Teach Me [Dimitri]

Another word of encouragement followed, and Nerisei started to have more confidence in herself. The witch had never had swimming lessons in her life, and neither did she ever feel the need to. She didn’t like swimming, she never had, and so her family gave up on trying to teach the little girl how to. But Dimitri wasn’t giving up on her. On the contrary, he was helping her overcome this little obstacle, whilst being safe.

“Look straight up, Neri, keeping your eyes up towards the sky helps to keep your body up above the water.”

Neri’s eyes moved away from his immediately. She hadn’t understood that she had been staring at him all this time, but he was making her feel safe. And fuzzy. And…. Neri, focus!, the witch thought as she cleared her throat. “Apologies,” Neri mumbled, her eyes now focused on the blue sky above. Some clouds had gathered, but nothing to really worry about. The weather was lovely. Dimitri pushed her up a little bit, and only then did Neri understand that she was letting go, and therefore, sinking instead of floating. Thankfully, he was there to push her right up.

But his next words made her want to sink once again.

“Okay, I want you to let go of my arm, and put that arm out to finish your star shape.”

“Let go?” The Ravenclaw asked, panic evident in her voice. Nerisei wasn’t ready to let go of his arm. He was what truly kept her afloat, and now he was asking her to let go? Maybe they were moving too fast…

But then his reassurance came once again, as if he could read her mind, and the witch felt her body relax, as much as possible. Deep breaths were taken, her eyes never leaving the moving clouds above her. Gulping down the fear, Nerisei, ever so slowly, let go of Dimitri's arm and moved into position.

As her body floated, Neri’s brain went into overdrive. Her heart started beating faster, and s gigantic smile touched the Ravenclaw’s features. “Oh my God! I am doing this!” But the moment she spoke, her focus broke, and the with started sinking. Panicking once more, the witch flailed, reaching for Dimitri. Her feet touched the ground, but the girl was still scared, literally wrapped around the wizard.

Once she understood what she had just done, Nerisei released Dimitri, moving back a few inches. “I am sorry.” Apologise was the least she could do.

The witch had somehow managed to stay afloat on her own for mere minutes, before the panic had kicked in, causing her to cling onto the first thing she could find, which was Dimitri, in this case. His praise and all of his reassurement were forgotten on the spot. Her brain could now focus only on one thing, and that was surviving. The wizard didn’t push her away though. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her steady as she tried to calm her beating hard down. She was overreacting once again, but she was in a state that she couldn’t really control it.

“It’s okay, honestly.”

Dimitri was reassuring her once again, and Nerisei felt like a little child. She was definitely acting like one and she hated it. Her eyes found his and the smile that was gracing his features made the Ravenclaw witch melt. How did he have that effect on her? A smile and a couple of words, and Nerisei was back to her calm self, ready to go back to swimming, or back to anything, for that matter.

“You were doing really well, though, Neri. Really well.”

The smile that touched Nerisei’s lips couldn’t be suppressed. Neri took Dimitri’s offered hand, standing there for a moment, and smiling up at him like an idiot. There was something so very comforting… Something she couldn’t really place, but every time Dimitri tried to comfort her, it worked. Maybe it was the sound of his voice that seemed to calm all of her nerves and fears, or it was the way he touched her. Innocent touches, that ended up driving the Ravenclaw witch crazy.

“Do you want to try again, or, shall I show you how to swim now?”

Nerisei thought for a moment. They could move on and try swimming now, but she would be lying if she said that she had actually achieved the floating part. A couple of seconds, with Dimitri’s help, didn’t count. She needed to have the basics down first before moving to swimming, else she knew very well that her panic attacks would be worse, if anything went wrong. “I think we should try again, one last time. Then show me the next part.”

And with that, Neri moved away from him, slightly, taking a deep breath, and slowly lowering herself down in the water once again. Her eyes were, once again, glued to the sky, and the witch stayed as focused as she could. This time, she wouldn’t mess this up.

As Neri tried again, this time twice as focused as before, the witch finally managed to float quite well. As long as she remained focused, she could feel that her body wasn’t sinking at all, even when Dimitri wasn’t supporting her any longer. His hands were still on her body, but she could feel that he was merely touching her. No pressure was being added to keep her floating, and Nerisei’s chest swelled with pride. She was actually doing this on her own!

“You’re doing great,”

The reassurement brought a giggle from the witch, but this time, her focus didn’t break enough to allow her to sink back into the water. On the contrary, her body remained on the surface, and as Dimitri started explaining what she had to do next, Nerisei allowed herself to close her eyes and inhale deeply. Her body had seemingly relaxed, and Dimitri’s soothing voice was helping the witch not panic.

