When Midnight Comes [Norway 1999]

[Holden Cartwright]

It had been almost two years since the first time Holden had met Nikolai at the Quidditch World Cup in Spain, but it seemed that in those years many things had changed for the American man. Not long after returning home from Spain, Holden received an owl from a wizarding radio station based in New York, saying they had heard him on his much smaller and less well known station in Colorado, and wanted to offer him a job as a DJ at their station. Needless to say, Holden had accepted, and within a week was packing for New York City.

After living in Denver his whole life, it took a bit of adjustment to get used to New York life, but in the end, it worked out much better for Holden. For one thing, he was much happier in the big city than he had been in Colorado, and for another, he had a heck of a lot better position at the station. He was making far better money than he ever had before, and as Holden became more of a success, it seemed like the manager would let him do almost anything to keep the DJ around. So when Holden asked to take a few days off just after Christmas in order to go to Europe to visit a certain attractive blond Quidditch star, he was granted the leave with ease.

He and Nikolai had managed to keep in touch since the World Cup, through owls, email, and IM, and once even meeting up in New York. Now, since Nikolai had been the one to come to the States to visit last year, Holden figured it was his turn to travel... to Norway. As much as Nikolai assured him about how great Norway was, Holden was a little apprehensive about the country, and with good reason. Two minutes after apparating to Kirkenes, Norway, Holden had felt like Nikolai might as well have lived in Antarctica. And he had thought Colorado was cold in the winter. Geez.

It was New Year's Eve as he approached Niko's house, wearing multiple coats and a hat pulled down over his ears against the below freezing temperature. As he knocked on the door, knowing Niko should be expecting him, he silently prayed that it would be warmer inside.

For once the Shevyakov household was actually pretty calm. He was tired of his father and Nikolai going back and forth in arguments. It was their mother who had convinced their father to have Niko move back in. He was actually quite grateful for it. He didn't like being the only boy in the house. His sisters were just too... too much for him. They couldn't feel that void he felt from his other half being missing. Although he was always with Nikolai when the Quidditch teams were practicing, he always felt like there was still something missing between them. It wasn't until Niko moved back home that he felt like him and his twin were back to the way things were before their father had kicked him out of the house.

"If he comes, I'm going to tell him he has the wrong house." Konrad joked with his twin, who was trying to fix his goggles. His brother had taken a bludger to the face. Although he had been able to heal the injury, he couldn't repair his brother's goggles. He had laughed at how his brother pretended the injury had been life threatening and liked to tease his sisters that it was horrible, just to cause their elder sister to be grossed out.

"Door!" Konrad beat his brother out the door, making sure to magically lock it behind him. He was quick to the door and tossed it open. His first response was to laugh at the male on the other side of the doorframe. "A snow bunny." Versus the boy who looked like he had been climbing up a mountain and a half in fifty below, Konrad was in jeans, socks, and a t-shirt. The house just emitted warmth, as all the fireplaces were going. "Come in. Can't have you catching a cold." Though his 'cold' comment was not only about the American catching a cold but also growing colder by staying out in the snow.

[Holden Cartwright]

It wasn't even a minute before the door was thrown open, revealing a man who simply laughed when he saw Holden. A snow bunny? Not a term that Holden enjoyed having applied to him. "Good to know I got the right house," he replied, rolling his eyes. At first glance, he thought that the man was Nikolai, so he didn't even think before continuing with his joking. "For a minute I thought I might have ended up in the North Pole." He didn't hesitate to take the invitation to step inside, which was an immediate contrast to the outside temperature. Inside the house it was warm enough that Holden could understand why the man he mistook for Nikolai was wearing just a t-shirt.

He tugged off his hat and began unzipping his coat, pulling off multiple layers until finally he was standing in just a long-sleeved shirt and jeans with his sweatshirt and coat draped over his arm. He roughly ran his hand through hair, which was flattened down from his hat. "You know, I think Dante might have taken inspiration for his ninth circle of Hell from this place. It's freaking..." Only then did he look around and realize that the man who had opened the door was not, in fact, Nikolai. Now that he was inside, Holden could see that for one thing this man was too short to be Nikolai. He and Nikolai were almost the same height, with Holden just a hair taller, while this man was several inches shorter.

"You're not Niko," he stated, quickly trying to remember the name of Nikolai's twin brother. "Konrad, right?" Merlin, they looked exactly alike. Except for the height, and maybe a slight difference in hair color, they really were identical.

To be honest, Konrad liked the American. He had a good sense of humor. "North Pole? I vish." Konrad laughed. "If you see penguins, tell me. Dey are vunny creatures. All dressed up vith no vhere to go." It wasn't just Konrad who liked them, Niko did, too. Though, neither twin really admitted to strangers about liking the black and white creatures.

