nextgenerationmarvel | Not In Siberia Anymore [Intro; Open to everyone at the Institute]

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Not In Siberia Anymore [Intro; Open to everyone at the Institute]

Ilya stood in the lobby of the mansion, attempting not to panic. While his SHIELD handler worked out the final paperwork, she'd benignly told him to stay there. The thing of it was, though, he was pretty sure that an entire apartment complex from home could fit in here. He tried not to fidget as it continued to hit home just how far away from, well, home that he was. The world seemed suddenly much too big, leaving him motionless as he tried to figure out what to do. He looked at his bags and wondered if he should take them up to his room... except he had no idea where his room was. And despite SHIELD having taught him fluent English, the Russian was loathe to call out for help and say something stupid and grammatically incorrect. He didn't want to look like an idiot right after he'd walked through the door.

So the fifteen year old stood there, glancing around awkwardly, silent as a mouse.

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"Well, there are people of many different religions here." He thought for a moment, still holding Ilya's hand, their fingers still interlaced. "I think everyone here is tolerant of everyone else. So you have nothing to fear. No one will judge you for your beliefs or what Gods you worship. I know I certainly would not."

Dolemeck heard the ding of the stove, and without letting go of Ilya's hand, took the cake out of the oven, and quickly flipped it over on a dish in front of himself. He then placed the empty pan back in the sink, closed up the stove, and brought the icing over to himself. He was starting to get a slight headache from using his powers so much, but refused to show it. Instead, he used his free hand to take a knife by his side, and start spreading the chocolate icing on the cake.

"As for myself. Well... I grew up mostly Catholic. But I just... I did not agree with some aspects of what I was being taught. I believe there is a God of some sort, but I cannot believe he would hate anyone or be cruel enough to punish people out of spite or vengeance."

It's mesmerizing, watching those powers at work, so open and so free. The realization that even if someone walked in they wouldn't care about the telekinesis being used out in the open is such a change from the way Ilya knows the world to work that he can barely believe his eyes.

"I believe you. It's just... I don't want to make waves. I never have. Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go, but I never mean for it to. All I want is to be happy but I haven't figured out what that means, either." As he mulls over Dolemeck's own beliefs, he adds, "I was raised Orthodox, or at least, my grandparents tried to get me to be. I tried to be. I just never felt the same connection to God that other people around me had... or any, really, when it came to the Christian God. But it might've been because so many people disliked the 'liberal' priest who let a half-Chukchi into the building to start with. I agree, though, about not being able to see hatred or cruelty in whatever higher powers are out there. It doesn't make much sense."

"You will not make waves." he continued to try and reassure Ilya. "And I can understand about trouble. I believe there is now a running joke about how many times I end up in the infirmary. Some even joke that they should just name a wing of it after me, I end up there so much!"

His green eyes turned towards the blueberries by Ilya, lifting them up with his mind and placing them on the frosted cake. He made them form a smiley face for Ilya, before floating the cake back over to him.

"Here you are! Your very first chocolate cake, with blueberries." He would put the other fruit away later, as he was sure it would not spoil that quickly. "As for happiness. We both have plenty of time to figure that out. It is part of the teenage experience I am told."

"Why do you end up in the infirmary so much?" He's both curious and worried. Ilya has practice with heavy telekinesis, and he figures that might be enough to keep him from being hurt. Dolemeck doesn't have the heavy duty stuff, and while his fine control is enviable and impressive, it probably doesn't lend itself to protective moves as easily.

Ilya laughs at the smiley face and immediately covers his mouth with his hand, not wanting to seem rude. It's cute, is all. "This is really nice of you. I mean it. I can't cook or bake to save my life - I should probably try and learn that too, while I'm here. I'll make you some Siberian food some time, if I can find the ingredients." Then he very carefully took his fork and took a bite, almost apprehensive.

Chocolate was every bit as good as he'd heard, and he shut his eyes and just focused on it, like it was delivered directly here from Heaven. "Vkusno! This is - I - um." He blushes, realizing he must look like a country bumpkin getting excited over food like this, but he likes it too much to apologize, for once.

"Well, I have some spinal issues. I tend to be in the infirmary anywhere between twice to three times a day for medication. That and I tend to try and push my body beyond it's limits, trying to keep up with everyone." He looked down for a moment. "It has been difficult for me to acknowledge I cannot do what everyone else can. I am attending a support group for teenagers with disabilities to try and better understand myself and my limits."

