Written for the RusAme Back to School Event, Day Two: School Clubs

"Is that Venus?"

"No, I don't think so. It's twinkling. Planets don't twinkle."

"Yeah, that's right. Oh, I found the Big Dipper!"

"Where? Show me!"

Ivan grinned and grabbed Alfred's finger, aiming it skyward. "Right there. See where I'm pointing?"

Alfred tipped his head back, squinting into the starry sky. "I think...oh yeah, I got it! Wow, it's really big."

"Of course. It's the Big Dipper. Why would they call it big if it wasn't?"

"I don't know. People are weird. Hey, is that Orion's Belt?"

"I think so..."

Alfred flopped over backward into the grass with a happy sigh. Joining Astronomy Club was the best idea he'd ever had. Badgering Ivan into joining with him was the second best idea he'd ever had. The club was a small one, consisting only of Kiku, Yong Soo, Ivan and Alfred (and Mr. Wang, who ran the club,) but it was almost better that way. Yong Soo was always hanging off Mr. Wang and Kiku seemed happier staying near those two, which gave Alfred plenty of time to have Ivan all to himself. Best friends were supposed to do everything together, and Alfred wanted to spend all his time with Ivan.

Astronomy Club was even better than Art Club or Book Club, because they got to go on field trips...sort of. Mr. Wang had proposed an overnight event at the school for the club members to do some stargazing, and then camp out in a classroom. At first Alfred's parents didn't want to sign the permission slip (they said third grade was too young for field trips like that,) but they relented after much begging and pleading and promising to help with the dishes every night for a month.

"Do you want to go to space one day, Fredka?" Ivan suddenly asked, breaking into Alfred's thoughts.

"Of course!" he answered brightly. "I'm gonna be an astronaut when I grow up, and I'm gonna discover new planets and meet aliens and everything!"

Ivan glanced up. "Really? But space looks kind of big and lonely."

"Duh, Vanya. You're coming with me!"

Ivan brightened up. "I am?"

"Yup! We're gonna explore space together! But we hafta get really tough and smart first. They only let the best into NASA. And you gotta be really, REALLY brave if you wanna be an astronaut."

"Or cosmonaut," Ivan added.

"Same difference."

"Cosmonauts are better."

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Stop that, both of you!" Mr. Wang called from across the field. "It's time for bed now."

Alfred moaned in protest on principle, but he was honestly getting tired. He rarely stayed up so late. Ivan had been yawning and rubbing his eyes for the past half hour and seemed to be in a similar situation. Obediently they trailed after Mr. Wang like ducklings as the teacher lead the way inside (except for Yong Soo, who insisted on walking next to Mr. Wang and chatting at him the entire time.)

The desks had been moved to the side in their usual classroom to make room for their sleeping bags, and after Mr. Wang walked them to the bathroom down the hall to brush their teeth, the boys finally settled in for bed.

"I'll be in the room next door," Mr. Wang told them as he turned out the lights. "If you need something, come find me first. There will be big trouble if I catch any of you roaming the school without supervision!"

Alfred sighed and snuggled down into his sleeping bag. To his right, Ivan was already dozing off, buried up to his nose in a sleeping bag decorated with constellations. Alfred's own had all the phases of the moon. Their semi-matching sleeping bags had been a Christmas present from Ivan's father when it became clear that the boys had a new obsession with space.

It didn't take long for Alfred to drift off too. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but after some time he awoke suddenly to an eerie creaking noise. Alfred went rigid, straining his ears. Where was the sound coming from? Maybe it was just the building making noises...or maybe it was a ghost. If there was one thing Alfred couldn't stand, it was ghosts. He gulped thickly and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to count sheep. Maybe it was nothing at all. Maybe if he just went back to sleep...

Then Alfred heard it, a ghoulish, haunting whisper. It was a thin sound, too faint to form words, but it chilled Alfred's very bones. He held his breath, forcing himself to be silent and still. If he played dead, the ghost would leave him alone! Except the ghost was dead too, so that probably wouldn't work. He almost screamed when he felt something tap his shoulder. Ghosts weren't supposed to be able to touch people, right? Or maybe this was a really bad kind of ghost.

Alfred sank down into his sleeping bag as he heard the whisper again, a little louder, two raspy syllables. Was the ghost getting closer, or just bolder? Or was it getting angry at Alfred for invading a the place where it died, or whatever ghosts got mad about? How old was this school anyway? Alfred wouldn't have pegged it as the sort of place to harbor ghosts. The tapping started up at his shoulder once more, a little harder and insistent, and there was that voice again-

"Fredka..."

Alfred stopped mid-mental rant. There was only one person who called him 'Fredka,' and he most certainly wasn't a ghost. Gathering up his nerves, he peeked over his shoulder. Ivan stared back, hand still raised to prod Alfred's shoulder again.

Alfred nearly deflated in relief. "Don't do that, Vanya! I thought you were a ghost," he whispered, closing his eyes again now that the crisis was averted.

There was another tap at his shoulder. "Fredka? Wake up..."

Alfred blinked into the dark again. Ivan's eyes looked large and worried. "What's the matter?"

There was an awkward pause. "I have to go."

"Go where?"

"No! I have to...go."

"Oh...oh!" This was most definitely a problem. "Mr. Wang said you gotta go wake him up if you hafta go to the bathroom. You aren't allowed to go by yourself."

"I know," Ivan whined softly.

"Then why don't you go get him?"

Ivan nibbled at his lower lip and finally blurted out, "Will you come with me?"

Just the thought of leaving the sanctuary of his sleeping bag and venturing out into the possibly ghost invested school made Alfred's stomach twist. "C-can't you go by yourself?"

