A Meeting After Hours [Russia]

[Aoife O'Neil]

Aoife O’Neil awoke to the sound of her alarm bleeping loudly in her ear. The redheaded woman let out a groan as she rolled onto her stomach and, after forcing her heavy eyes open, stared at the clock by her bed. It was late, just turned midnight. In other words, time for work and another late night.

Grumbling under her breath, the Irishwoman dragged herself out of the warm cocoon of her bed sheets and shuddered as her feet came into contact with the cold floor beneath. She really did not want to get up tonight, even if this was her real job. Aoife’s mind was buzzing with worry as she grabbed her skirt suit and began to get changed into it, worrying about how tired she’d be for the test tomorrow...

Aoife paused, her arm half covered by the sleeve of her suit jacket. “This is only undercover work,” she told herself quietly whilst shifting into the piece of clothing and doing up the few buttons down the middle. “I shouldn’t get so worked up about University when I’m technically not even a student.” The woman knitted her eyebrows together after casting a quick glance in the mirror propped up against a far wall. She knew her line of work was a lot more... exciting than being a university student. And recently it seemed she’d had to be called to get rid of a few “problems” the government were having.

Quietly tip-toeing over to her door, the Irishwoman slipped out of her dorm room and out into the pitch black corridor of the building. She blinked her green eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness whilst scanning the area for the way out. With a snap of her fingers, a tiny flame appeared hovering above Aoife’s hand, casting a faint glow the dimly illuminated the darkness. Creeping down the hall, as stealthily as she could, the woman approached the stairs leading to the exit and slipped down them, eventually reaching the door that would let her out. Holding the flame out to illuminate the door, she leaned forward to push at the door... only to discover it wouldn’t open.

Cursing under her breath, Aoife’s face twisted into a frown. She couldn’t exactly burn the door down; that would just set off the fire alarm. And she couldn’t have anyone see her.

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan had already woken up in his dorm room, from what could hardly have been classified as a restful sleep. A majority of the night was spent lying on his back and staring idly through the dark room and up at the ceiling, a slowly dwindling bottle of vodka settled at his side, himself unaware of any rules that may or may not have been executed toward alcohol on campus. It wouldn't much matter to him anyhow. Amethyst eyes occasionally strayed over toward the clock, checking on the time.

He sat up and swung his legs out of bed by the time it hit a few minutes after midnight, his mind set primarily on the task he was set out for this morning. Boots were pulled on and his heavy tan coat was worn over a black vest, just a slight change in usual outfit.

After one last swig of his drink, regardless of whatever time it happened to be, he strode quietly out of the room and shut the door behind him, beginning to meander his way through the halls and corridors until he was able to find any exit. He made sure to be careful in the dark all while keeping a small habitual smile on his face, even though there was no one around to see it - glances around in search of any signs of life making sure that that remained true. But being "caught" was likely not a worry of his anyway.

Once he began approaching the door he presumed would be a way out, he paused a distance away at seeing the faintest glow of light ahead. Head tilted gently to the side as he focused what appeared to be a small flame, wondering if it was perhaps someone carrying a lighter or something of the sort. Curiosity lead him closer, giving off a small "Hm?" when he came to notice the flame was illuminating the pale skin of someone.

[Aoife O'Neil]

Aoife narrowed her eyes and rattled on the door forcefully, restlessness growing with each passing second. She needed to get out of her as soon as possible! Tapping her foot with frustration, the woman's expression twisted into one of deep concentration. Her emerald orbs trailed up and down the heavy door, taking in every detail. There must be some way to open it...

Growing impatient, the redhead suddenly threw herself at the door, slamming her body weight into it's wooden surface. Aoife hissed with pain as she made impact with it, her body weight landing on her shoulder. The redhead huffed with frustration and stood upright, still seeing the door hadn't budged. A sore shoulder for nothing. Brilliant.

Then, she heard a very faint noise, like somebody mumbling. Aoife's eyes widened and she froze, suddenly feeling uneasy. Was somebody else there?

Quickly spinning on her heels, the Irishwoman snapped round, holding the flame out to lighten up the shadows. Narrowing her eyes, she took a step forward as she tried to see in the very faint, dim light. That was when she spotted something, shrouded in the shadows. Curiosity taking a hold of her, she slowly walked over, before literally bumping into the thing, a figure... another person. He was huge, at least six foot tall and incredibly muscular looking. But the thing that stood out in the dark the most were his violet eyes, so bright they seemed menacing. The woman let out a gasp and staggered back, quickly snapping her fingers so the tiny flame hovering above her hand went out, plunging the area into darkness again.

