Ace sat in the Meeting Hall, chatting up Romano and Spain - though mostly Romano - and trying to figure out their obsession and adoration of tomatoes. They weren't all that the two led on about, so he didn't see the point, especially when the two ate them raw most of the time. Ace was about to give up on the conversation anyway when a shadow loomed over him, causing both the feisty Italian and the bubbly Spaniard to freeze.
"Privet, Ace.",came the deep accented voice, that truly didn't affect Ace as much as it did everyone else. The ravened-brunette turned his head to see a tall figure, much taller and bigger than Ace himself, in a tan outfit that ended with brown boots and started with a scarf that was borderline of pink and white. Above the scarf, was a head of silvery hair and violet eyes, with a nose that was almost too big for the face it was on but still looked appropriate, and a smile that looked like one you'd see on a 4 year old with candy.
"Hello Ivan.",Ace replied, not sure what to expect with this little conversation. The two had never talked before, but Ace would sometimes look around and catch the Russian staring at him, getting a childish smile before the other turned away. Ace really didn't know what everyone's problem was, the only thing Ace could identify as a threat was the pipe he hid somewhere with him all the time. Kind of like Ace's dagger and gun.. Though he didn't pull them out at random times of the meeting, 'kol'ing against whoever tried to make a joke to him.
The huge Russian tilted his head in a nod, as he looked down at the smaller one. Ace glanced to see that the two he was talking with earlier had abandoned him, leaving him on his lonesome. Though he could tell that the other two's attention hadn't moved, they were still watching him to make sure that their friend didn't get squashed like a bug for some reason, and the spontaneous conversation did spark the interest of a good amount of other people. It wasn't unknown that Ace was the sole person that Russia hadn't left his mark on, mostly since the larger had never ever spoken a syllable to the smaller until now.
"How are you today?",Ivan asked suddenly, getting Ace to raise an eyebrow. They never speak before and he doesn't even take the time to introduce himself - even if they know each other it's still etiquette - and instead asks how I'm doing? Why would he even care? Being unaffected by the Russian's presence, and only having what the others made rumors of, Ace was only a fraction tenser as he turned fully to stand face to face with Russia properly.
"I'm doing fine.. Is there a specific reason you suddenly wanted to converse with me?",Ace asked dubiously, feeling like he should get straight to the point or else he was going to smack himself later. Ivan looked surprised that he was that straight-forward, then smiled childishly again as he nodded. "Da."
"Well?",Ace asked, making his voice sound impatient though he really just wanted to talk with someone he understood, not a stranger that made him look like an ant in comparison. Though ants can carry/throw things 100 times their weight.. Wonder how much Ivan weighs. The Russian seemed to falter a little bit at the tone, and decided to go off track, slipping into Russian accidently as he spoke.
"N-nu, vy byli v Tsirka de Ruvaer, pravil'no?",the Russian asked, getting Ace's eyes to narrow and cast a glance around to see if anyone actually understood what Ivan had just said. Seeing as everyone was confused, Ivan noticed and tried to repeat himself in English, but harshly got a hand held up for him to not repeat it.
"Yes.",Ace said, making Ivan understand that he knew what he'd said. Ivan nodded and flexed his hands a bit at his sides, though he kept up a nervous smile. "A-And.. Vy avtor , ne tak li? Vor rozu?",Ivan questioned, getting another confirmation, which was again subtle and watchful, like he really didn't want to be answering or admitting anything. "YA bol'shoy poklonnik. S-So, I was wondering..",Ivan paused for a second and brought out a bouquet of sunflowers, much in the same way he brought his pipe out from nowhere, and held them out to Ace. "Would you go on a date with me?",he asked nervously, making the whole room grow silent, even more so than before since the few people who weren't being quiet to listen previously had just frozen.
Ace simply blinked his eyes once, looking up from his small position at the Russian, who had dropped his smile for once and had a worried face which was rare. The ravened-brunette still didn't understand what was so scary about this guy. He acted like a child, had a baby face no less, wore a PINK SCARF, and was currently holding out flowers for Ace to take, even if the other refused him. Seriously, what is it with everyone saying he's a bad guy? I've been to his country plenty of times, even during War and it wasn't that bad. Some of the people are hard to deal with, but still..
