I just r i d e;

[Deleted]

Oh Merlin did his head hurt. Seeing as daylight still graced him with it's presence and as to not aggravate his already throbbing head he decided some caffeine would do instead of alcohol this time. This wasn't from a hangover, something that Dimitri had discovered even back in his school days were that hangovers eluded him for the most part and very rarely did they affect him for very long. There was something about him, the way he healed and a look at his eyes would tell you why. Formerly they were blue and bright, even innocent and as of his youth they took a different shade that came and went and were easily recognizable. Unfortunately, it was no mystery to the Ministry as it was to his close friends. However, he preferred you didn't mention it, he didn't even want to think about this dark cloud that followed him around. These days it was this cycle of despair and pain and being incapacitated for a few days before going back to normal. It was like the bad drinking habit he could not get rid of and was instead cursed to have for the rest of his life with no treatment. The door pushed opened easily to the shop, he was familiar with it and maybe they even recognized him but the small bell that rang at the door opening did little to help his headache. Quickly he ordered a large black cup of coffee, sugar but no cream and took the table in the corner the farthest away from the wide open glass window that let the whole sun in it seemed. There was the low rumble of speaking, people sitting in pairs or even by themselves reading the paper and the latest news and moving pictures that lined the front page.

Besides the excessive drinking and lack of sleep he really had no idea why this headache would plague him today of all times, not that he had anything planned. Dimitri's life revolved around the moon and phasing and whether or not he could control his temper that day. Not a few days previously was he had a small immediate family gathering had his temper been flared and he shifted outside and ran into the small forest after that. For how much he knew it pained his mother to see her son in anguish and act the way he did, he couldn't help. Out of his siblings he was the only one and despite the fact that his father was a werewolf himself he managed to get bitten somehow as if he was destined to receive it one way or another. At this point his siblings were all old enough and past the age of the initial transformation and those first full moons. A dangerous time, but one he was glad had passed already. Nothing compared to it. A little old lady with a friendly face and cheery little voice brought him his coffee in one of those tall travel cups and he nodded to her as to say Thanks. The first sip was almost scalding and he decided he would let it cool for a moment. Slouching slightly in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes in order to try and quell the pain. Where was relief when you needed it. Despite the pain and discomfort he didn't expect it to last long. Part of the whole werewolf thing was his healing ability, however he did manage to land himself in the Hospital now and then and that was one thing that had not changed since school. The stresses of life were merely getting to him, graduated now six years and no job and physically put the limit often was difficult. Maybe finding a job would help. In the mean time he sipped his now cooler coffee, wondering what he would do with his day.

[Salvatrix Steele]

I still have all these questions; you're all talk, no follow through

when I ask you for the answer

that's when you say you'll have one soon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Salva needed coffee. She could already tell that it was going to be one of those days. The kind that you woke to the sunlight streaming through your blinds and its brightness offended you. The kind of day that left you crawling into bed after eating a tub of ice cream without regret. And worst of all, this kind of day left a screaming migraine, which even the strongest of methods could not rid you of. To stave off the inevitable, Salva needed an immediate intake of caffeine. From she had heard from the hearsay of others, the best place to obtain said caffeine in coffee form was Aldric’s Kaffee. This was exactly where she intended to go; just as soon as she found the motivation to get out of bed.

Just as Salva settled herself back underneath her comforter, the voice in the back of her head, which sounded suspiciously like her mother, reminded her that a lady of the Steele name does not lounge about in bed all day. Groaning about pureblood mothers and their inability to leave well enough alone, Salva pulled herself into a sitting position and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. As soon as she was completely vertical, all the blood rushed out of her head leaving a Merlin-awful pounding. Glad that she had showered the night before, she trudged over to the dresser and decided on a simple outfit so that she could get out the door. Salva looked in the mirror and nodded once, satisfied with her appearance, before turning on her heel and apparating into Aluzbra Alley. Still unfamiliar with the layout of the shops, Salva walked past the little coffee shop twice before she actually found it, which just led to a slow downturn of her already poor mood.

Salva walked into the tiny shop with skepticism; it was quaint, she’d give it that. She looked around and nearly walked back out. It was crawling with people and every table was taken. Some were sitting quietly by themselves, sipping their coffee and reading the Daily Timestopper. There were some who were chatting happily with friends; one particular group contained a member with a laugh so loud Salva winced from the increased pounding between her eyes. Others were sitting in silence, holding their cups as though they were the very elixir of life, and glancing to those nearest as though they would steal this elixir from them. “That will be me soon enough,” Salva mused to herself. She moved over to where the line ended and was pleased to notice that it was moving fairly quickly. They must get this kind of morning rush all the time.

