LOG; stay with you in this moment; NIKOLAI + VALENTINA
"gtfo" "no ;_;" "...fien :["
Also, penguins would make awesome trebuchet ammo, y/n.
Valentina
Nikolai
It was late. Or, well. Technically early. But Valentina was used to the unusual hours, and it wasn't something that would phase her. She'd been waiting until she knew Nikolai was asleep to leave her own room and sneak into his, closing the door as quietly as she could behind her. It had taken her this long to organize her thoughts, to make certain she actually wanted to try to convince him to leave, or if she just wanted to keep being selfish.
What happened to Adrian, and Avdotia in his place, however, threw some things into perspective that she'd been worried about at the back of her mind since Nikolai first moved in.
She padded across the floor through the dark room, bare feet much more silent than her slippers would have been, finding her way to the bed easy enough even if it was difficult to see. This hadn't been the first time she'd snuck into his room in the dark, and her memory was good. She slid onto the bed without a word, crawling to where she could hear Nikolai breathing and leaning over him. She knew it was rude to wake him up when he'd probably just fallen asleep, but she figured she had a better chance making her argument when he was groggy and she was alert.
"Kolyan~" She spoke softly, leaning her head close to his. It was a kinder way to wake him than just poking him in the side repeatedly. Which she was slightly tempted to do, but she resisted.
Nikolai had never been a very heavy sleeper, and so it didn't take much for her to wake him up. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. "Um. Hi?"
"Hi." She gave him a smile, before shifting so she was lying down on her side, her head propped up with her elbow on the pillow. "I need to talk to you." She realized it was a weird time to come wandering in for chat but again, it was the best time, for her.
"Okay?" He rolled onto his side to face her. Sitting all the way up, however, felt like entirely too much effort to go to.
She stared at him a moment before taking a deep breath and exhaling. "I want you to leave." Probably not the best way to start it, but she sometimes had trouble weighing blunt with gentle reasoning. "I want you to get out of the country and get as far away from everything as you can." She realized there weren't a lot of places that weren't indirectly involved, but her family were in England, and there were other places on earth that were remote.
He stared back for a moment, trying to get his half-awake brain wrapped around that. "...um."
"Please." She kept her expression guarded, trying not to explain too much of what she was thinking, because if she did he'd probably sort it out, even half-awake, and insist on sticking around. She'd sent her family away because she was afraid for their safety, and this was more or less the same thing. She'd already sacrificed his freedom, by screwing up and letting Makar see her speaking with him in a public manner. She knew if he died, it would be because of another one of her mistakes.
"You seemed okay with me sticking around before."
He wasn't really in the best position, sure, but he wasn't really an outdoorsy type anyway, and he figured he could take being a recluse for a few months. It was all for a good cause, right?
Valentina sighed, dropping her arm and rolling onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She reached behind her head, pulling the pillow out from under it and pressing it over her face.
"I was being selfish." She muttered, her voice muffled. She was aware she was sometimes a selfish person, she just really hated admitting it aloud. Even now, she was being a little selfish, because she knew he wanted to stay, but that was her fault in the first place, too.
"I don't think you're being selfish." He reached for the pillow and tried to pull it away from her. It was a little weird trying to carry on a conversation with someone who had a pillow over their face.
She let him have the pillow, after trying to hold onto it for a moment, and lay with her head flat against the mattress instead, and glanced over at him, her chest rising and falling quickly with a silent sigh.
"I am though. Because I wanted this. I wanted us, even if it meant it would put your life in danger." She couldn't say that she didn't care, because she did. She just hadn't cared enough. Cared enough to put her own wants aside for his well-being.
He tossed the pillow aside. "Doesn't matter. I mean, anything can be dangerous, right? Walking across the street is dangerous."
It made more sense in his head than it did out loud. But he didn't really think he was that much worse off because of his involvement with her. So he could die. Any of them could die. Maybe all of them would die. Did it really matter that much?
Valentina sighed, louder this time, holding her hands up and pressing the heels into her eyes. "That's not it." She frowned, dropping her hands away and blinking up at the ceiling. "Adrian died, and because of that Avdotia is a Seal, now. They were... involved, I guess." She hadn't really looked into it in detail, but she'd pried into Avdotia's private filter on the post she'd made to the Seals.
