Chapter Text
“The more some things change,” Claude said as he pushed open the door to his old dorm room, “the more they stay the same.” His dark green eyes wandered over the interior of the room that he had called home before chaos broke out and drove them all into disarray. Walking in, he picked up a book from the desk and wiped his hand over the cover recalling that he hadn’t had the chance to read this one before the war began. Opening it, he fanned through the pages before setting it back down with several others that were still scattered about. He never did keep his room quite as tidy as everyone else had those years ago when they were all just students.
Miscellaneous vials and other paraphernalia littered a shelf and the floor. A slight smile curled his lips as he walked over and recalled all of the experiments he had involved himself in with all manner of noxious concoctions. He tossed his gloves onto the table before pulling off his coat and draping over the back of a chair. Sucking a deep breath, he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed as his mind worked over the events of the day.
Seeing her again, after five long and agonizing years, was undoubtedly the best thing that had happened to him since the day she disappeared. It is, he thought as he slightly nodded with a smile, the start of a brand new dawn. Being able to talk with her again, share a meal with her again, and fight by her side again was exactly what he had needed to rejuvenate his mindset. With everyone returning for a reunion as promised and ready to stand together, the Knights and Seteth agreeing to unite in the battle against the Empire, and the search for Rhea bringing a chance at some answers to his still nagging questions, things were definitely on the upswing.
Pulling off his boot, his thoughts settled back on his Teach. His heart had skipped a beat when he saw her appear in the tower. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her so she couldn’t disappear again. The void he had felt as time marched on after the assault on the monastery had remained steadfast no matter how involved with Alliance tasks he became. There was just no denying he loved her.
As he pulled his other boot off, he heard the quiet knock on his door. His brows drew together as he tried to decide if it had just been his imagination. Then, he heard it again. “Come in,” he said as he dropped his boot on the floor and watched the door slowly open. He expected to see Ignatz or Marianne on the other side of that feeble knocking, it wasn’t.
“Sorry to bother you, I know it’s very late,” Byleth quietly said as she stepped in and closed the door.
“No, it’s fine,” he answered as he smiled at her. “Is something wrong?”
Her eyes wandered over him as he remained seated on the bed. He had grown so much in the time she was hibernating. No longer looking like a smug troublemaker in disguise, he had a rather noble air to him now even though she could still see a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “No, I just—” she paused a moment and lifted a shoulder, “can’t seem to settle, I guess. Perhaps, it’s because I have been in the dark for the last few years. Everything I am hearing seems a bit overwhelming, I guess.”
He patted the bed beside him. “Come on and have a seat.” A smile touched her lips as she walked over and sat down next to him. “I know you are an extraordinary woman, Teach, but how can you have just been sleeping for five years with all of this mess going on around you?”
“I don’t know.” Her eyes held his as she continued, “It is the truth, though. I was prodded awake by the voice of the Goddess in my head basically telling me I had things to do and needed to get to it.” Her brows furrowed as she looked at the floor now. “To hear that five years have gone by is rather unsettling.”
“Damn, I can’t even imagine how that is for you to comprehend, but I am just very happy to see you again.”
“I am very happy to see you, as well. You and everyone else.” She absently pried her shoes off with her toes and tucked her legs under her as she turned more to face him. “Can we just talk for a while?” His smile was enough of an invitation for her. “Tell me everything that has been happening with you Mr. Leaderman, as Hilda called you. At least until you are tired enough to chase me out.”
He lightly chuckled. “Well, I don’t know that my life over the past few years is at all interesting to you, but I will gladly talk to you as long as you want.” He stood now and held his hand out to her. “But first, let me make things a bit more comfortable for us.”
Byleth slipped her hand in his and stood up, reluctantly letting his hand go, and watched as he pulled the cover off the bed and shook it a minute before laying it back on the bed. Grabbing a couple of pillows, he propped them up and then settled himself back down. Resting back on the pillows, he patted the bed next to him. “Come on, Teach. Might as well be comfortable while we talk the night away.”
“Are you sure?” Byleth asked. “I mean, I can just go back to my room.” She watched him pat the bed again and slowly took her place next to him. Turning her head, her eyes roamed his face as he looked at her. She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach just as she had when she first saw him again. Her hand absently reached over and layed over his as it rested on his thigh. “So, tell me about what you have been doing, Claude, and my name is Byleth. I don’t know much about the past few years, but I do know I am not your teacher any longer.”
Claude slowly turned his hand over and laced his fingers with hers. Swallowing against his desire to just pull her into his arms, he drew a deep breath and began to just talk to her. There were all manners of topics to bring her up to date about, all the while still avoiding those that involved his true heritage. In time, she would learn all. For now, they just enjoyed each other’s company talking and sharing a chuckle here and there as they talked well into the early morning hours.
Slowly opening his eyes, Claude focused on the sleeping face of Byleth just inches in front of him. They had talked and talked until falling asleep. Since he couldn’t remember her falling asleep, that had to mean that he dozed off before her. He smiled now. If that was true, she decided to stay rather than slip away to her own room. This idea delighted him to no end.
Laying on his side, he didn’t dare move around too much for fear of waking her. One arm was bent, his hand under his pillow while the other rested on her arm as she layed on her back, her face turned toward him. Still fully clothed, there was nothing at all to be implied here, he considered. Just two people innocently falling asleep together. Still, he wished there was more to it than that. Much more.
Byleth’s eyes fluttered open. Drawing a deep breath, she yawned and looked at Claude as he smiled at her. “You fell asleep,” she slowly stated.
“So did you,” pointed out quietly.
She turned her head to stare up at the ceiling a moment before rolling to her side to face him. “Good morning, Claude.”
“Mmmhmmm. It is a good morning.” His hand moved to settle on her waist as she faced him. “I can’t think of anything better than waking up with you.”
She smiled now. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
She lifted her hand now and allowed herself the pleasure of slowly pushing back a curl of dark hair from his forehead with her fingers before trailing them down his cheek where her finger then ruffled through the whiskers along his jawline. Her eyes lifted from her fingers to his eyes. “I know something that would make the morning better for me,” she softly stated as her hand rested against his cheek now.
Enjoying her touch, he was completely captivated by her. “Whatever you want,” he stated. “What would make it better for you?”
Drawing a deep breath, she boldly pushed herself forward and pressed her lips to his. His hand slipped around her, and she softly purred in her throat as he pulled her close. Their lips slowly moved together before parting on a sigh, only a moment, before joining again.
“I missed you, so damn much,” Claude said against her cheek while his arms held her close. His hand slipped up her back and tangled in her hair as his lips found hers again. Her lips parted, and he seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his tongue slowly mingling with hers.
Byleth’s hand slipped down his neck and over the soft fabric of the tunic he wore to rest against his chest a moment before continuing around his back. “You missed me?” she asked in a whisper against his ear.
“You have no idea,” he admitted quietly. Tipping his head, he trailed his tongue along the curve of her jaw before dipping lower to lightly suck on the column of her neck. “You never realize how much,” he continued as he moved to drop a kiss to her lips again, “you care for someone until they are completely gone.”
“Mmmmm, I am happy to have found you again, too,” she sighed.
“Are you?” he playfully cooed as his fingers began to toy with the buttons on her blouse.
Her hand drifted down his ribcage until it found the bottom of his tunic and traveled under it where she enjoyed the feel of his warm skin as she slid it upward to rest against his chest. “Just seeing you again caused feelings to wildly flutter to life.”
He slowly shook his head, rubbing his nose against hers as he smiled. “What kind of feelings?”
“Well…”
A knock at the door followed by Hilda’s voice interrupted them. “Claude? Are you in there?”
A soft growl of annoyance sounded in his throat. “Do NOT open that door, Hilda. What do you want!” he called out.
“Wow. Rude,” Hilda’s voice sounded through the door. “Fine. We didn’t see you at breakfast and were just wondering if you were okay. Obviously, you are, and you’re just cranky this morning. Oh, and the Professor seems to have disappeared again, too. Probably with Seteth somewhere.”
