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Everyone in Garreg Mach Monastery knows a vampire haunts the grounds. Though the person is never confirmed, the general consensus concludes the vampire is just Hubert patrolling the halls himself every night.
Lately, however, the floating black figure is seen less and less. In his place, another person listlessly frightens those who can not sleep and the patrolling guards.
The battle at the Great Bridge of Myrddin shook Ferdinand to the bone, but it’s the battle against Hilda herself that replays in Ferdinand’s mind. When he eating, auguring in the war council meetings, and in his dreams. The worst time is when he’s drinking tea or in the library. He can’t claim to be close to her, but he did start to form a friendship with her. If one can count the times she tricked him into doing her chores or making her tea as friendship. But he does miss hearing her around the monastery when they first returned.
Now, he’ll never have a chance to do hear her again because of his own hands. The clearer part of his mind reminds him that it was necessary so that Lady Edelgard and Hubert could defeat Claude before they were overtaken by the wyvern riders. The uglier part of his mind recalls swinging his weapon at Hilda before she fell.
Because of the battle in his mind, he hasn’t slept for more than a few hours each night. Just laying in his room doesn’t do anything to stop these thoughts, so he walks around the monastery after everyone else has gone to sleep. It clears his minds and tires out his body enough to collapse in his bed right before dawn.
In fact, in the distance, Ferdinand can already see sunlight shining on the treetops. There’s maybe three more hours until he needs to be somewhere, so he makes his way back to his quarters.
By the time he reaches his door, it appears that he isn’t the only one awake.
Caspar stands in the middle of the hallway looking between his own door and Hubert’s. His hands are frozen mid-air and raised as if he’s going to knock on Hubert’s door.
“Casper? Is everything alright?” Ferdinand asks as he comes up from behind.
“Huh!” Caspar spins around. “Oh, Ferdinand! It’s just you.”
“Did something happen? To you? Or to Hubert?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” He scratches the back of his head. “I just woke up to start cleaning my armor and I heard something from Hubert’s room. I thought something was wrong, so I went to check up on him, but then I heard something…” He waves his hands in front of him as he starts and stops the next word. “Too disturbing…”
“Like?”
“It was like… he was laughing?” Seeing Ferdinand’s raised eyebrows, he quickly adds, “And I know that’s not a bad thing, but, like, what’s making him laugh this early?”
“Well, you’re right. It doesn’t really sound like Hubert.” While the surly man has been more… well, not friendly, but less hostile to everyone lately, he still doesn’t reveal much of his emotions. Let alone positive ones like laughter.
“Right? Maybe if someone did something really stupid or our enemy self-destructed he’d laugh, but it didn’t sound like he was laughing at something ironic.”
As if on cue, another laugh escapes Hubert’s room. It’s short and crisp, but Ferdinand can feel a little of the dark fog in his mind leaving him. With the exception of that water nymph’s singing, he has never desperately wanted to hear another sound again.
The fog keeps clear, even as Caspar harshly whispers, “See? It’s just too happy!”
Ferdinand tries recalling another moment Hubert has ever seemed carefree enough to let out a laugh like that. They have learned a lot more about each other in these short last few months. To know the source of Hubert’s genuine laughter, however, could be the greatest thing he’ll ever learn.
His unhindered curiosity leads him to ask, “Want me to check on him?”
“Would you?” Caspar looks like he just found golden gauntlets. “Thank you! Goodnight!”
In seconds, Caspar is down the hall and knocks, on what Ferdinand thinks is, Linhardt’s room. Caspar pushes his way in and gives Ferdinand one last wave and a thumbs up.
Now facing the door by himself, Ferdinand can feel his heartbeat for the first time tonight. It’s beating absurdly fast. He’s not sure if it’s from the anticipation of seeing Hubert or learning a very intimate fact about said man. Either way, Hubert is the root of his fluttering heart and — as Ferdinand reflects — has been for a while now.
With his first smile of the night, or maybe day, he loudly knocks on Hubert’s door. Some shuffling sounds through the walls, but the door opens to reveal Hubert already half-dressed for the day.
“Can I help you?” Hubert grumbles, but he doesn’t look as worn out as he had the last few years.
“I thought I heard something in your room, and wanted to check nothing was wrong.”
“Oh? And if something was wrong, would you rescue me?” Hubert smirks.
“Huh? No, nothing like that. That’s not to say I wouldn’t help, but I’m sure…” He scratches the back of his head as his cheeks flush. “You’d be just fine.”
“Duly noted.” Hubert smirk turns into a small smile and Ferdinand feels all of his weariness from staying up all night slowly disappearing.
“If that is all,” Hubert backs away and starts closing the door.
Ferdinand quickly places himself between the door and its frame, “Are you sure nothing is wrong?” While he is curious about the source, he, even more so, doesn’t want this moment to end so soon.
“Yes, Ferdinand,” he says without looking as annoyed as he might once have. “While I appreciate the concern, it’s —”
“Meow!” a chorus of voices sound from within Hubert’s room.
Hubert’s body stiffens and Ferdinand tries to look into the room.
“Was… was that a —”
Hubert tugs him by Ferdinand’s collar and shoves him against the door that Hubert closed with his body. From his limited view, he can see a cat and four kittens on Hubert’s bed.
