kotik - hollanov - @hollanovmicrofic - word count: 285 - click here to see my microfic archive!
“Here,” Ilya says in a would-be casual tone, except Shane can detect his anxiety by the way his back is ramrod straight. “For you.”
And suddenly, a stack of index cards is shoved in Shane’s hands.
Curious and a little confused, he begins to shuffle through the offending pieces of paper. After only a few, however, he catches on. On one side of each is a Russian word, written in both the Cyrillic and English alphabets, and on the other is a picture or English word.
Shane can’t help but break into a giant grin. “You made me flashcards?” he asks, glancing over at his boyfriend, who is insisting on frowning and staring off into the distance like he hasn’t just done something absolutely adorable.
“You told me you like these better than language app, so I make,” Ilya says, shrugging and shaking his head a little. “Is no big deal.”
But it is. It’s a huge deal. Shane can tell from the way Ilya’s painstakingly chosen words and pictures that obviously mean something to him or Shane or both that Ilya’s thought about this, and that Shane learning Russian truly means something to him.
“You do not have to use–” Ilya starts, but Shane interrupts.
“They’re great, Rozanov,” he says firmly, already shuffling through them. “I–” But he’s gotten to a card labelled ‘Kotik’ with a picture of himself on the back. “What’s this word? Boyfriend?”
And Ilya’s suddenly smirking. “Ah, no. See your face in this picture? You are angry. Like cute little kitten. Kotik is small cat.”
So Shane throws the card at Ilya, who lets out a dramatic yelp and flips a finger in his direction, both of them laughing wildly.
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