Work Text:
It was rare for a day to get that chaotic so early on. As someone who worked only the morning shift, Edelgard was mostly able to dodge the actual spike in activity, documents and people calling to talk about their woes and complain about how the lawyers of Hresvelg & Hresvelg didn’t know how to do their jobs. However, there she was on that particular morning, sighing as she juggled papers, a hysterical client on the phone demanding to talk to her mother instead of to her and piles of notes she’d been organizing on her desk before that.
Hence she almost yelled in a mixture of frustration and surprise once her mobile buzzed and kept doing so for quite a while, which made her wonder if that stream of messages wasn’t something important that required her attention as well. Sure, so maybe she didn’t have any more room to multitask at that moment, but it wasn’t as if some people actually bothered to think that she might be busy to begin with. Just like the annoyed guy on the phone, who felt entitled to scream at her about the world in general and their “poor performance at representing him” in particular just because he was paying for a service that wasn’t really going like he wanted it to.
She suppressed another sigh, went on nodding and making small noises of agreement here and there while the man kept bellowing in her ear about how his case was too vital to be handled by simple interns and the company wasn’t giving him the attention he deserved. She rolled her eyes - she wasn’t even an intern to begin with, not the one in charge of his case - but had long ago decided it was best not to antagonize that guy, a hand going to the mobile which rested on top of some notes at her table and almost missing it.
Her mobility was well limited by the corded phone; totally her parents’ fault since they had decorated the entire office, were suckers for tradition and made others suffer in those small ways because of it. Add to that their insistence on keeping the lawyers in cubicles, something Edelgard considered completely archaic and had even shown them articles about how that really curbed productivity, and she was glad she didn’t have to spend the entire day in that place to begin with.
Before she could let that client sour her few working hours and her mood, she finally got hold of her mobile and decided to mentally disconnect herself from that call. Her annoyed frown did relax the moment she became deaf to the volley of accusations shot her way, always a plus when someone was that obnoxious so early on.
It wasn’t that she thought his words were being wasted on her because she was a good lawyer, they really were being wasted because she wasn’t even the one that had been taking care of his case and ended screwing it up in some way or another. The merit for that went to another coworker and that intern, Monica something or the other. She was just going through that suffering for being pretty much the only one in the office at that time.
Though if half of what that guy was saying was even true, in between the stupid accusations and meaningless threats, Edelgard should at least talk to her parents about the whole matter - some of those mistakes were too amateurish and she really hoped her colleague wasn’t letting the intern do everything on her own.
Nevertheless, she settled back into her chair when the man went on spilling some hate instead of talking facts and unlocked her phone. She felt her previous grimace melt, then bloom into a smile at first and a soft giggle later the moment her eyes registered what had made her mobile buzz before.
There were two different sets of messages there, one from Byleth and the other from Ingrid, sent mere seconds apart. Before the Halloween party had come to an end, they exchanged numbers and had been consistently messaging each other after that night. It had gotten to a point that it was hard for Edelgard to remember how life had been before that, as more than often those messages uplifted her mood and made her days, kept her grounded in the present instead of letting herself be taken back to the past by rivulets of thoughts that would more than often leave her empty and raw.
“Why are you laughing? Are you even listening to me?” The guy on the corded phone yelled and she bit her lower lip in self-reproach.
“I certainly am, Mr. Acheron. I was just laughing at the absurdity of the situation,” she dodged in a condescending tone, mentally sighed in relief once he huffed and went on complaining.
Tilting her head so the phone could stay lodged between her ear and shoulder, Edelgard went back to the waiting messages on her mobile and typed back a response to each woman. Byleth, who had the luxury of waking up as late as she wanted to on Thursdays since she was only required at night for her job, had asked about her day so far. Meanwhile Ingrid, who had been up since 5 AM due to her occupation and for some extra work on that particular day, had sent her a picture of a cake she had just finished baking and decorating to perfection, then asked her about her shift and when it would end.
Forgetting about how her phone also had a clock, Edelgard looked at her pristine wristwatch made of polished black tourmaline, a gesture born out of habit. It was currently ten to 1 PM, aka ten minutes to freedom, which made her beam again before wondering how fast she could both assuage and dispatch that client. He had been screaming at her for the last fifteen minutes and at some point would have to run out of reasons to complain, accusations to throw, breath or all of the above, right?
