Post LS

LPOV

Rose was weaving in and out of busy traffic, trying to get us from Lehigh to Court as fast as possible, hoping to be in time for the Council meeting. We had originally planned to return yesterday but I had been so busy preparing for said meeting, as well as my upcoming wedding, that I had completely forgotten about an important paper which was due today. I'd worked all through last night and today, handed it in at the end of the afternoon and now we were braving rush hour traffic to be back in time for a new day, just filled with politics instead of papers.

Nobody said it was easy being Queen.

I was exhausted, and I was bound to be stuck in the Council room until sunrise at least, listening to Prince Ivashkov and others ranting about the addition of offensive magic classes to the Moroi curriculum for the upcoming schoolyear. Heaven forbid we should actually be able to take care of ourselves after all, when we had dhampirs who were trained to do just that. Nathan didn't care in the least that their numbers were dropping every day, and that the amount of dhampirs set to receive their promise mark were at a twenty-year low.

Maybe thinking about the upcoming meeting wasn't the best way to relax. The drive back to Court could well be my only time to catch up on some rest until I got back to my rooms in the palace tonight. At least Christian could go there as soon as we arrived back at Court and get some sleep. Maybe he'd even have dinner waiting for me tonight. I was more thirsty than hungry really, but his lasagne was to die for. And there'd be feeders on hand at the meeting, so at least I could feed during a break, rather than having to do that later.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Rose suddenly threw the car to the left to switch lanes, swearing loudly at the Honda in front of us who'd suddenly hit the brakes. Christian groaned next to me. "What the hell Rosie! Where did you get your license?"
I looked at him in disapproval but Rose merely shrugged. "Mario Kart."
I bit back a laugh and I could see Dimitri doing the same in the passenger seat, but Christian was unimpressed. "Yeah right. If you drive like this in Mario Kart I bet you've never crossed a single finish line."
"Watch your mouth sparky! You want to get back to Court in one piece don't you?" Rose asked threatheningly.

Chris was quiet for a second but then he snorted. "You're not about to start throwing banana peels out of the window are you?"
"Nah, but if you keep up the commentary I'd be happy to throw you out instead."
"Yeah right, like you could."
Rose half turned in her seat and Dimitri coughed loudly to remind her of what she was doing. She turned her attention back to the road, mostly, but as soon as she could she glared at Christian in the rearview mirror. "Of course I can! It'd take me so little effort I could do it while driving."
"True, if you make a few more turns like the last one I'm sure we'll all be thrown out of the car soon enough. As I said, there's no way you ever, ever made it to the finish, in any game."

I could see her eyes narrow. "Is that a challenge sparky? Cause I'd love to kick your ass on a couple of tracks."
"I doubt it'd be much of a challenge Rosie, you totally suck at video games," Christian answered with a huge smug grin on his face.
"You, me, Mario Kart, tomorrow!"
"Sure thing!"

For a moment I considered warning Christian somehow that Rose was actually really good at this particular game, but I decided not to. He started the bickering this time, and he knew how Rose would respond to a challenge. He could deal with the consequences. They'd probably be evenly matched anyway. Rose might be great at Mario Kart, but given the chance, Chris played video games all day long. I didn't really see the point, or understand the objectives most of the time, but he'd probably say the same about my shopping trips. To each their own.

Things quieted down after that. Chris was staring out of the window, probably wondering where he'd last seen his copy of Mario Kart and making plans to practice all day today while Rose was stuck in the Council room with me. Rose was once again paying attention to the road, though traffic had thankfully thinned out quite a bit. Dimitri was watching the road as closely as she was, looking for anything out of the ordinary that might possibly turn out to be a risk to our safety. The usual really.

My eyes were still on Dimitri when he moved and took Rose's hand, which had been resting on the center console, in his. I could see her turn her head a little to give him a warm smile before she turned back to the road again. The corner of Dimitri's mouth rose in answer. I probably should've looked away, giving them this small moment of privacy when I knew they'd had so little time to themselves lately between exams, papers and council meetings. I couldn't help being a little fascinated though as I looked at the tall guardian.

Even after all this time, I still occasionally had some trouble understanding how Rose ended up falling in love with the serious, usually stone-faced guardian who she used to refer to as her Russian jailer. Or the other way around for that matter. When Dimitri dragged us back to St. Vladimir's I never in a million years would've expected him to stand up for Rose, be her mentor and develop feelings for her in the process. It was funny how things happened sometimes.

If anyone would've asked fifteen-year-old, or seventeen-year-old, me what type of guy Rose would end up dating, I probably would've said someone like Jesse or Adrian. Goodlooking, not too demanding, just looking for a good time. The party girl Rose used to be would've probably been up for that, but after we ran away from the Academy she changed a lot.

