Bear (flintly) wrote in olympianthreads, @ 2015-01-06 19:53:00 |
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Ronnie hadn’t had anything better to do tonight except plan the new menus. The long break from having to cook every day had been nice, but since they’d come back she’d been throwing herself back into her work and probably needed some time out of the kitchen. Which was why when she got the message from Niko, she hadn’t minded at all. Getting together all of the supplies she’d need, she headed over to Niko’s home a little early, sitting down the big bag of things she’d brought with her and then knocking. She could hear commotion inside, smiling as she heard Alexandra’s voice through the door - happy she was there. It was always nice to feel wanted. --- Nikolai had felt a little sheepish, truth be told, texting Ronnie on such short notice; it felt a little inconsiderate and a lot unlike his usual self, the sort who liked to make carefully laid plans days, weeks, in advance. Still, it had been much preferable to asking his siblings: Matvei always seemed to just know when the person Nikolai would be meeting was male and Raisa, well, Raisa always had that knowing air about her in general. No, explaining this to his siblings wouldn’t have been fun. (Though he kept asking himself what exactly there was to explain and why he felt an explanation was in order, but kept coming up short.) Needless to say, it had been a relief when Ronnie agreed to come over. Then he found himself staring blankly into his closet and wasn’t that just embarrassing, fretting over what to wear like he was some teenager going to prom. This was food. With a man he’d had sex with. And theoretically wanted to have more sex with. (What he wanted beyond the food and sex, well, Nikolai wasn’t even broaching that. Especially since it didn’t actually matter.) So he silently berated himself and snagged a pair of dark blue jeans and well-loved dress shirts, trying to convince himself that he wouldn’t overthink this. It was too late by far for that, but he could try. Once he was dressed, he took a few minutes to stare into the mirror, namely at his hair, and frowned. Gel or no? With a noise of disgust, Niko pushed away from the bathroom sink without consciously deciding and went out to the living room, where Alexandra was playing happily with her legos. They sat there together for a few minutes, Alexandra fidgeting in excitement and Nikolai absent-mindedly fitting blocks together. All the while, his daughter told him, again and again, how much fun she had with Miss Ronnie last time, taking a break every now and then to tell Niko just how wrong he was putting his blocks together. Her advice fell on deaf ears, because he told her that his house was going to be different from hers. She begrudgingly agreed to disagree about the quality of his lego creations. Of course, the moment Ronnie knocked on the door, Alexandra was on her feet, legos flying every direction, much to Nikolai’s dismay. Nikolai picked her up, allowed her to look through the peephole and confirm who was there, and then opened the door. A half-smile tugged at one corner of his lips and he stepped aside to welcome her in. “Hey, thanks for coming.” It was then that Alexandra squirmed free of her father’s grasp and threw her arms around one of Ronnie’s legs in a quick hug before smiling up at her. “Hi Miss Ronnie!” --- “Hi, sweetheart!” Ronnie bent over to pull the little girl off her leg and give her a real hug, then she picked her up with one arm and her bag up with the other, hefting both of them through the door before sitting them both on the couch. “And hey you,” She said to Niko, looking him over. “You look nice! And Happy Birthday!” She planned to have Alexandra help her make something special for Niko while he was gone, even though he’d said he’d be out all night and Ronnie could suppose that he was planning on having a really nice night without anything special waiting for him at home. She could even suppose that she knew who he’d be having it with, since a certain someone had been hanging around the kitchen that morning asking her about things, but she didn’t let on. Instead she just looked him over again and said, “Your hair is so cute when it’s not gelled back. I mean, it’s nice then too, but this look works for you.” --- “Thanks and thanks,” Nikolai responded, his half-smile morphing into an actual (if rather small) smile for a few seconds. As ambivalent as he liked to play about everything, including his birthday, the birthday wishes were rather nice. He closed the door behind them, placing his hands in his pockets as he watched Ronnie depositing Alexandra on the couch. He padded over in his thankfully reindeer-free socks and balanced on the arm of the couch, a single eyebrow raised at her bag. He couldn’t for the life of him imagine what she had brought with her, but didn’t ask. Whatever it was, he trusted that Ronnie had chosen well and it would safely