Chapter X: Конечно (Certainly)

It was cold and snowy outside the motel, inside was warm, the main room lit with firewood which smelled like coal and wood...

The old lady at the counter with dark hair and grey curls didn't look surprised as she lifted her eyes from the register, fixing her glasses when saw Tae supporting a bloody Rurik on his shoulder, she just looked... Tired.... As if she was used to this... 

"Good evening dear... You both look like hell chewed you up and spit you out..." She stated bluntly although not unkind. 

Tae didn't respond to her little comment, his jaw was clenched and his arms–tight around Rurik's waist to keep him upright.. 

"Two rooms?" Asked Tae, placing his right hand on the table to support himself, which was slightly bloody too, but in this situation, Tae didn't mind as he was still a bit shaken by the entire incident that happened a few minutes ago 

"Of course dear, let me check...." Said she with a smile far too suspiciously polite

After a moment, she looked up from the computer screen and once again smiled before saying- "Sorry dear, but we only have one room left...." 

"Excuse me-?!" Tae had to ask again to make sure that he hadn't misheard what she said 

Beside him, Rurik let out a faint, breathless laugh that clearly lacked the non-existing humor he had "Конечно...." He muttered... Of course... 

The feared Khladnokrovny Sokolov has a habit of muttering in Russian now? What an odd discovery indeed... 

Tae didn't look at him though...

The sky outside was bleeding rust into black now, Tae's boots had left smears of blood on the morel's cracked tiles... But he didn't mind...

The room–Room 7, was a bit cramped, with dimly lit yellow lights, peeling wallpaper and one double bed... 

Rurik now rested against the somehow soft and cushy mattress of the bed, but not bleeding now... His body was clean and bandaged so now, he looked more like a ghost than a man..

As footsteps approached the bed, Rurik's eyes blinked open, catching a glimpse of Tae's expression... 

"You're crying..." He muttered in a low and ragged voice that sounded nothing like him at all... It was probably due to impact of his wounds and the fact that he had been out cold for two days now.... Tae almost thought that he had died..

"I'm not..." Tae replied... Although that was a lie, of course he was crying... Because he was.... Sca–... Nevermind... 

"Ты всё ещё лжёшь...." (Y̶o̶u̶'r̶e̶ s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ l̶y̶i̶n̶g̶.....)

Tae didn't reply, nor did he make any effort to wipe away the  streak of a single drop of tear that has rolled down his cheeks somehow when he hadn't noticed... Probably.... 

Outside, thunder rolled... Inside? Silence... 

Later, when Rurik was finally asleep, tae sat beside him at the edge of the bed, taking his shoes off before glancing at Rurik for a moment, watching the rise and fall of Rurik's chest, the blood under his nails and the faint scar on his temple... 

"Why now?" He whispered to himself, his voice still a bit shaky, but more controlled now as he asked again "Why did I still come for you? If I had left you, my mission would've been over.... But why couldn't I do so?"

He was answered with just silence...

Warmth and one bed... 

"If you ever get cold, just come back to me and let me give you a piece of my warmth... Don't sit out on the cold for too long, you'll catch a cold." She said... But never once did she yell at him for sitting out in the snowstorms beside her grave... Did she hate him that much? 

That was probably the last memory Rurik had of Olga... It was bitter and hurtful, but he still kept it close to his heart, fearing he would soon forget her voice too...