Crazier things

Location: A smaller neighborhood in Aston
Date: 7th of May 2021
Weather: Sunny and bright.
Attire: Link
Other: a light mix of Russian & Bulgarian accent.
Topic for: @Edith
Over the last seven years contact had been hard, and on top of it, she had to hide the fact that she was a werewolf. With all the supernatural mania that happened her in the world, she had no doubt that Aston was a better place to hide than Russia. Neither Anastasia or Irina had faced the horrors of this place yet, or Irina had one bad encounter from one of Matthew's old friends, but other than that, it seemed that her cousin took most hits. Anastasia and Irina always found a way of contacting each other, if it was by one of thousand of email adresses, hacked to make sure they were untraceable or whatever creative ways they had found out at this point. Contact had been lesser over the last year, which had Irina worried, but she also knew - there was nothing she could do unless she wanted to get herself dragged with back into hell. Besides, she had Mila now she couldn't leave her daughter even if it meant being tortured not knowing your best friend's whereabouts. It was few days ago, she had gotten an email with their secret initials, which always made her aware it was Anastasia who wrote her. She was fleeing from Russia. It was huge. Irina had made sure there was an adresse that she could come to, but she wasn't naive enough to give her real adresse. The last thing she wanted was to put other people in danger. In light of that chaos she had also made the choice to open her heart and tell Nigel about what had gone down in her past.

Now she was standing here on Lavender street, west of Aston. Awaiting her friend. Mila wasn't with her, she didn't want to risk it in case of it being an ambush or anything remotely like that. Mainly also the reason she had her phone in her hand, ready to speed dial Nigel if anything seemed wrong. It was a good thing the sun was out shining over the rooftops, it made it less weird for her standing here. She was too nervous to sit down, so her ears tuned into the sound of birds singing in the trees, and how the small wind caressed the leaves. It was nice feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin, on her face making a smile brush up on her lips as she took a deeper breath in. She caught a scent in the area, a scent of two people, two heart beats, making her look around till her eyes landed upon Anastasia and beloved child. The purest smile lighted up on the werewolf's lips as she walked closer to her best friend, not having seen her or hugged her for seven years, that shit was hard.

Outfit: Edith’s outfit. Zakarias’ outfit.
Notes: Thick Russian accent

Both mother and son had a big hiking backpack, filled to the brim. They were both wearing great shoes to walk in, and the son even had a skateboard to use whenever he got too tired. Sometimes they even used a skipping rope, so he could sit on his skateboard and she could pull him and his backpack. She was a mother after all. Right now, he was standing on his skateboard, and she was wandering with a map folded out in front of her so she could navigate them in the right direction. At this fleeing-trip she had really gotten better at navigating and as usual had they only been walking in directions that didn’t cause any trouble on the way. It was a great power she had, and she could get out of many problems that way – which was also why it always was her who walked first around corners; so she hopefully could sense the danger before they turned a corner.

“Lavender street,” she mumbled with her thick Russian accent and looked up, seeing a sigh with the exact name she had just said. Her face lit up in a soft smile and her eyes almost glistened. She looked back at her son only one meter behind. “We’re almost home,” she informed in Russian, not really knowing how far they had yet, but knowing that soon they would meet Irina. Zakaria knew who Irina was and was most often called ‘Aunt Irina’, but it had been seven years since he had seen her in real life, and he had grown so much since then; and maybe Irina had changed her looks too.
The banshee looked over her shoulder once before she turned around the corner only to see her best friend standing right there. She wanted to run to her, hug her and tell her that everything was going to be so much better now, but she didn’t want to seem suspicious if anyone was looking, so she just smiled her usual soft smile. When she finally got close enough, she stopped up, taking in her best friends look before she rushed into Irina’s arms. “I’ve missed you so much, moy drug,” she whispered. She used as many English words as she could, but it was difficult. Her son just stood next to them, not wanting to interfere.

It was almost too good to be true, to finally embrace your best friend after so much time apart. Of course they had been talking and all of that, but in the end nothing could compare to the physical touch. Irina held her friend tight, almost to a point where she was afraid that she was going to crush her. So, she let go again stille standing close with her hands on Anastasia's upper arms. "I can't believe we actually made it, she chuckled a bit and folded her lips together. There was very few who knew about what had went on in Russia, then a few who knew a little detail about it and still the ones that had no idea - Anastasia knew everything to the core, because she had seen it and been through it as well. Anastasia was the one who had set everything in motion, the one who had pushed her to go through with it. That was something Irina till this day still was so thankful for, and she didn't even dare to think about how Mila would have been raised if she hadn't. "Hey Zakaria," she looked over at the now so grown son of Anastasia. It felt like ages, and it was first when she looked at him he she realized Anastasia didn't look like someone who had aged at all since she left. Or maybe not as much as she would reckon she had. "You must be exhausted, I've found a house for you here, at least till we find something better," she spoke in their language with a lower voice, and nodded for them to follow her. It was a small house, yet with two bedrooms and one bathroom - enough for them. At least that was her impression of it. Irina walked over to the house and locked the door op, letting them in. There wasn't much, but she had found some stuff on the marked, or Mariella had found some stuff that made it look somewhat like a little home.