entertain his little girl while he was gone. And that was actually saying something, since it was not easy to become a babysitter for Alexandra, much less an unquestioned one. His hand went to his hair, contemplative look on his face after he shot her a rueful sort of glance. “It makes me look like a kid,” he complained, though he knew that wasn’t remotely true, since he was a good two decades past being a kid. Her compliment, however, was welcome and he decided there was no need to return to the bathroom and slick his hair back. His gaze wandered to his pointlessly long list: contact numbers, what to do in the case of various emergencies, etc etc. Really, it was for the younger, greener babysitters, but he left it out whenever anyone came over to watch Alexandra. “You two going to have fun tonight?” he asked, more as a distraction and stalling tactic than anything else. --- “Of course we are,” Ronnie grinned down at Alexandra - she’d brought some movies over with her from her vast Disney and children’s movie collection, but also they had baking plans. She intended to make a chef out of the little girl. Which was her idea of fun. She arched a brow and grinned at Niko like she was sharing a secret, then added, “Are you?” With a laugh. --- The Mironov household could use a chef, that much couldn’t be denied. And judging by the way Alexandra was trying to get a glance into Ronnie’s bag while saying something to herself about making cookies, she wouldn’t be hard to convince or teach. Nikolai could only hope that she didn’t inherit his genes for kitchen disaster. Then again, he suspected no one in the world was horrible in the kitchen as he was, so she wouldn’t be in any danger of that. At Ronnie’s question, which he was sure had been punctuated with an invisible wink, Nikolai chuckled to himself and shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “Well. That remains to be seen.” A tentative yes floated around in his mind, though. Or that was the plan and hope, anyway. Even so, he was having difficulty pulling himself away, one part reluctance to leave Alexandra, one part trepidation about what exactly was going to happen tonight. The uncertainty about tonight, the way it felt so up in the air, left Niko feeling antsy, as his fingers drumming softly against his thigh could attest to. --- Ronnie missed dating. She missed everything that went along with it - and she wasn’t really jealous of Niko, because he was her friend, but on the other hand she was totally jealous of him and just wasn’t going to admit that. “We’ll be fine,” she said, turning and looking at Alexandra sneaking into her bag. “Come on, sweetheart. Say goodbye to daddy, so we can start our girl’s night.” And she could stop being jealous of the little girl’s dad. “Have a good time, Niko. Just get back before I have to go and serve breakfast tomorrow.” --- Alexandra started, looking slightly contrite as she looked up from the bag (though nowhere near as contrite as Nikolai would have liked), and turned her sunniest smile on Ronnie with a nod. Clearly she thought girl’s night should get underway immediately, since she clambered across the couch on all fours to throw her arms around Nikolai’s torso. “Bye Papa. I’ll be good. I always am!” First her smile shone up at Niko and then Ronnie, looking for affirmation. Apparently she had decided to head off his usual “you be good” admonition tonight. A huff of laughter and Nikolai was nodding, smoothing out Alexandra’s hair. (Her braid was coming undone; he really should have done something about that, he found himself musing.) “Of course. Well.” He leaned down to kiss the top of his daughter’s head before standing. “I guess it’s time to go then,” he said, mostly to himself, still feeling the curious mix of reluctance and anticipation as he slipped on his shoes, more slowly than necessary, lingering around the front door. --- Ronnie laughed, and she thought he’d be out the door as fast as he could, but when he hovered she thought maybe he was nervous about the night or something. They weren’t quite close enough friends that she thought she could tell him to go out and get some, though, even if she was the sort of person who would do that without laughing at them both, so instead she picked up her bag and looked at Alexandra. “Want to help me put some things away in your kitchen? We’re going to have a cooking lesson!” She followed the little girl, sort of hoping that them being out of sight would help Niko get it together enough to get out the door. --- In his own house, Bear was staring at the black screen of the television and wondering what the fuck he was doing. When he’d found out that it was Niko’s birthday, so damn close after his, he’d sent that text and asked him out before he’d been about to second-guess and stop himself. Bear didn’t date. He’d tried before, and it was ridiculous, but there was still something in him that said he should try to do something for Niko’s birthday - and he didn’t