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“Now, off with you! You are dismissed.” Count Bleck said, not before mumbling in a hiss the very string of words under his breath, teleporting away with a swish of his cloak.
Mimi was quickly snapped back into reality at the words, eyes no longer threatening to droop shut out of tiredness, she looked up and caught sight of the dark geometric surroundings, oh right, boring minion meeting.
She had been zoning out for most of the time, due to nothing eventful happening as of late— it was more so the Count having a quick check-in with his minions affairs, rather than a proper important discussion of plans.
She watched silently as Nastasia flicked away in teleportation alongside how the Count had, and Mr. L and O’Chunks both made their leaves too, to which she was about to as well, already prepared to head back to her room to find something more entertaining— though, key word, she was ‘about to’.
“Oh, Mimi? Do you have a moment?” A sing-song voice called from behind her.
Oh Grambi. She internally grumbled.
She turned around to see the owner of the voice standing— or, well— floating, behind her on his own blocky post.
“Ah, gee! You startled me, Dimmy! I didn’t realize you were still here!” She said, lying chipperly.
The jesters' split smiled face gave a hint of mischief. “I just wanted to say, I absolutely loved the new installment of your book. I’ve been on the very edge of my seat— like a daring heroine hanging off the ledge of a clif, right as the credits roll!” Dimentio complimented in a dramatic voice with a wave of his hand, “I’m just dying to see the next chapter unfold!~”
Mimi’s brain blue-screened at his words, brows furrowing in confusion, …book? What the heck was he talking abou—!?
…Wait.
She quickly fumed as it finally clicked together in her mind what ‘book’ he was referring to. “DID YOU STEAL MY DIARY AGAIN!? ”
Dimentio held up his hands in front of himself innocently, “‘Steal?’ Oh, no, no, you’re mistaken! I merely… borrowed it.” He said through his teeth, words dripping with honey.
“Borrowed!?” Mimi bristled, before waving her hands in his direction accusatively, “How do you even keep finding it!? I had the best hiding spot in the whole world!” Said ‘hiding spot’, though, happened to be letting it sit conveniently out in the open on her dresser…
…Alright perhaps it wasn’t the most artful hiding place.
“Ahahahaha!~ Don’t you know a magician never reveals his secrets?~” Dimentio said while casually twisting himself around in the air, almost acrobatically, showing he found great amusement in the argument taking place, his hands cupped behind his back as he floated upside down face to face with the mimic.
Mimi’s head tilted at that, “So… are you a magician or a clown now?” She muttered, “Ugh! Could you stop being so mysterious all the time!?”
“Ah, ah, ah—” he held up a finger, “Correction, my dear Mimi, I am a jester, not a clown.” He corrected with an air of vanity.
“Well what’s the difference!?”
“A jester makes a fool of others, whilst a clown makes a fool of themself, which seems more accurate of a description to you than I~” he continued to twirl absentmindedly in the air.
Mimi activity felt her face becoming red in frustration, she quickly growled, “Oh—! One of these days you’re finally gonna get it, you know that!” She threatened, stomping her spindly leg on the cold platform underneath her.
The jester hummed, “I doubt that. Trust me, ma chère, You won’t be finding any dirty secrets from me any time soon.” He moved to float back upright now, laying flat midair face to face with the girl, hands holding up his chin, “I’m smart enough to keep at my thoughts up here— and not jotted down on easy to steal books~” He tapped a finger to his forehead as he said ‘up here’ for emphasis, or well— at least she assumed it was his forehead, that stupid mask made it hard to tell, the porcelain making a quiet dinging clink as his finger made contact with it.
Mimi only gave a frustrated look, huffing and jumping from the platform to leave, she wasn’t going to keep putting up with his annoyingness.
She found herself warily glancing back, seeing him still floating above his own block, her face scrunched at the sight, “Like I said! You’ll get what’s coming to you one of these days! So you better not keep testing me!” She yelled up to him in reinforcement of her previous points in the argument.
