Chapter Text
Fall quickly faded into winter. As the leaves drifted away on the wind, snow quickly took its place.
The fall had ended well for Byleth and his farm. With the Valley Fair giving him a boost in local attention, he’d made a substantial profit to help him prepare for next year. As the season had winded down, he’d worked on turn up some more soil to plan out his crops for next year.
The cold weather revealed that his little cabin didn’t hold heat very well. Even with a fire blazing in the fireplace at his feet, he still found it too cold to sleep. So, with the season, Seteth had encouraged him to spend nights at his place. Flayn really liked that idea, insisting on trying to get his cat to sleep in her room. She never did, favoring Byleth’s feet instead.
So as the snowfall kept up, he spent his evenings above the church, eating dinner with Seteth and Flayn, watching movies with them, letting Flayn coo over his cat.
He and Seteth still made a point to drop by the saloon every Friday to catch up with some of the others in town. It was as if people sensed Byleth was trying to change his behavior, because they all came flocking to him. Especially the young adults in the town. Many of them, as he discovered, longed to leave this area, or to go study elsewhere and come back after a time. They wanted stories of life outside the valley, in the big cities of the world.
They never seemed pleased with his stories.
It was on one such night, a few weeks into the winter season, that the local carpenter approached him.
“I hear that old cabin ain’t treating you so well this winter.” She came up to him once Seteth had been dragged away by the town drunk to dance.
“You could say that.”
“You know, I can build houses.” She leaned against the table he was sitting at. “I’d even give you a discount, on account of you bringing back some life to this town.”
A house. He had never even considered tearing down that old cabin. But staying in that apartment above the church was so much warmer and it didn’t creak as much, and he didn’t have to worry about the roof leaking.
“I can see you’re considering it. How about we set up a time where I can walk you through what I can do? We can talk space, floorplans, whatever.” She knocked on the table, giving him a smirk. “You and our beloved priest there have been awful cozy. I’m sure his little girl’d like more space too.”
She left him with that, seeing Seteth stumbling away after getting twirled around the dance floor one too many times.
As Seteth sat back down, taking a long drink from his glass of water, Byleth mulled over the words she’d said to him.
Right now they were practically living together already. They had meals together, Flayn dragged him out to play in the snow in the morning, his cat had taken a liking to sitting on top of Seteth’s fridge, and after Flayn was in bed, Seteth and Byleth laid on his bed, never talking that much, just enjoying being close.
None of them would ever admit it, but it was a bit small for three people. Flayn’s room was small, but Seteth’s basically only had room for his bed. He had given up the larger bedroom for his daughter to enjoy when they moved in.
He had spent spring, summer, and fall expanding his farm, thinking only of the plants and land. Now that he was trying to be better in his relationships, perhaps his friend had a point.
He caught her eye across the saloon floor and nodded. She beamed and nodded back, giving him a wave. He’d stop by tomorrow morning.
---
She worked fast. Before he knew it, she was tearing down the old place and breaking ground on what would be his new house. She said it would be hard to work through the winter, but the way his farm was shielded from the wind, it wasn’t impossible. And she seemed more than eager to try and finish it before spring.
He had asked that she try to keep it a secret from Seteth and Flayn. He knew it was hard to keep a project like that from them, but without any work to do on the farm, they had no reason to come by.
The new house wasn’t cheap, but after the way he’d finished the growing season, he had more than enough to cover it and get started again in the spring.
---
He was a little worried he was assuming too much, building a house in secret to ask Seteth to move himself and Flayn into. They hadn’t talked about it at all. They both had jobs that they lived at. Seteth asking him to move in would be taking time away from the farm.
But the church only had people over a couple days a week, and it was never early when people did drop by. Seteth had even mentioned once it was the easiest place for him to live when he moved here. It didn’t take any searching on his part.
Perhaps he didn’t even like living there. That was why he never really decorated it.
He hoped Seteth would say yes when he asked. He hoped he found a way to ask before spring came.
---
He got his opportunity while outside rolling snowballs for Flayn.
“What are you going to get my father for his birthday?”
Byleth must have had a confused look on his face because she continued. “It’s the same day as the festival for the Winter Star! You can’t just get him nothing!”
