#I will never get sick of short Edelgard jokes

[fireemblems24]

hey if you uh 👀 wanna share that essay on dimitri 👀 i'm sure more than one of us will be happy to read it... 👀👀👀 (dont mean to pressure you or anything! just joking around but in all seriousness your metas are 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼)

This feels a bit like someone asking me to indulge in my favorite food.

I’m a bit stuck right now with no new content for Dimitri, and with that shocking personality turn, I’m dying to know where this all goes, and you bet there will be some massive Dimitri analysis coming. 

But for a “short” breakdown of why he’s my favorite so far:

He’s that kind, empathetic, diplomatic lord I always go for, but avoids being too vanilla because he’s allowed to have faults. It’s also so nice to see a character who goes through trauma and see it realistically affect them, and not just in a romantic tool kind of way either. You see it in literally everything Dimitri does and how he interacts with everyone. It’s an excellent case of “tragic backstory” done right.

It’s almost unfair how many complex relationships Dimitri has on the other main characters. It takes the Byleth pandering edge off a lot when he’s got these deep, rich connections to Felix, Dedue, Ingrid, Rodrigue, Sylvain, Gilbert, and even Annette and Catherine. It’s such a leg up on the other main characters that he gets to skip over awkward intro C-Supports and jump right into the drama. 

He surprises you. I fully expected Dimitri to be kind of boring, but instead he just made me . . . fall in love with him? Like, I’m closer to 30 than 20. I have not done this over a character since high school. Like what is this?

The trauma is interesting and well-done and all, but even without it Dimitri’s a character who I would’ve gone for. He’s so awkwardly adorable and gets so easily excited when you talk about his favorite sword or whatever. But then he’s also so composed and confident at times.  

I also love how traditionally “feminine” his strengths are. He’s kind, empathetic, wants to compromise rather than punch his way through his problems, and he’s still totally a guy. Many times these “softer” male characters are written super feminine, but it’s nice to see these traits in a character who is still traditionally masculine. It’s refreshing because it shows these things don’t have to be one or the other. You can be a guy’s guy and still be emotional, considerate, and caring. Like his hobbies are swordplay and sowing, and he’s allowed to just like both and no one makes a big deal of it one way or the other.

Dimitri embraces his leadership role. You can tell it takes a toll on him, and that he’d probably really rather not have to take on all this burden. But he does. I’m so sick of entitled leader characters play the “but I never ASKED to be XXXX!!!” Dimitri just embraces it and wants to use it to help others. For all of Dimitri’s trauma and how center-stage it takes, you literally never hear this guy complain about anything. The headaches? You know know because of Felix and Dedue. Same with the sleeplessness. Dimitri never says a word because he’s just so ingrained to take on all the burdens and lead everyone else. It’s to an unhealthy level, but oh my God it’s so refreshing after dealing with so many heirs and chosen ones that come across like spoiled brats. 

There’s a few key moments in the story that Dimtiri really stuck out to me too. 

Post-Lonato - This was the scene where his character really caught my attention. So often fantasy glorifies war. Kings and chosen ones fight for their ideals against some dark overlord and it’s all rah, rah!!! And it’s all good and fun, but I can’t ever help but wonder what any of these stories look like from the common man’s POV. Dimitri gets that. He’s not about some high and might cause. He’s always focused on how the common man is getting hurt by their leaders. He does this with Miklain too. Of all the lords, he’s the only one who noticed how Miklain mistreated all the nearby commoners. That was what he talked about. It’s what he’s always talked about. And it really resonates with me. Leader characters with admirable ordeals are a dime a dozen when you read as much fantasy and historical fiction as I do, but ones who set that all aside and their ultimate goal is to serve the people - now that’s interesting. 

Post-Jeralt - This was one of the few times I felt kind of self-inserted in the game. I don’t care too much for Byleth or Jeralt. But after Jeralt did his thing, I got Edelgard’s harsh treatment, than Claude’s complete disregard, and I was honestly feeling so put out. I really expected the game to play this up given how much they love to pander to Byleth. I was especially shocked to see Edelgard be so dismissive of Byleth’s feelings when she’s so hung up on Byleth. It’s like Claude and Edelgard ask so much from Byleth - both openly wanting to use Byleth to achieve their own goals - and the single time Byleth shows weakness, is faltering, neither care enough to bother. By the time I got to Dimitri, I expected nothing. But when he showed up instead of Alois (sooner than the other two), I was a bit taken off guard. And then I finally got to see someone really care about Byleth for Byleth’s sake, and not only what they thought Byleth could end up doing for them later. He was so kind and considerate. He didn’t belittle Byleth for grieving, he offered to cover for anything Byleth needed. And it really got to me, because we’ve all been there. We have people we think we’re good friends with, but when you need them they’re just . . . not there. And then that one person who is there just really ends up sticking out so much more. 

I really expect this list to get so much longer after seeing the time skip. He’s clearly going to get some massive character development, and I’m so excited to see all the sides of Dimitri explored - even - especially - the not so good ones. So it’s slightly torturous that I’m stuck replaying the route I saved over and not seeing anything new and smarts even worse because Dimitri’s (and Dedue who coincidentally is another favorite) are literally the only characters I’ve seen 0 final supports for and I’m just . . . really dying over here. 

