Braginsky Apocalypse Home

Chapter 13

"Eduard, Katerina just called us for dinner. We're having borscht." Raivis called from the doorway to his brother, who sat on the bed and flipped the pages of a small notebook. Eduard glanced up at the blond.

"I'll come down in a minute. Why don't you save a seat for the both of us?" He was focused on getting Raivis out of his range of sight. The excuse he provided was more than terrible, but the younger shrugged it off and went downstairs, shutting the door behind himself.

Eduard gave a deep sigh and leaned his back against the wall. He knew that he didn't play an important role in the current conflict. Although he was no different from the rest of them, he couldn't help but feel like he was a second-rate character in the war. He certainly wasn't the personification of Russia or China or the United States and the fact that in physical reality, he was similar to them, his opinions were always disregarded. That's why since the very week they came to the residence, he took out a brand new notebook, one that he had wanted to give to Ivan on the day of the October revolution, but decided to use it as a diary, to keep track of everything that had happened. He observed everything that happened in the household and would write in it every day. Eduard knew everything about everyone. He knew why Katerina could be so short-tempered, why Lena and Gilbert didn't get along, why Ivan and Yao's treatment of each other changed during the last two months. He observed their emotions and mistakes and he was building a plan to make everything perfect. At first, he was starting with himself.

Eduard picked up the pen and scribbled in messy Estonian.

"It has been exactly three hundred and sixty five days since the beginning of the Third World War."

The blond then shut the notebook, placed it under the nightstand, where it was always kept, and exited the room and down into the kitchen.

He opened the door and a feeling of nostalgia immediately arose in his chest.

The kitchen was void of conversation. Everyone was focused on finishing their plate of steaming hot borscht.

He shook his head and took the spot next to Raivis. The soup in front of him looked vaguely different than the last time he had it. It was still a deep red, its ingredients were perfectly cut, courtesy of Katerina, but something was wrong. Perhaps, nothing was, and it was his gut feeling telling him about the longing for a better past.

But his stomach told him that no matter how the borscht looked, it was still food, and food was one of the few things he desperately needed.

Eduard reluctantly picked up the spoon and ate. It was only when he was halfway finished with his food did he notice that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Ivan?" He asked, concern growing in his voice. Some looked at him with confusion.

"Back to his old habits." Gilbert scoffed and threw a look at the doorway before getting back to his food.

Ivan had many habits. Some of which included excessive drinking, smoking, and letting his anger out on those around him. From Gilbert's tone, it had to have been one of the first two.

When the Russian finally emerged in the doorway, looking weary and smelling of smoke, the others were nearly finished with their food. Without a word, Ivan sat down at his usual place and began eating.

The atmosphere was filled with tension, or was it?

"I think we've known each other long enough to not be so silent during dinner." Eduard mumbled, however his phrase was perfectly audible to those around him.

"So we can enjoy the comfortable silent presence of each other, don't you mean that?" Natalia's voice didn't hold the sharp hint it usually did. Instead it was replaced with some sort of sadness. This sent a shiver down Eduard's body.