I don't know if you want to hear all the thoughts rattling around in my head. If I got started, I'd talk your ear off for hours, and then you really wouldn't get any sleep.

[He's joking, but he'll keep it in mind for the future. Consciously or unconsciously, his desire not to be too familiar with Byleth too quickly has perhaps turned into putting up a wall between them instead. Friendship should be give and take, after all, and Byleth has offered him plenty of trust while Claude has been less forthcoming as a matter of habit.

He tilts his head slightly to look at Byleth -- is he blushing? -- before he decides to resume the massage, tactfully deciding not to point it out. It is cute, though.]

Honestly, I'm glad you showed up. It was tough here, before, not really knowing who I could trust. The other place was even tougher. I might act all tough and adaptable and like all of this comes easily to me, but I'm just keeping it together so other people do the same. It's important to stay level-headed in a long conflict.

[And many Meridian... are not that.]