She just hoped it would happen soon so she could be off on time and enjoy the rest of the day after a comfortable lunch. As she looked at the luckily undraped window, she realized it was a beautiful autumn day, blue sky dotted with white clouds which were being lazily carried away by a strong, probably cold breeze. The view soothed her a little and she typed more praises to Ingrid’s wonderfully-looking cake and the same message of “it’s fine, what about yours?” to both women.
It was so natural that she ended up hiding how she’d been on edge for the entire duration of the call and even before due to a restless night, she didn’t even realize she had done so until she read her own messages again.
“Eh, it’s good. Just not too happy with the result and the crowd we’ll be getting today. One of them is an actual expert on Dagdan cuisine, so there’s that,” Ingrid answered a few seconds later, probably after putting away the cake that she had disliked - but that had looked like the best thing ever to Edelgard.
“All great! Stretching a bit and making sure the foils are ready for tonight. Was watching a documentary on trials and thought about you :)” Byleth’s answer came a little after Ingrid’s; the little smile at the end was almost the woman’s trademark, something that Edelgard had come to expect from her and nevertheless it still made her chuckle at seeing it.
It was interesting to think they had been texting for one week already, getting to know more of each other through messages and even, well, flirt a bit too, something that always made Edelgard blush a bright crimson and be grateful that neither of them could see her right then.
Through messages she had learned that Ingrid was a chef who worked in the most famous and ritzy restaurant in Garreg Mach, one known for its variety, expertise and accuracy in international cuisine and how each dish was beautifully presented too. All of it was either done personally by Ingrid herself or supervised by her. Aside from that and as if it weren’t enough for one’s plate, she also did some catering and was content with the extra income that it brought her, as well as the opportunity to make people happy in ceremonies such as weddings and graduation dinners.
Byleth, on the other hand, was a fencing instructor who taught private students as well as regular classes in Garreg Mach High School. She was also known for picking up side jobs here and there - as it had been the case with the Riegans’ Haunted Mansion, where the three of them had met.
Meanwhile, Byleth and Ingrid had learned of Edelgard’s strange arrangements as a freshly out of college lawyer who worked part time in her parents’ stinking rich, famous company, which was a reference in all of Fódlan’s law world. They had yet to ask for specifics about her job routine and if she wanted to remain there to begin with, but she was glad it was the case and she didn’t have to discuss those particular issues yet.
The evil stares she got on a daily basis while in the office were already enough of a reminder that few people judged her apt to be there to begin with, as if her parents being the owners was the only reason why she was afforded to work in the company too.
She let both that thought and the client’s incessant rambling get to the back of her mind as her fingers typed answers to both messages, reassuring Ingrid that the guest of honor at the restaurant would be a stupid person if they hated her food and thanking Byleth for the thoughts, then inquiring on how many students she usually got on Thursday nights. Her mind was wandering, teeth softly grazing her lower lip in anticipation for the responses she would get. It was always a delight for her to talk to both of them, more so if she had just been doing something boring or mentally exhausting just as it was the case in that moment.
They’d indeed made her days brighter for that last week, a development she hadn’t really expected to happen due to many factors, one of them being their rather… unorthodox encounter. Even if what followed it had been amazing and fun, with the two almost competing to apologize to Edelgard over what had occurred and her laughing it off, trying to distract them from it.
She let those events replay in her mind for what was more than likely the thousandth time - not that she cared how often she revisited those thoughts. She recalled being caressed by both women once they had made sure she was ok with being touched, then being fed roasted marshmallows, pumpkin pies, ghost-shaped cookies, pumpkin bread sandwiches (which Ingrid critiqued since they didn’t really taste like pumpkin to begin with) and all the ginger tea she could ask for.
That had been done between them telling her some funny stories from past Halloweens, taking her for a dance and almost turning the entire thing into a tug-of-war, then actually walking her home. Whenever she thought about it, everything seemed to come together to make one of the best, most interesting nights of Edelgard’s life, even if the three of them had looked sad at having to part ways after trading phone numbers and promising to text as soon as they got home.
And what to say of the sweetest moment of it all, when Byleth and Ingrid had exchanged a glance over El’s shoulders, then smirked for a second before leaning in to kiss her on the cheeks at the same time? Recalling that made Edelgard have the feeling she would die due to all the care she had received from both strangers, Strangers that had had every reason in the world to shun and laugh at her instead of treating her with so much love and respect, at least in her own eyes.
