Alexei's face remained red as he watched her hair fall and then tie the ribbon around his hand. It was so exciting to him, he felt the hairs on his arms prick and his heart drummed wildly in his chest as she tied the ribbon into a neat little bow.
"I'll treasure it forever, Цветок." Alexei said with that same smile, drunk off the erotic way Polina tied his hand with care, he felt as though he could burst. "I will see you tomorrow then." He held the ribboned hand to his chest, flush to his heart between his pecks. Then he gave a little bow to Polina.
Some time had passed since Alexei’s first date with Polina. He had been smitten from the start, before their date even. Alexei pined and mooned and longed for her, anything and everything about her. If he was finding reasons to be around before, now it was his full time job. He’d show up to drive her and Marina to the store, he’d take them shopping and out for lunch if he could get away with it. Alexei found chores to do and things to be fixed, things he never did at his own home. At his parental home, Alexei never really lifted a finger. There was hired help for everything, and besides that, his mom didn’t really like her things to be touched and Alexei’s hands were often covered in blood so..
Even at their apartment, there was maintenance hired by the apartment complex who could tend to the handiwork in the unit, but Alexei always volunteered for the task as quickly as possible. He’s had to become somewhat handy because of this, doing that was easier said than done though. Due to his unchecked strength, some things were broken more when he got his hands on it. But he never left anything broken, he’d go out and buy whatever and listen to the helpful employees at whatever hardware store and try hard to put the advice to action. While he did these things as an act of service to Polina, whenever she was patient with his failings and encouraging about his efforts, he was even more endeared to her. It made him feel seen, feel held; he wanted to do it more.
Polina asked for nothing and often refused or at least argued about receiving things from Alexei. But over a period of time, she’d relented more often, perhaps just because Alexei was likely to do it anyways. He’d never really spent any of his earnings on himself, all the members of the Nikitin crime family were compensated well. The wealth overflowed and he grew up with things in excess. It was a lot of money he accumulated on his own that he was eager to spend on the pale haired girl he adored. He was even happy to spoil Marina too, while he of course loved her by extension of Polina and because of Polina, he’d come to earnestly love her too. He advocated that they both deserved nice things, a life unburdened and with as much ease as they wanted. Alexei thought it a worthy use of his wealth, to give two women the freedom to live exactly how they wanted to.
He had convinced Polina on relaxed weekday to accompany him to the nearby shopping center. He had used the excuse that he wanted to buy something for his moms birthday and suggested they both pick out something for their mothers, he had the intention to encourage Polina to pick something for herself once they were on the store floor. The funny thing about saying it was for Fauna’s birthday was that she didn’t have one. At least not one she ever celebrated with her biological family, it was never recorded or celebrated. There was some effort to establish a ‘given’ birthday to celebrate later in her life, but Fauna didn’t really care of it. She felt she didn’t really need a birthday to celebrate if she got what she wanted everyday. But Polina didn’t need to know that about her.
So they surveyed the local boutiques and peeked in display windows. The weather was cooler now, and while he tended to run on the warmer side, he wore a jacket still with the aspiration to put it around Polina’s shoulders if she seemed cold.
“It’s chilly today.” He even commented nonchalantly as they walked up to another boutique.
Polina had never considered her life "hard" before. There were of course hardships she and her family had to endure, but it was hard to define her life as arduous when that was the baseline. It was hard to long for much when you consistently survived on little joys for much of your life. Though she didn't know it, she had been nearly starved for even the smallest of happinesses.
After escaping the horrors that befell her sisters and nearly herself, she knew now that she had only been enduring, that her life had in fact been hard. More than that, her life had been cruel. But the only reason she had become aware of that reality was because her life now was so different.
Her life now was...good.
She and her mama had their own apartment, a place that they knew they could always come back to and there would be no danger looming, no one threatening to beat down their door and take them in the night. It was full of creature comforts Polina had previously lived largely without but greatly appreciated having like a nice comfy couch that could fit several people if they wanted and didn't have dents where cushion stuffing had been largely displaced, a washer and a dryer so she didn't have to lug bags of dirty clothes to the laundromat, and even a microwave so she could easily reheat leftovers instead of having to use the oven or stove. Though she still insisted on doing little clothing alterations and mending for her new neighbors for pocket money, she didn't have to work and was free to stay home and take care of her mama, though it seemed like she didn't need as much care as she also settled into their new life and found ease within herself.
