Hot water ran over your naked body as you closed your eyes and began massaging shampoo into your hair. You washed it out afterwards and hopped out the shower. Normally the water you showered in was more on the colder side but since it was winter and you liked to keep the windows open for the fresh air, showering cold didn't seem as relaxing as it usually would. Wrapping a towel around your nude form, you walk out of the bathroom, a bit dizzy from the hot shower.
After your incident with Fyodor in the bathroom, your mental health had recovered a bit. And you were really glad about it even though it was just a tiny bit. It was enough for you to feel well enough to do something your mother always talked about. But not your step mother you mostly grew up with. The stories were told to you by your actual mother.
You were too small too really remember things about your biological mother (also considering she wasn't even there most of the time), but for reason you always remembered the stories she told you about her home country. And ever since then you always wanted to visit it. And now that you live here, in germany, you always do this every year like most people in this country.
Go to the Christmas Market.
It was an event that happened every year at the same time and you loved going there. People would put up their stalls on the marketplace, decorate everything festively and later sell various kinds of things like food, decorations, clothes and, of course, drinks. Especially mulled wine was popular.
As you once told Nikolai about the Christmas Markets in germany, he was really enthusiastic and told you that one time he and you would go to one. And today that day has come. Maybe it wasn't going to be exactly what you two had imagined back then but both of you were still excited that it was finally happening.
You walked into your room and opened your closet. You looked over your options for a moment before taking out a black turtleneck and a pair of black jeans. You contemplated for another moment before also taking a pristine white shirt. It's colour reminded you of Nikolai's hair when he was younger. His hair was still white now but over the time it had darken slightly, reminding you a bit of a white seashell. Back then, however, his hair was a clean, pure white like it consisted of snowflakes.
Beginning to dress, you first put on the jeans and the turtleneck before putting on the white shirt over the turtleneck, leaving it open and tucking it into your pants. You looked at yourself in the mirror for some time before nodding, satisfied with you appearence. You made your way out of your room and walked into the room with your stored clothes.
Nikolai and Fyodor were already there. While the russian seemed to already have chosen his attire, Nikolai was still rumaging through the clothes in the boxes and closets. As you entered, you couldn't help but to eye Fyodor. He wore a white pullover with some lavender embroideries at the collar and the sleeves, white pants and a pair of black boots. There was also a black coat drapped over his shoulders.
Nikolai already wore a white pullover as well, the same as Fyodor, only with black embroideries instead of lavender ones. His pants and boots were also black. But he was still rumaging through the closets, searching for something. Fyodor seemed to be slightly annoyed at him.
"Kolya stop it. It's too late now, we have to go any minute."
"But Fedya, I swear I saw them in here. Just give me two more minut- Got them!"
He suddenly shouted, pulling out something out of a box. In his hand he held three scarfs. All looked similar but were still different. One of them was white with a black pattern, one was black with a purple pattern and one was dark grey with a golden pattern. You snickered at Nikolai while Fyodor, almost unnoticably, rolled his eyes.
Nikolai quickly fastened the black and purple scarf around the russians neck, giving him a kiss on the forehead afterwards, before walking over to you, the grey and golden one in his hands. As you looked at Fyodor, you could swear that you saw a slight blush on his cheeks but you quickly shifted your gaze back to Nikolai, who was now wrapping a scarf around your neck as well. You smiled at him, blushing as he placed a gentle kiss on the bridge of your nose.
Just as Nikolai wrapped the remaining scarf around his own neck, someone rang at your door. The three of you went downstairs to answer the door. While Nikolai and you were putting on your coats, Fyodor opened the door to greet Sasha and Milena. The both girls had asked to come with you when they were visiting last week.
Since the Christmas Market was in the city, you had to drive there by car. Therefor you grabbed your car keys on the way out. But as you approached the car, a thought crossed your mind. Was it really safe for you to drive at your mental state? Yes, you felt well enough to go out but maybe you shouldn't be driving. So before you could enter the car, you handed Nikolai the car keys. He first looked startled but quickly understood what you were doing.
"Do you really think it is a good idea to give Kolya the responsibilty over our life and those of two young girls?", Fyodor asked from behind you, his russian accent more prominent for some reason. "Does he even know how to drive a car."
You shrug, smiling slightly. "It might surprise you but he has actually a license." Hearing the russian huff in disbelief, you chuckle while entering the passengers seat.
"Still doesn't mean it's a good idea", Fyodor grumbled before entering the car as well. Now he sat in the back seat together with Milena and Sasha, who both already seemed to be very excited. The drive itself was relatively uneventful besides Nikolai's usual shenanigans. Soon you reached the marketplace.
Everything was decorated, lights adorned the streets and the houses and a lot of people were gattering around the stalls. The eyes of the two girls were practically sparkling at that point, which made you chuckle quietly. Your little group made it's way to the centre of the market.
