You've been spending far too much time up here if you think that my footwork needs that sort of training. And...
[And here Felix's expression sours only just the slightest bit. Dimitri was and perhaps always will be a sore subject for him. An open secret around the monastery, his apparent dislike of his onetime friend. For reasons, of course.
He can't malign Claude for mentioning him. Felix was the one that brought him up, after all.
So he makes a show of rolling his eyes and squaring his shoulders.]
You bring that boar up here and I'll personally see to it that not only will Gloucester know about this spot, but he'll have your blessing and expressed desire to join you up here.
[ An open secret, indeed. A secret a touch too personal and raw to have drawn Claude's curiosity. Something that might have had potential on the battlefield, a scab to reopen with a well-aimed arrow. Maybe it still would. Maybe that such a thought comes tinged with something that feels a little too like compunction is part and parcel of the problem that has become increasingly thrown into stark relief.
Well, he'll figure it out later. He needn't give it too much thought just now, on this roof, with the subject.
For now, Claude laughs, tugging one arm from beneath his head so he can wave his hand, half-placating and half- as though entreating for mercy. ]
Scary! And a truly formidable thought. It's far more likely he ensures I'm not able to get up here again.
[ Which would be a shame. Of course, Claude's confident he could get around anything that resulted, but he'd prefer not to have to go through the trouble. ]
But, Felix, that sounds almost like jealousy. Is that if I ever bring Dimitri up or just while you're here?
[It's a weak joke and an even weaker attempt to needle him, but damn it if it doesn'tt make Felix bristle. This time, with his hackles already up, the tightening and immediate loosening thereafter of his jaw is made much more obvious.]
Jealousy?
[While he's not seething, Felix is on the very edge of it. It's too early and the picturesque horizon brightening up in the distance is an excellent deterrent to such a mood, but he can't help the wrinkle in his nose and the slight hiss in his voice.]
Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't care if you spent your time with him, as long as I'm not anywhere remotely close.
[ That last had been downright anemic, words that ought to have had all the provocation of a single gnat nipping at a wyvern's tail. So Claude's surprised by the intensity of Felix's reaction. It isn't excessively vehement, but that there's any vehemence at all would raise Claude's eyebrows, but for the practice he's had at schooling his features.
He does blink, curling his arm back behind his head as his eyes flit from Felix's jaw to the sky. Now, an exaggerated cringe, his smile briefly distorted by the grimace. ]
Sorry, sorry. Unfortunately, I'm incorrigibly ridiculous. For example, I've just had a terrifying image paddle into my head...
[ Much as Claude really ought to change the subject from Dimitri, he really has just had the thought, and it really is. Quite a thought. ]
Imagine Dimitri and Lorenz up here, just the two of them? Can you even imagine it? My mind completely boggles.
[ What would they even talk about? Lorenz likely approves of Dimitri's noble mannerisms more than Claude's (low as that bar is), but would Dimitri have any interest in Lorenz's noble obligations? ]
[Felix mutters nonsensically under his breath. The nastier, illogical side of him wanted to mention something about either of them jumping off, but it's clear that despite his obvious and varying levels of dislike of both Dimitri and Lorenz, he doesn't want that. Best not to put it out there.
He snorts, an attempt to sound derisive, but it ends up sounding more amused than anything else.]
It'd be a never-ending circus of inane babbling and not much else.
[There's the tiniest lift at the corner of Felix's mouth at the idea of them being trapped up here.]
[ Aha. Between the tenor of that snort and the angle of his mouth, or the corner of his mouth, Felix might be amenable to that bit of ridiculousness. Claude might just have salvaged it. ]
Well, I can't speak for his Princeliness, but I've got every confidence in Lorenz's ability to stave off boredom.
[ But if he goes on, he's liable to have a chuckle at the great volume of hot hair Lorenz expels so well. He's not all that interested in that sort of talk about others. Even if they sort of invite it. Claude rolls his ankle, then brings his leg back over, knees still pulled close. ]
Anyway, I'm glad it's just us.
