ArchivedLogs:Calling Russia

Calling Russia
Dramatis Personae Ivan, Kai
In Absentia	2013-07-17 '
Location <XS> Jack and Kai's Dorm
It's morning in New York, probably around 10 or so compared to the 6 in the afternoon in Moscow, and most students at Xavier's are in their summer classes. Some, though, have free periods, and time to kill. Which probably explains why Ivan's computer at home is chiming with the soft musical boops of a Skype call. The request is coming from a non-avatar'd user named dragonboy. It takes a little while, but the jingles on Ivan's end of the world do eventually stop. And with it appears a person on Kai's screen, though... it does not appear to be Ivan. It does not appear to be Ivan at all. It's a person leaning quite close indeed to the webcam - a woman, about 25, with pale blonde hair pulled tight into a ponytail. She frowns at the screen below the camera with utmost concentration, moving her arm just off-screen, right about where the mouse would typically be. "{I got it!}" She yells over her shoulder, in shrill-voiced Russian. "{Vanuushka I got it. What do I do now?}" There is no response. The video image that comes up when the call is opened is...KAIFACE. The Korean boy is nothing but face in the monitor, blinking confusedly at the woman and frowning lightly. "HELLO, IS THIS IVAN'S COMPUTER IN RUSSIA?" he asks, his overloud voice amplified further by being too close to the laptop's imbedded microphone. "THIS IS KAI. MAY I SPEAK TO IVAN, PLEASE?" AaaaAA! The woman on the other end pulls away from the webcam on her end so rapidly she nearly falls over a sofa that's placed nearby, in the tiny, tiny, drab grey and yellow living room. She's wearing a pink track suit, and has exchanged her look of concentration for one of confusion, aimed right at the screen. It appears Ivan's STARE runs in the family. "{Vaaaanyushkaaaaa? There's a boy talking! What're you doing talking to Chinese boys? Come the fuck over here already, I want to go the fuck out. Quickquick!}" In the background, something thu-thumps. A door opens off to the side, somewhere, and Ivan appears! He makes his way hurriedly over to the PC, dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, towel over his shoulders, his hair soaking wet and flat across his scalp. "{Go, go, thanks- I'll see you later?}" He hasn't even finished talking yet, or the woman's GONE. And someone else has entered and closed the door he came from, on top of it. Big families. Bathroom's never empty long. Kai's face pulls back when the woman jerks back and starts yelling in Russian, and his expression shifts to one of worry. He's dressed in a white Xavier's tee, the starkness of his dorm room visible behind him. "Oh! I AM SORRY. I THINK I AM PUTTING THE WRONG THINGS INTO MY COMPUTER," he begins to shout, waving his hands. "I DID NOT MEAN TO SCARE YOU. I WILL --" he breaks off when Ivan enters the view, and his face brightens considerably. "IVAN! IT IS KAI. CAN YOU HEAR ME?" And...there is KAIFACE again, as he peers into the screen. From offscreen, there's the sound of a door opening, and an unidentified voice speaks up. "Kai, dude. We can hear you in the Rec Room. Keep it down, will you?" Kai's face turns to nod at the voice, and the door closes again. Dorms. Like big families, but more polite. Ivan sits! At the screen he was supposed to be at in the first place, peering at the screen for a few seconds before throwing a brief glance up to the webcam. Only /then/ is there a smile, reserved as it might be. He opens his mouth a few second before something actually manages to come out, like he's got to make the /switch/ between languages. "Hello, Kai. You do not have to be so loud. It is like the phone." Up close, and lifting the towel over his head to attempt to dry his hair in the least efficient way possible by just MESSING IT UP before folding the towel up again and leaving it on his lap, he might look a tiny bit different- but only a tiny bit. A month of hard work has left him a tiny bit less scrawny, but also decidedly less than energetic. It's been a long day. Kai nods at the instruction, but his face is mostly smile as he sits back. "Ivan. It is good to see you," he says in a much more normal voice, his eyebrows lifting. "I have missed you." He leans forward again, peering at the screen with a small wrinkle of his nose. "You look different," he says. "Is that because you are in Russia with your family? Some of the students said that families fatten you up when you go home. Is that what your family is doing?" Clearly, this is an idea whose purpose is lost on the skinny little teenager. "Have you been having fun with your family? What is Russia like?" He might be a /little/ excited. He's definitely bouncing a bit. The questions fly by Ivan without an immediate answer, because apparently sitting there and observing Kai is a much more worthwhile pursuit. Excited Kai is entertaining. Though Ivan /does/ glance downward and at one of his arms for a moment when his appearance comes up, briefly confused. "Russia is- Russia. It is home. I do not think they are fattening me up." His