Beware what hides deep in the dark...

Laynia Petrovna in Winter Guard #2

Laynia Petrovna in Winter Guard #3

His mouth was dry, stomach roiling akin to a choppy wave, and there was a sour taste clinging stubbornly to the back of his tongue. Judging by the blade of sunlight that cut through the gap in the curtain, he had been asleep for hours, yet his body felt as if it hadn't rested at all. Rubbing a hand over his face, Mikhail winced as the movement only served to make the pounding behind his eyes worse.

Laynia skirted around the battered coffee table, nudging another empty bottle aside with the toe of her boot before lowering herself onto the couch beside him. The cushions dipped beneath her weight, and after a moment she bumped her knee lightly against his, more affectionate than admonishing.

Muscles ached in argument as he pulled himself upright, a dull ache thudding across his brow with his pulse. His tongue felt like cottong, glued to the top of his mouth as he glanced around the dimly lit apartment in search of who had awoken him.

Laynia stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind her, her gaze immediately dropping to the empty bottles littering the floor. She nudged one aside with the toe of her boot, sending it rolling beneath the battered table.

It was rare for the pot to realise it shared the same colour as the kettle, was it not? Arching a brow, Mikhail held Laynia's gaze for a beat, searching for some flicker of self-realisation and when it did not show, he struck its spark instead.

Oh no, no way this just going to be glossed over as if it was nothing. Or as if he hadn't kept it from her all this time.