[ Dimitri sighs as he finishes dabbing at his face and then half-bends in the chair to start undoing his boots. The cold is still sunk deep and he worries that there might be damage... but the only way to tell is to pull them off. The use of magic doesn't seem to surprise or faze him, even a little. ]

Once I have my feet soaking, I think you can take a look at them then...

[ He straightens a little with a grunt as he pulls one boot off. ]

I wonder about that. They say that this is the only way to recover what was lost - or build something new. How much of that is true?