Nadia Sidorov [is] (sippingcoffee) wrote in marchenlogs, @ 2012-01-22 13:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | baba yaga, wolf |
WHO: Nadia and Nick
WHAT: A friendly chat
WHERE: Fourth floor hallway
WHEN: Early morning, January 20th
WARNINGS: cursing, general detestation
Nadia:: Nadia had donned a hideously bright blue bandanna over her extremely bright red hair. That, paired with some old jeans, shirt and work boots, she gave off the impression of someone about to get down to business. A determined grin completed the look. She had a bag slung over her shoulder, filled with a long list of things to buy and paint samples. Maybe this time she'd get the proper colors for her apartment. And some milk, she'd have to stop by the corner grocery store on her way back.
It was only 7 in the morning but she had the potluck in the evening and she wanted to accomplish a lot before then. For that reason, she worked to quietly close her front door and turned the lock in the key. She winced when she saw the door to 408 open.
Nadia:: If her bag hadn't been strung across her shoulders she would have dropped it. Like a bad nightmare, the reason for her move to Boston stood in front of her, a neighbor. Suddenly the strange realtors--seemingly bizarre but harmless before-- took on a sinister note in her memories. This was all a trap then, scare her enough to move into this strange building next to her would-be assassin. But that seemed like too much work for information he didn't have. And he still thought she was the woman from Kansas. Which she was. But she was also the little girl who lived in Massachusetts and played with him as a child.
She schooled her features into a expression of pleasant, neighborly good will. "Good morning. How did you know I'm from Kansas? Have we met?" She feigned. "Well, you look like you're about to leave on some errands, would you like to join me? We can get to know one another"Nadia:: "Lost your taste for our mother tongue?" She whispered in his ear. He was clear, at least what she could tell. He might have knives hidden on his bottom half. She was going to take the risk he was armed or opt for a full pat down. Which she didn't think he'd consent to.
He extricated himself with a grace not often associated with men. Oh yes, he was well trained. She wouldn't be able to face him in combat if it came to it. She'd locked herself out of her apartment. They were alone in the hallway. The stairs were far enough that if she ran he would catch her before she reached them. Her brain processed, her features remained untroubled. This was why she'd been trained as an illusionist. Not for games, for getting out of sticky situations. "I love seeing old friends again. You've grow up quite nicely, Nikolai." She told him as she ran an appreciate glance over him.
Nick:: "I prefer Nick", was Nick's flat response while he ignored the compliment. Had he been in a better mood he might have repaid it with a compliment of his own but Nick was simply too pissed off as she ignored his questions. "Love seeing old friends?" Nick repeated in a mocking tone. "Bullshit. If that were true you would have been this friendly back in Kansas. You're not happy to see me and I'm not happy to see you so why pretend otherwise?" Once upon a time Nick might have been happy to be reunited with his childhood friend but this was just not a good time or place. He already had enough problems right now, he didn't need another. "Again, why are you here?" Nick repeated his earlier question when a thought came to him. If Nadia had recognized him back in Kansas had she purposefully followed him here? And if so, for what purpose? "Did you follow me here?" He demanded bluntly in a low voice.
Nadia:: "Nick? So that's how you're playing it. Spying on another innocent woman, using an assumed name to get close?" Nadia had an advantage of sorts. He wanted answers from her and as long as she kept them sealed in her lips she could play him. He could also expedite the whole thing and kill her. That would be less fortunate. She took a step forward, unafraid. She would literally push her advance. After all, the best defense was attack.
"I'm sure you remember but you showed up in Kansas looking for me, my mother." She continued towards him. "And it wasn't friendly asking you were doing. I spent enough time with my father to be cautious about people who come around with questions." She kept her tone even, kept herself from shaking. How was he here, why was he here? Holden, now Niko. Who else was going to show up at these apartments? Foster sibling? Her old nanny? Her high school cheerleading team? Hell's bells. She worked to keep her exasperation in check. Another step forward."Tell me why you accepted the job to go after a friend."
Nadia:: "You're not eager for people to know you're Nikolai Mikhailovich Lapin." Nadia taunted, drawing the name out clearly, smiling. "I understand, you're on a job." She sighed dramatically as if this made her life complicated. It did...and it didn't. She was his neighbor not his target, she presumed. "I don't care who you're here to kill as long as it's not me." Or Holden, she thought nervously. "And you know who I am, I'm always friendly for a reason. Or didn't you feel my wandering hands?" She offered a quirk of her right eyebrow.
"You'd be sorrier if you'd been the one who offed her. As it is, I'm sure alcohol hasn't recuperated from the ass kicking I gave it for taking her." She offered another boastful smile. But she couldn't help the little bit of hurt that welled up. Frankly, she'd had a complicated relationship with her mother. And Nadia wasn't entirely sure if she was sad she was gone. But that was a thought for another time. "Tell me who ordered the hit."
Nadia:: Nadia leaned away from him, as if his condescending retort had actually struck her. She was pushing too much. He was responding impolitely. Time for another shift in tactics. "I'm only mad at you, Nick because you scared me." She took a deep breath and gave her old friend a tired expression. "If you'd actually gotten my mother this would be a different story. But I'm too practical to hold a grudge over something that never happened."