But when the other began to pull off layer after layer, Konrad went into a fit of laughter, which he contained behind his hand. His twin met strange people. This guy really dressed like they really did live at the North Pole. It honestly wasn't that cold. Sure, it was well below freezing, if not in the negative numbers, but not enough to really warrant that much clothing. It really must be that warm in the United States or something.

Without being asked, Konrad took the other's coat and sweatshirt and hung them on the coat rack next to the door. He heard the other begin to speak but Holden stopped suddenly. Had it really taken the foreigner that long to realize he wasn't his brother? Yet another thing Konrad could pick on the foreign boy for.

He didn't even get to answer the question, for he heard a voice similar to his own speak up from the stairs. All the elder twin kept thinking was 'Way to spoil the fun.' He couldn't be mad at his twin brother. After all, he was the one who had enchanted the lock so he could pick on Nikolai's guest.

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nothing annoyed Nikolai more than when he became part of his brother's jokes. However, it was nice just being back with his brother. After he moved out, he had tossed himself into Quidditch. It was unhealthy of him, his brother had made it a point to remind him of that every day at practice. And once he moved back, his family made sure to keep him from going back over the cliff he had gone over after graduating.

Niko was currently on his bed, trying to fix his goggles. The other day he had taken a Bludger to the head, still suffering from memory loss of all events that happened the day of the accident as far back as a week prior, but his brother assured him it was no big loss. "You'll behave yourself! Last thing I need is some big scene as the door." After all, it would really be the first time since his school days since he ever brought someone back to the house. He had never even brought a teammate to the house.

Nikolai heard his brother call out about the door and, before he could even move, Konrad was gone. Niko had gotten from the bed and hit the door, actually slamming into it as it was enchanted locked. The younger twin cursed as he tried to open it before settling on trying to locate his wand in the mess of a room the twins shared. Though it was actually semi-clean, there was Quidditch and medical supplies randomly scattered about the room and odd locations, which Nikolai's broom in the dead center of open space.

Nikolai located his wand under his bed, probably kicked under there after last night's little party between him and his brother over getting to go to a couple new countries starting with the new Quidditch season. Niko made quick work on the charm on the door, tucking his pockets as he climbed down the stairs. Like his brother, he was just in jeans, a t-shirt, and his socks.

He arrived in time to hear Holden figure out that his older brother had opened the door. Niko leaned against the railing when the foreign boy remembered his twin's name. "Yes, dat is Konrad." Nikolai smirked a little, "Nice to see dat you made it in vone piece. De veather isn't alvays kind." He meant really that it could be quite cold outside.

[Holden Cartwright]

"Hate to break it to you, but penguins live in Antarctica," he pointed out, laughing. "Unfortunate, really. They're a lot cooler than polar bears." And really, they were far enough north that running into a polar bear wasn't entirely impossible. Now he was starting to wish there were penguins. That would have made Norway a lot more awesome. So far his only impression of the place was ice, snow, and sarcasm, although the latter wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Konrad was funny, kind of like Niko was, which probably only confused Holden more about which twin he was talking with.

He could tell that Konrad was laughing at him about all of his layers of clothing, which made him grimace as he handed over his coats. He had been living in the sticky humidity of New York City for a year and a half, where the winters were occasionally cold, but never this freezing. It wasn't his fault he couldn't adjust to the cold within ten minutes of being in the country!

He blushed every so slightly as he realized his mistake. Even though he hadn't met Konrad before now, for some reason that he should be able to tell the two apart right away. But luckily just then the Shevyakov twin he had been expecting appeared, walking down the stairs. A bright smile spread across Holden's face at the sight of the man he hadn't seen in so many months, and he had to fight back the weird urge to go hug him or something. "Niko!" he said cheerfully in greeting. "Yeah, I noticed that much. Either from now on you're coming to New York, or I'm gonna need more time to adjust to this weather."

"Veally? Such a shame." Konrad should have paid attention more growing up when learning about where animals lived. But then again, he couldn't remember any lesson about animals. He figured penguins lived where it was cold and Norway happened to be a cold place. They had all sorts of cool animals that wandered into their backyard. Konrad wanted to see a penguin. "Polar bears... Dey are the vones dat are all vhite, da?" Niko would be laughing at him right now for his lack of knowledge when it came to wild animals. Then again, it wasn't like his twin knew much about wild animals either.

There was something amusing about Holden, and Konrad knew that he wouldn't pass up any chance to pick on the foreign boy. It was just too much fun. Even if Niko would hit him or scold him, he would get some entertainment tonight. Though he'd let his brother monopolize his guest.

"Way to ruin the fun, even though the fun has passed," Konrad remarked to his younger brother in Norwegian. Though he kept a faint smirk on his face. "I'll let you two catch up. It vas nice to meet you." The elder twin knew better than to stick around and make things awkward. Besides, last time he checked, their room was still a mess.

