Who: Irina and Chuuya What: Shopping and schmoop When: Backdated 12/21-24 Where: New York City Warnings: They might be pod people Status: Completed GDoc
New York. Irina hadn’t seen the city since she arrived in Madison Valley. The opportunity had been there, but she hadn’t dared to entertain the thought of going. To see the city she had come to love without her beloved brother in it…it didn’t bear thinking of. And yet, now she was going but with a different man at her side, but no less beloved.
Irina had dressed for the occasion: Warm leggings, over the knee boots, wool sweater and coat. Kid skin gloves and a silk scarf. As soon as they stepped through the portal the New York winter wind struck her. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the foul, city air. Nothing smelled as sweet.
Chuuya had been in Madison Valley for over a year, but he still couldn't quite get used to it. He had grown up in the city, it was all he'd ever known, and he hated being trapped in a small town. If it wasn't for Irina, among a few other things, to entertain him, he'd probably go crazy from boredom.
But he still missed the city and he was certainly glad they decided to go to NYC. Sure it wasn't Yokohama but even if it was, would it be his Yokohama? Probably not.
He shrugged off the thought and turned to Irina. "We should probably check into our suite." Because of course they'd get the most expensive suite in the hotel for their stay. But then do what after that? Chuuya had traveled but it was always for work. He hardly ever traveled just for fun and he didn't really know what to do when there wasn’t some mission.
Irina gave Chuuya a bland look, huffed then took out her phone. A few ticks later she tucked it away then took his arm again. “Done. Now. I believe Gucci should be first on the list.”
Unfortunately, she didn’t have the funds to hire a car. A taxi would have to do. Disgusting, but far better than the subway. Irina stepped toward the curb to lift her hand. “We need to put you in something appropriate for New Years.”
Chuuya somehow managed not to roll his eyes at the look she gave him. Once she put her phone away, he shrugged. "Great," he said.
Back home, he would've had a car ready for him when he arrived overseas. But he had to ride in a taxi and he wasn't looking forward to it, but it couldn't be helped. "What, the jean jacket I was planning on wearing isn't appropriate?" he joked as a taxi pulled over and they got in. Of course he didn't actually have one. He wouldn't be caught dead wearing one.
“Darling, if you had a denim jacket I would have burned it in ritual sacrifice by now.” Irina wrinkled her nose in disgust as she got into the taxi. Whether it was for the cab or the idea of denim that gave her that expression was up for debate.
As the cab drove by Rockefeller Center she didn’t even glance out the window. Apparently, the lights and gigantic tree didn’t make an impression on her. “I suppose we should consider where to go for dinner as well.”
"Like any god would want something so ugly as a jean jacket for a sacrifice," he said, ignoring the look the taxi driver was giving him. If he had looked, he would've noticed that said taxi driver was wearing a jean jacket himself. He still wouldn't have cared even if he had known.
He only glanced out the window and saw the tree for a second before turning back to Irina. "Any particular place you want to go?" he asked.
Irina thought for a moment, then thought again. There was a place she had been quite fond of. It wasn’t far from her offices in Brooklyn. She and Alexei had gone there quite a few times and she had warm memories of those times. She was certain it existed here, but should she take Chuuya? Hmm.
Finally, she decided. “The River Cafe in Brooklyn.”
"Sounds good." He had been there before during one of his trips, but it had been awhile since he'd gone. He enjoyed the food there so he was looking forward to it. After, of course. He wasn't hungry yet and besides, Irina still wanted to do her shopping.
Speaking of which, they finally made it to their destination. After paying the taxi driver, they headed into the store Irina had chosen.
Irina walked into the Gucci store as if she owned it. Something about her countenance got the salesmen hopping toward her immediately. She turned her cold blues on them then flicked a well manicured finger at them. “You two. Turn my escort into something that appears respectable. Two suits, at least. Dinner and formal wear. No tuxedos. You, with me.”
Before she made for the womens section of the store she turned enough to blow a sarcastic kiss at Chuuya. “Do not fight them, darling.”
Chuuya just rolled his eyes and flipped Irina off as she left. But he had done this plenty of times before and as long as the salesmen weren't idiots, he wouldn't fight them. Luckily that wasn't the case and he was done without much trouble.
He went off to the women's section to find Irina. When he did find her, however, he stayed back at first and watched her, seeing if there was anything that caught her eye while she was looking and if he could get it for her Christmas gift. Then he realized that was stupid and stopped before walking up to her.
"I've managed not to call anyone a dumbass, even though I was this close."
