Byleth and Flayn were waiting outside of the training grounds when Jeralt and Seteth finally emerged.

'Crap. Looks like we're in trouble!' Jeralt whispered loudly to his cohort.

'Flayn! What are you doing out of bed at this hour?' Seteth tried to stand up straight and look stern, but he failed spectacularly.

'I knew they were drinking... as soon as the weapon's stopped sounding.' Byleth muttered to Flayn, who was looking over the both of them and casting some form of minor healing.

'I see that you were completely right.' Flayn agreed. 'No injuries to speak of. Just a bellyful of drunkenness.' She sniffed derisively.

'Why are you here?' Jeralt demanded as the four of them began walking towards the main building. 'How did you know we were sparring?'

'I overheard you discussing it.' Flayn had taken Seteth by the arm and was gently steering him along. 'I went and told Byleth.'

'... And I was walking Flayn back to her room when we heard the almighty noise you were making in the arena.' Byleth added. 'You were gathering some other attention too since it's long past curfew, so we decided to stand guard and deal with anyone who became too interested in whatever it was you were doing.'

'Ah..!' Jeralt looked sheepishly at Seteth. 'Did you happen to overhear our conversation at all?' He asked carefully.

'Nope.' Byleth shook her head. 'Flayn tried to...' She added, smirking at the girl.

'I did not!' Flayn insisted, but her face was flushed. 'I was simply ensuring that it was impossible to overhear you, just in case!'

'That was wise. Thank you.' Jeralt said humbly.

'So have you both gotten whatever you needed out of your systems?' Byleth asked, obviously amused.

Seteth nodded enthusiastically. 'A good start at the very least!' He declared. '... And Jeralt is a great sparring partner!' He added happily.

'Dad, are you okay?' Byleth inquired.

'Mhmm.' Jeralt nodded. 'I hold my liquor far better than that lightweight!'

'Hey!' Seteth objected. 'I will have you know that I can hold my alcohol just fine when it's savored rather than binged!'

'Okay, since all is well, I'm going to say goodnight now.' Byleth decided. 'I assume that between the pair of you, you can manage to get Flayn safely back to her room.'

'Yes, ma'am.' Jeralt saluted smartly.

'Right, then.' Byleth paused thoughtfully for a second, then shrugged decisively and wrapped her arms around her father in a brief hug. He stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth falling open in shock.

'Okay... I wasn't expecting that!' Jeralt gulped, patting her awkwardly on the head.

'I want a hug too.' Seteth complained petulantly to Flayn.

Flayn snorted. 'In your dreams, brother.'

'Who said I wanted it from you?' He chortled, pushing his way over to Jeralt and nudging Byleth aside to hug the Knight instead.

'Seriously Seteth, do you want to fight again already?' Jeralt growled. 'No more alcohol for you. Ever.' He added ominously.

'The world has gone mad!' Flayn gogged at Byleth, who was grinning broadly and shaking her head at their antics.

'In a nice way!' Byleth smiled, patting Seteth fondly on the back, then ruffling Flayn's hair before she walked away from them all chuckling merrily to herself, and wishing that Sothis had been awake to witness what happened. Byleth was sure the tiny Goddess wouldn't believe her when she told her.

.

The next day saw Byleth taking the Eagles through their physical training paces in the morning session and the Lions in the afternoon.

Edelgard had thawed a little in her demeanor towards the Professor, but Hubert was still rather distant, refusing to meet her eye and speaking to her only when directly spoken to. Byleth decided that she would give him a few days pass before she'd addressed the issue if there was still a problem.

Jeritza was skulking around the training grounds when the Eagles arrived, taking an obvious interest in the session as he usually did. Normally the weaponsmaster only ever observed Byleth's tuition, but the Professor's attention was suddenly grabbed when Bernadetta squealed loudly and hurried to try and hide behind Byleth, her face fearful. Jeritza had stepped out of the shadows to engage with Bernadetta's sparring partner Petra, offering advice on her defensive stance.

