He attempts to ignore Eleanor’s proximity. Throughout this interaction, Dedue has been calculating the pros and cons of telling Eleanor the full extent of their past history. He has decided against it. He would not even know how to begin discussing it in a way that would not be overwhelming. Moreover, this Eleanor should not be bound by the decisions of the last Eleanor.

He shifts back ever so slightly in his seat.

“My experience of the Academy was not a normal one,” he clarifies. “My circumstances were different from other students. As such, things like romance were not possibilities at that time.”

As he says it, he wonders how true that is. Certainly, Dedue at that time was limited by his own self-dehumanizing mindset, his tunnel vision on Dimitri, and his fears of harming others by association with him. But he had also made generalized assumptions about how others would perceive his appearance. Which he has since realized are not true across the board. Were there signs from others that he had missed? He thinks back to some of his friends from the Blue Lions. Then shakes himself from such thoughts. It is no use now to dream of what once might have been.

“I did make a few friends my age and learned a great deal. Both as a student and also in socializing with others.”