#nikolay.

#POV: YOU KEEP LOOKING AT ME SO I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION. -- @lcsingncrth​​

❛❛ —- Não pense que eu não te notei, North. ❜❜ comentou, num leve revirar de olhos ao massagear a têmpora com o indicador e o médio. Se normalmente Alvah já estava com dores de cabeça terríveis por terceiros e quartos motivos, todos com nome e sobrenome, aquele dia em específico havia se tornado muito pior por estar mexendo com suas memórias e o forçando a sentir coisas esquisitas. Naquele momento, na praça principal de Storybrooke lotada cheia de casais passeando e aproveitando o momento romântico da neve caindo enquanto uma música suave tocava por caixas de som bem localizadas (era a melhor coisa que seu cérebro podia explicar para praticamente sentir uma trilha sonora de algum filme meloso atrás de si o dia inteiro), Alvah só queria a paz de aproveitar um bom café. Mas não, é claro que não teria paz. Fez contato visual com Nikolay há alguns metros de si, igualmente sozinho e perdido pelos casais, e ele desviou a atenção de si. E então aconteceu de novo, e de novo, e-- Na quarta vez, o juiz já achou que devia receber explicações. ❛❛ —- Esteve tão irritado comigo em Nutcracker que imaginei que estaria me evitando à essa altura. O que mudou? ❜❜

❛❛ —- Obrigado por ter salvo um lugar para mim. ❜❜ Jafar disse, eloquentemente, enquanto tomava a poltrona vazia ao lado de North no camarote exclusivo, ainda que bem soubesse que, seja lá para quem fosse aquele lugar, com toda certeza não era para ele. Mas como não aproveitar a situação que era fácil demais? Haha, é claro que o Papai Noel estaria assistindo ao balé do Quebra Nozes. Não que ele achasse ruim-- na verdade, ele era um excelente apreciador das mais finas artes. Era apenas tão... Previsível. Como se apenas sua presença já não significasse ameaça o suficiente, ficou em silêncio observando os dançarinos no palco com genuína curiosidade antes de inclinar-se para Nikolay, não dando muita brecha para que ele saísse dali: ❛❛ —- O que está achando da noite, North? Natalina o suficiente? Nostálgica? ❜❜

Nikolay ::

Birth October 27th, 1983.

OCT 1983-NOV 1994. Ages 0-11: Living with parents and sister.

JAN 1995. Age 11: Bratva Captain finds Nikolay and Lada in an alleyway and takes them in.

JAN 1995-SEPT 2011. Ages 11-27: Is trained under Bratva and eventually becomes part of the Brotherhood. Works his way up to being Bratva Captain after the death of the man who took him and his sister in.  

JAN 1995-FEB 2001. Ages 11-16: Trained under Bratva.

FEB 3rd, 2001. Age 17: Officially joined Brotherhood.

AUG 25th, 2003. Age 19: Man who took him in dies and Nik becomes Bratva Captain.

SEPT 19th, 2011. Age 27: Lada is murdered by the brotherhood.

SEPT-OCT 2011. Age 27-28: Nikolay kills every member involved in his sister’s death and leaves the last one who actually shot his sister behind, alive and eternally suffering.

Catalina ::

NOV 2011. Age 28: Has left Russia and became a professional fighter in Serpentia.

DEC 2011. Age 28: Sees the light and gains his powers.

MAR 6th, 2012. Age 28: Catalina comes to his show and hires him as her bodyguard.

MAR 2012-JUNE 2018. Ages 28-34: Relationship with Cat blooms from professional to friendship to romantic.

JUNE 26th 2015. Age 31: Officially in a relationship. Not public knowledge.

NOV 9th, 2015. Age 32: Nadia’s death.

FEB 14th, 2016. Age 32: Relationship becomes public.

JUNE 2018. Age 34: Flee to Athos with Cat, Freyja, and Midas.

Midas ::

APR 12th, 2012. Age 28: Meets Midas.

MAY 2012-JUNE 2018. Ages 28-34: Relationship with Midas wavers between friendship and romantic. Consistently rocky due to Midas’ disappearing act. 

JUNE 2018. Age 34: Flee to Athos with Cat, Freyja, and Midas.

MAR  17th, 2020. Age 36: Midas disappears. 

