#claude/shez | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lapinbunwrites · 2 years ago

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Title: Starlit Dance

Ratings: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes

Relationships: M!Shez/Claude von Riegan

Characters: M!Shez, Claude von Riegan

Additional Tags: Fluff

Word Count: 2,057

Ao3 Link

It was no shock to Claude when everyone started to talk about the ball. Who wouldn’t? If there was one thing he really loved, it was balls and dances. You have people celebrating, you have people dancing, and you have a giant feast. Whenever there was a big dance, it reminded him a little of home. With all the talk about the ball, nothing else was being said. No juicy gossip about people’s lives, no gossip about the political leaders, or about anything else. Not that Claude minded. It was nice to see other people get excited about other things outside of their normal lifestyles.

Claude whistled as he walked around the monastery, continuing his eavesdropping. He got bits and pieces of their conversations, hearing them talk about what they were going to wear, how they were going to style their hair, and who they were going with. The only part of everyone’s conversation that stuck out was, who were people were going with. It seemed to Claude that mostly everyone had a date. And it also got him wondering, who was he going to go with? He wondered if Shez was going with anyone.

His whistling died down the closer he got the tea tables placed outside of the great hall. He smiled faintly as he saw Shez waving to him.

“Claude!” Shez called out. “Over here!”

Claude nodded as he walked over to him.

“What took you so long?” Shez teased.

“Just taking a stroll through the monastery to keep you waiting,” Claude laughed. “So what do we have here?”

“A little tea party,” Shez smiled. “Are you going to join me or do I need to find someone else to drink tea with?”

Claude laughed, pulling out the chair across from Shez.

“What did your rounds bring you? Anything interesting?” Shez asked, taking a sip of his tea.

“Everyone was talking about the ball,” Claude informed, pouring himself some of the tea into his drink.

“It’s all that people are talking about. It’s weird.” Shez commented, rolling his eyes.

“I think it’s a great thing!” Claude smiled, intertwining his fingers. “It’s nice to hear people talk about something other than their mundane problems. It is also nice to not constantly have to hear about politics all the time.”

“That is true.” Shez agreed. “It gets quite confusing to have to keep up with everything.”

“Heh. You are more of a sword than a pen,” Claude joked.

“Heh, that much is true. I leave all that thinky-brain stuff to you,” Shez joked along.

Claude nodded as he took another sip of his drink.

“Was there anything interesting that you overheard?” Shez asked.

“Only who was going with who.” Claude informed.

“Ha! That’s the juicy you’ve found?” Shez laughed.

“Heh. That’s the only thing worth reporting,” Claude laughed along with him. “While it’s not the best news, I’m still excited for this ball.”

“I think the only thing I’m excited about is the food!” Shez exclaimed.

“That is a good reason, but don’t you want to dance with somebody?” Claude asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Not really. I don’t care about these balls and dancing.”

“What if you had someone there to dance with?” Claude suggested.

“Who?” Shez asked, chugging his tea.

“Me, of course.” Claude smirked.

“You, Claudester?” Shez asked, choking on his drink.

“Why not! It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Shez smiled.

Claude smirked as he took another sip of his tea. “So what time should I pick you up?”

“Whenever you want,” Shez suggested.

Claude smiled, feeling a sense of relief. Before he could say another word, the bell for class rang. They quickly cleaned up their mess and rushed over to their classroom. They huffed and puffed when they got to class and when they sat at their seats. For the rest of the day, Claude listened to lectures about swordsmanship.

After class, Claude went straight to his room. He didn’t stay behind to talk to Shez or any of his other classmates. He opened up his notebook and began jotting down ideas to impress Shez. He sighed when he wasn’t able to write anything down. He was a man of many ideas, but he couldn’t think of anything to impress the man he cared about. Claude couldn’t be more disappointed in himself.

He left his room to make himself more tea. When he got back, he blankly stared at his notebook. He sighed again and picked up his quill. Whatever thought he had, he put it in the notebook. He did not get any sleep that night.

Claude couldn’t believe that the ball arrived so soon. It felt like yesterday he was training with the other classes and getting annihilated in a training session with Dimitri. Now he was looking at himself in the mirror, fixing his disheveled outfit. He was wearing a simple black suit with a gold accent on the edges. This was surely going to impress Shez.

He took one last look at himself in the mirror, giving himself a smile. He placed his hand on his chest as he walked through the dormitory, feeling his heart beat normally. He thought he would be a little bit more nervous about this, but he wasn’t. He felt elated.

Claude stopped at Shez’s door, waiting for him after he knocked on his door.

“Hey there, Claudester!” Shez greeted. “You look very spiffy in that suit of yours.”

“Why thank you!” Claude smiled. “You don’t look half bad in yours.”

“Thanks.” Shez laughed nervously. “Hilda made me try on every suit at the boutique she dragged me to.”

“Ha! I bet you had a real fun time with that,” Claude chuckled.

“Oh yeah. It was real fun,” Shez said, rolling his eyes. “She was a real pain about it. Got a little fussy when I picked out this suit when I first saw it.”

“I don’t blame her. It’s just a bland black suit. Where is the pizazz,” Claude teased.

“Oh please, I’m surprised that you are into wearing fancy things,” Shez said, shaking his head.

“What? I love to dress up a little when I go to fancy, schmancy balls,” Claude laughed.

