reznikolai | I N B O X

I just wanted to be sure of what I was agreeing to. THAT I have no qualms with.

You're welcome to come visit my workshop. (Also known as my garage, but that doesn't sound nearly as exciting.) I can show you a few of my current projects.

Glad we're on the same page, then. 😂 You've ruined the illusion by telling me the truth! But yes, I'm definitely very interested. When are you free? I feel like I'm always free. I don't really know what I'm doing with my life.

[It's a weird place, and he doesn't know where he fits in it yet.]

I, on the hand, am always doing far too much with my life. I'm sure I could give you a few ideas. 🤔

Tomorrow afternoon, then. I'll send you my address.

[And so he does.]

I'm all ears. Sounds perfect. I'll be there with bells on.

[Does he mean that literally or figuratively? Hard to say.]

[When the next afternoon rolls around, Nikolai keeps an ear perked for the doorbell. And when it rings, Ponchik beats him downstairs, all 120 pounds of fluff skidding across the rug to jump at the door. It's with one hand grasping the dog's collar that he pulls the door open. So this is the scene that greets Jesper: the king of Ravka in casual dress, struggling to contain an enormously excited and just plain enormous dog.]

Nyet— Down, boy. Let's not topple our guest down the steps in our excitement.

[Ponchik, who knows Jesper from the time he spends at the Dregs' house in Alina's care, complies in favor of...shoving his snout into him and aggressively sniffing.]

I'd offer you a seat and a cup of tea, but I suspect you have little interest in either.

[He chuckles lightly at the eager dog's desperate attempt to get to him when Nikolai opens the door. Once he's properly inside, he drops down to the pup's level and gives him a good scritch behind the ears, muttering softly at him, 'Hello, Ponchik' and 'Good boy.' before he gets back to his feet again.]

We can have tea later, but I'd much rather see your workshop. [He grins widely.]

Or perhaps something stronger? I know tea is rather out of fashion in Ketterdam.

[Coffee or, if he really wants to make Jesper's day, brandy are possible options to entertain. Nikolai wears his charming host smile as he ushers him further into the house.]

Follow me.

[Down the hall, through the living room, the kitchen, they go. The whole house is spacious and well-appointed; from the furnishings, one could infer that its occupant is accustomed to a certain level of luxury. Finally, in a small hall off of the kitchen, Nikolai pushes through the door that leads to the garage.

The garage might have been the primary factor in Nikolai's decision to purchase this particular house. The space is enormous, the ceilings high. Its contents can best be described as organized chaos. A series of radios in various states of construction and deconstruction take up a counter. The shelves are lined with tools and machinery. At the center of the workshop stands the skeleton of a large vehicle. He watches Jesper, waiting to see what will catch his guest's interest first.]

Perhaps. [He grins.

He takes in the space as they walk through the rooms and into the garage– there's an obvious elegance and luxury to be seen for sure, but who could expect less from literal royalty?

Workshop really is a better name for this space than garage. Some might see a mess, but Jesper just sees brilliance, and potential dotted all around.

For a long moment, he doesn't seem to even know where to start, almost frozen where he'd stopped, staring at everything. And then, in the space of a blink, all his usual hyper energy returns at once.]

Saints, this is amazing!

[There's a lot of 'What is this?' and other such rapid-fire questions as he starts pilfering– politely!– through all of the different tools and pieces and parts, some recognizable tools get a pass-over though, because who needs something old when there's a million other things in this room that he's never even seen before.

Truthfully, at first, Nikolai probably won't have time to actually answer anything, because he's just rattling all sorts of questions at him one immediately on the heels of another, but it's only a minute or two before he settles.]

Sorry, sorry- [He mutters, putting the drill in his hand down.] there's just... so much. [He sounds utterly delighted by that fact, though. It's definitely not a bad thing.]

[As Jesper explores, Nikolai follows at an easy pace to avoid giving the sense that he's hovering over his shoulder. He attempts to answer the barrage of questions, but soon falls two questions behind ‐ especially when Ponchik starts to whine at the closed door, and Nikolai concedes to let the dog in. There's less trouble for him to get into when Nikolai isn't actively working on one of his projects. So now Ponchik, trotting and snuffling all around, provides a mirror of Jesper's enthusiasm.

Altogether, he couldn't ask for a more attentive— Well, maybe not attentive, but he couldn't ask for a more excitable audience. A grin lights his face, his ego sufficiently polished.]

