Nikolai lead Edward and Ein to the small town where he lived. After meeting this poor, cold, strange girl and her dog lost and alone in the snow, he figured the best thing to do would be to show her a little hospitality. He did wonder about her. She was quite curious in her ways. As she shoved her cold hands into the pockets of Nikolai's cozy coat, she talked his ear off with story after fascinating story. She certainly was an amusing girl.
"How far away is Nikolai's home?" Ed asked as they entered the borders of the town.
"Not too far from here," he smiled, keeping an arm around her shoulders. The other he used to carry Ed's folded scooter at his side. Ed pulled her messenger bag in front of her, hugging it to her chest as Ein's fur grazed her chin. She shuddered as a strong gust of wind seemed to blow right through her. Feeling Ed shiver, Nikolai hugged her, trying to give her warmth. "We're almost there," he assured. Ed's eyes glittered when at last they approached a series of metal domes; a small residential area. Nikolai opened a snow-veiled dome and then within, a large hatch out of the ground.
Frigid air rushed past them, carrying clusters of snow on its currents, as they finally descended into the threshold of Nikolai's house. Ed lifted her goggles from her eyes as a warm, homey atmosphere engulfed her. From the outside, the house had been, quite literally, a hole in the ground, but inside it was plush and lavish.
"Maate," Nikolai called out, releasing Ed and closing the door against the wind. "Ya doma!" He neatly leaned Ed's scooter against the wall before kicking off his boots near the entrance, revealing his thick, cozy socks. He hung his hat on the coat rack mounted on the wall nearby. Ed watched him set everything in order, seeing, for the first time, his thick, brown hair. In texture, it reminded her of Spike's. Nikolai seemed not to care that his hat had left his hair wild and unruly. Sighing, he turned around, his glance falling on Ed, who stared at him admiringly. He stared back momentarily. He had never seen those golden eyes before, hidden behind those green computing goggles.
"What does that mean?" Ed asked cheerfully.
"Just lettin' them know I'm home," he replied. As if snapping out of a reverie, Ed skipped toward the mounted coat rack and removed Nikolai's coat, placing it carefully on the hook below his hat. Following his lead, she hung her green shawl next to it, and kicked off her ballet flats next to his boots. She took Ein out of her pouch and placed him on the floor, letting him waddle away as she hung the bag on the next hook. Returning to Nikolai's side, she smiled up at him. She beamed as he laughed in flattered amusement.
Just then, the two of them heard light footsteps coming up a staircase across the bright room. Ed beheld a middle-aged woman with brown, wavy hair that was fixed up into a bun. A few strands hung loose and fell about her shoulders. Edward smiled. The woman was quite lovely. As she ascended the stairs, she wiped her hands on a small rag. Looking up at the two youths, she became immediately engaged with meeting the new company.
"Nikolai," she said, smiling at Edward. "Kto eta devochka?" Nikolai smiled, gesturing to Ed, who smiled in spite of her lack of understanding.
"Maate," he said. "This is Edward. She's a new friend of mine." He turned to Ed. "Ed, this is my mom."
"Hello!" said Ed.
"Edward!" exclaimed Nikolai's mother. "Such a strange name for a girl, isn't it?" Ed giggled lightheartedly as Nikolai nervously ran a hand through his messy hair.
"Maate," he moaned in slight embarrassment.
"I gave myself that name," Ed said, deciding to be more formal in terms of her grammar. "Edward Wong Hau Pepilew Tivrusky IV, but you can call me Ed! Ed is pleased to meet you, ma'am!" Ed gave a deep curtsey, realizing her grammatical slip.
"Aww!" the woman replied. "Kakaya haroshaya!" she said, clasping her hands beside her cheek. "I am Aleksandra Mussorgsky, but you can call me Sasha," she smiled at the young redhead.
"Sasha," Ed repeated, as if rehearsing the word. Looking down, she spotted Ein standing idly at her feet. "Oh, and this is Ein!" she said, picking up the dog and cradling him in her arms. Sasha smiled, petting Ein's fur.
"Prevet, Ein," she said.
Ein turned his black, wet nose toward her hand to smell her.
"And where are you and Ein from, Ed?" inquired Sasha curiously. It wasn't every day her son brought home a charming young woman, albeit a little quirky.
"Edward is from Earth! … Er, South America," she corrected herself, forgetting she was on Earth now. "But Ed is not sure where Ein came from. He was on the Bebop already when Ed got there," she said almost sorrowfully.
"I'm very sorry to hear that," Sasha said, compelled by Ed's expression into sadness.
"Uh, Maate," Nikolai interrupted.
"Da?"
