Archive of Our Own ^beta

Drink never really affected Byleth, but it turned his father into a happy, chatty drunk. There could be worse things, he supposed, and one silver lining was how Jeralt unintentionally got info out of strangers in his inebriated state.

“Yeah, since we’re so close to Camulus, some Church rituals mixed with old Faerghus traditions to become something new. For example, this week’s festival is beseeching the goddess for fertility blessings.” The barmaid set down a plate of food in front of Byleth and refilled Jeralt’s mug while she spoke. “I think the dancers will be starting soon. They’re always fun to watch, and even if you’re not wishing for children, they put everyone in the mood to make them.”

She winked at Byleth who didn’t deign to respond, instead tucking into the brown stew with crusty bread. The barmaid hovered a little longer, entertaining Jeralt’s questions and bad jokes about said dancers, but eventually she left to help someone else.

“Your jokes are just as bad as Alois’s, you know,” Byleth told Jeralt.

“You would hurt your old man like this? Come on now, kid.” Jeralt chuckled, no offense actually taken. “If you think they’re that bad, maybe you should hang out with someone else. Like that barmaid. She’s into you.”

Byleth blinks once. “Really?” he said. He turned his head to study her further. She was easy on the eyes, he supposed, but looking at her, his mind conjured up only blonde hair, blue eyes, and a variety of smiles.

Most of the time, it was a polite smile for friends and subordinates alike. Sometimes it was strained when said friends were lecturing about food and sleep, while in battle it became bloodthirsty. Rarest of all was the real smile, forced out by bad jokes or inspired by touching words from the closest of friends.

Byleth was not a close friend. That genuine smile had yet to be directed his way, and he doubted it ever would. After all, the positions of right-hand men and closest merc friend were already taken, and with how different Byleth was, why would anyone want him otherwise?

In the back of his mind, another consciousness stirred with a lazy yawn. “Do you truly believe that?” Sothis asked. “You are the vessel for the goddess, for one thing. A position that would demand respect! But even if it weren’t for that, you are deserving of love. You will have it someday, I promise you, if I must help you myself.”

Lacking for words, Byleth stared down silently at his plate while Sothis drifted back to sleep. Suddenly, he didn’t want to be here any longer. He shoveled the last of the stew in his mouth and stood. To Jeralt, he said, “Will you be fine by yourself? I’m going to check out the dancers.”

“Huh? Yeah sure, have fun. I’ll find you later.” Jeralt waved him off with his face in his mug.

On the way out the door, the barmaid glanced Byleth’s way, trying to catch his eye. He ignored her and once outside, gladly breathed in the cold night air. There were still people milling about, but the majority streamed in one direction. Byleth followed the crowd and soon he found himself in the town square.

There were plenty of lights illuminating the temporary stage set up in the middle of the square. Byleth may not have arrived early to get a good spot near the edge of the stage, but at the outskirts of the crowd he had a fine enough view. He also didn’t need to wait much longer; a few minutes after he arrived, a group of dancers emerged from the crowd and filed onstage.

From the chatter of the crowd, he could surmise most of the dancers weren’t professionals but just fellow villagers that came together for these sort of rituals. The rest were a mix of church members, traveling dancers, and random visitors that could dance.

Even with a large number of fellow Faerghus forces in town, Byleth didn’t expect to recognize any of the dancers on stage. One face stuck out, however, to the extent that his lips parted in shock.

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd stood in the line of dancers, dressed in the white and blue silks he occasionally wore in battle when he or Shez saw the need for support. The only difference in his appearance was the dark blue, pink, green, and white ribbons wrapped around his limbs that every dancer there wore. By his nervous expression and hunched shoulders, he might have been questioning his decisions, but when the first singer opened her mouth, his face cleared and he raised his arms in time with all the other dancers.

The song began slow and majestic; the dancer’s movements matched the pace with wide, sweeping arms and circling each other just fast enough that their dangling ribbons flared out behind them. Gradually, more singers and other musicians joined in and the music sped up, while the dancers’ routine became more complex. And, like the barmaid implied would happen, more salacious. To Dimitri’s credit, he didn’t hesitate to wiggle his hips and run his hands down his body in time with the music, the chimes of the metallic coins along his skirt another instrument to the song.

