InsaneJournal

Ivan was also Dimitri's first official charge after he became a fully-trained guardian.

Now, Dimitri has always taken his job seriously, but there was this one instance where Ivan wanted to give Dimitri a break. He was going on a trip with some friends and told Dimitri to stay behind so he could get a break and enjoy some time off.

Unfortunately, in a tragic turn of events, while Ivan was out with his friends, their group was attacked by Strigoi and Ivan died in that attack.

When the news reached Dimitri, it broke his heart. And he swore from then on that he'd take his job much more seriously.

It's why he has a reputation for being so intimidating. He's just this 6'7" Russian enigma of a man that never smiles, or at least, after Ivan's death he didn't.

He's just a black-clad statue of "I will absolutely destroy you if you touch my charge", and people really don't want to fuck with that.

The second trouble comes, you learn very quickly why this man is revered as a legend in the "guardian world".

He means BUSINESS.

But then he drifts closer to Rose, Christian, and Lissa. And while he doesn't falter from that stoic façade when he's on duty, he starts to smile a little more than he once did.

He softens that hardened exterior he'd spent years building up, and then Christian becomes his charge and it's like a second chance to him.

A chance for redemption.

Dimitri has been through Hell and back. He really has.

But nothing in this world means anything more to him than keeping his loved ones safe. Rose, Christian, Lissa, his own family in Russia.

His number one priority in life is to protect.