darker_london | Alexei / Kait - Old acquaintances

Alexei had dragged himself out of bed some ten minutes ago and gradually gotten himself into a state vaguely resembling humanity. Teeth clean (must remember to buy a new toothbrush), hair presentable, clothes present... a random selection of rings and necklaces, a touch of eyeliner to replace what had been rubbed off on his pillow, and he was more or less ready to face the outside world as it existed in the early afternoon. With a grunt of exertion, he managed to heave the dirty window open and hang himself out of it, waiting for the alledgedly brightly-dressed form of Kait to appear...

She was running late. The night had turned unexpectedly late once she and Pierre had begun talking. Kait wouldn't have cut that short for anything. But now, she supposed, she must pay the price. It wasn't all that much after one by the time she reached Alexei's hotel. He probably wasn't even up yet. Kait wondered idly if she was going to have to resort to throwing stones up at his window. Pity she didn't know which room was his really.

It wasn't long before Alexei caught sight of Kait. "Hey babe!" he called out to her, then pulled himself back into the motel to close his window. He was out the door a moment later and heading towards her.

"Lovely to see you," he smiled as he drew close.

Kait smiled politely at him and tried to think of something she could say back as a greeting that wouldn't ring immediately false. She was no liar.

"Babe, is it?" she asked, falling into step with him as he started walking away from the motel. "It definitely sounds like you've had a wonderful morning so far."

"Wasn't awake for the morning," Alexei told her matter-of-factly. "But getting out and about with you is certainly no objectionable way to spend an afternoon, so I see no reason to spare the good mood. Wouldn't really do for me to be grumpy, would it?"

"A grumpy Alexei would certainly cast a damper on the afternoon, yes," Kait agreed. She'd been right! He'd barely woken up before she'd gotten there. Must be why he hadn't taken her up on being just that teensy little bit late, she thought.

As they passed the Feathers, Alexei wrinkled his nose. "What a stench. I've been in some filthy clubs, but I didn't think things got that dirty in London! Oh, how my illusions have been shattered."

"How long have you been in London so far, Alexei, and it took you this long to have those shattered?" Kait did her best not to breathe as they passed, then attempted a subtle intake of breath for the breath she had missed in walking past the Feathers. Well, that was what you got on the cheap side of town.

She paused. Look at yourself, her inner voice was saying. She hadn't deliberately meant to be cold, but nothing in her words since she'd started walking with Alexei had been the least bit welcoming, while all the time, Alexei had been nothing but accomodating to her. But what if he's just sleazing it up? she thought. Exasperated by herself - she had thought herself over this kind of behaviour - Kait looked at Alexei properly for the first time.

"I haven't really been the nicest of company, huh?" she asked, looking as though she had tasted something past its use-by date.

"Nope," Alexei replied, but he was smiling widely to soften the blow. "Don't let it bother you. It doesn't bother me." If there was one thing that could be said of Alexei, it was that rarely, if ever, did anything bother him. "And I've been in London less than a week, actually."

Kait gave a little grudging smile and looked at Alexei under her lashes. "You heard out pretty quick about Tasha, huh? Do you actually know anybody else around here?"

"Nope," Alexei shook his head. "Didn't expect to. Apart from the people I'll be working for, anyway. Had to meet them and all. Natasha was a surprise, though. Certainly didn't expect to be drawn into all this again." He shoved his hands into his pockets, and flicked his hair out of his eyes with a sharp turn of his head.

"What about you?" he asked for the sake of keeping conversation going. "Been back long?"

"Seems like it," Kait said ruefully, and really more to herself than to Alexei. She looked up at him and added, "A little under half a year. I got back to visit dad last christmas."

God, so much had happened since then.

"Then everything fell down, went boom?" He stopped outside a cafe that looked significantly less grotty than a lot of the places they'd passed, and tilted his head towards it. "This do?"

"Not immediately," Kait said, with raised eyebrow sweetness. She nodded acceptingly towards the place Alexei had pointed out. "So, I suppose I ought to ask you before we go in; do you have plans for later on, and we have to make this fast, or not."

"No plans," Alexei told her as they went in and ordered their respective beverages. Alexei opted for the strongest caffeinated option that he could find. "Tell me the long version of the drama, if you like. Whatever works. Might help me work out what mad point of view Natasha's coming from. Crazy bitch."

Kait shook her head, but the motion was no longer in annoyance. "You keep on asking me to detail up my life here," she said with a mocking grin. "If I like, huh? Well... I had stopped seeing Renee and Scarlett for a while, you know, because awkward." Kait smiled a little self-deprectingly. "I know, I know, stupid and immature, huh? Well, I still saw a bit of Pierre at the dojo - you remember him; I was talking to him one time when you came up to me looking for Tasha. Then since Tasha came back..." Kait ducked her head, a little embarrassed to admit to hiding out in front of Alexei. She could imagine it took a lot to make him hide out from anything. "Well, let's just say I wasn't too sociable after the last time."

Alexei nodded. "Understandable. So you didn't actually do anything to piss her off, then?" He highly doubted she had, but it paid to be sure about these things.

Kait's face slackened at the very idea that she could do anything deliberately to piss Tasha off. "You mean other than exist?" Kait asked, taking a disheartened sip of her hot chocolate. "She lives by the strict rule that people who know her Renee must come to pain." There was that bitterness again. Damnit.

"It always seems to come back to Renee..." Alexei mused. "What's so special about this girl?"