"Grandmother!", Arkady said, laughing. "Well?" Arkady blushed, and his grandmother chuckled, winking at his grandfather, who winked back and smiled. Arkady's eyes widened as he attempted indignation, but he failed, only blushing harder. "You can't-" His grandfather chuckled, waving a hand. "I'm not going to be rude at the dinner table when your girlfriend's here. Your grandmother would kill me." His grandmother assumed a straight face, waving a spoon menacingly with the sharpness Arkady remembered from his childhood. "I would. Spoons are deadlier than they look." "She once killed a German with one," his grandfather said with a sage nod, to which Arkady rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know, the story about how you broke his skull with a wooden spoon when he tried to take some bread." His grandmother laughed- that was how Arkady knew the story was made up.
His grandparents never joked about things that actually happened, back in Stalingrad.
"Don't worry, my boy," she said, looking serious for a moment. "We'll try to make her feel welcome. If she makes you happy, she makes us happy." She kissed him on the cheek, and then waved a finger. "As long as she cooks well for you! You're always too skinny." He rolled his eyes. "Not all women have to cook nowadays, you know. I eat well enough." "You should always eat more, in your grandmother's opinion. Here, I made some syrniki for dessert, with that cinnamon sugar your grandfather likes."
Charlotte, North Carolina
Arkady cocked his head slightly at Anne, suppressing an involuntary smile, wondering how he could still have some residual fear of this redoubtable woman even years after they had last seen each other. And that was the word to describe her- redoubtable. Anne was not a person who took shit- which Arkady knew, and it was something he respected and liked about her. It had probably been years since their last conversation, and although he was vaguely glad to see her, he wasn't exactly in a particularly friendly mood. His eyes were still glittering like Baikal ice with rage as he made contact with her slightly grayer-blue eyes. She knows exactly what I just did. Although, frankly, I doubt she'd be willing to ruin Harry and Vanessa's day even further by telling them. But you never know. Probably wouldn't be the worst thing that's happened to any of us today, he thought, gritting his teeth unconsciously as he thought of Serena's stinging comment. "Anne," he said coolly, "I very much doubt I can tell you anything you don't already know. If you'll excuse me...?"
Last edited by Senkaku on Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
by Senkaku » Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:37 pm