An Unexpected Tryst

Who: Alexi and Tatiana
Where: Campbell’s Gym
When: Flashback about six years ago
Warnings: Very Mildly NSFW

It wasn’t often that Tatiana Nabokova gave in to her wallowing but ever since the move to America, she’d been more inclined to wallow in her sorrows. Normally it was done in private but that night she wanted her father, who was out, he said, at Campbell’s Gym. He always knew the right words to say, speaking to her in soft, comforting Russian and telling her how perfect and lovely she was and while Tatia knew she was beautiful and perfect, she wasn’t feeling like it at the moment.

The summer night breeze blew the skirt of her yellow sundress around her knees, her flat sandals clicking on the sidewalk and her beautiful red curls bouncing gently around her shoulders. She was perfectly made up, skin glowing in the dark and she let herself into the gym, looking around for her father. Her nose wrinkled delicately at the smell of the gym and she looked around in vain for her father but the place was nearly empty.

Alexi was grumbling, holding a towel to his face from where it was bleeding. He’d tried and he was getting better, but he was having trouble keeping up with them. It wasn’t his fault that his second cousin was his age but at least twice his size in all forms. That and laughing at his misfortune really wasn’t making for a good night. Jerks.

He knew his dad cared about him, but his dad was the champ and it looked back that his kid was just a scrub. Pushing open the door, he stopped short, staring at Tatiana, which was hard not to do given that it was Tatiana.

The redhead did not notice Alexi immediately, still looking around with her wrinkled nose and venturing further into the gym. It was mortifying, seeing how she was as tall as the man still beating on a punching bag in the corner. Turning, her eyes fell on Alexi. She wasn’t quite sure of what to make of the boy yet -- boy even though they were the same age -- but he was just as tall as her too and she did not like looking men in the eye like this. His hair was a disheveled mess and he was sweaty. He had been working out, she supposed and she could see some dry blood on his face. However that didn’t matter in light of his staring at her and her wrinkled nose straightened and she gave him a slight smile all while her eye held a somewhat pained look at her angst. “Evening, Alexi,” she said, her Russian accent adding something exotic to his name.

He should say something. He was pretty sure he should say something. “Umm. Hey,” he said with a frown. “What are you doing here? You aren’t going to start boxing are you?” Stupid question, but she was pretty and he wasn’t good at intelligent conversation with pretty girls.

Tatia looked positively repulsed at the idea and shook her head. “I was looking for my father. I don’t believe you’ve seen him, have you?” She twisted her hands and took a few steps closer to him.

Alexi rubbed at his bloody nose again and shrugged. “I was...fighting. I didn’t see. He might be there. Or might have left.” She was moving closer which was, off putting and thrilling at the same time. “Want me to find him or something?”

“Did someone punch you in the face?” she asked bluntly, seeing the source of the bleeding now that she was closer. “No, if they were here you’d still know.” Tears welled in the corner of her eyes before she pushed them back with a series of rapid blinks. Frustration was starting to bubble up in her. She just wanted to feel better that’s all. “Do you have any idea where they might have gone?” It didn’t really occur to Tatia that she probably shouldn’t go looking for her father what with his meeting and everything but she didn’t care. She’d slipped her bodyguard and everything to find him and he wasn’t. There.

He looked past her then shrugged and frowned. “Yeah like eight times. Whatever.” Alexi was quiet for a moment watching her blink away tears. He wasn’t good with girls, but that was hard to miss. He’d seen his mother do the same thing when his dad came home from a fight more than busted up. “You okay?”

Tatia crossed her arms over her chest and nodded while surreptitiously wiping at her eyes, smearing mascara rather unbecomingly on her cheek. “I’m fine. Thank you for your inquiry. I just want my father. Which you cannot help with.” Her Russian accent, while already fairly obvious, grew thicker with her distress and she muttered something in Russian before looking back at Alexi. “Do you think I’m a beanstalk?”