It seemed the whole room was waiting for him to say something, or at least to react. It was dead silent and everyone was looking at him like he'd just gotten a death certificate with his name on it. Ace blinked once more, letting out a breathe and crossing his arms as he shrugged. "Why the hell not?",Ace finally announced, getting shocked looks from everyone in the room, even Russia though his was of happiness as well. "Spasibo! Friday is alright with you, da?",Ivan inquired, moving the bouquet slightly closer to Ace who took it quickly and didn't really know what to do with it. Besides being slightly tense from all the looks he was getting, Ace was rather unaffected, not seeming embarrassed or nervous, or even scared or confused. His cheeks weren't even dusted pink at this point, the whole thing had caught him off guard from that.
"Yeah, that's fine.",Ace agreed, getting another nod from Russia, who had his hands buried in his scarf and ruffling it happily as he didn't know what to do with himself. "I'll go make plans, da? See you Friday night, Ace.",Ivan chimed, practically skipping out of the room, which even if he did Ace wouldn't have judged him for, the demon already knew the power-country was childish, after all.
After the door shut behind Russia, the room clicked the mute button again, everyone letting out the breathe they had been holding or taking one that they didn't know they stopped doing a moment ago. Romano, Spain, America and China all rushed over to him, all having the same face of confusion and worry.
"Ace, are-a you crazy? That's Ivan! Russia!",Romano bellowed, grabbing Ace's shoulders so they looked each other in the eyes. Ace raised his eye-brow again, barely tilting his head.
"And?" "And!? Dude, Ivan's nuts! He's a commie bastard and he's probably going to bash your head in with his pipe once he gets you alone with him!",America announced, flailing his arms with displeasure at the idea of Ivan getting anyone. Spain looked like he knew how serious the conversation was for once, and nodded his head.
"Ace, mi amigo, how could you agree to him? Why did you agree!? Were you scared, or confused, or both, or what!? What's your plan of action now? I didn't think it was possible, but you did something stupider than one of America's ideas to beat global warming!",Spain ranted on, more blubbering and rambling than actually questioning him. Now Ace saw why Romano was annoyed by him, even if the Spaniard is a good guy at heart.
China butted in, putting a hand on one of the shoulders that Romano had removed his own from. "Aiyah.. Ace, I think you got yourself into something serious, aru. Ivan won't appreciate being stood up, aru.",Yao sighed, pitying his small friend, which made Ace furrow his eye-brows and slightly tighten his grip on the bouquet of sunflowers.
"Who said I was going to stand him up? Sorry if you got that impression, but I'm not that kind of person.",Ace said hottily, making Yao flinch. "I didn't mean it like that, aru. It's just, I didn't think you would actually go through with it. Especially with Ivan of all people, aru! I fear for the night..",Yao trailed off, making Ace roll his eyes and move the hand from his shoulder.
A sigh escaped his lips. "I really don't understand what you guys don't like about him so much. He's like a little kid. Well.. A very, very BIG little kid, but still a kid. From what I can tell, he's not mean. He just gave me flowers.. Flowers!",Ace reported, holding up the bouquet higher in case someone couldn't see it clearly. The group simply hung their heads in shame at not informing Ace enough about the threat at hand, before the smallest of the group went off to find a place to put his flowers.
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The proposal for the date was on Monday of all days, which meant Ace still had a whole 4 days, including today, to get ready for it. It also gave everyone else at the meeting 4 days to talk him out of it.
It started the same everyday, Ace would be sitting on the window sill of the meeting hall and looking out over the world while he listened to music until someone came up to him. The first person to come up to him would always be Russia of course, with a big smile on his face and the hint of a blush on his cheeks. He would ask him how he was feeling everyday, like it truly mattered to him that Ace was stable in his health and well-being. Ace would always answer that he was fine, and deny the fact of anyone bothering him, even if every person that entered the room had bothered him lately.
Then Russia would go to his seat and sit next to Canada and Belarus, much to Russia's dismay. Every time that Russia left, he was immediately met with a different person asking him questions or pleading to him quietly, making sure that Russia didn't hear them. In Ace's opinion, China was the most considerate about the situation, though he showed it in an odd way. "Be careful of his hugs, aru. Your so small he may snap you in half, aru!",China had announced once when they were talking during the week, after a short and subtly awkward conversation about what Ace thought about the situation, which was pretty neutral still.
