[Good tea and conversation? The more he heard about this 'other Byleth', the more he sounded like some bizarre imposter who bore his face and name. Byleth knew nothing about tea, didn't really converse well, and was awkward with new company... mind, he enjoyed Jeralt's company, and Alois, a recent addition, was okay too. Byleth didn't understand his jokes half the time, but Alois's genuine friendliness more than made up for it - but even then, Byleth struggled to converse easily with him.
Perhaps, this 'other Byleth' just achieved that which he was failing at now? Claude was from further in time, even if his history had taken a vitally different path to his own. Maybe, in three more years, Byleth will enjoy good tea and conversation, and can interact with others without having to sneakily practice his smiles or small talk, yet flubbing it anyways when it came to the actual thing. He just had to keep putting in the work, no matter how disheartening the setbacks were.]
...I can't claim to be well-versed in tea, but I accept your offer. It's more productive than what I'm doing now.
no subject
[Good tea and conversation? The more he heard about this 'other Byleth', the more he sounded like some bizarre imposter who bore his face and name. Byleth knew nothing about tea, didn't really converse well, and was awkward with new company... mind, he enjoyed Jeralt's company, and Alois, a recent addition, was okay too. Byleth didn't understand his jokes half the time, but Alois's genuine friendliness more than made up for it - but even then, Byleth struggled to converse easily with him.
Perhaps, this 'other Byleth' just achieved that which he was failing at now? Claude was from further in time, even if his history had taken a vitally different path to his own. Maybe, in three more years, Byleth will enjoy good tea and conversation, and can interact with others without having to sneakily practice his smiles or small talk, yet flubbing it anyways when it came to the actual thing. He just had to keep putting in the work, no matter how disheartening the setbacks were.]
...I can't claim to be well-versed in tea, but I accept your offer. It's more productive than what I'm doing now.