[Holden Cartwright]

"Yep," he confirmed with a nod when Konrad asked about them being white. Someone had once told him that polar bears actually had sort of clear fur, and it only looked white, but he had never been close enough to a polar bear to figure that out, nor did he ever want to be that close to a polar bear. "And you live far enough north that I wouldn't be surprised if you ever saw one." He actually had no idea if polar bears lived in Norway, but he knew they lived in Canada, not just the North Pole, so why not?

"Nice to meet you, too." He decided that he liked Konrad, but still was just the slightest bit glad when he left. Now he could talk to Niko and only have one person teasing him rather than two. He approached the young man leaning on the stair railing with a smile.

"Long time, no see. How are you?"

[ Click for OOC Comment ]

Really crappy post DX Sorry.

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nikolai was actually thankful for his brother and realizing there were some times to hang around and some times not to. He gave his elder brother a pat on the shoulder as he walked by, "Have fun with the room." He muttered the words in Russian as a chuckle left his lips. There room wasn't too messy, but it wasn't exactly what you would consider clean either.

Niko smiled back at the smile, "I am good. And you? I listen to you on de radio. You are a very good DJ." Nikolai had invested quite a bit of time in enchanting his radio and was quite thankful for it in the long run. He had managed to get it to play the station that Holden DJ'd on. Of course, his father had told him a million times that if he got caught with it that he wasn't bailing him out. What good was Ministry parents if they wouldn't save your butt?

[Holden Cartwright]

"I'm great actually. Never been better," he said cheerfully, and without exaggeration. He had a great job, an apartment he loved, and was in a city where everything seemed to be happening. Maybe he would have liked a girlfriend, or a boyfriend or something, but on the whole he was truly good. "You do? I had no idea." He was sort of flattered that Niko actually thought his station was worth listening to, and had taken the effort in the first place to find it, because it couldn't be easy to get in Norway. "Thanks. I have a lot of fun with it."

Leaning against the rail beside Niko, he said, "I've been following you too. I mean, not in a creepy way or anything, but I've been paying attention to Quidditch to see how your team does." He had always enjoyed Quidditch, but he had never paid such particular attention to a certain team until meeting Nikolai. Now, he was a pretty hardcore the Nordic supporter. "And man, you are quite the little star, aren't you?"

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

[ Click for OOC Comment ]

hdfdaslkhfasldfh DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDx I lost the nice, amazing post I created before. -Cries- I'm sorry this is kinda crappy.

Nikolai was glad that Holden was doing pretty good. He could tell by Holden's show that he was having fun with it. Niko had never known DJing to be a profession before. Though his father certainly wouldn't let him do it. His father had barely agreed to let him play Quidditch, though his father was also biting his tongue now. There were the few times that his father would tell him that he did a good job in a match. It was nice to notice his father accepting his profession more lately, but he knew DJ would never be accepted. So he slightly envied Holden at his carefree job, but he knew that his job was always a carefree job, though it was also very painful and tiring. It had also been a profession his father didn't approve of, so maybe his father just said things and then changed his mind later on.

Niko was a little shocked when Holden said he followed him. Why would Holden follow the Nordic National? He knew that America had a couple good Quidditch teams. So why would the American try to follow a European team instead of one from his home country? It had to be hard to try and follow the Nordic Team, though not impossible. It just made things ten times more embarrassing.

Nikolai tried to bury his face into his arms that were resting on the railing. "I am not a star." He really wasn't. He couldn't see himself as one. "I am just a Quidditch player. Just because I am 'aving a good season and 'ave become de top scorer doesn't make me a star. Dese reporters... Dey vant to keep interviewing me, keep asking me questions. 'ow am I to answer dem vhen all I am doing is just playing Quidditch?" Niko was quite unsure about it. All he was doing was playing the sport he loved to play. There was nothing else about it. He often wondered if he let Lorre or Olaf take over as top scorer then the reporters would leave him alone. "I like vhen I play vith de Kites, dey are our team 'ere in Norvay. I can hide dere. Because dey are small, most people around de vorld vorget about dem. Dere is no..." Nikolai tried to find the word he was looking for while he let his blue eyes linger on Holden. "Dere is no vone dere putting pressure on me to be better dan I am. Because I am only me. I am no star like Viktor Krum. He is a star, as he vent pro at sixteen and played in his virst Vorld Cup at eighteen vhile still attending school at Durmstang." That was a star. Viktor had always been in the media, then and now. Nikolai, he'd be in the media today and gone tomorrow.

[Holden Cartwright]

[ Click for OOC Comment ]

You were way exaggerating ^^ I don't see any crappiness in your post.