By the time Chuuya joined her, Irina had made her choice in gown. She stood on the little platform, admiring herself in the three mirrors. Meanwhile, her assistant held a black velvet box that contained black diamond necklace and ring. Her eyes found Chuuya in the reflection and she smirked before she turned around with a flourish.
“Such restraint,” she said with a chuckle. “What do you think”?
"I know, I'm amazed at myself."
Actually, it was easy. He was polite and patient with most other people. It was Irina that annoyed him. Before he had no idea why, but now he knew. It still didn't make sense to him that she annoyed him the most yet she was the one he loved. But now he'd come to just accept it.
He got a good look at her dress and then the jewellery. He'd been in charge of the jewellery market when he first joined the mafia and could spot fakes easily. Not that he thought they'd carry fakes here, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted the best for his Babushka.
He nodded in approval. "Annoyingly beautiful as always," he said, tilting his head. "If this weren't for dinner, I'd say just wear the jewellery." A bit of a joke but honestly, the thought of her wearing nothing but expensive jewellery was kind of hot.
Irina chuckled with amusement as she gestured for the assistant to unzip the dress. “You are adorable. This, darling, is for New Years Eve. Dinner is the cocktail version of this.”
The dress slid off her to pool at her feet, and she stepped out of it without a care for anyone else seeing her in just her lingerie. “Send them both to the hotel,” she instructed then sauntered her way to Chuuya.
She looked him over with a critical eye and a smirk. “Not bad for not being tailored.”
"Eh, dinner, New Years," he waved his hand dismissively. He figured it was either for one or the other, though he thought she'd choose a dress with a little more sparkle for New Year's. But he supposed that was what the jewelry was for.
He glanced down. "Right. I should probably let them finish." He had sort of left before they were done. But rather than leave, he couldn't help but pull Irina into a kiss. What? He couldn't resist.
She molded against him and into the kiss. She heard the assistant cough in discomfort but she didn’t care. Irina took as much of Chuuya’s touch and kiss as she wanted at the moment and no less. It was shorter than they normally might have enjoyed, but these things had a tendency to lead to other things that would really make the help uncomfortable. And there was far more shopping to do.
Irina wriggled free with a grin on her face. “Let them pin you, dorogoy. We have more places to be.”
Chuuya didn't even hear the assistant and if he had, he still wouldn't care. He wanted to continue but Irina was right. The reason they came to NYC was to do some shopping and they only had a few days to get as much done as possible.
"Fine," he said as he reluctantly pulled away and made his way back to where he was before. It didn't take the assistant too long and he was done quickly. Once he changed back into the suit he came in, he made his way to the front of the store where he met up with Irina.
"You all done here?"
Irina was finishing up with the sales guy when Chuuya joined her. There were more than a few packages that would be delivered to the hotel, including the necklace and ring set. The museum had done well, and since there weren't a lot of things to spend money on in Madison Valley she had quite a bit saved for this trip.
She gave Chuuya a smile then a quick kiss. “Of course. I called ahead to Sak’s. There will be champagne and strawberries waiting for us.”
Chuuya nodded and led the way to their next destination. Soon it was nearing dinner time and they headed to their room to get ready quickly before heading to the restaurant. Dinner was delicious and it made Chuuya miss fine dining. He made sure to savor it as much as he could since he sure as hell wasn't getting anything this good in Madison Valley.
After dinner, they decided to walk for a bit around Rockefeller Square. It was dark by then and the lights were bright and twinkling. Chuuya never really celebrated Christmas or even decorated, but he had to admit the lights were pretty.
Irina hadn’t enjoyed a day this much since she’d arrived in Madison Valley. As the day went on then dinner she came to realize that a big part of the reason she was the man at her side. As more time went on the more she kept in physical contact with Chuuya until by the time they got to Rockefeller Square she had her arm through his and her head resting on his shoulder.
In silence, she admired the decorations. Finally, she sighed softly. “This was the first memory I have of New York.”
Chuuya wasn't always a fan of physical contact. In private, sure. He was more physically affectionate towards Irina when it was just the two of them. But he wasn't a huge fan of public displays of affection and didn't do it very often. Irina was the exception, though, and he didn't mind that she was holding on to him with her head resting on his shoulder. He didn't even make any comment or roll his eyes. In fact, he was kind of enjoying her being so close to him like this.
He was busy looking at the lights and it took her voice to snap him out of it. "When was that?" he asked curiously. She had a lot of interesting stories. Which probably wasn't a surprise considering she lived quite a long time. And he liked hearing them. When he wasn’t too annoyed with her that is.
