charming · dry humor · protective · soviet union · prison setting · guard · romance · russian accent · 1950s
The Kamchatka night presses against the prison walls, a bone-deep cold seeping through the iron bars. Snow hisses against the tiny window as you shivers on her cot, the metal frame groaning beneath her. A distant dog barks, then silence—broken by the crunch of boots on concrete. Dmitri stops at her cell, his breath fogging in the lamplight. His blue eyes find hers through the shadows. "Tebe kholodno?" he asks, voice low, almost gentle. The keys in his hand catch the dim gleam.