abraxaslogs | [ CLOSED ] the dawn is opening

[ As far as clues go, at least that one is useful, since apparently knowing where they were wasn’t so much the surprise as why they were here. Which he’d had no idea on until Claude places his hand around a tankard and mentions a time he had this right here.

Which, normally, wouldn’t narrow things down very much. They’d spent countless nights down here when they lived in the rooms above. Sharing stories and jokes and the day’s misadventures over an ale and a plate of dinner. Hilda had been here for many of them and Petra and…

He pauses, head cocked slightly to the side as he interrupts that train of thought, thinking of something. His fingers tighten about the tankard as he starts counting back and then he has to fight to keep his smile hidden and not immediately giving him away. ]

Are you going to start complaining that I haven’t been flirting with you hard enough again? Honestly, Riegan, you’re so hard to please. And here I thought all that rubbing would have been more than adequate.

[ He’d been thinking about this a few days ago - not their first evening here in particular, but about how it had to be close to the day he’d first been dragged through the pool. How a year had come and gone already, feeling both far shorter and far longer at the same time. ]

[ This is where it gets interesting for Claude since the blindfold being in the way means he does get to appreciate what he can see of that handsome face, what with that part not being any kind of exaggeration. It starts when there's those familiar crinkles which appear only when Sylvain's holding back a smile as he's learned from watching this up close in a way the him from a year ago couldn't have bargained upon happening. There's the head tilt which gives away Sylvain's onto something which happened before it, the same one Claude's witnessed when there was something particularly puzzling or of great interest in front of the other man when it came to a book, a new recipe, something puzzled over in balancing the blends of teas he's been working on.

All small details Claude hoards close like the precious things they are to him; that's something he can admit to himself after having made peace with himself over what he could no longer call anything but fact. All things in the greater list of what's made him entirely too fond, even if there's surely another word for that feeling beyond fondness which doesn't run deep enough for it. ]

That depends. Are you planning on flirting with me now?

[ Asked very seriously, like perhaps this is something equating to a topic of Great Importance that would've crossed the Roundtable when he was still in charge of it and as though he's going to have to put deep consideration into whatever it is. And as if, of course, Sylvain's answer might tip the scales on his decision one way or another even as he takes a completely relaxed sip of ale. ]

I'm sure you've spent your time carefully crafting new ones you could try out. See if they're any more impressive than the first ones you laid on me. Go on, I'll just wait right here.

I’m pretty sure I haven’t actually stopped flirting with you at any point in the past year.

[ He counters with a smirk, biting back a snicker. He lifts the tankard to take a testing sip, finding that Claude even remembered what he’d been drinking that night. Because of course he did. ]

Even when we were with the crazy mushroom monsters, now that I think about it. I think it would be more impressive if I had any lines left I hadn’t already used on you by now.

You did have some particularly inspired pit lines. If only I'd known growing the most out of control beard of my life would be what would really do it for you, we could've gotten to this a lot sooner.

[ Or not; Sylvain already knows the reasons for that and Claude's not interested in going over them again in anything besides joking around. And if there's no lines forthcoming, well - he can hardly leave the other man just standing there, so he slides out of his seat to stand.

Next is reaching up to loosen the blindfold's knot as he works it free with deft fingers in to reveal the rest of Sylvain, though not without resting both of his hands on the sides of the other's face in none-too-subtle admiration first before tossing the fabric onto the table as he turns back to sit again. ]

I suppose I'll have to accept that answer since you're not willing to flatter my far too small ego by breaking any of them out this time around. Maybe I'll have to surprise you by reversing our time honored tradition here and breaking out a few on you when you least expect it.

Yeah. [ His voice is completely deadpan as he feels Claude’s fingers lift to loosen the knot of the blindfold. ] It was totally the beard that did it.

[ He blinks when the fabric is tugged away, focusing on Claude’s face as his vision adjusts, and there’s still amusemnt dancing in their dark depths, visible now to the man at the source. Claude’s hands are cool against his cheeks and he can’t help the cheeky grin that slips across his lips as he arches an eyebrow, wondering what the man thinks he’s looking for.

Not that he can leave that comment untouched. Claude should be able to guess by the way his cheeky grin doubles in size that he should brace for whatevever words come next. ]

Oh, come now. You’re not that small.

