#hanneleth

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

I'm still sad that there's not much gay/lesbian support convos in Three Houses.

There should have been an option for the players to marry anyone regardless of gender, including the other units.

I just want M!Byleth to marry Hanneman, or for Dorothea to end up with Edelgard.

.

[indigowallbreaker]

"not really paying attention, both doing something else, but still holding hands" from the handholding prompts for Byleth / Hanneman? (either gender or nb works!)

By reading this fic, you, the reader, agree to tell me if I spelled Hanneman’s name wrong at any point. I still mess up on his name, the poor guy XD

(Currently accepting rare ships! Click here for the info post!)

--

Hanneman had become so absorbed in the research notes Linhardt had sent that he nearly lost track of time. The clock above Garreg Mach rang out the quarter hour, and Hanneman at last looked around. Goodness, was it that late already? Gathering the papers, Hanneman stood from his desk and moved to the sofa against the right hand wall of his office. There he settled and continued reading.

At precisely ten minutes to noon, the door opened, and Byleth trudged in. Hanneman glanced up at him briefly before returning to the notes. “Good afternoon, love,” he greeted.

Byleth always looked a mess after training with the Knights of Seiros. This time was no exception-- his hair was matted with sweat, red marks up and down his arms were darkening into true bruises, and his clothes were covered with dirt from the training grounds. 

Still panting from his work out, Byleth practically fell onto the couch beside Hanneman. He popped open his waterskin and began to drink deeply. Without looking, Byleth took Hanneman’s free hand between them-- the hand Hanneman had intentionally kept free for this exact reason.

A few short months after being given the title, Byleth had resigned as Archbishop of the Church of Seiros and passed the position to Mercedes, instead taking over as Captain of the Knights of Seiros. Hanneman and Byleth had developed a comfortable routine since then. Byleth liked coming to see Hanneman after training all morning, and so Hanneman always made sure to move from his desk in the early afternoon to a space where they could spend time side by side.

They settled now into peaceful quiet-- Hanneman reading and Byleth catching is breath and drinking.

Eventually, Byleth laced their fingers together. “Good afternoon,” he replied at last. He seemed more or less recovered.

Hanneman hummed. “How was today?”

“A few of the new recruits are having trouble with one of our basic formations.” Byleth put down his waterskin and ran a hand through his soaked hair. “I had to demonstrate... five times? Maybe six. I lost track.”

“No wonder you look especially worn. I suspect Shamir would not mind if you asked to push back your strategy meeting so you could rest.”

Byleth sighed. “That is tempting.” He rubbed his thumb over Hanneman’s. “What are you reading?”

Hanneman passed Byleth the first page of Linhardt’s research. “After observing King Dimitri during the war, Linhardt wondered if he perhaps had a major Crest instead of a minor one. He tested a blood sample and found it was, indeed, a minor Crest of Blaiddyd, but that begged the question-- what exactly is the disparity between major and minor Crests? Are some minor Crests more powerful than others?”

“Does Dimitri know Linhardt has a sample of his blood?” Byleth asked as he read.

“Never ask a fellow scholar how he gets his materials.” Hanneman was only half kidding. In truth he had hoped that, by not asking Linhardt such questions, Linhardt would not ask any in return.

Byleth gave an amused huff. “Well, it certainly must have piqued his interest if he was willing to work so closely with blood.”

“I concur.” Hanneman looked up at Byleth. “You don’t have to read the whole thing. I simply wanted to satisfy your curiosity.”

“You know I like keeping up with what interests you.” With his eyes still on the page, Byleth leaned against Hanneman. Their hands remained clasped between them. Smiling, Hannemen returned to his own page. He was all too happy to serve as a pillow. 

The clock rang out again as Hanneman passed Byleth the second page and picked up the third for himself. “Do you mind me resting here for a while longer?” Byleth asked suddenly.

“I treasure any time spent with my favorite subject.” That earned Hanneman a mock glare. Chuckling, he added, “Shamir is sure to come looking for you when you don’t arrive at the appointed time.”

“She knows to check here first. Everyone does.”

Hanneman felt a swell of pride. “I suppose you’re right.” He turned his head to press a kiss to Byleth’s cheek. “Stay as long as you wish, my dear.”

