Reluctance Begets Rewards [Dimitri X Reader] [werewolf!Dimitri]

Reluctance Begets Rewards

The road to this place had been long and arduous, full of questioning affection and scars both physical and mental. It had truly been culmination of your career as a witch but by the time you thought to consider that, taming a werewolf had become so much more than a stamp on your record.

“Mmh…” Dimitri sighed, nuzzling his head ever more into your hand as your fingers rubbed at his ears.

“You are so cute… if only the rest of the kingdom could see you like this…~” you giggled softly to yourself.

The whisper of a chuckle, deep and full of mirth, caught you off guard. “That is only reserved for you, my beloved…”

“Oh, good morning your highness. I didn’t know you were awake. I might have been persuaded to say something a bit more incriminating had I known you were” you teased, moving a lock of hair out of his face as he rolled his head to face you.

His smile, still dazed and full of love, was absolutely dazzling. “Is that so? Perhaps I should have announced myself earlier then”

“I’d have to agree” you smiled back, unable to keep yourself from admiring the way his visible eye glistened in the glow of morning. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mm, better than I have in quite some time”

“Gee, I wonder if that’s because you have a certain someone around to calm those nightmares?”

He laughed, a sweet song to your ears. “That could very well be”

“Then I guess you’ll have to visit me more often, hm?”

There came a dent in his lips at those words, eyes molding with regret. “My love… you know I would if it were possible”

You smiled, eyes conveying the truth that you knew all too well, even if your heart desired something different. “I know, I know. I’m only teasing. I know how much your kingdom needs you right now. There’s much that needs to be done in the way of reforming an alliance with the elves. Given Edlegard’s state after her defeat, I can only imagine how tough that must be”

“Yes, it has been quite the challenge: he sighed. “Thankfully, Claude and the rest of the fae folk have been more than keen to rebuild what has been lost of the unity in Fodlan”

“Mm, Claude truly was a blessing in all of this. I think I might have lost my own mind without his camaraderie”

Though your tone was light, your words genuinely only meant to be an appraisal of the newly appointed Fae King, Dimitri knew exactly why you had relied so heavily on Claude during this war - and a large part of it was his fault. That was a regret that he’d never learn to live with.

“I’m… sorry, my love. I know I should have been there for you-mmph!”

Dimitri’s sullen words are quieted as you put a hand over his mouth, his eye widening as he looked up at you.

“Hush yourself, Dimitri” you chuckled. “I’m not having any of that. Though you were out of line to act the way you did, I understand. You’d lost everything all at once. Being under that kind of emotional strain is impossible for anyone, let alone a werewolf. The ability to control that anguish is doubly as hard when you have that blood in your veins”

Dimitri sighed once more, struggling to keep his self deprecating words behind his tongue. With all he had done, it was far too easy to speak ill of himself, to tear himself down until he was absolutely nothing but a shell.

But you wouldn’t let him. You wouldn’t let him speak of himself that way, wouldn’t let him fall victim to his trauma.

“Dimitri” you looked deep into his eyes, mustering all the love that you could, love that was unending. “You’ve made mistakes sure but you have worked so hard to rectify them. There are people in this world who would never own up to what they’ve done the way you have. You’re working on yourself and as long as you continue to do so, that’s all anyone can ask of you”

You took his face in your hands, lovingly stroking his cheeks with thumbs.

“You’re good, Dimitri. I know it’s hard to see it sometimes but you are. You are a good man, a kind friend, and the love of my life. You have a good heart. You just need to work on protecting it”

You couldn’t count how many times you’d had this conversation with him but you’d remind him again and again that though he’d made mistakes, he’d owned up to them. He truly became the ruler the humans needed, he’d become the kind of man you couldn’t help but love.

Dimitri stared at you, still somehow dumbfounded that you could sing his praises even after everything he’d done, all the pain he’d caused you. How you still loved him, he could never understand. But, one thing he did know…

He slowly turned over, getting to his knees on the couch, so that his face was level with yours. He grasped your face in his hands and pressed his lips against yours. The heat and strength of all of his passion for you could never be conveyed in a single kiss, but he hoped that it read true in that moment anyway.

Because if there was one thing he did know, it was that if you were to give him your love he would never again squander it. He would never let it go unreciprocated or unappreciated. Your love was the thing that kept him alive, that gave him a chance at redemption.

He’d spend his whole life showing you that if he had to.

And that was something you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that you could never be reluctant about accepting.