Dimitri Belikov (anti_social_god) wrote in saveatlantisic, @ 2019-05-25 21:17:00 |
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Late March 2019
Dimitri Belikov + Rose Belikova
Their house | PG for talk of nasty Strigoi stuff
Dimitri gets a memory update
Complete
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Dimitri woke up with a start and sat up in bed. What had just happened? he thought and ran a hand through his hair, glancing over to see that Rose was still sound asleep next to him. He’d had a dream but it didn’t feel like a dream, it had felt more like he’d lived through several months if not a whole year. Swinging his legs off the bed, he got to his feet and slipped out into the living room as quickly as he could, hoping not to wake Rose although she tended to sleep soundly when she wasn’t on mission or when there was something going on. Walking into the kitchen, he got a bottle of water out and took a long drink before going over to the window and staring out into the night. He knew that he’d been Strigoi, Rose had told him that, he hated that he had been turned but it was just information, it wasn’t like this. Now he remembered, he felt it, he knew what it had been like and he hated himself. He had done horrible things but he’d already known that. What he hadn’t known before was what he had done to Rose and that was what hurt. How could he do that to her? Why had she not told him and how could she even stand to look at him? He sensed her presence at the door to their bedroom but before she could say anything, he said quietly “I remember, Roza. I remember everything.” Training started early during the week, but the nice thing about weekends was getting to sleep a little later, at least when their son would let them. Having a two year-old wasn’t always conducive to sleeping late and she’d been surprised to find she’d been able to sleep as late as she had. She’d also been surprised to find herself alone in the bed. She’d pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a tank top with a hoodie thrown over it, intent on going for a run, but first she had to find her husband. If he’d had the same idea, she’d have to wait until he got back, because she definitely wasn’t going to wake up her son to drag him out with her. It didn’t take her long to find him in the kitchen and she gave a questioning look when he told her he remembered everything. Rose had memories of two other worlds aside from this one and home, sort of three, technically and she had a lot of memories from home that he didn’t share. Everything for her was a pretty broad area. “Define everything,” she said. Because her everything was a fucking lot of shit. “I remember going back to Siberia as a Strigoi, the things I did there, everything that happened after, you getting shot, I thought I’d lost you,” he could still feel the pain of that moment and of waiting for her to get out of surgery and how relieved he had been when she had finally woken up. “I know that I said that I didn’t want to know everything that happened when I was Strigoi but why didn’t you tell me about Siberia or about you getting shot? Was it because you knew that I’d take it hard if I didn’t remember any of it? Because I would have but now at least I understand and we are in a good place. I don’t deserve any of this, you, the girls, Ivan but I’m grateful for it, now more than ever.” Rose didn’t answer right away, because the truth was that maybe that had been part of it. When they’d first talked about what had happened to him, they’d been new to Atlantis and a part of her had been so relieved when he hadn’t wanted the details, because she had been sure if he knew all of it, he would have pushed her away the way he had then. Twice, technically, since he’d showed up in Breck from that point, too. He hadn’t wanted to know and truth be told, she hadn’t wanted to tell him. It was a period of their lives she didn’t like to think about, even now when she’d moved on long ago and so had the Dimitri she knew at home. Leave to Atlantis to only give him the memories to a point when it was all still so fresh. “If you remember everything, then you remember my hands aren’t exactly clean, either,” she reminded him quietly, thinking of what she’d done to Victor, of how she’d hurt Adrian and how she’d turned Lissa and Jill’s lived upside down without really thinking through what that would mean for them both. “Maybe neither of us deserve what we have, maybe we both do.” She shrugged. It didn’t matter what they deserved. That wasn’t what life was about. “I didn’t tell you, because you didn’t want to know,” she said. It wasn’t the full truth, but it was close enough. She’d been happy to keep them to herself, but if he’d pressed for the details, she probably would have told him. “That’s true. We both did some things that we shouldn’t have done. I don’t regret breaking you out of jail though because you didn’t deserve to be there. I never believed for a minute that you had killed Tatiana.” He remembered hearing about it and while he knew that there was no love lost between Rose and the late queen, he also knew that she wouldn’t have killed her. That was never in question. “And no, I didn’t want to know and at the time, I might have reacted the same way I did at home but now, after being here, being with you, our family, our life here, it’s easier to see that pushing you away wasn’t right but I can’t change what happened then. I can only promise you that I will remember we’re a team. For better or worse, all those things that we said when we got married. I’m a better person because of you and that’s something that I’ve come to see while being here.” “Wow, sappy,” Rose teased. It was generally her first impulse when conversation got too serious or turned to something she’d rather not talk about. Easier to joke than to let yourself be vulnerable or whatever. Rose found it easier to open up with Dimitri, but sometimes she still couldn’t help covering with jokes and sarcasm. “Also totally mutual,” she added. He smiled and gave a little shrug. “You know I’m a secret sap, just don’t spread it around. I’m also glad to hear that it’s mutual because I’d be sad if it wasn’t.” Like Rose, he wasn’t the best at talking about feelings but he had gotten better during their time together. While people who didn’t know him that well might still think him anti-social, the truth was that he’d loosened up a lot since they had been in Atlantis. He just preferred to hide it. “I don’t know, my silence might cost you.” She was obviously teasing, mostly. There was no guarantee that she wouldn’t take any chance she could get to embarrass him, but she also wasn’t above doing a little bargaining, whether she actually lived up to her end or not. Pretending she was going to could still be fun. “Oh really now?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “And what is your price, Roza?” Whatever it was, he would go along with it because he loved it when she teased him like this. He might not admit it but he did. And the price was always worth playing. “I might be open to negotiations,” Rose answered coyly. “What price are you willing to pay?” Just naming it wouldn’t be any fun. They both knew he would probably give her whatever she wanted, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun without a little bargaining. “Let’s see, what can I offer you?” he pretended to think for a moment and then smiled at her. “Well I can offer you breakfast in bed and also a massage but that might have to wait until tonight in case Ivan decides to get up and wander into the bedroom.” Which he hadn’t done so far but it was bound to happen any day. “Hmmm, that sounds like a pretty good start,” Rose decided, leaning in to kiss him. |