melting snow [Fyolai]

3

Lord, help me live another day.     More annoyed than surprised, if anything, Fyodor rapidly sat back up and glared at the corner full of darkness where his pillow  was supposed to be. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he vaguely made out a curled up human figure. Of course, he thought to himself. What are the chances of this night going peacefully. All he wants is some rest; he’s freezing, starving, and exhausted. The person on in corner of the bed does not awaken, so Fyodor had no other choice but to trouble their sleep. He stretched out his arm and shook them by the shoulder. Even after a few strong shakes, the person did not budge into consciousness. All that changed is that their head rolled over from leaning against the wall to hanging down in the front. At first glance, he thought it was a woman. But after taking a better look, he realised it was simply a man with long, white hair. His hair seemed to be originally in a long braid, but was now a just loose mess. Fyodor was surprised to meet such a person. It was uncommon for men in the area to have long hair, let alone have such a pure colour of white. For a brief moment he was so caught up in the scene in front of him that he didn’t even notice that the other opened his eyes and was staring right back at him.    

A good minute has passed as the two passengers were staring each other down with either curiosity or confusion. Or both.     “O-oh.” is all that Fyodor spoke in that moment. He was unsure of what to do in such situation, he hoped that it would just resolve on its own. He was too tired for this. The mystic beauty stared at him blankly, as if awaiting a better response. Eventually he spoke, seeing that this was heading no where.     “Young Man, you are currently occupying my bed. Would you please kindly choose a different one?” What was intended to come out courteous ended up sounding more annoyed than anything. But the speaker didn’t care to change his first impression. Fyodor looked around awkwardly and stood up. He himself was fairly tall with the top of his head almost reaching the ceiling of the train cabin. As he looked around at the beds,  he saw that all were surprisingly un occupied. It was very rare to be this lucky, so he decided on choosing the bottom one, across from the one he originally settled on, out of convenience. Without saying much, Fyodor moved his bags under his new bed, settled in, and laid down to go to sleep.  As he was drowsing off, he heard the other man speak.“You know, it’s rare to meet such a person like yourself. Where are you heading, mister?” He spoke with curiosity, no longer having any hint of annoyance in his tone.    It is almost 3 in the morning, does this guy not have any common sense?!

Fyodorreluctantly opened his eyes and answered back in a tired voice. “What’s so special about me to you? I’m simply heading home. Nothing out of the ordinary.” His cabin mate registered this response, but said nothing. Instead he focused on taking apart his tangled braid and brushing it through. Fyodor was confused by the lack of response and turned to look at him.  The mystery has noticed this and returned the gesture. “Oh yeah, my name is Nikolai. Nice to meet you, travel mate,” he said with a genuine smile. Not a single hint of deceit in his expression. Fyodor stared blankly at his face, then abruptly turned around and ignored him.“Hey! You sure are one mannered man. Fine, fine. I’ll reveal the secret. I recognised the hat you’ve brought with you. I visited your church quite a few times, but we never spoke directly. I must say, I’m quite fond of your sermons. You could call me a fan, even. What do you say to that?” Nikolai leaned over the pull out table and awaited a response from the other. Fyodor groaned in annoyance and pushed his body up to a half sitting position, still leaning on his arms as support. “I’m happy to please, however I’ll have to disappoint my devotee. The church is closed and I’m leaving town for good. Now please, let me sleep this final night here.” he said in a grouchy, snarky tone.Nikolai half laughed half huffed at that response, seeming dissatisfied with the response. Unexpectedly, he got up from his bed and slid across to sit at the edge of Fyodor’s, clearly not wanting to let this conversation end.

(｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡)792,words yes. Going to start another BSD story. ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