Work Text:
It was another usual and quiet winter morning; maybe because it was Saturday, maybe because all that snow that fell last night made everyone stay in their beds longer. But not for Anatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov: today was like any other working day. Except he couldn’t have breakfast at home or else he won’t arrive at the NPP on time.
So he got out of bed, washed his face up, got dressed, and silently left his apartment onto the dark and cold streets of Pripyat, snow piling up everywhere. No one was up yet, which meant that today’s walk was going to be a nice one, only caring not to slip on the icy road.
***
Shortly enough, he was right in front of the NPP main entrance, already regretting having to come to work on an empty stomach. But that thought could be put away as he can get some coffee once he has changed into his uniform. Nicotine wasn’t going to be enough.
Dosimeter badge in hand, he headed towards the dressing room, wishing nothing more to head either towards his office or to the cafeteria. Fortunately, no one was there by the time he arrived, but it was expected to find someone nearby, given as the night shift was still in the control rooms ahead.
Once done, almost as soon as he stepped out and onto his way to the reactors, Dyatlov almost bumped into the yawning mess that was his fellow chief engineer, Anatoly Andreyevich Sitnikov.
“Hey, watch out,” he said, but once he took a step back and saw him closely, he asked. “Rough night?”
“Heh, I guess you could say that, but I still need to keep awake for a while.”
“Come, let’s get some coffee. I’ll need it too before getting to the control rooms,” Dyatlov sighed tiredly, making his friend chuckle, as they made their way onto the nearest office.
“You’re so hard on them. Take it easy today, Tolya.”
“Can’t, or else they won’t be as efficient as they should be,” Dyatlov said as he opened the door for him. “You should know that by now.”
“Still, I care about you, old man,” Sitnikov smiled as he went inside the closest office they shared.
“Shut it and give me a cup already, would you?” he replied, a small smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
“Fine, fine…” Sitnikov started to say as he grabbed one and got to the coffee machine to fill it up. Once done, he turned towards his colleague. “Be careful, it better not be- AH!” he screamed, once the intense heat reached his hand, making him throw its contents forward, as well as the cup itself.
Right where Dyatlov was.
It seemed as if time slowed down. As Sitnikov screamed in pain, Dyatlov turned around to find a stream of boiling hot coffee coming right at him. It hit him near his shoulder and upper chest, quickly getting to the skin underneath, burning him.
“TOLYA!”
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, SITNIKOV?!”
“I didn’t mean to! Oh God!” Sitnikov reacted, sitting him down and starting to undo and remove the top part of his uniform. “Take off your uniform, let me check!”
“H-Hey! What are you-?” Dyatlov was about to ask, but his friend was now close to the door, yelling one more thing before getting out of there.
“Take it off completely, I’ll take care of it!”
Dumbfounded, Dyatlov carefully touched his skin, inspecting the damage caused by the hot coffee. It was bright red and it hurt to the touch, but it didn’t seem bad. Once again, he was lucky.
It wasn’t long until Sitnikov came back, with a new uniform on one hand, and a damp towel on another. He sat down next to him, leaving the clean clothes nearby.
“Let me see,” Sitnikov took a look at him, lightly touching his skin. “Thank goodness, it’s only superficial. Here, this should help,” he added, placing the towel over the burn, making his hiss.
“Listen, you shouldn’t-” Dyatlov started to say, but was interrupted.
“Shut up. This is my fault, so let me take care of you,” he stated, more annoyed at himself than at his friend. As he focused on his upper body, he took a small cream from his pocket and started to lightly rub it over the burn.
“So… How do I look?” Dyatlov asked after a while, looking up to him, almost innocently. He knew how mad he was at this little accident, so he wasn’t going to make it worse, instead opting to act carefully.
“Well… For an old man, you look great,” Sitnikov smiled at him before continuing to treat him.
“You know what I mean, you moron…” he elbows him, before addressing him. “But thanks, Tolya.”
“You’re right though… If I were to be more careful…”
“Enough of that. It could have happened to me, okay?”
“If you say so. I’m still waiting to hear about what you want as compensation for this accident.”
“Com… pensation?” Dyatlov stared at him. Was he being serious now?
“Of course! Just tell me and you will-” But Sitnikov was promptly interrupted by a quick and impulsive kiss on his cheek. “… have it.”
“There. No more speaking about any of this.” Dyatlov quickly stood up and got dressed as fast as possible, looking as if nothing had happened a few seconds ago. Already near the door, he looked over his shoulder. “It’s getting late and I have to be early, Tolenka. You coming or what?”
“S-Sure!” Sitnikov replied stuttering, following him to the door. “Let’s go.”
And so, they both left that room, leaving the stained uniform and the empty cups behind. There were more important things to deal with from now on between them.