“Come on now, I think you’re being too harsh. He/she’s just a kid. Remember all of the stupid things we used to do when we were their age?”
With Claude and Byleth?
Well Claude knew that this day would come… he had just hoped that maybe it could’ve waited until his daughter was a little older.
Sahar sat on her bed, her arms crossed on top of her knees with a pout on her face.
Nader and another guard had caught her trying to sneak out of the palace to attend a festival in the city. Not only that but she was also responsible for letting out a couple of wyverns as a distraction.
It took eight years but now Claude realizes why his mother “wished him all the strength in the world” when Byleth told everyone about her pregnancy.
Speaking of Byleth, Claude glanced over at her and could immediately recognize the look on her face.
It was the same look she’d give whenever Hilda tried to come up with some excuse for not going on that month’s mission. Or when Raphael and Caspar broke something trying a new technique. Or when Felix was being uncooperative (which was a lot.)
Yup, it was the return of the Teach Glare and with the Teach Glare…
“Do you realize how worried we all were when we couldn’t find you!? We thought we were under attack!”
…Came the lecture.
“You can’t just run off somewhere without us knowing! Did you tell anyone? Nader? Your grandparents? Your brothers?"
“...No.”
“So how did you expect us to react when we learned that you were gone!? How were you planning to come home in the first place!?”
Claude couldn’t help but wince, sure the Teach Stare and Lecture was pretty effective on dumb teenagers and young adults but maybe it was a little too much for an eight-year-old.
He placed his hand on Byleth’s shoulder. Claude nodded over to the door and without saying another word, Byleth stepped out.
Claude looked over to their daughter and kneeled down in front of her.
“Your mama and I are going to have a talk about what to do next. Just stay here, okay?”
“...Okay, baba.”
Claude smiled, stood up, and placed a gentle kiss on his daughter’s head.
He then made his way out to the hallway where Byleth was leaning against the wall, pinching her nose.
"By…"
"Not now, Claude…"
“Come on now, I think you’re being too harsh. She’s just a kid. Remember all of the stupid things we used to do when we were her age?”
Byleth turned her glare to Claude.
"The "stupid things" I did at her age tend to pale in comparison to what Sahar just did."
Claude looked over his wife and could tell there was something more to her worry. He tried to think what it could be until he remembered a certain letter that was found.
“You were scared because of that letter weren’t you?”
With the way Byleth froze, Claude could tell he got it in one.
A few days ago, reports of strange activity in a thought to be abandoned building came in. Nader and the guards investigated and all they found was a messy scrawled note.
The Coward King and his family shall die at The Festival of the Moon
“...We told Sahar and the boys… I thought she would have listened…”
“So when we couldn’t find her…”
Byleth nodded.
“I know it’s foolish… we’re war veterans and this wouldn’t even be the first assassin attempt we stopped against our family… but for a moment… I was back at Garreg Mach… holding my father’s body…”
Claude pulled Byleth into an embrace and feeling her shudder, calmingly combed his fingers through her hair.
“It’s not foolish. Even after all these years, I know all it takes is one mistake.”
The two stood like this for some time before Byleth finally took a deep breath and stepped back.
“But you’re right, I was a little too harsh. I should go back in and apologize to Sahar.”
“Yeah… the Teach Glare might’ve been a bit too much.”
“I was not using “The Teach Glare.””
“I’ve been on the receiving end of it enough times to recognize it, my dear.”
That at least seemed to bring a smile to Byleth’s face as Claude chuckled.
The two stepped back into their daughter’s room, Sahar still in the same position she was when they stepped out.
Byleth walked to the bed and took a seat in front of the girl.
“Sahar, I’m sorry I got so angry. I was just so scared but… that’s no excuse.”
Sahar lifted her head up and Byleth and Claude could see that she had been crying.
“I’m sorry for letting the wyverns out and trying to run away. I wanted to go to the festival so much even with bad people after us.”
Byleth smiled and pulled Sahar into a hug.
“You’re a brave one, our little dawn and we love you so much.”
After watching all this, Claude decided to join in on the hug.
He knew that he and Byleth would have to investigate the would-be assassins but right now, Sahar needed them more.
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Hey by the way if anyone tries to deny Kabru is a judgy bitch I’ll send you the panels of him calling everyone worthless
Respect his duality he’s a good boy who genuinely wants the best for everyone but also thinks he has to do everything himself despite being the Least Qualified Ever because no one else lives up to his standards
He doesn’t even want to look at monsters but oh well every single other person is a piece of shit let’s go get my friends killed over and over again
He’s interesting BECAUSE he’s not one dimensional Good Pure Boy all the time, he’s a judgy manipulative little shit who will eat monsters if it gets him towards his goals, which are “nobody should be killed by monsters actually” and “i want to know what the fuck is going on”
He coulda had ONE honest conversation with Laios and known literally everything about him, Laios has never met a filter
But Kabru was raised for a good chunk of his life (6-18) by Milsiril, and for all he believes elves can never understand short lived people… he picked up the whole “I must be secretive and always conceal my own motivations”
He only breaks under literally the most intense high pressure situation he’s likely to see in his life, which along with being the potential goddamn apocalypse is also a rehashing of All Of His Personal Trauma oh and also Every Suspicion He Ever Had About This One Guy
He’s not more honest because he’s an honest person, he’s more honest because he forgot how sentences work when he finally caught Laios and doesn’t have the bandwidth to play the constant 4D chess in his head that underpins his EVERY INTERACTION WITH EVERYONE EVER until Marcille takes the lion
Kabru’s a pretty good person, with extremely good motivations and goals.
He’s a manipulative son of a bitch who will do anything, anywhere, anytime, to meet those goals, and spends a solid chunk of his time and energy on reading people so he can be someone they like… regardless of his own feelings.
He’s the living The Good Of The Many Outweigh The Needs Of The Few, and solidly puts himself in with “the few” by doing shit he hates because he thinks it’ll help.
Isn’t that more interesting than “oh he would never manipulate anyone, he’s so nice and good all the time”?
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