Troubles
Lithuania nestled his head into his arms with a heavy sigh. He felt overwhelmed- by work, by politics, by Russia's... illness. By the fact that he was facing it all on his own. Not a day went by that he did not deeply despair at his boyfriend's behavior, nor feel sick with shame about it afterwards. He knew it wasn't Russia's fault he was the way he was. But still... Both of them lived on the edge and it did not take much for one to set the other off. Trivial matters quickly escalated to verbal battles and ended with one or more parties crying like frustrated children in separate rooms.
Half the things Russia did made no sense to him; another quarter would have come off as sinister or overtly manipulative were Lithuania not aware of the fact that Ivan had difficulty expressing himself otherwise. Sometimes it was too much for him to handle. And yet, even then he was learning- beginning to pick up on certain patterns of behavior, of body language, subtle machinations in Russia's face that said everything he did not.
A flickering smile would mean I am ashamed.
A little tap on Lithuania's fingertips: I want to spend time with you.
When Russia grabbed his arm for no apparent reason, it was because he was too panicked to say Don't go without me.
He sang folk tunes under his breath when he was in a good mood.
He giggled hysterically when he was afraid or uncomfortable.
He hated being ignored- he feared being left alone without warning- being denied any sort of attention even if Lithuania was obviously busy. When given the cold shoulder, he sat off to the side looking melodramatic until Toris gave in and went over to put his arms around him.