Dimitri's Punishment

Life, Relationship change

Natalya and Dimitri report to Pufuktin about their jobs to take care of two rangers in Flottenheim. Dimitri is punished for his failure. Natalya finds him and comforts him. They realize they have feelings for each other.

Natalya opened her eyes and nudged Dimitri awake as the carriage rolled to a stop. It was still dark out and Dimitri looked like he was in pain from being awoken too soon. He flinched as he moved his chest from the arrow wounds. Natalya met his eyes nervously and he gave her a small smile before looking out the window dismally. He was scared. Natalya would be too if her target had gotten away. The door to the carriage opened and an officer beckoned them out. "Sergeant Novikoff," he addressed Dimitri who saluted him as he exited the carriage. The officer looked down with disdain at Natalya. "Miss Ivanov. You are to report to General Pufuktin immediately," he informed them before dealing with the driver. They headed inside the compound and walked down the creepy, dark hallway. When they got there, the door was open and outside were more guards than usual. Behind Pufuktin's desk, hovering over some papers, was King Staladin himself speaking with Pufuktin in hushed whispers in a dark language Natalya couldn't understand. When Natalya and Dimitri entered, they stopped talking. King Staladin straightened himself and looked at them expectantly. Natalya nervously bowed with Dimitri. Their king was a high elf with sickly pale skin and long, straight blond hair. His eyes were silver like Pufuktin's and they studied Natalya's body lustfully as he saw her. Natalya swallowed from his intimidating presence. After a tense pause, Pufuktin broke the silence. "Well?" he asked irritably. "Are the rangers dead?" Dimitri straightened himself out and met Pufuktin's gaze. "Natalya took care of Oblonsky. Frostears got away. He hit me hard before I could land an arrow in him." He raised the bit of his leather armor to show his wound. "Natalya decided to drag me to safety instead of allowing me to get caught." There was a pause that seemed to last forever as Pufuktin and Staladin huffed with displeasure. "Damn fag," Pufuktin muttered under his breath. "Indeed," Staladin agreed, clearly having encountered this Frostears character before. "Sergeant Ivanov." Natalya's ears perked as Pufuktin addressed her with her new title. "Is this what happened?" he asked her intensely. Natalya nodded. "It is, sir." She swallowed nervously. Pufuktin nodded. "Please excuse us then, Sergeant Ivanov. You look hungry and in need of rest." He gave her an approving nod and waved her to the door. Natalya glanced over at Dimitri who was standing steadily at attention, seemingly unfazed. She turned back to Pufuktin and nodded before walking out of the room. As she exited, the door slammed shut behind her. She heard Dimitri scream out in pain and she flinched. She tried to ignore his screams of terror and agony as she made it back to her room. She put up her things and worried the whole time about what they were doing to Dimitri. He doesn't deserve this, she kept thinking. She paced around in her room for a while in dread. After an hour or so had passed, she ventured out into the corridor. It was late now and most everyone was in their rooms resting, meaning the halls were empty. She went to Dimitri's room and looked around a moment before knocking very quietly on his door. She heard movement inside and saw him crack the door open. His face looked tired and pained and Natalya realized he was trying to hide the rest of his body from her behind the door. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. "I was worried about you," Natalya said innocently, trying to see if he was okay. Dimitri looked around and pulled her inside, closing the door behind her. "You could get in a lot of trouble if they find you down here," he said sternly. Natalya noticed he was only wearing his trousers and saw lots of blood on him and the floor. "What did they do to you?" she asked in horror. She saw huge black gashes and bruises on his chest and saw that that was where the blood was coming from. It wasn't just blood, either. There was a sickly black colored fluid seeping out of the nasty wounds. "Let me help," she said, instinctively reaching out to him even though she had no idea what to do. "You shouldn't be here, Natalya," he said reluctantly. "You'll get in trouble." He fearfully pulled away from her touch. "I feel guilty," Natalya said. "I should have gone after the other elf. It's not fair that they did this to you," she said giving him a pleading look. He sat on the corner of his bed, struggling to reach his back which had a particularly large gash on it he couldn't quite reach. Natalya sat next to him and took the cloth from him. Dimitri gave in and she started tending to his wounds. She noticed the skin felt cold to touch, not like ice but like death and decay. Natalya did her best to clean it and she got out the suturing kit from Dimitri's bag. "How did you heal me in the forest?" he asked her, gritting through the pain. "I... I don't know," Natalya admitted. "I've never used magic before. I just hoped it would work," she said, also confused by what happened. Dimitri winced from the pain. "Maybe you should have let the elf finish me off," he said, sounding defeated. Natalya was taken aback. "Don't say that sort of thing," she scolded him, unable to imagine leaving Dimitri to die in such a situation. "Natalya..." he sighed. "All my life has consisted of up to this point is pain and