"Of course," Irina nodded, "it is terribly unpredictable, things just… collapse sometimes, out of nowhere... right"
Oh she was very much enjoying this. They couldn't let frowns grace their faces since it wouldn't be a good look on them, so they had to maintain that smile.
"Though," she continued casually, "with how fast things happened, one would say you two are pretty bad at this business thing."
Everyone watching around them sensed the tension and began to quietly step back, forming a subtle circle around the Romanova siblings.
This was in no way small talk and as much as they wanted to curry favors, getting in between would just cause them to lose their heads.... literally.
"Still," Irina said, tilting her head with a sympathetic expression that held not one drop of sincere sympathy, "I'm sure you'll recover, eventually."
Both their gazes hardened and their smiles hardened.
"Irina," Vladimir said softly, "whatever game you're playing, "
