After the party, Molnija slipped out to the bar. She slid onto a stool next to a guy who looked like he could be cute if he had put even the slightest amount of effort into his appearance. As it was, he simply looked drunk.
"Hey, cutie, you single?" Molnija said in a flirty voice, pressing up close to him.
"I am now," he responded in a dejected voice.
"Recently broken up, eh?" she said sympathetically. "Another guy?"
He nodded.
"Ouch." She snuggled closer to him. "Then buy me a drink. Flirt with me, make her green with envy, know she was that to you before, but you were able to 'replace' her so quickly."
He finally turned to meet her eyes, his startling emerald eyes amused. "You know, I think I like that idea," he said, motioning to the bartender to double his drink. "You've got a twisted view of the world, don't you?"
"No more twisted than you do," Molnija responded, holding up her glass. "Skål!" she said, tossing back the drink.
"Skål?" he repeated. "What language is that?"
"It's Scandinavian. All the Scandinavian countries use it. Cheers."
He grinned, holding up his own drink. "Skål." He tossed back his drink as well.
She laughed. "Know what? I don't know your name yet."
"Adrian," he responded. "Adrian Ivashkov."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nija Badica."
"You're the crazy Badica chick?" he asked, surprised.
She grinned, rolling up her sleeve to reveal the tattoos. "Crazy, yeah. Lethal, definitely."
His grin grew. "I think we're going to get along just fine, crazy Nija."
They spent the night tossing back drinks and chatting, both drunk enough to laugh until they cried. When the bar closed, they stumbled back to her apartment, clinging to each other for balance. As they got into the building, Rose and Dimitri were just leaving.
"Hey, Dimka!" Molnija said loudly, laughing happily. "Tolja I'm good at making my own friends."
Beside her, Adrian tensed, eyes fixed on Rose. Rose couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. Dimitri and Molnija chatted in Russian, Dimitri sounding slightly scolding. Adrian suddenly pulled away. "sorry, Neej. I have to go." He turned to leave.
"Adrian!" She cried, stumbling a little at his abrupt absence. "Mais... Qu'est-ce que c'est passé à vert?"
He paused, then turned back to her. "You want green?" he murmured, catching her unsteady form and pulling her close. He cupped her face and kissed her deeply. After a long moment, he pulled away. "How's that for green, Nija?"
Her eyes were glazed over, a vacant smile on her lips. "Beautiful," she whispered. "You know where I'm staying, Rian. Come find me when you want. I'm always willing to go drinking with you again." She turned and kissed Dimitri on the cheek then sauntered back into the building.
Dimitri ignored her and kept his gaze on Adrian. "Be careful with her, Adrian," he warned. "Molya's unstable, even with Natsya taking care of her."
"What do you know about instability, Belikov?" He snapped.
"Adrian, please," Rose said softly.
His jaw clenched, he turned to leave.
"Oi, Rian!" Molnija called from above. "Wanna come up for a drink?"
"I think we're drunk enough, Nija," he responded.
"No such thing!" Molnija said grandly. "C'mon, time to try true Russian vodka."
"Ooh," Adrian said. "If you two will excuse me, I need to go try the kind lady's vodka." Adrian pushed past Rose and Dimitri and up the stairs to Molnija's apartment. Molnija was waiting for him with two glasses of vodka. "Helps keep the darkness at bay," she said. "I don't want it to become too much of a burden on Natsya, y'know. She has enough problems trying to keep tabs on me." She clinked her glass against his. "Sláinte." She tossed back the vodka.
Adrain mimicked her. "That's strong."
"That's Russian." Molnija flopped on the couch. "You lot are an emotional banquet, you know that?" She sighed, half dreamily and half annoyed. "So. It's Roza you were in love with."
"Yeah." He flopped down next to her. "How do you know Dimitri?"
"Old friend. I've I known him since early grade school. I was friends with his sister first, then him when Sonya decided I was too edgy." She sighed. "You know those two are better together. You can see it. In... everything. Their eyes, their expressions, their postures, their auras." She stared at her shot glass. "I'm glad to see him so happy," she murmured. "He's always been so... uptight, so formal. She's brought out the best of him, and from his letters, I can tell she's mellowed out as well. They've both mellowed out... they complete each other. You have to admit that."
"Yeah, I've noticed that. And I know... she never really got over him," Adrian admitted grudgingly. "But... she cheated on me. How can I forgive that?"
"I'm not saying you should," Molnija said. "I'm just saying you should be happy for her. She's found her true love, as cheesy as that sounds. And you know, that means you still have time to find yours." She smiled softly at him.
"You know, you're following a really sober thought here," Adrian said. "Are you sure you're drunk?"
"You're right," Molnija said seriously. "More vodka." They laughed as he poured them both more shots. "But you know, drunken words are sober thoughts. Think about it. If, you know, you remember it in the morning."
He smiled at her. "Yeah. I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to forget this night."
"Alright," she said matter-of-factly. "Too serious again. Skål!" They tossed back their shots simultaneously.
So, the foreign languages. Skål and Sláinte are Cheers, and the French means "But what about the green?" So... yeah. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!
