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The beat of the drum was a different cadence than the one he’d grown accustomed to. Had it been so long since he’d heard the drum and the pipe playing together in merriment? Not long after he had declared the city as his own, having reclaimed it from Cornelia and her underlings, the celebrations spilled out of the taverns into the streets. Fhirdiad seemed to glow and hum with joyful energy and it was hardly a stone’s throw from one cluster of revelers to the other.
They sang songs that he recognized and some that must be new. There were shouts of his name and the name of his kinsmen that topped the music and song. His heart was so full that he thought it might burst as he walked along the streets with Dedue by his side. Not too long ago, he had known with certainty that he would never return here and that he would never walk with his beloved friend by his side again. How fate had chosen to bless someone like him, he did not know.
Dedue’s face, usually hard and stern, had softened with a rare smile as they walked together in comfortable silence stopping occasionally to watch the citizens of Fhirdiad in their merrymaking. More than once, Dimitri had been tempted to join them but there was still a quiet voice reminding him that his work was not done. He could not allow himself to celebrate too soon, no matter how great the victory. No victory could overshadow the end goal and that was waiting for him in Enbarr.
So engrossed in his thoughts, he didn’t notice that they had circled back to where they began near the center of the city. A large fire served to illuminate the faces of dancers with hands clasped and raised as they circled it. Here was the heart of the capital and the celebration was the most jubilant they had encountered. Music played, feet and hands clapped and stomped in time with the drums and ale was flowing from massive casks rolled out from the nearby taverns.
“It seems the celebration has grown during our walk,” Dedue mused.
“Indeed it has,” Dimitri replied. A quick wipe of his wrist across his eyes did away with the tears that brimmed there.
“Won’t you join them?” he asked, glancing at his friend. “After all, it is thanks to you that this is possible.”
“I think not.” Dimitri chuckled dryly. “Frivolities don’t suit me.”
Dedue hummed his acceptance of this but noticed that his Highness did not shift to move away from the celebration. And soon, he was tapping his toe to the beat. Albeit subtly, he was beginning to relax.
“I see several familiar faces among the dancers,” he prodded again. “You are certain that you won’t join them?”
“Dedue, you really must…” whatever he had intended to say evaporated as his mind went blank and his eye fixed on one of those familiar faces.
Being swept along in the dance between two young women he did not recognize was Byleth. A wreath of flowers adorned her head, their colors lost in the fire light, likely a gift from the women she danced with. She had removed her coat leaving her movements unobscured as she danced with light-footed abandon. All of this in and of itself was enough to steal his breath but it was the smile and laughter that shone on her face that made his mouth run dry. Seems she had forgotten herself entirely, being swept away by the joy surrounding her and he wondered distantly if he’d ever truly seen her happy before.
“You know this dance, do you not?”
Dimitri shut his mouth with a click as he looked back at Dedue, stunned and head swimming.
“You should join them.”
Dumbfounded, Dimitri could think of no objection. He hesitated until the circle brought her back around into his field of vision. That dazzling smile remained on her face, her features rosy in the firelight. She might have been any girl at a harvest festival, a far cry from the Ashen Demon he’d met all those years ago. His feet moved of their own accord as his mind went completely blank, filled by nothing but the image of her angelic face. The sound of Dedue, clearing his throat, gave him pause enough to look back over his shoulder.
“May I hold your gloves, your Highness?”
The strangeness of this question was lost on him as he quickly removed his plated gloves. He missed the smile that creased the corner of Dedue’s eyes as he accepted the gloves and folded his hands to rest one on top of the other in front of him.
It wasn’t until he’d approached the circle of dancers that the realization of what he was about to do sparked such intense anxiety that he nearly turned tail and fled. If someone had not noticed him and opened a space for him, he might have. Instead, the large warm hand of a middle-aged man, a commoner by the feel of their leathery texture, grasped his firmly while the other was circled by a young woman. He was swept away without a chance to think, stumbling until he caught onto the rhythm.
Their hands were so warm and their voices strong, the chorus of the song picked up by so many voices all accentuated by hoots and laughter filled his head and before he knew it, a wide care-free smile had settled on his face. Whether they knew who he was, how could they not, or they did not care, he was one of them, celebrating the fall of an oppressive regime and the return of their king.
Faces of young and old, men and women alike, reeled around his sightlines, each seeming happier than the last until, finally, he found her. Byleth was watching him with a curious look on her face. She was so graceful and lovely, Dimitri suddenly felt boorish as he stiffly kept up with the ring. While he knew the steps and could do them without error, her body moved as though the drums were beating inside of her. Completely transfixed to distraction, his foot landed on the other at the cross step and he stumbled. The man tightened his grip and hauled him along, laughing. The girl on his other side shouted to see if he was hurt.