understand that something at all. Niko wasn’t his boyfriend. They weren’t dating. It wasn’t something either of them had breathed a damn word about. And yet, here he was. He’d spent at least an hour bugging Ronnie about a dinner, and at least that long pulling the best liquor out of his stockpile for their planned drinking contest. He wanted to have a date, and he didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him. He also wanted to make sure that whatever they’d had in Utah that brought on that night in his room, that trust during the rescue, that fucking insane texting on New Year’s… that it still existed now that they were back in their world. So he also thought he was a fucking idiot, but he was looking forward to tonight more than he thought he should be. --- Nikolai couldn’t be sure if he was grateful or disappointed that the two had disappeared into the kitchen. Ronnie had been right though: without his little girl in front of him, walking out the door seemed like something Nikolai could do. He’d gotten his goodbye hug, her her goodbye kiss, so it was time to leave. Still lingering about in the entryway, he grabbed his keys, phone, and wallet off the nearby table and put them in his pocket. One final goodbye shouted toward the kitchen and he was out the door, sure to lock it behind himself. On the way over to Bear’s place, Nikolai attempted to ignore whatever that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach was, the entire situation felt odd and alien, but here he was diving into it. His fingers toyed with the cuffs of his sleeves for a few moments before he finally decided to roll them up to his elbows. They moved to his collar, toyed with the top button, and undid the first two. That was casual without being suggestive, right? He scoffed at himself for what may have been the hundredth time today. Honestly, he really needed to get his shit together and his nervous hand movements were not helping him with that mission. So back into his pockets his hands went. Much better. In the space of the last few days, Nikolai had spent a good deal of time pointedly not thinking about whether or not this was a date. The word hadn’t been used but his mind kept trying to come back around to mull over it. Luckily, packing and flying and a six year old daughter with pent-up energy were enough to keep him distracted. Mostly. Soon he was knocking at Bear’s door, not giving himself even a moment to take a deep steadying breath. Giving himself extra time to think these days seemed only to lead to problems. --- The knock at the door dragged Bear’s eyes there, and he wasn’t nervous, really. It wasn’t in his nature to feel fidgetty or get butterflies or something, but he was hopeful, and for Bear that was almost as bad. He also flashed to their text messages and that last phone call, to what he’d promised to do as soon as he got Niko into his place, and he swallowed and wondered if that was all Niko was expecting. It certainly would be completely in his nature to just have asked him over for sex. For a moment, he wondered if he shouldn’t just cover and say that was all this was. Drag him in and kiss him, push him up against the wall and strip his clothes off, let it just be about sex. With anyone else, it’s what this night would have been. Even as he ran a hand down the nicer (he didn’t own that many things that were nice) button down blue shirt he was wearing and checked himself in the mirror, he hadn’t decided which path he was going to take. He pulled the door open and almost didn’t have to decide. HIs eyes went straight to the open collar of Niko’s shirt, to the last traces of the bruise he’d left there, and his body almost didn’t give him a choice. “Hey,” he said after a minute, rubbing his thumb over his lip as his took him in. “You look good.” And he stepped back after a second to let Niko inside. Didn’t reach for him - didn’t trust himself to. --- Nikolai’s smile was small, immediate, and genuine when the door opened and he caught sight of Bear. Which of course meant that he attempted to squash it instantly. That was only so successful though, making it mostly lopsided but no less real. He was glad to see the other man and he wanted to question that emotion, but decided now wasn’t the time for that. “Hey,” he responded in kind, one hand still in his pocket, the other lifted in greeting before he put it in his pocket too. Pockets, really, still the safest place for his hands. Especially when he actually looked at the man in front of him as he stepped inside. “Thanks,” he said automatically, feeling an unusual sense of pleasure at being told he looked good, and bit his bottom lip for a moment, a quick motion that he stowed almost as soon as he did it. That shirt, he thought allowing himself to be derailed for a moment, that shirt looks criminally good on him. Which was probably to be expected, knowing Nikolai’s adoration of any and all dress clothing. He allowed himself to reach up and tug