Realistic or Modern Of Ivanov Blood // Full RP (All spots filled!)

[EclipseRosee]

MIKHAIL SUMMERS

Having TWO of Katya to handle on top of the still fresh death of his boss and training Annabella was almost too much for the rather uptight Mikhail. But when you added Zofia and Aleksi? God he was ready to absolutely explode! They were so loud and odd and just didn't often understand proper etiquette. Masha was at least overwhelmingly polite and Katya was behaving and taking care of her health more than usual now that her sister was around so that helped but still. It was just all so much, plus now he was constantly having to scold the other men for their harsh opinions of the two new members of their household. Mikhail had to admit himself that he wasnt too fond of Zofia moving in as well but he also understood that Katya welcomed her into the home and therefore they all needed to respect that decision.

Then today shit hit the fan even more! Someone had removed the bosses rings from his old room, they were a valuable family heirloom as well as quite expensive so it wasn't a shock that anyone would steal it if he was being honest but... it required a bit of insider knowledge to do so. Insider knowledge that Mikhail didn't believe Masha or Zofia could possibly have. However a lot of the other men didn't think that through and just saw the poor girls and assumed the new people in the house would do this. He had to admit that the timing was awful and pointed in their direction but there were just too many other things that made no sense!

Mikhail had been checking Masha's room thoroughly while Stefan searched Zofia's, thankfully Mikhail quickly came up empty. As he was on his way to join the others there was a commotion from the main area of the home and he quickly made his way out to the foyer to figure out what was going on. As soon as he entered the room one of the men came to him and panicked that the police were at the door and asking to speak to the owner, saying they had a warrant. Mikhail didn't bother finding Katya and instead quickly made his way to the door where the police chief was standing with a furrowed brow.

Most times the police and the Ivanov family had a very complicated relationship, they didn't LIKE each other but they respected what one another did for the city. "Whats going on gentlemen? I must admit it is quite odd for you to show up on our doorstep uninvited." The chief nodded and let out a sigh, it was clear he didn't want to be here either.

"One of your men came to my station earlier to report a theft and said he was able to identify the thief. Said he watched it happen and that it was someone you guys didn't want to handle .... your way... and instead just want her removed and to go through the legal system. Would have been here sooner if not for needing the warrant. Now, do you want to bring me the girl or do you want me to go get her?"

Mikhail was quickly losing his mind but held his composure as well as he could, "I'll bring her down. Uh-right. Just wait outside." He ushered the police outside before rushing off to find Katya and the others. Thankfully it seemed they had all gathered in the private wings living room and were discussing the issue at hand.

"I don't think we have time to decide what to do right now unless we want to piss off the cops. They're downstairs right now to make an arrest." Mikhail glanced around the room with a irritated expression, he still wasn't exactly sure which girl the cops were here for and he forgot to ask in his rush to get to Katya. "Someone went to the cops and said they saw the theft happen."

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Katya Ivanov

In life Katya had been screwed over, shot at, and nearly kidnapped. There was nothing she hated more than betrayal though, and involving the police? That was the ultimate betrayal to the leader of a mob. Katya wasn't an idiot, she knew this was a set up. Zofia didn't have the have the proper knowledge of he home to steal the rings! And what would have a firm but worthy punishment has now become a severe punishment. They'd survive, but they would not survive well. What was the saying? An eye for an eye? "Cops. Great." Katya stood up, her beautiful pale face a bright angry red now. Quickly she snatched up her red leather jacket and tucked the rings in the pocket. "Zofia you are going to be arrested, by the time you are processed Stefan and I will have you out of there before you even touch the cage. Know that we will take care of this rat, we will take care of any record you have, and we will take care of you."

With that said the chief of police walked through the double doors and she instantly went tight lipped. "Miss Ivanov." The man tipped the hat at her before stepping past her. "We will be back in no time, let's go." Katya turned to leave in a huff. "Chief I will see you in your office, you're getting involved you might as well be of some help. Anna take care of our guests while we are gone." The Ivanov's ran Yoroslavl and a good portion of Europe, the police were pawns of her father and they would serve her well when they are needed. Like now.

They brought home Zofia later on that night. Stefan was the best lawyer in Europe and Germany, and when the judge was going to deny Zofia bail based on how much the property was worth he was able to talk him into bail. She'd be in the Ivanov care and it was her first offense, the property was also recovered. So while Stefan posted bail Katya had the police fingerprint the air vent, the velvet bag, and her fathers office. All had one common recent print and that was Maxim, one of the older members and fathers most trusted men. He had been open about not thinking Katya was ready to be a Don and even more so about his dislike for Masha and Zofia. It was unfortunate, but betrayers had to face the penalty's for their actions.

