birds + the fishes ~open

[Maria Bridget Strasovna]

Lake Constantine was not a place where people usually gathered. It was one of those parts of Rune Valley that people tended to leave well alone... people didn't trust the water - didn't trust themselves not to fall. It was a beautiful place though - the water a bright sapphire blue, embedded in the blinding white of everything that surrounded it. But then, things always looked nicer when covered in a layer of white. Maria had certainly thought that back in Moscow - the snow covered up the filth underneath so beautifully that you could almost forget the stains on the streets. But then, Maria had a habit of thinking more morbid thoughts when there was no one there to stop her. It was the reason that she so hated being left on her own - she could be optimistic for others, but not on by herself.

She sat on the snow beside the lake, frowning into it's shimmering depths. The young woman couldn't quite decide if she loved the lake or hated it. It was because of this innocent-looking body of water than she was stranded here, faced with death on a daily basis. If she hadn't been hired to look at this one simple lake, she would be in a nice warm office without even the slightest fear of a slow and painful death. And yet... being here, she felt more satisfied that she could remember feeling in her life. Here, when she worked hard and risked her life for others, she felt like she was finally making a difference, small as it might be.

She pulled the thick jacket closer around her, shivering against the cold. She would never appreciate these sub-zero temperatures. Her slight frame wasn't made to endure the cold. One shaking hand, almost blue with cold, moved to her pocket and retrieved a packet of Mayfair from a pocket. Within seconds the cancer stick was smoking away merrily between her lips as Didget closed her eyes and flopped back on the snow, before peering up into the sky. She hated it here, but she felt at home. She wished she didn't. She wished that the once place she felt belonged wasn't a place that was going to claim her life. With a scowl she noted the heavy clouds. They'd have a blizzard tonight. She hated blizzards.

[ALEXEI VYACHESLAV]

Alex had decided to take some time away from Rune Valley, and away from that damned helicopter that he seemed to cherish so much. He was still intent on fixing the thing, but gave up on it for a bit. So now he was taking a ride out on an arctic cat snowmobile, even though he didn't plan on going very far. It was still better to have the snowmobile around, just in case something were to happen. Not to mention that it wasn't always nice to walk around in the harsh cold.

Even when you've been around this kind of stuff all your life, you never got so used to it to the point where it didn't effect you at all. Alex was from Russia, Samara to be exact, and although he was comfortable with the cold, he couldn't stay out in it for too long. It was just the way the human body was, but back when he was working on his helicopter the other day, he managed to stay outside for a little over an hour. It hadn't been too cold then, and he had on two layers of jackets.

As he continued along his way, Lake Constantine came into view and decided to head towards it. Once he got closer though, he saw someone sitting there and that caught him a bit off guard. People usually didn't come here due to fear of falling in or something else related, but Alex stopped by from time to time. Looking over at the figure, he saw that she appeared to be comfortable...or at least as comfortable as one could be out here, casually smoking a cigarette. He pulled the snowmobile up to a stop not too far from her and got off from it, walking towards the lake.

"Nice to know there's others that don't mind being out by the lake." Alex said. As he spoke, his accent was clear, and it wasn't hard for anyone to tell where he was from. Stopping by the lakeside, he looked out at the water and couldn't help but take in the calm feeling it gave. The people in Rune Valley sometimes went nuts over that illness that was going around.

[Maria Bridget Strasovna]

The voice caught Maria off guard, and she jerked upright, her piercing grey eyes widening for a moment in shock as she spun to stare at the figure who has so suddenly appeared beside her. She relaxed again soon enough - the man hardly seemed threatening, with a smile like that. She took another puff on her cigarette and turned back to the lake, allowing herself the beginnings of a smile. Damn. That was just a testimony to how distracted she was becoming - she should certainly have heard the man coming. The snow here crunched loudly underfoot. If she had been as alert as she should, she would have heard him before he even came into view. Not that it mattered - distraction was hardly going to cost her life today. She turned to face the man once more as he spoke, trying rather poorly to conceal another violent shiver as it ran through her body.

