"I still pushed," Dimitri insists stubbornly, raising a hand to lightly touch his fingers along Claude's shoulder. Is he allowed more than this? It doesn't feel like it, but Dimitri has to admit that he never feels as though he's allowed it. "If you had some more time, you could have better prepared yourself for such a talk. Yet I stuck my nose in where it was not needed."

Still. Taking on blame cannot stop what had happened in the end. It can't take away the hurt that is clearly going through Claude, that halted such a swift and clever mind.

Once, Dimitri had thought he could be smart. He thought he could slide a true answer out of Claude when the other man was preoccupied, thinking about something else. That had been foolish, of course, and not gone how he had planned... But now? Now, it feels like that sort of plan could almost succeed with how out of sorts and hurt Claude is.

Dimitri loathes to see it.

So he reaches up with his other hand, fingertips along Claude's cheek now. "Khalid," he murmurs, leaning in close. "It is not your fault either. The rest of us are here with you, beloved, and so you are not alone no matter what has happened."

This tension... Dimitri wants to lean closer, to wrap Claude in his arms and hide him away from things until he can pull himself back together. But that might be overstepping for right now. Sometimes, when there is just so much happening, and the wound has gone particularly deep... Then even the lightest touch can sting.

"Do you want to go?" he asks Claude instead. "We can. You are more important than anything else." And being here is clearly doing Claude no favors.

"It would not ruin things if the end result was giving you even an ounce of relief," Dimitri says stubbornly. How could he enjoy any sort of spar, any activity, if Claude staying there made him miserable?

...Still. Dimitri bows his head slightly, forcing his hands to stay still. "...But if you want to stay here for your own sake, then I cannot argue with you on that. Do you just want a moment to yourself over here, with Mori...?"

To have his touch returned is a relief of its own, and Dimitri reaches up to lay his hand over Claude's. "Sooner would help you be happy again," he murmurs. "So I think it matters greatly."

But only time and attention given to Claude can do anything about that. So, after a moment, Dimitri steps away, although his hand still presses over Claude's until he can guide it to his lips for a quick kiss. "Let me know if you have need of me for anything," he says softly. "Anything at all."

But space is what Claude desires, and so Dimitri turns back to head to the group. Still, it's not something he's satisfied with, leaving it there.

Unfortunately, with the rest of the day spent as a mess, and then him sort of maybe turning into a younger version of himself - an experience he remembers none of - that takes some time to approach again. Dimitri is especially uncertain on if Claude even needs him, since he's vaguely aware that Felix went to speak with him...

...But Claude still looks miserable. So, one day, he steps forward. "Claude... For Palien training today, would you like to go with me...?"

Anywhere is what Dimitri wants to say. It doesn't really matter to him. He just wants to be there for Claude, wants to offer him any reassurances whatsoever. But that is a careless answer. Claude... deserves far more than careless words and actions dumped on his lap while the stains sink in deep.

"There are some beaches, past the lighthouse," Dimitri offers him. "It is nice, there. People rarely go that far, since they are a bit rocky, and not the kind of place where one pleasantly lounges. Still, they are beautiful, and... away from others." Ugh. He's no good at dancing around a subject. Dimitri gives in, and adds, "I thought maybe we could talk, if... you think it would offer you any reassurance at all. And if not, then we can simply enjoy being out there. Whatever would make you feel better."

Claude holds out his hand, and Dimitri reaches for it in turn without thinking, without hesitating. Whenever Claude needs him, for whatever reason, of course he will answer. Why does he need to think about it?

"You only need give it to me if you want to," Dimitri says softly, pulling Claude up with ease. "My hasty actions didn't help before. I don't want you to feel rushed, or miserable. Nothing like that." He leans in, presses his lips to Claude's forehead.

"But I do not mind if you speak about another man, an ex of yours. I accept and adore all of you, Claude, beyond how you are as my lover. That means I of course accept what you have done in the past. Besides..." His smile shifts, a bit wry. "It would be hypocritical of me to have an issue, when I was the one who agreed to you keeping such a relationship even as we stepped into our own."

Well, if it is comfort that Claude wants... Dimitri wraps his free arm around Claude, enough to keep him close while still lax enough that he can go, if he likes. "I honestly worried it would be too soon," Dimitri confesses, hand brushing along Claude's back. "I offered to go ahead of him, to make this a... a less troublesome experience for everyone involved. I could have asked you, then, if you were ready for such a conversation..."

But Jaskier had insisted on going on ahead... Of having an "honest" conversation with Claude.

Is that what all that had been? "Honest"?

Dimitri shakes his head. "At any rate, even if it is not romantic, we can still find some enjoyment out of this outing," he tells Claude. "Would you like to pick up lunch on the way there? I was going to bring Gaibhenenn and Adarllchwgwin with us, for training. I am sure that their presence will help make this conversation light, should it get too heavy."

A special request from Claude - how on earth can he resist? "Of course," Dimitri agrees promptly, guiding Claude along. "Would you like to bring a chessboard along then as well? I notice that he's been getting a little more into strategy games lately... Oh, if that's the case, then I will bring Cinnamon as well."

