Archive of Our Own

Oh, from the very moment the new customer entered his little antique shop Sylvain knew that this man would be an entertaining one. His body language carefully nonchalant, every movement trained to be casual, uninterested even, while his eyes were curious, gaze always analyzing, the lazy grin on his face calling for mischief.

Sylvain loved to watch his customers, analyzing their patterns was a hobby of his. With most of his first-time customers, he was able to predict at least a certain range of possibilities how their visits would be like. With this one, he knew this man would not buy anything on his first visit but he would definitely return. 

They didn’t talk that day and the man left without having said anything only having looked at one or the other piece seemingly out of boredom and then left after some minutes, as if he was just browsing.

The second time the man visited he still clothed himself in a cover of uninterest but his step pattern seemed different. So Sylvain was sure he would be talking to him today.

Meaning that Sylvain played along in that little game; was keeping himself busy with inspecting his goods and making notes for the inventory. It was a tedious thing he usually didn’t like to do but it was fine as a part of the game of this new customer. 

As expected, the man approached him. What he was not prepared for, was the item of his interest. 

It was one of Sylvain’s own favorite pieces. A board game from Morfis, dated back to the early 5th century. It was a little treasure since all pieces were complete and still in wonderful condition.

So maybe Sylvain got a bit carried away and forgot to play the normal businessman. Which resulted in them freeing the game of the glass prison and actually playing a few rounds. Or at least tried to while they solved the puzzle of what was known in modern times about the set of rules.

Sylvain had a lot of fun that day. So when his new customer, named Khalid, said he had to leave he was actually disappointed. 

But Khalid stopped in his tracks once more. “You didn’t try to sell the game to me.” He remarked with a grin.

Sylvain laughed. “I didn’t. And most likely I won’t. Are you trying to buy it, though?”

“Not today. Maybe when I know you better.” he winked. “See you next time, Sylvain.”

Sylvain laughed and locked the door after the other man. He sure as hell had fun that day. He even thought that maybe this could become something like a friendship. It was rare enough to meet someone that had the same niche interests as him.

Khalid would not come too often. Every other week he would head in to look at some pieces and then discuss some things with Sylvain. And from that moment on it was a game between them if Sylvain was able to sell something to him. It was more a battle of the wits than actually selling something. It was clear Khalid was there to buy and Sylvain was there to sell but they enjoyed their little battles too much to actually confront this situation out front.

This little game lasted until another one of Sylvain’s favorite customers - a childhood friend - entered the stage.

Dimitri was different from Khalid in almost all the ways possible. He was straight-laced and straightforward, abided by the rules, and did not do well with jokes. He was not shy but often struggled with bonding with new people. 

So of course his appearance would be disrupting the little game Sylvain played with Khalid. 

Sylvain hadn’t noticed Dimitri entering, being too concentrated on his next move at the game of the beautiful marble chess game Khalid had brought along with him today. It was a beautiful thing that once belonged to Khalid's grandfather and Khalid had said if he beat him in three games in a row he would give it to Sylvain for his store.

Khalid seemed very sure of himself when he said that and Sylvain was very eager to kick his butt. They were still in their first round and it looked good for Sylvain. Too good. So he was rather taking a second and a third look to analyze the game.

So it happened that Dimitri stood next to them, watching the set up game with keen interest. He was not the most distinguished chess player but he knew his way around to at least understand what was going on, and was polite enough to not interrupt.

But it was Khalid who cleared his throat. “Sylvain, you’ve got a customer.” 

Sylvains head snapped up with a bit of embarrassment, only for relief to hit him. “Oh, hi Dimitri.”

Dimitri smiled slightly amused. “Hello, Sylvain. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I came to browse today and wanted to greet you first.”

Sylvain smiled. “I consider myself greeted, your highness. You can now proceed with the browsing.” Sylvain mocked a bow and pointed towards the rest of the shop.

“Thank you, Sylvain.” Dimitri said unbothered by his friend’s antics. He was already used to it, had given up on asking him to stop the teasing years ago. He proceeded into the store, after nodding to Sylvain’s game partner.

He was taking a look at a new piece, a very beautiful and best of all sturdy desk. He had looked for one for a long time now. It was hard to find furniture built for his strength. So sometimes antiques were the better choice over modern constructs. Especially in the matter of aesthetics. Even though Dimitri was more of a practical person, furnishing his apartment with antiques gave him a better feeling than buying from big stores. After all, why produce new goods when there was perfectly good furniture still existing?

Carefully he felt the surface, the polished wood, a very nice sensation. Satisfied he bent down to look at the legs when the voice of the two contestants carried over. 

“‘Your Highness’? I am curious.” The man had a voice lively with something playful and Dimitri felt himself perking up a little. He tried not to. It was not his conservation to listen in, even though it seemed to be about him.

“I’ll explain it to you when you win this game.”, Sylvain said. There was something smug in it. “Check.” 

Dimitri chuckled to himself, of course, Sylvain would offer this only when he was sure he would be winning. He shook his head a little and proceeded with the inspection of his possible new desk. 

It was the moment Dimitri lifted the table to test its weight he heard the other man laugh.

“Gladly. Checkmate.”

“No!”, Sylvain yelled followed by the sound of shuffling. Dimitri was sure that Sylvain would now inspect the board from all sides. Finding a way out for his king to survive this very dangerous situation. Only to speak: “The hell did I not see this coming! How?! Fuck!”

Curious Dimitri lowered the table back onto the floor and walked over to his defeated friend. Looking at the board it would still seem at first glance that Sylvain was close to winning, but a closer look proved that no matter what Sylvain did, his King was done for.

“Dimitri! He beat me at chess.”, Sylvain said with a voice that was almost begging him to do something about me.

“He surely did.”, Dimitri said. “So you better make good on your promise.” There was a hint of a smile on Dimitri's lips, while he felt the curious gaze of the other man on his side. 

Sylvain sighed. “You are no fun, Dimitri! You are supposed to be on my side!” His ton of voice was fake dramatic.

“There are no sides to pick when the outcome is clear. I am not lying for you, Sylvain. You brought this upon yourself.”

“And you call yourself my friend. So cold.”

“Sylvain.” Dimitri’s voice was a pitch lower than usual, a little reminder not to go too far. Dimitri was used to his friend’s antics but at some point, even he got annoyed. And an annoyed Dimitri was less fun than normal Dimitri for everyone involved. 

“Yes yes. So. The Story behind my dearest friend’s nickname. It is not hard to guess, to be honest. I mean, look at him. He is so proper, even his way to stand just says ‘kid of good upbringing’. And his speech? Downright archaic. What is not regal about him?” Sylvain said and patted his friend’s shoulder. “And he does hail from a family of kings. He is the direct descendant of the old kings of Faerghus.”

“Oh. Faerghus. I read a lot about it.” Khalid said. “It was a conservative kingdom closely knitted with the church, right? Falling together with the faith of Seiros back in the 12th century.”

Sylvain chuckled. “Most likely yes. I wasn’t paying attention in history class too much. When the name Blaiddyd fell I listened for long enough to get the picture and then zoned back out.”

Dimitri shook his head slightly. “Sylvain. Don’t brag about your low commitment in school. You are a smart man, you could have done far better.”

“True, if I had wanted to.”

Dimitri sighed. Not wanting to have this conversation again and not in front of a stranger to him. He didn’t know how close he was with Sylvain when they played games in his shop. But he hadn’t heard of him before.

Khalid had watched them, saying nothing only watching where the conversation lead. “Well, thank you for this valuable information. And too bad you didn’t win.”

“I want revenge! You promised me three games!” Sylvain said.

“I said you’d have to win three games. I’d never said I play more than one game with you if you lose the first.”

“Unfair. Give me an opportunity to restore my honor.”

Khalid chuckled. “Fine. For your honor, I offer you one more game. If his highness allows me to occupy you for some time longer.”

Dimitri blushed. The way Khalid said this nickname was very different from how his friends said it and having a mere stranger calling him by this very teasing nickname was surely something he hadn’t expected to happen. But he let it slide. “Just a minute and I am gone. Sylvain, I’ll take the desk we talked about. Send me the invoice as usual.”

“Roger that. Do you need help with it?”

Dimitri shook his head. “No need. There is more than enough space.” 

Sylvain nodded and was back to set up the chess pieces while Khalid curiously observed Dimitri carrying the heavy desk out of the shop. 

“He sure is fit.” Khalid said, amazed.

“Hm yeah. Runs in the family.” Sylvain didn’t even look up. “So be careful when shaking his hand.”

“Noted.”