Other people though, were really beginning to bother the ravened-brunette to no extent. America had gone on about how Ivan was a cold bastard, who would do anything to torture someone and cause harm to him. Canada had a biased opinion, what with his Canadian Spirit and hospitality, so it wasn't the most irritating conversation he'd had for the week either. Kumajiro gave him the encouragement of 'give him tons of bear treats, he'll be nicer after that', which Ace didn't understand at all, but he assumed the little one meant that he should keep up the nice attitude towards the other or something like that. Though Kumajiro was completely serious.. Poland and Lithuania came to him also - Poland to advise he wear some 'hipster pink' since it apparently made the guys go nuts in the polish boy's opinion, and Lithuania to warn him about Russia's tendencies which Ace didn't pay much attention to, though he tried since the boy looked utterly terrified and haunted. "I'll keep an eye out for that.",Ace had replied to the Lithuanian, just to reassure him he'd be fine, and also just so that the Lithuanian didn't continue with the list when it looked like he was going to faint.
There were multiple other visits he'd gotten, though on Thursday, he got one that he didn't quite expect. Or rather, he expected it, just not for it to play out like it did. Once Russia walked away from him that morning, with an extra spring in his step, standing behind him had been Belarus, standing straight up and her eyes in their usual gaze. One that looked utterly terrifying and disturbing to anyone that wasn't Ace. He really didn't get scared easy, especially not by a girl just from a scary look. "Come.",she spoke, waving her hand vaguely to the door as the turned to it and started walking away at a brisk pace, letting Ace follow her confusedly.
"Um.. Why exactly am I following you?",Ace was tempted to ask, as they got out the door with a good amount of eyes on the two as they exited - Russia looking terrified and shaking in his seat as Belarus passed him. She turned around sharply, staring him down though he didn't exactly put much emotion into his counter-stare it still didn't waver for a second.
"Big Brother Ivan. You are going to date with him tomorrow, correct?",she finally asked, her voice being blunt and straight to the point, also surprisingly more accented than Russia's was. Ace nodded.
"You are not scared of Brother Russia?",she asked, her gaze sharpening though Ace ignored it as he continued to stare back at her. He nodded again with confidence, though not wanting to very much speak with her. She seemed utterly insane when she was around Ivan, glaring at anyone that got within 10 meters of them, and asking him to marry her constantly. "Why?"
Ace blinked, trying to think of a sufficient answer. "Well, there isn't a reason really. It's just that I don't believe most of the rumors about him, and he doesn't seem that bad. He's pretty sweet, despite what everyone else says.",Ace replied honestly, getting a measured look from Belarus as she scanned him intensely, making Ace feel slightly violated though he didn't voice that opinion. "I think he's just severely misunderstood.",Ace added, suddenly feeling the need to say it.
Belarus gave him a nod after another moment of silence. "I give you blessing.. Only if we get to share.",Belarus announced. Ace understood the sentiment, even if it was a bit twisted, and laughed softly despite himself.
"I doubt that anyone would actually want to marry me, but if it gets to that point then I guess we can share. I think it's legal to have more than one partner in Russia..",Ace trailed, giving a shrug at the end with a smile.Yup, Russia's family is crazy, but he himself is alright. Just misunderstood.. The two went back into the room, Ace smiling and chuckling to himself at the thought of getting married to the man AND having to share him at that. Belarus was being less sharp-edged as she stuck by his side for a couple minutes as he went back to where he usually sat on the window, and bowed her head in farewell before she went back to her seat and job as 'Russia Guard'.
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The meeting had been over for about half an hour, and Russia had been the first to leave since he was triple checking that he had everything ready for tomorrow. Ever since the meeting stopped, people had been continuing to tell him unpleasant and supposedly terrifying things about the person he's going to be going out with. Ace didn't have a temper, but he did have a breaking point and the whole group had finally pushed him to it. After one more insult, Ace stood up abruptly while shoving his chair back so it toppled to the ground angrily.
