Kedrick Suwa's Estate

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri, at first a little embarrassed by the slightly corny nature of his idea , was relieved to see that Maria seemed to enjoy it none the less. Her smile, her soft giggle, the way the starlight reflected in her deep brown eyes, it all came together so beautifully. The boy ducked his head, looking at the ground sheepishly and smirking as Maria answered his question. At the feeling of her hand gently touching his cheek, Dimitri looked up meeting her gaze. He exhaled softly, parting his lips to speak when Maria leaned in to kiss him, her lips gentle and soft on his own. The boy allowed his eyes to flutter closed, his long, dark lashes brushing against his cheekbones as he did so.

The silence of the still, cold night seemed to envelope them, wrapping them up somewhere far away from the rest of the world. Dimitri could feel the cold air on his skin, seeming so opposite of the warmth of Maria's soft touch.

Dimitri opened his eyes, slowly, and reluctantly as Maria pulled back, and he was half tempted to lean forward and kiss her again. Dimitri smiled faintly, and a touch lovesick, at the girl and nodded his head. "Y-yeah, sure..." He said, circling around the the car and opening the passengers side door for her. "Hop in," The dark haired boy said with a teasing grin, having recovered for the wave of love sickness and rebounded to his usual attitude.

Once Maria was seated, Dimitri closed the door and went around the front of the car to his side, smacking the hood lightly on the way by. He grasped the cold metal of the door handle, only just realizing how chilly his fingers had become while the two of them had stood out in the night air. He slid into his seat, fastening the buckle into it's place and turning his key in the ignition. The car gave a sick couching sound, sounding remarkably like a dying bear. Dimitri rolled his eyes and turned the key again. Apparently, the dying bear was nothing unusual. Reluctantly, the car started, couching and gagging in protest the whole way, but gradually, it evened out to a more healthy sounding hum.

Dimitri gave a nervous snicker, knowing that the car noises might be concerning to Maria. "Well, now that it's started, we can get on our way." He said, in a positive tone. Frankly, he was never sure weather or not his old, broken down excuses of a car would start.

The young man backed out of the small lot in front of the apartment building, and began the drive. Once he hit town, he started remembering the directions to Maria's house from where he had dropped her off after their first official 'date.' He breathed an almost imperceptible sigh of relief as the comfortable, friendly house came into view. "Looks like I made it without getting lost." He joked, turning to look at Maria.

The boy felt a familiar stab of nervousness as he looked at the house. Even though it wasn't a first, or even a second meeting, though thought of being face to face with Maria's father, and her brothers for that matter was a daunting one. Eneas and Ulisses weren't so bad, they where both such clowns that it was hard to be intimidated by them, but Maria's father was a different matter entirely. The thought that the man's perceptiveness, and crime-solving nature would come through and he would guess something about Dimitri's past made the boy feel slightly ill. But he swallowed the nervous thoughts back and opened the car door, circling around to get Maria's door for her as well.

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Maria had been reluctant to break apart from the kiss herself. She knew that she could never stop kissing him, but she had to because she had to get home. The day was ending and she knew that though her parents weren't overly strict about what she did with Dimitri, they were still parents and they would've been concerned if she came home too late.

She smiled back at Dimitri, loving the way he looked when she could see the love sickness in his eyes. She thanked him as he opened the door for her and slid in, looking back at him and giggling. She loved the way that they were both able to rebound back to their normal selves. It was something that made the relationship pleasant and exciting. With another giggle and a light roll of her eyes and fastened her seat belt, all set and ready to go back home.

The young Hispanic teen blinked her eyes at the sound of Dimitri's car and looked at him. The sounds were most definitely concerning, and she wondered if Dimitri planned on getting it fixed. She had an uncle who was a car mechanic and could most likely help. Responding with a small smile, Maria leaned back in her seat and made herself comfortable, her head tilting towards the window as she watched the world go by. Maria felt like she should've checked to make sure that Dimitri knew where he was going, but was relieved to know that her assistance wasn't completely necessary.

