ｔｈｅｊａｃｋａｓｓ ｏｆ ｓｐａｄｅｓ

            MIKOLAJ ARLOVSKI         ╙ 21 ╨ married to money ╜ "I don't know what you're here for, but have fun snooping around. Wallet's in my pants and the safe's behind the a█████." "I hope you get run over by a fly." || just another nyotalia!Belarus RP blog || ▐̛̞̩͔͎̗͙̼͙͖̦̼̺͙̼͈̩͓̗ͅ╪͢҉̴̠̦̥͎͡͞╫̣̱̖̩͇͓͓̯͉̬͞͠ ̷̧̛̥̱̝͙͝͞╓̴̨͎̥̻̪͓͓͚͉̕̕͞2̧̪̭̳̣̝̫̦̟̥̟̠̩ͅ╥̶̨̩̱̝̮̫̬͚͕̠̜͠╤̡̻̜̺̖͍͉̗̱͙͓̲͍̬̕ͅ6̵͕̜͚̖̝̼̫̬͜µ̡̩̭̺͔̬͉̺͖͙͔͉̼̠̲̼̼2̬̥̣͙̜̥͇͘͢͠Σ̡̹̩̤̳̜̺̫͕͕̜́͜͟ͅ┌̦̲̳̤̯̜͕̥͉̀▌͏̞̥̭͇̳̕̕²̧̛̯̪͖̤͎͇͔͕̘̫̳̦̜̗͝°̷̡̛̦͓̳̹͉͕͖̮̤̣̼͔̥̩̙̺¶́͏͚̝̱̞͖̦͓̝̞̳̠̯̝̞ͅ ̝̼͍̗̰̲́͢☻̩̗͔̺͉̙̭́☺̵̶̭͎̰̗͓̘͇̣̯͇̮́͞‘̨̳͎̞͓̠͕́ͅ¸̸̴̡̬̼̖̳͇̝͜ͅ±͈͚̲̰͚͇̬̖͢͞█̯̱̲̖̘͈̀͞ͅ ̴̴̢̣̤͈̗̻̤̖͉̮͚̣̟͉̰͓̜̤

[vasliuty]

O U T  O F  C O G N A C — //

thinking of possibly making this blog indie hhh  

[clara-osvvald]

[vasliuty]

my city » Minsk, Belarus.

like/reblog if you like minsk <3

[coral]

[udachy-deactivated20161224]

nikolai arlovskaya

nikolai braginskaya

nikolai

braginsky

[vasliuty]

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

"Well…" She begins, looking slightly away. Even if she did explain to him what White Day was, he might not be interested on following a tradition he’s not accustomed to nor was he obliged to follow it anyway. But since he asked—

"It’s actually related to Valentines, in a way. On March 14th, guys who received chocolates during Valentines day are expected to return the favor by giving some sort of gift to the girls who’ve given them a present. There’s also a generally recited rule that the return gift should be two to three times the worth of the Valentine’s gift…. White Day is basically the ‘Reply day’ of men to the girls. Err… You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to though. It’s understandable since we follow different traditions, after all.”

Hoping that her explanation would suffice, she glances up at him and wonders what sort of expression could he be wearing at that moment.

"Oh, and um… It’s White Day, actually.”

[vasliuty]

......

Well that was incredibly dumb–

That's not exactly important right now, though, since he was hearing an almost-alien concept here. There's a good minute or three of silence on his part to drink all the information in. Part of it is ingenious, to him, and the rest... 

"...So Valentines Day is practically bribe day?"

Having to recall the 'two or three times worth's multiplication' even actually sends a small wave of pain through his chest— odd. 

Before he manages to effortlessly give her nightmares again, however, Mikolaj pulls himself back and wipes that frown.

"In retrospect, 'White Day' does sound like bribe day," he mutters, low under his breath—- realization coming several seconds late that he could literally be trampling over something inherently important. Which he hopes not. Really.

[snowyribbons]

You’d think working with dead people would be less exhausting…

[vasliuty]

snicker—

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

Obviously unaware of his expression, she continues to stand there with that smile on. She’s a girl, why wouldn’t she feel happy over something as trivial as this, right?

