The last Novice lunch was fun. It wasn't how we'd expected to finish our schooling together, but I put my knowledge of Alto being occupied elsewhere and my awesome ninja skills to good use by leading a raid on Stan's dorm room, climbing in through his window before opening the door and getting the other Seniors to hang his underwear, shirts, and pants on the handle of every door in the Guardian dormitory wing. All three levels! I would have done more, but there was not enough time.
"He's going to know it's you," Shane Reyes predicted, looking warily around Stan's trashed room.
"But he won't be able to prove it," I giggled smugly. "And that will fuck with him even more!" I said, grabbing a chap stick from Alto's bathroom drawer and writing 'We'll miss you Stannie' on his bathroom mirror before hightailing it out of there. I was safely sitting on the commons lawn with Shane, Meredith, Chelsea, Eddie, Ryan, and Dean fifteen minutes later when Alto and Dimitri walked by, finished with whatever task they'd been involved with. It was five minutes after that we heard an outraged "HATHAWAY!" bellowed from the third floor of the Guardian block.
"Nice one, Rose," Eddie said with a chuckle, giving me a high five.
"I aim to please," I laughed, knowing Stan would be ropeable after this.
"So where are you three going?" Dean asked curiously.
Eddie looked at Meredith before glancing at me.
"We're not really sure," Eddie said. "Just that we'll be guarding in Wyoming."
"That's so cool. Wish I were going there. I'm being sent to St. Michael's," Dean replied with disgust. It was the smallest of the academies in America, located in Kansas.
"Sucked in! Chelsea and I got St. Basil's," Ryan crowed. "I heard their fighting program is amazing! Isn't that where Belikov graduated?" he asked, looking at me.
"Yep," I said popping the p. "You'd better watch out... From what Dimitri tells me, they work their Novices hard over there!" Ryan and Chelsea were weaker than the rest of us in fighting skills; guess that's why Alberta had picked St. Basil's for them.
"I got St. Christopher's," Shane chimed in.
"That's in the UK, isn't it?" Meredith asked.
"Sure is! My Mom's brother is allocated there, and he's promised to show me around. I can't wait!"
After that we split up, Meredith and me going with Chelsea to help her lug her stuff down to the box room at the base of the Novice dorms.
"I'm sending most of my stuff home until I get an allocation," Chelsea explained as she wrote the address on her boxes. "Alberta said to leave them here and she'll get them sent, as we're heading into Missoula in three hours to start the trip to St. Basil's."
For the first time, I felt a little envious. It would have been cool to see another country. I'd never been overseas. I didn't even have a passport. But at least I'd be staying with Dimitri, and that was something.
At 4:00 am coaches pulled up, and the Novices were piling into them headed to Missoula to start their journeys either overseas or interstate. The only ones left were Dean and four others who would fly directly from the academy's runway to St. Michael's. They would leave just after first light, so the nine of us hung out in the common room for the afternoon before having a last dinner together in the cafeteria. Spaghetti and meatballs. Nice to see the kitchens had joined in the spirit by keeping their food miserable right to the very last!
"I won't miss the food," Dean joked. "Hopefully St. Michael's will be better!"
"It would be hard to be worse," another senior, Brett, quipped.
"I know it was you!" Stan roared, stalking into the cafeteria and over to where I was sitting. "You gave it away when you graffitied my mirror!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Guardian Alto," I said innocently, catching amused looks from the Guardians seated at the tables in the corner.
"Someone broke into my room and distributed my... garments... all over the Guardians' building," he roared, "and they wrote 'We'll miss you Stannie' on my bathroom mirror. You're the only one who refers to me that way!"
"To your face," I giggled. "Lots of students call you that behind your back, Guardian Alto."
"Amongst other things," Aidan said under his breath, but not quietly enough for Stan not to hear him.
Alto's face was getting red as his fury built. I kept an interested albeit innocent expression as I continued.
"Besides, Guardian Alto, why would I write that I'd 'miss you'? We'll be spending the next three months living together, remember?"
Stan growled and was probably about to say something highly insulting when Alberta came over to defuse the situation.
"Alto, you can't blame Rose without proof, and what she says makes sense. She'd hardly risk upsetting you when she'll be spending the next few months living in close quarters with you, would she? Now, I think you should check the rose bushes outside my office. It appears some of your undershorts might have made their way there."
She said it in a perfectly dispassionate tone with not a hint of amusement. Man, that woman was good! Stan glared at me furiously before stalking from the cafeteria, his dignity fluttering in tatters behind him.
"How did his stuff end up in the rose bushes?" I shrieked with laughter once he'd departed. It was a great idea, and it annoyed me I hadn't thought of it myself!
"I think Guardians Randall and Burke gathered his things from the second-floor hallway," Brett said with a chuckle. "I was sitting in the commons and saw them pegging his stuff through the window. It looked like it was raining white Y-fronts!"
