Moonlight Nocturne

"... you're weird," she says, starting to laugh. She's still holding Miriam's hand, their fingers laced comfortably together. "... everybody at school thinks shchavlevyj borshch is weird too, though, I guess."

"... nachos sound nice. I like... lots of things. ... not soda on cereal though."

 

"Borscht is beets, right? That sounds pretty good..." Nick runs a hand through his hair, then munches a spoonful of cereal.

 

"Mnh. I think we have some venison we can add to the nachos?" Miri looks thoughtful. "...you can eat deer, right?"

 

"Mmhm. It's this soup with like, dandelions and eggs and stuff. Mom likes making it in winter."

Elena frowns. "I... think so..." She pulls out her phone for a few moments. "... Yeah, I can eat deer. It's just pigs and rabbits, mostly; Mom's not Orthodox or anything. Which is good because technically you're not supposed to mix meat and dairy together, but not having nachos would suck."

 

"Dandelions?" Miri tilts her head. "...huh. that sounds kind of cool? Think you could share, sometime?"

 

"...oh. well. I'm glad it wasn't rabbit stew last night." Nick laughs quietly. "...just deer..."

 

"Yeah! ... I think Mom would like sharing. She doesn't really know anyone Ukrainian around here."

Elena flushes. "... it's okay. We're not, like... it's not that big of a thing. I won't die or anything." Just feel weird.

"... where do you get rabbits and deer from, anyway?"

 

"Hunting permits. Plus. Uh. Joanna works for the parks service. So. She knows the best spots?" Nick grins. "...it's really fun, actually."

 

"...I haven't caught anything yet... But I'm. Going to...." Miri puts a hand on her hip. "I'm going to bag the biggest buck in the forest!"

 

"... can I help?" she asks, perking up. "Do you use guns or crossbows or... ?"

Nick probably will not miss the enamored look on Elena's face, when Miriam talks about murdering things.

 

"I'm going to use my bare hands," Miriam puffs up, then makes a neck snapping motion, grinning huge.

 

Elena stares. Then turns to Nick. "... can I do that??"

 

"Uuuh. You'll. Huh." He hesitates. "...maybe eventually?"

 

She grins, squeezing Miriam's hand. "Oh... Can I have a big knife?"

 

"I don't see why not?" Nick grins.

 

"Will you help me get one? Mom won't let me have one from the shop." Bouncing happily.

 

"Yeah, we just need you to buy the $40 bowie knife." Miri grins.

 

"...huh. oh. Heck yeah, no problem." Nick grins from ear to ear.

 

"... we could get more than one bowie knife. And I think Mom has a machete, but those would be harder to walk around with."

She grins, squeezing Miriam's hand. "Awesome!"

 

"...I'm going to need to see that Machete." Nick grins wider, eyes bright.