Mihai did not usually make a habit of sleeping over at a lover’s home—usually they didn’t particularly want him to stay, and he never pushed it. Tonight, somehow, it had felt right to stay. There was no harm in that; in the morning, they’d likely chat and he’d go home to get ready for work. Eva’s cute little house, compared to his, was…. Rustic. She didn’t have money. At least, not in the way he did. He was from an old wizarding family. It wasn’t pureblood, but it was old. Much of his wealth, he hadn’t earned himself. However, the tidy paycheck he got from being an obliviator certainly contributed to it.

He slept lightly—every time Eva had moved or even made a soft sound, he was roused from his sleep.  Every time the dog padded around the house, it was right when he was in that state between sleeping and being awake, and it jolted him again. It wasn’t really her fault that he stayed up. Mihai was not a heavy sleeper like he had been when he was young. Perhaps it was because of the years of mind magic done on his brain; it kept his thoughts running well into the early hours.

He heard Chou-Fleur make some sort of dog-noise in its sleep. The name suited the creature oddly well. He was not much of a dog person, but he didn’t hate the things by any means. Juni was begging for a pet when she already had an owl. At least the owl was useful.

Mihai rolled over to get into a comfortable position when Eva let out a panicked scream. He sat up, only to have his face collide with her flailing elbow. He scrambled out of bed and fumbled about in the dark looking for his wand to no avail. His night vision was not the greatest.

”Get away from me!” She exclaimed, ”I didn’t do it!”

He cursed under his breath and warily made it back to the bed. Night terrors. Eva had night terrors. This was his first time sleeping through the night with her. Mihai shook her shoulder gently, unsure of just how to approach it. “Eva.” He murmured, his voice low with sleep and concern, “Wake up, you’re—wake up.”

”I didn’t do it!” Eva yelled, desperate to escape the grip of the hitwizard holding her still while they tattooed her neck. The scorching pain on the needle continued while her language switched to German as she desperately tried to convince the wizard she hadn’t stolen anything. She wasn’t a thief, especially not of magic.

“Eva.” The voice was calmer than those around her, a hand touched her shoulder, shaking it. Blue eyes snapped open and before her was a handsome but groggy face, barely visible in the darkness. The damp smell had gone, the depression and lack of hope had been dispelled and she was back in her familiar bedroom in her familiar bed with real bedding and warmth.

Immediately Eva knew what had happened. She didn’t need a moment to realise what she’d done again. The nightmare was so vivid. Her hand absentmindedly reached up to the back of her neck. The pain had vanished but she didn’t need to look to know the tattoo hadn’t. It never would. Mihai had surely seen glimpses of it but she’d never explained. He had probably wondered why crime she’d committed to end up with an Azkaban prison tattoo inked on her neck.

A calming breath with her eyes closed as she reminded herself where she was and Eva glanced back to Mihai. This was his first night staying with her to actually sleep. She now imagined it would be his last.

“I’m sorry.” Eva pushed herself up in the bed, her tired and worn expression showing some of the frustration she felt that it had happened again. In the moonlight, Evangeline’s gaze could only just catch the reddening mark on the wizard’s cheek.  She gently lifted her fingers to brush it. “I did that?”

Eva's eyes shot open as she was jolted away from whatever dream--or memory-- had been haunting her. Thankfully. He had no idea what his next action would have been if she kept screaming. Would he have doused her with water? Perhaps. Would he have thrown her dog at her? That may have been more likely. Either way, it hadn't come to that. 

He sat down next to her cautiously. Mihai didn't dare wrap his arm around her in case it would trigger something so soon. No, he'd wait for some sort of indication that it was okay.  Mihai winced at her gentle touch-- the pain had been easy to ignore until she brought it up, and now thinking about it reminded him of the fact that it was throbbing. "You have a strong arm." He smiled, grabbing her hand gently, "It's fine. Nothing episkey can't heal." Mihai replied.

Her memories had to do with...The tattoo on her neck. The Wizarding War.

Portugal had been thoroughly uninvolved. The war wasn't close to him at all. Eva was muggleborn, wasn't she? Or halfblood? Either way, she was definitely not a pureblood, so she had automatically been in a lower position during the war.

"Who were you getting away from?" He asked, not exactly expecting a response.

Not rushing to escape the room and the crazy witch in her forties who still had nightmares, Mihai remained sat on the bed next to Eva and offered a tired smile as he mentioned her strong arm. He didn’t seem mad that she’d punched him in his sleep or angry that his slumber had been disturbed. Instead he gazed at her with a mixture of caution and concern. Eva didn’t pay his expression a huge amount of attention as she still tried to calm herself down from the nightmare of a time that plagued her over a decade later.

"Who were you getting away from?" Blue eyes shot down to the bedcovers as Eva bit back her first thought of a response. Honesty, she believed, wasn’t something to use when dealing with such dreams. She’d spent a decade hopelessly trying to free herself from a past that wouldn’t let go. Talking about it only solidified its hold on her mind.

But Eva had found out the hard way that lying and avoiding the truth could land her in terrible trouble.

