Disclaimer: Hetalia and its characters do not belong to me and I am not making money off of this
Author's Note: This is my very first APH story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
* **
It's four minutes after midnight, and once again, Toris finds himself at the mercy of Ivan.
"Have I done something bad?"
That frightening smile was directed at him.
"It's okay, you can tell me. I like when you tell me."
Wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his hand, Toris realized that the game had suddenly changed and he did not know the rules to this one.
"What should I--"
Smack!
His left cheek stings; by tomorrow it will be swollen and bruised, and he will have to tell his brothers a new lie. Not that they don't already realize. Not that they don't have matching bruises of their own that they lie about.
It was all about normalcy, really. As opposed to some kind of sense of shame.
"Why are you looking at me like that? You know I don't like that."
Crash!
The vodka bottle that Ivan had emptied earlier misses his head by mere inches and shatters against the wall. He's not quite shocked enough to show a visible reaction; however, whatever look is on his face now is enough to make Ivan look regretful.
The look only last about a second.
"You really shouldn't look at me like that. I don't like it," he mumbles, like a child too stubborn to admit fault.
In some ways, Ivan really is no different from a child; a large, cruel, sadistic child unaware of his own violent nature.
"I'm sorry," Toris mumbles, because at this point it is the only thing he can say.
As if reading his mind, Ivan mutters, "No you're not." The regretful look returns and Ivan turns his back on him. "You don't have a reason to be sorry."
Just like a child there are moments when Ivan realizes that there are consequences to his actions.
Those are the times when he is most dangrous, Toris has come to realize.
"Toris, do you like being one with me?" Ivan sounds hopeful, yet sad; Toris realizes that he has somehow fallen into a trap.
"W-What do you mean?"
Now his right cheek stings. He'll have a set of matching bruises by tomorrow.
"Do you like being here with me? Living with me," Ivan says, his eyes glinting dangerously with barely contained rage.
To Toris, it looks like Ivan is shaking.
"O-Of course! I like being here with Raivis and Eduard" Toris says as his lips curl up into a smile.
It's the truth, being with his brothers is one of the few things that makes being under Russia's control pleasant. There was also Belarus, whom he loved more than a world where Russia did not exist, but he doubted that Russia would enjoy being told that.
"But you don't like being here with me?" Ivan asked as a few tears slid down his cheeks.
To this day, Toris still found it amazing that a monster like Ivan could cry.
"It's not that I don't like being here with you, it's just..." How could he explain it in a way that would not leave him bleeding and bruised? "W-Well, it's just... I-I mean...."
"No, I understand. Because it's so cold here. And there are no sunflowers, either. If I were you I would not want to be here either," Ivan said in a sudden moment of sanity.
Toris felt like laughing. Did Ivan honestly believe it was the cold and lack of sunflowers that made life here unbearable?
"You're a good boy, Toris," Ivan said, stepping forward.
Expecting to be hit, Toris braced himself, a soft gasp escaping his mouth as Ivan began to pet his head like a person their favorite pet.
"When the world becomes one with me everyone will be nice and kind, like you; then we can all play in sunflower fields" Ivan said with a smile stained with dementia.
'Your ideas are like sunflowers planted in Moscow,' Toris thought to himself as he listened to Ivan continue to ramble to himself.
Ze End