He then looked up as Ilya gave out an exclamation of joy, then blush at his embarrassment. Dolemeck in turn just laughed. Not one that mocked or made fun of Ilya, but one because he was happy. He was happy Ilya was happy and enjoying the cake he made. He then grasped a napkin and reached over to wipe some of the chocolate cake that got around Ilya's mouth.

"You like it? Wonderful! I can teach you to bake if you want. It is a bit of a science, and fun!"

"I see. I'm going to be honest, and I really hope this doesn't offend you, but I've never met someone in a wheelchair before. Anyone with disabilities always moved to Anadyr where it was easier to live with disabilities, so most Siberian towns don't have anyone who can't walk. So I don't know anything, really, about what you're going through or how your life works. I'm sorry. You'll have to teach me about that too, it seems. Maybe you can get part-time professor status at this rate," he adds in a poor attempt at a joke, hoping he hadn't just been horrifically offensive. But it was true - he'd even heard that some people paid people in Anadyr to look after their children, because they couldn't move the whole family there. It was one of those things that he had always known without ever truly understanding because it didn't apply to him or anyone on Ayon Island.

At the touch of the napkin, Ilya ends up chuckling at how juvenile they probably look. It's nice, to be able to act his age for once. And Dolemeck has a wonderful laugh. "How is this science?" he asks with a grin, but he's not objecting.

"Well, you have to measure ingredients to make sure they do not cause an explosion of sorts. First time I tried to make a bread for home economics back at home, I put too much yeast in it. It exploded and got everywhere when I tried to bake it!" He laughed. "I was quite embarrassed, but it made me determined to keep trying until I got it right."

When the questions about his disability came up, he did not appear offended at all. His smile remained quite kind looking as he explained it.

"Three years ago, there was a drunk driver who lost control of his car. I was walking with a group of people when I saw him, and I knew he would not stop. I wanted to push everyone out of the way, I did not want anyone hurt. And it was how I discovered my powers. I managed to push the crowd off to either side of me, and was then hit by the car." He sat back some in his chair, interlacing his fingers with Ilya's and just holding his hand, again. It was just a great comfort, a warmth he had started to enjoy.

"I was in a coma for a month. The car had pinned me just above me hips up against a brick wall, doing some serious damage. My spine had nearly been severed, and is just kind of held together with pins and screws."

He looked away for a moment before continuing.

"I was able to walk with the aid of leg braces for awhile. But it was difficult and tiring. The doctors had warned me that it would only be a matter of time before I lost the ability to walk at all. And that happened recently. All feeling in me legs went, and I could no longer use the leg braces to walk. They feel numb and if I put weight down, they just give out."

His smile showed some embarrassment, now.

"Sometimes, I need help to get out of my chair or to take a shower if I am in too much pain. I get around by using my hands to push the wheels of the chair, and the school has lots of accessibility for me. Elevators, wheelchair ramps, special bathrooms..."

"I... I'm so sorry. I thought, I mean, back home things like not being able to walk were things people were born with." He squeezed Dolemeck's hand, rubbing his thumb against the skin in an attempt to be comforting. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. You're heroic, you know. You did a great thing, in that moment. And I'm so glad that you're here. I wish I could say that with my knowledge of telekinesis I could help you walk, but I'm not sure I could, or if would be safe to try." Ilya set his cake off to the side on a counter, and after a moment of hesitation, put his hand on Dolemeck's knee, pushing the leg back and forth once with a slight frown. "I'm not sure it would do you any favors. There's not a lot of muscle here and I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you. You're the first person who's ever looked past my family line and power and just talked to me like I'm me."

Belatedly, he realizes he still has his hand on the other boy's knee, and gently removes it to place it on his shoulder like a normal person comforting someone else might. Ilya isn't sure how to comfort someone, but he'll do his best. "Is there anything you have to help the pain? Some medicine or something?" He really doesn't know if medical science has advanced that far even if the UK and the Unites States had some of the best doctors. If this same accident had happened somewhere in Siberia with traffic, a town like Pevek or Provideniya, then there's no doubt in Ilya's mind Dolemeck wouldn't be alive right now.

Dolemeck's offered to do so much for him. There has to be something Ilya can do in return, but he doesn't know what it is.

