March 6th, 1901: Russia, Korsakov. 

Inconsiderate parents and older brothers and sisters is why he's sitting here, taking long ungodly sips at hardcore liquor as a rich American man and some old farmers laugh at thin air (because no, they don't understand each other) Tao, if he's going to be completely honest, hates things like this. 

It's not like he hates American men (well, no, he hates those, too) but it's just social gatherings like these where he must skip days at work to sit through not-even-conversations-conversations while drinking drinks he doesn't even like.  

American men always bring bad drinks.  

"Is he going soon?" Tao finally sighs out in an impolite way, though he is trying, and he knows Kris beside him is giving him mental credit for that.  

"Tao," Kris sighs at his foul behaviour, "he will leave when he leaves, honestly, stop being so unfriendly."  

I'm not being unfriendly, Tao thinks sourly, eyes drifting across Kris' open shirt then at the hairy fat American man. Tao cringes. I'm just weighing my options. Cause certainly him and Kris could be doing something a lot better than sitting here listening to old men attempt to repeat the words the American man throws at them.  

"Stop staring and be nice" Kris grits out, smiling pleasantly at the foreigner. Tao scoffs. 

Looking at his nails, picking the gruff underneath them, "I am being pleasant, I'm just weighing my options, rudely."  

Kris snorts, rolling his eyes.  

The foreign men (and Tao just has realized there has been a translator) the whole frickin' time, finally looks up at Tao and Kris.  

"Who's that?" The American man asks in English, the translator (with a different accent) answers swiftly, leaving Tao to absolutely not care. 

"Mr. Alfred," the translator says in clean Russian, the City Russian, Tao realizes with a snort and roll of his eyes, "says you're an odd fellow." 

Tao drops his hand in favour of picking his drink up again, "care to enlighten me, why?"  

"Why?" The translator says into English, and Mr. Alfred beams. 

"An eccentric folk he is"  

"He says you're odd." 

"Yes," Kris says, interrupting with a generous warming smile, "Tao is very odd."  

 ∞

March 16th, 1901: Russia, Korsakov. 

"I," Tao's 4th sister says boastfully, "have found the answer." 

"Joy" Tao says sarcastically, leaned over the railing as he sips at his water, looking over the fields full of corps, and he's counting down the seconds, hoping and praying Anabelle will just get bored with bothering him and go bother one of the other brothers. 

Anabelle merely rolls her eyes, continuing, "Mr. Kris, is," she holds her breath dramatically, before lowering her voice ten octaves, "gay."  

Tao shoots her a scandalous look at the foreign sounding word, "Gay?" He repeats, "Anabelle, what in Heaven's name are you talking about?"  

She's just an 11 year old, and she does nothing but bother their mother into screaming all night and day, but Tao likes to amuse her sometimes. He is her big brother. But this, this, just seems downright stupid. 

She rolls her eyes at how dumb he is for not learning the "pretty English words" when the American man had last visited, "it means he likes men." 

Tao promptly drops his cup, and swings a hand over before the eldest child, Kyle, can walk by and hear Anabelle spouting non-sense out of .  

"You," he hisses in a humorless way, "are losing touch with reality. Kris, does not, like men, do you hear me? Do not go repeating such , anywhere. Got, It?"  

Anabelle nods her head a few dozen times before Tao is pleased and releases her, warning her once more before jumping over the railing and heading back to work.  

The word however, the word gay, doesn't leave him that night, no matter how hard he works that day.  

∞

Man, shall not lay with man. 

It's a simple rule (that one no one really talks about) but Tao is a smart boy, he knows exactly what it means. He never really thought about it though, him and Kris' relationship, however unusual it might be.  

"Kris," Tao says that night, leaning against a large rake as he watches Kris herd the rest of the pigs into their stall, "have you ever thought about it?" 

Kris doesn't even bother to look up, ruffling the back of his blond locks before sighing a loud, "what? Thought about what?" 

"Us." Tao states simply, though the sudden heavy atmosphere is enough of an answer, "I mean, its just. Isn't this..." 

"Wrong? Against the rules?" Kris offers off-handily, kicking away some loose hay, "why, are you regretting it?" 

"Well" he says with a slight pause, "kind of. Really I don't care much, but I didn't know American's knew either. People are talking about how guys are doing things with each other --- kind of like us --- in America." 

"Wonderful" Kris snorts, "we're outcasts from our own country then? Nowhere in Russia?" 

"Don't be spiteful" Tao laughs, "we're good at keeping secrets. So don't worry." 

Kris rolls his eyes (though Tao knows he has a childish smile on his lips) and grabs Tao by the wrist, tugging him close to his side. "You know," Kris laughs into the top of his black hair, "you're really small for someone that works all day." 

"Shut it" Tao grunts softly, leaning his head back to Kris' shoulder. "You're just too tall." 

"No such thing," Kris laughs, pecking Tao's forehead softly.   

 ∞

March 17th, 1901: Russia, Korsakov. 

Today seemed like it would be a good day, there had been a bit of rain last night (largely welcomed) but the morning sky is clear, and Tao couldn't have been any happier to jump to his feet and scurry outside in hopes of catching Kris before anyone else wakes up so they can have a lovey-dovey good morning kiss.  

His hopes however are cut short when he  bumps into Ivan (one of his many older brothers) Tao is in a family of 12, and he's quite below most of his siblings.  