Dimitri didn’t know exactly why but when he now entered Sylvain’s shop, he would find his eyes wandering around, different from usual. And deep down he knew that he wasn’t looking for his friend. 

So when for the first time since this strange habit emerged he did find a familiar teasing smile he felt his heart do a really strange beat and his hands would tingle a bit. Adrenalin rushed through his veins. 

“Hey, your highness.” Khalid grinned and waved in his direction. “Fancy meeting you here again.” 

He was currently standing between some decorative elements, vases, and little boxes. Inspecting some of them. 

Dimitri wondered what he was looking for and if he had bought something at this point. Sylvain had said something about Khalid often just browsing. Dimitri wondered why someone would enter a store over and over again without buying anything. He himself often couldn’t leave this store without buying one or the other thing. If not for himself, then for his father who had a really deep love for antiques and art and would be very happy for any gift in that direction. Especially since he often was too busy to come out and browse himself. So as his only child, Dimitri saw it as his privilege to spoil his father.

“Good Morning, Khalid.” Dimitri smiled politely and overlooked once again that Khalid used a nickname that was reserved for his closest friends. After all, didn’t that mean he was planning to become a friend of Dimitri’s in the future? That would be nice indeed. Dimitri hadn’t had the easiest time making new friends. He wasn’t entirely sure why, since he gave his best to be polite and kind. But in the end, most people would turn their backs.

So having someone making the first step towards a closer friendship was a nice change of pace. So he tried to get into a conversation the only way he knew. He asked questions about which answers he actually was interested in. “What are you shopping for today? Came for anything specific?”

The other man perked up and grinned, shaking his head. “Actually, today I am just here to kill some time and tease Sylvain.” He said with a bright grin. “Even though I have to admit, this one.”, he lifted a small wooden box with delicate carvings of wyvern in flight. “Did catch my eye. So I am now considering a change of plan.”

Dimitri blinked at him. “Why would you tease Sylvain?” Teasing was a concept that often went over his head even though he was not unfamiliar with it. After all, Sylvain did a lot of teasing himself. 

Khalid shrugged his shoulders. “It’s entertaining. And kinda our thing. I dunno. It started when I entered the store and kinda became our thing.” He kept grinning. “And actually buying something would break that cycle. And I am not sure I can be so heartless as to do that to him.”

Silence followed that statement as Dimitri tried to wrap his head around this concept. He did understand that there was something that was fun to Khalid and most likely Sylvain too and the tone of Khalid indicated that he wasn’t entirely serious about his words. It was hard to say. In the end, he decided he didn’t need to understand it as he wasn’t involved. As long as they had fun, it was alright.

“So, you are not buying?” he said instead and reached his hands out questioning if he could have a look, and Khalid readily handed it to him. It really was a nice box. Most likely for trinkets. It was about the length of Dimitri's hand. And the carvings were very detailed. Even the tiny teeth of the wyverns were clearly visible, the stern look of the eyes and the majestic wings in every detail. “Wouldn’t that be a waste? It is very beautiful. And if you have a use for it, why not buy it.”

“Oh, I consider hiding it somewhere here so that I can buy it later.”, Khalid said. 

To Dimitri’s scandalized look, he just laughed. “What? Did you never hide something you wanted to buy later?”

“Of course not! It will make the lives of the store clerks a lot harder and that only because of my indecisiveness? I could not. Either I go for it, or I don’t. And no matter my decision the consequences are mine to bear and not the uninvolved store clerks.” His voice had been a bit intense due to his surprise and his strong upwelling of a felt injustice. 

“Wow. I never looked at this from that angle. Kinda makes me look like a jerk now.” Khalid said while waving his head to the other side. “I always heard it’s a custom fairly often used.”

Dimitri blushed. “It might as well be.” He admitted. “I never have been the best with customs. But custom or not it doesn’t change my view on it.” he said. “But… you might do as you please.” He said now feeling a bit embarrassed for once again having made a blunder. “It’s your business and Sylvains. And Sylvain most likely wouldn’t even care that much.”

Khalid smiled. “Your highness really lives up to his name.”, he teased. “To honor you I will try your approach. I will play my game the long way without the safety net then.” He took the little box from Dimitri’s hands and placed it back where he took it. Let his fingers glide about the wyvern head, as if patting it, once again and then looking up again.  “And for what business did your highness come down here?”

Before Dimitri could open his mouth to answer, he heard Sylvains laughter in his ears, who seemed to have just emerged from the back of the shop. “Khalid. Don’t strain that nickname or I get the image you are flirting with my friend. And let me tell you, that would be totally wasted time.” Sylvain grinned as he laid his hand on Dimitri’s shoulder who was too scandalized as to chip in. “This poor lad has up to this point never caught up on anyone trying to flirt with him. It goes all straight over his head.”

“Impressive with this height.”, Khalid said, grinning. And Dimitri blushed.

It was Sylvain who answered for him. “You would be surprised at his ability to totally miss intentions and social cues.” His tone was fond now rather than teasing. “But that is totally part of his charm, right Dimitri?”

“Sylvain…”

“Yes yes. I stop teasing now.” The redhead patted the shoulder of his friend once again. “But I was serious, Khalid. If you try to flirt with him you may have to announce your intentions first.” Sylvain winked and Dimitri thought about just turning on his heel and leaving the room. But his friend did not let go of Khalid's attention for now and gave Dimitri the opportunity to catch his breath.  “But now come with me, my friend. I am in dire need of another battle of wits with you. After all, I have my honor to defend!”

Khalid laughed. “The only thing you will experience when battling with me is utter defeat and humiliation but who am I to deny you that.” To Dimitri, he smiled one last time. It was not the cheeky and teasing kind of smile, but almost compassionate. Dimitri didn’t know if he liked that.

But he was happy to have a second to breathe for himself and get back his composure. So he went deeper into the store. Seeing if he saw anything his father would be happy about. 

The next time Dimitri entered the store while Khalid was there, he again was deeply emerged into a game with Sylvain. And if Dimitri read Sylvains face right, the redhead was winning this time. 

So he joined them trying to figure out what kind of game it was they were playing this time, but Dimitri had never seen it before. To his surprise this one wasn’t anything antique or remotely old. It was shiny and seemed to be out of it’s box for the first time.

He was not sure if he should break the concentration of the players and instead just decided to quietly watch, forgo the greeting even though it didn’t sit well to just join them without it either. Why was it so hard to make the right decisions when it came to people?

“Give me the rulebook again” Khalid said after all, extending his hand without looking up, Sylvain handed it over with a grin, not saying a word. Khalid took it and flipped through it until he had found what he was searching for, reading more intensely and then sighed. “Fine. I yield.”

“Ha!” Sylvain punched the air. “Finally!” 

Dimitri had to smile watching this. 

Khalid sighed and looked at Dimitri sitting next to Sylvain. He waved as a greeting before he wearily watched Sylvain doing his little winners dance. “Is he always like this when he wins?”

Dimitri smiled “Only if it was a hard win. Or if it was for revenge.”

“Oh?” Khalid grinned. “What do you think was this one?”

Dimitri watched Sylvain for a few moments. “I say mostly the first. But maybe a mix of both.”

“Not true!” Sylvain said with a broad grin on his lips. “Khalid and I are buddies. I have no will of revenge or destruction towards him!”

“Aw~ I am touched, Sylvain. You never wanted to strangle me? Not even a little bit?” 

Dimitri was not sure if Khalid was joking when saying that. His body language and his tone did contradict each other and there was something different. He decided it was not his predicament to solve and just watch on.

“Of course not! You are easy to handle, my dear pal.” Sylvain said, finally sitting back down. “I have tamed much wilder horses than you.”

Knowing exactly who he meant when he said that, Dimitri coughed, choking on his snort, his exasperated huff and all in between trying to regain air.

“I am not sure if this is a compliment or not” Khalid said, watching Dimitri curiously with a smidge of worry. “You ok?”

Dimitri tried to nod while still coughing. Sylvain hit his back laughing.

When Dimitri finally calmed down, breathing evenly he looked over to Khalid, a bit embarrassed. When finally a thought emerged into his head that he promptly blurted out. “You should join us for game night fridays.”

“What?” Khalid asked, intrigued.

“What?” Sylvain asked, scandalized.

“Yes. Our friend group comes together every other Friday for some board games. And I think it would be nice to have someone around who enjoys playing as much as Sylvain.” It made perfect sense. Sylvain had said himself that he considered Khalid as a friend so why not bringing him along.

“No offense Khalid. But I am not sure this is such a great idea.” Sylvain said his face now clouded a little. 

“Why not?” Dimitri asked.

