YAY! BryanMariah, the only het I ship for Beyblade! I don't know why, but I can just see those two together... I'm probably strange, but hey- everyone loves Russians! Or they should... -smiles- Kai, and Tala, and Bryan, and Spencer...and Ian, but he doesn't count... Anyway, happy reading!

Bryan walked out of the hotel and into the extesive gardens, breath misting before him. As a child, he'd always looked through the fences of the Marstok Hotel, and now he was behind those bars. It was a strange feeling. Snow crunched beneath his boots as he trudged along. He scanned the horizon. White, white, white, pink, white...hold on a second...

He went over to the pink blob and found it to be the young neko-jin from the white tigers. She was slumped on the floor, shivering. "Maria? Are you...okay?"

"M-Mariah..."

"What?" The neko-jin looked up, teeth chattering. Bryan could see that she was close to freezing, and picked her up. She squeaked angrily and struggled. "You're getting tired, aren't you? And you're cold. You shouldn't be out in this weather with so few clothes on." He admonished. He carried her back into the lobby of the hotel, feeling her frozen body pressed up against him. "Where's your room?"

"T-t-t-twenty...f-four..." Managed Mariah, shivering uncontrollably. Bryan carried her towards the lift.

"What were you doing out there? Do you have a death wish?"

"I w-wanted to s-s-see the sn-snow..."

"In miniature trousers!" Bryan was incredulous. Didn't this girl know anything about snow and cold?

"The're n-not miniature..."

"Maria-"

"My name's M-Mariah!"

Bryan walked out of the lift, and hunted along the corridor for room 24. "Do you have your key?"

"Y-Yeah..." Bryan put Mariah down onto her feet and she fumbled in her pockets. "M-My fingers! They won't work!" She looked up, panicking. Bryan shook his head.

"You've numbed all your nerves. Come here." He dug in her pocket and got out the key, ignoring her protests, and unlocked the door. She walked in after him, shaking her hands in a pathetic effort to make them warm up. Bryan sat her down on the bed and took hold of her hands, squeezing them tightly. Mariah gasped. "W-What are you doing!"

"Warming up your hands."

"I'll put them in hot water!"

"Then you'll get chillblains. And -they- hurt. Now stop complaining. I'm not a psycho-rapist or anything. Are your feet okay?"

"I don't know. I can't feel them..."

Bryan stood up and opened the drawers, rootling through the various miniscule bits of clothing and finding some socks. He took three pairs and put them on Mariah's feet after removing her slightly damp plimsols, then went back to holding her hands. "You might want to look at the snow because it's beautiful, but you have to remember it's dangerous..." He let go of her hands and touched her arms. She was still stone cold. Without asking, he sat down next to her and pulled her onto his lap, surrounding her in a warm embrace. She relaxed against him. "You're all warm...why are you hugging me?"

"I'm not. You're still freezing, and this is the quickest way to make you warmer." He paused and looked around the room. "So who d'you have to share with?"

"My brother. But he's out with Rei...actually...he said he'd be back about now..."

As if on cue, the door opened and Lee walked in. He looked at Bryan and Mariah and gawped. "Mariah...what the hell...?"

"I went out to see the snow..."

"So what's he doing here!"

Mariah frowned. "What's the matter, Lee?"

"He thinks there's something going on between us. Don't worry, Lee, I'm not assaulting her. She just decided to go outside wearing practically nothing and nearly froze herself to death, that's all. Here," He stood up and deposited Mariah into Lee's arms. "Just keep her warm. And next time you go out," He said to Mariah. "Wear more clothes." He walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Kuznetsov?" Bryan turned and found Lee standing behind him. "Sorry about jumping to conclusions earlier. Mariah told me about what happened...thanks." The bartender brought Bryan's lager and he reached into his pocket. However, Lee put down a few rouble-notes and nodded to the bartender.

Bryan took his drink and sipped it. "Thanks."

"It's the least I could do. I'm sorry about Mariah...she's so naive sometimes..." Bryan shrugged, and Lee smiled. "She hasn't stopped talking about you all night. I think she likes you..." Bryan frowned.

"Oh."

Someone shouted Lee's name and he turned. "Um. Sorry..." He walked off, leaving Bryan to enjoy his drink in peace, or so he thought. He was about halfway down the glass, which tasted all the better for him not having to pay for it, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned. Mariah was standing there, smiling up at him. "Hi. I...um...I wanted to thank you for earlier..."

"That's alright. Your brother already has..."

"I wanted to thank you for myself." She giggled. "Look! Gloves!" She waved her hands up at Bryan and he could see that even her gloves were pink.

"Do you own anything that -isn't- pink?" His attempt at humour backfired, and only succeeded in making Mariah frown. "I...I didn't mean...I mean I like pink...on you...I mean, just...I'm not gay or anything..." Mariah laughed, good humour returned.

"I think you'd look good in pink!"

"It's not a very Russian colour..."

"It's not very chinese either, but -I- still wear it!"

Bryan shrugged. "You want a drink?"

"I'm not eighteen yet..."

"Nor am I. I'm only sixteen, but no-one bothers asking. How old are you?"

"Fourteen. And Rei's fifteen, and Lee's sixteen."

Bryan drained his glass and waved the barmaid over. "Another lager. Do you want anything?" He repeated. Mariah hesitated.

"Can I have a coke?"

"Da. A lager and a coke, please." The barmaid whisked off and came back with their drinks, smiling simperingly at Bryan. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Did you want something?"

"Niet, I was just admiring your eyes..."

"Well isn't that funny? I was admiring my girlfriend's." The barmaid blushed and stormed away. Bryan sighed. "Great. Now I'll have to get Tala to buy my drinks all night." Mariah frowned.

