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Annette drops her five bags on the floor with a loud thump.
"We made it!"
She huffs and puffs, out of breath from the winding stairs. Sylvain chuckles behind her and Felix kicks his butt to get him moving faster.
"Move, lazy. You're blocking the door."
Sylvain dramatically stretches to take the whole space, effectively blocking the entry for Felix while Annette just tries to catch her breath.
"Oh no, I can't move anymore. I'm so tired, I need a rest!"
"I'll show you rest", Felix grumbles.
He goes to duck under Sylvain's arm, but Sylvain shifts and grabs him. Felix has enough momentum to surprise him and they both tumble inside in a heap of limbs. Felix immediately jumps back to his feet, ready to hiss, and Annette breaks the fight.
"So that's it. I'm all moved in."
Felix makes this cute frown he does when he's feeling things and has no idea how to verbalize them, and Sylvain takes pity.
"We need to celebrate! Have a housewarming party!"
"I've been living here for years", Felix remarks.
"Oh, that's a great idea! I'll text Mercie and Ashe!"
"And I'll call Ingrid and Dimitri!"
Felix mutters something but doesn't outright protest, so it's settled. Annette excitedly whisks her bags and boxes away and runs around the place to prepare for the party, because it absolutely has to be this evening. Sylvain watches her whirlwind around and prevents several disasters, putting out the pan fire in the kitchen, turning faucets off when she forgets them and catching a couple of objects before they hit the ground, all with a smile on his face and an easy, relaxed posture. Felix gives himself a rare break to enjoy the scene, endeared by the joyful chaos they bring to his usually gloomy flat. Well, no more of that now that Annette has moved in. Although he needs to find a fire extinguisher as soon as possible.
With Annette living here, he can also expect to see Sylvain much more often. He already spends most of his time with them, but sometimes, when the flat is too quiet and the light outside too white, he takes his coat and leaves, disappearing for days on end. Felix knows it's because he gets the blues, and he removes himself, but it would be nice if Annette could help with that. She would not let him leave without an explanation and would absolutely bug him until he spilled his beans ; at least, that's what Felix hopes.
Yes, having Annette living here is a really good thing, both for Sylvain and Annette herself. She could not possibly continue living with her deadbeat father, who never had a kind word for her and followed after Dimitri like a lap dog. Felix knows what it's like to have a father that likes Dimitri more than his own children, and he will not let Annette break her back trying to please him and be forever disappointed and miserable. She'll be much happier here, chirping silly songs and setting the kitchen on fire. Felix makes a mental note to buy a carbon monoxide detector and a couple bags of sand.
Sylvain is making the final touches to the flat, making sure they have ice for the drinks, enough cutlery for everyone and texts Ingrid asking for plastic cups. Annette is choosing the music and asking Felix for his opinion on a thousand songs he has never heard before while he tries to get seats arranged for everyone.
Ashe and Dedue arrive first, armed with two gigantic Ikea bags, and take control of the kitchen, setting up a rice cooker and a huge pot, turning on the oven and foraging through the drawers and cupboards. Ashe gently pushes Sylvain to the living room.
"Don't worry, we'll take it up from here."
Sylvain would have argued, or at pretended to, but the doorbell is ringing again. This time it's Ingrid and Dorothea, showing up with plastic cups and a bright bouquet of flowers.
"Oh, they're gorgeous!"
Annette excitedly ushers them in, and Sylvain can hear footsteps in the stairs and Mercedes' soft voice. Soon she emerges, dragging her gloom looking brother behind her.
"I brought Emile, I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all! The more the merrier", he winks.
"I've also brought pastries."
"Yes!" Annette and Ashe both jubilate.
The flat fills with people and soon the chatters completely covers the music. Heavenly scents drift from the kitchen, making everyone's stomach rumble while Ashe implores them to be patient for just a little longer. Dimitri shows up late and accompanied by Claude, who produces a very welcome charcuterie board. Caspar points it and jumps to his feet :
"A shark cootie board!!!"
Linhardt gives him an endeared look while Dorothea explodes with laughter, in a fit that ends up with Ingrid getting her on the balcony to breathe, her face red and tears spilling.
When everyone is here, Sylvain produces a bottle of champagne and pops it solemnly.
"To your new home, Annette."
She smiles a bright and wide and true smile, and manages to clink her glass with both Felix's and Sylvain's.
"To our new home."
💐🏡🎉
The party is a success. They eat excellent food, and discover that what was brewing in the huge pot was actually a traditional Duscur stew, an aromatic dish loaded with cinnamon and cumin and served steaming hot over a generous amount of rice. Then come the famous pastries baked by Mercedes, which she insists are better with a cup of tea. Annette puts the kitchen inside our trying to find enough cups for everyone, while Dimitri begins suggesting using the plastic cup and is quickly silenced by Claude who kisses him and then gently explains that they absolutely would melt in their hands and would not be a pleasant tea party. Then he produces foreign delicacies made with loads of honey and nuts, to everyone's delight, but Sylvain can't help and wonder where he gets them from exactly.
They drink too much, talk and laugh and even dance way into the night. Annette insists so much that Felix gives in and dances with her, putting his escrime footwork to good use for once. They're beautiful, the both of them, twirling and laughing in the warm light, and Sylvain watches intensely, trying to enhance the scene in his memories, the way Annette's eyes sparkle, the lift in Felix's mouth, the wrinkles in his shirt where she puts her delicate hand on his side, the flush of their cheeks as they stare at each other.
They play silly games. It starts with Hilda openly prying into everyone's intimate life, asking embarrassing questions even though both Claude and Marianne try to divert her attention. It's Sylvain who comes up with an alternative that catches her eye, and they start a wild guessing game that Claude soon derails. To everyone, it seems like the game was just forgotten and abandoned while the conversation heated, but Sylvain takes good note of it and spends a little while observing Claude, with his easy smile, petting Dimitri's head in his lap while Dimitri is taking a little nap, having had a bit too much of Raphael's awful home made gin. Then Annette insists Sylvain gets up and sings a duet with her and he forgets about Claude's schemes and mysteries.
The party dies down as the moon finally rises, conversations slowing, people blinking away sleep. The guests leave and the hosts make sure that they are able to get home safely, taking taxis and ubers and not driving, but they all anticipated it and no one has driven to get here.
And then they find themselves alone at home, looking at each other and trying to decide if they'd rather clean up now or crash in bed.
"We can do this! Before we get really tired, we should just do it tonight!"
"I agree, I absolutely do not want to deal with this mess tomorrow."
"Fine, let's clean up", Sylvain concedes.
It takes them an hour to clear everything and put all of it back where it belongs, but Sylvain has to admit that he's happy he won't have to worry about it the next day.
They crash in bed with a satisfied group sigh.
"It was really nice, seeing everyone like that", says Annette.
Felix hums in agreement and Sylvain smiles, enjoying the soft mattress under his back and the warmth at his side.
"I'm happy I've moved in."
"Yeah", Felix says, grasping her hand, "me too."
Sylvain feels his heart melting in his chest for these two idiots and decides it's time to jump on them and cover them with kisses.
He can't wait to be able to do that every single night.