Nikolai nervously enters the cafe, scanning it while fingering the papers in his hands. At first he thinks the man is not there, and he is partly relieved, partly disappointed. He had been told it was likely that he'd be here, and Ilona had pointed him out for him earlier, so if he's here, Nikolai should've been able to find him...

Then he spots him, his stomach jolts a little, and he has to take a moment to steel his nerves, drawing a deep breath, before cautiously walking over to the man.

"Excuse me... Mr. Molokov, sir?" he asks, a bit shakily.

Nikolai shuffles inside the study hall, resigned to spending a few hours on actually doing his math homework for once. He has been known to avoid it at all costs, occasionally even letting someone do them for him, but while that at least gets them done, it doesn't exactly help him learn it. Which is definitely not going to help him in his exams. So, he might as well at least try. Besides, he could do with something to take his mind of things.

He glances around for a place to sit, and catches sight of Ilona at a table. Ilona's okay at math, isn't she? Better than him, anyway. Worth a try.

He makes his way over to her from behind, coming up right next to her and leaning onto the table to catch her attention. "Hey Ilona. You're pretty good at math, aren't you?"

It took Nikolai a while to remember he had heard the name in his mother's letter before, from a rather unlikely source. This is why he's currently looking through the various practice rooms, tying to find Ilona.

When he finally finds her, she thankfully doesn't seem too busy to speak with him, so he approaches her. "Hey, Ilona?" he begins, although he's not entirely sure how to pose the question nagging at him.