Title: Frigid Euphoria

Chapter One Summary: Russia invites Seychelles to his home in order to feel in the void of loneliness and Sesel is feeling a little shy and nervous.

Warnings: None.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A cold, hard breeze made Ivan wrap his scarf tightly around him as he walked out of the house and into the snow. He paused when he reached his backyard, filled with pots of dead sunflowers and shriveled up vegetables, the remnants of the garden he tried to build years ago but failed.

'It's impossible to grow anything in this frozen wasteland…but if your patient enough perhaps your garden will bloom.'

Sesel's words echoed through his mind as he stopped in front of a rather large sunflower that never did make it during last year's blizzard. The memory of Sesel helping him plant his prized sunflower seeds stood out in his mind.

Seychelles had looked so pretty all bundled up from head to toe, and the first time she'd planted a seed into the frozen ground, Seychelles had smiled as though it had been one of the happiest moments of her life. Sesel would call their gardening, 'Replenishing the earth.'

However, that alone was not the reason why he invited her to spend the weekend at his house. At first, he had expected her to laugh and hang up on him…but instead she agreed to come over and accepted the plane tickets he had bought for her.

Sesel had been his friend for years and while he did nothing to give her no reason to befriend him, she treated him with respect and defended him against the whispers aimed at him during every World Meeting.

"Seychelles don't you get it!? He's a murdering freak! A monster!"

"How hypocritical of you America! France is a monster. I am a monster. England is a monster. North and South Italy are monsters. The Baltics are monsters. Even your precious brother Canada is a monster. We as countries do not have halos on our heads and as much as you claim to be the hero you're just as much as a monster as we are."

That shut America up for once and he had no choice but to sulk and glare through narrowed blue eyes as Sesel sat back in her seat, silently daring for any of the other nations to challenge her words.

None did and the meeting resumed with no more cruel whispers and disdainful looks.

She did not have to defend him…and yet...and yet he felt warm whenever she did.

"I defended you because we are friends…maybe even family. We are friends right?"

Friends.

Ivan glanced at his watch. Her plane should have arrived over three hours ago, but according to her boss, her flight had been delayed due to technical difficulties on the plane. He missed her…perhaps he wasn't missing her like crazy but he did miss having her laughter fill the halls of his home, her cooking, her shy smiles, and even her stories on how she caught the largest tuna ever.

Now it was almost late evening, and he still had not heard anything from her.

He had called and left a message on her cellphone asking her to contact him when she got in. Ivan had hoped to hear from her last night and was afraid that she had lied about coming over to spend time with him or that she would not come over at all.

He had finally reached the conclusion that there was nothing he could do. It was her life as well as her decision as to what friend/ally she wanted. Being possessive of those closest to him had always been a flaw of his. It did not matter if they were family members, friends, lovers, or ex-lovers he could never find it within himself to fully let anyone in his life go.

Still, the thought of Sesel spending time with someone else made him a little jealous of whomever she was spending it with.

Ivan started walking again, this time back towards the house where a bottle of vodka awaited him. He would take a shower, sit in front of the fireplace, and wait for the call he was anxious to get. He had almost reached the front entrance to his home when he picked up a stick that had been buried in the snow to throw it.

"Mr. Russia?"

Ivan held his hand frozen in midair as his heart began to beating wildly in his chest. General Winter must be playing tricks on him. He had actually thought he heard Sesel call his name.

"Mr. Russia? Ivan?"

Finally accepting that the sound was not a trick of old man Winter, he quickly turned around.

Sesel was standing a few feet away from him all bundled up in a coat and snow boots, with a blue scarf around her neck and a fuzzy-looking hat on her head. Even with all of that, she still looked adorable.

"Sesel? When did you get here?" he asked, relieved to finally see her. His first instinct was to go over there and gather her up in his arms but common sense held him back. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable.

"I came straight from the airport over thirty minutes ago. I saw your car and figured you had to be here. I know it's been years since I've been to Russia but I can still tell when your home and when you're not."

Ivan nodded and watched as she folded her arms nervously across her chest. His brow rose with a question that he really did not want to ask. That look of nervousness did not bode well with him. Had she changed her mind at the last minute and wanted to go back home? A feeling of déjà vu shifted over him.