She flinched first at the lurch her heart gave in answer to her thoughts, a heart that she had denied having for too long and had resigned herself to accepting that it would never be filled with love or warmth again, then at her phone buzzing twice to the almost twin messages from the women she had been thinking about:
“Hm, I was wondering if you’d be free to do something tonight,” Ingrid sent, then followed that up instantly with: “I know it’s only Thursday, but I’d like to see you again. If you want to, of course!”
“Wanna grab lunch together in a few? You’ll be free at one, right? I know a cool place close to where you are if you feel like it :)” Byleth texted as well.
Edelgard had to place a hand over her mouth in order to stifle some giggles. Wow, had they planned it? She wouldn’t put it past them, what with the way they had acted during the party and how they did seem to be partners in crime at times. Even more so when the objective was to make Edelgard flustered.
“Oh, two invitations at once, eh? Someone scored big on that Halloween party.”
That familiar voice which piped in behind Edelgard made her jump and turn around abruptly, almost hitting her head against that person and dropping the corded phone from her ear. Not that it would make any difference, as just then she realized the line had been mute for who knew how long.
“Dorothea! Haven’t we talked about you creeping up on me like that?” She hissed, putting the phone back on the receiver. “How long have you been standing there in silence?” Color rushed to her face as she wondered how much her best friend and the greatest teaser in history had seen and heard.
“Long enough to know that A) that client was a mess and totally deserved you ignoring him, but B) you should talk to your parents about that screw up and Monica having too much power as an intern and C) someone has gotten two girlfriends and should totally accept their invitations.” The brunette paused, chuckling as her friend’s blush grew wilder at that part. “Oh, don’t you dare denying you’re interested, I’ve heard you gushing about them all week - and for a good reason, might I add. Or two.”
“You are completely insufferable, do you know that?” Edelgard grumbled, yet had to admit that she was right about all of those things and even more so about letter C. “I am lost, though. I really think I like them both, but that’s - that’s no good, right?”
Thea’s face brightened at that and she gave her friend a wide, kind smile. “Is that what’s been stopping you from asking them out or, in this case, accepting the invitations?” As Edie nodded, she went on. “Honey, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking more than one person at the same time. For what you’ve told me so far, I don’t think they have a problem with that either. You do know that I’ve dated both Mercedes and her girlfriend Annette for a while, right?”
“You… you have?” Edelgard stammered, felt her heart beating more at ease with those words. It made her feel safer to know that she wasn’t the only one who was experiencing something like that, or who had done so at some point in their lives. And the fact that this other person was her best friend ever somehow made everything better. “But that was different, wasn’t it? Annette and Mercedes have been together for years and all. With Byleth and Ingrid -”
“It’s always different, dear.” Dorothea’s tone was gentle and reassuring, one she had used more than once to soothe her distraught friend. There was something else in Edelgard’s expression this time, a new emotion amidst the confusion and carefulness, the pain that showed up at times. Something that sounded a lot like happiness. “Not everyone has to hold hands, you know?”
“I- beg your pardon?” Her heart skipped a bit with that, making Thea giggle.
“Ugh, Edie, put them both in a group chat, schedule a meeting with them, throw each other paper airplanes with all those things you’re discussing with me right now, I don’t care, but talk. You guys have to talk and make some decisions if you want this to work. Stop complicating issues in your mind, that’s what we have judges for.”
They both chuckled at that, then laughed as a particularly picky coworker walked close to them and tutted at that.
After shaking her head, Dorothea went on: “Now do yourself a favor and accept both of these invitations. You like them well enough and more than that, you deserve the time to relax and have some fun.”
Edelgard sighed and nodded, smiled a little when her friend caressed her shoulder before moving back to her own cubicle. Her mind wanted to shy away from those two messages that begged for answers, yet she pushed aside all those doubts and typed an affirmative reply to each of them. There, no backing away now. All they had to do was figure out specifics.
“Meet me at Enbarr Av. in 15? I’ll take you to the restaurant,” Byleth sent right away, as El picked up her things and put the notes she had been analyzing in order.
“Is there anything you’d like to do?” Ingrid inquired and yet again Edelgard had to smile at their different styles and approaches to everything.
She ended up telling Byleth she’d be a bit early, as Hresvelg & Hresvelg was way too close to their meeting point, and asked Ingrid on what she usually did in her free evenings, not wanting to impose or anything of the sorts. By the time she and the chef had agreed on a chill movie night at the local theater, as there was a new piece they were both interested at (well, mostly Ingrid since it was a horror movie), Byleth arrived and she fumbled to lock her phone screen, then placed it back in her pristine, black bag.