Dimentio only stared down at her, almost smugly in her opinion, which made her blood boil more, his frankly creepy face didn’t help. “We’ll see about that!~” he sang. “Ciao!~” he said as she turned finally to the door, not before she heard the satisfying noise of him teleporting away with a snap of his gloved hands.
She continued seething as she walked through the dark halls of the castle, mind unable to get rid of that unnerving face no matter how much she tried.
Though, she supposed it wasn’t actually his face. When she first met the creepy clown— no, wait, jester? Ugh! Whatever the heck he was!— She had initially thought it was his face, how could she not with how it’s mouth moved in sync with his words?
But after a while it became apparent that it was merely some kind of illusion or spell— the thing was too flat and hard looking to be a proper face— he clearly wasn’t blind despite the masks eyes always being shut, and the mouth didn’t even have any teeth. Come to think of it… she never actually saw him eat anything before either… any time the castle had any kind of food prepared, he would always teleport off to Jaydes knew where, she assumed he went to his room considering it was always locked up tight, no one ever allowed in but himself. It was a little bit suspicious if you asked her, everyone deserved their privacy, sure, but he was just weird about it.
She wondered the reason for it— it clearly wasn’t just part of the getup, if that was the case why did he hide his face even from them?
Maybe he was super ugly and didn’t want anyone seeing him, the thought made her laugh. Or maybe he had some kind of scar, like that guy from that one play? That might explain why he was so exaggerated with his body language or charming wording, maybe it was to make up for that he didn’t have the proper looks to fit that stupid suave persona.
Or maybe it was the opposite— maybe he was so pretty that laying eyes on his otherworldly beauty would melt your face off or something, Mimi shuddered, she… honestly preferred the thought of him being ugly more than that.
Maybe… he didn’t have a face at all , maybe it was some horrific eldritch curse that would make your brain explode to look at— perhaps under it lay a million glowing gold eyes, or just a black hole for a face like the dark half of his mask.
Or… maybe it was as simple as he just… liked the mystery of it?
Mimi didn’t know what to think, there were just so many options as to what the stupid mask might be for, if the guy wasn’t so stinking vague maybe she’d have a better grasp of why it was so important to him. But alas, she knew nothing about him, it didn’t seem like anyone in Castle Bleck did, he was like a giant walking question mark!
She felt as the quite literal gears started to turn and connect in her head, as the dual colored facade felt burned into her brain… huh, he was never without his mask, he didn’t let anyone see him without it either, and he was really secretive when it came to things about himself…
His face was private . Just like a diary.
She glanced around, finding she was now at her room, she looked down the rest of the hall, its inky walls and doors stretched on and on, until her eyes met a particular door at the very end of the hall sitting in an eerie silence— Dimentio’s room.
If a lightbulb could magically appear over her head, it would have been glowing so bright it would blind someone.
Oh… she knew exactly how to get back at him.
—
Most likely in thanks to her being half asleep during the day's meeting, Mimi found it quite easy to stay up into the dead of night.
She rushed from her bed without second thought, throwing blankets to the floor haphazardly, heading to her dresser, glancing to see her diary was right back where she left it, if he didn’t say anything she’d be none the wiser he’d taken it.
She shook her head and got back on track, opening the dresser drawers as she began to dig through them, cursing under her breath as she struggled to find her desired item— before she gasped excitedly, pulling out a bobby pin. She gained an almost evil grin, that is if her cute exterior didn’t get in the way of that act. First step of plan complete!
With that, she headed to her door, creeking it open as silent as possible before making her way sneakily through the hallway.
She passed by one door, which despite being shut, she heard the noise of loud snoring and whirring fans of machinery from the other side— seemed as though Mr. L had stayed up late tinkering with robotic projects again, Mimi simply hoped the left on machines wouldn’t overheat and explode, despite how funny the scenario might have been in her mind.
