It happens when she turns her head to ask him a question, and what was certainly supposed to be a kiss to the cheek ends up planted off target, right on the corner of her mouth. Itâs a surprise, but almost immediately reminds her of her own attempt during the festival, and sheâs laughing as she pulls back.
âWow, so forwardâŚand you didnât even offer to dance with me this time.â She smiles at him. Itâs probably too much, she realizes, a Nohrian thing maybe, and he probably wouldnât appreciate itâŚthough had he been completely uninterested, he probably wouldnât have gone to kiss her cheek either.
Sheâs quiet a moment, debating, but then she tentatively leans forward. âSince we keep missingâŚshould leave it to an archer, huh?â Itâs brief, a chaste kiss, for once fully on the lips for them both, but she quickly pulls away and turns back to the task before he catches her flushed cheeks. âSoâŚthen itâs strained, right?â
Although Setsuna usually preferred verbally trying to fluster the easily thrown off butler, in the early hours of the morning, before the castle had even begun to stir with life, the physical route had seemed all the more amusing. Then again, she hadnât expected him to be such a comfortable support. She hummed as she rested her head on his shoulder, eyes slipping closed for a moment. They couldnât just go back to sleep and try the lesson again later?
She let out a soft laugh, opening her eyes to see his head resting so close to hers. He was cute, she mused. âWow, Jakob thinks Iâm special at something...finally found an area you donât have much expertise in, hmm?â That was a shame. Jakob wasnât so bad. He deserved more hugs.
She reluctantly straightened up ignoring how slightly disappointed she was by how easily he brushed the moment off. He was funny when he was flustered. and nodded, doing her best to look...somewhat awake. âLead the way...oh skilled teacher.â
Meta: How does Setsuna handle emotional situations (good or bad)? Is she more likely to seek someone out for comfort and company or keep to herself to reflect on it? Are her emotions easy to read?
Oh gosh oh geez okay.
How Setsuna handles emotions in general tends to depend on how well she knows the person sheâs with. She definitely handles positive situations a lot better than negative ones. She has no problem with positive emotions with close friends (or even not close friends.) and having a moment is good. At most, she might slip a few jokes in to balance out the situation.
With not-friends, even positive situations are kinda iffy? Her C support with Ryoma (I keep mentioning this lately damn) jumps to mind because he literally compliments her so much she has to leave...to get her shit together sheâs so happy...baby girl you are precious. She doesnât always believe compliments/positive emotions towards her from strangers so she tends to make more jokes/deflect with her nonsense replies a lot to make herself more comfortable.
For negative situations...no. She tries not to deal with those at all. She makes a damn good effort to avoid them any way she can. Honestly, it takes someone very close to her for her to consider dealing with a bad emotional situation. Only a very small handful of people jump to mind, honestly.
Sheâll try very hard to deflect if sheâs upset about something. Sheâll pull out all the stops to fluster or confuse the person sheâs talking with, just anything to get the topic away from her and whatever sheâs dealing with. She represses them from herself as well, honestly. Bad things? Only bad if you chose to feel bad about them haha moving on now.
Sheâs got crumbling self esteem and nonexistent self worth, she wouldnât really mind if she died tomorrow protecting Hinoka, honestly. There is no self reflection, and if there is, itâs all self-deprecating. Predictably, she doesnât really go around talking to others about how she really feels.
The emotions she wants people to read are the ones that are easy to read. Setsuna will put up a front to keep people from asking about what sheâs really feeling, so if people think sheâs cheery and tired all the time, then thatâs what they think. Although honestly, people are probably more aware of how she feels than she thinks they are.
"Take this." The butler commanded in a brusk tone, a full wrapped bouquet of dried lavender shoved into the cavalier's arms. "Too much leftover, I've more lavender syrup than I know what to do with. I'm sure whatever hovel you're currently calling home could use some pleasant redolence."
Lavender: distrust
Silas found himself stumbling back half a step, blinking with confusion as a bundle of... lavender? Found its way into his arms. Lavender... distrust. Somehow that bit with a much worse bite than the harsh edge to Jakobâs voice. He supposed Corrinâs retainers would have the most reason to distrust him. What was he, aside from a strange man who suddenly showed up, shouting about friendship and childhood? Even Corrin hadnât remembered him at first... Hah, well, it really wasnât that strange, then.
Still, he mustered up a smile for the man (though it seemed weak, somehow... painful, even).Â
âLavender does smell nice,â he commented, his voice soft. âIâm sure itâll brighten up the place. Thank you, Jakob.â
Not one to deliver such a sentimental gift in person, left among Setsunaâs belongings for her to find was a pink rose, and a small stack of tea biscuits that had been wrapped in wax paper and tied off with a lavender ribbon. There was no indicator of the sender, as only her name had been written upon the accompanying card, but Jakob hadn't made an effort to mask the gift being traced back to him at all, either.
Pink Rose: friendship
When she first spots the rose among her things, she assumes that it had clung onto her clothes when sheâd fallen somewhere and had gotten dragged along into the castle. It wouldnât be the first time sheâd accidentally brought nature home.
Itâs only once she spots the small package and note does she realize that this flower is in fact a gift from someone. She curiously picks up the note, but aside from her name, thereâs nothing there to indicate the sender. Frustrated, she looks over to the package to provide some kind of clue.
Rather than a clue, she finds a small mountain of cookies. Although, she supposes as a grin breaks across her face, this is a clue all of its own. She should get him something in return, she muses. She was sure she could manage tea that wasnât terrible to go with the cookies. Heâd have to be impressed by that.
An hour had passed since dawn had broken and Setsuna was officially late.
The woman wasnât panicked about it though. In fact, she wasnât much of anything. Expecting the woman to simply be able to change her sleeping habits on a dime...Jakob was putting a bit too much faith in her abilities.
No, Setsuna was still comfortably asleep, curled up in her bed under a nice, warm blanket and had zero intentions of waking up any time soon. Her drowsiness was what had started Lady Hinokaâs habit of waking her up in the morning after all.
Hopefully, Jakob wouldnât be too angry about it.
đˇ (Wine) "Somehow, I feel as though we've met before..."
Cordelia accepted the glass gratefully, shooting the man a brief smile.Â
âThank you for the drink. Although...â Her brows furrowed there, a perplexed look crossing her face. âIâm sorry... If we have met, I canât say that I remember who you are.â She had been many places, after all (and even many times), so the thought that she might have forgotten someone was regretful, but not surprising.Â
âThough that might be more reason to introduce myself; my name is Cordelia.â The redhead raised her glass towards him slightly, sipped the wine, then smiled once more. âThis is good; thank you.â