"Before you met me, you were just the cute Engineering student who built Rube Goldburg machines and car-launching trebuchets. And I got you involved." She could hear herself speaking, and briefly wondered if Kipling was rubbing off on her more than she realized. That was mildly horrifying.
"Isn't it half just...luck of the draw, or something? I mean, isn't there a chance that anyone who's here to begin with could be the next one to get stuck on a side? I mean. I know I'm not as involved as you are or anything. No side, right. But I kind of think that...getting invited in the first place is kind of point-of-no-return, isn't it?"
"I think neutrals would be able to opt out." she folded her arms over her eyes, so her elbows were sticking up at angles, but she couldn't see anything. "If you're not in a country involved you can't get stuck with it, maybe." She knew Shisei had been in LA when she'd been aligned, but maybe things didn't extend to neutral countries.
"Even if I make it through this business, though. Makar isn't going to care if he's killing Seals or otherwise." There's more meaning to her voice with that sentence than she means to let on, but it is a valid concern.
"Maybe that would keep me from getting stuck with it, but we don't really know." He frowned. "I just...it really wouldn't feel right to leave now. Does that make any sense?"
"No." She answered, her mouth visably during downwards. "I almost wanted to leave before I ended up a Seal." She never would've cracked how the journals worked and freed hers from the system, but she'd wanted to do it.
"...oh," he said sheepishly. "Well, okay, I kind of suck at arguing at stupid in the morning, but staying here makes sense in my head, I swear."
"...Why?" She peeked out at him around her elbow. This hadn't gone the way she'd hoped it would. If he sucked at arguing at stupid in the morning, she thought she would have done a better job convincing him to leave.
"It just...does," he said lamely.
She snorted, her elbow falling to cover her eyes up again and she shifted slightly, squaring her shoulders on the bed a bit. "Lame argument. I'll knock you out and pack you up and you'll be on your way to Antartica before you realize it, at this rate." She'd do it too.
"But then I'd have nothing to throw with my trebuchets but penguins." It was a lame joke and he knew it, but hey, you could only expect so much from a guy at that hour of the morning.
"Should've thought of that earlier." She smiled a little, despite herself.
"I'd feel kind of sorry for the penguins. Are you sure you want to unleash that on them?"
"If it'll keep you safe, I will gladly subject all the penguins in the world to torture."
"...seriously, though." He flopped over on his back and stared at the ceiling. "I like it here. If you put me in some other country I'd probably get stupidly lost and end up living in a box like a hobo or something dumb like that."
"What'll you do if we lose, then?" She frowned a little, finally dropping her arms and staring up at the ceiling as well. Her neck was getting a little sore from lying the way she was, but she ignored it.
"...I don't know. But I really don't think you will."
"Consider the possibility?" She frowned at the ceiling.
"...um."
He was trying to think about it, honestly. But the idea of them losing really just didn't click with him. The Seals -- or the ones he knew, at least -- all seemed to really be dedicated to saving everyone, and they had people they were fighting for. Makar was just an asshole with a cool weapon.
A really powerful asshole with a really cool weapon, but still.
"Um is not a valid response." She shifted again, leaning up on her side before rolling over so she was laying partially on top of him. "I want you to have an alternate plan of action, if you aren't going to leave."
"Can I work on that when it's not like four in the morning?"
"If you promise you will work on it." She gave him a serious look, leaning her face a bit closer to his.
"Promise." He slipped his arms around her.
She frowned at him, but leaned down to kiss him lightly, before feeling around with one hand in an attempt to locate the pillow he'd thrown away earlier. "I can probably let you go to sleep now."
"You just wanted me to be tired and agreeable, didn't you," he said, fighting back a yawn.
"That obvious?" She found the pillow and replaced it where it belonged, before prying herself out of his grip and sliding under the covers with him. She didn't really feel like going back to her own room, now.
"Once I had time to think about it? Yes."
She smiled, curling up against him and sliding an arm over his chest, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out. "Go to sleep, now."
