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It’s a cold, windy day in Ankh-Morpork, and Sybil and Vimes have chosen to stay indoors. They were planning on going on a walk and getting lunch; days off for Vimes are rare, after all. With this weather, however, they both decided they would rather stay in. Sybil occasionally glances out the window to make sure the dragons are okay, but otherwise keeps to her reading. Vimes, on the other hand, has chosen to sprawl out on a sofa and stare at the ceiling. Despite the fact that he has the day off, he can’t seem to get his mind off of his latest case. Maybe this round of overthinking he’ll come to a solid conclusion. Maybe he won’t be left fumbling around in the dark again. Maybe-
A sudden noise from outside the house interrupts Vimes from his thoughts and brings the two to attention. It takes Sybil a moment to recognize it, and Vimes even longer- a lone violin is being played outside. They both know they could ask the person to play somewhere else, but when Vimes looks at Sybil with a raised eyebrow, she simply shakes her head and goes back to her reading. Vimes goes back to thinking. He’s interrupted a few minutes later by Sybil tapping his shoulder and holding her hand out to him.
“This music is quite nice. Would you like to dance with me, Sam?” she says with a smile.
Vimes grumbles wordlessly at her; he doesn’t like dancing and they both know it. Then he looks up and sees her beaming at him, and he knows he would do anything to see her smile a little longer. So, reluctantly, he takes her hand. She lifts him gently from the sofa, and the two of them fall into a familiar routine- Sybil puts her arm on Vimes’s back, Vimes puts his arm on her shoulder, and they begin a simple waltz. The two of them find the rhythm of the music easily; they’ve done this at far too many fancy events for Vimes’s liking. Here, just him and Sybil, things are different. There’s nobody around to judge him in the quiet, sneaky way that the lords and ladies of Ankh-Morpork tend to, nobody around to bother him. Just him and his wife. His wife… He never thought he would find someone like her. Vimes had decided at some point in his life that he just wasn’t cut out for things like love. He wasn’t destined for the kind of life everyone else was. Sybil changed everything when she entered his life. Slowly, things got better. She pushed him to be better. He looks up at her again, and… he’s never been good with words, but he hopes she can feel just how much he loves her. From the look on her face, it seems she can. Vimes hears the music outside reach a crescendo, and just as he notices that he feels Sybil shift her arms higher on his back and dip him just slightly. He knows what this wordless question is asking, and he lets a grin spread across his face as he leans into Sybil's arms and lets her dip him. Vimes can hold a dip, and he has many times before, but… it’s a little hard when Sybil kisses him unexpectedly. He feels his legs buckle underneath him. The two of them collapse onto the ground, laughing the whole way down. Their valiant attempts to pull each other up are thwarted by their own uncontrollable laughter. By the time they manage it, the lone violin player has moved on. The two of them are left in a comfortable silence. Vimes’s senses come back to him, and he feels a bit embarrassed that he fell over at all. Something on his face must change, because Sybil kisses him on the cheek.
“That was fun!” she says, still laughing. “We should do it again sometime.”
Vimes nods. And with that, the moment is over. Sybil sits back down on the sofa with her book; Vimes sits next to her. He floats through the rest of the day in awe of the life he’s ended up with, and ends up heading to bed early. He has a city to protect in the morning, after all. And a very good reason to protect it.