…It was strange. He never saw this dance before, yet the longer he watched, the more familiar it became until he was able to judge Dimitri’s performance on precision and rhythm. Staring intently as he was, he spotted the few moments where he faltered. To be fair, he must not have had as much time to practice as the other dancers.

Despite his mistakes, Byleth thought he was the best of them. But he was biased, of course. The dancing, which seemed lewd for a church ceremony but definitely fitting for a fertility ritual, certainly awakened something in Byleth: a deep hunger born from his pining, stronger than anything he had felt before. His fingers itched to grab those flowing ribbons and pull him in close, or to hold Dimitri by the hips and grind against him. He clenched his hands into fists and froze as still as a statue lest he do something unwise.

Something else awoke within him. Or rather, someone.

“What is this…? Oh my,” Sothis murmured. “I never thought that king of yours could move like that.” In Byleth’s mind, she leaned forward in her seat. “If you do not work up the courage to claim him, I might.”

“He’s mine,” Byleth snapped back, startling both of them.

Sothis chuckled, propping her head on her hand. “You may think that, but what’s yours is mine. And mine is yours, I suppose.”

Byleth didn’t answer that, deigning to focus on Dimitri’s lithe figure for the rest of the dance as a growing flame of lust built in his gut.

The show finished with the dancers falling to their knees, their arms raised in supplication. In that moment, Byleth indulged in the idea of that supplication, mainly Dimitri’s, being offered to him. Then he shook his head and clapped with the rest of the crowd.

The audience dispersed slowly. Some people went up to the stage with offerings for the dancers. A few kissed them directly, obviously lovers. Byleth had no gifts and he doubted that Dimitri would want a kiss, but it didn’t matter when Dimitri turned to slip away the moment the dance was over. He didn’t escape Byleth’s notice, however, and he pushed his way through the crowd to follow him.

He was quick enough that he caught up with Dimitri at the edge of town, passing through an alleyway. It was a moonless night so the only illumination was the stars and torchlight, and there was hardly anyone around with the festivities happening back in the center of town. It was the perfect opportunity to call out, “Dimitri.”

Dimitri whirled around with a wide-eyed look that only abated slightly upon spotting him. “Byleth? Where did you come from?”

“The dance,” he said. He stepped closer until Dimitri was within arm’s length. “You did well.”

A blush rose on Dimitri’s cheeks. Cute. Also impressive that he made it through the dirty dancing with a straight face, yet a compliment was all it took to break it.

“That is kind of you to say, but I would ask you to keep this a secret between us. I am not supposed to be out here.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you showed up as a dancer, rather than some random knight.”

Dimitri fiddled with the ribbons still tied around his wrists, his gaze downcast. “If I were here as king, I would have been given a seat of honor for the dance, but that’s not what I want. I wanted to be among my people as one of them, so I can experience what their lives are like and later better their lives. Participating in traditions is one way to do so. Since I had trained as a dancer, this was the perfect opportunity. I was fortunate they welcomed me with open arms.”

His voice softened. “And I had only danced on the battlefield, so I thought… this would be fun.”

Byleth nodded. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you.” Dimitri exhaled and dropped his hands to his sides. “I feel it would be best if I left early, but please, stay and enjoy the festivities if you’d like. They put a lot of effort into it all.”

He turned to leave once again. Byleth opened his mouth to stop him, to convince him to stay with Byleth and enjoy the festival together. Perhaps even to confess his feelings right then and there.

Yet the words died in his throat. He didn’t know what happened to the Ashen Demon who wouldn’t be afraid to express what little feelings he had, but he did have emotions now and the primary one at the moment was fear. Might Dimitri think he was blackmailing him to spend time with Byleth? He wouldn’t want his tentative relationship with him thus far to grow strained by a social misstep. Plus, the thought of rejection was more frightening than a battle to the death.

He resigned himself to watching Dimitri walk away, only for words to come out after all. “Wait right there! It would be a waste of your outfit for you to leave so soon.”

But it wasn’t Byleth’s voice saying it, nor was it Byleth who said it at all. Dimitri turned back around, visibly confused. “But I already danced…?”

He trailed off as he stared at Byleth with narrowed eyes. “Who are you?” he said.