Maria was surprised for the second time in as many minutes by the figure beside her as he spoke - it wasn't what he said, but his accent that piqued her interest. She hadn't heard such a thick Russian accent since she left the 'homeland'. Her smile broadened somewhat, and she offered a small nod. "It wouldn't do to be afraid of this lake. I wouldn't be much good at my job if the water worried me." Indeed, Teco would be starting down a slippery slope if they hired a marine biologist who had no intention of going near the water. Maria's own accent was noticeable - though not to the extent of Alexei's - after all, she had been living in the states for nearly four years. Even so, she didn't doubt the man would notice. She almost found herself hoping he would, so that he would talk to her for a while and distract her from her own thoughts. He own thoughts were never the sort that she wanted to be thinking.

Didget shook her head furiously, knowing she must look like a madwoman, but wanting to clear the cobwebs from her head none-the-less. The long coil of black hair that fell down her back blew gently in the heavy winds, and Maria decided that today she would make the first move. She wasn't know for being timid, and she had nothing to lose by engaging the man in conversation. She held out an ice-like hand along with a warm smile, her voice husky yet melodic as she spoke. "Marie Strasovna, Marine Biologist-" The young woman was cut off as a string of heavy hacking coughs forced their way out of her mouth. With a dark scowl the girl turned away, catching the coughs in one thick sleeve. It was the arctic, it made sense that she had caught a cold. And yet, she couldn't help but be a little frightened by the cough she had recently developed. She knew what else it was a symptom of.

[ALEXEI VYACHESLAV]

Alex hadn't meant to startle the woman, but he guessed she'd been deep in thought or concentration. It's happened to him before, and sometimes he was taken off guard if he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Years ago though, distraction was the last thing he wanted. He used to work for the Russian government as a bodyguard, and his attention always had to be focused on the subject and their surroundings. Nothing more, and nothing less. And if it weren't that damn shoulder injury he'd gotten years ago, he could still be working that job.

Once he heard the woman speak though, he looked away from the lake and over to her. Alex easily caught the Russian accent, and that forced another small smile. "Really, I don't see why people are afraid of it. As long as they stay away from the softer patches of snow and ice, they'd be fine." He decided not to bring the accent thing up right away, and maybe he'd hint at it later. Honestly though, he's never heard any cases of anyone falling into this lake. A number of people have been here, and not once has anyone gone in.

Alex looked at the woman again and shook her hand, but that was when he noticed how cold she seemed to be. Then the cough came, and although it concerned him, he wasn't about to freak out or anything. Coughing was too common to be that much of a worry. "Alexei Vyacheslav. Everyone just calls me Alex though." After pausing for a moment, he spoke again. "I've got another coat with me if you'd like. It's always better to have extras." He then walked back over towards the snowmobile and grabbed the coat that he had slung over the back of it.

Once he had it in hand, he went back to the woman and put the coat over her shoulders. He'd always been the caring type, and he wasn't about to leave her like this when he had another coat at hand.

[Maria Bridget Strasovna]

It took Maria a few moments to get herself under control, and by the time the coughs had subsided her new companion had already vanished back the way he had come. She contemplated shouting fater him that his spare coat wasn't necessary. After all, she had just met the man. She didn't want to be labeled as 'that burdensome scientist'. But he had already gone most of the distance, and she hadn't noticed until now quite how cold she was. Cigarette still glowing lightly between her lips, Didget tucked her hands under her armpits and waited impatiently for 'Alex' to return. She curled up tighter into her coat, resting her chin on her knees and pouting lightly. She couldn't remember how long she'd been out here, but no doubt it was longer than was advisable. She had only come out to conduct some water tests. Of course, the results had been useless. She had all the information that she needed, and had only headed down to the lake that morning to keep herself occupied.