Irina had gotten stronger; she could feel that in her grip. Was it just because she had gotten older and needed to be more independent? It had been way too long since she had seen her in person, and she had grown to look more adult, not that it was a lot of change, but there was some. They loosened their grip, but she still held onto Irina’s elbows, “It’s like a dream come true,” she agreed, shortly letting her eyes slide past Irina to see if anyone was listening or approaching. But none were there. With a slight smile she started to imagine how life had been for Irina the last many years. Yes, they have been texting, sending letters and what not, but how was life between the letters? Had it been lonesome, stressful and was Irina just as paranoid as Edith? Probably not. She imagined that Irina had been able to let go. She needed to for her daughter, right?
The son was greeted, and he looked up at her ‘aunt’ before he approached her to give her a side hug. The hug was quite loose and tired. “Hey auntie,” he mumbled, before he let go of her. The mother’s hand was placed around her son’s shoulders to pull him over, now that he had let go. She was gentle towards him. She gave him a slight squeeze as Irina told them about the house. “That sounds amazing,” Edith exhaled before she grabbed her son’s hand and they started to follow Irina.
A smile widened as she saw the house. Though it was small, she was convinced they would never be able to fill up ‘all the space’ there was. As soon as they got inside, they put away their bags and started to inspect. Zakaria more with his fingers and his mother mostly with her eyes. The eyes went back to her best friend. “Thank you – so, so much…” she said with a low voice approaching her. She didn’t think of this as any kind of ‘repayment’ because telling Irina to leave Russia was nothing Irina needed to repay, but it was quite nice that they had kept the contact and Irina was ready to help. “I’ll invite you over to dinner one day. You can bring Mila – wait, where is she?” she asked frowning slightly.

It was like a dream come true. It was the first thought she had the few months before giving birth to Mila, where she had escaped and had a helping hand to set things up when she arrived. Even if the last months had been mostly emotional and hard because of hormones, it had been the right call. She smiled giving Anastasia's son a little squeeze before letting him go. They got inside and Irina took a deeper breath in, as she watched the boy inspect the house. She hadn't forgotten the taste of how freedom had tasted back then, it had been nice - but not without guilt. There had been nights where she had thought about returning, making peace with Matthew to avoid conflict in the future - but even then, she had never done so. It had also helped Selene had knocked some sense into her head, along with Diego. "No worries, you would have done the same for me," she replied with a warm smile on her lips as she gently crossed her arms. Irina breathed out listening to Anastasia's offer, then the question about Mila. Where is she? "She is with.. a.. uhm.. She is with the person I trust the most here in this town," she told with a slightly shy smile. That smile already claiming it wasn't Cecilia she was talking about. Yes, Irina trusted Cecilia with her life, but it was different with Nigel. She couldn't describe it, but she had known since the moment she'd met him. He was her person. "But dinner one way would be nice."

With many years of marriage to Viktor, it was difficult to leave him, even though she hated him for bringing her into the mafia, but she had no choice. She and her son need somewhere safe to be and it wasn’t going to be anywhere near the mafia. Viktor was just way too deep in the mafia to be trusted anymore. And besides that, almost as she had made her choice to leave, she bumped into a stranger, who wanted to help. A stranger which within a short time started to get romantic and sexual – last part mostly when her son wasn’t home or was sleeping. It had been just what she had needed. Someone to support her on her travel.
A calm and thankful smile formed on her lips, because Irina’s words were true. She would’ve done the same for her – No doubt. She had after all motivated her to escape. It seemed like Irina found it difficult to describe who Mila was with, but she didn’t push it. The person I trust the most. the dark brows raised themselves slightly. The smile indicated that it wasn’t Cecilia, even though they were family. “It sounds really lovely, that you’ve found someone you trust,” she said calmly and truly happy for Irina, though her curiosity was awoken. Would and could she trust the same person? She noted that she should contact Irina sooner or later  about dinner, maybe when she gotten to know the city a bit more. She let her eyes once again look around, not really believing that this was going to be her place. In the living room they could hear how Zakaria lazily laying down onto the sofa. “I think Zak might want to rest for a bit. Maybe you could give me a tour of the town?” she asked softly, looking into her eyes. She was tired herself, but she had a couple of hours left of her 'battery'.

It was still weird, but a good sense of weird. Irina had never thought she would be in a relationship again after Matthew, no one had seemed like the right fit even if they had been great people - it just hadn't been right, till she had looked into Nigel's eyes that night. Their story was anything but normal, but it was also how everything had fallen into place. "Yeah, I will tell you more about him later," she realized how brightly she smiled by the thought of her boyfriend, feeling like a school girl for a second folding her lips to contain herself. Luckily, it seemed to Anastasia was too busy looking around to notice. Irina straightened herself a little bit more up, looking around seeing Zakaria had found his way to the couch. She remembered how tired she had been after running from Russia, then again she had been pregnant at that time as well -it had been anything but easy.

