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[vrdantwind]

"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."

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[vrdantwind]

Claude studies Felix through the screen, but since Felix isn't looking at him, he misses Claude's little smile. He also misses when Claude quietly turns the video off.

This isn't the end of the conversation, however. Quiet footsteps are heard outside of Felix's door just a few moments later, and then Claude is letting himself into the room. He shuts the door behind him before moving directly over to Felix, reaching out to stroke a hand through his hair and then down his cheek to cup his face.

Now, Felix can see Claude's slight smile. "I think you're right not to say things to Sylvain that you don't yet believe," he murmurs. "It wouldn't help him, because I think he'd feel that the words were hollow. And you do need to have more faith in yourself and the people around you, sunshine...but it doesn't need to be blind faith. I was never asking you to have faith in something you've got no reason to believe in.

"I want you to have faith in yourself because you've already shown that it's justified. Like you said, you've started to open up here. You've given Sylvain a good life and a future full of happiness and promise here. You've changed here, haven't you? If you needed to close yourself off during the war to keep going, that's understandable, and that very well could be the reason why the you back home hasn't made the developments you have yet. But you've seen in yourself, here, how much not having a war on your plate can let you change. Now that the war in Sylvain's time back home is over...can't you trust that the Felix there can make the same changes? Can open up the same way, given the same sort of opportunity? He might have more responsibilities there, I'll grant you, but his priorities won't be any different. And Sylvain is one of Felix Fraldarius' very highest priorities."

He strokes his thumb over Felix's cheek. "So this faith...it isn't blind faith. It isn't hoping for something you have no proof could ever happen. I'm asking you to trust that the same person will make the same sorts of choices you already know he's made before, when given a chance. That's barely even faith. It's more like trusting you to believe in the balance of probability, when you already know what's probable because it's already happened once. You can do that, can't you?"

[bestswordmaster]

When a few seconds pass with no response, Felix glances back at the Gear only to see the call ended. But he only has a few more seconds to blink at it before the door's opening. He looks up, and in person it's even easier to see how tired Felix is, but he looks relieved to see Claude, too. He's barely conscious of the way he leans into that hand.

You've changed here, haven't you? Felix supposes that letting his guard down could constitute change. Certainly, something has to have changed to allow him to accept Dimitri as he is without feeling like he's going to boil over with conflicting feelings. Or to let Claude as close as he did so quickly. Or...to propose marriage to Sylvain at all.

And Claude is right--Sylvain is and always has been one of his highest priorities, even if he didn't always acknowledge or like it. As for trusting himself to make the same choices...

He nods. "I can. When you put it like that, I...if we can hold onto our first promise through a decade of hell, there's no reason we can't keep it afterward. I may not be very good at faith, but I know I keep my promises."

Felix sighs and shifts to wrap his arms around Claude and rest his head on the other man's shoulder. "...thank you," he mutters quietly.

[vrdantwind]

Claude sits down on the bed beside Felix, pulling him closer. One arm slips around Felix, even as the other hand moves to stroke his hair. "My pleasure," he says softly. "Things will be okay, sunshine. No matter what happens, or where we are. And things are good right now. So let's enjoy what we have, okay?"

[bestswordmaster]

"Hmph. Now that's not a promise anyone can keep." But Felix doesn't move away; if anything, he relaxes further against Claude as he closes his eyes. "But...I suppose things are good for now."

He'd like to say that if he did somehow lose them, if he had to go back to living alone in Castle Fraldarius for the foreseeable future, he'd be fine. A bit sad, a bit lonely, but fine.

He'd like to say that, but at this point he's really not sure if it's true, and that's a scary thought.

But he pushes it aside so he can focus on Claude's warm hand in his hair and the steady rhythm of his breathing and the way he smells--he always smells good. It doesn't take too long before Felix starts to doze.