[nicolewrites]

you make me feel (impossible things)

take some purely self-indulgent dimileth fluff. for context, you may want to read:

i’ve never loved (like this)

Rating: T+ Genre: Romance, Friendship Characters: [Byleth/My Unit, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd] Words: 5,286

“Byleth hates March. She has piles upon piles of marking to get through, packed office hours with confused students, it is raining, and Dimitri is stressed. He apologizes for it almost every day, but Byleth is mad at the circumstances, not him.” / dimileth modern au

AO3 | FFN

Byleth hates March. She has piles upon piles of marking to get through, packed office hours with confused students, it is raining, and Dimitri is stressed. He apologizes for it almost every day, but Byleth is mad at the circumstances, not him. 

Today, he comes home so exhausted and burned out that Byleth takes one look at him and sends him straight to bed, saying she’ll wake him for dinner later, but that he needs to sleep while he can. 

As she stirs the pasta sauce on the stove, she thinks about the chaos that awaits just around the corner for both of them. Exam season starts in April for her, and Dimitri’s job is just exhausting all the time for him. It doesn’t help that she knows what has been in their mail recently and the effect it has on Dimitri. 

Sylvain had texted her the other day, asking for a recipe and she hadn’t even had to ask to know that he was cooking it for Ingrid. Annette had warned them that both hers and Felix’s phones would be off for the day as well. Byleth had called Dimitri in sick and tucked him tighter under their covers so that he could sleep more. He had been annoyed at her, but she has always been good at diffusing his annoyance. 

Dimitri’s phone rings on the counter where he had left it when he went to nap. Byleth turns down the heat on the stove and reaches for it, checking the caller ID before she answers it. She wrinkles her nose at the name, but answers the call. 

“Dimitri Blaiddyd’s phone,” she greets politely.

“Oh, hello,” comes the overly smooth voice that Byleth has grown to hate. “I need to speak with Dimitri.”

“He’s occupied,” Byleth says pleasantly. She wanders back to the stove and stirs the sauce idly. “Can I take a message?”

“It’s Byleth, right? The girlfriend?” 

“Yes,” Byleth agrees. “Now, if you have business with Dimitri, Cornelia, I suggest you actually indicate that with his work hours, not his personal hours.”

“I’m calling about the gala. I need to know if he’s decided on a theme for it or if he just wants to leave it to the professionals. We also need to discuss my rate,” Cornelia says. Byleth hates the smug tone of the woman’s voice.

Cornelia is the party planner that Dimitri’s uncle had hired to take over organizing the Blaiddyd Spring Gala once Lambert and Patricia had died. Byleth had been to three galas with Dimitri: one as friends and two since they’d been dating. She had hated Cornelia’s decor and extravagant, gaudy themes every single year. Dimitri always expresses the fact that his galas will never be as elegant as his parents’ were and Byleth can’t help but hate Cornelia since, according to Sylvain and Ingrid, she was in it to spend as much of the Blaiddyd fortune as possible and to squeeze the grieving son for payment and that she had never cared about the gala itself. 

“Actually,” Byleth says before she can stop herself, “we’ve decided to move forward without you.”

Cornelia laughs shortly. “You’re not very good at telling jokes, Miss Eisner,” she says coolly, switching to Byleth’s surname to be petty. “The Blaiddyd Gala will be a failure without my touch.”

“I disagree,” Byleth says cheerfully, spinning her spoon through the bubbling tomato sauce. “I’m tired of you manipulating my grieving boyfriend into shelling out way more money than necessary so that you can skim off the top and squeeze him into paying you way more than you’re worth with the trashy decor you seem to insist on every year. This gala is a way for Dimitri to honour his parents and I’m tired of you trampling that legacy.”

“Listen here you bitch,” Cornelia snarls, all polite pretenses gone. 

“Goodbye Nessarose,” Byleth says before hanging up the call. 

She turns to place the phone back on the counter and sees Dimitri standing in the doorway, looking between her and his phone. She feels instantly guilty. She just fired his party planner and created more work for him to do on top of the stress he is already managing.

“Dimitri,” she starts, looking to apologize.

He shakes his head. “Nessarose?” he questions. 

Byleth flushes. “The Wicked Witch of the East from Wicked. Elphaba was understood but Nessa was kind of a selfish bitch.”

Dimitri walks towards her until he’s standing right in front of her. His neutral expression breaks into a smile and he cups her face to kiss her deeply. Byleth closes her eyes and relishes in his warmth for a second before she leans back, furrowing her brow. 

“I just made our lives way harder, shouldn’t you be mad at me?”

“Thank you,” Dimitri says instead, kissing her forehead. He takes his phone from her and slips it into his pocket. He glances at the stove where she’s cooking the pasta sauce. “Smells good,” he murmurs. 

Byleth pinches his arm and he jolts, looking back down at her as she frowns. “Shouldn’t you be mad at me?” she repeats.

Dimitri shrugs. “Not when you’re right. Cornelia is expensive, spends too much, and doesn’t even make the gala look good. We’ll figure something else out.”

Byleth sighs and turns back to the stove, poking the sauce with her spoon. “I still feel bad.”

“Don’t,” he suggests. “I trust you, By, it’s alright.”

“Hand me the wine, will you?” she requests. 

He passes her the open bottle of red wine that was on the counter and Byleth pours a generous half-cup into the sauce. Dimitri hums in approval and moves to grab the brown sugar which is on the counter next to where he had grabbed the wine bottle. He offers her the sugar in a trade. 