It was a delight for El to spot that fluffy blue hair and cornflower blue eyes instead of the ominous red irises that had terrified her in the Haunted Mansion; though it was even better not to see any gore or fake blood on the woman’s stunning face. Byleth herself also did a double take when seeing Edelgard for the first time, but then it was probably because of her choice of clothing, the burgundy suit over a white shirt and black trousers a bit too imposing for 1 PM.
“Hey there, little witch,” Byleth saluted her, glancing down at her own much simpler outfit and grinning at the black and blue flannel shirt over a plain white tank top and dark, tight-fitting jeans.
“Heh, you look quite alive without all that blood on you,” Edelgard joked, smiling in relief when the woman chuckled before flexing her fingers into a claw and playfully swatting at her. “Ugh, don’t remind me of that.”
“Sorry for scaring ten years off your life.” Byleth scratched the back of her head, still surprised that her lunch invitation had been accepted. But then, they had begun talking in such weird circumstances too. “Shall we?” She motioned towards the street, took her companion’s arm in her own and led the way. They walked in silence for a while, until she remembered something and said: “Ah yes, so you and Ingrid are going for a horror movie later, right?”
The way Edelgard’s eyes widened at that made her wonder if she had said something she shouldn’t, for some reason. “Oh, so you know about that?” Had the two been talking as well? Had they actually conspired to ask her out at the same time?
Which could also mean that her previous worries about going out with both of them -
“Yeah, sure. Ingrid’s pretty cool when she’s not calling me stupid names,” Byleth snickered, shaking her head. “We’ve been trying to plan something for awhile but our schedules weren’t really lining up well. Today was an exception so we decided to take the chance and ask you out.”
“So hm… you’re ok with things being like that?” Edelgard queried, a small part of her protesting the fact that she had been left out of that conversation. One issue at a time, though. Maybe Dorothea’s suggestion of having them in a group chat wasn’t that bad of an idea after all.
It was Byleth’s time to tilt her head, curious. “With both of us dating you? Yeah. We really want to try that, as long as it’s ok with you of course.” They stopped walking in the middle of the street, then veered to the walkway when a car lazily idled by.
“Well, yes and no.” El watched as Byleth’s face fell at the “no”, even as her own cheeks blushed at that admission. “Yes, I want to try that too, and I am glad it’s the case with both of you. But not like this. You guys have to include me in that conversation as well. If we want this to work, we’ll need very clear communication between the three of us. I- I guess anyways, I have never done this before and..”
The taller woman blinked at her, at her rambling, feeling as if it should have been something obvious from the start, that both she and Ingrid had been a bit dumb about the entire thing. They had wanted to talk to Edelgard before, that was for sure, but the fear of being ridiculed or denied had stopped them. Thus they had decided to keep matters between themselves at least for a while - and look at what good it had done, too.
“You’re right, yeah,” Byleth admitted, taking a tentative step forward again. “Sorry, we were just so excited about everything, we kinda went on making plans, imagining stuff and so on. We didn’t want to bother you as well, what with your job and uh - life in general, but still. It’s our first time doing something like that too,” she admitted, knowing full well those weren’t good justifications at all.
Only to sigh in relief when Edelgard nodded, smiled and relaxed her stance once Byleth was done talking.
“I don’t blame you. Suffice it to say I have been thinking about those possibilities all week long and living in a daydream myself,” Edelgard admitted, recalling Dorothea’s words. “But nothing will ever happen if we don’t talk and get things straight between us.”
She frowned once Byleth stopped again and stared at her in surprise and hurt for a few seconds. Then slapped her in the arm when she said: “You mean ‘get things gay’ right?” After a heartbeat she went on, glad they were both snickering even if it was a rather serious business. “We do need to stop keeping things to ourselves, yeah, or else it’ll be nothing but a silly little dream when reality might be a lot better.”
Edelgard hummed in agreement, eyeing the building they were supposedly going in and smiling to herself. Dorothea had praised that restaurant to high heavens on several occasions already. “Once we place our orders I will make us a group chat. Also, did you say your schedules weren’t really aligning? As it happens, people often ask me to help with things like that, so maybe I’ll be able to assist you too.”
“Oh fancy, so now we have our own personal scheduler. Or hm, interpersonal scheduler?”
This time Edelgard simply shook her head and sighed, wondering what exactly she had signed up for with those two adorable little dorks.
To say the group chat idea solved their lives would be a bit too much, but it at least helped things go a lot smoother in regards to communication between the three. They still did message each other privately, but having one main channel for talking general issues was a lot better. Well, it also did mean Edelgard got doubly bantered a lot, even more so if a joke was started by one of them and continued by the other, the entire matter going on for hours on end.