It had been a tad bit difficult to follow Niko's team, and Holden certainly hadn't been able to do it obsessively or anything, even if he had wanted to. But there were certain wizarding radio stations that were solely dedicated to reporting what was going on in the Quidditch world, and followed particular teams and matches. The Nordic team was hard to search out among those stations, but working as a DJ did have some obscure advantages, and Holden had found a European station that could keep him up-to-date on how the Kites were doing in their games, and even occasionally reported on players. It had been a long-distance way to hear how Niko's life was going without being creepy about it. Okay, maybe it was a little odd, but no one had to know.

"It does make you talented though," Holden reasoned, grinning. "Although I was kidding anyway." Niko really was far more humble than Holden could ever be. He couldn't imagine how arrogant being a Quidditch pro would make him. It was best he stuck to DJing. "Well, I don't know about that," he countered jokingly when Niko stated that most people forgot about the Kites. "I'm a fairly big fan. I can't be alone there." It was difficult to remember what he was saying, let alone make a coherent joke, when Niko was looking at him with those eyes. How come Holden's eyes couldn't be that pretty shade of blue? "I can't argue with that. Viktor Krum is sort of Quidditch legend. But whatever term they call you by, whether you think you're a star or not, you're still pretty darn good."

"And don't ruin this for me with your modesty. It makes me feel cool thinking I'm friends with an awesome professional Quidditch player."

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

[ Click for OOC Comment ]

DDDDx It happened again, I lost yet another amazing post and this one is crap.

Niko never felt it odd that Holden followed his teams. He sometimes followed friends from Durmstrang or friends he met over the years of playing Quidditch. He didn't keep in touch with some, but it was still nice to know they were doing well. That was what Holden was doing. They were close and he checked up on Holden to see how he was doing and Holden was doing the same with him. His owl would kill him if he ever tried to write to Holden so he had gotten that computer, which still frustrated him to try and use. Konrad was still picking on him for it, but knew about as much about how the computer runs as Niko knew. But he felt proud about being able to use it and able to email with Holden to keep up to date and that he could learn about all sorts of things going on in the muggle world.

Niko smiled and joked, "I am nicknaming you de Joker like in dat comic... Batman." Comic books were his latest favorite thing to get into. He had traded a broom repair kit for a couple copies of Batman. He also had acquired copies of Superman and X-Men. He loved X-Men for it reminded him of people with unique abilities like Legilimens, Animagi, and Metamorphmagi. He had a small hidden collection of X-Men in his room, though his twin liked reading them. But if their father found out about half the things he was hiding in his room, his dad would ground him till he was dead.

The Chaser knew that Holden wasn't the only fan. "No. Ve have a lot of vans." Niko tried to play it off but was embarrassed that he never thought about foreign fans. He knew they had tons of fans in the Nordic countries and in Norway for the Kites. But it was outside Norway he hadn't known about. Well, he had never stopped to think about the possibility of having fans in other areas of Europe or outside of Europe. It was embarrassing. He had always figured that most countries had at least one Quidditch team, so people from those countries would be a fan of those teams. If they didn't have a Quidditch team, they were a fan of the team from a nearby country. So when Holden said he was a big fan, it was a little embarrassing to Niko because it was honestly the last thing he expected. He knew America had some good Quidditch teams, so he hadn't expected Holden to be a fan of the Kites.

Nikolai wanted to laugh at Holden calling Viktor a Quidditch legend. He wanted Viktor to hear it so he could see what type of reaction Viktor had. He was sure it'd probably be the most amusing response he had ever seen from someone. Viktor didn't get a swelled head like some Quidditch players Niko had met. No. It always seemed like it was the exact opposite. Nikolai felt like if someone told Viktor he was a legend that he would push himself more to be better. It was like the Bulgarian Seeker tried to live up to the expectations so he wouldn't let people down. But what would happen if Viktor hit a wall? Niko prayed and hoped that that day would never happen.

Nikolai tried to burrow his face into his arms. "I'm not so awesome, but you can dink vat you vant." He admitted defeat before he took a deep breath, trying to get rid of all his embarrassment so he could try to attempt to introduce him to his family. "Vould you like to meet de rest of my vamily? Dey are a bit veird." Weird was an understatment.

[Holden Cartwright]

[ Click for OOC Comment ]

"Crap"... right...

Holden burst out laughing. "You've been reading comics now, have you?" Holden had been very into comic books when he was younger. He hadn't done a heck of a lot of reading, muggles movies had always been more his thing, but he had gone through a phase where he had obsessed over comic books. That was before he had even found out he was a wizard, if he remembered correctly, and it had carried on into his first years at Salem. He had read everything, Marvel and DC Comics alike, from Spiderman to the Green Lantern to the Hulk to the Flash. And, of course, he had read Batman, not to mention watched multiple movie versions. "I hope you know that the Joker is the villain. Are you implying that I'm evil?"