Byleth lifts the bottle to her lips and takes a drink straight from it before she hands it to him and takes the sugar. Dimitri moves away and she turns back to her meal to finish doctoring up the sauce. She’s stirring in the last of the brown sugar when Dimitri’s hands close over her hips and he bends his head to kiss the side of her neck. 

Byleth laughs breathily as Dimitri presses himself close to her. “That’s not distracting at all,” she murmurs. 

“Try watching you cook in that,” he replies, kissing her neck again. 

Byleth glances at her outfit and notices that she’s wearing shorts and one of Dimitri’s old hockey shirts. “Hmm,” she hums appreciatively, cocking her head so he has more to work with. She lifts a spoonful of sauce up and holds it for him to taste. 

He licks it from over her shoulder, making her giggle, before he hums happily. “Delicious,” he says. 

“Good!” Byleth says, turning the heat off. She places the spoon down on the stove next to the frying pan. 

She spins in Dimitri’s grip, distracting him from his dedication to her neck, and kisses him hard. He pulls her close immediately and Byleth runs her hands through his blonde hair. He deepens the kiss and moves to back her up against the stove, but Byleth steps on his toe to stop him and he pulls back, blinking at her. 

She laughs at the expression on his face. “I know you’re tired, but I don’t particularly want to burn my ass on the hot stove.”

Dimitri’s cheeks turn red immediately as he realizes that they’d gotten a bit carried away. “Sorry,” he says, kissing her chastely once more before he steps away. 

Byleth doesn’t let him retreat, clinging to him so that he takes her with him when he moves. She laughs at him and boops her finger on his nose. “Did you sleep?” she asks. He looks guilty and Byleth feels disappointed. “I told you to sleep,” she nags. “Did I keep you up?”

“No,” Dimitri assures. “Except, maybe, that I’m used to you being there when I sleep,” he adds the last part somewhat sheepishly and Byleth’s heart swells. 

She steps onto his toes and stands on her tiptoes to kiss him. This kiss doesn’t have the heat that the previous one did, but it conveys the familiar, deep love Byleth has for Dimitri. The way that his arm winds around her waist as he kisses her back tells her that he knows. She pulls back after a moment, but Dimitri keeps holding her close. 

“That’s adorable,” she tells him lightly. 

He huffs out a breath but kisses her forehead. “We should eat dinner and then maybe we can watch a movie before bed.”

Byleth grins and ghosts a hand over Dimitri’s rear. “Mm,” she agrees playfully. “A movie,” she teases. 

She steps out of his grip before he can carry her away to the bedroom and pulls two plates out of the cupboard. Dimitri groans behind her and Byleth laughs out loud. 

“Tease,” he complains. 

“I love you,” she responds. 

-

Byleth is working on grading papers when Dimitri knocks on her office door. He’s holding his tablet and his shirt is unbuttoned completely and he looks exhausted. She puts her pen down and walks over to him. 

“Okay?” she asks.

He scrubs a hand over his face tiredly. “Do you have a minute?”

Byleth nods and takes the tablet from him. She recognizes this as gala-induced stress, not work-stress so she’s happy to help where she can. The screen is displaying a list of names which Byleth assumes is supposed to be a guestlist. 

“I cross-referenced last year’s list, but I can’t help but feel like I’m missing people,” Dimitri admits. 

Byleth skims the list. She sees all the usual names who were previous business partners and friends of Lambert’s as well as some family members that Dimitri can tolerate. He has marked Felix and the others to receive their own invitations instead of the family invitations. She pauses when she gets to the bottom of the list. 

“What about your friends, Dimitri?”

He frowns. “I invited them.” 

She hands the tablet back and crosses her arms. “No, I mean Edelgard, and Claude, and Marianne, and Raphael.  Your friends , not the ones you’ve known for forever.”

He sighs. “I didn’t know I could invite them,” he says quietly. 

Byleth takes one of his hands in hers and squeezes it tightly. “Dimitri, I understand that you’re trying to honour your parents by keeping it to all the same people they would have invited, but it’s your legacy now too. If you want to invite your friends, then you should. Your parents would never fault you for inviting people you actually want to be around to your biggest social gathering of the year.”

“But,” he mumbles, “El? And Claude?”

Byleth smiles. “The way I see it, it puts the company in good standing with their family businesses. They’re your friends, but it’s also a business opportunity for all three of you.” She wraps her arms around him, underneath his shirt against his bare skin, and squeezes. “You’ll be fine, Dimitri.”

He hugs her back with the hand not holding the tablet and smooths down her hair with his palm. “You’re my voice of reason, By. Thank you.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” she reminds. “Now, do you have anything else to do for this today or can we deal with the other issue?”

Dimitri tenses. “What other issue?”

Byleth presses her palms against his bared abs and gives him a sly look. “You came in here with your shirt open and you didn’t expect me to want to jump you?”

Dimitri laughs and kisses her between the eyes. “I wish we could. But, I do need to figure something out about a decorator and planner. I figured since you so elegantly fired Cornelia, you might be able to help me with that.”

Byleth wrinkles her nose. “Hey, you agreed with me that Cornelia needed to go,” she points out.

Dimitri smiles. “I know, I know, but I thought you might like to help. I’ve been looking on a few job sites at resumes and I’m not overly impressed.”

A realization strikes Byleth suddenly and she brightens. “I have a better idea.”

“You do?”

“You invite the Gonerils every year right?”

Dimitri’s brow creases, but he nods. “I do. Their father did a lot of work with mine.”

