[ It had been easier to avoid in the Inn, maybe. Or maybe just easier to pretend it wasn't any of his business and they'd figure it out eventually on their own. But after several days of inhabiting their new loft in patches of tense silences and weighted awkwardness, Sylvain was beginning to think that whatever had gone sideways between Claude and Hilda wasn't something they were in any rush to fix.
Which surprised him a little, because in all the years he'd known them at the Academy - and the months here since their arrival - he'd never known them to be truly at odds with one another. Oh, sure, they'd have little disagreements and spats, or their banter might hold a bit of a bite with things unsaid. But this? This was something far deeper than that.
And the two of them seemed more preoccupied with continuing to dance around it and pretend like everything was Fine, when clearly neither of them were. Which, while he can appreciate the tactic as it's one he uses quite often himself, it's been making for a very uncomfortable living space.
On top of that, he doesn't even have any idea what they're fighting about, which is wreaking havoc on his own paranoia. So after days of biting his tongue and watching their stilted interactions - or outright avoidance of one another, he finally gets fed up with it and makes a point to drag them both aside to see if he can't help smooth things over once more.
Hilda just happens to be the first one he finds. Snagging her arm, he interrupts whatever path she'd been about to take deeper into the loft and warren of construction zones to drag her into the safety and quiet of the kitchen - the one place that was relatively quiet and interruption free right now. ]
There you are. Just who I was looking for. Come try this new tea I found and tell me what you think.
[Closed] Hilda; Nothing's Fair in Love and War
Which surprised him a little, because in all the years he'd known them at the Academy - and the months here since their arrival - he'd never known them to be truly at odds with one another. Oh, sure, they'd have little disagreements and spats, or their banter might hold a bit of a bite with things unsaid. But this? This was something far deeper than that.
And the two of them seemed more preoccupied with continuing to dance around it and pretend like everything was Fine, when clearly neither of them were. Which, while he can appreciate the tactic as it's one he uses quite often himself, it's been making for a very uncomfortable living space.
On top of that, he doesn't even have any idea what they're fighting about, which is wreaking havoc on his own paranoia. So after days of biting his tongue and watching their stilted interactions - or outright avoidance of one another, he finally gets fed up with it and makes a point to drag them both aside to see if he can't help smooth things over once more.
Hilda just happens to be the first one he finds. Snagging her arm, he interrupts whatever path she'd been about to take deeper into the loft and warren of construction zones to drag her into the safety and quiet of the kitchen - the one place that was relatively quiet and interruption free right now. ]
There you are. Just who I was looking for. Come try this new tea I found and tell me what you think.