#rip claude

   with each clank of the guard’s armor, you can feel your heart speed up. claude can sense your anxiety, and grabs your hand -- both to calm you down and to make sure he didn’t leave you if he needed to bolt. but, instead of stopping outside your door, you hear chattering, and then they move on. letting out a sigh of relief, you grip his hand tighter, bringing it to your chest.

   “see? told you we’d be just fine.” his voice is right by your ear, and you jump at the closeness of him to you. 

   “i still have to get back to my room,” your voice is still low, despite there being little apparent danger, “which is across the camp.” you hear him laugh quietly, pulling you into his chest. 

   “you can always stay in my room, you know.” he leans down so that his cheek is touching yours. you can feel his heartbeat against your back.

   “that’d be indecent, claude, and you know it.” your cheeks are flushed at all of claude’s teasing. “can you imagine if hilda found out? she’d tell the whole camp and we’d--”

   “you worry too much...” you can see his eyes from the moonlight that creeps in through the half-open door: half-lidded and wanting. 

   claude lets go of you and pushes the door, the room becoming suddenly dark except for the small amount of moonlight that sneaks through the cracks. he backs you against the wall, his hand running through your hair. he’s so glad for being an archer, it made his vision so much better, to where he could almost make you out in the dark.

   “can i?” he asks gently, his hand moving to your jawline as he moves his thumb gently over your bottom lip. he knows the answer but asks anyways. your eyes dilate when you look back up at him, your body shifting to lean into his touch, you wanted him to kiss you. he could read you like a book, at this point.

   or at least he thought he could. he certainly didn’t expect you to pull him down by the lapels, bringing him into a passionate kiss.

   he makes a surprised noise against your lips, and you pull back, laughing as he wraps his arms around your waist.

   “claude didn’t we have a mission?” you ask, breathless, in-between him peppering you with kisses. “dimitri’s spear is right there, you know.”

   “mmm don’t mention him when i’m kissin’ you, babe.” he lightly pushes you back against the wall, one arm now resting on the wall above your head and the other at your waist. “ruins the mood.” he pulls you flush against him, kissing you deeper and you can feel him start to get antsy. his hand at your waist moves up your side, lips moving against yours feverishly. you bury your hands in his hair, mussing up his messy curls. 

   “and you know what ruins my mood,” a familiar, sing-song voice interrupts, and you push claude off of you on instinct. however, his arm around your waist remains. “having to deal with brats when i’m supposed to be on a date.”

   “p-professor manuela i’m--” you start, but claude cuts you off.

   “professor manuela we are so sorry. we haven’t had much time to go on dates since we’ve been studying so much, so we thought we’d sneak out at night and have some alone time.” your cheeks fluster at the implication, and it takes everything in you not to protest.

   “...i see.” she doesn’t appear to have bought his excuse, “well, giving you proper punishment would cut more into my time, so i’ll let you two off with a warning. if i catch you again, it won’t be pretty. understand?”

   “yes ma’am, thank you so much professor.” claude bows, and tugs you along. manuela appears to be inspecting you both, and turns to face the two of you as you stride towards the exit.

   “and [name], make sure you wipe off claude’s lipstick.” she says with a bemused smile, “wouldn’t want people talking.” mortified, you nod, and continue walking towards your dorms. 

   once out of earshot of manuela, you turn to claude:

   “i am never helping you ever again. ever! i mean it this time.”