Peering out the window towards the Guardians' block, sure enough there was Stan illuminated by the first rays of the sun, using a broomstick to fish his underwear out of the prickly rose bushes beneath Alberta's office window. I was laughing so hard I was nearly crying, and Dean actually was crying he laughed that much. Meredith had the presence of mind to whip out her phone, taking several highly amusing photos.
"I don't ever want to forget that," she said with a huge grin, agreeing to send me the pics.
"Me either," I agreed, wiping my eyes. "That was gold! Solid gold!"
"What you did to Stan wasn't nice, Roza," Dimitri lovingly admonished a few hours later. "I know he can be prickly, but he's still a Guardian and one of your teachers..."
"Did you just call him prickly?!" I squealed, shoving one of Dimitri's pillows over my mouth to muffle my hysteria. Considering the rosebush, it was a poor choice of words.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it," he whispered, but there were telltale crinkles at the corner of his lips. "Behave yourself, or I'll send you back to your dorm," he threatened, before pulling the pillow away and pressing his lips against mine.
I'd come back from seeing Dean, Brett, and the others to the runway for their flight to Kansas. Now Meredith, Eddie, Blake, and I were the only senior Novices left on campus. We'd leave for Wyoming in twenty-four hours, so we'd been advised to stay up for as long as possible and then sleep to reset our body clocks to a diurnal schedule.
"I still don't get why we'll be running in daylight hours? Surely if we're to be guarding we'd be more effective at night?"
"It might not be for the entire time. Your Mom wants to see what the situation is when we get there and then decide. There are enough of us to do two shifts if necessary."
We settled in side by side, leaning against the headboard of Dimitri's bed. We'd each chosen a film for the other to watch. He'd chosen some Western, and I'd brought the box set of Harry Potter, which, amazingly, my Comrade had never seen!
Settling in with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, I happily munched on the candy Dimitri had thoughtfully provided. Curled up under his arm, watching Harry Potter, life was good. We were up to the chess scene when there was a knock at Dimitri's dorm room door. I looked at him, lifting my eyebrows questioningly and pointing to the bathroom. When he nodded his head, I climbed off the bed, went into the bathroom, shutting the door soundlessly behind me. A moment later I heard Dimitri let someone into his room.
"Stan. How can I help you?" Dimitri's melodious voice asked courteously.
"Just running over last details for the trip. As you know, we'd planned to take the mini-van so we could travel together, but Alberta said that might be better left here, so she's asked us to take two SUVs instead. Since we don't know what to expect at the location, Janine agreed two vehicles gives us greater flexibility. I've spoken with the kitchens, and they've given me a comprehensive list of supplies they can send with us. With the sudden departure of so many students and staff, they're grossly overstocked. There's a deep freezer where we're going and the kitchen has large coolers we can use. I'm assuming we'll be cooking in turns, so if there's anything you need from the list for the nights you'll be cooking..." Stan sounded displeased at the prospect of preparing food. "You can cook, can't you?"
"I enjoy cooking and I'm used to cooking for a large number," Dimitri reassured him. "Back home I have three sisters, my mother, grandmother, nephew, and there was always a friend or a neighbor coming joining us for a meal. I'll look over the list and call the kitchen to package up the things I'll need."
"That would be a help."
There was a pause before finally Dimitri spoke again.
"Was there anything else?"
"Yes. I assume you heard about the stunt Hathaway pulled earlier? With my clothing?!"
"I'm not sure it was Rose, but yes I heard some seniors played a silly prank."
"It was Rose and you know it! I need your help keeping her under control while we're away. This mission is a big opportunity for me. A good report could see me put forward for a position with a charge. I don't want her messing it up!"
"Stan, there's no proof that Rose was the one behind the prank, and you'd do well to remember Janine Hathaway is Rose's mother! She won't appreciate the way you always assume the worst of Rose."
"She wouldn't even be on this mission if Janine hadn't insisted," Alto spat angrily.
"All the more reason to keep your accusations to yourself," Dimitri counseled a little frostily.
"Yeah, you're right," Stan grudgingly admitted. "This is a big deal for me is all. You'll be heading to Court or college with the Princess in a few months, but this might be my ticket out of here."
"You don't give Rose enough credit, you know. She's not the same girl she was before she left the academy. She's not even the same girl she was when she got back. Trust her—she might surprise you."
"All right." It was clear from Alto's voice he was unconvinced. "Never picked you for a Harry Potter fan," he added with amusement.
"I think we all need a little magic in our life, don't you?" Dimitri said sardonically before showing Alto from his room. A moment later he opened door to his bathroom.
"Your pranks on Alto have to end here," he said firmly with a raised eyebrow.
"Ok," I agreed, not wanting to ruin our evening together by arguing. "What did he mean his ticket out of here?" I asked curiously.
