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Felix was always at his most grumpy when he hadn’t eaten.
Annette had observed his moody demeanor for years. It wasn’t that Felix got mad at everything , only people in his way, people with stupid opinions, people who wouldn’t shut up, people who believed that Nobility made a person better than…
And unfortunately, Lorenz Hellmen Glouschter was all of those things. And he’d made the horrendous mistake of engaging in a conversation with Felix in the dining hall. Annette could only watch, anxiety climbing by the second.
“Really, it’s a matter of propriety,” Lorenz was droning on, either unaware or willfully ignorant of Felix’s murderous expression. Why in heaven or earth he had decided that dinner after their return earlier today from battle was a good time to talk about nobility was beyond Annette.
He prattled on. “You are to be the lord of a prominent house of Faerghus, and after this war we all shall endeavor to be allies. Speaking with formality is part of the duty of a noble, and you will never get anywhere with diplomacy if you continue this crass attitude of yours.”
Felix’s expression could have killed a small animal from fear as he tried in desperation to focus on his food. He was failing. “Go away, Lorenz.”
Lorenz, somehow, did not get the hint. “See, this is precisely to what I am referring! Your manner of speaking comes across as quite rude and I should like to see you live up to the honor of your noble birth in order to better- yyahh!”
Lorenz was cut off by a sudden dull sound. Annette’s eyes had to take a second to catch up to the proceedings, and when they did, she noticed that the sound had come from Felix’s steak knife, which was now firmly planted in the wood of the table, an inch away from where Lorenz’s hand had been. His yelp, Annette realized, had been accompanied by him pulling said hand away in terror.
Felix’s wrath was now turned directly toward Lorenz’s face. “Go. The FUCK. Away.”
Annette watched as Lorenz retreated from the table with his tray of food, leaving the spot next to Felix empty. Annette barely had time to take a breath before it was filled again, a head of red hair and cheerful smile coming into view.
Oh no.
“Hey! What’s Lorenz all mad about?” asked Sylvain, clearly unaware of the exchange that had just taken place. Across the table, Annette’s heart jumped into her throat, and she tried desperately to telegraph to Sylvain, Nope, nope, don’t ask, leave him alone, I don’t need any of our teammates killed!
Her horror was only compounded when Sylvain’s fork reached across to steal a potato off Felix’s plate.
Well, now he’d done it. Here it comes…
It didn’t come.
“Nothing,” Felix said, voice cool in a way that gave Annette emotional whiplash, his expression suddenly much smoother as he pried the knife out of the table. “Lorenz was just being annoying, as usual.” To her utter shock, he didn’t even comment on the stolen potato, still on Sylvain’s fork.
“Yeah,” said Sylvain casually, “He’s real smart but boy is he stupid at the same time.”
“We’re talking about Lorenz, not you,” quipped Felix.
“Rude!” Sylvain complained. He turned toward her. “Anyway, did you get to offload those books today Annette?”
She felt oddly startled, as though she’d been hiding and had been spotted. “Oh-Um, yes. Dedue helped me carry them so it was an easy job.”
“Good man, that Dedue.” Sylvain carried on. As they conversed, Felix ate his chicken mostly in silence, which is typically the way he preferred to eat. The whole time he did not seem the slightest bit annoyed. Annette didn’t want to be mean, but she did catalog that Sylvain, a person who typically annoyed all sorts of people, was currently not annoying Famously-Easily-Annoyed Felix.
Which… was odd.
She questioned the thought. After all, they were good friends, weren’t they? Why should it be odd for Felix to be calm around his friend?
Except that Felix was almost never calm. Around anyone.
She figured she was reading too much into it.
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Behind her was the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground.
She was mostly alone in the training grounds, having wanted to practice some new spells, but the bulk of the training space was currently being utilized by Sylvain and Felix. The two had greeted her on their way in and stated their intent to spar, so she had made sure to give them plenty of room.
It was a little out of place to see Sylvain put in extra training, let alone have the courage to spar with Felix, who was known for not holding back. Typically, Felix could be found decimating man, woman, and straw dummy alike with a training sword until late into the night. While Sylvain could more likely be found in the dining hall making flirty remarks at the cooks. She supposed Felix had taken it upon himself to whip his friend into shape.
On instinct, she turned around to make sure everyone was alright. She saw Sylvain on his back, pinned, with Felix’s knees bracketing his torso, training sword at his throat. The two didn’t seem to notice her gaze.