“Felix.” was the only answer Sylvain gave, which was more than enough for Dimitri to understand. But for Khalid it was just another riddle. So he seemed to just wait for more clues or an explanation.

“You are right, we should ask him first.” Dimitri admitted. After all, their introverted friend could really react badly to new people especially when unannounced.

Khalid who seemed to have catched up, smiled. “Hey it’s alright. I don’t wanna crush a longstanding group. I am perfectly fine with just playing with Sylvain.”

“Well. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?” Sylvain said. “Even though I am pretty sure the answer will be no. Felix can be rather picky with new people.”

“I get that. Don’t worry.” Khalid said and it didn’t seem like it was just a phrase. “Let’s play again. Dimitri you wanna join?”

“Sure.” He found himself saying, followed by Khalid explaining the rules to him, while Sylvain watched him with a raised eyebrow. Dimitri evaded his gaze.

It was the same evening when Sylvain texted in their friend groupchat about their idea for Khalid to join game night. As expected Ingrid was the first to answer that she was happy to welcome someone new.

Even the simple thumbs up from Dedue was expected. His texting was usual with little words and very clear to understand. Dimitri liked that about him.

What he hadn’t expected was that after an hour or two Felix texted: Fine

It was very out of character, so that Dimitri found himself halfway writing a message to inquire if he was sure. But in the end he deleted the message unsent. He knew that the reactions would be something along the lines of “I don’t say things I don’t mean boar!”

Which was not true in itself, since Felix often said things in a way that hurt people that he did not intend or even just lashed out to get people off his case, but in this case it was most likely true, since Felix was no one to agree to something he didn’t want to do. 

So it seemed the stories that Sylvain had told in the past about Khalid had given Felix enough of an impression of the man. Most likely it was that he beat Sylvain in games over and over. If Felix was curious about one thing it was skill. Without a certain skilllevel in something Felix deemed important, the respect of the prickly man was only hardly earned.

After Felix’ message the chat was completely silent. If it was because everyone was busy with their lives or if everyone was as stunned as Dimitri for this answer, he couldn’t know. But he sure didn’t know what to reply. So he didn’t.

Like usually it was Sylvain who handled the situation. He exclaimed that he would invite Khalid then for the next game night. And offered to host it instead of Ingrid for that day, since Khalid knew him best. 

Dimitri wondered if, maybe he did it a bit for Felix too. After all, Felix had almost a second home at Sylvain’s apartment and could easily take himself out of the social situation if it was too much. 

They truly could be happy to have a friend like Sylvain. Even though he wasn’t the easiest guy himself often, he was really supportive of his close friends. Especially with their quirks and flaws. 

So maybe Dimitri found himself a bit nervous for Friday now.

Dimitri felt so pathetic. For the first time, he was standing in front of his filled closet completely lost at what to pick. Usually, he just grabbed something he felt like wearing or would default to the pieces that were bought together. He didn’t care that much about his appearance other than being clean and proper.

But today? Today he wondered what would make him look good. In his head Sylvain's voice, which had told him so many times, that if he wouldn’t dress like a senior citizen, he could be very attractive. 

So it meant that in his usual clothes, he wasn’t attractive, right? 

But why did he even care if he looked attractive today? It was just their game night. A friend gathering. Never before had he worried about this before. Which could only mean…

He groaned and buried his head into his hands, feeling the heat on his cheeks. He was not ready to deal with this. And he hadn’t had the time. He didn’t want to be late. But just reaching for some clothes and going for a default look made him feel nauseous. What if Sylvain would make jokes about it again? Or worse - what if Khalid did?

So in the end, he did the only thing he could come up with and left behind his dignity. Heading to the living room where his father was reading the newspaper, unhurriedly, as if he wouldn’t be on his way to another business trip at the end of the day. Dimitri did envy his father for how comfortable he was with himself.

Lambert looked up from his newspaper to his obviously nervous son, clothed only in his bathrobe with almost dried hair, arching an eyebrow questioningly.

“Father, I am in a predicament.”, Dimitri admitted, his voice even flatter than usual, which was clearly an indication that he was not happy that he had to talk about it. “I…” He felt so stupid saying it. “I have no idea how to dress tonight.”

Lambert blinked at him silently. Then it dawned on his face and there was a spark in his eye. “Do you want my assistance, son?”

Dimitri nodded. Not meeting his father's eyes. 

“Then let’s see what we can do.”, Lambert said and rose from the couch. To Dimitri’s relief, he didn’t ask any questions. 

The only thing Lambert said when he sent Dimitri out of the house, after lending him a shirt and fussing over his hair was: “Report how it went.” With a wink, which made Dimitri blush and unable to answer it properly, resulting in him just nodding and leaving.

Walking to the station he looked at himself into the mirroring surfaces of the buildings he passed. It was not much different from what he usually wore and still what Sylvain would consider tame. But his fathers shirt was hugging his chest a bit tighter, giving his frame a nice curve. The cleavage was not low but showed just the slightest bit of collarbone. The necklace his father had chosen for him to wear was nothing fancy but just laid at the right place to catch the eye and lead it to the collarbones.
His pants were nothing fancy but with his good belt they somehow looked fancier and casual at the same time. It was hard to describe what was different, but something was. The man in the mirror was good looking. Even though he was wearing a eyepatch, which was not hidden by hair this time. He had much less hair in his face than usual, but it didn’t look bad. It looked a bit messy. But since Dimitri was not good with his hair everything else would have been too obvious. And he had told his father he didn’t want to be too obvious. Gladly Lambert catched up on the situation without too much information. Dimitri would always be grateful to his father. 

He just felt embarrassed that he had to ask for his visiting father’s assistance as a grown man. After all. He should be able to dress himself properly at this age, shouldn’t he? 

He sighed and tried to not think too much about it. To not look too often into the mirrors around him and calm his heart. 

When he rang the bell at Sylvains apartment and Felix opened, Dimitri regretted everything. Felix looked him up and down and scoffed exasperated, turning around, leaving the door open for Dimitri to enter.

If even Felix could tell at the first glance, everyone else would be able too, right? Then they would say something and out him to Khalid. His stomach made a summerault and urged him to run.

But he was a Blaiddyd, descendant of a dynasty of warriors. He made a decision and he would see this battle through. No matter how painful.

Upon entering he only saw Ingrid sitting in the kitchen, where they usually playd because it had the biggest table- nursing a drink. “Hello Ingrid.”, He greeted politely. 

“Hello Dimitri” she greeted back in her usual tone. “Sylvain is out, picking up the new guy.” 

Dimitri’s nerves settled a little. Khalid wasn’t here yet and Ingrid acted normal. That meant that she either hadn’t noticed or decided not to pay it any mind. He was grateful either way. 

Khalid wasn’t sure why he agreed. Yes, a game night full of board games was sounding like a lot of fun. But there was an unknown number of strangers attending and he hadn’t had any more information besides that they would play board games. At least one other person was there and would usually say no to new people, but somehow agreed for Khalid to come.

He had a role to maintain so he hadn’t been able to ask for more information to prepare accordingly. Sylvain saw him as this cool spontaneous person that loved a challenge. It wasn’t entirely wrong. That was part of Khalid, but the thought of entering a new situation in a way that made it hard for him to escape made him nervous and uncomfortable. But as the actor he was, Sylvain shouldn’t notice that.

So he sat in the car watching the streets flying by, remembering the landmarks in case he had to flee unexpectedly. 

“So.”, Sylvain started. “Since it’s your first time with the gang I think I better tell you the basics.” 

Khalid perked up inwardly. On the outside, he just nodded as if it wasn’t a big deal and he wasn’t craving for more info.

“They are good people, but they are not what most people would call normal. We don’t really conform to society's expectations. Either by nature or choice.” Sylvain sounded a little bitter saying that. Khalid guessed there was a story behind that was too personal to tell on a car ride to a friend's meeting. So he just waited for the other to go on. “So, first rule: Don’t call them out on behavior you think is strange. Teasing is usually okay, but you are new so you better not try. Except maybe Dimitri. Never tease Felix.”

There was a pause and Khalid felt Sylvain’s glance at himself, side eyed during driving. 

“Got it.”

“Wonderful. Rule No 2: Don’t ask people where they are going when leaving the room. Especially not Felix.”

Khalid thought he saw a pattern here. 

“Got it.”

Sylvain smiled after the immediate answer now closely watching the street again. 

“Another Felix special. He doesn’t meet people's eyes, but that doesn’t mean that he is shy. He is introverted and doesn’t like new people but he is definitely not shy.”

“Ok.” Khalid said a bit curious now. That Felix guy surely did sound interesting.

