Alfred busted the door down. It was a simple feat; really, Ivan's doors weren't the strongest. Sure, he was paranoid, but somehow he lacked the first basic defense, a door.
"I know you're in here," Alfred shouted as he ran through the house, "Come out!"
He was met with silence. Fine. If that's the way he wanted to play, then two could play at that game. Alfred walked through the house quietly, listening for any sounds of Ivan's breathing. Granted, Alfred wasn't a very good spy, sneaking was not his strong point. He went up the stairs. Upon reaching the seventh step the floor creaked loudly.
"Shit!" he shouted softly.
A quiet laughter came from the closet at the end of the hallway.
"So that's where you are."
All stealthiness forgotten, Alfred ran to the closet and flung it open. Ivan sat huddled in a corner, laughing softly.
"HA!" Alfred shouted, "I found you now scoot over."
Ivan complied and moved over a little bit to make more room for Alfred in the tiny hall closet. Alfred sat himself down and shut the door, covering them both in complete darkness.
"How did you find me?" Ivan asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You laughed at me," Alfred replied.
"You were trying to be sneaky, da?" Alfred could almost see Ivan's grin, "You are not very good at it, I think."
"Like you could do better," Alfred grumbled.
"You are the only one to have found me," Ivan said, if possible, even softer, "In the hour I've sat here, you found me first."
"Ivan, come on, we're playing the most epic Sardine game in the history of ever," Alfred said, "Every nation in the world can go anywhere in the world to find one person: you."
"But you found me first," Ivan was stalwart in his statement, "It has only been an hour, but the game will last a few months, and you have found me first."
"Yes, I did," Alfred said, ignoring the blush that rose to his cheeks. He stared into the darkness and hopefully away from Ivan. Who knows when someone else is going to find them? His thoughts were somewhat distracted when he felt a cool hand on his own and a warm breath whisper in his ear.
"Thank you."
He turned around quickly, feeling Ivan's breath on his lips, "For what? For finding you first? It's just a hero's job, you can't expect me to slack on that…"
"Nyet, I suppose not," Alfred felt his lips tingle as he felt Ivan's breath ghost over them, "But better you than England, or France, or China, or Lithuania, or—"
Ivan was suddenly cut off as he felt Alfred's soft, warm lips press to his own. Almost as instantly as it started it stopped. Alfred pulled back and Ivan could feel the heat radiating from his face.
"You know…" Ivan said, trailing his hand up Alfred's arm, "I suppose there is another good reason you found me first."
Alfred couldn't trust himself to speak, so he nodded, forgetting for a moment that it was pitch-black. However, Ivan knew what Alfred meant and leaned forward, pressing their mouths together once again. Instead of pulling away, this time Alfred tangled his fingers into Ivan's soft, ash blond hair and pulled him closer, his lips parting slightly. Ivan took this advantage and slowly wormed his tongue into Alfred's mouth. The other moaned appreciatively and pulled Ivan closer until their bodies were pressed flush against each other. Ivan meanwhile was gently exploring Alfred's mouth, probing here and there, waiting for the tug on his hair that he had found a sweet spot, then logging that spot away into his memory. Slowly Ivan began to slowly trail his kisses down Alfred's neck, sucking and biting and memorizing every sound that came from the blond's mouth. When he came to the junction between the neck and the shoulder he bit down, hard enough to draw blood. Alfred gasped in pain, then in bliss as Ivan swiped his tongue over it. Alfred pulled Ivan's head up until their mouths met again, biting and passionate.
Suddenly, the closet was filled with light and the two fell out onto the floor to a pair of red converse sneakers. Their eyes traveled up the blue jeans to the red hoodie, the polar bear wrapped up tight in arms of a blond man with an odd curl flying away from the rest of his face.
"Hey Birdie!" a voice called out, "Find them yet?"
Alfred looked up at his twin brother, begging him with his eyes not to say anything. Ivan looked pleasantly amused. Matthew looked torn between letting them get on with it, or telling Gilbert that yes, he had found them.
"Birdie where are you?" Gilbert's calls were coming closer.
Matthew and Alfred still stared at each other, locked in a showdown. A silverette came up the stairs and put an arm around Matthew.
"I've been looking all over this creepy house for you, not like I was scared or anything, the awesome me is never scared, anyway, did you find th—WHOA!"
Gilbert, having just caught sight of the questionable position Ivan and Alfred were in, proceeded to laugh his ass off.
"Oh man, I can't believe Matthew caught you guys!" Gilbert said between laughs. Alfred steadily getting redder and Ivan looking more and more pleased, "I mean, c'mon, in a closet?"
"I was hiding there," Ivan said sweetly with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Alfred found me, I see nothing wrong with that."
"If you don't mind me interrupting," Alfred cut off Ivan, "I kind of don't want the four of us hiding in one closet."
"I hear ya there!" Gilbert agreed, fist bumping with Alfred, "But it's getting kinda late, the others were talking about hittin' the hay, but the awesome me couldn't give up yet!"
"Of course," Ivan said in his sickly sweet voice, like cyanide covered in honey, "I suppose the three of you will have to stay at my house until tomorrow when we shall continue the game, da?"
"Guess so," Alfred smiled, "Shall we go?"
Ivan smiled and he and Alfred left for the bedroom.
"Is it just me, or does it feel like Ivan offered to be sardine to see if he could get everyone to become one with Russia?" Matthew looked up to Gilbert.
"Eh, maybe," Gilbert shrugged, "But why don't we follow their example and go find ourselves a nice bed? That sounds awesome if you ask me."
"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Matthew said, "It won't be long before we're gonna have to share the house, eh?"
"Exactly," Gilbert grinned wickedly.