"I don't know what reason I could give in the course of an evening that'd be so compelling that it'd induce you to trust a relative stranger with the hearts of three men you've known since childhood and love as brothers," Claude says with a slight shrug. "Especially not while being honest. There's things I haven't even said yet that would make you trust me even less than you already do.
"As for things to say in my own defense...well, I don't know if it counts, but I do know that if Felix were here to hear you doubting his own good judgment, thinking he needs you to vet his choice of partners for him, he'd probably challenge you on the spot. Not that he needs much excuse to challenge people to duels, so maybe that's not saying much." He looks up at the sky. "I could say that I helped, to some degree, your brother and your father come to more of an understanding than they've had in awhile today. I could say I helped Dimitri, to some degree, out of the pit his trauma had him in. I could say I helped Sylvain and Felix pick out their wedding rings for each other, and that I helped them get together in the first place. I could say a lot of things about how much I care about all of them, and how much I've done to try to help them be healthy and happy. And I guess, technically, now I have said all of that."
He sighs. "But what I actually want to say is that this is the second time just this weekend that a family member of one of my boyfriends has demanded I prove myself worthy of a man I'm dating to their satisfaction, and that's really only been the start of the things I've had to field this weekend. I guess anyone being pleased that I'm dating someone they care about is too much to ask."
He shrugs. "Not that I don't understand or sympathize with your concern for Felix. Of course you want to look out for your little brother, especially when - to put it mildly - you can't exactly be around full-time to do it. And I can't begin to blame you for that brotherly concern. But...it's coming at my expense. I guess I wish someone cared about that, even a fraction as much as my boyfriends' families care about protecting them from me. Instead, my humiliation is an acceptable price to pay for the peace of mind of my boyfriends' families...because being assumed to be bad for them, and having to prove I'm deserving of them, is humiliating."
He fixes Glenn with a long, level look. "I may as well tell you now that I'm Almyran. Does that make my burden of proof even higher?"
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"As for things to say in my own defense...well, I don't know if it counts, but I do know that if Felix were here to hear you doubting his own good judgment, thinking he needs you to vet his choice of partners for him, he'd probably challenge you on the spot. Not that he needs much excuse to challenge people to duels, so maybe that's not saying much." He looks up at the sky. "I could say that I helped, to some degree, your brother and your father come to more of an understanding than they've had in awhile today. I could say I helped Dimitri, to some degree, out of the pit his trauma had him in. I could say I helped Sylvain and Felix pick out their wedding rings for each other, and that I helped them get together in the first place. I could say a lot of things about how much I care about all of them, and how much I've done to try to help them be healthy and happy. And I guess, technically, now I have said all of that."
He sighs. "But what I actually want to say is that this is the second time just this weekend that a family member of one of my boyfriends has demanded I prove myself worthy of a man I'm dating to their satisfaction, and that's really only been the start of the things I've had to field this weekend. I guess anyone being pleased that I'm dating someone they care about is too much to ask."
He shrugs. "Not that I don't understand or sympathize with your concern for Felix. Of course you want to look out for your little brother, especially when - to put it mildly - you can't exactly be around full-time to do it. And I can't begin to blame you for that brotherly concern. But...it's coming at my expense. I guess I wish someone cared about that, even a fraction as much as my boyfriends' families care about protecting them from me. Instead, my humiliation is an acceptable price to pay for the peace of mind of my boyfriends' families...because being assumed to be bad for them, and having to prove I'm deserving of them, is humiliating."
He fixes Glenn with a long, level look. "I may as well tell you now that I'm Almyran. Does that make my burden of proof even higher?"