Hey another chapter. I wonder where that came from?
Chapter 4 Sleepovers with Mattie
Matthew lay in his bed awake, the bedside clock read 11:54 pm. For the past few nights he couldn't fall asleep, the same face burned in his vision. 'Where did he go?' Was the most frequent question buzzing in his mind. No matter how much he told himself to forget about it, the same thought still lingered in the farthest reaches of his brain. Trying for the millionth time, Mattie closed his eyes and listened to the pitter-patter of the rain on his window. He slowly drifted in and out of consciousness, but sadly didn't get the relief of deep sleep. In the distance an owl hooted, making the Canadian frown. 'Why must everything remind me of that strange man?'
"I give up." Matthew muttered bitterly and rolled out of bed. "I'm going to go watch TV." Slowly he shuffled across the hardwood floor into the main room where Alfred lay on the couch snoring. The TV was still on, and reflecting unnatural light throughout the whole room. Mattie sighed and rubbed his temples, 'I'm surprised we're not out on the street with all of these expensive electric bills.' He pushed Alfred's legs off the couch and sat down, grabbing the remote from out of the other's hand. The TV flashed as the channel was changed from Adult Swim to a boring nature show. 'Maybe this will help fry my brains enough to get a decent hour of sleep...' His eye lids drooped as he watched the baboons fighting over territory rights. He felt like a fish out at sea jumping in and out of the soft fuzzy water of sleep. Matthew sat on the couch for about 3 hours, in a shallow slumber, before a slight sound coming from his room alerted him.
"Hmm?" The Canadian stood up and walked sluggishly up to his door and walked in. The first thing he noticed, was open window letting in the chilly September breeze. His eyes drifted from the window to a small white bear sitting innocently on his pillow. His body started to shake in fear, 'Someone's in the house!?' A creaking sound came from outside making the blonde let out a small squeak of surprise. Mattie slowly made his way to the open window, his breath hitched in his throat. His gaze traveled all around the outside of the house, nothing out of the ordinary. "I must be going crazy." Matthew sighed holding his palm to his forehead in exhaustion.
"Hello little Matvey~" Came a childish voice above Mattie's head. By reflex the Canadian looked up out of the window frame and yelped in fear at the large man holding onto the side of the house.
"MAPLE!" Matthew felt the window frame shift as he fell face-first out into the night air. The heavy rain droplets stung his face as he was in a short free fall, before he hit the- ground? Instead of hitting cold solid earth, he felt strong arms hold him about an inch from his death. Their touch was as gentle as a cloud, it felt like they were barely touching him in the first place.
"You must be more careful next time Matvey. You could have died, and that wouldn't be good for either of us, da?" Mattie still recovering from shock looked down at the moonlit face holding him. He couldn't help but let a small smile spread onto his face, Ivan had come back for him.
"I-Ivan!" Matthew found himself pushing forward and his feet landing on the soaked ground. He turned around and attacked the tall Russian with a huge hug. "How did you find me?"
"The birds led me. You didn't notice my little pigeon friend flying around outside your house?" Ivan asked and returned the hug happily.
"W-well yes, he was always tapping at my window, I just thought it was seeing it's own reflection..." Mattie stated awkwardly. The Russian chuckled and patted Matthew's head.
"Did you get my gift?" Ivan pointed his finger up at the window his friend fell out of. It took the Canadian a minute to remember what that meant, before he smiled gently.
"Yes, It's really adorable. Thank you."
"I thought I'd give you something to remember me by when I'm not here." Ivan smiled while lifting Mattie up with ease. The blonde let out a small squeak of surprise and frowned. The Russian flew up and hovered near the window, turning the body in his arms to fit through the small space.
"What do you mean? I thought you came back?" Matthew questioned, as he was gently pushed into the window. Ivan gripped the frame, and folded his wings to fit through the best he could. A few black feathers fell onto the ground as his wings scraped against the top of the window. He grumbled and dusted himself off while standing up to face Matthew.
"I can't stay for long. Your 'brother' I am assuming, lives with you."
"What Alfred? He does, but I don't think he'll mind another room mate. He helped Kiku for a while when he couldn't find a home." With all his heart, Mattie had wished that Ivan could have stayed with him when they left the Asylum.