After making sure Zofia and everyone was safe she excused herself for the night. Well, after Mikhail went and gathered Maxim in the basement. Thant's where Katya spent all night, in the soundproof basement with just her, Mikhail, Maxim, and plenty of tools they were proficient with. They got done around three in the morning and Katya retired to her room to shower and get a few hours of rest. By the time Anna was done making breakfast she had the whole wing smelling good so Katya got ready for the day in her outfit of the day, moving out of her large bedroom suite before moving downstairs. "Morning Anna, is anyone else awake?"

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Annabella Valentina

Seeing Zofia getting taken away must have been hard on Masha, she was her best friend and basically a sister to her. Katya, Mikhail and Stefan went to go bail her out and left Annabella there to take care of everyone. Thankfully they were back within a few hours, but the time that it did take them dragged on for what seemed like forever. Anna tried to reassure Masha that Katya was a woman of her word, that she wouldn't let Zofia take the fall for something she didn't do. Anna had been a homicide detective back in Italy, comforting people was part of her job description. It just usually wasn't comforting people about someone living. After everyone retired for the night, after Aleksi and Nicholai took off for the night, Anna made sure that everything was prepped for breakfast tomorrow. Mikhail and Katya would be hungry from their all night excursion, a piece of her grateful she didn't have to be part of the torture, and Zofia and Masha would need some proper nutrition after such an eventful day.

Anna's alarm went off bright and early, and while she didn't see anyone she did see that Katya finally returned to rest. For the next two hours she prepped a beautiful breakfast for everyone; freshly made croissants, fresh fruit, breakfast meats and potatoes, and brioche French toast. Her fire red hair was tied into cute space buns on the top of her head, a flour covered apron draped around her tight black jeans, low cut black tank top, and open button up white shirt. She shone a bright smile to Katya as Anna finished up setting the table. "Good morning miss Katya, I hope you got some rest after your excursions last night. No I haven't seen anyone this morning, but I know Aleksi and Nicholai said they were going to join us. I mean, unless you want us to kick them out." Anna couldn't help but smile at the thought. Katya was a big and bad Don who had a serious temper when it came to disrespect, but when it came to the family that was supposed to be her enemy she seemed to have a soft spot for them. Well, a soft spot for Aleksi at least but she kept that part for herself.

"I'll go let Masha and Zofia that breakfast is ready. Be back in a second." With that said Anna ran up the stairs to knock on the girls door. "Ladies breakfast is done if you're hungry."

 

[Sir Damien]

Stefan

Unlike Katya and Mikhail Stefan didn't partake in the torture part. No, instead of punishment he spent all night clearing things up with the police. The Ivanov's found the culprit and they had properly dealt with them, now he needed that shit off of Zofia's record. Normally he wouldn't have worked so hard, but she was trying to go to the Olympics he recalled from the few conversations they had. She couldn't possibly do any of that with a criminal record, so Stefan stayed up until the early hours of the morning getting everything struck from the record. Once it was done he found he wasn't tired so he went to the gym room of the wing. Stefan pressed over double his weight, he ran a quick six miles, and worked nearly every machine in the room. By the time he was all showered he could smell the fresh scent of breakfast. Anna had been a nice addition to the wing with the extravagant meals she made, he far preferred her to the chef they had in the house.

Stefan went to his room and gathered the paperwork from Zofia's short police stay; the paper to say that her 500,000 bail was taken care of, that they officially dismissed her case, and how it had been struck from the record, even a copy of her criminal history to show that nothing would show up. "Morning." Stefan nodded at Anna as she knocked on the girls door, making his way down the stairs to the dining room to see Katya. "Zofia is all taken care of. The law won't be bothering her again, not about this at least." Stefan put the papers down underneath Zofia's place before he pulled up his long locks into a tight bun on the top of his head. His stern eyes looked over the spread on the table and gave a small nod. "Anna's a nice addition to the family, she doubles as a damn good chef." Quickly he poured himself a mug of black coffee and sat in his chair, pulling the newspaper out and reading over it while he sipped on the expensive coffee.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Nicholai Petrov

"Aleksi I know you really like this girl, but don't you think you should give her the day to rest? It was a rough day yesterday and maybe she just needs a girls day." Nicholai sighed as their SUV parked in front of the now familiar Ivanov residence. Aleksis father had never been more proud of his son thinking that he was getting intel on the Ivanov family, and if that was it Nicholai wouldn't mind doing this. But he knew Aleksi, he knew how attached he was getting Zofia. Hell he even seemed to be getting friendlier with Katya which really shouldn't be happening. Old friends or not she was considered the enemy, she was the Don of their rival mafia for crying out loud! Honestly Nicholai wondered if Katya was just being polite or if she actually enjoyed Aleksi's presence, she always seemed to welcome him though. Maybe Nicholai should have a talk with her, ask her to ask them to stay away? It would be the only way Aleksi would stay away and even then he didn't know if he'd stay away!