lightly at the collar, his smile turning into a smirk. “I like your shirt.” As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair again, a habitual motion whose frequency increased whenever he wasn’t wearing gel. --- His shirt. It was stupid to actually care that Niko liked it, and his hands balled for a second to not touch him when Niko reached out, tugged at his collar, but then Niko had to run his fingers through that damn hair – it was loose and curled now and begging for Bear to bury his hands in it – and Bear closed the door with a resounding thump and locked it before he turned, reached for Niko and slid his fingers in to chase Niko’s in his hair. Of course he couldn’t stop there, which was why he’d know that touching him at all was a bad idea, but his fingers were already there in Niko’s hair and it was so easy to curl them and pull Niko in against him with that grip. If he’d wanted Niko not to worry that this was just about having him over to have sex, the way he kissed him then couldn’t really have made that any less clear, because the kiss was hungry and deep and breathless, all tongue and teeth, and Bear realized he’d been thinking about kissing him again since he’d let Niko walk out of that damn bathroom in Utah. He had to physically pull himself away from it when his lungs were burning, and it took the same amount of effort to let him go. “Fuck, I’ve wanted to do that for days.” He said, when he’d meant to say, “I got dinner.” --- As soon as Bear’s fingers tangled in his hair, Niko knew he was fucked. Gel, he really should have worn gel today, because the way those fingers felt sliding through the strands of his hair, brushing through his curls, already made him weak in the knees. When he’d said that his hair was his weakness, he hadn’t been exaggerating. His eyes closed and luckily, but only just barely, he sighed instead of moaning at the touch. Nikolai had been under the impression that there would be food, possibly sex, and definitely drinking, though he hadn’t the faintest clue what order that would happen in. If they had sex first though, he worried that they might not make it back out of the bedroom tonight. And that was a problem. Well, sort of. But then Bear was pulling him closer, hand still in his hair, and kissing him and Niko thought it might actually not be so much of a problem if they wound up in the bedroom all night. Without his thought or direction, his hands were at Bear’s shirt, clutching the fabric and it didn’t really matter that the kiss was breathless because Niko was fairly certain he’d forgotten how to breathe in the space of those seconds. A deep breath and sigh followed as Bear pulled away, Niko’s eyes still firmly shut until he heard the other man speak. His smirk returned and he opened his eyes to look at Bear, only just resisting the urge to run his hands through his hair again. Stupid habit, that. “Me too,” he admitted, because despite how hard he’d been trying to not think about it and not want whatever this was, it had rested at the back of his mind since he’d walked out of Bear’s hotel room last week. And he found himself thinking something ridiculous and inane and far too revealing, like ‘A man could get used to a greeting like that’ but he’d be damned before he said those words out loud. Instead, he went with something more bland. “Thanks for having me over.” --- “Well, there was some incentive in it for me,” Bear answered with a smirk of his own, but there was also something that wanted to wipe that smirk off of Niko’s face. Wanted to make him moan and needy and honest. But he had all night. He could just hope they’d get there. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t let you just sit around hoping I’d call,” he laughed, because he thought they both knew that Niko wasn’t doing that. “But Happy Birthday. I ….” and this was the awkward part. Better just to think about it like two buddies hanging out, because he was definitely out of practice with anything like dating. “Got dinner.” And he’d made him something, which was ridiculous, and he wasn’t quite sure he was going to give it to him. “Or I could kiss you again and we could just spend all night in my bed.” Or against the wall, or over the back of the couch. Maybe against his sink. He’d thought about where he’d like to fuck him in his apartment ever since he’d gotten off the damn plane yesterday. --- Nikolai nodded along and chuckled softly, imagining himself sitting by the phone waiting for a call, really not thrilled with the picture. Although, who was he kidding? He probably would have been filled with that nervous anticipation, the kind that went along with waiting for something that you weren’t sure would even happen, while happily distracting himself with legos and tea. Even the idea of that was embarrassing, he had to admit, no matter how true a small part of him suspected it might be. “Dinner?” he echoed curiously, tilting his head and looking up at Bear, the corner of his mouth looking like it was just itching to turn up into a smile again. “I could go for dinner.” Nonchalant as that statement was, he wondered if it meant something that he so readily asked for dinner and not sex. “And afterwards you can show me your bed again.” He paused and lifted an eyebrow. “Or you could give me the grand tour.” And the way he said it was like ‘give me the grand tour’ was secret code for ‘fuck me on every available surface in this lovely little home of yours.’ --- He didn’t entirely know how he’d planned on keeping his hands off of Niko during dinner, but he nodded all the same and turned to head for the kitchen, knowing Niko was behind him. Bear’s apartment, for the first time in a while, was completely clean. Decoration wasn’t his focus - everything was sparse, utilitarian, but there was metalwork everywhere, things that he’d obviously made himself, including racks and displays of swords that were obviously hand forged. Those were carefully locked hand built display cases - no one messed with his weapons but him. The kitchen wasn’t something he used all that often, but Ronnie had been particular about how he was supposed to set things out. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I sweet talked Ronnie into something simple.” There were warm plates set out with steaks and baked potatoes, bowls of salad that Bear didn’t intend to touch but figured Niko might want. “I can’t really cook much better than you can, but who has to with her around?” --- Bear’s home was, admittedly, very different from Nikolai’s. Though he could recall the days when his house was similarly utilitarian, mainly because he hadn’t the time for anything else, now it had the undeniable evidence of a small hurricane of a human, Alexandra, living under its roof. His eyes lingered on objects here and there, piquing his curiosity, but he kept his mouth closed. For the time being, anyway. Despite himself and against his better judgment, Nikolai smiled, small but with the hint of his dimples as he took in the dinner waiting for them. “I’m not picky,” he said dismissively and it was entirely true. If it was edible, he ate it; if it was delicious, he ate it, but with a bit more enthusiasm. His life out in the wider world usually saw him living off of frozen pizzas and salads, because those were the only two things he knew he could cook for certain each and every time. “And, trust me, if you haven’t managed to catch toast on fire, you’re leagues better than I am.” The food, of course, looked excellent and Niko suddenly remembered he hadn’t eaten anything since his daughter’s sweet but poor attempt to make him breakfast this morning. Well, he consoled himself inwardly, maybe that’s why I was so quick to choose dinner. He wanted to say thank you again, like he was some annoyingly well-trained dog, which he supposed was close enough to the truth and he had his mother to blame for that. Instead, he bit back the automatic reply, knowing that another thank you was unnecessary, and sat down in the nearest chair, without waiting for an actual invitation. Even though his childhood lessons in manners screamed at him to not do exactly that. --- Bear watched Niko sit, and he hated himself a little for doing it, but he disappeared back into the living room for a second and came back with a small box. It wasn’t wrapped, so he wasn’t that ridiculous, but it was a birthday gift and he didn’t remember the last one he’d given to anyone who wasn’t one of his sisters. He didn’t say anything as he sat it down in front of Niko, then he turned away because he felt ridiculous enough. And headed to the fridge. “Drink? We could start the drinking now, I’ve got beer and wine, but I stocked up for that challenge later, too. Where you try to drink me under the table.” And lost. He was definitely pretty sure he was going to win that - then again, he didn’t know Niko’s limits. He tried steadfastly not to look back at the table, not wanting to see if he’d opened the gift. --- “Will drink you under the table,” Nikolai corrected absently, not entirely focused on Bear’s words but unwilling to let that one slip by, as he reached out to pick up the box, a hesitant gesture, like he wasn’t quite convinced that it was for him. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to him that Bear might give him a gift beyond dinner and a fabulous night of drinking. That made it difficult to wrap his head around the fact that this was intended for him. His fingers traced the edges of the box while he continued to look at it thoughtfully before finally responding to the question, a distracted glance up toward Bear. “Uh, just water for now, I guess.” And then he was looking at the box again and carefully opening it. Really, it was just as well that the gift was unwrapped; Niko was one of those people who were obnoxiously orderly and precise about opening their gifts, carefully prying the tape up from the paper and folding the paper into squares. A dagger laid in the box and his breath hitched in a way that he wasn’t sure he liked, how that little interruption gave him away, told how important this actually was to him. His eyes traced the outline of the blade the way his fingers had lingered around the edges of the box and he looked up at Bear, as if to reassure himself that this wasn’t some accident, like the dagger had found its way into that box by coincidence. This was too nice and suited him too well and he bit his lip while he stared at it again. His fingers reached out to ghost over the metal, motions still tentative. “You- this is for me?” He stubbornly ignored that warmth in his chest. “Did you-” A pause as he tried to get his bearings. “Did you make this for me?” --- Bear had turned back from the fridge, two bottles of water in his hand, when he was caught by Niko’s look. And it was completely uncomfortable, how pleased he was at that shocked, almost confused, touched look on Niko’s face. He felt a heat across his neck, across his face. Bear hadn’t blushed at something since he was a middle schooler, but he felt himself blushing now and had to drag his eyes away from Niko, couldn’t watch him as he slid his fingers that slow and careful across the blade he’d forged. “I had to go to the smithy yesterday, get everything ready for exams.” As if that explained the hours it had taken to make the blade, to balance it perfectly. He hadn’t really paid attention until the sun had come up this morning and he was still in front of the forge. He cleared his throat, moved to sit a bottle of water down next to the box for Niko and then cross to sit across from him, putting some safe distance between them because this moment felt too intimate, too close. --- Niko wanted to stop looking at the gift, to put it down, and act like everything was the same as usual. But he couldn’t quite take his eyes off it. Not for more than a few seconds, anyway. He recognized that tone, the dismissiveness, knew it from the numerous times he’d used it himself, trying to slip something important by without notice. Niko might have liked to afford him that comfort, but he needed Bear to know that he saw this, that he realized how exceptional it was. “You-” he started in a voice that commanded attention and demanded to be heard, “are really fucking talented, you know that?” Those weren’t the words he meant to say. A genuine thank you plus a compliment was what he had intended to go with. Apparently his mouth had a mind of its own. “Thank you.” His fingers made one last pass over the blade and hilt, appreciation approaching reverence in that small gesture. “This… this is really better than I deserve” Again, not at all what he’d wanted to say, but probably more open and truthful than he had planned. To spare them both the discomfort he finally closed up the box, but left it on the table next to him, gaze wandering to it every so often. But only every so often. Because once he’d managed to put the gift aside and look at Bear, really look at him, he found it difficult to stop. If he didn’t know better, he would swear there was a flush to Bear’s skin, pink to his cheeks that he hadn’t seen before, and it took every ounce of self-control he had to stay seated. But even his self-control couldn’t quite dampen the smile that turned up the corners of his mouth, dimples now unavoidable. That, as it turned out, was enough to make him stop staring and he tilted his face down, hoping that it would hide that stupid grin of his. What about Bear kept prompting those smiles from him, he didn’t know and refused to think about. Eager for another distraction, he reached out to grab the bottle Bear had set in front of him. --- It was one more thing in a long line of ‘shit he didn’t understand’ about whatever this was he was doing with Niko in the time that wasn’t sex. He didn’t know if anyone had ever got it that way, had ever looked at what he created as art or as something worth more than the steel’s use as weapons. He liked the forge partially because everything he did was useful there, a weapon or fucking coat hook or whatever, but it took a talent that he didn’t always want people to notice to do what he did, too. He wanted Niko to notice, that was the difference. But he also felt entirely too uncomfortable now that he actually knew that he had. There was a long, quiet moment where Bear just started eating, took a few bites of his steak and drank some water. Niko was stealing glances at the dagger, and that was enough to keep Bear quiet, see what he was going to say about it. When he let it go, Bear was relieved. “So, who’s watching the little princess tonight?” That was a safe enough topic to get them through dinner, right? Fuck, he was no good at this at all. --- Nikolai couldn’t quantify or describe the feeling that welled up in his chest whenever he looked at the dagger, nevermind explain what it was about a simple (albeit thoughtful) gift that affected him so strongly. Tearing his attention away