"Okay. I can try that," he promised, looking into Dolemeck's eyes. They were such a remarkable color up close that he could get lost in them. Dolemeck was right, too; he probably liked Ilya more than Ilya had ever liked himself, even before being kicked out of school and working in the mines. There was just nothing there that struck Ilya as worth remarking on, not in a good way.

But Dolemeck could change that, maybe. He must not be too terrible, if he could make the other boy happy. And wasn't the point of a new beginning to see things with new eyes? Ilya could try, with people like this backing him up, to see beyond the labels. It wouldn't be easy, but it'd be worth it to get Dolemeck to smile.

He kissed him back, still new and not sure of how to do it, feeling a rush of warmth go through him at the simple affection. "It's just a term of endearment. You'd probably think it's silly if I translated it - Russian has a lot of things that foreigners think are crazy." After all, it was a language where 'mouse' and 'sun' were terms of endearment, too. Ilya didn't deny they were important words, though. He was bad at lying unless he actually believed the lie completely. Biting his lip, he looked away for a moment. "It means 'my star'."