"I'm glad you didn't get us lost," Maria teased back with a grin, "Because then Eneas and Ulises would make the situation even worse." Sadly though, Maria knew that it was true. With her brothers visiting back home for a bit, they would be full of energy at picking on the lovely couple, sometimes making Maria wish that they weren't such clowns.

Once they pulled up at her home, Maria saw a few of the lights were on. She unfastened her seat belt and reached to open the door when Dimitri beat her to it. With another gentle thank you, Maria stepped out of the car and pulled out her keys. Holding onto Dimitri's hand with an encouraging smile, she led him up the steps of her house and went to unlock the door. Before she could even get the key in, the door suddenly open and her brothers were there, tossing shredded up paper in air.

"The newlyweds have returned!" Eneas cheered with a teasing smirk, noticing that Maria and Dimitri were holding hands and his grin grew. "You two are back quite late. What were you two love birds doing?"

"Don't tell me we're already going to be uncles too?" Ulises asked, laughing hysterically, the teasing glint in his eyes.

Maria looked at her brothers annoyingly and let go of Dimitri's hand, her arms crossed and her right foot tapping onto the hardwood porch impatiently. "Cállate ya," Maria ordered irritably, which only made her brothers laugh and look like a bunch of sneaky foxes.

"Come in, come in, Dimitri," Ulises said with a bow. "You shouldn't let our sister scare you away from coming into our lovely abode. Besides, we have so much to show you and many baby photos of our darling Maria."

"Quit it," Maria hissed in response, her cheeks getting redder, which only made things worse. When Dimitri was gone, she was going to get payback on them.  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri smiled at Maria as she stepped out of the car, her hand slipping into his. He turned his eyes to the house, surveying it with a small smile, it looked so warm so friendly! It reminded Dimitri of the kind of place that, not matter what time of day you came in, you would always be greeted by warm lights and the smell of something wonderful cooking. He glanced over as Maria stopped at the top of the stairs to pull out her set of key, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Dimitri pulled back, startled by the explosion of flying paper that greeted them when the door was abruptly swung open. He blinked rapidly, recovering from his surprise, but at the words newlyweds he felt his face beginning to heat up. "N-nothing, Maria was just helping me to-" He stopped mid sentence as Ulises stuck in his comment. The blood rose to Dimitri's face and he blushed furiously, looking uncomfortably embarrassed. He didn't like talking about sex in any context, it was just a bit to close to home for comfort.

Dimitri looked up from where he had been staring hard at his shoes when he heard Maria shortly reprimanding the two older boys. He allowed a small smile to tug at the corners of his mouth, but, catching sight of the foxish smile on their faces, felt a flicker of nervousness in his chest, he got the feeling that this wasn't the only teasing that they would be getting tonight.

The young, dark haired boy gave Ulises and uncertain smile as he bowed him into the house. He stepped slowly inside, half tempted to immediately take of his shoes in the doorway, a lingering habit he still had from his strongly Japanese-influenced home. Despite himself, Dimitri snickered at Uilses's statement about the baby pictures, and he gave Maria a sidelong glance. "I think that would be interesting." He said in a slightly teasing tone of his own.

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

"We know what you were doing," Eneas stated with a roll of his eyes, his playful grin still there. "We're not that stupid to think you're that ambitious to jump the gun already. Maria still is our baby sister after all, and you'd have to pass our test if you want that to happen."

"Cállate, Eneas. Estás siendo molesto otra vez y no hay manera de que lo estamos haciendo muy temprano. Así que cállate la yap antes de coser la cerró.," Maria snarled in quick Spanish, making her two brother look at her before Ulises messed with her hair, laughing it off like it was nothing.

"Cálmate, hermana pequeña," Ulises said calmly with a gentle smile. "Estás exagerando otra vez. Deja de actuar como si se va a morder nuestras cabezas." It had taken them awhile to realize that they were still speaking in Spanish and Dimitri probably had no idea what they were saying, but at that moment, the thought didn't occur to them.

