'' so i'm guessing this is where we part ways huh, '' their enemies have been defeated and so their alliance has come to end. a silence lingers along with the question of if he will ever see dimitri again. but he does not ask and instead he settles for a smile and an extended hand. however before flying off he calls the other's name once more.'' if you ever find yourself near the border of almyra do drop by for a visit, i'll be sure to host a grand feast at the palace in your name. '' @regancrested​

doubtlessly, claude makes a remarkable comrade and a BETTER friend. the mere sight of claude on his ship, ready to set off far away from fodlan, from him was a pointed dagger at his heart that he no longer dared deny. memories of their shared time as students flooded his mind, from the day they met, from the nights they accidentally spent .. and the evening they danced him far away from the TROUBLES of their lands. sleeping by claude’s side, it seemed as though nightmares never quite reach him as they usually could. there’s little telltale signs on dimitri’s ever NEUTRAL expression regarding the thoughts running his mind at the prospect of this departure. he’s a SENTIMENTAL fool to a fault .. but perhaps it was because he’s grown used to saying goodbyes for the LAST time. his heart tightens at that admission, and his throat is set on fire at any words that dared crawled out of his ribcage. this need not be a sorrowful goodbye, not if he does not make it so. briefly, he closes his good eye to shield himself from such a DESPONDENT sight, a little pent up breath tucked away in his chest now blew past his lips. he’s never the clingy sort  — on the contrary, he’s accustomed to letting go .. all of the GOOD things in his life and the man that he became now never stopped paying the price for it. 

if he were to say he wanted claude to stay, would claude hate him ? if he were to take claude’s hand and promise to be his home, would claude forgive him ?

all he knows is that fodlan will not be the same without him. dimitri would not be the same without him. perhaps it was SELFISH of him to even entertaining the thought of taking claude away from almyra .. but therein still lines the BEASTLY side of him .. that is tired of losing everything. and at this moment .. claude was his EVERYTHING.

staring down at claude’s extended hand, and then back up at the ever cloudy smile upon claude’s face .. he then takes claude’s hand into his own, very LIGHTLY tighten it in a gentle squeeze. there’s no telling where the source of his following AUDACITY came from, perhaps the sea breeze has BEATEN out the courtesy out of him, take apart every shred of humility and wariness that he worn over the years to GHOST past the ones he loved.

in an instant, he draws back his arm, his hand still holding onto claude’s own .. and tugs the prince of golden deer off the ship and effortlessly catching him by the waist before any unfortunate accidents happened. all eyes were on them now .. both their friends ( or stalkers of their COMPLICATED relationship for good few years now ) watching with bated breaths. and despite their audience, dimitri’s expression remains indomitable still.

❛ if i were to express my desire in your presence by my side, will you indulge my selfishness ?  ❜ dimitri asks, his voice somber as the prospects of parting ways, but a silver of hopeful at the happier alternative. his gaze drifted over claude’s every feature, from his forestry eyes where light freely peaked through the boughs  — down to his lips where all his SECRETS were kept behind his beguiling smiles. every little things that he loved and yearned to know more.

a fond smile tugs at the corner of his lips at the sight of dimitri fidgeting. it does not take long before the thought of ‘ he is rather cute  ‘  surfaces like it does. the thought itself does catch him off guard as it is not something that should have crossed his mind. to think the other manages to get him like this without even trying.  ❝   they’re right about that you should laugh more often  —  i like hearing you laugh.  ❞  

as if capable of reading the blond’s mind he takes a few steps forward he links their arms,  ❝   glad to hear it  ❞  there is no way he would allow otherwise.  ❝   i’ll even let you in on a little secret of mine, i like spending time with you too.  ❞  though that is hardly a secret anymore as claude isn’t too shy about saying that dimitri is his favourite  prince. tugging onto his arm ever so slightly claude offers a wink,  ❝   now i heard someone say that they have sharks here .  ❞  he sounds perhaps a bit too enthusiastic there,  ❝   let’s go look for them .  ❞

i like hearing you laugh — what a strange, puzzling sentiment dimitri finds himself at the receiving end of, this time. yet, with claude, he finds it to be a WARM comfort to his heart, always seemingly embroiled in some sort of WAR  ( it .. does make him wish he could laugh again, simply to appease this fun-loving, carefree man ). clearing his throat, he attempts to do away with the little uncertainties that formed.

