Drabble:141

Rose had behaved like a model student for far too long, but it was all about to end. Between Kirova's probations and Dimitri's mentoring sessions, Rose hardly had any energy at the end of her day to continue 'extracurricular activities', but tonight she decided that to hell with the system; she was going to party up all night over at Lissa's.
Now Lissa's rooms were in the opposite side of the campus, not to mention on the second floor (meaning no-heels), so Rose decided to scale down her dorm-wall and then climb up the tree outside her friend's room to reach her destination.

After curfew, she glammed up, putting on a frilly top and lip gloss before starting to traverse her way down. Before starting, she had checked to see whether the coast was clear-it was-so she was surprised to hear a voice addressing her when she was just but a foot off the ground.

"Going somewhere, Rose?", an amused voice asked, and one glance confirmed that yes, her mentor was standing on the grounds, a couple feet away, holding back a smile at whatever expression was on her face.

Rose jumped down and smoothed her clothes, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse. "I uh-dropped something.", she said the first thing that crossed her mind.

Dimitri stared at her incredulously, deliberately sweeping his eyes down her party wear before looking up and arching an eyebrow at her.

"I'll play along.", he said pleasantly, probably enjoying watching her squirm. "What did you drop?"

"My-uh-ear-ring.", she said quickly, belatedly remembering that she had on a pair of dangling hoops, which because of her high-ponytail Dimitri could undoubtedly see. So, she quickly changed her statement. "I mean, my locket."
"Your locket?", Dimitri asked, fixing his eyes at her bare throat.

"Yep. A rose-y one that Liss bought.", Rose bluffed, then blushed, thinking of the last time she had worn a rosy necklace. A necklace that Dimitri had seen, and ripped from her throat and then thrown down from his room, the night Victor had unleashed their baser instincts with the lust charm.

One look at Dimitri's face was enough to tell her that his mind had travelled back to the same incident, so she quickly spoke, aiming at distraction.

"It fell to the bushes somewhere, I think.", she said, looking away from him to pretend-survey the shrubbery nearby.

"Rose", Dimitri said exasperatedly in his cut-the-crap voice.

"Fine! I was just going over to Lissa's!", she broke, pouting at him belligerently.

"Is the princess alright?", Dimitri asked, immediately concerned.

"Lissa's fine."

"And you?", he inquired softly.

"Hmm?"

"How are you, Roza?", he asked her, a poignant tenderness apparent in his voice.

Vowing to not show him how that simple endearment had affected her, Rose aimed for her trademark-sarcasm instead. "You see me every day, Comrade. Do you seriously need to ask me that?"

Dimitri just shook his head at her before speaking up. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorm."

Rose gave him her best puppydog face, trying to bargain. "Or I could just climb back up."

"And break your neck? No, Rose. Not on my watch"

"But Stan's on duty tonight. And he already hates me, you know he does! He'll report to Kirova and she'll ground me for life!", Rose whined dramatically-puppydog eyes unleashed full-force-trying to sway him.

"Fine, I'll lead you through the back.", Dimitri sighed, and then smiled as she impulsively hugged him then skipped forward, towards the exit.

"And umm, Rose", he said nervously. "I-uh-retrieved that locket of yours-the rose one, and I have it, if you want it"

Rose whirled around, but Dimitri refused to meet her eyes, so she addressed her words to the patch of grass he was studying. "You can keep it, as a-", and here she stumbled, trying to come up with a non-innuendo-ish-term, before resigning. "You can keep it"

"But it's yours, and it's very expensive, don't you-", he began again, but Rose interjected.

"No", she said firmly. "I don't want any reminders of that night. Of Victor, I mean. Plus, I have your T-shirt, so you might as well keep my locket."

Dimitri nodded, deciding not to mention how couple-y it made them sound. Instead, he declared 'Let's go' and began shepherding Rose back to her room.

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