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Nichole’s laptop fan clicked like a nervous metronome as the Tandem call connected, the webcam light making a pale circle on her living room wall. Her phone buzzed once on the coffee table - Liz texting a joke she didn’t have time for - and then the screen resolved into Sergey’s face: unshaven, hair mussed, shoulders squared as if he’d been interrupted mid-task. The background behind him was dim and busy in a way that didn’t match the calm way he always tried to sound. A faint hum ran through the speakers, like something electrical idling in the next room.

«Привет,» Sergey said, leaning closer until the camera caught the tiny crease between his eyebrows. «You look good today.»

Nichole adjusted the angle of her laptop with her left hand, careful and slow because her right side never quite obeyed the way her brain wanted. Her hip hurt if she sat wrong too long, and she’d learned to keep that pain quiet by moving before it flared. «Привет,» she answered back, then switched to English because that was the rule they’d built - one language at a time, one rhythm, no mixed signals. «Okay. English first.»

Sergey smiled at that, like she’d handed him the correct key. He had a way of making the call feel like it belonged to both of them, not to the other millions of people who could be listening. Nichole watched his eyes for the familiar tells - the quick glance away, the way he’d sometimes shift his body so the camera didn’t catch certain corners of his room. This week, though, he didn’t settle. He kept moving in small, restless adjustments, as if the air itself had changed.

Nichole was there for the same reason she’d shown up every week for months: to keep her friendship with Sergey alive in a world that didn’t always make space for her. She wanted the steady exchange - her English smoothing into his, his Russian landing cleanly in her ear. She wanted the flirting to stay gentle instead of turning into something sharp. And, if she was honest, she wanted to believe that the caution he’d shown before was just a cultural habit, not a warning.

Instead, his first question wasn’t about vocabulary.

He tilted his head toward the edge of her screen, where her Ukrainian flag hung from a small stand by her bookshelf. The fabric didn’t wave in any wind - there was no breeze in her apartment - but it still looked bright against the muted colors behind it. Sergey’s gaze dropped to it and stayed.

«Wait,» he said, and his voice changed. Not colder exactly - just tighter, like a rubber band pulled too far. «Nichole. Please. Turn it.»

Nichole blinked. «Turn… what?»

«The flag,» Sergey said. His English was fluent, but the words landed with urgency, the kind that didn’t ask permission. He raised one hand as if demonstrating a motion, palm down, sweeping the air. «Hide it.»

Her stomach tightened so quickly she felt it in her throat. «Why?» she asked, and tried to keep her tone light. She’d learned that if she sounded too serious, Sergey would either joke it away or retreat. «It’s just my flag.»

Sergey didn’t laugh. He leaned closer to the camera again, and Nichole could see the faint shine on his forehead, the way he looked like he’d been under a lamp for too long. «Maybe - » he started, then stopped himself. His eyes flicked to the side of his screen. «Please. Now.»

Nichole’s chair creaked as she shifted. The laptop’s webcam caught her motion, and the flag stayed in frame. Her left knee bumped the coffee table leg. Pain shot through her hip, hot and immediate, and she swallowed hard because she didn’t want Sergey to hear it in her voice.

«I’m not doing anything wrong,» she said, even though the words came out less certain than she meant. Her fingers hovered near the flag stand. The fabric felt cool when she touched it, smooth and stubborn, like it wouldn’t give up its place easily.

Sergey’s face tightened further. «Not wrong,» he said. «Just… warning. You understand? Russian president - » His mouth twisted on the English phrase, like the words were heavy. «Maybe watching. Maybe not. But safer. Hide.»

Nichole stared at him, trying to decide if he was teasing her, testing her, or telling the truth in the only way he knew how: with fear dressed as concern. She thought about the way he’d once mentioned security cameras in his building, the way he’d avoided answering certain questions with a shrug that didn’t match his smile. She thought about the military ID photo he’d sent months ago, the one he’d called «just from my past» until she couldn’t unsee the details.

«Sergey,» she said carefully, switching to Russian for a moment because it made her feel more in control. «Зачем? Кто is watching?» The question came out sharper than she intended. «Do you mean… anyone can see me?»

He exhaled, and it sounded loud through the microphone. «Yes,» he said. «Anyone. People have… eyes. In Russia. In your country too....