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"Have you ever considered that you wouldn't be bothering him?" Byleth leans on the railing of the ship, looking out over the expanse of water. "Far be it from me to speak for him, but anyone with eyes can see how much he loves you."

He ought to tell Dedue to focus on himself for once, and in most circumstances he would, but he suspects this time, it isn't so much about Dimitri. He recalls what Grant told him. About how the nature of Dimitri's relationships. He did not include Dedue in that count. It bothers him a little. If anyone would have ended up involved with him, he would have guessed at Dedue first and foremost. Though both of them are stubborn beyond words. He's starting to piece things together.

"You know he still needs you, right?" He gives a soft exhale, something like amusement. "You know when you said you'd show me the flowers of Duscur, I assumed he'd be along too. You two go together."

"I am grateful for His Highness' friendship."

Is that the kind of love that Byleth means? Maybe not, but the word love is ambiguous enough to mean many things. And, anyway, as far as this is concerned, Dedue is quite certain that Dimitri regards him as a loyal friend and nothing more. He's always indicated as such when they've spoken.

And that's... fine. Dimitri's friendship is precious to him.

And while His Highness does still need him, it seems as though he needs him less and less as time goes on. Dedue should be pleased at this, because it means that Dimitri is healing and learning to cope with the hardships that he's faced. It's just strange to think that, one day, he may have no need of Dedue anymore.

When you said you'd show me the flowers of Duscur, Byleth says, and Dedue is only confused for a moment before he remembers the alternate timelines. Byleth must be from further along than he, though he supposes that he could believe that he made such an offer.

"His Highness will be king," he says. "It is unlikely that he will ever have the time for such a thing."

Edited 2022-02-14 00:53 (UTC)

"But what if he wanted to? You wouldn't turn him down, right? You know how he doesn't always tell people what he wants or needs. Have you considered that perhaps he wants your attention but might be too shy to say so?" Really, he can't say for certain how Dimitri feels, but having watched them over the years, and here as well, nothing has changed.

"I won't force you, but maybe you could entertain the idea that maybe he wants to be with you. I mean- Grant told me about how he has... well. A few people he loves, so why not one more? Love isn't finite." He shrugs, taking a sip from the fruity drink he'd been supplied by the ship's bar before offering some to Dedue.

"I mean, look at you. You're handsome, kind, gentle, you have so many good qualities. What's the worst that happens? You go back to how things are right now."

"His Highness has my attention whenever he desires it."

There has never been a time where Dedue has denied Dimitri in such a way; he is always at his disposal, any time of the day or night. Perhaps not in the way that Byleth insinuates, though-- that Dimitri desires his attention for romantic reasons. But Dedue has always been there for him, save for the time when he was too injured to do so.

"Just because His Highness has several lovers does not mean that he wishes to add me to them," he says. "We have spoken before, anyway, and he has made it very clear that he values my friendship. He has not insinuated that he desires more."

Just because a man has more than one lover doesn't mean that he wants to add just anyone into the mix. And, anyway, though Dedue doesn't entirely know how this polycule of theirs works, it seems to have set rules and structure. If someone else were to be added into it, he imagines that all of them would have to agree, and he doubts that Felix would with regards to him. Felix barely tolerates their relationship as vassal and lord, how vehemently would he object to more than that?

Look at you, Byleth says, and Dedue has seen himself before. He is aware of his own appearance, and if he's to rely on his looks to entice a lover, he's quite certain that he'll end up with none at all. Certainly not when Dimitri has far more appealing lovers to choose from already. Gentle and kind are a little more accurate, he supposes, though he wouldn't think of himself as having either of those qualities to such a great extent that it would be notable.

"If that is a joke, I do not understand it."

Byleth just sighs, staring at Dedue incredulously. Honestly, Dedue.

"You don't have to do anything with it, but you surely understand that I'm trying to encourage you to pursue a romantic relationship with him, right?" Best to just be direct with some folks. Like Dedue. Directness just works. "What you do with that is your choice, but I hope you give it some thought."

He blinks. A joke? Oh... oh. No.

