For all author's notes please see chapter 1.


CHAPTER THREE: DINNERTIME

Ivan felt someone shaking him, speaking at him loudly in a foreign tongue. He groaned in annoyance and tried to brush off the offending person's hands. The voice quieted for a minute only to return with twice the force.

"BIG NOSE!!"

Ivan jerked awake, eyes wide and frantically looking around as his thoughts rushed to comprehend what was happening. He saw that he had been laying on a sofa with a young girl now standing next to him, brows furrowed and lips in an exaggerated pout with her hands on her hips. Behind her a young boy stood, hands halfway up in the air making a 'calm down' motion at the girl. Ivan blinked as recent events flooded his memory. That's right, he was in his southern neighbour's house where, his bosses had informed him, he would be staying. These were his siblings. Wait, what did the girl just call him?

Ivan gave a pout of his own, bringing his hand up to rub at his nose.

"Big..nose..?"

The girl rolled her eyes in a huff, turning to her brother and muttering something that sounded like "He understands!" before turning back to Ivan.

"Well, it's bigger than our's anyway. Ge-ge said to tell you that dinner's ready."

Ivan wasn't sure what 'ge-ge' meant, but he knew from listening to the previous conversations amongst the siblings that the younger children seemed to all call Yao that.

"Yao? Dinner?" His tummy rumbled at the thought of food.

Finally, the young boy stepped forward cautiously and gave a small bow.

"Erm..yes, you know, food?"

Thinking that Ivan didn't understand the boy gestured with his hands as if he was eating something. Ivan nodded, getting up off the couch. He noticed that someone had placed a warm blanket over him while he had been napping and a fuzzy warm feeling spread through him. The young boy, Kiku was what Yao had called him, took his sister's hand and turned to head for a back room, motioning for Ivan to follow. Ivan straightened his scarf, still around his neck, and attempted to brush some wrinkles out of his shirt before heading after the other two children. A beaded curtain separated a back room from the front lobby, the beads painted in a way so that when seen from a distance looked like the image of a panda bear. Ivan puzzled over this odd looking animal, his own bears back home are all pure white, but figured it must be another of those mystical creatures China must love. China certainly had a lot of them carved into his furniture and used as decors in his place, fierce dragons, elegant phoenixes, looming qilins (9), and other odd creatures that Ivan had no clue what they were. Even at the front entrance of China's place two large stone lions stood guard, warding off enemies and symbolizing the importance of the one who resided within.

Kiku and Wanwan didn't even hesitate before pushing aside the beaded curtain and heading inside. From within a delicious smell wafted towards Ivan making his stomach rumble even more. He had never smelled anything like it before and so he picked up his pace, eagerly peeking into the doorway where he could hear the loud boy - Yong Soo was it?- and Yao's voices chattering away.

"Ge-ge! We brought him!"

Wanwan chirped before snatching what looked like a white ball of something from the table and biting off a mouthful.

"Meimei! Mind your manners, at least sit down before you start eating," Yao, who had been transferring dishes from a wooden box of some sort set on a counter to the round dining table, scolded.

Taiwan continued eating, hopping up on a chair at the same time eyeing the food as Kiku followed suit. From what Ivan could see the table was already nearly full. At least a dozen or so dishes occupied the table, none of which Ivan recognized but it all smelled wonderful. Yao noticed him still in the doorway and smiled kindly, setting two more bowls onto the table before wiping his hands on the apron he wore around his waist.

"Hello Ivan, did you have a good nap?"

Ivan nodded shyly, remembering how he had bawled against China's chest before he fell asleep. He saw Hong abandon his place at the table where he was already seated, climbed down the chair and wandered over to him.

"You O-K?"

The boy tried emphasizing his words as Yao had done receiving a nod from Ivan.

"Yes, ts-tsie tsie." (10)

Hong blinked, confused for a minute, before he smiled.

"You're welcome. Come eat!"

With that settled the boy grabbed Ivan's hand and pulled him towards the table. By this time China had put away the box and had brought out a large bowl filled with something white and steaming. He began scooping up large spoonfuls into each person's bowl as each child looked on eagerly. Hong kept his hold on Ivan's hand and motioned for him to sit to the boy's left, which would leave the Russian between Yao on his left and Hong on his right. On the other side of Hong sat Yong Soo, and then Kiku and finally Wanwan between Kiku and Yao. Yong Soo had long begun to dig in, ignoring the scoldings from Yao and the dirty looks from Wanwan. Yao sat down at his place after having served everyone a bowl of the white stuff and nodded to the children who picked up their two sticks and began eating.

Ivan stared at the two wooden sticks placed beside his bowl in wonderment, then up at the others, trying to see what function they served. He picked them up to see how heavy they weighed and tried to use them, peeking over at Hong from the corner of his eye to attempt and learn on the spot without being too obvious.

