[ It takes a second before the less literal interpretation of that question occurs to Vasiliy through the haze of adrenaline and his head injury; once he realizes what this man is really asking, he takes a few moments to debate whether or not he's inclined to answer truthfully. He definitely doesn't fit the model of the other town nativesβtoo crude, unbalanced, seemingly unhappyβbut that also doesn't mean that he's an ally, or even someone who wouldn't gladly give names under duress or torture in a California prison cell. ]
I live here. I am refugee from Communist Russia.
[ Saying it feels like a knife to the chest even still, no matter how many times he's already had to disavow his own country over the past two months. He feels vile, skin crawling under the knowledge that this place has turned him into the worst kind of coward: one without principles. ]
no subject
[ It takes a second before the less literal interpretation of that question occurs to Vasiliy through the haze of adrenaline and his head injury; once he realizes what this man is really asking, he takes a few moments to debate whether or not he's inclined to answer truthfully. He definitely doesn't fit the model of the other town nativesβtoo crude, unbalanced, seemingly unhappyβbut that also doesn't mean that he's an ally, or even someone who wouldn't gladly give names under duress or torture in a California prison cell. ]
I live here. I am refugee from Communist Russia.
[ Saying it feels like a knife to the chest even still, no matter how many times he's already had to disavow his own country over the past two months. He feels vile, skin crawling under the knowledge that this place has turned him into the worst kind of coward: one without principles. ]