“I didn’t know when it was.” Now that he thought about it, Seteth missed his birthday too. Of course, he hadn’t bothered to mention it, so how could Seteth have known.
“He never told you?”
“It’s never come up.”
“When is your birthday, Byleth?”
“September.”
“WHAT?” Flayn threw down the snowball she had been holding. “We missed it!”
Byleth shrugged in response. Birthdays never meant much to him, once he’d passed the age of twelve. His dad had taught him to drive on his sixteenth, and then let him have a drink at twenty-one.
Where they had always celebrated his dad’s birthday with a nice dinner, usually steak, a few days later, Byleth always asked for nothing. His dad usually got him a small gift, some money or a gift card, but that was it.
“What do you think your dad wants?” Byleth asked, trying to get away from his own birthday.
“I’m making him cookies! Auntie Rhea is gonna surprise him with my uncles! She’s gonna help me bake them!” Flayn put a finger to her mouth. “But you can’t tell him!”
Byleth swore he wouldn’t.
As he watched Flayn stomp around in the snow, making small snowpeople as she went, he thought about the house being built just a short walk away. Could he ask Seteth to move in with him while his whole family was there?
Rhea would probably push him to do it. But Seteth’s brothers hadn’t seen him in a long time. Did they even know he was dating a man?
The festival wasn’t that far off, just a few weeks. That gave him plenty of time to work through his question and how to phrase it. He would try not to dwell on it so much.
---
After hanging out at the saloon for a few hours the following Friday night, they walked back to the church. The snow was falling heavy, but there was enough of a gap in the clouds overhead to let the moon shine down.
The village had been decorated for the upcoming festival, colorful twinkle lights and holly lining the roads. There was something magical about the lights and moon playing off the new fallen snow.
Seteth was walking a bit in front of him, his hands in his pockets, and shoulders hunched up a bit. He’d grumbled on the way there about forgetting his gloves and scarf. Byleth had laughed at the time, offering his own, but Seteth refused. It had only gotten colder as they sat in the saloon.
Something possessed him to crouch down in the snow and ball some up in his hand. Something else possessed him to throw it directly at the back of Seteth’s head.
Seteth slowly turned around to stare wide-eyed at him. “What are you—”
Byleth already had another snowball ready, hitting Seteth right in the chest.
“Byleth! Are you a child?”
Byleth just rose an eyebrow, scraping more snow together.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Do not throw that snowball.”
“Why not?”
“It’s cold!”
Byleth shrugged, tossing the snowball up and catching it. “That’s what makes it fun.”
He pulled his arm back and Seteth turned to start running. He took off across the bridge, trying to get to the church before Byleth decided to throw it again.
The snowball missed him, crashing into the railing of the bridge in front of Seteth. Seteth stopped and turned to glare at him again.
“Please.”
“What?” Byleth tossed his new snowball between his hands. “It’s just a little snow, Seteth. I’ll give you a free shot.”
Seteth glared at him for a moment more before scraping some of the snow off the bridge railing. He packed it together, grumbling about the cold snow on his bare hands. Byleth opened his arms to make himself a bigger target for Seteth.
The snowball hit him square in the chest, crumbling and falling off his coat. Even Seteth couldn’t keep the hint of a smile off his face.
After a few more snowballs tossed at each other, most of them missing the other, they found themselves breathing heavy in front of the church. The falling snow had picked up and the temperature dropped, making even Byleth, with his thick gloves and hat, cold.
Byleth leaned against the church, watching Seteth bent over trying to catch his breath. He was beautiful out in the snow. The way his hair caught the snow, the red in his cheeks from the cold.
“I love you.” Byleth muttered out into the wind. There was almost no way Seteth would have heard him.
Seteth turned to him, eyes wide. “What?”
Well.
“Uh….”
“Did you say you love me?” Seteth straightened up and came to stand by the wall next to him.
“Yes.” There was no use denying it. They had been together for over half a year but for some reason, Byleth worried that it was too soon. That they weren’t the type of people who just said that. He’d broken a boundary no one was supposed to cross.
