We're communicators after all...

[chesspolitik]

Four days after acquiring his unexpected yurtguest, Anatoly was settling into a domestic routine of sorts. After so many months alone, it was nice to have someone sharing his living space again, even if it was only until Lex was well again.

"Your tea, your excellency," Anatoly teased, holding Lex's cup out to him. He didn't mind looking after him, constant trips for tea and soup and all, but he couldn't help the need to give him a bit of a hard time about it.

Once the tea was handed over, he finally shrugged off his coat and boats and sat down at the small table next to the bed, and prepared to drink his own tea. "How are you feeling?"

Comments

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"And you as well." Lex replied as he matched his salute.

He took another sip as he considered his next question. "What about you Anatoly? Is there anyone you will be demonstrating on?"

[chesspolitik]

"I am not sure how well they might respond should I try," he answered honestly, though he was careful to keep his eyes away from Lex. "It has been a long time since I've done that sort of thing."

Women were one thing to flirt with, but men? Something else entirely, and even now, as he was starting to accept just how badly he was attracted to Lex, he was not sure he could go down that road.

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Taking note of the down turned eyes, Lex took advantage to smile like he wanted to for just a moment. It was a bit Luthorish...if a Luthor had ever felt as light hearted as Lex did in that moment before.

"You'll never know if you don't try." He chided softly, retaking up a more smooth demeanor.

[chesspolitik]

"If I try and fail, I might lose something more than my dignity," Anatoly answered carefully. "The loss of that would be a terrible thing. It might be better to say nothing at all."

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Well. That was interesting. Lex had been mostly teasing through out the entire lesson but it appears Anatoly was having more serious thoughts. Still...if everything went to plan...this would be worth it. Lex just needed a little more time.

"Well, if you do make the attempt...I wish you all the luck in the world, my friend." He said, solemnly, meaning every word.

"So," He asked, his mood switching back to what it was before. "Tell me how you celebrated the holidays at home."

[chesspolitik]

Grateful for the subject change, Anatoly looked up, smiling. "By staying out of the way, mostly, or looking after the children so Svetlana could cook in peace. We would have a big dinner, hand out the presents, seperate the cousins from each other and then finally, after the tears were dried and the scrapes mended, ring in the New Year."

The number of times the Sergievsky family was a happy one could be counted on one's fingers, but the New Year holiday was one of them.

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Lex sat back as he tried to imagine what that would be like. His holidays as a child had been spent reading in the coat closet of the penthouse as his father threw some grand party for his business guests, when he wasn't being trotted around as the Luthor heir. As a teenager, he'd spent many a holiday drunk and/or high to embarrass his father as much as possible. The holidays in Smallville had been spent alone, in the castle, wondering what festive thing Clark was up to.

"It sounds wonderful." He says smoothly, though a bit of emotion trickled into his voice. He blamed it on the sickness, playing with his head.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly glanced over at Lex, curiously. He had the sense that his friend's own holidays had not nearly been as happy as his. "It was, as long as we were too busy to dwell on other things."

Cautiously, he leaned forward and asked, "What did you do?"

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Lex considered what he said very carefully, since he didn't want to go into the details. He gave Anatoly a half-hearted smile. "Nothing like that. My holidays were more about business then family." And he left it at that, Lionel's phantom whispers in his ear aside.

[chesspolitik]

"We'll have to make our own tradition then," Anatoly said, attempting to lighten the mood. "Since we just have each other here."

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Sighing softly, Lex let all the tension caused by thinking about his father slip away and he smiled much easier at Anatoly. "I'd like that."

And he already had some in mind.