Eneas closed the door once they were all in and smiled when Dimitri seemed interested in seeing Maria's baby photos. "She's just the cutest little muchacha," he said with a grin, looking at Maria who looked like she was ready to murder them. "But her best pictures, are her quinceanera photos from last year."

Maria's eyes widened and it was her turn to look like the overly embarrassed one. She had no intention of showing Dimitri her quinceanera pictures. It wasn't like they were bad, but she was too shy and nervous to show them. She'd rather her boyfriend look at her younger pictures than the one from last year. "Don't be silly, grandmama Rosalinda has those," Maria responded shyly, honestly hoping that it was the case or that they didn't have it.

"Are you kidding me, Ria?" Ulises asked, almost surprised. "You know mom had a copy of them. We have them in the house. Oh, and by the way, Dimitri, a quinceanera is the Spanish equivalent of a sweet sixteen, only it happens when you're fifteen and it's only for girls. It's a huge moment in a young Hispanic woman's life. But anyway, which ones would you rather see; toddler Maria or quinceanera Maria?"

Translation: Cállate, Eneas. Estás siendo molesto otra vez y no hay manera de que lo estamos haciendo muy temprano. Así que cállate la yap antes de coser la cerró= Shut up, Eneas. You're being annoying again and there's no way we're doing it that early. So shut your yap before I sew it shut.
Cálmate, hermana pequeña. Estás exagerando otra vez. Deja de actuar como si se va a morder nuestras cabezas.= Calm down, little sister. You're exaggerating again. Stop acting like you're going to bite our heads off.  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri scowled slightly, still blushing to the roots of his dark hair. He kept trying to think of a good response to Eneas and Ulises's quick, teasing comments but he just kept fumbling helplessly. The sound of Maria scolding the two of them in Spanish made the boy feel a bit better, and the color slowly began to seep from his face, returning to it's normal pale complexion. The conversation confused Dimitri, but he strained to pick up words that were similar enough to it's English counterparts to be understood. Between that and the three siblings facial expressions, Dimitri managed to scrape together roughly what was being said.

Dimitri glanced over at Maria with a small smirk, somewhat grateful that the conversation had turned from their relationship to Maria's pictures, weather from her quinceanera, or her baby pictures. The boy felt a flicker of disappointment when Maria stammered that he grandmother had the photos, a little bit let down. He was familiar with the term of a quinceanera, although he couldn't remember from where, and was curious to see the photos from Maria's.

Dimitri looked up as Ulises addressed him, meeting the taller young man's gaze. "I've heard of them before," He said with a small smile. "I can't remember from where thought." Dimitri gave a sheepish smile, and then bit his lip thoughtfully, considering Ulises's question. He glanced over at Maria with a sneaky kind of smirk. "Let's see the quinceanera pictures," He said, watching Maria closely to see how she'd response.

((Sorry this is so short. >.<))

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Maria was silently hoping that Dimitri wouldn't want to look at her quinceanera pictures. Any other time she wouldn't mind bragging about the amazingness of the party and how much fun she had that night, but it still had some aura of anxiety of showing Dimitri those pictures. Sure, he had seen her dress nicely for their Harvest Dance about two months ago, but that was before she realized how much she had fallen for him. Now he was going to see those pictures, and never had she felt more self-conscious about her appearance than right now.

She was surprised that he had heard the term before, and wished he had remember so that she could thank them for influencing her beloved to her wonderful heritage. When she saw his smirk, she only stared at him, almost as if she was flabbergasted before the flush on her cheeks got worse as she crossed her arms over her chest annoying adding a pout along with her features. Ulises nodded and went off to get the photo albums that were in the closest near the family room, while Eneas ushered the annoyed and embarrassed Maria and Dimitri to the family room to sit down.

"Клянусь, я собираюсь надрать задницу позже," Maria muttered irritably while gently nudging Dimitri in his side. She wasn't mad at him, of course. Just completely embarrassed that he had chosen to see those first.

