WHY? WHY DID THAT HAVE TO BE THOUGHT? Thank God Nikolai couldn't read minds because he'd be running far, far away.
Dying of a disease what? That made Nik burst out laughing. He had to lean against a series of shelves, one arm holding him up, the other across his stomach as he laughed. It was just kind of surprising. Slav surely would have noticed of Nik were getting ill with something. Nik got completely helpless when he had just a cold even. "Oh god no. Nooo. But if I start dying of lung cancer, I'll let you know first okay?"
Okay, maybe he shouldn't have laughed so much. Slav probably felt like an idiot now.