[It takes a little bit for her to catch her breath, though she might be forcing it just a little so he doesn't get a chance to interrupt her. When she's sparing a glance up at him again, she's almost definitely pouting.]
Ah - I still like you....
[kinda unfortunate tbh. even she thinks it's kinda of funny.]
Mm... I love you too, as a friend I know. More... I hope so, but I do not think that is a thing you know right away.
[Even if she's too much of a romantic to ever think of discarding the idea - why would you want to date someone that you don't think you can love? Which is why she's just sort of laughs now, even if her cheeks are still red.]
All of what Yuratchka said is like... a warning? Договор? A contract?
( his hands come up to try and hold off... or reassure... or something? he doesn't know, looking more than mildly panicked himself, heart beating too fast because he's equal parts sure he screwed that up royally and ah, well.
she's hiding. in the hoodie he gave her.
yeah, he screwed up. though in this he's not apologetic: he's being overblunt because he needs to be that blunt. it's almost amusing this is what it takes to embarrass her, except he's embarrassed too. he isn't going to walk away, not until he hears her out, but...
... wait. what? his voice comes out slightly higher than he likes. )
I'll say let's give this a try, and don't tell me later on I didn't warn you up front.
( he pauses, shoulders hunching. this has nothing to do with confessions or any of the rest. this is just because he needs more reassurance and less of the emotionally fraught confusion. his voice drops down lower, softer. this is a different kind of admittance. )
The idea of it makes her laugh more than anything, startled into it and she has to cover her mouth quickly before the rest of the giggles escape. The movement is so sudden that it makes her hood fall back down, her shoulders still shaking with her own laughter and disbelief. Oh. He said....
He said yes.
(She'd played it out in her head plenty of times. "I can't return your feelings, Nastenka" or something like that. And then she would say, "I know, it's okay."
Apparently, she didn't know anything at all?)
It's automatic, how she self-consciously plays with her hair, but also can't help but beam. She nods.]
... mm. Anya can do that.
[More confidently, even if she's embarrassed and blushing too - but when has Anya ever been anything but direct. She opens her arms to immediately lean against him in another hug, humming a happy little note.]
Yuratchka is funny...
Да. I want to try too. You warned me. Anya will warn you too.
I think I like you a lot, because my heart did not do this before. Ah... but I will try to be good, and meet you where you are. Друг... Because you are my friend first.
( well, that's out of the way. he sort of decides all at once not to think about it anymore right now, since apparently, it's resolved, for whatever that means in the future. Anya's laughing, or trying not to, and he doesn't feel like being offended: the ghosts have shut up too. (they may have nodded to each other. the young will be as they are.)
instead, he breathes out in a sigh of relief, hugging Anya again and closing his eyes as he drops his head down toward her shoulder. she's cut up and injured too, he noticed, and he'll ask about that in a moment, but there's only so much either of them can do. if it hadn't been the horror of today, and everything that's been happening, it was the horror of the weeks prior. the horror of fighting ghosts and something that felt and moved like evil, of seeing someone he didn't dislike practically impaled, so they could kill someone who'd already died and murdered in the process for her own agenda. in a mansion on fire, they'd escaped after hacking her apart; had found the plans for the Retrospec building, only to have the world drop out from under their feet.
there are ways of falling where the fall becomes simply another means of existing in terminal velocity. Yuri had hooked an arm around one of the stone lions, perhaps even the one laying own to their side. its singularly unconcerned with their drama. Yuri appreciates that sense of pervasive calm. he could use more of it right now, to calm down his head, or his heart, or his stomach.
instead he just holds one of his three best friends close and hopes they both figure out what meeting each other where they are really means. )
You sure that isn't a heart condition? ( he knows not, but the half-assed tease is as tired as he is. ) Yeah. I'll try to do that too.
[There's another small laugh from her, even as he falls against her and she accepts that easily.]
I think it means a new type of happiness.
[Which is why she would've been fine with her crush being unrequited, she thought... but ah - this is fine too, isn't it? So she hums and keeps one arm around Yuri, though her other one reaches up to let her fingers run through his hair, carefully easing out any tangles. They're both tired. Anya doesn't even quite realize the horror that he'd been through - though that'll probably be explained later.
For now, it's a moment to rest.]
Главная? Is Yuratchka going home now? You should rest. Davechka wants to see you.
