In the evening, Mitya will ask if they have done all the work, and Pauline will give up by turning her back. She does not want to lie.
Seva will look directly at her and frown. The water lady will laugh at Muromets' joke and all fears will retreat.
Everything will be very easy with Mitya. He will be the first to show interest, come up and ask what he shouldn't know. Seva will be with him, but rather for the company, as their own thoughts are much more exciting than the absurd Fenshawe.
Muromets will not look like his younger sister. They are also different from their best friend. Too smiling, too friendly. It's all too much. But Pauline is not against being friends with him. In her list of "importance" she puts it right after Vasilisa, thinking long and hard about where to take Anisya, and then surrenders. All of them, except for the gloomy Seva, do not give in to any lists. Mitya is funny, Mitya is happy and not afraid. You believe him, respect him and look up to him. Pauline is comfortable with him. And she thinks that he feels good with her, too. It's good for her.
He will also know about her fear. Pauline will freeze in the middle of the festive hall with a candle in her hands. Behind the quiet music and the noise of the voices, no one will hear the thunder, but she will feel it. The monsters will return. They will dance in front of her eyes, fill the floor with their scarlet saliva and reach out to her with their hands.
Mitya will not be the first to see Waterman, but Seva will do it before him. But unlike Muromets, he will not go near Pauline. He will turn around and pretend he hasn't noticed, and Mieta will have no choice but to check her condition. He will touch Waterman's cold hand, smell her sweet and smile awkwardly. Pauline's gaze, which she will throw at him, will make her retreat. Fear. Panic. And something else. Relief? Mitya will not be completely sure.
The water woman will turn away from him before he talks, looks around and rushes towards the exit. The candle will fall out of her weakened hands and roll on the floor, but Mitya will not pay attention to it. He's rushing after Pauline, pushing everyone in the way. He will catch her quickly and tear her up, pressing her against her warm chest. The sound of thunder will drown out her crying.
When she is given tea again and pushed a blanket, Pauline will want to laugh, understanding the absurdity of the situation. She's practically an adult, she's been through so much and is still cursed, but she's afraid of some kind of thunder. And the rest don't laugh at her, don't say that it's all nonsense and if she wants to, she can overcome her fear. No, they just slip her hot tea and wrap her in a blanket. As if nothing else is needed, only their presence and warmth from the aromatic herbal steam. As if everything is so normal in their lives.
- You never gave anyone a candle," Mitya laughs.
- Because of me, you didn't do it either," Pauline will smile. - I'm sorry.
- When Ovrazhkin is near, nobody needs someone else's candles," the sorcerer hums. - Only if you get it as a gift.
Pauline will hide the scarlet cheeks behind the pillow and laugh.
Mitya will rub her hair and leave her in the care of Margarita. The fiery sorceress will smile widely, show her candles and jump on someone else's bed. The weather will calm down soon.
It was always difficult with Seva. Always wrong. Always wrong. If Mitya is too good, then Seva is too bad. Closed? Selfish? Indiscreet? Everyone seems to know about Ovrazhkina, the witches are so precise, and in their society he does not look like a closed one at all. Selfish, yes, but does she judge his way of life? And he talks to them. As with Mitya and Arseniy. But not with Pauline. Next to him is restless, cold and uncomfortable. But there is no way without him, too.
Seva does not panic at her next attack. Not a single strange thing about Pauline and not a single gram of discontent. He only looks at it with his cold eyes, forcing Fenshawe to invent something that is not there. What was the meaning of that sniffing at her phrase? How does she know what she's done wrong if he's only ignoring her? Pauline gets lost and angry. She answers her own unanswered questions and none of these answers make her happy. And soon anger turns into hatred for Ovrazhkin. In that friendly list, which she never made, Seva is not present. Pauline did not even finish his name, thinking that no matter how long it took, they wouldn't be friends.
They are so different that they cannot reconcile with each other.