'There's nothing to be scared of, Bernie.' Byleth placated the frightened girl as Jeritza quite obviously rolled his eyes behind his mask.

'There is plenty to be scared of.' Jertiza disagreed in his somber tones.

Byleth moved quicker than Jeritza was capable of anticipating. Within a few seconds, he was on the floor, and she was straddling him, both his arms and legs pinned.

'Really? You think that will keep me down?' Jeritza queried as he twisted underneath her and managed to raise a knee to ballast an efficient lift, highlighting his superior strength and reversing their position. They tumbled backward and forwards for a short while testing out each other's moves while the students surrounded them, most cheering them on, although Hubert was scowling fiercely. It was ended when Byleth managed to get herself a tenuous grip on top, then Bernadetta threw herself down too, adding her weight to keep Jeritza pinned.

'Take that you monster!' Bernie squeaked in victory.

'See!' Byleth was breathing quite heavily from her exertion. 'Nothing to be scared of!'

'Rather unfair to be ganged-up on.' There was an odd quaking from Jeritza as he rumbled a chuckle. 'Might I be allowed to get up sometime soon?'

'Jeritza will definitely kill Bernie now.' Bernadetta muttered unhappily as she stood. 'Well done, Bernie, good idea!'

'I rather think that Bernie was very brave to stand up to her fear, or rather... throw it down...' Byleth praised her.

'How did you manage not to become completely trapped?' Dorothea was looking appraisingly between Jeritza and the Professor. 'Jeritza's strength is vastly more than yours, but you moved too quickly to follow exactly what you were doing. It certainly looks like a useful skill to know!'

'Are you happy to provide some further demonstration?' Byleth asked Jeritza quietly. He thought about it for a second, then nodded agreement.

The rest of the morning passed in showcasing to the student's several kinds of holds and breaks in unarmed combat. Caspar was also keen to show off some of the skills he had learned from rough-housing with his many siblings. Most of them were improvised, but Byleth highly approved of their inventiveness.

Eventually, the bell tolled for lunch, and the students filed noisily out of the training hall.

'Join me for lunch?' Byleth asked Jeritza as they tidied up the area.

'I avoid the dining hall.' Jeritza told her. 'The crowds are bad for me.'

'No problem. We can sit on a bench by the lake, and I can bring us out some plates.' Byleth offered.

Jeritza blinked at her in surprise. 'That would be acceptable.' He agreed.

'Let's go then!' She opened the door and pushed him out into the sunshine. 'How do you normally get your meals?' She asked inquisitively as they walked together.

'I simply wait until later when the facilities are nearly empty.'

'I see.' Byleth took his arm companionably as they walked. He flinched, but he didn't push her away. 'I was hoping that you might be available for the afternoon session with the Lions too.' She cajoled him. 'I haven't covered much hand to hand defense, and it was actually much easier to demonstrate properly with your assistance.'

Jeritza was silent for a moment.

'One might start to think that you rather enjoy rolling around with me.' He noted solemnly. 'You did appear rather enthusiastic and determined...'

'Oh...! Are you seriously trying to tease me now, or maybe you have been taking flirting lesson's from Sylvain?' Byleth nudged his side playfully. 'Careful Jeritza, someone might actually mistake us for friends if you keep this up!'

'That would never do...' Jeritza replied seriously. He nudged her back. 'I have a dour reputation to uphold, after all.'

'So? Will you help me or..?'

'Oh... Very well.' Jeritza sighed. 'You know, Mercedes and I used to wrestle with each other when we were young. I wonder if she still has any skill in it.'

'I will definitely try her out!'

'Hmm... hurt her and...'

'I know, I know... you will kill me... ' Byleth rolled her eyes comically.

'With extreme pleasure.' Jeritza agreed.

'If you can actually manage to keep me pinned!' Byleth taunted smugly.

.

The afternoon went really well. Mercedes thoroughly enjoyed the amazement of the classmates when she was able to easily pull off some of the moves that Byleth and Jeritza demonstrated.

'This is all a bit like foreplay!' Sylvain chuckled as he rolled against Felix after they had both fallen to the ground and were scrabbling with each other to get supremacy.'

