#ref: andrew x viktoriya

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@chaoticallycosmic

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Andrew nodded agreeing that he'd never thought that they'd be doing anything like this. "I don't think I was in the right headspace to have said 'yes' if you had asked." Drew gave her a shrug. "I feel like it probably comes off that I was hiding her from you. Really, it's just a matter of protecting her. When Cara and I lost her parents that was soul crushing and I was on call that night. I was at the crash and those scars you've seen, the really bad ones, those are from me crawling into the car to dry to get Ronan and Essa out because it was taking ages to get any of the hydraulic tools to open get the doors off." Those scars were raised, thick and silky smooth. They'd needed several stitches and significant time to heal; time he was given when put on bereavement by the Chief. "Nora has a mother and a father figure in Cara and I but I wish she could have a normal family dynamic that Ronan and Essa would have given her. Cara's a workaholic and more into women than men."

Pausing his wave of explanation word vomit, he told her he would take it black. "That's really impressive. I had a significantly smaller budget than Cara so my place was a massive fixer upper, too, but I wanted to be close to Cara's and still zoned to the same schools in case something happened." It was no easy feat, the place looked like a squatters shack and for some time Cara had insisted that until specific things were sorted his weeks not be spent there, so the entire fire department had pitched in to make it mildly livable. "Does Kaz live here with you?"

"Coffee it is," Viktoriya answered as she busied herself with making two cups of coffee. "And I know I don't have to feed you but I want to," she turned to smile softly at him before she turned to open her fridge and took out things to make one of her favorite dishes, she had fond memories of it. Having Andrew in her place felt jarring if she was being honest. "I gotta say though, it's a little weird seeing you in my kitchen, not in a bad way, just in a more of never thought it happen way," she confessed softly then nodded as she listened to him. "You want to be able to actually spend time with her, that's understandable. Nora seems like a wonderful little girl," she commented with another smile on her face. "You don't have to apologize, Andrew. My lack of sleep is more to do with me, I promise," he might have been part of the reason but ultimately not the main one. At his question, she hummed while she took out a few pots and pans. "About five years, actually. My brother, Kaz, helped me renovate it and everything. It was a disaster when I bought it but with a lot of elbow grease, and a few accidents, we finally got this together as you see it now. It's my small paradise," she replied with a warm grin, she truly loved her home, didn't think she'd ever have a house that felt like home.

"Now, I hope you like dumplings because that is what I am making, we call them pelmeni back home," she offered as she took out the dough just as their coffee was done. She poured him some into a mug. "Do you take it with cream or sugar?"

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@chaoticallycosmic

[writermuses]

@chaoticallycosmic

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@chaoticallycosmic

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"Wouldn't mind something to drink, but maybe just water or coffee?" Andrew swallowed, knowing that drinking anything stronger would probably lead to some mistake on his part. "You don't have to feed me, but if you're hungry I could DoorDash something over here for us. You know me, I can always eat." His smile was soft, trying to put her at ease, but he noticed how Viktoriya watched him and it made Drew feel like she was regretting letting him into her space. Taking a seat near her, he nodded. "I always work longer shifts on my weeks without Nora. It lets me make sure that I have less hours on the weeks I have her. It's easier during school, but there's just no predictability with the fire station. Anyway, I'm sorry you didn't get much sleep- especially if that's my fault." For the first time, he looked around, catching the details of the place. It reminded him of Cara's very put together, pictures up, lived in. "You been here long?"

Viktoriya couldn't really go to his place and not be reminded of the things that they had done there, she didn't need those memories to be clouding her judgment. So the only option, at least for her, was for him to come over to her place. Viktoriya was proud of her home, it was modest but it was hers and she had worked hard for it, not to mention pestering Kaz to help her renovate it. She couldn't help but wonder what was going through Andrew's mind as she walked into her kitchen, ahead of him. There were no pictures of her parents, only of her brother and their close friends. Nothing to indicate she even had parents. "Would you like anything to drink?" She turned as she directed the question toward him. She was still nervous, despite work having kept her busy with the extra two twelve-hour shifts she had taken. Her eyes couldn't help but take in Andrew as question after question sped through her mind. "Or maybe even something to eat?" She had restocked her fridge and pantry earlier, she was a creature of habit and the thought of this conversation had been on her mind all week. "I'm not trying to delay anything, despite how nervous I am," she assured him with a small smile, it was his first time in her place after all and she needed to think of something else instead of the fact that he was the only one she allowed to call her 'Tori'. "I would ask if you got decent rest, but," she had noticed the dark circles under his eyes, "I can see I wasn't alone in feeling like it was a long week."