❛ as always, your commentaries never cease to surprise .. ❜ he said, shaking his head in slight exasperation.  when claude linked their arms, however, it was when his previous endearing thoughts emerged in FULL THROTTLE. a small parade of uhhs stumbled out of his lips, as his expression could now barely restrain itself, exposing his utter confusion and bewilderment at the matter. rarely has anyone been this close to him, not in a long time. then again, this was just right on par with claude’s natural friendliness so .. dimitri decided that he doesn’t quite mind it.

      ‘  no it makes perfectly sense, ’  everything to avoid finding himself in such position however claude cannot help but let out a sigh when he sees dimitri in his own little daydream. he’s not even there yet and he already seems to be enjoying himself; it almost makes him feel bad. almost. ‘  but if you want to jump into an icy cold ocean be my guest, i’ll be there on the coastline watching you. ’  despite the cold he does not have any objections against that idea. in fact, it would be a welcoming sight. 

yet the cold is soon forgotten upon hearing that blessed laughter that he would not object to hearing more often. a broad smile cannot help but surface at witnessing the sight. ‘  i’m glad at least someone appreciates my terrible jokes ’  he cannot help but laugh along, his cheeks flushing as he does so. he really got it bad doesn’t he.  ‘  you should laugh more often ’  escapes his lips sooner than his brain can catch up only realizing now what he just said, but does it truly matter at this point?  ‘  i mean  —  ’  it is exactly what he meant.   ‘  you look like you’re enjoying yourself … i’m glad. ’

        even in his reverie, he notices that his companion did not seem keen with the idea of winter swimming. ah .. dimitri did figure that before since claude wasn’t raised along with faerghus’s UNFORGIVING winter but he assumed someone as SPIRITED as claude would be open to trying. he stared at claude contemplatively, with his finger tucked under his chin.          but when the topic switches to dimitri, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of the attention falling upon him again .. and quite directed at his LAUGHTER, no less. hesitantly, he fidgets with his hands and arms shyly, feeling every bit of self-conscious as he does. ❛ no, they were quite funny, ❜ he admits. ❛ i suppose i’ve been told that before. to laugh more often, that is. ❜ 

          sylvain comes to mind at first hand, although it was along the lines of ‘you gotta loosen up, your highness !’ and it was easier said than done .. for HIM, that is.

     ‘  w-winter swimming ?  ’ by now colour has completely drained from claude’s face at the nostalgic mention of swimming in frigid temperatures. just the mere thought of it sends shivers down his spine. if one thing is for certain it is that claude is not made for winter or even slightly colder weather. it took a while for him to get adjusted to the weather in leicester and even now he still sleeps with an extra blanket.  ‘  can’t we just pretend we did the swimming activity and skip to the part at the fire place with some hot choco? ’ to him it sounds much more preferable.

claude takes a few steps, following the school of fishes,  ‘  they do, ’ he agrees before he comes to halt.  ‘  it must be easy being a fish, ’  he says,  ‘  i mean threats aside they can just be on their merry way, doing whatever fishes like to do. ’  his gaze finds another fish who appears to be up to something as another fish draws closer.  ‘  seems like that one is up to something fishy. ’  

❛  their rambling gave me a headache.  ❜  a shield, he shall be for the king. as foretold in history, fraldarius and blaiddyd, shield and sword of faerghus. tales that were scoffed at years ago had become reality as he is now standing abreast the other, just after a rather long and very diplomatic meeting. days such as these proved felix held no political understanding beyond what little was passed on to him from observing his father and uncle. had dimitri not been there, the worst would have happened : tantrums among the nobles and felix, himself. he sighs, shoulder brushing gently against the other as he walked daringly close to him. ❛  i’m not sitting in on the next meeting, dimitri.  ❜  /  @blufayth​​

❝ well, well ! is the prince of faerghus asking me for a dance?  ❞ little mockingbird sings his tune : a rather spirited performance, accompanied by roseate painted lips curling rather devilishly. of course, there had been no official invitation to the center of the ballroom, the leader of the ashen wolves just wished to play a little game with the young prince. ❝  out of all the nobles here, and i was chosen? lucky me.  ❞   /   @blufayth​ !