Salva ordered a large black coffee and stood to the side to wait for it. She noticed a man sitting in the back corner by himself. He was slouched over slightly and pinching the bridge of his nose, not touching his coffee. It seemed he was also nursing a migraine. Something about this man told Salva to go over and sit down. She narrowed her eyes and decided to follow her impulse, for once. It was a rather large table after all, so she didn’t see any reason he couldn’t share. A few moments after she spied her possible seat, a tiny woman who smiled far too cheerily brought Salva her coffee. She took it with a nod, and began maneuvering around the other patrons. She sipped lightly at her cup and relished in the scalding she received. She stopped at the seating across from him.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

song/poem lyrics: "Who Are You Anyway?" by Taking Back Sunday
outfit: This
tag: Dmitri
word count: 601
notes: 

[Deleted]

Dimitri had closed his eyes for a second and tried not to fall asleep in this public venue, he didn't need that type of attention and embarrassment and nor was he in the mood for such a thing. The caffeine in his coffee was supposed to wake him up and hopefully get rid of his lethal pain in his head. His eyes opened once again to avoid the drowsiness that had been approaching slowly. One of his neighbors was reading the paper and he read what he could of the front page from his angle, the big bold leaders telling more tales of the trials and tribulations of the Wizarding World in this side of the world, the rise of another Dark Lord and such. Dimitri remembered reading and learning about the two Wizarding Wars in England years ago and his father would tell them stories when he would actually be home for once and their mother as well. There was always buzzing and noise around about taking sides and who was right and wrong in this situation, people of his generation that knew nothing of what was capable and what destruction was possible. Was there just this pattern of darkness that had to rise every now and then? His background almost forced him to choose a side. Society didn't take well to Werewolves or anyone really that was remotely with tainted blood, at least on this level. Half-bloods, pure-bloods. The acceptance was higher in this day and age but it seemed to be ready to change with this new atmosphere. Maybe he would pick the evil side, would be against his whole family but not like they were ever really there for him anyway. There were few people that he could count on in this world and the distance between him and his family was only worse after his last few years at school when he would learn so much more about his Father especially to just never want to see his face again, but what could he do?

While spacing out momentarily to ponder the news of the hour a voice spoke and he looked in front of him to ensure that it was directed at him and not somebody else around him. It was rather crowded and he was fatigued so he wanted to be sure. A tall brunette stood in front of him, stoic expression on her face and brilliant eyes. Not saying anything he motioned to the empty chair at his table to this new friend he was apparently about to make. At least she was attractive, so he would give her the time of day and a chair at least. Finally, he got to his coffee where he took a sip and found it wasn't going to burn a hole in his throat for now, and hopefully it would kick in within the five minutes ago he needed it to work. In front of he glanced at her and wondered if she was just a fellow sufferer in this world and getting her cure this morning as well. "Getting your fix as well?" Might as well try to make some conversation so he could take his thoughts away from this pounding headache and world falling apart around him, not that it was any different from his usual days. his world falling apart, it was what he was used to. "I'm Dimitri, by the way."

---

I just worked a 60 hour week x| sorry it's so short.

[Salvatrix Steele]

I still have all these questions; you're all talk, no follow through

when I ask you for the answer

that's when you say you'll have one soon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Salva stood silently waiting for an answer. She followed his gaze and found him looking at another patron’s copy of the Daily Timestopper. The front page was covered in pictures of the Dark Lord and those the Ministry believed to be Death Eaters. She would have to pick up a copy later for herself so as to read the article more fully. Salva smirked; there wasn’t a single picture of people who actually were involved except for the Moswen woman. The Ministry was sending its Aurors on a wild goose chase and they had no idea that in doing so they were making the Dark Lord’s job easier.

She wiped the smug expression from her face and looked back at the man sitting at the table. It took him a minute to look at her, as though he thought she was talking to someone else. A closer examination of his face revealed why he was taking so long. Up close, you could see that he was much younger than he looked to be from a distance. His face showed slight lines of exhaustion and something else, stress perhaps. There were also small scars that were faded with age. All of which, gave him a slightly haggard appearance that was by no means displeasing.

He met her eyes and lingered on them for a moment before moving to her lips for another moment and continuing down. His eyes were a fascinating colour, one Salva wasn’t sure she had ever seen before. After he looked her over once, he nodded to the seat she had inquired about. She allowed the side of her mouth to quirk up in what was the closest thing she could get to a smile. “Thank you.” She seated herself with all the grace of one with her blood status and stopped her small smile from becoming a smirk. He began to drink his coffee, and Salva mirrored him in taking a sip so as not to stare. The coffee was actually quite good. Perhaps she would visit this hole in the wall more often. She patiently waited for him to initiate a conversation; the silence wasn’t awkward, but it would be if it continued for too long. After what was supposed to be a subtle glance from his direction, he spoke.

“Getting your fix as well? I’m Dimitri, by the way.”

