You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours ~ Durmie Christmas Break Dec MP ~ [Lev]

Winter had been long and cold. Valda, considering all her circumstances this Winter Break, found herself trying her best to enjoy herself and find something good in each day. Even if she was broken and depressed, she didn't want it to show. She was just fine. That's what she wanted everyone else to think. There were some, and only a select few, who she would really let see how she was truly feeling. @Gio Gambino @Aleksandr Kozlov  and @Lev Leskov  were the only ones...for now.

Off in the distance, Valda had seen a familiar face for only second before it had disappeared down a road. Was that... Is he really here? She took of running down the road as best she could until she got closer. Her ankle had been badly injured and there were scratches up her leg from the wolves she and Gio had to fight off not once, but twice. There was no mistaking his alabaster skin, blue eyes, the twinkling earring he work, and the shape his mouth seemed to find itself in from continuously smoking cigarettes. Even with out one, his lips looked as if he should've had one resting between them. "Lev!" She cried out as she caught up to him, jumping on him with a hug tightly around him. "You're here! How long have you been here?" By the look of his face, Lev was probably just as surprised as she was to see him.

She let go of the hug and couldn't help but smile as they stood there before each other. "I'm so glad to see you." Truly, she was thrilled he was there. She had barely gotten the words out that informed him her mother died when she had learned. He had been the first person she told and they hadn't seen each other since. Valda had left quickly to rush home. Luckily for her, @Mihaela Lupesco wasn't around to get in her business and she didn't have to avoid her. It was nice to be around Lev without anyone else there to interfere. Her mask of bravery was still one, smiling through the pain that Lev knew she was facing. He was one of the people she didn't mind talking to about it. Even with Gio, Valda took some time to talk about her mother's passing. With Lev though, she felt as if she could tell him anything.

Their brother-sister relationship, though it was full of jests, jeers, and jokes, made her more trustworthy and open with him. Upon their first meeting, Lev made her feel as if she couldn't share a thing. She was scared he'd poke fun at her for it and only lower her confidence. As time continued on and she got to know him, she found that Lev made fun of her because he enjoyed being around her. The two got along fairly well. Once she could overlook his crude humor, she began to give it back in a playful banter and spend more time with him. A part of her wanted to spill everything that had happened the past couple weeks since they last spoke, but felt they'd find a good time, whether he asked her now or later. Knowing Lev was in Scoarta made her stay in the village with Gio a little easier.

"Are you here to visit with Miha?" It was the only reason she could imagine him to be there. Just like how she was visiting Gio, Valda would have never come to such a small, dangerous village. She wondered if Lev was the same way or if he lived her too and had never told her.

Lev had never been so happy for a school break before. It wasn't even that school was bad this year. Quite the contrary, actually, school was way better this year than last year, but this year... he didn't have to go home or sulk around school with the other unwanted misfit kids, away from his friends. This time, he got to do something that mattered, help people, and help himself too. He was staying with his best friend's family—crashing on the couch, not that he minded—and working during the day. It was hard work, but it was also rewarding. It felt good to be a part of something. Growing up, Lev never really had that. He was growing more certain that he'd like to move here after he left school, get a small house with a little land.. It just seemed like a dream. Knowing that Miha was here, well that made things even better.

Things had been strange between the two of them this past semester—good strange. Ever since the summer, when they had started being flirty with each other, they hadn't seemed to stop. He still wanted more. He wanted another chance to see her topless. He wanted a chance to get closer than he normally was. He thought about kissing her a lot, but at the end of the day, he was too scared. He didn't like being scared of things. It wasn't like him. Usually nothing at all frightened him.

He was stuck in thought about that when he heard a voice calling out to him. Was that..? “Valda?” He asked, turning around. She wasn't someone he expected to see here, but he didn't mind at all. He grinned at her, though his smile was mixed with pity. She had told him what happened with her mother, and he felt really bad. He had lost his father, though his father still lived somewhere—who knew where. He kind of understood, but not completely. She and her mother were close in ways that Lev and his father had never been, and her mother was gone in a way that Lev's father wasn't. He still had a hope that his dad would come around. He hadn't yet, but he could.

He hugged her back, warmer than usual. He liked that she was a hugger. He rarely got hugs. “Hey, Valda. I didn't expect to see you here.” Her questions went by so quickly he couldn't possibly answer them all.

“Yeah, I'm here with Miha. Well, I'm staying with her anyway. I'm helping her dad around the land and stuff. What are you doing here?” She looked so pretty in the sun, he couldn't help but notice. “How are you holding up?”

She was so relieved to see Lev. When they hugged, she could smell the faint smell of cigarettes mixed with his cologne. She hates the smell of cigarettes, but his aroma suited him it was sort of comforting to have aomw familiarity in this strange land.

At the mention of Miha, Valda couldn't help but bite her lip. Her guess that Lev was visiting Miha was confirmed. She was glad she made him happy, but she wasn't about to hang out with her. After to fierey brunette had read her notes about her dying mom, Valda's dialike for her began to grow. Even thinking about her made her blood boil. If she were to see her, she couldn't promise she'd be on her best behavior.

Miha wasn't there though and so she decided not to focus on her, but her time with Lev instead. His questions were a little difficult for her to answer. For him to ask though meant that he cared about her.  Lev was the closest thing to family she had. When he asked, she was reminded that her brother Dimitry was gone, but Lev seemes to fill that role better than anyone else, even if it wasn't by blood.

She shrugged at his question. She wasn't quite sure how she was doing. The orpham hadn't accepted her mom had died. There was a slight feeling that she was still alive and it was all a big dream, but rhat wasn't true. Valda was upset and unsure more than anything. Once she had come to realize her mom was gone for good, Valda eouldn't be able to out on her mask of bravery for much longer.

"I'n fine, I guess. I didn't want to stay home. I couldn't. It was all too much to stay there." Her shoulders visibly sagged as a sigh escaped oast her lips. Her hands foldes behind her as she leaned against a fence post. "Gio is letting me stay at his place for Christmas break. I've been here a couple days. Christmas was... Going to be lonely. I needed to get away."

She looked up from the blinding white snow and coulsn't help but smirk at Lev's earring. When the sun hit it just right, it glimmered like the snow. "Do you have some time to talk? I feel like we've got some catching up to do, even if it has been a couple weeks."