Arrival

Kenny looked around the 516 Air Japan plane at his surroundings. This is it. He thought to himself. He was on his way to Moscow, Russia where Kai had him put up at the luxurious Romenov Hotel. Not only that, but he was on his way to see Tala Ivanov as well. First class seat on an expensive plane, being treated like a prince, and nothing to do but wait for six hours until his plane landed at the Moscow International Airlines. Kai had even taken Dizzy from him so he couldn't do any of his work. Oh, yes. Hitwari was going to pay DEARLY for doing what he did. And Tyson, too, because Kenny figured out that the blue haired teen was also in on the whole affair. Were Rei and Max in on it too? They had better not have been for they, too, would get an earful from the brunette. The only problem was... could he still speak Russian? Anxiety slowly took its course on the male as he silently stared out the window.


Brian had been trying for hours to get Tala out of bed. The red head had been having a lot of his 'bad dreams' as of late and could not seem to wake himself out of them when they became too intense. Like a brother worries over his siblings, Brian had taken on the elaborate role of Big Brother to the other three boys. He placed a hand on Tala's shoulder and pulled away almost immediately to wipe his hand off in his faded blue denims.

Forgetting for the moment that the younger had a weakness for chocolate- not to mention a certain brunette- he shook the red head once more only to get no response out of him. Finally, the lavender haired man stood back. There was nothing sweet in the room that he could use so he resided to violence; no matter how hard it hurt Tala, it was definitely going to hurt him even more. He slapped Tala hard in the face and yelled his name for what seemed to be the eleventh time that morning. Ever so slowly, azure eyes opened and the tip of a pale pink tongue licked his lips nervously.

"Brian?" Tentative whispers were all that could be heard in the now silent room.

"Hey, man, time to get up." Brian said slowly. He handed the other a glass of icy water. "Did you want to shower or something before you left to get Kenny?" OH! Tala had almost forgotten about Kenny in the dull of the morning.

"How long?" He asked, jumping to his feet he reached for the previously discarded kakis that he had been wearing the day before but he fell backwards onto the bed. "Shit." A light rap on the door caught the attentions of both males and Ian ran into the room with a fair sized grin on his eighteen year old face.

"You won't believe this, guys!"

"OK, let's see." Brian pretended to think about what could have made the youngest of the Demolition Boys so excited. "You washed your hair?"

"Naw, Brian, he cleaned his room."

"No! You're both wrong!" He held up a piece of paper with a stamp on it. "I'm in! I got into the Fine Arts and Animation School in Japan. Isn't that great! I'll be able to live out my dream now. Maybe I can even get a job with Kai's company, Bey Haven." Spencer followed the hyper, bouncing teen into the room and snatched the paper from him.

"'Dear Mr. Kavnoloc, in light of recent events we are proud to have you as our new student and wish you the best of luck in the Fine Arts and Animation School. Under the code of conduct you will be asked promptly to join us here in Japan for a meeting and are asked to bring your portfolio to the meet as well. Wishing you the best in your new school and grand choice, we recognize you as one of our very own Russian star students. Have a safe trip, signed Mr. Jason Wong.'" There was a round applause and congratulations as Ian blushed red up to his roots. "Not bad, Runt. You are going to be the first of us to get out of Russia. Probably for good, too." Spencer said lightly. The little one needed it though. He needed to be out of where his pain lay and into the world where he'd do more good than he'd do bad. That didn't seem to faze the other boy too much. Tala was all caught up in his 'out or I'll kill you' looks to notice that the large Russian was holding a bouquet of blood red roses in his arms alone with a card.

"Where did you get those, Spencer?" Tala finally asked as he stopped trying to pulverize Brian's head into the hard marble floors. Now he'd set his death glare on the blond as he got up from the floor.

"Let's see, the courier dropped them off and this note came with them. It's from Kenny. He wants you to meet him at the Kosmos Hotel on Arbat Place for luncheon."

"Really?" Tala mused as he read over the neatly written note he'd taken from Spencer. Shoving Ian and the other's towards the door he said: "Out before I kill you." in his cold, crisp tone of voice. That was the voice he used when he wanted something to go his way or else. The boys left their respected captain to his duties as they piled out of the room and into their own. They had never thought that the little brunette could have such a way with the red head, but- so long as he didn't cause Tala's anger to rise above a level that was unexplainably pain-causing- they were happy for him.