Alexi glanced past her, again, then smirked a little when she smeared her mascara. “A...a what?” he asked, looking at her like she was a little crazy. Taking a dare he reached for her cheek, not quite touching her. “You’ve got...something there.”

She hadn’t been expecting him to reach out and she didn’t pull away when he did. “A beanstalk. Because I’m as tall as you.”

“Oh that? No. Being as tall as me isn’t really a feat. If you were as tall as gigantor over there?” He waved towards the ring where his second cousin was laughing still. “Then we can talk about calling you names. You’re...fine.” He rubbed at his cheek, bruise purpling there. He was going to look like hell tomorrow.

The scowl on her pretty face showed how much she didn’t believe him and Tatia shook her hair over her shoulder and bit her lip. “Only fine?” she asked, clearly looking for something more there. She saw the way he was looking at her and she turned innocent, baleful eyes on him. “That’s all? The other girls keep making fun of how tall I am and my hair color and it’s ridiculous because who wants to be tiny where they can’t reach anything.” To receive a little you had to give and Tatia wanted her compliments.

Alexi opened his mouth once, closed it, once more then still when nothing came out he closed it again. Steeling himself against those eyes he looked away, more towards anywhere but those eyes. “Of course that’s not all. You’re...they say because their jealous. You’re pretty than all of them and they can’t handle it.”

Watching his mouth open and close like a fish gave her an instant little boost and she smiled demurely at Alexi, feigning bashfulness. “It seems if I’m not being judged for being overly tall, then it’s for being Russian. It’s lonely,” she said with a sigh and tightened her arms around herself. “I’m sorry, my worries must be so silly. Are you alright?” She gestured to her nose. She felt eyes on her, the last few men in the gym finally taking notice of the bright beacon that she presented in yellow with hair turned a fiery copper under the fluorescent lights.

“My whole face hurts,” Alexi said, making a face which hurt more. He looked at her, touching her elbow as he heard more people start to notice them. “You shouldn’t have to be lonely.” He winced when he said it, deciding that sounded stupid too. “You probably don’t want to hang out here. I can walk you home or something.”

The face he tried to make got a genuine giggle out of her. They hadn’t exchanged many words before -- more passing acquaintances in the past -- but there was something about him she liked. It was probably the way he was trying to make her feel better and tears filled her eyes again. “I don’t want to go home. Not right now.” She leaned closer so she could whisper in his ear, which probably looked intimate to the others. “I snuck out,” she confessed. For all her brattiness, Tatiana was someone who followed her parents rules. Someone trying to assassinate you at ten years old instilled a certain obedience in someone.

Alexi considered that for a moment, then reached for her elbow, pulling her a few steps away, towards the door. “What about somewhere else?” he suggested, voice low and conspiring with her whisper. “Since you snuck out and all. Make the most of it?” It was a risk, suggesting the pretty girl from his school and the family hang out with him, but what the hell? He’d been shot down before.

The suggestion got a startled look out of Tatiana and she blinked at him, going along with his pull. “Where would we go?” she asked in a similar tone of voice. She’d never had someone to conspire with before, not like this. It was almost like she was slumming despite the fact that both of them were part of Syndicate families, although she wasn’t quite sure of the structure of it or if they could even be considered to be on the same level. “And won’t you get in trouble?”

He looked towards the gym then shrugged. “Maybe. But what can he do ground me? Means I won’t get my face bashed in tomorrow.” Actually it meant he’d probably be working harder at the gym, but Alexi’s father wasn’t great at punishments after his mother had died. “And...I know a place. If you want.”

Tatia’s eyes glittered with curiosity and she nodded eagerly. “Lead the way then, yes?” It wasn’t the best grammar but she wasn’t actually thinking at the moment. Whatever Alexi was offering, Tatia wanted. Someone wolf-whistled at them and she turned to lay a rather deadly looking scowl at the nerve. It wasn’t like that at all. Honestly. Americans were so vulgar.

