You're keeping secrets on your pillow (Arkady)

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It had been a long day, a long night, and now it was far too early in the early hours of the morning.

He had thought he would be back in the dorm much sooner, he needed to have been back in the dorm much sooner, after all he had class in- he looked at his watch- a few hours, he really needed to get some sleep. Every part of his body ached though, when he pushed open the door to the dorm and stepped in, dropping his heavy bag to the ground with a thump.

That’s when he remembered that he shared this room.

Looking over at Arkady’s side of the room he tried to judge if there was someone there or not. Unable to see through the darkness he decided the continue and much more quietly, headed to his own side, quickly and silently getting ready for bed. He hoped that this was the one night that his brother had decided to sleep somewhere else for the evening, he wasn’t in the right state of mind to be answering any awkward or probing questions.

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He was dreaming again. This time he was the Tsar of his own country, and they were holding a ball. All the most important figures he knew, even historical figures that had no logical way of being there, were present. Arkady stood at the top of a large staircase, flanked by his brother and sister, all three of them dressed splendidly in satins, velvets, wools, gold. Not a hair was out of place, not a spec upon their shoes. There was dancing and laughter, they were loved and revered, and as a toast was raised to them he was joined by his lady wife. Her ball gown more elaborate than any other in the room, but as she listed her skirts to descend the stairs and join him, he caught a glimpse of cowboy boots beneath...

Starting awake suddenly due to a loud thump, Arkady’s blue eyes shot open and toward the door. All he could see was someone’s outline against the soft light filtering in from the hallway, but it was no mistaking who it was. Squeezing his eyes closed, he buried his face in the pillow. For a long moment he actually considered letting his brother get away with it and just going back to sleep, but while he had already forgotten his dream it still nagged at him, and when had Arkady ever been one to let anything go?

Still, he gave Nikolay time to sneak around and get ready, letting him think that he was silent enough and hadn’t woken his brother at all. It wasn’t until the other mattress creaked under Niki’s weight that Arkady spoke. “Bit late, isn’t it brother?”

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Nikolay had just flopped down on to his bed when he heard his brothers voice from across the room. Why did this have to be the one night, the one night that his brother had decided to come back to the dorm room before him? Why? There was someone up there that was laughing. Pulling the covers up around him he said, “Is it? I hadn’t really noticed.”
 
Already his mind was working through all the lies he needed to form should his brother probe any further. He could never be sure if Arkady would, considering his brother didn’t have much interest in what he did in his spare time. Maybe he would just let it go, assuming he had been working, which was just fine. But since fate had made him unlucky already he was almost certain it wouldn’t grant him this one.
 
“How was your evening?” he decided to ask before Arkady could get another question in.

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Raising his head from his pillow, Arkady peered through the darkness at the vague lump in his brother’s bed. “Oh, right. Like I’m going to believe that,” he said, the smirk almost audible in his voice. Before he could further elaborate, though, Nikolay was already trying to play the good guy and pretend he was interested in how his big brother had spent his evening.

Arkady didn’t believe that any more than he believed the first statement.

“It was so boring!” he exclaimed, flopping back onto his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I had to actually do homework, and I didn’t even have you around to distract me! It was awful.”

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“You mean you didn’t have me around to pick a fight with?” said Nikolay staring at the ceiling, although there was no real accusation in his tone, there was actually a note of humour in it, “Well I’m sorry you’re evening was so awful.”
 
Rolling over on to his side, his back to his brother, he pulled the covers up, staring at the wall his bed was next too. He was willing with all his might that his brother just shut up and went to sleep. It seemed to be going ok at the moment, despite the fact that he didn’t believe his initial statement. But Arkady wasn’t interested in him, he didn’t care so he wouldn’t ask, right? Right.
 
“I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

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At Nikolay’s correction, Arkady chuckled. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to,” he replied. In all likelihood Arkady would have distracted himself by trying to annoy his brother, which would inevitably turn into a fight, so maybe he wasn’t too far off the mark. “I appreciate the sympathy, brother.”

If they went to sleep right now it would be on a good note, a bit of light ribbing and left at that, but Akady had never been very good at just letting things lie. He was like a kid with a scab, he just had to keep picking; the only problem was, usually when the scab was gone there was blood.

“I trust your evening was better than mine?” he spoke, ignoring his brother’s last statement completely.

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He just couldn’t let it go could he?

The one time he didn’t want his brother to take an interest was the exact same night that his brother decided he would. He sighed and rolled over so that he was looking in the direction of his brothers bed. If they were going to have this conversation he may as well be speaking to him rather than at the wall. It was a bad idea, it caused the already in pain muscles to twinge, and before he could stop it he groaned a little.

“It was as boring as yours I imagine, nothing of interest,” he said hoping he could pass of the groan as being annoyed that his brother had decided to continue their conversation, “I was at work.”