<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/ja4gab6.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/a/ae/Hogwartscrest.png/revision/latest?cb=20110806202805)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>NAME:</strong> <strong>Dyani Hawthorne</strong> (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=299655.msg14685893#msg14685893)<br/><strong>HOUSE | YEAR:</strong> Slytherin | 3rd<br/><strong>BLOOD STATUS:</strong> Pure<br/><strong>WAND:</strong> Ash | Rougarou | 9 ½ inches | Crooked and Firm<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong> Just a lil somethan' (https://i.imgur.com/mk4pGXl.jpg)<br/><strong>DATE | TIME:</strong> Saturday, October 26th, 2019 | Night<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong> Darley Penthouse | Lost<br/><strong>CONTENT:</strong> I'm just going to assume they're talking in German at this point. Asking the hard questions.<br/><strong>MOOD MUSIC:</strong> Like lovers do (https://youtu.be/s5rtxcogEsU)<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong> Aaren, Open | <strong>Mentioning:</strong> Konstantin, Loveday</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/>It seemed Aaren was surprised by her comment,<i>both</i>of them. Although the latter seemed to have left him significantly more unarmed. For that Dyani could not help but smile apologetically. Perhaps it was none of her business. Perhaps he owed her nothing, but if she was about to bare her heart out upon her sleeve some part of her felt she<i>deserved</i>to know. Still, she was surprised he even bothered to answer her. Suddenly those butterflies began to return, and she began to feel somewhat sheepish.<br/><br/>His answer was more than adequate.<i>Surprising</i>, even. There was a level of honesty there she had no been fully prepared for, and yet she found herself blushing mildly at his confession. Men were not so honest and open about such subjects were anyone. There had to be<i>something</i>there. A spark of hope, at least.  Although she did find it strange to learn Nadia was so casual about them. With how stubbornly she bucked back against her, Dyani had thought something more was involved. It irked her to learn otherwise.<br/><br/>Suddenly she didn't feel so guilty for tormenting her.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry. That must have been difficult for you." She found herself frowning as she settled in beside him, leaning against one of the balcony's railings. It was strange to hear he had struggled. Somehow she expected to be happier, to be<i>pleased</i>that he and Nadia ended so roughly. In the end it only left a bitter taste on her tongue. "Women can be terribly deceptive creatures."<br/><br/><i>What about you? What are your feelings for Konstantin now?</i><br/><br/>At that Dyani actually laughed, although it held no real warmth. "<i>Complicated.</i>" She replied easily, knowing it might take an essay for her to fully describe such a thing. Dyani might have even left it at that, she had so many times before... but somehow she felt obligated to delve further. His honesty and self-reflection touched her, it was only fair she returned the favor. "In truth, I asked myself the same thing for many, many years." Her gaze traveled out onto the horizon, lost someplace past the stars twinkling and the harvest moon. "I grew up with him, you know." She offered him a solemn, yet brief, smile.<br/><br/>"Back when we were kids he was so different..." Gentler, even if already tainted by his mother's insanity. "He often took care of me, protected me." Dyani's fingers toyed at one another as she lost herself to the realms of her vivid memory. "I felt like I owed something to him. He was important to me, and I struggled to understand why my feelings for him were so mixed." The blonde exhaled a sigh, still a bit ashamed of herself even now. It was getting harder and harder to tell what she felt more guilty over these days.<br/><br/>"But I realized something." Pale greens lifted, locking with his own coffee hues. "Two years ago I realized that, while I loved him and probably always would, I was not<i>in</i>love with him - and there was a definite difference." Dyani smiled meekly, hoping he might understand. "The moment that thought popped into my head it was as though someone had lifted an elephant off of my chest." She laughed softly, strangely relieved to have finally admitted it to someone out loud.