"He'll see me." Ivan grumbled and looked towards his wings anger burning in his eyes.
"You can hide them can't you?" Matthew asked encouragingly.
"It's too much of a risk. No one shall know of what horrors that happened all those years ago." Ivan looked to the ground, remembering terrible events that had happened within those wretched walls. "Don't fret though, I found a shelter not too far from here... I'll visit every week. You'll get to see me every Fri-"
"Please, If it isn't too much..." Mattie's cheeks burned with embarrassment. "C-could you come every night? Y-you know just to give each other company?" He felt hot all over over as he searched for emotion in the Russian's face. Ivan lifted his head up to stare the Canadian in the eyes, a smile stretched across his face..
"That can be arranged~"
They both talked for a while until the sun began to creep up into the sky, signalling Ivan's time to leave. The Russian's eyes traveled from the window to his friend and he smiled warmly.
"Farewell Matvey~ I will be back sooner this time."
"See you later!" Matthew watched as his friend squeezed through the small window again, a smile pulling on his lips. As the man turned his head to look behind himself, Mattie saw a long red scratch across his neck. He tried to hide a frown, while Ivan flew off in the opposite direction of the rising sun. 'I must find him something in return.'
That day when Matthew went shopping he found the most perfect gift, and wrapped it in a small box. 'I hope he likes it...' The Canadian fell heavily onto his bed with a great sigh. He cuddled the small white bear close to himself.
"I can finally get a decent amount of sleep..." He smiled up at the ceiling. His thoughts kept numbly buzzing about what happened the night before. 'Why did I want him to stay with me so bad?' Matthew thought about it for a moment, before an unspoken word came to mind. 'Love?' "N-no it can't be... I practically just met him." A loud thump and loud laughing alerted Mattie that his brother was home from his shift at the coffee shop. He frowned all the thoughts of his friend gone, and replaced by a well earned sleep.
Ivan walked into the safe-house he found, and set a plastic bag onto the wooden table in the main room. He dropped the money he was 'borrowing' from the doctor's room, and fished his arm into the bag. The Russian pulled out a medium sized hardcover book, and opened it up, reading the first page and continuing on. The tall man pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the table, propping up his elbows on it. After reading about five pages he pulled out the other two books he bought. He had a English-Russian translator, to help him read the other books. The two other books were Birds of prey anatomy, and Human psychology. Ivan sighed, and rested his head on the desk, confused by all of the modern things and people he was faced with in the store today. 'Thank god Matvey promised to teach me some of the things I missed.' The thought of being isolated from the outside world for so long, made him shiver. 'It truly is inhuman...' Ivan felt himself slowly feeling more and more depressed by the second. For a few minutes he sat there thinking to himself while the sky darkened. His attention was brought up from the desk, as the room felt colder. 'How long was I out today?' The Russian yawned loudly, and rested his head back down on the table, his expression blank. 'I just need a minute of rest...' He felt his consciousness slipping away, before a very important thought crossed his mind. "Matvey! I'm supposed to meet him tonight!" Ivan grabbed the books and threw them into the plastic bag. He looked down at himself with a frown, then slipped off his coat, and wrapped at around his waist. His reflection in one of the broken mirror's made him sigh. 'I look terrible...' His eyes were blood shot, and dark circles bordered them, adding to the paling effect of his face. Even his wings looked sloppy, and in need of a grooming. The Russian shook his head and rushed out of the old abandoned house just in time as the sun fell out of sight.
Within the shadow's, an intense pair of blue eyes watched Ivan fly off.
"Vanya..."
A loud tapping on Mattie's window forced him awake.
"Hmm?" Matthew rolled out of bed and walked over to the light switch on the wall and flicked it on. He squinted his eyes and slid his glasses on. A familiar face in the window made the Canadian remember. "Oh, hey Ivan!" He said as the Russian opened the window. They both shared a smile while the large man slid through the small space.
"Privet Matvey. Did you sleep well?" Ivan asked as he sat down on Mattie's bed.
"More than usual." The blonde smiled, then titled his head to the side. "What's that?" He asked pointing to the plastic bag held in the Russian's hand. Ivan looked down at it and shrugged.