( ah. why does it feel nice to have her fingers run through his hair? the fainter memories of his childhood have similar moments; mostly, he ascribes his grandfather's face. he accepts it regardless, holding still like somehow that's the appropriate reaction. )
Mm. I missed him too. ( understatement. he missed all three of them like his Grandpa's cooking. it left him feeling better just being around them; and he doesn't doubt that it's the same for each of his friends. still half mumbling, he asks the pertinent question. the one he would have asked regardless. )
Soon. When I am home. I want to see Mama and Polaris.
[Some part of her is glad that she hasn't seen them yet - because that means that they weren't on the battlefield. Yet the rest of her obviously aches with the feeling of missing them. It's been three weeks. When she told her mother that she would still be at the convention, she didn't think that would be the last time she'd see her for a month.
Still, she'll keep carding her fingers through his hair in an easy, repetitive motion, careful not to pull on any tangles.]
Katya, Davechka, and Yuratchka, найденный. All found and safe. Mm, there are more still...
[Of course there is, Anya wants to check on so many others.]
But Anya's phone needs to fix first...
Edited (tmw when you misread the tag) 2017-08-25 09:21 (UTC)
( he's tired enough that for a moment he's faced with the almost overwhelming desire to fall asleep standing up, Anya carding her fingers through his hair. not even the nervousness in his stomach and his uncertainty and the frisson of excitement means anything concrete right now. they've all been through so much.
he pulls back and frowns. )
Most everyone on the network feels like they know you. Nastenka, what happened to your phone?
( here are his hands; here they come to rest on her shoulders. Yuri watches Anya's face, feeling for a moment like his grandfather. then again, he thinks that's mostly the exhaustion, because surely Yuri never darts his gaze away when he's done something stupid.
( honestly what he says tomorrow is likely true: he feels like a grandpa more than a teenager right now, and that has a lot to do with exhaustion, and a lot to do with the fact that he's worked himself up to an awkward caveat for saying yes I'll attempt to be datable with you only to realise, again, one of his best friends (... his girlfriend) has zero sense of self preservation.
so he's ignoring her held up hands and reaching out to pinch her cheeks, mostly gently, with both his hands. )
I'll always freaking worry, and no shit I'm mad! I care about what happens to you! Especially when you don't try keeping yourself safe! Were you being careful, or were you acting like nothing in the world could really hurt you, Na-sten-ka?
Anya doesn't quite accept that - she moves her hands to try to bat his away so that he doesn't pinch her cheeks? She can't even answer like that, Yuri... Then it's a firm shake of her head.]
Careful...!
[ . . . crossing a river after some monkeys.]
I had to follow monkeys, there was not enough time...
Цель! We still made it to the place we needed to go...
[and honestly if he tries to pinch her cheeks again she's just gonna bury her face in his shoulder so he doesn't?? do that again???]
to no answer other than ??? (im mad my reply here was eaten twice)
( oh, sure, bat his hands away. it means he does try to pinch her cheeks again, since his backdrop of responses to things like this pretty much circle around to what his grandfather's done; when she's tucked her face into his shoulder, he rolls his eyes skyward, awkwardly settling a hand at her side, the other across her back.
he pats her once, thump, as a reminder. )
You rushed in and you're lucky you weren't injured, is what you mean. Shit, how much of that was happening?
( to all of them. to dark caves and insect ridden swamps with alligatorcrocs and frogdogs and houses that aim to kill with the death that's already lingering. )
Will you slow down some? You're kick ass, but you don't need to do everything on your own. ( he pauses, breathing out in a ghost of a laugh. ) Which is rich coming from me, I get it, but come on, Nastenka.
( he doesn't look appeased, but he's... not sure how much of the past he's ever wanted to hold on to, especially when they have so many complications around the concept alone these days. )
I'll be mad if I'm mad. ( he points out, huffing and looking down. ) I'm more glad you're okay. Just... think sometimes before rushing the ell in. Knowing where you need to go and getting hurt going there when you don't need to isn't good planning, it's just dumb.
( he had to learn that lesson on his own. the stone lion, off to the side, sedately gazes on them... the settles in for a cat nap. )
[Lectured as soon as they're together again. Anya just pouts for a little bit longer even as she meets his gaze before eventually settling on a thoughtful little hum.]
It is how Yuratchka shows he is worried....
[yet another translation to be done, goodness]
I will try to think more, so you do not need to worry. I did not mean to...
( he sighs, partly resigned, partly because he knows she sometimes doesn't mean what she does, but not thinking things through, which... was one of his own faults, tended to lead her toward unexpected and undesireable results. )
I show I'm worried in a bunch of different ways, okay. ( but she's right -- that's one of them. in the end... he doesn't know what to do, so he pats her shoulder. this.
why did you want to date this? seriously??? )
It's not me worrying that I'm worried about. There's a lot of stuff you can not mean to do, but when you do it, it's been done. ... I'm way too tired to make this make sense right now.
a shoulder pat???? she blinks a few times before... giggling?? yeah she's laughing, at least making an attempt at politeness by glancing away as she giggles.]
