CREATURE

・chapter 7・

Asya detangled herself from Ivan and rolled off him listlessly, coiling in sheets as she shifted to the other side of the bed. With a final glance at his winded silhouette next to her, she propped herself up on her elbows and checked the time on her phone, which she'd left on the nightstand.

She'd finished up her meeting with Bastian around two hours ago, and since both she and Ivan had the evening off she'd decided to pay him a quick visit. She hadn't planned on staying long, knowing that she needed a decent night's sleep before her double shows the next day.

Deciding there was no point in wasting time by hanging around, she sat up and combed her undone hair out of her eyes with her fingers. She lowered her feet to the floor and started pulling on her discarded clothes.

'You're leaving already?' he asked, his breathing still a little uneven.

She snorted sarcastically as she slipped on her underwear. 'Need to snuggle, Ridley?'

The mattress shifted behind her as he edged closer and ran his hands over her bare shoulders and down her arms, curling his fingers around her wrists.

'Not exactly what I had in mind.' he whispered, kissing the back of her neck.

She was tempted to take him up on his offer, but it was getting late and she legitimately needed to get some rest if she wanted to tackle two three-hour ballets the next day. She shrugged him off with a small twist of her torso and pulled on her jersey, standing up to put on her shoes.

She swayed slightly on her feet before finding her balance, the sudden movement making her dizzy for a few moments. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch, mostly because she'd been so nervous about her meeting with Bastian. Either way, she'd better get something in her stomach once she got home, if only to cure the lightheadedness.

Ivan sighed annoyedly as she stepped into her boots, but took his cue that she wasn't interested in round two. He sat back against the headboard and watched her while she got dressed.

'So where are you off to?' he asked gruffly, a hint of jealousy staining his voice.

Sure, there wasn't a drop of affection involved with what they'd been doing for the past half-an-hour, but whenever she left early he always felt entitled to know where she was going. Nevertheless, she found it rather amusing that he thought she was heading somewhere else, or to someone else, and smirked to herself as she picked up her coat and slung it over her shoulders. She was enjoying his suspicion far too much to put his mind at ease, didn't even bat an eyelash in his direction as she sauntered out of his bedroom and down the stairs that led to the livingroom.

'See you in class.' she called over her shoulder, slamming the front door behind herself.

・・・

Asya stepped onto the sidewalk outside Ivan's building, tucking her hands into her sides to warm them as she started her walk home. Like her, he chose to live close to the theatre in a duplex apartment about two blocks away from her building.

The pubs and restaurants she passed on her way were all bustling with Friday-night revelry, people grabbing drinks with their friends or having dinner in the outdoor seating areas to enjoy the late-autumn air. She hardly ever saw the streets of London over weekends, since most of her time was spent in the theatre and she only got home late at night. On her nights off she was usually with Ivan, at his place.

She wasn't sure if she'd stop seeing him if she ever got promoted. Bastian had her lined up for a possible principal role later in the season, and she was fairly confident that it had been her own doing and not her relationship with Ivan that had made it happen. Still, she didn't know if once she didn't technically need him anymore she'd bother meeting him outside of work as they'd been doing for the last few months.