Request for NamiHatake, and ArchSageZelda who both requested more Felix. Felix is my favorite dude so I've got a few more of these a'brewin
He couldn't help but fidget as he watched her pouring the hot tea into a pair of teacups. A pair. Felix swallowed a dry lump in his throat, painfully aware of how alone he was with his former Professor, her careful hands preparing him a draught of strong, bitter tea with no sweetener. Just the way he liked it
He had felt a strange pressure as of late, Byleth had been concerned for the Boar Prince, attempting to soothe his soul only to be dismissed with scorn. Her face would fall but she would respect his wishes and retreat with a tender, broken expression. He had told himself he didn't care, affairs of the heart need no third party but… his heart would twist painfully, jealous and green as the scornful king cast out the most precious gift he could imagine, the affection of the lady juggernaut. He wished, for the first time with crystal clarity, that it was him reflecting in her eyes and he steeled his determination to imprint himself in her heart
They were friends, certainly, they had sparred several times and he'd even won a few, but it was as the battles seemed to swell that he could feel the future on the horizon, a future he wanted for the first time
"Felix?" Her voice broke him from his somber thoughts, turning to look at her meadow colored eyes
"Sorry." He mumbled as he stared into the dark waters of his cup, trying to remember the words he had rehearsed prior but they fled him in this moment
"If you were Ashe I'd eager you were conjuring up visions of dreamy knights, but with you I'm not so sure." Byleth chuckled to herself, fetching a set of saucers. A set. Fuck.
"Dreamy knights huh…" he mumbled, his resolve redoubling spitefully as he recalled her pained expression. She had lost her only family, probably banished to some hell dimension and still she came back to that wild boar. 'If only,' he mused to himself, mouth twitching up slightly into something that passed for a smile, 'if only I had found her first, would she want me instead?'
"You fought very well in our last battle, but I have some notes on your stance." Byleth's voice pried him from his shameful thoughts with a jolt but Byleth hadn't noticed. She sipped her tea, recoiling with a small gasp as it singed her tongue
"Y-yes I'd love to hear any pointers you have." He tried to play it cool but her adorable reaction had stolen his focus, tugging at his cup too hard and earning a nasty scald in return. He hissed in pain, his hand recoiling reflexively before it was caught in her small, calloused hands
"Are you alright? It was very hot!" She looked his hand over anxiously and all the pain drained from his burn. He could not conjure the words, but they had needed little in the way of words before, he prayed actions would be enough, raising the back of her hand to his lips. Soft, brief, don't slobber on her, that's the only advice on girls Glenn had given him, but it was paying off now
Byleth released a soft gasp, color blooming across her cheeks but remained frozen by his grasp. She had seen that expression a few times before but the humble expression was usually in defeat it never held those pleading, gentle eyes
"Felix…" her voice was a breathy whisper that danced across the evening air
"I feel I may have given you some... mixed messages." He chuckled, knowing that was putting it lightly. "But you are fearsome, and strong, and… beautiful." Shame commanded his tongue to still, red smattering his cheeks. She stared at him in silence until he could no longer take her doe eyes and turned away, his hand going slack around hers as he quietly accepted his rejection
"F-Felix I had no idea…" her voice was soft, so soft and gentle that it tore into his heart like a blade. He removed his hand from hers in the awkward silence, but before he could leave his seat her hand was on his. His head snapped back to hers, hopeful eyes locking on her kind smiling expression
"You mean a great deal to me, Felix." He smiled, a true smile that spread from each corner of his mouth and up to his lips. They continued their tea in bashful silence, broaching the usual subjects regarding combat, feeling too shy to discuss their recent confessions
He could see them, plain as day. Her ravishing smile had caught him as he passed the large window, his demons taunting him that he did not deserve such radiance and he turned to look away when his eyes were caught again. Dimitri's spear whined in stress as his grip became strangling, his eye never leaving Felix, as he marked her hand in a gentlemanly fashion foreign to the antisocial noble. The steel whined and twisted beneath his inhumane grasp and was finally silence with a snap when he saw her smile back at the other man, her cheeks colored a shy pink that was devastatingly attractive. He would steal that smile back.