𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 . / null

     AT SOME POINT annette starts wondering why the church even continues to bother assigning her chores .  at the end of the day ,  all she does is mess things up further ,  leaving MORE work for whoever is next .  the scene around her  ( shattered pots ; scattered soil ; ruined flowers )  is a painful reminder of that .  LITERALLY .

     ❛❛  owwwww ,  ❜❜  she groans ,  WINCING .  she’s bitten her tongue ,  it seems ,  gracing her with a new sharp pain to compliment the familiar ones ,  and the bitter taste of iron fills her mouth .  she wants to spit / to scream / to cry ,  but there’s a hand offered to her before she can decide on which to do first .  byleth’s cool colored eyes look down on her ,  WIDE & WORRIED .  the last thing annette wants to do is cry in front of her professor — to make things worse yet again — so she bites down the urge to sob & quiets her uncle’s voice in her mind ( FAILURE FAILURE FAILURE ) ,  painting an apologetic smile on her lips instead as she takes the hand & stands ,  ❛❛  oh ,  it’s nothing i’m not used to professor !  i feel worse for the poor flowers ,  honestly .  ❜❜  she looks to the ruins of dirt & petals ,  ❛❛  i’m … really sorry about that ,  by the way .  ❜❜

Hesitance in the hand that aided her , she doesn’t want to pull away almost , but knew she should. Worry pressed her brows together , firm , lips puffed into a faint pout. That must’ve hurt , she figured ———— but it must hurt more to pretend to be alright.

Byleth pays no mind to the ruin beneath her feet , but the soil staining her clothes. She pays no mind to the fallen flowers , but the wilted flower opposed to her , biting back something she fought to grasp. Sadness? Grief? Something more? Byleth was more pensive , worried , curious. There was something to the Blue Lion house that weighed her heart in ways she couldn’t formulate. Each student held something behind their eyes , and hers an analytical stare.

` It’s okay. As long as you’re alright. You’re not hurt anywhere , are you? ’   We can always plant more flowers , she wants to say , but the words don’t come out her mouth. But we can only lose one of you. 

                                            𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝  /  always accepting.

The White Heron Cup approaches ———— the festivities were infectious throughout the entire monastery. Byleth had never known this simple joy , and it first it settled into her chest as a simple responsibility and nothing more. Choose your dance competitor , she was told. Only one student per class can be selected to participate in the competition.  

Her classroom was riddled with low susurrus about the upcoming event , bright smiles , anxious fumbling of their hands , the disinterest of one huffing and arms crossed in his own corner ———— Byleth held her chalk like an instrument of war , and with lidded eyes observed her students like they should have observed her teaching’s. At the time  , she couldn’t bring herself to ahem to catch their attention again once they’ve gotten rowdy , no sound or single word to alert their sense. 

It was then , seeing the normally so attentive , proper , eager to learn students grow rumbustious with enthusiasm planted a flower in her chest. They’d grow silent at her unnerving stare , and she only replied with a smile , going back to scribbling formulas and strategies onto the board with picturesque perfect handwriting.

Something new awoke in her.Maybe it was excited intentness as well.So she didn’t scold them , she smiled , and smiled throughout the rest of her lesson , performing her teaching’s as she would any other day.They paid attention then.

                                                           …

When the time came , Ashe was selected. There was a particular charm to him , a uniqueness , ingenuity that he proudly held firm. A proud knight-to-be , an elegance to surely capture the hearts of the judges. She had only hoped they saw the potential in him that she did. 

With participation came practice. And with practice came praise.She’s yet to tell him he’s been chosen.His stalwart conviction is being evaluated with a dance.

` That’s why we’re practicing. ’  She reassures , not so skilled in the art herself.  ` With practice comes error , so don’t shy away from the mistakes.  ’  Her own finesse was in the works with several other students who wished to practice , wished to learn ———— and she swallowed her ignorance of the subject matter and pursued the craft for their sake. 

The steps were simple , nothing too advanced , the sways were calculated , their feet stumbled with each other only slightly in a way that was comedic with how in unison it all was.  ` You’re doing great so far. ’  Byleth said, truthfully. Some others who took her hands were more clumsy than others.

Something about his strive for gallantry , an admirable hero , to capture the hearts of simple townsfolk with a pointed bow and honorable deeds ———— it piqued her decision in showing him off in the spotlight. To gain the confidence you want to wear so virtuously in battle , capturing their hearts with the simplicity of just being you seemed like . . a nice approach! A fun , lighthearted approach that held potential to encourage his motivation. 

His kind heart , a heart once sullied at the hands of unfortunate happenstance , dirt staining worn cloth , responsibilities not meant for a youth , reached out to her own. Maybe she had a soft spot for this kid , but this was by no means favoritism.

