ArchivedLogs:Souvenirs

Souvenirs
Dramatis Personae Ivan, Kai
In Absentia	2013-08-15 '
Location <XS> Jack and Kai's Dorm - FL2
Kai's room isn't generally an overly decorated affair. Aside from the empty bed and desk that belong to his nonexistent roommate, the Korean boy doesn't have much to make his side /homey/. There's more here, now, though. A laptop on his desk, and a terrarium containing Lord Adolphus and his many legs. A series of battered first-reader books are on the bookshelf, along with various odd items that seem to have been collected from the nearby forest. A rock, a leaf, a twig that curls impossibly back on itself in a wooden moebius. But, beyond that, the room looks just as utilitarian as it always has. It won't be that way for long. Kai is currently standing on his bed, bare feet spread wide to stabilize him as he pins things to the wall above. Dressed in a pair of loose shorts and a green tank-top, the Korean boy has a stack of drawings that he is turning into wallpaper. Many have dragons and bees in them, though some appear to be rough drawings of people and locations around the school. On the desk, the laptop is open, and pumping out Disney music, which Kai hums along to as he works. A new sound joins! Knock knock. Curt, but loud enough to be heard over the music. Out in the hallway stands its cause - it's an Ivan, dressed in boring jeans and white dress shirt and holding a plain, white plastic bag as he patiently awaits an answer. His eyes search across the dorm room door as he listen to the music, but any sign of recognising it is sorely lacking. The sound of the knock actually seems to confuse Kai, and he pauses in his work to listen for a moment. Then he jumps down from the bed, looking over at Lord Adolphus' tank as if /he/ might have made that knocking noise. But, the millipede seems to be sleeping, or at least very still, so Kai opts for the next option. Swinging the door open, his expression is wary until he sees who's standing there. Then he's smiling broadly, and throwing the door open. "Ivan! You have come to my room!" Like he's LOST or something. "Come in!" And for a moment, Ivan /looks/ a little lost- when he smiles his usual brief, polite smile and steps forward, he peers around the dorm room to look at all of the things he hadn't seen before. Almost instantly he seems to be drawn to Lord Adolphus, perhaps predictably, leaning closer to /investigate/. And announcing, meanwhile, "I have gifts." His Lordship is doing well, apparently, and aware as soon as Ivan approaches the tank. He rares up, waving his legs like little banners. HELLO IVAN. He might be trying to crawl up to the boy, but the glass is proving too slick for that, so he just sort of falls back down to search along the bottom seam for a more accessible exit. Alas, there is none to be found, so he contents himself with waving his legs in futility. Aaaaa. Kai wavers at the door, uncertainty running through his features before he pushes the door /almost/ closed. Then he drifts after Ivan, watching Adolphus' escape attempts with a small chuff of laughter. "You have gifts?" he echoes, looking at the bag with curiosity. "Oh, yes. You said you would bring me a thing that showed your home," he says, nodding his head. "That is a nice thing for you to do." Ivan's smile twitches slightly wider at His Lordship's antics! When he turns around, it is to wander toward the empty desk, and to lay the bag flat on top - it appears to have two things in it and then something big and flat. When he pulls it out and offers it over to Kai, it is revealed to be... a map. A map of Khimki. Get it. Because. It shows his home. If it is a joke, Ivan's face is not showing it, expression blank except for a lingering smile. Kai watches as Ivan lays the bag on the desk, and hop-steps forward to join him there. When the map is revealed, his eyebrows lift, and he leans over the desk to peer at it. "This is a map of your home?" he guesses, reaching out to trace a finger along the uneven line of a river. "Where do you live, in this map?" he wonders, craning his head to stare owlishly at the older boy. "Is is on this river? We lived near a river on the farm where I grew up." There is a shake of Ivan's head, and he reaches to point aaall the way out to a spot almost as far away from the river as it gets. Taptap. Right there. However- "My old school was near the river. Me and my brothers would go there some times, and hide under a bridge." He turns to face the bag again, sticking one arm in to colleeect something that appears to consist of many many things, before-- just sliding it out onto the desk. It's candy! Or looks like it. Dozens of oblong, candies in white, yellow and red wrappers with an obnoxiously happy cow on the front. Kai wrinkles his nose as Ivan points out his family's location, and whistles low. Or it's