Tom (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
serpentine) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic2013-07-13 11:26 pm
serpentine) wrote in rainbowfic2013-07-13 11:26 pm
Summertime Blues (special) #3, Heart Gold #13: A Conversation Over Tea
Name: Tom (serpentine)
Title: A Conversation Over Tea
Universe:starikov_chronicles
Colors: Summertime Blues (Special Color) #3 - Aches like an old wound; Heart Gold #13 - "Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along." - Rumi
Supplies and Styles: none
Word Count: 833
Rating: PG
Warnings: vagues references to past and on-going abuse, current situation is safe however
Summary: Zita has a conversation with Sofiya over tea about Kostya.
Notes: First piece I've written from Zita's point of view. I got very sad while writing this. Written in response to a prompt on my lint roll.
“I met your nephew the other day.” Zita was visiting her friend Sofiya that day to discuss a project of hers and they had somehow settled down to tea during the course of their conversation. Now that the business portion of their meeting was over, they had turned to more personal matters.
“Oh, how did you meet him then?” Sofiya had just finished preparing her cup of tea and sipped it after answering her friend.
Zita paused for a second as she thought how to best phrase what she had to say. She took a deep breath and said, “Well, I was busy making myself something to eat when I sensed an angry spirit outside of my house. I went out to make sure that there wasn’t anything I needed to take care of when I saw the spirit I sensed harassing the man who turned out to be your nephew.”
Sofiya frowned as she slowly placed her cup on the table. “Oh, that spirit.”
“I take it that you’re familiar with him.”
“A bit. He never had much use for me, being that I wasn’t the heir, but yes, I know him.” To Zita, it seemed that Sofiya had become much more guarded as she spoke. This was clearly a sore subject and she would have to tread carefully.
“I did banish him, so that he would leave your nephew alone. It…doesn’t seem to like my magic very much.”
“He’s at his heart a mountain spirit. He prefers the cold.”
The younger woman nodded as she said, “That explains a lot.”
Sighing, Sofiya continued, “You remember when I bought that amulet from you several years ago?”
Zita nodded again as she drank from her tea cup.
“I had bought that for my nephew. To help protect him from that spirit.” Again, the older woman sighed. “It doesn’t seemed to have helped much though.”
So that was why she sensed something of her magic on the young man that day. “He would’ve needed something stronger than the charms that I usually sell, Sofiya. I wish you would’ve told me.”
“The last time I commissioned something specifically to fight against that demon…well, it did not end well for the person the next time he visited my home country.” Sofiya shook her head. “I didn’t want to put anyone else in danger, especially considering you live so close to the border.”
“I can take care of myself.” It annoyed her sometimes how people tried to protect her and it showed.
Sofiya paused as she took another sip of her tea. “I see that now.”
A few minutes passed as the two women drank their tea in silence, neither of them sure what to say. After a while, Zita broke the silence and quietly said, “He’s still wearing it.”
“I know.”
“That means he’s still probably trying.”
The older woman just nodded in response, looking very weary for the world.
“He seems nice, if a bit skittish.” He actually reminded her a bit of herself when she was younger, but she kept that to herself.
Sofiya put her cup down again and sighed. “Kostya is a good boy. However, he is also very hard to reach. He makes sure to visit me every so often, but he’s so closed off these days that I can hardly see the boy that I once knew.”
Knowing that he wasn’t always this way made Zita even sadder. “He’s been hurt. I recognize the signs.” She didn’t say that she knew them from personal experience.
“I can’t help him if he doesn’t talk to me, Zita.”
“Perhaps that’s because you’re too close to the situation. After all, you’ve been there for his entire life. Does he have anyone else he can talk to?”
“…I don’t know. He doesn’t really talk about the people in his life. Most of the time he comes here, he just helps me out in the garden or the kitchen. When we do talk, it’s mostly about that.”
Zita sighed and shook her head. Isolation can be such a painful and frightening thing. He might not even know that there were people could be trusted.
She looked outside the window and saw that sun was starting to get low. She’d have to go home soon.
Forcing a small smile onto her face, she thanked Sofiya for her hospitality. “I have some things to take care of at home, but thank you for the tea.” She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up, inclining her head slightly toward the older woman.
Sofiya got up as well and smiled. “You’re welcome. Come by to see me any time, dear.” She led Zita over to the door and began to open it. “Good luck with your project.”