Alex returned quickly and Maria offered a sheepish grin as he tucked his coat around her shoulders. This man was too nice. A lot of people would have upped and left as soon as they heard the words 'marine biologist'. The scientists weren't at all popular with the citizens, for a variety of good reasons. After all, it was the scientists who had started all of this. Caught up in their studies and the chance of fame, her 'sort' had essentially forgotten the needs of their volunteers. They had cut them off from the news, given up on updating them as to their findings. Maria couldn't help but think that matters had only become worse since the outbreak of disease - now the scientists kept themselves well away, not willing to risk their own health to look after their lab rats. In all honesty, Didget was bitter about the whole thing. These Teco scientists were earning scientists everywhere a bad name. She had been working hard for the last two months to make sure that she at least was considered on 'the good side'. She was pretty much a permanent fixture in the little town, pitching in with physical labor and caring for the sick while the rest of the scientists sat nice and safe in their cushy offices.

Marie reached out to pull the coat closer around herself, shrinking back into the extra layer of warmth between herself and the outside. She stubbed out her cigarette and and tucked in back into the pack to be disposed of later, and offered the Russian another catish grin. "Thank-you, Mr Alexei! I should have brought more layers, but I only meant to be out for a few moments... but I was distracted..." She glanced back into the crystal depths of the water and her grin softened to a melancholy smile as she looked back on her train of thught before this man had appeared beside her. Indeed, she had been distracted. Still staring blankly into the water, Maria continued to address the man. "People tend to call me Didget, and you're welcome to do the same. You're Russian, yes?" She smiled brightly back at him now. Her memories of Russia were not the fondest, but there had been happy times. After two months in the arctic, she was starting to miss her home.

[ALEXEI VYACHESLAV]

He didn't mind trudging back to the snowmobile, and he had purposely left it some distance away from the edge of the lake. If he got it too close, there was no telling what the weight of it would do to the ground around it. It wasn't any reason to become the first person to fall into the water. After he made his towards the lake again though, he sat down in the snow as well. It was pretty much useless to keep standing, and it was nice to look out at the water for a bit. "I can understand why." Alex said to Maria.

"It's a nice place to come if you want to get away from the town for awhile." And a number of people probably wanted to do so. It was better to stay as far away from this disease as possible, much like the scientists were doing. However, Alex didn't see Maria as being one of "their" kind. When coming across the typical scientist, they'd usually try to avoid the topic of the illness, and they'd move on, saying that they were "busy", or "didn't have time to talk". Such wasn't the case at the moment, and he was enjoying the company.

Alex then noticed the smile on Maria's face after she asked if he was Russian. "Da." He simply said. In English, it would mean "yes", but he was speaking a bit of their own language at that point. "I'm from Samara, but I moved to the States a few years ago to find better work." And from there, he heard about Teco's project, and offered up his services since he had a helicopter and was well capable of flying it. They took him in and actually paid him for it, but now Alex was beginning to regret that decision a bit.

Since the start of things, he never even though that a disease would break out, and probably no one else did either. Now Teco was trying to keep the whole thing quiet from the rest of the world's population. If anyone found out that they were responsible for something like this, it'd put them under the gun for sure. Just went to show how self centered they actually were. Not to mention that they had stopped paying Alex for awhile once they found out that the helicopter didn't work. In their opinion "it wasn't any use" to them anymore. Although after arguing his point, they forked up the cash again, but it wasn't as much as he used to get from them.

"I can tell..." Alex continued. "You're Russian as well. What part are you from?" Now was it not only nice to find someone out here to talk to, but it was even better to find someone who was from the same country. Unlike some though, he hadn't been away from Russia for all too long, although he still missed being there. This whole Rune Valley project wasn't turning out to be how he thought it was, and he wished he could go back to his home country....or at least back to the U.S. Anywhere seemed better than here at the moment.