Byleth smiles. “Hilda is fresh out of design school and doing the work that she’s doing for her brother is definitely not her cup of tea. I’m sure she would do a great job on the decorations and planning,” Byleth suggests. 

Dimitri considers it. “Don’t you think she might be a bit unmotivated? Claude complains that she is horribly lazy in their apartment.”

Byleth hums in agreement. “Sure, but that’s just because she doesn’t want to do that kind of work. But, if you present her with a design opportunity and let her delegate, I guarantee that she’ll be great.”

“Alright,” Dimitri conceded. “I’ll give her a call and ask for a portfolio.”

“Excellent!” Byleth said. “Now, what’s next on your list of very long unimportant things that you need to do.”

Dimitri glances over her shoulder at the stack of essays on her desk. “Don’t you need to work?”

Byleth rolls her eyes. “They’re fourth year papers. Most of them are excellent and need very little work. I can do them any time. This,” she taps the tablet, “is more on a time crunch.”

Dimitri sighs. “Byleth, you don’t have to plan the gala for me. It’s supposed to be my responsibility.”

She frowns at him. “Then let’s make it our responsibility. Dimitri, I want to help you. I like spending as much time with you as possible, even if it’s just us arguing over the colour of the napkins at a fancy party.” She looks around her office. “Besides, we literally live together in your massive mansion. If I was uncomfortable with any of this, we wouldn’t be living here together.”

He breathes out and stoops so that their foreheads are pressed together. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Byleth giggles. “You bought me a coffee because you thought I looked sad. As soon as you smiled at me, I knew I was a goner.”

He laughs. “I love you.”

“Now,” she redirects, tapping the tablet again. “What’s next on the list?”

“Catering,” Dimitri says. “I know I could let Hilda do that if she takes it on, but I wanted to look into it myself this year.”

Byleth considers. “What about Ashe? His restaurant opened last month, didn’t it? If you call him this week, he’ll have over a month to prepare for everything. We already know the food is good so I don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that. I had been looking into so many of these fancy catering places Dedue sent me. I didn’t even realize I could commission a restaurant.”

Byleth taps his nose with her index finger and winks. “That’s why I’m here.”

-

Byleth wakes up with a gasp. Her hair is stuck to the back of her neck and she feels entirely too hot. She twists on the bed, sliding out from under Dimitri’s heavy arm, trying not to wake him. She kicks back the covers and sits up. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she risks at glance at Dimitri. 

His brow is furrowed now that she’s not tucked under his arm, but the rest of his body is dead still in his sleep. She exhales and pushes off the bed, heading for the adjoining bathroom. She closes herself in the dark room before she turns the light on. 

She curls her hands in the edge of the sink and stares down her reflection. Her skin is pale and she can clearly see the dark circles under her eyes. She rubs her face, but only succeeds in mussing one of her eyebrows so the hairs in it stick out in every direction. 

She runs some cold water into the sink and washes her hands. The water almost burns against her too-warm skin and she shuts it off, staring into the sink as the droplets of water roll off her fingers. Byleth looks at the line of bottles along the edge of the sink: hand soap, her facewash, Dimitri’s shaving cream, hand lotion, her make-up remover, and Dimitri’s cologne. Their things are mixed so casually and completely that Byleth can hardly remember what it was like to have her own bathroom in her tiny apartment before she and Dimitri had moved in together. 

Her dream is still unsettling her and she’s entirely too warm to even consider going back to bed. She fiddles with the silver chain around her neck and rubs her thumb over the looped pendant on the end of it. The metal is warm from resting against her skin and Byleth feels a little lightheaded. 

She grabs a hair tie and pulls her hair into a bun, trying to keep it off her neck, but that doesn’t even give her much relief. She’s still too hot and uncomfortable and tired and it’s awful. Finally, in a last ditch effort, she strips out of the too big t-shirt she had stolen from Dimitri and turns the shower on. 

She keeps the water at a lukewarm temperature because ice cold showers are definitely not super good for the body. She lets her hair down again and runs her fingers through it, pulling through tangles in the mint green locks. She stares at the wall of the shower and watches water droplets roll over the tiles over and over again. 

She thinks of raindrops and the way that it had rained that day. She thinks of blood on her hands and hard pavement beneath her knees. A lump swells in her throat and she sinks to the ground, sitting on the floor of the shower as water pours over her. Byleth looks at her hands and can basically watch the red oozing from them become diluted and run down her arms before draining out of the shower. 

Distantly, Byleth hears the bathroom door open and the shuffling of footsteps. Metal scrapes on metal as the shower curtain is drawn back. The water is shut off and Byleth blinks through the droplets caught in her eyelashes as she looks up. A fuzzy towel wraps around her and she is about to stand on her own when strong arms lift her, soaked and wrapped in a towel, off the ground and out of the shower. 

She tries to complain, but Dimitri doesn’t let her. He sets her on her feet on the bathroom floor and pulls the towel tighter around her shoulders. He grabs a second towel and starts gently wiping her face and neck before he starts on her hair. He wraps the towel around her hair and rubs it, drying her hair with friction until it hangs, only partly wet, around her shoulders. 

Byleth curls her fingers into the towel and looks up at Dimitri. “I’m sorry I woke you,” she mumbles. 

He draws her into a hug and Byleth’s face is practically smushed against Dimitri’s bare chest. He is warm and Byleth realizes that her stifling heat had given way to a frigid cold that permeates her being. Dimitri holds her close and rests his head atop hers. 

