The Smell of Vodka

Chapter I: An Average Morning

By: FallingBreathless

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia:Axis Powers nor any of the characters. All resemblances to actual people or events are completely coincidental.

Warning: For mature audiences... Yaoi

[if you don't know what this means, then you probably shouldn't be reading.]

"Ah...ouch..Oh God!" The climax hit and two bodies collapsed together in the early morning sun.

"Yao. I love you," whispered the bigger of the two men in a hoarse voice.

The smaller of the two could only smile in response. Yao was pretty sure that his voice was gone. The Russian snuggled next to him had kept him up the entire night, and Yao still had to work that day.

"Come on, Ivan. Time to wake up. I've still got to go to work, aru."

Ivan Braginski was a tall blond with the most particular violet eyes and had a strong liking to Yao, vodka, his metal pipe, and sunflowers.

"No. I don't want you to," Ivan pouted childishly. "Stay here with me, da." As much as the other wanted to, (he would never admit it though), Yao HAD to go to work that day.

"Sorry, I've got a big deal I've got to get today," Yao said, sitting up. Ouch, his backside was sore. He'd have to have a talk with Ivan later that night about how much he could and couldn't handle.

"It's with that damn American isn't it?" demanded the Russian, moving to embrace his love. Yao colored at the intimacy.

"Yes, aru. His name is Alfred, okay? It's really important." Ivan didn't loosen his embrace, and Yao got a little redder.

Yao knew that that Ivan did not like Alfred but business was business and the American company bought many of the movies and commercials Yao's company had designed. After a second, Ivan reluctantly let go of Yao because he loved Yao too much to make the Chinese man unhappy. However, if the American bastard did anything to his Yao, all the vodka in the world wouldn't stop his metal pipe from driving itself into the bastard's skull.

"When are you going to be home," Ivan asked, smiling as he watched his Yao embarrassingly cover himself with the bedsheets, staggering sorely for the bathroom.

"I expect around seven or so," Yao replied.

Ivan sighed. Yao still would not rely on him. He had mentioned supporting Yao a couple of times already, but the other always found away around it. His Yao was too self-reliant, but that's why Ivan loved him.

"Zai Jian, Ivan," Yao yelled as he all but ran out the door. "Also if you get hungry, there's food in the fridge aru!"

Ivan chuckled. Yao still thought that he couldn't feed himself. Anyways he was glad for Yao's attention. Making his way downstairs, Ivan reached for the vodka he'd stored in the cupboard and frowned. His Yao had asked him not to drink so much in case the bondage incident should happen again. That was a disaster. In his drunken frenzy, Ivan had actually tied his Yao to the bed and had fucked him senseless. It was the American who'd actually gone to Yao's rescue. Guilt stabbed at Ivan's abdomen, and he quickly put the vodka back out of sight and out of mind. The things he did for love.

Meanwhile, Yao was definitely late for work. He glanced at his watch as a cab stopped in front of him. He was going to be at least 10 minutes late and his coworker, Arthur Kirkland, was going to have a cow or whatever the British had. The cab pulled to a stop and Yao quickly put on his business air. It wasn't too hard since he was already wearing a sleek black suit and tie. Stepping out, he was immediately spotted by a blond through the large glass walls of the first floor.

"You're late. Don't worry I had you covered, jeez," Arthur muttered as Yao walked into the lobby. Yao smiled. Arthur was always the gentleman, albeit hotheaded.

"Thanks again."

The other turned away embarrassed and mutter a reluctant, "Your welcome." Then, Arthur cleared his throat and quickly got to business.

"Anyways, you have a meeting with Alfred from the LIBERTY company in 20 minutes." He said rolling his eyes at the name of the company. Yao had to agree. American nationalism at its finest. However, Yao chose not to voice his own opinion, as the Brit continued on. "Oh, and before you go there, could you do me a favor?"

This was a first and Yao felt a bit taken aback. "Um, what kind of favor aru?"

"Could you stop by Kiku's office and give him this?" Arthur pressed a folded note into Yao's hands. "Tell him that, it's from...um...from...me." Yao was amazed. Sure he had suspected that Arthur had, had a thing for the secretary but they way he was blushing tomato red at the moment was confirmation.

"A- Sure, I'll help you out on this one," said Yao still in shock. Arthur's head jerked up. He looked like he just had his birthday early.

"Thanks. I owe you one. This means a lot to me mate."

Yao smiled. "Let's call it even aru."

With that, Yao took the note and disappeared into the elevator.

While waiting for his floor, Yao found the time to think about what had just happened. He had already guessed that the Brit was serious about Kiku. He wondered how the recipient of the letter would react. Knowing Kiku, he'd do just about the same thing as Arthur did, blush and stutter. Yao smiled inwardly, that would be fun to watch. It wasn't that Yao hated Kiku or anything, but there was a rift between the two of them over a certain stock incident. And some bitter feelings still remained. The door dinged and Yao exited the elevator compartment. Instead of turning right and going straight to his office like he normally did, he took a left. Fourth door too the right was Kiku's.

The door was open, but he knocked anyways.

"Come in."

Yao strolled into the office and quickly took out Arthur's message. The other Asian guy had removed his reading glasses, startled. Kiku set down his glasses and looked questionably at Yao. Why was Yao in his office? Kiku was caught off guard, and he didn't like it one bit. His room was unsightly.

"Oh, Yao-san it's you," Kiku said making his voice casual, like they visited each other all the time. "How are you doing? Here have a seat, and please excuse the the mess." They used to be like brothers and Yao being there was nostalgic. Yao cleared his throat. Kiku hadn't changed much, and seeing him this close was awkward.

"Yeah, Kiku. Sorry, I'm not really here to visit aru. Arthur wanted me to give this to you." Yao said handing the letter over to Kiku's extended hand. Kiku glanced at it and set it aside. He wasn't interested in the hotheaded British downstairs. Plus, he'd gotten messages from the guy before and the man's handwriting was illegible. What interested him at the moment was Yao.

"Is that the only reason you are visiting?"

Yao had been leaving when that question had completely caught him off guard. He stopped walking and leaned against the door frame. That was a weird question. He didn't know quite what to say; he didn't know what the other meant by the question.

"Yes, aru. It is," Yao said turning back around. Then feeling too harsh he added, "I am glad to see you're doing well. And once again I'm going to tell you that there is no mess. You were always the neat freak aru."

Sitting behind his wooden desk, Kiku was shocked. Paralyzed by the moment, Kiku mechanically gave Yao a goodbye. As Yao left and disappeared from view, Kiku felt the distinct feel of opportunity. Maybe he still had a shot with making things right with Yao.

Yao left feeling deeply shocked. It was too late to take back what he'd said so blushing he had quickly left for his own office. The note he had delivered had just been his excuse to check up on Kiku. Kiku hadn't even cared about Arthur's note. Yao felt stupid. He'd fallen back into the easy talk of the old times, times when Kiku didn't want to kill him. He sighed when he got into his office, a small retreat at work. He'd have that meeting to go to in a few minutes.

And so the first chapter ends...

I hope that you guys will enjoy the story. I wanted to put the characters of Hetalia into the modern times, because that's where we're living. I love the pairing ChinaXRussia, but being a bit of a sadist I might add some angst. So look forward to some twists. I also enjoy the relationships between all of the Asian characters because there is so much history behind them all. As a result, I wanted to depict the complicated relationship between China and Japan. It's really sad actually.

Hopefully, the pace will pick up in the second chapter.

Also since this story is in the works, reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading and your continuing support!