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“You’re actually quite the character, you know that?”
Byleth raises his head from the seemingly endless pile of documentation he’s been sifting through all morning and locks eyes with playful lilac. For the briefest of moments, his eyes flicker down to glossy, pink-tainted lips curved into a teasing smile.
The question paired with the look make Byleth’s brow dip in a slight furrow to match the newly formed, small, frustrated frown on his face. His daunting stack of paperwork is the last thing on his mind.
“You look like you haven’t the faintest idea what I’m talking about. That’s just like you.” The voice leaving those glistening, smiling lips sounds fond rather than frustrated as gently shakes his head. “As you know, I’ve crossed paths with a lot of people over the years, many of which I’d gotten to know rather…intimately.”
Byleth wouldn’t consider himself a possessive or jealous man, but he can’t help the shot of displeasure that rushes through him at the thought of the countless number of unsavory people his husband has been acquainted with. As a former mercenary, Byleth knows all too well how they operate. He knows his husband’s interactions with them were undoubtedly different in nature, but this knowledge just makes things worse.
Clearly he hadn’t been able to reign in his emotions before they’d shown on his face, because nimble fingers settle carefully at his cheek, a featherlight thumb soothingly grazing back and forth against it as if to iron out the harshness of his expression.
“When I first met you,” the younger man continues almost wistfully, “I thought you were just like them. I’ve always prided myself on being able to read people, but you…you were different. It was unnerving, but I wouldn’t be a good leader if I let that cloud my judgment. It was safest to assume you wouldn’t deviate too far from what I was used to, so I acted accordingly.”
His hand drags from Byleth’s cheek down his jaw and along his neck with a weighted, comforting pressure.
“When I told you to come for our date at midnight, I mostly assumed you’d show up because that’s what anyone else in your position would do. And on the off chance that didn’t work, I figured you at least thought highly enough of your good-boy image to stand me up. Either way, it was how I guaranteed that you would show up that night.”
Byleth sits silently as his husband reveals information to him that’s not at all surprising. They’re things he’d managed to piece together on his own, though hearing them confirmed does bring him a certain level of satisfaction.
“When you insisted you come with me to handle my issue with my former goon, I was annoyed; you were an unplanned factor I hadn’t gotten the chance to calculate for, and I didn’t want you messing things up. I never imagined you’d end up being so helpful. It made me see you in a new light. You weren’t just some arrogant moron trying to peacock or someone trying to get into my good graces so I’d owe them something later; you helped people because that’s the sort of person you are. So it got me thinking: what else could I have been mistaken about when it came to you?”
His hand moves away from Byleth’s neck and settles on his own hip, one shoulder shrugging flippantly.
“It made me slightly paranoid, I suppose. Falling for you didn’t help matters. You were so different from everyone else that it made me wonder if my feelings were returned at all. Especially since…” His expression turns uncharacteristically petulant, his glossy lips forming a slight pout. “…to this day, you never have asked me out on a date.”
Byleth can only stare blankly at his disgruntled husband, internally struggling to make sense of the situation. “…We’re married…”
Fiery lilac eyes narrow in barely muted agitation as that slight pout blooms into a full-blown frown. “I’m more than aware of our martial status, thank you. That’s sort of my entire point.”
Byleth simply blinks, still feeling hopelessly lost. “You’re upset because I haven’t asked you out?”
“All this time, it’s been me taking the initiative. It’s not a problem, but it’d be nice to feel like I’m not the only one invested in us. Sometimes I feel like you were only ever invested in learning my real name.” He shakes his head with a heavy sigh before he flashes Byleth an apologetic look. “Sorry. This isn’t how I meant for this conversation to go at all.”
There’s a million things Byleth could probably follow up with saying, but only one thing seems important.
“I love you.”
The words flow easily from Byleth’s mouth as if for the thousandth time, but it’s actually the first despite their being married just over a month. It’s a realization that occurs to them instantly. The younger man’s face is a picture of shock, frozen in place with a slightly dropped jaw and tinge of red filtered in his pale cheeks. His surprise makes it that much easier for Byleth to take his left hand in his and place a chaste kiss atop the line of fingers beneath his mother’s silver wedding ring. A deeper shade of red floods the gorgeous man’s cheeks and Byleth swears his non-beating heart gives a few palpitations.
“And I would be honored if you would go on a date with me.”
There’s a bit of gaping from pink-tinted lips and then a burst of laughter—light and airy and beautiful. “Always full of surprises, aren’t you? Glad I’m with someone who can keep me on my toes.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Byleth says, and he means it. His husband knows he meant it too, because he shoots back one of those special smiles specially reserved for those he considers most dear. He leans down to press a kiss to Byleth’s lips and smiles wider at the way the ex-mercenary tries to keep it going by following each time there’s an attempt to pull away.
“We both are,” he assures with mirth in his eyes after finally succeeding, pointedly ignoring Byleth’s disappointed whimper. “But don’t think you can distract me with overeager kisses. I’ve been waiting for this far too long.”
Byleth raises himself from his seat and brings his husband into his arms, tucking his face into the other man’s silky tresses with a soft smile of his own. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”