He's yours, so you're welcome to pick one. What would you like to call him?
[Since Byleth has ordered them tea and cake already, Claude will set about pouring himself a cup while Byleth takes the time to think it over, smiling slightly at how cute Byleth looks with the plush in his lap.]
[Byleth didn't say anything for a long moment. Instead, he stared at the corner of the table, his expression giving away nothing in his thoughts as he tried to think of a suitable name. This toy was to be a Claude substitute, and what were the purposes of stuffed toys...?
Aha!
So, it was without any context or lead up that he finally said:] Clauddles.
[Oh, Byleth actually seemed a little proud of himself about this! He was usually pretty bad at puns, hence why he was slow to pick up Alois's jokes, but this time he successfully used one! It only took him a few minutes to think of it.]
Yes. I'll take care of him so that he takes care of me.
[A mutually beneficial arrangement for all. He adjusted Clauddles so the toy deer sat a little more comfortably in his lap, and even let its front hooves rest against the edge of the table to balance it a bit better as he went to pour himself some tea.]
Thank you again, Claude. I appreciate the gift. Speaking of...
No. I'm joining an expedition to the Beyond, and it's likely I'll come across rare or mysterious items. I've no interest in them, but I'm willing to collect a few relics for you, if you so wish.
I see... Just be careful. I don't know much about that place, and I don't need you to risk your neck for me on the off chance you might pick up something interesting.
[It'd be a different story if he was going in with something already in mind to swipe, but that not being the case...]
What's the objectives of this expedition? This is the first I'm hearing about it.
The mission objectives are twofold, as laid out by the expedition leader: Set. Objective one is the retrieval of a rare medicinal herb for interested parties. Objective two is to reach a temple in the far north, as it's allegedly of some importance to Set.
[The latter was more of a personal objective, but Byleth didn't care. He was being paid whether they were out to pick flowers or to go hunting for some long lost temple.]
So, I'll have plenty of opportunities to come across interesting items of possible worth.
Frankly, he's a god of war, and a wildcard who doesn't tend to see eye-to-eye with me. The more I know about him, the better.
[Claude doubts he'll ever be able to control this particular variable, but he can at least try to learn enough to predict his behaviour in the same way he can for other members of Meridian.]
Is that so...? Then, I do have some information that may interest you regarding him. It's something I gleaned whilst conversing with him from time to time.
My suspicions were initially raised during the debate on what to do regarding Manon's interrogation. Set was insistent that Manon was precious to Meridian, even though he was nothing more than a stranger to us all. Upon confronting him, he became rather flustered and defensive when I intimated his close ties to Manon, before fleeing the conversation entirely.
Then, later, when I was explaining why he ranked lower than a borzoi in terms of aesthetics, he declared, apropos of nothing, that Manon was his wife. I assumed he was correcting my earlier assumption that their affair was illicit.
[With his logic (?) neatly (??) laid out (???), Byleth leaned back in his seat and nodded, as if that was that.]
[Claude just sits there with his teacup halfway to his lips, looking more and more confounded by the moment. (And what does a borzoi have to do with anything...?) If Byleth had made some leaps in reasoning without keeping Claude in the loop, these were more like mountain-sized bounds through the air.]
You've completely lost me, but I'll take your word for it.
[read: the next time he speaks to Set, he's going to ask him what the hell Byleth was talking about. Untangling this mess is probably easiest at the source.]
[What theories did he have? For all that he knew the man's deepest, darkest secret (which he just freely told Claude), Byleth didn't really know all that much about the man, except that he was a rather high-strung blusterer who Byleth found incredibly amusing. Something about the way he squawked and flustered reminded him of Sothis.
Still, he had some thoughts about him.]
Another secret I discovered was that he's something called a 'tsundere'. It's an archetype in romance novels, someone who alternates between emotionally hot and cold, especially when in the presence of their love interest. If you require an example from our world... do you know of Felix? He serves in the Kingdom Army. He's a tsundere too.
[And here he thought Flayn was the romance novel enthusiast, but Byleth just bludgeons him over the head with this information. He sets his teacup down with a pointed clink while he tries to parse all of this.]
