Chapter Text
Strangely, winter never seemed to bother Toris. The snow and the cold winds were things that he had simply grown so used to over the years to the point that they had grown to be a part of him. Shoveling driveways and sidewalks for his community must have been tiresome, but he never complained. He did it completely voluntarily; he was just that kind of guy. Sometimes, this charming way was refreshing to the life that Natalia always knew, with family coming second to everyone's individual importance. However, her paranoid conscience would never release those roots she had been grown by, causing her to often hold Toris as a threat. Toris, the man who would practically break his back to ensure that a falling block of snow from an overhead roof wouldn't fall onto his beloved Natalia's head. It was almost too polite, like he had some sort of motive against her. Yet this strange politeness and too patient tolerance was admittedly what made him stick in Natalia's mind, and she hated every minute of it.
Of course, she didn't, and she hated that too. Kicking at a bit of snow on the ground with a silver-toed boot, she wondered why she was even walking to his stupid restaurant anyway. Why did she even accept his invitation? She had never shown prior interest in him, despite the fact that the man had apparently had an infatuation with her ever since they were children. Then again, that was only according to her sister and that weird blonde kid who hung around Toris and always smelt like flowers. Still, she had made her interest in that group very clear - there wasn't one, and there never had been. That is, until she found herself attending Vilnius University where the man just happened to have gotten a scholarship to as well. The wind whipped at her face, causing her to pull her jacket tighter. How could anyone ever love a season as sickening as winter?
Soon enough, the familiar worn-out door stood before her. Natalia took a deep breath of cold air before pushing the door open, sounding the little ring of the bell. As soon as she stepped in, she was welcomed by a gust of fire tinted air that warmed her wind-bitten cheeks. Toris was nowhere in sight, but the scrambling of pans could be heard from the kitchen located behind a door in the upper right corner of the room. A loud crash sounded, followed by some muttered Lithuanian curses. If Natalia hadn't been trying to be cross, she might have found the man’s frustration amusing.
"Ah, Miss Natalia!" Toris appeared around the corner, beaming at his guest. He attempted to take her coat, but Natalia had made sure to shrug it off and hang it on a nearby rack before he could offer.
"Hi," Natalia said, making sure to keep up with the annoyed tone she tended to use with the man. Despite her best attempts, the young man seemed unfazed, as per usual, and simply grinned.
"It's a pleasure to have you, really, we haven't talked in so long and I was so sure you'd reject my invitation but you didn't so that's fantastic and I really hope this is okay are you warm enough?" Toris blurted, moving quickly around the small eatery like the excited child he was.
"Yeah, it's fine, I’m fine." Natalia's reply was absent. It was overwhelming how familiar everything in the shop was, as it suddenly occurred to her how much time she had spent in this shop as a girl. She ran her fingers over a quilt decoration on the wall, tracing its patterns. A vague memory reminded her that Toris’s mother had sewn this, and she used to secretly admired her work as a child. Glancing toward the lower part of the quilt, she gave a small smirk. She had grown taller.
Natalia's focus had drifted, but Toris' remained locked on her. "Do you remember coming here when we were young?" He tried his hand at sounding confident, but his voice came out a bit too shyly for his liking.
"Yeah, I guess," Natalia dismissed, remembering that she was to appear cross. "This small thing is yours now?"
"Mhm," Toris hummed, grabbing two mugs from behind the counter that crowded into the corner of the room. "Coffee?"
"Sure." Natalia turned, picking a table to sit down at. Of course, her table of choice had to be far from where Toris stood, but he somehow successfully made his way across the room carrying two hot coffee mugs, a handful of sugar packets, and a container of cream; all of this balanced up to his forearms and he set it down on the tiny table in a swift set of motions. It was as though the man was born with a waiter's apron.
"So what brings you back to Vilnius?" he asked with a grin.
"The schools near us aren't good enough, my parents want me to grow to be rich apparently." She took a sip of her coffee, scrunching her nose upon realizing that it was much too hot to drink yet. Toris gave a light chuckle at her expression. "Don't laugh!"
Toris held up his hands defensively, "I'm sorry, the coffee is hot."
