[ota] sleeping under strange skies

[thepupthatmatters]

He's ready for this. Of course he's ready for this.

He wouldn't be here if he weren't ready. Holló wouldn't have sent him through without being prepared. This isn't, after all, the sort of place a person gets sent without it being purposeful. Even the people who wander here 'by chance' are the people who need to be here, he's been told.

So it's the right time for Aleksei Volkov to be stepping out into the cold sunlight barely warming the walls of the Castle Spades, newly minted and processed and told he'll have to start working his way up from Two now.

The few things he'd brought with him have been settled into the cramped quarters he'll be sharing with a few other recent arrivals. What's stuck from his grandmother means he'll be starting off under the apparently quite severe Spade kitchen staff.

Hopefully it isn't the end of the world that he needs to pause when he's sent out to Town to pick up a few extra bottles of truffle oil and vanilla extract. Hopefully being 'ready for this' doesn't mean he can't take a moment--take a deep breath--as he lets settle into his bones the fact that he's here.


{ooc; He can be bumped into at the castle or being lost in Town. Also tag plz?}

Comments

[thepupthatmatters]

Threatening... he could work on. Obscure?

"Is there any way to challenge in-- speaking Basque?"

He's trying. Help him.

[longingforthenight]

"... I don't think so." She grins. "I know people have challenged in trivia before, or things like that. But it needs to be a little more easily compete-able, I guess, than just speaking a language. Though... I guess you could challenge in a more linguistic, grammar type challenge?"

[thepupthatmatters]

At least she's smiling. That means he's not completely hopeless. Probably.

"But it isn't very... threatening."

[longingforthenight]

"No, not quite. And not very unexpected, to anyone who knows your name. I think you'll probably have to learn something new."

[thepupthatmatters]

"Or change my name." But he's thinking. Promise he's thinking. Thinking with that slight unconscious wandering expression boys his age tend to get because focus doesn't come naturally anymore. "Something-- violent, something quiet?"

[longingforthenight]

"I like it. Your name, I mean. I wouldn't change it." She rests her chin on her palm, hmming idly as she thinks. "Not necessarily violent, but it wouldn't hurt."

[thepupthatmatters]

There's an almost unconscious smile for that. His name had been such an afterthought. The idea it was nice sets very comfortably in his heart.

"I will-- try to remember my staff."

[longingforthenight]

"You can do stick fighting? What, like quarter staff?" She's not very skilled in such matters, but hey, she thinks it's cool.

[thepupthatmatters]

"A little. We did-- for physical education class."

Which had been a hell of a lot more fun than dodgeball, apart from being bored to death with the cultural significance of it all.

[longingforthenight]

"That's definitely something. You should keep that. Maybe even work on it." She grins at him. "I can teach you the soft stuff on the side."

[thepupthatmatters]

That's a nice reassurance. That gets his lips quirking back up a little. "You're-- very kind, you know?"

[longingforthenight]

"I know." She laughs, tossing her hair a little. "Thank you, though. It's very kind of you to say."

[thepupthatmatters]

"That's what you-- are supposed to do, yes? Be kind to kind people?"

Clearly he needs a bit of hardening yet.

[longingforthenight]

"It's... debatable, to be honest. You should be kind to people who you feel deserve it. And you should have high standards about that sort of thing."

[thepupthatmatters]

And that... gets a pause.

"...high standards?"

[longingforthenight]

"Not everyone deserves your kindness. Not even many people deserve your kindness. Keep your standards high, and just don't care about people unless they fit those standards."

It almost sounds easy, coming from her.

[thepupthatmatters]

That's going to have to be mulled over. He's going to have to work to come to a proper understanding of it deeper in his heart.

But for now, he'll nod.

[longingforthenight]

A nod like that deserves a cheek pinch in return, Kritika thinks.

[thepupthatmatters]

--what.

"--mi a--"

Not that he's swatting her away. Just. She knows what it looks like when teenage boys are restraining from swatting because they've been drilled to be polite, right?

[longingforthenight]

She can't help but laugh delightedly, shaking her head. "You and I are going to have a good time," she affirms. "No doubt about that."

[thepupthatmatters]

"Interesting, probably."

But... also probably good. This was a good feeling for a start.