A/N: The number of you who have reviewed and made some comment of "Ahh yes, there's Felix/Big Felix Energy/Nice to see you too, Felix have me cracking up. You folks are the best.
"Dude, come on; we talked about this. You can't just haul off and deck him like that!" Sylvain complains, desperately trying to hold Ingrid back. The last thing Dimitri needs, other than another admittedly beautiful punch to the jaw, is to wake up to find Felix dead on the ground and Ingrid crying because she's pissed at him for hitting Dimitri and for dying just to spite her.
"Shut up." Felix throws a black scowl Ingrid's direction and continues to ignore the half-veiled threats she's throwing in his direction. "And, for the record, we talked about attacking him, not punching him."
"And exactly what is the difference, Felix?" Ingrid demanded, her elbow going in low and narrowly avoiding Sylvain's gut by the man's reflexes. Sylvain's increasing familiarity with her usual targets and ability to dodge said strikes when she's ready to hit him is beyond old. She's going to have to mix it up in the future or find a new spot to hit where he won't see it coming. "Because it sure as the sun rises looks like you attacked him from where I'm standing."
Felix, deadpan and serious as always, looks her straight in the eye before he responds. "I used my fist, not my sword."
Ingrid's second elbow catches Sylvain that time and the redhead doubles over gasping in both pain and barely restrained laughter. She's already crossed the distance between them and keeps trying to snag Felix by the ear to give him the what-fo and the swordsman is not having any of it.
And he thought the Golden Deer were a rowdy bunch. Claude can't help but feel his lips twitch up into a faint smile at the sight of the bickering triad. It reminds him of the few times he, Edelgard, and Dimitri all wound up in a debate of some sort with Byleth around. He's the Sylvain of the three, Edelgard's the Ingrid, and that makes Dimitri the Felix of the group. Claude's willing to bet that Felix would be furious if he ever made the comparison.
So, of course, he's going to do it when he's out of the cranky swordsman's range.
He recognizes what the other two might not in Felix; the relief mixed with fury at seeing someone you've been worried about and haven't been able to track down.
There was exactly one time he'd run away from home during the worst of it in Almyra. He'd gone into hiding for a little over two or three days. Whatever food he had was stolen from the kitchens on his way out and living off the land thanks to a choice book or two he'd taken with him. He'd been pretty proud of himself at the time, at least, he had been before he'd eaten something wrong and had to crawl back for help.
Poor stablehand never did look at him the same way after that.
After he recovered, there'd been a slap across his face that he'd never experienced again (not from his mother, anyway) before his crying mother had held him tight and wouldn't let go. Without knowing or understanding why, he'd cried too. His father hadn't, but he distinctly remembered the old man's huge sigh of relief and the bone-crushing hug he'd gotten with his mother in between them.
Claude is older now, and while he's not exactly in favor of striking anyone for the same reason, he does understand Felix's anger and the fear and worry from which it stems from. Understanding and condoning, however, are two separate things and he's getting some pointed looks from his companions to do something about the situation other than sit there and look amused by it all.
"Alright, alright, let's not launch into an all-out war here." He positions himself deliberately between Felix and Dimitri with a pointed look at the former. "We are in Alliance territory, after all." A not so subtle reminder to those from Faerghus that he is in command here and can, and would, have them 'taken in' if need be. For their own protection, of course.
"Whatever."
"Felix." Ingrid had the same tone in her voice that his mother would get when he'd done something just on the brink of her calling in his training instructor for the twelfth time. She makes another attempt to grab his ear- or his hair, Claude's not sure which- and gets caught by the wrist in return.
Felix, true to his nature, pointedly ignores her, maintains a solid grip on her wrist and grabs the fist swinging toward his jaw with the other. Maintaining a firm stance against the woman now trying to kick him in the shins or anywhere else she can reach, he glares down the man lying prone on the snow. "How long are you going to feign being unconscious, boar?"
Boar? Claude glances over his shoulder and, sure enough, Dimitri opens his eye and offers a wry look in response to his wordless inquiry. ...okay, I'll be asking some questions around thatlittle nickname in good time.
"It was not feigned," Dimitri replies and pauses to rub his jaw. Claude's willing to bet he's checking to see if Felix knocked any teeth loose. "Initially, that is."
"Hmph." Felix doesn't necessarily look as satisfied as Claude thought he would, but he also doesn't storm away and keep his distance the way someone who genuinely loathed another would. He also says nothing else on the matter and keeps a critical eye on Dimitri while Claude helps him up.
You look like Halide when she was a hatchling, Felix; all intense focus and refusal to take eyes off your target for a minute; isn't that interesting? Claude turns to the four from Faerghus and studies them as Dimitri brushes the snow off of his armor and cloak.
Sweet tempered but surprisingly strict Mercedes, sharp-tongued and determined Ingrid, laid back flirt and loyal to only his friends Sylvain, and the eternally agitated but hard-working Felix. Three of four of them had known Dimitri from childhood, had been there when the man they'd known had changed and not for the better. All four of them worried sick and beyond about him as well as what his death, presumed or otherwise, meant for the Kingdom and themselves. They had been the only ones 'close enough' to make it in time, according to Hilda, or had been willing to break away from whatever had occupied them at the time.