"Alright, that's enough! If one more person says a single word to me, I'm going to show you how much more screwed up I can be than what your saying HE did!",Ace threatened, making the entire group shut down. No one had EVER seen Ace get angry before, much less at someone else around him, so they were all shocked a bit terrified to see if he could hold up on that threat. "It's no wonder you guys have horror stories of him! So far, all of its been your own fucking fault! All you guys have done is insult him, treat him like a monster, judge him and avoid him like the plague! If everyone did that me constantly then I'd want to kick their ass too!",Ace announced, only getting angrier as his rant went on, not bothering to pay much attention to the wide eyes of fear everyone else around him had at the moment.
"Now look! I didn't get brainwashed to go out with him! He didn't blackmail me, and I haven't hit my head recently! I agreed to go out with him, because unlike all of you pussies, I'm not scared of him and see no reason to be. He hasn't done a damn thing wrong since I've gotten here, which has been a while, and - yeah - he's a little strange. Yeah, his family is a little strange too! But all he does is fucking be himself, be nice to everyone here trying to be there friend, and not say a damn thing mean about anyone else! While every single one of you have been making him look like Death himself! I don't know about you, but the one thing I hate is someone being discriminated because of who they are. If any of you have a problem with that, get ready for something a million times worse than anything you ever thought about him!",Ace hissed, putting venom into every word spoken, and getting all his thoughts out at once about the terrible parts of the people around him. Once he finished, he huffed a big breathe of air and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving a large group of countries who had no doubt pissed themselves, all to rot in their own terror.
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Ace stood in front of the mirror, trying to make himself presentable for a date. He really hadn't given it much thought for the past week, just trying to deal with whatever problem at hand was bothering him that day. Now, he was getting anxious on whether he looked good enough, or if he was right to accept the invitation at all. Yeah, he wasn't scared of Ivan or even fazed by him, the problem was that Ace hadn't been on a lot of dates honestly. He wasn't one for talking to girls, since he found most of them repulsive or annoying, and when it came to guys it was hard to find a decent one that had the same sexuality preference.
He let out a shaky breathe, seeing himself as good enough appearance wise and twiddled his thumbs trying to find something to distract himself.
Finally after 2 minutes of that not working, he decided to do something that always calmed his nerves.. Sing. He didn't think he was very good, but he was alone in the home and had a good amount of time on his hands before Ivan was supposed to pick him up, so why the hell not? Ace breathed a small laugh at himself before singing, recalling those same words as his answer to when the problem began.
-
Ivan stood in front of Ace's door, another bouquet of sunflowers in hand, since Ace did seem to like them before, and he took a breathe to gather his courage and knock on the door. There wasn't an answer and Ivan knocked again, still getting no reply. He could see that a light upstairs was on though, so he knew the other was home.
Not thinking about proper manners, he simply opened the door without knocking again and entered the home quietly. He went around until he found a set of stairs and walked up, trying not to stomp since he had recently realized that's just the way he walks, and he didn't want to bother Ace with him stomping everywhere all the time. As he made his way upstairs he could hear something, and got curious. He got to a door, now hearing the voice clearly and thinking it was beautiful. He wrapped his hand around the door knob and slowly opened it to find Ace on his bed, dressed and ready for the date. But that didn't get Russia's attention, it was the beautiful notes coming from Ace's mouth and the way he was fully focused on scribbling into a notepad in his lap, rocking slightly on his hips as he sang the song smoothly, his eyes dancing slightly as well.
Russia didn't recognize the song, but the way Ace sang it was wonderful. Ivan tried to pry his eyes away so he could focus on what the lyrics were.
Tonight the restless Pie-Pierrot Today, too, the happily dancing Pie-Pierrot
In a circus devoid of an audience,
Plays his flute for the Moon
And then dyes the black into crimson.
Has been freed from the magical cage holding him.
And that wild beast, while jumping through flaming hoops,
Wanders in the streets.
Russia smiled slightly from his choice of song, since it seemed out of character for the one sitting on the other side of the room, though it still somehow fit him perfectly. "I didn't know you sang too.",Ivan voiced, making Ace jump a foot in the air and spin around, looking at him with shock and nervousness. Ivan felt himself frown and furrow his brow slightly as he opened the door a bit more.