/house reference

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Drew nodded in agreement, though he couldn't help but wonder if she was saying her place and not his because of everything they'd done there in the past. "You'l have to text me the address." Andrew stayed quiet as Viktoriya talked to Nora about princesses and dragon slaying, swallowing at how easy the woman was with her. This had been the exact reason he'd bolted. It always seemed like people treated Nora as baggage, but this hurt more, knowing that Nora and someone he had feelings for could so easily match up and then Nora would lose someone important to her. "I love ballet! I have lot of pretty tutus." The blonde on his hip giggled, drawing the awkward encounter out longer. Drew couldn't be bitter about the future losing Ronan and Essa had given him, but these moments hurt him. All he could do was nod and, eventually, tell Viktoriya they had to go and that he'd see her soon. He'd fall apart over it later.

✨ a few days later ✨

It had been the longest week, waiting for this meet up sans Nora. As he knocked on the door, Andrew wore it on his face with dark bags under his eyes despite a somewhat put together appearance in attire, dark curls brushed out of his blue eyes. He knocked softly, leaning against the door and half hoping the door wouldn't open, every scenario playing out in his head. When it did he smiled only a little because she was still the cutest, tiny thing. "Tori, shall we?" Following her inside, he hit the fob to lock his car and looked around her place to spare himself the unavoidable thoughts of undressing her that came every time Drew looked at her backside.

The sight of Andrew picking up his goddaughter made her heart skip several beats, and yes she knew that was impossible because she was a nurse but it's still how the sensation felt. Her anger simmered down a little more but it still smoldered in her soul. "That's fine, I won't be free until then too, got a twelve-hour shift tomorrow," she explained and wishing she didn't sound exhausted but she was, though she thoroughly enjoyed and love her job. "Maybe you can come over to my place?" She suggested before turning her bright smile toward Nora, she really was a cute child. Children always melted her heart into a puddle of goo, it was adults that got the ice. "I used to be one when I was your age. My older brother, his name is Kaz, used to pretend to rescue me from dragons and other monsters," for a moment her eyes got a faraway look in them. The tales she and Kaz spun were a way to escape the real monsters in their lives, their parents, and the people associated with them. "You know, your name means shining light, which makes it perfect for a cute princess like you. Do you like ballet, Nora?" Viktoriya couldn't help but be curious noticing her tutu, her own mother put her into lessons when she was about Nora's age. Another escape she relished in. Andrew should be glad his goddaughter was a great distraction or this conversation wouldn't be going as great as it was.

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That little tight lipped, squinty faced rage was exactly one of the things Drew had loved about Viktoriya. No one could glare into the hollow space where his soul should be quite like Tori could. Andrew immediately remembered her in nothing but his shirt having a conversation about the best character in a show he'd hardly been watching because during the show's marathon they'd been having a marathon of their own. That fleeting thought made his pupils dilate and his throat roll. "It's Friday, I won't be free until Sunday after five." It wasn't rocket science to figure out why he was busy, but he nodded toward the little girl twirling at his side. "Nora's my goddaughter. Princess, say hi to Viktoriya." Nora stopped spinning, clearly a little dizzy and Drew picked her up to prevent an accident. The unbothered seven year old took all the attention away from Andrew, "Wow! That's a good princess name! Are you a princess too?"

'Hey, it's been a while?' Was he was being fucking serious right now? Viktoriya tried to calm down, she really did because she was not one to cause a scene at all. Especially not in the middle of a damn grocery store and in front of a child. That was throwing her off, the presence of a small girl. Immediate dread and anger rushed through her veins, hot and fast. Her eyes narrowed at him. All it took was a deep breath for the fire in her to die down to a simmer though. "Yeah, it has been," her voice was strained but she can't help it. He had ghosted her. Didn't even come back to the bar, her brother's bar - which was why she was there in the first place when they met that night - but he had never been back. Viktoriya smiled at the cute little blonde behind him, hoping she didn't look scary. She had enough Russian mafia princess references to last her a lifetime. "Do you, um, think we can talk for real sometime soon? I really would hate to think that you're married with kids," her voice fell down to a whisper so only he could hear her. "You look very cute in your ballet outfit, sweetie," she told the little girl with another smile, which slimmed when she returned her eyes to Andrew as she waited for a reply.