Byleth supposed the green glow surrounding his form gave away that he wasn’t entirely himself anymore. His body raised his hand in what would be a hair toss if he had longer hair before propping both hands on his hips.

“I am the Beginning. But you would know me as Sothis, the goddess you dedicated your dance to. Remember that before you threaten me.”

Dimitri, who was reaching for what looked to be a dagger hidden by his sash, hesitated. “Sothis? That is impossible… Yet, that would explain Byleth’s strange abilities. Ah, that is not to disparage your fighting skills, Byleth. You are an exceptional mercenary and we are fortunate to have you on our side.” He paused. “...Can Byleth hear me?”

“He is aware, yes,” Sothis said. “He still hears and sees all.” She approached Dimitri, backing him up against the wall of a building, and dared to trail Byleth’s hand up Dimitri’s arm. Byleth noticed his shiver under his hand. “He will feel this as well.”

Then she took Dimitri by the chin and pressed Byleth’s lips to his.

Byleth’s mind went blank at the unexpected feel of Dimitri’s soft lips, and when they opened in a moan, the taste of his mouth. At first, it was Sothis driving the kiss, but then Dimitri leaned into it and kissed back, and suddenly Byleth was the one in control. His inexperience shone through with how their teeth clicked together but Dimitri was equally clumsy in shoving his tongue what felt like halfway down Byleth’s throat.

Byleth drew back with a cough, and with that, Sothis was back in control. She cupped Dimitri’s cheek, giving them both a clear view of his flushed face, dilated pupils, and his open, panting mouth. It was hard to say whether this was a more beautiful sight than his dancing or not.

Except, Dimitri asked in a tone of confusion and fear, “What- what did you do to me?”

Sothis pressed her torso against Dimitri. His taller body was a thick line of heat through his thin silks, all the way down to his obvious erection that pressed against her thigh when she shoved his legs open. “The dance you did is known today as a ritual of fertility but originally, it was a plea for children from the goddess herself. You have asked for my blessing even if you didn’t intend to do so, and I have decided to grant it. And with my child’s blood in your veins, you cannot resist me.”

But Byleth could.

Sothis leaned in to steal another kiss from Dimitri only to jerk against invisible restraints. Byleth’s lips twisted into a scowl. “You, on the other hand. Why do you protest, Byleth? Weren’t you yearning for this not long ago?”

“Not like this,” Byleth said, snatching his voice back. “Not if he doesn’t want me.”

Sothis brightened inexplicably. “Ah, that is the issue?” She shoved her thigh harder against Dimitri’s cock, making him wheeze and buck his hips. “I would think this would be proof enough, but if you need more...”

Suddenly, she took a step back from Dimitri, leaving him flustered yet untouched. The front of Byleth’s body was cold without him.

He watched Dimitri sprawled against the wall with some regret that increased tenfold at the wounded, desperate noise he made. “No, Byleth, wait,” Dimitri gasped.

Byleth’s breath caught in his chest before Sothis forced it through. “Do you want us? Say it,” she demanded.

Dimitri reached his right hand out to them. “Yes,” he said hoarsely. “Yes, I want you. I thought I could never act on it as king and your commanding officer- I would not want you to feel forced. But now… now I need you. Lady Sothis, Byleth, please take me.”

An unfamiliar smug grin spread across his face, but Byleth ignored it to grab Dimitri’s face with both hands and pull him into a hungry kiss.

Again, they kissed with wild abandon. Byleth nipped at Dimitri’s bottom lip with sharp canines, while Dimitri pawed at his clothes. The seams go alarmingly taunt; Byleth grabbed his wrists and redirected his hands to his crotch, the only place he needed to concern himself with.

In comparison, Dimitri was much more scantily clad. Byleth stripped off his gloves to feel him properly and pushed up Dimitri’s skirts- the lay of them ruined anyway by his large bulge- while biting at the skin above and below the white collar. Some part of him purred at the thought of marks he couldn’t hide, at least in this outfit.

Dimitri cried out when Byleth finally shoved his shorts down and wrapped his fingers around his large, straining cock. He pumped it hard, greedily memorizing the sight of Dimitri thrusting helplessly into his hand.