She continued her sneaking and caught a glimpse of O’Chunks through his door, which was cracked, the humanoid was twisted in— in Mimi’s opinion— a rather uncomfortable looking sleeping position, as his punching bag swayed hypnotically in the night air that flowed from his window. She opted to not shut his door, fearful of the noise waking anyone, especially her target.
Speaking of which, she eyed the end of the hall, seeing the harlequins door temptingly waiting for her approach. She continued to step cautiously, cringing and gritting her teeth at any noise that came from the smooth floors, thank the Overthere the castle didn’t have wood floors, the mimic couldn’t dream of doing this while the prospect of creaky wood loomed over her head.
Mimi’s steps continued to echo throughout the corridors, finally making her way to the room, the walk felt like an eternity as the hint of anxiety crept into her being, as the door loomed over her in an ominous fashion she couldn’t exactly place, she was getting revenge here, she should be excited! Ugh, why was this so nerve wracking!?
She eased her head to the door, hushing her breaths to listen to any noise, eyes darting as she focused on listening. Her twisting stomach calmed after she caught a clear as day sound from the room, one that was like music to her ears— deep drawn out breathing. Heh. So he did sleep then.
Perfect.
From her dress pocket, she quickly dug out her acquired pin, smiling in satisfaction now as confidence overtook her. She swiftly went to the lock, inserting the pin and shifting it around manically throughout the space… c’mon, c’mon, c’mon—
Click.
Mimi’s smile only grew wider, she slowly pushed the door open, ensuring its hinges made no creaking groans as she did. She finally looked inside, like a child finding a forbidden stash of cookies they weren’t allowed to have, the thought of his living space enticed her as she finally looked inside to see—
…a …normal room…?
…It seemed completely unchanged from how her room had initially started, still a barren gothic guest room, hardly any trace of personalization. Outside of a few potted plants scattered about— but even calling them plants was an understatement, as they were all merely sprouts. Huh, she never took the creepy clown as the kind of guy to like botany…
Mimi shook away the confusion of the plain room. She supposed it made sense, considering his comment earlier that day of keeping his secrets locked up in his skull and not anywhere physically, but even then— would it kill the guy to put up a poster or something!? Keeping personal things secret was one thing, but the blasted jester kept his entire dang self a secret!
Mimi was doing the rest of Bleck's followers a favor!— Helping find out if they could really trust him and all! That was it— it definitely wasn’t for completely petty reasons, no sir, not cute sweet little ol’ Mimikins, she’d never hold a grudge. It was for clarity's sake, no invasion of privacy here, nope.
She slowly walked inside, looking ahead to see the bedroom portion of the room, catching a glimpse of two things of interest: something seemed to be breathing from underneath the blankets of the bed, and a black and lavender porcelain mask sat on the bedside table.
Bingo.
She crept into the room, making even extra caution to remain silent than prior, tiptoeing along the floor in slow drawn out movements.
She finally reached the bed, inching closer and closer to the table, eyeing the mask eagerly, the inky moonlight sparkled from the window and bounced off of its surface, making it glow almost.
She side eyed the bed, double checking the mass of blankets to ensure the jester didn’t awaken.
With steady hands she reached out and grabbed hold of the mask, clutching it close to her chest with a satisfied smile, not before jolting in shock at the sound of ruffling fabric, shoot.
Mimi quickly ducked down next to the bed, pressing herself as close to its side as possible, she hushed her breathing as her pulse skyrocketed, feeling anxiety fueled nausea wash over her, she was dead, oh she was so dead.
The sounds of shuffling blankets and creaking mattresses rang in her ears, before there was silence. Only the sound of Dimentio’s steady breathing and her own pounding heart entered her hearing.
She slowly peeked her head out from hiding, looking to the bed to see a very different sight from prior— now, instead of the thick blanket obscuring him, she saw the back of Dimentio’s head, ever so slightly peeking out from the covers. Strands of pale lavender hair messily met her eyes, she would have sworn it was white in the dark room, though if not for the pillows underneath him already being the color, giving her imagination the needed contrast of colors to piece things together.
