Chapter Text
About halfway through the drive to Oklahoma I got a text from Mikael. It was a drawing he did and a long ass paragraph. I just kept focusing on the road since Pyotr was still passed out and couldn't summarize the shit for me. I was still shocked he had never seen fireworks, but I was going to fix it. Even if he didn't remember everything, I wanted him to still have experiences that were new before and now.
"... They need me... I can't... I can't waste more time... I... I just can't." Pyotr mumbled while he slept. It was weird, but Simona said it had to do with his subconscious being more aware than his conscious or something. From what I could understand, there's still the old Pyotr deep in his mind, even if it's not the one driving at the moment. His sleep talking is Pyotr with all of his memories, like a way to prove that he's still in there, even if he didn't remember.
It was driving me a little crazy, but I would tough it out. Not to mention the Johnson's let me crash at their cabin out in Oklahoma for as long as I needed to when I asked them the best place to light off some fireworks. Pyotr suddenly jolted awake, looking around and staring at me. "Good mornin. I was startin to think you'd sleep the entire drive." I said, still driving down the road.
"... You've been driving for the better part of the last 12 hours." He commented.
"Yeah. Long ass road trips like these are fun sometimes. I am runnin out of gas station coffee though, how bout we stop at a diner or somethin?" I suggested.
"Whatever you feel is necessary... I can also take over for driving while you rest." Pyotr offered.
"Nah, I don't want ya getting pulled over cause the cops recognized the car but not the driver. They'd think ya kidnapped me or somethin." I said, pulling into a rest stop diner parking lot.
"Then I must insist that we stop somewhere for you to rest."
"Why do ya think we're at the rest stop?" I said, hopping out of the truck and stretching.
"This is not sufficient and you know it. I meant a room where you can sleep for a while." Pyotr said, getting out of the car as well.
"Eh, don't really trust sleepin anywhere my family ain't been. Wouldn't be able to sleep for shit." I shrugged, walking into the thankfully nearly empty diner.
"Why did you insist on driving instead of just taking a plane then?" Pyotr asked, following me to a booth.
"Oh that's easy. Cuz I like livin life like this every once and awhile. It's refreshin to go on a long drive out here... Even if most of the landscapes are just dusty wasteland lookin places."
"Welcome in Mr. Colt. Anythin I could get you boys?" The server asked.
"Biggest black coffee you can pour, and one of the breakfast specials. Surprise me." I said.
"Black tea with toast is fine." Pyotr said calmly.
"Ya got it." She said, walking off to ring in the order.
"Ya really should eat more." I mentioned.
"I eat plenty." Pyotr said flatly.
"Alright, suit yourself." I shrugged.
"Your accent changes as we travel."
"Ah, yeah. I tend to pick up the accents around me. Here is more like how the Johnson's talk."
"I see."
Our drinks came out followed by the food shortly after. "I'll wrap the rest of this up to go." I told the server.
"Sure thing. Lemme go grab ya some boxes." She said, walking off and returning with the takeout boxes.
"Thanks doll." I said, putting the extra food in the container, paying and signing the check, before leaving with Pyotr. When we got back in the truck, I gave him the box.
"... What exactly are you planning?" Pyotr asked.
"I saw ya eyeballin my plate, and it was a helluva lot more than I could put down. Have some." I said, starting the truck up again.
"I was simply amazed with how many preservatives and the amount of grease that was on it." Pyotr said.
"Yeah yeah. We're gonna get on a jet now, so feel free to eat while I'm not lookin." I said.
"... Why the sudden change in plans?"
"Just realized how fuckin tired I am, and how annoyin it is to drive over here."
"I see. Giving up on the car trip then."
"Yup, that and I know ya get a little freaked out in public. I didn't wanna believe Rune when he warned me, but that stop convinced me."
"I can respect wanting to verify information, even if it's from a legitimate source."
"I know. Now start eatin, American airports are really fuckin strict about stupid shit."
When we got to the airport, we had to wait about 10 minutes for a jet to be ready for us. "... This place is like a plane themed mall." Pyotr mentioned, looking around.
