Junior Year is taking a lot longer than it was originally supposed to...Originally it was supposed to be like, 3 chapters. Well, there's some Nikola/Kiri fluff, because I wanted to show how this fight was affecting Kiri. Also Gregory shows up, with the Source Blood, and some questions are raised about Kiri's trip to India. Overall, a packed chapter. Enjoy
Disclaimer
When Kiri arrived at their shared apartment, Nikola was still on the couch, staring at the fireplace. She sighed and picked up the broken fragments of glass silently before joining him on the couch.
"Ona nikada ne dešava da razgovaraju sa mnom opet, ona je?" He asked, not looking at her.
"Nonsense, Nika. Of course she will. She would like nothing more." Kiri leaned against him, giving him her support.
"Oni verovatno neće ni da me pusti nazad u laboratoriji posle ovoga." Nikola seemed to be ignoring her, and Kiri huffed.
"Nikola Tesla, if you don't stop talking like that this instant, I'm not going to let you have any wine for a month!" She picked up the half-full bottle of wine off the coffee table in front of them and walked over to the fireplace, holding it at an angle.
"Alright, alright," Nikola conceded, narrowing his eyes. Kiri smirked and set the bottle down on the mantle before returning to Nikola's side.
"You need to sleep off the wine, Nika. Come on." She bent down and looped one of his arms over her shoulders. She helped him stand and make his way to his bedroom. Kiri dumped him unceremoniously on the bed and went to close the curtains. Once everything was set, Kiri walked over and kissed Nikola lightly on the forehead. She bounced off to her room and closed the door.
Nikola regained consciousness at around three in the morning. He sat up and furrowed his brow when he heard muffled sounds from somewhere down the hall. Coming out of his room, he realized the sounds were coming from Kiri's room. He knocked on the door lightly.
"Kiri, are you alright?" he called softly. The sounds stopped, and there were a few seconds of silence.
"I am fine. I had some work to finish, that's all," Kiri responded through the door. Nikola sighed before gently opening the door. Kiri was sitting in the middle of her bed, still in the dress she'd been wearing that day, her hands clenched on the quilt that was just barely covering her legs. Her eyes were red from crying, and there were tear marks on her cheeks.
"What's wrong, sestrice?" Nikola questioned, moving to sit down beside her.
"N-nothing is wrong. I-" Kiri began to protest, turning away to hide her face. Nikola pulled her closer and pressed her head against his chest, and within seconds she was crying again. Nikola rubbed her hair and back, trying to calm her down. When her tears finally died down, Nikola gently cupped her chin with his finger and lifted her head so she was looking at him.
"Tell me," he commanded softly. Kiri dropped her eyes, and for a few seconds Nikola thought she would ignore him.
"You and Helen were fighting, and now she thinks you won't speak to her, and you think she won't speak to you, and you were both upset and yelling and-" Nikola cut Kiri off by placing a finger on her lips, and Kiri gave him a guilty look. He pulled her closer again, tucking her head under his chin.
"I'm so, so sorry, Kiri. I never meant to put you in the middle of all this. I guess I forgot about how this would affect you," he whispered, stroking his sister's hair.
"Nika, it's not your fault. And besides, you shouldn't have to worry about how this is going to affect me. I should be worrying about how it affects you." Kiri squirmed slightly in his hold until she could look up at him, grinning.
"I'm your older brother; it's my job to worry about you." Nikola placed a kiss on Kiri's forehead, and pulled back, watching as Kiri burrowed under the covers. She was asleep almost instantly, and Nikola stood in the doorway for a few minutes, watching her sleep pensively.
The next day, Kiri arrived at the lab alone, and Helen, James, John, and Nigel were already there. John shot Kiri a dirty look, which she ignored as she bounced to Nikola's empty station and began cleaning everything. The others watched her curiously, though she still refused to look at any of them.
"Is Nikola coming?" James finally questioned. Kiri jumped and finally met their eyes, her own eyes wide.
"I do not know. I overslept today, and he was already gone when I woke up." Kiri grinned at them before turning back to what she was doing. She was just finishing up half an hour later when the door to the lab opened and Nikola walked in, his eyes down as he walked over to his area. Kiri stood next to him, cocking her head. Helen walked over to him, glancing once at Kiri, who nodded encouragingly.
"Niko, we're all going to the pub after this for dinner. Would you like to come?" she asked gently. Nikola looked at her in surprise.
"A-are you sure?" he questioned, glancing at all of them.
"Of course. You're part of this group too, you know." Helen smiled at him, and Nikola allowed a small smile to cross his face.
"Alright. I'll come," he assented, nodding. Helen's smile widened. She started to walk away before stopping and facing him again.
"Niko, are…are we still friends?" A rare moment of vulnerability crossed her face as she watched him.
"Yeah, we are," he assured her, smiling again. The five of them went back to work, and for another hour a peaceful calm fell over the room. They worked quickly and quietly, only speaking if they needed advice. Kiri flitted in between them, cleaning up what needed to be cleaned and occasionally watching the others work. After an hour, there was a knock on the door, and Kiri was there in an instant, opening the door to reveal Gregory, who looked like it had been a while since he had last slept.
"Father, what are you doing here?" Helen asked immediately, rushing forward to help him. He handed her a satchel, which she took and placed on a table as he walked over to a chair sitting in the corner.
"Two days ago, I was brought a container of a rare type of blood," he told them, leaning back. "I believe it belongs to an ancient race known as Sanguine vampires, vampires. I have spent these last two days researching them, and not much is known about them or their blood."
"And you want us to experiment with it?" James guessed, walking closer. Gregory nodded as he gestured to Helen to hand him his bag. He pulled out a glass container with strange Hindu markings around the top. Inside the container was about a pint of blood, looking as fresh as though it had been gathered a week ago. Helen took the container from her father, looking it over.
"It is said that vampires were immune to disease. If we could figure out why and replicate it, this could be the key to curing every disease known to man." Gregory stood, heading towards the door. "I'll leave you five to it." With that, he left, closing the door behind him. Helen, Nikola, James, Nigel, and John all looked at each other, then looked towards Kiri, who was in a corner where she'd been cleaning.
"There's Hindu on this container," Nigel remarked. Kiri cocked her head.
"I can only read English and some Serbian, Nigel. You know that." She furrowed her brow.
"Didn't you return from India two days ago?" James took a step forward. Kiri's eyes widened as she realized what they were saying.
"I'm not the one who gave that to him. I have never seen it before. I was in India meeting with a friend of my employer." She shook her head vigorously. Nikola chuckled at her as he turned to the others.
"Where should we begin?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ona nikada ne dešava da razgovaraju sa mnom opet, ona je? – She's never going to talk to me again, is she?
Oni verovatno neće ni da me pusti nazad u laboratoriji posle ovoga. - They're probably not even going to let me back in the lab after this.