Eneas, not understanding the Russian coming out of Maria's mouth, looked over at Dimitri with a grin. "Just letting you know now, when you see the pictures, be prepared to be surprised," he lightly warned, a teasing smirk now directed towards Maria. "Don't be taken aback if the girl in the picture is different from the one beside you. We obviously think she's been replaced."

"И я надеру задницу в Аргентину!" Maria retorted back to Eneas in anger and annoyance before feeling Ulises tap her on the top of her head with the photo albums. The young woman huffed, her lips poking out further as she tried to ignore the fact that Dimitri was going to see the quinceaneara photos.

Ulises gently rolled his eyes at Maria's dramatic actions and handed Dimitri the photo albums. "Those are all of our family photos since Eneas and I were little kids. Thought maybe you could see us all grow up while we embarrass Maria for you," he started, ignoring the glare he was getting from Maria before pulling the smaller, more nicer, photo album from the pile. He opened it to the first page, which was a family photo of Eneas, Ulises, their father and mother all surrounding Maria, who was in the center. The young girl looked like she was dressed for her prom night, wearing a white and pink dress with flowers on it, a light beige colored shawl draped around her arms. Her hair was done up in a curly bun, with her curled bangs covering the left side of her face nicely. She was adorned with a matching jewelry set, that also included a crown, and almost seemed like something that would've been used for a wedding.

"There will be no other dress that tops the beauty of the one she wore that night," Ulises said, a small proud smile on his face. Maria looked up at him and felt herself smile too, almost forgetting how nervous she was about Dimitri seeing the photos.

"Well, except for her wedding dress," Eneas commented, not even attempting to mess with the couple as he sat beside Maria and messed with her hair. "Ria never looked more like a princess than that day. It was an amazing night. One of the reasons why mom really wanted to have a girl. A quinceanera is one of the biggest night's in a girl's life, besides her wedding day, and mom really wanted to be able to experience it with her own daughter. So that's how Maria's came to be."

"And she used to be against it too," Ulises added with a small laugh, "Probably because of all the planning that had to happen. But, at the end of the day, it was a success and an amazing memory. We all know that bisabuela Luvina would've love to see Maria that night, if she was still around that was...."

The three siblings were silent as Dimitri looked through the quinceanera. Maria, who's face was no longer flushed with red, was lost in thought and looked a bit mournful at the mention of their great-grandmother. She knew that Ulises was right, but it seemed so awkward to bring it up right then and there. "She would've loved it a lot," Maria agreed in a somewhat quiet whisper, her eyes downcast to the floor.

Translation:
Клянусь, я собираюсь надрать задницу позже. (Klyanusʹ, ya sobirayusʹ nadratʹ zadnitsu pozzhe.) = I swear I'm going to kick your butt later.
И я надеру задницу в Аргентину! (I ya naderu zadnitsu v Argentinu!) = AND I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR BUTT TO ARGENTINA!  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Despite himself, Dimitri found the smirk on his face growing as he saw Maria beginning to pout. The dark haired boy snickered softly, unable to help himself at the look on her face. "Sorry Ria," He said in a teasing tone, but none the less, reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Dimitri grunted slightly as Maria elbowed him in the ribs, muttering to him in Russian, he assumed. He laughed, ducking his head, the dark hair falling in his eyes.

Dimitri looked up as Eneas spoke to him directly, meeting to older boy's gaze. A smile touched his lips, quickly spreading to a grin. "I'll brace myself," He replied, give Maria a secret, sneaky glance as he took a seat on the couch, pulling Maria down next to him. The young man looked up as Ulises placed the first photo album in his hands and he nodded a quick 'thank you' listening to his explanation of what was in the album.