Polina was admittedly sad that she now knew how bleak her old life had been in comparison to the life she was leading now, but on the other hand, she was happy to be where she was and have the things she had. More than happy though, she was grateful, and she owed even her feelings of gratitude to the man who had saved her, Alexei.
Though he was intimidating at first, Polina quickly found that Alexei was extremely endearing to be around. Despite witnessing him kill her would be assaulter and having even washed blood from his hands herself, she knew him to be kind and gentle with both her and her mama. He never yelled and he was always so happy to be around that it was hard not to feel infected by it. He was even happier these days, it seemed, as he and Polina had seemed to steadily grow closer as the months went on.
After their date, it wasn't unusual for them to go out with just the two of them. He had found a home nurse who would come by for a handful of hours at a time so he and Polina could go out together or even just "run errands" like they were today
Polina was wearing the usual dress she wore whenever they went out like this, constantly keeping it pressed and ready for a moment's notice if Alexei felt like an impromptu outing, as well as a little cardigan that she had thought would do well enough to fight off any chill from the changing weather.
"It is getting colder these days." Polina agreed, her arm looped in Alexei's as she walked by his side. She looked up at him and placed her free hand against the breast of his jacket as if to feel it's thickness. "Do you have a thicker coat for the winter?" She asked, more concerned about him than herself. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
"Yes, but do you?" Alexei asked her, looking down at her from his arm. He couldn't help but smile as she placed her hand on the breast of his jacket. Any chance to touch or be touched by Polina was a joy and a blessing. If he only brushed elbows with her during the day and didn't touch otherwise, that would be the best part of Alexei's day. "Does mama have one?" He asked then, always ready to consider Polina's mother.
"Ah, not yet." Polina answered, still a smile on her face as she patted her hand once before retracting it. "Me and Mama will go to a secondhand shop and get something soon. If push comes to shove, I know my way around a sewing machine and can make something." She was acutely aware of the luxuries that Alexei provided for both her mama and herself, but that didn't mean she expected anything more than he already gave. She had made due before and she could make due again. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei looked away to hide the face he was making, brows pinched and lips pursed. He wanted to spoil Polina and her mom, but she was too sweet and too humble, she would never directly ask for anything.
“I have coats you guys could have.” He said, as nonchalant as he could muster.
“I have lots of coats, I promise I would not be suffering.” Alexei said with a little laugh as he ducked into another boutique.
It was a good size for something local. It looked like it was the combined space of two store units, making way for rows of clothing racks and standing mannequins. The walls were a dark sage green, with low hanging light fixtures; perfectly spherical in shape. Alexei never really cared about shopping, but he knew the women (and some of the men) in his family did. They frequented the most high end luxury brands, and as much as Alexei would want to give Polina a Prada shopping spree; a high end boutique would be a starting point.
“Or you can maybe let me buy you one? You can pick it out.” He suggested.
Polina blinked, surprised though she certainly shouldn't have been. Alexei had provided her with so many of the good things in her new life that, in comparison, buying her a coat would be nothing. However, being that she had gone so long in her life with so little, it was hard to simply accept the gifts, especially when she felt there wasn't much she could do for Alexei in return.
"You don't have to do that, but I appreciate you even offering." She said. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei’s lips pursed again. He would have to be persistent.
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. You could think of it like an early Christmas present.” He said, idly running his hand over the fabric of a dress in passing.
Polina looked up to Alexei, her arm still looped in his, and couldn't help a fond little smile grow on her lips when he pursed his lips like a pouting child. It was funny to see such an "immature" expression on his face despite his everything, but it was something that could only serve to further endear him to her.
"You really want to?" She asked, as if there were any room for doubt in the things Alexei said to her. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Alexei smiled widely, all teeth even, which was uncharacteristic in the way that he often tried to conceal his pronounced canines from Polina. But this time he couldn’t help it, he tugged on her arm somewhat as he pulled her along with him towards a rack of coats.
“If you don’t like any of the coats here we can go somewhere else.” He said, as if Polina would do such a thing.
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