*deep sigh* I tried editing and uploading this before, but halfway through, I left to get something to eat and when I came back my laptop turned off. So uh let's hope this works, this time 'round, huh?
This was based off a prompt I found on Tumblr, which I will put at the bottom, so it doesn't give the story away :D
(Please forgive me if the characters are too OOC... I just needed to write something, to get back into the swing of things.)
Francis groaned as he looked over to his alarm clock. The glowing red digits showed that it was almost three in the morning. His new neighbour, however, was apparently unaware of the early hour, as he continued to do... whatever on Earth it was he was doing. All Francis had been able to hear for the past few hours had been the occasional, loud thud of something heavy falling onto carpet, followed by an exclamation of exasperation.
It had been going on for too long, Francis had decided. Enough was enough! This new guy needed to learn that some people need their beauty sleep.
He slid out of bed, and slipped his white dressing gown on over his cyan silk pyjamas, along with the matching slippers. He stormed out of the apartment - stopping at the mirror in the living room to fix his hair quickly. Sure, it was early in the morning, but he still had to look presentable!
He thought of what to say as he knocked on the neighbour's door. First impressions were important, so he didn't want to give a bad one, by being rude or shouting. Should he just be passive-aggressive about it? Or just polite? Just as he'd thought of the perfect thing to say, the door was opened, and a tall, blonde man peered out. Almost all thoughts left Francis'mind - except for one.
Oh no... he's cute...
"Uh... hello?" the man greeted after a few seconds of awkward silence, sounding confused. He hadn't been expecting visitors, let alone strangers in their pyjamas...?
Upon seeing him yawn, Francis snapped back to reality, remembering why he was there in the first place. "Yes, hello. I was trying to sleep - no, wait, that wasn't it." The man looked even more confused as Francis tried to remember what he had planned on saying. "Ah! May I ask, why on Earth are you making such a racket at three in the morning? It's really messing with my sleep," he asked, speaking in a stern voice and putting his hands on his hips, in an attempt to intimidate the other - but it probably didn't work, seeing as he towered over Francis' slight frame.
For half a second, Francis was afraid that the man was going to hit him, so he was taken aback when he apologised instead.
"I am terribly sorry - I'm still putting together my furniture, and I just moved in today, you see..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I decided to build my bed last, and... it's not turning out right..."
"Looks like neither of us can sleep, then," Francis joked, but the other did not laugh. "Would you like some help? Maybe we can get to kno- I mean, get to sleep sooner." Damn it, Francis! he scolded himself. Drowsiness and attractive people were a bad combination. They always found a way to loosen his tongue and lose his smooth speech.
"It's alright, I will just sleep on the lounge. There's no need to trouble yourself-"
"No, no! I insist! Who sleeps on lounges? I will not allow it!" The edge of the neighbour's lips turned upwards in a half smile, and he stood aside to let Francis in.
"Alright, then..." He glanced around the room, just now noticing all the boxes and papers everywhere. "I'm sorry it's a bit of a mess, I've been setting everything up all day - as you've probably heard..." Francis brushed it off as no big deal, and decided to introduce himself, finally.
"My name is Francis, by the way," he said casually, leaning against the wall as his neighbour closed the door.
"Ivan," the other replied. He smiled at Francis, fully this time, and Francis felt his heart flutter. His smile was one of the most beautiful Francis had ever seen. "Thank you."
"I- I haven't done anything yet, mon chér!"
Ivan led him to his bedroom, where part of the bare frame of a bed was standing. The other parts of it were strewn across the carpeted floor. Francis was very careful in his steps to get to it.
"I think a few pieces have gone missing, but I haven't taken any outside of this room..." Ivan said, rummaging yet again through a pile on the floor.
"It may not be your fault - I have heard that they sometimes leave pieces out," Francis replied, picking up the instructions from the floor beside Ivan. He glanced from them to the bed, and back again. It didn't look like it had had much time spent on it, so the missing pieces must have been pretty important. One side of the frame was laying on the floor, as Ivan had not been able to find the correct screws for it, and one of the legs was still on the floor, along with the slats that were to go underneath the mattress. "Oh - what was making the banging sound before?" he asked, remembering why he wasn't asleep right now.
"Oh. I tried to see if it would be alright if I just left the screws out. It didn't go too well."
"You must be pretty tired to think that would work," Francis joked.
"Perhaps. I have been building all day, I wanted to get creative."
"i see."
Ivan watched as Francis failed to hold back a yawn, and asked if he would like some coffee before they set to work. Francis was delighted at the offer, and they soon found themselves sitting at the small table in the living room, engaging in pleasant conversation while they drank. Francis was talking the most, babbling on about this and that while Ivan listened with rapt attention, throwing in a few words here and there. He almost had a heart attack when, seemingly out of nowhere, Francis shouted "HEY!" at the top of his lungs and rose to his feet. Following his gaze, Ivan caught his cat walking out of the bedroom, with a rather large screw in it's mouth. Ivan stood up as well, and both men followed it quietly as it dashed behind the lounge.
"Well, I think we found the missing pieces," Francis stated, after they peered into the rather large gap between the piece of furniture and the wall. The cat had collected some of the most important screws and bolts there, and as the two men stared in bewilderment, it turned to look up at Ivan, as if proud of it's work. Ivan huffed, and lured it out of there. He lifted it up so that they were eye-to-eye and gently scolded it. It was a rather cute sight, and Francis couldn't help smiling. He lost it, though, when the cat leaned forward and licked the tip of Ivan's nose, completely ignoring it's owner's words. Francis fell onto the lounge laughing while Ivan just stood there, blinking.
"You are a very bad cat," Ivan said quietly, indignant at Francis' laughter. He locked the cat in the bathroom, using that as an excuse to hide his red face. "You can come out when we're done," he called, returning to his coffee. He buried his face in the large cup, avoiding Francis' gaze.
After they finished their coffee, they decided to get started, seeing as it was getting even later, and now they had found the missing parts. At opposite ends of the lounge, they reached for the stolen pieces. Francis smirked to himself when he felt Ivan's hand freeze as their hands brushed against each other.
With the two of them working, the bed was finished rather quickly. Ivan dragged the mattress over from it's position, leaning up against the wall, and Francis expertly made light work of the covers, despite Ivan saying it wasn't that important right now. Once it was done, they stood at the foot of the bed, admiring their handiwork. Looking forward turned into a stolen glance, and two pairs of eyes got lost in each other. Francis felt a pang of annoyance as a loud meow broke the silence.
"I'd better let him out..." Ivan mumbled, tearing his eyes away from Francis'. "Thank you again for your help."
Francis laughed, waving it off. "It was fun." He offered to go clean the coffee cups, not yet wanting to leave. Ivan accepted the offer gratefully, and they left the room; him headed to the bathroom to let out the cat, and Francis to the kitchen. When he was done, he headed back to the bedroom to bid Ivan goodnight - but the taller man was already asleep; passed out at the end of the bed, not even under the covers. Francis couldn't help but smile. He looked cute asleep, as well. Not bothered to walk to his apartment, which was only next door, he collapsed beside the other, grumbling when the cat jumped up between the two.
Only an hour or two ago, the night had seemed like it was going to be long and annoying, but it had turned out quite nicely.
Yaaay it's finally done! :D My first completed Frussia fanfic, and it only took me, what, two months?
The prompt this was based off was: It's like 3am and I'm exhausted and I can hear you raging next door about failing at putting an IKEA bed together so here I am helping you put it together and holy shit you're cute
Please leave a review if you don't mind, and tell me what you think! :D I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm probably rambling a bit now... ahah it's late...
