Children of the Night, What Music They Make
 

Katherine was grateful for red-eye flights, she really was. Oh, she understood intellectually why other people complained about them, but she personally found them to be a godsend. It was like the ideal night-travel when going transcontinental, and it was a much, much better idea that the god-awful travel-in-a-box trick when she had to take a ship from Europe to America... She shook that thought away quickly.

Stretching, she stepped off the plane and into the Russian airport, and waited for her friend.

Leila groaned quietly as she got off the plane, hauling her computer bag and her backpack with her. "Oh god that took way too long..." she mumbled, trying to get feeling back into her limbs, as well as not look like a total fool stumbling around the airport. But really, she'd just been on a plane for 12 hours.

"Okay. Coffee first. Everything else later."

"You and your coffee," Katherine teased. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and gestured to a nearby coffee stand. "Heaven forbid I stand between you and your caffeine fix."

"There would be no standing between," Leila shot back with a grin. "You'd be trampled in my mad dash for sugary caffienated goodness." She got in line for the coffee place, and got her coffee surprisingly quickly. Maybe because of the odd hour.

"Okay. I feel a little better." Leila took a sip of her hot liquid caffeine. "Much better."

Katherine smiled indulgently and glanced around. It was still very early in the morning, enough so that the sun was just a rosy glow on the horizon.

"We should get to our hotel," she said. "Settle in for a bit, until a more proper hour."

"Take a proper nap without some little jerkwad kicking the back of my chair." Leila yawned her agreement, taking another sip of her coffee. "Alright, let's get down to baggage claim so we can get our bags and head back to the hotel."

Katherine smiled the slightest bit.

"He did stop eventually," she pointed out teasingly as they walked towards baggage claim. She had insisted on booking the hotel this time, so she knew it would be a nice place. Leila might protest, she knew, but Katherine refused to stay anywhere less than four-star when she got to book the hotel.

Leila rolled her eyes and went to go wait in line for their baggage. Since they were going to be there for a while, she'd packed two bags and had just paid the extra fare. She figured that would be worth it later when she was hauling home souveniers and presents.

"I think there's one of yours." She nodded to a suitcase that had just come off the ramp.

Katherine nodded and pulled her bag off the carousel easily. She had recognized it easily; she'd put a large, gaudy plastic ruby on the top handle to be able to recognize it. She'd done the same with her second back, which she found quickly enough and pulled down as well.

"Do you see yours?" she asked her friend.

"Yup. There's mine." Leila grinned as her two bags, which were both white with multi-color polka dots, came onto the line. Her chartrouse green luggage tags made them stick out more, and she pulled them both off.

Katherine nodded and tilted her head towards the door.

"Come on, then," she said. "There should be a shuttle waiting to take us to the hotel."

Leila nodded at that. She figured they'd be staying at some nice, pricey hotel somewhere, and briefly she made a face. Really, she was perfectly happy either staying in a less expensive hotel or even just camping out, but she knew Katherine wasn't going for that, so she just went along with Katherine's plans.

Katherine carried her bags onto the shuttle and settled in for the ride. She'd been to Russia once or twice, but she'd never stayed all that long, so visiting again was always a treat. And it was closer to Romania than the States were, so there was always the option of dropping in on Uncle to see how he was doing.

"I'm sure you're going to want more sleep when we get there," she said to her friend. "Personally, I'm going for a hot bath, first."

Leila flapped a hand negligently. "Eh, I'll take a nap first, then shower, then food, then sleep. And then tomorrow we can start all our touristy looking around Russia and eastern Europe stuff."

Katherine nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," she said. And while Leila was sleeping, Katherine would go out and take care of her own needs.

Leila nodded and settled in for the ride. She got out before Katherine did when they got to the hotel, and then she had to stop and stare for a few moments.

"Really? Did you book the nicest hotel in the area?"

"Not quite," Katherine replied easily as she went inside. "There were others." This hotel, however, was one she'd stayed at before, and she knew they had good service.

Leila rolled her eyes but followed Katherine inside anyway, looking around. Yeah, this place definitely looked nicer--and more expensive--than a place she would have picked herself. But oh well. She'd agreed that it was Katherine's turn to pick.

"Are we sharing a room or did you book us separately?" It was a legitimate question, and she was curious. They'd done both ways before.

"I booked us separately," Katherine replied, "but our rooms are connected." She didn't mind sharing, but it was always easier when she had her own room. Less sneaking around behind Leila's back when Katherine needed to go out late.

"Alright. Sounds fair to me." Leila yawned briefly and blinked a few times, hauling her luggage over by the front desk. "Let me know when I actually have to pay attention again." She grinned cheekily.

Katherine rolled her eyes and went to the desk to get the keys to the rooms. She was marginally fluent in Russian, but the person behind the desk thankfully spoke English, so there was very little problem getting the keys and such to the rooms. Once she had them, she handed one to Leila and gestured for the bellhops to take the luggage.

"Come on," she said to her friend, grinning a bit, "let's get you upstairs before you fall asleep on your feet."

"I'm not quite falling asleep on my feet," Leila argued, though she didn't hesitate at all to follow Katherine to the elevators. "Besides, you're tired too and you know it."

"A little," Katherine allowed as she joined Leila in the elevator. She pushed the button for the proper floor and waited as the doors closed. She wasn't anywhere near as tired as Leila was assuming she was, but she would go along with it.

Leila just rolled her eyes and waited for the elevator to stop on their floor before she got off and headed down the hall towards their rooms. Katherine never admitted to being tired, but Leila didn't mind.

"Alright, which one do you want?" She stopped in front of the appropriate doors.

"I'll take the one you don't want," Katherine replied. "Just choose the one you want, don't worry about me." She didn't say anything after that, aware that she was starting to mother Leila a little. She couldn't help it sometimes; being older tended to make her do that.