Marina Scherbatskaya (scherbatskaya) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-03-31 17:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [03] march, marina scherbatskaya, sasha whittaker |
Who: Marina and Sasha
Where: outskirts of the nightly bonfire
What: talks of first tattoos and jewelry
When: backdated to March 5th, evening
Though Vic said that Sasha was okay with Marina wearing a piece of Zhenya jewelry as her wedding ring, she still had reservations about the idea. Not because she didn't believe Vic was telling the truth about what Sasha said… Truth be told, Marina wasn't sure what was holding her back from accepting her future step-son’s blessing. Marriage wasn't something she'd even seen in the books for herself, so the hesitation was perhaps residual doubt about the whole process. Regardless, she wanted to be completely comfortable with her and Vic’s decision to do this, and that meant she needed to understand better where Sasha was coming from. She found him sitting on the edge of the bonfire and pulled up a chair next to him, a jar of moonshine cradled between her hands once she was seated. Rather than ask anything remotely weighing in her mind, she asked, “So I heard you got to give your first tattoo today?” Just a little lost in thought Sasha jumped when Marina drug a chair over near him and sat down, though he quickly recovered and was grinning from ear to ear when she asked about him getting to finally ink his first tattoo today. It still felt kind of surreal, what felt even more surreal was that he hadn’t fucked it up. Man, Sasha would have felt like a massive failure if he had failed. Not only because tattooing was what he wanted to do, but because it was Maizie and she would have had to live with his poor attempt at a tattoo. Shaking himself from his inner thoughts and focusing on Marina he knew he had to sound excited as hell as he said. “I did and it was awesome!” Sasha didn’t even have an ounce of chill in him as he said this. “And not just because I totally didn’t give Maizie a mess of a tattoo.” He added with a laugh, the wide grin still in place. “So what do you say, do you think you’re up for being my next client?” He was kidding, mostly. Sasha definitely felt more comfortable working on friends and family to start with. Marina laughed at Sasha’s enthusiasm but she couldn’t help but smile at him. He had way too much energy and was way too happy all the time, but dammit if she didn’t like him. Which was for the best considering he was going to be her step-son… or as close to that as he could be these days. “We’ll have to see what your boss says. But I have been thinking of getting some new ink -- something for me and your dad. I’ve seen some of the stuff in your sketch books, Sasha. You’re really good. Maybe you’d draw something for me at least?” It wasn’t quite asking for his blessing to wear a ring that belonged to his deceased mother, but this seemed like a good start to testing the water. His emotions were often easily read on his face and this was no different, the surprised look that flickered across Sasha’s face was unmistakable. “Pretty sure there’s a rule somewhere about not refusing to do things for your future, ah, step-mom?” The last word was said more like a question than a statement, dark eyes studied Marina for a long moment before he added. “If you didn’t pick up on it that was a yes, sorry.” Even if Marina wasn’t with his dad and practically family now he still would have said yes. Because even if he wasn't going to do the tattoo it was a big freaking deal to him that someone thought his work was good enough to have permanently placed on their body. Marina tried not to cringe as Sasha called her ‘step-mom’ but she wasn’t sure she was very successful. It just… felt weird. She was hardly older than him and she certainly wasn’t fit to be a mother to anyone. “That wasn’t--” she started, then laughed awkwardly. “You don’t have to call me that. It’s just--you know, let’s not make it weird.” Besides the fact that Marina was making it weird by saying stuff like that. “I just mean, I’d love it if you drew me something. I was thinking it could be a surprise for your dad.” Relief washed over Sasha’s features at Marina’s words. “Thank god,” he began, not even trying to act like a giant awkward weight hadn’t just been lifted off of him. “That just felt really weird, and kind of wrong.” Sasha wasn’t necessarily helping the the current situation with the addition of his own feelings on the matter. ‘Yeah, so we can pretend that didn’t happen,” Marina said with a smirk. “Our little secret.” Because it had felt just as wrong to her as it had to Sasha and she was glad they were on the same page about this. “Pretend what didn’t happen?” Sasha asked with a smirk, playing dumb to that little exchange they’d just had as if it had already been wiped from his memory. “Anyway, I’d really love to draw you something, especially if it’s a surprise for dad,” he paused. “Although I have to warn you if he asks me if something’s up I might crack, I’m shit at keeping secrets.” But as long as Marina didn’t act cagey or make it obvious that she was working on some kind of surprise for his dad, Sasha felt like they probably had nothing to worry about. Resisting the urge she’d been stamping down the short time they’d been sitting there, Marina finally set down her jar of moonshine and reached over to ruffle Sasha’s hair. “Don’t give him a reason to be suspicious and then you won’t have to crack. Think you can handle that?” For the briefest of moments Sasha thought about batting Marina’s hand away, but chose instead to simply duck out of her reach while laughing. “Yeah, probably,” he answered hesitantly. “I mean you’re not going to expect me to keep this secret forever, right? Just like a couple months at the most?” Sasha thought he could probably act normal about this for that long. “No, not too long,” Marina replied. It would depend on how long it took Sasha to draw the piece and when Noa could fit her into her schedule, but Marina didn’t anticipate either to take long. “We have a little while to sort out the details. I think we’re still planning to do the whole ceremony stuff next month. Is that enough time for you?” She still couldn’t bring herself to ask about the jewelry just yet, but maybe she didn’t really need