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Byleth trudged through the streets. Tonight, her bag felt unusually heavy. Or maybe that was because she was more exhausted than ever. A promotion was supposed to make work easier, not harder. Okay, maybe not “easy” in the strictest sense of the word. But it was supposed to improve her position.
Despite having been part of Emblem City’s police department for seven years, people still claimed her father showed favoritism. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t even told him when she applied to the academy or that she hadn’t used her real name initially. It didn’t matter that she’d taken a position as far from center city- where her father served as chief- as she could. Whenever she gave an order, it always evidently came down to “Or what? Will you tell your old man about it?”
The door slammed into the wall with enough force to rattle the windows and the noise echoed down the hall. Internally, she winced. She hadn’t meant to be so forceful. But even just remembering the afternoon she’d had set her blood boiling. With a long sigh, she set her bag down on the ground and glanced around. The dining space was dimly lit with candles and the air smelled heavenly. Claude looked up from where he set the table with plates and utensils. Despite her foul mood, Byleth couldn’t help the twitch on her lips at how comical he looked: with how late in the day it was, the braids in his hair were coming undone and his apron was rumpled where it tied off.
“Welcome home!” The cheerful voice greeted her as it so often did.
“What’s the special occasion?” Nodding to the candles, she began shrugging off her shoes as Claude moved to help with her jacket.
“Don’t tell me they’ve got you working so hard at the station you forgot what day it was?” His voice was teasing, but green eyes were serious. Byleth stared up at him blankly. It wasn’t his birthday or their anniversary. Byleth would never misremember those. “It’s Saint Chocolat.” After hanging her jacket on the coat rack, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. As he pulled away, a slight grin touched his lips. “I don’t know if I should be happy that no one gave you chocolates or offended that they refused to do so.” Blinking, an encounter from earlier in the day came flashing back to Byleth: one of her, now, subordinates had made a comment about how he’d be surprised if she’d get any chocolates that day. It certainly made more sense now. “You know,” Claude’s lips moved against her neck, bringing Byleth’s attention back to the present. “You can always join me.” Rolling her eyes, she pushed away from him gently.
Claude was a private detective and an occasional informant for the station. While he took his client's privacy very seriously, he was not above tipping officers off if anything seemed much larger than it actually was. The freedom granted to him was enviable, of course. The other man got to choose his own hours, pick and choose his cases, and many more. But Byleth had never felt the desire to leave her position to join him. For one, it would feel like running away; something her pride would never allow. But, she also believed they helped people in different ways with their jobs and that, should she abandon the station, the people they could assist would diminish greatly.
“You know very well why I won’t do that.” Byleth gave him a stern look. Claude’s hands went up in surrender.
“I’ll never stop trying, though.” She smiled at that.
“I know.” Stretching up, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “So what’s for dinner?” Beaming, Claude herded her into the dining room and held the chair out for her. Once she was seated, he hurried back into the kitchen only to return moments later to set a plate of meat and vegetables in front of her. The pheasant- it had to be given its size and the rest of the dish- was drizzled in red sauce. Byleth’s mouth practically watered. It was one of their favorite dishes during hunting season. When had he hidden a whole bird from her? “Claude-”
“Happy Valentine’s day, Byleth.” He poured them both glasses of wine before lifting his to her. A smile played on his lips and Byleth frowned slightly. There would be no telling him this was too much. It would be rude, but also he would hear none of it. Having spent the last four years with him told her that much.
“Happy Valentine’s day, Claude.” Tapping her glass to his, she decided to simply enjoy the meal. And it was enjoyable. Making sure to tell him how she felt had been a learning experience for Byleth, but now it came naturally. He, too, was far more expressive. As he sat beaming, she noticed he barely ate any of his. Only when she threatened to eat what he left on the plate did he finally polish it off.
“You wouldn’t,” he argued as he ate. Byleth raised an eyebrow.
