In Which Things Are About To Get Super Embarrassing
Natalya was having a good day. Well, it wasn't necessarily good, but it wasn't bad either. She'd spoken on the phone to her big sister, which was nice, and apparently her sister was going to visit that weekend, which was even better. On the other hand, she'd had to chase off her Brother's friend Toris, again, who just couldn't get the hint that she wasn't into him. He'd probably learned that annoying tenacity from Alfred.
Thinking of Alfred reminded her of her plan to set up her older brother with Alfred. She'd always been concerned with how alone he was, and as a child, her obvious solution was to marry him. At this point, it was less that she still did, and more that it was a habit to say that. Then Alfred came along. Natalya thought Alfred was the reason Ivan showed more of his true emotions and less fake smiles these days, but most importantly, her older brother looked less lonely. That was enough of a reason to support them. Thats why she was actually rather looking forward to interrogating her brother about his feelings for Alfred when she got home.
Thus, she'd considered it a pretty good day. Right up until she stepped into the house and heard suspicious thumping and creaking sounds from her older brothers room. Natalya paled. She wanted her brother to be happy of course, and it was true she didn't really want to marry him all that much anymore, but this-
She wasn't ready for this. Without taking off her jacket, she made a rush for the stares, stomping up each step, ready to deal both Alfred and even her darling big brother a blow to the cheek. They were too young for this! She ignored the fact that she herself was two years younger. It didn't help that she kept hearing worse things the closer she got.
"What?" Alfred's teasing voice was loud, as usual, "Want me to do it harder?"
Ivan's voice was almost growling as he responded. "Shut your mouth or I will shut it for you!"
"Oh, I'm so scared!" Alfred returned, not sounding scared at all.
"Big brother!"
Natalya threw open the door without thinking about what she should say, or worse, what she should do if they really were doing what she suspected, which she really should have thought through a little more. Luckily for her, what greeted her was nothing what she imagined.
Alfred and Ivan both froze, sweat dripping off both Alfred and Ivan. Both had messy hair, were panting for breath, and most importantly, were each holding a pillow from Ivan's bed, clearly in the middle of a pillow fight. Ivan quailed under Natalya's glower, and Alfred, looking suddenly upset, quickly pointed a finger accusingly at Ivan.
"He started it!"
Natalya looked sharply from one to the other, feeling both relieved and another emotion she couldn't identify, but was certain she didn't like.
"Out."
She demanded of Alfred, and obediently he dropped Ivan's pillow and scampered off, looking somewhat sympathetically at Ivan as he left. Ivan looked like he was trying to think of an excuse for what was going on. Natalya was thinking of something that Ivan really wouldn't like.
He was thinking that Ivan had never gotten "the talk." She'd had that uncomfortable conversation with her older sister when she turned twelve, but who would tell Ivan? He only had sisters, after all, and this was one experience that Natalya did not want to have with her brother...
Thankfully her older sister would be coming that weekend.
Natalya smiled pityingly at Ivan. Ivan flinched.
