Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Ivan strode along the road, a couple of his companions following. He had just finished a nice chat with a new business owner in town, and was on his way home. It was a nice evening for a walk, so he had forgone the car. Ivan's usual companions were occupied elsewhere, but when you had a "family" as big as Ivan's, you were never alone.

Spring was finally settling on the city, warming it up and bringing it back to life with color. Ivan wasn't quite ready to start removing his coat and scarf outdoors, but it was still an improvement.

Ivan ignored the chatting of the men who trailed after him, glancing instead at the stores they passed. Clothing, jewelry, clothing again, coffee... He thought briefly about getting a hot drink, but decided against it. Then Ivan came to a stop, studying another small building.

"What is it?" one of the other men, Mikhail, asked.

"Ah... nothing." Ivan tilted his head, pondering.

"Well, I do need to get going."

"Go then."

Mikhail continued walking, and the remaining man, Yuri, turned to follow Ivan's gaze. "Er... are you planning on... getting one, boss?"

"Maybe." Ivan walked closer to the building.

"May I ask why?" Yuri said, hurrying to catch up.

Ivan studied some of the tattoo designs in the parlor's window. "It's spontaneous, don't you think?"

"Sir?"

"I have a friend who appreciates spontaneity."

Ivan could see Yuri grin out of the corner of his eye. "Alfred?"

"Does everybody know about him?" Ivan asked, annoyed.

"Oh, well, yes..."

"Great."

"We know the situation and the rules! Nobody will blab anything to him."

Ivan turned to glare at him, then walked into the tattoo parlor. Just great. He wondered how many of them were talking behind his back about how cute it was.

"What are you going to get?" Yuri wondered, taking in the designs along the wall.

"I don't know." That was the point of being spontaneous. Ivan had never considered such a thing before. "His name?"

"Er..."

"No?"

"W-well... forgive me..." Yuri stepped away from Ivan, as if to study different designs. "Not all relationships last forever."

Ivan scowled at him.

"It's true! Even perfect marriages of many years break up."

He supposed that was true... If Alfred did decide to trade Ivan in for a younger model at some point down the line, he didn't want a constant reminder. "I won't get his name."

So it would be something Alfredy, yet not so much that it would be obsolete if Alfred were no longer in his life. And something that wouldn't be embarrassing if it were seen by friend or foe. That ruled out a lot of Alfred-related things, really. With a sigh, Ivan resumed studying the designs, ignoring the tattoo artists who asked if he needed help.

His spontaneous decision was growing a lot less spontaneous as he studied every design. Dragons weren't very Alfred, nor were Chinese characters, or flowers, or vines...

Ivan stopped at a stylized picture of the sun, pursing his lips as he studied it. Now that he liked. And what wasn't sunny about Alfred? The sun was light, warmth, life—the things Alfred had brought into Ivan's life. And he liked the design, and wouldn't mind others seeing. "This one."

"That one's nice," Yuri said.

Ivan glanced at him, then toward a rose picture he had studied earlier. "Doesn't your wife like roses?"

The other man's expression grew horrified. "Yes... she does..."

"This is the place!" Alfred released Matthew's hand, holding up the printed directions. "Yup, that's it."

"It looks expensive," Matthew said, frowning at the building.

"You think so?"

"If I have to wear a tie to it, it's too expensive." Matthew let out a long sigh. "Your boyfriend isn't paying, is he?"

Alfred shook his head. "I am."

"This is not saving money, Al."

"It's just one dinner to celebrate my raise and your performance!"

"Eh...?"

"On the exams, of course!" Alfred clarified. "What'd you think I meant?"

"Nothing." Matthew tugged on his tie, just like Alfred had until Ivan had taken him to enough fancy places for him to grow used to it.

"Well, I read about it online, and it seemed like a nice place."

Matthew eyed him. "You haven't been here before?"

"Nope! I wanted to try something new. I thought it'd be cool if I could tell Ivan about some nice restaurant for a change!"