Byleth smiled at that. They both turned their attentions back to Linhardt’s notes. As intriguing as the research was-- and as much as he knew to brace himself for Shamir’s impending interruption-- Hanneman found himself reveling at the weight of Byleth’s hand in his own, and thanking the many steps that had gotten them here.

[indigowallbreaker]

(inhales) MerMay for the soft prompt “Listen, we don’t have to fight, we can both be adorable.” and I'm fully fine being rejected bc I do this all the time but Hanneman and Byleth perhaps? (thank you for opening these again I still love last years results)

Finally got to your request babe! I know we discussed a few different ways this could go. Hopefully you like what I settled on <3

(Taking MerMay Rarepair prompts until the end of May!)

--

Byleth had only been gone three days. The world was an unpredictable place, he knew, but things had calmed down since the war. Three days didn't seem like enough time for Something To Happen at Garreg Mach.

Now, Byleth stood on the dock of the stock pond, staring down at his husband, who was half in the water with his elbows folded on the dock, staring up at Byleth.

"You turned yourself into a mermaid," Byelth summerized.

Hanneman huffed. "Really, there is far more to it than that. As I just told you, I wanted to find a way to utilize the Crest stones' habit of changing people into beasts. I thought, if I could just find a way to control this ability, we could make use of it to protect the people. Imagine being able to transform into a beast at will without losing yourself to the power!"

"So you transformed yourself into a mermaid," Byleth repeated. It felt worth repeating.

Hanneman's upper body looked much the same as before Byleth had left, though it was rare to see it bare outside their bedroom. Hanneman's lower body, on the other hand, had changed drastically. He now sported a russet brown fish tail instead of legs, with tail fins the same green as his usual cravat.

The gills on Hanneman's hips flared as he huffed again. "That was the end result this time but it was far from my intention." He gestured at the pair of vials on the dock beside them and began explaining how he had created a substance from a crushed up Crest stone to test his hypothesis.

As he outlined the process, Byleth sat on the dock, looking more than listening. Fish in the pond periodically came up to investigate Hanneman's tail only to swim away when it flipped or twitched. Byleth wondered how much control Hanneman had over his tail. Did it feel cool and slick like a fish's scales? Or warm and firm like Hanneman's human legs?

Hanneman's voice sped up as he got to the meat of his research, as it always did, and his tail swirled underwater excitedly. Byleth smiled.

"And that was when I portioned out how much equalled a single dose and discovered-- What is it?" Hanneman cocked his head at Byleth's smile.

"You're adorable," Byleth said simply.

Hanneman made a series of stuttered noises. "I most certainly am not!" He finally cried. He punctuated this with a fist against the dock, which didn't really help his case.

Byleth picked up a vial. "Listen, we don’t have to fight, we can both be adorable."

"What? No!"

"Yes."

"Dearest, I cannot allow that. I am still testing the substance. I do not even know when my dose will wear off-- Byleth!"

For Byleth had uncorked the vial, tipped his head back, and downed the whole thing.

And promptly blacked out.

When he opened his eyes, he was at the bottom of the stock pond. Or rather, he assumed that was where he was-- he was certainly under water and the dock far above him certainly looked like the stock pond dock. Confirmation came in the form of his dear husband hovering over him with crossed arms.

"Never do that again," Hanneman stated. His tone was furious and worried all at once.

Byleth pushed himself off the sandy ground and swam a lap around Hanneman. The tail-- a dark teal like his original hair color-- was surprisingly easy to adjust to. "How do I look?" He asked, holding his arms out for Hanneman to assess.

Hanneman continued to glare for a few more moments before sighing out a line of bubbles. "You look adorable, my dear."

Byleth swam close and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. I guess it doesn't help your research, though, does it? We both have Crests already. I can't give you new data."

"On the contrary-- you possess a different crest, and a rare one at that! The more experiences I can record the better." Hanneman took Byleth's hand. "Let us go to the surface. Alois should have fetched my notebook by now. I want to hear every detail of what you're feeling!"

With that, Hanneman began pulling Byleth up towards the dock. The next time he left for a trip, Byleth resolved, he was taking Hanneman with him.

Apparently three days was far too long.