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[edeltsyn]

A Summer Afternoon

"This way, Professor," says Dimitri.

He endeavors to project the same sort of serene confidence his classmates have come to expect of him in times of calmness and crisis alike. His palms are a tad sweaty underneath his gauntlets, and his heart is pounding, but no one shall ever know that; and, hopefully, he sounds like he knows what he's doing.

The grass crunches and rustles under Professor Byleth's boots as she strides along behind him.

Is she annoyed that she's currently stranded out here with him? Is she wondering how long it'll take them to find their way back to the monastery? Or is she, like him, absurdly hoping this moment would last all day?

He dares not ask. He never would; he'd sooner die.

Yet again, his mind drifts to the warmth and smallness of her hand clasped in his.

Once more, his heart stumbles. Once more, he feels just a little bit breathless.

He hates himself for shamelessly exploiting this opportunity to touch her. Still, he can't bring himself to let go of her.

Unless… Can it be that she finds this a tad uncomfortable?

At that, he glances back at her. Professor happens to be gazing intently at him. She's…

Smiling?

"You seem happy," she says. An unexpected act of speech from her! She hasn't spoken once in the past half hour.

Dimitri finds himself uttering an explosive, mortifying giggle.

"Er… I am?" he asks, rather stupidly. "I mean — yes! I suppose that's true. Despite our circumstances, it's a rather nice chance of pace, being able to — uh…. Take in the silence and peace of the forest in each other's company like this! Don't you feel that way, Professor?"

He is the most perverse liar in all of Fódlan. He hasn't paid a single thought to the shrubbery around them, not for one fraction of a split second.

She's the only thing he can seem to think of these days. He wonders about her, fusses about her — he daydreams endlessly about asking her questions, about her past, her present, her hopes for the future. He wonders if she has thought about him lately.

For the first time in years, thoughts of revenge seem so remote and uninteresting… so distant from the forefront of his mind, somehow. It's uncanny and strange, and frightening. And it is… dare he say it? An almost welcome change.

Professor Byleth says nothing. But she's smiling still.

That smile.

He tears his gaze away from hers. He must, lest she see the surge of heat rushing to his face.

"What have I done," Dimitri mumbles, "to deserve such an honor as this? Seeing you beam at me like that, Professor, I can't help but wish we'd find ourselves stranded in the wilderness every other day."

This earns him a quiet chuckle from her.

His heart flutters.

For the first time today, he notices that the sun has a rather pretty way of filtering through the treetops in this area of the woods. Soft, playful, almost whimsical.

For the first time in so long, everything around him seems mysterious and wild. So blessed with warmth and light and a gentle southern breeze — so green, old and mossy, and yet so tenderly new all at once! So... alive.

A summer afternoon, like any other.

Yet he so fervently prays that he may never forget it.