Sylvain sighed. “To be honest. To get you ready to deal with Felix would take a whole day of coaching and there still would be a million ways to fuck up. Hell knows I still fuck up often enough. 

Don’t mind if he seems aggressive or insulting.  He may especially seem rough towards Dimitri and me. But that’s normal and just his way. We manage that ourselves. If you can’t handle him we have to see how to handle that. God, am I scaring you?”

Khalid laughed. “Hm… Maybe a little. But I will see when I get there. So don’t worry too much.” Inwards Khalid was bursting with curiosity and nervousness. He didn’t want to lose the first social contacts he made in this area for not getting along with their friend, but that person sounded so interesting. And at least he had an idea what would await him. His strategy would have to wait until he was there and could perceive the man himself.

“Next to that the basics are pretty tame. Drinks are in the fridge. Everyone helps themselves. We play in the kitchen. If you need a little breather you can go into the living room. My bedroom is off limits for you.” 

“Got it.”

“If you see Dimitri and Felix enter my bedroom, leave them alone.”

“...Okay?” Somehow that didn’t sit too well with him, but he decided to not let it bug him.

Sylvain laughed. “Don’t worry. I didn’t mean together.” 

“Not my business.” Khalid said and looked back out the window.

“It’s for sensory regulation.” Sylvain explained. “Dimitri loves to be around people and sometimes exhausts himself before he notices it. And Felix… Well, he is not the most people person and he practically lives at my place anyway.”

“Why are you telling me that?” Khalid asked. It was rather personal info about two people that may not agree having it known.

“So you will not do something stupid.” Sylvain said. “And maybe to test you.”

“Testing me?”

Sylvain grinned and said nothing. Khalid decided to let it go. The rest of the drive was silent but not long. 

The apartment was in a neighborhood that was neither bad nor very nice. The building was high but well maintained from the outside. 

“Do you smoke?” Sylvain asked out of the blue after they both had left the car and he was unlocking the frontdoor.

“Not really, no.” Khalid answered while looking around taking in the layout of the house.

“Good. I recall we currently don’t have any smokers in our ranks. Otherwise it’s smoking on the balcony. With the door closed.”

“Roger that.” Khalid said and followed Sylvain up the stairs, counting them while doing it. The height of the stairs was a bit off. A bit too high for Khalid’s taste. Which meant around here that the house was a bit older. It fits a man like Sylvain.

“We’re here!” Sylvain announced while he opened the door to the apartment on the 3rd floor on the left side. In the same breath he said “Take off your shoes. Indoor shoes for guests are over there. Or go on socks I don’t care.”

Khalid was surprised over the precise instructions but somehow it was nice. So he took off his shoes. Eyed the offered ones and decided against it. Then he followed Sylvain that was already descending inside the apartment without a second look.

“That’s the bathroom” He began and pointed to the closest door. “Use it freely but don’t be a swine. Please sit down.”

Khalid scoffed, swallowing down his smile, refraining from informing Sylvain that he hadn’t had to worry about that with him at all. 

“That is the living room, and around the corner is my bedroom. This here is my pantry and here we are, the kitchen. Hi folks!”

Peering inside there were three people sitting. Dimitri, a blonde girl and the person that had to be Felix. Not what Khalid had expected. The man was huge, stark white hair, a resting bitch face that had to look intimidating on the general person. But he didn’t seem as sensitive and prickly as Sylvain had made him to be. Or was Felix the girl? Most likely not. After all, she raised her hand. “Hi! You kept us waiting, Sylvain.” 

Sylvain grinned. “Best comes always last, remember that.” Then he turned around to Khalid, as if to remember to introduce them. “Guys that’s Khalid.”

“Obviously” came from a different direction, a voice that was colored with a tense aggression in stark contrast to the flat delivery. Perking up, Khalid saw another person. A very pretty face bothered by an eternal frown, long hair pulled back nicely. And his whole body language screamed. Leave me alone, asshole.

“Ah, Felix!” Sylvain said. “And I wondered where you were hiding.” It was obviously not serious. 

“I wasn’t hiding idiot.” The man scoffed and shouldered his way into the kitchen. The hit with the elbow he gave Sylvain looked painful, but the redhead didn’t even wince. “And don’t stand inside the door like an idiot.”

Sylvain laughed and looked to Khalid. “So you met Felix.” He said with a grin that was like asking him if Sylvain had promised too much. “Then you know Dimitri. This lovely maiden is Ingrid. Her, Dimitri and Felix grew up together” Ingrid rolled her eyes but said hi to Khalid. “And this is Dedue. Not the most talkative but truly a joy to be around!”

Staying true to his introductions, Dedue gave him a solemn nod. 

“Nice to meet you guys.” Khalid said and finally entered the room and sat down. 

Sylvain was opening the fridge, grabbing two drinks and sitting down. One he tossed to Felix. 

For a second Khalid felt like he was being played before he remembered two things. Drinks were to be taken by everyone themselves. And Felix seemed to have special rights in everything.

He felt Felix eyes on him, staring at him as if to challenge him. Khalid had no idea as to what. 

So he ignored it and got his own drink. There were all kinds and he wondered if he would be evaluated on the basis of what he chose. Before he had left the table he had given everyone's drink a small once over. Ingrid seemed to drink beer or apple juice, but he would rather say beer. Dimitri drank either water or something harder. But the size of the glass and the absence of any bottles, meant it was most likely tap water, which did not surprise Khalid. Dedue had a colored drink from a bottle whose script Khalid could not read and Sylvain had himself a can of beer. 

So he figured a little bit of alcohol was ok but he could go without drinking as well. So, in the end he just grabbed a can of beer himself. After all, just mimicking the host was seldom a bad idea.

As he sat down, Ingrid Sylvain and reluctantly Felix already were talking about something that Khalid couldn’t follow. But it was alright. He sat down next to Dimitri again and smiled at him. It was the first time he saw him without his coat and windswept hair, half over his face.

The black eyepatch was more prominent on the light skin, covering his right eye, irking Khalid’s curiosity again. But he figured he was asked so often about it from strangers, that he most likely was happy to be not bothered about it once. So Khalid once again decided to just act normal about it and leaned back in his chair. 

Dimitri smiled at him, but didn’t say anything, instead listening in to the conversation. Other than Khalid he most likely could follow it after all.

It didn’t take him long to get a grasp on the group’s dynamic. Sylvain was the most outgoing one and usually did the talking with strangers. Ingrid would hold Sylvain accountable for his antics and be the voice of reason. Felix was their local gremlin that could’ve been the voice of reason if not for his bad temper, Dedue was the good soul, looking out for everyone and apparently cooked really well and Dimitri was the glue that held them together. Even though Sylvain and Felix seemed to have a special bond even outside of their group.

Intriguing indeed. And if Khalid wasn’t wrong he thought he actually could benefit from this group as well as bring some benefits to them. Or he would come on the wrong feet with Felix and this would break apart. And it would go back to only playing board games in Sylvain’s antique shop, which wasn’t bad, but after tasting a working group dynamic and actually being invited in was something he didn’t want to let go. He blamed his lonely childhood for that.

It actually took a while until they brought out the board games. Felix seemed to lead the conversation into a discussion whenever someone was close to actually saying anything about actually playing. 

But in the end, Sylvain just laughed away Felix’s bickering and brought in the game of the night. A card game with a twist to it. Khalid had heard about it but hadn’t had the pleasure of playing it yet, since it was supposed to be played in a bigger setting.

When Sylvain started to explain the rules. Felix rolled his eyes and got up. “I give you 5.” And left the room. 

Khalid tried not to look after him curiously but to listen to the rules instead. It got harder when he heard some clanging in the other room. Sylvain grinned at him, knowingly.

Dimitri had been nervous all evening. Especially about Sylvain saying anything about his changed appearance. But he didn’t. It seemed Sylvain was busy with managing Khalid and Felix into the right directions to even realize it. 

And Khalid? He greeted Dimitri, but they didn’t talk. Dimitri didn’t know about what. At one point he noticed that Khalid was looking at him, but his expression gave nothing away. Or at least nothing that Dimitri could read. He was not sure if Khalid noticed the difference or if he even looked at him in a way that his appearance was anything more than to give away his identity.

Dimitri was not sure if he was relieved or disappointed. All he knew was that his blood was rushing through his veins and he was even worse at this game than usual. He was far behind the others and didn’t even care too much about it. 

Obviously it was his lack of competitiveness that had given him away to Sylvain, who now gazed at him with a questioning look. Dimitri evaded his gaze, which was a mistake, because he could feel the grin and the look from Dimitri to Khalid to Dimitri again and the realization. 