After a minute or two, his chuckling subsided into a simple grin. "I know you do. Just maybe not too many in the States." While Holden was certain he wasn't the only fan of the Kites, he was doubtful about the number of fans in the United States. Most Americans rooted for, well, American teams, or the more prominent European teams. The Karasjok Kites were a bit on the obscure side, although that wasn't to say they weren't good.

It was charmingly cute how embarrassed Niko was in his modesty. The young man even attempted to hide his bashfulness by putting his head in his arms on the stair railing, although Holden couldn't allow that. He didn't want Niko covering his features, oh no. "I will think what I want, thank you very much," he insisted, leaning down so his face was on the same level where Niko's was, tugging the man's arms so he could look at Niko as he said, "And I'm sticking with your awesomeness."

He leaned back as Niko switched the subject, suggesting he introduce Holden to his family. "I would love to. Can't be any weirder than mine." Well, his family wasn't really weird, per say. Harsh and judgmental on his father's side, maybe, and perhaps a little peculiar on Nora's part, but those were unimportant distinctions.

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nikolai felt a little foolish when Holden started laughing about him reading comic books. "Of course. Just because I don't come vrom a muggle vamily doesn't mean I can't enjoy dem." His cheeks were a rich red as he was trying to hide his embarrassment as best he could. He had long been amused by muggle things and comic books just happened to amaze him every time he managed to get a new one. Sure, he had to go to America every time he wanted one, but it was well worth the trip. He didn't really want it known he was going to great lengths to get comic books, but Niko always figured it was well worth it. "I know he's a villain. And you? Evil? I'm sure you have a dark side, doesn't everyvone?" Alright, so he himself didn't have that big of a dark side, but he still had one.

"Just to have vans..." Nikolai stared at his hands that were on the railing. "Dat had alvays been my dream. It's de reason I play. Dey're the reason I'll continue to play." He didn't like letting people down. The fact he knew he had fans ensured that he would always play his hardest. He refused to let any of them down. He would make sure to try his hardest to make sure his team won their matches, regardless of being injured or sick or whatever.

Nikolai really didn't want Holden to see him so embarrassed. Once or twice was more than enough to make him want to just never tug his face from it's hiding spot till he could calm down. He was half tempted to roll his eyes at Holden's words, but he couldn't even muster a reply. But he didn't need to think of one, for Holden soon was tugging at his arm. The Russian male turned blue hues onto the American male. "You're so embarrassing," Niko half teased but was also half serious.

A subject change was needed, so his mind thought quickly. He sort of regreted his first choice, but knew it had to be done sooner or later. When Holden said his family was weird, he chuckled. "You'll certainly change your mind at meeting mine. Trust me." Nikolai grabbed Holden's hand and tugged him down the stores and through the living room. There was a wonderful smell from the kitchen, mainly the smell of freshly made bread. When they entered the room, three women were hard at work. However, at noticing Nikolai, they slowly stopped working.

"Dis is Holden." He started before anyone could talk. "Dat's my mother." Nikolai motioned towards the eldest looking woman, who was slicing vegetables. "Dat's my older sister Myrna." Niko motioned towards a girl who didn't look too much older then themselves, she was tugging a baking pan out of the oven. "And dat's my little sister Olesya." Nikolai motioned to the younger girl slicing the bread. Her hair was dyed a different color, so didn't look much like her family outside of physical appearance. Niko had always wondered when his little sister would stop dying her hair and go back to her natural color. However, after talking to Loanne in his sixth year, he had decided to just let his sister do what she wanted and figured sooner or later she'd grow out of whatever phase she was in.

"Velcome, Holden." Nikolai's mother smiled and greeted him. "Ve hope dat you vill veel like ve are a vamily you vould not mind visitin." Nikolai maybe should have warned Holden that him and his siblings spoke the best English, though his father was good at the language. His mother didn't really need to speak it often and they mainly spoke Russian in the home. "Nikolai, you vather 'ad to run to vork for a moment and vill be back shortly." Niko had always wondered if his mother was able to read minds, something he had often wondered learning to protect.

"Oh okay." He mainly didn't care since his father would be the only member of the family the least happy to have Holden in the house, although his father had agreed to letting the other come to their home. His father was struggling to understand him, which was good.

[Holden Cartwright]

Holden didn't know if it was right to apply to adjective "adorable" to an adult man, but there really weren't other words for Niko. It was hard not to want to hug him, or snuggle him, or kiss his red cheeks, or something like that. "I'm not laughing at you. I just know you like muggle stuff, and it's funny, the 'new' sort of things you pick up." He chuckled. Niko jumped on muggle things like squirrels attacked acorns. To Holden, it was absolutely hilarious. "I've been reading comic books for a long time." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, a bit of a devilish smirk forming on his lips. For a minute, he looked just like the fifteen year old boy who used to beat up weaker kids for the hell of it, although that image faded as he spoke. "I have a reasonably large dark side. I try to smother it as much as I can." The words were said in complete jest, but in reality, they couldn't have been more true. "You're too innocent to handle it, I'm sure."

