#fe 16

“What happened??” 

“I do not know, but she can't stop crying. I fear she may have hurt herself, or worse.” You replied as you both hit the stairs. 

You rushed up, skipping two steps at a time to keep up with Felix’s ever-increasing speed. Though to be fair, it did seem to be an emergency.

He could hear her wails through the bedroom doors. She was only three months old-- what could possibly have upset her so badly?!

Felix burst into the room with a hand on his blade,  ready to take down whoever had hurt his daughter.

To his surprise, it was just Flayn, trying to soothe the baby in her arms. So far it wasn’t working.

She was startled by the sudden entrance, but it gave way to relief when she saw the parents hurrying to her and the caterwauling baby.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re back! I’m sorry, Archbishop, I really tried, but nothing will calm her down!”

“It’s fine, Flayn. I didn’t expect you to. When she gets like this, there’s only one person who can.” You replied cryptically as you reached for the baby.

Flayn was more than happy to hand her over, though the crying did not stop even in her mother’s arms. Felix pressed close, running his hand over her hair, searching for the source of her anguish.

“Is she hungry? Or did she eat something she wasn’t supposed to? Was she bitten by something??” His touch seemed to catch the little girl’s attention, her loud crying slowly turning into sniffled sobs. 

“No, she’s not hungry or hurt. She just wanted to see you.” 

His face blanched when you passed the baby to him. Almost as soon as she was held by her father, the crying stopped.

“I…what?” 

Father and daughter stared blankly at each other, though his daughter’s wide, tear-rimmed eyes were far cuter than his.

He looked between Eisner and his wife, deeply confused by the situation. You simply shrugged, gesturing at the three-month-old.

“When she’s inconsolable like that, it’s usually because she misses you.” 

“What? How do you-?” He racked his brain, trying to think of a time when this happened before. There had been some times where she was fussy when you held her, but nothing like this.

Flayn giggled, “Does this mean she likes you better than the Archbishop? What a surprise!”

“I knew she’d be a daddy’s girl from the first day." You smiled at them, watching Felix’s face slowly turn red. “Don’t you remember how she wailed when she was born? But as soon as you got your hands on her, she fell right asleep.”

“How sweet!!”

“All right, all right-”

“And every time she wakes up in the night crying, Felix takes care of her. Unless she needs to eat, of course.”

“W-well I’m not gonna make you take care of her on top of everything else you do! You need your rest more than anybody!”

“I know,” You reached up to cup his blushing face (which only made it worse), “That’s why I know you’re her favorite. She knows you’ll take care of her.”

Flayn’s squeal was barely suppressed- which only served to bring Felix closer to bursting into flames.

“Enough! Don’t you have other duties to tend to?!” 

“I suppose I do, milord.” She curtsied with an impish grin, “Do let me know if the two of you require any assistance! Though it seems you’re fine now that Papa’s here.”

“You-!!” 

“That’ll be all, Flayn.” You dismissed her with a chuckle. The silly girl made a break for the door before Felix could throw something.

He glared sharply at you, turning his nose up at his ridiculous wife.

“Honestly, why do you encourage her? You couldn’t let me keep a shred of dignity today?”

“What do you mean? I think it’s incredibly dignified that you’re such an attentive father. Do you think it’s embarrassing?”

“Of course I don’t.” He snapped, “I just...don’t need Flayn running around telling other people about it. Sylvain would mock me for years if he knew I sprinted across campus because my daughter cried.”

“If he tries to tease you about it, you can make fun of him for being a deadbeat.”

“He’s not a deadbeat, he’s just a moron.” He huffed, bouncing the gurgling baby girl. “Besides, it’s your day off. You shouldn’t have to worry about anything and resting properly.”

“Well we were, until she wanted to see you. And now I’m sure you realize that when she wants you, she’s unstoppable.”

Felix smiled softly at his little daughter. “Yes, I suppose I do. Thank you for making it clear which parent is your favorite, Eisner.”

“Whoa, now…I didn’t say anything about being the favorite.” You nudged his shoulder, “She just prefers your company when she’s upset. She sees you more as a nursemaid than anything else.”

“No, you’ve made it clear, as has my daughter. She prefers her father’s love over her mother…which is completely reasonable.”

You shook your head, watching the little girl’s eyes sparkle at her father’s smile. “Oh, dear…I fear we’ve created a monster, Eisner.”

“Don’t try to win her over now- she won’t be swayed from her father’s love.” His chest puffed with pride, all while planting a barrage of kisses to her chubby little cheeks. “Now is there anything else you need? Or should you get back to lazing around while I tend to our child?”

“I just needed you to make her stop crying. You can get back to work. It’s not your day off.” You reminded him with a cheeky grin, though Felix was unconvinced.

“If I leave again she'll cry, will she not? Perhaps I ought to stay. I can afford a half day to make sure you’re not doing anything strenuous.”

“If you’re offering to spend the rest of the day with your girls…we would be happy to have you.” You wrapped an arm around his waist, tousling Eisner’s hair.

Felix leaned over, kissing the top of your head. “Let me head back to the office to finish up a few things, then the rest of my day is yours.”

