/ Sorry if Ivan is very OoC in this chapter. I hope you still enjoy it, though. :) /

CHAPTER TWO

A Sunflower in the Winter

Ivan stared at the dark grey skies of his town. He didn't know why he found it so interesting now, especially since it hasn't really changed at all. But then again, if you're going to see the same scenery for as long as you live anyway, might as well enjoy it.

A cold breeze blew and Ivan buried his face into his lavender scarf. Why was he even out of the house in this weather? He should be at home, drinking vodka and polishing his pipe. But here he was, standing in the middle of a snowy field, his long scarf fluttering in the wind.

He didn't know what, but something had compelled him to go outside. It was a silly notion, he knew, but he trusted his gut. If his gut tells him that there's something important out there, no matter how unlikely, then there must be.

Something suddenly caught his keen eye and his head quickly snapped to where he thought it was. He saw nothing but falling snow, but he knew he saw something. Something... Yellow? How can there be something in this cold barren land that's yellow?

Ivan started trudging to where he thought something had fallen. He still didn't know what he was looking for, nor did he know where to look. But at least he managed to narrow down his search into one general direction, and well, he just had to look for something yellow. Though looking for such would probably be troublesome. The snow piles up too quickly and would cover up anything on the ground that isn't moving.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the snow shift slightly. Anyone would have missed it, but not him. Nothing could get past his eyes.

Once he found the spot where he saw the shift, he started digging. It took him about six to seven minutes to find that particular spot, so he calculated that whatever it was that he saw was already buried in about half a meter of snow. Not wanting to keep the "thing" buried, he picked up his pace.

Soon, his hands brushed something soft, and he gently removed the snow from whatever it was that was buried there. The first few taps uncovered something yellow, blonde hair. Quickly realizing that it was probably a "someone" and not a "something", he started to dig even faster.

Ivan stared at what he had just found. It was a man. He had blonde hair and really thick eyebrows. But those didn't exactly interest him at that time. All he could look at was the man's lips, which seemed to be turning purple in the cold.

Ivan took the lavender scarf off of his neck and wrapped it around the man. He was obviously not dressed up for the weather. But Ivan didn't dwell on that much either. All he could think of was getting the man out of the freezing cold.

He picked the man up and marveled at how small and light he was. Ivan briefly wondered where the man could possibly come from before sprinting towards his house.

~.;*;.~

Ivan stared at the stranger on his bed, his eyes taking in what he didn't have a chance to deeply observe out in the plains. A pink tinged the man's undoubtedly soft cheeks and... Wait. What? Why had he said that?

He mentally slapped himself for that earlier remark and let his eyes wander around the stranger's face once more. They finally rested on a pair of plump lips that looked so soft and kissable...

Ivan couldn't help but physically slap himself that time. What was wrong with him? He couldn't be finding this stranger attractive, especially since that stranger is a man. He just doesn't swing that way.

Or does he?

He growled in frustration. Why was he questioning his sexuality now? He was sure that the attraction would pass, that he would go back to his old self again after a few moments, but that didn't happen. Ivan found himself attracted more and more to the man the longer he looked. More than once he found himself wanting to kiss the stranger, and the more he thought of it the more frustrated he got.

After a few more moments, he couldn't take it anymore. He inched closer to the man on his bed and brought his face close. He told himself that he was just going to take a look, but even with the self-control that he had, he still found it hard to restrain himself. And as much as he didn't want to compare himself to Sleeping Beauty's prince, Ivan did exactly what he did in the story: he kissed the "princess" on the bed.

He found the man's lips softer than they looked and he didn't want to let go. He thought of the awkwardness of it all, and decided to open his eyes, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

The man had woken up and is staring at Ivan with wide eyes. And the shocked look on those bright green eyes only mesmerized him more.

/ I wasn't sure whether to end this chapter with the kiss itself or this, but I really wanted to end it with that last line. :) Please review.! /