Felyn
Rurik could not remember the last time he had slept as well. One moment Zoe was falling asleep wrapped around him and the next they were waking up under the covers; he did not even remember moving but assumed that they both got cold sometime in the night. For once he had woken up hungry but that was no surprise since both of them went to bed on empty stomachs, no doubt why he was awake as early as he was. Dawn was just beginning to break and darkness still shrouded the cabin, out the window a slither of red could be seen - but the stars were still clear in the sky.
Slowly his golden eyes began to open in order to greet the day, the realisation that he was awake earned a groan of destain. He was tucked up tight with one hand supporting his head and the other lazily wrapped around fiance’s waist. The morning haze soon gave way to clarity as the memories from last night came rushing back. Not wanting to disturb his fiance who was still peacefully sleeping he slowly started to move, planing a small kiss against the back of her head before sliding out of bed.
The Russian pulled on a pair of baggy cargo pants and then made his way downstairs, Dice was whining at the door - seeing as she had been left alone all night it was no wonder she was whimpering. As soon as he opened the door the black wolf went rushing outside into the greenery. Rurik followed her out and and then leaned against the rail, watching as she went about her business and sniffed around all the unfamiliar scents.
He took in a deep breathe; clean air filling his lungs - before it was instantly replaced with the smoke from his cigarette.
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Zoe wasn’t sure what woke her, exactly.
Her bright eyes cracked open and shut immediately against the brightness of the sun, and for a moment she just buried her face into the pillow beneath her to recover from the shock of it. The stillness of the room settled over her and after a second, her head rose up and craned over to look at the other half of the bed - empty. Just as she had expected.
With a confused expression written in her eyes, she stood and dipped into the bathroom for a couple of minutes.
By the time she was slipping slowly down the stairs, she had found herself a thin robe that hung in drapes off her shoulders. Despite the gnawing need to find Ryan, as she came down into the floor below, her eyes shot sideways longingly toward the kitchen. Perhaps the only thing that could fight her adoration of her fiance was her absolute and total addiction to coffee. Her hand closed around the doorknob and pulled gently - cracking it just enough to peek a single eye out at the wilderness.
The sight of him, even just the line of his back and the wild, white hair, was enough to make her stomach flip over. Remembering the night they had shared was enough to make a chill crawl up her spine, completely unrelated to the cool morning air. She slid out of the cabin with a sleepy smile on her face, walking out to join him where he stood watching Dice explore.
“Good Morning,” her voice had a hint of raspiness from the night before and her hair was a tussle of curls. Despite that, one hand found the small of his back to get his attention just as he drew a deep inhale of smoke. She pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and caught his lips, inhaling playfully at the wisps of smoke - a smoky kiss to start the morning after.
The black canine had her nose to the ground as she moved, large fluffy ears perked skywards as did her slowly wagging tail, excited by the new smells and sights that came with the wilderness. Ryan's eyes were fixed on her fluid movements through his mind had long wondered somewhere else. With his arms draped over the rail and his cigarette slowly burning between slender fingers he could not help but ask himself what the future had in store? He had promised himself he would not worry about his family or the implications of the contract that bound them, but he could not help it. Zoe was on his mind; Zoe was always on his mind these days.
His clouded expression showed a flicker of life as the door strained behind him. The Russian flicked she long rod of ash from the end of his cigarette before bringing the small stump that remained to his lips. He was just about to turn around to greet her when her lips touched his - sending a jolt up his spine as his face reddened. Zoe had snuck up on him and the surprise made him laugh - in return causing him to cough slightly on the smoke. Bringing a hand to his mouth he let the white streams escape his lips in jolts, wafting his hand to make them disperse. "Morning." He finally greeted, his voice slightly strained.
"I tried not to wake you; it’s still ridiculously early." He just did not want Dice to have an accident, he had totally forgotten she was even here in all honesty. Hopefully all would be forgiven with a long walk and the dinner that he had cooked the night before (which was probably a grey tasteless mush in the slow cooker by now). He turned around to lean his back against the rail, lifting up an arm to wrap around Zoe's shoulders as the other held onto the beam for support. He pulled her close to him and let her rest against his bare torso.
