Kiran’s eyes widened at Valeriya’s forwardness, but certainly, there were less pleasant individuals to be accosted by than a Russian lady with lips that tasted of alcohol. The two students fell into the room a couple more steps before he found his footing. For a novelist celebrity nerd who tinkered with machinery, the Icelandic youth was well-built, the muscles of his back wonderfully solid beneath Valeriya’s grip. A moment later, they broke off, his free hand pushing against her shoulder.
“Had thought you were a more proper type,” he said.
“Nazca’s forwardness inspired you?”Though he played it cool enough, there was nevertheless a little bit of red tinging the tips of his ears.
Even through the rush of her teenage hormones, Valeriya retained enough presence of mind to notice Shou leaving them in peace. Good. It wouldn’t help much if the situation did turn violent, but it’d give her enough of a head start, at least.
“Oh, please.” She scoffed as Kiran broke the kiss off.
“I was like this on the ship, too. Now,” Valeriya adjusted her grip, keeping Kiran’s pocketed hand locked as she reached for his free hand with her other arm, shoving him against the wall and leaning in close as if to kiss him again.
“This should be a good enough time to talk business.” Valeriya kept her voice low enough to not be overheard should Shou stick around.
“You noticed, then. What were you going to do about it?” She smiled.
“What I’m to do now,” Kiran grinned. He stepped in, lips pressing against Valeriya’s again, before his foot tangled with her own and she found herself falling against the desk, right by the half-deconstructed tracker.
“Is your interest personal or professional, Val?”“It can’t be a bit of both?” She smiled coyly, seeming unbothered.
“Our work is in largely the same field, after all. Why wouldn’t I want to get to know a competitor better?” Screw it, enough suspense. Time to see what he was hiding.
Valeriya yanked on Kiran’s wrist, aiming to pull out whatever he was grabbing on to. At this point, she was actually half-hoping it was a weapon, just so they could get on with it already.
“Shocking ambiguity for such a forward woman.” Kiran didn’t resist as Valeriya pulled his hand out of his pocket. The hand opened up to reveal an empty palm. Empty? Or was it something too small to see?
“I’d be more willing to share my work if you’d simply asked, from one peer to another. But with all this…must say I’m feeling a bit greedy now.”“If you’d wanted to sleep with me, all you had to do was ask, really. I would have penciled you in.” Valeriya smirked, hooking her other foot around Kiran’s leg before using her grip to flip him onto the nearby bed.
“Still, if you’re going to be difficult, I’m obliged to be so in return.”She raised a hand, resting it on her bosom as the other reached into her pocket.
“I’m only really interested in one of your Formulization blueprints, and not your most famous work. Name your price.”The two bounced upon the mattress once, the springs creaking at the impact. Kiran ran his hand down a strand of Valeriya’s hair.
“My homeland is one of treacherous beauty and grand vistas, but what I’ve found lacking, always, is how small the land is.” A pause, his gaze drifting down to Valeriya’s own bosom, before he raised his eyes again. There was a fervent flame in his aquamarine irises, the ‘spark’ that possessed the gaze of all Polymaths.
“I’m an adventurer, not a businessman, so…Unrestricted travel through the northern regions of the Tsardom. Can you arrange that?” The flame burned greedily in the fireplace. Voracious now, an undercurrent of the primitive violence that one needed to venture into the untamed places of the world.
“And, if you are what I’ve figured you to be, would it be too much to ask of you to kill that French bitch?”Well. This was…a unique request. Her handlers wouldn’t quite be pleased that she’d been practically made already, but if this achieved the mission parameters, so be it. Besides, unrestricted didn’t mean unmonitored. The upside with letting a known foreigner into your territory was that you knew he was there, and could take measures appropriately in case he tried something. Besides, Agnarsson was a known traveler, so there was always the small chance this could just be innocuous. Still, this was something Valeriya figured she could swing by her superiors.
“I can speak to some friends within the border guard, certainly.” Valeriya smiled thinly, moving to unbutton Kiran’s shirt.
“As for the Frenchwoman, I’m an engineer, not an assassin.” She lied without blinking.
“As much as she annoys me too, I’m not about to do something that blatant.” Not unless she was ordered to, anyway.
“Now, if you’ll hand over the blueprints, we can move on to the actual fun part.”“And I’m sure you’re not a spy either, Miss Engineer of War.”Kiran winked, tapping his index finger against his temple.
“I’ll draw out my designs for you after, if you don’t mind. Otherwise, the fire may burn out before we even begin.”“I’m in the Tsar’s pocket, certainly, but not in that way.” Valeriya pouted and denied the accusation.
“But, fine.” She leaned in, moving to kiss Kiran again. For the rest of the night, not much was said. Shou certainly was going to have something to talk about later.
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