Upon raising his face once he’d recovered, he found Byleth still watching him. His embarrassment must have been amusing because she chuckled when their eyes met again. Faster and faster the ring moved first to the left and then back to the right as the music reached a feverish pitch. The laughter and singing around him were at once overpowering and intoxicating. Then, the hands clinging to his released him to clap and cheer. The music had ended and he was more out of breath than he’d ever been on the battlefield. With a hand to his chest, he politely declined joining them again as the musicians began another traditional tune.
The circle closed and the dancers began again, he was among many other folks who were red in the face and leaving the circle. A glance to the opposite side of the ring sent his heart sinking. Byleth was no longer between the young women. As he glanced around, he couldn’t help but notice the couples embracing near the edge of the firelit circle, any sense of modesty overcome by the merrymaking surrounding them.
“I didn’t know you could dance like that.”
Quickly schooling his surprise, Dimitri turned to find Byleth looking up at him. Her hands rested on her hips and her chest rose and fell, still winded from the vigorous dance. Crossing his arms in a display of mock defensiveness, he retorted. “You may be surprised to know, I am well versed in all styles of…”
“I meant a commoner’s dance.” Many would not have picked up on her dry sense of humor. He blushed anyway. “Regardless,” she continued, taking a step closer than he was accustomed to. “It was nice to see you enjoying yourself.”
This close it was difficult to avoid an eyeful of cleavage because he had to look down at her so drastically and she did not have her coat to obscure the cutout window in her shirt. He was certain that his cheeks must be crimson by how hot they burned but he did not step back. “You too, Professor.”
She scoffed softly and looked away, leaving him to wonder what he’d said to offend her. He was on the verge of asking her as much when he followed her gaze to a couple he’d noticed leaving the celebration. They were embracing one another, faces so close together they might have been… The sound of his swallow drowned out the swell of music behind him as he dropped his arms to his sides. They were kissing. Making quite a display of themselves, in fact, oblivious to anyone around them.
“Call me Byleth.”
A quick shift of his eye found her lost in thought, looking at the couple with the faintest of color on her cheeks. Tracing her gaze back, he found them strolling away from the throng of people. The woman had the man’s hand in hers, leading him toward one of the alleyways that shot off the main road. The firelight did not reach that far beyond the street.
As he watched, he felt the warmth of a hand slip into his. His pulse began to race before he’d even turned to confirm what he knew already. Byleth had taken his hand and was looking up at him with hopeful expectancy. Just as it had that rainy night in what seemed like another lifetime, her hand fit so perfectly to his and was so very warm, like coming home after a long absence. He’d squeezed her hand in his before giving the action any thought and then, she was rising on the balls of her feet toward him.
His mouth ran dry and she seemed to move in slow motion as she neared his face. Frozen in place, his eye slipped shut and he knew that in any moment, he would feel her lips…
“I understand discretion,” her voice was soft and sensuous in his ear. It made his stomach tight. He opened his eye and lowered his head to better hear her. “Watch where I go. When you cannot see me any more, count to twenty and follow.”
He couldn't be sure but he thought that she grazed her cheek against his on purpose as she lowered herself back off her toes. Once again, those wide eyes fixed on him, this time with trepidation. “I’ll wait and if you don’t come, I’ll understand. We can pretend that this never happened.”
Then, she was pulling her hand from his. The world around him seemed darker as he closed his now empty palm. He watched her pointedly for a moment before remembering that, of anyone, he should know how to be discrete. Discretion was something he’d been spoon fed when learning the ins and outs of politics and international relations. He could do discrete.
Dimitri was suddenly desperate to appear casual and resorted to the posture he knew best. Arms crossed and chin lowered, he weight centered. He glanced after her and then to the alley where the other couple had disappeared. Only a fool would pretend not to know what they were up to. Or was it foolish to assume? Suddenly the Professor’s, no Byleth’s invitation seemed more enigmatic than he’d originally thought. This made his stomach churn.
His stomach dropped completely when he looked back to find that Byleth had already disappeared into one of the alleyways. Dropping his posture in a panic, he looked anxiously between the two closest to the direction she’d been heading. How long had she been gone? Should he have already counted to twenty? He cursed himself for his idiocy. He would be late and she would leave assuming that he had rejected her.
“The one on the left.” The deep voice nearly made him jump.
“Oh! Dedue. You surprised me. I was just…”
“She went into the one on the left.” He might have been telling him about the weather his tone was so casual.
Dimitri blinked. Then nodded with a thankful smile. “Thanks Dedue. I… ”
“Do not delay, your highness.”
“You’re right. As always. Thank you.” His words fell out of him in quick succession as he started off hot toward the alley, remembering half way there that he should be walking, not running. Dedue chuckled softly then turned his attention back to the revelers.
