands linked behind his head and just not pay attention any longer.
No, what he really wanted was to tell everyone to fuck off and leave him alone.
Then he could rush across the room and pull Byleth into his arms. Then he could feel her warmth against him and run his fingers through her hair. Claude wanted to press his lips to the top of her head as Byleth lay against his chest, tucked beneath his chin. He wanted to kiss her lips, to feel her pulse rush beneath his touch. He wanted all of her, all to himself.
Claude just wanted to hold his fiance.
Instead, he found Byleth's knowing gaze on him, only then realizing his hand had gone to feel for the ring hidden beneath his shirt. Claude immediately dropped his hand, making a broad gesture across the table in answer to the question he had just been asked.
The irony was not lost on Claude that the one time he wanted to shout something from the rooftops he was forced to keep it a secret. It made sense. Fódlan needed to settle into their new government, to grow used to their Queen. They needed to accept her before she announced she was marrying the king of a nation they had skirmished with for decades, even if that king had helped save them from the darkest enemy they had known. It would take time, but Claude was impatient on this particular matter.
It was hard. He had not touched her since their greetings, a simple hand clasp. He had not held her since he rushed to her through the fire and smoke of a burning Derdriu, too relieved Byleth was alive to care about propriety. They had not kissed since Claude admitted his feelings, leaving her behind to fly over the mountains and claim his crown. Now he was back in the city he had once called home, now her city, and she felt so far away.
Another question was thrown his way, and Claude forced himself to refocus. His trademark smirk was in place through the rest of the meeting, right up until the Almyran and Fódlani delegations broke for lunch, and Byleth was led away with the people Claude had made hers.
/
"You are pouting."
Claude almost jumped, but caught himself in time to not fall off the fountain ledge he was using as a convenient seat.
Small, sword-calloused, hands pulled at him, helping him regain his balance. Even with his gloves separating them, Byleth’s touch made his heart race. Relief flooded through him, a rush he had not felt since the last time she touched him. Stars, she was the last person to touch him at all. As she made to remove her hands, Claude held on tighter, tugging at her until Byleth was at his side, her head tucked under his chin.
Claude breathed deeply of the scent of her, the unique mixture of blade oil and flowers. Jasmine this time, Claude’s favorite. He buried his face against her hair, arms wrapped tightly around her.
“I missed you too,” Byleth said after the initial shock of being dragged into the embrace had worn off. Her hand scrunched in the fabric of his shirt, holding him just as close as Claude was trying to hold her. “Your heart was racing a moment ago, but it seems calmer now.”
Claude chuckled softly, kissing the top of Byleth’s head. “I was worried you wouldn’t be able to sneak away. Or remember the way to this part of the gardens.”
Byleth lifted her head, leveling a rather unimpressed stare at Claude. “Not remember the way to the spot in which you fumbled around with your words trying to confess your feelings to me without actually saying them? To the place where we shared our first kiss?”
“Hey!” Claude protested. “I did not fumble! I thought I was rather eloquent that night.” He was going to leave the anxiety and worry, his brain going to all the worst outcomes, he felt waiting for her unacknowledged.
His fingers tangled in her hair at the nape of her neck, pulling Byleth back toward him until Claude could feel her breath mingling with his own. “You were a mess,” Byleth teased, mirth lighting her eyes in that way Claude loved to see.
“I’ll show you a mess,” Claude shot back, slamming his lips against hers before Byleth could offer another snarky quip. She fell right back into his arms, sinking into his warmth and the softness of his lips.
Claude knew the moan that escaped his throat was desperate, knew he was clinging to Byleth like a man who had spent so long in darkness only to be pulled out into the light by the touch of something divine. He did not care. If this moment stretched on into eternity, he would not care.
Byleth pushed against his shoulders, forcing Claude back as they broke apart for air. Without her lips on his, his brain gained a semblance of clarity once more. No, he would care if the moment did not end. At some point Claude would have to go back to the wheeling and dealing of the council room, to continue working for his dream. What had once seemed an impossibility was now something so close he could almost reach out and wrap his fingers around it.
And Byleth would be by his side through it.
Claude sighed again, his hands wandering, caressing and exploring down her shoulders, down her arms, down her sides as she shivered beneath his fingers, coming to rest on the curve of her hip as he looped his arms around her waist. Byleth held him as Claude leaned forward, resting his head against her chest.
They stayed like that for a long time, not long enough, tangled together and content. When Byleth combed her fingers through his hair, Claude whined, knowing what came next.
“We’re going to be missed soon,” Byleth said softly. “Seteth is probably already looking for me.”
“Can’t say the same for Nader,” Claude laughed, lifting his head only to bury his face against Byleth’s neck the next moment. Her skin was so soft, and he could feel her pulse against his cheek, alive and strong. “He probably knows exactly where I am.”
“It’s only for a little longer,” Byleth soothed, although her voice sounded as strained as Claude felt. She was making no move to let go of him either. “We’re close, Khalid. And then we won’t have to hide anymore.”
Claude whined, making Byleth gasp as his lips ghosted over her neck, kissing a trail along her jaw until he came around to her lips. “That’s not fair, saying my name like that.”
Byleth’s lips curled into a grin beneath his own mouth. "Kha~lid~," she more sang than said.
Claude groaned again, kissing her lips once more. If she did not stop, he was going to do things to her neither of them had time for at the moment. And yet, despite knowing he should, the reminder clear from the tolling of the bells across Derdriu's rooftops signaling the new hour, Claude found it so very difficult to break away from Byleth.
They parted with a shared sigh, Byleth slipping from his grip as she stood. "You know," Claude drawled, voice low as he followed suit, "I meant it when I said I was surprised you found your way here so easily. The way here is a maze. Took me a few tries before I could find it without an issue."
Byleth flushed, her face so open and honest, unable to hide anything from those who knew what to look for. "I did have some trouble," she admitted. "When we first decided to make Derdriu the capital, and I was moved into the estate. But I went exploring when I could, and I've been coming here whenever I could once I figured out the path."
Claude groaned and reached for her, but his hand fell empty back to his side as Byleth danced away from him. "You can't go saying cute things like that when I have to go back to pretending I don't want to hold you."
"A taste of your own medicine," Byleth shot back at him, the corners of her lips curling. "You get to be the one teased for a change." She disappeared back into the hedges before Claude could respond, leaving him with a flurry of responses to say and no way to do so.
/
"Have a safe trip, King Khalid."
Byleth was the very picture of composure, that calm assurance that had once earned her the name Ashen Demon. Before her, Claude wore his own mask. He wished this were like their first parting, when he could kiss her and tell her how much he loved her.
Soon.
Soon could not come soon enough, and Claude considered himself a rather patient man.
Still, he had a part to play. He dipped his head in acknowledgement, smiling at his friend. "I will return in a few months, after these trade agreements have had time to take effect. I look forward to the continued cooperation between our two nations."
Byleth smiled, small and sad, her hands clenched tightly before her. "Goodbye, Claude," she allowed herself.
Claude nodded, his hand flexing at his side before he balled it into a fist, refusing to let it move. "Take care, Byleth," was his own answering farewell.
And then he was mounted upon his now famous white wyvern, taking to the skies and leaving her behind once more. There would be a day when he did not have to, when she could come with him, and the dawn of that day would be the most brilliant he had ever seen.
Until then, the phantom touch of her lingered against his skin even as the wind whipped around him trying to erase her. His hand went to his chest, seeking out the ring she gave him months ago.
He would hold her again. Until then he would be content with the memories of her touch.
Even if the thought made his heart ache.