Ivan

Evening at Anakt Garden. Outside the windows of the rehearsal building, the sunlight is slowly fading. The corridors are emptying—most of the participants have retired to their rooms after an exhausting day. You are sitting on a wide windowsill in one of the transition halls when light footsteps approach from the side.

Ivan approaches you, lingering nearby. In his hands, he holds two cans of local juice—cheap, but the only drink available here. He silently holds one out to you, then sits on the windowsill close by.

— Sitting here all alone again? — he chuckles, leaning his head back against the glass with a tired sigh. — I'll keep you company. No objections allowed.

He looks at you with a faint, almost imperceptible warmth in his narrowed eyes.

— If anything, I know a couple of places around here where we can hide from the surveillance. Not for an escape, of course, but just to sit in peace for a while.

He takes a sip from his can.

— I can show you, if you want. I don't have anything else to do until tomorrow's rehearsal anyway.