Walking, Arguing, and Hand Holding

---> Walking, Arguing, and Handholding

The group had been walking for about a week since the train incident. Although the days were long and exhausting, Vlad and Pooka were kept quite entertained by Anya and Dimitri bantering back and forth. In fact, Vlad had kept the tally sheet going, and by far, Anya was the leading lady.

"So Dimitri, when is the bus coming?" asked Anya.

"You’re the one who is a grand duchess," he replied. "Why don’t you order one to come pick us up?"

"Well, you’re the one who makes it your business to know about the lives of royalty. You’d know the process better than I do. Go call for the bus yourself!" commanded Anya, with a smug look on her face.

"Ahhh…forget it!" exclaimed Dimitri, frustrated at being at a loss for words, as often happened when talking with Anya.

Vlad let out a hearty laugh, and reached into his pocket for the tally sheet. He stopped for a moment to give Anya another point.

"Uh, Vlad, what are you doing?" asked Dimitri, who had noticed that Vlad stopped on occasion to write something down on a certain folded piece of paper. Yet there was nothing to write out in this barren landscape, and he obviously wasn’t writing travel papers.

He put his hand on Vlad’s shoulder and leaned over before Vlad had a chance to put the paper away. Dimitri’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he saw Anya’s side overflowing with points, and only several under his name.

"Vlad, what is THAT?" he sourly asked.

Anya walked over to see what the commotion was about, and immediately burst out laughing. "Uh, Dimitri. That would be a tally sheet, and I, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, have way more points than you. In fact, there’s no contest."

Dimitri looked back and forth between Vlad and Anya with a flabbergasted look on his face. "Vlad, is that what you’ve been marking down all this time?"

"My boy, I’m afraid so," gasped Vlad before he and Anya fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. "Dimitri, she is certainly more than a match for you," winked Vlad behind Anya’s back.

Dimitri stormed off ahead to get away from Anya. He knew what Vlad meant by that wink…that there was supposed to be some sort of unspoken attraction between himself and Anya. Ridiculous! The way he constantly argued with her drove his mind in circles…yet in a way, he enjoyed it, and felt a sense of stimulation, excitement, and connectedness that he had never felt before. But off course, that just meant that Anya really bugged him.

Arguing with himself over what Anya did to his insides when she spoke to him, Dimitri continued stomping ahead of everyone else. After awhile, he began to get lonely. He actually missed having Anya to talk to. He wanted to turn around and see how far behind him Anya and Vlad were, but he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of thinking that he actually missed them.

Meanwhile, Vlad was making the most out of the opportunity to talk to Anya alone. "My dear, you certainly do keep Dimitri in line! I wish I’d had you around for the last 10 years to help me raise him. I’ve never seen him become so engaged when talking to someone."

Anya laughed. "Vlad, the more accurate word is Mad. Dimitri gets plain MAD when talking to me."

Vlad gave Anya a fatherly pat on the back, before gently saying "He only gets mad because he enjoys bantering with you."

"Really?" incredulously asked Anya. "I just thought he couldn’t stand me… Hmm…"

Vlad was going to comment, but left the thought unsaid, since it seemed like Anya was playing around with the idea of Dimitri actually liking her.

"Well," finally concluded Anya. "I guess I kind of enjoy arguing with Dimitri also. At the orphanage everybody was younger than I was, and there was no good conversation. Somehow, I feel very satisfied when I speak with Dimitri…sort of like I finally have met someone that is a match for my wits."

Vlad knowingly smiled. "My dear, you are right about that one. And know that you are a match for Dimitri’s mind also."

"Can I still hate him?" quickly inserted Anya as she realized that Vlad may be hinting at something deeper.

"Of course," chuckled Vlad, wondering how long it would take for the two to crumble under love’s spell.

Meanwhile, Dimitri’s steps had slowed as he casually waited for the others to catch up. And in all the excitement of her conversation with Vlad, Anya’s strides had sped up. Soon, the party was reunited.

"Have a nice conversation?" asked Dimitri as Anya came along side him.

Anya exchanged a shy smile with Vlad, and they both nodded "ah huh."

"Did you have a pleasant conversation with yourself?" inserted Anya, jumping at the chance to score another point on the tally sheet.

"Ah!" grunted Dimitri as he kicked the ground, again at a loss for words. He looked at Anya and rolled his eyes. "Your grace, you look a little tired from having to walk all this way without taking a bus. I’ll have you know that while I was ahead of you, I placed a call to get a bus to make us go faster." With that, he awkwardly grabbed Anya’s hand and pulled her along.

"Oh, I can walk by my…" began Anya, before she was silenced by a gentle nudge from Vlad. "Let him help you, my dear." Anya rolled her eyes, but complied. After all, she sort of enjoyed Dimitri’s strong grasp holding her hand and providing her with strength to keep walking.

After awhile, Dimitri realized that his grasp was becoming less awkward and more gentle and comfortable. Surprised, he paused to look back at Anya to see her reaction. She only stuck her tongue out at him, and he stuck his back out at her. But secretly, Dimitri was thinking about how soft and comforting Anya’s hand felt against his own. Anya’s heart jumped as she felt Dimitri’s hold become more gentle, and she softly squeezed his hand to let him know that she too felt comfortable with this arrangement. Surprised, he turned around again, but was greeted with Anya sticking her tongue out as she had done before. He shook his head and turned back around, not knowing how to respond. He just wouldn’t talk to her, but would keep walking for awhile with her hand in his, and everything would be fine.

Following behind them with Pooka in his arms, Vlad nodded his head in silent approval.

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