You tug on Dimitri's collars after lessons. He turns to face you and grimaces.
"Hi, Nessa." He tilts his head. "How's your cheek doing?"
"It's bruised. It hurts," you say flatly, your eyebrows falling. During lessons today, you messed up an incantation. Esmau didn't like that. And now you have a bruise on your cheek. You know Dimitri's just trying to show concern, but asking about it isn't gonna make it hurt less. Anyway, that's not what you wanted to talk about. "A...anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about."
"What is it, then?"
"Um...." You look around. Gale is talking to Nell. Ben and Fran are a short distance away (Ben and Fran are always hanging around Dimitri....), watching the two of you. You lightly put a hand on your older cousin's shoulder. "Can we talk...away from everybody else?" Dimitri doesn't seem to like that, but...he looks over at Ben and Fran. He gives them a simple nod. The two twins nod back and walk away. Dimitri then follows you away from them, behind one of the houses.
"What?" He asks. "Do you want some help with the lessons? If you just study harder, Esmau probably won't get so mad at you..."
"I don't need help studying...!" You say with a huff. "And Esmau will find a reason to get mad at me, no matter how good I do..." You grumble. "I just. Wanted to talk to you. About something..." You fidget a bit, wringing your hands together, before forcing it out. "...do you ever think about what it's like outside?"
"I...guess?" Dimitri says. "It's getting colder. We're probably gonna have to start doing lessons in the temple once it starts snowing."
"No...I don't mean like, outside here! I mena...outside the forest!" You wave your arms as widely as you can. "I..." You look back and forth to make sure nobody is watching. "I've been thinking about what it's like, outside the forest..."
"What? Why?!" Dimitri exclaims. "That's against the rules! That's the most important rule! Grandmother Lilith tells us, we can never go outside the forest! Outside the forest, they hunt and kill witches! Geez, Nessa, don't you even pay attention to anything Grandmother Lilith says?!"
"I do...! I just...some of it doesn't make much sense to me! If it's dangerous outside the forest, then...shouldn't we know more about it? So we can understand how bad it is? But Grandmother Lilith doesn't even want us to ask! She won't tell us anything except that hunt kill witches! She won't even tell us who 'they' are, doesn't that bother yo--"
"STOP!" Dimitri waves his hands emphatically. "Nessa, just stop! She doesn't tell us because we don't need to know! All we need to do is listen to her and become witches like her!" He runs his hand down his face. "No wonder you're always messing up in lessons if you're thinking about stuff like this..." He shakes his head. "I'm gonna do you a favor and not tell Esmau or Grandmother Lilith any of the stuff you were just saying. Just...forget all of that, okay, Nessa? It doesn't matter."
"...."
You sniff once and look at the ground.
"Okay," you say in a very small voice. Dimitri sighs, and then for lack of anything better to say, just walks away. You bring a hand up to your eyes and rub it a couple times. Except for the part where he said he wouldn't tell Esmau or Grandmother Lilith, that went about as badly as it possibly could've gone.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
voidhearts) wrote2023-01-23 07:50 pm
01
You tug on Dimitri's collars after lessons. He turns to face you and grimaces.
"Hi, Nessa." He tilts his head. "How's your cheek doing?"
"It's bruised. It hurts," you say flatly, your eyebrows falling. During lessons today, you messed up an incantation. Esmau didn't like that. And now you have a bruise on your cheek. You know Dimitri's just trying to show concern, but asking about it isn't gonna make it hurt less. Anyway, that's not what you wanted to talk about. "A...anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about."
"What is it, then?"
"Um...." You look around. Gale is talking to Nell. Ben and Fran are a short distance away (Ben and Fran are always hanging around Dimitri....), watching the two of you. You lightly put a hand on your older cousin's shoulder. "Can we talk...away from everybody else?" Dimitri doesn't seem to like that, but...he looks over at Ben and Fran. He gives them a simple nod. The two twins nod back and walk away. Dimitri then follows you away from them, behind one of the houses.
"What?" He asks. "Do you want some help with the lessons? If you just study harder, Esmau probably won't get so mad at you..."
"I don't need help studying...!" You say with a huff. "And Esmau will find a reason to get mad at me, no matter how good I do..." You grumble. "I just. Wanted to talk to you. About something..." You fidget a bit, wringing your hands together, before forcing it out. "...do you ever think about what it's like outside?"
"I...guess?" Dimitri says. "It's getting colder. We're probably gonna have to start doing lessons in the temple once it starts snowing."
"No...I don't mean like, outside here! I mena...outside the forest!" You wave your arms as widely as you can. "I..." You look back and forth to make sure nobody is watching. "I've been thinking about what it's like, outside the forest..."
"What? Why?!" Dimitri exclaims. "That's against the rules! That's the most important rule! Grandmother Lilith tells us, we can never go outside the forest! Outside the forest, they hunt and kill witches! Geez, Nessa, don't you even pay attention to anything Grandmother Lilith says?!"
"I do...! I just...some of it doesn't make much sense to me! If it's dangerous outside the forest, then...shouldn't we know more about it? So we can understand how bad it is? But Grandmother Lilith doesn't even want us to ask! She won't tell us anything except that hunt kill witches! She won't even tell us who 'they' are, doesn't that bother yo--"
"STOP!" Dimitri waves his hands emphatically. "Nessa, just stop! She doesn't tell us because we don't need to know! All we need to do is listen to her and become witches like her!" He runs his hand down his face. "No wonder you're always messing up in lessons if you're thinking about stuff like this..." He shakes his head. "I'm gonna do you a favor and not tell Esmau or Grandmother Lilith any of the stuff you were just saying. Just...forget all of that, okay, Nessa? It doesn't matter."
"...."
You sniff once and look at the ground.
"Okay," you say in a very small voice. Dimitri sighs, and then for lack of anything better to say, just walks away. You bring a hand up to your eyes and rub it a couple times. Except for the part where he said he wouldn't tell Esmau or Grandmother Lilith, that went about as badly as it possibly could've gone.