Knowing he would be waiting for her to finish, she leisurely fished around for her phone, checked the time and slid it back into her bag. Taking her own sweet time. Finally, "Look, if you don't want to tell me who hired you, that's your business. I was going to offer a trade, secret for secret, but you don't want to take it. I'll be going now, if you like living in limbo." She spun away from him.
Nadia:: She paused for a long moment. She did quick calculation to measure what he knew about her. His facts were few, and besides, she needed him to trade her. It had been her plan all along: move away from Kansas, track down Nick where ever he was and send a letter offering him the deal. He was her link to the person that wanted her mother dead. She had ideas on the identity of Nick's customer but she needed to be sure. "No deal." She didn't turn around. "Give me something else in exchange for silence."
Nadia:: "Oh, God. I didn't think you'd actually tell me." Nadia shuddered and turned around. She didn't try to conceal the wide-eyed look of terror shining from her face. This was bad. Very, very bad. She wanted dirt on the tenants of Marchen. She wanted information and intrigue and if he'd offered her that she would have kept her silence.
Knowing the name of her soon to be enemy would have been a better bargain if it had been the one she thought, Dimah. It still could be, Nadia had no way of trusting Niko. Nadia sighed heavily and leaned against the wall next to her. If Niko were far away he wouldn't be a problem. She would have tracked him down and disappeared with neither of them here at this point: threats to one another. She'd brought the metaphorical war to her doorstep by the pure coincidence of sharing said doorstep with the assassin.
"I won't tell anyone who you are or why you're here. I'll play along with your charade. I swear by my life. I break my promise, you kill me. I won't stop you." Small sentences for usually so wordy Nadia. But she needed to get her point across, she needed Niko's Nick's trust. God, he wasn't going to like this next bit. "But I'd rather not stay away. We can offer each other a lot."
Nick:: "You gotta be fucking kidding me", Nick muttered softly and shooting a disbelieving look in Nadia's direction. He spoke quietly but with obvious vexation, "If you didn't want me to give you the answer then why the fuck did you ask? Why did you push for it?" A headache was being blossom in the spot between his eyebrows and Nick rubbed it, hoping it would go away. 'So I just gave her what she wanted and I didn't have to. Fuck!' This was just not Nick's day so far.
The only good thing coming from this conversation was her promise to keep his true identity a secret. He didn't get the promise that she'd stay away like he wanted which surprised him. 'We can offer each other a lot?' he silently repeated with confusion. If he didn't know any better he would have said that sounded like a come on. Nick gave her a once over and being who he was he had to at least think about it in that context. For a moment before disregarding the thought. He doubted that was what she meant and he was better off. Nadia knew too much about him and that was never an attractive quality for Nick.
"Oh really?" he retorted with sarcasm. "Like what?"
Nadia:: "You're a harder to read than most my marks, Nick." Here she was again, spouting at the mouth. She shouldn't have used that term. He might get the wrong impression. She was no conwoman. At least, not professionally. She might be a gossip, a flirt, a blackmailer, but it was for her protection, for her amusement. She never took anyone's money. Hard earned cash was sacred, and she would make hers legitimately. Nadia was not going to be Dimah, never would be. That didn't mean she was straight, just like it didn't mean her shown affections were always fake.
Nadia threw him a suggestive smile. Distractions. He could look at her all he wanted and she'd only better off. But only for a moment. She shook her head and offered him a wry, true smile. And because she was still physically close enough, she slapped his shoulder. "Don't be lewd. I don't date."
"You know I'm good with people, Nick. I've got a certain skill set."
Nadia:: "Well, I'm still good at hide and seek." She offered sardonically. The jab about being a liar might have coerced a petty reply from her but he was mostly right about it. "I'm good at saying the right things, being in the right place..." Nadia pressed a finger to her lips in thought and looked up in the dramatized manner of hard-thinking game show contestants. In this moment she thought of 308, Jane who must have had her interview some time today. Jane would be painting the same kind of portrait of herself Nadia was in this moment. Although Nadia presumed her skill set and personality were quite different than Jane's. And this was an interview of a different kind altogether.
"If you need something I can get it. I'm an illusionist, Nick." She couldn't resist adding, "Also, a florist. If you ever need flowers I'll be happy to offer you a friends discount." She gave him her brightest smile. "I want information. Backgrounds, secrets I can't dig for with simple persuasion."
"We could be friends, Nick. Even without the give and take." It might not be comfortable, but it was better than living with the fear of someone so openly hostile from the get go.
Nadia:: It was both a relief when he agreed to her suggestions and when he dismissed her. She'd played their meeting a little to loose and fast. If she was a regretting woman she might have gone back to her apartment to cower and curse her actions. As it was, she only began dissecting his responses and considering her future options. Good, her analysis of her neighbor would keep her calm. She longed to be away from him, not sure if her nerves could stand much longer being on high alert. It was always a strange, stressful thing to be around someone who both wanted to and could kill you.
From her bag she found one of her cards and handed it to Nick. It had her name, her Kansas area-code cell phone number and the name of her previous place of employment. "If you need to get in touch." She told him. Good, this was over. The appeal of her mundane shopping errands were so appealing currently. "Goodbye, Nick." She made her way calmly to the stairs and disappeared.