“I win again,” she heard Felix proclaim, a wide grin on his face.
Sylvain sighed, “Of course you did, we’re sparring with your specialty weapon. Bet you’d have a harder time beating me with a spear.”
Felix stood, dusting himself off and offering a hand to Sylvain, which he took. “Only being able to win with one type of weapon means you’re not training hard enough,” Felix said, although Annette noticed he was still smiling as he pulled Sylvain up off the floor. His grin widened as he leaned up towards the other man’s face. “Or do you just like losing to me?”
Sylvain shoved at his shoulder playfully. “Shut up, man. Let’s go again.”
“You’re on.”
Annette’s curiosity had been piqued. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for as she observed the two of them, angling herself so that she could keep up the pretense of practicing spells while watching them out of the corner of her eye.
Felix really was a swordmaster, his movements fluid and unflinching, but Sylvain was holding his own. What he’d always lacked in technique and finesse he made up for in quick-thinking and a willingness to try anything. Annette realized it was a fitting metaphor for his life.
Feeling guilty for staring, she tried to focus on her own training. However, soon enough she heard a triumphant noise from Sylvain and found her eyes drawn toward the two of them again, their match having ended.
“Ha! How do you like me now?” he proclaimed with a wide grin.
Felix rubbed at the spot on his leg where Sylvain had hit him. “You got lucky.”
Sylvain whipped the training sword around himself in a figure eight for good measure. “So?” he asked cockily. “Luck is part of battle. If this were a real fight, I would have severed that tendon and you’d be on your knees right now.”
Annette watched as Felix grabbed him by the shirt, and yanked him down slightly to whisper something in his ear before letting him go and walking away to stash his training sword.
“Bye Annette, have a nice evening,” Felix told her, oddly cheerful, breath still slightly heavy from their sparring session. Behind him, Sylvain’s face was a flushed red. From exertion? Or from whatever Felix had just told him?
Her attention was fixated on the two of them as she observed Sylvain all but throw his training sword back into the rack and chase Felix’s retreating form out of the training grounds, bidding her a brief and distracted farewell.
In the silence they left behind, Annette stared, dumbfounded.
Oh…. wow.
So, they were definitely fucking.
She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Had they seriously just sparred… as foreplay ?? She shook her head to rid it of the images that threatened to creep in on her innocent mind.
Was she crazy? Maybe she was overthinking it. After all, who on the Goddess’ green earth would sword fight as a form of flirting?!
Well, she thought. Felix would.
Deciding that she was not going to get any more practice in tonight, she walked out of the training grounds in a daze. She’d suspected something after that incident in the dining hall, but not something nearly so… illicit.
Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t heard any rumors of the latest woman or man that Sylvain had pissed off with his antics in a while…
Questions swirled in her head. When had that started? Did the team know about this? She imagined not, typically when people take lovers they tend not to shout the news from the rooftops. Would Felix be okay knowing what a dog Sylvain tended to be? Then again, they already knew each other quite well, he had to have known what he was getting into.
It didn’t really bother her per say. They were all adults after all. Still, she could only conclude… oh who was she kidding, she had no idea what to think of it!
She squared her shoulders and decided to put it out of her mind. No need to dwell on things that weren’t her business.
Or at least, that’s what she tried to convince herself of. But in the back of her mind, the terrible curiosity gnawed at her. She tried her best to ignore it.
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She had never heard Felix’s voice so frantic as when he shouted her name. “Annette! Annette!”
She turned around to see Felix sprinting through their campground toward her. They’d barely scraped by in their victory at Grondor Field and a few people had gotten hurt. As a result, Annette had been running around helping Mercedes as she and the Seiros Monks attempted to heal everyone. It had been a frantic day, but at least their mission had been successful.
So it surprised her to see Felix look so scared. It instantly startled her. “Felix? What’s wrong?”
He slid to a halt in front of her. “Sylvain got hurt in battle, where is he?”
That pulled Annette up short. She hadn’t seen him in any of the medical tents and Felix’s tone was extremely serious. Had Sylvain been mortally wounded?
Now she was worried for her friend. “I didn’t even know he got hurt,” she admitted. “Things have been pretty crazy here. Maybe Merci would know?”
As if on cue, a voice spoke. “I heard my name?”