“I will not allow such delicious food to go to waste,” she replied simply. Claude’s cheeks flushed with pleasure again, but he did eat faster. As their meal came to an end, Byleth gathered their empty plates and brought them to the kitchen. As she grabbed the sponge, a hand reached out and stopped her.
“Let me.”
“Absolutely not.” Tugging the sponge away from him, she frowned. “You cooked, Claude. I will clean.” Equally stubborn, he shook his head firmly.
“ I took the day off from work.” Before she could say anything, he quickly added “I did it because I wanted to. Just like I want to do this for you. For us. Take a bath and relax, Byleth.” Still, she hesitated. Leaving everything to Claude went against the good manners her father had ingrained into her. “Please?” Green eyes were pleading and she felt her resolve waver.
“I don’t know why today makes this so different,” she muttered more so to herself. But Claude brightened.
“I can do it more often, if you’d like. To make it easier to accept.” Byleth scowled and waved a hand, shoving the sponge at him.
“Don’t even think about it.” She left him chuckling to himself.
“Feel free to take as long as you like!” He called as she slipped into the bathroom. I don’t know why he’d think I would spend more time in the bath than any other day.
Byleth had her answer as she stared down at the tub. Flower petals filled the bathroom with their scent. Pressing her lips together, she waited another moment before stripping and stepping into the water. The water was the perfect temperature and she had to wonder how he’d managed it. He would’ve had to fill the tub before she arrived or she would’ve heard the water. But dinner took almost an hour.
There wasn’t any point in debating it. Instead, she washed. Normally, she wouldn’t waste any time. But considering Claude had taken the time to prepare this for her, she slowed down her process. Once finished, she paused in front of the mirror and made the rapid decision to brush her teeth.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Byleth was greeted with a bouquet of roses in front of her face. With a resigned sigh, she accepted them.
“Really, Claude. This is too much.” Still, a smile tugged free as she held them. Claude was undeterred, though. With Byleth’s hands full, he took her by the shoulders and steered her towards the vanity. Realistically speaking, Claude actually used it more often than she did. He had a number of decorative beads he liked to braid into his hair in the morning in addition to other parts of his routine. But now, he sat her down in front of it and pulled out a hair dryer. “Claude…” Ignoring the warning tone in her voice, he turned the dryer on and began brushing her hair. When it became clear he would not pay any heed to the glare she sent him through the mirror, she finally relented and closed her eyes.
With nothing else to really do, she counted the roses curiously. 24 . Knowing Claude, that number had some sort of meaning. Byleth made a mental note to look it up at a later time. While inspecting the contents of the bouquet, silver flashed. Reaching into the flowers, her fingers curled around a chain. Drawing it out, she stared at a locket. The blow dryer stopped and a hand reached around her to hold the little thing.
“I know you miss your mother.” Claude murmured gently in her ear. With a brush of his thumb, the locket popped open. Inside was a portrait of her mother and father. A portrait Byleth recognized. “I asked your father for this when I told him what I planned to give you this year.” He closed it and helped to wrap the delicate chain around her neck. Once it was settled, he kissed it gently. “And I hope that, now, we’ll have your mother’s blessings too.” Unable to find any words to express how she felt in that moment, Byleth set the bouquet on the table and whirled around. Leaping, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as deeply as she could. After stumbling back a moment, he found his balance once more and supported her waist.
“*دوستت دارم, Khalid.” Byleth felt him shudder beneath her. He was too good for this world. For her. By the goddess, what have I done to deserve him? As he leaned down to deepen their kiss, she pressed him backwards until they both fell onto the bed.
“Byleth…” His voice was hoarse as he stared up at her. Green eyes trailed down her slightly open bathrobe.
“**تو شگفت انگیزی.” As she leaned forward and undid the buttons to his shirt, his breathing hitched and his eyes darkened. Lowering herself to him, she kissed him deeply as her palms ran across his chest. His own hands slipped into her robe. “***من از تو مراقبت خواهم کرد.” Murmuring against him, she felt and heard him groan.