"Uh. No. I mean you're attractive. Maybe you don't see it but it's plain to anyone with eyes and half a brain. You can't tell me that you aren't aware of how many people would want someone like you, right? Big and strong, stoic but kind, a good cook, good at gardening, soft, loving eyes, a strong jaw and... just. Huge." He lists these off, folding his fingers down as if to keep count. "You are, by every standard, absolutely fit to make an amazing partner."

All of this with Byleth's usual deadpan voice and expression.

"Anyone who wouldn't want you is a fool."

How is he to pursue a romantic relationship with someone who only views it as platonic? Such a thing has to be done mutually. And, as he has already said, Dimitri has a set of fine, handsome lovers as it is; there's no reason for him to regard Dedue in such a manner. Thus, there is nothing to consider.

Byleth isn't often wrong, he supposes, but no one is perfect. Even their esteemed Professor can misread things sometimes.

But the conversation, at least, has moved on to other things. Namely, Dedue himself, and their talk is really starting to stray into very strange topics. Byleth must be in a particular mood today, if these are the arguments that he chooses to have. Strange hills to die on.

"You hold an unusually high opinion of me. You will find that few share it."

Perhaps that's not strange, though. Byleth was their professor, after all, so it's fair to say that he'd hold a high opinion of all of his former students, Dedue included. He thinks better of him than most, has let familiarity dull the frightful nature of his appearance and build.

Byleth's mouth twitches into something discontent. A rare moment of- what is he pouting? It almost seems like it... if you squint maybe.

"Yeah, well..." He makes a wide sweeping gesture, as if to signify the inclusion of anyone who would not find Dedue attractive, "They're stupid. And wrong."

Makes perfect sense. He seems very firm in this assertion. An airtight argument, really. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks back out over the ocean. His students are the best. The very best. Especially Dedue.

Byleth quite childishly pouts about the possibility that he might not be correct in his biases. It's... endearing, perhaps, and Dedue appreciates that he feels this way out of protectiveness, bothered by the fact that others do not view his student in the same light as hm.

He shakes his head, as though dismissing all of these thoughts from it. "It does not matter, anyway. My appearance has no bearing on how well I can serve His Highness."

Neither a sword nor shield needs to be handsome to do its job. Though he was never a handsome shield, he can suppose that when he was younger, he was at least an unblemished one; the war has not been kind to his appearance. A simple fact that he acknowledges every time he looks in a mirror.

"Do not concern yourself overmuch with it, Professor. It does not bother me."

"I won't press any further but I firmly assert that I am correct in this. If I were Dimitri I would jump at the chance to be with you." Even if he wasn't Dimitri, but he's going to lay off on it for now.

Best to distract him.

"Come on. Come swimming with me. Can you believe they have a pool on a boat?" It seems silly, but also brilliant. You usually want to be on a boat to avoid getting wet... but either way, he's already pulling Dedue away from the railing toward the pool, taking off his own shirt, already in swim trunks as shorts.

That's... what Byleth said is a very strange thing, not just because he's making a lot of assumptions about His Highness' feelings towards Dedue, but also because it implies that he would initiate a romantic relationship with him, if he felt as though he were in the position to do so. Having never seen any such indications of Byleth's interest before now, it's jarring for him to say it so plainly. And then to just move on from it, too, as though he had said nothing stranger than a comment on the weather.

And now he wants to go swimming. Is it a distraction, so that they do not discuss what he's said? Since Dedue has no idea how he would go about addressing... that, he'll take it for what it is-- an end to that conversation.

"I do recall hearing that there is one," he says, following after the Professor. He is similarly prepared for water by wearing his swimming trunks-- since they are going to the islands, it seemed prudent to wear something that wouldn't be ruined by getting wet. He's a little less enthused about getting undressed than Byleth, but it does appear to be the custom here.

He steps into the pool at the shallow end; the water is pleasantly cool, and far more temperate than the lakes and ponds in Faerghus. Those could stay frigid until midsummer, though that didn't seem to stop many of the Faerghan boys from taking a swim.

