Snow fluttered down from the grey sky as Vladimir walked along the street, and made his way into a large shop. No, it wasn't as if he could afford anything there. He and Anatoly had so little... but still, it was nice to look at things rich people might buy, and interesting to imagine that maybe one day, he and his brother would be able to buy whatever they wanted.

He glanced around. Russian music played in the background, quiet enough not to disturb the customers, but loud enough to be audible. The teen walked carefully forward, making sure to stay out of everyone's way. It was best not to draw attention to himself, as he wasn't exactly a "respectable" citizen... he was a kid in dirty rags. If they saw him, they'd kick him out... so around he walked, quiet and out of the path of other people...

Vladimir managed to make it to a corner. He stood staring at the music boxes. No, they didn't mean anything to him... but they had to his mother, before she'd been killed. He stared blankly, for a moment, the teen looked years older than he ought to.

Then in an instant, the moment of calm shattered. The store owner bumped into Vlad, sending him toppling sideways against a shelf. Several glass things fell sideways-luckily, none broke. The shop keeper started yelling, shouting in Vladimir's face. For several seconds, the teen stood there in shock. It wasn't his fault... he'd been out of the way, why was he being cursed at like some criminal?

"Ubiraysya iz moyey masterskoy!" (Get out of my shop) the man yelled, waving a finger in Vladimir's face.

Finally, the teen snapped. He growled out a reply just as loudly as the older man had. "Mozhet byt', vy dolzhny uyti, neuklyuzhiy idiot!" (Maybe you should leave, clumsy idiot!) After all, it was the man's fault this had happened. Vladimir had been minding his own business... being quiet and polite-well, until then.

***DAREDEVIL DAREDEVIL DAREDEVIL****

Anatoly jogged inside of the large building. People bustled about, ignoring the young adult as his eyes searched wildly for something that would have gone unnoticed by all of them.
Hopefully. Because if they had noticed Vladimir, nothing good would have happened.
The elder brother felt angry and tired, and although he would hold his temper when it came to Vladimir, if something happened, there was no promise that he wouldn't snap.

He took the direction in which seemed correct, according to the way that his brother's brain worked. Rebellious but cautious.
So he chose one isle from the middle.

Jogging, he paused only briefly to hear yelling. The yelling was followed by the frustrated words of his little brother. Anatoly bolted for the sound, heart beat picking up as he slid around one gallery and dodged between the meandering Russians.

***DAREDEVIL DAREDEVILL***

The large man-now quite livid-grabbed one of Vladimir's arms and forced him backward, to which Vlad responded by shoving the man away from him. "Ne trogay menya!" (Don't touch me) Vladimir hissed. The man glared at him and pointed a finger in his face threateningly. It didn't scare Vladimir, but rather, it annoyed him.

***DAREDEVIL DAREDEVIL***

What Anatoly saw, was someone grabbing his brother. What he heard was the blood rushing in his ears. Anatoly's hands gripped the man's shoulders, and he kneed him - roughly. A shocked and pained sound escaped the large music-box makers lips, and he doubled over.

Vladimir flinched in surprise and turned, not sure what he expected. There was Anatoly... right where he always seemed to end up-with him, no matter where that was. "Spaseeba, брат." Vladimir backed a safe distance away from the angry man, and looked back at the door. He knew they should leave before someone took it into their hands to deal with the two street-children.

"Anatoly?" He looked to his brother first. He searched his eyes and face, looking for something... disapproval. He never wanted to see that look... he hadn't meant to cause trouble, it just seemed to happen.

Anatoly watched as people began to gather around, as though they were the new exhibit to stare at. The elder brother frowned and moved towards Vladimir, trying to get them both out and get through the swarm.

Vladimir took that as his cue. He moved forward, latching onto Anatoly's jacket-so they wouldn't be separated in masses-then ran, pushing people out of his way and trying to stay on his feet.

Anatoly ran. He took an elbow to the face at least twice as they made their way through the masses, but in the end it didn't matter, as long as they got out. So when they burst through the door and back out onto the street, surrounded by frigid air, Anatoly skidded to a halt.

The action of the elder jerked the younger to a halt as well. The moment their forward motion ceased, Vladimir turned toward Anatoly and looked at the bruises that were already settling on his brother's face. Vladimir frowned and bit his lip. Of course that was his fault. "Eezveeneete..." (Sorry) he muttered sheepishly.

"Eezveeneete?" Anatoly repeated, as though taking a moment before the apology sank in. He spoke again moments later, "We will be able to buy things there, one day. For now, focus on the goal, and we will succeed."

God bless - and sorry, I wrote this *lllattte*, posted TWICE today, wrote them BOTH within two hours, and my writing went downhill... Sorry, again.