(>∆>)

This might just be the worst month of your life ever.

Just about a month ago, when the weather was kind enough for no snowstorms to engulf the land and just enough snow piled up that you could go foraging for nuts, you accidentally walked into a witch's abode. A strange, blonde and eccentric looking lady with the concept of a hat wrapped around her head looked as if she were the embodiment of disappointment herself. And yet, a few minutes after holding her chin in contemplation while you were still hanging by a thin vine held by an even thinner twig, she seemed to have caught herself in a little eureka moment while you were just the wrong breeze away from falling to your demise.

"Oh I know just the thing!"

Well, you were let go of, and you managed to acquire a decent amount of nuts for the day before returning to Sretomorozsk-

Before immediately passing out from an earth piercing headache.

Alyosha, your angel of a roommate was in the immediate vicinity, covered in blood not his own and frost that built up on his fur lined parka, and he practically ran to your side. The last thing you remembered before passing out was gentle, bloodied gloves checking your pulse and temperature like a madman before eventually succumbing to unconsciousness.

You would come to realize that being in a non lucid state was a distant dream that you could only pray your whole life for.

Whatever that oddity of a woman cursed you with, it was a pain in the fucking ass. Your roommate came into the cabin holding a pot of water, rag and Tugarin in tow alongside him, and instead of his soft, calming voice soothing your nerves (that were on fire from how warm you were, you seriously must've caught a fever), you heard the frantic ramblings of a man long gone into his own little head.

"I'm so glad they're okay..."

"I wonder how I should convince them to leave the foraging work to me next time.."

"Oh they're awake! Poor thing, they really didn't have to go out in the wilderness like that."

You might've just been hallucinating however, because you didn't even see his lips move in the slightest. And besides, the headache persisted to the point where you passed out again, and the last thing you heard was the dropping of a bucket filled to the brim and the frenzied footsteps of a man slowed down by the wet snow.

Right after that however, the real hell began.

Every day you'd wake up with the worst of throbbing in your cranium, caused by multiple thoughts entering your head that weren't your own. An angry woman's thoughts as she argued with her bum of a husband, a scammer wondering if the funds they gathered was enough to get to Snezhnograd, another poor soul complaining about the shortage of Kresnik Kristal, so on and so forth. Countless of times you'd spend twisting and turning in bed with eyebags persisting despite your efforts to shut your ears with pillows. That pain in the ass of a witch cursed you with mind reading of all things! 

But the most damning of them all was Alyosha.

In your feverish state he'd stay by your side constantly, replacing the rag on your forehead with a new one every once in a while, checking your pulse and your temperature, and even counting each and every nutrient with the soups he gives you. 

The contrast between his spoken words and inner thoughts however basically gave you whiplash.

"You should be more careful the next time you venture into the wilderness." "How long will it take them to learn to rely on me and Tugarin?"

"Don't hesitate to ask for help if you're unwell." "I hope they ask for help more often, it would certainly calm my racing heart then."

"... Why are you staring at me so incredulously?" "New expression unlocked huh... It still makes them look cute."

You were going to go mad by this point.

It didn't really help that his tone of voice was pretty much the same regardless of his inner monologue or his regular speaking voice. One time, you accidentally responded to his inner thoughts instead, and the mortification nearly ate you alive.

You were petting Tugarin like usual, almost impossible not to when met with such a cute husky like that. Petting his ears, scratching his chin, playing fetch, all the sorts. The pang of a hundred thoughts echoed throughout your whole head, but for Alyosha, who was nearest to you, his was most certainly the loudest.

"One of the few times I wish I had enough mora for a Kamera.."

"... I could buy you one?"

"What?"

Alyosha looked at you strangely, like you were the slightest bit wrong in the head by your not so subtle mumble, and the tips of your ears gained warmth. Even worse that the subtle fondness in his down turned eyes was obvious aside from his confusion, and now you can't even ignore it with how much of an unintentional puppy dog eyes he was doing to you.

"I-I mean, we haven't been to Zolnyy for thrifting in a while, there should be some good scraps for us to purchase, shouldn't there?"