"Where," Ivan says with stern eyes as he leans against the entrance way, "do you think you're going?" 

Normally Tao would've just said 'going to see Kris!' and ran away, but something in Ivan's eyes were keeping him halted. That is too because Tao has creeping suspicions Anabelle does not know how to shut sometimes.  

"Uh... why?" He asks instead, it's not like him and Ivan are overly close, it's hard to be close to each and every one of his many siblings. Usually he's with Kris, or his mother. Tao doesn't have time to listen to Ivan's brutal harsh rants.  

"I'm just wondering, it seems as though you leave early all the time" Ivan says intimidatingly, "is it to see Kris? Why do you need to see him so early, hmmm, Tao?"  

Tao knows something's incredibly wrong now, Tao narrows his eyes slightly, before speaking carefully, "we like to fool around before working... I don't see the problem, brother."  

"You don't see a problem?" Ivan guff's out in a demented sort of way, "Tao, I saw you and him --- you ----" 

"Wait, what?" Tao squeaks, "what do you mean? Ivan calm down you're acting strange---!" 

"Are you, like, like those men the foreigners are talking about? The men, the one that... that... disregard the bible and..." Ivan trails off and Tao's eyes widen in horror.  

"Oh" Tao says, his chest flaring up in absolute sheer panic, "no no no" Tao finally breathes, "Kris and I aren't like that." 

"Then," taking a deep breathe through his nostrils, "why were you hugging and kissing each other, Tao?"  

"We should go outside," Tao says with a smile, "so no one else get's caught up in this misunderstanding."  

Calm, he whispers to his heart, calm down. 

Ivan is a bit of an idiot, he knows he'll be able to convince him soon enough that no him and Kris aren't gay and that they're just very, very close.  

Sadly, Ivan isn't buying it. 

"No matter how close you are, two guys, don't kiss brother."  

"But brother," Tao sulks, "I'm just a bit overly displaying when it comes to affection --- is there anything wrong with that?" 

"Yes" Ivan says sternly, "look, I won't tell anybody, but whatever you and him have, must end, now. You will be married soon Tao, we cannot have your wife spreadin' bad rumors like this. Especially not with all the gay talk going around lately in the Cities and towns."  

"Fine," Tao grunts out.  

He ends up late in meeting Kris, so there's no good-morning kiss, and Tao can't even explain to Kris what had just happened, so Tao ends up sulking the entire day. At night, Ivan fetches him, personally. 

Tao scowls at him. "Brother, this is unnecessary."  

"Does he need to go home?" Kris asks selflessly, eyes crinkled as he smiles a good-natured smile towards Ivan. Ivan snorts. 

"Sorry about him," Ivan says, "he doesn't know boundaries when it comes to men, he grew up mostly with my sisters, you see, so don't take him hugging you and kissing you personally."  

Kris blinks a few times, utterly confused, and Tao sighs, explaining. 

"He saw us in the barn last night," Kris eyes cast in worry at that, "he doesn't believe me that were just friends, he's being paranoid."  

"No, no" Kris says waving a hand, "I would be worried too if I was him."  

Ivan nods his head sharply once at that, grabbing Tao's bicep and dragging him away, Tao looks back once, eyes sharp as he tries to convey his never dying love for Kris threw his eyes. 

Somewhere across the corn field, Tao believes he hears a loud laugh.  

 ∞

March 20th, 1901: Russia, Korsakov. 

"You and Ivan are oddly close lately," Tao's mother says softly whilst peeling a large red apple to place in her pile, lunch, she claims it is. "Or, should I say it's more like he's trying to keep you away from that Kris boy?" 

"Ivan's just being weird," Tao explains, huddling up beside her to grab his own apple and beginning to peel it to help her.  

"You know, you were always my oddest child" she says fondly, "while most boys won't even lift a finger in the kitchen you were always willing to help. Always a mama's boy."  

Tao grunts, placing the now peeled apple into the basket, his fingers rough and un-used to house work after years of doing farming and such instead. Papa had begun forcing him to work laborious days when he turned 12, not that he's complaining, he met Kris through that.  

"You never seemed to care much about other people's opinions, not that you should, but the weirdest habit of yours was when you used to dress up in dresses." She says laughing, and Tao rolls his eyes.  

"Oh really now? I bet Papa didn't like that." 

"Not one bit," she laughs, "Alexander was quite upset over it as well, it was an upheave throughout the village. A boy, dressing up as a girl, no!"  

Tao scratches the back of his head idly, wondering where this conversation could be going. 

"Though I was seen as a bad guy for letting you do it, a child shows you their character when they're born. You know?" 

"Ma," Tao grunts dropping the last apple into the bin, "what are you getting at?" 

"I'm just saying," she whispers softly, taking the last apple and looking him straight in the eye, "I try to accept everything you choose, because this is your life."  

"You know," is all Tao manages to croak out before three of his older brother's, Ivan, Alex and Dmitry are banging into the kitchen, hands dirty and stomachs empty. His mother merely smiles.  

"Why are you cooking?" Ivan hisses, slapping Tao upside the head, "stop being such a girl."  

"Mom he's a farm-boy now, he doesn't have time to help you with the chores anymore." Alex pipes, grabbing an apple slice. 

She smiles, kind and aged, "well it's nice to spend some time with me you ungrateful brats."  

They all laugh, but the sinking feeling in Tao's lower abdomen doesn't leave.