[closed] February Catch All

[nastyboy]

Who: Team Femblemtroika (Grant, Chip, Dimitri, Sylvain, Claude, Felix, Dedue, Ashe) with occasional Guest Stars Jinx, Razor, Karako, and others
When: All of February
Where: Mostly Ecruteak, and the roads surrounding it, probably
What: Watch this polycule take over all of Johto!

Comments

[woofdad]

"Exactly."

And then he gets to watch Claude just... absolutely struggling, and, yep, it is adorable. He watches for a bit, trying to keep from looking too delighted, before intervening. "Alright - just a sec, let's rescue that and then figure this out."

He manages to retrieve the piece of meat with a bit of poking around in the broth, then... after just a moment of thought, he makes a decision and sets his own chopsticks aside. He reaches for Claude's hand, stopping before actually touching him - though, this time, rather than awkward faltering, it's a very deliberate pause to double-check that Claude will be alright with that, aware though he is of how unlikely it is that Claude wouldn't be. "May I...?"

[vrdantwind]

Claude smiles at him. "Absolutely."

Honestly...this is all so incredibly cute and charming. Claude has to admit, this was never the kind of situation - the kind of relationship - he'd ever pictured himself being in. Obviously no one could have seen their large polycule coming, but what he has with Grant in particular...it's so strangely soft, and wholesome, and (for the moment) innocent. 'Domestic' isn't quite the right word; 'quaint', perhaps? All Claude knows is that he'd anticipated his relationships for the rest of his life following a pattern more like...well, more like how he and Jaskier had mutually seduced each other and fallen into bed together. Nothing like this gentle, slow burn of mutual fondness, complete with dates as though he's a normal person rather than the king of a country. He hadn't thought someone like him would ever be approached so...politely, so circumspectly. He'd never thought he'd enjoy being approached that way.

But being treated like this...it's sweet. Grant displays in his behavior and actions the kind of romance Dimitri puts into words. Both men, in their own ways, make Claude feel cherished in ways he'd never have been able to conceive of before.

And Claude wonders if the slow build isn't worth it. There's a little thrill at Grant asking for permission to touch his hand that gets to Claude in ways much less timid actions of Jaskier's do. Perhaps it's like sex - delaying the gratification can make even the simplest of things that much more intense when they're finally...well, granted.

[woofdad]

Grant nods, and his focus goes, for the moment, to Claude's hand. He sets aside the topmost chopstick, focusing on checking the bottom first. "So... the idea is for the chopstick on bottom to stay still while the one on top moves. Make sure to keep your ring finger braced... about here." His fingers brush over Claude's, nudging his ring finger into place so the pad rests against the chopstick.

It's not a surprise, honestly, that this feels as intimate as it does; asking to intervene so directly was partly an effort at making a move, after all. Maybe that's why each brush of his skin against Claude's feels so oddly electric.

He picks up the second chopstick to set back into Claude's grip, between his thumb and forefinger. "And then hold the one on top like that... and move it with your middle finger. It'll still take some practice, but as long as you keep the bottom one still, it's less likely that they'll cross like that."

[vrdantwind]

Claude watches Grant as the man talks, a small smile on his lips, drinking in the feeling of their hands touching.

It occurs to him, belatedly, when Grant is winding up, that he was supposed to have been paying attention to the instructions.

He looks down at the chopsticks for a moment, then back up at Grant. There's a little grin on his lips, but it's got a sheepish tinge to it that isn't too common. "Uh...can you go over that again...?"

Claude wouldn't be above faking that he'd missed it for more of this intimacy, but in this instance he doesn't have to fake anything. He genuinely was just zoning out, focused more on how Grant was looking and how he was making him feel than a single word that was coming out of his mouth.

[woofdad]

See, for a moment, Grant is fully ready to assume that Claude is pretty much just doing a bit here, and probably gently tease him back about it (though he would definitely have shown him again anyway), and then he realizes... he actually means it.

He still can't quite help a soft, somewhat flustered laugh, just out of the sheer, surprised excitement of having distracted Claude von Riegan from learning a new skill. He stops himself as quickly as he can, though - he doesn't want Claude thinking that Grant is laughing at him. "Of course. So..."

He's still grinning as he "resets" the sticks to show Claude again - this time just going a step at a time as he settles the bottom one into place in Claude's hand. He's still putting it in place manually, of course. "Brace your ring finger there, so that stick doesn't move... got it?"

[vrdantwind]

"I think I've got it..." Claude tries moving the sticks, experimentally. It's easy enough to do with Grant's hand still over his own, holding things in their proper place...hopefully he can maintain the positioning without the guide. "But maybe you should hold my hand for the rest of the meal, just to be sure."

There's a cheeky little grin on his lips as he looks up at Grant. Can't blame a man for trying.

[woofdad]

Grant snorts quietly. "Y'know, if you wanna learn to ride a bike properly, you've got to take off the training wheels at some point."

Not that he's moved his hand just yet. He will gladly take these additional Seconds of contact.

[vrdantwind]

"I don't know how to ride a bike, though," Claude points out, amused. "And I don't even know what training wheels are. I'm clearly hopeless, Grant. I think I might need your assistance through this entire meal..."

[woofdad]

Grant doesn't bother to point out it was just a metaphor, because they both know that's not the point. Instead: "Y'know, at this rate, I'd almost say it'd be more efficient for me to just feed you - but then you wouldn't get whatever practice having me hold the chopsticks in place gets you, huh? So it seems like there's a decision to make here."

A really silly decision.

[vrdantwind]

"Would you feed me if I asked you to?" Claude asks, batting his eyelashes at Grant. "Y'know, hypothetically."

[woofdad]

That gets another soft burst of laughter. "I-- can't even pretend that I wouldn't. Yes, hypothetically, I would."

[vrdantwind]

Claude laughs as well. "Oh, man, that's just too tempting...I can't even ask now, I'd feel like I was taking advantage. I mean, no way you could say no to a guy like me, right?" He winks.

"But hey, I'm a negotiator. So we can compromise here, right? Maybe we can feed each other some of the time, and then the rest of the time I can get my awkward practicing in."

Like a skilled diplomat, Claude's deftly slipped in his feeding Grant into the bargain without even calling attention to it, as though he's trying to slip it under the radar.

[woofdad]

"I absolutely could not. The hold you have on me will bring me to ruin." He tries... so, so hard to hold a solemn expression while he says that. He tries so hard.

Smooth as Claude may be, Grant does notice that choice of phrasing, but he just raises his eyebrows slightly. "Alright. Sounds like a plan; alternating between practice, and feeding each other."