Chapter Text
The Zone was a house of cards.
Each card was a person adorned with markings that showed everything about them. Their story always rang true, from their rank in the grand deck to the actions that brought them there.
There never was a lie. Otherwise, such lies would be carved from their skin.
Perhaps, that was why Svetlana felt comfortable around those with suits on their skin. They wore the truth on their sleeve for better or worse.
Yet she found herself glancing at Vikhor “Stitch” Kuzmin and his suit in curiosity. Arash’s briefing faded into the background. This was far more interesting. In the Collective, she rarely ever saw frak s ordenami after all.
Stitch’s arrival in the Collective came before her predecessor’s sudden retirement. Given the circumstances, she hadn’t gotten the chance to read his file. But she knew a few things in passing.
Many characters existed in the gulag, but not many government scientists survived for so long.
More than five years, she thought, looking down at the tattooed manacle wrapped around his wrist.
“Admiring the view?” Stitch said sharply, breaking her train of thought. Glancing up at him, Sveta found herself staring into a lone light blue eye.
As Rudnik once told her, it appeared she’s been caught red-handed.
Her predecessor would have scolded her for such blatant behavior. But curiosity always won when it came to bad habits. It was an asset in her line of work, if anything.
“You wear a nice suit, tovarisch,” she said honestly, staring up at him with a smile on her lips. She paused for a second, deliberating over her following words. Leaning forward slightly, she added, “Living in na svobodye, da?”
Leaning back in her chair, Sveta turned her attention to the briefing Arash dragged on. The man glanced at her annoyedly, raising his voice slightly. Sveta stared back at him amusedly. She wrote enough in Fenya on her notes that it’d keep up appearances.
She felt the weight of the stare behind her. Thinking back to it now, Svetlana Novikova would have lied if she denied that she enjoyed the look of surprise in Vikhor “Stitch” Kuzmin’s eye.
I should invite him for a game of Durak, she mused.
Perhaps, Stitch would enjoy chifir.