YAY! Finally I updated. I'm so sorry it took so long, like mondo, uber sorry. But no worries, I'm not leaving this story. Thinks have been rough the last month but I finally finished up chapter 10, so enjoy!
Chapter 10
To: star-spangled_hero
From: g-jones-=-=.net
Dear Amelia,
Thanks so much for sending us a copy of your debate. It's really refreshing seeing you branching out to new schools of thought. Speaking of, we had a community rally back here in AMERICA and read that communistic garbage you wrote on your own accord aloud and then burned it. Along with an effigy of you. It was beautiful. JPBkgarew
And fictional. Sorry. We're very proud of you and all your accomplishments. And we framed the stupid speech.
…
You're lucky your mom likes you and made me write that. Sheesh, she hits like a man. It's kind of sexy. Guys like tough girls, sweetie.
…
I just told your mom that and she hit me again.
Love.
We did though. Frame the speech, I mean. I think all our friends kind of wish we did burn it from how much we shove it in their puny, insignificant faces. Sorry, that was small of me. Not my fault I have an awesome daughter.
How's everyone doing up there? Studying going okay? Your little schedule thing said finals are in about six weeks. Don't muck those up. Aren't you guys planning trips to Rome soon, too? Don't get overwhelmed. Or flunk out. At least until after Parent's Weekend. I'm treating this as my 24th anniversary present.
Keep looking out for mom's packages, she seems to think the influence of novelty candy and mementos is a source of strength. Though she's promised to stop with the Swedish Fish. And I talked her out of sending maple syrup. Just maple syrup. A bottle of maple syrup. Like, what's Maddie going to do, stick a straw in it?
Are you getting along with that Russian kid? From your last couple of emails, I'm not sure what my stance towards him should be. He seems smart though. Anyone who can make my Amelia defend communism is either a heartless manipulator or someone who can talk some sense into you, aka the strongest kind of person that's probably ever walked the earth.
The thanksgiving sounds like it went great! Don't worry about us, sweetie. You sounded kinda panicked, but really it's fine, we'll have plenty thanksgivings together! We ended up venturing to Canada to see some of your mom's family. Matt couldn't get home from school either, so don't worry about him feeling left out without his favorite cousin. He's doing fine and your aunt says he can't wait to see you at Christmas.
Alright, I'll talk to you soon, sweetheart. Mom sends her love!
Dad
Amelia's eyes burned as she ground the heel of her hand deep into her sockets. Just two days after Thanksgiving Arthur had given her a world class lecture about procrastination and studying that kind of made her want to wring his scrawny neck.
"No one is studying for finals yet, Artie," she'd grunted around a mouthful of tapas. As if to illustrate her point, she swept a hand over to Antonio, who was absorbed in his attempt to drink a muffin through a straw. Correction. His fourth attempt.
"People who aren't going anywhere and life aren't studying for finals," Arthur retorted, raising his voice a degree. Amelia gwaffed as Antonio flipped him the bird without looking up.
"Chillax, man, finals aren't going to kill us."
"No way are you going on the class trip if you haven't studied enough," Arthur pursed his lips.
Amelia's eyebrows rose a fraction. She'd forgotten about that. "Dude, that's like, three weeks away though."
Arthur shrugged. "You could risk it, I suppose. It's only the first opportunity we get to experience the city and if you don't study you might be expelled and never get that chance again and—"
"Alright, alright. I dig Artie."
He sputtered to a stop as Amelia thumped him on the back.
"Fuck you," he choked against his dinner.
But Jesus Christ, 200 pages of reviewing Poli Sci on top of Zwingli's crass lecture? No offense to her professor, but Amelia was only enthralled by his teaching…well, when he wasn't teaching. His little offhand comments about animals and stories about his little sister were always cute, and Amelia lived for the days when he'd catch students trying to take shortcuts and threaten them with his prized rifle. But this…studying shit had to stop.
Her textbook made an indignant thumb as it hit the floor, like it took offense to Amelia throwing it across the room. Whatever. She was tired of that shit. A dull throb drummed against her forehead; she needed a break. Preferably a break that including hitting something or venting from a couch. The watch she'd thrown off after her afternoon class only read 4:12, and Amelia's stomach sank a degree. Antonio, Arthur, and Kiku all had later classes on Tuesdays that had probably just gotten out.
