[ Nikolai laughs softly when Noah calls him dashing and charming, looking not the least bit humble or shy. He works hard to be both of those things, after all. He's pleased at his choice to keep his identity a secret. Compliments land differently when they come from someone who doesn't know he's got a crown back home. ]

Yes, well, that doesn't surprise me so much, if your first association with princes is 'dashing and charming', rather than 'foolish, selfish, and astonishingly cruel'.

[ Nikolai's smile shows just a touch of bitterness, for a moment. Unfortunately, royals who put any effort whatsoever into being charming are few and far between in his experience. Most of them are more like his older brother, Vasily - cold-hearted and empty-headed. Nikolai knows that, had circumstances been different, he might have turned out that way, too. But he's made it his life's work not to.

He glances back over his shoulder when Noah peeks into an apartment, seems to make an assessment, and then moves on. ]

Nearly.

[ Give or take a few years. He waves that off, asking: ]

May I ask - what was wrong with that last apartment?

[ There's no impatience in his voice, just curiosity. He hadn't noticed anything particularly wrong with it. The furniture hadn't been ugly, there hadn't been a lingering smell. So why the rejection? ]