“Damn!” Khalid said, after picking up a card, worrying his lips. Dimitri felt his gaze pulled to these lips, well sculpted and always so characteristic. “Did you manipulate the cards Sylvain?” Khalid accused. “It can’t be that you are ahead of me already.”

Sylvain laughed. “Of course not! This is the extent of my skill!”

Felix scoffed. Sylvain pushed him. Dimitri had to smile. His friends being themselves kind of gave him a bit of respite from the strange feeling in his guts.

Ingrid looked at her cards, sighed and laid them down. “You guys are impossible.” Standing up she stretched. “Go on without me.” And she left the room.

“Tell Glenn I said hi!” Sylvain trilled after her. 

“Shut it!” Ingrid retorted even though she had already left the room.

Dimitri saw the question in Khalid, always so curious about the things around him, something that was admirable in Dimitri’s eyes. “Glenn is Ingrid’s fiancé. And most likely she is taking a break to call him. She usually does.”

“Isn’t it romantic?” Sylvain said with a broad grin not sounding sincere at all. “Not being able to go without hearing from each other even one evening.”

“Yes. Disgusting.” Felix snared, obviously agitated. 

Dimitri smiled. “It really is sweet that they didn’t change over the years.”

“it’s not sweet, it’s nauseating. The next time I have to listen to a Poem I will drown him, I swear.” Felix barked. 

“If his poetry were at least good.” Sylvain agreed. “I only heard one but it stole 5 years of my life.”

“Don’t judge another persons relationship.” It was Dedue, saying something unprompted for the first time of the evening. 

“Dedue is right. If they are happy we should not judge or intervene” Dimitri agreed.

“Easy to say for you” Felix snarled. “You don’t have to live with them.”

Dimitri smiled. Of course it wasn’t easy for Felix, especially since the apartment he shared with his brother had rather thin walls. 

“I am done!” Khalid announced with a grin. At some point he had gotten rid of all cards for this round. 

Felix snarled and Sylvain laughed, while Dimitri was surprised. When Khalid felt his look, he turned his head and winked at him. 

Dimitri couldn’t help himself but blush furiously. Sylvains laughing only grew louder. And like that it was all evening.

It was dark outside when Dimitri left Sylvain's apartment, followed by Ingrid and Khalid. Felix would stay overnight most likely and Dedue had left earlier.

Ingrid was already back on the phone and only waved after she left the direction of Glenn and Felix's apartment. 

Dimitri waved back, smiling to himself. Sometimes he was a bit envious of Ingrid and Glenn. But he wasn’t really good with romantic interactions and even though he was wondering how it would be, up until now he hadn't felt attracted to someone. 

Due to Sylvain’s advice, he had dated around a little, but it never had felt quite right. And Dimitri hadn’t met with the same person more than three times. So in the end he had accepted that he couldn’t end his single life on his own whims. And it wasn’t like he was actively missing something. He was fine without it.

But now walking down the street next to Khalid, he felt his hands become sweaty and his heart feeling light and fluttery. It was strange and a bit scary. He felt like a big clumsy clown, like his skin was too big for himself suddenly and all he could do was embarrass himself. So his head spun around this feeling.

“Are you taking the Subway here as well?” Khalid asked when they walked onto the platform. 

“Y-yeah.”, Dimitri said. Only now looking at the signs. It wasn’t the line that brought him home. Not even close. But he could not admit that. 

Especially not after Khalid smiled at him. “Good. Then we have a bit more time together.” And he actually looked pleased at this.

Dimitri thought it was alright to make a small tour through the town to be with him a bit longer.

“Yes.”, Dimitri said lamely. Not able to form a lot of words. 

“Are you tired?” Khalid asked. His head tilted in that way of his that pulled on Dimitri’s heartstrings while he couldn’t help but watch the little braid dangle around. It was so entirely Khalid that Dimitri was sure he would only think of him when any person made any movement even remotely close.

This man was really way too much in his mind. It was not fair.

“Yes.”, Dimitri said, even though it was not really true. “It has been a long day.”

“Tell me about it.” Khalid sighed. “I’ve gotten a new client out of the blue and they are on a tight schedule, but paying extra. And I’m really looking forward to this, but it was a lot of stress today.” He moved his head while rubbing his neck as if it was tense. 

Dimitri felt only sympathy for him. “I hope you did not overdo it. You could have canceled or left earlier. We are not a group to be mad about something so trivial.”

“No. I really enjoyed it. I didn’t even recognize it was this late already.” He sighed. And looked at Dimitri, something in his expression was different. It seemed… open? The tiredness was showing and he looked even a bit vulnerable. “I hadn’t had such a nice evening in a while. I don’t have a lot of friends… around.”

It was at that moment, that Dimitri felt an overwhelming urge to protect this man in front of him. He wanted to guard what he saw, the little hurt that swung in his voice. He wanted to heal him and bring him happiness. He wanted to protect that smile that had stolen his heart away. And just then, Dimitri realized, this wasn’t just a fleeting crush, but that he most likely was already neck deep in love. 

It took all his willpower not to reach for Khalid, not to pull him close and tell him all this. It wasn’t the right time. And it was so intense that he was not sure the other man wouldn’t be scared by it. So he forced it down. 

“As for me, you are always welcome to join us. And from what I can judge, I think the others liked you well enough. That you beat Sylvain in every game while making it look easy, most likely will make Felix accept you as well.” He chuckled.

“I am not sure.” Khalid admitted. “I think he is not fond of me.”

A little silence came between them, while the train arrived at the station and they took their seats. “I wouldn’t be so sure. As long as you don’t hit on Sylvain you should be fine.”

“Oh?” Khalid asked. “Is there something?”

“I am not sure. But they had always been close. And I know Felix could do without anyone but Sylvain. And most likely the other way around too. I don’t pry.”

Khalid nodded. “Yeah. I guess they’ll figure it out.”

Dimitri shrugged. He somehow doubted that. But he was no one to judge. After all, he was not any better than them.

Sitting directly next to Khalid, their shoulders brushing made him feel light like a feather and it was hard to think about his friends anyway. The train started to descend in the opposite direction of Dimitri’s home. And Dimitri, greedy Dimitri, decided he wanted to spend as much time sitting close to Khalid as possible, and would get off the stop after Khalid.

20 Minutes of silent happiness passed before Khalid announced the next stop was his. They said their goodbyes. And Dimitri sighed. Remembering that feeling and ending up waiting two more stops before getting off and looking for a way home. 

It was late. And in the end he could only go halfway and call a cab. But it was so worth it.

This was the most embarrassing day in Khalid’s life. Period.

First he skips 5 stops only to sit next to a man a little longer, not talking, nothing, just sitting next to him and enjoying the silence. 

Then he is forced to wait for the train in the opposite direction because it’s too far to walk. 

But to top it all, he meets Dimitri again in the almost empty train. Making it obviously clear that no the stop he got off wasn’t his at all.

His only solace was that Dimitri was just as embarrassed as him. Both of them blushing furiously, not meeting the other’s eye. 

It was Khalid who first confessed. “I missed my stop and was too embarrassed to admit it.”

Silence followed that statement for quite some time. Khalid’s stop would be the next one, before Dimitri said something.

Something that made Khalid laugh. And feel fuzzy.

“I accidentally followed you to the wrong platform and was too embarrassed to tell you so I ended up with you on the train. And…“ Dimitri now hid his whole face behind his hands. “Then I wanted to just spent a little more time with you.”

Once again Khalid missed his stop, because he was not able to leave the train.

Instead he stared at Dimitri, the blushing mess of a grown man. And he could not even feel secondhand embarrassment or mirth. All he felt was his heart leaping and the urge to touch him. 

“I think we should go out on a date.” He said, surprising himself. “I think our stupidity complements each other.” 

Dimitri’s head snapped up. “You do?”

Khalid laughed. “No. I don’t think you are actually stupid.”

“No.. I mean going out.”

“Oh… That. Yes.” Khalid sighed while the next stop approached. “But… I really have to leave now. Or I have to take another train ride. I’ll call you!” And he jumped out of the train, a blushing mess and giddy.

Only at home he realized he didn’t have Dimitri’s phone number. He groaned into his pillow. Why did his usually so suave self leave him all alone in the most important time of all?

“Dimitri, do you care to tell me why you come into my shop everyday lately only to look utterly disappointed?” Sylvain teased while he made a cup of tea for his friend in the back. “I mean, it’s not surprising to find me and antiques here, isn’t it?”

