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That should've been expected, Dimitri knew that much. He tried his darn hardest to convince his professor that he was not cut out for a dance competition of all things. Oh he tried, but his efforts only led him to represent the Blue Lions house in the White Heron Cup. From the looks of it, the other two houses had students that could pull off the graceful dance that charms all in a heartbeat. Dorothea was a no-brainer pick for the Black Eagles house, going off from her background. No doubt she was delighted to use her talents for this competition.
But then there was the Golden Deer house leader himself, Claude, also in the contest. That in itself was unexpected to the prince, somewhat guessing that Lorenz would've been up to represent their house in a dance competition, no less. It seemed that in any occasion, Claude was so relaxed and casual in his demeanor and body language. Something about that always pulled Dimitri's attention, mystifying him on how someone bound to be the next Duke of the Leicester Alliance can be so carefree and yet so unpredictable.
On top of those qualities, he effortlessly performed his dance with a gravitating charm. Enough charm to momentarily make Dimitri forget that he was participating in this dance contest as well. As if it wasn't difficult for Dimitri to even be here, he felt rather sheepish to keep himself from flushing red. What a blessing that Claude's dance caught the eyes of everyone in the reception hall, or Dimitri would've been embarrassed over his light blush.
And the White Heron Cup wraps up with a close win for the Golden Deer house over the Black Eagle house. Of course, he was never too keen on dancing, despite prior experience. At the very least, he wasn't leaving empty-handed, his eyes drawn towards his gold deer.
"Wow, I never thought I'd win a dance competition. I've clearly uncovered a hidden talent!" Claude mused at the results, sounding like he had the same sentiments as Dimitri. If he was interpreting this right, both of them had low expectations on securing the top spot. Lost in thought of that, their eyes made contact with each other, unclear if this was coincidental or on purpose.
Either way, a brief wink from Claude was sent right at Dimitri. Such a constant habit of his, especially after they started dating, but the prince never bored of it.
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Tired senseless from an extensive spar with Felix, Dimitri wanted nothing more but to turn in for the day at his dorm room. A spar right after that dance competition may not have been the wisest decision of his, but he couldn't tell Felix "no" when it came to sparring. So here he was, exhausted and wanting to rest. All he had to do now was to open his room's door, and-
"There you are, Your Princeliness. I was wondering what was holding you up."
"... Claude, do explain why you've been in my room in the first place, along with that outfit of yours... It's rather... ahem, provocative."
"Oh? ... Ah, that's right, it's related to the White Heron Cup. Basically, my ever graceful performance gave me the certification pass for the Dancer class."
This posed many questions that Dimitri couldn't process alone without losing control of his decency. Firstly, what in the blazes was Claude thinking that hiding out in his boyfriend's room this late into the evening was a splendid idea? Especially in an outfit like that! Lest anyone else's eyes would catch onto this from walking by this room, Dimitri quickly ushered himself into his room and shut the door.
"I'll repeat myself, why have you been in my room waiting for me?" Dimitri demanded for the answer he was asking for, and that mischievous smile took place on the golden schemer's face.
"Isn't it obvious, Dimi? I saw you eyeing me while I danced, so I thought that I give you a personal encore. I can tell you were practically captivated by yours truly. Admit it, you wanted more of me and me alone back there."
"A.. About that..." Oh there was no way he could walk out of this one. As Claude was mysteriously unpredictable, he knew how to tease extremely well, and the results were showing by how embarrassed the prince sounded. Well, Dimitri saw no reason to finish that statement, the answer was pretty obvious to fill in. Surely Claude knew exactly what he was thinking.
"I ought to say, though. You caught my eye too, back when your dance was out on display for the competition." After the teasing, a genuine compliment was sent Dimitri's way. At first, he didn't think too highly of his own dance, but now, Dimitri was reconsidering his opinion. Just what caught Claude's attention? In all honesty, it was merely a formal waltz for the respectively formal occasions. Unless...
"Is that it, Claude? In that case, allow me this." For once, the golden dancer blinked in confusion, only catching onto what he meant by that once Dimitri took his hand into his grasp.
"Oh geez, not exactly what I had in mind, putting this on and all. But this works."
"Really now? I figured that you wanted to share that dance with me... if I happened to truly catch your attention back then." Slow on the uptake, Dimitri tilted his head on what other ideas Claude could've meant by this "personal encore" being something else. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't get any further clarification.
"Alright alright, sharing a dance with you is a pretty nice reward for winning your heart over." Claude admitted, wrapping his arm around Dimitri's back while holding hands with the other arm.
"You speak as if a dance is all you will get to share with me." Stating his response to that, Dimitri leaned over and snuck a quick peck of a kiss on Claude's cheek. From doing something as simple as a brief kiss, the reaction of pure surprise coming from Claude was adorable to see, especially when the schemer was always self-confident and rarely flustered like this.
"Color me surprised... taking a page out of my book and taking my breath away like that. That and beating me to sneaking a kiss in first." Claude welcomed that pleasant surprise, since it was usually him that initiated the intimate actions between himself and Dimitri. Guess he was really rubbing off on the prince from their time together.
"That aside, been thinking that us dancing in private like this is a golden opportunity to get the hang of ballroom dancing, never got the hang of it personally. The ball is less than a few weeks away, so..."
"Then let us get started, unless you wish to spend the whole night dancing at my side." Dimitri felt rather honored that Claude wanted to practice with him, even if he merely put the experience of learning ballroom dancing years ago to use. Even if he was dead tired minutes ago, that exhaustion washed away by the presence of quality time with his love.
"The whole night, under your capable coaching? I can't say no to that. Not at all." Claude retained his usual laidback tone of voice, sending another one of those sly winks.
"Ah, be sure to follow my lead, my dear dancer." Then until they could not any more for the night, they danced hand in hand, step by step, and proceeding to pass out on the same bed together.