The two of them turned to see Sylvain, limping but very much alive, come around the corner from behind a tent. “Hey, Felix, I’m glad you’re okay. Annette, do you know where Mercedes is? My leg wound is opening back up and I think I need another round of antitoxin. Damned poison arrows. Edelgard’s tricks are pretty sick.”
“We’ve got antitoxin here!” Annette ran into the tent and came back out with a bottle of the medicine. In the approximately five seconds since she’d been gone, Felix had started yelling.
“What the FUCK was that?” he demanded of Sylvain, eyes full of fury. “Who jumps in front of five poison arrows you fucking moron?!”
Sylvain sat down gingerly on a nearby crate, holding the spot on his leg that had gotten hit the worst. “Someone who doesn’t want to get murdered by Seteth when those five arrows hit his little sister. Feef, I’m dizzy, can you yell at me when I’m not poisoned and bleeding? -Thank you Annette,” he finished as she handed him the bottle.
“I’ll go get Merci,” she assured, mostly to assuage Felix, who barely acknowledged her as she ran off, opting instead to continue his tirade at Sylvain’s slumped form as he nursed the bottle of antitoxin.
She found Mercedes fairly quickly, who was able to stop Sylvain’s wound from bleeding. “Make sure to elevate it until at least until we need to pack up and leave. Did the second round of antitoxin help?”
Next to him, Felix stood silently, a wrathful sentry. Sylvain barely seemed to notice. “Yeah, it’s a lot better. Thank you so much.”
Mercedes nodded before departing back toward the medical tents. Far too good-humored for anyone in his situation, Sylvain flashed a smile. “Well, you heard the lady, guess I’ve gotta relax for the next 24 hours!”
Without a word, Felix marched away from the two of them in a huff. Under his breath, she heard Sylvain sigh, “Damn it, he’s mad at me.” Turning his head toward her, he gave a casual, “Thanks for the help Annette, I really appreciate it,” and began to limp off in Felix’s direction.
She watched their retreating forms, and a thought struck her.
Oh. So they’re like…. IN LOVE.
Annette realized she had made a grievous error. She’d assumed there were illicit activities happening between the two of them, but obviously that wasn’t all that was happening. The two clearly cared deeply for one another. By Ailell, Sylvain had called him a nickname and he still had a neck. That alone confirmed it: they were in a relationship.
She thought about this for a moment. Did everyone know? Did they forget to tell her? If they were trying to hide it, they were doing a bad job. She knew Felix to be a very private person; perhaps they’d decided to let people figure it out on their own?
She bucked up. Well, she knew now. Maybe she’d been the last one to figure it out, but that didn’t matter. If her friends made each other happy, then she couldn’t be more happy for them.
Later, she noticed a marked improvement in Felix’s mood as they gathered to eat around the supply wagon. This, for Felix, meant his normal brooding instead of his extra-angry brooding. He’d brought two plates over to the spot where he was sitting; one for him, and one for Sylvain, whose leg was now in bandages, dutifully propped up beside him. He smiled at Felix, and Annette heard him throw out a quip about feeding him grapes, which Felix declined.
No one else seemed to comment on it.
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“Sylvain, can I ask you about Felix?”
Finally! She’d cornered him alone in the Knights’ Hall. Sylvain froze where he stood, pausing in packing up his belongings.
It had been difficult to catch him alone without Felix around, or anyone else for that matter, but she knew this matter required privacy.
Sylvain managed to unstick himself before smiling, somewhat tightly. “Uh, what about him?”
An odd reaction, but Annette pressed on. “You’re his boyfriend; What kind of baked goods does he like? His birthday is coming up and I’d like to bake him something.”
Sylvain stared at her for a long moment, looking as though a hunter had him caught in their sights. Annette suddenly worried. Did Sylvain forget Felix’s birthday? They were childhood friends, surely he must have known the date for years! Annette had half a mind to scold him when Sylvain finally answered, strained slightly as though he had been holding his breath.
“Try, uh, blackberry turnovers,” he said, voice a little vacant. “No frosting. He loves those.”
Of course! Felix always swiped anything with blackberries from the dining hall. She smiled for a moment, however her previous urge to scold had not completely abated.
“You didn’t forget that his birthday was this month, did you?” She asked skeptically.
Sylvain blanched. “No!” he defended. “Of course not, I just… Annette how…” He seemed to be struggling to find the words. Annette read between the lines.