He yawned and closed his eyes. "Yes ma'am~."
Also, penguins would make awesome trebuchet ammo, y/n.
Valentina
Nikolai
It was late. Or, well. Technically early. But Valentina was used to the unusual hours, and it wasn't something that would phase her. She'd been waiting until she knew Nikolai was asleep to leave her own room and sneak into his, closing the door as quietly as she could behind her. It had taken her this long to organize her thoughts, to make certain she actually wanted to try to convince him to leave, or if she just wanted to keep being selfish.
What happened to Adrian, and Avdotia in his place, however, threw some things into perspective that she'd been worried about at the back of her mind since Nikolai first moved in.
She padded across the floor through the dark room, bare feet much more silent than her slippers would have been, finding her way to the bed easy enough even if it was difficult to see. This hadn't been the first time she'd snuck into his room in the dark, and her memory was good. She slid onto the bed without a word, crawling to where she could hear Nikolai breathing and leaning over him. She knew it was rude to wake him up when he'd probably just fallen asleep, but she figured she had a better chance making her argument when he was groggy and she was alert.
"Kolyan~" She spoke softly, leaning her head close to his. It was a kinder way to wake him than just poking him in the side repeatedly. Which she was slightly tempted to do, but she resisted.
Nikolai had never been a very heavy sleeper, and so it didn't take much for her to wake him up. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. "Um. Hi?"
"Hi." She gave him a smile, before shifting so she was lying down on her side, her head propped up with her elbow on the pillow. "I need to talk to you." She realized it was a weird time to come wandering in for chat but again, it was the best time, for her.
"Okay?" He rolled onto his side to face her. Sitting all the way up, however, felt like entirely too much effort to go to.
She stared at him a moment before taking a deep breath and exhaling. "I want you to leave." Probably not the best way to start it, but she sometimes had trouble weighing blunt with gentle reasoning. "I want you to get out of the country and get as far away from everything as you can." She realized there weren't a lot of places that weren't indirectly involved, but her family were in England, and there were other places on earth that were remote.
He stared back for a moment, trying to get his half-awake brain wrapped around that. "...um."
"Please." She kept her expression guarded, trying not to explain too much of what she was thinking, because if she did he'd probably sort it out, even half-awake, and insist on sticking around. She'd sent her family away because she was afraid for their safety, and this was more or less the same thing. She'd already sacrificed his freedom, by screwing up and letting Makar see her speaking with him in a public manner. She knew if he died, it would be because of another one of her mistakes.
"You seemed okay with me sticking around before."
He wasn't really in the best position, sure, but he wasn't really an outdoorsy type anyway, and he figured he could take being a recluse for a few months. It was all for a good cause, right?
Valentina sighed, dropping her arm and rolling onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She reached behind her head, pulling the pillow out from under it and pressing it over her face.
"I was being selfish." She muttered, her voice muffled. She was aware she was sometimes a selfish person, she just really hated admitting it aloud. Even now, she was being a little selfish, because she knew he wanted to stay, but that was her fault in the first place, too.
"I don't think you're being selfish." He reached for the pillow and tried to pull it away from her. It was a little weird trying to carry on a conversation with someone who had a pillow over their face.
She let him have the pillow, after trying to hold onto it for a moment, and lay with her head flat against the mattress instead, and glanced over at him, her chest rising and falling quickly with a silent sigh.
"I am though. Because I wanted this. I wanted us, even if it meant it would put your life in danger." She couldn't say that she didn't care, because she did. She just hadn't cared enough. Cared enough to put her own wants aside for his well-being.
He tossed the pillow aside. "Doesn't matter. I mean, anything can be dangerous, right? Walking across the street is dangerous."
It made more sense in his head than it did out loud. But he didn't really think he was that much worse off because of his involvement with her. So he could die. Any of them could die. Maybe all of them would die. Did it really matter that much?
Valentina sighed, louder this time, holding her hands up and pressing the heels into her eyes. "That's not it." She frowned, dropping her hands away and blinking up at the ceiling. "Adrian died, and because of that Avdotia is a Seal, now. They were... involved, I guess." She hadn't really looked into it in detail, but she'd pried into Avdotia's private filter on the post she'd made to the Seals.
