Lorenz HC’s I make up to comfort myself:
Imagine Lorenz having to deal with menses and the pain it brings by himself at first.
His father has made it abundantly clear that no one is to find out about his situation if he wished to pursue his studies at Garrag Mach. Of course his father and mother provide his sanitary needs through care packages, it’s just that sometimes all Lorenz wants to do is cry and curl up in his bed with a hot towel pressed to his back instead of having to force himself to go to classes.
It’s hard to even focus and it seems like everyone’s wanting to talk to him today when he’d rather pretend he’s not real. Ferdinand is the first to find out his secret naturally, since they’re together quite a bit. A surprise visit from his menses leaves poor Lor with no choice but to explain why and how. Of course Ferdi is super empathetic and makes sure to keep track for Lors days to comfort him with his favorite teas and snacks and to keep others off of him whenever he can.
The professors the second to find out. They’re not unlike Lorenz, dealing with bodily functions that they rather they didn’t have. It’s a big relief for him when the professor gives him the permission to at least miss a day or two to ride out the worst of it.
Claude is the third and he only finds out through careful and thorough observation. To be fair—speaking honestly, he’s actually the first because of how many tabs he’s kept on the Gloucester heir.
It’s knowledge he locks in the back of his mind, and when it comes out—it’s only because he forgets Lorenz deals with menses at all and winds up accidentally hurting him during a spar. He jabs him in his abdomen with their practice swords and it brings Lorenz right to tears. He should have known better, the other man had practically been stiffer than a corpse during their training.
The only saving grace is that they’d wound up practicing in a more secluded corner, so no one actually sees Lor hugging his middle and crying big fat tears in quiet pain. Claude feels like a real heel and immediately hefts Lor with all his noodly fucking limbs up and sneaks them out of the training hall through some impressive feat of agility and tenacity through one of the open window arches.
He may be a few inches shorter than the other, but what he doesn’t have in height he makes up for with some bulk—can’t ride a wyvern and shoot arrows without building strength. It also helps that Lorenz is only just bulking up in his upper body from training—so he’s lighter than his height might trick you into thinking.
Anyway they make it to Lor’s room without getting caught and Claude makes up for it by asking Lorenz how he can help. He sets up to heat some towels for Lorenz, makes him some tea, and offers a massage to ease the cramping on his abdomen and that’s how he gives away that he knows his secret without saying it out loud. Still it comforts Lorenz to know that the quiet between them isn’t one of scheming or blackmail. If only just to keep himself from vibrating out of his skin in fear.
In the end it sort of becomes a ritual, Claude becomes his sparing partner when he comes back from the worst day, and he’ll make sure the both of them aren’t spotted sneaking out to take tea and help Lor relax from the still persisting cramps.
Post-time skip everyone else learns because they’re in the middle of a war and sometimes the stress throws Lor off and sometimes he’s sharing a tent with one of the golden deer that isn’t Claude or Byleth and there’s little privacy to be had.
But it helps bring him the kind of comfort he’d never thought he’d be able to have with others if they found out about his situation. The vulnerability is so terrifying at first until Leonie and Marianne are helping him with some home remedies they’ve used to help fight off the worst of the cramps. Hilda offers some of the sweets her brother sends her, and Lysithea will help heat towels for him and back him up during battles when his focus is compromised.
Ignatz contributes finding sanitary needs for them through merchants and in taking Lors defense along with Raphael whenever Lysithea isn’t at his side during those days. Claude of course tries to arrange things accordingly for everyone to be able to take on the battles as best they can. If it were up to him, there’d be no need for this war.
Still it’s the little things that makes the Golden Deers bond strong.
There’s more I want to right about like during the Bridge of Myrddin, Acheron, the Empire pressure for Gloucester and how it affects Lorenz to be away from the (at the time) only three people who know about his secret, how Ferdi winds up defecting to the Golden deer, Constance joining them as well, maybe touching up on Almyra and Claude and how things start to fall into place—basically like a whole rewrite of the VW route to be more specifically focused on Claude and his goal but this already got out of hand. It was just meant to be a comfort blurb. 😂
Imagine me actually writing a fic 😂😂