Seteth’s hand came to his face, turning it toward him. “I’ve been waiting for so long to hear that.” Seteth’s lips gently pressed against his, the kiss warm. “You’re always so distant. I didn’t want to push you. But I love you too.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” Seteth smiled at him. “What did you think? I’d just let you stay in my house with me and my daughter because we were just dating? You know I’m very protective of her.”
“I don’t know what I thought.”
“Well, now we both know.” Seteth kissed him sweetly again. “Let’s go inside. I’ll make us some hot chocolate and we can enjoy the quiet night.”
---
Seteth’s brothers and Rhea arrived a week later. Seteth had gotten up before Byleth, leaving him to sleep in, his cat snuggled against the back of his head.
The knock on the door woke him up.
He heard Seteth grumble a bit to himself before he heard the door open and a few loud male voices chattering excitedly. That made Byleth sit up finally. He grabbed a pair of pajama pants he’d left laying in the floor and pulled them on as his cat climbed up his back onto his shoulder.
“Seteth, what is going on?” He came out of the bedroom, trying to flatten his hair.
“Is this him, Rhea?” A voice he didn’t recognize said. Byleth groggily looked to see a man with very similar features to Seteth.
“It is. I hadn’t realized they’d moved in together, however.” Rhea laughed. “We didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Seteth came over to Byleth standing in the hallway. “Byleth, these are my brothers, Macuil and Indech. I… didn’t realize they would be here this morning.”
Byleth suddenly realized he’d come to meet his boyfriend’s brothers half dressed.
“You can call me Mac.” The one who was presumably Macuil said. “We didn’t mean to wake you two up.”
The other brother spoke up. “Where’s Flayn?”
“She stayed the night at her friends house. She’s probably on her way back.” Seteth explained.
“Is that the cat she’s been raving about?” He pointed at Byleth’s cat on his shoulder.
“Probably.” Byleth shrugged. “She really likes her.”
“And here I thought our dear brother had finally given into her demands for a pet!” Macuil laughed.
“Flayn doesn’t demand things. She’s always very polite when I tell her no! She is a sweet girl.”
Seteth’s brothers ignored him, moving into the room and sitting on the couch, with Rhea sandwiched in the middle, laughing at them.
Byleth leaned over to Seteth. “I’m gonna get dressed.”
“Yes, please do.” Seteth let him go. He himself was still in his fluffy pajamas, but he was at least decent, and among family.
When Byleth came back, Seteth had moved the dining chairs into the living room to sit stiffly on and talk to his brothers. Byleth took a spot in the corner, scratching his cat’s head as he watched the reunited siblings.
“So, Byleth,” Macuil turned to him. “What do you do?”
“I have a farm.”
“You’re the farmer man Flayn talks about then.”
“I guess.”
Rhea chimed in. “His farm, from what I’ve seen, is very successful. He made a very popular farming magazine in the fall.”
“I did. The woman who interviewed me asked so many questions….” Byleth shook his head. She had been very talkative.
As Macuil was starting a new question, Flayn came through the door.
The brothers both stood up and Flayn rushed over to them. They immediately launched into how big she’d gotten and how grown up she looked.
With both men distracted, Seteth went back into the kitchen to finish the breakfast he’d been interrupted making. Byleth followed him.
“You don’t seem very happy they’re here.”
“I am.” Seteth sighed over the stove. “I just haven’t seen them in so long. Since my wife, and now they’ve walked into see me and you….” He shook his head. “My brothers loved her, perhaps more than they liked me. I don’t want them to try and compare you two.”
Byleth shrugged. “Does it matter if they do?”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re not the ones dating me. They don’t even live here. If they don’t like me, what, I’ll see them maybe a few times a year?”
“You don’t care what they think?”
“It’d be nice if they liked me, but it’s not their life.”
Seteth seemed to think for a moment. “I think Indech would appreciate that….”
---
Seteth’s birthday was a few days after that. It was hard cramming 6 people into that small apartment, and Byleth couldn’t even offer his farm, in favor of keeping his secret.
And also the snow and cold.
Indech and Macuil seemed to enjoy teasing their older brother. Byleth had never really got a hold of who was born first, but it seemed like Seteth was the oldest. Or maybe that was just because he was a father and had learned to keep his siblings in check.