Once the SUV was parked Nicholai let out a heavy sigh and exited the car, thanking the driver before he walked into the Ivanov manor with his boss. They made their way to the now familiar wing and walked through the double doors, giving a small sigh as he hung up his blue jacket on the coat rack. "Miss Katya we have arrived, pardon us." With that said he made his way to the dining room to instantly notice the papers. "Oh, you've gotten it taken care of already? Impressive. Anyway, how late were up and Mikhail up miss Katya?" There was often betrayal in the Petrov family, and he knew that the Petrov Don was too sickly to take care them himself so he mostly delegated his guards to do his dirty work. Nicholai wasn't used to a woman Don let alone one that dirtied her own hands.

"When Anna said she'd cook breakfast I didn't expect a whole spread like this. How are miss Zofia and Masha this morning?"

 

[ZombieBaee]

Masha

Masha was angry, deeply, truly, angry. But first and foremost she was scared, what did they mean Zofia was being arrested?! She didn’t do anything! She WOULDNT do anything! “W-wait what is happening?!” They assured her that everything would be okay and that Stefan was apparently a great lawyer and would fix this but Masha was so angry that there was anything to fix! Before anyone fully explained anything to her Zofia was being hauled off and Katya was leaving in a huff with Stefan in tow. Mikhail went along with them obviously so soon Masha was left in her new guards care. Anna did a good job of getting Masha to calm down and helped her understand what was going on but still… these people were so cruel.

Masha had eventually gone back to her room and laid in her bed tossing and turning until she finally let exhaustion take over. When she woke in the middle of the night for some water she discovered that Zofia was back in her room safely and she finally felt like she was able to breathe again. Masha felt so guilty, she should have never asked Zofia to follow her here… hell they should have stayed at the church! For now Masha decided to let her friend get some well deserved sleep and that they could talk in the morning. After getting her mid night glass of water Masha had returned to her room and contemplated packing her things but chose to just cool down and go back to bed.

In the morning Masha woke to the soft knock on her door and the sound of Anna letting them know breakfast was ready. “Be right down!” She yelled from her spot on the bed before rolling over the edge and heading to her closet to pull on some clothes. She had wore a tank top and boy shorts to bed and decided to just pull a pair of fuzzy lounge pants over the shorts and pop a pair of slippers on her feet to head down to the others.

When Masha walked in she noticed that it seemed like everyone except Zofia was already there, including Aleksi and Nicholai. “Good morning all.” She gave them a light smile before grabbing a cup of coffee and taking a sip before commenting any further. “Anna breakfast smells amazing and Nicholai, to answer your question honestly? I’m fucking pissed.” She said it so plainly and grabbed some breakfast to much on as she continued. This was probably the first time any other these people would witness Masha in rare form, when she was scorned she could be far more nasty than people would think. “For a family that’s so fucking focused on being so great and exclusive they sure do seem to not give a shit about the values the preach. It’s not MY fault I wasn’t part of this house sooner and I’m so sorry that I felt the need to bring the one person who was my family up until now.” Masha let out a huff and took a bite of food, “I’m sorry, I just, who does shit like this?”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Zofia Smith

Arrested? Suddenly this wasn’t fun anymore, suddenly Zofia realized that she wasn’t living in a book or movie, she was around people who were actually dangerous, people who committed actual crimes. Not crimes like shoplifting or jaywalking but like, stealing jewels and killing people. Honestly she really didn’t hear anything after Katya said that word. She felt the cold metal clasp around her wrists as she policeman took her out to his car, he was nice, she noticed that much. It seemed like he didn’t want to do this as much as she didn’t want to. There we no words that she could form as they were moving out of the room and eventually out of the manor and into the back of the patrol car. She heard that Katya would fix this and that they would be following her down to the station but Zofia was in such a state of shock that she couldn't really focus on any of that.

Once at the station Zofia had been placed in a holding cell by herself, thankfully her connection to the Ivanovs was getting her a little bit of special treatment even behind bars. After a while she was finally able to talk to Stefan who let her know what was actually going on. Zofia felt like she was able to breathe a little better after that conversation but honestly jail wasn't what she was worried about. Zofia had dreams of swimming on the national team, she had a coach, a damn good and well respected coach. A coach that if she even heard that Zofia was arrested would likely cause a stink about it, even if the charges were dropped. That was what Zofia was worried about, well that and the fact that someone clearly hated her enough to frame her for a felony.

For a while Zofia tried to keep track of time while she waited for any updates but eventually she lost track and found herself drifting in and out of sleep, the emotional trauma finally wearing her down enough to feel tired. At some point, once the sun had long set, Stefan arrived and let her know that the charges were dropped and that she was free to come back home. Back at the house Zofia went straight to her room and fell into the plush bed and quickly fell asleep.

