ASH TO ASHES // private, Dimitri // SKIN TO BONE

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

The weight of being a leader was a lot more than Atbash expected. Atbash suddenly understood why Jacob wanted to step down so bad, but she couldn't leave Snowbound like he did. No, she was happy leading, unlike Jacob, it was just so stressful. She was constantly worried about everybody's opinion and thoughts on the current happenings of Snowbound and keeping track of everything else, like joiners or promotions that needed to be done. Everything was just so overwhelming.

Atbash was sitting by the lake right now, and the she-cat let out a sigh as she listened to the water. The water calmed her down, though the last time she was here, she had been attacked by Caesar. So she was still a bit on edge, but she was trying to let herself relax and let her worries but float away with the water.

[member=1172]dimitri.[/member]

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[Dimitri]

Dimitri was nervous to talk. He wanted to get know Atbash more- and he had played with the idea of asking her out.... Donovan kept warning Dimitri that was a bad idea but wouldn’t tell him why.


"Hey- Hey Atbash, how are you doing?"
He asked, coming to sit by her.

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

Atbash had no idea how Dimitri felt about her, but she would probably feel really bad if he did ask her out. He was a nice guy, sure, she just wasn't attracted to him. Or any guy, for that matter. Atbash's ears pricked as she heard Dimitri and she turned her head to face him. "Oh, hey, Dimitri." She meowed. "I'm doing... alright, I guess." A sigh. She shouldn't talk about her worries as leader to him, he probably wouldn't even understand her stress. Hell, she didn't even understand the stress Jacob was going through until she stepped up. "How are you?" There, that was something polite to say. She had been meaning to talk to him about something, and since they were alone right now... Maybe she could bring her questions up without having to worry about him being embarrassed or something.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[Dimitri]

"Oh- oh, I’m fine. How are- wait I’m sorry, I already asked that. Uh-" He sat down beside her, eyes casting over her figure and quickly tore them away. He kind of liked Atbash and was playing with a few ideas, but Donovan kept warning him it was a bad idea.
"How has- how has leadership been? Unless you don’t wanna talk about that."

[color=limegreen]"speech"

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

Atbash could understand fumbling over words a bit; she and Izuku often stumbled over words sometimes. Although he did seem to be a bit jumpy, wasn't he? Or maybe Atbash was just being too suspicious over things. "It's been stressful," She admitted with a shake of her head. "Not really much to talk about." She went on with a small laugh, although it wasn't entirely genuine. More like an exhale of breath rather than a laugh. "Have you been settling in alright?" That was something good to ask, right? Yeah. Just to show she kept track of and cared for the members of her group.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[Dimitri]

"Um, yeah. I’m settling in okay. Hey, were you the one that gave me that pride flag?" he asked, tilting his head and flicking his tail. He knew Donovan had picked it up, but he was often weary of the romantic alter, he was afraid of him leaving out information or... worse.
He could see his alter’s memory, yes. They couldn’t see each other’s, but he liked to believe in privacy. All the same, the alters knew they couldn’t keep secrets from him. The tom’s tail continued to flick.

"My house is almost done..."

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

Atbash seemed confused at the question. "Uh, yeah, I did, why?" She asked, concern slowly filling her voice. That was a weird question to ask, since he, y'know, directly asked for the flag. "Dimitri, are you feeling alright?" She asked next. She of course heard his statement about his house, but his well-being was more important right now. Of course Atbash noticed the way he acted, and she's been meaning to bring it up for a while. She was sure the rest of the group noticed as well, though she was curious if anybody else had asked Dimitri what was going on. "You've, just... I don't know. Been acting weird, I suppose. Almost as if you're a different person."

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[Dimitri]

Dimitri stifled a moment, his paws rubbing together and his tail wrapping around him. His fur grew out to compensate for the cold- he hadn’t noticed he was shivering. "Just wondering, that’s all." He heard Donovan giggle. "I- I feel fine! I’m just a little cold right now." He answered, ears flicking back. He could hear Bird and Dagon getting anxious- unweary. Don’t ask it...
- as if you’re a different person.
".....are you asking me that as my leader or as my friend."

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

The question came a bit off-guard, as Atbash wasn't entirely expecting to be asked a question right back. Was she asking as his leader or as his friend? Was she two different people, is that what he was implying? Did she act differently just because she led this group? She honestly hadn't meant to, but maybe the stress was really getting to her. "I'm asking as your friend, mostly." Atbash replied after a couple heartbeats. She truly did feel she was asking him more out of truly caring about him, rather than being obligated to just because she led. "I'm worried about you Dimitri. Is something up?"

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[Dimitri]

Dimitri was glad she clarified. He felt that if she had meant as his commander, he would have to tell her, because that was a direct question. He suddenly stood, turning to look at her, tail clinging to his legs. ”I can’t really.... tell you, yet. I’m okay. I swear. I’m not broken or misunderstood... I just deal with my problems a little differently.” Yeah, sure. Let’s put it that way.

SHE’s ONTO US!

He couldn’t tell her yet because he couldn’t trust her to. He didn’t want his friends to be public yet. He didn’t... he didn’t want to them to think of them that way. ”I promise I’ll tell you someday, I swear. I trust you to that much. I just don’t think I’m ready to tell anyone yet, okay? Is that a good answer?”

"speech"