Dimitri sighed and watched the tea steeping. All his dignity gone out the window anyway so he yielded. “I thought…” why was this so hard to admit? “I thought, maybe I’d bump into Khalid here. But I guess he is busy.”

Sylvain sat down. “Do you have something urgent to talk with him about?” 

“Not really? Maybe… I am not sure it’s urgent… it’s…”

“You just want to see him, hm?” Sylvain said and for once didn’t sound teasing, which surprised Dimitri. He’d thought Sylvain would take any opportunity to tease him to the moon and back when he showed interest in anyone. And he was sure Sylvain had already caught up on that. He had a good intuition of things regarding attraction.

“He said he’d call.” Dimitri started. “But I hadn’t had the chance to give him my number. And now… I. Usually I am not like this. But it’s like wherever I go I look out for him. It’s disturbing.”

Pushing the cup of tea towards Dimitri, Sylvain sighed. “You know, if you had told me that much earlier I could have spared you these two weeks of pining easily.” 

“What?”

“Shall I send your number to him?”

“Y-you got his phone number?” 

“Of course silly. When I meet up with people I usually exchange numbers.”

“Makes sense…” Dimitri admitted. “So… you are not… interested?”

Sylvain laughed. “Nope. Don’t worry. He is funny to flirt with but that’s all. No interest in him. He can be all yours. If you want that.”

Hiding behind his cup of tea after taking a sip Dimitri murmured. “I’d like that.”

Sylvain grinned but didn’t say anything. Instead drank his own tea and handled his phone, most likely sending over the information immediately to Khalid, ending the misery of both of his friends. Sylvain only hoped that Khalid would make good on his promise. Breaking Dimitri’s heart would make him a lot of enemies.

Dimitri had to wait two more days until his phone finally rang with a call. It was afternoon and he just left the shower, hearing the ringtone he had waited for, so long. So he just grabbed the closest towel and threw it around him, stumbled out of the bathroom, wetting his apartment on his way, and grabbed his phone, immediately answering the call. “Yes?”

On the other side of the line, it was rather loud. A lot of white noise and chatter. It seemed to be a busy public space. And the voice that emerged sounded stressed, even hectic. “Hi. Dimitri, right? It’s Khalid. Sorry it took so long, I - No not that one, the red one. Yes. No. N- yes.” A sigh came. “I am sorry. Somehow these people can’t do 5 minutes without me.” he chuckled. “So. I hope I didn’t call at a bad time?”

“Of course not.”, Dimitri said, while he fastened his towel around his hip, his wet hair sticking to his shoulders. “I am happy you called.” 

“Yeah. Me too.” 

A moment of silence between these two in which Dimitri just smiled to himself. 

“So. Sadly I don’t have a lot of time. Neither to call nor to meet up. Like you just heard it’s hard for me to even have a few minutes for myself. But I didn’t want you to think I forgot about you. So. That sounds totally stupid but how about a date today in five weeks?”

“5 Weeks?” Dimitri echoed. It really was a long time. And he wasn’t really fond of having to wait for such a long time. He didn’t want to wait another day if he was honest. But they both weren’t teenagers anymore. They couldn’t just ignore their responsibilities and just meet up.

“Yeah. Sooner I most likely won’t be much fun to be around.” Khalid said. “I am totally swamped. Another big client changed their plans completely and the flower shop I work together with is currently closed and it seems to be impossible to find a replacement that actually follows instructions.” A deep sigh. “Sorry, I don’t mean to vent. It’s just. When we go out, I  wanna be able to give you my full attention.”

“I understand.”, Dimitri answered and was surprised at how his voice sounded like he was pouting. So he cleared his throat. “I really do. I admire your hard work and hope you will find some respite in between. I am looking forward to meeting you when you have time for me.”

He heard how Khalid let go of his breath. “Thank you. You are a saint. If you want to you can text me sometimes. I may not respond immediately. But having a kind message every now and then would be appreciated.”

“I'll give it a try.”, Dimitri said. “I am not the best at texting. Sylvain usually teases me for it.”

“Ah don’t push yourself. It’s fine if you don’t write much or not at all. Just, you know, a good night text every now and then, to not lose contact altogether.”

“Oh. I can do that.” Dimitri said, feeling better.

“And Dimitri.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t feel pressured to pull through. If you can’t wait that long, or if you don’t feel up to it anymore when the time comes, or you meet someone else, don’t feel obligated to go against what you want, ok?”

Dimitri smiled. “I won’t.” He said. “But I doubt that this will happen. I don’t fall easily and seldom change my mind. I can be patient.”

“Good. Really good.” Khalid said. “I -” The voices in the background grew louder and sounded alarmed. Khalid sighed. “I have to go now. Gonna text you later, okay?”

“Ok -” and the call disconnected. Dimitri sighed. Five weeks. Five more weeks of his heart aching for that smile. He would be able to get through it. He had the discipline and managed harder challenges. But he was not happy about it. 

Inwardly he already apologized to his friends that had to put up with a heart-aching Dimitri. Felix most likely would tell him to only approach him again when he got over this. Somehow the thought made Dimitri smile.

Khalid wanted to strangle his latest client. No respect for his profession, acting like planning big events was such a fun life, and kept changing up details. If he hadn’t had invested so much in the planning already and people would link his name to the event no matter if he stuck to it or not, he would’ve told the idiot to do it himself if it was so easy.

Dimitri’s text in between really had been life savers. They didn’t talk much and Dimitri really was an awkward texter but it was endearing. He would write him little messages without any context to them in the most flat delivery possible and then followed by an emoji or an sticker like an afterthought. And the choice of emojis and stickers often seemed so random. Khalid still wasn’t sure if Dimitri just sent him ones he liked or just random or if he really tried to communicate something via these little symbols.

But it was fine. He rather thought half a day what a watermelon may mean in context to Dimitri meeting up with his father that day, than to ponder over how he wanted to strangle a man that still owed him his pay.

Still, these five weeks felt like they stretched forever. While simultaneously he hadn’t had enough time for planning the events. After this stretch he would take a week off. At least. Maybe two. 

Sighing Khalid looked into the room where people ran around left and right, trying to get the decoration in place. He nursed his can of a cheap energy drink and rubbed his face. Soon it was over. Only a few hours until the event began and after that he was free. Most likely he would fall asleep the moment it was over and everyone left. It wouldn’t be the first and most likely not the last time he fell asleep at a location without making it home. 

Just a few more hours. And hopefully nothing would go too wrong. This thought was directly followed by a large crash from the backstage area. Khalid sighed and hurried along, trying to take in the damage.

Dimitri was used to Khalid answering his texts in the early morning hours. He assumed that he just answered right after his work ended. Dimitri was usually asleep but never told Khalid that. He didn’t want the other man to stop messaging at odd hours. After all, it kind of made him happy that the other man just thought of him the moment he had some free time. Like he was high on his list of priorities. 

So he was not angry when the sound of his phone woke him up, instead was already smilingly reaching for it, until he realized that it wasn’t just buzzing once with a text but that it didn’t stop to ring instead with a phone call. The caller’s ID showed him that it was indeed Khalid. The clock said it was 4.34 am. 

A bit worried, Dimitri picked up. “Yes?” his voice was strained from being roused and the confusion the sudden call caused.

“Dimitri”, Khalid’s voice sounded like he was drunk. “You picked up!”

“Yes. I did.” Dimitri said, flabbergasted.

“That’s really good. Because I wanted to hear your voice.” There was a little chuckle or even a giggle coming from Khalid. “It has been so long.”

“Indeed. It has.” Dimitri said, still too tired and awkward to help much with the conversation.

“My event just ended.” Khalid said. “It’s really amazing, you know? Staying as the last person? Seeing a room going from empty to bursting to empty and silent again. When all lights are out in this empty room after a good party, all alone. I really like that. I wish you were here.”

“But… then you wouldn’t be alone anymore.”, Dimitri said. “Wouldn’t that destroy the purpose?”

“No, silly.” Khalid laughed. “We would be alone. Just you and me in an empty room that had just held laughter and dance and celebration. And us in the aftermath. That’s the pinnacle of romance.”

“So… You want me to come over?” Dimitri asked, sitting up more in bed, rubbing his eyes. If Khalid really wanted that, he could do it, he thought. After all he had waited really long now and he was a bit desperate as well. And the following day was a day off anyway. He could be a little spontaneous once in a while.

“Hm…” Khalid said. “I’m not sure. I most likely would be asleep before you were here. The damn host insisted that I drink with all of his heavyweight drinker friends. And now I am totally wasted.” He sighed. “So… no I guess. I just wanted to listen to your voice before going to sleep.”