Brian looked at Spencer who was trying to get the youngest of them to calm down. "Just kiss him already; I know you want to." Spencer faltered before falling on top of the little Russian. Blushing he turned away and lunged at the lavender haired blader. Brian sidestepped causing the blond to fall on his face. "You know something, Ian? I could really learn how to dance like this." The smaller couldn't contain his laughter any longer as it erupted getting him into more hot water with Spencer as the larger scowled.

Tala listened to the commotion outside his door before he uttered a chuckle of approval at Ian's laughter. There was nothing better than to have the lithe boy he regarded as a brother laugh. "Spasee'ba, Little Brother. Your laugh is music to my ears."


Kenny tapped his fingers against the table top impatiently as the waiter brought him his drink. "Nearly noon and still no sign of Tala." He muttered as he took a sip of the red wine. "Where are you, Tala?" Suddenly, a shadow dropped over him but he didn't look up.

"Is this seat taken?" A silky voice asked waving a hand at the vacant chair. The iron wrought table with its crystal top gave Kenny a clear view of the newcomer's facial features as the other directed his hand to the velvet cushioned chair. Tala gave a half smile as he saw Kenny eye him in the table's reflective surface.

"I was waiting for someone important, but you may sit. I should enjoy the company of a Russian gentleman whilst I wait." The brunette said as he looked up from his drink; the red liquid swirled inside the wine glass.

"I'm not important, he says. I've got better things to do if you're awaiting another's company." Tala replied as he played along with the little game. "Well, fair you well, kind sir." He bowed gracefully, catching the attentions of a few customers and the waiters. They clapped as if they had been given the best performance of their stay in Russia.

"Tala, sit down. I'm sorry about that, people. We're old friends you see." An elderly woman looked at Kenny as he apologized for the incident.

"Oh, don't be sorry, young man. Now that I have a taste of what kind of drama to expect out of Russia, I think I'll visit the ballet tonight. Even if you are just old friends you really should think about going into acting." A few people nodded in agreement with her statement before going back to their meals. Tala thought he could see a certain brunette blush as he sat down, but made no fuss over it.

"Did you order anything yet?" Kenny looked at him and shook his head. Indicating to his drink he replied:

"I was waiting for you to get here. What do you recommend I try while I'm here?" Tala grinned as he signaled the waiter.

"Dai'te, pazhah'lsta, menyoo'." The waiter came running with two menus in one hand and his pen and paper in the other. "Gavaree'te lee vy pa anglee'skee?" The man nodded. "Good, then we'll have the steak and salmon special with green peas. After that we'll want desert so the grapes should do. Kenny?"

"That sounds great, Tala." The waiter nodded he hurried to jot down the order.

"I'll have red wine on the rocks, as well." Tala added before the man rushed off.

"Do you have Dizzy with you?"

"No." Kenny growled staring into his glass. "Kai gave me thirty thousand rubles to spend on myself, and then he took her away from me so I wouldn't try to work on my holiday. I desperately need to go shopping for some clothes to put on because he didn't even give me time to pack any. Thanks for ordering for me. I wouldn't know what was what if I had to do that."

"I'll take you shopping at my favorite store after this. Where are you staying?"

"Here in the hotel. Why?"

"Tell the front desk to give you your bill and come live with me while you're here. That way, you don't spend as much and we can talk on our own terms. But let me warn you, Spencer doesn't care who's in the bathroom- if he needs it he's going in no matter how much you protest."

"Alright, I'm sure it would be better that way anyway." Ten minutes later they were happily munching down the meal that Tala had ordered for them. Before leaving to go shopping, Kenny did as Tala suggested and left the hotel leaving a tip of thirty rubles at the front desk. The manager told him to drop in anytime he liked after that. Shopping took at least two hundred rubles out of Kenny's bank account when Tala took him to the Benetton to buy some clothes. After that, Tala took him souvenir shopping and he bought some gifts for the rest of the gang. So far their day was going great and judging by the white clouds rolling in the baby blue skies above it could only get better.

DMQ: To those who don't know, Tala was speaking in Russian. The first time he was asking for menues; the second time he was asking if the waiter spoke English.