@eaglrd said: 🎀 post ts ♡
a meeting between the emperor & the prime minister - to - be was not an uncommon occurrence. since he’d proven his worth to his lady on the field of battle, he’d been allowed more & more privileges, more & more trust. and so it became that they took the time to look over maps, side - by - side, shoulder - to - shoulder. ( it is difficult for his gaze to not stray, following the curvature of her face, the slope of her nose, her intense focus on the placement of the chess pieces they’d chosen to represent troops, powers, & a multitude of other things ). the knight is moved in tandem with the king; a strand of snowy - white hair catches his eye as it falls into edelgard’s vision. she tries to brush it aside, but it goes right back. ferdinand chuckles at the sight, pointing out that it was due to her uncommon, messy style that was the reason for her continuous nuisance. his cheekiness is met with a playful swat.
❛ maybe if her majesty sat her imperial behind down, i could provide some assistance, perchance ? ❜ there’s an almost uncharacteristic tinge of sarcasm to his words --- noted by edelgard’s reaction to it --- & he breaks away, for a beat, from his usual manner of speaking, teasing, poking, prodding. ❛ well ? will you, dearest edelgard ? ❜ he waits so very eagerly for her to seat herself in the chair he pulls from the table. ( hubert was having the most awful effect on his noble personality ). once she complies, ferdinand spares her an easy grin & he makes to discard his gloves for the sake of increased dexterity. then, hands work to pull her hair loose from its flimsy style ... & he cannot quite help allowing fingers to trail through white tresses a bit more than necessary as he guides them into a braid. it takes much for him to refrain from commenting.
❛ i find tending to hair to be quite soothing, ❜ he says instead, humming to himself as he takes more strands into the braid. ❛ i’d have offered before, but i was always under the assumption that our hubert handled such things. ❜ along with all the other things that their lady required to be done each & every morn & eve, that is. he wonders, briefly, how far devotion in that regard would extend before dismissing it with a laugh to himself. those thoughts ... they were not to be entertained.
❛ there. ❜ as soon as he’s done, he asks her to stand & face him so that he could admire his work. one of his better braids, he thinks; it begets a softer sort of smile when he notices a strand that he’d missed & reaches out to tuck it behind her ear. he lingers there for a moment, his heart swelling as his eyes meet hers.
❛ beautiful. ❜
