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Svetlana Sergievskaya causes lyrical chess wars (thegirlisme) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-08-03 08:58:00

Who: Jonathan and Svetlana
What: Russian Deli Language Immersion! (And catching up)
When: First week of August, lunch time
Where: Moscow Deli of Orange County
Warnings: None
Status: Log | Complete

The deli was tiny - not even close to being a sit down restaurant, really, but there were a couple tables for just that purpose. Tightly-packed aisles, colorful candy displays at the front of the store, even matryoshka dolls available - wooden characters stacked within each other, from small to large. Mostly, it was a chance for Jonathan the ever-dutiful scholar and recent student of the Russian language (he’d been diligently working on the skill for a couple of months now) to stock up on meat, Ukrainian pilsners, imported chocolates, and of course carbohydrate-laden bread. Best part was, the deli was right next door to a cash-only empanada place which featured a $3 special, and he’d probably eat his weight in fried dough stuffed with Mexican-spiced cheesy beef if he wasn’t careful - that was how he’d discovered the deli in the first place.

Now he had a sandwich of champions - rye bread, Russian butter, some kind of sauce that had obviously smashed against a group of garlic cloves in a vicious, intense encounter, pork sausage, tomatoes, onions, and cabbage. Yes. And a pear soda.

“Priyatnogo appetita,” he said, a bon appetit of sorts, once they’d sat down, and...he was pretty certain that was right. “I asked for extra butter on this sandwich. I think it came out obscene, however.” Well, he was still learning! The deli worker behind the counter hadn’t looked too offended. Mostly just amused.

More often than not, unless Svetlana made actual plans to meet someone for lunch, she would forget about it until she was done for the day. So not only was it a good thing because catching up with friends was always important, it insured that yes, she would actually eat lunch today. The joys of keeping herself busy with things she could actually do and help and not just worry about things out of her hands at this point in time.

For her own lunch, she had gotten a bowl of okroshka, cold soup made of raw vegetables, boiled potatoes, eggs and cooked beef, in a kvass base. The heat of the region, especially recently (something about El Nino and the humidity?) made it a fairly easy choice for her. As well as berry kissel as a drink.

It had been amusing (though not cringe worthy) to watch Jonathan order in Russian. It was clear he had been studying and so while there might have been a shared look between her and the the worker behind the counter, it was nothing more than that.

“Priyatnogo appetita,” A slight bow of the head as she spoke, taking a sip of her drink as Jonathan mentioned he thought his request came out vulgar. “Perhaps a bit.”

“It’s a work in progress,” Jonathan chuckled sheepishly, working a fork into the side of coleslaw he’d gotten. Russian food was just so hearty - it was filling, and could probably be filed under the ‘comfort’ umbrella, though just without a pound of fried everything the way it was done in the south. Not a lot of spiciness, but it was all a matter of taste. He rather enjoyed it. “I’m learning Arabic too.” Just sort of tacking it onto the list of languages already tucked up under his polyglot belt.

Granted, there were about eighty-two other things he technically could be distracted with (living in Orange County really wracked up items on the list) but he tried not to get caught up in mucky parts he couldn’t necessarily change. And would make time for the important things. “Oh, so...” He glanced up, eyebrow quirked. “I finished dreaming. Received a couple of parting gifts too, which was nice.”

“Still, not too bad.” And really, it wasn’t. Though given he did enjoy learning languages that wasn’t terribly shocking. Nor was it shocking when he mentioned that he was also learning Arabic. “I find this unsurprising.”

It was always subtle teasing with Svetlana. And really, there were so many other things in Orange County that could be used as distractions. But it wasn’t like there was much anyone could do about them. The strange things that occurred, the dreams and items. All one could do was survive and get through the day without letting it consume them.

“Oh, so you have as well then. I can’t say I got anything once they stopped beyond having to wait. Useful parting gifts I hope?”

Svetlana’s subtle sense of humor was very much a part of her - she was a ship on calm water, and if she were anything but, then Jonathan might start to wonder what happened to her. Alarm bells! But that just came with knowing someone well enough to spot when something was wrong. “Useful...perhaps,” he frowned a bit, thinking it over. The last two ‘dream gifts’ had really affected him, but for different reasons.

“One was the knife I used to kill Dracula,” he said. Slit his throat, nearly decapitated the cursed creature of the night. Bringing an end to a reign of terror, but also maybe even bittersweet peace to someone who welcomed death and the end to such a lonely existence. “The other was my son’s baby blanket...” Jonathan rubbed his forehead. “Mina and I named him after our friend who died during the battle with Dracula, at the very end. I wish...I wish I could have seen how he turned out.” It was so strange how those dreams, above all else, sparked paternal feelings. But he’d held Quincey, he’d soothed him when he cried, he’d heard the baby’s laugh. All of it was ingrained his memory - that was him in another life, and he wanted his son in this one.

She nodded slowly. The last gift she had received from the dreams had been the ticket to Bangkok. There really had been nothing else to receive. Nothing that held any sort of meaning for her in the dreams. A chess set with trinkets inside, a wedding band and the ticket. That had been it. All stashed away in her room where she was uncertain with what to do with them.

