Euphoria // 𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐚

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟒, 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬.

"What did they auction?"

Her bruises hurt even though no pressure was put upon them, the cold room around her was enough to make her skin tingle with nervousness.

"Girls, sir."

He hummed, sitting comfortably in his chair with his feet up on his desk. She'd tried to avoid his gaze, but orders were orders and she had forced herself to believe yesterday never happened, and that there wasn't bruises littering her body. He lifted a brow, nodding for her to carry on.

"They were no older than 20. Men bid on them. I left after the seventh one."

He asked her many more questions regarding yesterdays mission, then ordered guards to escort her back to her room where Yelena was already finished with training. Both were aware not to mention anything about yesterday, and since the pair wasn't big on small talk, they remained in a serene silence.

Inessa laid down on her bed, eyes scanning the ceiling again to count the tiles. The continuous sound of the thin sheets moving pulled her from her daze, watching as Yelena tried to get comfortable in her own bed.

She knew she couldn't, and she definitely knew she shouldn't, but even though almost 10 years of training told her not to feel any emotion for anyone, she couldn't help but have an odd feeling towards her 'roommate'. It wasn't one she'd felt for anyone, so describing or trying to figure out what she felt was aggravating.

Her gaze never left Yelena as the blonde huffed out, now rubbing her face with both her palms before completely halting her movement.

"Did they not exhaust you with training?" Before Inessa could think about what was coming out her mouth, she sat up to place her back against the wall her bed stood by, bored of her previous position so she could have a clear view of the blonde.

Yelena exhaled a final huff before she sat up too, pouting slightly as she sat directly facing Inessa.

Inessa's heart jumped a bit. She hated being in a open space, and now being unable to get out of Yelena's sight made her think she needed to put on the act of the tough girl she is when she speaks to Dreykov until she looks away.

"They did, that's the thing." Biting the skin off her lips, she looked down while playing with her fingernails. They, too, were in a horrible state. Inessa couldn't say hers were any different. The constant stress and pressure that was put on them daily was a good enough excuse to justify their nails - or rather their lack of the length in them.

Inessa didn't say anything, afraid that she'd come off caring if she asked what was wrong, but she couldn't deny the fact that she was curious as to why she seemed so energetic. She watched as the blondes leg shook with adrenalin, the skin around her nails only becoming more red and her eyes more wide as she looked towards the door.

Inessa followed her gaze, blinking a few times before realising that the blonde wasn't energetic; she was scared, for her first mission.

A very tense moment of silence past before Inessa looked back at Yelena. At this point, she was 100% certain she hadn't gone through the same thing as Inessa did at a young age. Yelena was 16 and scared about her first mission, while Inessa had been on her 12th at 16 years old. In a way, it was an unfair advantage, but the change in discipline made her wonder if Dreykov wasn't pleased with the way her group of widows was trained. Maybe Yelena hadn't started at the same age as Inessa did.

"What kind is it?" Inessa asked, her voice as emotionless as she could keep it. She looked as Yelena's brows furrowed momentarily before they looked each other right in the eyes.

"Recon, pretty sure, but ord-"

"Orders change, I know." Inessa said at the same time, finally breaking eye contract by looking towards the door again. She didn't think she'd ever have a conversation with her, or she told herself she'd never interact with her, but the feeling of guilt had suddenly bubbled in her gut. "When is it?"