[ The cheeky grin is indeed something he's become fond of for how it always lights up Sylvain's face. Now is the same as always when it comes to observing it plus the eyebrow raised in a look he's become so very familiar with and makes it impossible to not feel fond over all over again.

Until, that is, what follows. Claude immediately reaches for the blindfold to pick it up and toss at the other man playfully since that's a better use than letting it sit idle upon the tabletop. ]

You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Next you'll be trying to talk about impaling or whatever it was again.

[ He knows exactly what it was, just as he knows Mag would roll her eyes endlessly if she overheard it from wherever she is thanks to being familiar with their brand of teasing. Rather than focus on that, Claude stretches out a leg to nudge the chair across from him using the toe of his boot to move it out further from the table in invitation. ]

Take a seat unless you really are planning to reenact all your flirting in all of its aspects tonight. It might be a little early to use all of those moves right away, though.

Well, I guess we’ve already skipped the part where you interrupted the other conquest I was working on and bought me a drink instead.

[ Sylvain’s cheeky grin isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But he does sink down in the chair Claude nudges out for him, settling into a comfortable slouch and letting his own long leg stretch out beneath the table between the man’s own.

They’ve got an entirely different brand of flirting going on these days, after all.

And if someone would have told him a year ago where he’d end up with Claude von Riegan, he woulda laughed them out of the Inn. ]

And I don’t really have a bucketload of questions to ply you with at the moment. Pity we didn’t start the night with a naked dip in the pool, though. I suppose we can save it for later and do that part backwards.

[ Here Claude might be tempted to offer a roll of his eyes but considering he's not yet fully withdrawn his leg yet, instead he gives Sylvain's chair a light playful shove with his foot like there's any chance he could actually push it over. If anything it's more of a warning tap, both from amusement and a lack of any actual malice behind the action. ]

No? No questions at all, huh. I'm surprised you didn't invent some just for the sake of it.

[ Because that sounds like a very Sylvain to do (not to mention, a very Claude thing to do) for the sake of being difficult and/or entertainment's sake. As he sits back in his own chair it's then he notices the leg extended in return, something he eases around comfortably in another continuation of the various ways they've spent tangled up around each other over the past year. It's fitting, he thinks, though he discards the thought there to raise an eyebrow while reaching to bring his ale towards him. ]

And wait a minute, are you saying I missed out on that a year ago? And you just let me sleep on the floor instead? I see how it is.

Technically, the whole ‘naked-dip-in-the-pool’ bit came before I ran into you here. But I don’t see anyone saying we can’t do it differently this time around. Besides. I think my version has way more promise of a fun time. As is typically the case.

Besides. [ He adds as he nudges Claude’s knee with his own, his leg still snugly tucked in place between the man’s thighs. He lifts the tankard to take another swallow before continuing. ] I seem to recall offering to share the bed. You were the one who insisted on being a gentleman. Pffft.

[ Oh - right. The Summoning pool gets a brief wrinkling of his nose considering he was happier forgetting that ever existed even with the reminders of it every time there's a new face around the inn. Now that he's thinking about it - other than one of the spas, it's hard to picture a pool of water hanging out around the desert when it's in the hottest part of the year like now.

Claude offers a hum of acknowledgement while taking another drink though whether it's for how fun Sylvain would've made any dip in a pool (something he doesn't doubt) or the nudge is hard to say. Nothing further comes to clarify it save idling tucking one leg back without dislodging Sylvain's leg to hook a foot around the other man's ankle for the added contact. ]

I can't believe you just passed up an opportunity to make fun of me for not sleeping. [ That's his first proclamation as he puts the tankard down given that Sylvain knows it wasn't for reasons involving any kind of gentlemanly behavior. He's not interested in going over that yet again, so humor's the right option as a redirection. ] Besides, maybe I did that just because I thought I'd be kicking you out of my room the next night. Little did I know that it'd turn out you'd never leave.

[ Far from a real complaint despite as pained as he makes it sound, though maybe it's also useful for hiding what Claude knows would be far too much affection otherwise. ]

I’m sure you will give me plenty of opportunities to make fun of you before the night’s out.

[ Said cheerfully enough, even though he’s always careful about teasing Claude too much about his insomniac habits. Never wanted him to look too closely at why that bothered him less on some nights than others. Far easier to pick one of the myriad of other quirks and foibles to poke at. Like his mountain of books or the state of his room or his obsessive collection of things that could kill people slowly and painfully. You know, harmless fun like that.