This will be an airship come spring. [Gesturing to the large skeleton of metal and wood, finally returning to a question asked minutes ago amid the flurry.] A small one, I'll concede. My ambitions can measure only as tall as this space.

[Although he's never explicitly confirmed for Jesper his connection to the identify of Sturmhond, leaving him with these hints is unavoidable at this juncture.]

[Jesper doesn't mind the addition of the dog, he rather likes him. He absently scratches at the pup's ears when Ponchik comes by him again in his wandering.]

Really? [Jesper's eyes light up at that fact, focus back on the skeleton of the airship now, fingers tracing lightly over the frame. He's sort of put together the idea of it, but he'd rather like to pretend he could keep some modicum of composure.] I want to know everything about how it'll work.

[Which might be more of an ask than he realizes, but you know. #DreamBig and all that.]

[Ponchik shows his appreciation by shoving his big fluffy head into Jesper's hand. He takes after Nikolai in that he will never turn down a bit of attention.]

I see I'm old news.

[This is directed at the dog, naturally. Then he casts an assessing eye on Jesper:]

Do you have an interest in engineering?

[He's happy, of course, to explain his design and the physics behind it. Most days his only audience is Ponchik, and while the dog maintains an expression of enthusiasm throughout the experience leaves something to be desired. But first, this question feels pertinent.]

Uhh, well... [He shrugs a little.] Maybe? I'm kind of in the figuring things out stage, I guess. I mean–

[He shifts anxiously on his feet and folds his arms across his chest. He still gets cagey talking about it, even here, even in a place where everyone's a little more on the level, having powers and things being generally more open. But... there's a safety in the people from home that is easier to push beyond the hesitation with.

And Matt.
He'd felt nearly instantly comfortable with him, which was still something that confused him, honestly.]

I'm... [He shifts again, and one hand wanders to the safety-net of the pistol at his hip. No intent to use it. Just. There. A grounding touch. He clasps his hands together, index fingers steepled and briefly touching his mouth before they drop away from his face and spreads his hands as if on display.]

I'm a Durast.

[Which Nikolai may or may not already know, Jepser knows there's strange time things that happen and he has never gotten the clearest picture of that from anyone, honestly. But the choice in saying it out loud is a thing. A big deal, despite everything else that says this is fine. Safe in this world. In this room.

It's a pressure released from his chest that he hadn't known existed until it was gone, like a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding.] Engineering seems like... a good jumping point in figuring out what the fuck that even really means.

[Practicing more. It was something he was working toward, slowly but surely.]

[As Jesper shifts and fidgets, Nikolai can sense the anxiety crackling in him as if it's electricity and he's flipped the switch. He knows at once that there's more to it than an interest in the mechanics of how things work. Thanks to all his practice in schooling his features, his surprise doesn't show on the surface when Jesper stumbles into his confession — but he does arrange a contemplative look to show that he's listening.

He wonders how many people he's told. It feels like a new thing, tottering forth on unsteady legs. He wonders how long Jesper has known, or if he, like Alina, suppressed his power for fear of how it would irrevocably change his life.]

You're right about that. [Nodding graciously.] My workshop, humble though it may be, offers plenty of opportunities for you to experiment with your power.

And though I may be otkazat'sya, I've spent years working closely with a Durast. David Kostyk, one of the most brilliant minds I've ever had the good fortune of knowing. [And a name that should be familiar enough to anyone with even a dim awareness of foreign politics.] So I've some inkling the potential you've got in your hands.

[He gives Jesper an encouraging grin. His eyes are clever, twinkling with a thousand ambitious possibilities, but they're trustworthy.]

You worked with David Kostyk? [His eyes light up at that.]

Do you think… could you help me? I don’t care that you’re otkazat'sya, I just want to learn more about this part of who I am.

[This part of him he has had to deny for so long in fear. Of what he is. Of being discovered. Fear handed down to him from his father.]

[Really, it should be said that David works with him, but the semantics are not important. What's important is that Jesper is suitably impressed — moreover, he's willing to let Nikolai help him explore that part of himself. The nod he gives in answer works for both questions.]

What do you say we work out a schedule for you to come over and use my workshop? You get to hone your Grisha abilities, and I get an extra pair of hands helping me out.

[Everybody wins!]

That sounds amazing. [He says through a half-laugh.] Yes! I'd love that.

[There's an almost giddiness to it. An almost child-like excitement in the idea of this endeavour, because some part of him thought it would never be possible.]

I N B O X

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject