A/N: Sorry for the wait, ended up having to take a surprise trip across the country because of family reasons. And then we had to host family for two weeks, so that meant constantly being with them and taking them everywhere and so much travelling aifuhasf and then I had a con. And then classes started again, and I had to travel halfway across the country after that. (Lots of travelling this summer!) But I'm back now and trying to get back to work. It seems like every time I think I have a clear shot of getting writing done, something happens to keep me from doing it. OTL
Review replies:
To the anon who asked if I was alive, there's your answer.
Mikachi: I'm so glad you enjoyed it~! I hope things will continue to be fun!
111fun: As you'll learn, I am very prone to disappearing for months on end. But I never abandon fics- even if it takes me years, I will finish the thing. So don't worry!
Valval: I'm so glad you think so! I'm trying my best to stay true to their characters.
ShadowEmpireNeko: Yeah, aha. Sadly, classes started again, so now back to that tedium. But I'll finish it, I promise!
Jingles T. Bell: I'm happy you like it! Here's another chapter for you~
Bitchz-B-Trippin: I'm really relieved to hear that you think the romance is being paced carefully enough! I'm trying my hardest to make it last. I intend to work in a few battle scenes before this fic ends~
Fsjal: Aha! A big shipper, I see.
Trebletwenty: Sorry! You're not as lucky as you thought- my updates are super sporadic!
MapleAnimal: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope to elicit more "squees" in the future.
Ray: Oh goodness, you read it from that far away? I'm flattered! I'm sorry the wait was so long.
On we go!
By the time Ivan got them both to the showerhouse, Feliciano was more alert, although still very much exhausted. Ivan set Feliciano down, and Feliciano wobbled a bit before finally steadying his legs.
"Will you be alright, showering alone?" Ivan asked, as he shed his clothing, grabbing a towel and getting himself a stall.
Feliciano slowly and clumsily undressed himself and left his uniform in a pile, grabbing a towel and stepping into his own stall. "Si, I'll be fine," he replied tiredly, turning on the water and let it run over his aching body. He was a tired mess, but he managed to draw more energy from the water, using it to heal up a few more wounds and bruises he had on him. He got to work scrubbing away the dirt and blood and dust all over him and his wings, although trying to wash off his wings was a huge chore, as always.
The downy feathers were like a sponge, soaking up lots of water and making his wings terribly heavy and waterlogged- and as Feliciano shifted one of them to try and reach for leaves and twigs stuck in the feathers, he collapsed, the shift in weight making his knees buckle. "A-Ah…!"
Ivan had just been washing out his hair, rinsing out the suds from shampoo, when he heard the thud of Feliciano falling to the shower floor. Without thinking, he rushed over, pulling aside Feliciano's shower curtain and sighing in exasperation. "And you said you'd be alright."
Feliciano turned scarlet, quickly covering himself up with a wing as he scrambled to sit up. "I am fine…! I just slipped," he said as an excuse, before turning rather red when he got an eyeful of his general. "I, um. Ivan, you're still naked," he pointed out, red, although more embarrassed by the fact that he'd fallen than by their mutual nudity.
Ivan hummed, eyes looking amused by Feliciano's choice of words. "I can see that. We're both men, Feliciano. Can you stand?" he asked, kneeling down and checking on Feliciano for any injury.
"You really don't have to check on me, you know. I can heal myself now that there's water around," Feliciano replied, continuing to do so- although he didn't get up.
"So that is a no," Ivan concluded, sighing. "I have already washed off. Let me help you with your wings, at least. They seem to have been roughed up more than I realized." He seemed almost amused with that last fact, smiling to himself as he got to work.
Feliciano pouted, and said, "You're the one who did this to me."
"For your own good, might I add," Ivan smoothly murmured, a small and victorious smile on his lips, as he ran his fingers through Feliciano's feathers and picked out all the leaves, twigs, pebbles, and other debris that had gotten caught in them. "Your wings are very densely feathered. It's not a surprise they pick up this much debris. How much time do you spend preening?"
