Chapter Text
The train arrives at the station too quickly for your liking. You are one of the last to leave the carriage, so to speak, since the train is practically empty. You adjust your army bag, which contains all your things - well, the most necessary things - and look around for Nikolai.
You notice him before he notices you; however, when you confidently walk towards him, he immediately perks up and comes to meet you.
He calls your name and waves, smiling, and you can't help but smile too, picking up your pace slightly.
"Ты так выросла!" he laughs, scooping you up into a bear hug. "Не узнать прям! Совсем уже взрослая."
You laugh too, hugging him back and allowing yourself to relax for a moment.
"Я тоже рада тебя видеть, дядь Коль", The last time you saw each other was almost six months ago, but he keeps telling you that you've grown up.
You two stand like that for a while, then you pull away.
"Как доехала? Проголодалась?"
Nikolai asks, bending down to easily pick up your bag, which you dropped to hug him.
"Долго ехали, сначала перелет, потом поезд", you rub your eyes. "Я поела в поезде". You hide your lie behind a convincing yawn as you two move towards the station exit.
"Твой пахан сказал, что ты натворила делов", Nikolai's voice lowers slightly as he leads you to his truck.
"И давно ты такую рухлядь водишь?"
You ignore his words, instead looking at the dusty car with the paint peeling off in places.
"Не моя", Nikolai shakes his head, throwing your bag into the trunk and opening the door for you. "Одолжил"
You nod, climbing into the car. Makes sense - Uncle Kolya always kept his girls in proper condition, no matter if they were helicopters, cars, or women.
You don't return to this topic again during the entire drive.
Nikolai tells you about the ranch, about what you will have to do.
"Но, конечно, Прайс расскажет тебе больше; всё-таки это его ферма."
You nod, keeping up the conversation and looking out the window. The landscape is becoming more and more boring with each passing minute. Houses and small shops give way to trees and fields, gradually turning into a dreary wasteland. Your stomach makes a weak attempt to make itself known, but you confidently suppress the feeling of hunger. Not now.
"Как сам?"
"Ничего, потихоньку. Периодически бывает, появляюсь тут, чтобы починить трактор там или-"
He pauses when he feels your gaze.
"Ну, когда я свободен. Не всегда же мне на даче киснуть."
You're smirking.
"И как им твоя баня?"
He laughs, and his smile flashes with memories unknown to you.
"Ну, сначала они не поняли-"
Now it dawned on him what exactly you were hinting at.
"Ах ты, мелочь пузатая!"
He laughs again because you've screwed him over, and reaches out with his free hand to tickle you. Now you're laughing too. For a moment, you're transported back to your childhood, when everything was fine. Then you arrive at the ranch, and reality sets in again.
You're not impressed by the place at all. In fact, the ranch is huge, and you're more concerned about how much work you'll have to do.
You don't see any animals as you walk toward the main house; they're probably grazing now, you think. You don't see any dogs, either, but you can hear the distant whinnying of horses in the barns.
The sun is getting stronger, starting to get hotter, and you wish you'd been so rash as to grab your hat from the car - but you quickly remember you don't have one.
With every step you take, something cold begins to stir in your stomach, twisting into a tight knot, slowly sucking in everything it can reach, leaving behind a cold fear and sticky sweat on the back of your neck. Your fingers touch Nikolai’s, where he holds your bag. He doesn’t pull away. He lets you touch him, allowing you to ground yourself for a moment.
The house seems too big for a man who doesn’t have a wife or children.
Nikolai calls out to Price as soon as he steps inside the house, and you’re surprised to see that no one is there to greet you. You also didn’t see a single worker while you were walking, but you quickly chalked it up to the fact that it was the middle of the day and normal people were busy working. Unlike you. You don’t hear the voice in your head, you feel it in your gut, as the cold knot tightens.
"Не слышит", Nikolai's voice pulls you out of your thoughts. "Наверное, он в кабинете. Пойдем."
He nods his head towards what you assume is the study.