He would never forget that similar time with Lithuania and the others. That time when everyone left him, Sesel stayed for as long as she could but she eventually left after promising to write him letters. The only good thing that came out of her leaving was that she did keep her promise…he still had a box of letters and pictures tucked safely away under his bed.

"Do you…do you want to be here?"

Smiling, Sesel nodded, thinking Ivan didn't particularly act as though he wanted to see her. In addition, all this time she could not wait to leave the comfort of her island to come see him. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself. Maybe it was too early.

"Sesel?"

"Yes, I didn't come all the way out here to Russia just to have second thoughts."

" Da…let's go inside."

…..

"It feels nice and warm in here," Sesel said as she began to remove her coat, scarf, and hat. Ivan shrugged as he removed his jacket and then nodded toward the fireplace. "You may sit in front of the fire to warm up some more."

Sesel nodded. When she'd first arrived, she'd had other plans on how she wanted to make some tea and sit in front of the fireplace with him so that they could catch up, but now it just felt…awkward being in his home again.

"Thank you," she murmured as she quickly crossed the room to the huge brick fireplace that was emitting a massive amount of heat. She had always been comfortable in his presence…but that was only when he came to visit her country, ate lunch with her, or even when they sat next to each other during a World Meeting.

However, his house was filled with so many memories from the past…both good and bad. She almost felt like she wasn't welcomed. Perhaps it was just jitters. Ivan was nervous when he first came to her home and all it took was his first swimming lesson to get him to open up.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Ivan asked, leaning against a bookcase as he watched her.

The pants she wore looked nice on her, which meant she spent a lot of time dressing up for the weather in Russia. She even wore a turtleneck and had her hair in a little bun not wearing her usual low pigtails. The dark-skinned female knew how to dress for the summer but for winter and autumn, she had trouble getting use to clothing that was made to keep her warm in the cold weather.

He remembered the first time she came to his country to strengthen the relationship between her country and Soviet Russia. She had only worn a light jacket and ended up getting sick from the cold. Ivan had felt sorry for the small nation who had known nothing but the warmth and sunshine back in at her home.

Overall, she looked rather nice.

"Oui, I'd like something to drink."

Sesel's soft voice brought him back around. "Do you want tea or vodka?" he asked.

"I'll have what you're drinking. It is all right. I don't mind the taste anymore…you've given me plenty of lessons on how to properly drink vodka without keeling over from the strong taste of it," she said briefly remembering the time when she foolishly challenged him to a drinking match and lost horribly.

Nodding, Ivan went to the corner of the room where the bar was located. He decided to ask the question that would get a conversation going. "So, how was your trip?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shrug. "It was alright. In fact, I believe it was rather productive and relaxing."

Ivan shook his head, not having a clue what that meant. Therefore, he decided to come at it from a different angle. "Did you and China get to spend time together? If I remember correctly he invited you to tour his country with him."

Now feeling warm enough, Sesel crossed the room to sit down on the sofa. She felt tired. She had left home early only to have to sit and wait all day at the airport for her flight to leave. "No. China had to cancel because he was too busy bugging America to pay him back the money he owes. I wasn't disappointed that he had to cancel…being the world's rising Superpower has made his schedule full."

Ivan turned so his back was completely to her as he drew in a long, silent breath. 'So Yao's been sniffing around her as well…what are you planning China?' As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he became a little ashamed and embarrassed. China had always been a friend of Seychelles…it wasn't strange that he would want to spend time with her.

Shaking his head, Ivan walked over to the couch with a cup of vodka in his hand. "Here you—"

He stopped in midsentence. Sesel had curled up on his sofa and had gone to sleep. Without giving it a second thought, Ivan placed the glass of vodka on the table, than swung Sesel up into his arms, cradling her against his chest, and made his way upstairs towards the guest room.

He gently placed her on the bed, then stood back and studied her sleeping form for several long moments before smiling and bending down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead, fingers running through her dark hair and removing the ribbon that kept her hair in a bun.

He set the ribbon on the nightstand next to her bed before clicking off the lamp and backing out quietly from her room, closing the door with a silent click.

'Friends…do not worry my little Sesel…I'll make your second stay in my home less cold and less stressful for you,' he thought as he made his way down the hall to his own room.

'That's what friends are for da?'

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TBC