She stared for a moment, she wasn’t exactly sure if it was out of awe or if she was simply still frozen by fear. Was she the first person to see him like… this? Had the Count ever seen his face? Or Nassy? Was Mimi the first or was she blowing this way out of proportion? She was only seeing his stinkin hair for rubees sake! Though… she wasn’t sure if she really cared if she was first or not to be truthful, the sight left her staring starry eyed regardless.
She found herself holding the mask closer to herself, she imagined her initial plan in her mind— hiding it away in her room, perhaps somewhere he wouldn’t think of, like her bed or in a bookshelf somewhere. She imagined the delight of waking up early to hear his frantic scrambling and searching from the depths of his room, before it would finally dawn his beloved mask was gone and he’d scream like a little girl in fear, before probably getting mad, barricading himself up in his room out of fear of his precious face being seen by mortal eyes, banging at the door and yelling at everyone he’d deem a suspect, Mimi would play dumb, of course, maybe for days on end just to rub it in…
But…
She glanced down to the mask in her clutches, then back up to the unmasked figure in the bed…
Oh, the idea of quite literally rubbing her victory in his face? Letting him know it was her who had duped him?
Now that was far too priceless to pass up!
With that she began to inch around the bed, making her way to the opposite side, seeing a similar display of the magician's hair being the only thing visible from under the layer of thick fabric.
With shaky hands she reached for the blanket, grabbing hold of it before tearing it back, turning her head away and scrunching her eyes shut as her fangs bit into her lip, cringing as she listened for any changes in sound, but the only thing that had differed was his breathing was now less muffled. Oh thank Grambi, he hadn’t woken up.
Mimi hesitated for a moment, debating on even looking, she was swatting at a hornets nest here and she knew it, but curiosity won the mimic over, as she slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to face him.
He looked… normal.
That was really the only word Mimi could find— there weren't any scars or curses, no otherworldly beauty or underworldly ugliness, she solved the mystery— he just looked… normal! He would just be assumed to be an ordinary flipsider if she didn’t know any better— his appearance kinda reminded her of O’Chunks, but Dimentio wasn’t as pale as he, having a darker purple undertone to his skin, which made sense from the color of his frizzy split colored hair as well. Said hair was also tied in what appeared to be either a ponytail or braid, Mimi couldn’t tell from where she stood. She wasn’t sure if the black half was his natural hair color or the off white, but either way it was fitting, seeing as his beloved mask held the same pattern, just in reverse— like his hair was a mirror to it. His ears stuck out from the tufts of frazzled bedridden hair, they were a bit more pointed than O’Chunks as well, reminding Mimi more so of the Count’s long pointed ones, just minus the blue skin and more animalistic qualities Count Bleck possessed of course.
Average wasn’t even a good word to describe him either, as she could see someone thinking him pretty, but it definitely wasn’t her, it was more just an observation.
Normal was all she could find, because it was true, she had psyched herself up so much that he’d have some dark magical secret that now she just felt cheated!
Mimi merely huffed, looking down at the mask in her hold and back to the peacefully sleeping jester. She almost felt guilty upon seeing how calm he looked, before her prior frustration came front center as the realization hit— she was seeing his face! She was seeing his stupid face he’d hid for so long! And he didn’t even look cool! And now she was just confused, why did he hide it then!?
Her confusion gave way to her remembered revenge as she finally made up her mind, if he killed her for this then she’d just haunt him as a Boo for the rest of his life.
“Dimmy.” Mimi hissed out a whisper, bringing her hand up to shake his shoulder back and forth, well, the closest thing a guy with no arms had to a shoulder, that is. She watched as his face turned from relaxed to disgruntled, as his brows furrowed and mouth slipped into a frown, though his eyes still remained shut tight.
“Hmnf… Pixella…” Dimentio groaned, “…Cinq minutes supplémentaires…” he said tiredly, turning on his side and muffling his words in the world of blankets and pillows.
Mimi couldn’t tell if his words were slurring together or if was just the language, as she scrunched her face at the lack of understanding of whatever it was he was mumbling about— though based on her context clues it seemed he wanted to sleep, but she wasn’t going to give him that pleasure.
