39. "You punch like a girl."
The larger nation stood over Dimitrov, laughing loudly. "What? You want to fight me? Go ahead, throw the first punch." Sadik said. Dimitrov glared and rose to his feet. He only reached to about Sadik's lower chest. He had wiped at his eyes that had filled with tears after having been thrown to the ground by Turkey, but his anger outrode his logical mind for the moment, and though he knew he couldn't actually beat up Sadik, he wound his fist back and punched him hard in the gut.
His angry throw had only been met with laughter though, causing the teen to simply look up at the masked man in near bewilderment. That had been the hardest he could manage, and he was laughing.
"Wow, you're more pathetic than I thought, it would be cute, if you hadn't had pissed me off so much." Sadik said, before a vengeful glint hit his eyes, and Dimitrov was not surprised when his face was met with the back of the other's hand, hard.
"Now, we're even. Want to fight some more?" Sadik asked, looking at the boy on the ground. Dimitrov grew small, and while he normally wouldn't have allowed Sadik to get the upperhand on him, insult wise, he simply shook his head no. Sadik nodded.
"Good, now go get your damn chores done, and don't bother me about independence kid." He said, waving his hand to dismiss the boy. Dimitrov held his cheek and he watched as Sadik walked out of the room. His presence was soon replaced with Gupta though, the eldest of the Ottoman's clan.
"You shouldn't have ticked him off." Gupta explained. Dimitrov refused to look up at him. He had always really admired Egypt, but he really wasn't interested in be scolded.
"It isn't scolding, it's just fact." Gupta said as he came to the boy. The thirteen year old continued to stubbornly refuse the emotionless eyes of the other, causing him to miss the actual care Gupta held in them for the boy. He gently touched his cheek, making Dimitrov pull away.
"He's a brute, but you did punch him first." Gupta explained as he observed the skin. There was a hand print left, but that seemed to be the extent of his injuries. Dimitrov pulled away after a moment, his face growing red from the gentle contact, something he wasn't used to.
"I don't you need Mommying me, if that's what you think." Dimitrov grumbled. Gupta raised an eyebrow, before standing up.
"If you think it's a smart idea to punch Sadik, then you do need someone watching you." He replied, making the Bulgarian sigh and rub his cheek again. Gupta lowered himself back down and sat beside Dimitrov.
"You can leave, you know." Dimitrov grumbled, though he was glad he wasn't suffering by himself. At least the company was good. It could have been-
"Alo!" A cheery voice rang through, causing Dimitrov and Gupta to look up. They met the red eyes of Vladimir, who seemed to be in an oddly happy mood. Though Egypt could tolerate the other's attitude, both could have done without his loudmouth company.
Dimitrov rolled his eyes, though Gupta was much more subtle about his disliking of the new presence.
Vladimir seemed to read the atmosphere though, and he approached the two carefully.
"Was Sadik being a jerk again?" He asked, before noticing Dimitrov's face.
"What? Did that ass hit you?" The teen asked, immediately bending down to observe Dimitrov, but the boy just pushed Vladimir away.
"Go away!" He grumbled, but Vladimir whined.
"He hit you! I'll rip that damn mask off him and-"
"Vlad." Egypt said calmly, making the boy look towards him. Egypt glanced at him.
"Don't make threats you can't keep." He warned, making the Romanian grow quiet, looking away in shame, before grumbling a few curses under his breath.
Of course, Dimitrov felt the same way. Neither of them really liked Sadik, but they couldn't do much. Gupta rose up, making the two boys look up at him, curious as to what he was doing.
"It's getting late, you two should get to bed." He said, once more sounding more mother like than friend. Both boys looked down, before Vladimir spoke back up.
"What if I-"
"If you curse him, he'll know it's you." Gupta said, making Vladimir pout. The man slowly walked out of the room, leaving Vladimir and Dimitrov sitting on the ground still.
"Do you wanna sleep with me tonight?" Vladimir offered, but the Bulgarian rolled his eyes.
"Piss off." He said, before standing. HIs swollen cheek still stung, but he didn't want to risk running into Sadik by going and wetting a washcloth to put it on his face.
Dimitrov quietly pushed open the door that lead to Vladimir's room. It was late in the night, and everyone in the house was sleeping. The boy wiped his teary eyes, before walking towards the bed.
Vladimir was a light sleeper, so when the door had opened, he could feel a presence in the room. He didn't move at first, a part of him expecting it to be Sadik, but when a body climbed into the bed, and buried its face in the other's back, Vladimir came to realize who it was.
"Bul?" The Romanian whispered.
"D-don't talk." Dimitrov said, gripping at Vladimir's shirt. The Romanian stayed quiet for the other, but that silence was broken when Dimitrov began to cry quietly.
