The echoing sounds of the ball bothered Dimitri. Men and women of all ages meandered around the tables containing plates filled to the brim with delectable foods. Some laughed, some talked. Others danced with friends, loved ones. All who were here, followed by their daemons, were soaking in the atmosphere. Even the legendary Blade Breaker himself, accompanied by his wife and children, had deigned to make an appearance.

If ever there was a time for festivities such as this, it would be during the celebration of his engagement. Even though he and Marianne, his soon to be wife, had vanished near the start for some peace and quiet, everyone else had continued. He could not blame the people. A celebration such as this had been long overdue, even if it wasn't to his taste.

The fluttering of wings sounded from behind him, and he gently held out a hand to allow the creature to land on his hand. The feeling of another person's daemon resting in his hand was still a strange feeling for him, but one he was slowly getting used to. The creature, a type of owl, fidgeted nervously in his hand. Preened his feathers. Turned his head around at the sound of footsteps.

A familiar smell of hay and oatmeal wafted out to the balcony he was stood on. So that had been where Marianne went. Dimitri's own daemon padded towards Marianne. Raised her head. Dimitri allowed himself to smile as Marianne greeted her before walking towards him.

"Everyone's here for us…" Marianne sounded hesitant to believe it. Her daemon fluttered around her nervously, settling down on her shoulder to whisper something in her ear. "Even the professors."

Dimitri didn't answer.

"I am glad you chose me." Marianne turned to look at him, a rare smile gracing her features. "Thank you, Dimitri."

"It's quite alright." Dimitri's eye flashed with worry, and his daemon sat down on guard behind him. "If I may be honest, I feared you would not say yes."

"Why would that be?"

"The position of Queen will not be an easy one to manage. If you had wished to remain with your father, no one would have blamed you."

"I know." Marianne's hand gently, apprehensively, patted the head of the boar daemon, and Dimitri smiled from the warmth he felt from it. "But I wish to stay by your side." The owl had stopped fidgeting now. He hopped from her shoulder onto the balcony's edge, looking up at Dimitri with a smile of his own.

"Thank you, Marianne." Dimitri rested his hand on the balcony, and the owl hopped into his palm. "I look forward to remaining by your side as well.

...

Author's Note: Okay.

So this is a fic for the Felannie server's Those Who Drabble In The Dark challenge. 200-600 words based on a prompt, this week's was an AU starring characters from Three Houses. I chose to do a Daemon AU with Dimimari because I wanna try and write some stuff for the pairing and because I loved the HDM series as a kid, so my apologies if Dimitri is OOC, I'm not yet used to writing him.

Hope you enjoyed!