Mention of genderbent character because this was originally an essay I had to write for school. I've added and edited a little, but, uh, I got lazy. .w. If you can give any advice or point out mistakes of whatever nature, please do. Rated for allusions, I suppose? Not too great with ratings here.
"Raivis~ Wake up, Raivis~" a singsong voice broke through the heavy fog of sleep clouding the young boy's mind. He slowly sat up, yawing, and found himself staring into the face of his Guardian, Ivan Braginski.
"Gah!" he yelled, backpedalling furiously, squashing up against the multitude of pillows at his back. Ivan simply laughed and ruffled Raivis' hair, getting up from the queen-sized four-poster bed and informing the blonde youth that breakfast was ready.
"Don't eat too much, little one, we have double slot at ten today, and you know how hey tend to be," Raivis nodded mutely, curling his legs under himself, contemplating the day's schedule. Ivan always tried to keep the slots to a maximum of six, one slot being one hour, so as not to make it too tiring.
Ivan was a good Guardian, and rather sweet. He treated Raivis well, buying whatever the boy wanted, and more- seeing as he never really asked for things. They could afford it- after all, in this world where virtually everyone was more or less infertile, people stuck in their youth were in rather great demand.
The Pill had been invented a few centuries ago, and those who had chosen to remain mortal were quickly dying off. As you may have already guessed, the Pill was what one could, metaphorically, call a solid element of water from the mythical Fountain of Eternal Youth.
Those who took it neither visibly aged, nor died of natural causes, but it also had a rather unfortunate side effect, as mentioned before- infertility. Of course, a lot of research had gone into trying to overcome this problem, but a solution had yet to show itself- perhaps it was simply nature's way of preventing severe overpopulation.
What Raivis did was to pretend to be the child of a customer for a certain period of time, but 'children' doing this were required to be under the care of a Guardian as they were technically underage. He himself was unsure of how old he really was, as were most others.
He had no recollection of his birth mother, and his father, but a vague shadow in his memory, had left him at home and never came back. It was assumed that he was unable to take to the pressure of having to raise a child on his own, and because he could no longer stand being pestered by others and mobbed by random strangers, all for a look at an actual baby boy.
Young Ivan had been passing by the house during what was supposed to be a quick trip to the grocery store, when for some inexplicable reason, he felt compelled to go inside. The door was ajar, and when he walked up the steps of the porch it was evident that no one was home. Just in case, he rang the doorbell- multiple times- and when no one answered, he let himself in.
It was in that way he had discovered the beautiful amethyst-eyed toddler, half-conscious on the couch in the living room.
Apparently, he had looked 'so adorable'- 'just like a baby rabbit'- that Ivan couldn't resist taking in the child, who looked like he had yet to eat for some time. In case it was merely a case of negligence and forgetting to lock the door- even though parents had a tendency to try to protect their child at all costs- he left behind a note using stationary he had found in the house, but no one contacted him to demand their son back.
Raivis supposed he was one of the lucky ones. Until a certain age, majority, if not all of the Earth's young children wanted to grow up quickly, but he had heard of those forced to consume the Pill at age three or so- entirely against their own will.
Of course, this was easily brushed off by their Guardians because at that age, 'they don't know what's good for them'. Those Offspring usually ran away in their adolescence, sometimes with the aid of their clients, to hidden underground societies until they were at least twenty-one, the age at which they were free to pick their own Guardian. The details of how they managed or what those societies were like were unknown to him.
A select handful, mostly parents, were truly naïve enough to believe this, but while their Offspring resented stuck at such a young physical age for the rest of their lives ( as it hardly made sense that anyone would want to), if the Guardians maintained their well-meaning attitude, rarely could anyone bring themselves to hold it against them.
Ivan had let him be, giving the boy the freedom to choose whether he wanted to be Immortalised (this term was quite misleading, but it was an ad term which stuck) or not, even though the potential profit margin dropped as he aged, and would disappear entirely once Raivis lost the looks of a 'child'- anyone who looked older than sixteen was out.