“Don’t apologize for that,” he says sternly. He leans back just enough so that he can look into her eyes. “Are you alright?”

She sighs and steps out of his arms. She dries herself and tugs her discarded shirt back on. It clings to her hips and chest with residual water. Dimitri doesn’t say anything else, he just watches her dress patiently. 

“I had the dream again,” Byleth finally admits. “I woke up hot and I just needed to cool down.”

Dimitri’s gaze softens and he holds out a hand. She takes it and he leads her out of the bathroom, shutting the light off. In the dark of their bedroom, he tugs her to the bed and sits on the edge of it. Byleth pushes his shoulder back with the hand not holding hers and he complies, lying down. She basically crawls on top of him, tucking her head under his chin as his arms wrap around her. 

Dimitri breathes deeply and calmly and pulls the blankets up over them. Byleth burrows into him and tilts her head so that she can kiss his collarbone. Dimitri’s arms tighten and his fingers grip the fabric of the t-shirt. Byleth loops one of her legs behind one of his knees and closes her eyes. 

It is far from the first night that horrid dreams have awoken one of them. Byleth has nightmares of the night her father was stabbed and Dimitri dreams of gunshots and fire from when the hotel he was at with his parents was attacked.

In the years they’ve been together, they’ve fallen into an easy rhythm of comfort when one of them wakes up from a bad dream. Byleth likes to be close to Dimitri with her head on his chest so that she can fall back asleep hearing the hum of his heartbeat. Dimitri likes to have her run her fingers through his hair and for her to hum and whisper to him until he manages to fall asleep. 

With the stressful few weeks they’ve been having, they had both been mostly too exhausted to dream when they slept, but there is always an exception. 

Dimitri falls back asleep faster than she does and she notices the moment his breathing becomes deeper and his grip loosens a tiny bit. She angles her head until her neck aches and reaches a hand up to brush aside some of his blonde hair. It’s getting long and could probably use a trim soon. She smiles to herself, letting go of the grief that had stricken her from the dream, and just listens to Dimitri’s heartbeat thrumming rhythmically beneath her. 

“I love you,” she breathes into the darkness of the room. 

Unconsciously, his arm twitches around her, and Byleth smiles. She closes her eyes and calls to the darkness of sleep. She doesn’t dream again that night. 

-

In the chaos of the two weeks leading up to the gala, Byleth picks Dimitri’s tux up from the tailor, finalizes the menu with Ashe, writes the cheque to pay the musicians ahead of time, and stays up until 4 in the morning discussing lighting and garland decorations with Hilda. Dimitri is run ragged as well, and most nights they pass out on the bed without hardly as much as a chaste kiss goodnight. 

The gala is in six days and Byleth stares into her closet and realizes her greatest mistake: she doesn’t have a dress for herself. 

She bangs her head against the closet door as she stares at the black dress she wore last year and the white and blue one she wore the year before. “Fuck,” she mutters. 

Dimitri pokes his head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth. “By?”

She waves him off. “I’m an idiot, but it’s fine.”

He disappears for a moment and she hears water run in the sink. She closes the closet door and turns to see Dimitri emerging from the bathroom, pulling his hair into his little hair bun. He’s still looking at her curiously. 

“I’ve spent all this time making sure that the napkins will match the tablecloths with Hilda and I didn’t buy a goddamn dress,” she moans. Dimitri bursts out laughing and Byleth glares at him. “Don’t laugh at my pain!” 

He walks over to her, places his hands on her biceps, and squeezes lightly. “Don’t be mad,” he says lightly. He releases her and walks to his closet behind her. 

Byleth follows him curiously and Dimitri pulls out a white box with a silver ribbon tied around it. Her jaw drops. 

“Dimitri,” she starts. 

He shakes his head. “Please don’t complain about the money, By.” She folds her arms and looks between him and the fancy box. “How did you even figure that I hadn’t bought a dress yet?”

“Mercedes, mostly,” he admits. “She, Annette and Hilda have been keeping me updated. Mercedes said you went shopping with her and Annette, but that you barely looked for yourself. Hilda has also been keeping you off the subject of dresses on purpose, even though she had been dying to style you herself.”

She frowns. “And this?” He smiles at her and holds the box out. “Dorothea and Ingrid picked it out with Hilda’s approval.”

Byleth sighs and takes the box. She places it on the bed and removes the lid. She peels back a layer of tissue paper and takes in the beautiful dress in the box. It’s silver and sparkly and made of a light material that won’t be clunky. She lifts it up and admires the loose long sleeves and the wrap it ties to in the front. It has a deep v-neck in the front and a matching v-cut in the back. It’s absolutely stunning. 

She stares at Dimitri. “I don’t know what to say.” He smiles wider. “Try it on,” he suggests. 

Byleth knows that normally she would have taken the dress and slipped into the bathroom to change, but she’s still almost a little annoyed that Dimitri went behind her back with her friends to get her the dress. She turns her back to him and sweeps her hair over her shoulder, baring the zipper on her shirt for him. 

“Unzip?” she requests. 

He slides the zipper down and steps back, giving her plenty of space to move past him to the bathroom. Byleth hides a grin as she instead slides her shirt off and shimmies out of her work skirt. She turns back to face Dimitri and notices he has gone completely red, but he’s watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. 