Byleth, this is a serious question. Just how many people do you think about in terms from romance novels?
I can't believe I need to say this, but people in real life aren't the same as in novels. Keep that in mind, okay?
[But he can't disprove anything he's said until Claude speaks to Set about it personally, so he'll just let him have that one for now. He goes back to drinking his tea, feeling completely bewildered.]
But the novels help me contextualise behaviour that's otherwise confusing.
[Surrounded as he had been by mercenaries whilst growing up, and marching onto the battlefield when he measured barely higher than Jeralt's elbow, Byleth had skipped more than a few vitally important development milestones in the realm of social skills. He had never even interacted with another child when growing up, so had only ever known how to approach grizzled, stoic mercenaries - all whom were scared shitless of pissing off Jeralt if they were ever mean to Byleth, so treated him with either gruff tolerance or the kind of affection one reserved for a very clever dog (but one that could still bite).
When it came to interacting with civilians or non-mercenaries, Byleth felt like he was dealing with an alien species. Novels - not just romance novels - helped him in understanding their point of view of things. He didn't always understand, sometimes the books used very obtuse, convoluted language or metaphors that he struggled to track, but it helped him contextualise some things. Romance novels, especially, were easier - they made a lot of battlefield metaphors that he understood, because love was a battle, according to many authors.
But, even that didn't really work. Byleth still struggled with aspects of socialising that people understood innately - expressions, tone, the appropriate response to set phrases, jokes, metaphors, puns. What came to Claude as naturally as breathing was an exercise in frustration to Byleth, even when he tried his best to apply what he had learned from novels into their interactions.]
People are difficult to understand, but in novels, their emotions and motivations are laid out in a way that's easy to follow. [Well, unless they were really flowery and metaphorical, then it was even more confusing.] Applying this to real life has helped me where floundering in confusion has not.
[He doesn't want to be unkind about this. In a similar way to how Flayn had turned to books to understand people because of her long isolation, Byleth has had to do the same, perplexing as it is. Still--]
Just be careful you don't get carried away, is all I'm saying. The narrator of a story usually knows all the facts, but that's not often the case when we form an image in our minds of real people we know.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
leicesters) wrote2022-12-06 08:26 pm
no subject
[Since Byleth has ordered them tea and cake already, Claude will set about pouring himself a cup while Byleth takes the time to think it over, smiling slightly at how cute Byleth looks with the plush in his lap.]
no subject
Aha!
So, it was without any context or lead up that he finally said:] Clauddles.
no subject
[He has absolutely no clue what the thought process behind that was, so he merely gives him a mystified look.]
Is that just a cutesy version of my name?
no subject
[Oh, Byleth actually seemed a little proud of himself about this! He was usually pretty bad at puns, hence why he was slow to pick up Alois's jokes, but this time he successfully used one! It only took him a few minutes to think of it.]
Claude and cuddles. Clauddles.
no subject
[Sadly Claude isn't a great pun enjoyer, but Byleth seems proud about this, so he's just going to run with it.]
Then from henceforth, he's Clauddles the cuddly deer. I hope he proves a handy little guardian for you.
no subject
[A mutually beneficial arrangement for all. He adjusted Clauddles so the toy deer sat a little more comfortably in his lap, and even let its front hooves rest against the edge of the table to balance it a bit better as he went to pour himself some tea.]
Thank you again, Claude. I appreciate the gift. Speaking of...
[Tea poured, he set the teapot back down.]
...what would you like from the Beyond?
[Once again, giving no context.]
no subject
The Beyond? What, are you planning a shopping trip there?
no subject
[Wait.]
No. I'm joining an expedition to the Beyond, and it's likely I'll come across rare or mysterious items. I've no interest in them, but I'm willing to collect a few relics for you, if you so wish.
no subject
[It'd be a different story if he was going in with something already in mind to swipe, but that not being the case...]
What's the objectives of this expedition? This is the first I'm hearing about it.
no subject
[The latter was more of a personal objective, but Byleth didn't care. He was being paid whether they were out to pick flowers or to go hunting for some long lost temple.]
