Chapter Two
Luckily for Arthur, the meeting had ended just as Alfred was about halfway through his rant about low-quality fast food. Arthur tried his best not to scoff and roll his eyes the whole first minutes, as the subject highly annoyed him. (Who actually thought fast food was supposed to be high-quality!?) But at least it was better than how break had went.
After inviting himself to Ivan's table and practically forcing himself onto the poor Russian man, he had scored a seat where he sat in uncomfortable silence for twenty minutes until Ludwig had started the meeting again. Twenty minutes of sitting in silence as Ivan quietly flipped through his newspaper and Arthur shifted awkwardly in his seat as he stared at his shoes, his hands, anything but Ivan's violet eyes that peeked curiously up over his paper every few minutes. It would've been fine, if he could have forgotten about it, but it continued to play over and over in his head, causing him to cringe each time. He had tried to make it up by flashing friendly smiles over at Ivan during the last few minutes, but each time, Ivan either frowned with puzzlement or glared and quickly looked away. Lovely. He had probably just made enemies with a not completely sane country.
Arthur's disappointment only worsened as he stepped from the building and spotted the dark storm clouds rolling in, thunder rumbling along with it. Not soon after, fat, cold, raindrops began to plummet from the sky, quickly wetting the ground and Arthur's blonde hair. Looking around with growing disappointment, he soon realized that the two people he would be able to hitch a ride with were already gone, Alfred speeding away in whatever sports car he had gotten over the week and Francis pedaling away on his bicycle with an umbrella in tow. There was always Lukas, but he was already being dragged away by Mathias who decided to have a conversation at the top of his lungs.
"Excuse me."
Arthur muttered angrily under his breath and whipped around, about to go off on whoever dared pushed him aside while he was in a bad mood. Only to find, once again, Ivan towering over him with a cold frown. Twice in a day. What luck!
"Ivan! Hello! Sorry, I'll, uh, get out of the way." Arthur quickly stepped to the side, watching as Ivan muttered his thanks and quickly headed to the parking lot as rain dotted his thick coat. An idea popped into Arthur's head, but it was risky, and he had to execute it fast before Ivan had walked away. Arthur paused, then took a deep breath. Time to be brave. "Er, Ivan! Wait just a moment! I hate to be a bother, but, is there any chance I could get a ride with you?"
Ivan stopped in his tracks. "I...I suppose, come on."
Arthur's heart was beating fearfully fast as he sat completely stiff in the passenger seat of Ivan's car. He tried to keep his anxiety of being crammed into a car with Russia himself low-key by instead listening to the music blaring from the speakers, not understanding a word of what was playing. He was a bit surprised by Ivan's music taste too, Rap and Pop, which seemed...off.
"I noticed your sisters weren't around today." Arthur mentioned meekly, only hoping to shatter the almost choking silence. Ivan kept his eyes fixed on the road, his mouth in a tight, straight, line. "Ah. Yes. Natalia was off doing business and Irunya...Well, Irunya seems to be a bit upset with me." He muttered gloomily.
Arthur felt the corners of his lips tug upward, as it was quite funny to see Ivan looking like a dejected puppy. "She never stays mad for long. It was just a stupid little argument." Ivan added hopefully, in which earned a muffled snicker from Arthur. "Mm. I suppose that's right. Natalia is the one who holds a grudge." Arthur agreed. Ivan frowned, his gaze traveling to Arthur, who had a goofy smile across his face. Ivan's frown softened into a comfortable smile, and the two lapsed into a peaceful silence.
It was nice having the meeting in London for once, for it took only a few minutes for the car to sputter to a stop in front of Arthur's house. However, the trip surprisingly hadn't been so bad. The quiet was okay, and Arthur felt strangely more comfortable when he saw that Ivan was smiling along with him. Arthur pulled his coat closer to him as he swung open the door, and he paused to turn around and shoot a grin over at Ivan. "I really appreciate the ride, I can't thank you enough! I mean it." Arthur waited as Ivan gave a nod of his head before he turned and walked up to his doorsteps.
"Er...Arthur? Wait just a moment."
Arthur froze, the shock settling in that Ivan was actually speaking to him. He quickly turned around, a stupidly puzzled expression on his face. "Y-Yes?" Arthur tilted his head to the side, feeling himself eager for a reply. Ivan was leaning half-out the rolled down window, one arm casually draped over the side of the car, but his eyes displayed a strange bit of nervousness. He stayed quiet for a moment, as if debating whenever or not he should speak his mind. "I, erm, I was wondering if you'd like to grab a drink maybe…" Ivan glanced from Arthur to the steering wheel, taking a sharp breath as he waited tensely. Arthur still felt the cold shock flood through him, but he couldn't help but feel a cheerful grin ripple across his face and he paused to dig in his pockets for a scrap of paper before walking back over to Ivan's car. Even if it was Russia, a drink was never something to turn down.
"Yeah, totally. Here. There's a nice bar down the road, The Royal Peasant. This Saturday perhaps? 8:00?" Arthur scribbled the details onto the ripped piece of paper, slipping it to Ivan, who was staring at him with surprised wide eyes. "Um, дa! That sounds...great. I will see you then, then." Ivan paused, as if he were about to say something more. "Bye Engl-Arthur. Goodbye." Ivan smiled shyly and gave a small wave as he rolled up the window, pulling out of Arthur's driveway and advancing down the road.
Meanwhile, while Arthur had gone inside to make himself a 'cuppa, Ivan still had a smile on his face as he drove back to his hotel. After all, he had just made a friend.
A true friend.