Alexi offered the ass his own scowl and started them around the side of the building. There was another way into the apartment, he knew how to get there, but this was less obvious, going through the door on the outside of the building. It was locked, but Alexi had found the key, something he’d nicked off a desk a while back, opening the door and holding it for her. “Up the stairs.”

Curiosity was getting the better of her and the dim staircase didn’t phase her. Tatia headed up, keeping a hand on the wall for balance. “What’s up here?” she asked.

Alexie wasn’t far behind her, closing and locking the door behind him. “It’s an apartment. No one’s using it these days,” he explained as he hurried after her, opening the door at the top of the steps as well. “It’s not like nice, but you know...private.” Alexi winced again, hating that that sounded like a come on as well.

The apartment was sparsely furnished, certainly liveable if someone was desperate. It was cooler up there and she shivered a bit and crossed her arms over herself once more. The sounds of the gym were distant and it felt like they were a world away from there. Her frustrations and sadness were getting the better of her, especially now that they were alone and she sniffled a bit before sneezing, dust tickling her nose. “I just hate it here so much,” she said pathetically and turned around to look at him. “I miss Russia. I miss knowing exactly who I was to everyone and that everyone knew me and I hate it. I hate this and they make fun of my stupid accent chert vas vozʹmi,” she swore in Russian, which, when she realized she’d done it, served to only incense her more and she burst into tears.

Alexi wiped at the last of the dried blood, leaving it on his sleeve. He had something to say, about how it wasn’t all bad here in the states, even though he’d never been to Russia. He’d heard stories though, his family came from there as well and not far enough away from his heritage that he didn’t have the name to show. When she burst into tears though he moved closer, holding her arms and looking into her eyes. “Hey, don’t cry! It’s not that bad. Tell ‘um all to fuck off. They don’t know any better.”

“Of course they don’t!” she hiccuped, her nose as red as her hair and she sniffled more. “They just don’t appreciate me and it would be so much easier if I was born here, like you, and I hate it when things are difficult and it’s not fair.” Her accent was thick, making some of the words difficult to understand and she looked at him with her big blue eyes, smeared with black gunk and tears. “You appreciate me, don’t you Alexi?”

“Even if you were from here they’d still find something to make fun of you for.” They’d always made from of Alexi for being short, but he’d managed to find his foothold when he fought back more. He tugged at his sleeve, finding a cleaner spot and wiping at her eyes for her, trying to clear away the worst of the gunk. “Of course I do. You know that.”

Him wiping her eyes startled Tatia and she blinked, tears slowing as he comforted her. He wasn’t that bad, really. He was enamoured by her, of course, but he was sweet to her, doting and comforting and she gave him a watery smile, allowing him to comfort her and taking strength from that. “Maybe you’re right. If it isn’t me being too tall, it would be my hair or my lack of boyfriend. It’s all so silly.” Silly when she wasn’t the one doling out the teasing and ridicule. When she was on the receiving end, it was unjust and it was hypocritical but that was how the world revolved around the sun that was Tatiana Nabokova. “It still hurts though. I miss home.” Her lower lip trembled and she caught it between perfect white teeth and gripped one of his arms in turn.

Right she needed to stop doing that thing where she was biting her lip and touching him because it was beyond distracting. He was watching her mouth, trying to think of something to say, but not sure of what it should be. “You don’t have a boyfriend?” he wound up blurting out, wincing again because that obviously wasn’t the thing to focus on in this situation.

Tatia shook her head. “I did once. For a few days. Life in Russia was different. Home schooling, friends weren’t really allowed to come over to the house... not after what happened in school. I had suitors, men I danced with. But here I am the strange foreign girl.” She said it with clear distaste, curling her lip in annoyance. “Do you have anything to drink up here?”

“Here I’d think it’d be easier, you’re pretty you’ve got money...” he watched her for a moment, hesitating like there was something else to say but then he let it go. He wasn’t suave like that in any way. Holding up a finger he ducked away, opening a few cabinets until he found the stash, a half empty bottle of vodka, also nicked from somewhere and brought up here the first time he’d hid out. “Not the best, but a start right?”