"An hour or two," Feliciano admitted, washing his main body off with soap and a body sponge, before washing out his hair. "Ah, Ivan? Can you get my back for me? I can't reach." He offered Ivan the sponge, and Ivan chuckled.
"Might as well. I am already here," he mused, taking the sponge. Feliciano lifted his wings to point straight up, getting them out of the way, so Ivan could reach all of the skin of his back and wash his back.
Ivan was finding that he was feeling surprisingly comfortable doing this. He wasn't bothered much by nudity, and obviously neither was Feliciano- after all, the Italian had that horrible penchant for running about naked during peacetime. (Actually, sometimes during wartime too.) What was surprising Ivan was that he was trusting another person to be near him when he was this vulnerable- and that person was just as relaxed and trusting in his presence as well, in a state even more vulnerable.
Ivan was not used to being trusted.
So he was trying his best not to mess this chance up- he was making a friend of Feliciano, and that made his heart feel warm all over again, another sensation he wasn't used to. He was… peacefully sharing a shower with his head medic and washing his back.
What an interesting, if slightly questionable, development.
Feliciano relaxed as Ivan washed his back, purring happily, giving little chirps of bliss. "Grazie mille. It's hard to reach," he said with a hum, before shifting to let the water rinse the soap off his back. "And thanks for helping get everything out of my wings, too."
Ivan nodded and stood. "It is not a problem. But can you stand?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow at the Italian.
Feliciano turned red and puffed his cheeks out indignantly, before shakily using the bar on the wall to pull himself up. "There. I'm fine, I promise," he assured stubbornly, before turning off the shower and trying to shake as much water off his wings as possible, spraying Ivan with a shower of water droplets. He laughed at that, grinning to see the flat, unamused look Ivan was giving him. "Aw, come on, Ivan. You were already wet anyways," he teased, before pressing a bit more water out of his feathers and stepping out of the shower. He grabbed his towel and started to dry himself off, Ivan doing the same.
Feliciano shook out his wings vigorously multiple times, spraying Ivan in more water and making the other man look even more irritated, but Feliciano didn't notice- he was just struggling to get the water off of his wings. Ivan eventually decided to intervene, using some of his energy to draw the water off of both of Feliciano's wings after that, dumping the mass of water down one of the shower drains once the smaller man was dry and fluffy again.
"You made me use up all my energy," Feliciano said tiredly after that, wrapping himself up with the towel and picking up his dirty uniform. He'd have to put on a clean one tomorrow, and get this one washed. He still seemed shaky on his feet, but the hot shower had been rather invigorating, and thus he had a bit more energy in his muscles, at least.
Ivan only hummed, picking up his own uniform and wrapping the towel securely around his waist. "I had to push you to your limit. After all, that is how one grows, and becomes stronger," he said, not seeming very sorry at all. (Not that he should be.) He nudged Feliciano along with a now-dry wing, the powerful limb not having any issues guiding the man along.
Feliciano lightly batted at Ivan's wing with his own in protest at being herded about, but it was too tired a gesture to have any impact.
"Do not drag your wings," Ivan reminded as they walked back to the tent. Feliciano trembled and tiredly heaved up his wings.
"I'm tired," he protested softly. Ivan didn't respond, and Feliciano let his wings drag against the ground again.
This time, Ivan sighed and slipped his own wing under both of Feliciano's, lifting them up and keeping them off the ground and preventing them from getting any dirtier. Feliciano glanced over at Ivan in confusion, but relaxed, letting the weight of his wings fall onto Ivan's instead. Ivan still had plenty of energy, after all. He was much stronger, physically, than Feliciano, and it showed.
"They are heavy," Ivan commented after a while, when they were closer to their tent. Feliciano turned pink.
"Well, of course they are," Feliciano said, flustered and huffing a little. "They're rather dense…" His wings had so much down on them that they could get uncomfortably hot in the summer- and his molting always resulted in an absolute mess of feathers being left all over the house, to Lovino's simultaneous chagrin and amusement. He walked slowly along until they finally entered their tent, at which point Ivan let Feliciano's wings down.