I didn't really notice it at first, though I guess I should've expected it, considering how much strain she was under to keep me safe and both of us from getting caught. When we first returned I expected both of us to just fit in again and continue where we left off, but it soon became clear that life didn't really work that way. Still, it wasn't until Rose started prefering thermal shirts to dresses, and training with Dimitri to parties that I finally understood she wasn't the same girl I'd left the Academy with. Or at least, she was still Rose, my funny, loyal, caring best friend, but she was also more serious, more dedicated and more protective. She had grown up a lot faster than I had.

Even taking all of that into account though, I never would've guessed she'd fall for Dimitri.

Studying him now, I guessed I could see the attraction. If you didn't consider the fact that he'd been our teacher when we met, which basically meant I wrote him off immediately, he really was... well... hot. There was no other word for it really. Not quite my type of course, but his face was kind of beautiful and his shoulder length hair gave him a bit of an edge. And nothing against Christian, I loved him to pieces, but his body had nothing on Dimitri's tall, well-muscled frame. And one could only imagine how his strength and stamina translated to erm.. other activities.

I felt a blush creeping onto my face and for a moment I considered myself lucky that the bond was gone. If Rose had heard what I was just thinking... I'd seen the death glare she directed at anyone who drooled over Dimitri. There was just one word for it. Terrifying. Everyone was lucky looks couldn't kill and Rose couldn't read minds, or the female Moroi and dhampir populations between 15 and 50 would've been decimated by now.

Anyway, no matter how hot he was, I just didn't see Dimitri that way. At first he was just my guardian, a respectable, reliable adult who'd keep me safe, but later on I started considering him a friend. Things shifted after he was restored and eventually we developed a sort of brother-sister relationship. Especially after he'd loosened up a little when he and Rose finally got back together and he became Christian's guardian. And while I liked him a lot, he just really wasn't the type of guy I'd go for. He was just too serious and closed-off. Christian was a much better match for me, in every way.

Finally pulling myself out of my train of thought, I came back to the present and realized I was still looking right at Dimitri and Rose. Neither of them seemed to have noticed and I witnessed one of their stolen moments when Dimitri reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind Rose's ear.
She chuckled in answer. "You really shouldn't distract me like that when I'm driving comrade, especially not when I'm driving 90."
Dimitri's raised an eyebrow at her. "Speeding again Roza?"
She shrugged. "You wanted us to get there in time didn't you? And we're perfectly fine."
He smiled. "I know, I trust you."
I could just make out the tiny satisfied smile creeping onto Rose's face in the rearview mirror.

Honestly, I might not quite understand how they fell for eachother, but seeing them together like this, it was more than obvious that they loved eachother deeply and that was really all I wanted for my best friend.

We were nearly at Court when I suddenly remembered something and exclaimed: "Oh Rose! You can't play Mario Kart tomorrow, we've got some appointments. You promised to help me pick out the wedding decorations remember?"
Christian groaned next to me. Despite all my efforts he still wasn't showing the appropriate enthusiasm when it came to napkin colors or flower arrangements. His groan nearly, but not quite, drowned out the similar but softer one from Rose and my nerves about the wedding finally got the better of me. "You promised Rose! Who else is going to help me?!"

Christian took my hand in his and Rose immediately started reassuring me from the driver's seat that everything would be perfectly fine. When I had calmed down she said calmly: "Of course I'll go with you if you want me to Liss, you know that. I was just thinking though, maybe you should take Dimitri instead? You know I really don't know anything about flowers and stuff like that, and having grown up in a house full of women I'm sure he's way more qualified to help you. You and Chris could switch guardians for the day."

If I hadn't known any better I could've sworn I saw Dimitri's jaw drop from the corner of my eye. Such a display of emotion would've been way out of character for him though and when I looked at him, he was completely in control of himself. I considered Rose's words and realized she was probably right. When it came to small details, Rose really wasn't much better than Christian. There was no way she would see the difference between carnation pink and cherry blossom. And I seriously doubted she knew the difference between a ranunculus and a peony.

I looked from Dimitri to Rose and back again and said: "You may have a point. Would you mind though Dimitri? I don't want to impose. Especially as a florist-appointment seems to be some people's worst nightmare." I looked pointedly at Rose and Christian.
He chuckled and turned to give me a reassuring smile. "I don't mind Lissa, anything I can do to help you."
Before he could say another word Rose clapped in her hands before returning them to the wheel. "That's all settled then."