Worth a shot, she thought halfheartedly as she reached for her phone.
Amelia: wanna hang? i can bring tea or whatev
Artie: sorry. Got slammed w/ lit project. Going to library. Avoiding disctraction.
Amelia exhaled sharply. Most people she wouldn't mind hanging around while they studied, like Antonio or Feli, but Artie was another story. It was like trying to make conversation with a hostile brick wall.
Amelia: Kiks! Heard they got some new subbed stuff in the media room!
Her feeble hopes didn't have to wait long to be crushed.
Kiks: I have an engineering workshop to prepare for. I'm sorry, perhaps we can go another time.
Amelia shook her head as she wiggled out of her skirt and hopped into a pair of shorts. Doing work instead of hanging with her or watching anime. Nerds.
Antonio never responded to any of her texts. Bastard was probably sleeping off his classroom vibes. Her thumb hovered over one of her newer contacts. After astronomy the day after Thanksgiving she'd half playfully and half nauseously asked for Ivan's number. She hadn't done anything with it.
It was intimidating. A way right to him. Two seconds and she could ask him to go for a run or if he wanted to get something to eat. And it terrified her for some reason. She could handle Artie or Kiks blowing her off. But considering how easily they went at each other's throats—and for the stupidest reasons—it seemed like anything could unravel the feeble foundation she and Ivan had set up just a little while ago. Amelia grabbed her iPod and crammed on tennis shoes, alone time in the gym it was.
…After slipping past room 3 as silently as possible. Since the Thanksgiving Incident the previous week, Amelia nearly held her breath anytime she ventured outside her dorm alone. It wasn't like she hated Eliza or anything. She'd kind of calmed down after Maddie had pulled her off of the screaming Hungarian, threatening to burn Amelia's dog-eared copy of The Hobbit if she didn't get a hold of yourself goddammit, Amelia!
Still, just because she could see Eliza around campus without jumping down her throat didn't mean Amelia was ready to get all buddy-buddy with her right away. She was above Alvarez in the Amelia's book, which was enough for her to be tolerable. But just barely.
Amelia finally padded down to the main door and motherfucking immediately regretted wearing shorts in the last weeks of fall. A rattling noise from her teeth clicking together started almost instantly and Amelia swore under her breath. Italy was supposed to be mild, dammit! But it seemed the cold snaps and morning frost from the past few days had settled in quick, and winter was well on its way. Fuck. Amelia started jogging to keep warm.
The library was well lit, a sanctuary that tempted Amelia as she passed by to stop and just put up with Arthur for the sake of not freezing her ass off.
Then she thought of having him either a) ignore her or b) start explaining literary devices and going off on tangents about imperial history or how some new translation of Latin changed the pronunciation of a spell in Harry Potter. And Amelia's head wanted to explode.
A sharp gust of wind ripped through Amelia's long-sleeved t shirt and shit, it was time to nut up or turn back. She burst into a sprint, shoving past stray students who were smartly bundled up. She nearly flattened the guy from Latvia.
Amelia's skin almost started steaming as she slammed the glass door behind her. She smiled and flexed her fingers to make sure they hadn't suffered from like, nerve damage or anything. You're being a drama queen, a voice in her head sounded surprisingly like Arthur.
"Shut up," she said aloud. No one was around at this time of the day to question her sanity.
The boxing equipment was always a sight for her eyes, and looked like Mecca for an Amelia dying to sink her fists into something. She pushed her sleeves up and kind of wished Ludwig or Ivan was hanging around somewhere. Usually Ludwig was more of a friend of a friend, but he was an awesome work out buddy. And Ivan…
She shrugged, as if to convince herself to brush it off as she jammed her ear buds in.
