'Flayn!'

'Brother?' Flayn looked up from the book she had been reading and flashed her dimples at Seteth, who looked completely unmoved. Linhardt also looked up in sleepy-eyed interest from his chair next to the green-haired girl.

'A word please.' Seteth's arms were crossed over his chest, and he was scowling, although Flayn also noted he appeared a little more relaxed than she had seen him for a while. The set of his shoulders definitely less tense.

'I am currently engaged in aiding Linhardt with his research on Saint Cethleann.' Flayn replied, still smiling. 'It would appear we share her crest, so we are seeking out her history to aid in our understanding.'

'Of course, mine is merely a minor crest, unlike Flayn's.' Linhardt noted.

'I see.' Seteth's frown deepened. 'Flayn, accompany me now, please.' His tone brooked no argument.

'My apologies Linhardt. It would appear that my brother has completely forgotten his manners.' Flayn stood and bowed slightly to her companion. Linhardt waved his hand nonchalantly.

Seteth turned on his heel and strode from the room, not bothering to check whether Flayn was following him or not. Once they got to his office, he shut the door firmly behind them both.

'There was absolutely no need…' Flayn began, but Seteth slammed a hand loudly on his desk and cut her off.

'Can I not leave you unaccompanied for more than a few minutes before you seek out some mischief or another, Flayn?' He asked. His voice was even, but there was a slow wave of boiling anger just below its surface. His stance had become severely rigid once again. Flayn sighed.

'Our shared crest was bound to come up sooner or later, Seteth.' She said tautly. 'I felt it better to deal with the matter head-on rather than allow Linhardt the time to speculate and reach his own conclusions.'

'You are completely naive if you believe that he will not reach those conclusions anyway. The boy has a fearsome intellect.' Seteth pinched at his nose as he slumped down behind his desk.

'Yes, yes…' Flayn said airily as she moved to put a kettle on to boil. 'I am not entirely stupid, you know.'

'You do not believe you are…' He muttered.

Flayn rounded on him, eyes flashing in unusual anger. 'And what is that supposed to mean, brother?' She demanded.

'Keep your voice down!' Seteth growled.

'You are so paranoid!' Flayn huffed, throwing herself into the chair opposite him.

'And you are not nearly as careful as you should be!'

They glared at each other in silence until the sound of the kettle boiling broke the stalemate. Flayn rose to prepare the tea.

'So what is it you wanted to see me about anyway?' She asked as she poured water into the teapot and brought it over to the table. 'I assume that you have not suddenly developed a sixth sense, so it can't have been just to admonish me about keeping company with Linhardt.'

'No, it wasn't.' Seteth ground out in frustration. 'I spent the afternoon in town with Byleth.'

That raised a grin to his sister's face. 'Oh, really! Interesting.' She commented. 'I have been asking you for weeks to accompany me shopping, and you have always had one excuse or another… and yet you manage to find time to go with her…'

'I merely wanted to continue a rather interesting conversation we were having, and she needed to purchase some items before she goes off on her mission with the Blue Lion's.' Seteth responded stoically.

'Mhmm.' Flayn smirked as she poured the tea.

'You see, Byleth was making a very sincere appeal to me.' Seteth continued, ignoring his sister's innuendo entirely. 'She was gently trying to advise me that I should give you a bit more space and freedom. That I should allow you a greater chance to develop friendships and relationships.'

'Oh, she is so sweet.' Flayn clapped her hands together happily.

'Byleth is very persuasive actually. I was mellowing a little to the idea.' He took a sip from his cup. 'I had even taken the news that you were flirting with Myles, quite well, I thought.'

Flayn's eyes went wide. 'That's good to hear.' She managed to choke out.

Seteth nodded. 'Of course, your suggestion that Byleth should attempt to distract me with seduction would never have worked…' He added, running a finger lightly around the rim of his cup as he gazed fiercely at his sister. 'The poor woman has no guile whatsoever, and she found the idea amusing in the extreme that you thought she could pull it off successfully.'

'Ahahaha… right.' Flayn gulped. 'What interesting things you two talk about when you are alone…'

'Flayn. I don't even know where to start…' Seteth's tone had moved from angry to hurt.

'Oh, no, you don't. Don't you dare get your sad puppy eyes out!' Flayn demanded stamping her foot.

'I can't help it. Are you completely unable to accept the reality of our situation?' Seteth queried mildly.

'No brother, you remind me of our situation almost every day while denying me a chance too actually get on with any semblance of a real life.' Flayn scowled. 'Honestly, I may as well still be abed, if I am only allowed to hide myself away in solitude.'

'You have me!' Seteth pointed out. 'Do you have any idea how long I spent without even having you for company?'

There was a long, strained silence.

'Regardless of what you think, there was a purpose behind my attention towards Myles.' Flayn said, finally.

'I assume you were checking him out, after learning he was Byleth's brother.' Seteth hedged. Flayn looked up at him in surprise. 'Byleth told me today. She had believed that I already knew - that Rhea had shared with me.'

'Well, to be honest, I thought the same.' Flayn said. 'I'd decided that you had simply not trusted me with the information.'

Seteth shook his head. 'I have no idea what is going on with Rhea right now.' He admitted. 'It's true that we have never been particularly close confidants, but we are family.'

