vrdantwind | IC Inbox

"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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From:

vrdantwind

You're a guy who tackles every challenge he faces with every ounce of skill and effort he can muster, and someone who gets good at anything he does. [Claude smiles sidelong at him.] I doubt you'll enjoy being a politician, but I'm not worried you won't become good at it.

[At Felix's statement of faith, Claude chuckles - but honestly, he feels his cheeks warm a little. Of all the people to say they believe he can achieve his dream, getting those words from Felix feels...particularly meaningful.] You've got such touching faith in me, sunshine...how can I possibly fail now?

But you're right - Dimitri's already on the same page as me, and was from before I ever met him. It's one of the reasons I know he'll be an incredible king.

From:

bestswordmaster

[Felix isn't sure why his face is faintly coloring over something so small.] I'll do the job regardless, I don't need buttering up.

[Wait a second, is Claude...? No, it's just the lighting or something. Right?] I can't tell whether you're mocking me or not. But yes. You and Dimitri both have the same ludicrously idealistic goals and the kinds of personalities that might just get you there. When the war ends, I suppose the two of you will split Adrestia between our two nations, or something of the sort?

From:

vrdantwind

I wasn't saying those things to butter you up - they're just true.

Likewise, I'm not teasing you; I really mean it. It's sweet that you believe in me - all the more so because I know you're pretty discerning about believing in anyone or anything. You know, just because I'm sometimes manipulative or teasing doesn't mean I'm jerking you around nearly as often as you think I am when we talk. Sometimes I say something just because that's what I think.

As for how Fodlan will end up after the war...that's actually already been decided, by my point in time. [He looks up at the sky.] It's one of the things I'll talk to you guys about once Dimitri's in a good enough place for the conversation to happen.

From:

bestswordmaster

[Felix just sort of grunts in response. Claude is right, those things are true, and Felix has every intention of doing the best job he can regardless of how much he hates playing the game. He just...didn't expect Claude to say so.]

Hmph. It's not sweet. Just...an extrapolation of what I already know you're capable of, that's all. And I have no idea how to tell the difference between what you think and everything else.

[He glances over to Claude, nodding thoughtfully.] Hm. Makes sense, you and Dimitri must have discussed strategies for proceeding to Enbarr.

From:

vrdantwind

Felix, did you know that saying "I'm not complimenting you by saying I have faith in you, I just know from experience that you're capable and smart and I genuinely believe you can pull this off because of what I know about you" is still, in fact, sweet? Maybe more so because I know you wouldn't say it if you didn't believe it? [Claude chuckles.] Hell, you're even comparing me to Dimitri - your own king, who we both know has some real greatness in him, however much it's been buried for the past while. A guy you're deeply devoted to. That's a ridiculously high level of compliment.

[He nudges Felix.] And no speculating. I'm not going to tell you anything ahead of time. It's all three of you at once, and I'm not saying anything on the subject until then.

From:

bestswordmaster

[It's not clear which thing Claude says gets Felix's face redder--the idea that Claude still thinks a normal, basic compliment from him is sweet, or the idea that Felix really did just compare Claude to Dimitri, or the fact that Claude just said--out loud! with his own mouth!--that Felix was 'deeply devoted' to Dimitri and he can't even argue with it. It all just sort of snowballs into tomato territory, and he turns away, shifting his gaze to the opposite side of the road to hide his face.]

Hmph. Think what you want.

[He startles a bit at the nudge. A rebuke comes to the tip of his tongue automatically, but he swallows it because...this doesn't actually trip his kneejerk dislike of being touched like he figured it would. Maybe it's because after you shove a man up against a wall and kiss him as the first time you ever touched him at all, casual touching is practically nothing. ...but anyway. He rolls his eyes.]

I'm not trying to solve your precious mystery early. I figured planning the rest of the war as allies was obvious.

From:

vrdantwind

I generally tend to. [Claude grins, enjoying Felix's fierce blush. (Not that Felix ever does anything by halves.) Felix is cute when he blushes, and when he's invested in other people; delightfully, calling him out on the latter tends to lead to the former. Claude personally can't get enough of it.]

And true, I guess that is an obvious conclusion. [Which almost seems to imply 'and it is in fact what happened' without actually saying so. Lying by omission is the easiest kind of lying.] But why leave Teach out of your guesswork? You act like it'd be just between me and Dimitri.

From:

bestswordmaster

[Felix isn't even looking at Claude, but he can feel the man grinning at him. Ugh, he's so obnoxious when he's right.]

Oh. I didn't think they would have much to say on rulership of the continent after the war. I have great respect for the professor, but they are not much more 'big picture' than I am.

From:

vrdantwind

[Claude sighs dramatically.] All right, all right, I'll let you in on one thing. We didn't really discuss how the rule of Fodlan would be divided after the war at all after Derdriu. [Again - true, lying only by omission. It was made very clear after Derdriu, in its own way, who would be ruling Fodlan if the Kingdom won the war. But technically, there had been no talk of splitting rulership because Claude had taken himself out of that equation.] I mean, the war's far from won yet, right? Worrying about how it'll all shake out afterwards would be pretty premature. We focused much more on the immediate future. But that's all the information you're getting!

From:

bestswordmaster

[Felix does look at Claude now, with a bit of mild suspicion.]

But you said how Fodlan would end up after the war had already been decided by your time. So if you didn't discuss it, how did you decide it? Or is all of this just a bunch of nonsense to throw me off?

From:

vrdantwind

[Shit. Did he say that? When? Claude covers by mock frowning and shaking his head.] Now you're just confusing me. Are we talking about strategies for the war, or what comes after? You said stuff about me and Dimitri planning the approach to Enbarr, and I asked why you wouldn't assume Teach was included in a campaign strategy and battle tactics discussion like that, and then suddenly you're talking about how Teach wouldn't care about what happens after the war. When were we ever talking about what comes after the war at all? I was talking about the actual campaign for the war going on right now.

From:

bestswordmaster

I asked whether you and Dimitri would split Adrestia between Faerghus and the Alliance after the war, and you literally said it had been decided already where you came from. [He rolls his eyes.] Ugh, you're infuriating. There's no need to keep trying to confuse me on purpose, I'll stop asking.

From:

vrdantwind

[Confuse him on purpose...sure. Claude will go with that. It's definitely not that he's having trouble remembering all the half-truths he's told, and trying to keep them straight...]

It'll all make sense eventually, don't worry.