A small cluster of people had gathered just in front of the mouth of the alley. They were singing at odds with the song being played, loudly and off key. Dimitri paused for a moment, waiting to see if they would move on but they seemed to have rooted themselves right in his way. Hopefully, Byleth was waiting closer to the opposite outlet of the alley and all he had to do was slip around them. Much to his dismay, when he approached from the side, several other men had joined the group and picked up the tune.
Gritting his teeth to power through his discomfort, he edged his way through them delicately. As much as he tried to make himself small, it was damn near impossible and more than once he bumped a shoulder. Fortunately, they were all too engrossed in a lewd verse of the song they were singing and no one seemed to notice him.
He felt completely out of his element. In fact, Dimitri felt more comfortable walking into what was certain to be an enemy ambush than he did venturing into the dark alley where he knew she was waiting for him. It was taking longer than normal for his vision to adjust to the lack of light but he didn’t dare feel his way with his hands lest he accidentally grab her… His knee connected painfully with a large crate and he bit back a curse. What was he doing? He must have lost his mind again.
But a soft laugh sounded in the dark, a familiar sound that he’d only heard a few times but had committed to memory. “Byleth?”
“You’re late.”
He edged his way around the crate, feeling ahead with his foot before proceeding due to a newfound fear of stepping on her. “I’m sorry I…”
“I am teasing you.” Her hand materialized out of the darkness to catch his arm and with a tug he stumbled forward around the corner of the crate.
Her hands pressed against his chest must have stopped him from crushing her against the wall and he cursed himself for leaving his armor on. Light enough to move freely in but her fingertips on his chest were lost to him. But he did not have long to linger on this regret because those hands had moved to his face, closing on his cheeks to pull his face low. Trusting that her eyes had adjusted better than his, he let her guide him.
His lips felt as though they were shivering along with every muscle in his body. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t stop imagining how ridiculous he must look as she guided him with gentle direction and he followed her lead. Her lips were plush against his and his timidity melted quickly under their heat. The ruckus just behind the alley nearly drowned out the soft, sighing sound she made against his mouth.
Unsure of what to do with his hands, he shifted them awkwardly to her side and then hips and then against the brick wall behind her. He felt her chuckle and pull away from his mouth, leaving his lips wet with saliva.
“You smell like honey,” he murmured, pursing her lips for another kiss.
“I spilled my mead,” she replied languidly.
Charmed beyond comprehension, he pressed his lips more firmly to hers with a hungry growl he hadn’t intended to make. Her lips parted and their tongues met, each rolling along the other until he pushed further into her mouth. Her small frame rolled against his own and despite not being able to feel her directly, a low ache had begun to stir in the pit of his stomach.
The gentle groans she made as he kissed her were maddening. It did not take long before a rush of boldness tore his hands from the wall to wrap around her hips. Byleth gasped as his fingers brushed the bare skin between her shirt and shorts. Her skin was on fire and unfathomably soft, he could revel in the texture for hours. That was, until she grasped his hand and placed it on the swell of her breast. He squeezed before thinking and her nipple marbled sharply beneath the fabric, he could feel it against the palm of his hand.
“Yes... “ she sighed, rolling her head back away from his lips. The crown of flowers slipped from her hair but she paid it no mind.
Bending his head a bit further, he found her neck. Her pulse was fluttering beneath the skin and he pressed his tongue against it. His other hand rolled up the fabric of her shirt in pursuit of the breast beneath. When he’d pushed it above the swell of her breast, he was free to palm and knead and squeeze enjoying the way her breath changed with each heavy movement of his hand. When he pushed the fabric of her brassiere down beneath the swell of her breast, she groaned. Pressing her back to the wall for stability, she arched her back and he took her nipple into his mouth.
How she writhed as he sucked and rubbed her hardened nipple against the roof of his mouth. He wanted to consume her, he wanted to stuff as much of her as he could into his mouth and he did so until his teeth pressed into the soft flesh beyond her areola. Her hand found the back of his neck and she twisted a hand full of his hair in her effort to push his face further into her chest. His cock was fully erect now and aching beneath his armor. Sinking his teeth into her as much as he dared, he pulled back against the hand at his neck, sucking until her breast left his mouth with a pop and she cried out loud.
Immediately, she slapped a hand to her mouth. He could just make out the shape of her head in the dark as she looked toward the bright end of the alley. Her breath was rapid, he could feel it and hear it. Pressing his lips to her forehead he muttered, “They didn’t hear you.”
A relieved breath spilled from her nostrils. In no time at all, she’d raised her chin again to find his lips. Their kisses were gnashing and hungry. He pressed against her, backing her against the wall all the while bemoaning in his thoughts the metal between her and the curves of her body. Then he felt a small vibration at his codpiece. Startled, he broke back from her.