In the morning Zofia woke to a phone call from her coach, the phone call that she fully expected but still ruined her dreams. Someone had seen her being taken into the police station and soon enough news got around, there was no way that her coach could keep training a girl with a reputation. Zofia tried to explain to no avail and ended up spending the rest of her morning sobbing into her pillow until Anna called her and Masha to breakfast. At that point she decided to put on a brave face and head down to eat with the others, even if she didn't feel very hungry.

"'Morning." Zofia stated simply as she entered the room that was already full of the others, her eyes clearly bloodshot and puffy from crying all morning. She chose not to say anything else and instead simply got some food and began to eat while Masha went on her rant.

 

[KAYDEN]

Aleksi Petrov

"Nicholai, I let the Ivanov's handle the situation last night because I thought it was best and didn't want to overcomplicate things. But I didn't just sit idly by! I have a surprise for Zofia and I'm thinking it should lift her spirits!" Aleksi was actually rather proud of himself, he had been calm headed enough to take a step back and allow Katya to handle the Zofia situation but that didn't mean Aleksi couldn't do some work of his own. He knew her biggest concern would be swimming, it didn't take long for Aleksi to find out that her coach already knew about the arrest and from what he had learned about the woman she wouldn't be likely to let such a thing go. So Aleksi hired Zofia a new coach! The best money could buy! Sure the man was a little shady but he was the real deal and Aleksi was more than excited to tell Zofia about it. "Don't worry so much, if she really doesn't want us around we can leave okay?"

Aleksi followed behind Nicholai with a grin on his face as they made their way through the manor and to the wing that housed those closest to the Ivanov don. Once in the dining area they quickly found everyone as well as the vast amount of food that Anna had prepared. "Wow Katya got lucky with this one, a skilled guard AND cook? Nicholai can you cook like this?" Aleksi grabbed a croissant and took a big bite before his attention was drawn by the current object of his affection entering the room. He could tell she had been crying almost instantly but had to stop himself from bursting out his news right then and there. Thankfully Masha began speaking up and gave him a distraction from his own excitement.

Aleksi pulled out a chair besides Zofia and sat down, placing a hand gently on her back as they all ate and conversed. "Well I, for one, am very shocked that you can get this riled up Masha, it's quite refreshing honestly." He let out a small chuckle before continuing. "But maybe I can shed some more good news on the situation? I mean I know Stefan must have already done a lot by getting Zofia out of jail but I have some news of my own! Zofia..." He paused to turn and take her hand in his while a wide grin spread across his face, "I found you a new coach! One that is aware of what has happened and is still willing to take you in! He's amazing from what I heard, expensive but worth it I think! He is a bit further away so training will be a bit more difficult but still!"

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Katya Ivanov

The Ivanov Don was not a fan of his daughter's life decisions; at first she came out with the first person she had ever felt anything for as Aleksi, and that ended up with deep disapproval and a smack to the face. Anyone but the enemy he said. So, since her early teenaged years Katya found herself making more but somehow not quite as bad disapproving choices. She found herself in the company of a slew of lovely ladies, something the late Don kept as a private secret. But with Katya hooking up with women from all over it was hard to keep it a secret. It wasn't any surprise if anyone approached her for woman advice, but there was one that took her by surprise. Zofia started to give Aleksi the cold shoulder and in turn he recruited her for her help, little did she know she would be giving women advice to the one guy she ever liked? Still, she didn't mind spending time with him, despite the protest Mikhail and the other members of the family gave her.

"Women are complicated creatures." Katya readied her pistol before taking aim and shooting every single target in the bullseye. As her gun smoked from the barrel she sat it down and turned around to motion to Aleksi it was his turn. He liked shooting, she liked shooting, and it kept Aleksi from clinging to Zofia. There wasn't a chance the pair was going to make it but Katya didn't have the heart to tell him that, for now she just wanted to enjoy the time they were able to spend together. After him and Zofia break up there would be no reason for him to come around anymore.

"Let's go for a drink after this, yeah? Seeing you this stressed is almost stressing me out. Besides, Anna said to bring our appetite.” The range was right out the back of the Ivanov house, today it was gloomy and cold but it was the only place Nicholai and Mikhail didn't follow them to.

 

[Sir Damien]

Stefan

At first Stefan only cleared Zofia's record to do a nice thing, something he never normally did. The look on Zofia's face had hurt his chest in a way it had never hurt before, Aleksi offering up his new coach seemed to hurt her more than she was already hurting, and even if Stefan didn't quite understand why he understood that money just wasn't going to clear this over. And if there wasn't a coach that Zofia wanted or trusted, well, Stefan quickly offered to workout and swim with her. In addition to the gym the Ivanov's had an indoor pool, even a hot tub and sauna to help her relax afterwards. Plus over the last two months they seemed to run into each other quite frequently in the gym.