"I take pain medication a few times a day. It depends. sometimes the weather can aggravate me back and I will need to take more than usual." His cheeks flushed for a moment as Ilya's hand moved to his knee. He was not expecting that, and unfortunately could just feel the pressure of his hand. Almost as though his leg was filled with novacane. "I go to Physical Therapy daily to try and maintain my muscle mass and keep my legs limber. If they are not exercised, they will lock up in one position or look like sticks. And believe me, that would not be very attractive if I were to wear shorts."

He tried to laugh at his own expense, while trying to keep Ilya smiling and relaxed. Dolemeck's hands moved, one to touch Ilya's hand on his shoulder, the other to touch the hand on his knee.

"Nothing is going to happen to me. The people at this school would not allow it. And I would never let anything bad happen to someone as kind as you." That sounded cheesey, and make his cheeks turn red, again. "It is alright, Ilya."

The way that Ilya's leaning in, and the way their hands are touching, is probably more intimate than is really appropriate - but Ilya is just basing what's okay on Dolemeck's reaction, having had no real interactions like this with people his own age. Even other people who worked in the mine were older than him by at least ten years.

"I don't know anything about any of this. It isn't fair and if it's this frustrating for me I can't imagine what it's like being you. You really deserve better than this." He looked at Dolemeck, the person who flippantly threw aside race, education and the obvious financial gulf between them, the guy who made him cake and treated him like he was a real person, and felt a sense of protectiveness that had little to do with the fact Dolemeck was in a wheelchair. "I know nothing will happen to you. Because I'll teach you all that I know so nothing like that can ever happen to you again. If I can stop a broken mine cart full of ore, I could stop other things, and if I can teach you, then you can, too." He lightens up enough to add cheekily, "Besides, you're already teaching me a growing list of things, I need to do something so I'm not mooching off of you."

Dolemeck found himself leaning in a bit more himself. His forehead gently pressed against Ilya's, and his eyes closed. It was quite intimate the way their hands were, it made his heart race.

"You are not mooching off of me." His voice was a bit quiet, now. "I am offering to help you, because you are a good, kind person, Ilya. Even if I just met you... I can tell. And you have been through things you never deserved. I want to make up for all of that, by having you happy at this school, and smiling... and less nervous."

He could not stop smiling for some reason, or blushing.

"I do not know how I can explain it, but I want to protect you, too, Ilya."

His heart was beating faster, and his breath caught when Dolemeck pressed their heads together. The concept this is romantic is as terrifying as it is amazing. He'd never thought about his orientation because he'd given up hope on that front so long ago he couldn't even remember when it happened. Maybe he's reading too much into it. But he hopes he isn't, or if he is, he'll at least get to pretend that's what this might be for a few more seconds.

"I'm not any kinder than anyone else is. Or any more good." He's kind of proud he got the grammar right, there. "I'm just some kid from Chukotka who somehow ended up here. And I am happy. I have you now." They're so close Dolemack can probably see that Ilya's eyes are a dark blue instead of brown as they appear from a distance. Other people might find it repulsive, the trademark blue of the Chukchi, but he doubts Dolemeck cares.

"The only reason I'm nervous is because I just got here, but I already don't want to leave this school. Or you." His cheeks must be on fire at this point, with how warm they feel. Did he really just say that? He's not sure what's worse, that it's so unromantic or that it's so painfully true. What's wrong with him? He didn't bond to his SHIELD handlers at all, so why is Dolemeck so easy to care about?

He wanted to share his first kiss with Ilya. he wanted to be impulsive about it and just do it. But he worried, he worried if Ilya thought he was just being kind to use him. His past was so painful, and he did not want to add to that.

But on the other hand, he wanted to share such an experience with him. He wanted to show that he cared about him, and that he made his heart race and his face turn red. So many questions flooded his head, and he finally opened his green eyes to look into Ilya's blue ones.

"It is weird. I... I feel the same way about you. That I do not wish to leave you, either. That I feel so happy right now."

He had thought about his own orientation, before. he found himself attracted to other men, but it made me somewhat uncomfortable. Only Rose knew about this, and maybe Topher as he failed to flirt with him in the most awkward of ways. But something about Ilya just felt right and natural.

Dolemeck hoped he made the right decision, as he leaned in more, and gently placed his lips on Ilya's.