There was a chill in the air, but not an uncomfortable one, Zoe herself was a warm figure to shield him from it. It was so peaceful, he could not remember the last time he felt this relaxed. He owed that all to her.
Golden eyes wandered downwards to look at her; her disheveled hair, the way her robe draped her figure. Even fresh out of bed without any preparation she made his heart flutter - with an amused smile he pressed his lips against her forehead once more, before he rested his chin on her. "What do you say we get some coffee and breakfast, decide what we want to do today?" The sky was the limit, they had no prior engagements.
"We can do whatever we want." Even stay in bed all day, if she so wished.
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Zoe couldn’t help the playful, devilish smile on her lips as he choked around the smoke he had inhaled. As he answered her with a rough, scratchy tone she laughed a bit under her breath, then pursed her lips to blow gently at the waft of smoke hanging thickly between them. It curled and wisped away until she could stare up into his smoky eyes instead.
“It’s okay.”
She let him pull her into his body, sliding one arm around his slim waist as she did, while the other curled up against his bare chest. Beneath her cheek she could feel his heartbeat thumping slow and steady, easy and at peace with the calm of the world around them, lulling her into serenity at his side. It was such a peaceful morning, just the two of them, with no one around to criticize or judge them and who they were. She could feel the easiness of becoming who she would be with him here, fitting the pieces of her puzzle to his.
“Coffee sounds amazing,” she answered quickly with a smile, reclining her head back a little so that she could stare up at him without pulling away from the bit of warmth he offered in the cool spring morning. There was a gnawing in the pit of her stomach that reminded her just how long it had been since she’d eaten but, despite it, she thought the sacrifice had been well worth it. The small reminder made her smile affectionately with an almost distant, faraway stare. The hand on against his chest flattened and the fingers unfurled, letting her stroke the taut skin across his chest.
He had been right - it felt so much better to just touch him when she wanted to.
“Maybe we can go for a hike, after breakfast?” The smile on her lips curled just at the corners, giving her a sudden impish look. It probably should have been a warning before she ever spoke again. “Or we could just go back to bed. It’s a tough choice.”
She had voiced exactly what he was thinking in a way that almost made him think she could read his mind, that alone was enough to put a smile on his face. It had been a while since he had a connection like that with someone. The idea was tempting but he knew they could not spend the whole weekend in bed - a good majority maybe - but not all.
Her hand rested on his chest and he lifted his own to rest gently on it. He brought it to his mouth he kissed her fingers lightly before entwining his own with hers. “Coffee and breakfast it is, the rest we will decide later." He winked at her playfully; before leading her back into the cabin. He called Dice’s name and on hearing her master's voice the creature came bounding towards them, overtaking them to get to the kitchen first with a wagging tail.
She stopped by her bowl and looked back just in time to see the two walk through the arch that lead to the kitchen, a wanting cry escaping her throat - she wanted breakfast too. Ryan clicked the kettle on as they entered the room and then turned to rest his hand on Zoe's waist. "I will make us breakfast, you make the coffee?" He asked, pressing a quick peck against her nose before leaving her so he could fill the animals bowl with the food from last night. Dice dove into it with enthusiasm.
"What sounds good, pancakes? French toast? We have some fruit." He mumbled to himself, rummaging through the counters to see what he could whip together. Val was a terrible cook so he had taken it on himself to learn - for the good of the family. Spending a normal morning with Zoe was rather strange; doing the things that normal couples would do. It was nice.
Then that the phone could be heard beeping in the main room, it made Ryan look towards it and shrug his shoulders. "Ignore it, it’s probably reception wanting you to fill in some survey." He rolled his eyes, offended the phone had interrupted their morning.
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A small, disbelieving smile followed Ryan as he pressed a quick kiss against her nose - a gesture that was playful and honest. As he slipped past her into the kitchen her bright eyes follow him, watching the way the lithe muscles in his shoulders worked as he set about rummaging through the bits of food they had brought on their trip.
So this was normalcy?
Long, thin fingers pulled open a couple of cupboards until she found where he had stashed their more-than-ample coffee supply. For most people it probably would have lasted an entire week or more, not a simple weekend trip. It made her smile as she pulled it down, remembering that he hadn’t even bothered to argue with her. She was slower than he was as she slipped back toward the cabin’s coffee pot, pleased that it was more traditional and not one of those silly keurigs.
“French toast,” she chimed simply, through a smile, “I like fruit on top.”
This was normalcy.
As her manicured fingers went through the motions of measuring out the grounds and filling the pot with water, she listened to him bustling behind her through the kitchen. They would get married, buy a house, start a family. Most of it was already decided for them and out of their control but no one in the world could simply make them get along or make them agree to do this together. It had been surprisingly easy - they had both been so willing once they got to know each other and got over what she assumed, by now, had been an inevitable hiccup. To think only a single fight over hurt feelings was enough to bring them around to what she knew was the true beginning of something real? She felt nearly too lucky to question it.
The phone in the backdrop of her thoughts had, at this point, started ringing for the third time. As she pressed the ‘on’ button on the kettle, she wondered to herself if surveys were really this important? Then her eyes skimmed by him to look at the clock on the wall, reminding her that it was still very, very early. Did resort companies employ non-emergency personnel after hours?
A gnawing, unsettling feeling gripped her around her center of gravity, a feeling of apprehension that had nothing to do with Zoe but everything to do with the magic of Midas flowing in her veins. Bad things happened all the time, no matter if she was there or not. After the youma that had gotten so easily into her parents’ home during Halloween, who was she to ignore that uneasiness now?
“You get started cooking, I’m just going to see who it is, okay?”
There was a reassuring smile on her lips that she didn’t really feel, flashed for Ryan’s benefit. If she looked worried, he would worry - she knew that without hesitation. As her fingers curled around the neck of the nearly outdated phone, she hoped against hope that she was wrong, that this was only going to be her telling some over-zealous secretary that they were busy -
“Good Morning, you’ve reached Ryan and Zoe.”
"Yea sure, coming right up." Ryan smiled as he looked over in her direction. She was making the morning coffee and rummaging around the cupboards, stretching to reach the cups and swaying her hips from side to side as she moved. Even when she was not intending to be, her movements were always so appealing to him. Even watching her perform mundane tasks served to lighten his mood and make him smile.
Though his relaxed face turned to one of light worry as she said she was going to answer the phone; he tried to tell himself, what's the worst that could happen? Deep down, he had the same sinking feeling Zoe did - it was too early not to be an emergency. Maybe he just thought by ignoring it the situation would fix itself.
"Rurik! Pochemu vy ne answer telefon?" The voice snapped down the other side of the phone before Zoe had a chance to finish her sentence, from the very start the distress in the woman's voice could be heard. Valissa’s smooth and gentle English gave way to a wicked Russian accent that sounded sharp and hurtful; though towards the end of her sentence is softened when she realised it was not her son on the other end of the phone.
Pale hands shook as she held it to her face, anger leaving her voice to reveal the strain of tears. "Oh, Zoe, Mne nuzhno pogovorit' s moim synom? - I, Rurik? Please." Both languages were meshing into one in her mind and she was unable to get a full sentence out in either. She felt light headed and in truth rather sick, she hit the sofa with a thud that would read as static on Zoe's end.
A rustling could be hard at the other side of the line and then a man's voice could be heard, calm but also very foreign. "Hello this is Nikolas, can I talk to Ryan, please." Ryan's father had a clear voice, but maybe not as authoritative as Zoe's own fathers. He was a shy and reclusive man by nature and did not tend to mince words with people if he could help it.
Zoe and Nikolas had made eye contact from across the Gala floor, but Val had done the talking for both of them. He was a tall man, with an old face and silver hair. Though it was clear to see that once upon a time he had been handsome. Val certainly could not seem to leave him alone, basically sat on his lap throughout the entire party.
Ryan got the ingredients ready on the counter, and when Zoe did not come back right away decided to finish off making the coffee before. He went into the living room with a cup in either hand, putting one of the table next to the phone so he could lean over and see the expression on Zoe's face.
A cold chill ran down his spine.
