( 13 ) So push your face into the mirror till it breaks.

[baronetess]

( At Garreg Mach, Integra was hardly close-- to anyone, really. Feeling at once the weight of her obligation to her duty, the path her father laid out for her, and a stranger to those who inhabited the Monastery's halls. This was hardly to say that she was uncivil, or even impolite. Rather, opening up for her was a trial. She blended well enough, she supposed. Yet, were anyone to make any conclusions about her mother's heritage, that could become troublesome for her.

So she refrained, making niceties with most of her classmates when necessary, retreating into the background where she could.

It's really only during one of her midnight walks through the Monastery grounds (another nightmare, visions of being torn apart by demonic beasts,) that she notices Dimitri retreating from his room. Perhaps she wouldn't think much of the act in and of itself, but the look on his face seemed... almost contorted. )

Dimitri?

( She calls out, finding the words brimming from her throat, struck by his overwhelming sense of pain. )

What troubles you?

( She didn't find any use in asking 'if' something was wrong, when there very clearly was. Nor did she want her house leader-- of all people, talking her out of this. )

Comments

[asaviorshand]

[It was the dead of night, and all the monastery was quiet. Everyone was sound asleep in their separate rooms; at least, that's what Dimitri had figured. Still, he tries to play it safe by slipping as quietly as possible out of his room to go take a walk.

So when Integra sees him, and calls out to him, he's...a little shook, to say the least.]

Huh!?

[He turns around toward the direction the voice came from.]

Integra...I-I didn't realize anyone else was awake. It's, um...

[He trails off. How is he supposed to explain his predicament, exactly?]

It's...complicated, one might say.

[baronetess]

( In any other situation, she might have found his blunder comical. Yet, in spite of herself-- really, Dimitri is met with an almost sad, but intense contemplative gaze, and a commanding voice with a hint of warmth, beckoning him to follow. )

You may speak to me, if you wish.

( Ultimately, she realizes that she is prying, after all. She cannot force him to tell her, no matter how troubling she may find his presence to be. )

I presume you would wish to take matters elsewhere.

( Which is to say, not in the middle of the hallway, where either one of them could be overheard...

Which is to beg the question, what is she doing out here, at this time of night? )

[asaviorshand]

Yes, I would.

[There's no way that Dimitri would want to talk about this in the hallway where anyone might overhear. If they do talk, it would be best to do so elsewhere.]

What about you? Are you all right? I figured you would be asleep, just like everyone else.

[And even in times like this, his concern for others outweighs his concern for himself.]

[baronetess]

( That's... really quite touching, frankly. Those around her always sought to her as a pillar of strength. So distant, so independent. How could she be affected by something so trivial as night terrors?

She breaks that chain of thought, outstretching her hand to Dimitri. )

Strange dreams, I guess you could say.

( That part she couldn't bear to speak on further. The reoccurring dream she's had since her youth. )

[asaviorshand]

You don't say...

[What a coincidence. They were both experiencing the same malady. He raises his thumb and forefinger to his chin.]

As fate would have it, it's the same for me. They wouldn't happen to be rooted in past experiences as well, would they?

[As he talks, he walks toward Integra -- and toward the stairs leading down to the courtyard in front of the greenhouse.]

[baronetess]

( It's a careless gesture on her part. Perhaps she'd have been careful if she'd been more awake, not as emotionally vulnerable. But as it stood, she hadn't planned to run into Dimitri on this night. When he takes her hand into his own, Dimitri might notice how calloused her fingers are, when uncovered from her gloves. )

I suppose you could say that.

( Of course, the events of her dream differed from what transpired that day. And yet, despite surviving it all, she'd been left haunted by it.

He's hardly resistant, allowing herself to be led by him, down the stairs and toward the greenhouse, casting her gaze to the side as she speaks. )

What of you?

[asaviorshand]

The same. It's why I asked.

[Dimitri comes to a stop outside the greenhouse door.]

Life seems to find all kinds of interesting coincidences, it seems.