Shez only shook his head.

“Shall we get going?” Claude asked, holding out his arm.

“We shall,” Shez agreed, taking his arm.

The grand hall was packed with people when they arrived. It was a bit difficult to maneuver through the seas of people going through the room. Claude breathed as he led Shez through the crowd, trying to get to the dance floor. The music started to slow down the closer they got to the middle of the room. Once Claude got to his destination, the music stopped.

“Weird. Is the music supposed to stop?” Shez asked.

“It stops for a few seconds when they want to change the style,” Claude informed, turning to face Shez.

“Oh,” Shez lulled out as the music started to pick up again. This time it was slower.

Claude smirked, as he held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

Shez nodded and took his hand.

Along with the slow song, Claude felt his heartbeat slow down. Everything felt like bliss, it didn’t even matter that all eyes were on the two of them. After the song ended, the music started to pick up to something more jovial and exciting.

“As fun as this is, I don’t have legs of steel,” Shez joked. “I think it’s about time to stop.”

“Fine, fine.” Claude agreed, giving him a wink. He grabbed his hand and dragged him across the room. “Let’s get something to eat then. You were excited about the food, right?”

“Oh yeah!” Shez exclaimed. “I wonder what they have.”

Claude smiled and led him to the tables of food. He stood in awe as he saw Shez dug right into the food. He was amazed at how much food he could stuff into his mouth. He can even rival Rahael. Claude’s amazement turned into laughter when Shez fell into a food coma.

He dragged Shez out of the ballroom and into the garden. He looked around, trying to find a place away from the prying eyes looking at them. A big smile grew upon his face as he found a place to hide. Claude did his best dragging Shez up the stairs of the Goddess Tower.

Claude playfully rolled his eyes when Shez clutched his body and not letting go. At least he had a good view of the stars.

“Mph,” Shez lulled out. “Where am I?”

“In the Goddess Tower,” Claude replied, giving him a smile.

“Ow. Why does my head hurt? And my arms? Did someone chuck me down the stairs or something?” Shez asked, rubbing his head as he sat up.

“More like the opposite,” Claude sighed. “I dragged up the stairs and dinged you up by accident.”

“Heh, you did one hell of a number on me,” Shez teased.

“Sorry, sorry.” Claude apologized.

“By the way, why did you bring me here of all places?” Shez asked, getting up from the ground.

“For some privacy.” Claude said, walking to the railing that was outside.

“What? Are you going to confess your love to me?” Shez laughed.

“Yes,” Claude stated.

“Uh what?” Shez gasped. “I wasn’t being serious!”

“But I am.” Claude smiled. “The Goddess Tower is where people go to confess their love, you know?”

“What? That isn’t true!” Shez exclaimed.

��You’ve been living here for nine months and you haven’t heard of the tales of this place?” Claude sighed.

“I probably didn’t listen.” Shez explained.

Claude placed his hands together, inhaled, exhaled, and pointed his hands towards Shez. “How did I fall in love with an idiot?”

“Don’t ask me, you’re the one with the answers.” Shez laughed. “So how do the stories go?”

“One story goes that if two lovers come up to this tower and pray together,” Claude explained. “The Goddess would come down and bless them. After that, they will be together forever.”

“That is very romantic.” Shez smiled, holding out his hands. “Well?”

Claude laughed and took his hands. As he was silently praying, he looked up to Shez and felt his heart stop. He could feel his face heat up as he watched the man he loved mumble something under his breath. The stars didn’t help by shining their light on Shez.

“So, what did you wish for?” Shez asked, opening up his eyes.

“You’re not supposed to say or the wish won’t come true.” Claude smiled.

“Well that’s a shame.” Shez sighed. “I would have loved to hear what you wished for. I hope it comes true.”

“I know it will,” Claude said, bringing Shez closer to him.

“Claude?” Shez softly said, feeling Claude’s breath against his lips.

“Will you kiss me?” Claude asked.

“Yes.” Shez agreed.

Claude was shocked, he didn’t think he would say yes. He took one breath in and exhaled before he pulled Shez’s face closer to his, pressing his lips against his. The most shocking part of this whole experience were Shez’s soft lips.

“Heh,” Shez chuckled. “You are a surprisingly good kisser.”

“You’re not half bad yourself.” Claude commented.

“We should get back.” Shez said.

“How about we stay a little while longer and look at the stars.” Claude suggested.

“Fine, fine. I don’t think I could possibly stay in a stuffy ballroom again,” Shez agreed.

As the two looked up at the stars, Claude placed his hand on Shez’s. He may have had a million ideas to impress him written down in his notebook, but none of them would beat standing here with him looking at stars.

“Is everything alright, Claude?” Shez asked, looking over to him.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Claude reassured him.

Shez nodded, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Claude felt his face heat up as he placed his hand on his cheek.

“Yeah, today was perfect,” Claude whispered to himself.

“What?” Shez asked, looking over to him.

“Nothing,” Claude said, reassuring him again.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Shez suggested. “I think you have had a little too much partying.”

“I guess you’re right,” Claude laughed.

Claude took Shez’s hand and walked back to Shez’s room. Claude gave him a peck on Shez’s cheek before going back to his and going to sleep.

—————————————————————————————————- Here is a commission done for @hibijiko!