Written for the prompt: "Look to the Sky" by the CMC Event in the russiamerica LJ community.
Warnings: Unbeta'd fic.
Characters: AU- Russia, America, Ukraine, Belarus, and England
The first time Ivan saw him, he was hiding behind his father, supposedly an inventor that his mother is requiring services from. The boy was not shy, as far as he could tell. Rather, he seemed to be pouting petulantly, arms crossed in a stubborn manner. Despite the boy narrowing his eyes, he couldn't help but marvel how blue they were.
He ignored the incessant tugging of his arm from his little sister beside him and looked up at his mother, vibrantly speaking with the boy's father, a man donning the most largest, bushiest eyebrow his eyes ever laid on.
His mother then transferred her attention to the other boy. She leaned down, smiling warmly at him, and he could tell the boy was softening to her with the gentle way she spoke with him.
"Would you like to meet my Vanya and little Natasha?"
The boy's eyes soon honed in on him, and Ivan replied back with a smile, stepping forward, dragging his grumbling sister with him.
He curtsied as any proper royalty would. "Greetings and welcome to Kievskaya Rus'. I am Prince Ivan..." A loud whine rang out, tugging hard at his arm, and his mother chuckled with him. "And this, is my sister, the princess Natalia." She glared at everyone besides him and opted to bury her face against Ivan's back, refusing to acknowledge anyone.
Ivan turned his gaze back to the boy, expecting him to either curtsy or awkwardly return the greeting in their own way, but he did not anticipate the boy huffing and marching up to stand right in front of him, hands on his hips.
"I'm Alfred Kirkland, Esquire!" The boy loudly proclaimed, who then pointed at him, eyes wide to show blue, just blue eyes. "And don't you forget about it!"
Ivan laughed along with his mother as Alfred's father let out a strangled, horrified gasp.
.
.
Despite their differences in their class, in their personalities- the two boys gravitated toward each other, becoming fast friends as the years passed by.
.
.
Ivan stared down at Alfred as he babbled about the next invention his father is tackling, the lone tuft of hair swaying with the cool breeze. The boy was laid down on the grass, eyes wide as he recounted the details, running a list of names of machinery parts and gadgets Ivan couldn't hope to comprehend. He was barely listening, content on just watching him, until something caught him off-guard.
"...what?"
"-so he reaches in, and almost got- what? What 'what'? Hey, are you even listening to me?"
Ivan casually swatted away the hand that threatened to pinch his cheeks for his inattentiveness as he frowned, raising an eyebrow. "What did you just say earlier? A flying..."
A large beaming smile broke out on Alfred's face. He moved closer to Ivan, mesmerizing the prince with his blue eyes- just like the skies right above them-and nodded enthusiastically. "That's exactly what I said: a flying machine."
"But.. that is impossible. How can-"
"I know, I know.. it sounds too farfetched.. but it isn't! My father's been working on thousands of sketches for many years now, and after each one he's getting closer and closer. I think.. " At this he wets his lips, and leaned so close Ivan could feel his breath on his cheeks. "I think he might really done it this time. I mean, actually finish it. One that works."
Hands grasped Ivan's shoulders as Alfred tilted his head back, an expression of awe pouring from his face as he gazed upward.
"Can you just see it, Ivan? To be finally there..."
Ivan looked up, still frowning in disbelief.
"I.. I cannot see how..."
His eyes darted back to Alfred as the other boy stood up, with an arm outstretched, reaching up for the skies with a longing look on his face.
Ivan's hand instinctively grasped Alfred's leggings, a small pang of fear coiling in him, and he wasn't sure why.
.
.
The people of Kievskaya Rus' unexpectedly found themselves plunged into war, when the neighboring kingdom of Pribaltika invaded.
.
.
Plans for the flying machine was apparently pushed aside, as Sir Kirkland offered his aid to create weapons for the kingdom, out of gratitude for the help his mother supplied with his previous works.
