#yeah uhh i love Niko and Tatjana that is all

[jacobsneed]

Many thanks to the lovelies @v0idbuggy @inafieldofdaisies @cassietrn and @theelderhazelnut for the tags! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

Bit of a slow week, mainly re-reading things and changing words and dialogues, and also just getting wrapped up in TOO MANY new ideas, and have also become obsessed with cooking again lol

Been having fun working on the lil bittersweet Niko/Tatjana piece/chapter(??) and mainly working on putting together a playlist, which works great for Music Monday! :D So as tradition, my indecisive ass will plop a few songs I've been listening to while writing this chapter(?) since I can never choose just one!

"Where is Ljubica?" he inquired amid the gentle hum of boiling water. Tatjana peered at the small clock nestled among memories before letting out a tender laugh: "The nights young, she could be anywhere." She sighed deeply: "She says it calms her, biking around." She returned bearing steaming tea and retrieved a cigarette from the rickety table beside her.

"Is she always out in the city?" Niko asked as he gazed out through rain-streaked windowpanes; seeds of worry beginning to grow. "Out on that bicycle? Even in this weather?" He sought her reasonings amid the storm.

Wearily, Tatjana shrugged. "It's been hard for her lately, I don't always understand what goes on in her head." she confessed, failing to ignite her cigarette, the flame of life long extinguished. In frustration, she flung the lighter to the floor while cascading blonde hair shrouded a ghostly visage mourning the loss of what once was. The weight of longing settled over them both; tracing tender aches and sorrows that, like rain-laden clouds, held within them the potential to nourish in time.

From the depths of Tatjana's introspective chasm, the forsaken cigarette found solace upon her lips – Niko, the tender guardian, bending to her side, taming her locks, and igniting her reprieve with his Zippo's flame. A whispered "I'm sorry." echoed through chambers of remorse and longing for a time that once was. Drawing from those hallowed memories, he claimed his own smoky respite and joined her at the border of reverie.

Her touch – a whisper of connection against Niko's hardened hand – beckoned him to share in their silent symphony. "Niko," she breathed between puffs of clouded smoke, "Eventually you need to stop apologizing to me." Her thumb traced canyons of scars and battles won in the tales their hands told. The quiet hung heavy around them, masking an unyielding bond in tension's weighted grasp.

"I've ruined you," Niko confessed, eyes raw with unshed tears, "It’s my fault Dragan died, I failed to keep you safe, sent you and Ljubica across the world alone" As crystalline pain threatened to overflow from Tatjana's eyes, she spoke his name, but he pressed onwards: "I’m empty."

"Nikola," Her firm tone belied the tenderness beneath. "You can't keep doing this to me." Fingers tapped ash to oblivion whilst another breath drew a deep smokey inhale.

As Niko gazed upon her fractured countenance from beneath shame-streaked lashes. "Though I love you," she trembled before the bittersweet tide threatening to overtake her voice, "I cannot fix everything that is wrong with you, in your soul."

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