Tonight, Byleth Eisner will spend alone. The people she usually spent time with were out in the town, leaving her behind to man the fort.
A night out with the lads. Nothing special, it is a recurrent event. Every Moon, her tenants would go out for the night, just the eight of them. That leaves her with the house to herself. She usually takes a bath, do a face-mask and watch some streamed movies on the big screen downstairs. Most of the time some bloody Almyran horror, one that the boys never want to watch, despite assuring her on many occasions that they do not get scared from stupid movies.
There is nothing different this night, and the green-haired young woman cannot help but feel glad about it. Taking care of her cubs was a full-time job, and she had another one of those on top of it.
Byleth had been helping on their guest-house ever since she was born, but this is the first time she takes care of their tenants all by herself. When her parents wed, many a year ago, they bought this old house just around the corner from the University of Garreg Mach gates.
To complement their income from their jobs at the Church of Seiros, the main sponsor of the university, they offered rooms for rental to her father's friends, acquaintances and relatives from the Province of Faerghus, a place to stay during college. The place was convenient, being so close to the main schools and lecture halls, but also very clean, beautiful and coddled with the warm care of Sitri's and the tough, disciplined love of Jeralt's.
As the years passed them by, as the alums from their little guest-house grew in number and sent forward their own college-aged children with glowing recommendations, her mother was always proud to say that the Blue Lion Pension was the best in the Upper City. Certainly not apropos of nothing, they were always woe to accommodate every student that wished to reside there, as Faerghusians of all walks of life reached out to them for a room.
This semester, however, her mother got an opportunity to work in Enbarr for the Southern Church. It would be temporary, but absolutely invaluable for her studies on theology. Of course, moving tens of hundreds of kilometres south was not conductive with keeping a students' guest-house. The choice weighed heavily on Sitri's heart, as she felt neither seemed really the right answer.
As she witnessed her mother's unwillingness to let her tenants go without a place to stay, of closing down, even if temporarily, a business she worked so hard to build from the ground up, Byleth offered to take care of it, at least so the Year Four students could finish their education and do not worry about moving out. It was merciful of her, as looking for a lease would be harsh to conciliate on top of exams, the bar and their term papers.
It seemed only natural to her, however. She was just finished with her master's dissertation and was on a lull at the coffeeshop she worked down the street, so it would not be too much of a trouble. Life gave an opportunity to do something nice for her mother and the tenants, and so she jumped on it.
Besides, with or without her parents, she took care of her cubs for four years, now. It seemed cold-hearted to throw them out on the streets for the next great thing that came around their home.
There were eight tenants this year at the Blue Lions Pension. Ashe Ubert and Dedue Molinaro shared Room 1, next to the kitchen. Annette Dominic and Mercedes von Martritz shared Room 3 and Ingrid Galatea occupied Room 4 on the first floor. On the third floor, Room 7, by the stairs, was occupied by Felix Fraldarius, Room 8 belonged to Sylvain Gautier and Room 10 housed Dimitri Blaiddyd. Byleth had a suite on the attic and her parents' room was on the basement.
They were a lively bunch, and after four years together, she came to care deeply for this batch of cubs, as the students that stayed on the guest-house were known across campus. As much as she appreciated her tenants, however, Byleth would not begrudge herself some time with her own thoughts every now and again, and so was more than glad to stay behind as they held their private party away from the house.
She said goodbye to the excited troupe, took a bath and now she is sitting in the living room about to start her gory slash film when their landline starts to ring. They kept it so the students could contact their parents in case of an emergency and vice-versa, but it has been a while since it last rung.
The phone was kept at the head office, and it was a bit of an ordeal to find the keys and unlock the door to the room while the damn thing rang obnoxiously.
"I'm coming, I'm coming…" She mutters. "Hello?"
"BYLETH? IS THAT YOU?!" Sylvain screams through the phone.
He is drunk. It was quick even for the ginger skirt-chaser, as it is not even past nine. Though, honestly, it does not quite surprise her. She has gone out with her tenants once in her life, too. Sylvain and the girls are usually the first ones to get inebriated, followed by Ashe, then Felix, Dedue and, on a rare occasion, Dimitri after that. Rare indeed, that man almost never loses sight of himself. A Blaiddyd thing, she is assured.
She can only hope they are taking care of Mercedes. She gets grabby whenever she is intoxicated and Byleth does not want to bail her out from jail due to public indecency again.
"Yes, Sylvain, it is me. You called the guest-house, who else did you expect to take it?" The landlady asks sarcastically. In the background, she can hear loud, electronic music playing. "Where are you?"
"INGRID FOUND A CLUB SOMEWHERE NEAR OUR USUAL BAR!" The redhead shouts once more, and the green-haired woman distances the phone from her ear.
"HEY BYLETH!" Ingrid yells.
The older woman laughs to herself. She cannot imagine them in a club, dancing the night away with the e-boys that populated the more modern dancefloors in Garreg Mach's scene. Usually, their itinerary when out was comprised of just some drinks at a pub, quiz night if they are feeling frisky.
"Hey, Ingrid." Byleth greets. "Are you having a good time? Is everything alright with you or should I take the Transporter out?"
Jeralt left the family car, a royal blue Transporter, behind for her to use in case of emergencies. Since they lived in an older part of the city, the streets were narrow and mostly pedestrianized, so driving was an absolute nightmare. The car was meant to be used for driving people to the hospital and the train station, and that is about it.
"THERE'S NO TROUBLE, SILLY YOU!" The inebriated blonde chuckled. "IT IS AMAZING HERE! EVEN DIMITRI IS DRUNK!"
"Dimitri?" She is rather shocked, as it is not like him to get drunk. Especially when there is not really something special to celebrate.
That would also mean there is no designated driver, no-one to stay sober and take care of the others, and so she should wait up for them, lest something bad happens. It was no use to be concerned about it now, though.
"Well, have fun." Byleth finished cheerfully. "Don't stay out too late!"
"Can't promise anything, bitches!" Annette shouts aggressively from behind and the landlady roll her eyes.
"Alright, take care." She says and hangs up the phone.
She stops by the kitchen to brew herself some coffee and returns to the movie. It will be a long night for her.