The second album that Ulises handed him was the one he was really interested in. He flipped open the front cover, looking in with anxious curiosity. The first photo drew a soft intake of breath from Dimitri as he looked at the picture. "Wow...." He breathed softly, looking transfixed at the lovely image of Maria. She looked stunning, breathtaking in the pink and white dress, he couldn't help but stare. Dimitri looked up at Maria, and then down at the picture again, almost as though to check that it was the same person. The answer was 'yes', Maria was just as beautiful as she was sitting right here next to him, then on the night of her quinceaneara. A smile tugged at his lips as he slowly flipped to the next picture, studying the other photo's on the page.

He hummed thoughtfully at Ulises statement, smiling faintly yet not lifting his eyes from the album. Dimitri looked up as Eneas mentioned the wedding dress, a quick frown flittering across his expression, but it faded as he was surprised to see that Eneas didn't seem to be teasing them. He allowed his face to relax into a smile again, and he nodded his head.

Dimitri found himself looking up from the album again as when Ulises mentioned their great grandmother, and he felt a twinge of sympathy in his chest. It was a hard thing to loose any loved one, Dimitri knew that, he would never wish it on someone else. His attention was drawn to Maria as she murmured softly that her great grandmother would have like to see her quinceanera. Dimitri's expression softened, and he gave Maria's hand a gentle squeeze. He met her gaze with a simple, understanding gaze. He knew the pain of loosening someone dear to you, he understood, but there was an encouraging note in the look as well, something that simple said 'it will be alright.'

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

It was the first time that Maria had ever heard Dimitri call her "Ria", and she couldn't help but smile gently and blush. It sounded like magic when he said it, and she honestly wished that he would use her nickname a bit more often. She could've made a teasing comment back, but she actually held herself back from doing so.

Sitting beside Dimitri, Maria watched out from the corner of her eyes as he looked at the photo albums. It made her curious if his mother had pictures of Dimitri when he was younger, she'd love to see a little Dimitri.

When he saw the picture of her in her quinceanera dress, Maria felt her cheeks warm up. She looked at the photo herself, realizing that it had been awhile since she had last seen it and then felt Dimitri's eyes on her as he was comparing the image to her, making her cheeks even hotter. She looked away, knowing that Dimitri would try and tease her about it.

As the conversation slipped into the topic of her great-grandmother, Maria felt herself playing with her fingers. She looked at Dimitri as he squeezed her fingers and smiled back at him gently. It was always great to know that there was always someone out there that understood. She leaned in and kissed his forehead, as a sign of thanks, almost forgetting that her brothers were there until she heard kissing noises.  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri gave the young girl an encouraging smile as she looked up to meet his gaze, feeling the warmth of her hand in his. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be alright, that pain always passed. Even if it never totally disappeared, all pain faded and grew distant, Dimitri was well familiar with that, he had know all kinds of pain in his short sixteen years of life. A smile touched his features as Maria leaned in, her lips pressing against his forehead softly in a gentle kiss. Momentarily, he let it slip from his mind where they where, and who they where with, and just enjoyed the moment of closeness.

And then he heard the kissing noises from behind him. Dimitri jerked his head up, swiveling around to look at Eneas and Ulises. He should have know. He should have guessed that Maria's brothers wouldn't let the moment go on for a second longer then they deemed necessary. The boy's cheeks heated up, flushing with agitated embarrassment. "C-come on!" He stammered, feeling his ears going hot, and he cursed how easily he always seemed to blush. Maybe if he didn't have such deathly pale skin it wouldn't be so bad, but he was stuck with the complexion he had. Just thinking of how often his found himself blushing, stammering, and tripping over his words whenever the two older boys teased him only made the blush worse.

Dimitri breathed an agitated sigh, looking back down at the photo album and willing his face to go back in normal. He turned the page, focusing much more now on the pictures, then any of the teasing and snickering from Eneas and Ulises. In the back of his mind, Dimitri wondered if Maria's parents were here, or if it was just the brothers that had been holding down the fort. He simultaneously wanted to meet then again, and at the same time, half wished that they where out for the evening. It was a complicated thing, but Dimitri was torn between wanting to get to know them more, and wanting to stay 'out of sight' so to speak in case he accidentally did something that would make them think ill of him.

