On Dedue's birthday, the Blue Lions class went to Conand Tower for that month's mission. Right after they had defeated Miklan and camped out for the night, Dimitri went to Dedue's tent. He apologized that they weren't able to celebrate his birthday, only for Dedue to offer him a sad smile.

"There is no need to apologize," Dedue told him. "My birthday is not worth celebrating."

Hearing that caused Dimitri's heart to ache. He was aware of how others viewed the Duscur people, so he didn't blame Dedue for thinking that. Still, his friend deserved his birthday to be celebrated and he wanted to make up for it.

Dimitri recalled Ashe being a good cook from a few of his friends, so he decided to have him help him cook. Mercedes had told him that he went to town to grab some food supplies, so he thanked her and went there.

The market square was fairly active in the late afternoon. Many people would enter and exit through the town gates while several travel merchants would scream the latest bargains to bypassers. Dimitri spotted Ashe at a vendor that was selling tomatoes and other vegetables. After Ashe paid for the food and grabbed three bags, Dimitri waved and called out his name.

"Oh, hello your Highness!" Ashe said, smiling. "What brings you here?"

"Once more, call me Dimitri. I actually came to look for you." Dimitri glanced down real quick to see the bags Ashe was carrying looked to be full. "May I help you carry one of the bags?"

Ashe's eyes grew wide, and then he replied, "Oh, I don't want to cause you any inconvenience, your High-um, Dimitri."

Dimitri held himself from sighing. It would take a while until Ashe was comfortable saying his name. Instead, he gave him a small smile.

"This isn't any trouble at all. I insist."

Ashe gave him an uncertain look, and his smile returned. "Well, if you say so."

Ashe handed him one of the bags to Dimitri, and they headed towards the gates to Garreg Mach together.

"You mentioned that you came looking for me," Ashe said. "Is it something important?"

Dimitri rubbed the back of his neck, gazing up at the sky. "It's nothing dire, but I want to cook something for Dedue as a late birthday gift. I was wondering if you can help me with that."

Ashe quirked a curious brow. "Why me in particular?"

"I've heard from a few of our classmates that you're an excellent cook. I thought you might be the right person to teach me."

Ashe's face scrunched up, as if he was considering Dimitri's request. After a moment, he grinned.

"I'm more than happy to help. Do you know any of Dedue's favorite dishes?"

Dimitri lowered his head and pressed his lips. "I recall him having a particular fondness for fish from the many meals we've eaten together."

Ashe beamed. "Oh, Dedue taught me how to cook fish, Duscur style! Perhaps I can show you."

"That's wonderful! Are you free tomorrow?"

Ashe nodded, his grin widening. "I'm free tomorrow. I can teach you after class, then."

"Excellent to hear." As they continued walking back to the academy, Dimtri pondered what sort of dishes Ashe would teach him. Nonetheless, he looked forward to that.

xxx

After the lecture the next day, Dimitri and Ashe went to the kitchen together. Ashe had decided on three fish dishes they were going to make, the first one being the Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew. They made the stew with chopped Teutates Loach, turnips, and spices from Dagda. His sense of taste may be gone, but one whiff of the stew's aroma made his nose wrinkle which he hoped was a good thing.

"Urgh, this stew is too spicy for my taste," Ashe said with a cringed face after he tasted a bowl of the stew.

"Is it that spicy?"

"It is. Why did you put that much spice?"

"Oh, I thought the extra spice would bring out the flavor." Dimitri sipped on the stew, and as expected he didn't taste anything. "It didn't taste that spicy to me."

"Really?" Ashe raised a brow. "Let's try the Sweet and Salty Whitefish Sauté next."

For the Sweet and Salty Whitefish Sauté, they added spices and dried tomatoes onto the whitefish, which was supposed to give it a nice sweet-and-spicy flavor. There was one plate of it set aside on the counter, which Ashe went to. He took a piece of it with a fork and like before made a face at the taste of it.

"This one is too sweet. There's almost no salt to cancel it out. Didn't you taste it yourself?"

Dimitri flinched and a lump formed inside his throat. None of his friends, not even Dedue, were aware of how he had lost his sense of taste. He wanted to be truthful to Ashe though as to why the food wasn't good.