"Well, you have plenty of fans, I'll tell you that." Plenty of Quidditch supporters, plenty of Norwegians, and plenty of young girls in love with the attractive rookie. "You won't be at a loss for motivation." Niko hadn't let anyone of them down so far, and he had a pretty lengthy career in front of him. If fans were all that did it for him, Niko was set.

He grinned, his words slipping just the tiniest bit as he found himself staring suddenly at the Quidditch player's bright blue eyes. "I have to admit, it is kinda fun to embarrass you." Especially when he blushed like that. Oh Merlin he could get a lot of entertainment out of this young man. In fact, he might have actually told Niko that and just embarrassed him more, had it not been for the fact that now Niko was taking Holden's hand and pulling him farther into the house with a comment about his family.

"We'll see," was Holden's muttered reply. He followed Niko through the house, finding himself at the end in the kitchen, where three women were busy cooking. Now, it should probably be said that Holden, as a result of having a not-so-loving relationship with his own parents, was a compulsive parent-pleaser when it came to other peoples' families. That being said, it was only natural that his greeting was a charming smile (different than the one he used to pick up attractive girls and guys, of course) and a cheerful, "It's very nice to meet you all. Thank you for letting me come here. Of course, you all seem fantastic." He wanted to add that anyone to related to Niko obviously had to be, but somehow that didn't seem quite right, so he kept it simple.

At first, Holden had been just a little apprehensive about meeting Niko's family, but really they all were nice enough. It was a little difficult to understand the English under the heavy accent, but the words from Niko's mother were kind, and that's what counted. Niko's father, on the other hand, Holden still wasn't so sure about....

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nikolai liked the new things he picked up on. Comic books, the internet, phones, etc. He adored them! Why couldn't they have such interesting technology as magical folk? Did this stuff really need to be confined just to the muggle world? It did tempt him to want to visit the muggle world, but he was sure that would tick his father off more than anything he's done in the past. He there were already two things he has done that drove his father nuts, one out of his control and one he had his mind dead set on doing. Nikolai smirked to himself at Holden admitting to a dark side before calling him innocent. He didn't know if he should be insulted or what, but he wasn't. It was just amusing. "Me? Innocent? Obviously I've never told you dat me and my broder vere very big pranksters at Durmstrang, Konrad more den me, but I got in trouble quite a vew times. I don't vight, pranking vas the solution." It solved everything, including their plant problem. Nikolai scratched the back of his right hand as he remembered his Durmstrang years, the writing on the back of his right hand a permanent reminder of those years.

Nikolai smiled gently at hearing he had tons of fans. It was sometimes really hard to see himself having fans sometimes. He knew there were tons of fans of the team, but he never really thought of having his own fans. Everyone in a while he had to remind himself he did. "So I von't be slowing down in my game any time soon." He would make sure to give every game his best.

When Holden admitted to finding it fun to embarrass him, Niko couldn't help but start laughing. Wasn't that something you didn't admit to? It was almost hysterical, it was funny. Niko still tugged Holden off. The amusement Holden gave him gave him enough courage to have the other meet his family. Sure, he was nervous, but the good laugh he had had calmed him down a bit.

Nikolai loved the smell of the kitchen, entertained that his sisters and mother were cooking by hand with little use of magic. The smell of the kitchen was distracting to the bottomless pit Quidditch player. It didn't help that most of what they were making were traditional foods that were mostly made on the holidays. Niko always joked they were a treat, like birthday presents.

Nikolai was quite relieved at his mother being nice to Holden. She was more welcoming to everything than his father was. And he wasn't looking forward to that. "I can't wait for dinner." Niko chirped up in Russian, eager for dinner to be ready so they could eat. Though dinner would certainly be awkward with his father but he knew his mother and siblings would help control the situation.

Niko turned to his guest, "Vhere vould you like to go and see? The house? The track? Vhatever you vant to see, I vill show you." He really liked the idea of actually getting to be a tour guide. If it wasn't the dead of winter, he would totally show Holden the Norwegian Quidditch Pitch. If Holden asked, he'd show him, but he'd have to make sure they wore proper gear. Nikolai didn't want the American suffering from frost bite.

[Holden Cartwright]

"Yeah. You. Innocent." He grinned as if joking, although really, in comparison to him, Holden was sure that Nikolai had to be as pure as a snow bunny. "Obviously I haven't told you all the crap I got into in school. Pranking was barely even the beginning, because, uh, I do fight." It could be argued that perhaps Holden was able to get away with more because the punishment at Salem was less severe, but he still remembered the afternoon after beating up Suyu, where he had been threatened with expulsion. Certainly Nikolai had never done anything that bad. "Or I did, I mean." He couldn't say he really prided himself on how horrible he had been in school, but it was something he could, at this point, look back on and acknowledge with a degree of acceptance as entirely stupid.