That also allowed them to sync up their routines a lot better and find out what would work better for everyone - though soon they discovered that their so-called interpersonal scheduler was much more of a pen and paper person than someone adept at using calendar apps and notes on her phone. Which was exactly the reason why they had both gone to Edelgard’s house on that Sunday evening after a long week of work and a replenishing Saturday.
El had received them with the strangest, yet most amazing dinner ever, a mixture of everyone’s favorite dishes in roasted fish, rice, salad, carbonara pasta and omelette as well as cookies and chocolate cake as dessert (which Byleth and Ingrid had brought). The two guests had been shy at first, unwilling to get too close, maybe intimidated by Edelgard’s home to begin with. All in all, it was a far cry from how more open they’d been during the Halloween party.
Which was something that bothered the smaller woman, as she wanted them to be at ease and relax around her too.
“So hm, would you rather sit on the couch or on the table?” Edelgard asked after they were done eating, springing to her feet and piling up the dishes on her hands.
“Oh no, wait a second there, little Miss,” Ingrid protested, standing up as well. “No way in hell you’ll deal with it by yourself, you’ve already made us dinner.” She got closer to El, placed both hands on her shoulders and eased her down on the seat again. “Good, not let us take care of this.”
Before Edelgard could understand what was happening, the plates were taken away from her and Ingrid rushed to the kitchen, leaving the other two in the spacious dining room.
“Hey, but you baked us a cake!” Byleth retorted, got to her feet and was on her way to wrestle the dishes out of Ingrid’s hands.
“At work! Where other people wash my mess if I ask them to,” the blonde yelled from the kitchen, a door and a long corridor away from the spacious dining and living room. “Now go get started on the schedule thingie and I’ll join you in a few. On the couch, by the way, it looks really cozy.”
Edelgard and Byleth shared a look then shrugged, beamed and got to the big, black leather sofa facing the fireplace in the living room. It wasn’t cold enough to actually light it up, but its mere presence already granted them some comfort. Even so, once they had taken a seat, Byleth scooted closer to Edelgard and watched as she avoided her eyes, opened the small notebook she had gotten and twirled a pen on her fingers in anticipation.
“You’re so organized,” the taller woman said, tentatively leaning her head on El’s shoulder while she placed the notebook on her lap and opened it, flipped through some pages that were already filled to the brim with neat scribbling and settled on a clear one.
“Way too much, some say.” Usually those who criticized her were those nasty coworkers, but that was just another unimportant detail. “I really enjoy it, though. Putting things down like that helps visualizing them, getting them under control.”
Byleth was about to ask something about it, given how much of a private person the lawyer seemed to be, but stopped herself just in time. Although they had been exchanging messages for more than a week and on a daily basis, they hadn’t seen each other very much for such an intimate question. Moreover, their conversations were mostly about good, funny moments at work and their hobbies - they had yet to delve into personal matters and the last thing she wanted was to press those. She hoped they would, that they would get to that level of comfort around each other - after all, she did want to get to know them better.
“Can I touch you?” Byleth inquired in a soft voice, tilting her head, keeping her gaze gentle to let her know it was ok to deny it.
Edelgard’s eyes widened in surprise before her lips bloomed in a warm, thankful smile. She nodded, got closer to the taller woman and asked in a small voice: “Hm, can I touch you, too?”
When she got consent, El ran a timid hand up Byleth’s arm, marvelling at the muscle she felt underneath the long-sleeved shirt. Not that it should be a surprise anyways, she was a fencing instructor to begin with. Even so, it was nice to get to explore her like that, something she hadn’t done in a long time. She squeezed Byleth’s upper arm, beaming once their eyes met and she was reassured that it was ok to keep going.
She shivered once Byleth mirrored her motions, then slowly slid her hand down until it nestled over Edelgard’s, fondling it carefully in order to transmit without words the care that already seemed to exist between them.
They both turned to look at the kitchen door when Ingrid emerged from it, stunning in a simple, long blue cardigan, black pants and a tight blue t-shirt that hugged her form. Her emerald eyes shone when she took in their stance, beaming at the comfortable setting, and was quick to plop down on Edelgard’s left side.
After getting the go-ahead as well, the blonde blushed, haltingly caressed El’s shoulders, remaining attentive to her reactions and relieved when she saw nothing but signs of relaxation and acceptance. Once Ingrid trailed soft fingers to the sides of her neck and under her chin, Edelgard answered with a soft sigh, closing her eyes in response.