At first you all got some drinks. The girls got hot chocolate, after some contemplating you decided to get one as well, while Fyodor decided for some black tea. Nikolai wanted mulled wine but you reminded him that he still has to drive. Fyodor, however, volunteered to drive them home, probably as he saw Nikolai's disappointed expression. After he said that, Nikolai's eyes lit up and he quickly went to get himself the alcoholic beverage.
Sasha, Niklai and you were enjoying your drinks in silence (you were surprised Nikolai could even do something like this) while Milena and Fyodor were in their own little world, having a conversation about rats. It humored you how passionate the two were about these animals and how weird it looked, having a grown man and a young man talking about these rodents.
When all of you had finished their drinks, you decided to split up. Milena and Sasha decided to go to a stall where you could hold real, living owls and make photos with them. Fyodor wanted to explore the place alone, so it was only Nikolai and you left over. After settling the time to meet up again, you split up, walking away in different directions.
Nikolai and you were walking around some stalls, looking for christmas presents for Fyodor. Since the two men were staying over christmas, you thought about what you could give them.
"So, what does Fyodor like?", you ask the white haired man. He thought for a moment before answering.
"Fedya likes... rats..." He was quiet again. "Everything that has to do with his religion... and vodka."
You let out a snicker. "Really? That's all?"
Nikolai was quiet again, taking his chin in his hand, seemingly thinking hardly. You found it adorable and amusing how concentrated he looked.
"Oh, I know! He always wore this ushanka hat but it got taken away when he was arrested. You could buy him a new one!"
"An ushanka, you say?" Now it was your turn to put hand up to your chin and looking concentrated. Then suddenly you grabbed his hand and dragged him with you. Stopping at a stall with various clothes, you start to look around for a fitting ushanka. Suddenly you felt an elbow nudged into your side. As you turned your head, you saw Nikolai with a mischievious grin on his lips, pointing at a bright pink ushanka.
You shook your head, snickering. at the end you decided for a bright white one, just like his old one as Nikolai told you. After that you decided to part as well, looking for more christmas presents.
Some time later, you were walking around the Christmas Market, a few bags in your hands, looking for the stall where you could get flamed salmon. There were a lot around you and it was really loud. Normally you would just blend it out but for some reason you weren't able to. The more you tried, the more the voices seemed to get louder.
At some point you weren't even sure if they were from real people or if you just imagined things. You had to stop walking, trying to breath properly since it was getting unsteady again. Suddenly everything seemed to be quiet. A deafening silence replaced the dozens of voices who were driving you insane just a second ago. All gone even though you could still see the people around you. Your surroundings didn't change but you couldn't hear or feel any of it anymore.
A shiver went down your spine as you felt something breathing in your neck. It was the same cold, yet repulsively warm you had felt in your dreams before. Now it had left your mind and was haunting you in your conscious life. You froze in place, you breath became ragged. You could practically feel the scornful grin the creature must have on it's face right now. It was mocking you for how weak you are, how helpless and pathetic.
The world around you began to spin, making you lose your balance. Before your world went black, you could hear a voice shouting your name.
When you woke up again the first thing you saw was a snow covered meadow, making you want to close your eyes again due to the brightness. Then you looked into deep, violette eyes, meeting yours in a worried gaze.
When you opened your eyes fully, you could see that you were in some kind of park. Everything was covered in snow except for the paths and the bench you were sitting on. As you looked to your right, you notice thatyou were leaning against Nikolai, who had the same worried expression on his face as Fyodor. Your bags were standing beside your feet, Milena and Sasha were sitting on your left side and Fyodor was standing in front of you.
"Hey, you passed out at the market. What happened?", he asked, taking one of your hands in his own.
"I...I...I can't remember...", you lied. You didn't want to worry them when you didn't even know what was going on yourself. Fyodor looked sceptical about your answer but didn't ask further.
As he opened his mouth to speak again, he got interrupted by a snowball landing in his face. He stood there, stunned, slowly closing his mouth again. Beside you, you could hear Nikolai's snicker. You turned your head to see him chuckling while holding one hand over his mouth. Suddenly another snowball was thrown, landing in Nikolai's face this time.
You shifted your head in the direction it was thrown from, to see Milena and Sasha, who had stood up and were now standing beside the bench with snow in their hands.
Before you know it a snowball fight broke out, snow being thrown at you, which you quickly tried to evade. Quickly you gathered some snow yourself, formed it into a ball and threw it at Nikolai. It landed directly in his neck, some of the snow falling into the back of his shirt. You watched him squirm in his discomfort, laughing along with the others, even fyodor had a small grin tugging at his lips.
Whatever had happened today was quickly forgotten. It couldn't be that bad anyways.
You had Nikolai and Fyodor at your side after all.
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