Sesame Syrup

Author's Notes: Written for FE Rally for Gaza. Written for mews39.

“Hello, my adorable little chickadee,” Sylvain drawled as his fingers brushed against the new student’s shoulder. Her dusty purple hair felt silken against the tips of his fingers as he admired how the light hit the silver—wow, he had no idea that Seteth let the new kids get away with customizing their uniforms this much—embroidery on her uniform. A smile crept across Sylvain’s lips as she turned towards him. Grey eyes framed by full eyelashes that cast shadows upon the apples of her cheeks. A mischievous smirk spread itself across her painted lips as something dangerous flashed in her eyes.

“Hello to you too,” a masculine voice drawled out from the most kissable lips Sylvain had ever seen. It took a moment for the redhead to realize what was going on. Then, it was like a match was lit in his head. Blood rushed to his face as he watched the new girl—er, new guy—stare him down with that smug look in his pretty eyes. “Spellbound by this chickadee’s plumage, aren’t you? That’s cute.”

Sylvain swallowed. He then took a deep breath and collected himself... before proceeding to wander off.

“Don’t be shy now!” the new guy called out as the rest of the table laughed.

“After such an introduction, I was hoping that I’d be seeing more of you, Sylvain,” Yuri, the new guy’s name, teased as he oh-so-subtly brushed his fingers along his shoulder. “Or did I scare you off?”

That mischievous smile was once again painted on his lips as something sparkled in his eye. It reminded Sylvain of a cat cornering its prey. He didn’t know how to feel about that.

He did know that he didn’t dislike it, however.

A smile of his own crept across his lips. “Sorry, I just had to rethink my game plan is all. Not every day, you see a guy whose beauty rivals Dorothea’s.”

Yuri snorted. “Are you trying to flatter me?”

“Maybe I am a little... I’m not lying though.”

Something softened in Yuri’s eyes. “Well. Regardless, don’t be a stranger. I’d love to see more of you.”

“Same.”

This relationship, whatever the name of it was, Sylvain had no idea, between him and Yuri continued for weeks. Pleasantries and heated words with... something lingered underneath were exchanged every time they saw each other. Lingering touches and teasing whispers were sprinkled in once in a while.

At one point in Sylvain’s life, he would have been a little bothered by it. Well, no, he never actually thought about it before. It always felt good to have his flirting reciprocated. It was just never quite like this. He never flirted with guys before, especially ones as quick-witted as Yuri. It was... something.

Goddess, he kept saying that.

Yuri really was just something else.

He didn’t realize how far gone he was until that afternoon. He was under the gazebo with a noble girl from the Alliance, a tiny territory he had no interest in learning about but she kept going on about and he just dealt with it because she had the prettiest lips he had seen next to Yuri’s.

There he was again. Thinking about Yuri.

As the noble girl prattled on longer than Lorenz could ever dream of, something glittered in the corner of Sylvain’s eye. His gaze drifted towards it. A familiar shade of dusty purple and silvery fabric fluttering in the breeze greeted him. The all too familiar glint in his grey eyes sparked something inside of Sylvain.

“Sorry, I gotta go,” he muttered in the middle of the girl’s story before chasing after Yuri. “Hey, how’re you doing?”

Yuri chuckled. “It’s not like you to leave a pretty girl so suddenly. Is it possible that the dashing heir of House Gautier is falling for me?”

Words caught themselves inside Sylvain’s throat. Blood rushed to his cheeks. “I...”

“I’m joking, Sylvain. Still, it must be plenty important if you left Lady Ann in a rush.”

He sighed. “Please, I would have left even if it was someone a quarter as interesting as you that came by. You saved me. Let’s hang out.”

Yuri rolled his eyes but that smirk stayed on his lips. “Careful now. Rumours might spread about us.”

“Hey, if people want to talk about two handsome fellas like us spending so much time together... Let them.”

“Even if it hurts your illustrious reputation as a lady killer?”

“Sure.”

The two grinned.

A month had passed.

The two spent more and more time together. Teasing touches became lingering strokes and interlocking fingers that felt so heated that Sylvain swore he had burn marks on his arms. Gazes grew heavier and longer. Sometimes, there wouldn’t be words. Just the two of them left alone in a room as the atmosphere either grew so tense and thick that one could slice a claymore through it or so warm and light that he felt as if he was flying.

It wasn’t something he was used to.

This wasn’t something he was used to.

The closest thing he could think of was when he was a child and fell in love with Ingrid’s grandmother. He had loved since then. He would continue to love again. However, those incidents were so long and far between.

Love?

Sylvain pursed his lips.

Things were moving a little too fast for his liking. Or maybe he was just too slow when it came to unfamiliar territory like Yuri Leclerc and his silver tongue. He didn’t know what they were. Not quite friends but not quite lovers. He didn’t know how to explain it. He didn’t know what to think of it. He just knew that he wanted more of it.

As the ball grew closer, the antsier Sylvain became. He had planned on going with nobody. It would make his various games with the various women he was seeing go a lot smoother if he didn’t arrive to the ball with a girl on his arm, after all. The thought of going alone made him ache nonetheless. His stomach fluttered as something rang inside of his chest like the church bells in the morning.

His thoughts drifted towards Yuri.

Would he be going alone? Would he be going at all?

He thought about asking the other man the next time he saw him in class. However, all those thoughts melted away the moment they were alone together. Or rather, they might as well have been left alone together in that classroom the moment Yuri pulled out the chair next to Sylvain right before the lesson started.

“Sylvain.”

“Sylvain!”

“Sir Gautier...”

Sylvain’s head spun as he danced with his various partners throughout the night. Things were getting dizzying as the night went on, however. It was hard to keep his mind straight. He called the Alliance noblewoman, Ann or whatever her name was, ‘Miriam’ which did not make her happy. He was hard-pressed to care though. Not when he didn’t see Yuri at least once the whole evening. He wasn’t even sure what he’d do exactly if he was here.

Dance with him?

That’d be...

“Sylvaaaaaiiin! You barely looked at me tonight,” said the current girl he was with. It was possible that she was the Miriam he had mixed Ann up with.

“Sorry. I’ve... got a lot on my mind.”

Suddenly, he felt the familiar weight of someone’s hand on his shoulder. He blinked. Soon, he was spun around and pulled out onto the floor. His mind still spinning, he didn’t realize what was going on until he heard Yuri’s voice swirl around him.

“Thank you ladies for keeping him warm for me. He’s saving the last dances for me, however.”

With wide eyes, Sylvain stared at Yuri who simply winked at him. His hand rested on Sylvain’s waist as he shakily rested his own on Yuri’s shoulder. Their free hands linked with one another and their fingers entwined as the music rose to a crescendo that left the redhead breathless.

“Yuri...”

“You said let them talk. So, we’ll let them talk. It’s about time we made this official, don’t you agree?”

Sylvain sputtered as he tried to follow the other man’s lead. His heart was racing and his mind was a mess but there was no denying the warmth that blossomed inside his chest. The music continued to play and the two continued to dance. Or rather, they tried to. Sylvain was really too used to being the one to lead but he felt content to let Yuri take control.

As the music swelled and swirled around them, Sylvain leaned downward. His nose bumped against Yuri’s as his lips curled into a familiar smirk.

“It’s official then,” Sylvain whispered before their lips met.