"Ah- you're right." You ignore the "they're so thoughtful" that bounces off of your thoughts as he continues. "Next time I sell some of my game I'll bring you along with me too."

"R-right, okay."

Crisis averted! Though now he gave you a bunch to think about, much to your dismay.

His blatantly obvious (not really, his resting impassive face does wonders in barring you into his thoughts, just that mind reading was an unfair (dis)advantage) crush on you never failed to bring warmth to your cheeks and a stutter to your lips. The arrangement to live together was just for convenience, but he was really accommodating. Kind, caring, not to mention carrying a certain charm that managed to mildly thaw its way into your heart.

You're just mildly in disbelief that you're the one he has his gaze set on. After all, if it weren't for the concern of depleting supplies and rations, he definitely would've gotten quite the hefty proposals and offers on anything in regards to marriage. It's honestly quite concerning how often you're in his thoughts, you might've diagnosed him with "too much smittenness" if you could give him a legitimate diagnosis.

Unfortunately you can't, and you're instead stuck with his unreasonable infatuation with you.

Hah... This was going to be a pain to deal with.

You're not exactly sure what really went wrong in the whole "visit to Zolnyy" thing.

Alyosha had some business with the Koroleivsky troupe or whatever, so the worn out, half-eaten-by-rats inn belonged to you for the time being. The inn that you were staying in was pretty popular for cheap firewater and mulled wine, so it was no wonder that drunkards often occupied your thoughts, without your will.

Some thoughts were slurred, just a bunch of groans and random bouts of clarity that lasted for a second before going back to blurry speaking. The occasional lucid "oh Archons what am I doing?!" Thudded across your cranium, but it was manageable at the least. At least, until the day teetered into evening and you still heard drunken thoughts.

How can people even stomach so much alcohol?!

Eventually, even you succumbed to the very urge to get rid of your lucidity as fast as possible, something that tends to happen when misery is the only thing that clogs up all of your very being. What you planned was to get a drink, run back to the room that always scared you with how often the floorboards creaked, and lose yourself to alcohol.

What you didn't plan on doing however, was getting punched on the shoulder by a particularly drunken and aggravated Volkodak. Especially not when Alyosha decided that it would be the perfect time to check in on you after spending the whole day away at the theater.

Gods how angry he was! His dead eyed, unimpressed stare scared you even more than usual, and even Tugarin was growling and baring his teeth. Your shoulder throbbed heinously, and you had to bite your tongue on the egregious amounts of insults that nearly rolled off your tongue lest you wanted to get punched again.

"(Name), please go back to your room." His tone and eyes all softened a smidge when directed at you, but the way he clenched his fist even had wrought shivers up your own spine, even when all feeling aside from pain was dulled from your senses.

Well, you did want to stay to see how the confrontation would look like, but seeing the small time journalist in the corner of the room, waiting to get a snapshot of the whole quarrel going on was enough of a reason to make yourself scarce. The thoughts of everyone in the room ranged from "meh, just another bar fight," to "holy shit what just happened?!" And yet, one singular thought stood out from the others.

"I hope they're okay, ugh I knew I should've just brought them with me.."

Somehow the idea of dear old Alyosha mulling and stressing over you brought a mild smile to your face, though you immediately brushed it off with a cough when you realized that you technically liked his misery.

There was certainly a lot of shouting coming from downstairs, not really helping your coordination in attempting to make sense of your injuries. Curse those stupid fae, your entire arm was practically useless now since it was dislocated! Not to mention the giant bruise... You're sure that if you rush downstairs and ask the owner for some ice you'd be fine, mostly anyway. Snezhnograd doctors are expensive, especially when it's not just for diagnostics purposes, but your funds haven't all been spent on Kresnik Kristal so you think you'll be mostly fine.

Your self plactating motions were not really doing you any good favors.

In any case, you still took one more good look at your reflection in the cheap mirror. The bruise spread from the juncture of your joint to the armpit of all places, and it was nigh impossible to lift your arms without experiencing the most excruciating of pains, definitely dislocated then. It's one thing to assume it, but to see your own misery for yourself brought all sorts of bad tastes to your tongue.