Soon enough it became a game and the two went on, languidly touching Edelgard’s arms, shoulders and hands, slightly brushing on her cheeks here and there, revelling when she beamed or gasped at certain touches. After a while they turned to sit on their sides, fully faced the smaller woman and kept petting her, enjoying it as she reciprocated the gesture and settled one hand on each of her partners.
Partners. Was it too early for her to think of them like that? Should she even try using words to define what they were experiencing or her feelings for them? The organizing, methodical part of her mind that longed for control and exact definitions did claim for that, but she knew that need for stability and certainty at all times was more of an issue than the help it tried masking itself as. It was a tricky crutch, one she’d leaned on for too long after what happened.
“Is this too much?” Ingrid queried once Edelgard started looking a bit troubled, more due to her mind overworking than to what was going on. “We can take turns if it is.”
“It’s fine, thank you for asking. And please, let me know if there’s something I shouldn’t do, both of you,” Edie said, turning her head from side to side to meaningfully glance at each woman.
“We will but… is there somewhere you don’t want to be touched?” Byleth queried as she had felt her flinch away at some points. She had a fair idea of where, but wanted her to feel comfortable and safe enough to voice it herself instead.
Edelgard glanced down, entwined her fingers with theirs, drawing strength from that contact alone. Two words. That was all she had to say, yet somehow they bore a weight on her soul alone that felt bigger than a thousand words, a thousand curses. Moreover, she dreaded the questions that would surely follow, that had always followed on the rare occasions she had mentioned something about the entire matter.
It would be foolish to say nothing, though. They would notice sooner or later that something was wrong, if they hadn’t already.
“My back,” she softly whispered, keeping her gaze on her lap. Her heart sped up in anticipation, at the queries, the judgement and the scrutiny that her sentence could and would call upon her.
Hence it completely took her by surprise when Ingrid tentatively combed her hair and answered in a gentle voice: “Sure thing and you’re good, don’t worry about it.” She’d noticed how stiff Edelgard was, how much it had cost her to admit that. Curiosity aside, she would be supportive and wait for the day that she would talk about that, if ever. “Myself, I really hate it when people say something about the scars on my hand. Yeah, I’m a chef and I cut myself all the time, you don’t have to remind me of it.”
Edelgard finally looked up, feeling lighter at not being the only one with some sort of restriction in a sense. Something unfamiliar and infinitely good uncoiled around her heart once she saw the warmth at Ingrid’s eyes and the lack of a calculating, curious glance. Her unease abated the slightest at that, even more so when the blonde leaned in and cupped her cheeks with the so-called scarred fingers, a feature El had noticed but kept quiet about as they shared dinner.
“I have low sensitivity in my torso,” Byleth confessed, making both look at her with an inviting smile, in case she wanted to elaborate. “Took too many kicks and punches there. I was a Muay Thai kid and teen too, but I had to stop it after I beat my teacher. And his teacher. And, well, you get the picture.”
“Now I know who to call on to protect me if something happens at the restaurant,” Ingrid joked, clearly impressed. “Why do you do fencing if you could be a Muay Thai instructor though?”
“Fencing pays a lot better and there are more opportunities for it in those fancy schools around here. If I ever left Garreg Mach, then I’d probably switch over to martial arts, yeah,” she commented, happily trapping Edelgard’s fingers on her own.
“Do you miss fighting?” The smaller woman queried, frowning but grinning as she tried to free her hand and miserably failed at that. “Help me, Ingrid!”
The chef glanced at them, feigned thoughtfulness for a few moments. “Hm…. No,” she said at last, taking hold of Edelgard’s other hand and smiling as she chuckled.
“Funny but I don’t miss fighting. Jeralt - my father - lets me beat him every now and then. He says it keeps him sharp,” Byleth shrugged, let go of El’s hand in order to not overwhelm her.
Only to watch with a wide smile as Edelgard asked Ingrid a shy question and slowly eased herself to lie down on the blonde’s lap, her silver hair fanning out over the black trousers until they both put it back into place.
“Is this ok?” Ingrid asked, caressing the strands with both hands, mesmerized by those shining violet eyes that had a depth she could easily get lost on. She beamed when that was answered with a nod and continued her ministrations in a soothing manner.
“You can place your legs up… hm, is there a nickname you’d like us to call you, Edelgard?” Byleth asked, gently holding under her knees to scoop her legs over, then placing them over her own.