"Well…" She wasn’t supposed to give him anything, actually. It just happened. She wakes up in a hurry, and the next thing she knows, she had made those chocolates. She probably shouldn’t tell him that. "…Yes, I figured you wouldn’t be expecting anything from me." Given how we’ve always acted towards each other.

She chuckles a little nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"It’s okay, you don’t have to—" Actually—

"Um, have you heard of White Day?" She asks hesitantly, flinching a little at his sudden gesture.

[vasliuty]

"Why day?" He practically breathes out, words free of thought— he's a little too relieved he didn't end up involuntarily hitting anything for being careless.

For now, Mikolaj puts away his present. Perhaps he'll... share with her later come break time. There's a subtle intent of conserving even the present's wrapping in the manner he so carefully places it back to his shelf and tucks it neatly amongst another couple of his own mystery boxes in there.

"Does that even have anything to do with this?" There's a pout on his lips when he asks—-why day sounds absurd on top of the fact that he has never once heard of it before. 

[heartofhetalia-deactivated20251]

***

[vasliuty]

I'm Home? || {kaleidoscopichydrangea}

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

"Ah, s-sor—" Oh, right. He told her to stop saying sorry and she was just about to apologize again for it. She bit her lip and hung her head low. That was a close call. He’d probably be ticked off if she had apologized again after he just told her to stop.

At the back of her head, she decides that she should just go back to the front and tend to the animals. She had to leave for school in a little while and she hasn’t really been much help around the shop since she arrived this morning.

With that on mind, she starts to turn to leave but, for some reason she couldn’t quite explain herself, something just felt like it was tugging her to stay there and ask,

"Do you… think I’m troublesome?" There was a hint of dejection in her voice and as soon as she realizes what she had just said, Chi clamped both her hands over her lips. "I-I didn’t mean to— I, well… I should go clean up the mess outside!"

What was she even thinking? She strides towards the door, mentally hitting herself for the stupid question.

[vasliuty]

"—??" 

Right in the middle of him checking fridge contents, she decides to ask him something deep, and runs off not three seconds after. Nichiko is something absolutely annoying to him, Mikolaj muses as his eyes follow her retreat. Can't help but note how fast she moves too. Blink.

As he himself doesn't have much time constraints for today, he follows suit out that door with a can of juice in his hand.

"Yes." That's the answer—plain and simple, while he gets some of his juice. When someone like her actually goes out of their way to actually ask that sort of question, then she is going to get her answers.

"You're definitely a lot of trouble." He has to pass by her on his way back to... well, whatever he was doing before this whole scuffle, and he does more than just brush a little past her by the door. There's his hand on her head again, for a moment.

"Do you think it matters, though?"

[kryscina]

Gomel city #travel #belarus #gomel #love #urban

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

Her face brightened up at his remark, a delighted smile curving her lips. Though normally she would doubt his words, she didn’t have any time for that as she looked at the smile on his own face. It was rare, she thought; rare but, every time she sees it, she just couldn’t help but feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.

In her mind, all she thought of was how glad she was that he seemed to like her gift. All other thoughts that she should probably notice right now— like why was she even so happy about it and why she even gave him a gift in the first place— were suddenly pushed at the back of her mind.

"I’m glad you like it." She voices out her thoughts, the wide smile on her face turning into a rather small and shy one this time.

She’s only given Valentines presents to her family, friends and teachers before. This was the first time she had given it to someone outside her ‘circle’ and it felt nice to be complimented by the person she least expects to receive one from.

[vasliuty]

Somewhat perplexed since she didn't seem at all bothered; nor did she detect his obviously fake-ass grin—-

That she's even smiling that smile at him is shooting him some off his radar. It frustrates him, but it's nothing he can do much about. Curse the way his cheeks flush too easily.

"...I didn't expect you'd give me anything." Not in a million or more years and it's that notion that gave him trouble swallowing the treats, and the same thing that made it taste so weirdly good and weird all at once. Such a bothersome feeling–

"Sorry I don't have anything to give you.. back..." His head and his shoulders are actually drooping slightly, voice low and words clearly mingling with disappointment. It's only when he realizes that he's uncharacteristically quick to admit to such a losing situation that he pulls his head right back up—hopefully not hitting anything or anyone in the process—-

[vasliuty]

I'm Home? || {kaleidoscopichydrangea}

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

She squeaks, his presence clearly surprising the wits out of her. He says he’s fine, but was he really? But then again, it wasn’t her place to insist if that was really the case. Other than that, he was looking rather upset already— well, at least more than he was earlier.

