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Drago felt like everything started quietly down when Mikey started talking about his won problems. He could understand the pain of your mother leaving. It was a hole that wouldn't really be whole. But it could be healed. He fidgeted with his fingers for a while. He wasn't sure what he could say that could make Mikey feel better. Mikey looked at him with a bit of stubbornness, one that he recognized very well. It was the look of one who was tired of wishing that things were different. The look of one who realized that no matter whet happened, they couldn't change the past. Drago felt proud of Mikey, and he felt like they were closer because of it.

Mikey raised his mug in toast and Drago repeated the motion. Mikey said that maybe this was one of those moments. Two idiots sipping Butterbeer and discussing things that most people wouldn't care about. Drago smiled at the 2 idiots part. Mikey was resting his elbows on the table and Drago leaned back, letting himself get comfortable.

Mikey gained at him suddenly and asked how he would be able to curse in Russian without people knowing he cursed. The black haired, slightly taller boy couldn't help but smile, throw his head back and laugh. He let out a big belly laugh that echoed in the tavern. Some adults looked their way, their faces curling into smiles as they perceived the scene before them. 2 boys drinking Butterbeer and joking around like old friends.

"Alright. I'll teach you how to swear in Russian. Just promise me that you won't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you. After all, how are you supposed to swear in secret if people know what you're saying?" Drago joked. He felt lighter than he had ever felt before. He taught Mikey how to say "shit" which was "gavno," "asshat," which was "pridurok," "Blin," "zhopa," and more. They laughed together at the more ridiculous meaning in English.

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Reducio

Black silk shirt, black jeans-pants, and black shoes.

The laughter from Drago took Mikey by surprise. It wasn't an anxious snort or a crippled smile, but a belly laugh cut through the noise of sound in the tavern. Mikey found himself smiling, his own shoulders falling as if tension between the two of them had escaped out the back door.

"Gavno," Mikey spoke slowly, with the unfamiliar word tumbling about in his mouth. He attempted to maintain a serious face, but burst out laughing despite that. "That's the sound of. a toad sneezing. No one would ever assume." He decided to write the word on the edge of one of his loose sheets of paper so he wouldn’t forget. When Drago tossed him pridurok next, Mikey mouthed it silently, then leaned across the table in mock seriousness. “All right. If some upper classmen shoves me in the corridor, I’m absolutely using that one.” His grin widened at the thought.

They chatted on like that for a bit, Mikey being a student of bad words in new languages. He struggled a bit not so much with the words, it was the unfettered rhythm of it. It didn't sound like two strangers fumbling towards conversation. He raised his butterbeer, this time toward Drago. "To Butterbeer and kvass, to absurd curses, and to not being idiots in solitude."

Before Drago had a chance to say anything there was movement from the other side of the room that distracted Mikey. His father was standing now, hand resting on the back of the chair, the other outstretched. Outstretched in a soft but. Unmistakable wave toward the door. The kind of wave that signaled, time's up, kid.

Mikey exhaled softly, setting down his mug and sliding the last of his notes back into his pack. “Guess its time” he said with a grin. “My dad’s got the ‘we’re leaving before the crowd gets too wild’ look. You’ll meet him eventually, he’s the kind of guy who gives out awkward hugs but means well.”

He stood, giving Drago a quick nod and an almost conspiratorial grin. “We’ll do this again. Next time, you’re bringing kvass. And I’m definitely cursing someone out in Russian before term ends.” With that, Mikey slung his bag over his shoulder, offered one last wave, and headed toward his dad, the warm buzz of Butterbeer and laughter still burning in his chest.