probably meant to be a whistle, instead of a high-pitched exhalation. "That is a long way," he notes. He studies the map a moment longer, and frowns. "I hid by our river, too," he notes. "But not with my brothers. Uusually, I was hiding /from/ them." He studies a bit more, and nods. "I will put this on my wall," he says. "So I can study it and learn. And maybe one day I will visit, and everyone will be impressed with how much I know." But then there is CANDY, and Kai's eyes light up. "Oh! Is this from your home as well?" he asks, although the Cyrillic on the wrapper is confirmation enough. "What does the laughing cow mean?" the mention of Kai visiting Khimki prompts an amused look from Ivan, and the subsequent question ears him a curt nod. "I do not know. I had these since I was very little. They are very sweet." He slides a few over to Kai, "They are called Korovki. 'Little cow'." That is apparently all the explanation that gift is going to get for the toffee treats, because he's already getting the third item from the bag next, asking, "Why did you hide from your brothers?" Kai picks up one of the candies, nodding at the explanation. "It is a good name. They must be good candy, if you like them." He untwists the paper, crumpling it in his hand as he pops the toffee in his mouth and chews. Then his smile is wide, and surprised-looking. "These are very good!" he says around the mouthful, and leans in to see what ELSE Ivan has in his magic bag. The question gets a small shrug of his thin shoulders. "They would beat me for being lazy," he says simply. "Or because it was a thing they felt like doing." He says this as if he were stating their reasons for going to the store. Just another chore they tended to. Well. If Ivan wasn't already quite most of the time, he'd be even quieter now. He just stares at Kai for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and letting it out again. For whatever reason, his thoughts as to the matter go unsaid. Instead, he takes out the last of the bag's contents, setting it down in the middle of the desk - a nesting doll, painted in reds, yellows and whites, the outer wooden shell the depiction of a lady in a sarafan. "Matryoshka." Ivan says, looking up to watch Kai's face for his expression. Kai doesn't seem aware of Ivan's discomfort, and he studies the bag as its final prize is withdrawn. Then his eyes widen to near-circles, and he reaches out to touch the lacquered surface of the doll tentatively. "Matryoshka," he echoes, mangling the name badly with his Korean accent. "This is a fine gift," he murmurs, looking at Ivan as if seeking permission before he picks it up, running a finger along the seam. This seems confusing to him, and he looks up at Ivan. "It is a box?" "No." Ivan replies easily, holding his hands in front of him and mimicking how one might go about opening the not-box -- twisting and pulling. He seems oddly /pleased/ that Kai doesn't appear to know what it is, sitting up and nodding toward it as though urging him on to look inside. For the surprise! Which... just happens to be a slightly smaller lady with a sarafan, so it's not a VERY big surprise, but one nonetheless! Kai's brow twitches at the instruction, and he slowly pulls the nesting doll open, his eyes widening as he discovers the next one. "It is a lady inside a lady!" he exclaims, his eyebrows lifting. The second gets extracted, and the seam along her middle inspected in a similar fashion. "This one pulls open, too?" he verifies, before doing that just that, and making a happy noise of discovery at yet /another/ doll. "Ivan! There are /many/ ladies inside!" Halfs of matryoshka are set carefully on the desk, to free his hands for more pulling. "This is a very good gift. Thank you for bringing it to me." Ivan sits patiently, a smile finding its way back to his face as he watches the unveiling! All the way to the fifth wooden figure, which is painted to look like a baby! In red and gold, held in a single piece of painted-on cloth with only its face peeking out. "You are welcome. Sometimes people have them /here/," He notes, with just the slightest tinge of sternness to his voice, which dissipates soon after, "but this one is /real/." Like the others might simply vanish! Kai makes a soft sound at the revelation of the baby at the end, and he takes it out carefully, fingers brushing against the painted fabric almost reverently. "It is very well done," he murmurs, when Ivan explains its authenticity, and he looks up at the older boy with a bright smile. "I am glad that it is real," he says. "But it would not have mattered, if it were not. Because it is a thing you gave to me." He carefully puts the baby back, re-assembling the doll until its back in its original state. Then he moves to carefully place it on the bookshelf, pressing it against the primers gently. "I have a thing