"Before you met me, you were just the cute Engineering student who built Rube Goldburg machines and car-launching trebuchets. And I got you involved." She could hear herself speaking, and briefly wondered if Kipling was rubbing off on her more than she realized. That was mildly horrifying.
"Isn't it half just...luck of the draw, or something? I mean, isn't there a chance that anyone who's here to begin with could be the next one to get stuck on a side? I mean. I know I'm not as involved as you are or anything. No side, right. But I kind of think that...getting invited in the first place is kind of point-of-no-return, isn't it?"
"I think neutrals would be able to opt out." she folded her arms over her eyes, so her elbows were sticking up at angles, but she couldn't see anything. "If you're not in a country involved you can't get stuck with it, maybe." She knew Shisei had been in LA when she'd been aligned, but maybe things didn't extend to neutral countries.
"Even if I make it through this business, though. Makar isn't going to care if he's killing Seals or otherwise." There's more meaning to her voice with that sentence than she means to let on, but it is a valid concern.
"Maybe that would keep me from getting stuck with it, but we don't really know." He frowned. "I just...it really wouldn't feel right to leave now. Does that make any sense?"
"No." She answered, her mouth visably during downwards. "I almost wanted to leave before I ended up a Seal." She never would've cracked how the journals worked and freed hers from the system, but she'd wanted to do it.
"...oh," he said sheepishly. "Well, okay, I kind of suck at arguing at stupid in the morning, but staying here makes sense in my head, I swear."
"...Why?" She peeked out at him around her elbow. This hadn't gone the way she'd hoped it would. If he sucked at arguing at stupid in the morning, she thought she would have done a better job convincing him to leave.
"It just...does," he said lamely.
She snorted, her elbow falling to cover her eyes up again and she shifted slightly, squaring her shoulders on the bed a bit. "Lame argument. I'll knock you out and pack you up and you'll be on your way to Antartica before you realize it, at this rate." She'd do it too.
"But then I'd have nothing to throw with my trebuchets but penguins." It was a lame joke and he knew it, but hey, you could only expect so much from a guy at that hour of the morning.
"Should've thought of that earlier." She smiled a little, despite herself.
"I'd feel kind of sorry for the penguins. Are you sure you want to unleash that on them?"
"If it'll keep you safe, I will gladly subject all the penguins in the world to torture."
"...seriously, though." He flopped over on his back and stared at the ceiling. "I like it here. If you put me in some other country I'd probably get stupidly lost and end up living in a box like a hobo or something dumb like that."
"What'll you do if we lose, then?" She frowned a little, finally dropping her arms and staring up at the ceiling as well. Her neck was getting a little sore from lying the way she was, but she ignored it.
"...I don't know. But I really don't think you will."
"Consider the possibility?" She frowned at the ceiling.
"...um."
He was trying to think about it, honestly. But the idea of them losing really just didn't click with him. The Seals -- or the ones he knew, at least -- all seemed to really be dedicated to saving everyone, and they had people they were fighting for. Makar was just an asshole with a cool weapon.
A really powerful asshole with a really cool weapon, but still.
"Um is not a valid response." She shifted again, leaning up on her side before rolling over so she was laying partially on top of him. "I want you to have an alternate plan of action, if you aren't going to leave."
"Can I work on that when it's not like four in the morning?"
"If you promise you will work on it." She gave him a serious look, leaning her face a bit closer to his.
"Promise." He slipped his arms around her.
She frowned at him, but leaned down to kiss him lightly, before feeling around with one hand in an attempt to locate the pillow he'd thrown away earlier. "I can probably let you go to sleep now."
"You just wanted me to be tired and agreeable, didn't you," he said, fighting back a yawn.
"That obvious?" She found the pillow and replaced it where it belonged, before prying herself out of his grip and sliding under the covers with him. She didn't really feel like going back to her own room, now.
"Once I had time to think about it? Yes."
She smiled, curling up against him and sliding an arm over his chest, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out. "Go to sleep, now."
He yawned and closed his eyes. "Yes ma'am~."