Flayn ate up the attention her uncles gave her. Of course, as Seteth’s birthday was on a holiday known for gift giving, they had brought her gifts. Mostly clothes and accessories Rhea had said she would like.
Seteth’s birthday party wasn’t much. They had made Byleth take him out for the morning, where they ended up fishing in the ocean for a few hours, and come back around lunch time to see they had decorated the apartment with birthday banners. Rhea and Flayn had made cake and cookies. There were presents sitting on the dining room table.
Byleth went to put the fish they’d cleaned in the freezer as the siblings force their brother to sit down in front of everything.
“You didn’t have to get me gifts.” He insisted when Rhea shoved one in his hands. “I really don’t need anything.”
“Seteth, you have no decorations in this house. You need things.” Rhea gave him a look that made him sigh and open the boxes his siblings had given him.
He thanked his siblings for the gifts, and from the tone of his voice, he really appreciated them. Byleth watched beside him, seeing the old photos of family and friends. Rhea had commissioned an artist to paint the valley. It wasn’t very accurate, apparently she had just used an old picture, but Seteth seemed to like it all the same.
The presents were all done by the time it was time to leave for the town’s festival.
The town had been decorated at the start of the month with garlands and lights to celebrate, but tonight they had outdone themselves. As Byleth and Seteth had walked through earlier, they had seen the mayor and a few other setting things up.
Seteth’s brothers went into a story about how they used to live here and what the festival was once like. Flayn ate it up, following them around the food tables and asking questions.
Seteth and Byleth let them go on and found a table for them all to sit at. Rhea had drifted off herself, probably to find something to eat as well, leaving them alone.
“Thank you for being so patient with them.” Seteth said, reaching out to Byleth’s hand on the table. “And thank you for spending my birthday with me.”
Byleth glanced over at the others, still at the tables. They seemed to have gotten into a conversation with a couple of the local moms.
“I did kind of get you a present.” Byleth said. He hoped Seteth saw it that way.
“What? I thought you didn’t—”
“That’s just my own birthday.” Byleth shrugged.
“Then why didn’t you give it to me with the others?”
Indech and Macuil came over and sat across from them, chatting amongst themselves. Byleth stood up and motioned for Seteth to come with him.
“Did we interrupt?”
Byleth just shook his head. “I just have to show Seteth something.”
The brother’s glanced at each other before turning back and both winking at Seteth. His face went red.
“Come on.” Byleth grabbed Seteth’s hand and pulled him toward the path leading back to the farm.
“The celebration’s just started. We didn’t even eat yet.” Seteth protested, still following behind him.
“We’ll be back in a moment.”
Seteth fell silent and just followed him.
As they got closer, the frame the carpenter had built came into view. It was still in the early stages, nothing more than an outline of how big the house would be, but the foundation was set, and the four corners were up.
“What—”
“I’m having a house built.” Byleth said before he could rethink his decision. “It’ll be big enough for you and me and Flayn, and it’ll have a spare room. For your family, or Alois, or whoever.”
“You… built a house.” Seteth stared up at the big wooden frame in awe. “For… me?”
“For us.” Byleth went to stand in front of it. “The cabin was okay, but we barely fit in my old bed, and it was cramped in the morning, and Flayn couldn’t stay.” He was rambling a bit, a habit he never really had before, but then, he had never asked a man to move in with him. “And your place above the church isn’t really big enough for you and Flayn either.”
Seteth joined him up on the steps from the foundation. “Flayn would love living on this farm….” He said, more to himself.
“Would you?”
Seteth gave him a long stare. Byleth could see him running through a list in his head. He drifted over to the starts of plumbing that had been put in. His friend had marked where walls would go and what pipes would lead where.
“We could wake up together every morning.” Seteth said, talking to himself again. “Have breakfast before you tend to your crops. I’d head out after to tend to the church. Flayn could have more friends over….”
“Is that a yes?”
Seteth turned to look at him finally. That wonderful soft look he always had when they were together was there. He walked back over to him, gripping Byleth’s face in both hands and giving him a long kiss.
“Yes. I’d love to move in with you.”