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Mmmm.

[ He smiles into the kiss, one hand reaching up to tangle his fingers in Claude's dark locks, tugging him closer as he shivers from the wet slide of the washcloth over heated, sensitive skin. ]

I'm not sure whether to be insulted at that, or charmed by the unexpected display of romanticism.

Meanwhile, I'm taking it as a compliment you don't want to move. Or can't, as I think it was implied.

[ Murmured right back into that kiss even as he grins back against the smile he can feel before stealing another kiss right after, enjoying the closeness too much to listen to run his mouth. For now. Same goes for puzzling through what's attached to being charming even if normally he'd be all for confirming - something, because the thought slips from his mind a second later when it's tempting to get pulled into one kiss after another as it so often is.

As it so often is with Sylvain, but that has Claude humming a noise of his own before pulling back just enough for something else. Cleanup can wait for a minute for something else he'd noticed while getting up, and it doesn't even require dislodging that hand in his hair when he reaches for the man's other wrist to press a few slow and lingering kisses over the faint marks from his grasp before shooting Sylvain a sideways smirk without looking up. ]

I could offer you a repeat if you want to be sure which it should be.

[ Sylvain gives an almost pained groan at that and flops his other arm over his face, as if the very sight of that look right now is just too much to deal with. ]

I’ve created a monster.

Maybe I've always been a monster and you finally noticed.

[ That reaction gets a laugh sputtered across Sylvain's skin before he speaks, enjoying this far too much. Something easy in ways he never could have guessed some months ago, and something that's only become even more so. Enough so that Claude reaches out with his other hand to tap that arm across a handsome face in the most half-hearted ways of nudging it out of the way so he can fully express how wounded he is. Clearly. ]

I get no credit here. I see how it is.

Oh, I definitely would have noticed that.

[ He lets his arm be nudged out of the way, but only to cast Claude a smirk once more. Because that wounded look isn’t at all convincing. ]

You may be good at hiding a lot of things, but that would have definitely stood out.

Paying attention to me, were you?

[ A question he knows the answer to - or believes he does, what with how it's come up in different ways before and has even on this night. That look Sylvain gives him catches something fond in his chest, a flicker of a partially formed feeling gone as quickly as it surfaces, and nothing that distracts him from his supposed sulking. ]

Shame you didn't look a little closer, then.

[ But - playfully as he means it and it comes out, that still edges too close to things he'd rather ignore. Like how none of this would be possible if they weren't here, and how they've received so many reminders it could all be finite with those who've arrived and left. All of that are thoughts he brushes away with more success than Sylvain's arm to for another slow kiss that's a better appreciation of that smirk than anything else. ]

[ His smirk lingers as he leans up into that kiss, fingers tugging lightly on dark locks once more. ]

Oh, even I knew it’d be too dangerous to look too closely. [ He nips at Claude’s lower lip playfully. ] I always suspected you’d be dangerously addictive.

[ That skirts dangerously closely to uncomfortable truths, too, even if it was coated in a teasing exterior.

Sylvain had always done his best to avoid anything that would be a true threat of going any deeper than surface level. And look where they were now. ]

[ It's a line, Claude thinks even as he grins at the feeling of fingers in his hair and a familiar back and forth banter they've honed leading up to now. Of course it is, and yet.

Yet it pulls again on what he'd set aside in all that fondness he shouldn't let in. It gets harder and harder to remember to not when hearing that, something that'll stick in the endless swamp of his mind to resurface just like all the other times he's meant to let it sink away with other thoughts. Here and now it's difficult to remember why that is, and Claude feels himself coming dangerously close to wanting to.

But that wouldn't be playing the game, would it? Better to lean into it and be in on - whatever it is he won't let himself define as anything but whatever they both see this as as it's been for months. ]

In that case, I think I'm flattered I overrode your sensibilities. Hard to think of a better compliment than that one right there.

[ Sylvain playfully pats him encouragingly on the head with his other hand, letting his eyes close, but he’s still all too smug and smirking beneath the other man. ]

Yes, you did such a good job. Good boy.

[ Did Claude just get that uttered in the same tone Sylvain would use with a puppy? Yes, yes he did. ]

I should really bite you for that one.

[ That's immediately grumbled after he recovers, having taken a second to stare at Sylvain in entertained disbelief even if it's lost on the other thanks to not looking. All the more reason Claude follows that up with a huff meant for Sylvain's entertainment, though so much for closeness: now he pulls back to flick the other man's nose lightly.

The complaints don't stop there, though. Definitely not. ]

That's not even a good threat, anyway, considering I think you'd still enjoy that.

[ Pity him. ]

[ Sylvain peeks a single eye open, adopting a sulking pout. ]

Darn. He saw right through me.

It's almost like I'm known for that or something.

[ All that pout gets is a wide smirk in response since of course there's one to follow it up along with finishing up cleaning despite getting a little sidetracked by teasing Sylvain (frequently). The towel also gets tossed aside after a haphazard look to make sure it lands on wherever their clothes did to worry about later, or possibly after Sylvain falls asleep if he's still awake, but that's to be determined.

What it really means is a perfectly good excuse, even if he doesn't need one, to finally sprawl out next to the other man for good, and not without wrapping an arm around strong shoulders to pull him closer in the process. ]

I already have all your weaknesses memorized, anyway. Makes it a lot easier on me whenever you decide to get a little too smug or pouty.

Me? I’d never do that.

[ Even if he sounds pretty smug as he makes that claim anyway.

He lets himself be tugged, rolling into Claude’s hold, their legs tangled together as he gives a soft, contented sigh. It’s easy to sink into the warm, familiar comfort offered. The contact he’d so rarely let himself indulge in before Claude came along.

