For the every so lovely December-Writing Dragon, who requested Alfred comforting Ivan after a nightmare. Please check out her blog/account for more amazing works!

Alfred woke up tired and on the floor. It took a while to orient himself, figure out where he was. He looked around, wondering why it was so dark and blurry. Taking his hand up to rub at his eyes, he went to remove his glasses, only to discover they weren't there. Well that explains why everything was so blurry... Once his eyes had gotten somewhat used to the darkness, Alfred realized that he was in his own bedroom. He snorted; dumb-ass move of me.

Alfred looked at the wooden blob next to him, and determined it to be his nightstand. He quietly stood up, not wanting to disturb his partner, and felt the top of the nightstand for his glasses. Once discovered, he put them on, muttering a curse word as he poked himself in the eye.

The glasses improved the blurriness; that was a start. He could read the what time was on the clock, little numbers encased in a small glow. It was three in the morning; Alfred would normally just go back to bed at this point, but strangely enough, he felt awake. Deciding sleep wasn't going to come back for a while, Alfred decided to go check up on Ivan.

Ivan was curled tightly on the bed, leg entangled in the bed sheets, face buried in a pillow. There were scared sounds coming from him, albeit muffled. Alfred noticed that he was trembling violently, hands balled into fists. Alfred swallowed, looking at the still figure before him nervously; clearly Ivan was having a bad nightmare.

Should he wake up Ivan? That was the question running through Alfred's mind. Waking Ivan had it's own risks. He could react poorly to being woken up in a situation like that. But wouldn't being left alone be worse? It would haunt Ivan all day, make him jumpy to every little sound and movement... A particularly loud sound was emitted from Ivan, and Alfred made up his mind; he would wake up Ivan.

Alfred cautiously made his way over to Ivan, and carefully put his hands on Ivan's shoulders, making sure he didn't accidentally touch Ivan's back. Alfred lightly shook the other man's shoulders at first, calling his name softly. However, as Ivan curled in further, Alfred began to shake his shoulders harder.

Alfred gave a smile of relief as Ivan shot up, panting. However, it soon disappeared once he realized that, even through the darkness, he could tell that Ivan's eyes were blank, weren't seeing what was in front of him.

"Ivan?" Alfred softly called. His partner flinched at the noise, and began to slowly back away. Alfred inched forward. "Ivan, it's all right. It's me, Alfred." The snowy-haired man backed off of the bed, tripping on the bed sheets. As he fell, Alfred reached out as to try to catch him. Ivan scooted back, arms protecting his body, whispering something in Russian; Alfred strained his ears, and heard that the quiet tones contained begging.

...I'm sorry, please, I didn't mean to...

"Shit," Alfred thought to himself; it was getting worse. Maybe...

A sudden idea came to his head; Ivan wasn't seeing what was in front of him, right? Maybe Ivan thought that he was the one hurting him, due to the heavy darkness. In that case... then maybe turning the lights on would help. Alfred sprinted to the other side of the room, feeling along the wall for the light switch. Once it was located, he quickly clapped it on. The light was bright, and Alfred blinked rapidly in an attempt to get used to it.

He slowly made his way back to Ivan, hands up in a peaceful gesture. Alfred looked at Ivan's face, at the snowy curls that stuck out in every direction. If it was any scenario but this, Alfred might have smiled at it. But now was not the time.

"Ivan, Snowflake, can you tell it's me now?" Alfred asked, giving a smile of what he hoped was reassurance. The blank look was fading from Ivan's eyes, as he slowly began to recognize his surroundings.

"...Fedya..." Ivan whispered, voice breaking. He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering.

"That's me, Vanya," Alfred replied, his voice soft. "No one's going to hurt you, Vanya. Not while I'm here. Everything will be all right."

"...I'm sorry for making you worry..." Ivan murmured, looking down.

"No, don't say that. You did nothing wrong, Vanya."

There was only silence for a few minutes, before Alfred asked; "Do you want a hug?" Ivan nodded, and Alfred stretched his arms open. Ivan inched his way in, still too wary from earlier. Nonetheless, he pressed himself against Alfred's soft chest, the warmth emitted from him comforting. As Alfred wrapped his arms around the other man, he could feel Ivan flinch, and felt the urge to protect him grow higher.

They remained in this position, Alfred whispering comforting words to Ivan until the two of them fell asleep once more.

I hope you all enjoyed; if you have anything to say about this, a comment would be appreciated. :

-Potato