Ivan had been…a roller coaster this year. That was for sure. And now they were supposed to be friends. Friends. Friends was good. Amelia knew how to deal with friends. You bugged friends and you could motherfucking shoot them a text asking to hang out with them and you could talk to them for more than a minute without wondering if you'd ever weasel a hug out of them again. Amelia kept herself up at night wondering maybe what would happen if she were brave like Antonio or, God forbid, Francis…
Friends are not supposed to be this complicated. Her fists ached a little as she threw a harsh combo Ludwig had taught her, and she kind of hated that she was alone. Sometimes solitude was tolerable, but a low ache in her stomach made her wish for noise or someone she could nod to or something. Heroes needed constant stimulation. Her music was tiny in comparison to the silence that had to be around her. But she kept it up, because it was only a matter of time before she either broke her hand or someone honed into her location.
A faint buzz of noise echoed over the hum of her music and Amelia smiled to herself. Someone was coming from the other part of the building. That hadn't taken long after all. Maybe next she should wish for an encyclopedic knowledge of international governmental agencies.
She looked out of the corner of her eye, aiming for sneaky. If it was Yao or Alvarez she could just go back to hitting stuff.
But it wasn't. He was looking at her steadily. No sneaky moves of ignorance could get past him. Amelia sighed, a little resigned.
Amelia gave him a little rueful smile. "Hey, Big Guy."
Ivan's mouth moved in what she assumed was a greeting. Her music still buzzed pleasantly over her perception. Maybe that was a good thing. She could pretend Ivan was saying anything. Maybe he was commenting on the weather. Maybe he was saying how nice it would be to never see her again. Shit if she knew.
Her thoughts had distracted her. She didn't see him approach until he was about a yard away. Ivan cocked his head, raised an eyebrow. He'd dressed smarter than her. His dark sweat suit looked really warm and snug. Amelia bit her lip. Stop thinking about snug pants. Jesus motherfucking Christ, Amelia.
Ivan reached between them and tugged on her ear buds.
"That was pretty rude," Ivan chided her. He looked like he was going to say something more, but then he brought one of her ear buds closer. "Is that…Korsakov?"
"What?" Amelia scrambled to wind her headphones together, jerking them out of his grasp. "Uh, no. It is most certainly not."
A little spark of amusement danced behind his eyes, though he didn't seem to understand why Amelia was flustered. "Alright."
Shit, Amelia thought helplessly. Did anything seem to swing her way in their encounters? He was simultaneously the first and last person she wanted to see.
"So, uh," Amelia rubbed the back of her neck for an excuse to do something with her hands. "What are you doing? I mean, before. Before you came in here."
Ivan shuffled his feet and shrugged the shoulder he'd slung his duffle bag over. Amelia's interest peeked, and she reached over and unzipped it. Ivan made a sound of protest and tried to snatch it away from her, but Amelia crowded in delight and held him at bay. A pair of beautiful skates winked up at her. They were a little worn, but Amelia could tell from endless one-sided conversations with Matthew how to take care of your winter paraphernalia that they got the job done. They looked like they'd been treated like gold.
And they were figure skates.
"Stop laughing," Ivan growled.
"I'm not," Amelia bit off a giggle threatening to rise in her throat. "Definitely not." She looked up at him innocently. "It's kind of cute," she stuck her tongue out at him as he finally jerked the bag away. She could be fooling herself, but she swore he was blushing.
"You frequent the rink?" She asked. But he might have thought she was making fun of him. He stared at the floor and didn't answer.
Amelia shrugged. If he wasn't going to volunteer much, she wasn't going to push him. Last time she'd done that, nearly a month of hostility had festered between them.
But now there seemed to be the threat of nothing there. For some reason Amelia was reminded of ancient stone altars she'd seen on documentaries. Good times meant abundance, cloth and gold pieces and the ripest fruits to be offered up. And then the alternately brutal periods were priests sought appeasement, allowing blood to flow and well up against roughly hewn rocks, cascade down the steps of temples worn smooth by a parade of sacrifices. Amelia remembered cringing a little into the couch when those scenes came on.
This was different though. When the altar was empty, it meant no one needed anything. It was bare and dry and empty. Amelia felt a tang of salt at the back of her throat. She didn't want that. She'd take the blood is she couldn't have the fruit. Anything but an awkward stalemate between them.
"I feel like I'm doing something wrong," Ivan confessed quietly after a while of the both of them coming up short of something else to say.
Amelia rolled her eyes. You and me, bud. "The fuck would you think that?" Amelia grunted.
