When I woke up, it was the middle of the night. Somehow, we had slept through the entire afternoon. I was still in Dimentio's room, the jester sleeping soundly beside me. I noticed one of his arms hung limply around my waist, and I couldn't help smiling at it.

I turned over and snuggled a little closer to Dimentio while he slept. I blinked in surprise, realizing he didn't smile when he was asleep. I'd seen him frown once or twice, but I was under the impression he couldn't help but smile. Still, he did look peaceful. He really must have been exhausted—I'd never seen him quite like this.

I felt sorry for him, so I let him continue sleeping while I looked around the room. Everything was dark—it was the middle of the night, after all—but the objects themselves were very dark in color. He didn't seem to have strayed much from the room's original design—all black with white trim. Every now and again, there would be a flash of color. Occasionally, an article of his clothing would stand out, or the purple curtains around the window, or the sparkling yellow diamonds that hung on invisible strings from the ceiling.

"Where are we?" A cold voice demanded deep within my mind. She wasn't even fully awake yet—she just panicked at the immediate knowledge that she was somewhere unfamiliar.

We're in Dimmy's room. I thought, fearful that speaking aloud would wake Dimentio and cause him to think I was a freak. I took a nap with him, cause we needed some rest after all this hero-battle.

She was silent for a moment, then a splitting headache hit me full-force as she snapped straight past awake and into panic-mode. "You slept with that disgusting little rat? Repulsive! Get us out of here immediately!"

No! I thought desperately, my hands gripping the blankets around me in a feeble attempt to remain anchored down. C'mon, nothing happened! We just took a nap, that's all!

Miinyx made no reply, other than a loud, violent hiss that echoed through my mind and grated against my ears. I must have flinched at it, because next thing I knew, Dimentio made a small noise and began to move around. I held my breath, knowing I had woken him and afraid of it for a reason I couldn't logically place. Slowly, two eyes blinked open into very tired slits with droopy lids. His black eye was hidden deep in the pillows, and his yellow one glowed at me in the dark. "…Mimi?" He mumbled softly. "Are you alright?"

I smiled and gently nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm fine." I whispered sweetly. "Did I wake ya up, sleepy-head?"

"I believe you may have…" He answered, and I saw a small smile playing at his lips. "…have you any idea what the time is?"

I shrugged, rustling the covers around me. "It's late. I think we slept 'til nighttime."

Upon hearing that, Dimentio allowed himself a smile and closed his eyes again, nestling deeper into the pillows and blankets. "Well, no point in getting up now, is there?" He murmured sleepily.

I laughed, ducking out from under his arm to scoot away from him. "I should probably go back to my room."

Dimentio cracked his eyes open to frown and stare at me. "…why?" He asked after a moment. "Will someone be coming to miss you?"

"Say yes." Miinyx demanded. I sent her a silent command to shut up before offering Dimentio a reply. "No, I guess not."

Before I could say anything else, his arm was around me again, and with a firm yank, he had me pulled right up against his chest. "Then do my weary heart a favor and stay here for one night." Dimentio said as he snuggled tighter around me. Miinyx made a repulsive noise, and I could feel her trying to twist herself into a small corner of my mind so she wouldn't touch the part of my skull lying on Dimentio's chest. I told her to get over it, happily settling into place in Dimentio's arms.

"Nassy'd be mad if she knew I was in here…" I said aloud, only halfway concerned about the matter.

"Indeed." Dimentio agreed. "Then, it is very fortunate for us that dear Nasty shall never find out."

I gave a short, soft laugh, holding onto Dimentio's poncho as we drifted back into sleep. It was strange, I couldn't help thinking. Dimentio's hands were very cold without his gloves. But this one spot, right here on his chest, was very warm.

After sleeping an entire afternoon away, Dimentio and I could only manage a few hours each for our nighttime rest. Noting the time at about three o'clock in the morning, we laid in bed and spoke in soft whispers to each other over matters of utmost importance and also over nothing at all. After a moment, my internal clock must have decided that if it was going to be confused, it may as well be confused on all parts, and my stomach gave a low rumble. Had it not caught Dimentio's attention as well, I would have thought it was only Miinyx growling at me again.

Luckily, Dimentio is pretty much the best guy ever, so once my stomach interrupted our conversation, he suggested we go down and have some middle-of-the-night breakfast, before anyone else in the house was awake enough to come bother us. I smiled, and immediately agreed.

A few minutes of wandering the halls later, we found our way to the kitchen, and crept silently inside. I scampered behind the counters in hopes of impressing Dimentio with the breakfast-making skills Nastasia had taught me. My efforts were halted, however, as he grabbed my waist, set me down on one of the barstools, and politely informed me that there was no need for a delicate lady to work her fingers to the bone when there was someone around who was perfectly willing to wait on her hand and foot.