Feliciano and Ivan both changed into clean boxers after that, shedding their towels and dirtied uniforms, and Feliciano quickly collapsed onto the bed, wrapping himself up in wings trembling from weakness and exhaustion. Ivan sighed.
"Will you not go eat dinner?"
"Too tired."
"You need food if you are going to recover your energy, Feliciano. Stay awake, I will bring you dinner," Ivan instructed, getting dressed in a clean uniform before heading out.
Feliciano was too overwhelmed to obey, dwelling on thoughts, tactics, spells, flight maneuvers, all the things Ivan had shown him that day- and eventually he drifted into a nap, desperately needing some time to recuperate from the strenuous training. His nap barely lasted twenty minutes before Ivan had returned.
"Feliciano. Eat before you sleep," Ivan said next, lips having their usual upward curve, shaking the Italian awake with a wing while he set a take-away container of food on his desk. "Get up," he urged, waking Feliciano and making the smaller man sleepily blink at him in confusion as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes. Feliciano slowly got out of bed, and padded sleepily over to the desk to sit down in the chair, opening up the container and taking the plastic fork inside and getting to work eating. Ivan had set down a plastic take-away cup of lemonade down as well, so that Feliciano had something to drink.
The Italian seemed rather pleased with the food, managing to eat every bit of it, which didn't startle Ivan as much as it should've. Considering Feliciano's tendency to sometimes eat like he had a bottomless pit for a stomach, an entire take-away container of food didn't seem like that much for him. Once he'd finished his food and drained his lemonade, he got up and hugged Ivan tiredly, burying his face into his chest, which made Ivan suddenly tense in surprise.
"…Feliciano?" Ivan asked, after a moment, feeling a bit confused as he awkwardly patted Feliciano's back. The amused smile usually on his lips was gone, instead replaced by a very slight frown of bafflement.
"Grazie, for everything," Feliciano murmured, before pulling away and getting back into bed, seeming absolutely exhausted and very much ready for sleep. He curled up into a ball, wrapping himself in a wing, while the other wing tucked close to his back, and then Feliciano promptly fell asleep.
Ivan seemed to calm once Feliciano let go, and set to tossing away the trash before undressing again and getting ready for bed. He turned out the light and settled down next to Feliciano, getting under the covers, but trying his best to give the smaller man plenty of space. (Although, somehow, he knew that by morning, Feliciano would've found his way over to his side of the bed again.)
Feliciano was showing him all sorts of things, he mused. Just now, Feliciano had shown him gratitude, enough trust to move forward and hug him, despite how vulnerable Feliciano was in his exhausted state.
It was that trust again, and something in Ivan's chest ached once more.
He put those thoughts aside, though, then shut his eyes and relaxed, letting himself get some rest as well- tomorrow he was back to training the other soldiers more and discussing more battle tactics with Eduard, as the new group of reinforcements would be headed out soon.
Luckily, he himself didn't have to leave just yet…
Not yet.
Ivan woke up to find Feliciano curled up to him again, just as expected. He sighed and tried to nudge the sleeping Italian away, watching with a small smile as Feliciano whined in his sleep and tried to curl back up to him all over again. Ivan rolled his eyes- apparently, this was going to be a daily struggle for as long as they were sharing a tent.
His smile fell as he watched for a few moments, just watching as Feliciano's small chest rose and fell with his breaths, the way Feliciano's lips would sometimes part as he mumbled in sleep, or the way his lashes would flutter slightly as he dreamed.
"What is it like, to sleep so peacefully?" Ivan murmured softly, enviously, as he watched Feliciano dream. Ivan was often plagued by nightmares, horrid memories that often woke him far too early. It wasn't much that he was an early riser by choice, no. It was always a nightmare that woke him in the dawning hours, and he could never get himself back to sleep afterwards, so he always decided to just get up and get started with his day instead. If it wasn't nightmares keeping him awake, it was insomnia.
This morning had been no different.
He wished he could sleep as blissfully as Feliciano. He was bitterly tempted to wake the Italian early, out of spite, but then put himself in check. Feliciano deserved his rest, and to wake him would be cruel. (Not that he hadn't been excessively cruel in many instances in the past, but he wanted it to stay in the past.)