Ivan scoffed, and Amelia bristled at the sound. "Why, indeed."
They fixed each other with a stare that was equal parts probing and hesitant. Like they both wanted to take a step forward but weren't one hundred percent solid ground would be waiting underneath them.
"Sorry," Amelia sighed. She wasn't entirely sure she should apologize at all, but it felt like the right thing to do. Appeasement. His expression didn't really change and Amelia felt that weird tug in her gut, an instinct she vaguely connected with wanting to see him smile. A real one. "I just…it's a little weird getting along with you all the time. Even though that's kind of what I want. I just don't know what to say exactly."
"That seemed like a good start," a side of Ivan's mouth quirked up for a moment. "Besides, who says we have to get along all the time. Sounds boring. We aren't boring."
Her lip curled up into a derogatory half smile. A little blood here and there. "I kind of want you to meet me halfway though, you know?"
His eyebrow drew up in question. "Like," she turned and laid out a combo Ludwig had taught her the other week. "You never even told me about what happened with Alvarez, even though you knew I knew. I never got your side. Just, 'oh he was being an ass, don't worry about it, da?' I mean, you nearly got expelled and the most I hear about it is from my friend who's basically my R.A.?" He was silent, and Amelia pressed on. "And that night we got in a fight…I don't even understand. You could have just said something instead of acting like such a little bitch about it—"
Amelia nearly shrieked as the punching bag jarred out of her reach. Her firsts dropped from the air and she turned, slack-jawed, to face Ivan. He drew bag his hand, but his eyes were still hard. He wasn't looking at her. She wasn't sure he was seeing anything.
The bag swung dismally in front of them.
"This school," Ivan swallowed against something in his throat. "This opportunity, is the only chance my sister has at her own education." He turned his eyes mournfully to her. His accent had gotten thicker, and Amelia scarcely dared to breathe for fear of not being able to make out his words. "Our older sister can't afford to send us both off. It's taking all she has to save up for Natalia. This school is a blessing. And I almost," a breath shuddered out of him and Amelia felt like she should reach out to him, but her arms felt frozen. "I almost ruined it. I almost ruined everything."
He pinched the bridge of his noes and squeezed his eyes shut, as if he was still fending off the shame of it.
Amelia felt like he'd punched her in the gut. What a bitch move. She could only being to imagine: still having the sting of bruises on his hand and then having the girl he'd risked his spot in school screaming at you about not being a good person.
"Hey," her voice was brittle, but she forced her arms to unlock, to reach out to him. It was awkward at first. She didn't know where to put her hand or if he would even accept the gesture. She settled for his shoulder and felt cautiously optimistic that he didn't shrug her off. "Hey, it's okay. You're still here, right? That's what's important, right? I'm sure you'd be her hero if she knew what you did."
He made a disbelieving sound but didn't outright discredit her. And Amelia might have taken that as an incentive to allow something stupid to make its way out of her mouth.
"You're my hero."
Ivan blinked, and his nostril flared out a little, like he was drinking in something heavy and intoxicating. Her hand felt twice as substantial on his shoulder. The space between them felt fragile, something soft and airy that could be broken by just the wrong twitch of their fingers.
"That's quite an accomplishment," he noted quietly.
Amelia nodded dumbly, not appreciating how her head felt light enough to fly off. "Pretty impressive. You might want to put it on your resume. Probably. I don't know." Way to go, Amelia. Confidence is key.
His smile was tiny, but Amelia was getting acquainted with it well enough that she could tell it was real.
"Uh…" Amelia coughed to keep the nervous tremble out of her voice. "I'm having one of those times were I don't know what to say."
Ivan nodded. "Me too."
Amelia let the thought linger. She wasn't stupid, or blind. She thought of what it would be like to take a note from the movies, to learn a little something of forwardness from Antonio or Gilbert or—God, forbid—Francis, and lean up as far as she could. Press her mouth against his. Most of her screamed to do it.
And then she thought of the emptiness before, and how now it was replaced by…this. And while this felt good and heavy and light and made her head kind of wonky all at the same time…she could admit to herself that this wasn't ready. It would be like trying to build a house without a foundation or any support beams. It would collapse.
