[Slowly, Byleth pulled his hands from Dimitri's. He folded them in his lap instead, his gaze inscrutable as he peered at Dimitri.
He was so different to Claude, who was as slippery as an eel and as closed off as a clam, even if he gave off the impression of easy camaraderie. Dimitri was just... what you saw was what you got. There wasn't a hint of duplicity in his earnest expression or voice - Dimitri honestly believed in people, despite humanity as a whole proving itself to be bitterly disappointing at times.
It was inspiring, in its own way. It encouraged you to trust in turn, no matter how irrational. The Dimitri of his world had been very much the same - he had to be to get the likes of Yuri swearing undying loyalty to him.]
In my timeline... I tried to kill you, Dimitri, on multiple occasions. It wasn't anything personal, of course. My only motivation was coin. Yet, despite this... when Jeralt and I surrendered to you after months of fighting, there was no animosity from you. Instead you hired us on the spot, there and then, and helped us to avoid the Church even though we were practically your prisoners. You could've press-ganged us into service - or executed us.
[Byleth sighed quietly - something rueful and almost wry.]
I never understood why you took such a leap of faith on us. I could never figure it out. Of course, I was grateful too. When Jeralt told us to surrender to you, I almost disobeyed. I assumed you would've been like the Emperor and been... coldly pragmatic in disposing of a dangerous element when it was vulnerable. But you didn't. You spared us.
[Huh. Byleth hadn't realised how heavy a weight that had been on him until he had told Dimitri. He thought it hadn't been a big deal, keeping this as a secret, but it seemed it had been eating at him a little - allowing Dimitri to claim friendship without him knowing of Byleth's... earlier hostility towards another version of him. A non-personal hostility, mind. Byleth didn't enjoy killing.]
I know I probably should've kept this to myself. It serves no real purpose to tell you now, when it's so irrelevant to everything, but... I felt compelled to tell you, after hearing you speak. It would've been disingenuous of me, to not confess what I did to the Dimitri of my world. Or, attempted to, rather.
no subject
[Slowly, Byleth pulled his hands from Dimitri's. He folded them in his lap instead, his gaze inscrutable as he peered at Dimitri.
He was so different to Claude, who was as slippery as an eel and as closed off as a clam, even if he gave off the impression of easy camaraderie. Dimitri was just... what you saw was what you got. There wasn't a hint of duplicity in his earnest expression or voice - Dimitri honestly believed in people, despite humanity as a whole proving itself to be bitterly disappointing at times.
It was inspiring, in its own way. It encouraged you to trust in turn, no matter how irrational. The Dimitri of his world had been very much the same - he had to be to get the likes of Yuri swearing undying loyalty to him.]
In my timeline... I tried to kill you, Dimitri, on multiple occasions. It wasn't anything personal, of course. My only motivation was coin. Yet, despite this... when Jeralt and I surrendered to you after months of fighting, there was no animosity from you. Instead you hired us on the spot, there and then, and helped us to avoid the Church even though we were practically your prisoners. You could've press-ganged us into service - or executed us.
[Byleth sighed quietly - something rueful and almost wry.]
I never understood why you took such a leap of faith on us. I could never figure it out. Of course, I was grateful too. When Jeralt told us to surrender to you, I almost disobeyed. I assumed you would've been like the Emperor and been... coldly pragmatic in disposing of a dangerous element when it was vulnerable. But you didn't. You spared us.
[Huh. Byleth hadn't realised how heavy a weight that had been on him until he had told Dimitri. He thought it hadn't been a big deal, keeping this as a secret, but it seemed it had been eating at him a little - allowing Dimitri to claim friendship without him knowing of Byleth's... earlier hostility towards another version of him. A non-personal hostility, mind. Byleth didn't enjoy killing.]
I know I probably should've kept this to myself. It serves no real purpose to tell you now, when it's so irrelevant to everything, but... I felt compelled to tell you, after hearing you speak. It would've been disingenuous of me, to not confess what I did to the Dimitri of my world. Or, attempted to, rather.