And, golly, what could I do but smile and blush and giggle like a stupid girl at that? Nothing. So I sat there with a stupid smile and continued chatting with him as Dimentio went about expertly preparing the most beautiful, perfect pair of omelets I had ever laid eyes on.

"So, do you just do everything perfect?" I asked coyly, twirling my fingers in my pigtail. "And is that from practice, or is it just because you're Dimentio?"

Dimentio laughed at that, smiling brightly at me as he continued cooking. "I'll take that as a compliment, my dear, but I assure you I am far from perfect… that you see me as such, however, does mean a great deal to me."

I smiled. "You're just good at everything…" I sighed dreamily. "I wish I could be like you."

He laughed again—and I marveled at what a beautiful sound it always happened to be. "Perhaps, in time, you very well could be. But, tell me, my darling, why would you so desire to be like one such as I?"

I replayed the question again and again in my mind, reflecting on his elegant style of speech, and it was a few moments before I actually realized that what he had said required a response on my part. "…because you're just… amazing…" I said, and it came out sort of in a longing sigh.

Dimentio gave me a beautiful, gentle smile. "If that is so, then I assure you, you are already there and well past, my dearest Mimi…"

I blushed and giggled again. "Stop it!" I cried. "You're just saying that!"

"Far from it, darling…" He gently assured me. "You are a beautiful young lady, and clever and powerful on top of that. You are truly exceptional."

I smiled, leaning closer to him. "Golly, I bet you say that to all the girls." I joked.

He laughed and winked at me. "Only those who capture my attention—which, mind you, is a rather difficult feat to accomplish."

I smiled and laughed, allowing us to sit in silence for a moment as I continued watching Dimentio perfectly prepare breakfast as though he had done it every morning his entire life. Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, my memories flooded with my conversation I had held with Miinyx earlier. I'm sure she did this on purpose, because I realized immediately what she was intending for me to do, but I fell for it anyway, and suddenly, I was curious. "Say, Dimmy… where are you from?"

Dimentio smiled at me. "Before Castle Bleck, I presume?"

I nodded, and he laughed lightly before he answered. "Believe it or not, before I came here… I lived in the same world our dear Count Bleck came from."

I titled my head to one side. I had thought that Nastasia and the Count must have met there, because they looked pretty much the same. Dimentio didn't look anything like either one of them. But, if the Count's story was right—about Blumiere and Timpani—then the only other type of people there were humans. I'd seen a lot of different ones, but Dimentio was far too beautiful to be human. "But, you don't look like anyone there."

Dimentio shrugged. "And how would you know? Have you ever dwelt in that dimension?" I shook my head, and he continued, waving his spatula in a circle around my nose. "Come to think of it, you never looked very much like any of the people in your world either."

I pouted. "That's different." I snapped, trying to shut up Miinyx's snickering at the back of my mind. "My demon made me this way."

Dimentio gave me a mischievous look and a sly smile. "Are you so certain no one has done anything to my form?"

I lowered my head. "Oh… I guess I didn't think of that." I mumbled sheepishly. "What did you look like before?"

Dimentio shrugged carelessly as he scooped our omelets out onto two different plates and floated around the counter to serve me and pour us some juice. "I appeared only like a long-forgotten memory—with perhaps a vague recollection of something I never again wish to become. I changed for the better when my form was altered, and I fully intend to never return to what I once was."

I picked up a fork as he spoke and took a bite of my omelet. It tasted exactly how it looked—perfect. "Well… I'm glad you're happy now, at least."

"And what of yourself?" He prompted, taking a bite of his own creation. "Things have certainly changed in your life… would you say for better, or perhaps for worse?"

I smiled at him. "I think better." I said immediately.

Dimentio blinked at me. "…even though you are entirely alone? Though a demon plagues your mind, and had changed who you are, and forces you to become a monster? Though as a small child you have undergone more tragedy than most adults?"

I thought about what he said for a moment. "…well, I don't remember who I was or where I came from… so I guess I can't miss what I never really had… and yeah, things were bad for a while… but now, I feel like everything is finally looking up." I met the jester's disbelieving eyes and the baffled (admittedly, outright stunned) look he was giving me, and smiled brightly. "I feel like I'm home. I don't remember ever having a family—but I feel like it'd be sorta like this, ya know?"

Dimentio was silent for a while, but slowly, his expression softened, and he smiled gently at me with a somewhat admiring glow in his eyes. "That's very brave of you, Mimi… to come out of such an experience and find something worth living for… I'm very honored that you would count us as your family, and I hope sincerely that we are living up to expectations."

