I've been having laundry dates with Artichoke. My flat doesn't have a washing machine (of all the language school flats, it has the best location and just about the worst of everything else), so he lets me come over after work to use his.

He lives a few stops north on the grey line, in Отродное. It's about a ten minute walk from the metro to his flat, through one of the giant parks usually adjacent to the giant block-of-flats complexes. We stop at a Продукты and buy a couple beers (and don't speak any English. A downside of living in the outskirts is that you can find yourself in situations where there's no one around except skinheads (or the police) looking for a fight. Artichoke's had a few run-ins with both. It doesn't help that he's half-Iranian and darker than most.)

Safely back in his flat, I put my clothes in the wash and we pop open the beers. Then we have to decide which movie to watch. He suggests an old Soviet film, I say I don't have the brainpower for subtitles and contextual analysis, let's watch Terminator. He suggests something else, I say okay, sounds fine. Then, a couple minutes before or after he's put in the movie, he convinces himself that I hate it. I tell him no, really, this is fine, I like it. He works himself into a mild lather of guilt and gets scared that I'm judging him based on this movie I allegedly don't like, so he puts on what I wanted to watch. Last night it was Aliens (after 5 minutes of Ali G). The week before, it was Alpha Dog (after he had talked me into some WWII movie).

We spend more time talking than watching the movie anyway. I really like spending time alone with him because he stops entertaining (a range of personality I lack, but apparently it develops if you've been in this job long enough). We talk about the city, the school, why people are here, Russians, Americans, British (him: Why do Americans take themselves so seriously? me: Why don't you want to be held responsible for what you say?)

Last night things got snuggly, then they got a little more than snuggly (unmistakably but not excessively). I slept better next to him than I had in a while. He really helped reverse that inward-burrowing tendency I have every so often and was starting to slip into again. I would guess that he's susceptible to the same.