I'm not sure I'd want to risk anyone else near him at his worst. He can be kind of dangerous. It's not the kind of gamble I'd ask anyone else to make. That's my specialty, y'know?

[Honestly...Claude shudders to think of Lysithea - or Ignatz, or Marianne, or most of them anywhere near a fully feral Dimitri. Part of him believes Dimitri wouldn't go so far as to kill any of them just for being in the way, but...he also cares too much about his friends to want to test it.

And then Lysithea says things like that, and it only makes Claude want to protect them all even more. He smiles, trying to bury his genuine self-consciousness at such high praise.] Honestly, Lysithea, buttering me up so thoroughly like this...c'mon, be honest, what sweets did you see that you want me to buy you? I mean, you've got a whole new world's selection at your fingertips, so I can't blame you for getting excited...

[He kind of has to make light of it. That much sweet earnestness, from Lysithea especially...he has to water it down or his heart won't be able to take it. The blasts of sunshine from Raphael are bad enough, but at least a guy can brace himself for that; Raphael's like that all the time. When Lysithea does it, it hits him right in the blind spot.]