Byleth holds eye contact with him as she unclasps her bra and reaches for the dress. She secures the dress, fitting her arms through the draping, sparkly sleeves and fastens the wrap tie at the front. Dimitri is still staring at her. His blush has faded a bit and now there’s a darker, heavy edge to his gaze and Byleth steps close to him and trails her finger down his chest over the white t-shirt he’s wearing. 

She glances down at the dress. It fits her perfectly and it helps that from the angle Dimitri now has, he’ll look straight down exactly where she wants him to when he tries to take it in. 

“I like it,” she says. 

“You should hang it up,” he suggests, his voice low. 

Byleth kisses him and Dimitri pulls her flush against him as he kisses her back. He pulls back after a second. 

“Seriously, take the dress off or I’m going to rip it and then you’re still going to need a dress for next week.” 

Byleth laughs. 

-

“Hey, By,” Dimitri calls from the kitchen. 

She twists on the couch and looks back at him. “Yeah?”

“Can you grab me the wine from the fridge?”

Byleth places the stack of exams she had been marking down on the coffee table and walks into the kitchen. Dimitri is cooking dinner tonight and he’s making some kind skillet chicken with a cream sauce. Dedue had given him the recipe a few months ago and he had made the recipe once before and it was delicious. 

Byleth opens the fridge and grabs the open bottle of cheap white that they’ve been using to cook. She’s about to close the fridge when she sees something that definitely doesn’t belong in the fridge behind where the bottle was. She stares at it dumbly for a moment before she grabs the small black box and takes both the wine and the box out of the fridge. 

She turns the box over in her hand, confused. It’s a black cube with one inch dimensions and a seam along the centre where it can be opened. She places the wine bottle on the counter and studies the box with both hands, feeling confused as well as mildly alarmed. Finally, her curiosity gets the best of her and she pries it open along the seam. 

Inside the box, nestled in what looks like silk is a silver ring with an emerald set in the centre. Byleth almost drops it. 

She spins to face Dimitri, brandishing the box at him and finds empty air at eye level because her boyfriend has dropped to one knee in the middle of their kitchen like an idiot. He’s grinning at her and Byleth wants to hit him. 

“Byleth,” he starts and she scowls. 

“What the fuck, Dimitri!” she exclaims, cutting him off.

He chuckles and reaches for the hand that’s not holding the ring box. “Marry me?” he asks. 

Byleth drops down to her knees and throws herself against him, hugging him as tightly as she can while not displacing the ring from the box she’s still holding. “Of course I’ll marry you, you absolute fool.”

Dimitri entangles her arms from his neck until he can hold both of her wrists in front of him. He takes the ring box from her and removes the ring from the box, holding it out to her. Byleth offers her hand to him and he slides the ring onto her ring finger. Kneeling on the kitchen floor together, Byleth studies the ring. 

It’s beautiful. Now that she’s not completely taken aback, she can appreciate the two little diamonds on either side of the large emerald and the emerald. She had always kind of pegged Dimitri has a gold ring and huge diamond kind of guy, but looking at the ring he picked out for her, she had had him wrong. 

She tears her eyes from the ring and looks at him. “The fridge? Really?”

He shrugs. “I like simple and I know you do too."

She leans forward to kiss him lightly on the lips. “Still stupid,” she points out.

“You said yes,” he counters. 

Byleth stands up and offers him a hand, pulling him to his feet. “I was always going to. You had to know that.”

Dimitri places a hand on her waist and reels her in, pressing them together, and kissing her firmly. He pulls back after a second to brush some of her hair back. 

“You can’t blame a guy for being nervous.”

She punches his shoulder. “I can, kind of.”

Dimitri laughs and kisses her forehead. “Well, I apologize then.”

She smiles and twists the ring on her finger. “Is this the kind of announcement that you want to make at the gala?”

Dimitri’s expression tightens and he sighs. “No, not particularly.”

Byleth unclasps the necklace around her neck and pools the chain in her hand. She pulls the ring off her finger and slides it onto the chain so it hangs next to her father’s pendant. She rehooks the chain around her neck on a lower loop so that the ring and the pendant hang just low enough that they can be hidden in the neckline of a shirt or dress. 

“There,” she says. 

“Perfect,” Dimitri agrees. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Byleth says. 

She cups his face in her hands and kisses him. For all the chaos of the gala and Dimitri’s work and Byleth’s teaching and the rest of the world, there was always Dimitri. And where there was Dimitri, there was Byleth. 

The ring rests against her heart and Dimitri threads his hands through her hair. As he kisses her, Byleth smiles.

[crackimagines]

Digging the Dancing King (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

The White Heron Cup is approaching the class of the Blue Lions. 

After careful consideration for their rep, the most logical choice comes to mind.

Felix.

------

Felix swung his sword down, then rapidly upwards at the dummy, making it swing violently back and forth.

“Hmph. Not fast enough...”

There was too much merriment going around. Everyone was excited about the Heron Cup and the Ball, yet did everyone forget about the Death Knight and Tomas?

It made him angry, but he couldn’t really do anything about it.

Only thing he could do was train for the next battle that was sure to come.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class were faffing about, trying to decide who’d be the best dancer, but ultimately it was up to their professor. Felix didn’t really care about all of this, but it’d be nice if they won. 

Mercedes would be a good choice.

Annette...maybe. Emphasis on the maybe.

As for Ingrid, Felix was sure that she would actually stab someone if she were chosen for something like this. She was more of a tomboy than anything.

“Huh...” He thought to himself.

