this is a really weird story. i'm pretty sure i got the idea while taking about the Little Mermaid. anywho~ enjoy!

Ivan and Matthew were sitting on Matthew's couch as a snowstorm raged outside. The two of them were cozy by the fire, snuggled next to each other.

"Ivan, why do you always wear this scarf?" Matthew looked at him from his spot on his lap. He was fiddling with the edge of his scarf. Ivan looked away. Matthew had asked this question several times since the beginning of their relationship. He really wanted to tell him, to finally have someone he could confide in for the first time in so many years. Ivan was fairly confident that he wouldn't freak out too much. He also kept all of his promises so if he promised to keep it a secret he probably would.

"Can I trust you Matvey? Do you swear you won't tell anyone, no matter what is? No matter the reason they feel they should know, or think they need to know?" Ivan looked into the deep into the eyes of the man he was about to confide in.

"Of course, Ivan. I would never tell any of your secrets. They're yours to tell to whom you please." Matthew said honestly.

Ivan nodded, but still hesitated to tell. Finally, after a few minutes he stood up from the couch. He nervously gripped the ends of his scarf before slowly bringing his arm up to unwind it. He put his arms down quickly, though.

"Hey… um… do you remember a few weeks ago… when I told you that I really wasn't a human?" Receiving a nod and an amused smile he continued, "Well, I wasn't kidding. I really am not a human." Matthew's eyes widened as he took off his scarf.

Quite suddenly, there was no longer a comparatively normal man standing in front of him. Instead there was…

Matthew had to pinch himself to make sure was seeing this correctly. He also slapped himself a few times and counted to empty bottles on the table. There were three vodka bottles and no beer bottles, so neither of them were drunk yet. Although, he wasn't entirely sure how Ivan being drunk would cause this.

He slowly brought his eyes up to lock eyes with Ivan. It was still Ivan, at least from the waist up. Bellow that was… Matthew's brain HAD to be playing tricks on him. There seemed to be about twenty tentacles connected to his waist blending flawlessly with the rest of him. The just barely pink skin melded into the snowy white tentacles in a way that could only be natural.

Matthew let out a strangled half-gasp before bringing his hands to his face and covering his eyes.

"Matthew?" Ivan's voice called out worryingly. Matthew just shook his head with his eyes still closed. Ivan slumped with sadness.

"Please don't be scared, Matthew. I'm still the same person." Ivan seemed to be slightly desperate.

Matthew shook his head harder this time, "I'm not scared just," He inhaled a shaky breath," give me a minute or two. Just… sit down for now, eh?"

Ivan nodded, even though he couldn't see, and sat down on the farthest edge of the couch. He watched as Matthew struggled to get his breathing under control. After a few tense minutes he peeked over his fingers and locked eyes with his love.

A shaky sigh, a shaky smile, a shaky laugh, and Matthew brought his hands down to his lap.

"Well that was…quite unexpected." Matthew smiled more fully this time while looking down at his clasped hands.

"Da, I'm sure it was." Ivan said carefully while he watched the smaller man failing to hold a grasp at reality.

A moving tentacle caught his eye and he reached out his hand but stopped just short of touching it. His eyes darted back up to Ivan's and he kept them there.

"Can I… touch it?" Ivan nodded, surprised by the request. Normally people freaked out and ran away. Or hated him…

A small sensation caused him to jump slightly.

"I'm sorry!" Matthew was already pulling his hand away.

"It's fine. It just surprised me because I was thinking some sad thoughts. " Ivan looked down and Matthew softly brushed his hand across his cheek in comfort. He then turned his attention back to the mass of tentacles.

He scooted closer and picked one up and held it in his hand.

"Its warm." He said in quiet surprise.

Four of the twenty were actually quite big, almost the size of an arm, and seven of them were a little bit smaller. These had little suckers on them. He giggled as he played with them. It was an interesting feeling. When he picked that one up they all attached themselves around his hand before they all unstuck with a pop. He giggled and held it up to his face. They did it again, but this time they came off one by one and left little red circles on his cheek. A few more chuckles and then he looked at one of the ones without suckers. The rest of them didn't have any and came in various sizes. The texture was so strange. It was really smooth, but still had some resistance when he rubbed it. He leaned back on the couch with a little huff. He messed with them with a look of childish curiosity on his face. He examined them all carefully before looking back at Ivan.

"The scarf is kind of necessary, da? I need because this type of thing needs a removable object to plant itself on to keep up the disguise. That way I can appear human when I put on the scarf." Ivan explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Its still kinda weird though." Matthew started to blush when Ivan started to laugh.

"It's not nearly as weird as having legs!" Ivan laughed uproariously and Matthew actually cracked a slight smile.

"I suppose it would be normal for you. I hadn't really thought about that." Matthew's eyes sparkled with happiness.

"So… what does this change?" Matthew asked timidly.

Ivan looked at the ceiling in thought. "I still feel the same," He started, his voice just a murmur, " and if you're not too scared of me, I would like to possibly continue where we left off?" He said this like a question.

"Oh, Ivan. Of course I'm not scared of you, and that sounds nice." With that decided they sat back together on the couch staring at the fire. After a few slightly awkward moments Matthew finally said, "Want some pancakes?"

"Da!" The two then cheerfully went hand in hand to the kitchen to let him start to cook.

Author's note: Hey~ It's TreesAndCheese!

Thanks for reading my story! Please leave a review as they are dearly loved and i'm interested in what you thought of... this...

this is probably the weirdest fic I've written so far.

Disclaimer: Why would i own this? well, i don't. So there.

Tons-o-luv

TreesAndCheese