Nikolai leads you through a large living room with a fireplace, a huge couch and several armchairs, your gaze lingers on several glasses on the coffee table next to the couch, on several framed photos on the walls - you don't have time to look at them, but they are clearly photos from Mr. Price's time in the service. You know because Uncle Kolya has similar ones. Your father has similar ones, too. And you had similar ones, too.
As you turn towards the office, you notice another passage in the living room - there you see drawers, a refrigerator, a large table and chairs, this is clearly a kitchen.
"Джон, это я." Nikolai doesn't knock on the door, he just walks in, and the fact that it's such a natural thing for him to do tells you a lot.
You freeze in place the moment you see him.
He's standing next to a desk, some papers are spread out in front of him, and he's holding one in his hand; he's almost Nikolai's height, maybe a little shorter. There's a thin scar across his left eyebrow and all the way down to his cheek; his hands are calloused from using weapons all the time. He's handsome, as far as you can tell, and his gaze pierces you when he looks up from the paper he's reading.
"Ah, Nik." he smiles crookedly, but there is tenderness in this smile, not directed at you.
You can't tear your eyes away from his ears. From his damn dog ears on his head. The fear that had been coiling like a snake in your stomach rises higher, grabbing your throat with its ugly paw. You want to scream from fear and disgust.
His ears perk up as he looks at you. He only has one whole ear - the right one, the left ear is almost half missing, ending at a scar, long healed, but still ugly.
You understand that you were addressed only when Nikolai calls for you.
"She's tired after the journey," Uncle Kolya's apologetic voice infuriates you beyond belief; as if he's making excuses for you infront of this mutt.
The mutt moos something vaguely, and then answers with a strong accent:
"Price gotta get back soon"
A wave of relief washes over you; at least Price isn't a hybrid. It seems. The fear loosens its grip on you just a little, enough for you to relax a little and exhale.
Price appears immediately. He comes out of a nearby doorway at the far wall of the office, which you hadn't noticed because it was blocked by a cabinet.
"Nik, finally."
His voice is loud and cheerful, he extends his hand to Nikolai for a handshake.
You feel a little calmer in the presence of another human.
Price extends his hand to you, greeting you warmly, and you automatically shake his hand, squeezing his palm tightly. Old habits die hard.
"I like a girl with a good handshake, darling." His smile is so warm you can't help but smile back. "John Price, darling." He nods at you, still holding your hand. "And this is John MacTavish, if the old dog hasn't introduced himself yet."
Nick and Price laugh while the mutt rolls his eyes, and you feel out of place, like you're right in the middle of something personal and intimate. They're close, and it makes you angry, angry that these two are touching this disgusting mutt, that Uncle Kolya shook the dog's paw before your eyes.
The conversation continues, but you only realize it after you feel a coolness on your hand because Price has let go.
"We decided to give you a cabin on the outskirts, so that the boys won't bother you with their... Noise," says Price. "You can unpack your things and rest for now, everyone is busy now. Before dinner, go to the stables and find Simon, help him, okay?"
You come to your senses again when your name is called again. Get yourself together, you tell yourself. It’s just tiredness and hunger, and not the presence of a huge mutt that confuses you, you tell yourself. It was a long time ago, stop thinking about it.
"Okay," you force yourself to nod. "Well, where's-
You bend down to pick up your bag, which Nikolai had placed on the floor when you walked in.
"Johnny will show ye the way," the mongrel interrupts you, not letting you finish, and you reflexively squeeze your fingers on the straps of your bag. His voice alone infuriates you. "Soap!"
His voice hardens and growls, no, barks, calling for someone. You tell yourself that it wasn't his voice, or his command to someone other than you, that startled you, but the way the door swung open and another mutt stumbled into the room.
He's tall and broad, his face a strange mixture of shame and puppyish anticipation. Like a child shamed for being caught eavesdropping on an interesting conversation between adults.
You don't like him.
His tail swishes from side to side, and he's not at all embarrassed by the fact. In fact, what you took for a shame was something else; you don't see even a hint of shame in his eyes.
"Ye can call me Johnny, lass," he smiles cheekily at you, holding out his hand to you.
