𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 4

"Masks make us feel safer even when they become suffocating. Armour makes us feel stronger even when we grow weary from carrying the extra weight around. The irony is that when we're standing across from someone who is hidden or shielded by masks and armour, we feel frustrated and disconnected. That's the paradox here: Vulnerability is the last thing I want you to see in me, but the first thing I look for in you."

-Brené Brown

Kate stared at her unblinking reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a plain white dress that Fyodor had given her. She wondered where he got the dress from and why he had it in the first place. It was flowy and reached below her knees. She had even done her hair for the occasion. She did the best she could with what she had on hand. It had been only partially tied in the back with a black ribbon. She even braided a piece in the front. She looked strikingly like a Chopin.

Meanwhile, Fyodor sat in his room, not bothering to change his outfit. He wasn't trying to impress her, although he should have been. He didn't think about how his every little move would impact her opinion of him. He simply splashed cold water on his face to prepare for his dinner out with Kate. He looked like everything that Daisy Chopin had taught her daughters to avoid in a man. His hair was still unkempt, with greasy roots and tangled ends. His eyes would eternally be surrounded by dark bags, lids drooping slightly in tiredness. He was extremely thin and no matter how much ate or even worked out would that change. He truly was a mess.

Kate had made her way over to the main room with her small handbag in her arms. She never went anywhere without it. She kept her American ID in it as well as her passport and some money. She also kept some spare facial powder and mints inside of it. As she entered the room, she saw that Fyodor was still nowhere to be found but Ivan was.

"Excuse me, but where is mister Dostoevsky?" She asked in a very ladylike manner.

"He's still in his room getting ready." The man answered simply, uninterested in their little 'date.' In fact, Ivan was very annoyed with it.

Why was his master going out to eat with this woman who seemed very stuck up and just irked Ivan? His master was a wonderfully generous and kind man who was willing to be the villain in order to aid humanity and his followers. The woman he had just met seemed to have no drive and she seemed to not care about her cause-- the whole reason for her being there. Not only that, but she just seemed like she was a zombie, a robot-- no, a doll. All the movements she made were well practised and her words always seemed to be the correct thing to say. How could she behave that way? Ivan despised it. He didn't dislike her, he disliked the way she acted.

"Is it possible for you to let him know I had finished getting ready? I would very much appreciate that." She pleaded with her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. Ivan sighed in annoyance.

"Very well." He rolled his eyes but set off to his master's room anyways. Kate frowned at his open rudeness towards her. She knew servants hated guests occasionally but they usually don't act so negatively to that person's face. But she knew she wouldn't tattle on him or even scold his poor manners, it wasn't her place to.

When Ivan had entered his master's room, he saw his master typing away on his computer. Fyodor was a jack of all trades, good at most everything he did. But he was a God with computers, hence him being the hacker for Rats in the House of the Dead.

"Master, the girl is waiting for you." He informed the man.

"I'm sure she is." Fyodor acknowledged, never stopping his typing. Ivan didn't know how to respond to that. He simply stood there with his hands clasped together and a blank expression on his face. He was, however, pleased that his master also wasn't visibly interested in the woman.