[ Spoken matter-of-fact and casual, and he breezes along to the next, giving little space for awkward consciousness of the truth. ]
[While Felix has an idea of what Claude's referring to, it's mostly just spoken out of a need to fill the air with something instead of awkward silence. Especially after the way something in his chest tightens, reflexively, at hearing I'm glad it's just us. Thankfully, his body is anchored in place, somehow kept from starting or fidgeting.]
[ ...Seriously? Claude almost laughs, flicking a disbelieving glance Felix's way. Almost, because he isn't impervious to the delicacy of the air, to his proclivity to speaking too much.
It didn't have to be a problem, he'd thought. Once aware of it, he could handle it. Hold it firm and put it away. But compulsions to salvage a tense or awkward moment, to divert Felix's all too predictable bristling, have a disquieting core that feels too like anxiety, like too slippery for his grasp. If he drops it, if he can't get it down and out of sight, it might spill.
This, Claude thinks, might have to be a one-time thing. Then he can blame it on the liminal hour and the fuzzing of his mind with so little sleep.
For now, he curves his palms over his knees, pulling himself up into a seat. ]
Wow, I really should have made you go back to bed. Until sunrise, right?
[That is mostly grumbled behind a hand he's brought up to, ostensibly, scrub down his face. He could blame the faux pas on him being a little a tired -- it's actually true, mostly -- but there's also the real and far more troubling reason behind it. Namely, how distracted he'd been by a simple set of choice words and all the meaning he'd put behind them on Claude's behalf.
The hand does a pretty decent job of hiding the rosy flush of his skin, at least that's what Felix thinks when he brings it back down to rest, rather awkwardly, on the rooftop between their bodies.]
You know what I meant. It's early, give me a break.
[Felix grouses, and continues to grouse as only he can, believing this will all soon come to pass.
He points with his chin toward the horizon, where the small, orange bulb of the sun has grown into a hemisphere nearly twice as large.]
There, progress. No sense in me going back to bed now, is there?
[ Claude's not the kind of guy to avoid looking at a truth, be it comfortable or uncomfortable, ungainly, awkward, wonderful, terrible. Quite the contrary. But he is the sort of guy to sidestep whatever reaction the sight births, broken to flotsam by the eddies in his mind and carried downstream, or sinking. He is exactly the sort of guy to make a strategic retreat.
When Felix rubs at his face, hand dragged down in the periphery, Claude looks for longer than a glance this time, as the pull of those fingers eventually expose what looks a awful lot like a blush. The sky hasn't gotten that colored yet. Not just yet. Claude looks and looks away. Maybe it's embarrassment, maybe it's something else. This is one mystery he recognizes he's better off not chasing.
Even if he is disturbingly conscious of just where Felix's hand has come to rest. ]
Felix, asking for a break... in honor of this momentous and unlikely occasion, I humbly grant it.
[ Spoken with solemn overemphasis. Then following the direction of Felix's chin, Claude's smile both brightens and softens. ]
Ah, there he is! Raising his sleepy head.
[ Stretching his arms behind his head, then leaving one bent at the elbow, the other reaching high, wrist twisting to swing his hand in a half-circle of a wave. ]
Hail, Sun! We greet you, radiant one and dispeller of darkness. We thank you, giver of nourishment and warmth.
[ Incremental, this turn toward Felix, so he can bounce a wink his way. ]
[There's a pause, as Felix yawns behind a raised hand. It's long and borderline exaggerated in its loudness; one could argue he forced it, as if to prove some kind of point only he knows about. Certainly not something Felix is above doing in the face of someone going ham with, well, everything like Claude over here.]
I'm beginning to think I would have had better luck with your rooster theory, Claude.
[Tired as he is -- or as tired as he's acting, whichever -- there is a hint of an amused smirk to Felix's features which have softened considerably over the past half hour or so. Not by choice, but he's learning, quickly, that choice becomes more of an illusion whenever he's around Claude.]
[ Humor is contagious, or keeping, as Claude had hardly been (sincerely) somber before this. But when Felix offers his drawn out observation, and offers it with an expression both subtle and distinct, Claude laughs, the hand above his head plummeting to clutch in excessive agony at his chest. ]
Ohhh, ouch. I'll grant you that it might have been quieter, but try as you surely would to deny it, I'm way cuter than a rooster and a much more entertaining conversationalist.