As he lets go of her hand, she carefully places the ice back in the fridge before they melt away. She takes a glance up at him, standing beside her with that usual sour look on his face. “…Thank you, by the way.” She wasn’t sure if she should have said that; she may be just assuming that he was trying to help her, after all. “And sorry, again.” The apology was, however, something she really felt like saying— even if she had already apologized countless of times a few minutes ago.

Now they were just both standing there in front of the fridge; Chi wondering if she should leave him by himself or not. She has already caused him some trouble, and only a few hours since they’ve seen each other again had passed.

Just when they were finally starting to get along too. Or so she hoped.

[vasliuty]

Does she really have to squeak like that every time he pops by her side? There was slight trouble in willing himself not to laugh. In fact, he could be grinning right now, and she just said thanks. It's growing beyond his will or he just doesn't quite mind. 

"Stop saying sorry so much. It's annoying." But there's a lightness in his voice and in the way he pokes at her forehead. "I get it. If you have so much trouble walking straight then don't you think that's something you let your co-worker know?" Jokes are such a strange way to let her know of his concern, and they can get as callous as he himself is. They make him sound so insincere and perhaps that's exactly what he's trying to be.

It's something he thinks about on occasion—does she hate working here? More often than not it just seems like he's constantly shooting her down, willingly or otherwise. Now, if that was the case, she could just leave him alone there while he picked at his reserved food on the fridge.

Mikolaj didn't mind her there. Just as he didn't and wouldn't mind having to clean up any of her messes—before and after now. Precisely why he doesn't ask, doesn't say anything of it anymore.

[theladywithfangs-deactivated201]

@open starter

[theladywithfangs-deactivated201]

Andrea had already served a couple of customers and her bad mood was almost gone. Her job as a waitress was lovely, she could talk to people all the time and could have a mochachino anytime she wanted. She could not hate her job even if she had to miss twenty parties because of it.

The girl was talking with one of the customers when she noticed a guy walk in. She was allowed to talk only if she had no work at the moment so took her notepad and made her way to the counter. The guy, she noted, was obviously in a bad mood and Andrea was wondering what had happened and if he would tell her. But most of all she wanted to cheer him up. He was quite a handsome guy and scrowls did not suit him. Actually they did not suit anyone.

His request made her laugh, she just couldn’t help it. ”I’m sorry but you’ll have to be more specific.” She said with a smile.

[vasliuty]

Did she really just laugh at him. Mechanically, Mikolaj directs his squinted eyes at the waitress and decides she's better glared at than the menu. On the other hand, this was better than those waitresses who clearly hated their jobs and acted more like himself. Definitely better.

"Just... cold brew coffee, then." Better to keep it simple before he grows an extra headache. That's not exactly specific like the waitress asked, but when you're a student who takes instant coffee as universal and nothing else... well, there's really nothing to say.

"Or whatever you think is great for cooling down." He's going to let her take the wheel since she can laugh about it. Complimentary glares though if she doesn't make this worth his money.

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

The change on his expression made her stiff and nervous all over again. The silence that followed didn’t quite help her either.

All she did was stand there and watch— waiting for his verdict over her chocolates. Maybe the sweetness was too much for him? She did remember to taste the chocolates earlier and made sure it still had that hint of bitterness in it though. Compared to her usual preference in chocolates, she would have liked it to be sweeter. However, since it was Mikolaj who would be receiving those chocolates, she figured that his palate would probably be a lot different than hers.

Unable to contain her own nervousness, she gently tugs on his sleeve, requesting for his attention— though it would be weird to say she was asking for Mikolaj’s attention, of all people, she really couldn’t find any other term for it at the moment.

But then again, she just gave him a hand-made Valentines’ chocolate. As any other girl would be, she’d want a bit of her recipient’s attention at the very least.

[vasliuty]

Eating his Valentines present right in front of her now just doesn’t seem as smart. Mikolaj knows the expectant face of a girl all too well—he’s seen and answered to many, more often insincere than not.

