victory_road | Video; UN: CheckTheSyllabus

[ Hey it's the Mint Professor and his dead-eyed companion Espurr. He's sitting outside in the sunshine, a few of his pokemon can be seen frolicking behind him. ]

Hello. Byleth here.

I have just returned from the optimist.

Sorry. The optimus. Opti-

[ Frown. ]

Op. Tom. E. Trist?

[ SIGH. ]

The eye doctor.

Anyways, they suggested that as apparently my eyesight is actually, as they put it "astonishingly bad", that I try the glasses they prescribed for me outside for the first time and document my experience. So here I am. But they did allow me to choose my favorite color.

[ He presents the glasses to the screen, they're rectangular blue frame is very simple, and very boring. Just like him. He gently puts them on and looks around. It takes him a couple moments before he actually startles, a hand going to the frames as he takes them off, and puts them back on again a few times. ]

WHAT THE-

[ Anyone watching will get to see him go and touch some grass, and then run over to look at a few trees, and then his own pokemon before he returns to look at his Espurr. ]

Oh Breakfast. We're really in it now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's... less the sharing and more just- the bright spots. You know? When a feeling is so bright and vivid it kind of sparkles? They always leave me so tired...

[ No Byleth, that's probably just you, bud. ]

No, I want you to sleep with me.

[Claude doesn't quite choke, but it's a near thing. He's...pretty sure Byleth means that totally innocently, but also, what a way to word it! And, y'know, at the same time...with Byleth, you never really know. The inexplicable, even impossible, are never as out of reach as one might think when it comes to Byleth, and somehow Claude feels that the chance of Byleth actually propositioning him for sex out of nowhere is a non-zero one.]

I, uh, think that one might be related to you barely even smiling back when you first arrived at Garreg Mach. Which itself might've been tied to your Crest? If it suppressed your body functions, like it seemed to have done with the Teach that was here before you, then maybe it suppressed your emotional responses as well. In which case, you being here where your Crest doesn't work...you might be feeling things a lot more intensely than you used to, and you're still adjusting to that. I mean, everybody experiences some emotions more strongly than others sometimes, but...I can't say I've ever felt something quite like what you're describing.

And listen, not for nothing, but I've gotta ask - you do mean actual sleeping, right? The wording's a little...

It's hard to say. I have been noticing things more though here. I think I might actually be able to laugh, kind of. Almost. It's getting there.

[ It's more of a wheezy kind of letting the air out of a tire sound at the moment. ]

Oh. Yeah I mean like taking a nap. If that's not too weird.

From you, Teach? That's incredibly normal. [Is that...a compliment??? It's hard to tell.] And I don't mind. Never let it be said that Claude von Riegan doesn't know how to appreciate a good nap~. And I don't mind keeping you company for one at all. I'm actually kinda touched you'd ask me.

Oh? And why wouldn't I?

[ Nevermind that, he's dragging Claude off toward the couch to get those promised cuddles and naps. ]

Not so much that you wouldn't, more that you've got a whole lot of options and you picked me. [Claude lets himself be dragged, grinning despite himself. Honestly, their Teach can be kinda cute sometimes. Funny, how someone can be the Ashen Demon and also just a sleepy, snuggly eating machine.]

Why wouldn't I pick you?

[ That's more of a statement than a question. He's just gonna get comfy on the couch and tug Claude to do the same. When left to his own devices, he really truly is a sleepy, snuggly eating machine. This is Byleth in his natural habitat. ]

[Claude laughs as they settle on the couch together, letting Byleth seek whatever position is most comfortable to him without complaint.] You keep acting like I'm saying you wouldn't! It's more a question of odds, Teach. When you've got so much choice, being the one chosen feels a little special, y'know? Even if all the choices were equally likely, I'm still the one you picked in the end.

[ Ahh. So cozy. Claude is not only soft but he smells very nice, which is a bonus. ]

I think you underestimate how much I like you.

Do I? [Claude says this musingly, even as he folds an arm under his head.] Well, then, maybe you'll just have to tell me exactly how much you like me. Just so I know where I stand, of course.

Well. I think of you as one of my own. One of the Lions I mean. Even though you weren't in my class, I think I still taught you some things. As you did for me.

[ He thinks for a moment to choose his next words carefully. ]

I can safely say, I love my students. My friends. Which includes you.

[Claude laughs quietly. While the answer is both expected and sweet, he almost feels a little let down by it. Not significantly, really; he's pretty content with things as they are between himself and Byleth. More just pulling back a curtain, expecting to find some tantalizing secret, and finding nothing behind it aside from the comfortably familiar.] Of course I learned from you, Teach. Think I'd let that kind of opportunity pass me by?

[He drapes his arm over Byleth's shoulders.] Anyway, the feeling's mutual, Teach. But this is supposed to be a nap, right? So maybe it's time we stopped talking and got some shuteye.

[ Don't worry Claude. He actually thinks you're very hot, and there's a little bit of a crush there, but he quietly omitted that. Look, he's allowed to be shy, right? Maybe? Either way, he gladly cuddles into the embrace. ]

Surprised to hear you say you want to stop talking. But I won't argue with sleep.

[ He affectionately ruffles Claude's hair before relaxing and closing his eyes. ]

Video; UN: CheckTheSyllabus

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