by now he guesses that dimitri still thinks he is jesting about his earlier attempts to get him to dance with him. guess he’ll have to prove him otherwise. ‘ you know, i wasn’t joking earlier when i said i want to dance with you. ’ claude finally speaks up, before extending a hand while the other rests behind his back. ‘ dimitri, may i have this dance? ’ (2/2)

         the sight of students and teachers on the dance floor, all of this in a venue at the heart of the monastery … and in times where it’s a RARE respite from the current mysteries that has been occurring. dimitri must admit that he wasn’t fully bought into the social event, considering his sentiments lie FAR from the mingling that people like sylvain seemed to enjoy. nevertheless, he’s sufficiently POLITE to avoid refusing a dance that’s offered to him and skillfully put his lessons ( that’s been HAMMERED into him from day one as a child ) to good use and fails to embarrass his partners.

         once the queue for his hand is gone, dimitri is left to his own devices and he’s found in his own corner, sipping on a glass of a fruity mix whilst eyeing the dance floor for any peculiar activities. even in such a LEISURE event and place, his mind did not stray from the past occurrences they had to deal with. for all he knows, he could be among these halls …

          however, these mulling were briefly put out of his mind when claude enters his line of vision. he’s about to greet the other, until claude overtook his intention by offering to revive his previous words about a DANCE. ah … dimitri assumed that it stopped being an option when they were both stolen by the hands of other students ( and if he had to be frank, he secretly prefers the option to be open ). after all .. hadn’t they grown inseparably close during their last few years in the monastery ?

         a peaceful, delicate smile found its way to dimitri’s lips for the first time this evening ( for once, it wasn’t just for someone other than himself ).  ❛ are you certain ? i am unable to promise that i can sweep you off your feet better than you do for me, ❜ he manages out smoothly, which was followed by a small chuckle. sylvain can be a bad ( or at this precise time, GOOD ) influence on him.  ❛ forgive me for not offering a bouquet. i suppose .. there leaves more room for me to make up for it.  ❜          accepting claude’s hand, he lets himself be pulled closer to claude’s chest with the grace of a dancer as they glide over to the perimeter of the dance floor ( dimitri still prefers the dance to be PRIVATE between them ). as they fall naturally into each other’s rhythm, as dimitri dares himself to look at claude’s own bright eyes, it becomes even easier to keep the smile of his ALIVE and real. and it’s easier, for his body to move with such FREEDOM and elegance at the same time.

             for a moment, he can forget what haunted him in the day, utterly distracted by the humming in his own heart. if it was ever broken, this would be when it is mended.                         ❛  claude ..  ❜ dimitri accidentally slips out the name that recited in his mind, along with a couple of SWEETNESS he never knew he had. when he realizes that he has captured the other’s attention to his own subconscious call, he thinks that it’s only fitting that he attaches it with a reason. as he thought it over, they made a smooth turn next to another couple.

had it not been dimitri’s sincere choice of words then surely the sight of his smile would be the cause of claude’s own smile. despite the other’s stiffness he does possess a certain charm that claude wouldn’t mind seeing more often hence why he has taken it upon himself to encourage him to speak freely whenever they are together. ‘ what can i say, i am a man of many talents, ’  he jests in response brushing away dimitri’s comment. claude hardly considers it a ‘talent’ worth mentioning and simply assumes he never got a chance to speak to another person on equal grounds.  

upon entering the aquarium the two of them walk to the service desk and buy two entree tickets as well as a map just in case. once inside the they scan the map and note that there is an indoor and an outdoor area though eventually decide to just follow the first route they find. walking besides dimitri they follow the route that leads to the first area. both of them are greeted by two tall and bright aquariums that go as far as the eye can reach on both their left and right side. a whistle leaves his lips before turning to dimitri, ‘ i should definitely bring this concept home, ’ surely house riegan won’t have any objections to that. 

taking a step closer to the aquarium claude observes the fishes swimming about taking note of the many different colored of fish. however upon hearing his name being called he leans a bit closer, arm brushing against the other as he attempts to get a better look at whatever has caught dimitri’s attention. ‘ which one ? ’

♡