Sitting on a bench

[Anya Braginskaya]

The look in Anya's violet eyes darkened for a moment. "I don't know about that, brother." She said, her tone a little more pessimistic than usual. She shook her head, thoughts of her other self filling her head. She didn't know how bad she'd been or what she was like when that other self was in control, but it couldn't have been good for her father to have shipped her off here.

"If we had our brother here with us, I'd have all the people I care about." She admitted. She could be loving ... but only to a select few. Their father and step mother most certainly didn't have that love. Only her brothers truly had her care and concern.

"I think ... I need to be here though." She said, and briefly wondered if Nikolai had ever encountered that dark side of her. Did he know and keep quiet as her parents and eldest brother did? Or had he never seen that demon before?

[Nikolai Arlovskaya]

Nikolai raised an eyebrow at her expression, he felt something was wrong, but he didn't knew what it was.
Probably only his imagination, right? So he simply shrugged it off.
"Yeah...If only he was here. It would be much better." He said, quietly.
It wasn't like he didn't care for his brother, he just didn't have that strong relationship he felt he had with his sister.

But what he didn't like about his elder brother was that he felt that the man was hiding something. He didn't knew about his sister's problems, to him that was only what his brother and, probably, the rest of the family were hiding.

"So, if you don't mind me asking...Why are you even here?"

[Anya Braginskaya]

Anya didn't always get along with their older brother. Sometimes, in her opinion he was a little too much like a parent and not a sibling. And other times he was a little dense, but still, she loved him just as she loved Nikolai. Flaws and all .

Sighing softly she looked up at her brother and caught his gaze for a moment. How to explain this? How could she possibly explain what seemed impossible even in her own mind? "It's not something I can speak of from experience." She prefaced. "Our brother ... and father know about it." She hesitated. Should she put this on her younger brother?

"I don't want you to worry." She said, deciding that perhaps he didn't need this burden. "Just a few issues I should sort through." She hoped that was explanation enough though she was sure it wouldn't be.

[Nikolai Arlovskaya]

He blinked, did she not trust him, or she truly didn't want him to worry?
"Oh, I see...I always thought they were hiding something, but they wouldn't tell me. They said it was bad for me to know." He rolled his eyes.
"But, if you think that I shouldn't worry, I guess I should listen to you."

He sighed, it was at moments like this that all his worries disappeared and he could actually act normal. Like the doctors used to say ''one of the rare normal episodes of a patient with Bipolar disorder's life.

"But, do you think we'll be able to get out of here, some day?"

[Anya Braginskaya]

Anya managed a real smile, relieved that Nikolai accepted her explanation and didn't press her for details. She had no idea how he'd react. "It's nothing to worry about, brother. Truly." She reassured him. She wanted to be strong for her brothers. Their step mom could hardly be called a reassuring female influence in their lives, and she wanted to be that for them.

"Some day." She conceded, and nodded her head. "I think that if we both try, and if we do what they tell us ... within reason ... maybe it's possible. We both want to go back home, da?" She asked him tipping her head to his shoulder. She liked these moments, when he was calm and she was herself and they could just act ... normal, like a normal brother and sister.

[Nikolai Arlovskaya]

He shrugged. "Probably, but that still doesn't change the fact that I hate them. But I hope you're right, I don't want to stay the rest of my life around here." Nikolai sighed, like he had said multiple times, he didn't like it here.

"Well, At least, the day we get out of here, we'll be able to live a normal life, right?"

[Anya Braginskaya]

"I'm not sure I like anyone else here either, brother. The best we can do is ignore them." Anya said coolly though that wasn't entirely true where her own reaction was concerned. She'd kept to herself so far but she was far from ignoring the others. Always she watched them, listening in when she could. It wasn't as if she could go without knowing all she could, right?

"Have we ever led a normal life?" She asked finally, turning to look at him skeptically. Nothing about their lives had been normal. Absolutely nothing. She didn't see reason for that to change now or any time in the foreseeable future.

[Nikolai Arlovskaya]

"No, I guess we haven't. Our life has always been to complicated." He sighed once more, they should probably go back inside now, or else the doctors would punish them or something.
But he didn't want to part away from his sister now.

"Mom's death still haunts my nightmares." He confessed.

[Anya Braginskaya]

The hold Anya had on her brother's arm tightened suddenly at the mention of their mother's death. Her grip continued to grow tighter as she gritted her teeth, standing stock still now. "I know the feeling." She said, her voice a little lower, her expression significantly darker. Inside she knew she needed to panic. Something felt wrong ... felt off. And yet the more she thought about the murder of their mother all she could do was feel building rage inside of her, filling her up, heating to disproportionate proportions until there was little else inside.

[Nikolai Arlovskaya]

He noticed her voice going lower and her tight grip on him,so became a little worried.
"Is everything alright, sister?" He asked, if it was about the mention of their mother's death, it was clearly his fault.
But he felt exactly like her when he thought about it, Nikolai just had learned to control it better.