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Eneas and Ulises snickered, laughing almost like hyenas. They knew they could've let it happen, just let them be an adorable couple, but they were the annoying older brothers after all. They couldn't turn down an opportunity like this, especially since it was the first time that they saw their sister kiss Dimitri. Had it been a kiss on the lips, their reactions would've made the two young teens blush worse than they did now.

"Ustedes están tan en serio! Yo voy a decir a papá en los dos," Maria grumbled irritably, her cheeks warming up again. She looked over at poor Dimitri who was doing worse than she was. Her eyes shot back towards her two older brothers who only just smiled innocently before whistling. When she mentioned her father, she realized that he still wasn't home yet, and neither was their mother. "Hey, where's mom and dad?"

"Dad's still at the station," Eneas answered, scratching his ear, "And I think mom went out with some friends. They said they'd be home late. They told us we didn't have to wait for you too long, but we haven't seen your darling Dimitri in so long~."

"They should be back home not too long from now," Ulises added, looking at his phone, "That is if you want to stay of course Dimitri. I know you've all had a busy day and you should probably get some sleep. With Maria being such a handful, I'm sure she tired you out."

Maria glared at her two brothers, wishing they would stop poking fun at her so much. Which was interesting since she would've thought they'd mess with Dimitri more, but knowing them, they were probably going to wait for the right opportune moment before they made her boyfriend's face as red as a tomato.

"So, how are you enjoying the quinceanera pictures, future brother in-law?" Eneas asked with a small grin. "If you had known Ria back then, you would've been able to dance with her for one of the important waltzes."

"Then it would've been a prince and a princess dancing across the ballroom floor," Ulises said almost absentmindedly, not knowing that Maria was trying to hide her face in a pillow. Still, the idea was tempting and she wondered if she'd ever get that kind of chance to dance with Dimitri at a formal event. She knew that there was prom, but that wasn't until the Spring.


 

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri took a deep breath, the brothers still cackling in delight from the young couples reactions. Once again, he heard Maria scolding them in Spanish, which seemed to be a nearly minutely occurrence here in this house-hold, and felt a small smile tug at his lips. He managed to catch the word 'papá' and gave a small snort of laughter, looking back at Maria with a raised eyebrow, humored that she would tattle on her older brothers. He shook his head with a smirk, looking back at the photos.

He continued to page through the album, but kept an ear open as the siblings discussed where their parents where. It was exactly the answer to the question he had just been thinking, and he filed the information away in his brain, stewing on it. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Eneas teasingly use the words' darling' and Dimitri'.
His head jerked up and his looked over at him, his cheeks heating up again. He opened his mouth to retort, but was almost glad when Ulises cut in, seeing as he hadn't actually formed any good comebacks in his head yet.

"Uhmmm..." Dimitri fumbled uncertainly, glancing over at Maria, a small smile slowly touching his face. "I'm not that tired out," He said, flashing her a quick grin. "Maybe I'll stay long enough to say hello." The boy added, looking back at Eneas and Ulises.

Dimitri smiled faintly as Eneas asked about how he was enjoying the pictures, that is, until he reached the 'future brother-in-law' part, which of course made Dimitri blush in agitation. Dimitri thought about what he had said, and a thoughtful smile touched his lips. "Yeah...I guess so," He said absently, looking down at the photos of the lovely dance, and wishing with all his heart that he could have been there. Dimitri remembered feeling a bit guilty of how he had somewhat dismissed Maria at the Harvest Dance, his mind had been so occupied, with Arielle that he hadn't even really spared her a glance. He wished so much now that he could re-do that night, there were a thousand things he would change! He couldn't even remember know what she had been wearing! The young man sighed softly, knowing that next time, next time would be different for sure.

