Avos'

...𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬...

TOMMY HAS ALWAYS BEEN AWARE OF JUST HOW MUNDANE PEOPLE ARE.

He knows that most people live average, sad, content lives- not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that- but it's not a life he's ever been too excited to experience. People, for the most part, are sedentary. They settle for anything, live for nothing, and hold no higher aspirations.

He hates himself sometimes for thinking this, but most people are just so pathetically ordinary. However, this fact has never held more true than at this very moment.

Oksana is absolutely stunning, all the people here are merely vermin compared to her, and she makes them appear just as small as they truly are.

He had suspected that people would be shocked at her introduction, taken aback and off-guard, and he's pleased to see that he's right. Every single person who's approached him has asked about her, subtly and not so subtly wondering what exactly he's playing at here. In turn, he chats politely and deftly avoids bringing her up in conversation. He doesn't want to give anything away, not yet anyway, not until he can canvas every opportunity and see what would benefit him the most.

He spies one of Churchill's contacts in the corner, speaking with one of the ministers, clearly waiting to get a word with him. It can wait. While those men might be eager to have a moment with him, he's going to drag this out. Tommy will converse and make his rounds, but he will not engage tonight. He needs to keep them on a string, dangling the Russian carrot in front of them, waiting to see what they'll offer.

That's mostly what he's been doing all week. He's been dropping hints, telling Churchill that he might have some leverage to put off their strike against the Petrovnas, buying him more time to figure out a way to get the Russian jewels while making himself essential enough to avoid falling into the trap both sides believe he's unaware of. He's told Leon he had something more valuable than tanks and weapons, and that jewels would be a laughable compensation for that.

Oksana is a great piece on the board, but not as a measly pawn. While a king signals the end of the game, he can only control nine squares, always dependent on the moves of others. Oksana, however, is a queen who has full control of the board.

Tommy smiles politely and stiffly at one of his business associates, excusing himself once the man starts to talk about the newly established liquor taxes. He snags a flute of champagne off a passing tray, his eyes unwillingly and desperately latching onto Oksana and the way she glides her way through the ballroom as if she owns it.

Everyone wants to meet her and everyone wants to speak with her. They're all orbiting around her, unable to resist her magnetic pull, dying to hear whatever exotically accented words will fall from her lips.

Tommy likes control and he likes being the puppet master, but he finds that he's more than happy to watch her take the lead. He's let her go off on her own to gather her own information, charm those that he can't otherwise charm himself, and give her the opportunity to fall naturally into her place.

Fuck, there are other things to think about and more people to speak with, but all he can manage to think about is how gorgeous she looks. Back in her dressing room, she had physically taken his breath away, a rare feat. When she had cried, the tears had been so tender and sweet and it only tore a hole in her chest when he saw her gratitude. It's the closest she's come to looking like she might actually trust him, actually understand his purpose for all of this.

He wants her for a lot of things- sex, business, Charlie- but he hadn't realized that his main goal has been to give her back herself.

The awareness hit him like a horse's kick to the head when she hugged him. His reaction had been so visceral and so violent because he couldn't make sense of what he was feeling. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no words had come out.