English is a little stiffer than usual, his answers more of an echo of Kai's questions than anything else. His brow furrows- gotta climb past that language barrier all over again, half-successfully swiping still wet hair away and off of his forehead. "Have you been well? You look happy." Kai giggles a bit when Ivan looks at his arm, and ducks his head. "I did not understand what they meant when they said that," he admits. "It is not like your family is planning to /eat/ you." This is also a source of giggling, and Kai claps a hand over his mouth. "I am happy because I am getting to talk to you," he says, nodding vigorously. Because video chat must require some sort of movement. Clearly. "As I have said, I have missed you." He shifts, then, and it's clear he's shifting to his knees as his head disappears for a moment. Then it reappears as he settles himself. "I have been taking care of your bugs," he says. "And I go out every day to spray the bees with cool water, because it has been very hot here and the books say that bees do not like it very hot." He seems very proud of this fact, beaming a bit. "But I have not been doing very much else. I have...been... very busy. With things. School." Something makes Ivan's smile twitch slightly wider, even if it's hard to tell exactly what. Behind him, sounds of a shower flicking on and two people in the background are shown to be following each other through a hallway. Busy place. "Thank you, Kai. For the bees, and my pets. I am very glad things have been well and I am very grateful for what you are doing. I would be very sad if they did not have you to take care of them." He pauses momentarily, his smile fading just slightly and his head cocking to the side curiously. Thoughtfully. "Do you not like busy?" Kai's frown is a fleeting thing, and the smile that replaces it is a little fixed-looking. "Oh, no. It is good to be busy. I am learning many things, and I think I will be able to start on the seventh grade things in the fall." He bobs his head, and his gaze drops, probably to the keyboard. "But I wish that I could do more things," he confesses. "Like Pe -- some of the other students." He looks up, then, suddenly bright again, and he's reaching for something below the camera, his look intent as he retrieves it. "I thought you would like to see Lena," he says, holding up the big blue spider so that the camera can catch the way the sunlight catches her fuzzy legs. "She has eaten many crickets today, so she is in a good mood." As in, not bitey. Now-- now it is time for Ivan to be /excited/. He doesn't appear to have seen this coming at /all/, and he sits even straighter than he usually sits for this, his smile disappearing entirely as he PEERS at the screen like he's been hypnotised. It's only after a good few seconds that he speaks again, though... apparently forgetting to do it in English, sort of prattling on for a moment, "{Leeena Lena it's Lena, Lena there you are I didn't want to ask but there you are and you're still alive, Zhenya? Zhenya?}" Another male appears, /almost/ like Ivan's father save for the fact that he's about twenty years younger, but just as wide and LOUD in his movements as he sidles into view, kneeling next to his brother so they can peer at the screen together! Though he does it somewhat sternly. But he does give a little wave. "Hello, friend of Ivan." perhaps unsurprisingly, he's got a /very thick accent/. "And hello Lena. She is living, this is very fortunate." "She has missed you." Kai's smile could be made of sunlight, the way his face lights up at Ivan's reaction. A bit of pink creeps into his ears as the other boy talks to his pet, and Lena seems to respond, raising her front two legs to WAVE them in the air. As if to say 'HELLO IVAN I CAN SEE YOU.' When the man appears, Kai's smile dims just a bit, and his torso shrinks back from the screen, slightly. "Hello, Ivan's...brother?" he guesses. "My name is Kai. I am taking care of Lena and Ivan's other bugs for him while he is at home." While still /proud/ of this fact, he offers it hesitantly, as if it requires Zhenya's approval. "Mmh." This is the only thing that leaves Zhenya's, expression largely neutral, until he clamps a big hand over his brother's shoulder and rises again. "Good, good. I am happy." This is the last thing he says before snatching the towel off his brother's lap and wanders off again, mumbling something to himself. Better things to do, perhaps. Still enthused is, guess who, Ivan! He sits, leans closer to his screen, "That was Zhenya. He is my brother." He confirms, smiling again now, "It is very strange," His eyebrows push toward each other for a moment, though it does little to dampen the joy at seeing his pet, "to see her when she is so far away." Unspoken is something else that he is NOT able to do, which may not be too hard to guess. "But I am very glad. She looks very good. Thank you." Kai nods at the confirmation, blinking beyond Ivan after Zhenya for a moment. "He is very big," he notes. "Like your father. I hope he is well, too," he adds, brow furrowing. "Your father, I mean. He seemed very nice." He smiles a bit, and holds Lena up for closer inspection. "All of your bugs are well," he confirms. "I follow your instructions very carefully, because I know they are important to you." He smiles, then, and tips his head. "You will be coming back soon," he reminds the other boy. "I am looking forward to it." Ivan nodnods! At the mention of his father being well. His smile appears to fade just ever so slightly, but this is reasily rectified when Lena is held closer to the webcam. "I am glad he was nice- he and Zhenya are some times very much alike." This comes out a little distracted, because he's far too busy inspecting Lena. All eight legs still attached? Good good. Still alert and healthy? Perfect. "Twenty-five days." He's been /counting/, apparently. "And I will bring gifts." Something appears to occur to him then, and he looks from the screen, back directly to the webcam again. "Do you like any particular things?" ... Aaand attention back to Lena. "He is very loud," Kai says of Ivan's father. "But he seemed very nice, to me." He smiles as Lena attempts to crawl onto the screen, and (with a small lift for one last inspection), he transfers her to his shoulder, where she seems content to explore the fringes of his hair. The numbering of days gets a brighter look from the younger teen, and he nods. "Twenty-five days," he repeats, and his eyebrows lift. "There will be time to do things!" Which is more excitement, although he doesn't bounce very hard. He has a passenger, after all. The question gets a puzzled look, and Kai purses his lips thoughtfully. "I do not know anything about Russia," he says. "You could bring me a thing which shows a thing about your home." He smiles. "I would like that very much." "I will look." Ivan says, giving a decisive nod, and squaring back his shoulders in determination. From the looks of it, he's gonna look his EYES out for this thing. The bathroom behind him is vacated again, only to be occupied immediately afterwards by yet /another/ sibling, this time with a SLAM of the door. And a subsequent yell, indubitably about NOT doing such things as slamming freakin' doors. Followed by an older, female sibling wandering into frame, staring curiously toward the screen. She's eating something off a plate, with a fork, but it's hard to see what. She whines, "{Vaanyaaaa, tea time, come on. Sasha wants to use the PC, you can have it when he's done.}" She lightly bumps his shoulder with her hip, then wanders off again, seemingly bemused. Ivan does not complain, a sloow breath inward and soon released being the only hint at the fact that he's not entirely pleased. But still, his smile stays, and he reluctantly says to Kai, "I have to go." A pause, and then, "I am looking forward to it, too." Kai's smile is brightened by Ivan's promise, and he nods. "I will have pictures for you of things I have drawn," he promises in return. "I will show you the one I did of the farm with the fruit, and the man made of sand who tried to kidnap us." He wrinkles his nose. "It is a very tricky thing, to draw sand. It is very grainy." When there is commotion behind Ivan, Kai peers curiously, watching the commotion of family life with yellow flickering gently at the edges of his eyes -- which probably looks like a pixel problem, on the video screen. When the girl appears, he offers a small wave, frowning at the sudden flurry of Russian from her. Like it is somehow his FAULT that Ivan is being spoken to thusly. The explanation gets a small disappointed look, but Kai nods, lifting his eyebrows as he peers at the background. "There are a lot of people in your family," he says in a bit of awe. "You said there were many, but that is /very/ many." Which is not a goodbye, and he realizes that with a small blush. "We will do all the things," he agrees with a vigorous nod. One that Lena does not look /pleased/ about, but she doesn't show any signs of distress about it. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit with your family, Ivan," he says earnestly, talking quickly as if to cram in as much IVAN as possible. "I will send you an email, with pictures of your bugs. Sophie showed me how to take pictures with my phone, so I can show you." "I would like that very much. Thank y--" Whooop. Without being able to finish his sentence, Ivan is /pushed away/. By-- nothing, from the looks of it, though he grits his teeth as though it's a familiar thing, as he starts to sliide out of frame. Aaa. God damn it. From somewhere in tbe background, Dorofei's familiar voice booms, "ALEKSANDR." After that, there's just sort of a /mess/. Of siblings, peering around doorways and the one hallway in sight, wandering around making grand gestures as a smattering of voices carry arguments back and forth, louder with every passing moment. It isn't long before the chair slides back into frame on Kai's screen, only this time with a bored, slouching, terribly trashily dressed and slightly older copy of Ivan (albeit with his head shaven) sitting on it. A few seconds after that, he seizes control of the mouse and keyboard, sighs, and CLICK. Blackness.