Claude reckons with the gentleness of love, renewing and steadfast, when so much else in his life has been forged from blood and bone.

AU: Max is immortal, and not exactly human, and the apocalypse is mostly just a PTSD-inducing inconvenience for a man who can't die. The world has ended, and that means the things that were buried by Humanity are coming out of hiding again.

(it will have been worth it.) Between the end of the war and the passage of six months, the construction of a new dawn takes some work. Meanwhile, Byleth figures out the art of coming to terms.

(but i think like a waterfall.) —Truthfully, Byleth always stood somewhere between professor and peer. Not that anyone would be able to get her thoughts on the matter out of her if they tried. She's a little busy putting the pieces of herself back together in her spare time, putting the past into a verifiable timeline, collecting memories through daydreams. Claude knows as much.

Sometimes it's a teacup, shattered then repaired. Sometimes it's a pair of handmade socks. And sometimes it's a smiling face drawn on a wall in blood. Small things to make you smile, laugh, cry – separately, or all at once. (Collection of miscellaneous one-shots, rating for individual stories specified inside.)

When had her smile become important to him? When had her opinion of him become something that mattered?

"what's there to be faithful to? I am faithful / to you, darling. I say it to the paint." (Those days after release. Simon and Athena, and the shadows that linger.)

(noun): the act of loving in return. Post Blue Bird.

Red blossoms on his chest like a rose in the spring, and Lisbon presses down against the wound. Her fingers slide in his blood.

A change of circumstances is not irony. What IS irony, in its purest form, is a man who bears the label of 'phantom' yet still draws breath.

Athena stops by the prosecutor's office for a mundane reason. She has a not-so-mundane chat with Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. (Post-Dual Destinies)

Simon follows Athena in the middle of the night, intent on proving his guilt through threats, determined to chase her off his case once and for all. Athena isn't so easily swayed by words that don't match the voice of one's heart.

Simon's first date with Athena is on none other than Valentine's Day, coordinated by none other than Pearl Fey, who is none other than the girl convinced of their destiny to be married for all eternity. Way to lay down the pressure. How long will these two spend tripping over themselves before they actually have fun?

"'Thank you,' she breathes. 'This was…this is the best Christmas gift I've ever received.' He nods at her. He cannot speak. 'I've been thinking about what to get you in return,' she continues, and before he can interrupt—she already is his gift; he doesn't need anything more—she cuts him off. 'And I finally figured it out.'"

One can wonder from their path for any amount of time, get lost in any direction. But in every situation, there is always a way to return.

"I have something for you," he says. She laughs. "Didn't you already get me what I wanted as a kid? Years ago?" "Yes." He returns from the back of the trailer. "This is something else, though." (A tag to Black Helicopters (6x13) which then becomes an AU going through Violets (6x16) and a little beyond. Jane finally (sort of) does things right.)

Written for a KM request. Shortly after getting together, Simon and Athena spend a lazy Sunday afternoon in bed after she insists that that's what rainy days are for. Cykesquill fluff.

"'She had it coming,'" Lisbon quoted to him. "You tell her you're sorry, and then you turn around and tell me 'she had it coming' Was that for my benefit, Jane? Did you think for some reason it would make me feel better to hear you say that? Because let me tell you, it most certainly did not."