Though… she couldn’t help but mentally take note of whatever that unfamiliar first word was supposed to be…
“I don’t get you when you talk funny like that and you know it.” She grumbled, “C’mon, wakey wakey~ I have a surprise for you!~” She sang, shaking his side more insistently.
Dimentio groaned once again, finally turning back around and opening his eyes slightly, bright gold looking into her black, taking a moment to process what was in front of him.
Mimi gave a smug grin, casually holding up the mask in one arm.
“Wh—“ Dimentio’s vocal chords sputtered.
His eyes finally shot open in shock as he lifted his head, Mimi took that as her que to book it from his room, not before laughing and yelling out a quick “ENJOY KARMA!~” As she rushed away and ran down the hall, holding the mask close as her giggles bounced off the walls…
—
Dimentio was quite out of it to say the least, being awoken in the middle of the night would do that to a person, he supposed.
It took his brain a far too long time to finally realize what had happened, Mimi was in his room, not good, she had his mask, not good, and he just watched her steal it, not good.
A triple! How Incredible.
After it finally sunk in did he jump from the bed, snapping his fingers and magically donning his once hung up poncho, hood, and shoes, which he begrudgingly had to fix as he struggled to hurry out of the room.
“MIMI!” He yelled in rage as he entered the hallway, catching sight of a green figure blur away to another hall.
He growled as he finally began to chase after the mimic, floating more wobbly than normal, once again, being awoken in the middle of the night would do that to a person.
He skidded to the next hall, hearing her giggles ring throughout the black walls and floors, mocking him. Catching up to her he watched her gasp at the sight of him, she began speeding up as he lunged to pin her down— but accidentally ended up slamming into the floor with a pained grunt, it really was not his day was it? Or… well— night, to be more accurate.
He sat up, hissing in pain as he rubbed his chin, now if he had his mask that wouldn’t have hurt so badly, it could have easily shielded him, but alas, his target still held it tightly in her tiny grasp.
He looked up to the sound of loud cracking and snapping, watching as Mimi continued to giggle maniacally, as the sound of bones and gears breaking and reshaping filled the space, as he watched her neck snap out of place and eyes go big and clouded, her legs stretched out in abnormal ways as the inner workings of her mechanical-but-not-quite body were revealed.
True Mimi still laughed with her mouth of jagged broken fangs, using her new arachnid-like form to scurry along the wall and up to the ceiling, continuing their game of cat and mouse.
Dimentio’s disgust quickly returned back into rage as he picked up where he had left off— flying up and rushing after her, keeping his same scornful expression.
He growled, looking up to her as she crawled along the ceiling, he swooped up, trying to take the mask from her hold, but she quickly turned to face him, before summoning a few rubees. Dimentio wasn’t given time to think before sharp red gems were blurring past his vision, one snagged along his poncho and sent him tumbling backwards in the air slightly.
Mimi laughed triumphantly, Dimentio regained his composure and finally decided to end this childish chase. With the snap of his finger he teleported himself in front of her, causing Mimi to shriek in surprise as he tackled her— sending them both falling to the floor, struggling against the other.
“Hey! Get off me you crazy clown!”
“Petit morveuse! Give it back—”
“I don’t even know what that means—! Ow! Let go of my leg!”
“Stop pulling my hair—!”
“HEY.”
The two jolted at the new voice that entered the space, both turned their heads to see a very tired and very peeved Nastasia. Her glasses were out of sight, and her bun was clearly messy and haphazardly tied.
“What are you two doing…? It’s, like, two in the morning.” She said drowsily.
“NOTHING.” They both yelled out in unison.
The woman gave them both a look neither could quite decipher, “Yeah, no, I’m not buying that. Why were you guys yelling?”
“He stole my diary!” Mimi quickly accused.
“She stole my mask!” Dimentio just as quickly retorted in response.