"Uhm, (Name), are you perhaps in the bathroom?" Holy shit who the fuck was that- OW!

You cursed (again) when your knee knocked into the wooden cabinets, definitely for another bruise in the making. Perhaps the adrenaline dulled your senses for a bit, not even mind reading could've made you expect him just coming up and knocking on the door. Pointedly ignoring the "did they just hurt themselves again?", you straightened your posture to a more acceptable one before muttering a weak response.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't gotta worry about me."

"Hm, even I know that's a lie, and that's without looking at Tugarin attempting to break down the door to get to you." Damn that stupid- no you've gotta calm down. Take deep breaths (Name), deep breaths-

"May I come in?" What?!

"No..."

"I know that you were limping in the bar, your shoulder's probably dislocated. I can fix it for you," well that would be all fine and dandy and convenient but you were near damn topless just to take a look at this stupid bruise! Your parka and various sweaters were either wet with snow or the wine from earlier, hung to dry in this very bathroom. There's no way that you were going to greet him in just an undershirt, even when the whole "why did I have to fall for someone so stubborn..." Assaulting your thoughts was a tempting way to prove him wrong.

"... You know Tugarin might start scratching at the doors if you don't come out soon, that would add to the cost of the inn-"

"Okay I'll come out!"

You practically kicked the door open at the thought of having to pay extra for anything, but being greeted with Alyosha's deadpan stare embarrassed you just enough that you attempted to make yourself more hidden from sight, despite the one arm you have being utterly useless. His irises glaze over the large bruise coloring your skin purple and inflaming it in a way that seemed a bit wrong to look at, and even he couldn't help but wince.

"And here I wonder why you didn't ask for help earlier, that looks bad even for me." You ignore the various "are they crazy?" Thrumming through your head, because he didn't speak it at all as far as you were concerned. You attempted to shrug, but the sharp pain that follows when you even moved your shoulder a miniscule bit was enough for water to build up in your tear ducts.

"No matter, please take a seat," he gestured you towards the bed, Tugarin following by with his little whimpers echoing throughout the small in. Frigid air began to seep in from outside the room, but before you could grab onto your own torso for a semblance of warmth the man draped his parka over you.

"... You should've just given mine."

"I saw that it was drying, and I can handle the cold better than you anyway. Besides-" he bunched up one sleeve into a little ball, placing it on your open palm. "Relocating a joint always hurts the first time around, it's best if we don't disturb the neighbors with your shouting."

What was this man on?! "I don't wanna get slobber on your parka!"

"It's fine, I can always wash it later anyway." The "they're so fixated on the wrong thing" flys over your head as you instead keep your glare on him.

"Which is why my jacket would do fine!"

"I've already draped mine over you, it's more convenient this way."

Your unimpressed stare and raised brow seemed to at least bring about a "I mustn't give in," in his thoughts, but the problem was that it remained in his head, and that he didn't seem that inclined to allow it to carry over to real life.

"I can handle not screaming just fine," you bit the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from laughing at seeing his defeated expression, even more so at his more exasperated thoughts.

"Suit yourself..." He placed his two hands on your aching shoulder, looking at you to access your confidence. "This is gonna hurt."

Pfft it can't be that bad-

And you immediately passed out from the pain.

Maybe going to Zolnyy really was a bad idea. You can't focus on anything.

Aloysha was damn near on the other side of the shop, looking at better parts for his rifle and clothes for Tugarin. You, on the other hand, were stuck on one aisle, trying to make sense of your thoughts when all you could do was pay attention to Alyosha.

He was far enough that you couldn't hear anything- a relief really, taking a break from blushing at his endearments in his thoughts would be good for you. You've learned to block out most thoughts that you didn't care for, but the mild thrumming in your head was something that you couldn't stop no matter how hard you tried.

Hah... What were you going to do with yourself?

You feel mildly guilty that you're technically breaching his privacy, but you're worried that if you tell him he'll distance himself out of, whatever reason he wants! You like him well enough, but you're completely stumped on whether revealing it would be a good idea or not.

This shouldn't be so hard to decide!