He and Hilda's means of silent communication had gotten better too these last five years. Dimitri hadn't even caught on to the fact that Hilda hadn't answered his question directly. The shock on his face, and then the panic at the sight of his old comrades and friends, had been more than enough to confirm.
Four twirls of her hair, four members of the Kingdom. They hadn't quite gotten to the point they had silent signals for who all would show up by name, but given enough time and creativity? He was positive they could start coming up with something that'd allow them to pass intel without being terribly obvious.
Raphael, of all the unexpected sources, had started teaching them (along with Ignatz as helper when the big man was at a loss or needed something a little more complex) how to communicate without speaking via a series of simple-to-complex hand signals and gestures. He'd explained that he, Ignatz, their folks, and his sister had all picked it up as kids thanks to needing to communicate with all kinds of people as merchants. Raphael had also sheepishly apologized for not offering up the knowledge earlier, as he'd kind of figured it was something everyone knew about given how prevalent it was in the merchant circles he and Ignatz's families ran around in.
Sign language. It was brilliant and absolutely something Claude was practicing as much as possible. There were folks back in Almyra who couldn't communicate and did something vaguely similar from what he remembered. Having a solid grasp of it here in Fodlan might just open up an entire world of opportunity for those back home too if he could master enough of it to both teach and pass down to its citizens.
"As much as I'd like you all to have a big happy reunion, I'm afraid we need to get down to business first and foremost." And spare Dimitri for a little longer. He looks like I've just offered him up to the guillotine or however the hell they execute people in Faerghus. Claude addresses the Kingdom born with a gesture for them to have a seat. One by one, they do, and he finds it interesting that Felix until Dimitri sits down before taking a seat on his blind side. Ingrid sits beside Felix and Sylvain sits on Dimitri's other side.
Mercedes, after checking to make sure Felix didn't do anything other than bruise the prince's jaw, takes a seat next to Sylvain and looks up at Claude expectantly. Maybe he needs to reassign who Felix reminds him of in the whole Dimitri-Edelgard-Claude himself triad, because that was such a casually him thing to do he's a little taken aback by it.
The Golden Deer who are present all gather in turn. Leonie starts passing out bowls of whatever she'd managed to bring and scrounge up along with a mug of something hot. Marianne is doing something interesting with four decently sized sticks stuck into the ground and a wash of faintly blue-tinged magic sweeps around them and vanishes entirely.
When she catches him looking, she offers a tentative smile and an explanation. "It's… a modified Silence spell. Nothing can hear us while we're here…"
"You're a genius, Marianne." Hilda praises and gives the soft-spoken woman a gigantic hug. "This'll be so useful, did you figure it out by yourself?"
"Mm," Marianne shakes her head. "Lysithea helped me."
"You both totally rock. What would we do without you two, seriously? Right, Claude?"
Claude is beyond impressed. So are, by the looks of it, Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri. "Is the spell mobile or just fixed in one area?"
Her face falls a little at the question. "It's, um, only fixed at this time. We haven't been able to replicate it while on the move. I'm sorry."
"Nope, no apologies needed. This is already a huge development, you and Lysithea make a good team." Claude waves aside her apology immediately. "Besides, this'll let us set up camp, even a cold camp, and be able to talk even in the middle of enemy territory; that's an advantage we haven't had before now. You should be proud and I'll make sure to tell Lysithea the same thing."
Assuming she's stopped wanting to set me on fire the moment she sees me. I don't know how long her grudges run. I might have to get a bribe ahead of time.
Ignatz and Raphael also help out; the former offering a lap blanket to help stave off more of the chill and the latter brings in some more firewood and stokes the fire up higher. Once they're satisfied, they too take a seat on Claude's side of the fire and await his report. Hilda pats the seat next to her and Claude plops down and wonders where to begin.
"I'm going to make this as short as possible, given how few details we have worked out right now, but the gist is this; Teach is alive," There is audible gasping and wide eyes from every person except Dimitri. He can practically feel the morality raise by several degrees, same with the relief, and holds up a hand to fend off any questions on that end. "Yeah, you heard me. She's alive, she's returned, and she's- as far as we can tell- the same ol' Teach as always."
"Where is she?" Hilda asks, peering back to where Halide is contentedly dozing with her tail flipped over her snout. "Did she decide to walk here?"
"She's with Edelgard." Dimitri replies in Claude's stead.
And just like that, the morale crashes. Sheesh. Claude watches the crestfallen looks across friend and former rival House members alike. "Hey, why the long faces? This isn't a bad thing, you know."
"And in what way would you consider her siding with our enemy a good thing?" Felix snaps.
Dimitri takes over, again, and keeps his gaze fixed on the fire in front of him as he speaks. "The part where Edelgard is no longer our enemy."
There is a full, heavy silence that descends upon the ten of them. Shock. Anger. Disbelief. A range of emotions making their ways and wills known upon their faces.
It's Felix, again, who speaks up before anyone else can find the words. "That's twice you've said her name, boar, without any threat of death or otherwise. What is going on?"
Claude and Dimitri exchange a look. Claude nods, offering him the opportunity to retake his place as the leader his people look up to.
With a nod in return, Dimitri begins the arduous task of explaining what has happened in the past two days to his childhood friends he hasn't seen in five years.