Ivan sunk into his sleeping bag like a turtle retreating into his shell. "It's really really dark," he said faintly. "I-I don't like the dark."

Alfred blinked a few more times, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the lack of light. "Really?" Though now that he thought of it, it made sense. Ivan always had a great number of nightlights around whenever Alfred came over to stay the night.

"Please, Fredka?" Ivan begged. "Please, please?"

Alfred fidgeted nervously. He had to be brave if he wanted to be an astronaut. And true astronauts were good to their friends, right? Yuri Gagarin was a good friend! Alfred read all about it in a book Ivan let him borrow. So if somebody ever hurt Ivan, Alfred was gonna throw a drink in their face. And if Ivan had to pee in the middle of the night in a maybe haunted school, well...

"O-okay," he finally agreed, clambering out of his sleeping bag with trembling legs. "B-b-but you gotta hold my hand, okay? So you don't...get lost or anything. 'Cause it's really dark."

Ivan was on his feet and clutching Alfred's arm in a heartbeat. "Can you see anything?" he whispered.

"Not really," Alfred whispered back. "We'll just walk really slow so we don't trip. Um, have you...heard any funny noises tonight? Like creaky sounds?"

"No. Why?"

"N-no reason. Uh, d-do you think this school might be haunted?"

Ivan stopped their blind stumbling for a moment. "Fredka, are you scared of ghosts?"

"Wh-what? Of course not!" Alfred tried to laugh, a little too loud and a little too high pitched. "I-I'm not scared of some stupid old ghosts..." He started walked again, tugging Ivan along. The sooner they found Mr. Wang, the sooner he could get back in his safe sleeping bag.

"It's okay to be scared," Ivan whispered. "I won't laugh at you. As long as you don't make fun of me either."

"I'm not mean, Vanya. I wouldn't tease you. Not ever!"

"I know," Ivan said softly. Alfred couldn't see in the dark, but it sounded like Ivan was smiling.

They managed to make it out into the hallway without much incident (except for Alfred bumping into a desk once,) and began feeling their way down the hall to Mr. Wang's room. Suddenly, the building gave another spooky creak. Alfred froze in place.

"V-Vanya..." he quavered. "Did...did you hear that?"

Ivan gulped audibly. "I-I think it was just the building making noises."

"But what if it wasn't?"

"Don't worry, Fredka," Ivan said bravely. "I won't let any ghosts hurt you. If any ghost tries to get you, I'll...I'll kick him!"

"You can't kick a ghost! Your foot will go right through 'em!"

"I bet I can kick a ghost. I can kick really hard!"

Alfred had to admit, Ivan could probably kick a ghost if anyone could. He had very strong legs. Everyone always wanted Ivan on their team whenever they played kickball. The thought was encouraging, and Alfred gripped Ivan's hand a little tighter. It was easier to be brave with Ivan at his side.

At long last, they found Mr. Wang's room. The door opened with a squeak that sent a shiver down Alfred's spine, but the soft snoring from within the room was encouraging. Ghosts always stayed away from grownups. Arthur told him that, so it had to be true!

"I don't wanna go in there," Ivan mumbled. It was easy to see why. The room was pitch dark. The boys' classroom had a window to let in a little moonlight, but Mr. Wang's room was as dark as a cave.

"Mr. Wang?" Ivan called quietly, fidgeting at the entrance to the room. "W-wake up, Mr. Wang..."

"Mr. Wang!" Alfred shouted. "Vanya's gotta go to the bathroom!"

"You didn't have to say it that loud!" Ivan whined in embarrassment, but Alfred's method seemed to have done the job. There was a thud and a muffled curse, and a very ruffled looking Mr. Wang finally stepped out of the room.

"You're always so loud, Alfred," he groaned. "What do you need?"

"I like your slippers, Mr. Wang," Ivan said. Alfred glanced down. Their teacher was indeed sporting Hello Kitty slippers.

Mr. Wang colored. "Th-these aren't mine! I'm...borrowing them. From a friend."

"Then I like your friend's slippers," Ivan said simply.

"Never mind that!" Mr. Wang growled. "What on earth did you two wake me up for?"

"Vanya's gotta pee."

"I was going to tell him, Fredka! You're embarrassing me!"

Mr. Wang rubbed his face wearily. "Quiet down, both of you. Come along, Ivan, I'll walk you there. Alfred, you can go back to bed if you don't need to go too."

Alfred hesitated, looking back at the dark, empty hallway before him. "I-I'll wait for Vanya. He probably doesn't want to go back by himself."

Ivan glanced over his shoulder and smiled as Mr. Wang ushered him down the hall. Alfred trailed behind and sat down outside the bathroom to wait until Ivan finally emerged again, looking very relieved.

"All better?" Alfred asked. "Ready to go back to bed now?"

"Ready," Ivan answered, grabbing Alfred's hand again. The way back was faster and easier, now that their eyes had adjusted to the lack of light, but Ivan still held on tightly until they were back at their sleeping bags.

"Thank you, Fredka," Ivan whispered as he crawled back in place.

Alfred squirmed, suddenly feeling oddly shy at the warmth in Ivan's voice. "It's nothing. We gotta look out for each other when we're astronauts too! Space is really dark, right?"

"You mean cosmonauts," Ivan mumbled sleepily, wiggling in his sleeping bag until he was curled right up against Alfred's side. "And there might be space ghosts."

"You can kick 'em for me," Alfred yawned. All the worry about ghosts seemed to fall away with Ivan so close. He snuggled against the warm body through the layers of sleeping bags and drifted back off to sleep.

Author's Notes:
The thing about throwing a drink in someone's face was a reference to the story that Yuri Gagarin threw a drink in Brezhnev's face after his best friend was sent on a suicidal mission. True or not, Gagarin was a legit badass.