Most of his past dalliances would have taken that as too much encouragement. Not to mention, most of them he’d had no interest in staying with any longer than necessary. Just one more tradition the man had turned on its head. ]

How do you know you’ve actually seen all my weaknesses? I could be hiding a whole bucketfull and only dangling a choice few to keep you distracted from the rest.

How do you know I haven't already accounted for that?

[ Fired back just as quickly and with no small amount of amusement behind it, both due to something he'd subconsciously felt Sylvain would answer with and for the possibility of having actually done just what he'd volleyed back as a matching question. Time will have to tell on that one considering he's not about to reveal anything before the moment is right - whatever that ends up meaning.

It's still so nice, he thinks idly, to be able to do just this as Sylvain settles in and that sigh brings a smile to his face while he lets his fingertips sketch shapes without meaning against the other's skin. It's enough for Claude to close his eyes even if he's not ready to rest just yet, but nothing says that doesn't mean he can't still enjoy it to the fullest until then. ]

Besides, I think you just offered yourself up as a puzzle all over again. Rather dangerous to do to someone who likes figuring things out, isn't it?

You might be a master tactician, sir, but not even you can account for everything.

[ It’s said teasingly, even if that smug tone is lingering. His lips quirk in amusement before his expression softens at the familiar feel of Claude’s fingertips tracing nonsensical shapes and patterns against his skin. It’s an absent habit the other man has, as if even when they’re relaxed and at rest he can’t quite seem to stop being restless. Sylvain finds it surprisingly endearing. ]

Besides. I like living dangerously. Keeping you guessing is just an added bonus.

Ugh. I take back what I said about biting you because for that one I ought to kick you out of bed.

[ That's immediately following the mention of master tactician, that unfortunate nickname being something which always gets Claude to crinkle up his face in disgust. Time and distance from Fodlan are no exception to finding it as distasteful as ever. Even if Sylvain can't see his reaction, it won't be lost in how that's said, at any rate. ]

And what was it you'd told me earlier, that you're not a puzzle? Something about that doesn't seem to match up here.

[ All affectionately - even if he still doesn't buy whatever sidestep Sylvain had given him earlier - and with turning his head enough to press a kiss to the other's forehead. ]

[ Sylvain’s response to that is just to wrap his arms and legs around the other man and cling like an octopus, even as he snickers. ]

Nope. Can’t.

[ Claude's response to that is, unsurprisingly, an immediate groan and a barely even half-hearted struggle to 'get away' that's more for show than anything. Especially considering he could probably break away from Sylvain's grasp if he had any inclination to, but - file this under it being nice to be held even if it's supposedly torment. ]

What have I done to deserve a fate like this?

[ Nothing's going to stop him from being dramatic about it purely for the sake of Sylvain's laughter, as if he's really being punished for something here and not doing an incredibly poor job of hiding the grin in his voice. ]

[ Sylvain’s laughter is what he gets. Still wrapped around the other man, he tips his head back enough to peer up at Claude with one chocolate eye full of mischievous amusement. ]

Would you like the list? I can alphabetize it for you.

You'd better believe I do. And I don't just want it alphabetized, I want citations and sources to go along with it.

[ As if this is something belonging in the library rather than a (probably) playful tactic, and a thought he follows up with tugging on Sylvain's hair lightly with a couple fingers. ]

I'll expect it tomorrow, by the way. Only because it sounds like you have it ready to go as it is.

[ Sylvain stills for a moment before picking up his head to give Claude an actual Look now. ]

Did you just try to assign me homework? Next you’ll be telling me to call you ‘Professor’.

[ Which is what spawns the glint of mischief in chocolate eyes as one corner of his lips quirks upwards, a hint of a dimple peeking out. ]

Didn’t realize that was one of your kinks. Sir.

[ When Sylvain lifts his head Claude doesn't think anything of it, not even with the Look, but then its his own turn to pause in what he's doing and stare for a second. Only a second, though, because once what the other man says and that small smile registers, he immediately laughs even if it comes paired with crinkling up his face in playful supposed distaste or something close to it. ]

If I remember correctly, Gautier, you're the one who admitted to having Teach fantasies. Are you sure that's not you getting your hopes up about being put in detention?

[ He's grinning as he moves his hand away from drawing shapes to instead run the pad of his thumb over that barely there dimple. ]

If you really want to get into it, we could probably find a chalkboard somewhere so you could write the same sentence over and over as punishment. [ A slight pause, then - ] Maybe actual punishment now that you're making me consider this.

Please. As if the Professor ever put you in detention.

[ He blows a raspberry, not believing that for a second. But he can’t dim his grin any, leaning into those warm fingers against his cheek. ]

And if that’s as creative a punishment you can come up with on a night like this, I may have to despair over you being a completely lost cause.

That's you presuming I was a good student.

[ As for whether he was - that depends on one's definition of it, Claude supposes, but thinking back to his teenage self makes it easy enough now to (sort of) admit he wasn't. Not always, anyway, though Teach was so unfairly never ruffled it'd almost felt like a challenge in some ways. Until everything happened, anyway, and then he'd had five years to think about it.

Claude puts on a mock frown, however, as he now taps that thumb against Sylvain's cheek. ]

And I rather think it's your fault for me being uncreative, what with you wearing me out. That just means I'll have to keep my better ideas all to myself and you'll have to wonder what they are.

If I presume that, it’s got less to do with you putting the effort into the classes themselves and more to do with you always needing to know everything.

[ He says it teasingly, letting his own hand skim up and down Claude’s spine as he lets his head fall back to rest on the man’s shoulder once more. ]

Besides. Are you really going to try and convince me that you didn’t have the Professor wrapped around your pinky by the end of your first week?

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