For not really caring about this kind of thing, he’s oddly putting a lot of thought into this.

He heard footsteps approach him, he sheathed his sword and turned around.

“Professor.”

Byleth nodded with his blank face, which was all too common for him to have.

Still, there looked like something he needed to say.

“Did you need something? Psh, what? Am I the representative for our class? What an honor.”

Then, Byleth did something that made Felix’s blood run cold.

He smiled.

Blue Lions Classroom...

“I was joking damn it.” Felix sharply blurted out.

The rest of the class had gathered and were just as shocked as Felix to learn that he’d be the representative.

(Byleth) “Well, I wasn’t.”

(Ingrid) “Um...Professor, with all due respect-”

(Sylvain) “What the hell are you thinking?! Felix couldn’t dance to save his life!”

(Felix) “Up yours!-”

(Sylvain) “Hey, I’m trying to help you here, man! I know the last thing you wanna do is this!’

(Felix) “I...Ugh, I agree, Professor. I say this joke has caught me off guard, but-”

(Annette) “I’d say he’s joking but...”

Byleth’s face was the same one he used to kill bandits. It was anyone’s guess to tell what’s actually going on inside his head.

Whatever the case, this was some twisted joke he had done.

(Ashe) “I...don’t think he is.”

(Dimitri) “I-If I may why Felix? Surely Mercedes or Annette might’ve been-”

(Byleth) “It’s exactly FOR that reason, Dimitri. If we come in with the unexpected, we’re sure to catch everyone off guard and steal the votes.”

(Everyone) “...”

(Dedue) “I...am not quite sure that is how it works, Professor. As a mercenary, did you ever-”

(Byleth) “Nope. Which is why we need something fresh. Plus, Felix is pretty popular with the girls.”

(Sylvain) “Er, you realize it’s mostly GUYS in the audience, right? And that both houses have chosen GIRLS for that? I say knowing your audience would help us greatly.”

(Ingrid) “Seriously. PLEASE reconsider this, Professor! For the sake of our class!”

(Felix) “Listen to her, please.”

Felix was starting to sound desperate, but Byleth stood his ground.

(Byleth) “As professor, my choice is final. Felix, you will see me tomorrow morning for dance training.”

(Felix) “...Damn it. Fine, whatever.”

Byleth nodded and went out of the classroom.

As he left, he heard Sothis’ voice.

“I cannot BELIEVE you did that.”

(Byleth) You said I didn’t have the guts. I aim to prove you wrong.

“I said it in JEST! Are you this daft, or are all humans like this?!”

(Byleth) I don’t think you have a sense of humor.

"You know, I think spending time with these children have made you somehow even more sadistic!”

Back in the classroom, no one had any idea what to say. 

(Mercedes) “...W-Well, I’ll be sure to help you out, Felix!”

(Felix) “I swear, if you put ANY MAKEUP ON ME-”

(Ingrid) “How’d it come to this?”

(Dimitri) “Is this some sick twisted joke? The professor has damned us all!”

(Dedue) “That’s a bit dramatic but, I can’t exactly disagree...”

(Sylvain) “Well, I can’t wait to see your dancing lesson tomorrow!...Ugh, this is gonna be terrible for us...”

(Ashe) “Who knows? The professor has surprised us before.”

(Annette) “Ashe, I think you’re a bit too optimistic.”

The Day of the White Heron Cup

(Byleth) “Alright Felix, show them what your training was for!”

(Felix) “Ugh, good grief.”

Their training was....rough to say the least. Felix had NO idea what he was doing, and only learned a few steps if anything.

Oddly enough, he was feeling very prideful in his improvement. It’d help his footwork in fights at the very least.

(Dimitri) “I’d say good luck but...we’d need a miracle to see us through this.”

(Sylvain) “Knock em dead, Felix. Just...not with crap dancing.”

(Ingrid) “Have fun...I think?”

(Mercedes) “I have faith in you!”

(Everyone) “...”

(Mercedes) “...A-Alright, some faith....a little.”

(Ashe) “I don’t want to be rude, but...No, we shouldn’t be negative. If the Professor says you can do it, then you can do it!”

(Annette) “Yeah, down with the naysayers! Dazzle em, Felix!”

(Dedue) “Show them the pride of the Blue Lions.”

Felix smiled at the three’s comments. 

(Felix) “Eh, what the hell. Might as well enjoy it.”

(Byleth) “Class, know this. Professor Byleth does not know defeat.”

(Dimiri) “We’ll be sure to make you acquainted soon...” He said while sighing.

------

The contestants were:

Edelgard - Black Eagles

Felix - Blue Lions

Leonie - Golden Deer

The two girls were in their standard school uniforms while Felix was wearing a crisp black suit, standing out from the two.

Everyone was murmuring as soon as they saw Felix come up onto stage, which only fueled his desire to show them the error in their thinking.

...Wait, why am I getting THIS worked up about it? I don’t even want to be here! was his next thought.

And so, the moment of truth had begun. It was time to show the moves Byleth had taught him.

It was unlike any ball moves he had ever seen, it was odd yet mesmerizing.

Leonie’s and Edeglard’s bands were classic ball music, but Byleth had requested to use something specific for his music and granted the request.

And when they were in position, Felix was told to say the key word to start it off proper.

Felix sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Let’s get this over with.”

He snapped his fingers loudly, catching everyone’s attention.

“Boys, give me something with a beat!”