“Those are —”
“Do you swear not to tell anyone?” Hubert nearly growls in his face.
“Why do you —”
“Do you swear?”
“Yes, I swear!” he, apparently, says the magic words for Hubert to drop him and step back. Once he gets his footing, he adds, “But I thought you didn’t care what people think of you.”
“I don’t, but I have a reputation and I would like to keep it as it is a very effective tool.”
While Ferdinand believes it’s disappointing that no one really gets to see Hubert’s softer side, he sees the importance of not letting the enemies know his emotions. Plus it just means he’s one of the special few Hubert feels comfortable around.
“Okay, but then why do you have a family of cats in your room?”
“Oh, that…” Hubert’s sullen cheeks gain a bit of color. “Well, on my way back from… a mission… I found a basket with them on the side of the road. I would not… actually I do not know what possessed me to take them in, but they will certainly live a better life here with the abundance of fish caught every day.”
Ferdinand can only imagine Hubert, riding his horse back to the monastery, trying to hide a basket of newborn kittens and their mother from everyone. He bets Hubert had to make excuses for the “most certainly not cat” sounds. Still, that doesn’t answer one of the most important questions: “And they’re in your room because…?”
Hubert’s face turns so red, that he actually adverts his eyes from Ferdinand’s. “Because the kittens are too small to wander around, I left them here. That just means the mother cat keeps coming back every night.”
It isn’t even his act of kindness, but Ferdinand still feels his heart growing in size.
But Hubert, being Hubert, adds a more “serious” rationale on the cute subject. “It honestly seemed like the path of least resistance. Cats do grow up fast.”
Of course they do, Ferdinand muses, but that still doesn’t discredit his choice to let them stay here until that time. “Sure…” A stupid smile grows on Ferdinand’s face. “Who would’ve thought Hubert, Adrestia’s most feared tactician, would adopt five cats in a single day.”
“I did not. And if you are going to mock, I suggest you leave,” Hubert glares at him for the first time tonight. And maybe the first time in weeks.
“No mocking here, promise.” He holds up his hands as a surrender. At this point, Ferdinand realizes he’s managed to stop thinking about the latest war memories. As this environment does good for his mind, just maybe, if he stays, he’ll get some rest. “So… If you don’t mind another visitor, I’ll stay awhile.” He strolls past Hubert and carefully lays next to the bundles of fur on the bed.
“Why?” Hubert doesn’t ask sharply, but it’s clear he does want him to leave. Yet, Hubert doesn’t take action to remove him. And Ferdinand’ll take that as a win.
“Because even though you have five cats laying on your bed, you probably won’t cuddle with them.”
“That is true. I still have some work that needs to be finished.” They both glance at the desks covered with papers and ink wells.
Yet, Ferdinand can spot a spare quill under the desk. Maybe Hubert won’t cuddle with them, but he certainly will not ignore them. In fact, playing with the cats seem to be the source of the laughs. Ferdinand makes sure to remember that. But he doesn’t dare ask to confirm it. Yet. Instead, he just says, “So, then I’ll cuddle them in your place.”
“Ferdinand, you can not just lay down in someone else’s bed like that.” Hubert protests, but Ferdinand already knows he’ll be able to stay. After all, Hubert does like him now, enough to “tolerate” — Hubert’s choice of word — his presence, and if he really wanted him out, he’d be kicked out a long time ago.
“Too late,” Ferdinand says and wraps an arm around the mother cat. He settles his head down on the firm pillow.
“Fine.” Hubert removes his gloves and starts taking off his overcoat. “Then, move over.”
“Wait, what?” Ferdinand pops his head up to look Hubert in the eyes.
“Move over,” Hubert casually pushes Ferdinand’s legs over and lays on the other side of the fluffy pile. The bed isn’t really big enough for two grown men and five cats, so that just means Ferdinand is the closest he’s ever been to Hubert. Being on the bed also makes it much more intimate than that brief second Hubert held him by his collar. Ferdinand is honestly surprised his rapid heartbeat isn’t disturbing the cats.
Hubert, probably thinking nothing of the non-existence distance — but deep down Ferdinand hopes it takes him off guard; even just a little bit — continues on, “I will not have these cats favor you just because you… cuddle with them.”
“I’m sure you’ll be their favorite no matter what. You are the one who took them in when no one else would.” Ferdinand hopes his voice doesn’t betray his nervousness.
“Hmmm… Still, it would not do for these young to unwittingly fall for a noble’s guile.”
“But you’re a noble too.”
“Yes, but are you not the noblest of nobles?” Hubert slyly says.
Ferdinand huffs at his younger-self’s words being thrown back at him. “And just for that, I will become the kittens’ favorite.”
Ferdinand coos at the kittens with soft head rubs, while Hubert switches between giving each cat long-stroking pets.
Hours laters, peace finally finds itself inside Ferdinand’s heart and mind. He also hopes the same for Hubert.
Long after the war and the monastery is abandoned, the local townspeople still there will whisper about the time that two vampires wandered the grounds. The people more involved with the war will also recall the influx of cats within its gate. But interestingly enough, the cats were only seen during the day. At the same time, the vampires were thought to vanish.
During the night, the prime time for cats and vampires to roam the lands, no such souls were ever spotted again.