whitehairedprettyboy

[About damn time he apologized for something. Raikov's expression softens and he nonchalantly goes to pour some milk into his tea. Katya remains crabby though.]

You're forgiven. I assume you won't be eating any biscuits?

Edited 2014-11-23 02:44 (UTC)

[ He's trying. He really is. ]

Not if the two of you eat them all, anyway.

[ He carefully levers out the tea bag, then measures out the precise right amount of milk and sugar, determined from years of experience. Inhaling deeply, he lifts the teacup to his lips and -

Okay. This isn't working. ]

Can you get her to stop glaring at me, please? [ All those eyes. It's rather unnerving. And he does not like to be unnerved whilst drinking tea. It rather defeats the purpose. ]

[He rolls his eyes]

Go and play with Stunky.

[ONE LAST GLARE before she disappears down his back and on to the floor to complain to Val's pokemon.]

That better?

[ In reply, he takes a sip of his tea.

Aaahhh. That is absolutely heavenly. He is never going to abandon tea again. If it were a choice between giving up tea and giving up sex with Raikov... Well, Ivan old chap, it's been fun. ]

Much.

[ Meanwhile, Stunky curls her tail consolingly around Katya. Her trainer's a good person! Really! Otherwise he wouldn't be her trainer! But she's sorry he was mean to her! Being mean is a thing he does sometimes! ]

[He shouldn't be mean though! Papa isn't mean to us.

Raikov, meanwhile, tries to study Valmont's expression.]

I'm glad you're enjoying your tea.

[He stirs his a bit before taking a sip as well. Ahh. Perfect... Just like everything he does.]

[ I know! I try to get him to be nice but I don't think he listens to me! He doesn't like it when I'm nice to him either! But other than being mean he really is a good person! ]

"Enjoying" may not be a strong enough word.

[ His expression is about as blissed-out as he lets it get outside the bedroom. It might be time for you to start getting jealous of tea, Raikov. ]

[If you say so... She's still skeptical. Then again, anyone who is mean to Raikov is generally on her bad side.

And he's quite the opposite of jealous right now. Raikov grins, thoroughly amused by Valmont's positive response.]

You're welcome, by the way.

[ Katya's right to be skeptical. Stunky's a good kid, but you can trust anything she says about her trainer to be about 200 times more positive than the truth. She wants to believe in him. She wants to believe so hard.

That being said, Valmont actually is trying to be nice to Raikov these days. Whether he's succeeding or not is a little more up for debate. ]

What? Oh, yes. Thank you, and all that. [ Sorry. He's a little distracted. ] However did you come by a proper appreciation of tea?

[Aren't all pokemon that way about their trainers?

And Raikov appreciates it. V has his moments but he is getting a little better. ... Just a little though.]

Would you believe you English aren't the only ones who love tea?

[ All of V's are, anyway. Though given the way he treats them, they really shouldn't be. Poor things.

Look, he did a real apology. With words and everything. He doesn't know what else you want from him. ]

You'll forgive my assumption, then. America has soured me on the idea that any other country might know how to produce a decent cup of tea. [ The horrors he's seen. Iced tea, really. ] But it seems the Russians have an idea of what they're doing, if you're any indication, Ivan. [ He takes another sip. God, that's good. ]

Of course.

[Smug smug smug. Then his expression temporarily changes to one of disgust.]

But I still don't understand why you went to America.

[Why would anyone want to go there willingly?]

I've told you, it was for my work. Believe me, given the choice I would have preferred to stay in England, but that just wasn't feasible.

[ After all, it's hard enough to transport a giant sentient dragon statue within the country. ]

[Raikov rubs his chin in thought.]

You know, you never did tell me what you do for a living aside from collecting artifacts.

Acquisitions.

[ He sips his tea casually. ]

I don't seem to recall you telling me what you did, either.

That's rather vague, isn't it?

And you never asked.

[Or looked in his closet.]

You're certainly welcome to inquire about specifics. And I'm asking now. What is it you do, exactly?

[ If his closet doesn't contain any green suits, Valmont isn't interested. ]

[It's Olive Drab.

... He supposes he can't tell Valmont. It's not like he can sabotage him. Not when he owes Raikov so much for being his sugar daddy the past month.]

I was in the military.

[ Olive and green are completely different colors. Get it straight. ]

Ah. A military man. [ Well, that's interesting. ] What was your rank?

[It's close enough.]

Major.

[This is the most he's told anyone here. Congrats, V.]

Major. [ He repeats this thoughtfully. ] Major Raikov. Rather a nice ring to it, I think. If I'd known, I should have been calling you that this whole time, shouldn't I?

[ He's not being serious about that part, but he really does approve of the title. There's a certain something about men in positions of power... as long as it's not power over him, of course. ]

[The edge of his mouth twitches a bit as he forces a smirk. If Valmont's good at reading people, then he might be able to tell that Raikov's not as chipper as he's putting on to be.]

If you were in the Soviet army, perhaps. But this is a different time, a different world. The title means nothing here.

[ Valmont isn't so great at reading people beyond "are they attracted to me" and "will they give me things". Both of which are true of Raikov, of course, so why should he bother to worry about anything else? ]

"But that was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead." I quite understand. Still, you may consider me impressed by your rank. [ Just a little. ]

[Raikov casually shrugs and takes a sip of his tea. He doesn't get Valmont's reference, sadly.]

I certainly have been impressing you a lot lately, haven't I...?

[ That's because Raikov is an ignorant plebe who needs to read more British literature. ]

I don't believe I mentioned your doing anything else particularly impressive.

[ Sip. ]

[Now his smirk is geunine. He leans over the table slightly and hushes his voice. There's children around.]

I'm sorry. Does almost every night for the past month not count as impressive? Because you seemed quite impressed, especially that first day.

[Raikov wiggles his tongue suggestively then licks his lips for good measure.]

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