“Thank you…thank you for that.” Polina said, smiling for the first time that night. It was a small thing, nothing boisterous but still full of gratitude. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
It was rare Ivan had a day off from his work with his family, so when he was granted such a luxury, he usually indulged in it. He took Fauna out for a night on the town the evening before, wanting to have a nice dinner and some drinks with his wife, maybe even partake in some late night activities with her, which they did in a fashion befitting of a mob prince and his beast bride. They had returned in the early hours of the morning, laughing with mirth and alcohol before falling into bed and tangling themselves up together, anticipating staying like that long into the morning as duty would not call on either of them.
That being said, Ivan woke with a start when he heard the distinct clattering of someone in the kitchen sometime in the morning.
Ivan, having grown up in a mob household, slept light and at the ready just in case someone foolishly decided to infiltrate the house with the intention of causing problems. It hadn't happened too often, but it had happened more than once in Ivan's youth and that was enough. He slept with a small weapons cache made up of a few guns, knives, and a pair of brass knuckles in his side table, but those were mostly for an extreme case.
Even then, his hands and own brutality would surely suffice.
He reached over to roust Fauna as quietly as possible. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Unlike her husband, Fauna was never a light sleeper; she never needed to be. Even though it was a from a time she couldn’t recall, growing up with Natas and Armand, Fauna was quite comfortable. She was more important than Remus and Romulus, so she was never put to work the way they were. She was not as important as Amulius, who was raised almost totally separate from his other siblings, was always studying dark magic, language and alchemy. Fauna had no expectations, and nowhere to be and nothing to worry about. While the memory of it was now gone from her, she used to sleep all day in a narrow crack in the wall of the hut. Food and eating was something decidedly scarce for the children, even the ones who were liked, so sleeping off hunger was natural. She sleep in a tight ball, like a wolf curled up in a circle in the snow. Fauna would stay that way for days, sometimes she wake at the sounds of her brothers footsteps and roll out to startle them; biting at their legs.
Now, as an amnesiac mob princess, Fauna lived a life of luxury. She did have minor responsibilities, going places and “showing face,” transport whatever and make sure no one bit the hand that feeds. That was never a problem for her though, and the responsibilities of biting back was one that brought her immense joy. But she was not especially important; not the head of anything or the boss of anyone, perhaps just her own household but their home didn’t operate under a supreme leader. Fauna and Ivan, their children, were a unit, they worked as a team and supported each other. No one was expected to carry one hundred percent of anything. Fauna never needed to be awake earlier than anyone else, prepare things for others.
So she slept hard and deep.
Fauna always had a resting expression of someone who was on the edge of fury. Her brows rested naturally in a deep burrow, and her mouth an even deeper scowl. It could’ve looked like she was annoyed at being awoken, but in fact she was still sleeping. Ivan giving her a gentle shake did very little to rouse her, but combined with the clattering happening downstairs, Fauna began to intuitively shift. Her nose scrunched with annoyed before her sharp eyes blinked open, animal like. She did not speak, but her pupils flittered around the room once in observation; processing the sound to her surroundings. Fauna was not afraid though, never afraid. If someone was indeed in her home, bumping around with no regard, they were the ones who should be afraid.
She loosened a long exhale through her nose, before already sitting up, a wordless answer to a question not asked.
After a night of horrors, Polina finally fell asleep just as the sunrise began to turn to proper daylight.
She and her mother had been tucked in Alexei’s bed at his insistence while he settled for a spot on the floor nearby. Despite everything he had done for them, his presence made it hard to fall asleep if only for the fact, at the end of the day, he was still a stranger. Her mama must have sensed this and placed herself between Polina and Alexei, her back facing the massive man who had saved them both, while she wrapped her arms tight around her. Though Polina was grown, her mother’s warm embrace brought her a familiar comfort from a time when she was small and her mother felt like the ultimate safeguard from the rest of the world.
Her mother spoke quiet words of gratitude for Polina’s safe return to her while her lips pressed intermittent kisses to her daughter’s temple. While her arms hugged Polina’s body close to hers, her fingers brushed softly through Polina’s pale locks. While Polina was sure she smelled like Alexei’s soap and laundry, her mama carried a much more familiar smell, one of their own cheap detergent and the spiced tea that she drank every day. Between her mother’s scent and her touch, her reservations about sleep hardly stood a chance as Polina dozed off.
