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« solntse » TEXT ✧ AUDIO ✧ VIDEO ✧ ACTION ALINA STARKOV ✦ GRISHAVERSE
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[solmate]

[ She shouldn't indulge him when there are so many unknowns and when they have only just begun the slow and careful process of trying to mend the cavern between them.

But he had helped her find a spectacular dress. And she had felt wonderful confident in it. And she had maybe needed to play coy when she was almost caught staring at him from across the ballroom more than once this evening.

What are they? She doesn't know. Friends, maybe. Friends could be a place to start. ]

I thought you would have spent the whole evening flirting with your own reflection to notice me.

[ A joke that's more affectionate than malicious. ]

[reznikolai]

[There's a distance in his flirting, a level of restraint that he'd abandoned and now must recollect. So much more he would say if he felt that he was allowed. But despite a few late night meetings, during which some of the broken pieces seemed to slide back into place if only for a moment, he knows they are not where they once were. What they once were.]

Well, my reflection was playing hard to get.

[solmate]

No one said seducing the King of Ravka should be easy.

[reznikolai]

What's easy so rarely overlaps with what's worthwhile.

[solmate]

Well no one ever accused you of not being persistent.

[reznikolai]

You should thank the Saints for that. If I hadn't been so persistent, you would have waltzed into the ball wearing the first awful gown you set your eyes on.

[solmate]

Oh come on. The yellow one was not that bad. I liked it!

[reznikolai]

Yes, it was perfect...if you wanted to literally embody the sun.

[solmate]

Ravkans aren't subtle with their religious imagery.



Did you know that the Darkling literally had sun plates made for my arrival?

[reznikolai]

How presumptuous of you... 🙄 For all you know, he was just in a sunny mood when he ordered them.

[solmate]

Oh my mistake. Shall I go apologize to him personally?

[reznikolai]

[Well...a number of barbs rise in his mind regarding the reasons Alina has evidently gone to the Darkling in the past. But buzzed on liquor from the party, fuzzy around the edges, he's in no mood for sharp words. They pop and dissolve as quickly as they arose.]

The damage is done, I'm afraid. 😩

This is probably a bad time to mention that I added a sun to the Lantsov heraldry after the war.

[solmate]

[ ... ]


And you have the audacity to say my yellow dress is too on the nose.

[reznikolai]

I had public opinion to court, my dear, and you remain wildly popular.

[The my dear is accidental. He catches it only after he's sent the message.]

That dress, however, would put you in nobody's good graces.

[solmate]

Wait, was I supposed to be convincing the citizens of Noctium I am their saint as well this whole time?

I should have spent less time at the party eating shrimp cocktails and more time doing party tricks.

[reznikolai]

I've seen the way you eat. That in itself is enough of a party trick.

[solmate]

We all didn't grow up with palace chefs, thank you.

[reznikolai]

But nor were you raised by wolves, to my knowledge.

[solmate]

Ana Kuya was quite scary at times, but you are correct.

[ She pauses, her head swirling with memories from the night, but should she share with him? Is that too much? He is her friend, but he is also her ex(?)-lover. That makes occasionally appearances in her bed. ]

I met someone tonight.

[ All the grace of something she might have blurted out in person. Is she apologizing? Is she sharing as a friend? She doesn't know either. ]

[reznikolai]

[Oh. He loses a long moment to staring at her message. Translating all the myriad meanings hidden in those four words. Calculating her intentions. In the end, all he can write in reply is:]

Someone rather interesting, I take it, if they've made it into your report of the evening.

[solmate]

[ He takes so long to reply that she knows she's made some mistake, some miscalculation. These are unfamiliar waters she doesn't know how to navigate. She thinks how she would feel if Nikolai had said the same thing to her. Jealous? But Nikolai's isn't hers to hold. When he was, she found she enjoyed his tales when he came back to her.

This feels different, but he is still the one she is closest with. She had missed telling him even the mundane aspects of her day. ]

She was rather fond of my dress, so I do have you to thank for that.

Sorry. I didn't mean to make this weird.

[reznikolai]

[He isn't entitled to the feelings pinching his heart, something like jealousy choked by loneliness. He's taken new lovers since they parted, and indulged in old lovers too, the same ones he shared himself with when Alina was still his, the same ones he used to tell her stories about when he came home. But that's just it, isn't it? They wouldn't be coming home to each other tonight.]

Why would it be weird? You're allowed to make new friends.

In fact, I should commend you for making such a good first impression. Social events aren't usually your forte.

[...Or is that too forced?]

[solmate]

Right... Well, we all can't be charming and on all the time. Although if we're giving notes, I'd say yours left a little to be desired.

[ Ahem. ]

I'm not sure I want her to just be my friend.

[reznikolai]

What, my first impression or my suit tonight?

[The second half of the message comes a little later:]

You don't need my permission, Alina.

[solmate]

You were very dashing in your suit tonight.

[ Which is to say masquerading as a pirate is a weird start to a relationship. ]

I know.
But you're my friend.
And these are things friends tell each other.
I think.