(A/N) Sorry the plot hasn't quite all the way kicked in yet, I'm working on it! Thanks again to Flowermasters, my lovely beta.
It was early the next morning when Anatoly awoke, thoroughly entangled in the sheets and Freddie. He blinked owlishly, trying to remember what had woken him up. It was something about a dream he couldn't quite remember. All he saw was a familiar woman's face that he couldn't seem to put a name to. He sighed and laid back, trying to decide if getting up was a good course of action.
If he got up, Freddie would undoubtedly wake up, then his peaceful morning would be shot. But then again, the breakfast hall was downstairs. If he moved quick enough, he could get out of the room before Freddie roused and have a somewhat quiet meal.
He did have to admit that waking up next to a warm body on a cold morning had it's advantages. With another sigh, Anatoly swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
His clothes were thankfully hung in the closet, instead of spread across the floor as usual, so it was easy enough to creep across the room and get dressed.
Once in the hall outside their room, Anatoly stood tall and cleared his throat. It was still very early and no one except the hotel staff were up and even some of them still looked asleep. The halls leading to the dining room were still empty, much to Anatoly's relief. The dining room itself was very sparsely occupied by a few others, scattered across the room, all in various stages of wakefulness. There was one woman who was seated with her back Anatoly. Her raven hair was pulled into a bun at the base of her neck, reminding him of Florence. He quickly turned his attention to the drink table that was set up for night owls and early birds with coffee and hot water for tea and cocoa. The clock said it was 5:30. Still too early for food, but the pots were all hot and relatively fresh.
Anatoly grabbed a large cup and poured himself a cup of tea before finding an empty table facing the window. It was already starting to be a beautiful morning, even though the sun hadn't risen yet. It was just starting to tinge the sky with orange and pink hues, making it look like a watercolor painting.
He hadn't been able to watch a sunrise in ages. Not since Florence. Whenever he'd been up this early since it had been for travel or practice. It was an increasingly rare occasion when he could just sit and watch something, with time to himself. He found his mind playing out strategies on the checkered table cloth.
Then again, Chess was why he was here in the first place. The dark haired woman shifted in her seat, as she'd seen something out the window. Anatoly glanced out as he sipped his tea. All he saw was a bird landing in a far off tree, nothing attention grabbing. He went back to following the strategies on the tablecloth with his fingers.
"I'd know that habit anywhere, Tolya." Anatoly looked up, startled to see Florence standing across the table from him.
"Florence!" He stood, not sure of how to react.
"It's good to see you." Florence came around the table to hug Anatoly, and for once in his life, he had no moves planned in advance.
"Chto vy zdes' delaete?" He always resorted to Russian when he was lost. "Sorry… why are you here?"
Florence laughed, a soothingly familiar sound to Anatoly. "The same reason you are." She shrugged. "The tournament." Anatoly stood awkwardly, searching for words.
"You're the last person I expected to see." He made to sit down, gesturing for Florence to do the same. "Still the early worm, I see."
"Bird, Tolya. Early bird," She laughed. Anatoly grinned. That was one thing he did miss about Florence, was she would correct him when he mangled English aphorisms, whereas Freddie just sighed and got annoyed.
"And yes, I still get up early. I've never been a heavy sleeper, you know that." She trailed off into an awkward silence as they both looked at everything but each other's faces. It was then that Anatoly noticed the ring on her finger. She shifted her hands into her lap.
"His name is Alonso… Alonso Frame." Anatoly nodded. Knowing Florence had moved on made him a little sad, but relieved all the same. He'd moved on as well, though not to where he wanted to be.
"I'm happy for you." Anatoly said, and he meant it. Florence smiled and all the awkwardness melted away.
Freddie meandered into the dining room about an hour and a half later to find Anatoly sitting alone at his table with a rare smile lighting his face.
"Did you get laid while I was asleep?" He sat down, facing Anatoly with a cup of coffee between his hands.
"No…"Anatoly shook his head, debating on whether or not to tell Freddie about Florence. He decided against it, because he hadn't brought Freddie up while talking to Florence. "Just got some issues resolved."
"Whatever you call it." Freddie teased. Anatoly sighed.
"Why does me being happy automatically make you assume I've had sex?"
"Because it's usually the case." Freddie leaned back in his chair, grinning.
"Food should be out soon." Anatoly commented as he glanced at the clock.
"Nice segue." Freddie laughed.
"I'm hungry." Anatoly shrugged. They sat in companionable silence for a while until a waitress started bringing out trays of food the buffet table. It wasn't the food, however that caught Freddie's attention. It was the waitress herself. She was small, 5'2" at the most with bright blond hair. Anatoly hit him on the back of the head as he walked by.
"No" he laughed. It wasn't her feminine charms that had caught his attention though. It was the strong sense that he'd met her before. She moved quickly with a long stride that made her tight curls bounce attractively around her face, despite looking slightly flustered. Her green eyes sparkled in amusement at something Anatoly had said to her as he filled his plate. Freddie watched closely as they exchanged words. He could read what was going on, but it was obviously amusing to them.
"Who was that?" Freddie asked as Anatoly returned to the table.
"Just the waitress… she was warning me against the Crepes." Anatoly responded, slightly puzzled. "Why?"
"She looks really familiar for some reason."
"Her name's Eva." Anatoly said before taking a bite."
"How do you know?" Freddie almost sounded defensive.
"I read her name tag." Anatoly shrugged.
"Oh" Freddie backed down.
"Why do you care?" Anatoly asked.
"I don't!" Freddie really was defensive this time.
"Whatever you say." Anatoly grinned.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of practice matches between the two men, only interrupted when there was a knock at the door. Anatoly jumped up to answer it.
"Mr. Sergievsky?" It was Eva, the waitress from earlier.
"Yes?" He opened the door all the way.
"This came for you at the front desk." She almost stuttered, staring at him with awe evident on her face. She held out a small paper wrapped package. Anatoly took it gently as she backed away down the hall.
"What was that about?" Freddie looked up from the chessboard.
"I have no idea." Anatoly opened the package to reveal a small wooden figure of a child with a note saying 'Remember Bangkok' The corners of Anatoly's mouth twitched into a smile.
"What is it?" Freddie crossed the room, to see what Anatoly was holding. "I don't get it." he said, turning the figure over in his hands, not seeing the note that Anatoly surreptitiously slid into his pocket.
"I do." Anatoly's smile changed to a smug grin.
"Are you gonna tell me?"
"No." Anatoly laughed, knowing he was getting to Freddie.
"Why not?" Freddie pressed.
"Because I don't want to." Anatoly laughed. Freddie huffed and crossed his arms childishly. Anatoly could see the wheels turning in his head, plotting a way to force it out of him. "I know what you're thinking." Anatoly said conversationally as he turned to go back to the chessboard, but Freddie grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Do you now?" His voice dropped to almost a growl.
"Especially now." Anatoly smiled. "Do you always resort to sex when you can't get your way?" Freddie looked taken aback. "I told you I knew what you were thinking." Anatoly turned to face him fully.
"You may be unpredictable on the board, but in life, you're an open book." He continued, walking towards Freddie, who backed away. "You think that if you get me in bed, or at your mercy, I'll tell you." He laughed inwardly. "But you back down soon as I catch on." Freddie jumped when he hit the wall. "Why is that, I wonder?"
"Because you're right." Freddie's voice was steady.
Chto vy zdes' delaete? = why are you here?
(A/N) No, Florence is not going to be causing any problems between the boys, she's just there for chess. And if anyone got the Alonso reference, you get 10 internet cookies!