She chuckled a little and nodded, coming over to him to take the large bottle out of his hands and unscrewed the red top off. “Vodka is vodka. I think they say it’s... varying strengths of paint thinner.” She took a hefty swig, the alcohol burning her mouth and down her throat and she shook her head and body as it went down. It was incredibly unladylike of her but in that moment she didn’t care. She knew that Alexi wouldn’t go telling anyone.

While it wasn’t lady-like, all it did was spark a fire in Alexi. He wasn’t like the others and tended to like a girl with depth, with more than one side. Like any guy he was a sucker for a pretty face like Tatia’s but at the same time he was drawn to the fact that she was more than that. Probably eve more so. He took the bottle from her, taking his own swig before leaning against the table. “So what was the three day boyfriend like? Handsome, just what your father wanted you to date and boring?”

“They were all handsome,” she said with a shrug and reached for the bottle, her fingers brushing his only just. “Most of them were taller than me -- Russian men are tall. It’s the cold that does it, I think. Tall and strong. Sweet. Brought me flowers and candies and one got me a puppy.” A puppy that died when she was nearly hit by a car the previous year. “Proper though. Very formal. My father had a rigorous screening process for them all. He couldn’t be too careful with me. There was always an escort there, my bodyguard, Kiev? I think he might be wondering where I am...” Shrugging again she took another swig and wiped some more at the smears of mascara, knowing that she looked like some kind of raccoon.

None of that sounded like Alexi. He wasn’t tall, he wasn’t proper, and he was only occasionally sweet. That was probably by accident when it did happen. “They sound boring,” he said making a face, reaching for the bottle, but getting her wrist instead. “Proper’s always boring. Same with formal.”

She smiled at him, a sweet one and she ducked her head as if blushing. She was basking in his attention and allowed his hand on her wrist, not pulling away. “Sometimes it does get boring,” she confessed. “I’ve always wondered what the alternative might be...” She said it as if she’d thought of him specifically, not just the general alternative to propriety and formality. “I suppose you could say that my leash prevents me from venturing too far though.”

Alexi took the bottle, taking a swig off of it but not letting go of her wrist. “The alternative?” he asked, tilting his head back and forth as he thought about that. “The alternative is me,” he said not betting that she’d thought of him. It might have been toned that way but he knew better. “Rough around the edges, kind of dirty and definitely not boring.” He shook his head a little, hair falling in his eyes as he gave her slightest of pulls towards him.

He may have pulled her by the wrist, but she felt a tug deep inside of her that tugged her towards him and she breathed slowly, letting out a heavy sigh. She watched his eyes as she took the bottle from him, not really mindful of the fact that that this was her third shot and they were heavy shots at that. “I’m sure you clean up nice,” she said, her voice soft and conspiratorial. Her floral perfume was sweet, mixing with scent of his sweat and it just did something to her deep inside, feeding into that need to touch and take.

He let her take the bottle, running his hand up her arm instead. “That’s what mom used to say. I figure maybe, but you know... why bother?” That tone of her voice almost gave him chills, the way she seemed to put together, perfect dress, hair done right, that soft girly smell to her.

The hand running up her arm had her shivering slightly, something she blamed more on the cold but suddenly she couldn’t look away from those deep brown eyes that were looking at her, sad and earnest and everything in between. “I heard about your mother,” she said. “My condolences. I can’t imagine losing a parent.” The genuine sentiments were undeniable and she leaned forward to kiss his cheek, not caring about if he was sweaty and dirty or not. A rarity for her.

Alexi let out a soft sigh. “She was sick. It happens. We were ready for it.” Though he and his father were still figuring out what came next. The kiss though, that wiped away all his thoughts. Alexie didn’t think, not as he reached for her, the hand on her arm drawing her closer as he stood pulling her in to kiss her properly. She might hit him, but it was worth it.