"I purchased a few books, I thought you might want to help me translate. I am not very accustomed to reading in English." Matthew walked over and sat down next to the other man, understanding stamped onto his face.
"What kind of books?" He asked as Ivan pulled out a dictionary.
"This isn't very helpful..." Ivan sighed with disappointment as he handed the book over to the Canadian. Mattie opened it, and instantly smiled.
"Of course it wouldn't help, this is a Spanish-Russian dictionary." Matthew leaned over and pointed to the word "EspaƱol" printed on the first page.
"O-oh..." Ivan's face glowed with embarrassment. Matthew sat there for a minute numbly thinking about nonsense, before an idea hit him like a smack to the face.
"I could read it..." Mattie paused for a minute embarrassed that he was even offering. "to you...?" He half asked himself and the Russian next to him.
"Da, that would be helpful. Thank you Matvey~" They both sat there for a while, Matthew grabbed the Birds of prey anatomy book and began to read out loud softly, so his brother wouldn't wake up. Every so often the Canadian would make a joke about what he was reading, and they would both be in a fit of laughter.
"W-wait so d-do you poop like a bird or a-a human?" Matthew asked laughing like a hyena. Ivan looked at him, and began to laugh so hard he fell onto the ground shaking. He held his sides, his cheeks turning red from laughing too much.
"N-no... That is... t-to good!" Mattie rolled off the bed too, and continued laughing next to the other man. They both calmed down after a whole minute of laughing, and smiled at each other, mischief gleaming in the other's eyes. A knock at the door made Matthew's heart skip a beat. 'Wait... No, no,no,no, this isn't happening!'
"Hey bro? You ok in there? I heard some laughing and pounding, your not doing... you know what with someone are you?" Alfred asked behind the door with a suspicious tone.
"N-no... It's just a book I'm reading... That's all Al." Matthew was shaking all over, fear building up in his chest.
"Well you wouldn't mind if I came in then, would you?" The american asked, trying to act like a good brother and protect Mattie.
"N-no! That won't be necessary! I'm in bed." The blonde was already shoving Ivan into the closet, whispering apologies.
"I'm coming in." Alfred really didn't like loosing sleep over nothing.
"W-wait!" Matthew pleaded as the American opened the door. Alfred looked down at his brother's bed with a puzzled face. Mattie had grabbed one of the books from off of his bed and crawled into the covers just in time.
"Really?" The younger of the two took the book from his brother's hands and pointed to the cover. "Human Psychology? That stuff isn't funny."
"W-well It is to me, I don't judge you and your horror movies." Matthew grumbled and took the book back, with a scowl.
"Whatever. Just be quiet please, I have the early morning shift tomorrow." Alfred rubbed his temples, aggravated. 'I have the weirdest brother in the world...'
"Goodnight Alfie." The Canadian patted his brother's hand and resumed to 'read' the book in his hands. Alfred sighed heavily and walked out of the room.
"Ya, ya night bro."
'Now you know how I feel around you ALL DAY.' Mattie turned his attention to the closet and whispered. "You can come out now." The door swung open to reveal his friend, covered in dirty clothes.
"I tripped..." The Russian muttered, pulling a worn shirt off his head.
"Could you grab that box from in there too?" The blonde asked, his excitement building up.
"What is it?" Ivan asked lifting the box up and looking it over with childish curiosity.
"A gift for you~" Mattie hummed happily.
"Hmm?" Ivan slowly lifted the top off, a smile slowly spreading across his face. What lie in the box was a long pinkish-beige scarf,neatly placed with care."Matvey is so thoughtful, da?" He set the box down on Mattie's dresser and held the scarf to his chest with the other hand.
"Do you like it?" Matthew already knew the answer, but enjoyed hearing it from his Russian friend.
"Da, I love it~" The taller man wrapped it around his neck, with a content sigh.
The rest of the night, they talked about how things were different in each other's era, and other simple stuff. When dawn came, Matthew felt happier than the last few times to let his friend go.
"Same time tonight?"
"Ya, I'll see you then!" Ivan flew off, just as happy as Mattie had been.
Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, I was really tired updating this at 11 at night. I couldn't think of where I was going with the plot for a while today. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites guys! Until next update~
