Authors note:

First off, the name. I'm calling the Holy Knight Howzer in my fanfic, but I've seen both Howzer and Hauser as translations for his name, so I'm not sure which one of these is correct.
I've seen Howzer being used in the subs of the anime on Netflix, but Hauser in the subs of the anime on an anime streaming site.
I've seen Howzer being used on the Wikia page of this anime, but Hauser in the wikipedia character list of this anime.
If anyone knows what his official name is, please let me know because I'm confused XD

Secondly, in all fairness, King probably deserves most to end up with Diane, it's obvious he loves her deeply and has done so for a long time, but I still favour the Howzer x Diane pairing. Also, Diane is in love with Meliodas, to make it more complex, so canon-wise I don't see Howzer having any chance, but hey, this is a fanfiction site, right? ^_^

If you like this pairing, I hope you'll enjoy this fanfiction!

The sound of metal hitting stone filled the street as the Holy Knight Howzer walked through the city of Liones in full armour, his lance balanced loosely on his shoulder. His duties for the day were over and he longed to have a beer with friends in one of the pubs of city he lived and worked in, the beautiful capital city of Liones. After going through some of the options in his head he settled for the Boar Hat, the pub owned by Meliodas, the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Howzer reached his home and entered it. He removed the steel armour and washed up before he put a green sleeveless tunic on, followed by a short, yellow and also sleeveless vest. His clothing brought out his muscular chest arms, it was a look he quite enjoyed when he was free to wear civilian clothing. He looked at himself through a mirror and smiled a bit, this was exactly what he wore during the Vaizel fight festival. It was there where he met the Serpent Sin of Envy Diane for the first time. The smile turned to a grin when he recalled the fight, he had lost that one, but it had been an amazing one too. She had shown her true strength and when he was defeated all he had been able to feel was respect for her strength and honour to be taken seriously by one of the seven Deadly Sins. The grin returned to a smile again. That moment when she winked and poked her tongue at him as she left the arena, that was when the world had stopped for a moment and his heart had skipped a beat. That was one moment he would never forget. He continued to put on his purple pants as he thought about the events after that. Like the arrival of other Holy Knights at the festival and how Diane had saved a man when she was being attacked. Or the fight within Liones where he stood up for her against his comrades after she went through amazing lengths to protect innocent people while being targeted herself. He still couldn't get over the fact she would defend others so selflessly. He combed his blond hair and checked the result in the mirror. Diane was kind and cute and there wasn't anything about her he didn't like. The fact that she was a giant didn't change anything about that. There was just one problem: he had no idea on how to approach her about that.

After a final glance at the mirror and an approving nod from himself, Howzer left his home and entered the streets of the city once more. He had invited his friend and fellow Holy Knight Gilthunder to come along, but as expected he had refused. That didn't matter, he was in the mood for some beers and laughter and he didn't need Gil going with him to get that. There were plenty of other men at the various pubs and he was certain he'd have a great evening. He casually walked through the city towards the place where Meliodas had planted his inn, the beer there was very good after all, but he stopped as he neared the building. There, just outside the pub, he saw the giant girl with her orange clothes and brown twin tails he had been thinking about earlier. He noticed how she had her legs pulled up, fiddled with her hair and she stared at the road with a sad look in her beautiful purple eyes.

"Hey," he said as he walked up to her. He put a hand on her leg as he looked up. "Is everything okay?"

Diane glanced down towards him and played with one of her twin tails. She pulled the hair in front of her face as she looked at the ground. "Captain only has attention for Elizabeth," she sighed. "I'm sure he doesn't love me."

"Who wouldn't be able to love you?" Howzer muttered.

"Hm?" Diane looked at Howzer. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Howzer quickly said, making a dismissive motion with his hand. He looked up to her with a kind smile. "But I want to cheer you up. Let's go on a date."

"A date?" she repeated.

"Exactly. We'll go to a tavern in town, I'll buy some beer and we can reflect on how much I didn't stand a chance against you in the Vaizel fight festival."

Diane giggled, nodded and rose up to her feet. She towered high over Howzer and she followed him as he lead her away from the Boar Hat, towards a tavern called 'Golden Rain'. Some empty crates were stacked next to the tavern and as Howzer asked her to wait outside, she nodded and sat down next to them, waiting for him to return.

It didn't take long before Howzer emerged from the tavern again, with one hand tugged in the pocket of his pants and in the other he held a mug of beer. Close behind him was a maid of the tavern who rolled in a keg. "Cheers!" Howzer said as he gestured to the keg.

"Thank you," Diane said as she took the keg from the ground. In her hand it seemed the size of a regular mug.

Howzer walked over to the crates and climbed up, so he could sit a little closer to Diane. Together they drank ale, talked and laughed. Diane expressed her gratitude towards Howzer to stand up for her against his friends, to which he said it was the only right thing to do in that situation and he apologized for attacking her before, to which she replied it was okay, everything turned out well after all. Following the order to attack her with his fellow Holy Knight Gilthunder was something he had felt bad about, seeing her being attacked by the Great Holy Knight Dreyfus had been heartbreaking. And when she put her body on the line to protect a child, that was when he decided he had to stand up for her, even though it could cost him his position as Holy Knight or even his life. Luckily everything had turned out for the best and now they could sit together, enjoy a beer and talk like friends.

All in all, the evening turned out quite pleasant and Howzer enjoyed the time he could spend with the Giant girl. Every time he looked at her and saw her happy smile, he felt happy too. This casual evening, this moment in which neither of them had to fight, felt amazing and he wanted nothing more than to let it stay this way forever, but that was impossible. As the evening came to an end they said their goodbye's and each went their own way, but not before Diane thanked him for the wonderful evening. A remark that kept him smiling all the way back to his house.

Even though it wasn't planned, they met up again the next day. He was still in full armour when their paths crossed and they strolled through the city for a while before finding a high place to sit and look out over the city and the castle. Just like the other day they talked and shared some laughs. And all that time Howzer really wanted to say how he felt, but he didn't. He still wasn't sure on how to bring it. It wasn't like he had been all to successful with women in the past after all. He did ask if Diane was up for a stroll outside the city walls the next day and she agreed to it, as she had nothing special planned for her day.

The next day they found themselves in a meadow, red and yellow flowers adorned the green carpet of grass and they walked up to a tall oak tree. As Diane set down and rested her head against the trunk, Howzer climbed up in the tree to sit on a low branch. Just like before he was dressed in the sleeveless tunic and shirt.

"It's so beautiful here," Diane sighed.

"Yeah," Howzer agreed, even though he looked at Diane rather than the flowers. A silence fell between them and Howzer took in a deep breath. "Hey Diane."

"Yes?"

"I, uhm..." Why is this so hard? "Well, you see..." I've stood against strong opponents, defeated an army of northern barbarians! "The point is..." I've never felt this nervous in my life! As Howzer tried to say the words he wanted to say Diane listened to him with a curious look in her eyes. "I, I love you," Howzer finally said as he looked at the ground. After a moment of silence he looked up at Diane and saw the cutest, heart-melting smile.

"Thank you," Diane said.

Howzer stared at Diane for a moment, but then showed a gentle smile. So no 'I love you too' right? Well, at least she didn't laugh or leave... "Yeah, well," he said as he faced forward and looked at the scenery around them. "I thought I should let you know."

Again Diane showed the cutest smile and they continued to sit there, just enjoying the moment and each other's company.