[While D beautifully haunted the edges of the gathering like a Christian renaissance painting, Byleth strolled along the tables laden with food, browsing things that would keep - pastries, cakes, bread, etcetera - and shamelessly stowing them away in his satchel hanging from his belt; a satchel that looked full to bursting by the time he entered D's orbit.
The man was looming, tall, and demanded attention. Byleth felt a prickle down his spine, a scent of predator, and his attention twitched from the food to the intriguing oddity in a figurative heartbeat (figurative being the operative word, as he lacked an actual heartbeat), a taut line threading through his shoulders and down his spine.
Their gazes locked.]
...
[Byleth did not blink or look away, his expression void of any and all emotion. One could almost mistake him as a statue with how still he had become, the only sign of life being the slow, barely there rise of occasional breaths. It was as if he'd been petrified beneath D's gaze...
...in truth, he had a passing thought that the man looked rather familiar, which proceeded to send his thoughts tumbling idly through rabbit holes of comparing the man's beautiful face to the various covers of his (not)guilty pleasure collection of various romance novels and bodice rippers. It was as if someone had gathered up every single beautiful, brooding love interest and distilled them into the perfect entity before him.
A conclusion he came to while just. staring. intently. at D. without saying a goddamn word.]
2a when a man's so beautiful you just have to stare like the yippee creature
The man was looming, tall, and demanded attention. Byleth felt a prickle down his spine, a scent of predator, and his attention twitched from the food to the intriguing oddity in a figurative heartbeat (figurative being the operative word, as he lacked an actual heartbeat), a taut line threading through his shoulders and down his spine.
Their gazes locked.]
...
[Byleth did not blink or look away, his expression void of any and all emotion. One could almost mistake him as a statue with how still he had become, the only sign of life being the slow, barely there rise of occasional breaths. It was as if he'd been petrified beneath D's gaze...
...in truth, he had a passing thought that the man looked rather familiar, which proceeded to send his thoughts tumbling idly through rabbit holes of comparing the man's beautiful face to the various covers of his (not)guilty pleasure collection of various romance novels and bodice rippers. It was as if someone had gathered up every single beautiful, brooding love interest and distilled them into the perfect entity before him.
A conclusion he came to while just. staring. intently. at D. without saying a goddamn word.]