Despite the way he whined and fumbled at Byleth’s pants, more groping his erection than undoing the ties, Dimitri was holding out longer than he expected. It wasn’t until Dimitri’s face grew increasingly red and his noises desperate that Sothis tsked in Byleth’s mind.

“That’s not what he needs right now,” she said, and took control again to whip out Byleth’s cock. Except, it had changed. Now bigger than even Dimitri’s, it had an irregular shape, with a bulbous base and a more pointed tip. The slit has widened as well until it was almost gaping and it was already leaking a copious amount of precum.

Sothis hiked one of Dimitri’s legs over her hip and casually stuck three fingers in Dimitri’s mouth. After several seconds of Dimitri frantically lapping at them, she pulled them out and reached below him. Dimitri made a lovely choked noise, but Byleth was more focused on how hot and tight his ass was as Sothis slipped their fingers inside.

“My, how eager you are,” Sothis said. She played Dimitri like a fiddle, making him jerk and gasp aloud while scissoring him open. Byleth was content to allow her control of the one hand as long as his other hand was free to stroke his unfamiliar cock, smearing the slippery precum along his shaft. “Although, one might expect that the king of a holy kingdom would be so receptive to his goddess. Perhaps I would have kept you as a pet myself if Byleth had not desired you, but as it is, I am happy that he has found such a pliable mate.”

Dimitri replied with only incoherent noises, too out of it to form actual words, but he slung one arm over Byleth’s shoulders and kissed him sloppily. Byleth let him suck on his tongue, yet that unexpectedly felt different too. He pulled back momentarily, and his tongue took an extra second to slide free from Dimitri’s mouth due to how much longer it was, and when it finally emerged it was with a forked tip. Byleth mentally shrugged and experimented instead with flickering his tongue over Dimitri’s throat and racing pulse. He could taste the salt on his skin and what could even be lust coming off him in waves.

Finally Sothis deemed Dimitri ready and lazily dragged the head of Byleth’s cock along Dimitri’s length and down his balls and taint. She caught the pointed tip on the loose rim of his hole before tugging it free, a tease for both Byleth and Dimitri. “Beg,” she commanded.

“Please, Lady Sothis,” Dimitri begged. “Give me your children, please. I feel so empty.”

Sothis let out a pleased hum and snapped her hips up hard, driving their cock into Dimitri’s waiting hole.

Dimitri’s head thudded back against the wall with a deep groan while Byleth panted from how excruciatingly hot and tight Dimitri was around his cock. Sothis gave them not even a second’s worth of respite, immediately fucking him as hard and fast as she could. She bullied her way deep inside Dimitri, burying their cock to the wide hilt each time, and Dimitri writhed under the assault. He cried out loud enough to drown out the jingle of the coins on his outfit. “Goddess please! It’s too much!”

“You can take it,” Sothis scoffed. “This is already so much smaller than what I had in my proper form! Hm, perhaps next time if Byleth can manifest it…”

Byleth didn’t understand how Sothis could be so composed fucking this perfect man when Byleth had felt like seconds from coming for the past few minutes. His peak never arrived, however, and instead there was this strange, swollen ache in his abdomen that hadn’t been there before.

As the ache shifted towards his cock, Sothis shoved herself inside Dimitri and stayed there, pinning Dimitri against the wall with their whole body. Byleth tried to take the opportunity to kiss him, only to be halted inches from Dimitri’s face. There were growths on his temples now, what looked to be grey curved horns. Before he could feel them out himself, Dimitri grabbed one as a handhold and pulled Byleth into a desperate kiss that nevertheless muffled his cries.

That was fortunate moments later, when something started to travel through Byleth’s cock. Dimitri yelled into his mouth and instinctively flailed, but Sothis grabbed his thighs and pulled up, seating Dimitri deeper on their cock and forcing him to wrap his arms around Byleth’s shoulders for balance.

The thing- an orb?- reached the head of his cock, and it was a blinding moment of pleasure when it squeezed out the tip to lodge itself deep inside Dimitri, making space even if there seemingly was none. Dimitri whined, his eyes nearly rolling up inside his skull as his head lolled back again, and his red cock finally jerked and spurted cum between their bodies. “So full,” he moaned brokenly.

