Now for an adaptation of the Byleth/Dorothea C-Support.
Chapter 7 – Flirting and Faith (Garland Moon)
The knight who stood before Dorothea blushed as she said, "Well, I had fun today. Of course, you'll want to see me again, yes?"
"O-of course!" said the knight. "I'd love to, Dorothea!"
With a giggle, Dorothea turned and strode away as she said, "Well, until we meet again!"
Knowing he had to return to his duties, the knight left her presence as she walked off. Unbeknownst to him, however, Dorothea hadn't been sincere with him. He was just another unfortunate victim of her flirtatious ways, too inconsequential to be a real prospect for her search. That and Dorothea was sure he was only interested in her body; he had spent most of their time together ogling her curves.
"Typical pervert…" Dorothea sighed to herself.
It was at that moment that a familiar face walked up to her, and Dorothea turned to see Byleth giving her an inquisitive stare.
"Oh! Hello, Professor," said Dorothea. "Were you… watching that?"
Getting straight to the point, Byleth answered, "That's a different guy than I saw you with yesterday."
"Yes… Is there a problem with that?"
Byleth's response was to stare admonishingly at Dorothea, but the diva shrugged it off.
"Look, I know what I'm doing. My acclaim as a diva won't last forever, after all. I must look to the future. You might think about doing the same thing. Your beauty—and you're gorgeous—won't last forever."
"Getting older doesn't bother me at all," said Byleth.
"I wish I could be that easy going. Anyway, I'm not just playing games with these boys. This is for my future. You have no right to object. I very much want to find a good partner here at the academy. Someone who will take care of me for the rest of my life."
"Is that really what you want, Dorothea?"
"Finding someone to take care of me? Of course it is! Who could ask for anything more?"
Byleth could only frown in slight disappointment at this.
"Anyway, I value your opinion, Professor, but I won't have you interfering with my plans." Then, making a cheeky smile, she added, "Unless you'd like to take care of me into my old age? That'd be something, eh? How about it, Professor?"
"I… um…" Byleth found herself at a loss for words.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I was just teasing. Or did you really just consider spending your whole life with me? The thought hadn't crossed my mind before. But come to think of it… that might sound pretty nice."
As Dorothea giggled, Byleth continued to find herself at a loss for what to say. Romance wasn't something she was used to.
"You've gotten awfully quiet…" Dorothea said playfully.
Clearing her throat, Byleth said, "In any event, I'm not here to criticize you on your romantic pursuits. I'm here because I'd like you to join me in the library."
"Oh? Are you asking me out, Professor?" Dorothea asked with a wink.
"Not quite."
"Well, this all sounds like a date to me. Very well, then. Lead the way, Professor."
Dorothea then followed Byleth down the hallway.
…
"Umm, Professor? When I asked you if you were taking me on a date, this isn't what I had in mind…"
The two found themselves in the library at this point, with dozens of books laid out in front of them. They were tomes on magic, specifically of the Faith variety, something which had never appealed to Dorothea.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Dorothea asked.
"Studying."
"Huh? That's not romantic at all!"
"It's not supposed to be. You and I are going to be studying Faith magic."
"Hey, hold on! I didn't agree to this! If this is all we're doing, then–"
"Consider it an extra assignment from your Professor."
"What?! No fair! Why do I have to get the extra work?"
"Because I need the Black Eagles to have a healer who won't freeze up in the middle of battle. You saw what happened to Linhardt in Zanado."
Dorothea bit her lip as she remembered Linhardt's panic attack. She knew where Byleth was going with this; Annette had been lucky that Mercedes had been around, but they couldn't depend on that all the time.
She then added, "Yeah, but you could study it yourself. I've never been that interested in Faith magic. I prefer the kind that lets me fry my enemies."
Byleth made a short "Hmm" to this. Then, looking at one of the books, she got an idea and picked it up.
"Well, if that's what you're most interested in, then how about this one?" Showing the book to Dorothea, Byleth added, "It looks like a Faith spell meant for attacking your enemies."
"Really?" Now interested, Dorothea asked, "I didn't know there were Faith spells meant for offense."
"Neither did I. Then again, I'm no expert on magic, but I hope to learn. Maybe you can find a use for this one."
Taking the book from Byleth, Dorothea said, "Well, maybe. But Professor, why are you trying to learn magic? I mean, you're amazing with a sword! Surely you can get by without spells, right?"
"The staff at the monastery are expected to broaden their knowledge as they teach. Professor Hanneman actually came to me recently for some advice on tactics."
"Really? I thought he was only interested in his Crest research."
"The point is that there's no harm in expanding your horizons a bit. If I learn to cast spells, that's sure to be useful. So come on, have a seat and study."
Dorothea took a moment to think about all this. Truth be told, she wanted to get out and continue trying to find a good husband, but Byleth's argument was strangely compelling. The more and more Dorothea thought on it, the more the idea appealed to her, even though it had never done so before. But she was still uncertain about it as a whole.
"Oh, I don't know…" said Dorothea.
"You'll have plenty of time to look for your perfect match later. Please, I insist."
Sighing, Dorothea asked, "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
Byleth silently shook her head.
With another sigh, Dorothea said, "Alright, alright. I've never been all too pious, but I suppose I can give it a try."
With that, Dorothea took a seat across from Byleth and opened the book. The magical formulas seemed akin to what little Dorothea knew, though they weren't like the Anima spells she was presently studying. These seemed to rely more on devotion to the Goddess or in some divine power rather than the manipulation of Mana, the energy of which all magic stemmed from. Unfortunately, Dorothea had never been religious.
An hour passed as the two continued to pour over the books. Dorothea soon found herself bored out of her mind. She looked over at Byleth to see the Professor was still intently reading over the spell formula for the simple Heal spell.
"Hey, Professor?" asked Dorothea. "Why the interest in magic now?"
"It was something Hubert asked me," said Byleth. "He asked what I would do if I were told to instruct someone on a topic that I had little knowledge of. I told him that I would take the time to learn about the material ahead of time."
"That's… actually a really smart answer."
"He said much the same."
"Taking my question to heart, are we?" said a familiar raspy voice, prompting the two women to turn to look at the dark-haired son of House Vestra.
"Hubie," said Dorothea. "What a coincidence."
"I do hate to interrupt your little study session, Professor Eisner," said Hubert, "but the Archbishop was looking for you. I am simply here to convey that."
"I see," said Byleth. "Thank you for bringing that to my attention." Closing her book and standing up, Byleth said, "I suppose you can get back to your searching, Dorothea. We'll pick up on this later."
Byleth strode out of the library, leaving the two Black Eagle students behind.
After a moment, Dorothea then asked, "Hey, Hubie? Why didn't the Professor ask you to learn about this Faith magic stuff first? I mean, you're a way better spellcaster than me."
"She did," Hubert answered simply. "I refused. I have no interest in learning the healing arts."
"Of course…" Dorothea sighed, having somewhat expected such an answer.
Kind of a funny way for Dorothea to start learning Faith, isn't it?
Adapting Dorothea's support conversations into my chapters is something I'll be doing, but I won't be doing it for every character. That'd drag things out too long.