So, I'll have plenty of opportunities to come across interesting items of possible worth.
no subject
[Why does the Beyond have temples anyway...? That definitely gets his mind ticking.]
no subject
[Hope you're prepared to read some chicken scratch upon his return, Claude.]
But, why're you interested in what interests him? Are you just curious?
no subject
[Claude doubts he'll ever be able to control this particular variable, but he can at least try to learn enough to predict his behaviour in the same way he can for other members of Meridian.]
no subject
Is that so...? Then, I do have some information that may interest you regarding him. It's something I gleaned whilst conversing with him from time to time.
no subject
[He's even leaning forward in his seat a little. what's the juicy gossip, byleth]
no subject
He's married to Manon.
no subject
Oookay... Let's just assume you're right for a second. How do you know that?
no subject
Then, later, when I was explaining why he ranked lower than a borzoi in terms of aesthetics, he declared, apropos of nothing, that Manon was his wife. I assumed he was correcting my earlier assumption that their affair was illicit.
[With his logic (?) neatly (??) laid out (???), Byleth leaned back in his seat and nodded, as if that was that.]
no subject
You've completely lost me, but I'll take your word for it.
[read: the next time he speaks to Set, he's going to ask him what the hell Byleth was talking about. Untangling this mess is probably easiest at the source.]
What other, um, theories do you have about him?
no subject
[What theories did he have? For all that he knew the man's deepest, darkest secret (which he just freely told Claude), Byleth didn't really know all that much about the man, except that he was a rather high-strung blusterer who Byleth found incredibly amusing. Something about the way he squawked and flustered reminded him of Sothis.
Still, he had some thoughts about him.]
Another secret I discovered was that he's something called a 'tsundere'. It's an archetype in romance novels, someone who alternates between emotionally hot and cold, especially when in the presence of their love interest. If you require an example from our world... do you know of Felix? He serves in the Kingdom Army. He's a tsundere too.
no subject
Byleth, this is a serious question. Just how many people do you think about in terms from romance novels?
no subject
[Delivered unwaveringly and without a hint of awareness of how fucking bizarre this was.]
no subject
[But he can't disprove anything he's said until Claude speaks to Set about it personally, so he'll just let him have that one for now. He goes back to drinking his tea, feeling completely bewildered.]
no subject
[Surrounded as he had been by mercenaries whilst growing up, and marching onto the battlefield when he measured barely higher than Jeralt's elbow, Byleth had skipped more than a few vitally important development milestones in the realm of social skills. He had never even interacted with another child when growing up, so had only ever known how to approach grizzled, stoic mercenaries - all whom were scared shitless of pissing off Jeralt if they were ever mean to Byleth, so treated him with either gruff tolerance or the kind of affection one reserved for a very clever dog (but one that could still bite).
When it came to interacting with civilians or non-mercenaries, Byleth felt like he was dealing with an alien species. Novels - not just romance novels - helped him in understanding their point of view of things. He didn't always understand, sometimes the books used very obtuse, convoluted language or metaphors that he struggled to track, but it helped him contextualise some things. Romance novels, especially, were easier - they made a lot of battlefield metaphors that he understood, because love was a battle, according to many authors.
But, even that didn't really work. Byleth still struggled with aspects of socialising that people understood innately - expressions, tone, the appropriate response to set phrases, jokes, metaphors, puns. What came to Claude as naturally as breathing was an exercise in frustration to Byleth, even when he tried his best to apply what he had learned from novels into their interactions.]
People are difficult to understand, but in novels, their emotions and motivations are laid out in a way that's easy to follow. [Well, unless they were really flowery and metaphorical, then it was even more confusing.] Applying this to real life has helped me where floundering in confusion has not.
no subject
[He doesn't want to be unkind about this. In a similar way to how Flayn had turned to books to understand people because of her long isolation, Byleth has had to do the same, perplexing as it is. Still--]
Just be careful you don't get carried away, is all I'm saying. The narrator of a story usually knows all the facts, but that's not often the case when we form an image in our minds of real people we know.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)