"I'm not your girlfriend."

"She doesn't know that."

There was a silence in which Mariah watched Bryan intently. The russian was definitely handsome, in a very manly way... the kind of way Mariah liked men to be. His eyes, though cold and blank, were pretty, and his lips, though straight and unsmiling, were well-formed. His body was tense and muscled, although not too muscled- Mariah detested men with biceps bigger than their brains.

"Am I a zoo exhibit?" Asked Bryan after a while. Mariah blushed.

"Huh?"

"You keep staring at me..." Bryan looked over at Mariah and smiled slightly. She was blushing madly...so did that mean Lee was right? Bryan had never had girls crush on him before. They usually liked Tala, and when they discovered he was gay, moved on to Kai, who was gay too, and then on to Spencer. No-one was ever interested in the surly, silent, lavender haired glare-machine.

"Iie, I'm not staring!"

"Yes you are."

"How do you know? You weren't looking at me!"

Bryan smirked. "I was trained that way. It's one of the only things I have to thank Biovolt for. That and the fact that stupid people leave me alone."

"I wasn't staring." Said Mariah stubbornly. Bryan glanced over at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Fine then. You weren't staring."

"I wasn't!"

"I just said you weren't..." Mariah glared at him and flounced away, obviously offended. And as for why, Bryan had no idea. After all, he'd agreed with her, and been nice about her stupid pink gloves...

"Where's Mariah?"

"Hello Tala." Bryan said, without turning. Tala leaned over his shoulder and peered into his eyes.

"Did you make her angry, Bryan? Because I heard Lee saying that you're not used to people and you probably didn't mean to upset her..."

Bryan turned, pulling out his best death-glare. "She's neurotic. I agreed with her when she said she wasn't staring at me and she walked off!" He paused. "Can you get me another lager, Tala? I managed to piss off the barmaid..."

Tala sighed and walked away a little. "Hey, cutie! Get over here and get me a couple of lagers, would you?" The barmaid giggled and brought him the drinks. With a smile, he leaned over and slotted the money into her pocket. She went to get it out to put it in the till, and Tala patted her hand. "Don't worry about the change, hon. Have yourself one on me..." He turned back to Bryan triumphantly. "Here's your drink, sour pants."

"Since when do you know what my pants taste like?"

"I lick them." Bryan frowned.

"That's not funny."

"No, but your face is! Why can't you just relax, and then you can go and say sorry to Mariah and there you go- one girlfriend for my best friend."

"I don't have anything to apologize for. I saved her from freezing earlier and now she's mad at me. She's crazy." Tala sighed exasperatedly.

"What exactly happened?" Bryan explained, and Tala smiled. "There you go then. You weren't supposed to say anything about her staring at you. You embarassed her, and she's proud, like Rei and Lee, so she took it badly. Problem solved."

"What, so I go up to her and say 'sorry I saw you staring and couldn't help but comment on how uncomfortable it made me'?"

Tala shook his head. "No, you go and say, 'I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to make you angry. I just didn't think about what I was saying...do you forgive me?"

"What if she says no?" Tala snatched Bryan's drink off him and turned him round to face where Mariah and Lee were talking to Emily and Michael. "Tala-"

"She won't say no! Just ask her if you can talk to her alone and say something approaching what I said and she'll be happy again."

"Mariah? Can I talk to you for a second?" Mariah turned and frowned at him.

"Yeah."

"Um...alone?"

Mariah considered him for a second then nodded. Bryan walked out onto the balcony and Mariah followed him.

"Tala said I should say sorry. But I don't want to. I hate apologising, especially if I don't know why I should. So tell me...what did I do to make you angry earlier?" Mariah looked put out and turned to walk away, but Bryan took hold of her wrist and turned her around to face him. "I'm sorry if this isn't what you were expecting, but this is just how I talk to people. I'm always like this. So if you don't like it, then go." He let go of her arm but she stayed. "I don't do subtlety, I don't do nice, and as a rule I don't do funny. So if it was any of those things that annoyed you, then tough. I'm not apologising for being the way I am!"

"It wasn't that..."

"Then what was it?" Bryan almost didn't believe her. A girl not being put off by his surliness and general lack of humour? It was something he'd never encountered before...

"You noticed. I didn't want you to notice, because I was thinking how nice you look and it made me angry because you weren't looking at me but you knew I was looking at you!"

"Oh." Bryan wasn't entirely sure what reply he'd been expecting, but he knew it wasn't that. Mariah blushed and looked away from him. "I'm embarrassed now..."

"Why?"

"Because you know I was staring!"

"But I knew anyway..." Bryan was ready to give up. This strange little pink neko-jin was just too confusing. He was going to go back to the bar and beg the barmaid to serve him vodka till he fell over. That was a much easier, much safer option. He walked past Mariah.

"Wait."

"What?" Asked Bryan without turning.

"I...I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have walked off like I did, but I didn't want you to see me blushing..." Bryan turned round and looked into Mariah's eyes. He was so entranced by them that he didn't notice Mariah closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

"I don't like men who try to be funny...and I don't trust people who are nice all the time." She said quietly. Bryan gaped for a while, then gingerly put an arm around Mariah's back. "You know..." She whispered. "Even with these gloves on my fingers are still cold..."

Ah, subtlety. And although he didn't say subtle things, Bryan knew how to tell things were subtle when other people said them. He pulled back from Mariah and took hold of her hands. She smiled warmly up at him and he felt his heart melt. He hadn't known someone could make him feel so contented before...

Tala watched from the dancefloor, where he was currently presed up against Rei. So likkle Bryan had found himself a girlfriend... He smirked. How sweet...

Fin