Dresden Academy

Who: Luka, Chloe, and Dmitri Nikitin, Arnaud Powell
When: Friday afternoon of Parents' Weekend
Where: Luka and Arnaud's dorm room, St. George's Way
What: Luka and Arnaud spend a bit of time with Luka's parents. Dmitri drops a bomb on his son.
Rating: Mostly SFW


The yearly ritual had returned, another parents' weekend at Dresden Academy. They'd been coming every year, making the trek up from New York City to support their son and their daughter before him. Even though Luka had been over it his freshman year, Dmitri and Chloe Nikitin continued to make the effort.

It was always nice to visit the quaint campus and wander down by St. George's Way. They booked a room months in advance at Bard's Inn. Checking in, they dropped their bags and took the leisurely stroll along the path to the Dresden campus.

Chloe poked her husband in the side; something about these school weekends always put her in a playful mood. "Where to first?" she asked as they arrived at the edge of the school property.

"We should probably visit the boy," Dmitri replied dryly. They'd take him out to dinner on the Way with any of his friends that tagged along, perhaps his cousins. Dmitri didn't keep up with the family so much; he had no idea if his brothers and their significant others would be coming this weekend.

Chloe smiled and took the familiar trail toward Clemons house. She knocked on her son's partially open door before peaking her head in. Arnaud was relaxing on his bunk across the room from Luka who was laying on his belly and playing around on his laptop. "We're here," she announced.

Luka peeked up and nodded at his father first before getting up to hug his mother. Arnaud stood as well to hug Chloe and shake Dmitri's hand. Luka's family became something like a surrogate family last year while he dealt with culture shock and being thousands of miles from his own family. "Nice to see you again Arnaud," Chloe said warmly.

The room was perfectly clean, which was how both boys liked it. All of their secret paraphernalia was stashed safely away from prying parental eyes. They gave off the appearance of perfectly behaved boys.

"Will your parents be making the trip up this year, Arnaud?"

Arnaud shook his head to Chloe's polite question. "I don't think so." Natasha had pulled some last minute stunt to keep them from going. If she kept it up for much longer they'd pack her up and ship her to Dresden just to get her to stop.

"Then you'll simply have to join us," she insisted. Dmitri nodded behind her, which was about as much recognition of his approval as Arnaud could ever hope for. The man didn't waste words, which was interesting considering who his children were.

"I'd be honored," Arnaud replied as Luka closed his laptop and set it on his desk.

"Which of this year's painfully repetitive events would you like to do first?" Luka asked.

His mother swatted at him lightly, but his father actually whacked the back of his head with a solid open palm. "It's early, but I'm in the mood for dinner."

Luka didn't protest the cuff to the back of his head even though it stung for a good while. The little unit made their way off campus to a cozy little restaurant along St. George's Way. It was sprinkling on the way there, but a quick umbrella charm kept them all dry.

Their dinner was mostly pleasant, run of the mill conversation about their school year so far accompanied the excellent meal. Dmitri and Chloe weren't as forthcoming about their own business as they expected their son and guest to be, which made for a few awkward moments when Luka poked a little too far.

They mingled along the Way among the other families, standing out only because Dmitri was his usual stoically tattooed self and Chloe didn't seem to go with him at all. Let alone that Arnaud had tagged along. Luka didn't mind it so much, because if he had to choose he'd still pick this family. Maybe without Lena, but she never bothered to come up to these things anyway.

They left their son at their hotel; he was certainly old enough to walk back to campus on his own and didn't need his mother to tuck him back into his dorm. Arnaud waited just outside while Chloe offered Luka a light kiss to his cheek. "We'll see you tomorrow," she promised. "Can't wait to meet this girl you keep going on about."

"Thrilled," Dmitri intoned over his wife's shoulder. He slipped around his wife and casually shut the door behind him to speak with his son in the relative privacy of the hallway. "Your mother's not going to tell you and so far as she knows this conversation is about your little girlfriend that we're meeting tomorrow."

Luka's stomach turned a bit, if only because his father was never so wordy. He nodded slowly in assent; he wouldn't speak a word of it to his mother, whatever it was.

"She's sick," Dmitri said simply. Both men were surprised at the amount of emotion in his voice. "I don't know how badly yet. It's probably cancer."

Luka felt the air knocked out of his lungs. He stumbled a few steps away from his father until his back hit the opposite wall.

Dmitri watched his son, familiar with that sick reaction. "Don't say a fucking word."

Luka shook his head slowly. "I won't," he promised, even as it rang false and hollow in his ears. "Does Lena..."

"She knows enough to keep her mouth shut."

He shouldn't have been surprised at his father's reaction or the iron fisted way in which he handled the flow of information. He couldn't even ask to be kept apprised as Chloe's situation changed. Dmitri would tell him what he knew when he felt like it.

"No one else needs to know."

Luka didn't need it repeated anymore. He rushed off to find Arnaud outside before the urge to punch his father overwhelmed his sense of decency. He was quiet, bordering on brooding Arnaud kept his distance though the swift change in mood had him worried. He knew something had happened between Luka and his parents, but his roommate wasn't saying anything.

Luka needed some time to sit with this before he told anyone. That and he needed to pick exactly the right person, someone who wouldn't tell anyone else about it. He fell asleep early, uneasy, struggling to get his emotions back in control so that he could face his mother tomorrow as if nothing was wrong.