Honorary Golden Deer

Decision to Relinquish

Linhardt was roused awake with a gentle shake to his arm. He fluttered his eyes open as a soft affectionate tone whispered his name. A smile graced his lips when he saw Byleth attempting to pull him to his feet. A beat of contentment flashed in his expression at the act of normalcy. He must have fallen asleep by the pond while he waited for the professor and the Blue Lion's to return. When Byleth said his name again, Linhardt levelled out the weight on his feet before wrapping his arms around the professor's neck.

"Byleth." He greeted drowsily, still trying to shake off the tiredness. Linhardt leaned forward and kissed Byleth, humming in satisfaction at the feel of the professor's arms tightening around his back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Byleth licked his lips while Linhardt shivered at the action, watching the man savour his taste. Linhardt noticed a small cut on the professor's cheekbone and he narrowed his eyes. He lifted his hand and feathered his fingers over it and muttered beneath his breath. The small, but seemingly deep gash, knitted itself beneath his touch and Byleth closed his eyes at the sensation. When Linhardt was done he grasped Byleth's chin between his curled index finger and thumb and waited for the man to look at him once more.

"Are there any other wounds that need my attention?" Linhardt asked with a chided bite to his words but was unable to stop his other hand trailing down the man's chest, all but diminishing his reprimanding stance. Byleth quipped the left side of lips into a teasing smirk and moved his upper body forward until Linhardt was forced to drop his hand from the professor's chin. The warlock gulped and let out a small gasp as Byleth nosed at his neck and pressed a tormenting and rather tempting kiss to the underside to his jaw.

"There might be." He whispered into the warlock's ear and Linhardt clawed at Byleth's shoulders in exhilarating anticipation. "Would you like to find out?"

Linhardt let out a breathy and uncontrolled hum of delight. They were both too beguiled in one other that they didn't hear the encroaching footsteps from afar or the exclamation that made Linhardt's blood run cold. The warlock snapped his head to see Caspar and Raphael aghast in shock. Byleth kept his hand around Linhardt's waist as he turned to address them.

"What's going on here?" Caspar demanded and pointed between them accusingly. He managed to catch Linhardt's terrified gaze before the warlock could look away.

"Caspar, I-" Linhardt started and closed his mouth, his practiced words vanishing in an instant. He prayed the blue-haired brawler wouldn't misunderstand the situation between him and Byleth. It was a common occurrence for Caspar to see the worst in every circumstance involving Linhardt and his rather airy attitude. It was always the case in their school years, like when Linhardt was leisurely eating his lunch and had an intense but friendly debate with Felix. It had turned into a proposition of a fight from the interfering Caspar to defend Linhardt's honour. Thankfully, the swordsman had simply scoffed at the brawler's confrontation and announced he was bored and headed off to the training arena without so much as a glance at Caspar. Caspar had continuously antagonised Claude and his motives towards sitting with the warlock when they studied in the library. Even Lorenz had once been affronted by the brawler after he had asked a simple, non-threatening question. Linhardt had been more than willing to answer but had been interrupted by his protective best friend. It was Caspar's nature to see the non-existent manipulation in everyone's actions- it was both endearing and bothersome at times.

In this particular case, it was vital Caspar didn't accuse Byleth of anything that could evoke some dangerous repercussions.

"I was simply greeting my fiancée after I'd been away for a substantial period of time." Byleth filled in while the warlock was still monologuing internally. Linhardt felt the hand on his waist squeeze rather shakily and the warlock ripped his gaze from Caspar and looked at Byleth. The professor's demeanour was nonchalant to those around him, but the warlock didn't miss his Adam's apple bob as Byleth gulped in uncertainty. Linhardt clasped at the hand that tightened against his waist. "I missed him, is that a crime?" He asked Caspar with a challenging glare and Linhardt swiftly turned to see the blue-haired brawler's reaction.