[ Letting his ear drop toward his shoulder, a magnified tilt of consideration, he allows: ]
Well, a more coherent one, anyway.
[ And blame the resplendent color splashing in glorious warmth across the sky, blame the smudging of those usually harsh features beside him, blame his repeated mantra of just this once, one time only, this singular sunrise. He leans sidelong, close enough that he needn't topple for this but not so close that he can avoid a slightly comical angle as he bumps their shoulders, conspiratorial and chummy. ]
Don't worry, Felix. I won't tell anyone that you like me better than roosters.
[And which part of Claude's comparision to a rooster is Felix referring to? He won't say. Naturally. It's more of a self-preservation tactic than an attempt to frustrate Claude or amuse himself, really.]
...but I still think I'd prefer the rooster, at this point. You're gaining points, ju~st not enough to overtake it yet.
[Claude's close now and nudges him with his shoulder. It reminds him of whenever Sylvain, and his general disregard for personal space, does the same to him but at the same time it doesn't. Felix rumbles a light laugh at that, doesn't shrug him off or suck his teeth -- his typical response to the sort of gesture. His own blame lies on his supposed exhaustion and lack of energy.]
Good. You better not say anything, otherwise, I'd tell everyone about...
[With his hand, he makes a vague gesture to their surroundings.]
[ Really, by now Felix ought to know that it would take a lot more than that to frustrate him. After all, he has little compunction with assuming that Felix referred to each part, while knowing that in actuality, there's little to no chance he conceded to anything more than more coherent.
It's a victory to gain on the rooster, to have compelled that dragged vowel from Felix that could be mistaken in any other student, even the comparably surly, as banter. Another that he laughs without grimace, light as it is. Claude grins, awash in both rising rays and triumph.
Despite the disregard Claude often shows to other personal spheres, in fact, he usually regards personal space quite highly. So he doesn't linger there, just the one bump before he tips back into place. In time for a rather weak threat from Felix, which Claude cannot now feign, even laughingly, to believe. ]
No, you wouldn't.
[ Matter-of-fact, though bright, buoyant in that confidence, his attention again sidelong. ]
You might find some other revenge, but you wouldn't waste your time talking to everyone.
[ It also doesn't seem Felix's style to arrange for someone else to spread it for him. His head tilts back then, features softening to reflection as he looks away from the sun, to the paler sky above, untouched by orange. ]
But... it's fine if they do find out, as long as the way isn't barred. This sort of spot shouldn't belong to one person.
[But Claude's right. Felix wouldn't waste his time talking to people in his own circle, let alone others. He shrugs anyway.]
I'd just have to tell one person, and then my work's done. Rumors tend to spread like wildfire around here so it shouldn't be a problem. Especially if someone like...say, Hilda was the source.
[Assuming Felix would even approach her. (Hint: he wouldn't, not unless he absolutely, positively needed to and even then, he'd find a way out of it in that case.)]
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[And here Felix's expression sours only just the slightest bit. Dimitri was and perhaps always will be a sore subject for him. An open secret around the monastery, his apparent dislike of his onetime friend. For reasons, of course.
He can't malign Claude for mentioning him. Felix was the one that brought him up, after all.
So he makes a show of rolling his eyes and squaring his shoulders.]
You bring that boar up here and I'll personally see to it that not only will Gloucester know about this spot, but he'll have your blessing and expressed desire to join you up here.
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Well, he'll figure it out later. He needn't give it too much thought just now, on this roof, with the subject.
For now, Claude laughs, tugging one arm from beneath his head so he can wave his hand, half-placating and half- as though entreating for mercy. ]
Scary! And a truly formidable thought. It's far more likely he ensures I'm not able to get up here again.
[ Which would be a shame. Of course, Claude's confident he could get around anything that resulted, but he'd prefer not to have to go through the trouble. ]
But, Felix, that sounds almost like jealousy. Is that if I ever bring Dimitri up or just while you're here?
