loop ; drape an arm around their shoulders. 😏
nonverbal starters; no longer accepting.
claude idly stands by the stone railing near the courtyard with a booklet in his hands. it had not taken him long to figure out that, that very place is the best to pick up some interesting gossip and rumours. after all, the courtyard leads to the chapel, the classrooms and dormitory. gossip is bound to happen there. naturally, he was still absorbed in the book he had found but there were plenty of events that make him peek up even for a little bit. sylvain’s approach was no different.
in the corner of his eyes, claude watches sylvain lean back against the railing about two meters away from him. the house leader is aware that there must be something the red-haired wants of him for there is no specific reason for him to be standing there out of all places. his gaze wanders back to the book and before soon he hears sylvain shift next to him, his arm draped around his shoulder. ‘ claude ! ‘ sylvain proclaims with faked affection. ‘ have i told you that you’re looking positively handsome today – i mean you always do of course ‘ a poor man’s attempt of trying to butter him up and claude is having none of it. though he would entertainment him even if it’s just for the fact that sylvain stroked his ego. ❛ so you finally noticed ! too bad it only took you about 32 failed dates with other students for you to finally realize that. now fess up what do you want? ❜
there is absolutely no way that sylvain has developed feelings for him so it must be something else. ‘ fine i just, i need to ask you a favour ‘ he confesses, knowing fully well that time is ticking and that he has nowhere else to go without receiving his (deserved) scolding or getting abandoned on the spot.
turns out that sylvain had been going on a couple of dates with a fellow student only for him to realize that something was terribly off about her. he has absolutely no intentions of getting into a relationship with her but before he knew it she had become overly attached to him to the point where she was starting to plan for their wedding already. ❛ so when’s the wedding? You will send me an invitation, won’t you? ❜ claude laughs only to be met with sylvain’s frown as he clearly didn’t find it amusing at all.
❛ you know i should just let you deal with this yourself, i’m certain i’ll be doing a lot of students a favour here. ❜
❛ don’t abandon me here man ❜
panic once again begins to settle as sylvain realizes that asking claude had been a mistake. a shiver runs down his spine upon hearing the familiar high-pitched voice. sylvain frantically looks around him, if he bolts away fast enough he might get away in time and — but then just like that his train of thought comes to a halt when he feels a hand on top of his own, claude’s hand. the red-haired doesn’t dare to gaze down so instead, he looks at her who’s staring at him wide-eyed. ‘ you ‘ a pause as tears begin to dwell in her eyes, ‘ you are the worst … ! ‘ and before he can say anything she already ran off to the opposite direction.
claude lets go off sylvain’s hand and closes the book. ❛ and that’s another broken heart, but she’ll get over it. ❜ in turn sylvain let’s go off claude’s shoulder and crosses his arms over his chest. ‘ yeah she will ‘ a pause ‘ hey, thank you, you really helped me out there. ’ the sound of a book falling shut soon follows before claude pushes himself away from the railing.
❛ don’t mention it and good luck ! ❜ sylvain offers a smile in response before raising a brow, ‘ good luck? ’ he questions. ‘ with what ? ‘ isn’t this whole debacle over now that he has been officially dumped? ❛ with your stable duty, you’re taking over my chore. ❜ only now sylvain recalls that he had said something along the lines of owing claude if he were to help him. well, sylvain knew when to count his losses and besides stable duty isn’t half as bad as people make it out to be even though there are definitely more enjoyable things to do out there. however, upon his arrival at the stables, there would only be one thought on his mind ‘ claude you snake ! ‘ so that is why he wanted him to take over his duty, for there is nothing more agonizing than being paired up with not just lorenz but also ferdinand to boot.