'Shut up!' Felix barked angrily, bringing his knee into contact with Sylvain's stomach a trifle harder than was necessary.

'You should all get used to the idea of grappling with people if you need to.' Byleth lectured them sincerely. I can't even count the number of times it has saved my life in a battle situation.'

'I can't see it making much of a difference to me.' Annette moaned. 'If my magic runs out, it's not like I have any real physical strength or coordination to fall back on.'

'That's why you learn the technique.' Byleth replied firmly. 'People who are strong tend to rely on that fact alone, but a much smaller and weaker person can use their opponent's momentum and their pressure points against them, plus make it difficult to get a proper grip.'

'Superior strength will always win out in the end, though.' Jeritza noted.

Byleth nodded at him in agreement. 'That's why if you are the one at a disadvantage, you need to end it before sheer physicality becomes the victor.'

'Wait... if you are the weaker contestant and neither of you has weapons, how can you win?' Ingrid asked. 'I mean, something like strangulation would require strength; I cannot see Annette being able to strangle the life from someone of Dedue's size, for example.'

'Well...' Byleth moved behind Jeritza and positioned him down on the floor on his front, sitting on his back and bending his right arm backward, albeit gently. 'Applied pressure like this doesn't require huge strength and will dislocate the arm, which gives you a huge advantage, also... ' She pushed his ponytail to one side and indicated a few points on his neck. 'Biting a chunk out in these places will cause significant bleeding and death after a short while.'

'Urghh!' Ashe blanched. 'Are you being serious?' He asked.

'Of course!' Byleth nodded, letting go of Jertiza and moving off of him. 'Biting is valid in many places as long as it's not protected with armor obviously.'

'I told you!' Sylvain whispered loudly to Felix. 'Just like foreplay!'

'Sylvain!' Dimitri was blushing bright red. 'I apologise Professor. Please ignore the ignoramus.'

'That's okay Dimitri, he does have a point after all.' Byleth replied.

'I...I... do?' Sylvain stuttered.

'Why, yes, Sylvain. I imagine all the ladies that you attempt to seduce end up wanting to beat the crap out of you... so it is just like foreplay... or rather endplay in your case.' She smirked.

'Wow, harsh!' Sylvain complained as Felix started to laugh.

'She has the measure of you!' Ingrid chuckled.

'I guess she does.' Sylvain admitted, looking abashed.

Once again, Byleth felt the lack of Sothis' commentary in her head with sadness. She was sure that her companion would have vastly enjoyed the entire training session, as well as having something rather pointed to say about the fact that Byleth did find rolling around with Jeritza far more fun than she liked to admit. Byleth was beginning to wonder if Sothis's absence was something she should be worried about. She could still feel her presence slumbering, but she would not wake fully, just grumble and fall back into sleep if provoked.

'This has been oddly satisfying.' Jeritza murmured, bringing Byleth out of her contemplation. He was indicating the students who were paired off practicing moves together with youthful enthusiasm.

'We work surprisingly well together.' Byleth agreed.

'You just like having someone to order around.' Jeritza accused.

'That too.' She smiled at him. He tentatively smiled back.

'Would you like to start your chess training soon?' He asked quietly. 'For some reason, I feel the need to actually be better than you at something for a change.'

'Mhmm. That would be good.' Byleth nodded. 'I think tonight I will spend some time in the Cathedral though, and tomorrow I have a meeting with the House leaders. Would Thursday suit?'

'Yes.'

'It's a date then.'

'Um...'

Byleth chuckled at his suddenly fearful look. 'It's just a turn of phrase, Jeritza. I swear your virtue is safe with me.'

'Okay.' Jeritza was quickly on his feet and practically running away into the depth of the arena.

'Wow, Sothis, you would have been proud of that one.' Byleth thought mournfully. Her plan to visit the church itself... well, she was hoping that maybe it's holiness might stir the possible Goddess in her head into wakefulness. 'As long as Seteth is right and I don't burst into flame as soon as I step over the threshold.' She worried to herself.