Conveniently, there’s something about the way she’s looking at him that he can’t help but glare his lasers back. Not that he’s blaming her for wanting to hear anything out of him, though.

”..It’s good,” Not the best he’s had. But good, nonetheless, so he’s convinced it’s not a lie and he’s not hurting her puppy face.

"There’s a weird bitterness to it, though." Another piece goes into his mouth before he thinks twice about it. This one, however, is decidedly at least twice as bitter as the last and he just flinches right in front of her. Still, down it goes to his throat.

He loves his present and she better believe it—he’s even wearing a stupid smile for her right now.

[vasliuty]

"I'm so bored and hungry. I miss Dima. Why the hell am I even saying that "

[theladywithfangs-deactivated201]

@open starter

Sometimes being a student and a part-timer sucked so much. ”You really can’t come to the party?” Her friends from college asked her. Andrea shook her head while she gathered her stuff. ”I have an evening shift at the coffee shop. There’s noone who can take it instead of me. And I need the money anyway.” She shrugged. ”Well, it’s too bad.” ”Make sure to have fun for me, too.” Andrea said and headed for her workplace.

She liked her job, she really did. However, missing a third party in a row was kind of annoying. Well, she could go later but she finished at eight and needed an hour to get ready. That meant she would be there at about nine and honestly by then most people were already drunk and half of them were snoring on the floor or the couch or wherever. Going to the party so late wouldn’t be fun at all, it would only be a waste of time.

Andrea sighed as she put on her uniform- a white shirt and a black skirt- and walked out of the changing room to start her shift. It would be a long, boring evening.

[vasliuty]

Mikolaj is close to convinced that his stay here may as well amount to nothing. Even during post-exams week, after coming out with a GPA as spotless as he's kept it—3-point-something? He doesn't quite care right now. Something's gotten him down even more than his usual scowl and it's everything he refuses to talk about. 

With a couple of work shifts ahead of him tomorrow, one starting real early, he can't have the luxury of having a strong drink. The next best thing? Probably coffee. And cigarettes. His apartment didn't have the former and doesn't allow the latter, so he'll be out in town tonight.

The walk to the cafe is unguided, and he's sure he's never been here before. What matters in the end is the space. And the prices, definitely.

Walking upon the counter, Mikolaj then fixes his stare at the menu. Brows quirk and eyes squint, just subtly—nonetheless, the bad mood still probably shows.

"...Anything cold and bitter and under one dollar?" He might just laugh if those parameters actually land on anything on their menu.

[vasliuty]

I'm Home? || {kaleidoscopichydrangea}

[kaleidoscopichydrangea]

"S-Sorry…" She apologized once more, getting off on top of him as soon as their eyes meet. She doesn’t stand up just yet, just sits on the floor beside him and still concerned over the fact that it was her fault he was sprawled like this.

It also bothered her that she heard something hit the floor when they fell, and the most probable guess she could come up with was his head. “You should probably stay down for a bit. I’ll go get some ice.” She remembers the little fridge in the office and hurriedly digs through the first aid kit that she dropped, taking out an unused ice bag that seemed like it has been buried inside the kit since the day it was put there.

Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt from the fall and she didn’t feel anything at all. Scurrying towards the small office room at the back, she makes a mental note to thank him properly later.

[vasliuty]

Not a single part of him hurts at all—at the moment he's just somewhat taken with staring at the ceiling. Busy as he is, Mikolaj doesn't get to do this often. Now he finds that there's an unexplainable charm in just lying by underneath a sea of artificial white with nothing but a blank head.

But what prompts him to move anyways is the growing sound of unsettled animals, the reality that he's still at work tailing right behind it. Imagine what kind of pay cut he's going to get should his boss see him like that. Who the fuck even lies on the floor of a pet shop anyway.

"There's no need for that," Before Nichiko is done filling that ice bag, he's there, his hands stopping hers from any further movement. "I'm fine." Even if there's a hint of displeasure in his features—isn't that how he always looks in the first place? He really is fine. As far as his head goes, in any case.

One sigh off of his system again and he lets her go, and steps aside—nudging himself somewhat closer to her in the process. He just needs the fridge, too.