"So, when are tryouts for the Olympic team? They're coming up soon, and they're being hosted in America this year correct?" Stefan poured a mixed drink to Zofia's liking and a whiskey on the rocks for himself. They had just gotten done swimming laps, Stefan's large boy not really built for speed. Surprisingly though since he started swimming with Zofia more he had gotten slightly faster, but he was just thankful to be able to be of some assistance to her. "I know Ivanov's would love to be able to come watch you if you'd have us, or at least Masha and I." He made his way to the couch of the living area, his semi-wet long dark hair tied in a loose bun on the top of his head as he sat down next to Zofia.

As he handed her the drink he gave her a small smile before taking a drink of his. Zofia was an impressive woman, and he could tell she wasn't happy lately with Aleksi. It wasn't his place to say anything though, she was a smart girl and she'd know what was best for herself. All he could do was support her in whatever decision she made. Besides, it's not like Stefan was a relationship expert, his only ever girlfriend turned to be his fiance and then left him. He still didn't know what he did. "You've got a good head on your shoulders and you've poured your all into this. You've got this."

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Annabella Valentina

The last week had been pretty awkward? Zofia seemed to instantly run off whenever Aleksi came over, which was every day. Instead of Katya being able to go to meetings she got roped into Aleksi's drama, poor girl. Mikhail had seemed irritated, but around Nicholai he seemed to almost relax. Well, his version of relaxed. And out of nowhere Masha got awkward on Anna, so it left her more free time than she really wanted. So when Annabella wasn't practicing hand to hand combat in the gym she found herself in the kitchen making Italian baked goods like she baked at home. Biscotti, tiramisu, zeppole, cannoli's, rum baba. Every day was different, hell, there was nothing else to do! Today's dish was a flaky sfogliatelle, the smells filling the living area of their home.

Annabella's hair was pulled into a tight ponytail on the top of her head, the kiss the chef red frilly apron hanging around her neck and tied tightly around her thin waist. Underneath it she had black slacks and a white button up shirt, her typical guard uniform. "I hope everyone comes to eat soon, these aren't good cold." Quickly she turned off the oven before tidying up the counter once more to make sure it was spotless. She pulled out her cellphone and shot Masha a quick text. Sfogliatelle is ready, hope you're hungry! Send. Stefan and Zofia would join them when they were done with their drinks, Katya and Aleksi would come in when they were done having their shoot out.

While she waited Anna plucked a piece of the orange-flavored ricotta pastry and plopped it in her mouth, chewing away as she carried the orange and almond paste pastries to the dining room table.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Nicholai Petrov

The only thing worse than Aleksi coming over was Aleksi coming over for to chat with Katya! For some reason she wasn't even turning him away. He was in a tizzy about Zofia and seemed to think Katya had all the answers. The woman was cold as ice, what advice did she have to give about this? And there was no way the Don wasn't noticing Aleksi's absences, Nicholai was even having to make sure that the driver didn't say anything, just to cover for Aleksi. While Nicholai wanted to protest daily he hated seeing his friend and boss so upset. So if the rival Don made him happy Nicholai would play along for now. Just until Zofia broke it off with him, then they were done with these visits. Thankfully Mikhail and Anna weren't bad company.

"This is a good bar, close by but just far enough to try and forget about the drama." Nicholai chuckled quietly and slid onto the tall barstool of the bar Mikhail and Nicholai now frequented. He wasn't interested in shooting but for some reason those two loved it, and so long as they were staying put and JUST shooting he didn't mind the pair spending unsupervised time together. Hell, if Aleksi accidentally shot Katya maybe she'd stop letting him come over. "How much longer do you give Zofia before she dumps him?" Nicholai gave a small wave to the young lady behind the bar and she gave a small nod, sliding the two of them their usual drink. The girl flirted with Mikhail most of the time and he couldn't help but feel bad for the poor girl.

"Thanks, doll." Nicholai took a long drink of the cold whiskey with a heavy sigh. "Don Petrov has been asking why Aleksi keeps coming over, it's getting harder to cover and lie. Be thankful your Don is on the relaxed side, she's young and has plenty of years ahead of her. Petrov wants Aleksi to take command sooner rather than later."

 

[ZombieBaee]

Zofia

Zofia was so angry at Aleksi for what he did, she understood he was trying to be nice, it wasn’t that! It was that when she declined his offer, he refused to listen and to understand! Maybe this was her famously sabotaging her relationships but still! Zofia had worked her entire life to be the athlete that she was, she didn’t want to get anywhere simply because her boyfriend had money and status. She wanted to get somewhere because she was GOOD and because she had put in the work! Aleksi wasn’t understanding that! They were just too different sometimes and this was just proving it. Zofia liked nice things, she would t lie, but she also understood the value of hard work and how good it felt to EARN something versus just having it. Aleksi didn’t understand that and Zofia was starting to realize he never would. So… she ignored him.