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

"I knew he'd answer that he'd stay," Eneas said with a satisfying grin, gaining a look from his elder brother. Eneas just smiled before continuing, "Besides, you still need to see Maria's baby photos, and hear her little adventures, and the things she used to say."

Maria really wanted the floor to swallow her up. Of course Eneas would be the more embarrassing one out of the two brothers right now. If anything, Maria could admit that Eneas was more playful and teasing than Ulises, and she wasn't sure if he enjoyed making her blush or Dimitri blush.

"What do you mean you guess so?" Ulises in surprise, clearly messing with Dimitri. "If you're saying that my sister isn't worth dancing, then you're clearly crazy!" Ulises, even though feigning to be shocked and hurt, couldn't stop the grin on his face and laughter escaping him. Then he stopped, a glint in his eyes as he left the room to go get something.

Maria blinked, looking at Dimitri before looking at Eneas who just shrugged his shoulders. He was just as confused as the young couple, not sure what the elder brother was up to. Not too long after, Ulises came back with a CD, putting it in and pressing play. He gave it a couple seconds before the unmistakable tune was recognized.

The young Hispanic teen recognized the tune and smiled, almost laughing. "You're so sneaky, Ulises," Maria said with a small grin, "Playing this waltz from the quinceanera."

"C'mon you two. I want to see you dance," Ulises gently teased. Maria giggled and stood up, tossing her hair behind her before looking at Dimitri and curtsying with a sweet smile.

She held out her hand, and almost felt herself being transported back to their first date with the salsa dancing. "Would you care to share this dance with me?" She knew that her brothers would've teased Dimitri for not being the first one to get up and ask her to dance, but she didn't care. Besides, it had been awhile since she had danced with him, and dancing with him in a waltz would definitely be interesting.  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri gave a slight laugh, looking over at Eneas with a sheepish smile. "Well...I guess it would be kind of rude not to stay long enough to say 'hello'" He said, gently flipping closed the cover of the quenceanera photo album, having finally reached the back. The boy snickered, looking over at the highly embarrassed Maria as Eneas mentioned the baby pictures. "I think that would be priceless." He said, covering his mouth to hide his snicker from Maria.

The young boy's head jerked up at Ulises's mock offence, and he felt his cheeks coloring with frustration. "N-no! I meant the pri..the...the...the prin- The Prince and Princess thing!" He stammered, his face getting redder by the second as he lose control of his tongue, stuttering fiercely. And then he realized that Ulises was laughing at him, and he ground his teeth together in frustrated embarrassment, looking down at his feet.

Vaguely, he heard The older boy stand up, leaving the room for a moment. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He always had to remind himself that Eneas and Ulises's teasing was just that, teasing. They where never hurtful in what they said, Dimitri was just always too sensitive, too quick to react. But none the less, he wished he could learn to just laugh off their well-meant jokes instead of blushing to the roots of his hair every time.

Dimitri looked up when Maria met his gaze, shrugging slightly and giving her a helpless look. He frowned slightly, thinking about the music that he heard playing, trying to pinpoint it, and then it sunk in, The Last Waltz. Dimitri smiled faintly, and as the notion sunk in, and he was actually thankful to Ulises. The boy had just been feeling guilty about how poorly his first chance to dance with Maria had gone, and now the young man had presented him with the perfect opportunity to begin making it up to her. Of course, it wasn't the same, Dimitri owed her an entire night of dancing, a ball, a prom, or homecoming of sorts, but for now, this would certainly do.

The young man rose to his feet, bowing slightly, with a small smile. He was blushing faintly, still feeling self conscious, knowing that Eneas and Ulises were watching him. He rose from the bow, reaching out and taking the proffered hand. "I would indeed." He said softly, his voice low, and almost shy sounding. Dimitri stepped in close, placing a hand on her waist, his other hand holding hers gently, their foreheads nearly touching. He waited for the right point in the music, and then slowly moved into the three-step of the waltz, moving her slowly in a circle before spinning her out and drawing her back in.

