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Nerves frayed. Patience tested. Byleth had nothing left but anger.
"Why do you do this to me?"
Seteth swallowed, which was hard to do with Byleth's hand around his throat.
"Do what?" he replied.
Byleth screwed up her mouth and resisted the urge to strangle him. Instead, she pressed her body onto his and further against the wall. The firmness she found there surprised her.
"You know exactly what!" she growled. "You're always offering to help me but keep talking in circles. I'm tired of being left in the dark."
"I’m so--," he started.
"I don't want apologies! I want the truth!"
Her voice bellowed throughout the training ground. Seteth winced.
She could tell he was holding back. Not just in telling her the truth but also in his strength. While he may be pinned to the wall with her hand at his throat just below his jaw, his hands were unrestrained. She had witnessed his strength on the battlefield. He could easily shove her back, overtake her.
But his hands remained calmly at his sides. And that made her angrier. Ever the gentleman , she thought resentfully.
How could she break him? She wanted him to fight back. She wanted an excuse to hit him. She wanted an excuse to torture him the same way he had been torturing her by hanging the truth of her origins over her head, just out of reach. Feeding her the same line, "When we find Rhea, you will know everything.” And forever leaning on the excuse that a partial understanding would do her more harm than good.
What if they never found Rhea? Hadn’t she waited long enough? Didn’t she have a right to know? It was her life! Her future!
When she grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the wall she thought she would get a rise out of him.
But he remained frustratingly still and quiet, watching her with those brilliant green eyes. Why? Unless…
She saw him glance at her lips and then look back quickly to her eyes. He blushed.
Well. That was quite the tell. If he thought he was being subtle, he failed, like always. The man was smart yet very naive to what people could pick up on.
She crushed her lips to his and felt his entire body go rigid. He wasn't even breathing.
This will get a reaction , she thought. And if I’m lucky, a real fight . She smiled against his lips. Her favorite thing to do in a battle was to throw off the enemy by doing something entirely unexpected. Or just plain crazy. And this idea was certainly both.
But when his lips began to move against hers, she became the one stunned and disoriented. He was kissing her back and he wasn’t timid about it either. The way his lips moved matched hers with the same frustrated energy and determination to get the upper hand.
It infuriated her. What did he have to be frustrated about? What did he stand to gain by responding like that? He had all the answers! Angry and confused, she pulled away and glared at him. "What are you doing?” she demanded.
He held her gaze for a fleeting moment while panting and looking as if he might actually answer her. But then he pulled his eyes away from hers and frowned.
Now he was sad?
Byleth scanned his face, his body language. The way he hadn’t fought back at all. The way his arms hung at his sides but his fists were clenched. The way he bit his lip and refused to look at her. The way he kissed her back like he had been longing for it and just needed any excuse to finally do so.
Then, it clicked.
"Do you have feelings for me?" Byleth asked flatly, fearing the answer.
He answered without any hesitation. "Yes."
It cut like a knife.
Her eyes narrowed. Her grip around his neck tightened. "Yet you still choose to leave me in the dark?" she snarled.
"Byleth…" he began to plea.
She finally let him go with a disgusted scoff, which quickly digressed into a dry, mirthless laugh.
She took a step back and watched him rub his throat while his eyes never left hers. The shame and guilt she found there gave her a bittersweet satisfaction. She liked Seteth, she really did. It brought her no joy to bring him down like that.
Under different circumstances, she would have liked to continue kissing him, see how far he would go. Have him show her just how fascinating he found her…
But she had reached the end of her rope. They were about to head into a battle they may not return from and the thought of dying on a field without ever knowing the truth…she wouldn’t stand for it.
Seteth mistook her silence as permission to speak. “Byleth, please, let me–”
“No. I’m done talking. I’m done listening. I’m done waiting. If you ever want to speak to me again, then you better start by telling me everything.” She looked him up and down once more, a pitiful sight. “I deserve that much,” she added quietly, sadly.
With one last sorry look, she turned and made her way towards the exit. All the while, the sting of tears hastened her retreat. She needed to get out before they would begin to fall.