…Nastasia only sighed at the two’s bickering, “K, I don’t really care. Just, like, be quieter. People are trying to sleep and stuff.” She said, before simply returning to her room, shutting the door behind her.
Mimi and Dimentio still remained frozen like deer in headlights with the other pinned in position, before they looked back at each other for a moment… and went right back to fighting.
“Give it back—!” Dimentio said in a hushed frustration filled whisper, reaching for his mask from under Mimi’s hold.
“Not until you promise not to take my stuff!” Mimi hissed in a whisper as well.
“Well—!“ his voice became louder before Mimi cut him off
“Wait!” She squeaked out.
“What!?” Dimentio said in exasperation. Not before Mimi shoved her slender hand in his face to shush him.
She finally got off of the jester, a magical pink smoke engulfed her body, as she was then turned back to her more cutesy, eye pleasing form.
“Nassy was real mad, do you wanna get brainwashed!? Because I sure don’t!” She hissed.
Dimentio hummed, “That would not be… favorable, no.” He nodded in agreement, looking off to the side.
“So, we can’t fight or else we’ll get in trouble, so…” she shuddered at the words that were about to leave her mouth, “Lets just… talk.”
Dimentio lifted an eyebrow, “About what exactly? It seems clear to me that you are the true thief here, end of story.”
“Well you started it!” Mimi huffed, still keeping her voice low.
Dimentio only crossed his arms, turning away from her, as Mimi did the same.
They were left in an awkward silence, not before an idea formed in Mimi’s head.
“Say… what about… we have a deal?”
“A deal?”
Mimi nodded, “Mhm, if I give you your stuff back, you give me back mine— as long as you don’t steal my things, I won’t steal yours! Does that sound fair?”
The jester hummed, “Well… the only issue with that is that I don’t possess your diary, it should be safely back in your room~” he sang, “So your little trade wouldn’t exactly work, would it?”
Mimi wanted to make a comeback but nothing came to mind, as he did have a point, it might have been fair on paper but not so much execution…
“Ok then… how about we trade something else?”
“Well then, what would you suggest?” He asked, pursuing his lips and resting his cheek on the back of his hand.
Mimi hummed in thought for a moment, tapping her leg as she held her hand to her chin.
“Alright, how about this instead— I can ask you anything I want, and then in exchange for you telling me the answer, I give you your mask back, and then vice versa. But if you take my stuff again, I get the right to tell all of Castle Bleck whatever your little secret is— and you can do the same if I take your mask again. That way there’s some stakes to us taking each other's things again. Deal?”
“Ohh, blackmail!~” Dimentio said excitedly.
“No, not like that.” Mimi huffed.
“Oh, but I believe that does accurately describe what you just offered me, my dear Mimikins~”
Ugh, even without the mask, he didn’t fail to be a smug jerk, it seemed.
“Whatever! Do we have a deal or what? Pinky promise!” She stiffly held out her spindle-like arm for him to take, which he did, shaking hands with the shapeshifter.
“Cross my heart~” he nodded.
“You do get that I could ask anything I want, right?”
“Mhm.” he smiled.
“Anything.” Mimi emphasized.
“That was what you said, yes~” he teased.
“So if I asked you your deepest darkest most awfulest secret right now, you’d say it?” She pushed.
“Mhm~” he said, slower in emphasis, still smiling smugly.
“Well… if you lie, I can always call Nassy over~” Mimi grinned.
Dimentio’s confidence seemed to fade, hah, gotcha.
He merely huffed in defeat, cupping his cheeks in his hands, “Fine…”
Mimi celebrated internally at her victory, though she took a long look at the jester now that he was silent, even if all his teasing and hand movements were the same as ever, she couldn’t help but notice the way his back seemed… tense. Perhaps he was uncomfortable without anything to cover his face? Mimi never stopped to consider it was anything like that… maybe… maybe it wasn’t an external reason… maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t want others to see his face… but—?
“Well, what were you wishing to know from me ma chère, hm?” He tilted his head in her direction, snapping the shapeshifter from her thoughts.