He smiled, beginning to really enjoy himself, almost forgetting that her brothers were there. He swayed Maria back and forth gently, before spinning her out gently, and resuming the original waltz position. Dimitri slid his hand farther behind her to make sure she didn't slip and then swept her low, holding her almost parallel with the floor. Dimitri stopped a moment, unable to help a soft laugh from escaping his lips. He couldn't believe how much fun this was!

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

"Of course it'd be priceless," Eneas said with a sly grin, "When you're in our home, we're entitled to embarrass our dear, Ria. I mean, you'll probably hear so many stories if you come over often, but we just have to spoil with the good stuff now."

Ulises smiled gently at Dimitri. The boy definitely had a tendency to act a bit dramatic, but then again, so did Maria at times. It didn't help that his reactions to his teasing remarks made the older boy still want to laugh, but judging from by red he was, Ulises knew that he'd have to tone it down some before Maria scolded them again. Despite the fact that she was the baby, she definitely could be as strict as their mother if she needed to do so.

Maria smiled gently and encouragingly at Dimitri, not wanting him to feel to nervous. Sure, it was most likely because her brothers were there, but she didn't believe that they'd sabotage this dance, especially since Ulises was the one to put the music on. She didn't let herself be bothered as she focused more on Dimitri, on the closeness, and her footwork.

It was a lot of fun for Maria to be dancing again, even if it was the waltz, and dancing with Dimitri made it two times more fun. Somehow dancing the waltz was even better than dancing the salsa with him not too long ago. Maria smiled when he spun her around, and just like him, almost forgetting that her brothers were there. She even didn't even pay attention that they were in her home, in the family room. What mattered was that she was dancing with him; the boy that she loved, the boy who made her smile, the boy she'd give her life for.

When he dipped her, Maria's eyes widened somewhat in surprise before she smiled at him, laughing softly as well. With a slow blink, she looked up at Dimitri, the gentle smile returning on her face, feeling like she could stare into them all day. "You are really amazing at the waltz," Maria said, almost quietly, as if she wanted to conversation to be just between the two of them, because it honestly felt like it was just the two of them at that moment.  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ
Can you keep a secret?...

Dimitri smirked slightly at Eneas, glancing over at him out of the corner of his eye. He knew that it time he'd probably get to hear every embarrassing story that the brothers could think of to tell him about Maria. At times, their teasing got to be a bit much for him, but then, he did love to see Maria blushing, and their teasing often had just that effect.

As Dimitri was still recovering from the highly flustering teasing from Ulises he caught a small glimpse of the gentle, nearly apologetic smile of his face. He glanced back down, the look on the older boys face reinforced the notion that he hadn't meant any harm, and Dimitri tried to analyse exactly what had made him react so badly to that particular statement, and then he pinpointed it. Dimitri never felt like he was worth Maria's love, and he was trying hard to make himself feel like he was good enough for her. Just the teasing suggestion that he thought Maria wasn't good enough for him was like a punch to the gut. But Ulises didn't know that, he couldn't, and so the teasing jab had been nothing that was meant to make him feel this way.

Dimitri couldn't help himself but grin as he danced with Maria, his socked feet sinking into the comfortable soft rug as he placed his weight on them. He pulled her up from the low sweep, spinning her out once more as they continued the dance. Dimitri laughed softly, drawing her back in again, the sweet floral smell of her hair filling his nostrils. He closed his eyes, smiling as they continued to dance.

After a few minutes, Dimitri had completely forgotten about the two brothers sitting on the couch, no doubt grinning like identical Cheshire cats. Maria looked so beautiful, so graceful and elegant as she danced, her long russet hair moving around her face as she swept around the room with him. Once again, Dimitri slid his hand around her back, sweeping her low towards the ground. He smiled at her, holding her carefully so as not to let her slip. For a moment, time seemed to stand still for Dimitri, his eyes meeting Maria's. On an impulse, Dimitri leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers in a gentle, but passionate kiss.

But more specifically...Can you keep mine?...