Habrors of Our Own
Chapter XXXIV
The sound of knocking and the doorbell ringing woke Yao from his nap. He groaned and rolled over on his belly. "Uggh, go away." The knocking and ringing continued. "I do not want to buy anything, aru!" The sounds still continued. "Aiyaah!"
That was when Yao remembered something he forgot.
"Oh sh*t!" He glanced at Ivan's slumbering form beside him before scrambling out of bed, nearly tumbling to the floor. He grabbed his robe, tying it around him, not bothering to brush or pull back his hair, and stumbled out the door, shutting it behind him.
"Coming! I am coming, aru!" He staggered down the stairs and then opened the front door. One of his youngest brothers, Leon was standing there, with Emil beside him.
"Emil?" Yao questioned, "You're with my brother?" He remembered with an inner cringe what had happened on the day of the summer festival.
"Uhh..yeah. He's your brother? I didn't know that..." the Icelandic teen said awkwardly.
"Dude, you look like crap." Leon said, "Did you just, like, roll out of bed or something? And what the h*ll happened to your hand?"
Yao blushed, "It's nothing. Don't be so rude, aru. Yes, I completely forgot about the family dinner. Come in." He stepped aside to let in the two teens. "Make yourself at home, I will be back, aru." With that, he took off up the stairs. He burst into the room. Ivan was still sleeping. Yao walked over to his side and shook him.
"Ivan! Ivan! Wake up now!"
"Mmm...Yao-Yao, five more minutes."
"You can't. You need to get up now. I completely forgot about the family dinner I planned, aru! Get up, get dressed!" Yao threw Ivan's clothes at him and then went into the bathroom to put on his own.
-xXx-
Together, Yao and Ivan headed down the stairs.
"Emil!" Ivan exclaimed, "It's nice to see you!" The light-haired, violet-eyed teen was sitting beside Leon, brushing shoulders with him.
"Hello Ivan."
He sat down beside him, "It has been a while, How is everyone? Has Taika had the little one yet?"
"We are good. And no, but it's due any day. She's so big she can hardly move. She just stays in bed now. And Berwald hardly ever leaves her side. But she's doing very well."
"Oh! That is such good news, da!"
"Ja."
"You know this guy, babe?" Leon questioned.
"Yeah. He helped me out a lot when Lukas and I left the pods and went to live with Berwald, Taika, and Mathias."
"Oh. Cool. Yo," Leon said to Ivan, "Nice to meet ya."
"How many times have I told you not to be so informal, aru!" Yao scolded.
Leon shrugged. Then the doorbell rang.
"I will get that, aru."
He walked over and opened the door. He recognized Lien, Mei, and Yong Soo immediately.
"Gege!" His youngest brother, Yong Soo exclaimed. The fifteen-year-old practically jumped on Yao and gathered him in a bone-crushing hug, "I missed you!" Yao pried Yong-Soo off of him.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You certainly haven't changed all that much, aru.
The black-haired teen bounced into the house and admired the place.
Yao nodded to both of his sisters in turn, before greeting them with handshakes.
-xXx-
Soon, all of Yao's siblings arrived, and Ivan was introduced to them. In order from oldest to youngest it was: Kiku, Thai, Lien, Mei, Leon, and Yong-Soo.
They were quite the boisterous family. Except for Kiku and Thai, who were quiet.
Yao and Kiku made dinner, and then everyone sat around the table and ate. It was a lively, controlled chaotic family meal.
Mei and Yong-Soo were the loudest, and Leon was not far behind. They essentially talked in outside voices, practically yelling across the table. Ivan also could not help but notice Yong Soo had a problem with interrupting and talking over everyone. (Yao scolded him several times). Thai barely said a word. Kiku was soft-spoken, stuttered and sweated when he talked, and he was polite with occasional sass. Lien only spoke when she was spoken to and frowned most of the time, Mei was cheerful and had a loud laugh, Leon was sarcastic and sassy, and Yao was social but snippy. Emil tried to be the most mature and polite, since half of Yao's siblings struggled in that department. Ivan found it very amusing. He was also happy because he liked seeing Yao so bright and social with his brothers and sisters.
As he watched the group though, he could not help but feel an aching pang of homesickness. Even so, he was glad Yao was so happy.
After dinner, the group piled into the living room. And it wasn't any less chaotic and lively than dinner was. Yong Soo liked to joke around and pull pranks, much to Yao's chagrin. And that added to the noisy atmosphere.
Eventually, Yao gave up on trying to get Yong Soo to stop joking around, and went and sat down next to Ivan.
"Are you doing okay, Ivan?" He asked, "I know my family is very boisterous, aru."
"Da," Ivan smiled, "I like the loudness, it makes me happy."