Zofia spent the last werk spending a lot of time with Stefan who offered to help her train and work out. The Ivanov manor had pretty much anything she could have needed save for a coach but… it was better than nothing. And it was sure as hell better than some shady paid off coach Aleksi had found. Today the two of them had just finished some laps and were relaxing in the living area while they still had free time away from the others. Being around Stefan was nice, he was normal and liked a lot of the same things she did. He wasn’t focused on money or status and instead just seemed to really enjoy his job and working for the family. Plus Zofia had to admit he was cute. “Well the qualifiers are in a month. Thankfully it seems like my old coach is willing to throw me a bone and let me keep my slot so I can still compete. Otherwise it would be impossible to get in unrepresented.” Zofia sighed and took the drink from Stefan before taking a long drink. “Yeah the Olympics are being hosted in Houston. If I do make it on the team it would be a trip for sure. I would love Masha there, and you.” She paused to take another long drink, “Oh and the others of course.”

Zofia was really doubting anything would come from the qualifiers. She had gone twice already and was starting to age out. It was so much pressure and she had so many dark clouds floating about her head because of it. But just as she was ready to drown in the despair, Stefan spoke up and made her look over at him with wide eyes. “T-thank you, that’s actually really nice.” The thing about Zofia was that she really didn’t have a healthy understanding of the way relationships should work, or how to not just act on impulse. And tired, slightly tipsy Zofia was even worse. So what did she do in response to the handsome and supportive man sitting across from her? She leaned forward and kissed him without a second thought. However a moment later she jumped back and mentally scolded herself for throwing herself at the first person in this place that actually seemed to care about and understand her. The last thing she wanted to do was fuck up this friendship they had created.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Masha Ivanov

Zofia was back in the house and that was good, but Masha could feel how quickly their lives were changing. The first little bit in the house was kind of amazing, despite the judgement from the others, it was nice to learn about her biological family. But now things just felt dark, Zofia was busying herself with training and avoiding Aleksi and that left Aleksi occupying a lot of Katya's time with his moaning and groaning. That meant Masha had a lot of time to herself this last week... At first she had been spending time with Anna but soon Masha felt herself having intrusive thoughts. Anna was a very beautiful woman and so so amazing but it was like Masha's admiration of the woman turned into a crush! Masha knew that it was just because Anna seemed to be the person in the house she got along with well, Masha must have just been unhealthily attaching herself to the woman... right? It's not like Masha was gay. Not that it was wrong! Again she wasn't very religious despite her up bringing... but she had just never been that way. It wasn't her.

So instead Masha spent her free time sketching and reading in her room whenever she wasn't giving herself a self guided tour around the manor. Today she had finished reading yet another novel from the library and was about to head back to return a small stack of books to the shelves as she stopped by the kitchen and peered her head in after getting the text from Anna. "Oh, it smells good in here!" Masha gave a bright sheepish smile before fully entering the room and placing the books on a nearby counter. "Good afternoon!" She was so completely awkward and could tell she was already acting odd. "It's impressive that you've baked this, it's not easy. Do you mind?" She reached over and took a pastry before holding it to her mouth and suddenly realizing that what she said could sound insulting, "N-Not that I think you couldn't! Yo-You're an excellent cook and very talented! I just know it's not easy?" Her face went red as she stammered before giving up and shoving a bite in her mouth and chewing with a slight pout. Why was she acting like this?

"A-Anyways. Has Zofia made an appearance today? Or is Aleksi somewhere and therefore causing her to hide away with Stefan?" Masha moved onto the next subject as she hopped up onto the counter and took another bite with a small smile. "This is very good by the way."

 

[KAYDEN]

Aleksi Petrov

Aleksi did NOT understand this frustraiting woman! Aleksi had done a nice thing for her! Something he really wouldn't normally do for a girlfriend or fling but he wanted to do this for Zofia! But she claimed it was insulting? He just didn't understand, she lost her coach so she needed a new one? That was what he did! Why couldn't she just accept that and move forward? Because of everything Zofia had been avoiding him for the past week and pouring her time into training with that lawyer of Katya's and therefore Aleksi was spending a lot of time whining Katya's ear off. On one had it was nice to be able to spend this time with his old friend, he only wished it was for other reasons. But now they couldn't just hang out and have no cares... they weren't allowed to be friends anymore like when they were young. Now their families had too much bad blood and viewed each other as enemies rather than allies.

Being in the Ivanov shooting range was cathartic, it helped get rid of a lot of pent up tension and honestly over the past few days Aleksi had felt himself getting more and more over the issues with Zofia. At this point, he honestly really did still care for her a lot but... he was starting to be honest with himself about some things. Besides him Katya was firing off a few shots before finally stopping and turning to him to continue their conversation. "Indeed. I was kind of hoping they would all be like you, growing up beside you Miss Ivanov has given me unrealistic expectations I see." He winked at her before letting his smirk fall and a sigh escape his lips. "But if I'm being honest here, I think maybe I'm starting to accept that the two of us are just really different and I need to try and see more of her world. I mean, my view is so skewed by the mafia and money. It's hard to understand why she's upset but maybe I don't need to. Maybe I just accept that she is and apologize." Aleksi shocked himself with his words but shrugged it off and ran a hand through his hair, "Or just throw in the towel because she will never speak to me again anyways."