for you!" he says, then, moving to his desk and opening the drawer. Taking out a rolled up piece of paper, Kai looks at it for a long moment before he slides the drawer shut and turns back. Then the paper is held out for Ivan, Kai's smile dimming with a bit of trepidation as he hands it over. Once unrolled, it's revealed a drawing done in colored pencils of the apiary, the hives bright white against the panoply of color that is the gardens. No dragons or bees to be seen -- unless you count the yellow and black dots that litter the spaces between the hives. Ivan's eyes flit from object to object, his eyebrows rising slightly in surprise when the piece of paper comes into view. He accepts it gladly, unrolling it in his hands and staaaring at it. For several seconds. Without saying anything. Even his smile seems to be lost in all of the FOCUS that looking the drawing over seem to require. Until eventually, he simply says, quietly, "You are getting better." And continues /looking/, running a finger past a tiny, dot-y bee. Smile slowly returning. "I did not know how to put it in the computer to send it to you," Kai confesses, watching Ivan's face carefully. "I wanted to send it to you, so you would not miss being here too badly." He furrows his brow, frowning as he re-examines that sentence in his mind. "But now, you will have it for the next time you go to see your family." The compliment gets a small flush of the younger boy's cheeks, and he ducks his head. "There has been much time for practicing," he says. "It has been quiet, with most of the people gone." He watches Ivan's face for a moment longer, and tips his head. "Ivan. I would like to ask you a thing," he declares. "If it is all right." Though Ivan speaks no more of the paper, the way he oh-so-carefully rolls it up halfway - then takes a look at it again - and then rolls it up AGAIN to hold it close, in one hand. His now! Not getting it back. His timid smile stays unwavering on his face, eyes locked on Kai's face as he inspects the other student's expression right back. And then nods, once and clear in his movements. Yeees? Kai can't /quite/ keep the pleased look off his face at Ivan's possessiveness, and he actually shows a bit of tooth as he smiles. The nod dims his smile again, though, and he lifts a bare foot to rub it along his calf thoughtfully. "Well," he says slowly, wrinkling his nose. "It is required, in seventh grade, that I learn a language that is different from English," he says. "And I was wondering..." he pauses, considering the way to address the situation. "I would like to take the classes in Russian," he says, choosing the direct path. "But Rasa said that it might be a thing that I should ask you about, first." The furrow of his brow indicates that he /still/ doesn't know how to parse this. His foot slides along his calf again in a slow drag. "So, would that be a thing that displeased you? If I took the classes?" At frst, the question doesn't even really seem to get through to Ivan. Like he doesn't quite understand, blinking cluelessly for a moment. There's a mumble of something Not English, before he almost immediately adds on, "I would not be displeased." Clear as day. He even /sounds/ a bit baffled, for how flat his tone usually is. "But it is not easy." He seems concerned, now. "If you are sure. Then I will help you with the words and phrases. We can practise /all the time/." While doing other things! Multitasking. Relief blooms on Kai's face when Ivan confirms that the plan is a go, and he drops his foot to the floor with a thump. "I will study very hard," he promises, skipping forward a step. "You will see. I will be the /best/ at it." And he totally will, too. "I already know one word -- matryoshka," he says, twisting back to point at the nesting doll. "Although, it does not sound the same as when you say it." He doesn't seem /overly/ concerned about it, but then, lessons haven't formally started. Glancing at the clock on the desk, Kai's eyebrows rise. "Oh! It is later than I thought. It is almost time to spray the bees." He says this as if Ivan might have forgotten the bug-tending schedule. "If you will help me hang up the map you brought me, I will come and help you," he offers, already claiming the map and moving to climb on the bed. "I will even wear the hat and the gloves." Ivan /might/ have forgotten. He straightens again as though he had! Though who knows, he might just be excited to go and take care of his bees -- entirely possible, all things considered. He puts the drawing aside for a moment, in preparation to help with the map hanging. "Thank you." For help, in return! Then, "/Matryoshka/." He repeats, smile twitching slightly wider. And he'll repeat it for as often as it takes for either the map to be up on the wall, or for Kai to manage it more or less correctly. Whichever comes first.