“Thanks for the update. Go away now,” he called out, smirking at Byleth putting her hand over her mouth to keep from adding to the conversation.
“Again, RUDE,” Hilda stated from her place on the other side of the door. “You need to work on that, Mr. Leaderman, if you want us to stay on your side, ya know. Oh, wait a minute! Are you and--”
“Goodbye, Hilda!”
Her giggle could be heard through the door. “Sure, sure. Bye.”
Byleth couldn’t help giggling now. “She still has a way about her doesn’t she.”
“She does.” Claude attempted to direct the conversation back to where they were, “you were about to tell me about your feelings.”
“Was I?”
“Mmmhmm.” He allowed his hand to boldly slide around the curve of her breast before he filled his hand with it and tenderly squeezed. “What kind of feelings did you have when you saw me in the tower?”
Tipping her head, she nuzzled against his cheek. “It was an interesting fluttering. The sun was shining on you. I thought I was simply imagining it for a minute.” She smiled as she recalled that exact moment as she stepped into the tower. She playfully bit his earring and pulled just a bit before saying, “Never felt it before.”
He smiled now. “Fluttering, huh. Interesting.”
“Do you think you could take this off?” Byleth asked as she pulled up on his tunic. She watched as he immediately pushed up and pulled it over his head tossing it to the end of the bed. Her eyes enjoyed the sight of his well-toned torso while her hands reached out to touch him. As he settled next to her, propped on his elbow, she watched his eyes drift along her blouse before lifting to her face. “Go ahead,” she encouraged.
Accepting the invitation, he reached his free hand out and slowly unbuttoned her blouse one button at a time enjoying the sight of the lacy camisole underneath it. A finger reached up and trailed along the lace. A smile curled his lips as he watched her nipples harden in response. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to her collarbone. “You know,” he began as he trailed kisses up her throat, “I have imagined this moment hundreds of times over the last five years.”
“I hope I can live up to all that you have imagined.”
“I have no doubt.” He leaned back as she moved to pull off her blouse and camisole and tossed them to the end of the bed to join his tunic. His eyes enjoyed the trip roaming over her bared breasts. Reaching down, his fingers tugged the lace of his trousers. A dark brow arched as her hand reached out and pulled the laces free before she moved to push her leggings down. It was only moments before they were laying together free of their clothes.
Byleth’s fingers ruffled through Claude’s dark curls. “The braid is missing,” she noted as her eyes moved from his hair to meet his.
“Yeah, kind of a coming of age thing.”
“Interesting.”
“Is it?”
“There is,” she said as she trailed her finger along his jaw then over his lips, “just one interesting thing after another about you and the things you do.”
His tongue slowly trailed her finger tip before he said, “Come now, you are the one with all the unknowns and clouds of mystery.” His hand slowly traced the line of her collarbone before trailing downward. “Like this faint scar on your chest that wouldn’t even be noticed if the light was just so, and you were without clothes.”
“It’s been there as long as I can remember,” she replied softly. She enjoyed the slow and lazy way they were simply relaxing together as if it were the most natural thing in the world for them.
“Hmmm, I can’t help but recall Jeralt’s diary. Perhaps, it has something to do with Rhea and why he took you away.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. “We will get to the bottom of it when we find her.”
“Do you believe we will?”
“I have to believe we will. There are so many questions that I have had burning into my brain for years that I have to know the answer to.” His hand moved to her cheek. “You need the answers, too.”
She slowly nodded. “Then we will tear the Empire apart, take care of Edelgard and find out what they had done with Rhea.”
“I love that fire you have.” He claimed her lips with his, pulling her against him. Their warm bodies molded together in all the right places causing a soft moan to resonate in his throat. His hand slowly drifted down her back, stopping momentarily, to caress that dip at the small of her back before trailing down to cup her rounded cheek.
Byleth’s lips parted on a sigh as she enjoyed the feel of his body against hers. Meeting his lips again, she closed her eyes as the kiss deepened while she felt the ache of desire begin to grow. Whether or not they were destined to be together didn’t matter, all that mattered was this moment in time. A reunion with the man she had grown closest to before everything fell apart.