He reached out and gently ran his fingers through the soft, reddish-auburn hair, and realized it was very soft, much like his own. Although, Feliciano's hair seemed almost a bit "fluffy" like his large white wings. He ran his fingers through Feliciano's feathers next, and Feliciano gave a soft, contented sigh in his sleep. Ivan was startled by the sound, not wanting to wake him, but soon calmed down and continued the action, preening the other nation's feathers.
…It was far too early to be up, still. He might as well use some time doing something useful.
After all, Feliciano said the night before that it often took him an hour or two to preen his wings, so he might as well… help out.
"Hopefully this isn't wasted by the time you wake up, malyutka."
And so, Ivan set to gently preening Feliciano's wings, being sure not to wake him.
When Feliciano woke up, the bed was empty and Ivan was gone, and he felt rather lonely. It must be around late morning, he figured, as he took a peek out of the tent, and then at the clock. Just a little past ten, the clock read. He could still catch breakfast, if he skipped preening his wings.
But just when he turned to look at his wings, he stopped and stared. His feathers were already neat and tidy and well-preened, despite the fact that he'd just woken up! Confused, Feliciano got dressed, and glanced at his wings a few more times.
"…It's weird," he hummed. "I wonder if… maybe Ivan did this? Nn, it doesn't seem like something he'd do… Maybe I just woke up on the right side of the bed~!" he said with a laugh, before stretching his sore muscles and going to go eat some breakfast. His stomach was already growling- no doubt thanks to the rigorous training he'd done the day before. His energy levels were still rather low, even after all that sleep, so he knew he'd have to be conservative with his magic use today. He yawned and ambled out of the tent, sealing it lightly behind him, definitely needing a good meal to get his day started.
Oh, if only it had been that easy.
He managed to dodge a sneak attack with a water jet, thus sparing his wings being soaked, but he wasn't so lucky about dodging a mudball. These were all childish spells and pranks, but apparently the humans here were still far too young. (He thought soldiers should at least be twenty-five years old before entering the army, but most countries had the age of entry at eighteen, and thus he had to deal with cocky human teenagers who really had no idea how to respect others.)
He entered the dining tent with one wing a mess of mud, and he felt his optimistic mood plummet immediately. And his feathers had just been preened so nicely, too…!
"Why is it always me?" he pouted, getting his food and settling down next to Feliks. Feliks looked over at his wing and started to fuss sympathetically.
"Aw, you poor thing. Here, Feli, let me get rid of it for you," he offered, using his own earthen magic to cancel out the mudball's remains and clean off Feliciano's wings. "Good thing earth spells are my specialty, huh? What jerk did this to you?" he huffed, looking around. "I'll get him back for you!"
Feliciano laughed at his friend's fiery protectiveness, and shook his head. "I didn't see, dispiace. But please, don't fight for me. I'm alright," he hummed, shaking out his now-clean wing. He appreciated Feliks' protectiveness, but he really just wanted to avoid senseless squabbling over childish pranks. He set to eating, enjoying the warmth of the food in his belly, before lightly bumping Feliks with a wing.
"What is it, Feli?" Feliks asked, looking startled at the bump.
"Nn, you hang out with the other soldiers a lot, right?" Feliciano asked after a moment, softly. "Do you know if they all think badly of me?"
Feliks puffed up, shaking his head. "No way! Most of them really like you, you know. It's just those handfuls of jerks who can't get their heads out of their-"
"Feliks."
"Right, right. But really! Those guys are the exception, not the rule. Even though they cause you a lot of trouble, most of the soldiers really look up to you. After all, you're the one treating their wounds, so they've gotta feel good about you, you know? Like, they'd have to be dumb not to," Feliks replied, waving his hand about as he spoke.
Feliciano perked up a little, feeling considerably better after that. "Grazie. I'm glad… I'm just tired of those 'few' constantly bothering me," he huffed, pouting and sulking. Feliciano was incredibly patient, but even he was getting tired of the constant harassement. Especially this morning- he was sore and aching all over from the rigorous training Ivan had put him through, and he was just not up to putting up with these tricks and pranks today. "If someone else tries something today… I'm just gonna try and reflect it back at them," he mumbled, fussily.