“Oh.” Dimitri said trying to get in what Khalid just said. Then startled. “Are you going to sleep there?”

“Yeah. I think I do. I have an appointment here later anyway. So I can just stay. And I am not sure I would make it home. Even with a cab. Don’t worry. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for me.”

“If you say so.”, Dimitri said. But he wasn’t entirely convinced. After all, it didn’t sound too comfortable. And an appointment would most likely be better taken after a good night's rest and a shower. But who was he to change Khalid’s mind and tell him how to do his job? After all, he had little expertise in that matter.

“Yepp. I do. Were you already asleep, Dimitri? Did I wake you?”

“Yes.”, he admitted. “But I am glad you called. I miss you.”

“Aaaaw. I miss you too! We totally will meet on Sunday, right?”

“Yes. Sunday.”

“Good! Then I am hanging up now. Need that sleep. See you Sunday.”

“See you sunday, Khalid. Sleep well.”

Khalid didn’t answer, he just hung up. But Dimitri wasn’t mad or even surprised. He just sighed and fell bed into bed again. His heart now thumping with anticipation. Sunday. Finally, it felt real. In only two days he would have his first date with Khalid. The first date in what felt like forever. He was not as nervous as he thought. More excited. He has had enough time to prepare for their date. All his clothes were picked. He had found a restaurant that was nice and not too far from either of their apartments, the table was booked and Dimitri had studied the menu before. Khalid had received a link to the menu as well and said it was fine. 

And after eating they could do a little walk through the empty downtown under the starry sky. He was ready for this. So yes, he was able to fall asleep easily on this day. It was all good.

It had been 5 whole weeks since he had agreed to go on a date with Dimitri, so in theory he should have had enough time to prepare. Dimitri, sweet Dimitri had even sensed how much Khalid liked to be prepared and already had chosen a restaurant and mailed him the menu.

At that time it had been a really busy day and he didn’t want Dimitri to wait too long so he just kind of agreed without having given the menu more than a quick glance. 

Now he regrets it. Now he tried to scroll back their conversation and find the link again while his hair dried and he was standing in front of his closet, having thought about what to wear when he realized he never looked at how casual the restaurant was. If there was something like a dress code. He didn’t even remember the name of the place which was totally unlike him. But asking Dimitri about it again on the morning of the day of their date? No, he couldn’t do that. The danger of Dimitri not seeing the message in time was very high, which would make it all for naught, and - much more important - he didn’t want to give the impression he was careless with their date. Nope. 

In his eyes, it was already a wonder that Dimitri had actually waited for such a long time for a simple date. Like the affection between them was so new and had just blossomed, not taking much root. And waiting for a date for that long was kind of a really hard commitment. It could have crushed everything. 

Khalid was pretty sure that if the roles were reversed he would have backed out. He wouldn’t have agreed to wait that long, instead would have said that Dimitri asked him again after that time. Maybe. Dimitri sure was something else. 

He groaned and rubbed his face, scrolling back more furiously. Why didn’t he do that yesterday? He could have totally done that between napping like an idiot and being hungover. But no, it hadn't crossed his mind.

Finally the link. Without hesitating even a second he hit it. Hard. While chewing on his one long strand of hair he watched the homepage building. Slowly. Urg. 

And there it was. The menu. But he wasn’t a picky eater so that wasn’t what he was aiming for. He wanted to see the actual website of the restaurant, maybe even pictures. But the menu had no hyperlinks that lead back. Urg.

Hitting the address of his phone he copied the link again because the stupid phone would not let him edit the link, just copy it or type in a new one. Pasting the link in another app he edited it until he got to the starting domain, copying again and hitting it in his browser. Again chewing harder on the strand of hair, that wasn’t dry yet, but he couldn’t care less right now.

Finally, his phone gave him the website of the restaurant. Oh. It looked really nice. Not like fancy but like in the nice atmosphere. Not too casual but not something with a strict dress code. Which was a relief to Khalid. He hated stiff places, but this place? It seemed like it could really be a favorite of his if the restaurant was as good as the pictures intended. 

He smiled to himself and wondered if Dimitri picked the restaurant for himself or if he had Khalid in mind. The other man often seemed so conservative that this could be a leap for him actually. Or maybe it was a restaurant his friends would make him go to. Maybe he already knew it and was feeling safe there and hoped Khalid would, too.

Spitting out the strand of hair and shutting off the display of his phone Khalid took a deep breath. It was alright. Everything would be alright. It was just dinner. A normal restaurant date he could do that. He had done it so many times. And Dimitri already was more considerate than half of the guys he dated in the past. And if worse came to worst, he just could walk out there. He knew he just had to make a text and Hilda would fake an emergency call. Damn he missed her, after he moved. Maybe he should go on a small trip and surprise her with a visit. It had been too long since he saw his best friend.

“Stop it Khalid. First this, then new plans.” He murmured to himself and hit the wardrobe again.

Now that he was standing at the train station waiting for Khalid to arrive, Dimitri did feel nervous. Watching trains going in and people exiting them, while he hoped the man he hadn’t seen for too long was nervewrecking. He was bad at scanning large groups of people, so he was not sure if he even would find him if he tried. So he just stood there, trying to stick out enough with his over average height, the shock of blond hair and the eyepatch. 

He had thought very long if he still should wear the eyepatch. After all, Sylvain always said it was clashing with most of his clothing and gave him quite a dark image. But when he had taken it off, the sight was worse to behold. That was the reason why he never went for a glass eye. The scar in his face was just not very nice to look at. 

He didn’t want to shock Khalid. So instead he had gone for the white eyepatch he had been given by Mercedes at one point. She had made it herself and it looked almost festive. Delicate and simple. He figured it was a good day to wear it.

Clutching to his bag, he still scanned the masses of people for a familiar face and frame. But it seemed like he was not on that train either. Nervousness gnawed at him, while his thoughts kept wondering if Khalid had missed the trains or if he maybe was on the wrong platform or if they had miscommunicated. Or worse if Khalid maybe had decided to not come, or something had happened to him. Should he try to text or call him?

“Hey stranger, are you searching for something?” 

Dimitri’s head turned and there, on his right side, right in his blind spot, he stood. And he looked positively breathtaking. Literally. It took a few heartbeats and a lot of willpower to suck in another breath. “No, not anymore.”, he brought out.

The smile on Khalid’s face after he said that was rushing through his veins like adrenalin and he found himself taking big steps towards the other, his hands already reaching, wanting to feel him beneath his grasp, making himself believe it was real. But then he stopped in mid motion, blushing and backpedaled as best as he could. So far, they hadn’t had much physical contact and he was not sure if Khalid would be comfortable with a Dimitri  bearhug so early on.

The surprise on the other man’s face faded after a moment and he made another step towards Dimitri who had lowered his arms helplessly. So now Khalid reached for a hand of his, intertwining their fingers. “I am glad to see you too.” He said. “Do we want to head to the restaurant?”

Dimitri, words still missing, only nodded, while his heart was trying to jump out of his chest. But he was still able to lead them the way. The feeling of the other’s hand in his was overwhelming. His hand was on the slim side but soft and warm. He didn’t want to let go ever again.

They walked in silence, nervousness and excitement bouncing between them. And for Dimitri, the effort was huge to not give in to walking in the rhythm of his racing heart with large steps. His legs were longer than Khalids and he didn’t want the other to feel rushed. 

But still, his head was so full of the feeling in his body and the feeling of having Khalid close and all his thoughts were kind of messy and useless. But still making a very loud white noise in his brain. He was so hopelessly lost, that in the end he almost didn’t manage to inform the restaurant staff that he already had booked a table in advance. 

Khalid squeezed his hand reassuringly which was helping but also very much not helping. But in the end, the waiter understood them and led them to the table Dimitri had chosen beforehand. It was a nice table in the back of the restaurant so that the tables around them would be less likely to fill in too fast. 

Sitting down he reluctantly let go of Khalid’s hand. 

Khalid did not sit down yet, instead, shed his coat and looked at Dimitri questioningly. “Should I take your coat as well?” 

“Ehm…” he looked down at his own body and realized that, yes, he was still wearing his coat and that leaving it on most likely would be inconvenient. So he nodded and clumsily stood up again, removing his bag and taking off his coat, handing it to Khalid. While he watched the other man go he buried his blushing face into his hands. 

He was so clumsy and embarrassing. Why was he feeling like he ruined things before they even really started?

His worries faded a little when he felt a soft and warm hand on his back. “Dimitri, it’s alright.”, Khalid said, his voice soft and lacking the usual mischief. “Do you need a moment to settle?”