He's amazing to a fault and pretty understanding. Most men (in the romance novels that you read, which was probably a bad estimate) would be ecstatic to be in a situation with the object of their affections in such a bare manner. In fact, it was nearly laughable on how much of a cliche romance trope it was, the main lead would get injured and have to shed their clothes to heal themselves and their soon to be significant other would get all flustered at seeing them near naked. 

... Why were you even comparing your situation to those overdramatic romances?

Alyosha's kind, nice, dependable, and you hate to say it but charming too. He's nothing like those shitty romances that you keep comparing for some reason, in fact he's leagues better! Ugh, what's gotten into you, you need to find something to buy before the man gets suspicious or something of the sorts.

You scanned your eyes over the shelves, nothing piquing your interest in any particular way that it wanted it to. Some old jewelry, worn books, scrap parts for a random piece of machinery... And nothing. Heaving a dejected sigh, you eventually acquiesced to the idea of just turning about empty handed.

You almost began walking over to Alyosha to just get it over it, however nearly tripped over yourself when he came over to you instead.

"Oh? Still haven't found something you like, (Name)?" Damn this inopportune time!

"N-not really, it's probably just bad luck that I didn't find anything to my liking. You seem to have got quite a stash though," indeed he did. He carried a whole ass bag filled to the brim with goodies and all, and now the embarrassment at not being able to find anything was almost enough to eat you whole.

"Really..." You winced at the way he trailed off. There was definitely going to be something that would go through his head now, you just hope that you can handle the humiliati-

"And here I wanted to buy them a gift from here. My savings won't really be that filled after that but hopefully I can get something they like.."

...

Yeah no you were going to eat yourself from the inside if you didn't tell him.

"Uhm Alyosha, there's something I've gotta tell you."

The question mark that practically erupted from him was funny, but you were seriously going to burst if you didn't get it off of your chest. 

"What is it?"

"Okay so promise to me that you won't get really freaked out, like this is some freaky freaky shit-" now you were whispering like this was top secret information, how great.

"You don't need to specify it so much, it can't be that bad," oh dear Alyosha, he had no idea what was coming.

"It's like really bad though, like promise to me that you won't freak out and we won't break our friendship?"

"I-" he paused at your pleading expression, and eventually sighed. "I promise."

"Good, good good," oh gods you were actually going to do this- "remember that time when I went out for foraging and came back and literally passed out like right around the gate of Sretomorozsk?"

"Yes? You certainly frightened me, did something else happen?"

"I mean, kinda? Sorta- why not, yes something happened." His eyes widened like saucers, and now you felt bad for edging on the suspense. "SoIbasicallygotcursedbyawitchandnowIcanreadeveryone'smindsincludingyoursandIknowyouhaveacrushonme-"

"Woah, please slow down for a moment I can't exactly hear you-" oh great now you had to say all that bullshit again!"

"So, I got cursed by a witch," he was about to open his mouth and speak but you would genuinely just drop down to the floor if you got interrupted again and thus shushed him. "I didn't realize I got cursed until I returned to Sretomorozsk-" his judgemental raise of brow was eating you alive! "And then, when I woke up from passing out I realized that the witch cursed me with mind reading."

...

This really was a bad idea, if the way his mouth practically fell open, agape in disbelief. "You can read my mind?"

"Yes," now wasn't that a fucking tough pill to swallow? 

"... So you know about my feelings for you?" Why did he have to mention that now, when you were still reeling over this whole conversation?!"

"... Yes."

"Do you object to it?" Huh? What did he just say? "I mean, with the way you're talking about it you don't seem like you had a good time with this... Curse. If I make you uncomfortable in any way I can always back off?"

"I know you're reading my mind as I say this, but please just tell me how you feel."

And, well.

Alyosha's charming, gentle, cute even. He's been a constant in your life, and took care of you at your lowest.

"I-" you took in a deep breath. Curse this stupid warmth on your cheeks and on the tips of your ears, your racing heart too. "I-I wouldn't object to it."

Ah, now what? That achieved nothing aside from leaving two flustered messes in a thrift store of all places.

Bonus:

Vodyanitsa: What, so you're like dating now?