"Are you sure this is the best time for this?"
Shez was staring down some very excited girls who had just asked him to judge a dancing competition. Despite him knowing nothing about dancing. And the fact they had just finished a hard fought battle the previous day…and the fact that the war was not over.
"It's the perfect time for it!" Annette beamed, "What better time to raise morale? Plus, we all missed out on the White Heron Cup in the Academy, so why not do a little competition while we're here?"
"That, and she found a bunch of female dancer outfits in storage," Ingrid huffed. She did not seem thrilled, but clearly Annette had gotten to her.
"Okay, fine. I'll concede it might be fun, but why me? I don't know the first thing about dancing."
"We need a third judge. We have Sir Rodrigue from the Kingdom and Lorenz from the Alliance. Just need one more and you are from the Alliance originally, so you're kind of a neutral pick."
"Alright, alright. I give. When is it?"
"About four hours from now. The library is kinda wrecked so we're having it in the training grounds. Don't get lost!"
"Hey!" Shez paused, "Yeah that's fair."
"See you at the competition!" Annette yelled as they ran off presumably to train. This left Shez looking back at the monastery. He could find the training grounds in four hours. Probably.
Shez took his seat in the middle of the stands looking somewhat bored as Lorenz drawled on and on about the fine art of dancing. It was almost enough to make a man long for harsh combat instead. Eventually though, he was saved by the girls making their entrance.
They looked nice in those outfits, he had to admit. They seemed to have all found ones that fit their preferred colors too. That said, he had no idea if any of them could dance, so this should be interesting if nothing…wait a minute.
Shez nearly choked on his own spit when he saw the Ash-er, Byleth walking out at the end of the line. How in Fodlan had they talked her into this? And why did she look so good dressed like that?
Taking a deep breath, Shez forced himself to focus. She was just a merc. In a very flattering outfit. He could do this. Just had to remain nice, calm, and composed.
"This brings back memories of my time at the Academy," Rodrigue smiled, "If memory serves, the White Heron Cup is where Margrave Gautier first really noticed his future wife."
"F-future wife, huh?" Shez cleared his throat, "I didn't take you for the dancing type."
"Oh, I have two left feet, but I can appreciate the arts. Besides, I was one of the few who didn't have any particular biases."
"'Biases?'"
"Oh, you know, His Majesty is a bit too biased towards one of the competitors."
"Why not ask Felix?" Shez then noticed Annette warming up, "I see what you mean."
"Indeed," Rodrigue smiled, "I assume you got roped in for similar reasons." The ex-duke looked back at the competitors and added quietly, "At least I thought so."
"We're starting," Lorenz interrupted, "Let us perform our duties to the best of our abilities."
"Er, right."
Forcing himself back to attention, Shez was a bit surprised by just how capable a lot of them proved to be. He supposed that it was some of that noble upbringing shining through. That said, he was most surprised by Byleth and her rather graceful movements. He told himself he was impressed purely because of her surprise skill.
Shez's internalized bias aside though, Marianne was the clear winner showing a surprising amount of grace as she seemed to lose herself in the performance. For a brief time, she seemed to forget all of her anxieties. It was truly refreshing to see.
Once it was all said and done, everyone started making their way to the cafeteria to partake in a post cup dinner. Everyone except for a certain merc.
"Hey," Shez waved as he approached having Byleth stop her departure, "You did good out there. I was surprised."
"I just adapted some of my sword techniques. It was nothing special really."
"Well, it was still impressive. Though, gotta say, I'm surprised you participated at all. Doesn't seem like your thing."
"Oh, that. Annette caught me on my way to train. She can be…surprisingly persuasive for someone so small."
Shez gave a slight laugh, "Don't I know it. Still, you should come to the party."
"I am not really the party type."
"So I noticed, but you gave it a good try. It's only fair that you get to enjoy the spoils. Think of it like payment for a job."
"When you put it like that. I suppose it could not hurt. Very well. I will see what this is all about."
"Fantastic. Let's hurry before they start without us."
The dining hall was in a strikingly comfortable mood. It served as a nice respite from the horrors of war they had experienced for the past several months. It was a chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy time with friends.
Marianne was making a valiant effort to resist the urge to sink underneath the table from all the attention she was getting, but she found solace in leaning a bit closer to Dimitri instead. Meanwhile, Claude and Hilda were laughing about something from across the table.
Narrowing her eyes, Byleth leaned over to Shez, "Are we on a date?"
"What? What would give you that idea?"
Byleth tilted her head to over where Felix was smiling from something Annette did while trying to hide that fact at the same time. Meanwhile Ingrid was making suspiciously few rebuttals to Sylvain's advances.
"I know I'm not the best with this, but I've seen enough friendly, and drunken, celebrations to know that that isn't normal."
"What are you talking about? There are plenty of single people here," Shez defended and subtly gestured to his right. Byleth looked behind him at another table filled with singles.
"You mean at an entirely different table? While we're here. With all the couples?"
"Uh, I…hadn't thought of that," Shez was starting to panic, and this time he did not have Arval to bail him out, "I swear, I didn't."
"Hmm," Byleth looked back to her plate, "I believe you."
Shez let out a breath he did not know he was holding in. He was about to go back to his meal when the mercenary beside him spoke up again.
"I wasn't complaining, by the way. Merely making an observation."
"Excuse me?"
"It would not be so bad, would it? Ah, but perhaps I am being too forward." She excused herself from the table, "I am still a bit hungry. Be back."
Shez's mouth was dry as he struggled to string a coherent thought together. The best he could manage was why did she have to look so good in that outfit?
A/N: I caved and got it even if I wish it was a FEW2. I could...discuss both gameplay and plot, but if you wanna do that, let's keep it in the DMs.