"Ehh?" Ivan looked to his door as he heard a knock. The noise jarred him out of his book and back into reality, almost startlingly so. He waited a moment to see if they would knock again. Nothing. With a sigh he folded the edge of his page before putting the book down and answering the door, letting in the cold. "Da?" he called out to the snow. There was no one there, just an empty space and...flowers? Sunflowers? He picked up the yellow bouquet at his feet, admiring them as he quickly closed and locked the door back. Who had sent them? Who would send them? He didn't know anyone who liked him enough to send him such a gift.
Finally he noticed a small tag hidden among the long, green stems of the flowers. It had a simple and cliche message hand written on it. "Happy Valentine's Day, from your secret Valentine," Ivan read aloud. "A secret, da?" He looked to the door again. And now that he thought about it...was there someone there? He was almost tempted to open the door again and see, but then came the haunting howl of General Winter at the windows and his choice was made for him. He put the sunflowers in a vase and set them on the coffee table in front of him, gazing at them longingly. He finally had sunflowers and he couldn't even thank the one who gave them to him. It made the situation bittersweet.
"I will find out who at the next meeting," Ivan decided as he sat back and opened his book. It had to be one of the Allies. They were the closest thing he had to friends, his Valentine had to be one of them. Though he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"What?" All the Allies stared at Ivan at his sudden question. Right in the middle of one of Alfred's rants, even!
"Which one of you are my secret Valentine?" he asked again, a smile on his face. A strange, misplaced smile considering what he had just said.
"Isn't it a secret for a reason?"
"They were too shy to tell you directly? How cute! Perhaps I should give them some lessons in love, non~?"
"No, it wasn't me. And it never will be, so stop trying aru!"
"I don't know, so let's just get back to my plan! Ha ha ha!"
And just like that the subject was dropped and his question unanswered. He lowered his head and looked to the table, glaring and planning their demise. He truly had expected as much, but it was still annoying when they outright ignored and tip-toed around his questions like that. Even if that one was a bit random, he really wanted an answer. And so the question kept going through his mind and he couldn't concentrate the entire meeting. Who were they from?
The meeting was over and Ivan was the last one in the room. He was in deep concentration and no one wanted to disturb him, so he barely even noticed - or cared - that they were gone. If it wasn't one of the Allies, who else did he know that would even think of giving him a gift, even on a special occasion?
Finally Ivan stood and walked out, slamming the door behind him in aggravation. He thought he heard a noise - a voice? - before leaving, but quickly shrugged it off due to nerves, annoyance, and a splitting headache. Halfway down the hall and he thought he heard it again. But it was so faint it almost wasn't real. Once more he heard it, but that time he felt a presence as well. His heavy foot falls stopped and there was a soft thump as someone ran into his broad back.
"Ahh, so it was you, da?" Ivan asked, his smile returning. He didn't look back, he didn't have to. He knew exactly who it was. The feel of a slow nod against him was the only answer he received. But that was truly all he needed. "Thank you, моя Валентина." There was a soft squeak in response before Ivan reached back and took the smaller man's hand in his own. "Let's go home, da, Matvey?"
They walked from the building hand in hand, for once glad for this Valentine's Day. A day for kindness, love, and overdue heartfelt confessions.