A downside to being pressed so close together: Dedue can feel the wet quiver in Dimitri's breath as he releases it. " ... thank you. I won't ask for anything more. I know you -- " He's not sure how to finish that sentence; doesn't want to assume anything about what Dedue thinks or feels -- "I won't pressure you."

Dedue has enough to adjust to as is. Even if he'd been inclined to try, Dedue's reaction to Erin squashed that impulse.

"I haven't said you're my vassal, when I've spoken of you. It would have given away too much about my own standing." Which is the practical excuse for his personal discomfort. "But ... I've tried to avoid calling you my friend, either. I think it's what they assume, anyway, but I didn't know if you'd object, if you ever had cause to learn."

And now he does, for all that Dimitri had desperately hoped otherwise.