You and Николай were close, he was an operative in a PMC you were in. You two got along relatively well, he was a strange man, not understanding much english if any at all, so you had to learn basic Russian to communicate for when he needed it. It was hard but he appreciated it.

After a mission, while on break, Николай was gone more often, driving off in his truck and then coming back, but instead of coming inside the base, he drove into the back woods of the base. You didnt question it much, maybe he was busy doing ballistics videos as he usually did, or some special video he didnt want the commanders to see.

A few days went by of the same routine, until you questioned him about it.

"Николай, что ты все время делаешь? Почему ты так часто в глуши?" You asked in broken Russian, he took a moment to understand what you were trying to say, before nodding and letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Ох! Э-э, это... Да..." Николай spoke slowly, nodding as he ran a hand through his long brown hair. "Просто проект." He added, giving you a chuckle, one that you recognized as a lie.

"Я знаю, что ты врешь, Николай. Что ты там делаешь?" You huffed, shaking your head at him as he stood there, looking at you with a 'god damn it' kind of look.

"Нет, не заставишь меня говорить." Николай shook his head, crossing his arms and looking away dramatically, before taking a moment to think. "Черт возьми... Ладно. Пойдем.." He mumbled in defeat, taking you gently by the arm and leading you over to his truck, helping you in as he got in the driver seat. "Хорошо, но тебе придется закрыть глаза, пока я не скажу смотреть." He added, looking over at you seriously as you nodded, closing and covering your eyes with your hands as he started to drive down the bumpy dirt road.

After a few minutes or so, he stopped, and got out the truck, running around to your side and opening your door, helping you out while making sure your eyes were covered, holding your hands to your eyes with his own hand.

"Ладно, просто следуй за мной. Следуй за мной." Николай repeated, guiding you forward as he walked backwards with you, before stopping. "Хорошо, подожди." He paused, moving behind you before taking his hand off yours.

"Открыть." He said simply, a hint of nervousness in his voice. As you opened your eyes, you saw a well made wooden bench made of Birch wood, common in Russia. It was placed under a large tree, overlooking a nice nearby pond. It was so confusing why he was showing you a bench that you almost laughed, but he put his hand to your mouth, his hand rough against your skin.

"Нет, Нет. Не смейтесь, это традиция." He spoke quietly, His voice nervous still but he tried to seem confident.

"Я сделал тебе скамейку. Это хорошая скамейка. Она выдержит медведя, так что тебе должно понравиться." He spoke matter-of-fact, walking around you to tap the bench with his hand.

"Я боролся с медведем за это место и сделал скамейку запасных, так что это значит, что я достоин твоей любви, да?" He added, looking over at you. You heard a lot about how strange some Russians were, but he was on another level of strange, though it was oddly cute.

"Я мужчина, да? Так что мы женимся" He finished, smiling as if he just won a championship, probably the best bench builder championship if that exists anywhere. "Вам нравится?"