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They had come upon them almost by accident, hardly able to see them underneath the downpour. Edelgard is shouting something, but it’s barely audible, covered by the deep crack of thunder. She points forward, rain clinging to her lashes. Two dark figures, in the grass, by the abandoned building. It’s only when they get closer, do they see what’s going on. Byleth, on his knees, cradling Jeralt’s body in his arms. His head rests against his son’s chest. Edelgard is yelling something again. It’s background static to the look on Byleth’s face.
Yuri goes down to his knees at the other side of him, reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help you carry him back,” he says, unsure if Byleth even hears him. The rain has made a river of his temples, dripping from his bangs, falling onto his cheeks. It’s clearer, here, in front of him. Whoever said the Ashen Demon had no emotions was sorely mistaken. Grief echoes clearly behind a blank stare, a stretch of loss, of continuing to lose. Byleth looks at him blankly, but allows Yuri to slip an arm underneath Jeralt.
The walk back to Garreg Mach is a hazy blur. A rush of knights and concern, of Jeralt’s body being placed on a stretcher and Byleth being dragged away. Dripping wet in the main hall with the rest of the students, Yuri watches Byleth walk away with Rhea. At the top of the steps, Byleth pauses, looks over his shoulder, his gaze finding Yuri for the briefest of moments. Then Rhea is putting her hand at the small of his back, and they disappear together. The line of Edelgard’s mouth is thin, her arms crossed. Yuri suspects it’s not just Jeralt’s death she’s angry about.
Their classes are officially on hold while things are settled. The whisper of beasts on Church grounds begins to make its way from student to student. In Abyss, sitting in one of the small chairs, his upper half stretched out over a desk, Yuri turns a chess piece over and over in his hand. He rests his chin against his arm, which is bent underneath him against the desk. He watches the knight spin, in that hand he dangles over the edge. That night, he walks with a candle down a narrow corridor. He leaves it beside the later, climbs up into Garreg Mach proper.
He always knew this corridor existed. One of the many passageways in Abyss. It comes out right beside the dormitories, but specifically right beside Byleth’s room. The moon shines brightly overhead, easily illuminating Yuri’s path to Byleth’s door. He tilts his head at the lock, before bending down and getting to work. If only people knew how little locks stop a determined thief. Yuri isn’t here for theft, however. Instead he slips into Byleth’s room, finds it dark.
The candle on the table has burned low, and needs to be replaced. The wick is a pathetic stub of a thing. Byleth’s bed is flush against the corner, and just barely, Yuri can see a fan of Byleth’s dark hair against his pillow. He’s a lump, facing the wall, but it doesn’t deter Yuri. He kicks off his shoes as he slips into Byleth’s bed, and presses himself up against Byleth’s back. Their relationship is a tentatively growing thing, a seed newly planted. It was all harmless flirting at first, of course, made into something more solid by their secret time shared in the Goddess Tower.
Byleth’s breathing is even, apparently untroubled. Yuri presses his forehead against the first bump of Byleth’s spine, easily felt underneath his thin shirt. “Jeralt raised you, yeah?” At that, Byleth’s breathing hitches. “He was all you had… You must be feeling a lot right now.” Yuri had practiced different words to say, going through sympathy after sympathy. Those words didn’t feel right. “When a parent dies, it really leaves a mark. So feel what you need to, no matter how that looks.” The lost look on Byleth’s face is still etched into Yuri’s mind.
When Byleth turns over to face Yuri, it’s a different face altogether. The tears are few but full, spilling over Byleth’s lashes, running down the side of his face. There’s pain there, as well, as if he’d suffered a physical, mortal, blow. Yuri curls himself closer, winding their legs together. He brushes back Byleth’s stray locks from his face. “Jeralt taught you well. You’ll keep fighting forward, even through the hardest times.” Yuri then opens his arms wide, puts the choice in Byleth’s hands. He accepts, moving into the embrace, safety in the way Yuri’s arms are tight around him.
Yuri doesn’t mean to stay. He had been planning on going back to Abyss for the night. His eyes creak open at the sound of birds chirping just outside, sunlight flooding in through the window. It’s unpleasantly blinding, and Yuri squints away from it, right into the sight of Byleth sleeping peacefully in his arms. Well. A little more sleep wouldn’t hurt anyone. Yuri closes his eyes, and nestles back in.