“Oh…! Uh…” she tensed.
As much as she wanted to ask for the reasoning behind the mask… now she wasn’t quite sure…
Though, the word he used to describe her made her thoughts go back to another thing that had bugged her…
“So… French, right?”
“What about it?” He hummed.
“Well, um, I don’t really know it or anything, and when I went to… wake you up—“ she cringed at the reminder of how she snuck into his room, but continued, “You started mumbling some stuff, and most of it I could just assume what you meant, you know. But one of the words I didn’t recognize…?”
“Really? That’s all you wish to know?” Dimentio cocked his head to the side, lifting a brow in a show of genuine confusion… or… maybe it wasn’t more genuine, and instead it was just because she saw the facial expressions attached to the body language now…
“Mhm.” Mimi nodded
“Well, what was it?” He asked in a carefree tone.
“Uh… I don’t fully remember it… I… think it started with a P?”
“P?” He questioned, humming in thought, probably trying to put puzzle pieces together of whatever it was he might have said in his sleepy state.
“Yeah… I think…” Mimi wracked at her brain to recall, “Pick— no wait, Pix? Pix… Somethin— Elly? Or… Ella? I’m not sure.” She giggled, “I’m probably messing it up aren’t I, Di—?” She turned to face him, expecting a face of humor or secondhand embarrassment at her butchering of his language, but what she didn’t expect was an expression of horror.
She froze at the sight of his previous relaxed demeanor completely gone, replaced with wide eyes and stiff body language.
“Oh… did I… mispronounce it that bad…?” She asked innocently, trying to lighten the mood somewhat, knowing full well that wasn’t the reason he looked so shocked.
“How do you—?” He tried to ask but quickly turned away, bringing a hand to his chin, “Why would I say…?” His voice trailed to a mumble as his eyes trembled in frantic thought.
…Did he call her something on accident then? Well now she was scared. What had he called her!?
“…Dimmy? …What was it?” She scooted closer to him in an attempt to seem gentle, as she took notice of him seemingly spiraling in his own thoughts, “It was like… ‘pix ella’, right? …What does that word mean?”
“Pixella.” He corrected, saying as one word and not two like Mimi had, “And it’s not a… word , per say…” he spoke slowly, seeming to struggle with getting the words out.
“So… what is it?” She tried to sound comforting, but quickly remembered who exactly she was talking to, “And- and remember you have to tell me!” She quickly added, remembering the truce.
Dimentio didn’t comment on the hasty addition, simply glancing to her from the corner of his eye before taking a deep breath and sighing.
“It’s a name—“ He finally said. “—a person, I mean.” He clarified.
“A name…?” Mimi tilted her head, “So… who is it? Who’s …Pixella?”
“She—“ he paused, averting his gaze. “…Pixella… was… my sister.”
Mimi instantly gasped in glee, stars in her eyes, “You have a sister!?”
“Had, yes.” He corrected.
Mimi felt her shoulders slump at that. Oh. No wonder it had worked him up…
“Oh…” was all she managed to say.
There was a small silence between them for a moment.
“What… happened to her?”
Dimentio stiffened for a moment, before he finally turned to face Mimi, giving an angry-but-not-quite-angry expression she couldn’t really place, on edge was really the only word she knew of that could explain it.
“All you asked of me was to explain the name, and so I did.” He said in his usual sing song tone, but it sounded… tense, forced , “So now, I get to ask you anything I want, that was the deal, yes?~”
Mimi blinked for a moment, before it sank in that oh, he was changing the subject— she hit a sore spot didn’t see?
“Alright, alright.” She caved. “Ask away then.”
Dimentio hummed dramatically, lifting a finger to his chin as he glanced around.
“Anything I want, yes? No matter how twisted and personal?~”
“Yep.” She had made a mistake with those being the rules hadn’t she?
He continued to think in an exaggerated manner, Mimi knew he was just trying to get under her skin, make her nervous, well she wouldn’t fall for it, no sir, she was not anxious or paranoid at all right now! Nope, definitely not… Ok maybe a little bit.