"I-I hate it here." He cried against the other. "Sadik is a jerk, I can't do anything for myself." Dimitrov was growing a bit uncontrolled, and Vladimir panicked, knowing Sadik was just down the hall. He quickly rolled over, breaking the other's grip on his shirt.
"Hey, I hate it to, but you gotta be quiet or he's gonna come and hit us both." He warned in a whisper, but that was obviously a poor choice of words, as Dimitrov began to cry more.
"A-and why does that ass think he can hit me? He...He was provoking me so he could hit me." He said, and Vladimir began to panic more.
"Bul, please be quiet." Vladimir begged, wrapping the younger boy in a hug. Dimitrov buried himself in the Romanian, his cries not lowering, but at least he had finally shut his mouth.
Of course, that didn't mean anything when Vladimir saw a shadow in the candle lit hall. He stiffened, which caused Dimitrov to look up, now finally growing quiet.
But when they both looked towards the door, they were once more met with the dull eyes of Gupta,who still seemed poised as always, though he had to have been woken up by Dimitrov.
Said Bulgarian grew immediately shameful, to be caught in such a state by the older teen. He quickly pulled away from Vladimir, who frowned at the action.
"You should come to my room, if you plan to cry like that. It's furthest away from Sadik's." He said quietly, which only cause Dimitrov further embarrassment.
It didn't help when soon, the whole lot of the ottoman crew was standing in the door.
"What's going on?" Glafkos whined, rubbing his eyes.
"Did Romania wet the bed again?" Elizabeta asked,peeking her head into the room with a grin, only for it disappear at what she saw.
"Oh, it's Dimitrov." She said, clearly disappointed.
Heracules had poked his head in as well, before looking back at Gupta.
"If he woke Sadik up, I'm not cleaning up the mess." He warned, but the eldest teen just waved a dismissal hand.
"Sadik didn't wake up, go back to bed." He told everyone. Heracules shrugged and did as he was told, so long as Dimitrov wasn't ranting anymore, he didn't care.
Elizabeta pouted, before looking back into the room. "But if you DID wet the bed-"
"Go away, Ugly!" Vladimir hissed, and Gupta gently pushed her away as well, the girl grumbling as she walked back to her room.
Glafkos looked up at Gupta moment, who merely nodded, as if reading the boy's mind.
"Go ahead. But I'm brining them with me." He said, causing the two boys, who had been sitting their mortified, to look at him in confusion.
Glafkos nodded and hurried off, giggling slightly as he left. Dimitrov sniffed and looked down.
"I-I'm sorry…." He mumbled. Gupta simply walked into the room.
"It's fine, this happens to everyone, at least once, under this roof." He explained, making the young Bulgarian sigh.
"Come lay with me." Gupta said, making both boys look at each other.
"If Sadik IS awake, and he's waiting to yell at you in the morning, you're safer in my bed." He explained. He had been the only one to notice the candle light that had been emitting from the Turkish man's room, and knew he had been awoken, and had probably heard all that Dimitrov said, and while Gupta was convinced Sadik wasn't going to do anything, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Dimitrov looked at Vladimir a moment,before crawling out of the bed and walking over to Gupta.
"Me too?" Vladimir asked, his eyes lighting up.
"Only if you promise not to wet the bed." Gupta teased, a small smile playing on his face.
"You already have the biggest bed wetter in your bed!" Vladimir giggled, before taking Gupta's hand, uncaringly, before swinging it happily. Gupta didn't object though, and simply lead the two to his room, where Glafkos had already made himself comfortable.
The two younger teens climbed into the bed. It really wasn't big enough for all of them, but Gupta lifted Glafkos onto his chest, making more room, and Dimitrov was pressed right up against the eldest. That left room for Vladimir to keep his space, which,of course meant he was right up against the Bulgarian, but he didn't mind it too much, this time.
Gupta closed his eyes, and gentle drew on Glafkos's back.
"Goodnight." He hummed,and the three followed suit, before they all drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Sadik stood in Gupta's doorway, staring at the four in the bed. He sighed a bit, before walking into the room.
"Sorry for slapping ya kid. I need to learn to control myself...I forget ya'll are young…" The man confessed to the sleeping boy, unwilling to say any of it to his face.
Sadik sighed quietly, before walking to the other side to look at Gupta. He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled softly.
"Damn mother." He said, before shaking his head. He walked out of the room with a smile on his face, which of course disappeared when he saw that Heracules and Elizabeta had decided wrestle, which had knocked over quite a few valuables.
Gupta peeked open an eye when he heard Sadik began to scream profanities, which were followed by laughter and 'Old man' from the two smiled slightly, before peering over at Dimitrov, who was cuddled up against Vladimir.
He sighed happily. His family wasn't the best, but it was still his family.