There was barely no thought before she answered it. “El. You can both call me El.”
The words surprised Edelgard, though. Mostly that nickname was reserved for her parents, for people who really knew her and had her trust. However, in that moment she felt that it was natural for them to use it too, as if it had happened before somehow.
As if she already knew they were worthy of her trust, even if that was something she gave away so rarely.
It was eerie, to say the least. But then, everything surrounding the three of them had been eerie thus far. Since the beginning it had seemed that they were being pulled together, that they already knew each other. Even if they weren’t aware of it yet, they had laid in bed thinking about their encounter and their daily messages for too long. Talking to their friends (especially Dorothea) had been no help, as they had teased and laughed at the way they had met and on how that night had gone on.
“El is cute. It suits you,” Byleth commented, placing her chin against Edelgard’s leg. “I’m ok with whatever you wanna call me.”
“Swordfish,” Ingrid said in jest, laughing more at Byleth’s pout than at the joke itself.
“Fine then, vanilla cupcake,” Byleth retorted, sticking out her tongue as if she were a child. Both were more than glad to hear Edelgard laughing, as the vision of her panicked, saddened face back at the Haunted Mansion was still a bit too clear in their minds.
“Fish kebab.”
“Parmesan risotto.”
“Sushi roll.”
“Ratatouille.”
“Ok, enough, you two little kids,” Edelgard protested, wiping her eyes clean from a few tears. She couldn’t remember the last time she had had so much fun or felt such acceptance like that. It was still dazzling that they hadn’t asked any questions about her, a nice plus in her book. “You came here for me to help with scheduling and we have yet to do anything related to that.”
She patted the couch around them, searching for the notebook and pen she had set aside before lying down on Ingrid’s lap, smiling at the blonde once she located both and placed them on her hands.
“What do you need us to do?” Byleth queried, curious. She had never stuck to something so detailed before, recalling how precise the other woman’s notes seemed to be.
For the next few minutes, Ingrid and Byleth told her about their very different routines while Edelgard quickly scribbled in a very neat handwriting, something of a feat since she was still lying down.
Whereas Byleth taught fencing at Garreg Mach High in the evening three times a week and had a few private students here and there throughout the days, Ingrid as a chef had a more regular schedule at the restaurant, and since she had been there for quite a while she had been able to take most evenings out for herself. Sure, she also did catering, which took over most of her mornings (Byleth called them “late nights” instead, once the blonde reported waking up at 3 AM for preparing a cake or something else that needed to be fresh) and at times a regular client pretty much requested her presence at the restaurant, something she wouldn’t refuse no matter what time it was.
Then there was Edelgard’s freer schedule, which at first she wanted to keep secret in order to not elicit questions about that arrangement, but she ended up speaking of it anyways since she hadn’t been judged before. She worked Mondays to Fridays from 7 AM to 1 PM, then could do whatever she wanted from then on and usually spent her time studying cases, brushing up on theory she had covered at college and reading more articles, as well as all the work a house as big as hers demanded. There was a tinge of shame when she admitted to it, which was soon dismissed by how the other women simply nodded at her and waited to see her do her scheduling magic.
However, the moment Edelgard had tried tracing something stricter, like how many times a week or in a month they should see each other, or which days of the week would be best and how to handle holidays, Ingrid and Byleth had shared a thoughtful look and shrugged.
“Why don’t we play it by ear?” Byleth asked, still mesmerized by how many details were now noted down on several pages of the notebook. It was nice to see it like that, orderly displayed in charts and the sorts. However, she was well-aware that reality wasn’t always like that and sometimes planning too much could become a setback instead. “Like this moment right now, we didn’t schedule it or anything and it just feels too right. I don’t know about you, but I had the best dinner ever and it’s been fun to spend time with you.”
“Yeah, not to say all your work was in vain though,” Ingrid added just in case, even though there was no hedging in Edelgard’s eyes. “Your notes are great and we can use them as guidelines. It’ll surely help us making plans and also knowing when to ask you out on days that won’t clash. Like, you can spend, hm, Monday afternoons with Fish Kebab and then go somewhere with me in the evenings.”
Edelgard couldn’t help but smile at the thought, at all the possibilities that her mind was already conjuring. “Would you agree to hanging out together? The three of us, that is. You two seem to get along well and I’m really enjoying this, us spending time together like now.”
