《 spoiler free 》

『 your pov 』

"Are you sure it's alright for me to stay, Tomas?" I asked the elderly librarian as he finished putting up the last of the stray books.

Sparring me a glance, the older gentleman chuckled before absentmindedly waving me off. "Go continue your research Professor. I'll leave the keys in your care. I trust you'll remember to lock up before leaving, unlike most of the students here."

Smiling, I thanked him as I made my way back over to one of the tables I had more or less claimed as my own a couple of hours ago. And, just as he said, Tomas soon left the library in my care and headed off to return to his own quarters for the night.

Placing the library's key down onto the table, I flipped to the next page in one of the many books I had lying about. This one in particular is about the teachings of Seiros. Seteth had said that it might be easier for me to understand the students if I was more familiar with religious texts. Though that's far easier said than done when looking at this behemoth of a book just talking about one aspect to the scriptures all pertaining to this and that and really, it's quite hard to keep track of it all.

I exhaled a soft sigh, flipping to the next page and skimming over its contents. Still more paragraphs all examining different passages of old texts that I can only somewhat grasp. Having not grown up praying to the goddess, I have to admit that all of this just sounds rather outlandish to an extent. But, considering I am working in a monastery of all places, it's best I at least try to make an effort to not totally ruin my standing with the Church of Seiros.

"Oh, Professor? I wasn't expecting to find you up this late into the night."

Glancing up at the familiar voice, I offered the young man a smile. "I could say the same to you, Linhardt."

"Mind if I take a seat?" He asked, already moving to do just that before I could so much as respond. "What's this you're reading? Old scripture analyses? Let me guess, Seteth put you up to this?" Linhardt then asked with just a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

I couldn't help but laugh. "You got me. All of this was his idea since I asked him what he'd recommend I do to get closer to all of my students." I admitted, glancing back down to my book and flipping to the next page. "Then again, knowing everything about the goddess isn't exactly going to help now that I think about it..."

"Depends on who you're trying to befriend, Professor. Me personally, Seiros isn't the way to get me to talk." Linhardt said as he opened his own book across from where I have mine, his far thicker and looking old and worn, almost as if he's read through it countless times before. "Now Crests? That's where my interest lies."

Looking to the usually fatigued boy, I curiously leaned over to get a better look at his book. A large diagram depicting the Crest of Gautier was placed at the very top of the page along with a lengthy paragraph giving the history of the Crests relevance in Fódlan just below it. "Really, Crests? I'm still not sure I can confidently say I understand why everyone is so obsessed with them." I murmured.

"Last I saw, you have a Crest. Doesn't the topic interest you at least a little bit?" Linhardt then asked as his light navy colored eyes met my own.

Shrugging, I flipped to the next page in my book, not reading a single word now. "Not particularly. I fight, and I win."

"Your Crest is a big part of your strength."

"Even without my Crest I could still cut down any who pose a threat."

"That may be true..." Linhardt's voice trailed off as he continued to stare at me.

Stealing a glance up at the boy, I cocked an eyebrow as he simply continued to stare. "Is there something on my face?" I asked.

Lightly shaking his head, Linhardt sighed. "It's unfair Professor. Everything about you is such a mystery. Won't you let me conduct some research into your Crest?" He asked.

My eyes widened some. "And what would this research entail?"

"Oh don't go looking at me like that." The green haired boy said with an added roll of his eyes. "I simply wish to watch your Crest in action is all."

"So you want permission to sit in on my training?"

"Now you're getting it."

Thinking for a moment, I contemplated turning down his request. Realistically it doesn't matter if he watches me train. But the idea of him sitting and taking notes on me as I do so, well, it's a little embarrassing.

Just as I was going to tell him no, I stopped myself when I saw the hopeful glint in his eyes. "If I say yes, will you start putting in an effort to staying awake during my seminars?" I asked.

"Isn't that a little much?" Linhardt asked in return. "I mean of course I'll try to stay awake more often." He then said with an obvious hint of sarcasm. "Now when should we have our first little date, Professor?"

My mind momentarily stopped at that. "Date?" I repeated before shaking my head. "You're something else Linhardt."

"It's an innocent question." He reasoned.

"How about tomorrow afternoon?" I asked with just a ghost of a smile dancing across my lips, both of our books now long forgotten in favor of this conversation. "If you stay awake during my seminar, then I'll let you watch me practice for as long as you want."

With a sigh, Linhardt reluctantly nodded. "You're not making this easy on me, Professor. But, for you, I shall make an effort."

As the night continued on, Linhardt and I stayed cooped up in the library talking about this and that, most of the time somehow coming back to his interest in Crests. The more he spoke about them, the less I understood. Though there's something about listening to someone speak about a topic they're truly passionate about that had me never once losing interest in our more or less one-sided conversation.

I'm not the instructor for the Black Eagles so it's not like I see Linhardt everyday and when I do see him, it's usually when he's dozing off during my seminars so seeing him so animated is a welcomed change. He looks more alive than ever as he says something about his Crest being the minor version of Flayn's and continuing to talk about the benefits it gives him when putting his faith skills to good use. I have to admit that I like this side of him.

Sadly, I had to put an end to our little midnight rendezvous once the time was far closer to three in the morning than midnight. With a soft click, I went ahead and locked the doors to the library and made a mental note to give Tomas back the keys in the morning as Linhardt and I made our way down the hallway.

"You know Professor, you're surprisingly easy to talk to." The green haired boy spoke up once we were outside and headed for the dorms.

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. "And you're surprisingly nocturnal." I mused.

Linhardt's eyes widened as he looked to me. "Was that a joke? Now that was unexpected."

"I guess we're both just full of surprises tonight."

"I guess so."

Another ten minutes past of us walking in a comfortable silence before we finally made it back to the dorms, a full moon high up in the star-filled night sky tonight. Stopping in front of my door, I looked to navy eyed boy with a small smile. "It was nice talking to you tonight. Have a goodnight Linhardt."

"Don't forget about our date tomorrow, Professor." He responded with a smile of his own from where he's currently standing on the stairs.

"Don't go calling it that- what if someone gets the wrong idea?" I asked, pushing the doors to my room open. "You're just itching for me to lose my job aren't you?"

Placing his hands behind his head, Linhardt closed his eyes before opening just one of them to look at me with. "Quite the contrary Professor. If you were to lose your job, I wouldn't have a means to conduct my research. Not to mention life here would be far less interesting without you around." He then sighed.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I murmured, trying to not think too far into his words. "Now head on to bed or else you won't have any hope in staying awake for my seminar tomorrow."

Faking a yawn, Linhardt stretched his arms high up above his head. "And now I'm suddenly fatigued." He said before looking to me with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I look forward to our date, Professor. Goodnight."

And with that, the green haired boy set off for his own room. I watched him go for a few moments longer before shaking my head and wandering inside, closing the doors behind myself and exhaling a soft sigh. I can practically feel my cheeks starting to heat up just the slightest bit after replaying the end of our conversation in my head.

"Why must he call it a date?"

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Linhardt is such a cutie so I had to write for him ;-; even though I'll always be Dimitri trash first and foremost, I can still appreciate this lil cutie pie xD

Thanks for reading this oneshot everyone~ ♡

~ kat <3