"I do not believe that I ever saw you swim at the monastery."

There was the pond, though Byleth only ever seemed to use that for fishing, not for swimming, even during the summer.

"I was too busy. Plus the fish pond wasn't exactly suited for it. I did go to the river in the summer some days, but I usually went alone." See: always. A good portion of his time at the monastery had been somewhat solitary until he really started to get attached to his students. Now he can hardly stand to be apart from them. The year after the war had been a special kind of new, horrible torture. Surrounded by people, and yet feeling alone without his people. Left to sort through the mental wreck he was. No Jeralt, very few of his friends close at hand, and countless new responsibilities and expectations to keep him constantly moving. The business was probably the saving grace that kept him out of his own head enough to not have a breakdown.

He hits the water with a splash, surfacing seconds later, his hair hanging down over his eyes. He looks... weird. Like seeing a very fluffy cat get wet.

"Oh- the temperature is perfect. You must try this." He says, scraping wet bangs out of his eyes.

Byleth splashes into the water, apparently deciding that the best way to acclimatize to the temperature is to just rip off the bandage and jump right in. There are some merits to the shock approach, perhaps. When he surfaces again, his hair is plastered down onto his face and he has to swipe at it to clear his eyes. It's an endearing thing.

Dedue enters the pool at a much more sedate rate, stepping in until the water reaches his hips. He'll have to go quite far before the water reaches anywhere high on him, but that's fine.

"It is quite pleasant," he replies. "Please be careful, though. You will burn more quickly in the water."

Because Byleth is about as tan as white bread. Dedue, of course, will have no issues with the increasingly intense sunlight, but the dragon pope has no such defenses.

"Ah, that's right. The lady told me to get this lotion for that." He wades over to the side of the pool where his pile of things lay, rummaging for the small bottle of sunscreen. Popping up to sit on the side of the pool to start applying it to everywhere he can reasonably reach.

"Ah- could you put some on my back, Dedue?" It's an entirely innocent ask, as the idea of having Dedue's massive hands on him hasn't quite sunk in as incredibly appealing as it will be in a moment.

Byleth slathers some of the lotion onto his skin, rubbing it in to protect himself from the sun. There is, of course, a portion of his back that he can't easily reach without doing some odd and uncomfortable contortions, so it's reasonable to ask his companion to get those places for him. Dedue wades over to where Byleth stands, and takes the little bottle to squeeze some out onto his fingers.

He dabs the cream onto sections of Byleth's back and a little at the nape of his neck, then rubs it in until it disappears into his skin. It's mostly the middle of his back that he wouldn't be able to easily reach, so Dedue focuses on evenly covering that area. The faint scent of pineapple and coconut hangs in the air around Byleth, sort of making him smell like a fake pina colada.

"There." He turns the bottle around so that he can read the directions printed on it. "You will need to reapply it later, as it will be washed off as you swim."

Oh... hmm. That is nice actually. He finds his eyes slide shut at the feeling of warm hands on his back. It's brief though, and that's- it's fine. He turns, nodding to Dedue.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to remember that." He will not.

It's only then that he just happens to glance down and- oh dear Sothis???? That is. That sure is a thing. Down there. In the water. Now that his shorts are wet there's really just. No hiding that? His lips draw a tight line and he has to force himself to avert his gaze lest to bore a hole right through those tragically thin swim trunks.

"...Swimming." That's. All he says before he just falls back into the water and decides now is a good time to try to dive to the bottom.

Byleth turns and thanks him, and then... his gaze sort of drifts, moving down towards the water and then abruptly averting again. It's a very strange sort of reaction, especially because when Dedue glances down, there's nothing particularly notable.

The Professor then just... drops into the water and disappears, leaving his former student confused with a bottle of sunscreen in hand. There he goes.

Dedue supposes that he'll wait for Byleth to resurface, then. He can only hold his breath down there for so long, right?

Unfortunately for him, Byleth cannot stay under the water forever, and he does eventually surface, hair plastered to his face once again. He flicks a little water at Dedue, seeming to want to distract him. Both of them, actually.