If she hadn’t been feeling so vulnerable and unappealing, then Tatiana might really have smacked him for kissing her but he was lucky for catching her in such a mood and her mouth was petal soft against his and she gave a sweet little sigh and reached up to rest her free hand on his shoulder, the other still holding onto the bottle. This was the perfect balm to her wounded ego. To have someone wanting her and her alone.

Alright, she wasn’t hitting him, that was a very good start. One hand looped around her waist, pulling her closer as he ramped the kiss up just a little, making it something more than a haphazard attempt and lunge, but something he really did mean to do, knew how to do.

His eagerness to have her closer had her smiling against his kiss before she was pulled into a more intense exchange. She’d been kissed by many; stolen ones in coat closets, chaste ones exchanged at the end of a dance, even a proper one once before she had been so rudely interrupted. This one, however, was a real kiss, one that she hadn’t quite experienced before because there was no one who was going to be barging in on them and his arm was heavy around her waist. it was nice, kissing Alexi. There was no awkward angling of necks to compensate for height issues and letting go of the bottle of vodka she reached up to tangle a hand in his hair and pull him closer in turn. She moaned his name when they parted, her eyes half lidded and lips reddened.

He went with her, hand that wasn’t around her waist, cupping her cheek to kiss her again, lighter and quicker, but he couldn’t not, not when she was saying his name like that. “So much more fun,” he said softly, ducking his head to kiss her jaw slowly.

Tatia’s eyes fluttered and she angled her head to give him better access to her jaw and neck to encourage him. “More fun,” she echoed, shivering under the touch of his lips. Nope. No one had ever done that to her before and she wondered why because it was so. Nice.

Alexi didn’t stop, hand dipping to her lower back to draw her even more towards him. There was no good explanation for why this was happening, but she was here, obviously enjoying herself and Alexi was determined not to stop it just so long as she didn’t.

It got a surprised squeak out of her and Tatia held his head to her, not wanting him to stop. Was she supposed to beg? She’d heard that before. Marissa had to beg her beau to keep going but no matter how much pleasure she was getting from this, Tatia wasn’t a begger at all. “Yes,” she sighed, pressing her body, the soft, long limbed lines of her against him. “Don’t stop.”

Alexi drew in his own breath when she moved against him, feeling her there in a way he really hadn’t imagined it. He pulled away for a moment leaning in to kiss her again before breaking away complete. “C’mere,” he said, taking her hand and starting towards the room off the living room. It wasn’t much of a bedroom, but there was a bed there, blankets on it not as old as everything else in the apartment.

There was something about the way he said ‘C’mere’ that had her knees shaking a little and she led him lead her once more to the bedroom. Logically, she knew where this was probably going but logic wasn’t exactly at the steering wheel at the moment. What was was that someone was entrapped by her and she wasn’t letting go, the thought of him just wanting to get into the pants of Yuri Nabokov’s little princess the furthest thing from her mind. Not when she wanted it too. “I think you’re going to get in trouble with your father,” she said breathlessly, her hands running over his strong arms and over his shoulders to pull him back to her as she slipped out of her sandals.

He grinned, laughing a little as he stepped out of his own shoes, pulling her back towards the bed and kissing her again before sitting on it. “Worth every moment of punishment,” he promised before kissing her again, deeper this time as one hand drifted up the hem of her dress, along the outside of her leg.

If she’d been thinking, Tatia would probably not like the fact that with her still standing, she was towering over him (or at least, that’s what it felt like). She was going to answer him, some quip about having to beware her own father as well and instead she parted her lips against his and moved closer, his hand on her leg spreading goosebumps as she stood between his knees and her hands gripped his shoulders, her french manicured nails scratching lightly.

Alexi had one hand on the back of her knee, coaxing her towards him as he kissed her, wanting her on the bed with him. That added pressure on his shoulder was like an invitation not to stop, to keep things going, his hand grazing the back of her thigh with light fingers.

She squirmed at the ticklish touch and moved that leg to rest on the mattress so she was straddling one of his thighs, her skirt hiking up with the motion. She should’ve been demure, shy or something but the want, the temptation that he was presenting was sending that all out the window. Reaching down she tugged up on his shirt, not caring if it pulled him away from her she just wanted it off.