The odd maternal feeling for her two daughters existed. In the dreams they had seemingly been all she had left of a shattered life thanks to Anatoly’s pride and defection. Oh, he had come back and it seemed they were fixing things, but it was still strange.

“Well, this is Orange County. One never knows when a knife could be of use?” She wasn’t sure how it fell in the grand scheme of things. A trinket most likely though it could be used for self defence if necessary.

“I do understand though. About wishing to see how he could have turned out. I have two daughters in the dreams and I worry about them even now.”

Jonathan snorted in amusement. “It was a Kukri knife - “ So a blade similar to that of a machete, Mr. Harker had been out for blood, “But you’re right, you never can tell,” he agreed, though he certainly wasn’t going to be like his haggard, paranoid, weary dream counterpart - hellfire surging through his marrow - and carry it around everywhere. Right now, it was tucked away someplace in his house. A different spot than where he’d hidden the crucifix with its prayer beads attached, and also his gold wedding ring with Quincey’s blanket folded neatly there too.

“You have two daughters?” He hadn’t known this, but it was nice to commiserate with someone else about...dream parenthood. “How old are they, what are they like?” he asked, managing to find part of the sandwich to tackle without getting sauce all on his dress shirt. Messy things, these were. But so good.

There had been a demon and vampire outbreak in May. It was not so far fetched that such a knife might come in use. All in all, it was better to be prepared. Though from the sounds of the knife, it wasn’t really one that made sense to carry all the time. Oh, Svetlana knew that she was more paranoid now thanks to the dreams. Dealing with the KGB constantly and ‘living’ during the Cold War seemed to have that effect on her. Stahma’s arrival as well as the fact her parents were now imprisoned thanks to the vague wording of a law just seemed to add to it.

“I do.” She had really only mentioned it to Helena once when she had first dreamt of them and had been curious about the parallels. Then again, Svetlana so rarely spoke about the dreams even when she’d had them.

“Fayina was about seven or eight by the time they finished, Jelena five or six.” It was hard to keep track in the waking world between date changes and everything. But the general idea was the same. “Fayina is much more active, very blunt. Always curious. Jelena seems to be more of a dreamer, sees the best in everything.” Then again, she was six at most so at that age where magic could still exist even in a place like the Soviet Union.

“Fayina sounds more like you,” Jonathan smiled a little. “They’re close in age though, that means they’d be more apt to be friends growing up.” Then again, he wasn’t an expert on sibling relationships since he was an only child - but he assumed that two sisters a mere year or so apart would have a relatively close relationship. “Quincey was only a baby...he hadn’t started talking yet, but Mina so fervently believed that the spirit of our fallen friend had somehow found its way to him somehow.”

He was nostalgic for a moment, since in this life Jonathan very much doubted he’d have children. Though he supposed nothing could be ruled out entirely.

“I think there are an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to realities and universes, and in this one...I’m probably not meant to be a parent. But it’s nice to remember, to see another version. Even though I’d probably be a better father now,” he mused. “Less...darkness, I think. Less emotional turmoil.”

“So the comparison has often been made.” And Jelena, without even realising it, had been like Anatoly before chess became all he cared about. “They are. Fayina is quite protective of Jelena.” Which could be dangerous if she decided the wrong person was a threat. Part of the reason she worried even though she could only assume that life went back to ‘normal’ with nothing major as they had ended.

“It’s possible. When you dream of vampires, the idea of spirits being able to find a way into your child isn’t out of the realm of believability. It may also help her cope.”

As Jonathan spoke about the infinite possibilities with realities and universes, Svetlana finished her soup. It was certainly something. The few she had spoken to believed that they all had choices, so whatever the other universes had shown, it was just one possible outcome.

“I suppose there is that. I have no idea what is in store for me on that front, I don’t really think about it.” She had been terrified in the dreams, knowing she was emotionally reserved and not knowing how she would be as a mother. That belief remained even here. Long before dreams of a life with a husband and children had become the norm. “It is nice though, to have them in the dreams as memories even if it’s not likely here.”

The question of choice was a difficult one to answer with any degree of certainty, in this particular environment. Personally, he believed that they all had to make choices about how they handled what was obviously out of their control - but this was only one reality. It would never merge, in an exact sort of way, with the one they dreamed about. The similarities were there, but it wouldn’t zip up perfectly. He didn’t see how. In that, it was comforting to know that they were here to decide if this life they’d built, this world, was worth fighting for - in whatever way that meant.

Jonathan had already decided that it was. And he didn’t regret that choice.

“If it happens, then it happens. I only say I’m hesitant about committing to parenthood because it’d take a miracle of science,” he quipped - yes, he wasn’t going to be getting pregnant anytime soon, being in a relationship with another man. But there were ways around that. Anyway. “Are you...” He sipped his drink, eyebrows lifting curiously. “And your dream husband? Together? Is that a...thing? I’m sorry, I hope that’s not too rude to ask.” He’d talked to Svetlana about her husband before, however.

