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10:03 pm ,Admitalty Avenue,St.Petersburg
It was a humid night,something that wasn’t rare for St.Petersburg during the summer.But this was the start of September,and the transition between summer and autumn caused some nights to be chillier than the other.
Every window in the apartment was open,trying to let in as much fresh air as it could.Everytime someone walked past the room the sound of fanning was heard alongside their footsteps in either boots,heels or slippers.Each servant or member of the household rushed to finish whatever they were up to so they could sit back down again and cool off.
Scott was struggling.He had been struggling for the past few hours,getting up multiple times for a break to either pace around the room,read a book or simply just look at the wall decor (since it was dark outside and the scenery from the window was not visible).As much effort as he put into finishing those math problems he couldn’t figure out the correct formula and sometimes would get numbers beyond comprehension as a result.
The fact that the humidity had caused him to take off multiple layers of his uniform and then change into the thinnest clothing he could find did not help either.
He had been to St.Petersburg before,but in 2021,where the wonders of modern technology had offered humanity the beauty of electric fans and air conditioning.
But now he was in 1809,where electric fans wouldn’t be invented for another 77 years,stuck in a room,with several math equations to solve.
He circled the square carpet in the center of the room a few more times before sitting back down again,something which he had done more than a dozen times in the span of 2 hours.
Why haven’t calculators been invented yet?
He scribbled down a few more numbers.
Some footsteps were heard outside of the door,a set which sounded very familiar.
He had spent a few months in the estate now,which had given him the advantage of recognizing the sound of each individual whenever they made their way past his current room.So when he heard that specific set of steps he was beyond excited.
The door opened gently,letting a slight breeze through,and Bagration slipped in silently leaving the door slightly open.
Scott turned to face him,not moving from the chair but simply just twisting his upper body.He had a dead serious look on his face before he spoke in a tone that didn’t really match it but still reeked of sarcasm.
“You’re home late.”
“Ah yes,they delayed me at the palace a bit.But besides,i don’t have a curfew.”
The older man stated.Now moving towards the armchair that was placed closely to the door and sitting on it almost gracefully.He crossed his leg on the other and leaned his head against his arm which was placed on the arm of the chair and looked at the man in front of him.
“I can’t-“ Scott sighed loudly,which almost came out as a groan “I don’t understand how to do ANY of this.Ive solved half the exercises but the other half make zero to no sense to me.”
He got up to pace around the room again,now even more nervously than before.
“I need the help of the best mathematicians in the Empire so i can understand this.”He complained and ran a hand through his brown hair,which was a slight mess from all the movement he had done in the past few hours.
Bagration chuckled lightly at that statement,although he knew the younger man actually meant it the phrasing was still quite humorous to him.
“I’ve annotated every poem that i had to,written summaries AND finished an essay,but i just can’t seem to do all the other stuff.”He exclaimed loudly,following that up with another groan.
“I understand you.A creative mind has trouble when forced into the study of sciences.”Bagration started “It can be frustrating,indeed.I had trouble with all of that aswell,but sooner or later that trouble ends and you get to do what you actually enjoy.” He moved around in his seat a bit until he was comfortable again. “Which in my case was painting.” He smiled warmly.
Scott stopped pacing around,allowing himself to catch his breath and looked right at the man.There was a moment of silence between the two.
“Right.You’re so right.” The brunette broke the peace and pointed at the other in agreement.He was more calm now,which resulted in the adrenaline rush to wear off and the exhaustion to appear more prominently.He walked over to the desk he was almost glued to earlier and leaned onto it gently.He almost felt dizzy from all of that and made sure to look down just in case he felt worse.
“Did you get someone to bring you dinner?”A deep voice rang through his ears again and he looked up at where it came from,only to find Bagration now standing instead of the comfortable position he was in earlier.The candlelight was outlining his features perfectly,defining every sharp edge of his jaw and nose and darkening the corners of his eyes a bit while reflecting the soft orange light in his dark irises at the same time.His legs were perfectly outlined in the white uniform bottoms,and the light setting was aiding with that a lot more.He stood with his arms behind his back,in a very proper and authoritative stance while maintaining that soft look on his face,as if he was with his soldiers making sure they were all fed and comfortable.
Somehow that sight made Scott even sleepier.He had been on his toes for the past few hours,stressed about every single thing that was going on around him and he was glad there was a familiar face in front of him right now,which allowed him to relax in this dear presence even more.
“They uh…called me down to eat but i wanted to solve one of the problems so i just…didn’t go.”He loosened the hem of his dress shirt a bit,revealing his collarbones, since the humidity in the room felt as if it had doubled,but perhaps it was just him being tiered.
“Come on then.You’re barely able to stay up,you must eat.”The black-haired man spoke,slowly making his way towards the bedroom door.A move which Scott mimicked as fast as he could,almost tripping at the carpet.
Bagration was already making his way down the stairs before the brunette was even able to get the door closed,so he rushed himself even more,resulting in more dizziness.
“I don’t want to bother the servants at this hour!”He exclaimed quietly,a whisper scream that was loud enough for the taller man to hear but he kept walking,and Scott kept rushing after him.
“Who said we need to?”
At this point he had caught up to him and was able to catch a glimpse of the sly grin which was plastered on the man’s face.