"I thought I didn't scare you..",Ivan mumbled sadly, getting a swift shake of the head from Ace. "N-No, I'm not scared of you. You surprised me, that's all. I didn't hear you come in, and I.. I didn't expect anyone to hear my singing..",Ace muttered the last part, getting a childish confusion from the larger of the two.
"But you like singing, da?",Ivan asked, getting a nod out of Ace. "Then why are you surprised for people to hear?" Ace messed with his fingers, lacing and unlacing them as he also messed with the hem of his shirt. Ivan took that as a sign that Ace didn't want to answer and smiled at him, leading him out of the room and outside to the car, on the way finding a way to slip the bouquet into Ace's hands.
"Thank you.",Ace said subconsciously, sniffing them as he climbed into Russia's car and they sped off to their destination. The ravened-brunette looked out the window occasionally, taking note of the environment and seeing that they were going to Russia's house. Out of habit though, he still asked where they were going.
"Going to lovely dinner, da? It sounded nice as first date.",Ivan replied shyly, a blush on his cheeks like every other time they talked and it made Ace smile softly. "Yeah, it does sound nice.",Ace agreed, though he knew the statement meant that there would be a continuation of this first date.
They arrived at Russia's house, which was very big even for him, and Ace felt like he was walking into a mansion instead. They both entered, being greeted by Lithuania and Latvia. "Oh, h-hello Ace.",Lithuania greeted, smiling awkwardly while poor Latvia shivered in his skin, making Ace worry slightly.
"Latvia, are you alright?",Ace asked, taking a step forward and swearing that the little guy was going to pass out. The little one shook his head and ran off at full speed, leaving an apologetic Lithuanian, a 'kol'ing Russian and a very confused Ace in his wake. "Please e-excuse him, he isn't used to having strangers around. N-Not like your a stranger! Just, um.. How about I lead you to where you'll be eating?",Lithuania finally sighed, giving up on speaking casually. Ace just nodded slowly, not sure how to respond anymore, with Ivan at his side and walking confidently, though he still looked quite shy around the smaller.
They made it to a large dining room that was tastefully decorated, with lots of ambiance from candles around the room. "Your homes lovely, Ivan.",Ace announced sheepishly, feeling like he should be doing more in the whole thing. After all, Ivan had been the one to ask him out and he'd planned everything completely on his own, without asking Ace about things but that was alright. Ivan did set up a pretty good mood, if Ace could say so himself. The Russian smiled down at him, looking more natural than the ones he usually put on. "Spasibo."
The two sat at the table, Ace still looking around the room slightly, though he hid it well with only moving his eyes. Every once in a while, his eyes would catch Ivan's - who's eyes never left him once throughout the whole thing - and whenever he did, his face heated up though he would gladly blame it on all the candles.
They were served dinner, and Ace ate quietly, asking Ivan some questions about his country and things about himself, since the two never really talked a lot before this. Ivan would try to ask question back, which sometimes worked like when it came to his books, but most of the time he got a short, blunt answer so he decided the other simply didn't like answering them. Well, if Ace could give him one thing, it was that he could read people better than over half the countries back at the meeting. Soon they finished up the courses, and Ace was sure that he'd messed something up somewhere along the line, since Ivan had changed his glance from one to admiration to curiosity - making Ace wonder if he forgot his table manners or something.
Ivan stood up, gesturing for Ace to follow him, which the smaller of the two obliged, probably looking about the right size to be considered a lost puppy. The two walked down endless corridors, Ace thinking that his house was a maze and not displeased with that fact. Sure, it might get annoying when you try to find the bathroom, but it seemed kind of fun to have a maze for a house. It would certainly entertain him when he had guests come over. Ivan finally stopped at a door, opening it and holding it there so Ace could walk through. After he'd gone in, Ace could see it was a bed-room, immediately stopping and thinking he made a mistake by coming in after all.
The Russian must have seen the surprised, and slightly put off, look on the little Brit's face because he instantly had his eyes widen in realization of what it seemed he was asking. Ivan shook his head quickly. "No, no. You misunderstand. I don't want.. naughty things, now. Never, if it make you unhappy. Never on first date, da?",Ivan spilled out quickly, trying to recover from the misunderstanding and not come off as a pervert. He looked like a child on the outside, but he knew better than a lot of people what innuendos were.
