Felix huffs a little at his own expense. "Calling it a 'plan' is generous. All I did was insist that we'd do it. But it won't just be for Sylvain--it will be for all of us."

His expression sours as he shakes his head. "No, I haven't. I don't know why he can't see that. I keep telling him to stop needlessly putting himself in danger, but..." He trails off. This conversation isn't about them, it's about Claude.

"Because you feel helpless." Felix says this with certainty. "You have no control over what happens to him and it's terrifying. You feel like you should be doing something, but there's nothing to do. Neither my strength nor your schemes can fix this, or prevent it from happening to anyone else."

He lets go of one of Claude's hands to put an arm around him instead, sliding a bit closer. "This is the part where many people would pray, because they're content putting their fates and the fates of others in the hands of some distant power. But I don't think you're any more inclined to such a thing than I am, even if any gods we recognized existed here."