Happy 2nd anniversary. Since we've last met, I've changed my twitter handle to "natekun_" (two underscores!). Follow for updates, feedback, and open DMs. If you'd like more content from this story's 'canon', then visit my profile and check out 'The Emotional Cognizance of Byleth Eisner' which examines the professor's humanity in the immediate aftermath of Crimson Flower. It's a little relevant to what you'll be reading in a moment.
Word count: 125 words.
.89 - Byleth and Sothis and Numbness
Byleth takes the next week off.
Not a soul in the monastery contests the decision. The necessary paperwork is relayed from person to person without dissent or opposition, but not once does it fall into the professor's hands.
By the third day, Sothis has nothing left to say and resigns herself to the same fate.
Deadened.
She lolls on top of him, drained and desolate. His eyes, meanwhile, burrow into the ceiling.
Her ears pressed to his chest, she hears nothing but the drone of their dorm. The silence reminds her that, even with his arms loosely around her lithe figure, he's never felt more distant.
Though his eyes have long since dried, what concerns Byleth most is his inability to make them water again.