Race Against Time

Let Me Paint You a Picture

"I'm done!"

Byleth looked at her painting, feeling mildly satisfied. Okay, it wasn't the best, but she could tell what it was supposed to be this time, at the very least! She added some trees into the background just for fun, and a moon hanging high in the sky.

"You're done?" Claude commented, a disgruntled look on his own face. "That was quick. Alright, I'll try to hurry. This isn't as easy as it looks."

"Trust me, I know. This was hard enough."

Bored, she decided to add a couple of more blue streaks into her sky and some extra green into her trees. It definitely looked how it was supposed to, that much she was sure of. It wasn't good, no, but she had tried!

She saw the students below them heading out. One of them looked oddly familiar, with round glasses and blonde hair. Byleth dismissed the thought as Claude took her attention with a yell.

"Alright, I'm done! Do you wanna see mine first, or do you wanna go?"

"I can go."

Byleth swiveled her easel in his direction. Part of her was nervous that he'd reject it, the other half of her knew better than to think that. Her fears were quickly resolved as his smile grew wider, and he clapped.

"It's a drum set!" Claude said energetically, and Byleth's jaw dropped. She began to hurriedly explain that he was wrong, but Claude just laughed. "Sorry, Teach, I was just making a joke. Honestly, I love it! I told you that you would have been a Golden Deer."

Byleth had indeed drawn a deer for him, it's antlers dangling proudly and flamboyantly. While the legs were a little wobbly, you could still tell what they were. Byleth's favorite part, however, was the fluffy little tail attached to the deer. The moon stood over the deer in a blue sky, with trees lining the sides of the deer. All in all, Byleth would say she'd done an...okay job. She wasn't going to get cocky about it! But it had done the job. It had gotten Claude to smile wider, and that was all she needed. For his smile to grow bigger, somehow lazier, and his eyes to soften. That was what Byleth liked to see most about him...

"Well, I'm a late Golden Deer," Byleth said,
snapping herself out of her thoughts before she began to daydream about the boy in front of her. "I never pledged to another house, and as the former leader of the Golden Deer, you can do that...right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Claude fumbled around before raising his paintbrush in a elegant matter. His voice lowered several octaves, making Byleth laugh. "I, Claude von Riegan, hereby declare Byleth Eisner a Golden Deer! For better or worse, in sickness or in health, you shall abide by the Golden Deer code;
fear the deer!"

"Fear the deer!"

"Alright, that's it," Claude shrugged. "We weren't too formal in the deer, not that changes how we
have the best slogan ever. It's great, it's catchy, and- oh my gosh, I almost forgot! Say it again, and put your hands like this!"

He put his hands on top of his head, mimicking a deer's antlers. Byleth chuckled before following his actions.

"Fear the deer!"

"There you go! You're an honorary deer. Oh, wait, I forgot one thing-"

He quickly pulled her into a kiss, catching her completely off guard as her hood was knocked off of her head. She quickly melted into his embrace, enjoying the warm kiss as she wrapped  her arms around his shoulders. She wished he'd lower his hands toward her pounding heart...

"Okay, you're officially a Golden Deer now," Claude said, pulling away despite Byleth's immediate disappointment. Claude grinned. "Now, would you like to see mine?"

""Of course."

"Alright, then. Voila!"

Claude turned his easel toward her, revealing a portrait of...her. Her hair was fully teal in this picture, much to Byleth's delight. It wasn't the best drawing, but Byleth could tell it was her, and that was what mattered. It looked enough like her, anyway. It wasn't a stick figure, so that was enough.

"Claude, I love it," Byleth said softly. "Thank you."

"It's not that good, you don't have to lie-"

"Well, I love it, so..."

Claude smiled.

"Then I guess I'm mistaken. If you love it, then it must be good."

She grinned.

"Of course."

"...You know, a real artist would probably shame our drawings," Claude chuckled. "But I think they're good. I like them."

"Well, art is about the emotion you put into it," Byleth said instead. "And I think there is a lot of positive emotion in our art...so our art is still good. See?"

He smiled at her.

"I like it when you're positive like this."

Byleth hadn't even noticed that's what she'd been doing, but she nodded and smiled too. She was getting better...because she knew she'd be okay. She trusted him.

"Me too."

for totalllllllly non related reasons, how would you guys feel about a "golden" (haha) route path without byleth? would you all be against it, or is it okay to just focus on the house leaders/church/other characters? not sure what to do.

for no reason, of course.

thanks for reading!