There were beautiful flowers blooming all over the park, ranging from all different colors. The blossoms were mostly white or gold, with a couple specks of blue and crimson mixed in. Green stems held up the strong flowers, accentuating the beauty of the blossoms. Byleth gazed in awe as Claude grinned.
"This is my favorite time of the year," Claude said softly as he too glanced over the flowers, a wondrous look in his soft emerald eyes. "What could be wrong with this?"
"This is beautiful," Byleth agreed, her eyes landing upon a golden magnolia. It seemed to shine particularly bright underneath the sun's glow. "...I didn't think spring would be your favorite."
"What's not to love?" Claude grinned, gesturing at the nature around them. Trees blew gently in the calm wind, further emphasizing the tranquility of the place. "You've got rain, flowers, green grass... everything is just coming to life. It's great after a dead winter."
"I guess that's all true," Byleth agreed as they continued to walk along the path. "I don't know...I just never really thought about that."
"Well, that's cause you didn't know me," Claude winked, and Byleth felt her beating heart go all aflutter. "Ah, Teach. Do you have any social media? I kept forgetting to ask you."
"What? Oh, no," Byleth had never needed to have one; after all, what friends did she have anyway? Sothis had always bugged her to get one, and Byleth had always declined. "I never needed it."
"Well, no one needs it," Claude reminded her as they strolled through the park. "But it's fun! See, here, let me show you..."
Claude fumbled for something in his shorts pocket before fishing out his phone. He held it up triumphantly, unlocking it before pressing on a yellow app with a ghost on it.
"This here is Snapchat," Claude introduced her to the medium, holding his phone for her to see. "This is just for communicating with friends when you wanna see their face...oh, and if you're bored, there's some filters you can use."
"I don't want to use filters to make myself look better," Byleth said plainly. She had always thought that people who did that were superficial and vain. Claude just shook his head.
"It's not about that, at least not on here," Claude clarified, holding down on his face. Dog ears appeared on his head along with a little nose on his own. "These are fun filters!"
As he talked, a dog tongue popped out of his mouth. Byleth gasped in surprise, and Claude moved the camera so they were both in it. Just like him, dog ears appeared on her as well. Byleth subconsciously touched her head as if to touch the ears.
"Oh, that's-" Byleth interrupted herself in surprise as a dog tongue came out of her own mouth. "Whoa!"
"Haha! That's just the start of it, too," Claude flipped through some filters before finally landing upon the one he was looking through. Her mouth and eyes grew big while her nose grew smaller. She giggled at this, and Claude grinned at her delightful reaction. "See, Teach? You didn't need to do this...but you're having fun with it now, aren't you?"
"Well-Uh...Yeah, I suppose you're right."
"See?" Claude flipped to another filter, and three purple butterflies appeared on both of their faces. "Alright, Teach...smile!"
The two smiled as Claude snapped a quick photo of them, and Claude saved it to his phone with a cheeky grin. He placed his phone back into his pocket.
"You should consider getting something. I promise it's fun...but anyway, here it is. The lake!"
Byleth glanced up to see a beautiful stretch of water with the sparks of water glimmering in the sun. It was a pond with some pink lotus flowers floating. The flowers were still in full bloom around and some of the trees were blossoming pink.
"Wow, I don't think...I've ever really seen nature in this way," Byleth admitted. "I never really looked. But now...wow. Just wow."
"Well, most people don't," Claude told her. "But me...well, I think that since nature gives us so much beauty to look at, we shouldn't be ignoring it."
"...You're different than anyone else I've ever met before," Byleth said, glancing over to him. She had the strangest urge right now, one that she dismissed because it wasnso strange to her. He smiled at her.
"You are too, Teach."
Byleth glanced downward as she felt something brush against her hand. It was Claude's hand that had grazed against hers. Byleth felt her eyes widen, and she hastily pulled her hand away, beginning to murmur an apology. Before she could pull away though, Claude quickly grasped her hand in his. Byleth felt her cheeks heat up as she looked at him in surprise. He had a noticeable blush, but also a kind smile. Byleth offered her own little grin as he squeezed her hand in his. His hands are so warm...
They walked around the park like that for the rest of their outing.
YOU ARE READING
Race Against Time
Fanfiction"BYLETH, YOU'RE DYING." Those were the words Byleth Eisner had heard her entire life...but it had never rang true. She had always known that the doctors were wrong, that she was going to keep living, but the fear of death was constant. Born with a h...