“Sure thing, yeah,” Byleth happily agreed, fondling the side of El’s knee and chuckling once she flinched, ticklish. “I’d love nothing more than to spend time with Triple Chocolate Cake here.”
“Don’t you start again,” Edelgard admonished as Ingrid opened her mouth to retort and probably restart that food nickname war.
Instead, after shooting Byleth a meaningful glare, the chef returned to the issue at hands. “And we can always reschedule too. Sometimes I get called in as I told you, or there’s a last-minute wedding cake that someone is paying me triple to almost magically conjure it, some issue at the restaurant, you name it. I’d be happy to tell Tuna Sandwich there to take you to that dinner instead if she’s available.”
Edelgard shook her head at the name, then sighed and concluded. “You are right, things can and do always change anyways, all we have to do is adapt to them.”
Yet that portion of her mind which longed for control and exactness tended to disagree and did so at that moment, vigorously shaking its head and making her heart beat faster for a second or two. She tried her best to keep that away from her face, from her thoughts. It would be ok if situations were unknown and left to fate. It wouldn’t mean she wasn’t safe.
“Just one more thing, can we try to keep our communication as open and clear as it can possibly be?” Byleth inquired, cutting through Edelgard’s thoughts and gently bringing her back to the present, just in time for her to catch matching, committed smiles taking over their faces before they nodded, sealing the deal without any need for words.
It was too easy for both Byleth and Ingrid to get lost caressing and teasing Edelgard, even more so since they got to easily make her flustered and laugh at that too, all the time letting her touch them as well. Hence it was almost not surprising to any of them when they remembered it might be a good idea to check their phones or their clocks and realized it was way past 2 AM. On a Monday, no less.
Ingrid was about to offer Byleth a ride home when a very sleepy Edelgard, who had been lying on their laps for all that time, invited them to stay the night. They would have probably worried about overstepping if El hadn’t been the one to extend the offer to begin with, but were eager to agree when it was said between yawns.
It felt natural for them to stay together, somehow, so they happily fell into step behind Edelgard as she led them upstairs and into her bedroom, one hand on each of their own. Once they were there they stopped and watched El pull aside crimson, comfortable blankets and slowly lay down in the middle of the rather big mattress, her lilac eyes and small smile encouraging them, letting them know everything was fine.
She beamed and closed her eyes in delight when Ingrid took the spot to her right and Byleth laid on her left. After pulling the covers over the three of them and readjusting herself so she wasn’t only facing her right (she tended to sleep curled on that side), she placed a hand on each of their shoulders and mumbled: “Good night Byleth, Ingrid.”
“Good night, El,” they answered in unison, which made her laugh, entwining her fingers with each of their hands.
A few seconds were spent in peaceful silence, in a way that was too comfortable, too naturally comfortable and right, in a sense. Yet there was just one thing that could make that night even better, if they had the courage to ask for it.
“El?” Ingrid said in a soft voice, then waited until the smaller woman turned to face her. “May I kiss you?”
Instead of answering with words, after a smile and a quick thought about how knightley that had sounded, Edelgard scooted closer and softly grazed Ingrid’s lips with her own. The motion was incredibly gentle and tentative, born out of care and love, transmitting such feelings in a way which, although new to both of them, was also familiar in some form. As if they had known the contours of each other’s mouths for a long time already.
Edelgard smiled once one of the chef’s hands went to her chin and the kiss was deepened, making it long and infinitely sweet. A sigh escaped her mouth as she felt Byleth’s hands tangling themselves in her hair too, more in support than any sort of jealous intervention. Even so, she broke the kiss a few seconds later and turned around to meet the taller woman’s dancing blue eyes.
“Can I kiss you, By?” El asked, already biting her lower lip in anticipation, tasting how soft and sweet Ingrid had been.
This time Byleth was the one to bridge the distance between their lips while the blonde hugged Edelgard from behind, hands lacing around her waist in an offering of comfort. Byleth’s fingers and lips trailed a pattern of their own, entirely confident of where they were and what they were doing, whereas Ingrid’s had been shy and prodding. Edelgard didn’t mind the contrast and actually enjoyed it as she felt her heart swell with joy and something warm at having both of them there.
It took them a while to actually settle down to sleep, a few more bouts of kissing and teasing being thrown around until they were so tired, they pretty much fell into the deepest, most relaxing slumber of their lives. As they did so, eager to sleep away the few remaining hours of dark they still had left, their minds were humming with the thought of finally putting to fruition everything they had been envisioning and daydreaming about.
And oh, how reality was indeed a lot better than the stuff of dreams.