[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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no subject
[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?
no subject
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.
no subject
[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.
no subject
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.
no subject
[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.
no subject
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.
no subject
[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.