Dimitri

“What the fuck,” Katerina growled as she adjusted the thermostat – again – and rubbed her hands up and down her arms to generate something resembling warmth. “What is going on?” she asked through clenched and chattering teeth, mostly to herself but also loud enough for Dimitri to interject should he decide he have anything helpful to add. With an exaggerated eyeroll, she looked pointedly towards Orion. “And what is that still doing here?”

Dimitri frowned at the thermostat as he watched his sister play with the device. “Just leave it, Kat. It’s useless. You know how many times we’ve tried and nothing prevailed?” He ran his fingers through his hair as he glared at the damned object. His head turned towards Orion---who’s tongue was stuck against a spoon. Served him right. “Leave him. As annoying as the little bitch is, he’s proper entertainment.” Dimitri bit back as he ran his fingers through his hair again. He was trying to think. “We can do some type of----no never mind. Vodka? Drinking is warm and vodka can’t freeze.” 

“I can take care of myself,” she said quietly and then stood, looking at Dimitri while she listened to him. “You were gone,” she mumbled and then her good hand reached out and punched him in the chest, she was expecting her hand to go right through but when it didn’t, she just stared at him. “Mitri…” Immediately the blonde’s arms went around him and she hugged him, forgetting that she was soaking in wet. “You came back.”

“I can tell you are. That cast truly tells me how careful you’ve been.” It was a jerk comment, but Dimitri found it to be the truth. “You’re not taking care of yourself enough. There should hardly be a scratch on you if you were.” He was caring and he nodded at her words. “I was gone.” There was an agreement before he let her fist connect against him. He could have caught it in his, he saw it coming. Punches barely fazed him anymore. He broke a hand once from catching and crushing on in his own hand. He blinked at the hug, extremely hesitant at first. He wasn’t scared of it, it just wasn’t expected. His arms wrapped back around hers and he nodded again. “I did come back and you do realize that you’re soaking wet right?”

“Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. A little white lie never hurt anyone though,” at least not in her experience. Once his hand was on her hip, Addie stepped closer to him and tugged on his shirt lightly until she could get her fingers just under the hem of it. “Honestly anything that test my limitations is the type of fun I’m into.” Leaning in, Addie grinned. “Ever played with knives in the bedroom with a partner?”

“Shame that it wasn’t a white lie or a lie at all.” Dimitri responded coolly and shrugged. He didn’t mind her stepping forwards, though he wasn’t expecting the tugged shirts or the contact of skin to his chest. His head tilted slightly at the meanings of her words. “I might need a better explanation than that.” He responded, though his eyebrows arched at what spoke. “I don’t think so. I do need a better idea of this before I say I’m interested.” However, knives did interest Dimitri incredibly. “Though,  I must admit that knives and daggers are a specialty of mine.”

Dimitri’s lips twisted in amusement at the others words. “So I reckon you’re calling me old?” He blinked at the mention of older males and he wrinkled his nose. That was a turn off. And he had nothing to say to that.

“Just avoid the cops when you do something stupid. It’s simple.” She reached out to ruffle his hair in the hopes of playfully annoying him and pretended to try to hide the entertained smile at her brother’s obvious annoyance at her antics. She rolled her eyes at him when he whined about the beer. “One beer is not going to give you a beer belly. I’ve had more than I can count just since last week and I still look great in a bathing suit.” She polished off the rest of her old beer and laughed as she swallowed the last of it. “Damn, I wish I hadn’t missed that one. Was that why there was blood on the mirror or is that something else I missed?”

She had a point. He needed to avoid people more now and he shrugged. “I’ll find a way to get away next time. Probably figure out how to dismantle cameras as well.” Dimitri responded with a laugh, only to roll his eyes at the ruffled hair. It wasn’t as annoying as he made it out to be. He couldn’t help the relaxed smile though, his own hand flicking out to flick at her head. “Jerk.”  He blinked though and shrugged. “Who knows, maybe I have an extremely slow metabolism and can’t digest the beer. I don’t really want to see you in a bathing suit, more like a sweatshirt and sweatpants.” Dimitri shrugged while pretending to be blinded. Waving a hand in front of his face without blinking. “Missed that one actually too. I had to buy a new mirror and move the treadmills away from the mirrors as well because of the injury.” Dimitri waved the occurrence away with his hand as if it were nothing. 