The man on the piano hit the notes so loudly, it caught the judges off guard.

Alois’s and Manuela’s eyes went wide while Shamir raised her eyebrows.

Felix saw Dorothea at the head of the band, about to sing. As soon as she said her parts, he struck the best pose he could. 

The Piano struck three notes, signalling everyone.

DUN DUN DUN 

(Dorothea) “Oh baby, baby!”

[you expected ABBA, BUT IT WAS ME! BRITNEY SPEARS!]

“I look so STUPID.” He thought to himself.

He went from pointing upwards to pointing at the crowd, nodding up and down with the beat of the instruments.

“Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know?

That something wasn't right here?”

He swayed his hips side to side, snapping his fingers in beat with her singing.

“Oh baby, baby, I shouldn't have let you go”

He spun around and struck a pose facing the opposite direction, his left arm pointing outwards while his other hand was behind his head, and right foot directly behind his left.

“And now you're out of sight, yeah”

He turned back to the audience, and began swinging in motion to her singing.

“Show me how you want it to be,

Tell me, baby, 'cause I need to know now, oh because!”

He then closed his eyes, and began acting as if he were repeating the chorus, extending his hand and folding it to himself dramatically.

“My loneliness is killing me (and I)

I must confess I still believe (still believe)

When I'm not with you I lose my mind

Give me a sign

Hit me, baby, one more time!”

As soon as the band finished, he finished by pointing at the crowd with a smile.

He could tell several girls screamed in glee, but he was far too busy thinking

WHAT THE HELL WAS THE PROFESSOR THINKING MAKING ME DANCE THIS! 

THIS ISN’T EVEN BALL DANCING!

Everyone in the audience remained quiet until someone started clapping. Followed by several people, then the entire room.

He and the band bowed, Felix taking his place next to Edelgard and Leonie.

The Blue Lions were stunned, not expecting this dance at all since they were prohibited from having their training have any witnesses.

When the judging came around, they all heard the instructor’s voices.

(Manuela) “I vote for...The Blue Lions! Their music was spectacular!”

(Sylvain) “...H-Huh...?!”

(Shamir) “I vote for...The Blue Lions. Their dance was the most original.”

(Ingrid) “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

(Alois) “Well, I think it’s obvious who the winner is! My vote is also this year’s winner. THE BLUE LION HOUSE!”

(Dimitri) “I-IMPOSSIBLE!”

(Felix) “...What.”

Everyone began clapping and cheering wildly, and the class could do nothing but stare.

(Dedue) “Oh my...”

(Mercedes) “Incredible...! I can’t believe it!”

(Ashe) “N-Neither can I...!”

(Annette) “WOOHOO! WE WON!”

(Byleth) “I told you class.”

Everyone turned around to face him, Byleth now smiling.

(Byleth) “PROFESSOR BYLETH KNOWS NO DEFEAT.”

(Dimitri) “J-Just how serious did you take this?!”

Felix walked up to the Professor and shoved him the trophy.

(Felix) “Never ask me for anything AGAIN.”

He walked off towards the training ground, hoping to forget this ever happened.

The several girls from the crowd following him disagreed strongly.

[cynical-gamer-media]

Edelgard x Claude (Pre-Timeskip) Headcanons

Look... playing the game as Black Eagles and/or Golden Deer really made me fall for Edelgard/Claude being a thing. (Before I was on fence... now I love them). (It’s a good rare ship).

Edelgard did not trust Claude at all at first. That didn’t stop Claude from trying to get on friendly terms with her.

He always points out how short she is. First time he met her he was all “you’re so tiny… so cute~!”

How many times she nearly murdered him for calling her short? She lost count.

Regardless is anyone judging Claude for his race/skin? Edelgard stands up for him even when he can handle it.

She’s so pale; Claude honestly thought for a second that she was sick and tried giving her concoctions to help her.

(She’ll never admit it but she found it touching)

Claude always tries to get her to smile. Girl needs to lighten up!

When he does he just grins at her in triumph and giggles when she blushes in embarrassment.

If Claude is unmotivated with homework then Edelgard always gets him to work.

“You are quite the enigma, Claude.”-Edelgard. “Oh, you like mysterious people do you ;)?”-Claude, being a tease.

Overtime the two start to flirt with one another. They see it as a game.

“How is the most beautiful person in the world doing ;)?”-Claude, leaning an elbow on the desk that Edelgard is working on to wiggle his eyebrows.

“I do not know; how are you?”-Edelgard, looking up at him. “-splutters-I, uh, yeah, I’m great!”-Claude.

When Claude made a joke with someone Edelgard heard it and laughed. Suffice to say he acted all haughty for making her laugh. 

If Edelgard is saddened then Claude cheers her up with his sense of humour.

If Claude is sad then Edelgard makes a blunt motivational speech reminding him that he always gets back on his feet.

They’re super competitive and will tease each other.

Both could probably rule the continent if they worked together; Claude even made a jest about it.

Edelgard won’t admit it but she loves it when he calls her ‘Princess’.

Claude initiated the first kiss by cusping tiny Edelgard’s face. Suffice to say it left Edelgard flustered much to his delight.

Since then and getting together he always relishes in making the girl blush.

He’ll lower her book and kiss her on the nose, then run off laughing like a maniac.

He melts every time she has to get on her tiptoes to kiss him. (Sometimes he’ll stand taller just to tease her).

She likes leaning her head on his shoulder and listening to his ramblings.