The witch started moving her feet, ever so softly, as if testing the movement. A smile touched her lips as she actually saw that it wasn’t too uncomfortable. Dimitri moved around so that he was standing close to her head, his arms supporting her neck so that she wouldn’t sink, but Nerisei wasn’t worried about it anymore. She was slowly getting the hang of it, and, surprisingly, she was actually enjoying this.

“Keep your hips up towards the top of the water. You’re doing great.”

Nerisei started kicking a little harder after that, feeling her body move faster against the water. Her eyes remained close, in an attempt to keep herself relaxed. She knew that if she opened her eyes and saw that she was moving deeper, she would give up. But instead of that, Nerisei just kept them shut, giving Dimitri the freedom to move them wherever he wanted. She was trusting him at that moment. With everything she had.

“I like this…,” Neri murmured loud enough for Dimitri to hear. Truthfully, she hadn’t expected to like swimming. She never had. But it seemed like it had all been in her head, because now, that she was finally trying this, she was actually enjoying the feeling of floating. Of allowing the water to move her body, as she relaxed. “Thank you.”

That was all the witch could say. Dimitri had probably better things to do, but he was here, helping her through her fear. And Nerisei appreciated that more than words could express.

“You’re swimming on your own, Neri.”

Neri wanted to laugh from happiness. Dimitri’s hands were officially not offering any support, and the witch was, indeed, swimming on her own. Nerisei had never believed that one day she would be able to overcome that fear of swimming. And the fact that the person who had helped her was Dimitri, made everything even more beautiful. The witch felt like she owed him. No matter what had gone down between them, no matter from how different worlds they were from, Dimitri had stuck next to her. He had supported her and helped her through everything. And Nerisei didn’t know how to repay him for everything.

“Normally, you would use your arms to help propel yourself. Doing complete full circles in alternating rhythm, but you don’t have to do that today, you’re doing just fine without the use of your arms.”

Not going to push my luck too much,” Nerisei said with a laugh. She remained in the same position, moving her legs softly, enough to keep her moving, but not fast. Her hands remained spread away from her sides, and her eyes stayed closed. Nerisei might have not made a move, but all she truly wanted was grab Dimitri’s face and crush her lips to his. Thank him, in a way, for everything he had done for her today. Though, Dimitri hadn’t shown any signs, and she had promised herself not to kiss him until he had made a decision.

Though, the more she laid there, relaxing, the more she felt like she wanted to kiss him.

“Mitri…”

Her eyes opened slightly, and the witch put her legs back on the ground, turning to look at him. He looked so very beautiful…

His hair swept back like always, but a few strands were falling in his face, making him look extremely adorable. He was shirtless, Nerisei had almost forgotten about it, but her eyes immediately found the naked skin. Taking a deep breath, Neri’s eyes slowly moved up, finding his.

And she knew she had lost the fight.

In a matter of seconds, the witch had extended her arms, cupping Dimitri’s cheeks and pulling him into a deep kiss. They hadn’t kissed for some time, and Neri had missed this. She had missed his taste, the way his soft lips moved against hers. Their kisses were still not perfect, but they were getting better.

Pulling back for air, Nerisei licked her lips, before kissing him hard once again. “Thank you,” the witch murmured in between kisses. She didn’t know what to say, or do.

Truthfully, Nerisei didn’t know how Dimitri would react. She had learn that by now. Dimitri was quite unpredictable, both because of his upbringing and his personality. Whenever she had made a move in the past, Dimitri always ended up pushing her away, because he ended up feeling uncomfortable, mostly because he had no idea how to handle his feelings. Nerisei had grown to understand that Dimitri was in an endless war with his heart and mind. When you grew up acting a certain way, it was extremely hard to let go and follow your heart. Follow what your body desperately wanted. Because, according to his mind, if he did let go, he would end up hurting her.

But Nerisei didn’t want him to feel that way.

Yet, she had no idea how to help him, other than making him feel, and making him see that it was not a bad thing.

Dimitri, though, kissed her back. His arms wound themselves around her body, pulling her closer and earning a small moan from the witch. The water made it really easy to move, it was as if their weight was disposed of. So, as he pulled her closer, Nerisei allowed her legs to wrap around his waist, making the kiss deeper. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, holding his mouth against hers. She didn’t want to let go.

“I’m sorry…”

“Shush,” Nerisei hushed him, kissing his lips softly. She knew very well what he meant. He was apologising for the mixed signals, for not being able to make a decision. For not being able to give her everything she wanted. But the way he held her body against his, the way his lips were moving against hers, it showed her that he cared. That he did want to let go and enjoy every moment with her. And the fact that he wasn’t allowing himself that much saddened her.

Nerisei pulled back to look into Dimitri’s eyes, biting her bottom lip nervously. She didn’t know what to say. In truth, she wanted to kiss him more, the fire was evident in her eyes, but she didn’t want to push Dimitri again. She didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. So instead, she gave him the liberty to choose. She wouldn’t push him this time. Not again.