[Maria Bridget Strasovna]

Maria couldn't help the wistful smile that graced her features as the familiar Russian words slipped from Alex's lips. Even a simple yes was enough to remind her of a time when she wasn't here. It was nice to remember a world that consisted of more than just the freezing cold, hard work and sickness. She listened intently as Alexei spoke, the light smile fixed on her face as she watched, enthralled, like a small girl at story time. So he was from Samara? She should have really recognized the regional accent. For someone who she'd just met, she was taking a lot of interest in the Russian man sat on the ground before her - but then, by now she was looking desperately for any link to home, and Alex happened to be just what she was looking for. Anyway, he was kind. This was perhaps the first time since she had been here than anyone had put themselves out to lend a hand to one of the 'dreaded scientists'.

Her little grin did nothing less than grow as Alexei continued to talk. He was almost exactly the same as her. Leaving Russia to look for better work - it was nice to have someone to relate to. It might be worth noting that Marie's smile took years off her face - sometimes she looked so focused and harsh that she looked older than she was - but she still smiled like a child. Innocent and as bright as the sunlight glancing off the snow. People had always told her that she had a nice smile, it just so happened that she didn't find reason to use it all that often. Sure, she was almost always wearing a dry smirk to match her dry humor - but a full blown grin? Nope - it took something special to make her whip out one of those.

As Alexei finished speaking, Didget spoke up before a silence could even begin to develop. Once upon a time she had been famed for never shutting up. "Da! Moscow! I haven't been there in years - I've been in the states as well. Getting away from my father's shadow - getting better pay" She grinned again, pulling the coat closer around her as a small shiver ran through her once more. For a Russian, she had a terrible tolerance for cold weather. But then, her father's mansion had always had top-notch heating. Being Yuri Stasovna's daughter had, perhaps, had its positive aspects. But maybe if she hadn't been so sheltered as a child she'd be more resilient now? She smothered another harsh cough in her sleeve before looking back up at Alexei with bleary eyes. "My father - Yuri Stasovna? Perhaps you've heard the name - wanted me to be an electrician and take over his company. He didn't much approve of my career decisions, and he made getting work in Russian difficult. But sometimes I miss home, you know?" She smiled her cheery smile again, hopeful for the moment despite circumstances. True, she had given more details than were necessary - but she would do anything for company - even for a while.

[ALEXEI VYACHESLAV]

Alex took note of her grin as he spoke. He couldn't blame her though, it really was nice to find someone who you could relate to. So far, she was the only other Russian that he'd met in this town. Everyone else was mainly American, but that probably had to do with Teco itself being an American company and offering up this "experiment" in that country. By now though, Alex was getting tired of hearing about them, and he knew they were self centered. In a way, he wished that some of their scientists would get sick so they could go through this whole illness and see what it was like for themselves. However, the more caring side of him wouldn't wish this illness on anyone. It seemed to be rather violent, and not a pleasant way to die at all.

Thankfully though, he didn't know of anyone personally who was sick, or at least confirmed sick with the disease. Then at that moment, another smirk crossed Alexei's face as Didget picked up right away with the conversation. Again, it was nice to have someone to talk to, especially during times like these when everyone was down in the dumps. After hearing her story though, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her a bit. It seemed like a number of people were trying to get away from some kind of family issues.

Alex never really had those kinds of problems back at home. His family was rather stable, but there had been a bump in it all when his father lost his job. Thankfully though, things got better and nothing all too bad managed to happen. "Never heard of him. But I can definitely relate to missing home. I'm always thinking about it, and I've still got a few friends back there." He hasn't talked to them since leaving though, and he wondered how they were doing. "Nice to hear that you got away from all those troubles though."

Looking back at her for a moment, it reminded him again how cold she seemed to be, and that cough didn't help. "If you're cold, I can give you a ride back into town so we can find some place warmer." It seemed like the woman was getting sick, and staying out here in the cold didn't benefit much.