“Oh! Were you going to bake him something? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to steal your idea! Although I admit, I didn’t think you baked.”
“N-no!” Sylvain sputtered, “That’s not it…”
She guessed again. “Oh, you don’t know what to give him for his birthday? I mean, we both know he’s not a super romantic guy, but I’m sure he’ll like anything you give him! If it’s coming from you, I’m sure he’ll be happy; I can tell how much he loves you,” she assured, feeling bad for having put Sylvain on the spot.
He perked up immediately, tone surprised. “You can?”
Annette beamed. “Of course! He’s clearly crazy about you.” She was unaccustomed to seeing Sylvain so flustered over someone. She figured they must have something really special if it was enough to cause Sylvain to worry over a romantic gift. Goddess knows he’d given out hundreds during their time at the academy.
Sylvain stared at her for a moment longer, expression now unreadable. Eventually he took a breath. “Thanks for thinking of him. I’m sure he’ll love the turnovers.”
“Thanks for giving me the inside scoop! I’ll run to the market and look for blackberries tomorrow!” Excited to start on her project, she turned tail and set out to surprise her friend with something nice.
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Sylvain took a deep breath. “Um... Annette knows.”
To his complete shock, Felix was not phased, not even stirring from his reclined position, book held aloft, feet casually resting on Sylvain’s lap. “Yeah she told me earlier that she thinks we’re cute together. I like her, so I didn’t punch her in the face for it.”
Sylvain stared at Felix’s unbothered form. “How’d she find out?”
He flipped a page. “Who knows.”
Confused and a little dumbfounded, Sylvain found that the words escaped before he could stop them. “I thought you didn’t want to tell people.”
“Yeah because it’s no one else’s business, not because I care if people find out.” He finally looked at Sylvain, expression mildly chagrined at being forced to stop reading his book to have this conversation. “Why would I? Do you? ”
“N-no, it’s not that,” Sylvain stuttered. “I just… thought it was because I’m… well, me, you know?”
Now he was in trouble: Felix had put his book down. Prone and propped on his elbows, he still managed to look scarier than any warrior Sylvain had ever come across, irate gaze sending shivers down his spine.
“You idiot, I’m not ashamed of you,” he spat. “Is that seriously what you thought?”
If he was being honest, yes. That’s absolutely what he thought. And he wouldn’t have even blamed Felix for thinking it. Sylvain had been told hundreds of times by almost every lover he’d come across that he was a cad, evil, disgusting. And though he didn’t like to think about it, somewhere in the back of his mind it had started to feel true. He’d certainly acted disgusting in the past, he knew. Such a reputation would rightfully make anyone uncomfortable.
But there was Felix, challenging his perceptions again. Sylvain felt relieved and simultaneously stupid for having worried. Of course he’d want to be private about their relationship, this was Felix.
Every time he seemed to have some insecurity, Felix was there to slap him back to reality. He was foolishly grateful for this man.
“No,” he lied smoothly, a deep relief seeping into his chest. “But thanks.”
Felix rolled his eyes before plopping back down, bringing his book back up and continuing. In the silence that followed, a tiny part of Sylvain felt like crying.
After a long moment, Felix spoke again. “We can tell people if you want.” His voice was nonchalant, but Sylvain knew that the reality of his suggestion would probably be a lot more complicated. And yet, he found himself happy for that potential reality.
“After the war is over.” Sylvain heard his own voice strengthen as he said it. “We’ll tell our friends, and then, we’ll tell my father to suck it.”
“I’ve been telling your father to suck it since we were seven,” said Felix casually.
He adored this man.
Against any conventional wisdom Sylvain had learned when it came to disturbing Felix and his book, he found himself pulled in. He leaned over, plucked the book from his hands, making sure to keep a thumb on the page he’d been on, and kissed him softly.
Sylvain had never pictured a future. First his hatred for his crest, then a looming war had forced him to put the thought out of his mind. Yet now, when things were more dire than they’d ever been, he saw that future in crystal clarity, because a huge portion of it woke up with him every morning.
After a long moment, he felt his face being gently pushed away, jawline held between a thumb and forefinger.
“Yes, I get it.” Sylvain hadn’t said anything. Felix knew what he meant anyway. “But can you please hold that thought until I finish this chapter.”
Sylvain smiled and gently pried himself out of Felix’s grasp, giving his book back and returning to his seated position with an easygoing, “Yes Sir.”
He would have waited forever.