She wasn't Antonio or Gil or Francis. She had a brain, thank you very much. She was Amelia fucking Jones.
Amelia patted his shoulder for lack of something better to do and moved to let it swing back to her side. Ivan caught it though, and gave it a brief squeeze.
"Thank you," his smile flashed brighter for a moment. "Really."
"No," Amelia waved him off, fighting a blush creeping up her neck. "Don't worry about it."
"It's not very heroic to be ungrateful," he goaded gently.
Amelia clucked her tongue. "Dude, you don't need to lecture me on heroics, okay?" She nudged him with her shoulder. "You still have many lessons to learn."
Ivan tapped her on the forehead. "I'm willing, Jones."
"You better be," Amelia swatted his hand away playfully. She liked this side of Ivan. Sure his dedicated, stoic, and infuriated faces had their merits. This one was the rarest though. She felt like she was privileged to bear witness to it.
"I love a good challenge."
"Oh, yeah?" Amelia grinned, loving the little thrill that went through her as his eyes flared with life. She ducked down and landed a punch on his shoulder. Not quite like the only other exchange of punches from before, where the only goal had been to surprise him and maybe hurt him for good measure. It was an invitation.
He shrugged his duffel bag off and laughed as Amelia danced around him, hopping from side to side like a sort-circuiting rabbit.
"Your form is still terrible," he commented lightly as they wove around each other. There wasn't a lot of hitting. It was more like a combination of playing tag and dancing, weaving up and in and away from each other.
Amelia stuck her tongue out. "Whatever. Ludwig says I'm doing awesome."
She pretended to not notice how his shoulders tensed up.
"Does he now?"
"Mmmhmm," she hummed at him.
"Another boyfriend?" he commented dryly.
Amelia rolled her eyes as she fought off a cold shock of panic. Ivan couldn't possibly think she kept an ever-growing harem at her disposal.
"No, Monsieur Nosy-Pants," she breathed harshly as he twisted away from her left hook. "We meet up at the gym sometimes. That's it."
She also pretended to not notice how he seemed to deflate a little. Relief maybe? Shut up, Amelia quelled the little hopeful part of her brain. Foundation, houses, concrete.
Ivan grunted something in response.
Amelia let a few moments go by before she ventured into a topic that had been bothering her. "So…what's with you and Yao?"
Ivan paused in his concentration, looking up to meet her eyes. "What about Yao and me?"
Amelia tried to play it off as smoothly as possible. "Well, I just didn't know. You're spending more time with him so—"
Ivan stood up straight, a look akin to horror etched across his face. "You don't think…?"
Amelia straightened up as well, nearly tripping over her words in her hurry to get them out as quickly as possible. "What? No! Of course not! It was just—I mean, just something stupid Lovino said. Which means nothing. Like, of course you two are…"
"Friends?" Ivan nearly choked the word. "Iisus Khristos."
"Nope, right," Amelia nodded eagerly, feeling like a balloon had wormed its way into her chest. "Of course, yes, friends. Friends are good."
Ivan stared at her strangely for a minutes before an even scarier look started overtaking his features. Understanding.
"Amelia," his voice was coy and Amelia wanted to hit him for it. "You weren't jealous, were you?"
Amelia balked. "Of course not!"
Ivan ignored her, drawing himself up importantly. Amelia wanted to disappear. He's enjoying this, the fucker. "If you felt left out, you should have said something!"
Now she was glad she had the common sense to talk herself down from even thinking of kissing his stupid face. Amelia's fingernails were starting to leave indentions in her palms. "Shut up."
"Oh, but had I only known that my attention was so clamored after, I would have sent you my schedule or someth—"
Amelia didn't know it at the time, but as she took advantage still technically sparring with him and his general asshole vibe, she'd fulfilled the first goal she'd ever set after meeting him.
He looked down at her, his face cradled with his hands. "You punched me in the face."
