[Witches' Horses] Swallow's Tail
Title: blast from another life
'Verse/characters: Swallow's Tail; Petrovich, Helena, Stas, Sascha
Prompt: 68D "hero"
Word Count: 324
Notes: Yes, you read that right. Remember that tossaway line in you gonna dance, or you gonna just look?, about Helena's last lover?
Guess who.
Vocabulary: artel - unit; druzhini - plural of druzhina, traditionally used for a hero's (a bogyatr) entourage and fellow heros. A group of friends, if you will, here used for people under someone's command in larger groups than an artel.
"Lev Petrovich, as I live and breathe," said a horribly familiar voice.
He turned, willing his face blank.
Helena was eying the man next to her with something like calculation, full on tensed for a fight but his cousin, dressed in soldier's gray and a captain's suns on his shoulders and cuffs, didn't seem to notice.
"Itzaak Nickolaievich," he said evenly, as much of a greeting as he could manage. They'd both been 'Stas', once, stationed in different artels and druzhini. His cousin probably still was.
His cousin came forward, caught him up in a brief, hard hug, but he let go quickly, pulled away a bit to look him in the face. "War wasn't kind to you."
"Not nearly as kind as it was to you," he gestured to the rank markers. "I was out in Siberia."
"I saw your death notice," his cousin said. "I'm glad it was wrong."
He forced a smile. "Thank you."
"Let's take a walk," Helena suggested, took his cousin's arm, led him away, cast an 'I'm sorry' look over her shoulder before they turned a corner.
She was back less than an hour later, sweaty, her hair in a fuzzy halo around her head. "Sorry, sir."
"You didn't know," he told her in a even tone, one she didn't wince at but looked like she was thinking about it.
*
"Broke him already?" Sascha inquired of her when they trooped back into the horse, weighted down with food packages.
The Captain didn't wince, but he looked like he was thinking about it. Disappeared quickly into his quarters, leaving her final packing of the food into the storage spaces. They'd be leaving within the day--she wasn't going to take the chance of the one going looking for the other.
She leveled a stare at the side of Sascha's head as soon as the Captain was out of sight. "He and t'Captain didn't get along."
He grinned, didn't say anything.
'Verse/characters: Swallow's Tail; Petrovich, Helena, Stas, Sascha
Prompt: 68D "hero"
Word Count: 324
Notes: Yes, you read that right. Remember that tossaway line in you gonna dance, or you gonna just look?, about Helena's last lover?
Guess who.
Vocabulary: artel - unit; druzhini - plural of druzhina, traditionally used for a hero's (a bogyatr) entourage and fellow heros. A group of friends, if you will, here used for people under someone's command in larger groups than an artel.
"Lev Petrovich, as I live and breathe," said a horribly familiar voice.
He turned, willing his face blank.
Helena was eying the man next to her with something like calculation, full on tensed for a fight but his cousin, dressed in soldier's gray and a captain's suns on his shoulders and cuffs, didn't seem to notice.
"Itzaak Nickolaievich," he said evenly, as much of a greeting as he could manage. They'd both been 'Stas', once, stationed in different artels and druzhini. His cousin probably still was.
His cousin came forward, caught him up in a brief, hard hug, but he let go quickly, pulled away a bit to look him in the face. "War wasn't kind to you."
"Not nearly as kind as it was to you," he gestured to the rank markers. "I was out in Siberia."
"I saw your death notice," his cousin said. "I'm glad it was wrong."
He forced a smile. "Thank you."
"Let's take a walk," Helena suggested, took his cousin's arm, led him away, cast an 'I'm sorry' look over her shoulder before they turned a corner.
She was back less than an hour later, sweaty, her hair in a fuzzy halo around her head. "Sorry, sir."
"You didn't know," he told her in a even tone, one she didn't wince at but looked like she was thinking about it.
*
"Broke him already?" Sascha inquired of her when they trooped back into the horse, weighted down with food packages.
The Captain didn't wince, but he looked like he was thinking about it. Disappeared quickly into his quarters, leaving her final packing of the food into the storage spaces. They'd be leaving within the day--she wasn't going to take the chance of the one going looking for the other.
She leveled a stare at the side of Sascha's head as soon as the Captain was out of sight. "He and t'Captain didn't get along."
He grinned, didn't say anything.