Ustinya wanted to talk to her about something, that much was obvious. She kept asking Rose questions, and Rose would answer them politely, and then go back to meandering through her book, which she had confiscated from a student in the last few weeks of school and was determined to make her way through whenever she had an absence of teenagers around her. (God forbid Archie get his hands on this!) After discussing the dress, the weather, and the dinners, the question about the book was enough to finally get Rose to engage with Ustinya. She dog-eared her page and smiled at the other woman.

"It's a bit much," Rose admitted in Russian, and did not elaborate. "What's on your mind, Ustinya?"

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