"Ya know, Ed's kinda cold; on the way here I was telling her about that amazing hot cocoa you make." Sasha gave her son a motherly, knowing look. "I'd make some cocoa myself, but, you know, it probably wouldn't come out right and --"
"Oh alright, Nikolai!" she stopped him mid ramble. "Cocoa it is." Sneaking him a subtle wink, she calmly strolled off toward the kitchen.
Nikolai blushed, heaving a heavy sigh. As he ran his fingers through his dark locks he looked up into Ed's perpetual grin. He turned toward the living room. Taking a few steps, he called to Ed over his shoulder. "Let's go have a seat, Ed," he said in his kind, friendly voice.
"Okey-dokey," she said, following him.
Ed gasped with delight when she entered the living room. The walls were painted a cheery yellow and two large, off-white sofas sat on opposing sides of the room. In the center of the mahogany wooden floor was an ornately decorated rug with primarily red accents. But what really caught Ed's eye was the big, glowing fireplace. "Ooh! Fire! Fire! Fire!" Ed laughed, rushing in toward the burning logs of wood. She twirled around rapidly, her purple skirt floating up into a large circle, before plopping down in front of the welcoming fire. As the lavender fabric of her skirt drifted to a halt around her seated figure, Ed carefully placed Ein down and scooted closer to the fire as he waddled over to the side.
"I take it you like fire," Nikolai chuckled, settling down next to the excited Edward.
"Ed has never seen fire so big!" she said, staring into the flames. She was enchanted by the crackling of the firewood.
"You've never been in front of a fireplace?" Nikolai inquired.
"Nikolai should try having a fireplace on a space ship!" she joked with a smile, turning to face him. Nikolai laughed at the charismatic girl next to him. He didn't notice, but he began watching the flames dance in her amber eyes. The color combination that formed there fascinated him.
Heavy and rapid footsteps fished Nikolai out of Ed's shimmering pools; footsteps of a hyper, running child. Out of the corner of his eye, the young child saw the two older kids sitting by the fire. Realizing one was new, the child made his way over to the fire.
"Prevet," he said to Nikolai. Turning to the new girl, he plopped to his knees between the two. "Who are you?" he asked the strange girl. Ed gave the kid a smile just before he was lightly smacked on the back of his head. "Ow!" he whined.
"Boje Moy! Il'ya, you're so rude!"
"So?" shouted the boy. "You don't have to hit me!" He rubbed the back of his head, his light brown hair flipped up at the movement of his hand. Nikolai scoffed. "I'm telling Mama!" the kid wailed, about to stand.
"C'mere, maleeshka," Nikolai said, playfully wrapping his arm around the boy's neck.
"Hello, maleeshka!" spoke Ed cheerfully. She held out a hand to the boy. Nikolai laughed as young Il'ya grew indignant.
"No, no, that's just a nickname I call him in Russian. He doesn't like it much," he whispered. The young one pulled himself out of his brother's grip. "This is my little brother, Il'ya. He's six."
"And a half!" Il'ya called out. Ed laughed.
"My name's Edward Wong Hau Pepilew Tivrusky IV!" Ed smiled.
"How come you have a boy's name?" Il'ya questioned.
"Il'ya!" Nikolai said, gently whacking his brother's arm. Ed kept smiling.
"Because Edward didn't like her old name," she answered. She leaned close to the kid. "Edward named herself!" Il'ya smiled as he listened to Ed speak.
"Cool!" he said. Nikolai smiled at Ed's affect on his brother. She seemed to be the same age as the boy when she spoke to him.
"Hey, Il'ya. Maate's making hot cocoa. Why don'cha go give her a hand?"
"Yeah! Cocoa!" Il'ya exclaimed, scrambling up from the rug.
"Nice to meet you, Il'ya!" Ed called after him. The small boy stopped and turned to Ed.
"Nice to meet you too," he hurriedly spat before rushing off to the kitchen. Nikolai turned to Ed.
"Sorry about that," he said. "You know how little kids can be," he laughed.
"Edward thinks Il'ya's a nice kid." She smiled as Ein shuffled up to her. He sat down on the purple fabric of Ed's skirt and the two kids began to pet his fur. Ed stared into the hypnotic flames again.
"Nikolai thinks Edward's a nice kid," the boy said softly.
For the first time in her young life, Edward Wong Hau Pepilew Tivrusky IV began to feel shy.
Finally! The next chapter is posted! I hope you all liked it. I know you've been waiting. It was a bit delayed because of some translation difficulties, but I got it all straightened out.
Just so you know, the word "Maate", meaning mother, is pronounced "maht". Everything else is pretty much phonetic, I guess. As far as meanings go, you should be able to figure it out based on context.
Oh yeah, and Earthlings live underground since the gate incident, just in case you were in the dark about that.
Woot!
Cowboy Bebop belongs to the wonderful people at Sunrise Inc. and not me.