She paused in the door frame before leaving and smiled, this time for real. “You take care too.” With that, she set off on her way home, still unsure of what to make of the conversation she just had.
serpentine)Title: A Conversation Over Tea
Universe:
starikov_chroniclesColors: Summertime Blues (Special Color) #3 - Aches like an old wound; Heart Gold #13 - "Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along." - Rumi
Supplies and Styles: none
Word Count: 833
Rating: PG
Warnings: vagues references to past and on-going abuse, current situation is safe however
Summary: Zita has a conversation with Sofiya over tea about Kostya.
Notes: First piece I've written from Zita's point of view. I got very sad while writing this. Written in response to a prompt on my lint roll.
“I met your nephew the other day.” Zita was visiting her friend Sofiya that day to discuss a project of hers and they had somehow settled down to tea during the course of their conversation. Now that the business portion of their meeting was over, they had turned to more personal matters.
“Oh, how did you meet him then?” Sofiya had just finished preparing her cup of tea and sipped it after answering her friend.
Zita paused for a second as she thought how to best phrase what she had to say. She took a deep breath and said, “Well, I was busy making myself something to eat when I sensed an angry spirit outside of my house. I went out to make sure that there wasn’t anything I needed to take care of when I saw the spirit I sensed harassing the man who turned out to be your nephew.”
Sofiya frowned as she slowly placed her cup on the table. “Oh, that spirit.”
“I take it that you’re familiar with him.”
“A bit. He never had much use for me, being that I wasn’t the heir, but yes, I know him.” To Zita, it seemed that Sofiya had become much more guarded as she spoke. This was clearly a sore subject and she would have to tread carefully.
“I did banish him, so that he would leave your nephew alone. It…doesn’t seem to like my magic very much.”
“He’s at his heart a mountain spirit. He prefers the cold.”
The younger woman nodded as she said, “That explains a lot.”
Sighing, Sofiya continued, “You remember when I bought that amulet from you several years ago?”
Zita nodded again as she drank from her tea cup.
“I had bought that for my nephew. To help protect him from that spirit.” Again, the older woman sighed. “It doesn’t seemed to have helped much though.”
So that was why she sensed something of her magic on the young man that day. “He would’ve needed something stronger than the charms that I usually sell, Sofiya. I wish you would’ve told me.”
“The last time I commissioned something specifically to fight against that demon…well, it did not end well for the person the next time he visited my home country.” Sofiya shook her head. “I didn’t want to put anyone else in danger, especially considering you live so close to the border.”
“I can take care of myself.” It annoyed her sometimes how people tried to protect her and it showed.
Sofiya paused as she took another sip of her tea. “I see that now.”
A few minutes passed as the two women drank their tea in silence, neither of them sure what to say. After a while, Zita broke the silence and quietly said, “He’s still wearing it.”
“I know.”
“That means he’s still probably trying.”
The older woman just nodded in response, looking very weary for the world.
“He seems nice, if a bit skittish.” He actually reminded her a bit of herself when she was younger, but she kept that to herself.
Sofiya put her cup down again and sighed. “Kostya is a good boy. However, he is also very hard to reach. He makes sure to visit me every so often, but he’s so closed off these days that I can hardly see the boy that I once knew.”
Knowing that he wasn’t always this way made Zita even sadder. “He’s been hurt. I recognize the signs.” She didn’t say that she knew them from personal experience.
“I can’t help him if he doesn’t talk to me, Zita.”
“Perhaps that’s because you’re too close to the situation. After all, you’ve been there for his entire life. Does he have anyone else he can talk to?”
“…I don’t know. He doesn’t really talk about the people in his life. Most of the time he comes here, he just helps me out in the garden or the kitchen. When we do talk, it’s mostly about that.”
Zita sighed and shook her head. Isolation can be such a painful and frightening thing. He might not even know that there were people could be trusted.
She looked outside the window and saw that sun was starting to get low. She’d have to go home soon.
Forcing a small smile onto her face, she thanked Sofiya for her hospitality. “I have some things to take care of at home, but thank you for the tea.” She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up, inclining her head slightly toward the older woman.
Sofiya got up as well and smiled. “You’re welcome. Come by to see me any time, dear.” She led Zita over to the door and began to open it. “Good luck with your project.”
She paused in the door frame before leaving and smiled, this time for real. “You take care too.” With that, she set off on her way home, still unsure of what to make of the conversation she just had.