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The expression Ryan’s eyes found was indeed one creased with a sudden worry. Although she had not known Val for as long as some of Ryan’s acquaintances, the pair of them had always gotten along, right from the start. Even someone as new to their workings of their family could understand that something was wrong - Val could barely put two words of English together at a time, a sign she immediately recognized as distress. Her mouth opened and closed around the words as she looked up to meet her fiance’s gaze.
But it was Nicholas’ voice that her moving to command.
“Yes, Sir. Hold on.”
Zoe’s head shook a little as she held the phone out to Ryan, meeting his gold eyes with an expression that said she was both worried but unsure. She didn’t know what was happening, but Nicholas never dealt with a situation unless Ryan’s mother could not. What was happening that had left Val in such a state of being?
“It’s your father,” she warned softly, knowing that he would see the peculiarity in it too.
As Ryan grabbed the phone from her, she let her hand reach for the coffee he had brought and drew it up into both hands. The warmed mug sank into the chill of her fingers and she leaned her shoulder into the wall, planting herself near him in a way that said she was not leaving his side - supportive, but not in the way. There was no way to know how their complicated and impossibly intertwined lives were about to be tested, but she meant for him to know that she was here this time. Whatever it was, she was going to be right there next to him, even if she was still hoping it was less serious than it seemed.
Ryan took the phone off of Zoe but was in no rush to bring it to his ear. His dad was on the phone? Huh. Yea - that was never good news. He rested the head of the corded phone on the counter, took a sip of his coffee and brought another cigarette out from his pocket. The Russian hit loudspeaker as he brought the lighter to his mouth - he had promised there would be no more secrets between him and Zoe and he meant it. This was him making good on that promise. The yellow light illuminated his face for a second and then smoke lingered in the air.
"What's up old man?" He asked casually, blowing smoke from his lips before he picked the cup of warm coffee from the side. The white haired man wandered slowly to the couch and sat down. He then looked over at Zoe and rolled his head slightly in a way that told her that she could come and sit with him if she wanted to. He already knew what this was going to be about, he had been waiting on this call for weeks - now it was here the two of them were in for a bumpy ride yet again.
Just when things were starting to get back on track. They could not catch a break.
"Ryan, how is your break going?" His father asked, his voice a lot calmer than his mothers had been, still Val could be heard sobbing in the background. The flush that came on his cheeks when asked when how his trip was going soon dispersed as he heard his mother's voice. His brows dipped and his expression turned sour. "Fantastic. Is that Mom? Put us on speaker?" He asked, leaning his arm against the rest and crossing one leg over the other.
"Okay, one moment." A beeping could be heard, and then a few moments later Ryan spoke. "Hey Mom, are you okay?" He asked, his voice softer and a lot less sarcastic than it was when he was addressing his old man. He was concerned, him and his mother had always been close and hearing her in distress always made him uneasy. However it was not that Val that answered at first, instead his father began to talk. "Ryan Ivor has-" Then he was cut off.
"On umer, my vse byli prizvany semeynyy dom . Chto my budem delat'?" The black haired woman wailed. Instinctively Ryan almost hit the button to take them off of speaker, but with a twitch of his hand stopped himself. He had said no more secrets. "Jesus Christ, chto zhe svoloch' sdelat' eto?" He cursed, putting his coffee on the side. His voice was not angry, but none the less unimpressed and clearly frustrated. Maybe not the reaction someone should have when finding out that his Grandfather had passed.
He then looked at Zoe, and whispered something between them. "My mom's dad has died, they have asked we all meet back in Moscow for the funeral." Then a woman's voice could be heard from the phone once more, breaking Ryan off from explaining the situation from his fiance. "Zoe, come too?" She sniffled - her words still too confused for proper grammar. Ryan shrugged and sighed. "That’s up to her. Listen. We will be back by tonight. Hold the fort until I get there."
Ryan and his family exchanged a few more words, but there was nothing more than a goodbye in them. He then clicked the button to kill the call. Then he slouched back into the seat and pouted.
Well, so much for a bloody vacation.
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Zoe followed her fiance from the intercom to the seat he had taken, wordless as a mix of English and Russian swirled above her head. She had learned distressingly few words from the time that they had spent together - something that she regretted immediately as his mother went off in a string of excited Russian - but she could tell by the inflection in them that something awful had happened. There was the same old struggle in Ryan to retract back into the secrecy his family demanded, but he resisted.
