#c cute

Maybe he shouldn’t wish to be manipulated or used, in fact maybe he should feel thankful that he wasn’t. But he didn’t. What made him so different from the others on her list? Was she so disinterested in him that she wouldn’t even bother trying?

... Disinterested? What did he want her to be interested in? Caspar shook his head to get rid of that thought, he really needed to stop thinking like that. Luckily, he didn’t have to think about what his mind for very long.

“Good morning Caspar~! You’re looking handsome as ever today! Are you busy right now?” It was almost like his thoughts had summoned her before him. She was standing very close and, since they were so close in height, she was nearly face to face with him. She still needed to tilt her chin slightly upward to look at him, and she looked so... so...  

Something.

Another weird feeling fluttered around his chest and he coughed to try and clear it out. Maybe he was coming down with a cold?

“Oh, hey Hilda. No, I’m not doing anything at the moment. Do you... need something?” Perhaps it was wishful thinking on Caspar’s part, but he couldn’t help but hope she had heard him after all. Maybe she would give him answers and he would finally understand what his problem was. But it’s called wishful thinking for a reason, and he wasn’t so lucky that he’d befriended a mind reader.

“I just wanted to spend some time with my favorite guy!” Hilda linked her arm around Caspar’s and looked up at him with such soft, sweet eyes and, grinning from ear to ear, said “C’mon! Let’s go to the dining hall, I’m absolutely starving.” She didn’t even give him the chance to respond before she started dragging him with her.

Of course, she was just inviting him to eat. Anybody could do that, there was no way she actually meant anything by it.

… What was he hoping for it to mean? Gods, he was doing it again! This was so confusing; he couldn’t even understand his own thoughts!

The dining hall was absolutely bustling, it seemed like students from all three houses had gathered together. Which made sense, after all, it was the best place for students from other houses to talk and get to know each other outside of training and battles. Perhaps that’s why Hilda wanted to meet there. When they had sat down with their extremely disproportionate plates (Caspar practically had a mountain while Hilda had a few select foods), the small girl was quick to make conversation.

“It’s so nice to be able to spend time with you. Why, it almost feels like we’re the only two people here...” Her words came out in such a light hum it was almost too difficult to hear.  

“... But there’s a bunch of students here? It’s so loud I can barely hear you.”

“That’s not what I- no never mind. Explaining it would just be too embarrassing!” Now she was glancing away, peeking every so often back at Caspar, (Was she looking for something? On his face? He took a moment to swipe a finger across his jaw, just to be safe.) while caressing her face with her hands

Was he missing something? It definitely seemed like Hilda was trying to tell him something but... it was lost on him.

“I don’t understand. What’s so embarrassing? We’re eating at the dining hall with our other classmates. Doesn’t everybody do that? And we’re just chatting. Nothing about this is really-”

“Hilda! Always a pleasure to see you. Would a gorgeous girl such as yourself join me for a meal?” Gods, even his voice seemed to irritate Caspar to his core. The flirty redheaded prince, Sylvain, had come up behind Hilda while they were talking. He draped his arm delicately onto her shoulders, and gave her a wink, “It would be an absolute honor if you agreed.”

“Oh my~ As much as I would love to agree, I’m a bit busy. Maybe I’ll dine with you another time though.”

“What about later tonight? We could have some tea, share stories, and-”  

“She’s busy tonight,” Without thinking, Caspar suddenly burst into their conversation. Why did he do that?! He didn’t have any plan; he didn’t even have a reason to butt in! And yet here he was, butting in! Her business was her business, not his. But he’d already said something, so might as well get through it, “She’s busy because... I already asked her to have tea.” He begged the Gods to smite him where he stood, this was a fool's errand, there was no way he was going to get through this, Hilda was definitely going to call his bluff.

And yet, Hilda’s eyes, rather than being filled with annoyance or disgust, became quite cheerful, “Yes! I’m sorry Sylvain, but I was just about to tell you. My sweet little Caspar here has already invited me on a date. So I’m afraid I won’t be able to accompany you,” She hopped up from her seat and gave his hair a quick ruffle before turning her full attention back to Caspar, “Now! As you were saying, you wanted to meet after our classes today, right?”

“Oh, um, yes! That’s... what I said.” Wait. Did she call it a date? Is that what Sylvain was trying to do, ask her on a date? Is that what HE just did?! By this point Sylvain had already left, who knows what he had said before leaving, so Hilda chuckled and continued their conversation like normal.

“That was a pretty lame lie. I’m surprised you were able to convince him. Do you even drink tea?”

“Well I, I mean yea, sometimes. Not a lot. But it came out of nowhere, I didn’t know what to say!”

“And why did you say anything,” Hilda bat her eyelashes innocently, but they seemed to hold the knowledge he wished to know, “You could have just let me have tea with Sylvain, it’s not like you needed to stop him.”  

“Because-! I don’t know! Probably ‘cause I felt angry? I just felt like I had to step in, that’s all.” Now HE was the one feeling embarrassed, maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.

Despite what he was thinking, Hilda was absolutely beaming. She quickly reached out and grabbed Caspar’s hand, giggling cutely, “So, you were jealous?”

It was a triple kill.

That hand grab.

Her sweet smile and soft laugh.

Being told he was jealous.

The poor boy never stood a chance.  

He shoved his face into his free hand, groaning under his breath, “I don’t- of course not I- That's ridiculous I’ve never- Why would I even be jealous? That’s, That’s silly, I-” That boy could barely form a coherent sentence while Hilda just relished in his stammering. It was quite rare to see him act like that. She just had to see his cute face. While he was distracted talking to himself, she reached with her other hand and pulled his own away from his face. It was certainly a sight to behold.

His face was tinted with a blush while he looked at the ground. When she’d yanked his hand away, he opened his mouth like he was going to make an excuse, then pursed his lips as he looked away again.

“Can... Can you let go of my hand? It’s a bit...” It was far more intimate than Caspar was used to. Nobody ever really touched him so... delicately. Especially when it came to the family he grew up in. Most of the time, he was just getting into fights, it was rare for someone to do something like this. Though, he had to admit, he kind of liked it.

Hilda hummed softly, seeming to ponder before letting go, “Alright. But when we go on that date, you’ll let me hold your hand all I like, right?” And there was that grin again. How could anybody say no when she looked so... so...

Pretty.