Life while at Hogwarts had been full of uncertainty and anxiety about the future, but she'd found her peace of mind ever since falling into her job as a mediwitch. While the schedule was always less-than-predictable, she had a job, which is better than most people had assumed when she was jumping from house to house during her Hogwarts years. It was a job she was particularly good at, too, and one that paid enough to allow her a single room in a Pennyworth boarding house.

Not that everything was perfect. She missed the days where she could lounge with her friends, who arguably had more leisure-filled lives than herself. Zelda was the exception — she was far more career-oriented than many ladies of the middle class, which meant they could relate on work-related woes.

One thing they could not, apparently, was romance.

Dionisia would never have considered bringing that topic up while the two of them were hanging out; she was far more inclined to babble on about patients not understanding that mediwitches and healers weren't the only ones capable of reversing undesirable magical effects. Then Zelda could tell her all about the members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad and how they got out of doing work because people thought healers were the default.

But no, they were talking about—

"Boys?" she questioned, tossing a furrowed-brow expression as Zelda. Crushes were something Dionisia had rarely focused on growing up, mostly because she'd had more important things to worry about. There were definitely points where she found people to be attractive enough to be worth subtle staring and quick glances, but that wasn't the same as attraction, right? Especially since those thoughts were directed towards both wizards and witches.

She supposed Mr. Alfred Clearwater and Mr. Banges — both who were in her year and were now coworkers — were attractive enough, but not unlike how Mrs. Annabelle Bones or even Zelda herself were!

"Um- No, I don't really think so." she answered quietly, looking up at Zelda as if she'd come to an epiphany.

She wasn't sure if Zelda was being pouty or if she was just bored (the latter seemed more likely, as they were just idly waiting for dinner to be served), but the other's girl's tone was indecisive and that was decidedly a not-very-Zelda way to speak. Being a mediwitch meant being perceptive and learning to read people's needs, but physical needs were much easier to figure out than emotional needs. As such, Dionisia would proceed with caution.

"Why do you ask?" she prompted, resting her cheek against the bed cover so she could look up at Zelda's face from an (arguably silly) angle. "Have you fallen in love with something — someone — besides your job? You're not usually the sort to talk about men," Despite her teasing, she tried her best to speak with sensitivity.

Love, like — what was the difference? Was there a difference? (And was she so inexperienced in the ways of romance that she couldn't spot them?) A smile spread across Dionisia's lips at the affirmation that — whether it was love or just "like" — Zelda was feeling something other than platonic friendship towards a gentleman.

"Would I know who he is? Or is he- you know, someone from work?" she asked curiously, relaxing her tone so it didn't come off as so teasing. She didn't think Zelda would react well to the antics of giggling schoolgirls.

It took Dionisia a moment to figure out what "catastrophe adjacent" meant before realizing that oh, Zelda worked in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. (She was worried for a second that she'd avoided the newspaper — or Zelda's personal life, if it was a different type of catastrophe — for far too long.)

"I feel like there's a purpose to this conversation," she concluded, offering Zelda a knowing glance. "You've never spoken about these sort of things with me before. Did something, you know, bad happen?"

Dionisia raised a single brow suspicious, knowing very well Zelda had something to say.

"If there wasn't a point to it, Zelda, you wouldn't bring it up. Spill."

A wide smile spread on Dionisia's face. She'd kissed him!? How scandalous! How amusing! How... potentially educational! Releasing a teasing giggle, Dionisia gave Zelda a little shove.

"Kissed him?" Dionisia mock-gasped. "He must have been particularly captivating to catch your eyes. Was it nice? What did it feel like?" She'd never been kissed, and though she knew more about the intimate and sexual habits of couples than most unmarried women due to her profession, she was terribly limited in experience.

Dionisia moved her own lips together, trying to figure out what pleasure — (she wasn't enough silly to think there wasn't any, just that she couldn't imagine it herself) — could come from wet lip-moving, and by the time she'd finished she still couldn't figure it out. After a moment, she glanced at Zelda with raised brows.

"Sounds... strange," she said, but her eyes screamed 'intrigued'. "You should show me, then."

There was something taboo about that question that made her feel so vulnerable for just allowing it to slip from her mouth; the last thing she wanted to do was make Zelda think she was being... weird. She wanted to come off as cool and confident and say "of course, just kiss me!", but there was a slight hesitation before she spoke.

"I suppose it's better than cornering a man at the pub to steal a kiss," she teased bashfully, but in a I'm-obviously-joking sort of way. Besides, she'd definitely know whether kissing was something she wanted to pursue in life if it felt good or bad with Zelda, someone she felt comfortable with in a way that was sort of ridiculous.