“Shall I take Eisner until you-”

“No, no. Best she come with me. Wouldn’t want her to start crying again while she’s waiting for her favorite parent to come back.”

“...On second thought, maybe we don’t want you to stay with-”

“Too late! It’s been decided.” He grinned, turning on his heel with his giggling little daughter in tow. “Come along, Eisner. Let’s take care of business.”

You shook your head in disbelief, watching the man you married march from the room with a babbling baby in tow. 

Whether he admitted it or not, he was over the moon that Eisner was so comforted by her father. And he would gladly cross oceans and mountains just to dry her tears. A little sprint across the monastery was nothing.

Group #1 - Dimitri and the other citizens of Faerghus (8 other Blue Lions + Gilbert)

Dimitri has a multi-layered relationship with all of the other 8 Blue Lions. They are citizens of the country he is a prince of, therefore he is ranked very highly in social standing above them. But they are also his friends, classmates, and later, war allies; placing them on the same social level in that regard. So the way they speak to him comes down to a little bit of column A - personality, and a little bit of column B - which aspect of their relationship with Dimitri they feel is the "main" one.

Gilbert is also here in this category, as another person from Faerghus.

Dedue: Dimitri speaks casually, Dedue speaks formally, as they have a lord/ servant relationship. Dimitri wants Dedue to be a very close friend to him though, and wants Dedue to speak casually with him - this is a major source of tension in their supports. In the end, being able to mutually speak casually with each other and be friends, is a place they may reach one day. With other characters, Dedue speaks casually.

Felix: As royalty above Felix's noble house, Dimitri speaks casually. Felix is Felix, so he speaks casually too. I imagine he sees Dimitri quite literally as more of a wild boar than a human being, much less royalty.

Ashe: Dimitri speaks casually, Ashe speaks formally. However, pretty much the whole point of their supports is Dimitri attempting to get Ashe to speak casually with him.. Ashe tries in earnest to switch, but in the end sticks with speaking formally, otherwise he feels too uncomfortable. His view of Dimitri as his prince is too strong for him to let go and speak casually.

Sylvain: Dimitri speaks casually, and Sylvain speaks casually more often, but actually switches to desu and masu more than once. When a relationship is "in-between" higher/lower social standing and friendship, it's not uncommon for at least one person to switch back and forth between casual and polite speech, depending on which side of the relationship they are appealing to more at the moment. This happens in real life too as people shift from strangers, coworkers, etc. to friends.

Mercedes: They both speak casually. In Mercedes' case, I think she's speaks more in-line with her personality rather than paying attention to social status.

Annette: Both speak casually, but Annette is well aware that there's something a little wrong with that - her father would never let her get away with it if he knew!

Ingrid: Dimitri speaks casually, Ingrid speaks formally. But I think Ingrid speaks formally with everyone.

Gilbert: As you can probably guess based on my comments in Dimitri and Annette's analysis, her father most certainly speaks formally with Dimitri! He is very formal and takes social heirarchy very seriously. Dimitri, as the prince above him in social status, speaks casually.

Group #2 - The other characters at the monastary:

Since the remaining characters are not from Faerghus, Dimitri is not their prince. They'll be more likely to view him through the lens of a different relationship than royalty/ subject.

Catherine is originally from Faerghus yes, but she has cut her ties from her homeland completely to serve Rhea, so she fits into this group now.

Raphael: Both speak casually. I think Raphael treats everyone like a life-long friend!! He at least attaches san or sensei (teacher) to the names of his instructors, but that's about it for formal language for him.

Marianne: Dimitri speaks casually. Marianne speaks formally, as she does with everyone. I think she even attaches san to everyone's name, conveying how much she keeps her distance from people, trying not to form close relationships.

Flayn: Dimitri speaks casually. Flayn speaks formally, as I think she does with everyone.

Hapi: Both speak casually. I think Hapi speaks casually with everyone.

Alois: Now *here's* where things get interesting! At this point, I really thought I would discover that Dimitri speaks casually with everyone. But alas, he does NOT! Dimitri speaks formally with Alois, while Alois speaks casually to him. Why? Well, while Dimitri is a prince, he's also a student at Garreg Mach (in Part 1 of course). In this way, he is below all Garreg Mach staff and professors in social standing. So it makes perfect sense that he'd speak formally and Alois would be casual in this case.

Catherine: Same situation as Dimitri and Alois - as someone who serves as an instructor at Garreg Mach, all students like Dimitri are below her in status at the monastary. So Dimitri speaks formally, and she speaks casually.

Byleth: I left Byleth for last, because while Byleth is a professor at the monastary... Dimitri speaks casually with them. I imagine this has more to do with Byleth being the self insert than anything. Everyone bonds to Byleth on a deep level faster than magnets stick together.

And that's all I can think of to say for now! This is a super fun example of how nuanced Japanese's casual vs. formal language can get, and showcases one of the many reasons why Japanese has such a high barrier of entry for anyone learning it - including young native speakers! You don't get all this desu and masu stuff, until finally you just do.

Let me know if I missed anything, or if anyone has any follow up comments to make!