Ivan didn't have much to tell him there. "We spoke once more...here in Moscow. I must of been...eighteen or nineteen at the time. I was at university, by then. Alexey had a friend he was visiting. But it was a very brief meeting." One might think this odd, that two brothers, especially ones who did know each other-- and were, in a sense, all the other had during their youngest years-- that after four years separation, would have much to talk about. Yet, Ivan said nothing more about that.
University-- well, yes, of course Ivan must of gone to a university, with the education he'd proven himself to have, Dmitri thought. Still, that came as more of a surprise now, knowing he'd had no financial support. "Only the one time?"
"Yes, only the one," Ivan replied, "And why should it be otherwise? We were too far apart in age to have much in common." But there seemed to be something Ivan wasn't saying here. While if he had said that about Dmitri, it would come completely at face value--they did have nothing in common-- Ivan seemed to be... almost hurrying past the question. As though he didn't wish to answer it more fully; that is, more honestly than the answer he did ultimately give. "Between school and work, I was too busy to keep tabs on anyone else..."
"Work-- your writing?" Dmitri asked, for clarification.
"Whatever. I took a lot of jobs while I was in school. I tutored junior students, was a courier for awhile. I helped as a banker's assistant twice a week, and gave piano lessons on the weekends." He looked aside as he said that, not having much to say about any of that. Interestingly enough, this skill he seemed to have a gift with-- the way he could write-- was a skill he came upon not out of any direct intent, but because he was just going down the list of things he could possibly do to make ends meet, and that just happened to be the thing that worked out best in the end. While he was solely in Katerina's company, he may of had a personal anecdote to add to all of that, but even then, he wasn't one to go off about his self excessively.
"Impressive! You're a talented one," Dmitri said with a renewed smile, and then looked to Katerina. "Don't you think so?" He encouraged her to praise the other man then... something which caused Ivan to turn his attention back to Dmitri. Dmitri was looking at Katerina, rather than him, at that moment, but Ivan wondered just what it was he was thinking. Was he really just oblivious in his moments of good nature, or was there something else? Anyway, Ivan wasn't affected either way by Dmitri's praise, and he did not seek out others praise in general; that attitude was quite below him. Yet his eyes still drifted to Katerina, unable to not wonder if, indeed, she thought so. Which was silly, because these were just odd jobs he was talking about, and said nothing about real talent at all. But as of late, Ivan found there was little logic involved with how he felt around her; it was a very unguarded state, something he otherwise never experienced.