It was nice, in a predictably humble way, how Nikolai wanted to do well in Quidditch only out of a desire not to disappoint anyone. Holden himself was a bit of a people-pleaser, but not in nearly the same way as Niko. "Well I certainly hope not," he replied, with fond smile.

Something Holden said seemed to have come off as particularly hilarious, because as Niko pulled Holden towards the kitchen, the young man was in absolute hysterics. It was the kind of laughter that Holden couldn't help laughing along with, even though he had no idea why he was laughing. Happiness was so weirdly contagious like that.

The smell in the kitchen gave him pause for a moment, because he was certain that amidst all the mixed scents of vegetables and breads, there was definitely a pronounced scent of meat. It made him cringe a little, but only on the inside, of course. Would he be able to get out of eating meat at dinner? Could he break it to Niko that he was a vegetarian? No, that would be rude... Well, just one obstacle to handle later.

"The house," he said decisively at Niko's question, knowing that what he really wanted to see, in an almost childish sort of way, was Niko's room. On top of that, he wanted to get out of the kitchen, before the smell got to him too much.

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nikolai was still slightly embarrassed by Holden. He never really got teased like this before, but he could live through it. His face certainly didn't appreciate it, but that was fine by him. He could live through it none-the-less. It just took listening to Holden talk to try and bring his feelings back into check. "You? Fight? Dat is very hard to believe." He could see Holden being a good fighter if he had to, but didn't see Holden as a bully. Had Holden been a bully back at school? Impossible.

Niko was enjoying having Holden over. He never really had too many visitors or guests over. There were a few exceptions but this was fun. The American male was just so interesting to him. And his family being friendly to the DJ made him feel quite a bit better.

He nodded when Holden said the house. "Well, this is the kitchen." He took Holden's hand and lead him out of there, back into the living room. "This is the family room." There wasn't anything that stood out besides the fact there wasn't anything muggle about it. There was no tv, but there was a radio. There were tons of books and tons of magical object. "My parents have a bedroom down here, it's off of the kitchen." He tugged the other to the stairs, going up stairs. The first door they came to had a sign on it that said 'Olesya's room, stay out' in Russian. "Dat's Olesya's room. She charmed de handle or else I vould show you how much of a veirdo my little sister is." His sister was slowly coming back to being normal after all her hair dying phases and the likes. He turned around and pointed at the door there. "Dat's my older sister Myrna's room. It's the cleanest room in the house." He tugged the other a couple steps down the hall to the only door left at the end of the hallway. The door was covered in notes written in Russian and Norwegian and clippings from the news paper. "This is me and my brother's room." He flung open the door to reveal the room to his guest.

The room was somewhat clean, but there was still Quidditch and medical supplies randomly scattered about the room in odd locations. The dead center of open floor was the spot where Nikolai's broom resided. There were Quidditch posters up on the walls and tons of pictures. There were two beds in the room, one covered with blue sheets and the other with red.

Konrad was nowhere in sight, which made Nikolai frown. Where had his brother disappeared off to this time?

[Holden Cartwright]

"Yeah, me," Holden confirmed, flushing just a bit with embarrassment at the confession. Niko could be rebellious, sure, but Holden was confident that on the whole the quidditch star had never been anything but a truly good guy. Admitting that he had been a jerk in school brought back his old fear of being judged, and looked down on. It was completely irrational, though. Niko would never do that, and anyway, Holden had changed a lot since Salem. "I had a pretty bad reputation back then. Girls thought it was cool, but I was basically just a jack*ss and a bully for a while." He gave the blond man a small smile, adding with a shrug, "I regret it a lot, but it's the past, you know?"

He was honest enough with himself, and comfortable enough around Niko, that talking about things like his painful and idiotic teenage years wasn't that unsettling. Still, he was more than happy to move on to the tour of the house, and equally happy to have Nikolai holding his hand all the while. He gazed around the house with as much interest as it was possible for a guy to have in the decoration of rooms that would never have any particular importance to him, smiling more at Niko's commentary than anything else. "I think I can understand weird little sisters well enough," he assured the Norwegian, thinking that he'd definitely have to introduce Niko to Nora sometime.

His eyes brightened with actual eagerness when they approached Niko's bedroom, which ended up looking almost exactly as he imagined: two beds, somewhat messy, and full of anything and everything quidditch-related. Holden stopped in the middle of the room, tapping his chin thoughtfully with his index finger as he contemplated the room. "Let me guess..." He stepped over and sat on the edge of the blue-sheeted bed, grinning as he finished, "This is yours."

