[ He's made his case - or part of it - and now all there is to do is wait. Claude feels strongly about leaving being not just the best but also the only option here, but that's not a decision he wants to take away from someone else. All he can do is wait as she considers everything. But when Petra says she's tired of war, he offers her an actual smile: one that's brittle with exhaustion he feels resting all too heavily on his shoulders and has been for years. ]

You and me both, my friend.

[ Claude figures that's all he really needs to say about that. Here they are again, presented with the exact same conundrum that'd been unleashed upon them in Fodlan. Only now they have none of the context and none of the allies, not to mention all the other complications.

For all the time he's spent dwelling on that lately before finding Petra here - he pushes those thoughts away now to pick apart later. It's much easier to grin again when she mentions what he's been up, simpler to slide right back into humor to put heaviness aside temporarily again. ]

Is that a compliment to my one time reputation as a rogue? [ Claude makes a show of thinking it over like he has a long list of misdeeds to draw on, purely for her entertainment. ] I suppose it did serve me well in bailing out of here without a second thought. That curfew's only a curfew if you plan on coming back here, really. There's more opportunities in the city beyond just the military, and while I'm sure there's ones that would make crime lords proud I've stayed out of them. Or - I'm pretty sure I have.