“Can you take this thing off?” she asked, the mischief clear in her voice. Then, she flicked it again more firmly sending vibrations along the metal.
“You mean…”
“Don’t make me beg, Dimitri.”
He had always been a fool for her and as much as he had denied it, even to himself, he would take anything she would give him and he was not one question a gift when the giver was her. With little effort, he’d looped a finger and popped first one strap off and then other. The piece fell to the ground with a soft clang and her hand was between his legs. She found him, erect and throbbing along his hip and with firm pressure, she dragged her palm along him. He rolled his head forward, biting back a groan and rolled his hips into her touch.
“I have wanted you for so long,” she whispered. He thought he heard her voice shake.
“I…” he panted as she worked at the ties of his pants. “I never thought…” he swallowed. “I never dreamed that…”
Without waiting for him to form his thought, she’d taken his hand and placed it between her legs. She was so wet that his palm grew moist as he pressed up against her slit. She rocked her hips against his hand. The music beyond began again, this time a softer melodic tune. The ruckus outside lowered just as she let out a lusty moan. Again, they looked. Again, no one seemed to have heard.
“Will you hurry up and take me before we’re found?” she asked, her voice suddenly breathy. She’d undone the ties and slipped her hand through the opening. Her fingers glided along the engorged flesh of his cock and his whole body jerked. She closed her hand around him, stroking up along his stomach. “Please, don’t make me wait.”
With another firm pump along his sex she leaned up to suck his lower lip between her teeth. The sharp bite and the shock of pain jolted him out of his thoughts. Carried by the adrenaline coursing like thunder through his veins, he’d pulled her shorts down and while she shimmied them to the ground, he’d pulled himself free of his confines. His skin was so hot that the night’s air hardly registered as he spun her around to face the crate and the street beyond.
Byleth needed no prodding to bend forward, flattening her stomach and exposed breast to the wood. Perhaps she thought she could raise her hips enough from a standing position but he had other ideas. Looping an arm under one thigh, he hiked her leg up. The cold of his arm plates made her wince and hiss but she did not jerk away. With his other hand, he took hold of the thick shaft of his cock and angled the dripping head to her entrance.
He felt her tense as he pushed forward to dip into her and she clamped her jaw shut in an effort to remain quiet. His eye darted from the entrance to the alley and the silhouetted figures beyond and her round exposed ass. Holding his breath, he tightened his hold on her leg and continued to push further inside of her.
As she stretched to accommodate him, she shook. Her hands shot out in front of her to push back against him, offering additional resistance so that he did not push her further onto the top of the crate. The sounds she made was another matter entirely. With a jerk of his hips, he sheathed himself fully inside of her and shot a hand around to clamp over her mouth just in time to stifle her cry at taking all of him in.
Her leg pulled up so high that it touched her ribs as he began to move. Her inner walls were like velvet, pulsing soft and snug around him. Gritting his teeth and sucking his breath through his nose, Dimitri managed to keep his noise to a minimum. Byleth, on the other hand, was convulsing beneath him. Her mouth gaped beneath his palm and with another hard thrust back and forth, his hand slipped. Two fingers remained at the side of her mouth. She closed her lips around them, sucking to help swallow her groans as he fucked her.
All too soon, he could feel himself coiling tightly and his testicles contracted. He jerked against her, driving himself even deeper into her, driving both of them sharply against the edge of the crate which scratched forward loudly against the cobblestone street.
One head at the mouth of the alley turned as though to peer down into the shadows. They stopped, frozen as they waited. He twitched inside of her and she closed her lips tightly around his fingers. Holding their breath for what seemed like eternity, bent and exposed over a crate in an alley in the kingdom he’d just reclaimed, they waited. When the head turned, they exhaled in unison and as gently as he could, he pulled out of her. Come oozed along with his withdrawal but he paid it no mind, and tucked himself back into his pants.
Byleth had already collected her shorts and was pulling back up her legs. Then, she picked up his fallen codpiece. If only he could have seen the grin on her face as she handed it back to him. He accepted it sheepishly but could not reattach it, he’d broken the straps after all.
A fear rose up sharply in his chest. What if this had been a casual thing brought on by drink and celebration? He’d been so eager to take her that he hadn’t stopped to consider what this actually was. But then, she took his face in her hands again and kissed his lips tenderly.
“Stop thinking so much, Dimitri.”
How had she known?
“I’ll go first out the front. You take the back exit.” She released him and turned to leave. Then, she stopped and he could see the silhouette of her face as she looked back over her shoulder at him. “I hope that I get to see you dance again someday.”
“You too,” he said clumsily and immediately regretted it.
She just laughed and continued on to disappear into the crowds, leaving him in the alley, achy and drained, holding his codpiece in his hands. What a way to celebrate a homecoming.