But he takes a moment to play at mock hurt, his lips tugging down in a pout at the insinuation. ]

Are you saying you haven’t enjoyed my company all this time? Who else would have stuck around so long to make sure you didn’t trip over a mountain of books and break your neck in the middle of the night. Or starve. Or do laundry on any sort of a regular schedule. Honestly, I’m a little concerned about how you even survived until I got here.

[ The urge to roll his eyes is strong, but Claude manages to persevere and resist it. It surfaces again when Sylvain plays at being mortally wounded by any of that even if it's also part of their routine of never quite saying the truth in what they mean. Something that's nice to joke about considering they're both well aware the other is doing it at just about any time, and something which means it's all the easier to continue on with it at any given moment. ]

Hm. That makes it sound a little more like you're my retainer than I'm pretty sure you meant it to be.

[ Not that it counts for much, considering while he's sure some might consider Hilda his retainer, it's not like he'd ever expected her to do any of that even as he'll willingly give her the credit she well deserves for making sure he'd eaten, slept, any number of things during the war. Saying as much would complicate this when it's another way to tease and one he intends to prod at for as long as he can. ]

Or some sort of devoted knight at the least since I think there's plenty of books about just that. I'll have you know I made it through just fine while I was all by my lonesome, though it would've been an entirely different experience without you here.

[ There’s a momentary pause as something flickers briefly through his gaze, but then he’s grinning again, offering the man a playful shrug and spreading his hands wide, as if to protest his innocence here. ]

Well. I have had a lot of practice at that, being Faerghan and all that. Both at the retainer and the devoted knight role, in fact.

[ But he just nods along to the latter part, as if that statement was obvious. ]

I know, I know, your life would be utterly empty and boring without me. You’re welcome.

[ Though he'd reached again for his drink to turn it in place to burn off a bit of restlessness, Claude stops to pause afterwards to add some other nonsense line about something or other. What that really means is he catches that shadow passing over Sylvain's face even though it's artfully swept away like it was never there at all and a grin's tugged into place over top of it. Maybe it'd fool most people, but he's had several months to absorb the ways Sylvain conceals something. Well - over a year now, since that's the point of being here.

It's possible he's poked at something he didn't mean to when Fodlan feels so distant even in the ways it continues to place weight over all of them. It's yet another thread in the tapestry comprising everything that makes up the man sitting across from him, but one he'll trace through the bigger picture some other time. That next proclamation which has one corner of his mouth twitching in a suppressed amused smile. ]

Is this the part where I'm supposed to say thank you?

[ Even if Sylvain had already prompted past that, it's close enough. Enough for Claude to sit up from his chair to lean forward like he's contemplating leaning across the table in slow motion. He could, but instead he stops where he is when halfway there. ]

I suppose you might have a point about it in there. Something along the lines of what you said, since I can't argue with that. For now, since we'll see if that holds out over the night.

[ One might almost think he was simply trying to wind Sylvain up a bit from how casually that's said. Maybe that's all it would be, if it wasn't for also being a convenient way to hide a truth within the words. ]

I’m sure you’ll think of some way to argue about it.

[ It’s one of Claude’s best skillsets, after all. Even if the other man wouldn’t agree with him. Maybe. Nah, he would do whatever the opposite of what Sylvain expected of him, just to be difficult anyway.

He doesn’t know how that became Their Thing, but it’s totally Their Thing.

…they should really work on getting a better Thing. ]

But that still won’t make me wrong.

[ That's enough to illicit a laugh from Claude as he sits back again, whatever moment of a supposed standoff there over nearly in the same instant it started since it's too difficult to keep up. Too easy to slide back into amusement, too easy to be cheerful instead - and genuinely so in ways which haven't escaped his notice even in the name of being difficult to make Sylvain work for whatever it was spawning the difficulty.

Keeping that up when they're sitting here in the inn after what'd taken place a year ago - well. That makes it even more nonsensical even if sentimentality's been hidden throughout all those words rather than said openly since their arrival. ]

That's a bold proclamation. [ As if it's not one Claude's made before himself, as if it's only he wouldn't make now if the right moment came up for it - ] Hm. I'll consider it if you want to give some more reasons for why you aren't. Or maybe they'll come to you over the night since I won't give you a time limit of until we leave the inn or anything... this time.

[ Is he kidding? Who knows, but Claude merely grins and goes back to turning his glass in place like he'd meant to before. ]

I don't mind being bold when I know I'm right.

