"Oh, Vika, they're gonna arrest us." Fedya tries to divert me from the idea, but I still don't give up. I look at him seriously then I hear him sigh.
"Do you realize this is illegal?" He peeked at me once more, and I nodded casually.
"It's just graffiti. The sooner you consent, the sooner we'll get out of here." I finally managed to silence him, but only for a few moments.
"How many times have I brought you out of custody for graffiti? Do you want to be deported back to Russia?"
"You really are a coward." As I say it, his attitude changes.
"He's going to kill me when he discovers what I allowed you to do," he whines for the last time before picking up the spray.
"What are we drawing anyway?" I grin, so I kiss him, which causes a smile on his face.
"You'll see, it'll be fun."
•Fedya's pov•
I look confused at what we have done.
"And this symbolizes?" I asked because nothing was clear to me.
"Don't you really see?" She sounds as if she's a little disappointed, but I shrug.
"I don't get it," I honestly answer because I wanna understand, not just pretend to understand when in reality I don't really get it.
"See this detail here?" She pointed to the half representing the lion, to which I nodded.
"That's how I've seen you whole my life. Brave, proud, and always ready to defend the people you care about," I look at her in surprise 'cause I don't know what to say to her about this, but I notice that she blushed slightly.
"I didn't know you saw me that way."
"As a complete king. And yet I see myself more like a cheetah," she chuckled, hinting at the second part of the drawing.
"Elusive?" I asked, linking the previous story of the lion to the parts of the cheetah we had drawn.
"I wanted to say good looking, but okay," she laughed, then added one letter V below the drawing as a signature, then looked at me. I don't even try to get out, because I know it's impossible. I also add my F next to it, so I'm looking at it seriously now because we need to get out of here before we get into trouble.
She documents our masterpiece with the phone's camera, and we finally vanish from the center of the action. We catch a taxi to go home but decide not to go home right away. Denis has been quite suspicious since he found us sleeping together on the sofa.
Instead of going home, we decided to go down to the beach, where we met the first night.
"For real, I'm tempted to build a house here one day," I say, enjoying the sound of the waves with my eyes closed.
"How do you know your wife would want to live here?"
"I do not know. Would you?" I look at her seriously, so I only notice the shock on her face for a few moments, after which she looks away to the stars. She has been captivated by stars all her life.
"Why stars?" I've never asked her that before, so I take this opportunity.
"I do not really know. They are simply magnificent."
"Does Denis know about your star?" I asked her about the tattoo I noticed that night at the hotel.
"Only you know about it. And that's a shooting star."
"Why a shooting star?" I asked again, which made her laugh.
"Why did you tattoo all of that on your arm?" She responded with a counter-question, which is why I'm the one who's laughing now.
"I asked first."
"I respect that," she nodded and began to talk.
"There is a belief that the shooting star is a message from our loved ones who have died. As a sign that they are still there." I get serious because I hate when she is so depressed. Every time, I recall that moment when I encountered her with a hand full of pills.
"And if we look at it from a more positive side, then it is a symbol of a new beginning, and it also brings happiness. It can't be better." She smiles, letting me know that she is alright.
I never want her to be in that condition again. The second time I really don't know how I would go through it.
•Vika's pov•
"Where have you been all day?" Dan looked away from the film for just a second, to look at us after we entered the living room.
"We were wandering around the city. We visited some intriguing neighborhoods." Fedya responded to his question with a smile, as if he already had a ready answer, so he got lost on the first floor of the house, leaving me alone with my brother.
"What are you watching?" I asked curiously, observing TV.
"Man on fire," he replied shortly quite devoted to what was going on on the screen.
"Good movie." I sit on the sofa next to him, so I watch it again. I love this movie, although I know that the ending will make me cry.
"Where is Katya?" I remember asking him since I hadn't noticed her since we got home.
"She didn't want to watch all those murders, so she just went upstairs to sleep. She was waiting for you to come and talk about something, but you two came back really late." He glanced at me questioningly, as if expecting an explanation, but I acted dumb.
"We will talk in the morning. And now shut up, I can't focus on the action because of you." I know he doesn't like it when I forbid him to talk.
"Is something going on between the two of you?" I turn to him and look at him confused for a moment while I consider what to say, so it seems convincing.
"Are you crazy, maybe? You must have had a concussion," I act as if he had said the greatest nonsense possible, even though he is right. Though he doesn't have to know he's right.
"Fedya is like an older brother to me. I've known him all my life," I added, as he still looked at me suspiciously.
"Let it be as you say. Although it seems to me that you are lying to me, but that's your problem," he said, as if I had committed some sin and not just kept the harmony in the house.
"From who did you pick up that stubbornness gene?" I sighed, after which he started laughing.
"You're the same, Vika, you're the same. That's probably, why I love you so much," he smiled and hugged me tightly. I curl up in my brother's arms like I did when I was younger. At least in his embrace, I always felt safe and as if all problems were gone.
"I missed this."
ns 15.158.61.43da2
