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“It doesn’t make you nervous to be standing by the window while the sky is basically on fire, gazelle?” Misha asked.
I turned toward him, already feeling the effects of the caffeine boost. “Nope. My mom told me I was born in the middle of a storm like this. I’ve always been fascinated by them.”
Ivan looked surprised. “My mom told me the same thing.”
“It’s why you’re both all feisty and shit,” Misha said, looking between Ivan and me. His wide, handsome smile stretched across his face.
“Did your mom tell you that children born in storms should never fear the dark because the light is always with them?” I asked Ivan.
“She did not. She did, however, tell me to stop breaking bones. She did that quite a lot,” he said.
“I can imagine you were barely contained as a child, Super Squish.” I looked at Misha, who was still smiling. “And you, my adorable Russian guardian, I’m convinced you got away with murder because you were so adorable. Your poor mothers,” I said, shaking my head, but smiling at the thought of both of them as rowdy little kids. I turned back to look out the windows. A giant streak of lightning stretched across the sky, immediately followed by a second, even brighter streak across the sky and a loud crack of thunder. It was so loud that I didn’t hear Misha get up from the couch. I felt his hands on my shoulders pulling me back from the windows.
“You make me nervous, gazelle. Maybe don’t stand so close to the windows while the sky is angry,” he said. He walked back to the couch, sitting once more.
“Which one of you is warmer?” I asked, walking closer to the couches. “Never mind. I’ll run my own experiment,” I said, sitting beside Misha. I curled up next to him as he threw his arm over my shoulders.
“Are you still cold, gazelle?” he asked. I just put my cold hand on his face, laughing at his reaction.
Andrei and Stephen walked in as I was still laughing at Misha. “Spider monkey, you look like you’re frozen,” Andrei said, plopping down on one of the couches. Stephen, in his normal quiet way, walked to the kitchen.
“Not completely frozen. Slightly thawed, but not room temperature yet,” I said. “I’m currently conducting research to find out which one of you is the warmest. Misha’s data set is looking like the low end so far.” He wrapped his other arm around me and then threw one of his legs over me as well, trying to help me warm up. He stayed like that for a few minutes, with me laughing and trapped underneath him. “Not helping.” I pushed him off me and moved next to Ivan. He threw his giant arm over my shoulders as I curled up next to him. “Warmer than Misha.”
“Hey, I warmed you up by making you laugh. It should count,” Misha said, feigning outrage.
“I’ll make mention of it in the results section of my report,” I said, grinning at him. I looked at Andrei, asking, “Did Keith and Chris get tired of getting virtually killed by you and Yoden?”
He chuckled, nodding his head. Stephen walked to one of the couches, saying, “I’m going to be saving their asses for a while.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing it was a video game and not real life,” Stephen said.
“Ouch,” I said. Ivan really was much warmer than Misha. I found myself moving closer to him, trying to finally get warm. Andrei noticed me moving and opened his arms to me. “Come here, spider monkey. I’m always hot.” I grinned at him as I got up and moved next to him as he threw his giant arm around my shoulders. “Warmer than Ivan. This explains why you’re totally fine in a t-shirt right now,” I said.
“Told you. I’m always hot,” Andrei said.
“Mental note taken, Bubba,” I said as I moved closer to Andrei. I finished my coffee and was almost warm again. Almost. We stayed quiet for a few minutes, listening to the thunder rumble outside. It was still loud. It sounded like the storm was sitting directly above us, not moving. Andrei really was quite warm and I finally felt my body start to relax next to him. My mind wandered back to the week we’d all had. I glanced at each of them, asking, “How do you guys cope after you’ve killed somebody?” Andrei’s giant arm held me tighter. They all looked at me, knowing looks on their faces.
Ivan sighed. “It’s different each time, princess. Some I still regret. The first ones,” he said, knowing I would know what he was talking about.
“Why those? Those are the ones I would think you felt the least regret about, Squish. They clearly had it coming,” I said.
He thought for a minute. “Yes and no. I still think a few of them were mostly innocent. They were just in the way.”
I could tell that Misha and Stephen were curious about what we were talking about, but trying to be respectful of Ivan’s privacy. Andrei just kept a tight hold on me. Stephen looked at me, his usual serious look on his face. “It might be disturbingly easy for me, since I’m usually nowhere near my targets. I think about that sometimes and worry that I might be a serial killer.”
Misha caught my eye, trying not to laugh. I looked at Stephen, “Yoden, if I’m being honest here, we’ve all wondered about that as well.” I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t contain it when he started laughing as well.
“I mean, I am like the textbook personality for it. Quiet, keeps to myself, never had many friends…”
“Until now,” Misha said. Stephen looked at Misha, clearly surprised. Ivan and Andrei both nodded in agreement. I watched as Stephen’s cheeks flushed.
“You’re part of the family, man. You know that, right?” Andrei said.
Stephen was speechless for a moment. “I mean, I guess so,” he said, still clearly surprised.
“You just never believed it until it was said out loud?” I asked.