Gratitude was what had led Raivis to the decision of being Immortalised at fourteen. He was a relatively bright boy, if his grasp of the home-school syllabus and his test scores were anything to go by, and at that age he properly contemplated what the older man had done for him- as a mere toddler much worse could have happened to him.
So, why not? Raivis' lips quirked up as he remembered the surprised look on the Russian's face when he told him about his decision, and the smile that spread when he mentioned the rationale behind it. He didn't regret it- Ivan never worked him too hard, even giving him days off rather than trying to maximise profit.
Speaking of work… He crawled to the side of the bed and checked the small clock on the bedside table- nine o' clock. Raivis practically fell out of bed and hurried towards the toilet to wash up, then sprinted down the stairs to the living room in a flash, only to somehow stub his toe on the doorway of the dining room and trip.
As he fell, however, he felt strong arms intercept, pulling him upright and into a warm embrace. Ivan's scent was easily recognisable- nothing he could ever place a finger on, but which always comforted him all the same. He slipped his arms around the larger man's torso, and they stood there silently for a few seconds, simply enjoying the presence of the other.
Finally, Raivis pulled back slightly, tilting his head up to ask, 'How…?'
Ivan simply chuckled and replied, 'I could hear you from the moment you stumbled out of bed. When you started making so much noise rushing down the stairs, I got up to make sure you didn't end up running into something like you normally do,'
Raivis looked away, blushing slightly.
"You've always been such a clumsy malchik," Ivan gave his charge one last affectionate squeeze and kissed him on the head, then turned him around by his shoulders and gave him a light push toward the dining table, on the middle of which sat a pot of tea and a plate of finger sandwiches.
"Just eat a little. They may or may not try to stuff you like a Christmas turkey, but I don't want you fainting if they turn out to be some Spartan couple like we had last time."
Raivis nodded and headed towards the kitchen to get a teacup while his Guardian returned to his seat. He returned, poured some tea for himself and was about to sit down and was about to sit down when Ivan said, 'Come here,'
He obeyed, and when he got close enough, Ivan grabbed onto his waist and pulled the Offspring into his lap. Raivis squeaked, lurching forward to counter the effect of the action on his teacup and keep his tea from spilling.
"I- Ivan!"
"Yes~?" the Russian purred into his ear.
A furious blush formed on Raivis' cheeks as he struggled a little in the man's solid grip, after which he twisted to face his Guardian with what he hoped was an appropriately upset look and scolded, "You nearly made me spill my tea!"
Ivan leant forward and whispered, "Tea? Why bother with tea when I can give you something much better?"
Raivis' eyes widened, turning a shade that would have made Romano's Guardian and his tomatoes proud, weakly shoving Ivan away and shuddering slightly at the look in his eyes.
"W-we have clients at ten!"
"Oh, that's right." Ivan sighed, running a hand through his pale blonde hair. "I'd almost forgotten," Shifting Raivis so that he faced the table, he urged, "Go on, then."
Raivis nibbled his way through three of the tiny sandwiches, finished his tea and began to squirm in Ivan's arms.
"Hm? Done already?" The man simply pulled the Latvian closer and snuggled into his back, obviously reluctant to let go.
"Ivan…" Raivis murmured, folding his hands over the ones crossed over his midsection.
He was released at last, and hopped off his 'seat' to dash up to his room for a change of clothes- he pulled on a cashmere sweater and grabbed his jacket, changing into a thicker pair of pants and hurried out, laces on his synthetic fur-lined boots still undone . When he got back to the living room, Ivan was already at the doorway with his coat and scarf on, the car sitting on the icy asphalt behind, growling away.
Both of them slipped into the car, and the pair set off for the house of Raivis' adoptive parents for the morning. As Ivan drove, he filled in the youth on the couple's history- apparently, they had had a child.