"Very cool," Matthew said, and Alfred honestly wasn't sure if that was sarcasm or not. "So what time's the reservation for?"

Alfred blinked. "What?"

Matthew gave him a sidelong look. "The... reservation? What time did you make it for?"

"I didn't make one."

Matthew sighed again. "If I have to wear a tie to it, it probably requires a reservation, Al. They won't seat us!"

"Well let's at least try. Ivan never mentions reservations, and we always get seated."

"He probably slips them a wad of cash!"

Alfred tugged his brother into the restaurant, ignoring his protests. Reservations weren't necessary, were they? They just guaranteed a person a table. It was like buying movie tickets online, he figured. A guarantee, but not required, you could still just buy them at the theater when you got there.

"Good evening, sirs," the douche in the suit greeted them as they walked in.

"Hey," Alfred said. "Table for two?"

He turned to his book. "Your name?"

"Me? Alfred Jones."

"Hmm. I don't seem to see..." The fellow trailed off, glancing nervously up at them. "Alfred Jones, you said?"

"Yup, that's me!"

"Ah..." He swallowed. "Right. Please, follow me!"

"See?" Alfred elbowed Matthew, and tugged him after the fellow.

They were seated at a small table for two in the middle of the restaurant, all adorned with fancy tableware and a single candle.

"This place looks so expensive..." Matthew glanced around nervously. "We can't afford this. And I feel like everyone's watching me and judging, ready to laugh the second I use the wrong fork..." He turned back to his brother. "What was that, anyway?"

"What was what?" Alfred spread his napkin across his lap. "The forks?"

"Are you sure you haven't been here before? That guy seemed to recognize you."

"No he didn't," Alfred scoffed. "He just remembered he had a table available."

"He didn't recognize your name?"

"Not that I noticed. He was just repeating it, you know?"

Matthew shrugged, picking up his menu. He studied it for a moment and whined. "The prices..."

Alfred looked at his own menu, wincing. "Yeah. The prices." Maybe he wouldn't tell Ivan about that restaurant. He probably wouldn't be happy Alfred was paying for that sort of thing on his own, when he couldn't afford to. "Maybe just a salad..."

"Maybe we can split that salad," Matthew said, and Alfred chuckled.

"Gentlemen?"

The brothers turned to stare at the waiter who had approached with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Yes?" Alfred said. "Uh, we didn't order any-"

"Complements of the owner, sirs." He set the glasses down on the table and pulled out a corkscrew.

"Oh. Well, that's very nice! But, uh, we're actually nineteen, and..." Alfred trailed off as the waiter just smiled at him and poured the wine. "Um. Thank you."

"Are you ready to order?"

"Nope."

"Sorry," Matthew added. He waited until they were left alone again. "What the hell was that?"

"What service!" Alfred picked his glass up. "See, this is how to get repeat customers."

"Offer free wine to underage diners? You wouldn't do that!"

"Well, no." Alfred shrugged. "To each his own."

Matthew gave him a baffled look, then returned to his menu. "Maybe I will get a salad."

"I want something with meat in it."

"Salad with chicken?"

"That's not meat."

The waiter eventually took their order, and they waited, Matthew fidgeting nervously. "This place is weird."

"No it isn't," Alfred said. "No weirder than any other nice restaurant."

Matthew sighed. "Don't become a snob, just because you're dating a rich guy."

"I'm not! I'm just saying, they're all like this."

"They act like they know you!"

"They do that on purpose, to seem friendly."

"Really?" Matthew frowned. "Not to me. They never even asked my name."

"Aww..." Alfred patted his brother's hand. "You can take charge next time."

"Next time? Tonight's dinner could have fed us for a week at the grocery store."

"You can take charge at the grocery store, then!"

Matthew gulped down a glass of wine and quickly refilled it.

Alfred laughed. "I'm just kidding, bro. I'll introduce you when the waiter comes back! Maybe we'll get another bottle of wine."

Matthew smiled at him, and they settled back to wait for their food from the strange waiter.