#agnessa

I unlocked the door to the front, went up the rickety stairs - skipped the ones that looked more rotten than the others, I’d broken one too many - and ducked at the hallway so I wouldn’t knock my head. The door to the place was unlocked, somethin’ I wasn’t expecting. That meant Nessa was home, which wasn’t what I was expectin’ on a workday afternoon. It was possible her schedule got shift, I was gone a whiles, but it still wasn’t what I was expectin’.

Went in anyway. Was nothing I could do bout it now.

I especially wasn’t expectin’ to see Viktor sitting on my couch, smoking from that pipe of his. We had a matching set, only difference was he actually used his. Mine was for show, for the aesthetic, for the status symbol of bein’ a man who could afford ofha. Course I wasn’t, not yet, but I would be.

Viktor wasn’t a man who could afford ofha either, but he smoked it anyway.

His eyes flew wide open when he saw me, and I took off my boots while I waited for him to finish coughing. I sent him a bit of a warning and he nodded, made what I’m sure was meant to look apologetic, and put his mouth into his arm.

I might’ve been a clean person but a lot of the company I keep sure ain’t.

“Illarion!”

I made my way to the little kitchenette, bent down to look through the pantry. “That is my name, dear Torya.” Looks like I’d be eating stale crackers. “What are you doing in my house, huh? Nessa here?”

“At work,” he wheezed. Fool was still coughing. “I came over this morning, she said I could stay until she came back if I wanted.”

I brought the paper bag of crackers wth me over to the couch, where I flopped next to Viktor with complete disregard for whether I made him uncomfortable. This was my place that I paid for filled with my things and if Viktor wanted to be here he knew I’d welcome him, but he had to put up with being at my complete mercy. He pulled himself closer to the arm, the couch sunk in the centre like one of Nessa’s deflated breads.

I threw some of the crackers into my mouth. Awful flavour. I couldn’t help but curl my lip at it. “Should I be expectin’ a summer romance between you two?”

“Ilya, we broke up. You know that.”

“You’ll be part of this family some day.”

Viktor snickered, and I knew that sound. I looked at him out the corner of my eye. He took his glasses off - probably most expensive thing I ever spent money on and it wasn’t even for me (least it wasn’t my money) - and cleaned them on his untucked shirt. I knew he was gonna say something punchable. “Maybe we’ve been going at it from the wrong angle.”

“That better not be dirty talk ‘bout my sister.”

“Vikwo, Ilya. It isn’t. Spent a few months at sea and your brain goes straight to the dirty.” Viktor sighed and put his glasses back on. Some of his hair got caught in the arms but he didn’t notice. That was gonna bug me for the rest of the conversation. “No. What I meant was that maybe you trying to get me with your sister is you projecting.”

“Projecting?” I never had half an idea what the hell he was on about. “This isn’t a damn theatre, I’m not yelling.”

Viktor looked at me over his glasses, all fake-annoyance, then he leaned into me and batted his eyelashes. “You sure you aren’t the one who wants to be with me, dear Ilya?”

“You got some pretty rosy cheeks, but that’s ‘bout the only you got.”

“I didn’t know you thought about my cheeks.”

We went on like that, Viktor stupid on his ofha and me tired from working and glad to be home, jokin’ about things that really didn’t matter or even made sense. It was good to be home, good to be back to Zalizinch. I hate this stupid town, city, whatever it is, but the are people. I’m picky with them but there are a few that make this place worthwhile, and being around them is the whole world. 

Viktor asked what I’d been doin’ and I was happy to tell him all about my adventures at sea. I talk with my hands, really get the story going, and Viktor got himself invested. He laughed at the jokes, nodded along. I’m a good storyteller, I know how to grab attention. I talked until I noticed Viktor’d fallen asleep on my arm.

I let him stay there, and once I was done with the disgusting crackers (I’d have to get on Nessa’s case about what she’d been eatin’ while I was away) I decided I should try and sleep, too. I tried not to get too worried about whether or not rent was overdue, whether the Echyet had gone and made more regulations that only equaled more lines and paperwork, whether the markets were still the same or if they’d been gettin’ more scarce. I couldn’t do anything about any of that shit, and eventually I managed to join Viktor in his sleep.