If Boris should describe himself with one word, it would be "harsh".
When he was a boy, Boris was kind and gentle, but since he started working in politics, he undestood that it’s like swimming a pool full of sharks, eat-or-be-eaten.
He needed an armor to survive, and the more time passed, the more tough the armor should be.
Now Boris Shcherbina is known to be coldness and steel; he's a fair boss, he never mobbed his subordinates because he's not an asshole, but he's very strict, faithful to his no-nonsense policy, prone to yell and terrify to obtain results.
He has behaved like that for so long that in the end he convinced himself that he's only that, coldness and steel.
But since he met Valery, this infuriating, awkward, golden-hearted, wonderful man, he rediscovered a old side of himself.
He doesn't know how, but Valery wrung long forgotten feelings out of him: tenderness, fondness, an intense desire to protect the man and take care of him.
It's scaring, in a sense, because those feelings leave him raw, vulnerable, without armor, but Valery loves this side of him, and always smile when Boris does something sweet. So what could Boris do, if not to embrace those sentiments?
It's a pity, a real tragedy indeed, that this discovery occurred when it's almost too late and the clock is ticking fast, too fast, but Boris is determined to take the best from his renewed awareness.
His every gesture towards Valery is gentle, he does everything he can to wrest the man out of his melancholy, he tries to find the positive aspects even in that catastrophe. Whatever, to bring him solace.
He approaches Valery on tiptoe, so as not to wake him (god knows how much he needs to rest), he puts his glasses on the table and, since the night is cold, he covers him with his coat, then softly, so softly, he lays down a feather kiss on his freckled forehead.
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