Nepenthe • Something that can make you forget grief or suffering.
Never feeling like they belonged was a feeling that Lissa Dragomir lived with, even with her family and life long best friend, although they aided in that feeling not being so strong...
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Kirova's office felt smaller than it actually was, the high ceilings and tall windows doing little to ease the weight of the tension that had settled inside it. Dark wood shelves lined the walls, filled with old books and neatly organized files, while the large desk at the center stood like a barrier—polished, imposing, and unmistakably authoritative. The faint scent of ink and aged paper lingered in the air, grounding the space in quiet control.
Kate stood near the back of the room, closer to Dimitri, her posture straight, her hands clasped loosely in front of her, though the subtle tension in her fingers betrayed the unease she kept carefully contained. She was aware of everyone present without needing to look at them directly—Lissa just to her left, Eddie a step in front of her her, Viktoria near the wall, and Dimitri positioned to her right just barely apart and behind her, as though instinctively placing himself where he could see everything.
On the other side of the room, behind her desk, Kirova watched them all with sharp, assessing eyes. Alberta stood at her side, silent but no less commanding.
No one spoke at first, prompting the silence stretched just long enough to become deliberate.
Kate's gaze flickered briefly toward Dimitri, catching the stillness in him, the quiet readiness. It steadied her, even as something heavier settled beneath her ribs—the sense that whatever had brought them here was not routine. Although if she was being honest, she already knew what brought them there,she knew because Dimitri had told her, and they had agreed to never lie to each other, especially not after Tasha tried to get in between them, and especially not after Dimitri almost lost her.
Kirova opened her mouth to speak, to explain to the poeple present why there were there in the first place, when a loud "Why am I even here?" cut through the room, sharp and careless.
All eyes shifted instantly to Jesse Zecklos. He stood with an easy arrogance, one hand tucked casually into his pants pocket, the other resting against the back of a chair as though he had wandered into a mild inconvenience rather than been summoned by the Headmistress herself. There was no respect in his tone, nor awareness—or perhaps not even concern—for the weight of the room.
Kate didn't sigh, didn't react outwardly. Not her, not anyone else in the room. The Moroi didn't know who had been assigned to them for the field trainings yet, so it was normal for Jesse to be curious about what he was doing there.
"I am assigned to you for field training," Kate said, her voice calm, measured, leaving no room for misunderstanding, though she didn't look away from the Dragomir Family Crest on one of the walls in the office. "Where you go, I go." she affirmed.