—-
Marina held Polina long after her breathing turned quiet and shallow with sleep, partly to comfort her daughter after her experience, but also to comfort herself.
When both Alina and Katerina were taken from her, Marina fell into a well of grief that was so deep she lost herself to it. Had Polina not been there to care for her, she surely would have died from her sad sickness. And if Polina had been taken from her as well, there would have been no one to save her from her sorrow.
She was relieved to have her youngest daughter returned to her alive and unharmed, and she was grateful Alexei had saved them both so that they could be reunited. And though she was far from well still, she would do what she could for both her daughter and Alexei to express her joy and her gratitude.
Starting with a hot breakfast.
Once Marina was sure both Alexei and Polina were sound asleep, she quietly padded out of the room made her way back down to the kitchen she recalled passing on her way in.
It had been some time since she had cooked herself, Polina did most of the cooking and housework anymore, but she was sure she could manage to cook something up.
—-
“Did you call for Galina to come in?” Ivan quietly asked his wife once she awoke. They had Ivan’s favorite cook from his family home come in a few days a week to cook for the family, but she was usually off on the weekends. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei was not like his parents when it came to sleeping habits, neither a very light nor a very deep sleeper; always swimming somewhere comfortably in the middle. In most things, all things nearly, Alexei was a barreling force; strong and wild, brutal. But in sleep, he was his most tamed; slow and relaxed but not too much so that he couldn’t turn back on at full capacity. Not so much so that he didn’t hear Marina tip toe out of his bed in the late morning. When he brought Polina to his home, and not much later, her mother, he considered how they must be feeling. After all they had survived, he knew they wouldn’t trust him fully still, and he couldn’t blame them. He allowed them to sleep in his bed, and he slept posted on the floor by the door, arms crossed on his chest and his head lolled to the side. He would’ve slept on the couch in the living room, or maybe even in his sisters room. But he considered if Polina and her mama were feeling afraid or needed something, it would be better for him to be somewhere they could see him. There was also the threat of his sister coming home randomly for something, maybe she forgot one of her expensive perfumes or an overpriced lipgloss, he would have to explain him sleeping in her bed.
While he remembered his sister enough to consider why not to sleep in her bed, he had sort of forgotten his parents. He knew they were out on the town that night, he knew they wouldn’t scuttle in until the wee hours of the morning. He supposed they may have come in after he brought Polina’s mom to their house. Alexei didn’t get up initially when her heard Marina pop out, he slowly roused when her heard the clattering of pans from the kitchen. It was at that moment Alexei remembered his parents and that they were definitely home, and that his dad could definitely hear her in the kitchen, and that his mom definitely was going to react with a flurry of rage as she was one to do.
It was at that point that Alexei realized he had no time to panic. Only to react and try to reroute the course of things. He hopped up quickly to his feet and tried to be careful hobbling out the door after Marina. He didn’t shut his door fully in his hurry, it was left ajar as he hurried to the kitchen.
“Mama, what are you doing?” He asked Marina, his voice low, trying not to startle her in any capacity, moreover he didn’t want to be rude.
—
Fauna looked over at Ivan without turning her head, her dark eyes shifting to him, slow and catlike.
“No, it is be someone else.” Fauna answered, swinging her feet off the bed. She was quick in her strut to fetch her silken robe from a hook on the wall. She threw it around her and and the fabric fell over her like smooth waves, pooling at her feet. She didn’t know who was in her kitchen, but god help them if she had to go downstairs and after them in her robe.
Marina had pulled out a small assortment of pots and pans and had moved on to going through the refrigerator when she heard Alexei behind her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, soft and motherly.
“мой мальчик, good morning.” Marina closed the fridge and crossed the kitchen over to Alexei. She reached up to pat his cheek like he was a small boy and not a behemoth of a man. “I wanted to make you breakfast, as a thank you, but you don’t keep much food here.” She explained, which was true. There wasn’t much food in the pantry and refrigerator as Galina, the family cook, had groceries delivered on days she was expected to come in.
—-
Ivan headed out of the room first, Fauna surely right behind him, and began down the hallway and then the stairs leading to the first floor of the pent house. He didn’t waste time being quiet or particularly sneaky, after all, this was his home and if there was an intruder he had every right to take care of matters any way he saw fit. However, as he made his way further down the steps, he took pause when he heard Alexei’s voice and…a woman?