Amelia stood, shell-shocked, for all of a half a second before she blurted out, "You were being an ass." (Like that's an excuse. A+, job well done). She didn't even let the last syllable die before she was surging forward, panic mode kicking in. "Shit, I'm sorry. Oh my God, fuck, I'm so sorry." She slapped his hands away and tilted his chin down, ignoring his little muffled sounds of discomfort. "It doesn't look that bad, but shit I still punched you in the face. I punched you in the face. Oh God, please don't be mad at me, I—"
Icy fingers clamped down over hers, forcing her wild eyes to lock in on Ivan's face. Oh boy. He was doing that thing again. That thing where he looked like he was mildly pissed off and trying not to smile at the same time. That thing that did weird shit to her gut and made her chest tingle.
"It's fine, Amelia. Really. Doesn't even hurt anymore."
Amelia grimaced. He was lying. His cheek was an angry red that they could only pray didn't bruise. She blew out a hiss in sympathy as she traced it with her fingertips. An urge seeded in the pit of her stomach wanted to make him better. Like an itch. She was close enough to feel the gentle exhale of his breath.
"Amelia?" Ivan's voice was kind of far away. She could pretend to not hear him if she wanted to.
But she did. The slight uneasiness of his tone pierced through the haze she'd lulled herself into. She forced her eyes to focus again and to think. What was she doing?
"Sorry," Amelia said again. Her hands dropped between them, her fingers twisting and knotting together as a failsafe against future exploits. The air between them seemed to expand a little as Amelia took a step back and she could breathe again. "You kind of look better this way," she teased halfheartedly.
The uncharacteristic shakiness had ceased, and he was cool and collected once more. "I think I could start a new trend, what do you think?"
Amelia snorted, anything to bury their awkward exchange as fast as humanly possible. "Very chic."
"I don't know if I could trust you. Your opinion is biased," Ivan drawled as he stooped down to grab the strap of his bag.
"What do you mean?" Amelia cocked a hip to the side.
"Oh," Ivan's smile was hidden in his voice. He goaded her on as he started making his way to the front of the building, he loved seeing her crane her neck to keep up with him. "Nothing. Just remembering someone saying something along the lines of, 'Braginski is fucking hot'."
Amelia scoffed, trying to negotiate with the blood that insisted on rush up to her face. "What makes you think that outlook stuck?"
Ivan shrugged—Amelia swore it was to cover up a fucking giggle motherfucker—and raised one hand up without looking at her, like they were casually passing in the street and not…(Amelia wanted to choke him) not this.
"Bastard!" Amelia only just waited for the doors to close before she nearly broke her fucking wrist against the vinyl bag.
Ivan was conflicted as he stepped out into the brisk air. He unzipped his sport coat, thinking distractedly that he'd have to remember to not wear such sweltering clothes until the weather got colder.
His hand ghosted over his cheek, the dull throb of it contrasting with the slight bite of the wind.
"What a strange creature," he muttered to himself. Not a dozen days ago they had been trapped in a frozen deadlock, turned against each other really before they'd had proper time to get close. And now she was smiling at him again. And laughing. And hitting him.
Perhaps he could have gone without the hitting. Although it was strangely attractive, now that he had the hindsight. For the longest time he'd felt the need to deny the pleasantness of the other things, to wish away how her smile had made things a little better. It had been a cruel trick to attempt to play on himself, to try and convince his small mind that he hated her.
But. Ivan chewed on his lip as he started up past the student hall. Not all of it had been for the sake of spiting her. The startling confession he'd made to her just minutes ago had suddenly validated his behavior for the past month to himself. Alvarez saying…he spat in the wind at the memory of it. Awful things. Things about her stupidity and her vanity and shallowness and lies. He forced himself to breathe, still capable of getting worked up even after all this time. All of them were lies.
Liars deserved a good punch in the face every now and then.
But he'd lied to Amelia on Thanksgiving. Ivan had sat there and lied and maybe today she'd punched him in the face by some weird influence of karma-retaliation. Figures.
Ivan told her that he didn't do it for her. He sighed and let the truth settle over him. He had. But maybe not for her honor or any other romantic bullshit of an excuse. He just…Ivan ran a hand through his hair. He'd just heard what Alvarez had been saying and thought she'd never smile again if she heard what he was saying about her.
With a loss of that magnitude, Ivan hadn't really thought of her finding out. He didn't want to be a hero to her. She was a hero enough, and all she had to do was keep doing it. She was a light and a stupid thrill and the air.