[ Sylvain's grin is plenty self-assured as he keeps his gaze on Claude's, amused and fond as he props his arms on the table and leans forward on them a bit. It makes his arms strain a bit around the snug sleeves of his shirt, but he's too busy pursuing his next avenue of teasing - the verbal kind - to realize it. ]

I'm not sure which part you expect me to deny at this point. Being your glorified housemaid and babysitter, or the fact that you'd be utterly bereft without me. Because I'm pretty sure both of those are true. One would think you'd be trying to think up reasons for why I'm not. Unless you're just surrendering to the inevitable from the start.

[ Well. He's mostly resisted enough that giving into an eye roll where Sylvain can now see it feels correct, even if it also feels a bit like giving into that teasing. Claude's not trying all that hard to resist it regardless which is likely apparent in the appreciative flick of his gaze over those arms. Whether Sylvain intended for that to happen or not, it certainly worked, though it'll take more than that alone to distract him. ]

Please, I never surrender to anything. Maybe I'm simply waiting for the right opportunity to strike to throw you off. Is it working?

[ Though it wouldn't be properly teasing if it wasn't for a follow up to that even if he might be slightly losing the point of whatever he'd started here, and so - ]

It must be. Otherwise you wouldn't be trying to use your arms against me right now.

[ Sylvain blinks at him a moment before glancing down at his arms, because he really hadn’t been doing that on purpose, but hey. He’ll take any advantage he can get. ]

Is that what you think I was doing? Please. I’m pretty sure we’d both be very aware of it if were actually using my arms against you right now.

[ They both knew what that looked like. Vividly. And in great detail. ]

Besides. Pretty sure that’s one of the things Mags would definitely kick us out over.

[ The blink tells him all he needs to know, and Claude's already put two and two together before Sylvain confirms it. That's all the more cause for a reason to hide a smile in his drink - something else that's become a habit more often than not over the past year - before responding. ]

Hey now, I didn't say I didn't appreciate what little I get to see here. Should I be thinking of this as a preview for later, then?

[ Is there an innocent way to ask that? Not really, but Claude's aiming for it anyway simply because he knows it'll entertain Sylvain in return. ]

Wouldn't want to anger Mags, after all, but maybe I can hang in there from knowing whether that's a promise or a threat.

[ Or whatever - since it goes without saying whatever 'threat' there is in arms behind used against him when it comes to this is something he'll enjoy. ]

What if it’s a promise and a threat?

[ Offered playfully enough, because Claude would never take any threat from him seriously at this point and time. Or if Sylvain intended it as a threat, it would only be for something they both thoroughly enjoyed. ]

Although I don’t know why you’re asking me about a preview. This whole night is your setup, after all. Don’t you have “later” planned out already?

Oh, you're right.

[ Said like this has just occurred to him with that supposed reminder from Sylvain, and that 'remembering' wipes any other expression from his face. It's a practiced move of Claude's, what with shifting between one look to another in an instant to project whatever feeling he wanted.

This particular one is something like innocence that someone who was just lightly corrected might put on like there's some element of chagrin here, all because - ]

I planned this to be just like that very first night, so guess that means you'll be sleeping in a bed by yourself with your clothes on after all.

[ He leans back in his chair, fingertips tapping at his chin, as if he’s thinking backwards to recall something. ]

Actually. I’m not sure there were many clothes involved. Unless you were speaking of yourself, of course. But you know I don’t like to wear all that much to bed. Even if it was your bed at the time…

That's even worse that you made me sleep on the floor if that was the case.

[ Because now it's morphing into Sylvain's fault with that revelation, even if Claude was perfectly happy occupying himself with any number of his equally high numbered books while the other man slept off that confusing first handful of days. Given what he knows now, though, he'd pretend to be mock offended, but that also just opens the door for something else. ]

So what you're really saying is that's going to be part of tonight's reenactment then, right? Given that you don't like to wear much whether it's summer or otherwise, for consistency's sake.

‘Make you’, as if we hadn’t already established that all was your stubbornness and none of my non-existent prudishness. If you didn’t want to take me up on my very obvious invitations, it was hardly my fault.

[ He waves his hand around to accompany the flippant comment, shaking his head. ]

It was clearly your loss, don’t try and pawn that off on me. One can only hope you’ve learned better in the year since and won’t leave me so lonely up there this time around.

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