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Gromkyo was tottering on his chair, clearly drunk and alarmingly flushed. He roared unintelligibly at the general direction of a wall as he downed another shot, not bothering with food this time around. "The Tsarevich," he began, "the tsarevich--", and here Gromkyo paused to bang his glass on the table for effect, "-- is a blight on Mother Russia. He is hell-bent on tearing it apart! A monster, he is. No more than your garden-variety-- less than your usual terrorist. Blows things up here and there, scares people, demands things he does not deserve. I heard," Gromkyo's voice lowered conspiratorially to a whisper, "I heard he is supported by Janus. You know, that god-- the Roman one." He spoke almost reverently, tinged by a hint of fear impossible to hide. "And-- and I also heard..." here he faltered. He seemed almost at a loss. "The library fires. I don't... understand..."

And with that, he gave a hiccup and flopped over onto the table, unconscious.

Gromkyo hiccuped and got up slowly, attempting to pat Johannes on the shoulder, but in his stupor, managed to wave his hand dangerously close to Johannes's face, reaching out to pat that instead.

"The... library fires..." Gromkyo hiccuped again, but kept his voice quiet. Sebastien leaned closer to the Russian man as Johannes had done (but not quite so close) so he could hear better. He gave Johannes a bright thumbs-up sign that he had seen in a film once. "I heard it was him. The Kremlin was furious-- those libraries, you know. They contain... they contain so much of records of the Tsars." Gromkyo spat on the floor after the word. He hated to even say it. "It is... useful to the Kremlin, if you understand the meaning I am saying... leverage!" He whispered the word dramatically, and his eyes widened, giving him a wild, disheveled look. "But that Tsarevich... he burned it all to ashes. I would think--" his words were interrupted by another hiccup, "that that leper would want them. Records of his... noble-- noble! Records of his noble origins. But... but... he burned them. The library is reduced to cinders!" He laughed maniacally at this, apparently thinking it was too funny to continue, before he slumped over the table once again. He was motionless.

A tall, thin man materialized in the room-- the same one who had brought them the food and vodka. He gingerly poked Gromkyo in a crevice of his shoulder, and when he was sure the man was truly unconscious, he glowered at Johannes and Sebastien.

"I think we shall go now," Sebastien said smoothly, rising and bowing slightly in the general direction of both Russian men. As he rose out of his chair, he attempted to grab Johannes's arm and pull him up as well. "I thank you for showing us Russia's hospitality and splendour. I believe we shall take our leave of yourself and Mr. Gromkyo." He couldn't help but add a "Long live Mother Russia!" at the end, even though the thin man looked less than impressed. He appeared to be less easily influenced than his superior, Sebastien thought.