Yao chuckled in amusement, he had forgotten that Ivan was most likely unused to chopsticks until he saw the boy look at them in confusion. He watched the boy try them out unsuccessfully, awkwardly fumbling with it. Yao put down his own chopsticks and stood up, walking behind Ivan and then leaned down to take the boy's right hand in his own. He opened the boy's hand and placed the chopsticks in between his fingers as they were suppose to go then closed the tiny hand into a fist over the utensils.

"Like this…and like this…"

Ivan felt his heart race as Yao's large and warm hand closed around his own. He could feel Yao's presence at his back, strong and sturdy. His face flushed, half from having to be shown how to use something that the others clearly had no problems with and half from the proximity of Yao.

"Like this Ivan!"

Wanwan jumped in helpfully, holding up her chopsticks for Ivan to see how she's holding them. Ivan did his best to imitate, tentatively picking up something from a dish but before he could pull his arm back to eat it his hand wavered and the food dropped to the table.

"Or just do this!"

Ivan looked up from where the food lay on the table to see Yong Soo fist his chopsticks and spear it into a piece of meat, triumphantly holding it up. Ivan looked at Yong Soo then at his own chopsticks before looking up to see if Yao was ok with Yong Soo's method. The man had an exasperated expression on his face as he watched Yong Soo, but seeing Ivan's eyes on him he quickly erased the expression, smiling down at the boy and nodding.

"Yes, try that. It might be easier for you. I'll go get you a spoon for the rice"

Knowing that he had Yao's approval Ivan put down one chopstick, holding onto the other one and looked around at the dishes, trying to determine what he wanted to eat first. Kiku, who had been eating quietly the whole time, looked up at him and pointed at one of the dishes.

"That one is phoenix claws…chicken feet. This is green peas, cauliflower, carrots and bok choy, that one has pork and eggplant, and over there that dish has eggs, chicken and tomatoes…"

The boy went through each dish, listing off the ingredients as his siblings jumped in once in awhile to add something. It was the first time Ivan heard the boy speak so much and although he couldn't understand half of the stuff the boy listed he appreciated the effort. By this point Yao had returned with a spoon, setting it down beside Ivan's bowl before returning to his seat. He smiled as he watched the other children attempt to help Ivan and made a mental note to ask his bosses about the kind of food Ivan has in his own country for future references. Usually when foreign guests came Yao would research into their cultures, traditions and histories beforehand so that he could make the guests feel comfortable but Ivan had been more or less a surprise and so Yao had had no time to prepare anything. The boy didn't speak very much and Yao wasn't sure if that was due to shyness, the language barrier or something else, but he was glad to see that his siblings were at least trying their best to make him feel welcome.

By this time the four siblings had resorted to helping Ivan fill his bowl. With 4 enthusiastic kids all trying to help him Ivan's bowl became almost overflowing with food.

"Ok, ok you guys. I think that's enough, he can do it himself."

As everyone resumed their dinner Yao's mind wandered, thinking on what to do for accommodations for Ivan tonight. His house had no lack of rooms to be sure but he didn't feel quite comfortable letting Ivan by himself. He had a feeling the boy would probably feel better if someone else was around given the foreign surroundings. Wanwan's room had two beds that one for her and another that she shared with Hong. Kiku and Yong Soo had their own room with one large bed although Kiku had been asking for a second bed to be put in because apparently Yong Soo liked practicing kung fu in his sleep leaving poor Kiku with bruises in the mornings. That meant the only room for Ivan would be in Yao's room which the man didn't particularly mind as he had shared his bed with his siblings often enough, but he would need to ask Ivan if the boy was ok with it. Smiling as that was settled in his mind he turned his attention back to eating, trying a bit from each dish.

"All done ge-ge! I'm going out to play in the snow!"

"Wah, no fair Yong Soo! Wait for me!"
"Hey, that's rude you know, leaving while others are still eating!"
"Well I'm not waiting for you slow-pokes, it'll be summer before you're done eating you 'old man'"

"Take that back!"
"Only if you admit your breasts are mine!"
"I don't even have breasts you slow child!"
"Go fight outside, the rest of us are still eating."

Yao sighed as he rubbed his forehead. Yong Soo tended to always finish eating first, usually starting before the others have even reached the table and then wolfing down his meal like he hasn't eaten for days. That also meant that the end of dinners were generally noisy as the boy was too impatient to wait for the others to finish.

"Alright, those of you that are done, go and play so the rest of us can finish eating."

With permission to leave granted by Yao, Yong Soo raced off like a bat out of hell with Kiku chasing after him and demanding he take back the 'old man' comment. Hong and Wanwan shoved the rest of their food into their mouth before chasing after the other two, not wanting to miss any potential battles that were about to ensue between the two.