After the hearing though, after having the board scare him into agreeing to behave like a good child, after realizing he'd come this close to ruining any decent chance Natalia had, it wasn't that hard for him to sneer at her, to trick himself into not caring after they'd gotten into one argument. The smile had become almost like a poison in their 'Cold War'. Something he had nearly sacrificed everything for, both pulling him in with its appeal and mocking him with its unattainability.
He'd almost given up any hope of it coming back for him.
But it had. It had and he still didn't know how to handle the sudden wattage that had come back to his life. Ivan felt like a newborn colt, struggling to find its legs and learn to walk against the terrain.
And…
Then there was that moment. He ducked his head down against a strong gust of wind, hiding the searing stain of a blush on his cheeks. Those moments he should say, when it had felt like she'd wanted to say something…or—he shuddered as he remembered the tiniest tilt of her head upward, her body shifting towards him—do something.
He tried to distract himself by looking in the windows of the library as he passed, counting the number of occupied tables. Francis actually doing work, Feliciano trying to play footsy with an unresponsive Ludwig, and Amelia's closer friends, the loud Englishman and the quiet Japanese boy. Ivan cocked his head, wondering if they knew Amelia had been alone punching the hell out of a block of stuffing earlier.
Arthur said something from beside Kiku that made the other blush and look around as if to make sure no one had heard. Ivan pretended to not see anything as Arthur winked exaggeratedly at Kiku.
All it made him think of was his own vague attempts of making Amelia uncomfortable before he'd actually built a tolerance of her. The way she'd match him point for point, never back down an inch.
A smile refused to be scrubbed away from Ivan's mouth as he pushed open the doors of the boys' dorms.
Finally. I've been waiting for a chance to sneak in a punch to the face. Thought I'd lost my chance after they'd made up.
Not a lot of comedy in this chapter, kind of subbed it for a sappy (read: adorable) Ivan, but I'll be sure to amend that in the next few chaps. I didn't really like how it was centered almost completely on Ivan and Amelia. I miss my supporting cast. Next time, they'll definitely have a lot to say.
Ugh, like I said, really sorry the update took so long. Also, some super cool person named ohboyomi on tumblr made some awesome fanart for this fic. Like literally it's the coolest, sweetest thing ever. Go look it up. Like, now. (ur welcome for the promo, Omi)
Also, I have been on tumblr for a while but didn't want to update simply for the purpose of including my url. It's the same as it is here, mad-for-madrid. If you have any questions about Smartest Idiots or my future fics that I plan on doing for you just want to fangirl it out, don't hesitate to get at me!
Some overdue replies:
Noke Neko Lover: I'm so sorry. I made the whole idea of the 'mix' up. I just thought it would be funny. Russian music is always super cool though. Don't worry, this chapter i tried to focus on answers some questions as to where Ivan and Amelia currently stand and where their heads are right now, but the 'side' characters (they're all so important to me) will definitely start to get their own chances to shine. Especially Gilbert, Arthur, and Antonio with his conquest of Lovi.
PrincessShorty3: thanks! I kinda of double tracked and made it to where Ivan was kind of mad at her, but mostly at himself...I hope that got across, I wrote most of Ivan's perspective around midnight last night. If anything looks wonky to me, I'll edit out all the wrinkles. Way to go! Glad I could help spread the creativity.
Kuchiki977: as the inspiration for most of the explaining in this chapter, I hope I did you justice, if anything's not clear or anything, please let me reading your pm I added the part about Ivan not wanting to disappoint his sisters. I thought it was more 'real' of him. You made it happen, so thanks a ton!
VioletLolitaPop: Arthur's one of my favorite characters to write. Jesus God, he is so funny. And I kind of identify more with his brash, self-possessed personality.
TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND IS READING: Thank you! I love hearing from you and I hope I keep on doing you justice. I'll be out of the country for probs the next two days, if the flights permit. Going to a tour of a school in Madrid. Ya know. The usual.
So remember kids, keep up the feed back, mad-for-madrid tumblr, check out ohboyomi and the fantastic piece of fanart, and I love you guys!