'She certainly isn't the person I remember from before.' Flayn said thoughtfully. 'She's always been driven, but now she has an edge. I would go so far as it call it bitterness.'

'I have found myself wondering - now you are a bit stronger – if it might be time for us to move on.' Seteth admitted.

'You know – you and Jeralt really do have a lot in common.' Flayn observed. 'Just look at how running away all the time affected Byleth. Is that the kind of life that you really want for me, Brother?'

'Well, I wasn't exactly planning on making you a mercenary.' Seteth grumbled.

Flayn chuckled. 'Thank the Goddess for that!'

Seteth smiled too. 'I worry for you, Flayn.' He said plaintively. 'That's my job.'

'I know.' Flayn sighed and smiled back at him. 'It doesn't make it any easier to deal with, though.'

'So what have you managed to learn from Myles then?' Seteth offered her an apologetic pat on the arm.

'Not a great deal.' Flayn admitted. 'I am sure that he is actually Byleth's twin. They share that strange sort of disinterest in all of the weirdness that's surrounding them. He is also extremely affable and open. Asking around, I have learned that he is reliable and dependable, but appears to lack any ambition. His foster parents still live in the town, and he was brought up believing that both of his parents were dead.'

'I barely remember him as a student. I had to pull his record.' Seteth pushed a folder across the table towards his sister. 'His fee's for his place here was anonymously paid – I assume that was Rhea – he was a high performing student in the Blue Lion's House and was offered a place in the Knights when he graduated, but he chose to join the guards instead. The only thing of any real interest was that he was recorded as possessing a minor crest of Seiros.'

'Does Jeralt have a crest?' She asked.

'I haven't been able to determine that.' Seteth admitted. 'But since his mother was one of Rhea's handmaidens, the crest may have come from her.'

'So you are okay with me continuing to use my feminine wiles to keep an eye on Myles then?' Flayn raised an inquisitive eyebrow. 'I don't really believe that he is any kind of threat to Byleth, but I'd rather be sure…'

'Your interest has absolutely nothing to do with his pretty face then?' Seteth challenged.

'I'll admit to that if you'll admit to your interest in Byleth's personal charms.' Flayn smirked.

'We have reached an impasse then.' Seteth replied.

~0~

Byleth hunted down Claude in the dining room and had a quick word with him about Ignatz joining their mission that month.

'Ignatz does get on well with Ashe.' Claude agreed. 'I'll admit I'm a little happier about the whole mess knowing that Ashe will have that extra level of support. Of course, I would have come along if I had known that was possible.'

'I need someone I can trust keeping an eye on things here while I'm away. I'm going to be expecting a full report from you when I return.' Byleth told him.

'You trust me?' Claude clutched at his heart dramatically. 'Teach, I'm touched.'

'There is hardly a lot of competition…' Byleth threw back at him.

Claude sniggered. 'Well, that's true.' He agreed. 'Anything, in particular, you want me to be looking at?' He asked.

'Not that I can think of, but I'm sure you can sniff out potential intrigue all on your own.' Byleth tapped her cheek thoughtfully. 'I wouldn't mind if you kept an eye on Bernadetta and Linhardt while I'm gone though. They can both use a bit of support now and then.'

'I think you are confusing me with someone who has good people skills.' Claude frowned. 'You must have realised by now that my awesome and outgoing personality is shallow at best.'

'Bernadetta hero-worships you and has blossomed under the patience you have given with her in bow practice.' Byleth patted Claude's hand. 'She is most definitely not a person you could easily bullshit with platitudes.'

'Teach, you're making me blush!' Claude blustered, but his cheeks had colored.

'Dedue will be away with us on the mission, and aside from the archery-team, he is the only other that she feels comfortable with.'

'I'll look in on her.' Claude promised. 'We will keep up our practice too, just the two of us.'

'Linhardt needs a bit of interest and listening to occasionally.' Byleth went on. 'To be honest, I understand about half of what he talks about most of the time but it doesn't seem to matter. It's been rare that people have shown any interest in him other than to criticise his ethics. I think you would have a much better chance of actually understanding his research, and you'd probably get something from it too.'

'You really do care about people, don't you.' Claude said quietly.

Byleth shrugged. 'Just doing my job.' She replied stoically.

'Leave it with me. I'll give it a go.' Claude promised seriously.

'Thanks. I'd better go and let Ignatz know the news, and then I have to get ready for my hot date tonight.'

'Date?' Claude looked shocked. 'You have a date?' He repeated.

'I do.' Byleth nodded. 'Jeritza is teaching me to play chess.'

'Some date.' Claude grouched. 'If you'd said you wanted to learn chess, I'd have taught you and I'm pretty sure my conversation skills would have been way better while doing it too.'

Byleth schooled her features into her best expressionless stare. 'It isn't all about witty conversation you know…' She observed, then she winked at him very deliberately.

'Urgh… too much information.' Claude folded his arms crossly.

'Are you… jealous?' Byleth taunted.

'I am simply amazed at your lack of good taste.' Claude countered.

Byleth stood and patted his cheek. 'Cute…' She observed as she walked away, trying hard to keep herself from laughing.

'You are definitely learning!' Sothis observed appreciatively. 'I think it's my good influence.'

'Bad influence…' Byleth corrected.