Feliks grinned. "Good for you! It's like I've been telling you, you gotta stick up for yourself," he said approvingly, patting Feliciano rather hard on the back, right between his wings. It made Feliciano's wings shiver and fluff up in response, making Feliks laugh even more. "Your wings are so adorable. They always do that," he said, amused.
Feliciano, flustered, whined and protested, "Don't hit so hard, then! It always makes me do the shiver-fluff thing!" Feliks only grinned and did it again, making Feliciano huff and whack him with a wing.
Soon, both of them were having an odd little wing-fight while they tried to finish their breakfast, to the amusement of Heracles, who'd returned from his trip, and was sitting across from them. It was brought to an end, though, when Feliciano sighed and finally tucked his wing back in, and commented, "I should probably get to work now, though."
Feliks smiled wryly. "Yeah, you should. Take it easy though, okay? You're like, totally looking exhausted," he commented, very much aware of how tired out and achy Feliciano seemed. "And keep a reflecting shield up. I'm sure it'll only take up a bit of energy, so you can still save the rest of it. "
Feliciano nodded and got up, heading to work, and putting up a reflective shield before he left the tent.
He may or may not have giggled when someone's water-jet spell backfired and soaked the prankster, instead of him.
Maintaining even the weak reflecting shield made the already exhausted medic feel tired again by the time he reached his tent in the hospital wing. He lowered it once he was in the safety of that area, and began his rounds, checking on patients, tending to new ones, dealing with the annoying necessity of paperwork, and generally making sure the soldiers' health was well.
Many of the fighters who had returned wounded some time before had finally started to near the end of their recuperation- so luckily for this corps, most of their men were back in fighting shape, or close to it.
It made him wonder- when would he be sent to fight? It was inevitable- because Ivan would most certainly end up going to battle several times. He hadn't yet, by luck and strategy, but once Ivan went off into battle, Feliciano would have to enter the fray, as well.
After all, the head medic tends to the head of the group- in this case, Lieutenant General Braginsky.
Soon enough, they'd both be off to battle away enemy forces…
He only hoped that everything would go well.
Emil stared over the cold waters as he continuously flapped his snowy owl wings, keeping him suspended in place in the air, watching the horizon warily. He turned to his older brother, Soren, and murmured, "Do you think they'll be coming back so soon?"
Norway shook his head, hovering in a similar manner beside Iceland, his own wings of the same snow white feathers, just another hint of how he was, in fact, related to Iceland. "Not yet. The waters and winds are too cold, and our armies have done well enough to use the ocean to our advantage. They won't be able to reach us, at this rate."
"They're sending larger numbers each time," Emil pointed out, conjuring himself an ice-tower to stand on, as his wings had enough of keeping him in the air, especially after so long. Soren alighted beside him, and seemed unperturbed.
Granted, both brothers were usually good at keeping their heads level, although Emil was more prone to teenage outbursts.
"And we have plenty of mages and soldiers in reserve. We haven't exhausted much, if any, true energy on repelling the masses attempting to fly over. We'll be fine," Soren said back, again seeming unbothered. There was no reason to worry just yet- the neutral Nordics intended to stay neutral.
And considering their manpower and sheer skill with the water and ice, it wasn't very hard to keep enemies out. Fighting over the water was dangerous, as waterlogged wings could cause many to drown if unprepared, but Iceland and Norway's people had the skill down to a literal science, one that was used to train all of their soldiers.
With the advantage of the weather getting colder as fall slowly approached winter, they'd be able to keep out any more forces that attempted further invasion- but both of them just hoped that soon enough, the Seasplit Forces would just give up on trying to take control of their seaspace and land.
Just a little while longer, they hoped…
Maybe the war would end sooner than anticipated.
A/N: Again, I apologize for the delay, a lot of things out of my control happened. I hope this can tide you over! I'll try to update relatively soon, but I can't promise anything.
Thanks for reading and sticking with me!
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