[ Breaking into the food before the person it was technically ordered for was a rather weak threat, but Claude's not going to think twice about it when what he's eying is pushed his way. A glance around the table reveals he should've thought about asking for a few extra empty plates for courtesy's sake, but all those times camping during the war made for not being very particular about sharing the same serving out of the same dish.

Still, the fork's likely not the best utensil here so he swaps it for his spoon and fishes out a bite from the edge to take a bite with zero caution. The steam really should've warned him since now he has to take a second to abandon table manners to roll it around his mouth to keep it from scalding him. He's got a cocky throwaway comment all ready for Sylvain just as soon as he finishes this bite which is roughly the temperature of Ailell, but - for once Claude thinks better of tossing it out there.

Instead as he gets another spoonful of pie ready, this time making sure to leave it to cool to avoid repeating the initial experience, he takes a second to think of a real answer with his eyes still on his spoon. ]

I spent a lot of time studying people at the academy since I never knew what might be useful out of what I learned. And I learned a lot of things, here and there, but not everyone got my equal attention. Some people were more interesting than others.

[ And that feels a little too close to admitting something, equivocal as it is. Sylvain might've been onto something about feelings since to avoid the tiniest flicker of anxiety well-hidden to anyone looking at expressions alone Claude puts on a thoughtful expression and adds, ] or the dining hall in the Horizon helped me out. Your choice.