Author's Note: Another little piece originating from a request to write about two characters I wish had support conversations. I definitely think we got robbed by the lack of a Yuri/Claude support. They'd be the sassiest scheming friends, to be honest.


Lost and Found

Yuri curiously rolled the object between his fingers after picking it up. It almost looked like some kind of token for a board game, or something, though it was different from most of the ones he usually saw the students using up here. The stone was short and round, with two perfectly-flattened ends, like a small cylinder.

He glanced around the dining room. It seemed like an odd place to drop such a thing, really. Unless whoever owned it had just done it on accident, instead of actually intending to play while they ate. No one nearby seemed to be particularly concerned about missing something, either.

Yuri paused again, staring down at the stone as he mulled it over. Hadn't he seen someone sitting here earlier? Ah, right, the Golden Deer's house leader. The duke's grandson—Claude. Maybe Yuri could catch up with him if he left soon enough.

He'd been just about done eating, anyway, so no big loss there. (The dining hall on the surface did have a whole lot more variety than the inn down in Abyss did, he thought. Lucky he didn't have to worry about wasting such good food.) Now, which way had Claude gone, again?

…Towards the area leading to the classrooms, Yuri thought. Nodding, he quickly left the dining hall, glancing around as he walked. Fortunately, he spotted Claude soon enough; he was near the Golden Deer homeroom, talking to that pink-haired girl he'd seen Balthus with once or twice. Hilda, if he recalled correctly.

"Excuse me, friend," he said, holding out the token. "Have you seen this thing before?"

"Ah…" Claude nodded as he glanced down at it. "Yeah, that's mine. Where'd you find it?"

"Over in the dining hall just now. Glad I caught up with you."

Hilda blinked as he handed it over to Claude. "Isn't that the second time you've lost that? Geez, Claude, it's not like you to be so careless with your stuff!"

Claude grinned and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're one to talk, Hilda. Anyway, thanks."

"Mm, no problem. You know, it…almost reminds me of something I saw down in Abyss recently." Yuri frowned as he thought about it. "We get all kinds of stuff down there you don't see too often up top, you know?"

"Oh, really?" Claude raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued. "I'd love to poke around down there sometime, then. Never know if I might find something useful."

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Though what was it…" Yuri resisted snapping his fingers when it finally came to him. "Ah, right. Guy at the inn bought it from an Almyran merchant, if I'm remembering right. You've got some pretty unique interests there, you know?"

Claude froze for half a second, causing Hilda to look at him in confusion. Still, he shook his head soon enough, slipping the stone piece into his pocket with a grin.

"Well, then, if you're curious, I wouldn't mind playing a round or two with you sometime. I'll swing by soon if you'd like."

Yuri winked. "Sounds like a date, then. I'll be waiting for you."

Claude snorted. "Well, then, I'll try not to stand you up."

Yuri turned, waving over his shoulder as he strode away. That had…certainly been interesting. He had to admit Claude had grabbed his attention, in multiple ways. Trying out a new game or two was always a good way to kill some time, and Yuri was quite intrigued by that little nervous flash he'd seen, too. Claude was hiding something; Yuri just knew it, and sinking his teeth into that little mystery would be exciting.

Oh, yes, Yuri was looking forward to this; he really needed to come up to the surface more often, he decided.