Cinnamon being one of the younger Pokemon he has, and the little Spearow that hatched from the egg he was given by Kiri. He's a relaxed sort, not unlike Hob when she isn't trying to impress The Girlfriend, and Claude has probably seen him sunbathing most of time.

Dimitri smiles back at Skittles, and waggles his fingers in a return greeting. Of course the little Pokemon would be hanging around. That's good; Claude needs to have someone there with him.

"Then I will grab my belt with my team for the day, and we'll head off. I have an idea for food that I think you will really like."

That food, as it turns out, would be curry bread - still warm and fresh in their little paper bags. Dimitri hands one to Claude, adjusting his backpack that has even more he picked up. "Eat up now," he encourages as the two of them begin heading along the beach, towards the rockier areas. "Talking about a miserable subject might disrupt your stomach, so you should get in a few bites now."

Dimitri isn't entirely sure if he can do anything for Claude on the matter of a shattered friendship, but to see him enjoy eating from something Dimitri gave to him... That is something. A trivial little something, perhaps, and yet still something all the same.

Better than, anyway, than to hear that Claude's appetite has been affected ever since then, and Dimitri brushes their arms together. "I simply wanted to be careful. You deserve to be treated with care, Claude. You are so precious, after all, at least to me." Stepping up onto the rocks, Dimitri offers his hand to Claude.

"When Jaskier was complaining about what he said caused him to snap out at you, I thought perhaps it would be foolish to say too much on something I knew so little about. You know I did not pry too heavily into what the two of you did together." It still felt - kind of awkward, honestly. Jaskier wasn't a part of their group, after all, just... something else. A lover in bed but nothing else. Dimitri supposes he never had any idea of how much it was nothing else. "In hindsight, I should have said something, I think. He said speaking with you felt... like being in court, that you would remember things said."

Sometimes, all one can do is listen. It is a wretched position to be in, of course - helpless, only able to be a passive receptacle, unable to take some sort of direct action that could magically make things all better. Many cannot deal with it; Dimitri cannot blame such people for feeling that way. Sometimes it feels better to do something, anything, even if it ends up making the situation worse for the future.

Dimitri at least knows how to restrain himself on that matter, sometimes. Certainly he can do it now, as he holds Claude's hand tight and quietly nudges him along the rocky path. This is the most he can do in the present moment, as Claude explains and vents and despairs. The worst thing one can do, he's found, is keep themselves standing still. At least if they are moving... Well, perhaps this is simply his own understanding. Yet it has always felt to him that, so long as one is moving or doing something, then at least that helps the words come out easier.

It helps him listen, anyway, because the alternative is falling prey to the way his heart twists with every word. From anger? Sadness? He can't entirely be sure right now; those feelings so easily intermingle in his chest. They have for a long time.

"You didn't deserve any of the words which spilled forth from his mouth," Dimitri murmurs, when he is positive that Claude has finished. When there's only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks. "I want you to know that, Claude, my guiding star. You did not deserve the accusations, and you did not deserve the actions he committed alongside them."

No doubt Claude must know that those statements are true, mustn't he? Dimitri feels that has to be true, with how often his lover has guided him back on the right path. But he feels it needs to be said aloud regardless. Given physical form in the way of spoken word.

"I cannot claim to know what is going on in his mind." Dimitri always thought that Claude knew Jaskier better than him, but if even if he doesn't know... Best to not bring it up, he thinks. "Yet I know that for some people, even the smallest thing can end up made into something greater... especially if neglected through one's own ignorance. Perhaps that has what happened to him, and what made him lash out in such a way."

Dimitri, frankly, has no idea. This feels so twisted and strange that something has to be wrong here, and he doesn't know what it could be.

Perhaps it is biased of him to believe that the fault must surely lie with Jaskier. He knows he is a rather biased person, after all.

Not that it matters, he thinks. What matters more are Claude's feelings, and Dimitri pulls him close. "...I wish I could take away all the hurt he had given you, Claude. Yet all I can say is that the man I walk besides now is a man I would not change for the world." Not the core of him, at any rate. Changing him from a miserable person to a happier one does not count, Dimitri is fairly certain.

To believe that you had to have mattered to someone more than you did... His relationship with all of his lovers here is the first romantic or intimate relationship Dimitri has ever had in his life. And yet Dimitri knows betrayal. He knows what it is to have hopes and fondness towards someone, only to be sharply reminded of how little he matters at all save to the very few who seem to believe him precious enough.

Dimitri reaches around himself as Claude leans against him, takes a hold of Claude's shoulder so that he can pull him all the closer. "To play implies that he planned all of this from the start, that you were always meant to be a pawn in some selfish game of his. And perhaps I am merely naive for thinking such things, but... I do not believe he planned ahead for such things. I do not believe clever schemes like that are cards he has in his deck."

Another kiss, into Claude's hair. "I saw this not to absolve him of what he did... but because I do not believe you could have foreseen this result when he acted so sincerely, from the start to the unfortunate end. This was all... simple unpredictable emotion, from a single person. Do not lambast yourself so much, my beloved. I do not think even Jaskier's own partner could have foreseen this."

And Geralt has known Jaskier for a very long time.