Dimitri nodded. 

“Should I leave you here? Or do you maybe want to go to the bathroom? I could order drinks for us and you try to settle a bit, ok?”

Again Dimitri nodded and pushed himself to stand, Khalid pointed in the direction and walked a few steps with him, Dimitri was grateful but embarrassed. Nothing really happened and he was so overwhelmed. 

So he went into the restroom, the wonderful silent, and calm restroom. Neutral and totally empty. Exactly what he needed right now. He took in a deep breath and leaned against the wall. Wiping his brows free of sweat, just trying to get over the funk that had taken over. Very silently he hummed under his breath. He wasn’t too sure what melody it was but he defaulted to it in situations like this. 

It wasn’t so easy to calm down when each second going by made him more nervous about what was the appropriate time to take and if Khalid was getting impatient or worried. Worrying over already having ruined their date.

But then he tried to think about the warm hand on his back, the calm way Khalid had spoken to him, the suggestion that was very on point. Maybe, Khalid didn’t think of him any less for this. Maybe he really was just so considerate and would wait for him, until he actually felt better.

He really wanted to believe in this. So he took another deep breath between humming and rubbed his hands over the wall behind him. Smooth bathroom tiles. A very nice sensation, very calming. Slowly his heart calmed down, and his thoughts didn’t feel like they were slapping him. 

So he returned to the table, where already a bottle of water, two glasses, and a basket of bread were waiting for them. The bread was not only one kind but a variety of different sorts and they were fresh, indicated by the very pleasant smell. 

Khalid was already chewing, while he smiled at him. Swallowing down he waited for Dimitri to sit down. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes. I think I do. My apologies.”

Khalid made a dismissive sound. “None needed. Just make sure you take care of yourself. When it gets too much we can leave.”

“No!”, Dimitri said, maybe a bit too forcefully. “I… I want to stay. I will be alright.” 

“Okay.”, Khalid said. “It’s your call. Do you want to taste the bread? They make it fresh. That dark one has walnuts in it and it’s a real delight!”

“Then I shall try one.” He said and grabbed for the bread. The texture was soft, except for the pieces of walnuts. But they weren’t disruptive. Breaking it apart with his fingers he felt the faint warmth of it. The feeling on the tongue was just as pleasant. Just as Khalid said, it was a delight. So he nodded in answer to the questioning look of his date and smiled. He really was going to be alright.

The time in the restaurant really had been pleasant. They both had ordered their food, but Khalid had said he wanted to taste Dimitri’s dish as well, so he had offered and Khalid had swooped some of his food. But insisting on giving Dimitri some of his. Of the “best part” actually. Dimitri still didn’t taste a lot of the food, but he swore that the part of Khalid’s food that was given to him in such a sweet manner, was the most delicious food he had tasted up to this moment.

The same with dessert. They made half half and Dimitri was just so happy to see Khalid’s smile, seeing him having a good time that he was not paying much attention to his strength and bursted the glass of water in his hand. 

It was really embarrassing, to be taken back into the staff room where a worried waitress took out the shards of glass from his hand and aiding his bleeding hand. He was apologizing over and over, assuring her that he was alright, that it was just an accident and that he would pay back for the glass he ruined. 

When he came back to the table, Khalid was waiting there with a worried face.

Dimitri bowed to him and apologized, trying to get Khalid to understand that this was nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow it didn’t made anything better.

The table was already cleared and cleaned of dishes, glass shards and Dimitri’s blood. So Dimitri offered that they should leave. When he said he would pay, Khalid shook his head. 

“I already did. We are good to go.”

“Oh.” Dimitri blushed more. He had planned to pay for both of them, but now that was already dealt with. He didn’t feel too good about it but it was nothing to make a scene about it. He would just pay when they would see each other the next time. If Khalid wanted there to be a next time.

“Then I get the coats” he said and left for the hangers not too far away, grabbed his coat and what he really hoped was Khalid’s. He was lucky or Khalid just grabbed the unfamiliar coat without any regrets. And they left. Dimitri grabbed onto the strap of his bag with his unblemished hand and tried to find the opportunity to offer to walk around a little. He didn’t want this to end. And he hadn’t had the opportunity to give Khalid the gift he brought. Which he was still nervous about. 

But in the end it was Khalid who looked at him. “I don’t feel like going home already.”

“Me neither.” Dimitri admitted. “We could take a walk?” He offered. “Right over there by the theater is a very nice park to walk in. There are a lot of lanterns so we won’t be in the dark.”

“Sounds lovely.” Khalid said and so they started to walk, next to each other. 

Dimitri not sure what to say, but: “I am sorry about how this ended.”

“Yeah, you sure gave me a shock there. Was something the matter? Was it something I said?”

“N-no! I was just careless. It happens sometimes.” Dimitri was not looking even in the general direction of Khalid, too embarrassed. He didn’t dare to take in the other man’s reaction.

“Careless? Oh… Yeah Sylvain said something about your family having some weird strength, right?”

Dimitri nodded. “Yeah. It’s… Kind of a curse if I am honest. There are a lot of things I have to be really careful about and things I rather don’t do. I usually have it under control, but sometimes… it just happens.” 

“I get it. It takes a lot of energy, hm.”

“Yeah. And when I get distracted, sometimes I just forget.” He mumbled. 

“Oh. So I distracted you?”

Dimitri nodded.

“How?”

“Are you fishing for compliments Khalid, or are you genuinely asking?”

Khalid cackled. After all, this pretty much was answer enough. “I had an inkling but I wanted to know. But it’s fine. I feel honored. Even though I wished you hadn’t had to shed some blood for me on our first date.”

“Me as well.” Dimitri admitted. “I am sorry I ruined dessert.”

Khalid snorted. “Forget about it. You just have to give me two desserts on our next date.”

“Okay. I will. As many as you want.” Dimitri said, reaching for Khalid next to him. Letting the backs of their hands meet, even though he couldn’t feel much of it, due to the bandages around his palm.

But then Khalid slung his pinky around Dimitri’s holding hands with his damaged hand in a way he wouldn’t hurt. It made his heart jump again. This man really was too perfect.

“I have something for you!” he blurted out without really meaning to.

But Khalid stopped walking and instead looked at him, their hands still the same. “Oh?” he said. “Can I have it then?” There was the mischief back, and it made Dimitri blush. But he nodded and reclaimed his hands to reach into his bag.
From there he pulled out a small box, wrapped clumsily with a ribbon. He really wished he could have done better packaging, but nothing would have survived the ride in his back anyway. So he just hoped the dim light was doing his poor wrapping job a favor.

When he handed the box to Khalid he watched the other man's face, going from curiosity to recognition to a broad sappy smile. “You bought it.”, Khalid said and caressed the wyvern carving on the little box tenderly. “You know, I went back to look for it a few days ago and it was gone. I already had come to terms with it.” he laughed to himself. “But it had been you who snatched it from me. Thank you, Dimitri.” 

Khalid made another step so they were ever so close, grabbing Dimitri’s face with his free hand and pulling him down, letting their lips meet in a sweet soft sensation. “I really like it.” He said again and went back to inspect the box happily.

Dimitri’s head was still in shambles over the kiss. So he just hummed and was trying to find it back in him to make a single coherent thought. But he just couldn’t help but smile. Maybe he hadn’t ruined their date after all. 

There would be a next time, and they did actually work together. How could he not be happy?

Sylvain was sitting in his antique shop sorting through lists of upcoming auctions when Khalid entered his shop again. He looked tired but happy. And Sylvain already knew what that meant. 

“You look tired my friend.” He said teasingly, knowing fully well that Khalid had tried to hide that fact with make up. But after all this time Sylvain knew better. “Did Dimitri keep you up again?”

“Oh shut it.” Khalid said with just a tint of a blush on his face. “Dimitri had an early appointment, so he asked me to bring you this. He said you talked about it.” Khalid was handing Sylvain a heavy bag. 

“Yes! Thank you.”

“And when I am already here you better treat me to a good game today.”, Khalid said with a smile. “I think when you two already use me as your carrier pigeon I deserve as much.”

Sylvain said. “What, didn’t Dimitri pay you already for your services?” His smile was sly, and he knew exactly how to evade the friendly swat that followed. Over all the time these two were dating already he had learned how to evade and where the teasing ended. 

“You know exactly that it’s not like this.”, Khalid said. “And even if it were, totally not your business. So do you let me beat your ass in chess today or not?”

“Of course, you won’t. But I am open to kicking your butt in chess just right now.”

“Bring it on, loser.” 

Both of them laughed. While setting up the chessboard.