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Jealousy?
[While he's not seething, Felix is on the very edge of it. It's too early and the picturesque horizon brightening up in the distance is an excellent deterrent to such a mood, but he can't help the wrinkle in his nose and the slight hiss in his voice.]
Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't care if you spent your time with him, as long as I'm not anywhere remotely close.
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He does blink, curling his arm back behind his head as his eyes flit from Felix's jaw to the sky. Now, an exaggerated cringe, his smile briefly distorted by the grimace. ]
Sorry, sorry. Unfortunately, I'm incorrigibly ridiculous. For example, I've just had a terrifying image paddle into my head...
[ Much as Claude really ought to change the subject from Dimitri, he really has just had the thought, and it really is. Quite a thought. ]
Imagine Dimitri and Lorenz up here, just the two of them? Can you even imagine it? My mind completely boggles.
[ What would they even talk about? Lorenz likely approves of Dimitri's noble mannerisms more than Claude's (low as that bar is), but would Dimitri have any interest in Lorenz's noble obligations? ]
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He snorts, an attempt to sound derisive, but it ends up sounding more amused than anything else.]
It'd be a never-ending circus of inane babbling and not much else.
[There's the tiniest lift at the corner of Felix's mouth at the idea of them being trapped up here.]
...maybe they'll bore each other to tears.
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Well, I can't speak for his Princeliness, but I've got every confidence in Lorenz's ability to stave off boredom.
[ But if he goes on, he's liable to have a chuckle at the great volume of hot hair Lorenz expels so well. He's not all that interested in that sort of talk about others. Even if they sort of invite it. Claude rolls his ankle, then brings his leg back over, knees still pulled close. ]
Anyway, I'm glad it's just us.
[ Spoken matter-of-fact and casual, and he breezes along to the next, giving little space for awkward consciousness of the truth. ]
Shouldn't be long now.
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[While Felix has an idea of what Claude's referring to, it's mostly just spoken out of a need to fill the air with something instead of awkward silence. Especially after the way something in his chest tightens, reflexively, at hearing I'm glad it's just us. Thankfully, his body is anchored in place, somehow kept from starting or fidgeting.]
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It didn't have to be a problem, he'd thought. Once aware of it, he could handle it. Hold it firm and put it away. But compulsions to salvage a tense or awkward moment, to divert Felix's all too predictable bristling, have a disquieting core that feels too like anxiety, like too slippery for his grasp. If he drops it, if he can't get it down and out of sight, it might spill.
This, Claude thinks, might have to be a one-time thing. Then he can blame it on the liminal hour and the fuzzing of his mind with so little sleep.
For now, he curves his palms over his knees, pulling himself up into a seat. ]
Wow, I really should have made you go back to bed. Until sunrise, right?
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[That is mostly grumbled behind a hand he's brought up to, ostensibly, scrub down his face. He could blame the faux pas on him being a little a tired -- it's actually true, mostly -- but there's also the real and far more troubling reason behind it. Namely, how distracted he'd been by a simple set of choice words and all the meaning he'd put behind them on Claude's behalf.
The hand does a pretty decent job of hiding the rosy flush of his skin, at least that's what Felix thinks when he brings it back down to rest, rather awkwardly, on the rooftop between their bodies.]
You know what I meant. It's early, give me a break.
[Felix grouses, and continues to grouse as only he can, believing this will all soon come to pass.
He points with his chin toward the horizon, where the small, orange bulb of the sun has grown into a hemisphere nearly twice as large.]
There, progress. No sense in me going back to bed now, is there?
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When Felix rubs at his face, hand dragged down in the periphery, Claude looks for longer than a glance this time, as the pull of those fingers eventually expose what looks a awful lot like a blush. The sky hasn't gotten that colored yet. Not just yet. Claude looks and looks away. Maybe it's embarrassment, maybe it's something else. This is one mystery he recognizes he's better off not chasing.
Even if he is disturbingly conscious of just where Felix's hand has come to rest. ]
Felix, asking for a break... in honor of this momentous and unlikely occasion, I humbly grant it.