Svetlana nodded and could understand that. Being on the path of paternity or not. A relationship with another man did tend to make it a tad more complicated. There was adoption of course, or even surrogacy. But that was neither here nor there and really would be up to the two of them.

Then the question about Anatoly. Which did go into the notion of choice, of knowing things didn’t exactly line up, couldn’t line up just because of the time and circumstance and location. It was a complicated question and yet, it wasn’t. Because there was a simple answer.

“No, we’re not.”

The question of course was could it be. She had a feeling that Anatoly had feelings for her that went beyond friendship. For Svetlana, it had always been complicated just because of how guarded she was. After all, despite it all, she had still gone to him when she learned about her parents. Had let him in on facets of her family’s life even when angry and hurt. Even with that betrayal from the dreams.

“It’s hard to let myself trust him even as a friend after seeing what happened when I gave him that trust in the dreams. Yet, I do still talk to him and I do value his friendship.” Shrugging, she took a sip of her drink. “Plus there is a lot going on in regards to my family and other friends that romantic relationships are not a high priority.”

“Trust is not so easily earned sometimes.” Jonathan understood that - he was a social creature, mostly, hadn’t descended into darkness and morbidity the way his dream counterpart surely would while trying to fit back into Victorian society after all he’d been through. And failing. His family, his wife and son, they were everything, but beyond that? There wasn’t much left for him.

Even so, he kept his circle of truly trusted individuals small here. It was probably better that way in the long run. “And once it’s broken, even if you dream about it, it can be hard to get back,” he said, fork taking another stroll through the coleslaw. “I think you have to be in a good life place to even have a romantic relationship anyway - or at least that’s my opinion, I’m not exactly an expert. They take a lot of patience.” A lot of work in general, really.

Svetlana gave a small nod. Because if there was one thing thing that was the same between dreams and here, it was how she viewed trust. Which wasn’t good. At least in the fact that she was exceptionally guarded and it took a lot to gain it the first time around. “It truly isn’t.”

There were only a handful of people in Orange County that Svetlana trusted. Only one she spoke to as only meeting them here, which was Jonathan. The others she had some form of confidence with were those she had known prior to joining the network. The fact that she had seen Anatoly destroy everything in the dreams for his pride, even knowing how she was with trust… “It is. Thankfully it does seem that Anatoly realises this fact and does not push anything.” It would have been much more frustrating and damaging if he just tried to say he was different than in the dreams.

“That is how I view it.” Not that Svetlana really had much experience in the relationship department to begin with. Again with that trust thing.

Pushing something definitely wouldn’t have worked out well. Svetlana gave off the vibe of being a woman you just did not want to mess with - and Jonathan trusted her too, he respected her a great deal for who she was and what she did. The good work she did also, the way she obviously felt passionate about her efforts at putting an end to human trafficking. It was similar to how he viewed his own work with international law.

“I’m glad to hear you don’t have too overzealous of a fan,” he smiled, chuckling a little. “At least you have him around to be a friend to you, or to fit into your life somehow - just goes to show that the connections aren’t really severed entirely, are they?”

Usually it was Dmitri who tried to push her because he worried about her being alone. But he was her older brother, it was sort of in his job description. At least, that’s what he always told her when she told him to knock it off. Either way, Svetlana could hold her own and she didn’t mind it. Even if there were glimpses of a life that might have been before it all went wrong.

“I think he’s afraid of me to be honest.” Which was amusing because she really wasn’t all that intimidating. Yet it seemed to be a typical response, probably from how she held herself. “I had actually noticed that. Like some sort of string even if it is different. They aren’t though. I doubt they could be even if you really wanted them to be.” Which was something Svetlana had basically realised she didn’t, regardless of how things played out.

“I don’t blame him. You’re a little scary,” Jonathan teased her, but of course he didn’t mean it. She was likely just confident, and held her cards close to her chest - there was nothing wrong with that. Vlad presented himself in a similar way, though his mortal partner was quite good at getting him to crack a smile on occasion. “And no, the strings are different sometimes, but no less important than they were in that whole other world. Honestly, I’m glad things are different here, on my end.”

But there was the chance that things would slip - trying to merge realities was a near impossible task, it couldn’t be done. Never would it be exact but there would be moments where it felt like it very well could be. He didn’t look forward to those.

“I’ve also learned to not take moments like these for granted. You know, actually catching up in peace? So, thanks for indulging my Russian practice.” At a themed deli, no less - it was very normal, and he didn’t mind that one bit.

An amused look was given as Jonathan verified that she was a little scary. Well, whatever kept people from giving her a hard time she supposed. It wasn’t any skin off her back. That was the saying, right? She was fairly certain that it was. And instead she gave a small nod of agreement. “Yes, regardless of how they exist, they are still important. And I’m glad that the differences are good for you.”

“Yes, learning to not take moments like these for granted is definitely important. The moments where things feel normal.” Orange County had a way with people. About turning perspective around and making people look at their lives through a different perspective. Part of the dreams, and also part of what could happen in the area. “But you’re welcome. I will always happily indulge your Russian practice.”