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan's eyes were straining to try and see who this person was, whether or not they were a stranger, a student or a professor. Nonetheless he was remaining rooted to the spot where he stood, listening curiously to the banging against the door and the pained noise the woman made echo across the corridor walls.

He noticed that small flame was beginning to make its way closer, but it quickly became of less interest once his attention shifted onto whom was behind it and, somehow, seemed to be controlling it. The long waves of red hair and emerald green eyes confirmed that it was no one he had recognized, the unnerved feeling that was growing inside him quelling just as easily as he felt the woman change from being frustrated to surprised, and perhaps a bit afraid. He barely budged from being bumped into, just about to speak when the two were abruptly overcome by darkness once more.

Immediately reaching out in front of him, he attempted to grab the woman wherever he could to ensure that she wouldn't go anywhere and leave him there, almost blindly stepping forward after her. "You were trying to escape~?" he said as if what he had walked in on was just a normal occurrence, "I am sure there is another exit somewhere."

[Aoife O'Neil]

Aoife couldn't help but tense up in the shadows as she saw the figure stumble forwards, his hands outstretched like he was trying to grab her. Taking a sharp intake of breath, the Irishwoman slowly backed away, not shifting her eyes from the blurred silhouette that was making it's way towards her.

"Escape?" she sang out, trying to sound natural but really could hear her voice had risen by an octave. Aoife mentally cursed herself for getting scared by this man. She was a government agent! She could not be afraid of some weird university student. "Who said anything about escaping? I just... wanted some fresh air." The redhead had to cringe at her awful lying skills. She really had no clue why she was acting like this!

The woman suddenly let out a gasp as she felt herself trip over her feet. She found herself tumble over, landing on her back with a loud thump. Groaning at her clumsiness and sore body, she began to fumble around, blindly trying to pull herself up.

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan only advanced further forward when he realized she seemed to be out of reach of his hands again, though he could still manage to see her shadow in front of him. Gloved hands fell back to his sides again, exhaling a quiet laugh at the shrill tone of her response.

"I did~ But if that is what you are truly doing, then you must be very determined." He glanced momentarily up at the door she had recently brought her frustrations out on. It was almost a bit obvious she was telling a lie but he continued to go along with it, and the frightened notions coming from the woman only contributed to his amusement.

His attention was directed back downward hearing her collide with the floor, leaning down to try and pull her back up. "You are not very coordinated for someone who is dressed up like that," he said mindlessly, having caught just a quick glimpse of her suit top when she was illuminating herself.

"And you and I both appear to be trying to get to somewhere important, so we can go and find another way out, da?" Quite likely he wouldn't accept any answer other than the one he was looking for. He took a brief glance down the hallway, met promisingly with silence and darkness that would make this maneuver much easier.

[Aoife O'Neil]

Aoife found herself scowling when she heard the man laugh lowly, her brow creasing with irritation at his behaviour. Either this stranger had an odd sense of humour or he was trying to wind her up. Something which, at this rate, he would succeed in doing.

"Well, it is a good thing to be determined," she growled lowly as she glared up at the man standing over her, even if he couldn't see her. The Irishwoman felt rather uncomfortable being alone in the dark with this man, no matter how much she mentally cursed herself for acting so nervous.

Aoife didn't bother fighting back when the other leant down to help her to her feet. At least he had some manners. "I may not be well coordinated, sir, but that does not mean I am not fit to be dressed smartly." she snapped back, feeling more insulted than angry at what he had just said.

Aoife let out a heavy sigh and nodded slightly at the man's remark. Clearly he was not expecting any other answer. "Fine. I think I know another way out." After blinding searching in the darkness, Aoife finally gave into temptation and, without a word and ignoring how the stranger would react, snapped her fingers so a small flame once again appeared above her hand. She was positive the man would be either confused or interested in the fact she had just created a fire out of thin air. Most normal people would be. Then again, she couldn't tell how normal this man was.

The woman arched an eyebrow as the faint glow illuminated another way. "OK, this way," she hissed, beckoning the man to follow her. With a flick of her hair, the woman began striding off, positive the stranger would be following her.