"Definitely ." I assured him. We were just about to continue with our conversation when a small noise interrupted us. Its wasn't terribly loud—only the soft creaking as a large door in the room was opened. However, in the deafening silence of the impossibly early morning, it was loud enough to effectively capture our full attention. Turning to investigate the source of the noise, and the intruder that had caused it, we found Nastasia stepping gently into the room, looking just as surprised to see us as we were to see her.

Of course, she being Nastasia, it wasn't very like her at all to laze about in her pajamas. She was already dressed in her usual attire with her hair fixed exactly so, even though it was still the ungodly hour of five o'clock in the morning. I wasn't really surprised to see her like that, but I was suddenly very aware that Dimentio and I must have looked rather foolish lazing around in our nightclothes.

"…uh, what are you two doing up so early?" Nastasia said—softly, but sharply—as she shut the door and slowly approached us.

Dimentio flashed her a wide smile, and I noted it was much different than the one he often displayed for me. He spun around fully to face her, resting his elbows on the counter and crossing one leg elegantly over the other. "Ah, a very good morning to you as well, Nastasia. Forgive me—we did not intend to intrude upon your morning routines, but Mimi and I awoke rather early today, and with nothing else to do, we decided to come down for a bite to eat."

"Uh-huh…" Nastasia said, adjusting her glasses. She stopped walking, pausing directly in front of Dimentio, though obviously at a carefully measured distance. "That didn't answer my question, though… Why did you, um, wake up so early?"

Dimentio waved a hand about in the air, as if brushing aside such an insignificant question. "Nothing of utmost importance, if that is what you are implying… we simply retired to bed a tad too early, and such being the case, awoke at a truly unreasonable hour of the morning and could not go back to sleep."

Nastasia held his cool gaze for a moment, then turned to face me. "Mimi? How did you know Dimentio was awake as well?"

I glanced over to the jester for a fraction of a second—only long enough to see the way he was looking and smiling at me. "I didn't." I lied. "I got bored, so I was walking around the castle. I bumped into him in one of the halls, then we came here."

"Look—I even fed the dear child." Dimentio bragged, waving his hand over our now-emptied breakfast plates. "I like to think I was being rather responsible for her, don't you?"

Something in Nastasia's expression shifted, though I couldn't tell what it was. "…I'm not sure how I feel about you crossing your schedule with Mimi's." she said after some length of time.

Dimentio rolled his head back, giving a sigh of feigned frustration. "Oh, always schedules and plans and such with you… You, Nastasia dear, need to be more… spontaneous… live for the moment every now and again."

Nastasia made a short noise of disapproval, shaking her head at the jester. "Perhaps you ought to try sorting things out once in a while. Then, maybe you wouldn't be such a mess all the time."

Dimentio gave her a devious smirk, and I could see that tiny hint of evil hiding in the corner of his eyes. "…are you implying that I am not at all sorted-out, Nasty? I may very well have my entire life completely planned out in some obscure, hidden-away file—and perhaps I have plans for little Mimi's life, or your blithering O'Chunks', or our dear Count's, or perhaps even yours…"

Nastasia's lips pressed firmly together, and she seemed to be getting angrier. I wanted to interrupt—I really hated seeing two of my friends fight. However, Miinyx was sitting at the back of my mind making me shut up and sit still so we could listen to their argument and they wouldn't throw me out. "I honestly have no doubt you do, Dimentio…" Nastasia seethed, coming just a single step closer to him. "I'm sure the Count would be very interested to know you have such plans stored away…"

Dimentio continued staring at her for a split second longer, then suddenly, his expression shifted to bright eyes and an innocent smile. He tilted his head to one side and politely asked, "What plans? I'm afraid I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, dearest Nastasia."

The secretary continued to stare at him, and then we reached the inevitable. She turned sharply to me, pointed towards the door, and snapped, "Mimi. Outside." I opened my mouth to protest, but was cut off by the word "Go." So, I shut up and went.

As soon as the doors were closed behind me, and no one was around to judge whether or not I was a freak, Miinyx took control. She whipped me around mid-step and plastered the side of my head right against the door. It didn't do her much good, though. She couldn't hear anything for the thickness of the wood. Had they been screaming at each other like a fight should have gone, I'm sure we wouldn't have had any trouble listening in. However, Dimentio and Nastasia had a very peculiar way of fighting. They simply hissed at each other in vicious whispers, and all that we could make out was the occasional dull muffle of a word they had emphasized—though, even then, it was impossible to determine what that word was.

Hearing her growl of surrender, I took back control and slowly pulled us away from the door. "Sorry, Miinyx…" I whispered as I began the slow trek back through the castle to reach my bedroom. "Maybe we can talk to Dimmy later?"

"Oh no…" She hissed, and I knew that tone she was using. "We're finding this out immediately."

Great… I inwardly sighed as she forced me to sprint off down the halls. The only thing worse than an angry Miinyx was a determined one. This was going to be a long day.