"Oh this ain't shit compared to DIA. They gotta tram just to fuckin travel the airport. It's fuckin massive." I said.
"I take it you've gotten lost there before."
"People that have lived there their whole lives get lost in that place. It's like it's own fuckin dimension."
"I see." Pyotr said, reading a newspaper from New York.
"Hey, when did ya grab that?" I asked.
"Before we left. There was an interesting article about Mikey Colt hidden away between articles describing you traveling around with Emilio. It was amusing to see how much attention they give you compared to Mikey."
"Well that's cuz the triplets are bout as interestin as stale bread."
Pyotr cracked a small smile for a second before going back to reading. When we got settled in on the jet, I looked at the newspaper, "So, what were they sayin bout me and Emilio?" I asked.
"Just some things about the photoshoot you two did for that magazine. I imagine it's quite popular here." Pyotr said.
"Guess so... Damn it's hard to think of it as some big ass publishin place. Emilio came in and really made it into the powerhouse it is. When he started modeling on my trips here as somethin fun, he stumbled across the place. It barely had any staff, and operated out of some studio apartment."
"I take it your influence helped?"
"Yeah not really. People didn't really know Emilio too much back then. He was just some Italian guy that followed after me lookin bored outta his mind. He started makin a game where he'd pose when the paparazzi took pictures and decided that it would be fun to do that rather than sit in on meetin's he couldn't care less about."
"I see... It's hard to imagine him as a sex icon the way that he is here. I know he was originally your escort, but I also happened to hear the horror stories of Emilio Natale from before he met you."
"Yeah, trust me, now that we've gone through all this shit the past 2 years I don't need to hear it from anyone else... Say, how'd you and Rune get into business with each other? I know it's something about some debt, but ya treat him like a brother."
"That would be due to the fact that I knew him very well when we were younger, when he first came back from the Loui family. He was timid, shy, and scared of everything for some time, but he tried to hide it. I attempted to help him acclimate to society once more, and my mother secretly paid for him to learn whatever he wanted."
"So how'd ya go from that to havin him as a personal stripper?"
"That would be his choice to barge into my office after brushing past Katya and Serafim. He wanted to repay his family's debt from when they borrowed the ransom when he was younger. He also had a fascination with dancing at that point, and when I asked him what he could possibly do to repay it, he said he could dance at clubs as his mother had. He was very stubborn, and eventually we entered a temporary contract. He was only obligated to work like that for a few months, however he chose to continue to work like that, claiming he loved helping the people at my clubs feel happier. He is quite stubborn."
"Least he stuck around ya. I can't even imagine where you'd be without him at your side then. Goin off of how Katya and Serafim are, you'd prolly be wastin away in that office."
"I suppose so... It's odd though, I have memories of being fine with being the last Yakov, but it doesn't feel quite right anymore."
"Where'd that shit come from anyways? I get actin one way and feelin another, but that shit just never made sense to me."
"... In Russia I am referred to as a demon. The townsfolk become terrified when they see me, since my family has been horrible to them for generations I cannot blame them. After the second trip to the market, I decided to not trouble them with my presence anymore, and I determined that it would be best to let the family die with me. I don't plan to achieve that early, but I had no intention of finding an heir or suggesting anything like that."
"That's fuckin shitty. Ya shouldn't be gettin blamed for what the old fucks did to them."
"You can change the future, but not the past. People could forgive, but they will never forget... Especially the village my mother was from."
"I take it ya aren't all that close to any real blood related family then?"
"Hardly. My father was luckily the last of his side of the family, and my mother was taken as a prize by Vladimir. He held the ability to destroy any town or village he wanted in Russia, and as such, he could come in and pick any woman he wanted for his heir... I send Katya and Serafim with money for them, and make sure that the village is doing well, but I know going there myself would bring back the memories."
"I guess that would be completely opposite of what I have goin on."
"That is why I find your family and it's dynamics so interesting. It is unlike anything I have seen."
"Well, once ya get your memories back I'm sure you'll get sick of them fast." I said, looking out the window as we landed. "Let's get settled into that cabin." I said, getting up and off the plane.