"I know, and it'll hurt too if I dump it on your shirt."
"Ahh, I didn't mean it like that!"
"Hm," Natalia leaned back in her chair, setting down the cursed coffee mug. "What are you majoring in anyhow?"
"Mechanical engineering," Toris dumped a sugar packet into his own drink, "Similar idea with the parents. They want me to sell this place to get a nice home and then go on to become an engineer."
"Do you want to?"
Toris shrugged, "I like taking stuff apart, but I suppose I'm not so good at putting it back together again."
"I can relate," Natalia replied. It was odd; talking to Toris seemed somehow simpler than it used to be. He seemed different, polite. Too polite.
"Toris."
"Yes?"
"Why did you invite me here anyhow?"
"Well we're attending the same college now and I thought --"
"You thought you could try to score what you couldn't gain in our earlier years?"
Toris fumbled. "What? No, no --"
"Then what?" Natalia snapped. Her eyes fixed on him in a way that would strike fear into any man, even the strong and confident. And Toris seemed neither strong nor confident.
Toris gulped, growing a bit unsteady. However, this sort of defensive behavior was unsurprising to him. He gave a weak smile and managed to keep his voice calm. "If you must know, I missed you. Ever since you returned to Belarus, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." His eyes met the table, tracing old cracks and patterns carved into the wood.
"Why?" Natalia continued to press, "Why would you be interested in a girl so bitter?"
"I don't think you're bitter."
"That girl who almost broke your fingers because you accidentally pulled on her dress's ribbon?"
Toris gave a soft laugh, his voice still calm. "I remember that."
Natalia on the other hand was on the brink of losing it. "What about that time I pushed you into a snow drift so I could steal chocolate from you?"
"You were a child, children do that."
Natalia sighed, her elbows on the table and her forehead rested between her fingers. "Why did you forgive me for all of that, you damned fool?"
Toris paused, searching for the right words. He drummed his fingers on the table, his eyes shifting focus. Natalia looked up, her own stare fixed, expecting. In truth, they were anticipating the worst.
“Perhaps I wanted to show you that I cared about you.”
“That’s a load of crap.”
Toris wrapped his hands around his cup to keep them from shaking. “It isn’t. Why do you doubt yourself?”
Natalia sighed, gritting her teeth. Why did she doubt herself? She knew she shouldn’t have accepted his invitation to come to this old place after classes for coffee, yet she went anyway. Foolish girl, as she always had been. “I don’t know, Toris. I guess I’m just sick of being cast aside as the odd and scary one that no one wants to associate themselves with. And the way you do that whole – “ she made a winding gesture with her hands “—polite thing. It’s odd I guess. I don’t know what I have to offer you.” Realizing that her eyes had been fixed on the table, she dared to sneak a glance at Toris, who was giving her a soft smile. She gave a pointed glare in return. “I don’t open up like this often, so don’t get used to that.”
“I know,” Toris replied, smiling maybe a little too much. “But you can come to me. I’m odd too.”
A part of Natalia wanted to retort, to say that he should just give up and try some other girl and that this – whatever “this” was anymore – would go absolutely nowhere. But another part of her realized that the only reason “this” wasn’t going anywhere, was because she was blocking it from occurring.
Seeing her pause, Toris continued. “But you don’t have to come to me unless you absolutely want to I mean…” His hand met the back of his neck without cue, rubbing nervously. “Only if you want to, you know, I’m here, if you want.”
A little half smile found its way to Natalia’s lips, and she rose from her seat, mumbling. “Thank you for the coffee.”
Toris clumsily stood up. “Oh you’re leaving?” his voice cracked a bit in worry that he had somehow offended her.
“The weather’s getting a bit bad.” Natalia grabbed her coat from the rack, glancing out the window at the snow that was now falling in bunches and collecting at the pavement.
“May I walk you home?” Toris blurted, stiffening a bit in fear that she’d blatantly reject the offer.
Natalia nodded and, for the first time in what seemed like ages, gave a genuine smile. Before she could stop herself, she found the words escaping her lips a little too quickly.
“Yeah, that sounds nice.”