He looked at his Guardian, surprised.
"They were both lucky, since the fertility rate of those who have yet to be Immortalised is sitting at the bottom of a very deep well. Their daughter, Feliciana, is still growing, and she left for her German fiancé's home some time ago. She still visits, but Elizeveta is still unused to it."
"Woah. Okay…" Raivis sat back as they took a left turn and what he could only describe as a small mansion loomed ahead. A rather pretty brunette with a flower twisted into her hair was waiting for them as they pulled into the driveway, alongside a more stoic looking man with a slight frown on his face, presumably her husband.
"You're so cute~!" The lady squealed, pinching his cheeks.
Raivis, unused to such outbursts, could only blink as his face was abused by Elizaveta's fingers.
As it turned out, Elizaveta only wanted his presence around the house. She had not wanted any of the standard acting Raivis performed- playing soccer, intentional misbehaviour, studying or however their clients perceived their child would be like.
Which was just as well, as the one thing the cheerful woman had insisted on was stuffing him full of pasta, what he guessed was Feliciana's favourite food.
Roderich, as he found out the husband's name to be, had changed into an ancient-looking shirt and a pair of shorts, announcing that he was going to fix the leaking pipe under the bathroom sink soon after they arrived. Ivan had offered his help, with Roderich gladly accepting.
Meanwhile, Raivis was lying out in the back yard, staring up into the sky. He wondered, as he watched the clouds pass by, how leaking sinks were fixed. What did they do, stick clay dough into cracks? Then he frowned- there was something in the back of his mind, eating at him. After thinking hard for some time and to no avail, he gave up and pushed whatever thought that was annoying him away.
Raivis picked himself off the ground, brushing off the grass and dirt that clung to him and went into the house to explore. He smiled at Elizaveta as they crossed paths in the living room, the mother carrying a tray with two cups of tea and vol-au-vents on a small platter.
Wandering around some more, he marvelled at the beautiful, well-put-together rooms with rather expensive-looking furniture. Elizaveta was really a nice woman, Raivis thought, for hiring him and leaving him free to do what he wanted. His rates, like other Offspring, weren't exactly low. Still, they certainly looked as though they could afford it.
As if on cue, a sharp shriek pierced through the peaceful atmosphere, startling the amethyst-eyes boy. Alarmed, he ran back into the living room and up the main staircase, which he had seen Elizaveta ascend. He was unsure of how many toilets there were in the large house, but he simply followed the direction he had heard the scream come from.
He stopped short when, after dashing into the corridor on the right, he noticed his current employer lying still on the ground, Ivan standing in the doorway of the toilet, carrying a faucet pipe and grinning. At the snapped look on his Guardian's face, his eyes widened in shock and terror- and suddenly memories came flooding back, all quite terrifying.
He could remember the sheer magnitude of the fear he felt when the man approached him with a mad grin on his face, a similar faucet pipe in hand. He recalled how he was sometimes picked up- Ivan was strong, almost unnaturally so- and his head and feet would be pulled at, not dissimilar to an accordion being played. And the times he had been forcefully thrown down on a bed, pushed up against the wall-
There were many more situations, to say the least, and the horror of it all set him shaking like a leaf. The most recent of the series of freshly uncovered memories was when he had accidentally dropped a plate, shattering it and Ivan had decided, unsurprisingly, to punish him. It was the worst he could remember enduring, so he assumed that he had lost conciousness and slipped into a coma, suffering to amnesia due to that blow to the head- he winced at the memory of it- which he now knew Ivan was not beneath doling out.
Raivis stood there, in shock yet with his body still shaking violently from fear and trepidation, unable to do anything but watch as the man who could be the devil himself approached him, blood spattered over his coat. There were more splotches on his face and on the pipe. Somehow, the glint in those eyes was the most terrifying part of it all.
"Raivis~" Ivan sang out, his grin wider than ever as he adjusted his grip on the pipe.