He knew Catholics were as against homosexuality as Orthodox people. Ilya would have pined without ever making a move for that reason alone, for the fear of crossing the line of whatever it was Dolemeck believed about it. He wasn't as nervous as he seemed, but he'd always been reserved, at a distance from almost everyone.

So the kiss is surprising for all the above reasons, but it's not unwelcome, and Ilya shuts his eyes and presses against him. He's never kissed anyone before so it's a far cry from the most passionate or sexy kiss. What is it, what Ilya is, is completely sincere. He doesn't want the moment to end so the kiss lingers before he slowly pulls back, shyly looking at Dolemeck.

"...if that was bad, I'm sorry. I've never done that before," he admitted softly, adding, "That doesn't mean I didn't like it."

"Well... that was my first kiss as well." He admitted, his voice just as soft as Ilya's. "I... I liked it as well."

Dolemeck was a bit shocked as well. It was frightening, given how he grew up. Yes, his parents were in the music industry and a bit out there, but his older brother was the grounded one and the one to take him to church in order to instill some values. He was going against one of those values, but it was one he never agreed with. So why did this make him feel nervous?

He was now at a loss of words. His hands still holding Ilya's, and his eyes still looking into his.

For a moment, Ilya's quiet. He wants to make Dolemeck happy. He likes seeing him be so open. Topher was too confident, too comfortable with the world. There's something that's more easy to connect with when he's around Dolemeck, especially alone. Ilya hasn't ever spoken so freely and easily with someone in his life. He didn't know it could be easy. Most of his life had been spent thinking if only he could lie about his powers and his race he'd have it made, and then along came Dolemeck and the opposite was true. He had nothing to hide. It was such a powerful feeling his eyes watered.

"I think," he whispered, "I could get used to this. Whatever 'this' is - whatever you want us to be, I want that, too."

It's scary. The thought leaves him breathless after the years of isolation. But all the pieces fall into place too well for him to want to walk away from what just happened. They fit together, at least from Ilya's perspective, and that means the world to him.

"I could get used to this, as well." He gave that gentle smile once more, his own voice a whisper.

Dolemeck was starting to ease up. He could be himself with Ilya. he did not have to put up a front of always being silly or happy. he could share his personal feelings, he could talk about his disability without fear of sounding like he whined.

He had someone that made his heart race out of his chest, yet made him feel comfortable at the same time. Someone he wanted to protect and make up for how he was treated. To have someone to make smile... for real.

"What would you like this to be, Ilya? I... I do not want to tell you what to do. That would be wrong." His heart felt like a jack rabbit in his chest, just trying to escape and run through the entire mansion. "And, if you would allow me... may I kiss you again?"

"I don't know if there's a word for what I want. 'Boyfriend' sounds shallow and that's not right, it's more like I want to be with you. I want to talk to you, know all about you. You make things make sense. And... I want to kiss you, too." This all seemed less confusing when it was a straight couple on a radio drama or a soap opera. They never had to have these conversations where everything was new and hard to pin down.

"Of course you can kiss me." He blushes and looks down. "I can't believe I just said that. I can't believe this is happening. I..." he's trailing off again, something Dolemeck seems to make happen regularly, but it's in a good way, because he can't help smiling, and he fails to blink back happy tears. "Zvezda moya..."

"Well, then we can do that." He smiled his hand letting go of Ilya's to gently brush away his tears. He knew they were happy tears, but it was an act to show he cared about him.

"I would be more than happy to share everything about me, and I would love to hear everything about you. This may sound silly, but I would love nothing more than to just talk with and hold hands with you... it just feels like it is something that is supposed to be."

He was all smiles himself, as he looked at Ilya before moving in to kiss him, again. This time, he tried to make the kiss last a little longer, but still remained a bit chaste about his kiss. He was unsure how to really kiss, and this was as much as he knew for now.

"It's not silly. That sounds perfect to me." He means it, too, smiling even as their lips met, trying experimentally to move his lips in something closer to a real kiss, the romantic kind he'd heard girls in Ayon gush about. He's fairly sure he's not doing it right, but he'll try until he figures it out. He can get used to anything for Dolemeck with time simply because he knows that for once, he doesn't have to. For once, his opinion and what he feels matters to someone on a real level.

They're clueless. And that's perfectly fine because they're clueless together.

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Not In Siberia Anymore [Intro; Open to everyone at the Institute]

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