“Ah! I think I know something!” He clapped his hands together as whatever sick question he planned to ask finally came to mind.
Mimi prepared for the worst, sweat trickled down her face as her stomach turned, getting ready to hear the most awful question in the world, before he finally spoke—
“What’s your favorite color?” He purred out oh so casually.
Mimi felt her mind go blank and face fill with pure confusion.
“…What?”
“What, too personal?” He sang in teasing concern.
Her favorite color? Nothing about her ‘true form’? About her love life? Gossip? Where the heck she even came from? Nothing!? He could have asked any of that, he had plenty of options! And yet he asks her favorite color!? Mimi wanted to say something, but feared he might ask something actually personal if she did, so she bit the bullet, the quite… confusing bullet.
“…Red.” She finally said.
“Really? I always assumed it was yellow, or perhaps pink?” He mused, his expression almost looked amused or playful if she squinted.
“No, yellow just looks nicer on me, that’s all— it doesn’t clash as much… I only wear red for special stuff.” She answered truthfully.
Dimentio nodded along, “I see…”
They were left in silence once more, Mimi’s head started to hurt from all the confusion that swirled within it, but thankfully Dimentio broke the silence.
“Well, seeing as I’ve gotten the information I wanted, as have you, I’ll just be taking this back, yes?” He motioned to his mask which sat on the floor next to Mimi’s hand.
“Oh, right!” She said, picking it up and slowly handing it back, “Here you go—” she said before jerking it back slightly, “—But remember the deal!” She reminded.
“Of course~” the jester said, nodding and giving a calm expression.
Mimi gave him another pointed look before finally forking over the mask to him, to which he took it happily.
“Thank you, Mimi.” He said with a curt bow, slipping the mask back on as his head was lowered. It felt strange to hear him say her name without any added flare like that…
“Sure.” The mimic nodded, unsure of really what else to say.
“Well, with that I depart! Like the fragrant flowers of spring being snuffed out by the crisp leaves of autumn!” The jester said theatrically, turning back into the hallway the two had initially come from, lifting out a hand to wave before saying a quiet—
“Ciao!~”
Mimi simply stared, left all by her lonesome on the dark floors…
…She defeatedly decided to just head back to her room, making sure to uphold Nastasia’s wishes of being quiet, as she dragged her feet along the reflective echoing floors…
She finally made it back to her destination, glancing to the end of the hall to Dimentio’s door, then back to her own as she pushed it open, closing it behind her as she stepped inside, sighing.
She didn’t get it, she had asked something personal, blackmail material, as he put it, and she even saw his face! Well… Nassy had too, but she didn’t really care, it seemed.
She actually had something to warrant him to not steal her things! She could spill the beans about his face and family to the entire castle! What did he have!? That she liked red!?
Though, her eyes drifted to her dresser, catching sight of her diary atop it…
Was that why?
Did he think he already knew everything that was valuable information or something? Or did he know she wasn’t going to pull a stunt like this again?
She huffed in frustration, even without the mask he was still mysterious, but…
Her thoughts kept going back to his face— actually seeing his expressions as he spoke, seeing the way his mouth moved or eyes stared, it felt like she was seeing something fake or made up.
Her mind replayed how… scared he looked upon her saying that name… it left her wondering what had happened exactly, must have been bad to make him panic like that…
But then it felt like a train had mentally hit her. As she remembered how exactly she heard the name in the first place—
He… called her that.
What was the reason!? Was he just that tired he mistook her for his sister? Did she remind him of her? Or… perhaps…perhaps he saw her like that…?
Mimi shook her head, no, no, that was stupid. He was probably just tired out of his mind— even he didn’t know why he called her that, he said so himself!
Still, whatever the reason, it still left a pang in her chest, both from guilt but also of anger, she still didn’t know a thing about him, did she?
Well… she did know one thing…
She had a rather juicy entry waiting to be added to her diary tonight!