Alfred tapped his foot on the carpeted floor, a nervous habit that he had developed when he was a little boy. He had managed to stop biting his nails, but the tapping remained. He glanced down at the phone in his lap and then at the other people in the waiting room. He had repeated this ritual 10 times in the past 5 minutes. Finally, his phone screen lit up and he opened his message eagerly.
'Chill out bro, you'll be fine,' the message read. Alfred sighed and typed back a quick 'thx' before shutting off his phone. Usually, Mattie could calm him down, but in this situation, his brother's words had no effect. Matt had offered to come with him, but Alfred refused, claiming that a hero wouldn't need support in this situation.
"Alfred Jones?" a lady called, scanning over the small crowd in the waiting room. From what Alfred could make out, she was petite with long brown hair. But of course, like everyone else, she was a blur of muddled colors.
Alfred followed the girl to the exam room. She had him sit down in front of a few machines while she tested him for glaucoma and other eye diseases. After she cleared him of any of those she had him sit in a large chair and wait for the doctor.
Alfred busied himself by looking at the tools and machines around him. Though he didn't know what all of them did, he could guess the purpose of most. His attention was brought to the door when he heard someone walk in.
"Hello, Mr. Jones. My name is Dr. Braginski. What seems to be the problem?" he asked, his voice thick with a Russian accent. He pulled up a chair next to Alfred and began gathering some tools.
Alfred was not expecting that voice from the man in front of him. The man was tall with pale blond hair. He wore a scarf around his neck and over his lab coat. Alfred realized he was staring and coughed slightly.
"Please, call me Alfred," he began, flashing the doc a smug grin. "I'm, uh, having problems seeing," he stammered, face flushing slightly. He was pretty embarrassed about his sight.
"Obviously, since you are here. But what specifically? Far away, close up?" Dr. Braginski pushed, looking at Alfred. Alfred sighed, realizing how idiotic he sounded.
"I can't see things far away. Still, things up close aren't totally focused."
The doctor nodded and began setting up a chart for Alfred to read off of. The letters started off very large and got progressively smaller.
"What about this line?" Dr. Braginski asked, switching to the smallest letters yet. Alfred sighed, unable to make out the letters that well.
"Umm, B, S, H, C, uh, J Z Q?" he said, unsure of his answers. The doc nodded and shut off the projection.
"Good. Well, your left eye is worse than your right, though not by too much."
Ivan shifted around Alfred, setting up the next tests. Alfred used this silence to lighten the mood a bit.
"So, doc, do you have a first name or were your parents really set on you being a doctor?" he asked with a smile. The doctor chuckled slightly as he finished setting up.
"I tend to go by Ivan, but my parents did want me to be successful. Alright, I'm going to try a series of lenses. Tell me which on is better," Ivan said, turning the projection back on.
And so started the seemingly endless questions of "one, or two?" Alfred was amazed at how clear things would get with certain lenses. After fiddling around for a while, Ivan seemed happy with the outcome.
"Alright, let's try this prescription." Ivan redid the tests from before, having Alfred read letters as they got progressively smaller. Alfred was amazed to see the smallest letters on the chart perfectly.
"Wow, doc, you really do work miracles," Alfred exclaimed as Ivan wrote down the prescription.
"Not magic, just science," Ivan said, resetting his equipment. "Now, you can go out and pick out some frames. Your glasses should be finished by next week."
Alfred turned to Ivan, still getting used to the blur again.
"Hey, um, would you mind, uh, helping me out?" he asked his face flushing again. Ivan seemed to stare at him for a few moments.
"Well, I normally wouldn't, but seeing as you have no one else and you were my last patient of the day, I guess I could help."
Alfred flashed Ivan a huge grin before following the doctor out of the room. "Thanks so much," he said, reaching the wall of glasses.
Alfred tried on many different kinds of glasses. Some old man glasses, thick rimmed glasses and even a pair that looked like Harry Potter's famous glasses. With each pair Alfred gave Ivan a goofy grin, making Ivan smile. By the end of Alfred's little show, Ivan was giggling like a school girl at Alfreds antics.
A pair of glasses seemed to catch Ivan's eye. They were square with wire on all sides but the top.
"Try this pair," Ivan said, handing Alfred the glasses. They seemed to fit like a glove. They framed Alfred's face well and were quite comfortable. Alfred turned to Ivan with his grin once more.
"Whadda you think?" he asked, flashing a flirtatious smirk in a joking manner. Ivan was captivated by this new Alfred.
"They suit you quite well," Ivan said, looking away to hide his blush.
About a week later Alfred found himself in the eye doctors office once more. Though this time he wasn't nervous. No, he was excited. Excited to finally be able to see, and excited to see Ivan again. He had;t been able to get the doctor out of his thoughts all week. Something about Ivan was captivating, and Alfred wanted more of it. He just hoped Ivan felt the same.
"Alfred Jones?" the same lady from before asked. He got up and was seated at a desk.
"Welcome back Mr. Jones," Ivan said, walking over to the desk. Alfred smiled, unable to hide his excitement. Ivan handed him his glasses after checking for any smudges or fingerprints. Alfred held them gingerly before putting them on.
Alfred blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the new view. He looked around, smiling as everything came in perfect focus. Then his eyes landed on Ivan.
Ivan was everything Alfred wanted and more. His pale blond hair framed his face perfectly while his violet eyes seemed to read into Alfreds sole. He seemed toned under his lab coat and his pale skin seemed to glow in the sunlight.
"Is there a problem?" Ivan asked, a flicker of worry in his eye. Alfred blinked, being brought back to reality suddenly.
"What? Oh, no, it's just, you, I mean," Alfred stuttered, blushing like crazy.
"What about me?" Ivan asked, leaning forward slightly.
Alfred gulped and continued.
"Look, I know this is crazy, but would you maybe, I don't know, wanna grab some coffee sometime?" Alfred asked, looking down at his lap.
"Like... A date?" Ivan questioned, shocked at Alfred's question. Alfred nodded and Ivan smiled. "Sure, I would love that."
Alfred looked up in surprise. "Really? Wow, you really are full of miracles."