AUG 3rd, 2020. Age 36: Nikolay learns of Midas’ disappearance from Catalina.  

OCT 5th, 2020. Age 36: Freyja learns of Midas’ disappearance from Catalina. 

Freyja ::

FEB 11th, 2018. Age 34: Catalina and Nikolay meet Freyja in a bar.

JUNE 2018. Age 34: Flee to Athos with Cat, Freyja, and Midas.

JULY 2018. Age 34: All living together in Athos. Not public knowledge.

OCT 2018. Age 34/35: Torturous electricity and meaningless sex.

NOV 2018. Age 35: Nadiya forces Freyja to join Bratva and she leaves trio behind without a word.

JULY 2019. Age 35: Nikolay spots Nadiya & Freyja in early July. A week later he tracks down Nadiya and forces her to spill. Nikolay rejoins Bratva.

JULY 2019. Age 35: Nikolay reunites with Freyja by 21st of July and they share first real kiss. The occurrence of truly unlovable chat and fight.

NOV 30th, 2019. Age 36: Nikolay has been working under Bratva for four months alongside Freyja.

FEB 17th, 2020. Age 36: Nikolay’s first love confession to Freyja.

AUG 3rd, 2020. Age 36: Nikolay returns to Athos without Freyja.

OCT 5th, 2020. Age 36: Freyja returns to Athos.

Catalina, Freyja, & Nikolay ::

OCT 5th, 2020. Age 36: Three of them all together again in Athos.

What time is it in Moscow? What was the weather like? Was a chill still chomping away at spring’s attempts at life? It’s blooming here. Life is flourishing, and his attention has been caught by one of the saplings bursting forth from the dirt now. Just meters from a tree destined to rival it in size for years to come. He almost bends down to run his fingers along a tiny leaf sprouting from it, to touch life forming, but he doesn’t feel his hands that have brought so much death should. He moves to the tree behind it instead. Eyes quickly traveling up the trunk till the sun shining through breaks in the leaves started to dot his vision. 

He starts to bring his hand up to the trunk of this tree, too, but retracts it when he hears the snap of a twig behind him. He whips around, on alert. The Aguilar’s weren’t expecting any guests at the house today, let alone the grounds. When he turns to hunt down the perpetrator, however, he is stopped by the sight of the Aguilar’s daughter, Catalina. A vision of a girl. One he has the gift of even seeing at the moment. She must have used her powers to slip out and dropped them when she found him here. His shoulders droop, the tightness that spark in his chest like wildfire at the noise begins to unwind. 

“I don’t want to rob you of the joy of climbing a tree.” 

A laugh escapes. Quick. Too short. He still wasn’t used to laughing, or to having a reason to laugh. But, she always gave him one. “Never robbing. You bring it.” Waving her closer, he turns back around to face the tree. Staring at it as if it might wither beneath his gaze if he kept looking too hard at it. He was still refusing to touch it either. When Catalina joins him, though, an unknown bubbling stirs in his insides and he doesn’t let himself diminish his smile or stop himself from resting his hand on top of hers, squeezing it lightly as he brings it up to rest on the tree. His hand feeling only the heat from her skin as she felt bark, felt life. “Trees never bloom like this in Russia.” This tree was full of life; bountiful and too, too green. And he got to feel it through her. She gave him the gift of life without even knowing it, in more ways than one. “It’s beautiful,” he breathes, gazing at their hands then at Catalina. She was the most beautiful thing he ever felt. 

“Make me a promise that when the world ends, you’ll kiss me.”

His hands cup her cheeks.

“нет.“ He whispers. The time bleeding slow as they stood there, staring, crickets chirping in the dead of night. No: he wouldn’t make this promise. No: he wouldn’t let the world end. No: he wouldn’t wait until then. “нет.“ He says it again, unable to pull his gaze away from hers. He would never make this promise. He doesn’t know what will happen between now and then. What if his fight has ended with him six feet under by then? What if they’ve drifted so far apart he can’t even remember the color of her eyes or the sound of her laugh? There were too many what ifs. Too many maybes. He wants her to be one of his definites. He wants her to be his present.

“The world doesn’t have to end for me to kiss you,” he says, low, for their ears alone. A secret shared. Then he pulls her in for a kiss. Soft, gentle, everything his being has fought against being since he came back to Russia for her.