had been more difficult than it should have been. Really, he wanted to shove all that aside and forget about it, forget about that tightness in his chest, forget about that unsettled feeling in his stomach (like anticipation but that didn’t make sense). So he more than understood Bear’s lack of response to his praise. It was uncomfortable and new and alarming. How could either one of them be expected to make sense of it? Much easier to stay silent and not think about any of it. But that didn’t help because when he looked across the table at the younger man, affection spread through him like warmth, though he would never dare name it as such. Bear’s question, mundane and utterly normal, helped soothe his mind. He could ignore those emotions, especially now that he had something to focus on. Especially something that captured his attention so fully. “Ronnie, god bless her. The woman deserves a medal.” He paused, taking his first bite of the meal, which was every bit as delicious as he’d come to expect from the island’s chef. “I texted her this morning and she didn’t even tell me that I was an idiot for waiting so long.” After being friends with people who never passed up the chance to inform him he was a complete fool (with great love and care), it was rather charming when Ronnie didn’t. Nikolai wasn’t great with talking, actually talking. He was better at quips and sarcasm and bitching: they didn’t require much except his wit and didn’t reveal anything below the surface. Still, he could make the effort. Lifting an eyebrow at the other man, he continued, “Sasha will absolutely not stop talking about you, by the way.” --- Ronnie babysitting? Bear realized that then the chef probably totally knew who it was that he’d been getting this meal together for, and he realized that it might be best not to admit that. Instead, he focused on Niko’s daughter. A conversation that didn’t have the potential to blow up in his face. “Oh yeah?” Bear laughed at that, relaxing a little now that the awkward gift-giving seemed to have passed. Of course, he wasn’t much better at this time. Everything in him told him to turn it around, talk about sex or drinking or something that wasn’t just innane, friendly conversation that he kept reading too much in to. “She tell you she wants to be professional boxer or fencer or something? Or was it how great I looked with pink nails?” Bear finally looked up evenly at Niko, found himself watching him eat and enjoy what he was eating, eye drawn to Niko’s mouth. That little smirk behind the obvious pleasure, Bear wanted to taste that so suddenly that it made him forget how strange just sitting here and enjoying a meal with someone he wanted to sleep with was. --- Nikolai couldn’t quite help the way his face brightened when he talked about his daughter, sometimes didn’t even know it was happening. One corner of his mouth was curled up in mild amusement as he nodded and glanced over at Bear. After he finished swallowing the food in his mouth, he answered, twirling the fork absently between his fingers as he spoke. “I fear for the world’s safety if she ever becomes a professional boxer. She’s got too much spunk. She’ll seriously hurt someone.” There may have been a touch of pride in his words, though. He took another bite of his food, which he chewed thoughtfully while he tried to summon an example of one of Alexandra’s rambles. “She seems to think you’re teachable when it comes to glitter. Apparently, you catch on very fast.” At that remark, he smothered a smile and took a few sips of water, but lifted a finger as if to reserve the next words for himself. “I, however, think you look utterly dashing with your pink nails. I knew there was something missing from your look.” Though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why, there was something completely and absolutely delightful about the fact that Bear had put up with his daughter’s whims, even when they endangered his nails so. --- “See, she’ll be a secret weapon for her first fight though.” Bear snorted a laugh, ignoring the comment about his nails and taking a drink of water. He shrugged as he sat it down. “You just have to put a lot of money on her, the first time in. She’d have to retire after one fight. And of course I’m teachable. What do you think I am, a neanderthal?” Which was, of course, exactly what he was half of the time. Bear took a few more bites of his steak in silence, then, because he couldn’t just let Niko keep looking at the damn thing, he rubbed at the back of his neck and said. “I should have waited to give that to you when we were drunk.” And a second later, because he was apparently an idiot, he added, “I was going to etch flames on the blade. Ran out of time.” Because he had to minimize how important it seemed. How important it felt. He only barely realized that he’d moved back in the conversation, that Niko had already moved on. Fuck, he thought, he was an idiot. “So, how was the rest of your birthday?” |