          “  OOH ,  THREATENING  TO  start  a  war ?  That’s  just  an  ordinary  TUESDAY  in  my  classroom .  ”  Rowdy  bastards ,  he  thinks  in  a  voice  not  too  dissimilar  from  Jeralt’s  own .  A  hand  raises  to  pinch  the  bridge  of  his  nose .  “  You  and  I  can  just  pull  in ,  order  a  black  coffee ,  and  go .  That  should  teach  them .  ”

         “  WHY  ARE  WE  going  to  Taco  Bell ? …  But  since  you’re  asking ,  a  Crunchwrap  Supreme .  ”

SO  WHAT  HAPPENED .  (  @unthrum .  )

` The students seemed hungry. They were threatening to start a war. I thought , perhaps , putting something on their stomach would ease their irritability. ’   Perhaps a snickers would’ve been the best route , but it seemed silly now to use divine pulse. 

                                           𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝  /  always accepting.

`  ———— !  ’   Little resistance , too much trust placed into the hands of a man who can snap her bones and crunch them between the webs of his fingers. There was no reason to be afraid , she knows that , but that doesn’t stop the warranted concern.  ` Dimitri . . ? ’  No fight , no movement of her muscles aside from the head tilt , the rise of her upper body to capture just a look of him with widened eyes and slightly agape lips.  

his embarrassment flourishes in his face  &  a red hue colors the tops of his cheeks.  ❝  no—-   gods,  i hate dressing up.  ❞  he pulls at his collar,  his irritation practically rolling off of him in waves.  a part of him acknowledges that no prince from a foreign country should act in such an aloof way when the ball was arranged in ylisse’s name,  but that surely wouldn’t stop him from complaining to certain ears.  ❝  do not mistake me,  lady rhea is an exceptionally kind host,  but i wasn’t expecting all of this. ❞  he gestures to the elaborately decorated room,  a small orchestra  &  choir harmonizing in the front  &  elegantly dressed strangers mingling about.  he knew he was to meet them all at some point during the night,  but for now—-

❝  does the academy usually hold events like this ?  please don’t tell me it’s just because we’re here.  gods,  the trouble they had to go through just for three people. ❞

There was a certain charm to him she wasn’t sure how to digest , how to react to , the unfamiliarity of being endeared by the flame engulfing his face all but left a laugh to roll out her lips. Perhaps it were inappropriate , but it was a short lasting giggle all the same.

Herself , donned in more formal wear wore on her tightly , snug in places she wasn’t particularly used to. The urges to tug on the tight fabrics to give her breath leeway , to rub her eyes free from the make-up she wasn’t used to ———— hair once done up for the festivities fell back to its usual unkempt waves.

` I haven’t been here long , i’m afraid. But I do know they host an annual ball shortly after the White Heron Cup dance competition. It’s tradition here. ’  Will this ease his nerves , she wonders , she hopes.  ` Your arrival was perfectly timed. ’   More reassurance. Her eyes were tired from the event itself , but her smile still hung gently onto her.  

There was a certain craft to this that she had yet to understand ; and in this moment she became a student of cosmetology ———— still , unnervingly still. Things she knew little about prodded her eyes , weighed her skin , brought forth an abnormal pattern of excessive blinking. Lips pressed into a faint pout , brows twined just gently together. 

                                     𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬  .   /   accepting  .

Marianne was a soft heart , an even softer presence ———— gentle , pure , a silence she didn’t mind. Byleth was never short on thoughts , but short on the words that weren’t familiar on her tongue just yet. She smiled all the same. There was a comfort that settled onto her like a warm blanket , something that enveloped her in reassurance that this was okay , that this was safe , that above all else she trusts her ———— that she had learned what it meant to be friends with people she once held at a distance from her newly budded heart. A distance not so much meant to shy away from all intruders to her kindness , but a distance of the unfamiliarity of what it meant to develop bonds , invisible knots tied to keep them together.

The world around them carried on in flowing breezes and the ambiance of nature songs. They sat , cross legged , and Byleth had always found it fascinating how all lively spirits found a liking to Marianne’s presence. Marianne was like a fairy tale ; living proof that even princesses spoken in flower language and fantasies were real. 

There was a charm to her that she had hoped everyone else saw. There was a beauty to her that she had hoped everyone else got to see. 

when i get home . i want to further elaborate on a few things!

———— why byleth charged head on to protect edelgard in the beginning / why she was just so reckless.

———— how her fathers passing has affected her 

———— her insecurities / fear of failing and meeting her students expectations 

———— how her teachings change / adapt as she gets to know her students more / get to know them more as friends and not just people ‘ beneath ‘ her in terms of an authoritative stand point / how she sees them on equal footing (esp post-time skip when they start teaching her things and the roles reverse / she becomes their student.)