And he just kept creating, even when he already made enough weapons for their army. As the inventor strived for something better after each weapon, the more powerful and deadlier they were becoming. Alfred told him that he had at first helped along with the inventions, but they soon terrified him deeply. Ivan remembered how shaken Alfred was when he recounted the supposed madness his father is spiraling into, that he saw how consumed his father was to creating the most devastating weapon that the kingdom, or the world, would ever have.
Even the queen was horrified by the transformation, but the people demanded for more. The people embraced the power. The people relished the strength as they defeated the enemy. The hunter became the prey, as they turned to invade Pribaltika.
Ivan thought his mother was too gentle, so he could understand why she would hesitate to accept the current situation they are in, but he was confused as to why Alfred was angry about any of this.
He finally learned the truth, when he caught Alfred in his bedroom, looking over several papers laid out on a desk, containing designs of the fantastic nature as his eyes sweeped over them.
"He abandoned it... but I'm not going to. I'll make it happen."
"Ah. This is... the flying machine."
"What's with that tone... You think it's stupid, don't you?"
"No. But I do believe you could put your talents to better use. Like what your father is doing now."
Alfred turned around.
Ivan clamped his mouth shut as he saw the dullness of his eyes. The pallor of his skin. How even his blond hair looked like it lost its color and shine.
He thought he looked like a wilted sunflower, and something inside him twisted.
"You know what will happen. The world does not need something that could destroy itself..."
Ivan blinked when Alfred approached him suddenly, until he rested his head on Ivan's shoulder.
"Especially when you're still in it."
.
.
He once recalled a beautiful bird that was given as a gift to his mother. She adored it greatly, and he was sure the bird liked her too- he couldn't be sure though, since it started to sing lesser by the day, making her quite sad. So he was confused, when one day, his mother released the bird out of the window, together watching it at the distance as the bird flew to shrink to just a mere speck in the sky, then gone.
.
.
Oh, his eyes.
Ivan always thought they were blue as the sky above, but at this moment, he knew they rivaled even the sky itself.
The young man crouched on the balcony railing before him was grinning from ear to ear, the breeze making his hair even more wild. Some contraption is strapped around him, with a rope of indistinguishable material tied from his back, leading itself back to...
The machine was like a floating tower, with several spinning blades of varying sizes attached around it. He supposed those were needed to keep it afloat. He could see hundreds of gears turning, continuously turning. It was like seeing both the outside and the inside of a fantastic machine with an incomprehensible function. The loud buzzing and whirring sounds emitting from the machine almost made him miss what the other said.
"Come with me, Ivan."
His eyes slowly flickered back to the offered hand that was gestured his way.
"You know, as well as I do, that I cannot do that."
Alfred quickly rushed towards him and clasped his hands. "But we can be free. We can do anything we want! We can be anywhere in the world!" He took their joined hands together and pressed it against his chest. "Come with me..."
Ivan smiled softly and took another step closer.
The kiss was everything they could hope for, everything they could want, and more.
It was enough to distract Alfred as Ivan pushed him off the balcony.
He watched the rope go taut, preventing Alfred from falling into the ground below any further. The young man swung from side to side, legs and arms flailing for a moment, before he collected himself. Soon the rope began to pull him up, and Ivan ignored the devastated look on Alfred's face, as he smiled pleasantly back at him.
The guards started filtering in the hallway, some of them pointing to the windows, gasping as they caught sight of Alfred's creation. Several shots rang out, prompting him to disappear quickly into his flying tower. Ivan winced a little as a gust of wind blew into his face, the end tails of his scarf whipping around him, as the blades began to spin furiously and the gears turning faster, propelling the tower upward.
With an arm outstretched as if reaching the sky, Ivan gazed up, watching the tower shrink into a mere speck when compared to his hand.
Then gone.
.
.
(End.)
Author's notes:
- Inspired by the music track "Eventide" by Brand X Music.
- Pribaltika refers to the Baltic states.
- Kievskaya Rus' = Kievan Rus', if that wasn't obvious.
- Alfred's last name is Kirkland here, because I can't fit in the story how he got Jones.