You just nod, forcing your name out.
Damn mutts. Why didn't anyone tell you there'd be so many dogs here?.. Damn hybrids.
"Thank you for taking me in, sir," you gather all the goodwill you have left in you into these words as you speak to Price. "Спасибо, дядь Коль. Я пойду."
Nikolai hugs you goodbye.
"Веди себя хорошо, ладно?" he whispers in your ear, and you walk away.
Damn Johnny doesn't leave you a single step behind. He asks you a million questions as he leads you to the workers' cottages. He even tries to take your bag from you to carry it, but you quickly grab it in your other hand, away from the mutt. A look of confusion bordering on resentment flashes across his face, but he quickly hides it behind a bright smile.
He asks you a million questions and you answer each of them in monosyllables.
“Ah was surprised when ah found out that we would hae a new addition,” his accent makes the words strangely pleasant, but for your taste, he says too much. "Why'd ye decide tae come here?"
His interest is genuine, so they don't know the details. Good.
"I needed a change of scenery," you move your shoulder vaguely, and Johnny notices, leaning down again to try to take your bag.
"Heavy? Lemme."
But you duck again. He snorts, but lets you do it. You're sure he could easily take the bag from you. But you also know you could easily stop him from doing so.
"A change o' scenery, ye say?" he continues as if nothing had happened. "Aye, it's nice here. Spacious, clean. Fresh air 'n it's beautiful here."
You snort. So far all you've seen here is dust and wasteland, though now that you're looking at the ranch from the inside, you can see trees. It's a wonder you didn't notice the forest at the start, the way it seemed to enclose the farm in a protective semicircle of leaves and trunks.
"What?" Johnny looks at you, his eyes never stopping smiling. "Dinnae ye think there's somethin' beautiful here?"
“I haven’t seen it yet,” you demonstratively look around, your gaze catching sight of the barn, empty paddocks and stable.
"Yer jus' lookin' in the wrong place," he laughs again, and you hate how your teeth ache from that velvety laugh. Too far from the barking of that dog in the office. "Ah'll show ye sometime, bonnie."
You snort again, glad that the conversation is dying down. But the damn dog just can't keep quiet.
"Why did Nikolai bring ye?" Uncle Kolya's name seems somehow foreign from his mouth, as if it's hard for him to pronounce something so familiar to you.
"We know each other."
"Enough tae help ye settle in here so quickly and bring ye here personally?"
You grit your teeth. So the dog knows more than he's letting on.
"He's friend of my father."
"Uh-huh."
A new wave of irritation rises in you. This dog needs to be gotten rid of immediately, but he stubbornly walks next to you and opens his mouth again to say something.
"This house?" you manage to speak first, pointing to the very last cabin in the neat row of small houses.
"Aye, it's-"
"Great, I'll take care of the rest." You pick up your pace slightly. "Thanks for walking me."
You hope that a little politeness will help you get him out faster, but he stubbornly follows, stopping a few steps away from you when you reach the door.
You put your hand on the handle and push, but the door doesn't budge. You push harder, hoping that the mechanism is simply jammed from disuse, although you know perfectly well that the door is locked.
You reluctantly turn to Johnny, and God help you, but it takes all your willpower not to punch him in his smug face. You watch with poorly concealed irritation as he slowly puts his hand in the back pocket of his pants and just as slowly pulls out a key.
The small key is slightly visible in the iron ring when Johnny holds it out to you. You reach out your hand in response and practically howl when the dog abruptly pulls his hand away. Your fingers squeeze the air.
"Hey-"
He's genuinely amused at you, holding out the key again and again not letting you take it.
Beating up a ranch hand before you even get to work is a really, really bad idea, you tell yourself. Unclenching your fist again takes more effort than last time, but this time you don't rush to grab the key too early. You'll just wait until the key touches your open palm.
Johnny sees this, and his mocking smirk softens into a smile. He slowly places the key in your palm and covers it with his own. Your palm practically disappears into his huge paw as he turns your hand over and kisses the back of your hand.
"Welcome, lassie."