Fire Emblem: Three Houses Oneshots (Multiple Pairings)

"night-blooming flower " - Ashe/Felix

Length: 2.7k
Summary: Felix catches Ashe crying, and does his best.

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Felix could not sleep.

His body was tired; he'd done his regular training regimen that day, after all. But he lay in bed, tossing and turning, closing his eyes and waiting with no result. Finally, after what felt like hours, he heaved a sigh and sat up. This wasn't working; he had to try something else.

He decided to take a walk. Felix was not a poetic person by any means, but there was something pleasant about the lonely stillness of Garreg Mach at night. It felt like a different place entirely when you took away all the people, and Felix liked it much more.

He made his way south, towards the lake. He didn't frequent this area - too many other people, too far from the training grounds - and this part of campus felt even more unfamiliar now, with the only light coming from the pale moon overhead.

Then Felix realized: no, the moon wasn't the only light - there was one coming from inside the greenhouse. But why? Was someone really gardening in the middle of the night?

Felix's first thought was: Intruders!, and his heart gave a little leap of glee - he had his sword on his hip, of course; he didn't leave his room without it. Then he realized someone breaking into the monastery just to infiltrate the greenhouse was highly unlikely, and paused. It would not do to go rushing in, sword drawn, and terrify a classmate. It was most likely Raphael, eating vegetables straight out of the dirt. This almost certainly was not worth Felix's time.

But he stared at that light, and wondered; and eventually that curiosity burned so strongly he felt compelled to approach. He'd glance in, just to see who it was, just to make sure it wasn't an intruder after all. He'd be so quick, so silent the other person wouldn't even notice.

Felix crept close and peered in one of the windows, only to see a familiar silvery head. It was Ashe; he was holding a candle in one hand, but he was facing away, so Felix couldn't make out what he was doing. This gave Felix pause. Ashe liked to garden, it was true, but... why now?

As Felix watched, he realized that there was something vaguely familiar in Ashe's posture: he was a little hunched over, his shoulders shaking. Felix could not hear anything, so he couldn't be entirely sure; but the more he observed, the more confident he was that Ashe was crying.

Felix was torn. Had it been anyone else, this would have been the moment he would have scoffed and crept away. Everyone cried sometimes, even Felix, although he always chose a place he'd never be caught. He didn't give a shit for most of his classmates, but he was kind enough to respect their dignity and ignore their tears when he saw them.

But... Ashe.

Ashe didn't necessarily want his crying to be ignored. Just last week Felix had been studying in a corner of the Blue Lions' common room when he'd heard Ashe and Mercedes literally crying on each other's shoulders. What a mess, Felix had thought to himself, wishing there was a way to extricate himself from the situation without revealing his presence; but he'd just been forced to sit in a corner, trying not to hear the sound even as it grated on his nerves. And then, when they were finished, Ashe had said, "Thank you so much."

Thank you? Felix had thought, rolling his eyes. What does that mean? Thank you for... crying on me?

"Oh, it's no problem," Mercedes said. "I know how much it can help just to have someone hold you while you cry!"

Ashe had laughed weepily and agreed, and they'd left soon after; but Felix sat there for a while, thinking. His classmates were so different from him that so different he sometimes felt like a foreign exchange student adapting to a new culture. How in the world would it help anything to have someone hold you while you cried? What would be the benefit of it? In Felix's mind, it would make the crying that much worse, having someone observe your shame.