Maybe you could give me a tour of the town?

Irina looked back to Anastasia with a warmer smile before she nodded. "Sure, we can take a quick tour," she responded with a nod. Of course, she was still aware of the potential of it being a trap. She had to be. "Zak, there is a few snacks and stuff in the kitchen you can grab if you want anything. Just call me in case of anything," she said to the boy with a gentle instruction. She turned to Anastasia again, "ready when you are."

A warm and understanding smile was sent in Irina’s way as she explained that she wanted to talk about her person later. Maybe it was not for Zakaria to hear about this person, or maybe it was just not time yet. No matter what, it was clear that Irina was happy for this person and that he had made a difference in Irina’s life.

A nod was mirrored as her best friend agreed to go for a quick tour. From the couch you could almost hear how the young boy lifted his head from the soft cushions, interested on what kind of snacks was in the kitchen, “Thanks,” the young man said, but didn’t move out of the couch yet. The mother to the young man turned to Irina once again, pulling on a crooked smile. “Ready as ever,” she said softly gesturing towards the exit. Just before they exited, she stopped Irina. “Irina?” she said before she gained eye contact. There was no worry in her eyes, she just wanted to share something. “I’ve chosen to go by Edith. To clear as many tracks as possible,” she said pulling a slight smile. The fact that her birthname Anastasia was a name that had been used so much in the Mafia had also made her want to have a new name, to clear her back completely, hopefully being able to put the past behind her.

Irina turned her head towards Anastasia when she spoke her name, making her frown a bit at first. "Yeah?" However, she read her best friend's eyes enough to know it wasn't because of worry or fright she had spoken the werewolf's name. The fact that Anastasia had changed her name made Irina nod a bit. Edith. It would take some getting used to, but she also knew she could do that. The only thing Irina had changed in her name when running away was to her mother's maiden name, at least for a while till her family found out and she just changed back to her father's surname - not to cause any drama or uncalled trouble in the family. Besides, she had Selene and Diego by her side, it wasn't like anyone had dared to try anything. "Edith.. right.. got it," she pointed out with a confident nod before heading out the door. "Then I guess we should speak English, not to cause to much attention to ourselves?" Irina suggested. Russian did sound very passionate to people if that was even the correct word. "We can walk through the marked, and closer to the city center. Cecilia lives not far away from there, I reckon she is off work tonight - so unless she is cuddled up with her boyfriend, she might wanna meet up with us or something?" Irina also suggested while walking in the direction that would lead them towards the city center. It was nice for Anastasia to at least have someone else to know close by. And she already had met Cecilia years ago, and if anyone had good contacts, it was Cecilia.

Edith pulled on a smile when Irina repeated the new name. They had known each other for so long, and knew it would take some time to get used to, especially when the name was so far from her original name. She chuckled a bit as Irina mentioned they had to speak English so they wouldn’t cause too much attention. “Well, I have to learn it sooner or later, but I can try,” she laughed. A confident nod came from Edith who agreed to meet up with Cecilia if she was up for it. People had their own lives and if it didn’t suit Cecilia, she wouldn’t take it personal. After all, Edith had only just gotten here, so there was plenty of days where they could meet.
“If she’s busy, we’ll just find another day,” she said lowly. No matter if Cecilia joined or not, she was excited to see the city center, because she was positive that it was in there that everything was available, even though it seemed like dearest Irina already had gotten them everything they needed.

Irina made a small shrug. Cecilia did have a quite succesful career and a busy life, so if they could fit in at least an hour it would be huge. "I will give her the option at least," the werewolf nodded and pulled out her phone, also giving her an opportunity to text everyone that things were alright and that her and Ana would go down to the city. Then texted Cecilia if she wanted to meet up with her and Anastasia. Cecilia had yet to know that Ana had to change her name, or anything really that involved bratva - because Irina hadn't wanted it to influence Cecilia's life, but now since everything supernatural was lurking in the shadows - this might as well be something she needed to share with her cousin. Also, if it ended up with her getting in the middle of something. "She texted that she would love to meet up," Irina smiled and looked back at Edith as they headed towards the city center. It was even longer since Cecilia and Anastasia had seen each other. Anastasia had this weird scent on her, and she didn't really know what it meant yet. "So, everything is pretty much at hand here, easy to find everything you need, and the coffee is decent," she informed with a light chuckle. Cecilia is going to meet us at The Wolf's Den, come on." Irina kept speaking English, but at least not as fast as she usually did. The perks of having had an English husband, an English uncle and Cecilia in the past were she had no trouble with the language, also given her keeping living in English speaking households. Never really had been an issue to her, even if speaking Russian with Edith seemed more natural to her, because it was easier to just flip over to it.