We were just pulling into Court when she spoke up again: "Uhm, Liss? The bakery appointment wasn't tomorrow was it? You totally need my expertise for that one, I'm not sure Dimitri would get it right. I'm pretty sure they only have one type of cake in Siberia."
Christian and I both laughed and even Dimitri chuckled, before I reassured her: "That one is the day after tomorrow. Trust me, I know you wouldn't miss it for anything."

I didn't think I was supposed to catch her eyeing Dimitri and murmuring: "Well maybe not anything."

Late the next afternoon Dimitri and I entered the room while Rose was doing a little victory dance sort-of thing. "I wo-hon, I wo-hon, I woooon!"
"You knocked me off a cliff!" Chris said angrily.
"You drove yourself off a cliff! It's not my fault you suck."
"It only happened because you threw one of those red shells at me!"
"Suits you right after you put that fake item box right in front of me."
"I wouldn't have if you hadn't dropped those damn banana peels."
"You needed slowing down after you cheated your way back to the front by turning yourself into a bullet!"
"Oh please, the only reason you were at the front was because you zapped everyone else and made me fall into that gap."
"Doesn't matter how I got there, just that I was there at the finish line. And stop complaining about the damn gap, you made me drive into it when you got ink all over my side of the screen."
"The only reason you finished first is because you got that stupid star thing and the bomb I threw didn't blow you up."
"That's not the reason you asshole. The reason is that I'm awesome and you suck."

I looked pleadingly at Dimitri, silently willing him to interfere before they ended up killing eachother, but before either of us could move Christian sat back down and said: "Again?"
Rose dropped to the floor and answered: "Again!"

I motioned Dimitri towards the kitchen where I made us both a cup of coffee and we settled in, once again examining the samples the weddingplanner had given me and quietly discussing the flower arrangement the florist had proposed. To my surprise Dimitri really had been very useful, pointing out some details that I didn't think of and keeping me from turning the venue into a barbie-themed wedding by insisting that Christian wouldn't appreciate paradise pink tablecloths.

I was just about to get us a second cup of coffee when we heard a crash from the living room. We both got up and ran in that direction, Dimitri obviously getting there first, only to see Christian standing there, his controller broken on the floor and a ball of fire in his hand. Rose was still watching the screen intently, singing quietly: "You are the one thing in my way, you are the one thing in my way, you are the one thing in my wahaaay."

A small giggle escaped me and I could see Dimitri fighting back laughter as well. He pulled himself together quickly. "Roza, please stop singing."
She pouted petulantly but her eyes never left the screen. "Why?"
I replied: "Because it's obviously driving Chris crazy, and well.. You really can't sing."
She rolled her eyes but went quiet, allowing us to deal with Christian instead, which was a good thing as I could see a small flame dancing at the bottom of Rose's ponytail.

"Christian, could you please put out the fire?"
He glared back at Dimitri. "Why would I do that?"
"Because otherwise you'll have to find a different guardian. Rose will kill you if you set her hair on fire and I value my life too much to get in her way."
After several tense seconds Christian finally dropped his hands and the flames disappeared. Dimitri nodded at him. "Thank you." Then he quickly gathered Rose's things and hurried them both out the door, saying it was obviously time to get some dinner.

When I slipped into bed four hours later, Christian was already there, smiling like the cheshire cat while reading something on his phone. I cuddled up to him, pressing my cold feet against his legs and trying to see whatever made him this happy. I could make out enough of the conversation to know what it was about.

C: You lucked out! Revanche
R: Oh plz! No luck involved, pure skill. But fine, if you want your ass kicked, I'm in
C: You obviously don't know what skill means, show you tomorrow. C U at 10
R: Prepare to lose. A lot
C: You do that. Nn. Sucker
R: Sweet dreams. Loser

I sighed and rolled over, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. I would have to reschedule my appointment at the bakery, or at least figure out if they'd allow me to take samples home. Rose really would kill Christian if he made her miss out on cake, and there'd be no wedding without a groom.

Author's note: Right, so about last chapter.. I totally didn't intend to leave you all hanging, but after about ten attempts, I can honestly say that there's just no way I'll be able to wrap it up satisfactorily within a single chapter. I do really like the storyline though, so I've put it on my shortlist to turn it into a (short) story, if I ever find enough inspiration to write something that's more than one or two chapters. For now, I'll leave it up as a one-shot, but hopefully that will change in the future, in which case I'll repost it as a separate story.

Anyway, I hope you guys liked this one and it makes up a little for my sketchy posting schedule at the moment. The song Rose is singing at the end is My Way by Calvin Harris.

I plan on rereading all of the books soon, so hopefully that'll give me enough inspiration to write something new as well as finish the ton of half-written oneshots I've currently got in my documents.

Enjoy your weekend!