"I am glad." Yao said. Then he looked up at Ivan and, with his dark, thoughtful eyes boring into Ivan's violet pools.
"Are you sure you are, aru? With everything?"
"Da. Do not worry about me." Ivan offered a reassuring smile. But Yao caught an underlying sadness in his voice, "Are you happy Yao-Yao?"
"Shi."
"Then I am definitely happy."
Suddenly, a thump sounded in front of them, and water splashed onto Ivan's front.
Ivan froze and looked up to the culprit.
"Oh crap! I'm sorry!" It was Yong Soo.
"Yong Soo! Watch what you are doing, aru!" Yao snapped. He got up and pulled Ivan towards the bathroom. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
-xXx-
He sat Ivan down on the toilet seat, just in time for his tail to reappear.
"Da*nit, Yong Soo!" Yao growled, "I am sorry, aru. He does not think sometimes."
"That is okay. It was an accident."
"Now we have to dry your tail."
He handed Ivan a towel to dry his face.
"I'm going to go get you a clean shirt, aru. I will be back."
"Okay."
Yao left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. When he was gone, Ivan worked on unbuttoning his dark purple shirt. He tossed it in the hamper, and dried his chest with the towel.
Yao returned, carrying a pull-over sweater and a t-shirt.
"I guess we have to wait until you dry to go back out there, don't we?"
"Da."
"I'm going to try blow-drying your tail, aru."
"Okay."
Yao took the hair dryer out from under the sink, plugged it in and then sat down on the edge of the tub beside the toilet, so he could easily reach Ivan's tail. He turned on the hair dryer, and began to dry the violet thing.
Eventually, he turned off the dryer and set it back on the counter.
"I do not want to dry it raw, aru." He said, "That should work for now."
"Spasiba."
"No problem."
"While we're waiting in here," Ivan started, "I would like to kiss you."
And so they did.
As there lips touched, perfectly fitting together, they were both overflowing with joy. Yao was drowning in love with this merman...this beautiful, magnificent sea creature that was a fantasy...a dream come true.
Ivan was content, calm. The bliss he felt while kissing this human enveloped him with peace and warmth. It seemed that all his worries had been cast aside. His heart rate that had risen with the water splashing on him began to slow back to normal. He wanted to be lost in this bliss forever.
However, suddenly, something stopped him. It was a feeling. A feeling of unease.
He stiffened and slightly drew away from Yao, and the Chinaman responded by making a curious, confused noise. Ivan clutched at his face and froze. In his mind he could hear something being said. But he could not quite make it out. The voices were garbled and muffled...distant faraway...but something about them was so painfully familiar...
He tried once more to make out the voices. One of them he distinguished above the rest. Risen in a panic, he was able to recognize it.
His stomach suddenly dropped. His brain began to overflow with worry, sorrow, dread, anxiety. He realized it then...it was the weak connection he still had with his pod. It was barely there...but the remnants he had of it were enough to tell him...
He let go of Yao, and went pale.
"What is the matter, aru?" The brunette asked.
"My pod is in trouble!" He exclaimed, "I am sorry, I have to go! My family needs me! I love you, but I have to go!" His tail dissolved back into his pant-covered legs just in time. He wrestled into the t-shirt and went for the door.
"Ivan!" Yao grabbed Ivan's wrist in a tight grip.
Ivan tried to pull his hand away, but the Chinaman was strong and wouldn't give in. "Let go of me, Yao-Yao."
"You CAN'T go! The curse! You'll die without me!"
"Then come with me."
"I can't leave my siblings here by themselves!"
"And I can't abandon my family if they're in trouble!" The merman continued to fight Yao's grip.
"But they hurt you! They abandoned you!" Yao shot back, pain evident in his voice, "I love you more than they do! You can't just leave me like this!" He was panicking as well, and tears were stinging his eyes at the thought of losing Ivan.
Ivan felt anger burning towards the brunette. What a selfish thing to say!
"So did yours!" Ivan exclaimed.
Yao was taken aback by the sudden volume in the Russian's voice and his remark.
"But did you leave them, did you ever give up on them? No! You didn't! No matter how they treated you!" Ivan snapped, "Regardless of how they treat me, I still love them! I have to help them!" he continued to try to pull out of Yao's grasp, "Let go of me!" he exclaimed, as he continued to panic.
Yao released his grip. They met bitter gazes, before Ivan turned and briskly went out the door, leaving Yao feeling completely hopeless and empty.
A/N: Well. Talk about D.R.A.M.A! And uh oh. What's happened to Ivan's pod? Also, finally there's the Asia family! And this certainly isn't the last you'll see of them. So stay tuned for next update!