Who would have guessed that a little bit of time magic could go so... weirdly? Maybe Byleth should have, but unfortunately they didn't, and Claude will be the one to pay this particular price. There is a little bit of luck in that it happens at the end of a particularly tough battle against a pack of demonic beasts-- one of the wolves takes a swipe at the Golden Deer leader. It hits-- then time reverses, Byleth prepares to change their strategy, only to find themselves still down one teenager and up one terrified child.
That was a week ago-- the kid, who is definitely Claude, minus about a decade of lived experience, was rescued, brought back to the monastery, and immediately presented to Jeralt. The mercenary impressed upon Byleth, and then on the rest of the Golden Deer, how bad an idea it would be for Rhea to be told about what happened. As far as the rest of the monastery was concerned, Claude von Riegan had gone back to Derdriu on urgent family business. How unfortunately timed it was that his younger cousin "Cal" had come to visit at the same time! (Neither Byleth or Jeralt are particularly good at coming up with fake names. It's close enough to how the kid refers to himself, anyway.)
At least Khalid is old enough to understand the concept of secrets. At first he's surprisingly shy, almost timid, following in Byleth or Jeralt's shadows like a little duckling when he isn't hiding out in his room. But he can't stick with the "safe" adults forever, especially not when they both had duties to the church to take care of that might see them crossing paths with Rhea. Normally the monastery is a fairly safe place for a child to run around, even on their own, but Khalid is no ordinary child. Who knows what'll happen to Claude if they let him get hurt before they find a way to return him to his normal age? There's always one of the Golden Deer or another hanging around, keeping watch on him. He even overheard them calling it "babysitting duty", even though he wasn't a baby! He learns quickly which are easier to sneak away from, who is nice, and who isn't.
Iggy and Mari are his favorites, they just let him go wherever he wants and only try to stop him if they're scared he'll get hurt. Which happens a lot, but at least they're nice about it. Raphael and Leonie are nice too, and they always want to play games with him, they're just pretty loud, and big in Raphael's case. Lysithea just complains the whole time about having to watch him instead of doing other things, but then when he sneaks away so she can go do her other things, she gets mad at him! She does take him to the library sometimes though, and that's nice. Hilda... Hilda is weird. She says they're friends, but then she gives him weird looks whenever he tries to tell her how to actually say his name, even when it's just the Deer and he doesn't have to pretend he has a different name. He's pretty sure she's lying about being friends. As for Lorenz... he knows Lorenz doesn't like him. He doesn't yell at him or anything, but Khalid's not stupid, and Lorenz isn't a good actor.
Unfortunately for them both, it's Lorenz's turn to watch the little lordling. Double unfortunately, though there are times where Khalid is perfectly happy to be left with a pile of books to read, now is not one of those times. That's what he does when the Deer and Byleth are doing class all day, after all! Now class is over and he wants to explore!
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when will the baby threads stop (never)
That was a week ago-- the kid, who is definitely Claude, minus about a decade of lived experience, was rescued, brought back to the monastery, and immediately presented to Jeralt. The mercenary impressed upon Byleth, and then on the rest of the Golden Deer, how bad an idea it would be for Rhea to be told about what happened. As far as the rest of the monastery was concerned, Claude von Riegan had gone back to Derdriu on urgent family business. How unfortunately timed it was that his younger cousin "Cal" had come to visit at the same time! (Neither Byleth or Jeralt are particularly good at coming up with fake names. It's close enough to how the kid refers to himself, anyway.)
At least Khalid is old enough to understand the concept of secrets. At first he's surprisingly shy, almost timid, following in Byleth or Jeralt's shadows like a little duckling when he isn't hiding out in his room. But he can't stick with the "safe" adults forever, especially not when they both had duties to the church to take care of that might see them crossing paths with Rhea. Normally the monastery is a fairly safe place for a child to run around, even on their own, but Khalid is no ordinary child. Who knows what'll happen to Claude if they let him get hurt before they find a way to return him to his normal age? There's always one of the Golden Deer or another hanging around, keeping watch on him. He even overheard them calling it "babysitting duty", even though he wasn't a baby! He learns quickly which are easier to sneak away from, who is nice, and who isn't.
Iggy and Mari are his favorites, they just let him go wherever he wants and only try to stop him if they're scared he'll get hurt. Which happens a lot, but at least they're nice about it. Raphael and Leonie are nice too, and they always want to play games with him, they're just pretty loud, and big in Raphael's case. Lysithea just complains the whole time about having to watch him instead of doing other things, but then when he sneaks away so she can go do her other things, she gets mad at him! She does take him to the library sometimes though, and that's nice. Hilda... Hilda is weird. She says they're friends, but then she gives him weird looks whenever he tries to tell her how to actually say his name, even when it's just the Deer and he doesn't have to pretend he has a different name. He's pretty sure she's lying about being friends. As for Lorenz... he knows Lorenz doesn't like him. He doesn't yell at him or anything, but Khalid's not stupid, and Lorenz isn't a good actor.
Unfortunately for them both, it's Lorenz's turn to watch the little lordling. Double unfortunately, though there are times where Khalid is perfectly happy to be left with a pile of books to read, now is not one of those times. That's what he does when the Deer and Byleth are doing class all day, after all! Now class is over and he wants to explore!