#ladvchess

god  was he feeling tired. for someone who constantly boasted about how resilient his systems were, a lack of a good night’s sleep had been more than a tough blow for the lone survivor of the bolkonsky bloodline. he was surprised -- he’d gone days without a drop of rest in the past. many had been the cold nights plagued by winds much too strong for his weak structure to handle, as had been nights where he’d preferred to remain awake than allow some sneaky fellow street rat to dispose him of his belongings. he knew the game, and thus he knew there was nothing a good cup of strong coffee couldn’t fix. 

     now, in the room with velvet walls where the clinking of porcelain cups and hums of human interaction reigned in lieu of your usual silence, dmitri stood out like a sore thumb. his back relaxedly placed against the back of the seat, a hand around what seemed to be his fourth or fifth espresso. in an even more comical twist of the events, the man had insisted on wearing his pair of sunglasses even the closed room. thank Бог that neither vlad or anya were around to witness such tragic version of him. 

    “ ah, milady, i’m glad my invitation made its way to your chambers, ” dmitri grinned and motioned at duchess as soon as he caught sight of her. “ this might not be as elegant as that suffocating elevator, but i hope it’s nice enough anyway. ”

Valentine’s day had never been a big thing for Hercules. He’d never really seen the point of celebrating it, but maybe part of that was because his parents always did nice things for each other every day of the year. Still, the whole point in him coming to a place like Astra was to get more out of his comfort zone. He wanted to make friends and if he got to do it while he was socializing with pretty girls, then he would do it.

Staying in the Olympic village a few years ago made it easy for him to recognize the face of a woman who was too pissed off at her date but too nice to say anything. That was the face that Duchess was wearing right now and it almost made him want to laugh as he took a slow walk over to the woman. Sure he’d helped her move some furniture in to her room, but she probably wouldn’t even remember him. “Hello,” he said a little too quietly before he cleared his throat. “I mean, hello. Your date got you down?” Hercules flashed her a sympathetic smile.

Dmitri had lost track of time long ago. days within the compound felt just the same; the mornings were bright, if anything, slightly chilly thanks to the oncoming winter. afternoons were cheerful, with gaze of the heaven’s eye sheepishly peeking through trees. for dmitri, evenings were his favorite; the sky resembled a watercolor painting, with purple, copper and pink hues garnishing the sky. if it was clear -- and most days, it was -- you could see the moon, eager to take over for its friend and place its dark cloak over the rows of houses and buildings for a handful of hours. he’d never found amusement in stargazing. looking at the sunset, however, was one of his ‘hobbies’. 

    he hadn’t meant to oversleep ( had anyone, ever ? ) but so was his ‘ luck ’. what had started as a short nap ended up lasting until the late afternoon. he could tell it was late just by peeking through the window. he felt bored, restless. dmitri could be lazy, but he didn’t exactly enjoy wasting time. now, he was craving for a drink, probably even a snack. dropping by that nearby convenience store didn’t seem such a bad idea. after changing the wrinkled clothes and cleaning himself up a bit, he carelessly dropped the dorm’s keys into his pockets and left, rushing for the elevator. he pressed the 0 button and waited. as it stopped in one of the floors, he slid towards the back of the metallic box for the other to come in. “ my bad. didn’t mean to take up all the space, ” dmitri commented, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

For someone who constantly boasted about being a resourceful and adaptable person, dmitri had never been able to find the charm to camping. he wasn’t precisely an anthophiliac, but he didn’t hate the wilderness ---- even as a young boy, he would sneak off when his mother wasn’t looking in order to go explore the vast garden behind the house where he worked. he’d camped once or twice in the woods as a teenager, yet as far as his nature-related experiences went, that was it. was he excited this time ? initially, no. sure, there wasn’t anything he loathed more than that sticky californian lethargy, but not exhausting himself having to avoid people here and there or struggling to find a decent place to crash at night was beyond pleasant, so it was no wonder he’d learned to enjoy it. however, his perception shifted soon afterward. if there was something that made him laugh, was seeing people not knowing what to do. large groups of astranauts in yosemite, some of which, he anticipated, would be experiencing nature this way for the first time ----- that wasn’t a sight one would come across with every day and the thought of thriving in a foreign environment while others flustered about mosquitoes and poison ivy thrilled him.

    a few jewel-like droplets of sweat garnishing the skin of his forehead, he had already started assembling  the tent on his own, not expecting to receive outside help. one, he didn’t mind, and two, he hadn’t looked at the list of people he’d been paired up with - this way, he hope whoever these people were would approach him instead. dmitri let out a soft sigh as he spotted someone coming nearer, a smile visibly pulling at the corners of his lips. 

    “ why, looks like i hit the jackpot when they were putting the groups together, ” he stopped working for a moment to turn to the other, a playful ( yet certainly not malicious ) tone laced onto each word. “ i can already tell this'll be to be great . . .which reminds me, i brought got a couple card decks in my bag, if you fancy playing some poker some time. ”

A new season for Ariel meant that a new change in wardrobe; and more often than not, that meant shopping. After digging through what she had and shoving her winter wear to the back of her closet, she concluded that she needed to get some new clothes. She made her way down to the mall, peering through the different racks of clothing to see if there were any that had interested her. Eventually, she’d managed to find a good selection of clothes she was just about ready to try on in the dressing rooms, and she couldn’t help but feel very excited by all of them. But as she strode towards where she needed to go, another dress had caught her eye. This one looked ridiculously pretty, though she was unsure if it would look nice on her. She held it up, biting her thumb in hesitation — should she try it on or not? Still unsure, she turned to the person next to her, asking, “’Scuse me, do you think this is a nice dress? Would it look good on me?”