museboxofmuses | Dimitri + Byleth Catchall

[In retrospect, Byleth should have anticipated this scenario.

While Jeralt had given Faerghus a bit of a wide berth during their mercenary days, the months after the conclusion of the war had required Byleth to become quickly familiar with its harsh climate. With Dimitri now the ruler of a united Fodlan, and Byleth abruptly finding himself holding the title of archbishop (to date, he was baffled by the series of events that had resulted in him leading a religion which he hadn't even read the scriptures for), there was a lot of political back and forth that required Byleth to travel frequently between Garreg Mach to Fhirdiad.

It was paramount, Seteth had told him severely, that the transfer of power between him and Rhea was shown to be consensual and amicable, and that their ties to the Kingdom of Faerghus were ironclad. Byleth hadn't complained. It meant he could escape Garreg Mach and spend time with his students - Dimitri, especially.

They had a tradition now, carved out from those chaotic months after the war, where they barely had time to breathe between nobles clamouring for attention about whose land belonged to who and untangling the subtle differences between the laws that governed the newly obtained territories. Byleth and Dimitri would slip free of their minders and escape into the nearby forest that ringed Fhirdiad, and would speak of things unrelated to the Church, or Faerghan politics, or anything like that as they walked along the hunting trails until it was time to return. It was the only moment of true peace Byleth could snatch for himself, and he felt it was the same for Dimitri.

Luck had ensured every walk had good weather, for Faerghus that is. Crisp snow and fresh air, Byleth had never seen worse than grey skies and a light snow. This time however...

The skies had been dark and the wind had a bite to it when they had slipped out of the city, but otherwise nothing had seemed amiss. But once they were deep in the forest, the wind had picked up, and the light flurry of snow had thickened until, well...they found themselves suddenly in the middle of a blizzard. Fortunately, they had managed to find cover quickly, unfortunately that cover was just a shallow cave deep enough for them both to just barely shield themselves from the frozen wind and snow. Byleth, as well, wasn't dressed for the occasion.

It was, in short, a massive miscalculation on his part. Dimitri had told him many times how unpredictable blizzards could be in this region, yet Byleth had been so eager just to spend time with him... well. It is what it is.]

It seems we may be here for a while.

[Byleth's tone is mild despite the situation they were in; unbothered, even though he was shivering already from the sharp temperature drop the blizzard had brought with it.]

Body Heat