Salva set her cup down on the table, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Yes, I woke up this morning with a terrible headache and I’m hoping the caffeine will help.” He nodded in understanding and waited for her to give her name. She decided to give her full name; depending on how the conversation ended she might allow him permission to call her Salva. “I’m Salvatrix; it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand across the table for him to shake. He took it and she felt that his hands were rough with calluses and more scars.  Fascinating.

song/poem lyrics: "Who Are You Anyway?" by Taking Back Sunday
tag: Dimitri
word count: 496
notes: That is completely fine.  Mine is a little short as well, so if you don't mind then I don't mind

[Deleted]

The woman sat down and immediately he noticed her eyes, they were a lovely shade of blue. The same shade that his own had once been, he envied that but moved past it. At least she was attractive in her own right and he wouldn't have a bad view of his new friend here while he tried to rid his brain of this terrible pain. Dimitri linked the cause of this to his lack of sleep, the insomnia was incessant and really there wasn't anything he could do about it. He had heard about muggles using substances to battle these types of things and now he knew why despite how dumb the idea itself was. Dimitri took another sip of his coffee, and put his cup down to shake her hand. Salvatrix. Now, that was certainly a unique name if he had heard one. "Well, i'll tell you you aren't alone there. I awoke with just the same." There was something about her that seemed more regal or elegant than your common witch or wizard or maybe he was trying too hard to figure her out with this headache when he should have been focusing on relaxing. Again he found himself looking at that newspaper again, he didn't want to read it but the pictures and the titles were enough to tell him what was going on. Wonder what she thought of it? He would ask eventually after he had absorbed the ideas himself. Joining the dark side was something that Dimitri had always pondered and very much considered. His own family was a lie, his own life had been this one big charade and he was a puppet of his father's circumstances. It had been devastating enough to find out that none of your siblings were your full siblings and your mother had been lying to you for the entirety of your life hoping that you wouldn't find out the truth. But, moving on, or at least he always told himself that. The tortured soul that was Dimitri never moved on. Maybe he was perfect for the dark side.

"What do you think of all that?" Dimitri motioned toward the newspaper front page headline, Dimitri had never seen this woman before in his life and with eyes like hers and her face he would have remembered seeing her at school most likely if she had gone there or even around town. Then again, he was the type to get stuck and caught up in his head or at least spend the entire month dreading the full moon. She didn't need to know that much about him, after all they had just met. For all he knew she would see him as the stain upon this Earth that most people thought his kind was. Not even his pure-blood status could save the tainted liquid that ran through his veins and kept him alive. Even if he did heel faster than the norm, it wasn't worth it to him to feel this physical pain on top of whatever painful turmoil was going on inside of him. "About Morgan and everything that's been happening?" Just a discussion, really it was about time someone stepped up and tried a revolt or something, but at the same time it ruined the peaceful existence they all enjoyed. Who knew what the outcome of this would be and he was rather curious to just sit on the sidelines and see what happened, however there was always that tempting urge to the catalyst for some kind of change. Dimitri drank more of his coffee, the temperature of it now made it easier to drink instead of sip slowly and not burn a hole in his tongue, hopefully it would kick in soon or he might have to resort to repeated use of the wall to calm his head or at least knock him out. He supposed there were worse ways to start the day.

[Salvatrix Steele]

The truth is sickening.

We don't need to change it, really

I kind of like it ugly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“What do you thing of all that? About Morgan and everything that’s been happening?”

Salva tilted her head and leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs. “Such a heavy topic for someone you just met.” She teased him lightly. She then glanced around the café for anyone that was a confirmed supporter of the Order. Seeing no one, she turned back to Dimitri and leaned forward, lowering her voice. In a public venue, there was no need to be shouting your beliefs for all and sunder to hear. “Honestly? I normally don’t discuss things like this in public, too many people who could be just waiting for you to say the wrong thing. I’ll make an exception for you though, you seem like someone whom I could possibly come to trust; and just so you know, that says a lot about you.”

Dimitri had leaned forward as well to hear what she was saying. Salva glanced over her shoulder again and around the perimeter. She returned her gaze to his strangely coloured eyes and paused. Was this truly a good idea? After all, she had just met this man and for all she knew he was an Order member just waiting for her to confess to being a Death Eater. Yet, she had this strange feeling in her gut that he needed to hear what she had to say. This was the same feeling that made her decide to return to France after graduation instead of applying for an apprenticeship. The same feeling that made her plot and execute a six-year plan of murdering her guardians.

Her thoughts drifted to that night only a few months ago: This was finally it. She would finally be free of these filthy blood traitors that were desecrating the family name. After tonight, she could move to Austria and join with the Dark Lord. After living with her aunt and uncle for the past few years, she had slowly gained trust enough for them to let their guards down around her. They didn’t even carry their wands with them around the Manor. Foolish of them. She walked into the sitting room where they were taking their tea. She calmly began casting, “Incarcerous. Silencio. Sorry about this, it’s nothing personal, really.“ She proceeded to coolly cast the Killing Curse twice. The blank eyes of her relatives stared up at her and Salva began to laugh. Once she had regained her faculties, she summoned her uncle’s wand and cast the same curse with it two more times. Now all she had to do was leave the country.

Salva shook herself from those thoughts and her eyes swept the perimeter again. She made the decision to tell Dimitri some of the truth. If he was an Order member, then she would take this whole café down with her. She placed her chin on the knuckles of her folded hands. “Sorry, thinking about where to start. I suppose you could say that I am a staunch supporter of Morgan. I moved to this country to help his cause in any way that I could. So, if you are a member of the other side, now would be a good time to let me know.  If not, then this is a very good happenstance, indeed.”

song/poem lyrics: "A Welcome Burden" by Disturbed
tag: Dimitri
word count: 547
notes: