[ His gaze drops to the vicinity of Claude's chest for a moment, a mixture of tension in his own form as well as ahint of shame at the note in Claude's voice as he replies to that.

He doesn't answer that it wouldn't be the first time he's had to wade through that option - Claude doesn't need to know that, and besides, that doesn't really affect here and now. Claude, he reminds himself for the hundredth time, isn't like any of those that had come before.

Of course, that's only partially comforting, because that means Sylvain spends half the time trying to figure out what the fuck is happening between them at any given moment when he has no frame of reference for it. ]

Well, I know how much you like to tease. [ He knows the joke will fall flat even before he finishes uttering it. Which is why he just sighs and lets his gaze flit back up to meet Claude's gaze. That hint of uncertainty is still there, but it's dampened somewhat. Waiting. ]

That's not what I'm asking. Not really. But I know how important Hilda is to you. I figured... we'd have to have some sort of discussion about it at some point soon. She told me you guys were working through things a few days ago.