And despite herself, she smiled a little into her coffee cup.
A simple nod was all she offered when he finally explained to her in whispered English what had happened and before she could open her mouth to ask what that meant, Val was requesting her presence from the other line. It hadn’t occurred to her that she wouldn’t be in attendance, but to know that Val wanted her to be a part of such a trying time was still encouraging. In the end, she didn’t speak until his parents were off the phone.
With a sigh, she set the coffee mug down on the table, then took a last longing glance around the cabin they had barely begun to enjoy. So much for vacations.
She was moving then, reaching out with two slim fingers to take his cigarette from him lightly. It was settled between her lips for one long inhale and then held back out for him as she blew the smoke in a long, pillowing column out into the living area. While she waited for him to take the stick back from her, she rose onto her knees and shifted, until she could settle herself into his lap with her knees clenched about his waist. The position could have been sexual - and maybe a small part of her reacted despite the atmosphere hanging heavy in the air - but it was her eyes that sought his attention.
Look at me, her gaze said.
Her free hand rose and pressed her fingertips just beneath his chin, so that she could look down at him with a serenity earned from years and years of practice. Her mother had taught her to be the backbone if it was breaking - support those that support you. Without even knowing any details of his extended family, Zoe knew that their beautiful weekend getaway was about to become one of the most trying moments of their life. All that mattered was that Ryan knew she could handle this.
“Let’s eat breakfast first. Thirty minutes won’t make a difference and at least we can get one good morning before we head home. Okay?”
He let her take the cigarette off of him with ease, an exchange they had made several times before, especially at the bars in which they frequented. He then took it back and concluded their seamless transition like it had been rehearsed - maybe to others it might even look commical. He had the feeling that was just going to be one of their little rituals, something they would do until the end of time.
Like the most gestures of affection his mother and father shared; resting her hand on his when he was driving stick, always drinking out of the same glasses and always sharing a shower in the morning. Love was a rare thing; he had always kind of wished he would end up in a relationship like theirs, despite the fact their affection often made him rather uncomfortable (he was there son, afterall). He could see him having that with Zoe, one day.
Ryan's breath escaped his chest as she then came to move, rubbing the lit end of the cigarette against the table to stub it out. Zoe was demanding his attention; thus this was not the time for smoking. He closed his eyes as she positioned herself on top of him and lifted his chin to look at her and he succumbed to that demand. He looked up at her and the harsh look in his eyes suddenly became light, a smile creeping across his face. He was in no rush to face the storm that was brewing back home, not when there short time out here had been so perfect.
If he was cynical he would had thought this was his Grandfather's last laugh, that the old man had done this on purpose. There was no love lost between him and his family, not in the slightest. It sounded like something Ivor would do, there was no love lost between them. All that Ryan was worried about was what it meant for the people he cared about; how it would affect Zoe and Val.
The Russian sighed and leant up, nodding his head at her request. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, burying his head in her chest. He would make breakfast, he just wanted to stay here with her for a while. Do all he could to stop time.
"Come to Russia with me, Zoe?”
The remnants of the smoke hung heavy in the air around her, filling her senses with the thickness of the tobacco. It felt like a moment held still as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his head into her chest. Her own raised in response and settled around his shoulders, cupping the base of his skull and holding it against her. She knew without asking that it was comfort he wanted and, despite all their ups and down and the task that was looming before them, they were finally at a place where she could be that for him. She would support him without thought and he trusted that.
The words, muffled as they were, made her smile and she dipped low to press her lips softly just behind his ear. She let the fingers of one hand run up slowly through his hair, stroking down to his scalp in a gentle caress. If she could have kept him there, suspended in that moment forever and shielded from whatever trial the next week would bring, she would have.
But she couldn’t. All she could do was walk into hell’s mouth at his side.
“Naí,” she answered in a whisper, her consent spoken with the bit of Greek she knew, “of course.”
The arms around him tightened and she leaned her cheek atop his head, content to steal however many moments they had left for themselves. Whatever tomorrow brought, she was ready.
FIN <3