After a moment’s silence, she looked back up to Mihai, biting her lip and still appearing anxious, although now calming down.
“Would you believe me if I said spiders?” A weak smile was offered before Eva reached under her pillow for her wand and lit up the small lamp beside the bed. “If you want to go home, that’s fine. I don’t expect you usually get punched in your sleep.” In the groggy sleepiness that still had her body, Eva’s accent was extremely foreign, a mix of French and German clipping her words.

She was still tense. It must have been one hell of a dream.

"Only if you wanted me to believe it was spiders." He  replied easily.  No, he didn't believe her. It was not her duty to tell him believable stories, she didn't owe him her honesty. Mihai was man with many secrets, most of which had been obliviated from memory. Many of those memories, he regretted removing-- but where he worked before.. Well... They often required it. Especially if one was not an occlumens.

For some reason he could not master it, though legilimency had been effortless. He wondered what that said about himself.

"If you want me to go home, I will." Mihai said, "But I don't particularly have the urge to." He paused, "It's up to you. It's your home, your bed." Her bed that was significantly less comfortable than his, though he wasn't about to say that.

“I don’t want you to go home.” The words slipped from her pale lips before Eva had had the opportunity to consider them. Most nights she’d wake from the nightmares alone or at least with Chou-Fleur barking on the bed beside her. It was strangely pleasant to have someone there to smile down at her and tell her he didn’t have the urge to escape after she’d just punched him in the face. There was a reason she didn’t get close to anyone. She couldn’t give them a peaceful night’s sleep. Eva couldn’t remember the last night she’d slept through completely. She was sure it probably had had to do with copious amounts of alcohol.

“I mean…you don’t need to leave.” Some messy blonde hair was pushed back from her face behind her ear and she shuffled to get more comfortable, the springs creaking beneath her weight. When waking alone, it didn’t normally take Eva long to don a coat and wander into the night for some fresh air. However now she couldn’t do that. Instead she pushed herself from the bed and walked to the window, pushing it open to let the cold night air rush in.

Turning on bare feet to face the bed and Mihai, Eva frowned. The tiny hairs on her arms began to stand on end as a cold chill took over her body. It felt revitalising. Like she was living again. Her blue eyes danced over Mihai’s face in the moonlight. There was something about him that made her feel at ease.

“You’ve seen the back of my neck and you’ve never asked questions.” Arms were folded over her stomach, brushing against the silk of the nightgown. “Have you not considered you could have been sleeping with a dangerous criminal?”

He raised his eyebrow at her-- she didn't want him to go home? But then she quickly followed that up with a correction. Etiher way, the answer was that she wasn't sending him home to his lovely bed. Perhaps he would have to let her spend the night sometime. Even if it meant that Chou-Fleur also spent the night. Or, alternatively.... He could get her a new bed without telling her. Would she even notice?

Eva got up and walked across the room, but Mihai stayed put-- sitting up with one leg crossed under him.

He had seen the tattoo on the back of her neck. They had spent enough time together for him to notice. Mihai wondered how often people did notice... And if they noticed, did they ask questions? Those questions were probably better left unasked.

"Sleeping with a dangerous criminal?"  He smiled, "You're acting like that would deter me." The obliviator paused, "But... I suppose I figured that the tattoo told a story that you did not owe me. Why should I have asked? It's  not my business."

Mihai was understanding. More so than other wizard’s she’d met. There was no doubt he’d seen the mark from Azkaban. There was only so much one could hide such a thing beneath a mass of blonde hair and some makeup. Someone in close proximity was bound to see, that was why she didn’t get close to people who didn’t know. They would judge, Mihai had surely had his ideas. Few people reached the correct conclusion. An Azkaban tattoo meant criminal, not matter your innocence.

Yet this wizard hadn’t fished for information (although there was no telling what he’d been tempted to do with his legillimency skills).
“That doesn’t stop most people.” The witch muttered, tired blue eyes dancing over his face as she leant back against the windowsill, arms crossed, enjoying the cold breeze on her skin.
“Most people see those runes and dream up the worst possible crimes. They never consider the reality.” It took a moment for Eva to realise she was talking in riddles and she frowned. Did she even want to tell him?

Leaving the window open to allow the breeze to enter the room, the fresh air to fill her lungs and clear her mind, Eva made her way back over to the bed, leaning down to brush her lips against Mihai’s. In the moonlight he looked tired. Her eyes darted over where her fist had obviously made contact.
“Alors...We should swap sides and I’ll give you one to match.”

He cupped her chin and kissed her back gently. At her little comment about making the mark more symmetrical, he smirked-- though Mihai's mind was still focused on what she had been saying before. The wizard motioned for her to take a seat next to him, shifting to give her space.

"Either I'm not like most people," Mihai raised his eyebrows, "Or you're making vast generalizations about humanity. People are complicated, not everybody is going to look at your tattoo and assume you're a criminal." Not here, not so soon after the war. The war had left its mark on far too many people in this area to count. That had been one of the first things that sunk in after he moved here. There are some scars that a  people have that go unnoticed until you spend time around them. As a whole, wizarding England was... Scarred.

"Most of the criminals I know, that I have met,  don't bear marks that declare who they are to the world."