Tipping her head back, she lightly moaned as he moved to lightly suck on her neck before trailing his tongue lower. His teeth lightly nipped at the rise of her breast before he lowered enough to draw a nipple into his mouth. She slowly rolled back with him easily moving with her, his hand sliding from her rear to her abdomen. A purr sounded from her throat at the feel of his tongue rolling over her nipple while his fingers lightly ruffled through the tuft of hair between her thighs.
Lifting his head, Claude directed his gaze to her face before bonding his lips with hers as his fingers plunged into her wet folds. A light grunt of surprise escaped him when her hand captured his length and began to lightly stroke before sliding all the way down to fondle his balls. Sliding his fingers back, he slowly pushed one into her enjoying the sound of her sigh of pleasure.
The soft whiskers along Claude’s jaw tickled her neck as he moved to nuzzle against her and sighed in her ear. His fingers moved with perfect precision along her slit, in and out, then pressing and swirling against her clit. She couldn’t help the soft sounds of delight escaping her lips while her hips rotated upward into his hand inviting him to continue his stimulating assault. “Feels so good,” she whispered against him.
His fingers pressed and moved as she arched, her breathing deepening. “There you go,” he crooned against her ear. “Let go, love, and cum for me.”
A long, slow groan poured from her as she jerked and spasmed, feeling a pure release of pleasure that made her see stars behind her closed eyelids. Drawing a deep, shaky breath, she looked at Claude and smiled. Turning toward him, she draped her leg over him before pushing him back and coming over him. She rocked her slick folds along his length as she straddled him, a hand braced on each of his shoulders, as she stared down at him. Lifting a pale green brow, she smiled down at him. “I’m going to lift up. You know what to do.”
He lightly chuckled as she leaned forward and lifted her hips so he could hold himself to her opening. The sigh that poured from him as she slowly lowered herself taking him completely into her wet depths was that of a man completely engulfed with pleasure. His eyes closed as she slowly began an even rhythm rocking his length within her hot, wet depths. Looking up at her through half-lidded eyes, he drank her in. Lips parted as she sighed, bright green eyes darkened with passion, full breasts swaying with her movements. It was enough to make him explode within her on the spot.
Byleth pushed all the way down and rocked against him as she thrilled in the feel of him deep inside while pressing her clit against him. Slowly lifting up again, she pressed back down again before building a faster, more aggressive rhythm. The sounds of Claude’s groans only fed her pleasure until she practically squealed with release. Leaning back just a bit, she changed the angle and willed her shaky legs to pump out a heavy rhythm.
Claude’s fingers dug into her hips when he felt her spasm and release. Then, as she had shifted position, he thought he had died and gone to enjoy the afterlife with the goddess of his choice. He wasn’t sure what language poured from his mouth as he exploded within her, his hands clutching her hips and holding her steady as he felt every ounce drain into her.
Sucking a couple of deep breaths, he reached his hand up and pulled her down so he could kiss her. His arms wrapped around her as she relaxed over him and straightened her legs. She softly chuckled as he fell out of her and she felt the trickling of fluid follow. Rolling them to his side, he released her and reached down to grab his tunic and began to wipe up the mess.
“You know,” he began as he looked at her, “I can’t think of single thing that could top spending half the day laying with you.”
A smile stretched her lips. “Me either.” An inquisitive brow lifted. “But we will have to discuss the secret life of Claude some time. The one that speaks a foreign language and searches so hard for the truth behind my existence when his own is equally intriguing.”
He couldn’t help laughing now and dropped a quick kiss to her lips. “Oops. See what you do to me? You make me forget myself with your enchanting ways.” He trailed a finger along her jaw before tapping the end of her nose. “Secrets I need to keep to myself for now. But seriously, if we make it out of this war alive, I promise to tell you everything if you haven’t figured it out on your own by then.”
“I guess I have to be satisfied with that.” Her hand slipped around his head while her fingers buried into his dark curls. “For now, I guess we have to get up and make a showing before Hilda comes back with help.”
“Juuust a little longer.”
She sighed as he relaxed down beside her so she could nestle in against him. “Just a little longer.”