Imagine Seteth comforting you when you're sad?
A/N: Just some messy stream of thought Seteth light angst... 🥰 I'll likely go over it and edit it once I'm in the computer tomorrow. For now enjoy?
Given how hard he had fell for you, Seteth was quite proud of how well he had managed to hide it, really. He only really approached you when he had work-related matters to discuss (even if one thing always led to another, and the meetings more often than not ended up stretching for hours...), and that one time he had taken you out for dinner, well, after you had been stood up by your date, one could argue it was just the right thing to do... right?
Tonight was one other such ocassion where he had jumped at the chance to do the gentlemanly thing. After the archbishop had rejected the proposal you had worked on so hard for the past few months to present to her, you had withdrawn from your usual activities, and become uncharacteristically quiet. Seteth had, of course, noticed this —it was a part of his job to keep an eye on all that happened on the Monastery, after all— and could not shake it off his mind, so after all his day's work was done, he came to pay a visit to you.
It broke his heart to see you were wiping some tears off your face when you opened the door to your room.
"Oh." Having removed most of the outer layers of your clothing and untied your hair, you were clearly getting ready for bed, and in doing so you had allowed yourself to crumble under the weight of it all at last. "Hi, Seteth. Is there something you need?"
"I... my apologies, Y/N." He said, his cheeks slightly red, even if your undershirt and pants did not really reveal any more skin than your usual attire did "I should have known you would call the day off sooner than usual."
"It's fine." You told him, walking back inside the room as you worked on removing your earring, leaving the door open for him to enter if that's what he wanted. "I'm not really sleepy, or anything. What is it?"
Seteth sighed and walked in, closing the door behind him before he spoke.
"It's... in fact you." He said, as he had rehearsed on his way to your room. "I wanted to talk about you."
You turned around, a little confused. "About me?"
"Yes." He continued. "I could not help but notice how the archbishop's decision has affected you. Knowing her closely, I can assure you that had the funds been available, she would have moved forward with your project."
You sat down on your bed, looking down and kicking your feet in the air.
"It was just so important to me." You told him, finding some relief in taking the feelings off your chest "After all that I've been through, I wanted to make a difference."
Up until now, you had not stopped to question why he seemed to be so Tense, or why he had waited until so late in the day to come speak to you. It was not unusual to see him offer advice to the followers of the Church, including you. Was it because of the moonlight? Those other times had never felt as intimate as this.
"I see. I... I know." He corrected himself, sitting next to you on your bed, looking tired himself, too tired to pretend that he didn't want to be sitting even closer. "But this does not mean that you haven't. I believe that since you came here, you have made a profound impact, in all of us."
Being so close to him brought you out of your thoughts for a moment. You looked into his green eyes, hoping he didn't notice the way that your breath hitched.
"In... all?" You dared to ask. "Even in you?"
To your surprise he relaxed, and then showed you that warm smile that you had come to love and treasure so dearly.
"If you must know, I'd dare say I am the one you have influenced the most."
You felt your blood rush through your body, and thought to yourself that you had to be reading more into this than what was really there. This feeling was also sadly familiar.
After your brief moment of weakness, you stiffened up, your hopelessly devoted aghast gaze turning into a slight, frustrated frown.
"You have no right to do this." You told him, grabbing the looser fabric of his cassack near his shoulder, then looking down. "Not right now."
He mirrored your movements and rested a hand on your shoulder, the other on your upper arm, crouching slightly as to get a better look at the face you were trying to hide.
"Y/N, I don't understand..."
His words made you break once more into tears. Of course he didn't know. He didn't know how many sleepless nights, tossing and turning in bed, the mixed signals he kept sending you had caused.
Before you knew it, however, you had leaned forward into him, and he had tightened his arms around you, holding you close. What a clueless, clueless man, you thought. And how much you loved him, you thought, as you bawled your eyes out in his arms.
"Just tell me. Please. Just tell me." You told him, burying your head in his chest. "Please tell me if you like me. Just say it. I need to— I need to hear it from you."
Seteth slowly nodded, which you could only barely feel. Putting it to words was a little more difficult, but he managed as well. "I do. Yes, I..." He sighed deeply, relaxing into the hug. "—I do. Dearly. Desperately. I am sorry."
You had pleaded your request out of desperation, but that did not mean you were prepared to hear an actual answer. Perhaps because you were feeling now simply too many things at once, you stopped crying, and silently pulled slightly away, just far away enough so you could see his face. He looked like you had never seen him look. Unsure, hesitant, out of answers. Vulnerable.
"Do you..." He began. You could not believe he actually also had to ask. "Do you feel that way, too?"
It frustrated you just how much you loved this man. You nodded, and then offered him the same reassurance he had offered you. "Yes—" You stated like it was obvious through a tired, relieved smile before letting yourself fall back into his hug. "I like you too, Seteth. Thank you for coming to see me tonight."