Yuratchka can still touch me normally, you know....
[awkward shoulder pats why....
but anyway, she's just going to shake her head and reach up to brush his bangs away again before giving him a smile]
Still.... oтдых. Time for rest for Yuratchka. I will walk with you to your apartment.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Ah - I still like you....
[kinda unfortunate tbh. even she thinks it's kinda of funny.]
Mm... I love you too, as a friend I know. More... I hope so, but I do not think that is a thing you know right away.
[Even if she's too much of a romantic to ever think of discarding the idea - why would you want to date someone that you don't think you can love? Which is why she's just sort of laughs now, even if her cheeks are still red.]
All of what Yuratchka said is like... a warning? Договор? A contract?
What will you do if I say yes, I still want that?
no subject
she's hiding. in the hoodie he gave her.
yeah, he screwed up. though in this he's not apologetic: he's being overblunt because he needs to be that blunt. it's almost amusing this is what it takes to embarrass her, except he's embarrassed too. he isn't going to walk away, not until he hears her out, but...
... wait. what? his voice comes out slightly higher than he likes. )
I'll say let's give this a try, and don't tell me later on I didn't warn you up front.
( he pauses, shoulders hunching. this has nothing to do with confessions or any of the rest. this is just because he needs more reassurance and less of the emotionally fraught confusion. his voice drops down lower, softer. this is a different kind of admittance. )
And ask for another hug.
no subject
Dumb, dumb, dumb, he's so—
... her boyfriend now?
The idea of it makes her laugh more than anything, startled into it and she has to cover her mouth quickly before the rest of the giggles escape. The movement is so sudden that it makes her hood fall back down, her shoulders still shaking with her own laughter and disbelief. Oh. He said....
He said yes.
(She'd played it out in her head plenty of times. "I can't return your feelings, Nastenka" or something like that. And then she would say, "I know, it's okay."
Apparently, she didn't know anything at all?)
It's automatic, how she self-consciously plays with her hair, but also can't help but beam. She nods.]
... mm. Anya can do that.
[More confidently, even if she's embarrassed and blushing too - but when has Anya ever been anything but direct. She opens her arms to immediately lean against him in another hug, humming a happy little note.]
Yuratchka is funny...
Да. I want to try too. You warned me. Anya will warn you too.
I think I like you a lot, because my heart did not do this before. Ah... but I will try to be good, and meet you where you are. Друг... Because you are my friend first.
no subject
instead, he breathes out in a sigh of relief, hugging Anya again and closing his eyes as he drops his head down toward her shoulder. she's cut up and injured too, he noticed, and he'll ask about that in a moment, but there's only so much either of them can do. if it hadn't been the horror of today, and everything that's been happening, it was the horror of the weeks prior. the horror of fighting ghosts and something that felt and moved like evil, of seeing someone he didn't dislike practically impaled, so they could kill someone who'd already died and murdered in the process for her own agenda. in a mansion on fire, they'd escaped after hacking her apart; had found the plans for the Retrospec building, only to have the world drop out from under their feet.
there are ways of falling where the fall becomes simply another means of existing in terminal velocity. Yuri had hooked an arm around one of the stone lions, perhaps even the one laying own to their side. its singularly unconcerned with their drama. Yuri appreciates that sense of pervasive calm. he could use more of it right now, to calm down his head, or his heart, or his stomach.
instead he just holds one of his three best friends close and hopes they both figure out what meeting each other where they are really means. )
You sure that isn't a heart condition? ( he knows not, but the half-assed tease is as tired as he is. ) Yeah. I'll try to do that too.
no subject
I think it means a new type of happiness.
[Which is why she would've been fine with her crush being unrequited, she thought... but ah - this is fine too, isn't it? So she hums and keeps one arm around Yuri, though her other one reaches up to let her fingers run through his hair, carefully easing out any tangles. They're both tired. Anya doesn't even quite realize the horror that he'd been through - though that'll probably be explained later.
For now, it's a moment to rest.]