"A drink sounds amazing." Aleksi returned his gun to its holster against his ribs and replaced the grey vest that sat overtop of his dress shirt. He reached out a hand and placed it on top of Katya's head for a moment before ruffling her hair. For a short moment Aleksi actually let a genuine non-cocky smile grace his lips, "Thank you for dealing with me Kat."

 

[EclipseRosee]

MIKHAIL SUMMERS

Mikhail wasn't particularly thrilled with all of the free time that he had been giving Katya this past week, normally he would at least be hanging out around the corner or standing in the background somewhere but when she was out at the shooting range or somewhere in the manor he felt okay leaving her. The worst part of the situation was that she was at the shooting range with Aleksi, though for now Mikhail just had to deal, it wasn't his place to say anything. Honestly this whole thing with Zofia and Aleksi was just proof that Mikhail was right, that it wasn't a good idea to just let Masha bring her puppy with her into the manor but again... not his place.

So for a lot of the week Mikhail either busied himself with paperwork and phone calls or found himself hanging out with Anna and Nicholai, or sometimes just Nicholai at the nearby bar. "Nice place, and if shit really goes bad were close enough to still handle it better than any of the other idiots can." He hopped onto the barstool and gave the bartender a quick nod as she handed the two of them their normal order. Nicholai got his normal whiskey and Mikhail got a beer. Drinking was one aspect of his life that Mikhail wasn't uptight about. He took a long drink and waited for the woman behind the bar to stop batting her eyelashes at Nicholai before he opened his mouth to answer his question. "I honestly think she already has, he just hasn't accepted it. I mean, do you need to tell someone you've broken up if you haven't spoken in a week?"

Mikhail has had his share of partners over the years, one had even lasted a few months but honestly he never really understood the whole dating thing. It was probably because Mikhail never wanted to drag anyone into this life, he loved it. He was born in it. He thrived in it. But one day, any day, he could die because of it, he would die because of it. At surface level Mikhail was heartless and emotionless, a machine built for the mafia but a lot of it was because he didn't want anyone to be upset when he was gone. "They don't make sense to me anyways. They're both insufferably wild but thats about it. No offense..." He paused to think about what Nicholai said and actually let out a small chuckle, "Katya only seems relaxed, though I do understand your problem. I would assume this should all end soon, hopefully that will make things easier for you. I can remember the days of having to lie for Katya..." Truth be told he still did have to lie for her, even now that the don was gone. But he couldn't tell Nicholai that.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Katya Ivanov

When Katya was young she remembered spending quite a bit of time with Aleksi and the Petrov family. Her father actually liked them for several years, Katya would often find herself enjoying the company of Aleksi, having formed her very first crush when she was a teenager. He was the only person that seemed to know what she had to go through day to day. It was only about 13 years ago when her father forbid her from contacting them again; it came as a shock to the young girl and she quickly found herself interrogating her father. Why couldn’t she see Aleksi at least? He had never done them any wrong, he was always respectful even though he was odd. Then she let it slip that she liked him and it only made her fathers hatred for the family worse. Katya was smacked, and over time she still argued with her father. Eventually she earned herself an extended stay in a convent in Europe. Over the course of several months she found herself capable of swallowing the feelings she had for Aleksi and shift her attention towards beautiful women, though she never felt any romantic ways towards them like she did with her childhood crush. Her father wanted her an emotionless robot though, so that’s what she gave him. It’s not like she would see Aleksi again anyways.

If only she had knew how foolish those thoughts were, if only she would have known she’d be standing there with him feeling her hair mussed with and hearing her childhood nickname again. Her heart started to beat rapidly in her chest and she felt her pale cheeks heat up as soon as he smiled that sweet smile of his. “Deal with? You’re the only male company I genuinely enjoy.” Gently her hands smoothed out a wrinkle or two on his jacket with almost a sad reminiscent smile. “I wish being friends again was possible.”

After dropping her hands from his chest to her side she let out a small sigh. “But I’ll always be here to root for you, no matter what. Now, let us go get that drink.” Katya knew she could certainly use one right about now. With that said she turned to lead them up the path to the entrance to the living room. Though, when she walked through the door she didn’t expect to see Zofia practically mauling Stefan. Such a big man yet he didn’t seem to be fighting her off! And, yet despite a near comical moment between the new comer of the home and the lawyer, she felt her heart break for Aleksi. This was the final nail in the coffin, and there went the last reason he had to come over anymore. “I-I’ll text Mikhail to bring Nicholai back as soon as possible.” There was no way he’d ever want to stay or come over again, not after this. So with a quick text to Mikhail requesting his and Nicholai’s presence she went over to the bar to make Aleksi a drink while he waited. If he even wanted to wait around here for his guard.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Annabella Valentina

