After only a few minutes of sitting at a dining area with Takumi, Ryoma was filled with memories as to why he had drifted away from his younger brother when they were still young. He didn't know quite how it had slipped his mind, but Takumi was stubborn and standoffish to the point of seeming rude. He clearly didn't want to interact with Ryoma and was determined to show this in every word he was forced to speak and every action he made.

"How have you been, brother?" Ryoma asked, to try and start their conversation anew. It hadn't started very well, obviously, but maybe Takumi would be willing to forgive his blunder and start with a more pleasant mindset.

"Fine," he said, putting food into his mouth so he didn't have to say any more. Ryoma knew the trick. The same way that Hinoka always put lots of food into her mouth at dinners where she was told to stop pushing herself so hard, or the way Sakura made sure that it was obvious that she was eating whenever someone glanced her way during a banquet. It was the same way that Takumi used to act when people started talking about Corrin.

"Have you been holding up well?" He asked. "It is a strange time for everyone, after all, and I know many have been struggling to adjust to normal life again." Ryoma could not count himself out of these numbers, because he was ever wanting to go back to the training rooms again and again, thinking in a mantra of 'just in case this all falls apart'.

Takumi, however, simply nodded once, now slowly chewing his food despite obviously being expected to reply. Then again, it was entirely obvious that Takumi didn't give a damn about what Ryoma thought about him or his manners, because he'd honestly been rude throughout their encounter, regardless of whether Ryoma had stepped over some hidden line that he had no knowledge of.

Ryoma took a deep breath in and let himself enjoy his breakfast for a few moments more before he spoke again. He didn't want to push Takumi further away from him, but he also wanted to get to know him a little better, and he wasn't going to do that by sitting in silence. "Should I be frank with you?" He asked, probably in a harsher tone than was necessary, because Takumi's face immediately lifted from where he was staring at his food.

"Go on, brother," Takumi said, inclining his head to say he should continue. Ryoma recognised the gesture from the battlefield, where Takumi would incline his head where there was an opening before his second shot so someone else could get a shot in, or maybe the strike of a sword.

"I do not know you well enough, and you barely know me either," he said. "I fear I have...neglected you in favour of my duties and training. We know each other far less than two siblings should."

"I see," he said, and then put more food in his mouth. After chewing for a while and then swallowing, he continued, "I'm sorry to disappoint you brother, I'm not one to speak for the sake of words." That was a no, then. Ryoma supposed that he shouldn't be too surprised, because of course Takumi wouldn't just accept to renew their relationship on the spot. Other than a few brief words between battles, he had barely spoken to his brother since Corrin returned to them, and even before then he had frequently been too busy to talk to his younger siblings. And when he did have the time, his time always went to Hinoka or Sakura, who were far more willing to accept attention from him.

"It wasn't really a suggestion for the sake of it," he said. He knew that he was starting to get a little too snappy with his brother for a simple breakfast conversation, but he couldn't understand why Takumi was so opposed to his presence. "I wish to get to know you better, Takumi, that is all."

Takumi let out a long sigh. "I have nothing to offer you through a friendship," he said, "and there is no point trying to force me into one, as I don't have any wish to become closer to you just because you are my brother."

Ryoma had heard, mostly from Corrin and Azura, that Takumi had an almost untameable sharp tongue. Takumi said what he meant all the time, but Ryoma himself had never come to the rack to be beaten by it. Partially, he felt that he deserved this rejection, as he was the older sibling and so should have taken responsibility to keep their relationship alive before, so it did not have to come to this, but he couldn't understand why this meant to Takumi that his slip was unforgivable and he was now unworthy of a friendly bond with his only brother. "I understand," was all he could say. He didn't want it to be like this. He wanted Takumi to feel like he had more friends than just his retainers. Two friends was not a high enough number at any stretch of the imagination.

Except now...now there was one. Ryoma remembered now; he hadn't seen it happen, it had been before he had joined up with the party advancing towards Nohr, but Hinata had fallen on the route to Cheve. Slain by a cavalier who was just too fast for him to handle. Takumi now only had one friend, Oboro. Eventually, Takumi would have to replace the young samurai, but that time could not be now. Until then, Takumi had just the one friend.

"Good," Takumi said, standing up. Ryoma couldn't make a point of checking to see if Takumi was finished, that would be rude, but he was fairly sure that he wasn't. "Well, it was pleasant to share a meal with you, brother, but I must get back to my studies."

Ryoma watched as he left, suppressing a sigh until he was alone. He loved his whole family, but Takumi was infuriating when he got an idea in his head. Ah well, there was time for them to become closer and there was plenty of time to let Takumi grieve and recover from the ordeal that had been the war with Nohr. Finishing his breakfast, Ryoma resigned himself to a day of consulting a translator for his correspondence with Crown Prince Leo. Winning Takumi's trust back from where it had gone in their childhood would have to wait.