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nikolai tried to imagine Holden as a bad boy, someone who got into fights. But it just wasn't happening. But then Holden began to talk more, so he listened, hoping it'd maybe paint a picture. Instead, it just confused him more. As much as he wanted to ask what that word meant, the one that started with jack, but he didn't want to sound that stupid in front of Holden. He spoke good English, but not that good English. Swears weren't something he was exactly familiar with. "Everything you have done in the past, it makes you who you are today. Be proud of it." He smiled widely at the other, his smile probably looking a little goofy.

Nikolai was having fun showing Holden the house. It wasn't every day that he had someone over, since he honestly didn't want his father into everything he does. Niko chuckled at Holden saying he understood weird little sisters. He figured Holden had one. He hadn't really met an only child before, save for a member of the Quidditch team. But he always figured they were just weird.

Nikolai laughed when Holden picked the right bed, "Da. Dat one is mine." He chuckled before smiling. "Good pick."

[Holden Cartwright]

Holden smiled, shaking his head at Nikolai’s reassurance. No matter what Holden admitted to, it seemed Niko would still only see the good in him. It was quite a change from what he was used to; most of his life, people expected the worst of him from the start. “It’s hard to be proud of some of the stuff I’ve done. But you’re right, it’s behind me now. I can’t change it, and I wouldn’t try.” If Niko thought that Holden was great the way he was, flaws and all, Holden certainly wasn’t going to argue. He had been honest, and Niko accepted him anyway. Why couldn’t it have worked like that for him in the past? “Thanks.” He was grinning like an idiot now too, because Niko’s mood was just infectious.

As they walked around, Holden couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if he still lived back home in Colorado. Would he ever show Niko around that house, the one he had grown up in? And, more importantly, would he ever be allowed to? As strict as Niko made his father out to be, Holden knew he had to be better than his own. Even the idea of Mitch Cartwright being introduced to the blonde Quidditch player made Holden shudder.

“Ah, see, I guess I do know you.” Holden sat on the corner of Niko’s bed, hands splayed out on the blue covers. He looked over at the other bed, a contrasting twin of the one he was on, and had to ask, “Is sharing a room with your brother ever hard?”

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Niko smiled at the words. He was glad that Holden wouldn't try to change the past. Because, after all, it made them who they were. Even if that past caused you to be deathly afraid of plants and get into so much trouble during herbology because you set the project on fire. But that wasn't something Nikolai was about to tell Holden, that he had an irrational fear of plants. The American would just laugh and pick on him for sure, most did. "No problem."

It wasn't every day that he got to show people around his house so he was quite excited and hoped he was doing alright. He twin would probably laugh at him for the way he was acting, although Konrad would still have the same remarks when it came to their sisters' rooms.

"I guess you do," he replied with a smile. And the question the other asked made him blink. He crossed his arms as he tried to think. He had always shared a room with Konrad, ever since they were little. Sure, there were times when they had their own rooms, like when they visited family in Russia. But they usually refused to stay together. "I suppose not. We've always been together, so it's hard for us to imagine ourselves not near each other." They tended to get along pretty well because they knew each other better than anyone else. "We're pretty good at not invading the other's space and all that. We've never really run into any problems sharing a room yet." It'd be shocking to everyone who knew them if they ever got into an argument.

[Holden Cartwright]

It was a hard concept for Holden to understand, the constant desire to be around one person, especially a family member. When he was younger, he had actually worked to keep away from his little sister, and he was sure that if he had had a brother, it wouldn't have been much different. Or would it have been? What would it have been like, having a brother? He couldn't even imagine it, let alone having a twin. But Nikolai seemed to love it, and always having a best friend there for you, unconditionally supporting you, would have come in handy over the years, he had to admit.

"But what about..." He paused with his eyebrows wrinkling together, not really sure where he was going with his next question. He had a vague sort of idea that sharing a room would cause a lot of problems, but he couldn't think of exactly why. "What about when you, you know, bring someone home?" He wasn't even sure whether or not Nikolai ever brought people home, and he certainly had no idea about Konrad. But for him, having a roommate would have been more trouble than benefit.

[Nikolai Shevyakov]

Nikolai watched Holden, realizing he was having a little bit of trouble understanding why he was so into sharing a room. It was probably because he didn't know any other life than this. Even at Durmstrang they had been placed into the same room for all seven years. They couldn't escape each other so they always made the best of it.

When Holden started a question, Niko listened. It took a minute for the American to finish, which resulted in Nikolai laughing a little bit. Did the other honestly worry about that? "You are de virst dat I've ever brought home here." He was being truthful as he spoke. "But I still have an apartment dat I share vith my brother in a city closer to de stadium. I lived dere vor some time. But I have never been a big person on taking people home vith me. Konrad, he takes home more guys den I do." Should he have honestly just said that? Probably not. Oh well. Not like either of them brought home too many guys.