"This is embarrassing to say, but I've lost my sense of taste for some time. That is probably why all the food tasted strange to you."

Frowning, Ashe said, "I'm sorry to hear that. It must be awful, not able to taste anything." His face changed to a grin. "Perhaps I can teach you how to measure the ingredients better."

With a small smile, Dimitri said, "That would be appreciated, thank you." He stopped when the faint smell of smoke entered his nostrils. "Do you smell something?"

Ashe blinked at him, and he and Dimitri turned around to see the pot with the grilled herring filled with smoke.

They hurried to the pot to put out the fire and open the lid. When the steam's mist rolled out and covered a portion of the kitchen, Dimitri and Ashe coughed and waited until the steam cleared out. Inside the pot were burnt turnips and shredded herring, close to charcoal black. Dimitri's lips trembled and his arms shook.

"It's hopeless!" Dimitri mourned, hanging his head down. "I'll never cook anything good for Dedue."

Ashe patted his shoulder. "It's all right, that has happened to me a few times when I first attempted cooking. I'm sure you'll be able to make something good for Dedue."

"You think so?" Dimitri said as he looked back at Ashe. He nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I do, you just needed more practice, that's all. We can try the stew one more time and get started on baking cakes."

Dimitri wasn't convinced that his cooking would improve, but he was glad that Ashe was still willing to teach him. He gave him an appreciative smile.

"That sounds like a plan."

xxx

Dimitri and Ashe stayed inside the kitchen for another hour to finish with the remade Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew and the dessert. As they were cleaning up, one of the chefs entered and yelled at them for making a mess. Both boys apologized and told him that they would be done with the cleaning very soon.

When early evening came, the dining hall was open for dinner. Not many students came to eat until much later, so this was a good opportunity for him and Dedue to have a somewhat quiet meal together. He reserved a spot for them near where the bulletin board was and had the bowls of stew and plates of chocolate cake already set up. Dimitri waited for a few minutes until Dedue arrived, and he greeted him with a smile.

"Ah, Dedue, you made it!"

"You mentioned that you wanted to have dinner early, so here I am." After he sat down, Dedue glanced at the food and blinked. "You already picked the food for us?"

"Believe it or not, I prepared these myself!"

Dedue's eyes grew wide, and he gave him a confused look. "I never knew that cooking was one of your skillsets."

"This was actually my first attempt at cooking a meal like this." Dimitri felt his cheeks flushed, and he rubbed the back of his head. "I had some help from Ashe, but they didn't taste that great. I wanted to do this as a way to make up for missing your birthday."

Dedue seemed to regard him a moment. "All of this is unnecessary, but I appreciate the gesture. The food does smell good, at least."

Couldn't help himself, Dimitri grinned. "Shall we begin eating, then?"

Dedue offered him a nod and the two began eating. When Dimitri chewed the Spicy Fish and Turnip stew, he couldn't taste anything. He watched as Dedue chewed on the stew with a slight grimaced expression on his face. His friend took several more sips and his hardened expression from before fading.

"It's quite salty for my taste, but this can be fixed with adding a few more spices." Dedue next took a piece of the cake and slowly chewed on it. "The cake is a bit crispy and burnt on the bottom."

Dimitri's stomach dropped. He already knew the food would taste terrible, but it still upsets him that Dedue seems to not enjoy the meal.

"I apologize that the food isn't up to your standards."

"While your cooking skills could be better refined, I actually did enjoy eating them." A genuine smile graced his lips. Did he really enjoy the food? If he smiled that way, then that meant he did. "I would not mind teaching you, Your Highness."

With a fluttered feeling inside his chest, Dimitri grinned. "That would be wonderful, Dedue. Perhaps we can set aside some time for that next week."

"That sounds good to me. I can teach you some Duscur dishes that you might like."

During the rest of the dinner, he and Dedue talked about the lecture on lances earlier this afternoon and how to go about the essay their professor had assigned them. Dimitri would catch a glimpse of Dedue's smile as he chewed the piece of food, causing his heart to leap. Seeing him enjoying his less-than-stellar cooking was worth it.

Author's Notes

I wrote this for the Dimitri Exchange over at Twitter for user laaatikko. They wanted something Dimidue and I went with the prompt where DImitri learns to cook but ends in a disaster. Short but sweet and I had fun writing this!