"Strange that you might enjoy walking through a cemetery with me, when we're surrounded by the war that creates this."
Miles took a moment to let her catch up to him, and took a more comfortable and natural place just behind her right shoulder. She didn't seem to notice.
"Cemeteries," he provided, turning his eyes about them thoughtfully, "though being places of the dead, are totally absent of death itself." She paused this time, to think on that, before nodding some.
"I suppose you're right."
This was to be a quiet, calm walk, as all of the ones they shared were. Miles had grown to like them, and he liked to think the Major General had, as well. Initially, they'd been about scouting the land, getting to know their surroundings, but as the years passed, they became almost friendly. They were comfortable, and necessary in order to keep the Major General sane. She had enough to worry about on a daily basis as it were; end of the season walks were the best way to make sure she unwound. At least, in a way that didn't involve the serious injury of any of her officers.
"The birds are out already," Miles commented, as a crow blew by with a loud caw. The Major General slowed, to watch it interact with a few of its fellows, some train of thought that Miles knew he would never be able to follow reaching out to those birds before she moved on, with a slight sniff. She had a need to remind herself that she was higher than that.
"Yes. It's going to be a warm season."
"Which may not be good for us..." Miles thought aloud. If the Major General heard him, she said nothing.
"So I have to ask - out of curiosity, have you ever been with a woman?"
Miles stopped. Among the rest of their small talk, they'd never, ever even touched on something like this. He blinked after her, watched her figure darkened from the glasses he was too accustomed to to notice walk on as if nothing had happened, and then quickly and suddenly caught up with her. There was no sign of any emotion on her face that might betray her, and Miles let his head drop, pointedly avoiding her gaze. He...couldn't lie to her. She was his superior officer, and not to mention - just the way she was naturally! Besides, the question seemed innocent enough.

"...No." Still no reaction, as Miles glanced up, cheeks colouring just slightly despite himself, angering him some. What was there to be embarrassed about! It wasn't something he'd really ever done, that's all. Not many women had ever approached him, and he wasn't the type to initiate something like that. He'd also not known very many Ishvalan women, really. Not any his age, at least, to whom it would seem more natural that he should be interested. It wasn't something that should bother him. It didn't seem to bother the Major General, after all.
"Would you like to be?" Once again, Miles had to fight the urge to stop in his tracks, blinking up at her in something like confusion. What...what exactly did she mean by that?
"I...suppose it would depend on the woman." A safe answer, and an honest one. If the woman was going on the tangent he thought she was...
"Oh? And what kind of woman would that be?" A woman like you, he caught himself thinking, but chastised himself. It would be much safer to answer her...generally.
"...I've never really thought about it." Alright, less general than an outright lie. He'd thought plenty of times about her - er...about women. It was at this point, however, that Miles had to make his best effort not to think about women. It would only lead to very large problems.
What followed, though extensive, was anything but an example of the comfortable silences they usually shared on these walks. It was awkward, for lack of a better description. The Major General, to Miles' relief, was the one to break it.
"Are you thinking about it now?" she asked. Miles felt like he wanted to scream. How did he end up in this position? He knew she knew, he knew that she was just playing him, and he'd never felt so helpless against her in his life. If only he could treat this like every other time they sat down and talked...honestly, with a hint of sardonic humour, a conversation between old war buddies. Maybe...he could?
"Would you like me to?" he responded, glancing at her with something like a smirk. Finally looking back at her, Miles realised he'd never wanted to slap that ever-so-slight look of haughty smugness off of her face before. Consequently, he wondered why the hell not.
"If you'd like."
Well, an expected answer. Miles took a moment, honestly wondering how to describe the woman he constantly saw in his head.
"I suppose...an intelligent woman." It was good to leave all physical descriptors out, for as long as possible, at least. "Accepting, strong enough to deal with me...."
"Is that all?" the Major General asked after only a short pause. Hell, if she didn't know, she was trying to.
"Attractive?" Miles offered, his voice somewhat unsteady, as his entire psyche was running around in a panic now. How would she treat him once she knew? Would it even matter?
"Attractive how?" To that, his sarcasm suddenly returned, and he answered with only enough hesitation to be called timing.



"...What is love, Major General?"
This time, it was Olivier who paused. They fell into step once more, but those steps slowed, and eventually stopped. She turned to face him, watching him for only a moment before she realised he wasn't going to look up at her, and looked away.
"Love is...being supportive, being helpful, wanting the best for that person, and all of them, for as long as the feeling exists." She couldn't think he hadn't caught that.
"And when the feelings end?" In that moment Miles realised that in all the time he'd known her, he had never heard the Major General honestly sigh. There was a first time for everything.
"I suppose...that the feelings could subside, but that it is important while it lasts." The pause was short this time, and it was Miles who had to sigh. It was so obvious, so plainly stated in those words, that he couldn't deny it. There was nothing else to say.
"In that context...I suppose I do love you, Major General." Those crimson eyes, hidden from the world, came up onto the Major General's piercing, smiling blue, reflecting triumph in dark lenses. She looped her arm through his, and as if one being of thought, they began to walk once more.
"And in that context, I love you as well."
A pleasant pause passed between them, not quite like the friendly silences they'd shared before, but of the same quality. The same relaxed happiness, with a tinge of something much more real. Something a little more tangible, and a lot nicer. Miles turned his eyes up to the sky, and then over the lands around them, seeing things he'd been trained to see, old memories and new predictions. The frown that wanted to come for it couldn't, though. It had been banished by the small smile that now liked to call his lips home.
"No matter what happens this season," he offered, pulling the woman just slightly closer, sharing the sentiment with her in a way no one else would understand, "I think it is good to know that we have this, at least." She seemed to ponder that for just a moment, before nodding, a curt and very stereotypical gesture, that for all its harshness was the best punctuation to a complicated and mildly antagonistic thought. Old war buddies...and such new friends.
"For as long as it may last."


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大爱~
只要是麦尔斯都大爱

很怕看很长的英语文啊
虽然大部分看得懂