Главная? Is Yuratchka going home now? You should rest. Davechka wants to see you.
no subject
Mm. I missed him too. ( understatement. he missed all three of them like his Grandpa's cooking. it left him feeling better just being around them; and he doesn't doubt that it's the same for each of his friends. still half mumbling, he asks the pertinent question. the one he would have asked regardless. )
When's Nastenka resting?
no subject
[Some part of her is glad that she hasn't seen them yet - because that means that they weren't on the battlefield. Yet the rest of her obviously aches with the feeling of missing them. It's been three weeks. When she told her mother that she would still be at the convention, she didn't think that would be the last time she'd see her for a month.
Still, she'll keep carding her fingers through his hair in an easy, repetitive motion, careful not to pull on any tangles.]
Katya, Davechka, and Yuratchka, найденный. All found and safe. Mm, there are more still...
[Of course there is, Anya wants to check on so many others.]
But Anya's phone needs to fix first...
no subject
he pulls back and frowns. )
Most everyone on the network feels like they know you. Nastenka, what happened to your phone?
no subject
yeah okay none of her messages went through
her eyes dart elsewhere for the first time, looking far more unsure about this than anything else - ]
It went down in the water....
[ . . . ]
... fall....
[the waterfall]
no subject
( here are his hands; here they come to rest on her shoulders. Yuri watches Anya's face, feeling for a moment like his grandfather. then again, he thinks that's mostly the exhaustion, because surely Yuri never darts his gaze away when he's done something stupid.
... nope, he definitely does that. )
Down in the waterfall. With you?
no subject
Mm.... недобросовестный...
Anya already said this in a text to Yuratchka - you were not supposed to find out now...!
[but still she holds her hands up, as if that's meant to prove something - ]
See? Anya is okay. You do not need to worry or be mad.
y ru dating him again
so he's ignoring her held up hands and reaching out to pinch her cheeks, mostly gently, with both his hands. )
I'll always freaking worry, and no shit I'm mad! I care about what happens to you! Especially when you don't try keeping yourself safe! Were you being careful, or were you acting like nothing in the world could really hurt you, Na-sten-ka?
questions we're all asking
Anya doesn't quite accept that - she moves her hands to try to bat his away so that he doesn't pinch her cheeks? She can't even answer like that, Yuri... Then it's a firm shake of her head.]
Careful...!
[ . . . crossing a river after some monkeys.]
I had to follow monkeys, there was not enough time...
Цель! We still made it to the place we needed to go...
[and honestly if he tries to pinch her cheeks again she's just gonna bury her face in his shoulder so he doesn't?? do that again???]
to no answer other than ??? (im mad my reply here was eaten twice)
he pats her once, thump, as a reminder. )
You rushed in and you're lucky you weren't injured, is what you mean. Shit, how much of that was happening?
( to all of them. to dark caves and insect ridden swamps with alligatorcrocs and frogdogs and houses that aim to kill with the death that's already lingering. )
Will you slow down some? You're kick ass, but you don't need to do everything on your own. ( he pauses, breathing out in a ghost of a laugh. ) Which is rich coming from me, I get it, but come on, Nastenka.
no subject
Anya just does a small little mumble even as she peers up at him once she thinks that he's done scolding her.]
Mm.... I was with others... but - простой. It is what was ahead. I thought it was clear. Do not be mad, we got where we needed to go.
[in a pretty wild way but
y'know. she's a straightforward person and chances of that changing are slim]
no subject
I'll be mad if I'm mad. ( he points out, huffing and looking down. ) I'm more glad you're okay. Just... think sometimes before rushing the ell in. Knowing where you need to go and getting hurt going there when you don't need to isn't good planning, it's just dumb.
( he had to learn that lesson on his own. the stone lion, off to the side, sedately gazes on them... the settles in for a cat nap. )
no subject
[Lectured as soon as they're together again. Anya just pouts for a little bit longer even as she meets his gaze before eventually settling on a thoughtful little hum.]
It is how Yuratchka shows he is worried....
[yet another translation to be done, goodness]
I will try to think more, so you do not need to worry. I did not mean to...
no subject
I show I'm worried in a bunch of different ways, okay. ( but she's right -- that's one of them. in the end... he doesn't know what to do, so he pats her shoulder. this.
why did you want to date this? seriously??? )
It's not me worrying that I'm worried about. There's a lot of stuff you can not mean to do, but when you do it, it's been done. ... I'm way too tired to make this make sense right now.
no subject
what is -
a shoulder pat???? she blinks a few times before... giggling?? yeah she's laughing, at least making an attempt at politeness by glancing away as she giggles.]
Yuratchka can still touch me normally, you know....
[awkward shoulder pats why....
but anyway, she's just going to shake her head and reach up to brush his bangs away again before giving him a smile]
Still.... oтдых. Time for rest for Yuratchka. I will walk with you to your apartment.