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Diarmuid has always been thankful for the relationship that he has with you. You were, perhaps, one of the few that was not affected by his curse. It was a blessing, but also a curse towards himself. It made it harder for him to confess his feelings for you, and quite frankly it made it harder in general for him to actually do anything or say anything substantial to you without getting flustered.
He sighed as he walked around the halls of Chaldea aimlessly. Despite being one of your early Servants who have been around since the beginning of your journey to prevent the end of humanity, he still felt like he couldn’t cross that line between you and him.
Anyone would think that someone of his reputation would be more than capable of confessing to the person he cherishes the most, and yet… here he was struggling with his Master and the love of his life. Diarmuid leaned against the wall, waiting for you to be done with your preparations. You had said it wouldn’t take long, that all you had to do was gather up the reports you needed to file and that the two of you will be on your way to the command room. But for some reason or another, you’ve been running late.
It’s been over 5 minutes now… Diarmuid approached the door, and gently knocked on it. “Master?”
“Just- Just give me a moment!”
He takes a step back as he hears you approach the door. You quickly push the door open and nearly fall out of the doorway with all the report files in your arms. They were clearly rushed and quickly put together. Although Diarmuid swears that you finished them beforehand, he’s almost certain that you didn’t organize any of them in alphabetical order like you said you would. Although he took a step back, he quickly took two steps forward to ensure that both you and your important documents didn’t fall onto the floor.
“Ah, thanks Dia!”
Dia. He really hoped the warmth on his cheeks wasn’t from a blush, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was. He willed himself to calm down and smiled, “Of course, Master.”
“Now then, I hope I didn’t keep anyone waiting too long. Let’s go turn these files in before Da Vinci claims I was slacking off since it’s almost Christmas.”
“Well, I highly doubt Miss Da Vinci could blame you for taking your time. Especially considering how hard you worked on finishing them even when you weren’t in charge of doing that kind of work.”
A sigh escapes from your lips and you mumbled, “I know.” You slightly clear your throat and continued, “But I want to lighten their load just a little bit, you know?”
Diarmuid sighed and fondly shook his head, “As long as you don’t overwork yourself, Master. Speaking of…” he glanced down at the large pile of files in your hands. Some of them threatened to fall out any moment and he reached over, taking some of the stray ones and some of the ones at the top of your load off your hand. “I’ll help you carry these to the Command Room, lest any incident may occur before our arrival.”
“Your help is appreciated!” you chuckled. You glanced around the hallways as the two of you slowly, but surely, make your way to the Command Room. “I see we’re starting to decorate the halls.”
“Indeed, it seems as though the holiday cheer is finally arriving in our area. The younger Servants are quite overjoyed by it.”
“I hope they don’t do anything mischievous again,” you sighed, “Last year they stuffed so many weird decorations into my room, I couldn’t even open the door properly. It was a struggle to even get in and out of my room.”
Diarmuid nearly burst out in laughter at the situation of last year. He remembered it clearly, it was the year in which you were still going to celebrate Christmas shortly before preventing the Incarceration of Humanity. Everyone was ecstatic, even the Chaldea staff members seemed more joyous than usual. It was probably that excitement that influenced the chaos known as Christmas decorations.
“It was entertaining though, wasn’t it?”
“That’s true,” you shrugged. There was a proud smile on your lips and you admitted, “Honestly, I’m just happy everyone was in such high spirits despite all that had occurred. We were on the last stretch, and of course, many of us thought we shouldn’t be celebrating due to the tension in the air. But… I’m glad we did. The memories we made then are precious to me.”
Diarmuid nodded silently, and almost didn’t notice that you were staring at him. He happened to glance over, almost out of habit. His gaze always, somehow, returned to you. He couldn’t deny it that his entire perspective of life revolved around you - much like how the moon circles the Earth.
“Dia?”
Your voice was like music to his ears, but right now, as much as he is like a sailor lured in by a siren, he’s embarrassed that you’ve caught him staring yet again.
“My apologies, Master, I was distracted.”
“By what? Christmas decorations? I don’t blame you, they bring so much life to Chaldea’s halls. Plus,” you paused with a bright smile on your face, “It’s so aesthetically pleasing!”
“They are beautiful,” Diarmuid agreed and glanced around. The hallways certainly were more festive than he could last remember seeing them earlier this week. It was as though as soon as November ended, Christmas came rolling out in full force. The festive decorations took over nearly every nook and cranny of Chaldea, and it seemed to get even more and more decorative the closer it got to the Command Room.
Your eyes lit up with excitement and you barged into the Command Room. “I have arrived!”
“And you’re not late,” Da Vinci teased. She gave Diarmuid a small nod and her smile slowly turned into a smirk, “Oh, well look at what we have here.”
“Hmm?”
Your answer was noncommittal as you placed the documents on her desk. Diarmuid followed suit, but Da Vinci’s glances towards a certain direction caught his attention and immediately he was on the defensive. His arm reaches out to shield you from anything and softly mumbled, “I believe Da Vinci set up a trap.”
“A trap?” Your voice was filled with confusion and then laughter, “Oh come on, what could she possibly have-” You cut off though when you followed Da Vinci’s glance and found a certain red berried plant neatly tied to the light. “Gods, Da Vinci did you put a mistletoe up there?”
“I sure did. Thank you so much, [Name] for assuring me that many people will fall for it this time.”
“Da Vinci!”
“Well, what are you going to do? It’s tradition after all, [Name].”
You glanced over to Diarmuid. It seemed as though your beloved Lancer was dumbstruck with the situation. If one could freeze over in an instant, Diarmuid is currently solid ice. His brain was in overdrive mode as he tried to make heads and tails of what was going on around him. Was he really standing under the mistletoe with his Master? How could he have completely neglected that one Christmas decoration? What if his Master doesn’t want him? What if they find the thought of it revolting?
“Master, I-”
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, Dia,” you cut him off. There was a sheepish smile on your face and you softly continued, “I know it might be awkward for you to kiss your Master after all.”
“No!”
His outburst shocked everyone in the room and he shook his head, “Ah wait, that’s not- I-” His words came out stuttered and his face felt like it was on fire. This was beyond embarrassing, and quite frankly, he had not thought that his confession to you would occur like this, let alone happen at all.
“I… I would be more than honored to, Master. After all… I am… quite fond of you, and would want nothing more than to stay by your side forever.”
Da Vinci held herself back from whistling, and you felt your face burn at his confession. You immediately grabbed his hand and yelled, “Not here!”
“Master?!”
“I am not kissing you in front of Da Vinci of all people!”
“Hey! Come back here, [Name], we still have business to do!”
But you didn’t listen to a word that Da Vinci said. After all, all you cared about was the fact that your feelings were returned - and that maybe you were going to get a kiss today from your favorite Lancer.