[ Spoken with solemn overemphasis. Then following the direction of Felix's chin, Claude's smile both brightens and softens. ]
Ah, there he is! Raising his sleepy head.
[ Stretching his arms behind his head, then leaving one bent at the elbow, the other reaching high, wrist twisting to swing his hand in a half-circle of a wave. ]
Hail, Sun! We greet you, radiant one and dispeller of darkness. We thank you, giver of nourishment and warmth.
[ Incremental, this turn toward Felix, so he can bounce a wink his way. ]
Or, something like that.
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[There's a pause, as Felix yawns behind a raised hand. It's long and borderline exaggerated in its loudness; one could argue he forced it, as if to prove some kind of point only he knows about. Certainly not something Felix is above doing in the face of someone going ham with, well, everything like Claude over here.]
I'm beginning to think I would have had better luck with your rooster theory, Claude.
[Tired as he is -- or as tired as he's acting, whichever -- there is a hint of an amused smirk to Felix's features which have softened considerably over the past half hour or so. Not by choice, but he's learning, quickly, that choice becomes more of an illusion whenever he's around Claude.]
It'd be less noisy, that's for sure.
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Ohhh, ouch. I'll grant you that it might have been quieter, but try as you surely would to deny it, I'm way cuter than a rooster and a much more entertaining conversationalist.
[ Letting his ear drop toward his shoulder, a magnified tilt of consideration, he allows: ]
Well, a more coherent one, anyway.
[ And blame the resplendent color splashing in glorious warmth across the sky, blame the smudging of those usually harsh features beside him, blame his repeated mantra of just this once, one time only, this singular sunrise. He leans sidelong, close enough that he needn't topple for this but not so close that he can avoid a slightly comical angle as he bumps their shoulders, conspiratorial and chummy. ]
Don't worry, Felix. I won't tell anyone that you like me better than roosters.
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[And which part of Claude's comparision to a rooster is Felix referring to? He won't say. Naturally. It's more of a self-preservation tactic than an attempt to frustrate Claude or amuse himself, really.]
...but I still think I'd prefer the rooster, at this point. You're gaining points, ju~st not enough to overtake it yet.
[Claude's close now and nudges him with his shoulder. It reminds him of whenever Sylvain, and his general disregard for personal space, does the same to him but at the same time it doesn't. Felix rumbles a light laugh at that, doesn't shrug him off or suck his teeth -- his typical response to the sort of gesture. His own blame lies on his supposed exhaustion and lack of energy.]
Good. You better not say anything, otherwise, I'd tell everyone about...
[With his hand, he makes a vague gesture to their surroundings.]
...your spot.
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It's a victory to gain on the rooster, to have compelled that dragged vowel from Felix that could be mistaken in any other student, even the comparably surly, as banter. Another that he laughs without grimace, light as it is. Claude grins, awash in both rising rays and triumph.
Despite the disregard Claude often shows to other personal spheres, in fact, he usually regards personal space quite highly. So he doesn't linger there, just the one bump before he tips back into place. In time for a rather weak threat from Felix, which Claude cannot now feign, even laughingly, to believe. ]
No, you wouldn't.
[ Matter-of-fact, though bright, buoyant in that confidence, his attention again sidelong. ]
You might find some other revenge, but you wouldn't waste your time talking to everyone.
[ It also doesn't seem Felix's style to arrange for someone else to spread it for him. His head tilts back then, features softening to reflection as he looks away from the sun, to the paler sky above, untouched by orange. ]
But... it's fine if they do find out, as long as the way isn't barred. This sort of spot shouldn't belong to one person.
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[But Claude's right. Felix wouldn't waste his time talking to people in his own circle, let alone others. He shrugs anyway.]
I'd just have to tell one person, and then my work's done. Rumors tend to spread like wildfire around here so it shouldn't be a problem. Especially if someone like...say, Hilda was the source.
[Assuming Felix would even approach her. (Hint: he wouldn't, not unless he absolutely, positively needed to and even then, he'd find a way out of it in that case.)]
But it is a nice spot.