They're sitting outside, resting comfortably on a worn picnic blanket and relishing the cool breeze and slightly overcast sky, when Corrin poses the question to Silas.
"Silas... how would you tell someone you've fallen in love with them?"
The cavalier's heart drops like a stone. He should have seen this coming, he thinks to himself. Corrin is, after all, so sweet and gentle and kind and of course he would fall in love. And of course it wouldn't be with Silas. The young man struggles to keep his composure as he replies,
"Well, uh... I guess it would depend on the person and the situation, really. But I suppose I would just... tell them?"
Not that he had told Corrin, of course. He couldn't possibly, after all - there was so much in the way. A lord and his knight, regardless of childhood friendship status, was no respectable match. So if Silas held his breath when Corrin pet his hair up in the treehouse after a long battle, if their eyes met and gazes held for a few seconds longer than what would be deemed typical, if Silas' heart raced when Corrin linked their fingers together while walking down the castle halls before dinnertime, nothing could come of it. Nothing would come of it.
At Silas' words, Corrin gives a little nod and closes his eyes for a moment.
"Ok... thanks," he says gently, as he turns to his best friend - they are friends, nothing more, Silas reminds himself silently - and gives Silas that achingly sweet, sad smile that means he's thinking over an important decision. With a soft sigh the dragon leans into Silas' side, and the warmth of their bodies pressed together makes the knight's skin burn. It's far too much, it's torture, but Silas stays still and silent because he has made his pledge, and he will not abandon Corrin even if his heart beats right out of his chest and leaves him an empty shell.
"Hey, Silas?"
Corrin takes his hand, intertwines their fingers, and Silas thinks he might die of heartbreak right there. It means nothing, Corrin is in love, this means nothing,
"Yeah, Corrin?"
Silas feels like the ground has fallen out from beneath him but he has to hide it, he can't let it show because Corrin is in love with someone else and it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not-
A deep, near-heaving breath from the man beside him reminds him to pay attention, and then,
"I love you."
Silas' world stops.
The cool breeze has become cool gusts of wind, and the sky has gone dark with clouds. Thunder rolls in the distance. Silas does not notice.
He does notice, however, that Corrin has turned to look at him, and that the lord wears a face that is nervous almost to the point of fearful. He does notice that Corrin now has both hands clasped around Silas' in a gesture near akin to pleading. He does notice that Corrin's beautiful red eyes are shining with a speck of hope, and maybe more than a speck of tears. It leaves him breathless.
"I-," he gulps for air, his voice but a whisper that Corrin may or may not be leaning in closer to hear. He can feel tears beginning to form but here and now he does not care.
"I love you too."
Tears are streaking Corrin's cheeks now, and perhaps Silas' too, and as the first raindrops of the storm fall someone closes the distance between them. The kiss is soft and wet and awkward and only lasts a moment, but neither of them care.
When they have to run home as the storm hits, the remains of their picnic packed up hurriedly, they do so with light in their eyes.