hotel: hope

[shaft]

Comments

[shaft]

[ Claude had made peace with Byleth at Wiwaldi eventually, accepting that she wasn't the same person that has run him through, conquered his city and murdered all his friends. It wasn't fair to her, for him to begrudge her for things she had no idea of.

But with the memory so stark in his mind, the sight of Hilda's body, the smell of his city burning, it builds a familiar resentment in his chest. A desire for reparations. ]

Not the same Byleth from Wiwaldi. [ Still, he won't lie. ] Dimitri and I, and even Sylvain, Yuri and me here, we're all from different versions of Fódlan.

The Byleth you knew had sided with an entirely different army.

[highestheim]

...I see.

[ claude had told him this before, yes, but he never would have guessed... that this was the case. even though he knows neither of them have a choice in what gets shared, he feels almost guilty for witnessing such a hauntingly poignant moment in the other man's life... he's not sure how to even approach the subject. would it be more respectful to just pretend he hadn't seen anything and never speak of it again, or would it be an insult if he didn't acknowledge the trauma of seeing claude die...?

. . . ]

These places have never been keen on letting us keep secrets, have they?

[shaft]

[ Hope not knowing how to react to something deeply traumatic and personal is honestly such a mood. Claude doesn't have an answer for him either. ]

No, not in my experience. I hope you haven't had to share anything too embarrassing.

[highestheim]

[ he shakes his head, still trying to think of something appropriate to say... nah, still nothing. ]

I've been lucky in that regard, I guess. [ beat ] Given your wording, am I not the first to witness this?

[shaft]

Aw. [ nudges his chin ] Did you want to be the first?

[highestheim]

[ he doesn't even flinch, he just smiles back ]

If you'd rather not talk about it, you can just say so. You don't need to try and deflect.

[shaft]

[ stop don't be genuine

Claude just sighs, defeated. ]

There's not much to say. Death is pretty final.

[highestheim]

[ solemnly: ] Yeah, it is.

[ . . . ]

Is this what you went home to, after we left Wiwaldi?

[shaft]

I didn't go back.

Didn't seem like there was much of a point.

[highestheim]

So...

Where did you go?

[shaft]

I went on a vacation. Something more people should've done, in my opinion.

[highestheim]

[ ... a faint smile ]

I can't say I blame you for wanting a break.

[shaft]

It was smart too, to have one before winding up back here. I'm surprised more people didn't consider one.

[highestheim]

[ ... ]

Can I ask you something personal, Claude?

[shaft]

[ dude can u get more personal than watching a bro die ]

You can ask, sure.

[highestheim]

What do you plan to do with this second chance of yours?

[shaft]

[ oh, he blinks at the question. ]

I have no idea, to be honest.

[highestheim]

That's fair. I'm sure you hardly even had the time to consider the implications before ending up in another one of these situations.

...

I'm sorry for the burden you've had to carry with you this whole time.

[shaft]

[ stop he's going to feel awkward ]

We all have our burdens. [ he just smiles ] Thanks, Hope. We might not have been close before, but I'm glad for your friendship now.

[highestheim]

What can I say? I've matured over the years.

[ :') ]

[shaft]

So you have.

You were pretty mature as a kid too.

[highestheim]

[ laughs ]

Was I? Everyone says that, but I never felt that way... though I guess we are the worst judges of our own character.

[shaft]

I wouldn't call myself an expert, but you seemed quite serious most times. Focused on figuring out what was going on, and the like.

It's too bad.

[highestheim]

"Too bad"?

[shaft]

Yeah, you were only 14. Should've been allowed to do normal teen things instead of solving murders.