From: babalon	Date: January 15th, 2011 07:58 am (UTC)		(Link)

Emilie had gotten far too good at traipsing after people without making noise. Maybe it was the silencing charm on her boots, maybe it was just a little bit of skill, or maybe she was becoming more and more the predator everyone already saw her as.

Nevertheless she had seen Yev enter the woods... and couldn't help wondering where he thought he was going.

"People die out here, you know," Emilie said once she'd found him, standing just by where he'd laid his head down, the tips of her boots by the top of his head. She smirked slowly, "At least, that is the rumor."

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 15th, 2011 08:02 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yev jerked up, snapping the music box shut in his hand. He cursed loudly in Russian and tried to shove the box in his rucksack. "You scared me!" he said putting his hand over his chest he said staring up at Emilie.

"And don't be silly," he scooped at Sam and held her close. "Rumors are only rumors," he waved off her warning.

	From: babalon	Date: January 15th, 2011 08:27 am (UTC)		(Link)

Emilie giggled at Yev's panic, a smug smirk sliding across her mouth. He really was nothing like the other de Kooning boys, was he? Still, the resemblance was pretty strong.

"Well, it's not a rumor that people have disappeared in these woods." She shrugged, not really bothered by that and instead changed the subject.

"That was a pretty song. Where's the music box from?"

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 15th, 2011 08:32 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Well yes but I know them very well, I can get home without a compass!" he said almost proudly but then his tone change when Emilie brought up the music box.

His eyes grew wide but he tried to hide the fact that he was hiding something... it did not work in his favor. "What? What music box?" It was still in his hand. "Oh! This! This is nothing, nothing at all!" he tried to laugh but it came out nervous.

	From: babalon	Date: January 15th, 2011 08:42 am (UTC)		(Link)

But they all were a little strange, weren't they? Her smirk flashed into a full grin for just a moment and she dropped down on the grass beside him, her legs folded underneath her.

"You are a terrible liar, Yevgeni. Let's see it, shall we?"

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 15th, 2011 08:48 am (UTC)		(Link)

"I know," he resigned. There was no point in lying anymore especially after she had called him out. He looked at her, his eyes still big like a puppy's and held his hand out so she could see the music box. "It's nothing really," he tried again.

	From: babalon	Date: January 15th, 2011 09:39 am (UTC)		(Link)

Emilie's grin faltered for just a moment, but she still smiled at him, even if it was a little softer. Even still, she palmed the music box, flicking the lid open with no hesitation.

The box played a gentle, slow song, just as most music boxes did-- but she didn't recognize the melody? "What is it?" She asked, leaning against his shoulder in a heavy slump.

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 15th, 2011 09:48 am (UTC)		(Link)

He winced a little when she took it from his hand but tried to cover up the look on his face. All together, his face looked slightly pained. He was certain that he regained his composure fast enough.

"It is a Russian lullaby," he said when she slumped against him. He had gotten accustomed to her strange affections but it still weirded him out. He wasn't about to push her off or tell her to go away, he never did. He just sat and supported her body with his shoulder making no moves with grabby hands or anything of that nature.

	From: babalon	Date: January 15th, 2011 11:24 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Do you know its name?" Emilie asked, sliding her chin onto his shoulder so as to get a better look at him. The box still played it's melody in her hands as she watched him for a reaction.

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 15th, 2011 11:31 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"No," he said quietly. He face was thoughtful, his lips drawn slightly down in a frown and his eyes darker than normal. "I was too young when..." he wasn't exactly sure himself what he had been too young for. When they fell apart as a family? When his mother died? When he stopped trusting people? No... it was before all that.

"I was just too young," he sighed.

	From: babalon	Date: January 16th, 2011 01:19 am (UTC)		(Link)

"It was your mother's?" Emilie guessed, not mincing her question for the sake of pity. She scooched closer against him, her arm slung around his waist. She knew that their mother had been killed by a vampire, but it had been mentioned only a few times, only in passing.

She accepted that everyone had personal tragedies, and frankly she hadn't wanted details. Why was this different?

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 16th, 2011 01:37 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Yes," he said simply. It was hard to explain why the music box was so important to him and even harder to explain why he wanted to tell Emilie all of the sudden. Perhaps it was easier being lonely when there was someone sitting there with you.

"I have no fond memories of her," he said staring out at the trees. "All I have is this music box, and it brings me no joy, just... reminders."

	From: babalon	Date: January 16th, 2011 04:47 am (UTC)		(Link)

"What do you remember?" Emilie asked, leaning her head into the crook of his shoulder. Was there a moment in time when all the de Kooning boys were like this? Quiet, shy, strangely gentle? One central moment that made them all... crazy?

No way, if that were true Yevgeni would be... just like them.

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 16th, 2011 07:08 am (UTC)		(Link)

He wrapped his arm around her gently and took a deep breath before continuing on. "Before she died there was fighting, yelling, and quiet. Sometimes it was so quiet I thought I had died, but then they would start yelling again." He tried to keep that cliche haunted look out of his eyes but some things were was just too fitting.