“This is just the beginning,” Sothis said gently, for her at least. “Now, how many eggs should I give you? Byleth has five ready, but three is a good start for now…”

Before Byleth could fully comprehend what she was saying, another egg started to emerge. All he and Dimitri could do was cling to each other, breathing each other’s pants and gasps, as Sothis laid two more eggs inside Dimitri, each a tighter fit than the last. It helped that Dimitri came again with each egg, since his hole clenched tight like he was milking the eggs out.

When Sothis was finished, there was a gentle swell to Dimitri’s abdomen that was not there before. It was extra appealing combined with the dancer’s outfit, and inspired in Byleth a strong urge to keep him from returning to their encampment and instead spirit him away somewhere safe.

Sothis didn’t pull out, but instead pressed a kiss to Dimitri’s sweaty forehead. “You did very well,” she said. “My part of the ritual is finished. Raise your children well and maybe Byleth will give you more in the future.” In Byleth’s mind, she yawned and leaned back on her throne. “I leave the rest up to you.”

As Sothis fell asleep, Byleth could feel the ache in his gut fading away as his cock shrunk inside Dimitri, but not in the flaccid sense. He was still hard, and driven by some lingering instinct, he held Dimitri tight and resumed fucking Dimitri’s hole. It was stretched out and loose, with Dimitri unable to clench down on him fully, yet it was heavenly around his cock. Dimitri weakly whimpered in his ear when Byleth came, with a normal, human climax where he spilled cum inside him. Some escaped Dimitri’s hole as he finally pulled out and let him stand on his own, but the trickle down his thigh only added to the picture of the impregnated and debauched king-cum-dancer.

If Byleth held his head at a certain angle, he could press their foreheads together without scraping Dimitri. He did so and watched Dimitri intently as he closed his blue eyes in clear exhaustion.

“Will I need to carry you back to camp?” he asked.

Dimitri chuckled quietly and opened his eyes again. “That will not be necessary, but I would appreciate an escort. At least as a shoulder to lean on until I catch my balance.” In demonstration, he cupped his belly in a maternal gesture. Byleth’s tired cock twitched in interest.

Byleth quickly tucked it away and nodded. From the motion, it felt like his horns were shrinking away as well. Hopefully by the time they returned to camp, he would appear relatively human again.

Dimitri took some time to straighten his clothes, though there was only so much he could do with the many marks Byleth had selfishly left on him. He felt some guilt at that, which resulted in him offering to redo Dimitri’s ponytail.

“I would appreciate it,” he said with some surprise, and offered the back of his head to him. Now that they were both upright, it was strange to be reminded that Dimitri was taller than him after so long with him folded in half. He pushed the thought away and loosened the blue ribbon, finger combed his golden hair, and retied it without another word.

“How do I look?” Dimitri asked once he turned back around.

There were dubious stains from both of their cum on the inside of his skirt, his colored ribbons were wrinkled, and there was no hiding what Sothis had done to him. Regardless, Byleth could only think, Beautiful. Aloud, he said, “Best as you can manage. How about me?”

Dimitri scanned him up and down. “Your horns are shrinking and your tongue is back to normal. Although, your pupils are still slitted. I wonder if that will stay.”

“Maybe,” Byleth said uncertainly. There was a beat of awkward silence before he continued, “I’m sorry. For what Sothis did to you, and what I did too.”

Dimitri frowned. “Please don’t apologize. This is my fault too for sneaking out to unwittingly participate in an ancient ritual. I will never hear the end of it back at camp.” The frown was replaced with a slight quirk of his lips. “I do not wish to hear that you regret this, either. To be specific, regret making love to me.”

Ah, this must be what a blush feels like. Nevertheless, Byleth maintained eye contact. “I would never regret that. What Sothis said was true. I’ve always wanted you.”

Now Dimitri’s cheeks reddened as well. “Is that so? I am glad, especially since that much is the same for me. I was truthful when I said I wanted you too.”

Byleth dared to reach out and run the back of his knuckles down the curve of Dimitri’s stomach. “Then we can see where this goes?”

Dimitri’s inhale pushed it into his touch, before Dimitri took his hand in his. “I would like that very much. After all, I do not wish to raise my children alone.”

At Byleth’s nod, the quirk of Dimitri’s lips broadened into a real smile. A genuine smile.

Despite the unusual way of going about it, Sothis had delivered on her promise of love after all.