Dimitri sighed. "Academy guarding is usually reserved for older Guardians when they're slowing down a bit, or sometimes for a Guardian to recover after a traumatic event," he said, giving me a smile indicating himself. "And sometimes, an academy position is given as a punishment..."
"A punishment?! What's Alto being punished for?" I gasped, my mind going into overdrive with various scenarios, each more farfetched than the last.
"I don't know that was the case," Dimitri said evasively. "But the fact remains Stan is trying to put his best foot forward on this mission and I want you to promise me you'll not hinder that."
"I promise," I said quickly, shimmying under Dimitri's arm and cuddling up against his chest, slipping my legs under his quilt so we were next to each other resting against the bedhead. "We missed the end of the movie. Did you want to rewind it? Or we could put yours on if you'd rather?"
"Let's rewind it," Dimitri said, passing me the bowl of sweets. "I want to see what happens!"
He never asked me to stay the night, but then he never suggested I go back to my room. Somewhere near the middle of The Goblet of Fire we fell asleep, waking at around 11:00 pm cuddled tightly together. It was disorientating waking at such an odd hour and in the bed of my love. We rewound the movie to the last point we could both remember and finished it, and just before midnight, I gathered my things to leave.
"Wait a moment," Dimitri said, climbing out of bed and going to his closet, pulling out a smallish wrapped box. He sat me down beside him just as the clock turned from 11:59 to 12:00.
"Happy birthday, Roza," he crooned, leaning forward and brushing his lips across mine so very tenderly. "It's not much, but I saw it and thought of you."
"You remembered!" I squealed, throwing myself into his arms.
"Like I'd forget," he said with a grin.
I stared at the box curiously. It was from the TV Shopping Network. I was relieved it was too small to be a thigh-master or ab-cruncher! Looking at my Russian God through my lashes, I opened the box to find a decorative metal half-sphere sort of cage the size of a doughnut with a long metal stick through it. I smiled appreciatively before turning to him.
It was so intricate. It was so beautiful. I had no fucking idea what it was!
"It's a bun holder," he said a little crestfallen when he realized I didn't know what he'd given me. "I thought you could wear it once you graduate? It's so you can have your hair up and out of the way when you work. I know it's not very exciting, but I haven't had a lot of time to shop..." He was sounding more apologetic by the second.
"Comrade I love it!" I squeaked. "It's so pretty and practical and I love the idea of wearing something you gave me every day," I said climbing into his lap and throwing my arms around him.
"I wanted to get you something more significant, but I just haven't had a chance."
"I love it," I said resolutely, "and I love you! You know I'm not a 'stuff' person, but this is pretty and practical and it means a lot you thought to get me something useful I could have with me, even when you're not."
"Are you sure?" Dimitri still seemed uncertain.
"I'm positive. In fact, I think you need to help me wear it now!" I said in a tempting voice, hoping to God Dimitri had an idea how to use it, because I was clueless.
"Put your hair up in a high ponytail, then wrap it around into a bun. Then you put the bun holder over the top and push the metal stake through. It keeps it really secure—at least that's what the ad said."
"The ad?"
He pointed to the box, a little embarrassed. "I couldn't get to the mall, but I saw this on TV and I thought it was just what you need, so I ordered it."
"That is so thoughtful, Comrade," I said, doing my hair as instructed and feeling him place the holder and then secure it with the stake. I shook my head from side to side and had to admit, it did feel secure. "Does it suit me? Do I look pretty?"
"Roza you look so beautiful, I have to pinch myself to believe you're actually mine."
Dimitri pulled me to sit on his lap, and for the next half an hour we made out. It was getting more and more heated and it was almost impossible for me to control my excitement when he lifted my shirt, pushing my bra aside so he could alternate taking each plump, firm nipple into his mouth. I was kissing his hair, whimpering as his fingers rubbed along the seam at the crotch of my jeans. My hands under his shirt grasping his back, I could feel his throbbing member pushed against my butt, and I knew Dimitri was every bit as turned on as I was. I hoped, just this once, he'd forget the need to stay apart until graduation and just be with me.
"Please?" I moaned. It was what I wanted; to celebrate being an adult by being his again.
"We can't Roza. I want to so much, but we can't!"
I was so frustrated I could almost cry. So, so close but still so far away!
"Then I'll go," I said, wanting to get out of there before my disappointment turned into ugly tears. I gave Dimitri a last lingering kiss before I climbed off his lap, carefully adjusting my bra and shirt and shifting uncomfortably in my skinny jeans.
"I'm sorry, Roza," he sighed, looking every bit as frustrated and disappointed as I was. "I love you. Happy birthday, Ангел."
"What does that mean?" I asked crossly, feeling—well honestly—a bit pissed off.
"It's how we say angel," Dimitri said sweetly, grasping my hand and kissing it lovingly. "Happy birthday, angel."