"The night she died... it was a whirlwind. My father woke us in the middle of the night and told us to pack. We did as we were told and packed, but we wanted to know where mama was. He only said she was gone. I ran and got her music box from her room, the one she played for me when she was actually home," he remembered his tiny feet padding down the hallway and then ripping through her drawer to get it. "I brought it so that when she found us she could play it again, I know she loved it. She never came though, father eventually told us she was attacked by a vampire and killed. He was not sorry at all."

"It has always been about violence and selfishness in the de Kooning family, that is what I remember, that is what I must always remember because I will change that."

	From: babalon	Date: January 17th, 2011 02:54 am (UTC)		(Link)

What did you even say to that? For the first time in a very long while, Emilie couldn't think of anything to say. She wanted to. She wished. She couldn't relate in the slightest. Her mother? She honestly felt as if she wouldn't mind never seeing her again. But she knew what it was like to lose someone, and to hold on to the barest scraps of the most unpleasant memories.

Finally, while nuzzling into his shoulder she asked, "And that's why you keep it? To remember to be different?"

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 17th, 2011 03:03 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yev felt comfort for the first time in a long time, he was relieved to have it off his chest. It was no longer his secret alone.

"Yes," he said quietly. "I do not want to ever be like them. I do not want to hurt people the way that they have."

	From: babalon	Date: January 17th, 2011 03:34 am (UTC)		(Link)

"They're not all terrible," Emilie said, her tone defensive. Though it was debatable that she was defending them for selfish reasons. She had more in common with Stas and Kaz than Yev. More often, she was worse.

Though never to Yev. He was too soft and she felt... somehow obligated to protect him. Maybe it was because having been close to Anastas connected her to Yevgeni somehow, like a sort of dysfunctional unofficial family. You watched out for your friend's siblings. ...Even if you didn't consider yourself friends with them anymore.

"Then don't," she shrugged. "It's not that hard."

Like she was one to talk.

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 17th, 2011 04:03 am (UTC)		(Link)

"I know that they're not all terrible," he said simply.

"I'm so afraid that there is something inside me, something that will snap," his voice was hushed but there was a fear and an urgency there. What if there was something in his blood, something in his genes that would make him like the rest of them? Like his father.

	From: babalon	Date: January 17th, 2011 08:03 am (UTC)		(Link)

Emilie sat upright like a shot, her free hand flat on the grass next to her, the other still holding the music box. She leaned close, examining his face for a reaction. "Inside you? I don't believe it for a second."

She smirked now, her head tilting ever so slightly in thought. "You don't have a malicious bone in your body, Bambi."

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 20th, 2011 04:16 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yev couldn't help but laugh at Emilie's inspection. "If you are so sure Emilie, then perhaps I should stop worrying about it." He offered a meek smile.

	From: babalon	Date: January 20th, 2011 12:01 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Do you really think that you are so much like your brothers?" Emilie's smirk broadened. You didn't have to know Yev really well to be able to tell that he was nothing like them. It seemed like a pointless fear. Like a fear of... french fries or cotton balls or something.

Entirely pointless.

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 21st, 2011 12:18 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Most of the time I do not understand the things that they do to other people, to themselves, but sometimes..." he looked away, unsure he wanted to share this little secret with anyone. "Sometimes I get so angry I think I could hurt someone," he shook his head. "I do not want to, and if I take my time to calm down the feeling goes away, but it is there."

	From: babalon	Date: January 25th, 2011 09:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"You're... afraid because you get angry and manage to control it just fine?" Emilie was grinning now. "You're kinda shrimpy," she laughed a little. "I'm not even sure it would really matter."

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 25th, 2011 09:54 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yev shrugged. "Perhaps I am being silly and just worrying for no reason," he offered, though he didn't quite believe it. He rose an eyebrow at her though. "Shrimpy?"

	From: babalon	Date: January 25th, 2011 11:40 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Yeah, you are." She was still grinning and poked him in the ribs. "And yeah, shrimpy! You're shorter than I am."

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 26th, 2011 12:06 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yev couldn't help but giggle and lean back a bit when she poked him in the ribs. "Now I am," he laughed holding his hands out in front of her. "Look at my bear paws though," he pointed out. "They are bigger than your face."

	From: babalon	Date: January 26th, 2011 11:00 am (UTC)		(Link)

"So you've got freakishly large hands," Emilie laughed, poking at him again. "That doesn't make you a bad person, Bambi. A freak maybe, but don't worry-- someone will learn to love you eventually," she teased.

	From: yevgeni	Date: January 26th, 2011 06:13 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yevgeni's face turned a delightful shade of red and he tried to hide the fact that his eyes grew wider. "You think someone will love me some day?" he asked feeling a little stupid. "Me and my freakishly big hands?"

	From: babalon	Date: February 2nd, 2011 05:51 am (UTC)		(Link)

Emilie opened her mouth to say something, but the only thing that came out was something of a short, startled laugh. She shut her mouth again, trying to keep her smile from being too pitying.

"You big loser,"she finally snerked, shaking her head. "Maybe one day, bear paws."

	From: yevgeni	Date: February 4th, 2011 09:26 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yevgeni laughed and turned his red face away. "I am glad you think so," he said lightly.

He took a peak at his watch and sighed. "It is getting late," he said simply. "Do you want to walk back with me?"