[ sokolov was reading ( napping with a book on their face ) when an abrupt CRASH ! awoke them
snapping up from the hay that had been resting their head and disturbing bucephalus in the process , they clambered to their feet and whispered a quick " извини , буцефа́л ... " - to which the stallion responded with a flippant neigh and the theft of sokolov ' s spot of hay
locating the source of the sound was no tricky task ; the initial crash had been followed by groans and curses echoing through the previously empty halls . great . others were here
now far less enthusiastic about learning what on earth had occurred , sokolov trudged into the room of where they believed the intruders to be , and good lord ... what a scene ...
they gawked at the tangled limbs laying amidst the remains of what was bernadotte ' s dining table ; the candles and cutlery that once lined the glass , readily awaiting guests , now found themselves scattered and shattered beyond salvation
their open mouthed , open eyed expression followed the mess to the men and simply stared in silence
one wore the red of the british - between that and his streaky - but fluffy - brown hair , he was unmistakably wellesley ; the other , however , sokolov would have mistook bernadotte if it weren ' t for the russian green and blue he donned
as wellesley untangled himself from the man with the ebony curls and attempted to stand , they realised it was bagration who stay laid on the floor
wordlessly , sokolov extended a hand to the prince and pulled him to his feet as wellesley began to vocalise his complaints ]
how the devil did i end up here ? where even is here ?
[ the brit inquired , anger from being ripped away from his previous activities seeping its way into his question
sokolov gave him a look of something like " how on earth do you expect me to know ? " as they dusted off bagration , who in turn had his own queries ]
yes ... that . where are we ? who are you ?
[ they stepped back and assessed how best to answer questions of which they themself were asking too ... it appeared they had not intruded by choice and instead were some sort of teleported - similar to how bernadotte navigated his realm ... but ... could the realm teleport others ... ?? why these two ?? why when bernadotte was away ... ]
my name is karp sokolov [ they began quietly , bowing quickly ] i am an aide - de - camp of jean - baptiste bernadotte ' s , you are currently in what was his realm ' s dining room
[ after a moment , wellesley quirked a brow and raised his hands to his hips ]
well then , where is the lad ?
[ sokolov opened their mouth to speak again , though no noise was heard . they knew the words they wished to say would sound absurd ... it was absurd , really . this whole situation was absurd . perhaps with that in perspective , the likeliness of them believing them would be increased ... ]
... he ' s ...
... well he ' s out with davout
[ some audible representation of the men ' s flabbergasted reaction followed their words before they properly piped up ]
surely you jest ? [ bagration interjected , leaving wellesley looking at him in faux offense as he planned to say the same ]
well ... no ...
i do believe davout invited him to dinner , i haven ' t seen him since
...
it matters not , though . i ' m sure he shall return soon and be able to address ... this ...
... until then , i see no harm in you making yourselves at home
[ sokolov spoke swiftly , making no offer to the men to fetch them if they needed them . they had no interest in being forced to see others outside of necessity and were attempting to wrap this interaction up in favour of returning to their beloved stables
after a moment ' s pause - of which the other two were surely spending attempting to formulate responses - sokolov pounced on the opportunity to silently excuse themself and slip off to see their stallion
to this , bagration and wellesley exchanged lost looks
this was going to be ...
... interesting ]
