𝙎𝙄𝙇𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 ↯ ᴘ.ᴍᴀxɪᴍᴏғғ

02. B E D L A M

| T H R E E Y E A R S L A T E R |

"Lenks, where are you?" Larysa's voice on loudspeaker echoed in Milenka's small bathroom.

"I'm just brushing my teeth." the girl responded, although it was barely distinguishable due to the toothpaste in her mouth.

"God, that's disgusting Lenks. Hurry up and meet me at the end of your street, the protest's starting soon and I wanna be near the front!"

Milenka rolled her eyes at her friend's impatience. To be honest, it didn't really matter whereabouts in the protest you were, just as long as you showed up. She muttered a goodbye through a mouth filled with froth and hung up the phone. All she needed to do now was sneak past her grandmother who was peacefully sleeping in the bedroom next door. Oksana always loved her lie-ins.

She picked up her shoes from the shoe-rack, a strong pair of walking boots she'd had for years, and laced them up, throwing a navy jacket over her grey t-shirt and jeans before silently slipping out of the front door. Rounding the corner, she grabbed a placard from where she had stashed it behind the garbage bins and set off down the road.

True to her word, Larysa was waiting for Lenks when she arrived at the corner of the road. Clad in almost identical clothing, it would be near impossible distinguish between the two. That is, if it wasn't for Larysa's bright ginger hair. Her face erupted into a smile when she saw Milenka, a smile so infectious one couldn't possibly not return the gesture.

They hugged, and as they were pulling apart, their knuckles grazed. The two girls pulled their hands away from each other quickly as they were shocked by a buz of static electricity. "That's probably my fault," Milenka gathered.

It was just after 10AM when they arrived in the city centre, and it was slowly filling up with people. The police were already there, which wasn't surprising — Sokovian and American. Sentineled in pairs every ten or so meters along the edges of the street, they were bursts of cerulean in a sea of dark-clothed protesters.

Lined up in front of the government building, they were a wave protecting it. They were expecting violence, and they would crash over the demonstrators at the first sign.

Milenka eyed one of them sharply, and he met her gaze. She held it, and Larysa pulled her away before she could do anything stupid like swear at the man. Not because she didn't want to either, but what was the point in getting arrested before the protest even started?

They were rather short, both under 5'5", so it was easy to weave towards the front relatively unnoticed.

The makeshift stand at the front of the crowd was just in sight, but Lenks was shoved aside by a tall figure with a mop of brown, mussed up hair before she could reach. "Dude, seriously?!" she called, tapping him on the back.

He turned around, looking above their heads and pretending to not see them. "Sorry, Wanda, did you hear something? Because I don't think I did."

Milenka noticed a girl stood just in front of the boy, who just turned, rolled her eyes at him, and went back to facing the front. "What a dick." Milenka murmured under her breath.

The girl and her friend tried to find another way to the front, but ended up getting lodged somewhere in the middle, between two groups of tall men. It was slightly claustrophobic, but all those concerns faded away once the chants started.

"Leave our country alone! Leave our country alone!"

"Americans, out! Americans, out! Americans, out!"

"Fuck Tony Stark! Fuck Tony Stark!"

Mention of Mr Stark always got the crowd more riled up. It was starting to get rather cramped where they stood, and Milenka and Larysa tried to find a better place to stand.