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There is a knock on the door and Tachanka knows immediately it’s Finka. He has been anticipating her, she spent a lot of time in his room lately. Finka would show up at his door, bring a good book or two and they would read together. It has become his favorite time of the day. Reading together and saying absolutely nothing. Their silence is completely comfortable and he knows they are both enjoying this.
When Finka enters his room with her books, Tachanka has already got two cups of tea in his hands. Whenever she comes over, there is a cup of tea ready waiting for her and it makes her feel welcome. It is just a small manifestation of affection, but there are many others and she values that he spends his time with her alone where the whole Spetsnaz squad usually spends their free time together.
Finka looks at the book on Tachanka’s bed. „Братья Карамазовы“, Finka acknowledges his book choice with a nod. She knows he prefers to read in his native language and Tolstoi is one of his favorite authors. Finka lifts her hand so that Tachanka can see her book cover. The Belarus woman choose to bring Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Finka had made it a habit to read books in their original language if possible and manages quiet well, has learned several languages despite her relatively young age. Most of her languages were picked up during her student days in Novosibirsk, but Tachanka knows she kept practicing during her military career. In fact, she is always practicing, never misses a chance to improve her skills.
Finka has another habit when it comes to her books. Tachanka once managed to look into her Hemingway anthology and was staggered. Never had he seen such a worn-out book. Where he takes good care of his books and keeps them in pristine condition, Finka’s books are always full of scribbling in various languages, some words highlighted, other’s translated and every page is filled with side notes. Her books are battered, donkey-eared and obviously read multiple times.
Tachanka felt from the beginning that Finka was smart and her brain always active. She is one of those people who cannot hide their cleverness. When you see her, you know that she is bright, she radiates intelligence. But he only took proper note to the extent of her cleverness when he saw the scribbled pages of her books. It’s not just the way she reads or processes her information, it’s an indicator of what her mind must look like. It’s full of information, gained knowledge, difficult ideas and it’s messy. There always seems to be a lot going on in her pretty head and yet she manages to calm down in his presence. Her stern expression relaxes, she seems at ease. It’s the way he likes her best and she usually is like that when she is with him.
Today is no exception. He sits in bed with his copy of Tolstoi’s The Brothers Karamazov, his back leaned against the wall, a cup of tea on the bedside table, Finka leaning against his shoulder. She turns the pages of her book much faster than Tachanka does, despite reading in french. The russian-born operator is used to it by now. Finka is an incredibly fast reader. And while Tachanka may not be as clever as Finka he knows exactly that she brings two books when she comes over to his room so that they can spend more time together.
Since they started spending their evening hours together Tachanka couldn’t help but notice that Finka is often tired. Maybe even a little too tired for a woman her age and physical fitness but her schedule is busy and she works hard, so he doesn’t comment on it. The first signs of fatigue are usually flexing her fingers, rolling her shoulders and shaking out her angled legs. If the thought wasn’t that absurd Tachanka would have thought that the book got to heavy for Finka’s arms to hold up. But this is of course impossible, Finka’s body is well-trained due to her daily fitness routine in Team Rainbow.
The first few times Tachanka thought Finka would leave when she gets tired but it turned out that she wanted to stay and her drowsiness only made her more clingy. It is normal by now that their arms and legs are grazing when they are in private, but when Finka gets tired she shifts even closer. One evening she somehow managed to end up with her head in Tachankas lap and since then it has become a pleasant custom.
Tachanka notices that Finka’s fingers are starting to wiggle so it won’t be long until she is stretched out in his bed. She really appears to be tired today and looking at the clock Tachanka realizes that her tiredness set in earlier than usual. He lifts up his book to make room for Finka to scoot closer and rest her head in his lap. It is a suggestion and she complies immediately. She smiles up at him gratefully and for the first time today he takes a closer look at her face. She does in fact look exhausted, but there is something else. Small hints of pain. She tries to hide them but in his military career he has learned to read faces and Finka is not as comfortable as she usually is when she is with him. Tachanka is suddenly glad that he let her scoot closer, because this position seems to help her relax. Her microexpression softens, the indication of pain almost gone.
He switches his book to one hand and lets his other hand run through Finkas short hair while continuing to read. Finka closes her eyes, sighs contently and rests her closed book on her belly. Only when Tachanka hears Finka’s book falling onto the blanket he becomes aware that Finka is fast asleep. He rests his book on the bedside table and gathers as much blanket as possible to tug Finka in. It’s the first time that she fell asleep in his presence and he wants to keep her warm and comfortable.