She laughed at his promise of horror.  There was probably something wrong with her, but it wasn’t the first time she’d thought that, either.  “On the bright side, I’d answer to Megs because I’d know you were speaking to me,” she allowed.  “So I guess it depends if you want my attention– that’s how you should decide what to call me.” 

She had a point, that was for certain. Dimitri most likely wouldn’t react to Demetrius if called that. So,  he smiled lazily at her and shrugged nonchalantly in response. “Meaning that if I want to get your attention, then I shall call you Meg. But now,  I think I have most of it? Unless I’m mistaken?” He teased with a slight smile. 

She turned to face him, eyes falling to his arm, the muscles flexed and strained, especially around the cuffs of his sleeves. She blinked once and met his gaze, an involuntary laugh curling her lips at the corners. She shook her head and turned towards the bar, smile still on her face. “I meant the drink. But you seemed to have gotten me there.” She turned back to him, an eyebrow quirked (because this was what she was supposed to do right? this was moving on right?). “So, then, what do you suggest?”

He fought back his tenacious ego once he felt and saw her eyes on him. The smirk was still there, but it was more on friendly terms. He refused to scare others away due to a  massive ego.  She laughed though and Dimitri assumed that that was good. That he did something right with the joke. “Oh? So you did mean the drink?” He was chuckling and he nodded. “Yeah, I suppose I did.” And he took another swig of his drink before shrugging. “I mean, it depends. What are you looking for? Something fast or something slow and steady, yet hard to swallow. None of it tastes good though.” Personally, if it was him he would bring up Scotch, but the drink was often too strong for him. “Vodka probably. Kettle and Club works as well.”

She’d gone straight home from Westley’s and she’d cried until she was sure she had no more tears left. And then she’d washed her face and decided it was time to stop wallowing and time to start living. If Westley was allowed to, why wasn’t she? It hadn’t taken long to find a place. As she made her way inside and to the bar, she clutched her purse tightly to her side, all of her determination deflating quickly the closer she got. But she took a seat anyway, looking over the drink menu as if she had any idea what she was looking at. She gave up after a few seconds and spoke to no one in particular, hoping the bartender was within earshot at the very least. “I need something strong. Please.”

Usually Dimitri wasn’t that fond of alcohol. It made his head a mess and sometimes he felt as if his head was nonexistent. Off with their heads. Was chilling enough to think about especially when he watched plenty of blood spilled and heads rolling. He swallowed the memory down with a beer. He wasn’t looking to get drunk, however, anything was possible was what he realized. Especially getting arrested.  His eyebrow shot up to the pretty blonde and his lips quivered upwards in humor. At least his mind was still remotely the same as were his thoughts. He moved over a seat next to her, bringing his beer with him. “I’m strong,” Dimitri spoke with a small smile, not afraid to flex his arms slightly. “Unless you meant something else, like a drink. You might want to be specific in that case.”

Rajah gently pulled away as the other begn talking, opening her eyes to look up at the other. It was rather bizarre for her to be enjoying this with a man quite honestly. Not that this was the first time she had kissed men, but it had usually been out of deals or creating distractions. Not exactly by choice. Perhaps it was the alcohol that she was too wrapped up in, but whatever it was she wouldn’t question it for now.

“I get compliments. Just not usually from men my own age.”

“You’re own age? How old do you think I am?”

“Yeah.  Magic sucks.  But thanks for checkin I guess.  Do you often inspect stranger’s blood patterns?”

“Sounds it.” Dimitri shrugged at the question, but shook his head. He didn’t, but patterns of blood became something that he became good at after watching some of the things he’s done. “No, not normally. Just familiar with them.”