Yao looked down with a sigh, shaking his head. Ivan watched the others run off, looking between the doorway which they ran out of, to the table where most of the dishes remained only half eaten, and Yao.

"You can go play with them if you want. They're probably going outdoors to build snowmen, Yong Soo's been obsessing about making one ever since the first snow fell."

Ivan contemplated his options then shook his head, picking up his spoon and resuming his meal.

"Too cold out, warm here. Snow cold, lots at home, too much."

Yao was surprised, that was the longest sentence – if it could be called that – that he had heard the boy speak so far. He was pleased (and secretly relieved) that the boy seemed to have at least enough grasp on the language to make himself understood, Yao wasn't sure before exactly how much of what had said all this time was actually understandable to the boy.

"Oh really? What else do you have at home?" Yao asked, eager to learn more.

The boy thought for a bit, nibbling on some stew before turning his purple eyes to Yao with excitement.

"Bears! White, no black! Lots! Very fur. And..and…and drink! Yummy, bad first, then yummy. Name vod--voo-vod-ka."

Yao laughed at Ivan's excitement as his home was brought up. Finally the child seemed to act more normal for someone his age. He wasn't 100% positive he understood what the child said – surely the boy cannot mean he had lots of vodka at home, alcohol for such a small body could be lethal – but more-or-less he comprehended. Besides, just seeing the child smile made Yao happy.

Ivan put down his now empty bowl, leaning back in the chair and patted his tummy contently. He had eaten quite a bit but Yao was pleased that he appeared to like the food and wasn't a picky eater.

"Full?"

Ivan nodded in reply, smiling brightly.

"Good food, yummy. No one cook at Ivan house, very lonely."

Yao was startled at the revelation. No one cooked for Ivan at his place? But the boy was so young; he couldn't possibly be expected to cook for himself on a daily basis.

"What do you mean, Ivan? You don't have servants to look after you?"

Ivan's smile faded as he stared intently at the table.

"Ivan's house empty, big, so cold. Sisters visit sometimes, not allowed stay. Ivan used to, not bother anymore, before cry lots but bosses hit. Say cry is baby, not allowed."

Yao wasn't sure how to respond to that. The boy's background was so different from those he knew. Over his long life Yao had seen certain bosses mistreat their national representatives, but Ivan's so young that the mere thought of someone laying a hand on him made Yao's stomach churn. He didn't like it, he didn't like it at all. Reaching over to the boy Yao brushed off a piece of food that had stuck to the corner of Ivan's mouth, causing the boy to look back up at him. Yao inhaled sharply at the look Ivan gave him, such loneliness he rarely saw in someone so young. Usually when a nation was in his or her early years the people treasured it, took pride in it, and especially in the first few generations the bosses were generally capable and impressive human beings that had left their mark in the world's history. In Yao's own long life, the first few emperors of every dynasty were competent, extraordinary, heroes that had fought with their own blood to combat the ailing, previous dynasty. Amongst Yao's people a saying had been formed, "富不过三代", 'fu bu guo san dai' meaning that prosperity never lasted over three generations as the newest members of each family became more spoiled and greedy. Ivan, however, Ivan's no older than Kiku had been when Yao had found him huddled in that bamboo forest. Initially when Kiku had first joined the family he had stared upon everything in wonderment, soaking in everything Yao taught him like a fish thirsting for water, but Ivan's eyes told of very different experiences.

"Wang tsian sheng?" (11)

Ivan's soft voice shook Yao out of his thoughts. He realized he had been staring at the boy with brows furrowed in contemplation, making Ivan squirm in his seat. Yao shook his head as he allowed his lips to curve into a smile, letting a few fingers flitter through Ivan's soft bangs.

"Come on, let's get you washed up and we'll see what the others are up to."

Ivan got the hint, hopping off of the chair and grabbing onto Yao's hand. The man gave Ivan a sense of security he usually only felt when his sisters were around, and Ivan craved it. Even though he had only met the Asian man for a short period of time Ivan had a feeling that he knew the other would never permit harm to befall him. Yao brought him over to a small bucket that was held up by a rack before taking the bucket off the rack and setting it on the ground between the two of them. Squatting down, Yao dipped his hands in and washed them, motioning for Ivan to do the same. The boy followed suit, hands clenching in the cold water. Yao took a piece of cloth that had been hanging on the rack and dried off both his own hands and Ivan's with it, dipping it in the water before dabbing at Ivan's mouth, scrubbing off any sauce remains that stuck to the boy's face. He then reset the bucket on the rack and tossed the cloth onto a counter beside it, recapturing Ivan's hand and leading him out of the dining room. Ivan marvelled at the silky skin of the other man's hand clasped gently around his own smaller one. The fingers were long and slender, with neatly trimmed nails and it was hard to believe that such soft hands were responsible for the rise and fall of such a grand nation.

END CHAPTER 3

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