If Justine had had her way with this whole Mikkos mess, his return wouldn't have moved her in the way it had, wouldn't have so easily stirred those long-buried emotions in her again. Those decisions she had always so longed for Dimitri to make, those that she had wanted logic to rule over, she saw now why knowing what was right had never simply been enough, why his heart had always made leaving Ophelia behind so difficult. She still didn't wish for the woman to be so close to her family once more, but Justine could at least now sympathize with her brother and the difficulties that lay before him.
As much as she spoke about pushing Mikkos away, as much as she wanted to do just that, his affect on her was still far too obvious for her liking. Why was this not a wound that time alone could heal? It frustrated her to no end, her inability to move past him when he had seemed to do just that with her. He was married, he'd had a son, why couldn't he be content with that, why now had he come to seek her out? Though she could never secretly admit that his return had thrilled her, it had torn open a wound she long to keep healed. She knew the demon well enough to know that until he got whatever it was he wanted of her, he would never leave her be.
All of that wasn't to be dwelled upon tonight and so she pushed it from her thoughts, cleared her head to focus on the evening that lay before her. "There are several in our collection that I've seen to having replaced," she smiled, prone to re-reading the same novels herself, "sometimes I think perhaps we should seal these ancient ones away before they're gone permanently." But then she enjoyed them too much for that and so they remained out and she, time and time again, took them away to her room to pour over. It seemed she and Dimitri were prone to returning to things they cherished.
Once the book was set aside and Dimitri had gathered his things for the night, Justine pausing long enough to grab her coat and purse, the pair made their way down to his garage. Like each of the Baptiste siblings, Dimitri's manners were perfect. Each door he held was acknowledged with a light nod of her head, a soft 'thank you' before Justine continued through, before she slid into the passenger's seat of his car. It was nice to see that he had chosen to drive this evening. While she didn't mind their drivers, at times she preferred it would simply be the family without such outside interference.
"And what establishment have you chosen for us tonight?" He had impeccable taste and, though neither would be eating much, surely it was one of the finer places in town. After all, what little you did eat should be most enjoyable.