“Maybe I was, maybe I made the whole thing up.’ He teased with a cocky smile. “Though the handcuffs were definitely something that would have made the whole arrest less painful.” He shrugged, he wasn’t too fond of them. His eyebrow arched upwards as her fingers moved down his chest more, he didn’t mind it. It was relaxing and he liked the concepts of touch. His hand did end up resting on her hip though, ready to remove it if unwanted. “What games of luck were you looking forwards to? Testing limits is all I’ve known. What do you have in mind?”

“Why would I agree to let you show me designs being carved into a collarbone or the removing of a spleen?  That’s just unnecessarily violent and not even remotely entertaining.”

“People find hitting balls with clubs interesting. Have you watched golf? That’s not even remotely entertaining either. I would consider both those two things a style of art. I have an intricate grace of carving into people and removing organs. I can probably remove an appendix without nicking another organ.”

“Oh, but I really do,” she countered.  So many people tried to flirt with her that she usually met it with disdain.  In this instance though, and maybe because he was declining to flirt, she wanted it to happen.  Maybe it was so she could have a little fun at his expense.  Maybe it was to feel someone making a legitimate effort on her behalf – to get the impression someone felt like she was worth it at the exact same time she wanted them to feel that way.  “Faux Lara has a nice ring to it, Not Demetrius.” 

“I’m awful at it actually. But when I have the chance, I’ll let you deal with the horror of the occasion.” He responded with a shrug. He actually wasn’t too sure if he was good at it or not, though he thought that he was somewhat decent. It was better to keep the ego at bay during moments.”I could think of other names as well that have a nice ring to it. Surely, you’ve never heard of a name called Megs, but it works as well.” He chuckled at the restored nickname. 

“I’m your next of kin, they called me.” She rolled her eyes mostly playfully, shaking her head with a tight smile she was doing her best to conceal. “My question is how you managed to get caught.” She ticked a waiting brow at him and waved the bartender over without tossing a glance in his direction. When he approached, she twirled around her empty beer bottle. “I’ll have another.” She tossed her head in her brother’s direction. “And he’ll have a beer and two of the strongest shots you’ve got.” She waved the bartender away before Dimitri could argue, and turned back to him with a winning but genuine smile reserved only for him. “And don’t knock the food. It’s shit now, but wait a few beers. You’ll be singing a different song. I got plastered here last night and ate half the menu.” 

“I would have appreciated some type of warning about this, that way I know who to avoid.” Dimitri joked, however faltered at the question. He shook his head with a yawn, he rather bypass that question as much as possible. “What time is it, by the way?” He had a feeling the the question would return later. His nose scrunched upwards at the idea of alcohol. He wasn’t in the mood to drink and his eyes rolled. “I’ll do my best to knock the food more now. Maybe I didn’t want to drink?” He responded with an irritated sigh. “It’ll ruin my muscles and I don’t want a beer belly. So, that’s where you were when Orion’s shoelace got stuck in the new treadmill.” 

When it became clear he wasn’t going to stop talking, she set down her pen and looked up at him, pinched lips and raised eyebrows on her face.   “The law here says it is necessary, yes.  The court will have to sort out the difference between defense and offense.  I’m not sure telling me the ways you would evade capture are the best way to explain yourself.”  She couldn’t help the small smile that came with her words, nor the amusement in her tone.  “You certainly don’t sound harmless.  You are right that mentioning these things makes you sound less so.  Was this a common dialogue where you came from?” 

Dimitri’s lips pursed in irriation at that. He didn’t like the handcuffs or how they bit at his wrist. “I rather not be bolted down with cold metals that’s chipping into my flesh.” Dimitri responded. It wasn’t comfortable, which made him used to it a little. “Defense, in the case they were disrespecting my sister. Not going to do it, just know how to is the thing.” Dimitri shrugged, he was good at it. “I mean, technically I am in the moment. Handcuffs and all. But even without that, I wouldn’t do anything.” His lips pursed at her comment and shrugged. “I’m actually being nicer than where I came from.”