“1922,” she answered in a wistful tone. “Just after the big war.” She sighed as she wriggled even closer as if recalling a memory from her childhood. “We had made quite a sum from our new endeavor in the arms race. The war had been quite profitable. We decided to expand into America where the mafia was making a name for itself. Our antiques trade proved to be an effective front.”
The smile on her face might be mistaken for something other than the cut throat conversation for as sweet as it was. “The Depression hadn’t happened yet, and the city was booming.”
"Must've been quite different back then," he commented as he tried to picture what his surroundings would've looked like in 1922. He could only guess, though, from the few pictures he'd seen in various books. And that had been awhile since he saw any such pictures.
"I'm not surprised your business was so successful. We probably would've gotten involved somehow if we'd been around at the time." No doubt Mori would've come up with a brilliant plan and Chuuya and Kouyou would've made sure it came to fruition. "But I don't think anyone I know was around then." Hirotsu was probably the oldest person he knew, but he probably wasn't even born yet.
He shrugged. "I think I came here the first time when I was about seventeen. I came with Kouyou, which thank god because I didn't know any English at the time." He'd gotten better and more fluent, but even now he still sometimes hated English.
Irina chuckled. They hadn’t done any business with the Japanese until WWII which had been a fight for supremacy the entire time and almost not worth the effort. They paid well so Alexei had insisted they continue to work with them. It had nothing to do with the fact that they wouldn’t deal with a woman so her darling brother had felt as if he were in charge. Idiot.
She nestled her head a bit against Chuuya’s shoulder. “You never speak in your native language to me. Why.”
"Haven't I?" Chuuya paused as he tried to recall a time where he'd spoke Japanese around her. He couldn't think of any, though and he just shrugged. "Other than me just trying to practice English by speaking it more often, I don't know. I just never really had a reason to speak Japanese lately."
There were a few in Madison Valley that were from Japan, but he didn't speak with them often. Everyone that he did spoke English.
She lifted her head to look at him with a gentle smile on her face. “I would very much like to hear you speak Japanese.”
She understood and spoke Japanese, but had never told him. She knew quite a number of languages. In her line of business at home she had to. Russian, of course, was best in her opinion. But she felt it would be nice to hear him speak to her in his own language.
Being in a business where you had to learn different languages was helpful. Learning English wasn't so bad for Chuuya since he already knew some of it. He also knew some of the Russian that Irina had spoken, though he wished he knew more. Maybe once the New Year started, he'd try and learn some more.
For now, he just glanced at her and said the first thing he could think of in Japanese. "Ai shiteru," he said, realizing what he just said, he cursed. "Kuso!" Did he just say 'I love you'? Yes. Did he just say 'shit!" right after he realized it? Also yes.
She couldn’t help but laugh lightly for that. Irina was pleased. And moved. Not that the cold ever bothered her, but his words warmed her. She moved so she was facing Chuuya, her arms wrapped around his waist.
“Watashi mo itoshite iru yo.” Yes, she loved him, too. Only she didn’t regret saying it since it hadn’t just slipped out.
He didn't regret saying it, but he definitely hadn't meant to. It just sort of came out without him realizing it.
Then she surprised him by responding in Japanese. "Seriously, you know Japanese?" he said loudly, not caring if anyone heard. She never mentioned anything about it, but not only did she respond perfectly but that meant she knew exactly what he'd said.
Irina laughed lightly without letting Chuuya go. As a matter of fact, she tightened her arms around him so he wouldn’t pull away from her.
“I know Japanese,” she confirmed then chuckled. “And Chinese. German. French. And Italian.” Including the mafia’s own version of Italian.
"So I can practice speaking French with you too?" he asked. But then he was still annoyed and tried to move away. Only he wasn't really trying, not entirely, and he more or less stayed where he was.
"You're still annoying," he said and leaned in to kiss her. "So annoying," he mumbled before kissing her again.
“Oui,” she replied. His attempt to escape made her smile. Not grin like she typically would. The reward of the kiss made it all worth while.
A sound of amusement was pressed into his kiss. “Glad to see I haven’t lost my touch, my Little Gnat.” But the tender kiss she gave him belied her prideful words.
He glared but not for long as he just sighed and smiled slightly, pressing another kiss against her lips. "No way, Babushka. You'd probably annoy me until I'm dead."
Irina let out with a happy sigh for the kiss then rested her head against his chest. His arms around her felt lovely. Warm. Safe. She prided herself on being more than capable of standing on her own. It had been a very long time since she sought comfort and security from anyone else. Now she remembered why she had liked it so much. Once upon a time.