it. A tattoo would be good enough to show that she was Vic’s, right? “As long as you’ve got an idea of what you want so you can steer me in the right direction, that should be more than enough time,” Sasha answered honestly, gaze falling into his lap for a moment before he brought it back up and looked directly at Marina. “So, ah, you and I haven’t really talked about the whole ‘You’re marrying my dad’ thing…” He trailed off, not even particularly sure what it was they should talk about or even needed to talk about. Sasha had started the conversation now, so it wasn’t like he could duck out of it or backtrack. “Did he, ah, tell you about the conversation we had?” Did his dad and Marina share things like that? Or had he just opened a can of worms he really hadn’t needed to? Marina took a slow drink of her moonshine before pressing her lips together, not sure what to say. She honestly wasn’t very good at these emotional talks and the last thing she wanted to do was say the wrong thing and fuck up somehow. But Sasha was looking at her with those big eyes of his and it was hard to completely glaze over the topic. She owed him better, anyway. “Yeah, we talked about it. He told me about, you know, you worrying we’d have more kids, which obviously isn’t going to happen. And how you said it would be okay if I wore one of your mom’s rings. If you were just telling him you were okay with it but you’re not, that’s okay. I mean, you shouldn’t lie to your dad, but if you’re not comfortable with it, you can tell me. Fuck, I don’t even know how comfortable I am with wearing something of hers. But I know why neither of you would want me to go out and find something of my own.” She stopped talking abruptly, feeling like she’d said more in the last minute than she had in the past few hours. Drinking more, she waited for Sasha to absorb all she’d said and for him to respond. Unlike Marina, Sasha didn’t have a jar of moonshine to sip while he processed what she said. Truthfully he figured it would come up eventually, the whole paranoia and worry about them having kids and being replaced, along with the ring. But now that it was out there in the open, Sasha wasn’t sure what to say at first. Did he say he was sorry that Marina and his dad couldn’t have kids? Or would that be weird? Taking a deep breath and a moment to calm his racing thoughts, Sasha finally spoke. “Yeah, he told me the reason that won’t happen,” he paused. “And we don’t have to talk about it. I was just being stupid and paranoid, Vic’s the last parent I’ve got left and I’m not his by blood, so I was scared.” Sasha still felt stupid admitting that, but it felt better than lying. Kids weren’t something Marina ever thought would be in her future, so making the decision to have that option entirely removed had been a no-brainer. Even now that she was in a relationship with Vic--one that was so completely different than what she’d had with Emmanuel--she still never felt that urge to have a baby. “You can ask whatever you want. I don’t have anything to hide. But just so you know, this weirdo family is more than anything I’ve ever had and I don’t need anything else to make it better.” There was something about the transparency that Marina was willing to exhibit with him that put Sasha at ease and alleviated that last little lingering bit of worry he had had. “So you don’t wish you and dad could have your own kids?” Why that was the question he went with he wasn’t certain, but it had been the first thing to leap into his mind so Sasha went with it. “No, I never saw myself having kids. And I think your dad and I are happy with the family we’ve already got,” Marina said, hoping that would reassure Sasha. “And I didn't lie to dad, I am okay with you wearing something of my mom’s,” Sasha continued, a firmness in his tone that relayed he was being honest with her too. “This might be really weird to say, but my mom would have liked you and her jewelry is just sitting in a box, which I don’t think she’d want. I mean, it was hard at first to think about someone else wearing one of her rings, but it’s also selfish to horde all of her stuff. She’d want it to have a second life and to be seen, plus, you should have a ring, it’s tradition.” He was rambling and he knew it, all he could hope was what he was saying made sense to Marina. “And yeah, I don’t like the idea of you going out and finding something of your own anymore than dad would like it.” “Okay. If you’re sure, then I feel better about wearing something of hers. The last thing I want to do is turn the whole ring thing into something that makes you and Vic worried. And I know this isn’t a very normal situation--” All things considered, it was really fucking weird. “--But thanks, for being so understanding,” she said, finally giving Sasha a smile. Sasha gave a decisive nod. “I’m sure.” The young man’s voice was firm, confident in what he had said. “You’re as much family to me now as dad or Max, and, well, I couldn’t lose you the same way I lost my mom.” And maybe something terrible wouldn’t happen to Marina while out looking for jewelry, but the mere thought of her doing that sent a chill down Sasha’s spine. “If anyone should inherits her stuff, it should be you.” Sasha added quietly, certain of the words he spoke and his reasoning behind them. “Hey, we’re family, being understanding is part of that deal.” He might be a teenager, but he had never been unreasonable. Marina stood and moved the few steps over to Sasha, pulling him into a hug. He was so much taller than her that it was a pretty comical image--the two of them together--but after giving one last squeeze she pulled back. “You’re a good person and I’m glad we’re family. So I’m going to go find your dad and tell him about, you know--Remember our little secret, okay? We can talk about designs tomorrow, maybe?” Without hesitating even a little bit Sasha wrapped his arms around Marina when she moved over to hug him, and peered down at her as she pulled back. “I try to be,” Sasha answered with a smile. “And yeah, I remember our little secret and I’ll keep my mouth shut about it, promise. Won’t even say another thing about it until tomorrow.” He let his arms fall away from her at that point, releasing Marina to go find his dad to discuss the whole jewelry thing and other wedding related topics. |