Moving Objects

Chapter 10

"You should know better than to sneak up on a Guardian," I said.

Dimitri laughed and let go of my hands. "You aren't a full-fledged Guardian yet, but you are already quite the Guardian."

I rolled my eyes and placed my hands on my hips. "Really? Cause I kicked a lot of Guardian ass today. I think that should qualify me as a Guardian," I said with a smirk. I knew that I sounded like a petulant kid, but I wanted to toy with him a bit. But he didn't play into my game.

Dimitri chuckled and leaned down to pick up the wooden box on the ground and gestured for me to follow him. I shook my head and followed after him before coming to walk beside him, enjoying the closeness. Realizing the direction he was leading me, I raised my brows but followed nonetheless.

It was weird being back in the cabin after what happened the last time I was here, and I wondered if he would notice that things had moved. But he didn't mention it and did the same thing he always did when we came here – sweeping the cabin before starting on the fire. I plopped down on the couch and laid down, groaning as my body stretched on the cushions. Dimitri appeared over me with a smile before lifting my upper body up and sitting down, laying me back down against him.

"Alright Mister 'we need to keep a low profile', what are we doing here?"

Dimitri scoffed and wrapped his arms around me. "I wanted to be able to congratulate my girlfriend without the risk of being caught. Sue me."

I laughed at the sarcasm in his voice and squirmed in his arms to look at him. During my trials, I felt like it was too easy, but that was until I was nearing the finish and Dimitri had stepped into my path. And I hadn't faltered. I had been ready. The fight had been relatively short for us and I was able to faux stake him quickly before moving my "Moroi" to safety. But now looking at him, I can see the bruise creeping up on his jaw and cheek from the butt of my stake, and I reached my fingers up to stroke it.

"I think I deserve a reward for how quick I took you down," I simpered, smiling sweetly at him.

Dimitri smirked and dipped his head down, giving me a real kiss that made my heart flutter in my chest. He pulled away a few moments later and I chased his lips for a second, making him chuckle before brushing my lips again.

"I do have something for you, but if you'd rather have this, that's fine," he quipped and I sat up abruptly.

"What do you mean?"

Dimitri winked and pulled the box off the table and set it in his lap, running his fingers over the lid. He looked at it for a moment before handing it to me.

"These were mine when I graduated. My mentor gave them to me, and now I'm passing them to you."

I opened the lid to find two silver stakes resting in the satin, polished and gleaming. They were beautiful, to be frank. The ends had geometric designs on them, etched into the silver almost like a grip. I looked at him before carefully lifting one out of the case. I rolled it in my hands to find an inscription etched in as well. Глаза боятся, а руки делают.

"What does that mean?" I asked, running my fingers over the engraving. Dimitri smiled and helped me pronounce it.

"Glaza boyatsya, a ruki delayut. It translates to 'the eyes are afraid, but the hands still do'. It means to feel the fear but do it anyway. We are in a line of work where we face fear all the time. I don't ever want you to feel like you can't be scared. It's ok to be scared, but you need to push through it anyway."

I ran my finger over the stake a few times before turning and wrapping my arms around his neck, resting my face in the crook of his neck.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his skin. Dimitri wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tightly, his face turning into my hair. "I half-expected it to be some Zen crap that you tell me all the time."

Dimitri chuckled into my hair and tickled my sides, making me squeal and wiggle in his grasp. I tried to pull away from him, but he had me in a steel grasp, laughing as I squealed and giggled under his touch.

"Ok, ok. I give up! I surrender! It's not Zen crap, I actually enjoy it!" I squealed as he continued to tickle me. He finally stopped and pulled back enough to look down at me with a fond expression.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

I rolled my eyes and set the stake back in the box before curling back up on the couch with him, resting my head against his chest. I enjoyed the feeling, the smell, and the heat of him as we sat there watching the flames. We didn't need to fill the comfortable silence with words. Being next to each other was enough.

A rattle at the door pulled us away from each other and the door swung open, revealing a woman I hadn't seen in months.

"Oh. What are you two doing here?"