It surprised him that he didn’t react right away, slowing for a moment before leaning back and letting go of her leg long enough to get out of his shirt. “C’mere,” he was saying again, not very creative with words but what he was feeling. His hands were up her skirt again, farther than was polite and he was spinning her, putting her back on the bed and moving over her.

That lack of creativity was doing something to her head and she hit the mattress with a giggle, really not caring about her lack of decency with her skirt tangled up and him crawling up between her legs. “I’ve never done this before,” she said with that conspiratorial smile on her face, admiring his bare torso and reaching out to touch it. Her own skin looked ghost-like in the moonlight spilling into the unlit room, a brightness against the dark covers of the bed.

Alexi held himself up over her easily, too many workouts to get stronger, finally paying off. He looked down at her with smile, leaning to kiss her softly. “Which part of this?” he asked, though he assuming she meant all of it.

Tatia’s eyes narrowed and, wanting to inflict some kind of pain, she raked her nails down his chest. “Are you insinuating that I’m a loose woman?”

That got a gasp and Alexi reached to stop her hand before she did damage. “No,” he said shaking his head and leaning more over her. “Someone who looks like you? She could have done whatever she wants.”

Him holding her hand tight like that, looming over her the way he was had her biting her lip but still, there was a wicked look in her eyes as she tried to tug her hand out of his grasp. “Maybe I haven’t had the opportunity. Maybe I haven’t found anyone that I wanted to with.” Not that there was any opportunity to be in the current position that she was.

Alexi didn’t let go of her hand right away, holding it there as she struggled against his grasp for a moment. “Lucky me then,” he said as he let her hand go, giving her a chance to struggle away and letting his hand trail up her leg again, all the way to her hip.

Shivering again against the bedspread she smacked his arm and leaned up to tangle her hand in his hair and kiss him again. It was more demanding on her part this time, more rough and desperate and her fingers curled tightly in his dark hair. The way he said how lucky he was made her angry but she didn’t want to leave.

He laughed when she smacked him, but returned the kiss with the same fury, fingers hooking in her underwear and tugging them lower. She still had her dress on, but at the moment, Alexi hardly cared. She might have hit him, but she was dragging him in to kiss him harder which meant she wasn’t stopping things.

It was awkward, but somehow she managed to help him get the off and kick them away. Some part of her was nervous but it was tucked away in the logical part of her that wasn’t having any part in their activities. She could taste the vodka on his mouth and she wondered exactly what the proof was on that bottle that had her at this point. “Tell me how beautiful I am,” she whispered into the kiss.

His hand was all over her now bare hip, smoothing over the pale skin, breaking off their kiss only when he couldn’t breathe. “You’re more than beautiful,” he told her, meaning it with her here, like this. “You’re perfect.” He was tugging at his own sweats, struggling to get them off.

Tatia made a pleased sound at being told she was perfect, liking the way he sounded, with such devotion in his voice. “Perfect in every way?” she asked, lifting a long leg to hook her toes into his sweats to help him but she was slow in doing it, teasing until she got her answers.

He struggled for a moment, not liking that she was teasing him. He was supposed to have the upper hand here. “Every single one,” he told her, helping her with his sweats. He kissed her again, harder this time.

She bit at his lip, still wanting to cause him pain in some degree but it thrilled her, that little ounce of control she had in a new situation. “This can be the only time,” she said between fierce, possessive kisses. “They’ll kill you if they find out.” Oh, of that she was certain of, that her father or even her mother would demand his head and she didn’t want sweet, devoted Alexi to lose his head.

The bite got a wince out of him and a noise to go with it, a gasp with extra sound. He was nodding. “Just once,” he said though in the back of his mind he was sure that if this worked? He’d be determined to convince her to sneak away again. He wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t going to start dating him, take him home to her parents, they’d have someone else in the family picked out for her, but maybe he could be her secret.