Ivan reached out to catch Fauna’s arm before she could barrel downstairs and cause a violent scene and gestured for her to also take pause and listen. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei smiled, it softened his expression around his eyes, looking gentler and more tame; he was. While his parents were never hard or harsh with him, the gentleness of Marina’s hand upon his cheek, settled something wild in him. It was lovely, though he wished it was Polina’s palm on his cheek. It was hard for him to fathom, bringing harm upon a woman of this caliber of tenderness. He dipped his head graciously, still smiling though he could both smell and hear his parents on the staircase now. It was hard to be worried in Marina’s presence, she had an aura of absolute assurance.
“We don’t, someone else…Is usually in charge of that. We don’t do much regular cooking here.” When he said regular, he just meant routine. The way most families have home cooked meals prepared by a member of their family unit, the Nikitin’s famously had private and personal chefs in their employ. “While you are safe here, and Polina is safe here…This was not my home to invite you into freely. I did not tell my Мать и отец, that we had company. They will be surprised and angry with me, but not with you. Perhaps we can figure out a breakfast after-“
Fauna was not really someone who took suggestions, while she herself had little interest in any leadership roles, she was not a listener. When Ivan caught her arm to prevent, whatever it was she was going to do, it didn’t make her feel any less inclined to do it. Fauna made a face, an incredulous bob of her head before swatting his arm away from her before descending the staircase.
“After?” Fauna echoed her son, the silk train of her robe slithering down the staircase behind her as she marched down them. Fauna was not big in stature, she did not tower or loom over others physically the way her husband or son did and she did not possess magical or demonic prowess like her mother before her. But she was no less domineering, and if there were any candles lit, her entering the room would be enough to snuff them out. She asked a question, but she didn’t really want him to finish the sentence. She wanted an explanation, and it would’ve served Alexei better had he issued it before his mother finding a stranger in her kitchen.
Alexei sort of wordlessly sputtered, he removed Marina’s hand from his cheek, only to hold it in his hand and stood straighter. He turned to face his mother and took care to put himself between Fauna and Marina, not so much so that Fauna could not see Marina. Like a good hunting dog, Fauna was prey driven; it would be worse to incite a chase. But his positioning was meant to assure Marina, make her feel safe, and hopefully indicate to his parents that this person was not a threat. [/i]
Marina peered passed Alexei, noting as a woman with Alexei's sharp eyes and a man with Alexei's build both entered the room. With Alexei's admission just moments before that he was not the owner of this house and the newest appearances in the room, Marina assumed that this was his family home and these people were his parents.
She noted that the woman, while as petite as herself, held a strong presence. It was, while also intimidating, instantly admirable to Marina, who spent her life as a house wife as meek as a mouse. She was also beautiful, even wrapped up in her robe and presumably fresh from bed. Even her sharpness was a bit beautiful, like a knife that didn't care if you held it in it's sheath, it would still find a way to bite you.
Marina's gaze then shifted to the man standing just behind Alexei's sharp mama. He must have been Alexei's papa. This man was as big as a bear, though he stood just a hair shorter than his son. He was broad and thick with muscle and Marina could see the dark ink lines on his chest and middle through the thinness of the undershirt he must have worn to bed. Like his wife, he was also beautiful, but it was a different sort of beauty, one that Marina thought was akin to a saint in a church stained glass. His eyes were a dark shade of blue and a bit tired looking.
Marina watched as Alexei's papa placed his hands at Alexei's mama's shoulders, clearly unafraid whether or not this sleek dagger of a woman would turn her sharpness on him. The gesture instantly reminded Marina of her husband when he'd place a hand on her shoulders to reel her in, force her back to being small, put in her place. But after just a moment of observation, she realized this man was not trying to make his wife small or undermine her. He placed his hands to show a united front.
"Alyosha, who is this?" The man asked, demanding but not eager for a fight (or hunt) like his wife.
Before Alexei could answer, Marina stepped out from behind him.
"Please, I'm so sorry, I didn't know this was a family home. Please let me introduce myself." She said, looking between Alexei's parents. She placed a hand in gesture to her chest. "I am Marina Lebedev, your son - he's a good boy- he helped me and my daughter." _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei was not sure what his parents would do, his dad was less reactive than his mother, but that would never diminish the damage Ivan could do if provoked. Alexei silently prayed for his dad to hear Marina and remain measured as he distributed any punishment. For his mother, he prayed that she could contain herself long enough for Alexei to explain himself.