The air in the house seemed to shift after the night Zofia and Aleksi had their falling out. Of course Masha was always awkward around Anna, though she wasn't sure why. Aleksi quit hanging around and Katya seemed to get a bit more up tight than usual, but she seemed to take Masha under her wing more. Which was kind of nice! Annabella got to follow around the girls and Mikhail again, she got to learn more about how the mafia was ran. Honestly, the more Annabella learned about the Ivanov's she believed they had nothing to do with her fathers death. At least, if they did Katya had no real knowledge of it. Most of her dealings were within Russia, it seemed other people oversaw the dealings in other countries. Maybe it was time for Anna to move on from this? The thought made her sad, she enjoyed spending her days with everyone in the family.

Today the girls and Mikhail had taken a trip to a premier spa that was reserved usually for celebrities only, luckily for them celebrities weren't the only ones with influence and money. The salon was larger than Annabella had ever seen! There were hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, a salon, nail salon, booze, and something she never thought she'd like was the mud baths. The girls insisted that Mikhail and Annabella take a chance to relax with them, and Anna was not turning down a free chance at a spa day. They were in the middle of getting their hair done and listening to relaxing music when she heard someone's phone buzzing, assuming it was Katya's. "Miss Katya wasn't this the day of relaxing? We were supposed to put our phones away."

Anna peeked past the cucumbers on her eyes with a small smirk before glancing over at Masha. She did hope the sweet girl was relaxing for once, she of all people deserved it. "Miss Masha how have you been enjoying the spa?" Quickly she took a small drink of her mimosa before putting the cucumber back on her eye, her feet resting in the bubbling foot massager.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Masha Ivanov

Everything felt so strange after the night that Katya and Aleksi caught Zofia with Stefan. Masha had heard all about it from Zofia later that night as she cried into the pillow about how terrible of a person she was. Masha didn’t think she was… terrible… she thought she had terrible interpersonal skills and even worse judgement sometimes but she really was a good person. She just had issues with commitment. At least Zofia knew what was wrong with her! Masha didn’t know why she was being so weird all of a sudden! Why she had all these… THOUGHTS. Thoughts that she didn’t even want to talk about, thoughts that she wanted to repress and push way wayyyy down.

So for now Masha did exactly that, she chose to push aside her own awkward brain in order to attempt to enjoy this spa day that Katya had organized for the five of them. Masha was slightly shocked that Mikhail had joined them, though he didn’t seem particularly thrilled to do so, but it was nice to see him try to let loose? At this point they were getting their hair done while being doted upon more than Masha had ever wanted in her life. It was all so nice but so much all at once. “I-I’m having a great time!” Masha giggled a bit as she took a small drink of the mimosa in her hand, leaning forward and causing the cucumber slice to fall off her eye and the poor esthetician replaced it yet again. “I think it was nice for us all to get away from the house and away from anything dramatic.”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Zofia Smith

Why was she like this? Was it truly just the way she was wired or was that was she told herself to make herself feel okay about the things she did? This wasn’t the first time she cheated on a partner, that was why Zofia avoided labels. Giving people labels made them feel like something was serious… permanent. Zofia didn’t like that word, it was almost always a lie. So instead she liked to just avoid it completely… but Aleksi and her were so alike. Maybe too alike, at least personality wise. They both liked to be wild and have fun, but when it came to what really mattered they were so different morally. The first sign of discord made her freak out and start the process of running away. And then there was Stefan… a guy who was genuinely sweet to her and enjoyed the same things that truly mattered to her. He understood the hard work that came with her dreams and he supported her as a friend. So what did she do? FUCK IT UP AS WELL. That night she has slept in Mashas room like old times and cried into her friends sheets about how terrible she was. Not only was the situation she made terrible for Aleksi and Stefan, it put the rest of their weird little group in an awkward position as well.

Thankfully the next day Katya planned a day of relaxation, which was shocking because honestly at this point Katya should send Zofia back to the fucking orphanage. For most of the day Zofia participated in silence, not really sure what to say but deciding to try and keep a smile on her face and not ruin anyone’s time here.

At one point they were all getting their hair done while leaned back with their feet in baths and Zofia found an opportunity to speak to Katya while Annabella asked Masha how she was doing. “Katya, I just really wanted to thank you for everything. And say I’m so sorry that I’m a mess and keep causing issues… I just came here to be here for Mash, I know how nervous she can be but I seem to be hindering more than helping. I promise I really don’t do this shit on purpose… I’ve just always been problematic I suppose.” Zofia let out a long sigh and stretched out her body a little in the chair before continuing, “But really, I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me but I really appreciate you trying to get to know Masha. I know I seemed more excited about the fun mafia part of this insanity but I really do just want her to be happy, she’s done so much for me since we were kids. She deserves it.”