Sergei's Return. [Open to anyone who wants to greet him.]

[gurlukovich.livejournal.com]

It had been far too long since Sergei had seen Grozynj Grad. Not many people would say that sort of thing - no, most people were eager to get out of there, not to go back - but it was closer to a home to him than where he'd just been.

When news had come that his mother was sick, he still hadn't hesitated to jump on a plane for home. The fact that he never spoke about his family was sign enough that they didn't get along very well, but blood was still thick. He wasn't about to ignore his mother's illness. If it had ended up being bad enough that she'd died from it and he hadn't gone to see her one last time, what then?

Unfortunately, the reunion had been far from pleasant, but he had been expecting that. As it was, it seemed that his mother would recover. At this point, however, he didn't want to think on it any longer. There was probably only one person that would ask him more than a few questions about it. Luckily, the major was the one person he was willing to talk to about it.

As he exited the helicopter, the artificial gusts caused by the propeller blew dust into his eyes. He turned his head and coughed. It hadn't helped that the flight into the base had left him a little queasy. Usually it wouldn't be problem, but the fact that he'd gone straight from an airplane into a helicopter meant there hadn't been much time for his stomach to settle.

Now that he was back home, however, he got the feeling he'd be just fine. Pulling out his unit's trademark red cap and placing it firmly on his head, he scanned around for anyone familiar. Had anyone caught wind of his return and decided to come give him a warm welcome, maybe? He'd been gone for a while, so it was possible some of the others had been missing him. Then again, he could be hoping for too much. But if no one showed up, he could easily get back to his room to unpack on his own.

Comments

[capt-kasya.livejournal.com]

Kassian had come with the others, though he'd hung back a bit while Gurlukovich's comrades had crowded around him, catching up. It had been about two weeks since Kassian joined the squad, and he'd found his place in it. But Gurlukovich had been absent for most of that, and unlike the others, Kassian hadn't gotten to know him.

Kassian remembered liking him all right, though. Quiet, and unlike Charushkin, seemingly not predisposed to dislike him from the start.

He waited until the others had backed off enough to give Gurlukovich a moment to breathe, then offered him a nod.

[gurlukovich.livejournal.com]

Well, that was a surprise. Considering Kassian and he barely knew each other, he hadn't been expecting the older man to come and offer a "welcome home." Then again, if he was truly an Ocelot now, he must have learned that they were a family - and they supported each other, no matter what.

Besides, there was no reason they couldn't get to know each other now. Sergei hardly had the time to carry on a conversation with him right this second, but he was still certain to show his gratitude by nodding back and offering a warm smile he only reserved for his brothers.

"They've been good to you, right?" he asked, wondering if even that was too open of a thing to ask. The sniper came off as so guarded that Sergei was always questioning what he said to him. Was it too friendly? He didn't want to accidentally offend the man just because he was trying to be nice.

Then again, he had never had many social problems in the past. People tended to like him from the start, which hopefully meant he properly expressed himself.

[capt-kasya.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Kassian said, briefly.

An understatement, but he managed not to glance in Isaev's direction or look embarrassed when he said it.

The truth was, even not counting Isaev's...hospitality...the rest of the squad had turned out all right. Maybe Kassian had needed to give a little too, but now instead of hostile stares or hardly-accidental collisions in the hallways he'd gotten used to in other squads, the Ocelots gave him nods and talked and joked with him just like one of their brothers.

He supposed he was, now.

"Hope things went well," he said, by way of parting.

He'd only heard vaguely there's been some emergency with Gurlukovich's family. Kassian knew Isaev would probably tell him the whole story later, so there was no need to ask for it now.

Kassian offered Gurlukovich another nod but then faded back to let the young Ocelot continue to socialize with the others.

[gurlukovich.livejournal.com]

Sergei got the feeling that Kassian really meant that, and the way the unit had changed in their demeanor toward him - hardly noticing he was there because he was truly one of them now opposed to the way they had watched him with hooded glares before - seemed to reinforce that.

It was good. The last thing they needed was infighting. For this unit, though, they had always had too much of the opposite. From what he could tell, there was almost too much love being spread around.

That was all right, though. They were already fighting their enemies, so they had better love their friends.

"Well enough," he replied, and left it at that. He very much appreciated that no more questions were asked, since it wasn't something he wanted to tell the whole group about, as much as he trusted them. It would just take too long to explain and he had always been secretive about it, anyway. Luckily, Kassian seemed the sort of person who could acknowledge another's need for personal space and knew what would be pushing too hard.

He had wasted enough time, though. With one last scan of the unit, he shot them all a grin. "I appreciate the welcoming committee, but now I've got to go see the major." He bent down to grab the duffel bag Matvei had left for him to carry, and with a wave and a smile, started toward the North Wing.