Ace had come out of his post-shocked state and was watching as Ivan stumbled over his lines to get Ace to understand that he didn't mean it. Usually Ace wouldn't have reacted, and continued the act of not wanting to be here if it meant he could get a laugh later, but he really felt like laughing now. So he did, which made Russia stop all together. "Ivan, you don't need to keep trying. I understand, you just surprised me.",Ace coaxed, seeing Ivan relax a lot more. The larger or the two sat on the end of the bed, inviting Ace to sit next to him and they continued to chat, Lithuania coming into the room with a carton of ice-cream and handing it to them. Ace asked if Latvia was better before the country left, smiling lightly as the other said he was fine, just spooked a bit.
Ivan was 'kol'ing in his head about the attention Ace had given him, but thought if Lithuania or Latvia got hurt, then Ace could be saddened about it - so for once, he decided against acting on his impulses. "Ace, sister told me what you did yesterday. When they said things about me, you yelled at everyone.",Ivan stated, making Ace look up at him from his spoon of ice-cream. Ivan had an ice-cream scooper instead of a spoon, but a big boy needs big tools.
"Y-Yeah, I did. I didn't mean to scare anyone, I was just tired of the things they kept saying about you.",Ace admitted, taking another bite of ice-cream to stop himself from having to continue as he stared at his lap. The Russian nodded silently, taking a bite himself.
"Ace, you are only one who ever stood up for me. I thank you, spasibo. But why? You don't know if rumors true or not, da?",Ivan asked tentatively, wondering if he was just driving the other off or not. They'd already had one misunderstanding, he didn't feel like having another. The smaller of the two shrugged, surprising the lovable brute.
"I honestly don't care if the rumors are true or not. You've never done something to hurt me since I've showed up, not even something to scare me. Those things people say about you aren't true, even if you may have hurt a few people, or maimed them, or killed them.. I really don't think you've eaten them, but whatever the case may be.",Ace added as an after thought, though he felt pretty stupid for saying it now. "The only thing you've been to me is sweet, so I see no point in seeing you in any other way.",the ravened-brunette finished up, looking at Ivan from the corner of his eye.
The Russian looked at him with wide eyes, barely blinking though he did manage that a few times, and Ace was beginning to think he'd broken the big lug. If not for two strong arms wrapping around him and crushing him snugly to the Russian's chest as he faintly noticed that the almost-empty carton of ice-cream fell onto the floor from their sudden movement. They stayed like that for a few minutes, and Ace had grown pretty comfortable where he was, not being a push-over, but faintly remembering Yao's comment about the hugs breaking him. Hah! He'd have to prove the Chinese-man wrong about that one.
"I'd love to go on another date. You feel the same, da?",Ivan asked happily, letting his grip loosen just enough for them to see each other's faces as he asked. Ace made a face like he seriously had to think about it, making a small hum. "I may.. If you get me more ice-cream.",the smaller teased, getting a good-hearted laugh out of the big man pinning him to his chest as it tightened again.
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Ace walked into the Meeting Hall on Monday morning, seeing a few people there. He had a neutral face, which he usually did until something got his attention in this place, and he went to sit on the window-sill - seeing the others shudder away from Ivan. A few more people came into the room, all of them focusing on the two by the window who were chatting quietly. All the Axis and Allies were there at this point, and the two decided to raise their voices just so that everyone on the side closest to them could hear.
"We have another date next Friday night, da?",Ivan asked innocently, making all the other Allies tense up, along with the attention of the Axis.
"Mm.. Why the hell not, da?",Ace said with a wink, giggling as all the people in the room face-planted into the floor.
Translations:
Privet : Hello
N-nu, vy byli v Tsirka de Ruvaer, pravil'no : W-Well, you were in the Cirque de Ruvaer, right? [this has stuff to do with the OC not really the story]
Vy avtor , ne tak li? Vor rozu? : You are an author, correct? Theif of the Rose? [this has stuff to do with the OC not really the story]
YA bol'shoy poklonnik. : I am a huge fan.
Spasibo! : Thank you!
Song is 'Pierrot' by Len Kagamine - Vocaloid