suffering. It's nice that you still have hope. I don't understand that. I gave up on hope a long time ago. Ouch!" He winched from the needle piercing his skin. Natalya tried to be gentler. "What... what did they do to you?" she asked him, trying to understand what had caused such disgustingly painful wounds. Dimitri shook his head. "I don't remember. Everything's really blurry when I try to think about it," he said, rubbing his forehead. Natalya worked diligently and after a while she made her last stitch on the gash on his ribcage. "Do you have any bandages?" she asked him. "On my nightstand," he replied, nodding to the small desk. She grabbed them and started wrapping his torso. She tried to be light and gentle but as her fingers slid against Dimitri's side he flinched and giggled. This was immediately followed by a cry of pain from jerking his body. "I'm so sorry!" Natalya said, pulling away. She heard Dimitri laugh softly as he grabbed her hand to keep it against him. "It's okay, it only tickled," he giggled. Feeling his hand on hers, she felt herself flush and wondered if he felt the same way. She continued wrapping his wounds and found herself enjoying the way his strong shoulders felt. She noticed herself caressing his skin as she moved the bandages around him. He was so much bigger than normal elves. So much stronger. "How does that feel?" she asked when she was done. "Better. See, you learn quickly!" he complimented her playfully through his exhaustion and pain. He looked down at Natalya with his beautiful blue eyes full of sadness and longing. She reached out and caressed his face gently. He instinctively nuzzled his head into her hand, before pulling away suddenly. She dropped her hand next to his on the bed, embarrassed by her affections. She felt herself starting to blush. He hesitantly took her hand and gently squeezed it. Natalya was very aware of how close her body was to his and she slowly leaned herself closer to him. She had never wanted to be with a man like this before. Every other time she had been with somebody it had been because she had to be, not because she wanted to be. She wanted to know if he felt the same way she did. If he loved her the way she loved him. He let his hand rest on hers for a few seconds before pulling away. "You should go before it get's too late," he said softly, avoiding her eyes. Natalya felt frustrated and wondered if she had done something wrong, if she wasn't pretty enough, or talented enough. She heard Dimitri sigh heavily. "We can't, Natalya. We can't risk them finding out. They'll hurt you and me for it." He looked her in the eyes and she could see that he was trying desperately not to feel the desires and affections she felt. She swallowed and nodded slowly. He put his head in his hands in frustration. "I'm just a soldier, Nat," he told her, shaking his head. "I'm a low-life. A half-human. I have no right to even look at you let alone..." He dropped his hands and turned away from her. Natalya felt a tear slide down her cheek. "I don't care about those things. I... I lo-" "Don't," he said abruptly, cutting her off. "Don't do this, Nat. We can't come back from it if you do," he warned. She shrugged. "I'm not your student anymore," she tried to reason with him. "Come on, no one else cares about us. Why shouldn't we be together?" she asked him, trying not to sound pleading. He sighed and dropped his head in defeat. She leaned her head against his muscular shoulder. "I've never felt this way before," she whispered desperately to him. "I've never wanted to before." She gently caressed Dimitri's thigh. He looked over at her and met her eyes. He stared into them for a long time, considering their situation. Finally he bit his lower lip. "No one can find out," he said slowly. "No one," he told her sternly. She felt her heart start to pound as he admitted he wanted her too. "Of course," she breathed, unable to believe if he was serious or not. Dimitri scooted closer to her slowly and leaned his face in toward her own. "No one," he warned her again before tipping her chin up toward his face. Natalya reached up excitedly and their lips met. It was soft and gentle and Natalya felt her skin start to turn as red as her hair. He was so much sweeter and gentler than she thought he'd be. He was warm, too, which Natalya loved most of all. After a moment he pulled back and smiled at her lovingly. "I've wanted this for so long," he told her sweetly, finally allowing himself to smile at her. Natalya smiled back. "Me too," she told him softly. "I've never felt this way before," she said, bewildered by the fierce emotions in her chest. Dimitri smiled and kissed her again. "Me either," he said briefly between their playful kisses. Natalya instinctively reached over to his lap but he gently grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Not tonight," he told her. "We need rest, me especially," he begged her, motioning to his still very damaged chest. She nodded. "Sorry," she giggled. He kissed her again excitedly. "Soon, though. I promise," he whispered to her as he kissed her lips. "I need to get to sleep, though." He pulled away, clearly disappointed in his physical state. "You should get to your room. Try not to be noticed," he begged her. She nodded. "I'll be sneaky." She kissed him one more time before sharing an excited smile with him as she got up from the bed and snuck out of his room. Luckily, the halls were still empty and Natalya made it to her room with relative ease. She settled into bed and smiled giddily to herself as she thought about Dimitri.