He stepped forward again but not in front of Marina, just stationed at her side; still loyal, still protective, even in his imminent groveling.
“It’s true,” Alexei affirmed quickly. “I was working a job with Тётя(Vania)-her car is in the driveway-I borrowed it, there was a raid and we were evacuating girls. They needed help, I promised I would help and that they would be safe. I should’ve called you, or left a note, anything. I just got caught up-“ Alexei sort of floundered in explanation, not wanting to share unnecessary details and keep his case short. Anything too long winded and Fauna wouldn’t hear it.
Fauna was definitely an awful little monster, every bit the one she was in her past life, she was that now. It was truly a gamble if Fauna was going to hear any explanations before reacting in any sort of way; she was not prone to violence, she was predisposed to it. But she tilted her chin up, studying Marina and hearing her explanation in tandem with her son’s plead. It was endearing, not so much so that the sharpness in her face softened, but her posture shifted. Not relaxed, but no longer on the offense; she would follow Ivan’s lead now and that would be a different beast entirely.
"You were evacuating and you brought someone home with you?" Ivan's expression turned confused.
Ivan was aware of the job his sister was working the night before, in fact, despite having had the night off, he did offer his services would be needed. He disliked the idea of human trafficking as much as his sister (and the rest of their family for that matter). But while he understood and felt for any and all the people involved, he didn't understand why Alexei was compelled to invite any of them into their family home, especially when he was sure his sister had made arrangements for anyone needing them. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“Yes.” Alexei doubled down, it may not have been the most responsible course of action, but it the action that he took. “She was so scared, I didn’t want to leave her care to someone else. When she told me about her Mama, I knew it couldn’t wait. It didn’t make sense to make them endure more, after everything. I just brought them here to rest.” Alexei tried to explain some semblance of a thought process. While all points were technically true, his motivation was at its foundation, whatever was best for Polina; whatever she commanded, whether or not she knew that she had that power. He swore to keep her safe, he meant it, and whatever else happened next, he would be at her complete and utter disposal.
"And what was your plan once they've rested?" Ivan asked, watching as Marina's head swiveled up to Alexei as if she hadn't thought about that herself.
And she hadn't.
She had thought Polina was gone to her just like her other girls, she never expected that she would be returned safe and sound. She didn't think she would have to worry about what would come next. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei hadn’t thought that far ahead, there was no plan and he supposed his dad knew that. Of the many things Alexei was not, he was not someone who made plans or invest much forethought into anything. A person who flings himself off of buildings and placed dropped in front of speeding cars, did not concern himself with next steps.
“I was going to make arrangements, I was going to follow up with Тётя when I returned her car.” Alexei spat out, felt reasonable enough. It wasn’t a plan he had before but it could be his plan now.
"I thought you didn't want to leave them in anyone else's care." Ivan pointed out. "You do know that your aunt does not personally look over every person she has helped with jobs like this? It's just not possible for her, or for anyone else, to do all that."
"What do you mean?"
Marina turned her head at the sound of Polina's voice coming from behind Alexei's parents on the stairs. She must have woken up and come down the stairs to investigate. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“I don’t want to leave them in anyone else’s care, but I know they cannot stay here.” Alexei wanted to attach an, ‘unless’ but he knew it would be audacious of him, considering the boundaries he’d already been pushing and the surprises he was springing. He turned to look at Polina, too caught up in his parent’s conversation to hear her approach.
Fauna had long since smelt the girl in Alexei’s room, even heard her little feet creep upon the plush carpet in Alexei’s room; though the sound was softened. But she hadn’t concerned herself with the young girl, she did not need to turn her head to place a steady eye over her. She was beautiful, like a little dove, no wonder Alexei was so taken with her. Though she contemplated if Alexei were to embrace her, he might shatter her like porcelain.
“It is not reasonable, nor is it in his nature, for Alexei to be wholly responsible for anyone in this business.” Fauna answered aloud.
“I could, I can.” Alexei tried to refute, sort of hurt at the implication that he couldn’t take care of someone, especially when he wanted to so badly. He felt a little desperate, and a little embarrassed, his parents were going to humiliate him in front of Polina.
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