"Want to race? Loser buys a round of drinks?" He asks this, now floating on his back as he very gently kicks his way by Dedue again.

Byleth proposes a race when he finally resurfaces, with the addition of a penalty for the loser-- a round of drinks, hardly anything difficult for either of their pocketbooks. A safe bet.

"Very well. You should come over here, then, so that we can start evenly."

Byleth doesn't get a head start just because he's smaller.

He nods, kicking his way over to join Dedue at the edge of the pool then. He expects no head starts! Even if he is like. A full head shorter than Dedue.

"Okay. When you are ready." He waits for Deude to indicate as such, before starting the count down.

"Three. Two. One- Go!" At which point he slips under water and pushes off as hard as he can to try to propel himself a ways before having to have to come to the surface and swim the rest of it.

Byleth counts down to the start of the race, and Dedue readies himself to spring into action. One might expect that, upon hearing go, he would attempt to swim as quickly as he could-- one would be incorrect. Instead, his hand snaps out and closes around Byleth's ankle, wrangling him back within arm's reach. Then he gets an arm around his waist and hauls him up against his side like he's holding a football. Contained-- one professor.

Dedue wades out into the pool towards their designated finish, Byleth still held securely. If the professor even attempts to struggle, he will find that his flailing is ineffective at best. Dedue has found that the lack of Crests in this world significantly bridges the gap that used to exist in terms of strength; Byleth, like Dimitri, is now but a mere mortal man. Dedue can make it roughly halfway before the water starts to become too deep to comfortably walk in, and at that point he stops, adjusts his grip on Byleth, and throws him like a sack of grain back towards the shallow end of the pool.

With that head start, and Byleth yeeted back towards the starting line, he has a significant advantage in making it to the finish first.

For all his skills and talents, Byleth simply was not expecting this. He gives a garbled squawk when Dedue grabs him, wriggling and squirming in his grasp while he's toted along. He really is completely powerless in this case. Given that his powers no longer exist here he only has the strength of his natural build, and compared to Dedue? Not happening.

"Dedue?!" He manages as he's hefted up, just in time to be tossed like a sack of potatoes back towards the other end of the pool. Have you ever heard the Professor shriek?

Now you have.

He lands with a splash, surfacing seconds later, sputtering and spitting out water. By the time he manages his way back, Dedue has long since won.

"Seriously!"

By the time Byleth makes it to the finish, Dedue has certainly won and is, in fact, sitting on the edge of the pool, watching him come in. His feet dip into the pool casually, as though he hadn't just horribly... sort-of cheated at their race.

"Indeed. It would appear that I have won."

Byleth didn't stipulate any rules to their race, like non-interference. He only has himself to blame for losing.

"By our agreement, you owe a round of drinks."

At first he kind of huffs, but honestly it was... really quite clever. A part of him is very proud of Dedue for that. So the smile creeps back up his face quickly.

"Cheeky." He says, amused.

"Very well. A round of drinks for a very clever man." He's still going to give Dedue a little splash though. "What will the others think when they find out you threw the professor like a shotput?"

It's clever because it's so unexpected of him-- something that Dedue cannot take advantage of too many times. Even so, there is some satisfaction to be had, mostly because the professor is not upset at him for his underhanded tactic.

"If I am permitted to make a request, I would like the drink that has pineapple in it."

If, of course, Byleth is willing to entertain a request from the victor. Tropical fruits are incredibly rare back in Fodlan-- having them in something as frivolous as an alcoholic drink is a surprising luxury.

"I would imagine that they would think it quite a tall tale, Professor."

"You are permitted to request anything you like, Dedue." He nudges the man as he pulls himself out and goes to fetch some towels.

"Ahh you're saying nobody would believe me? Perhaps you are right." It's an amusing revelation honestly, he's mostly just delighted that Dedue finds himself comfortable enough to be cheeky with him. It kind of feels like an honor.

"I suppose it is something I will have to live with for eternity, in that case." More or less, this will be a fond memory. "I'll be back with some drinks."

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