I leave things in odd places.

0o0o0o

The next day, Ivan woke up in the observatory. Everything about him felt sore, and his chest hurt. Carefully sitting up, he pressed a hand to his heart and breathed in slowly, feeling the familiar hum of his machinery even through his coat. The familiar ritual calmed and reassured him. He was alive.

He and Yao were not scheduled to meet again for another few days at least, Ivan reflected, starting towards the door. He wondered how closely the Middle fleet watched over their young leader. Not closely enough, certainly. They would not notice him at Yao's rooms.

0o0o0o

Yao furiously typed out everything he knew about the Russian fleet. He needed their technology to help with the diseases that had been passed down by the First generations, and he needed their ships to solve the overpopulation issues. What did they need from him, he asked himself, what was the root of the reason Ivan Braginsky followed him around and took his arm at dinner?

His manpower, his armies. They needed his people, that which he was so loathe to surrender. And yet, to make them better, he needed the alliance.

With a groan, Yao rubbed at his eyes. Trying to figure out allies was almost harder than figuring out enemies. At least you knew what your enemies wanted-your blood on their hands. Yao had no idea what Ivan wanted to do, but he had a sense of what the imposing man wanted of him. So long as he could give it up.

0o0o0o

'Why are you in our observatory, Yao?'

Yao turned around, sliding his device into his pocket. Ivan stood at the door, staring intently. 'Our observatory?'

'We are allies,' Ivan said softly. 'What is mine is yours.' He crossed towards where Yao sat cross-legged on the floor and sunk to his knees. He silently inclined his head, reaching for Yao's arm. For once, the nobleman did not stop him. Ivan gently pulled Yao's fingers to his lips and brushed them with the softest of kisses. Yao breathed in sharply, his pulse fluttering where Ivan's thumb pressed. Ivan looked up and met his pretty copper eyes. 'What is yours, Yao, is mine.'

The hand clasped in his suddenly yanked away and gripped his wrist. Ivan pulled back, startled, but Yao held firm.

'I instigated this alliance, Braginsky,' he reminded Ivan. His amber eyes were calm and flat. Ivan felt a thrill run through him. 'I wish to use your ships, yes-but you need me. You need my manpower.'

Yao held his breath, silently praying he was right. Of course, what good did careful calculations have on Ivan Braginsky?

'Yes,' Ivan said after a long moment. 'I need your manpower.'

Yao tried and failed to find answers in those piercing violet eyes. He wasn't expecting flat agreement, but to be honest, he never expected Ivan Braginsky to challenge his orderly world, to be his personal reminder of all that rested on the alliance.

'Come with me, Yao. You have seen the polished side of my fleet, now it is time to see the way things are when your amber eyes aren't watching.' Ivan laid his other hand atop of Yao's, still holding his wrist. 'If you want to see it.'

Yao looked up and nodded. 'Show me your world.'

One day, Ivan thought, and pulled Yao to his feet.

0o0o0o

'We used to own the Satellite fleets,' Ivan mentioned as they walked. 'Do you know the current leaders? I used to know Toris.'

'The quiet boy with brown hair?' Yao asked. Ivan nodded.

'The other one, Eduard, is good at programming. And the little one, Raivis, he is good at building delicate things.' Yao looked at him carefully. Ivan gazed down at the young leader and smiled. 'They helped me several times.'

'I imagine so,' Yao remarked, glancing at his scarf. Ivan tugged gently on the end.

'I promised I would show you the world without the glamour,' he said. The small room around them was full of people, and yet even in the packed bar, people kept a careful distance.

'They will not talk,' Ivan had assured the fleet leader. 'Earth and I as a topic of conversation has long since run its course.'

Yao chewed his lip, swirling his drink.

'You said they are jealous of you?' he asked. Ivan raised his bottle to his lips and drank deeply.

'Yes.'

'How old are you, Ivan?' Yao asked sharply. Ivan raised an eyebrow.

'Is this related, Yao?'

'Did you see Earth and remember it, Ivan Braginsky?' Yao demanded. Ivan held his gaze, his desperate, defeated gaze. He would even take second-hand experience of the place he longed for.

'I am twenty-four,' he said. Yao breathed in a sigh of relief or pain. Three years before the starships.

'So you do remember it.'

'Remember what?' Ivan asked with a smile. Yao narrowed his eyes and barked a short laugh before draining his glass.

0o0o0o

'Have you seen enough, Yao?' Ivan questioned as they walked back to the observatory. Yao hesitated.

'Enough for now.'

'So?' Ivan watched closely as Yao bit back words. 'What did you see?'

'They...detest you, I hope you realize,' Yao commented, giving Ivan a quick look. Ivan chuckled with satisfaction.

'I know. I am not blind or deaf.'

'Are you dead here, though?' Yao asked, and pressed a hand to his chest, above his heart. The heat from his hand cut through Ivan's coat. When the larger man did not answer, Yao almost scoffed. 'It takes more than that to know things, Ivan.'

'What don't I know, Yao?'

'What my own people say about you.'

'Sometimes I wonder what stories people I've met tell about me now. Or what the Americans say.'

'Even now, we are humans,' Yao said, a note of weary awe in his voice. 'Have you heard of the butterfly effect, Ivan?'

'The beating of the wings of a butterfly can cause hurricanes across the world?' Ivan offered. Yao nodded.

'Humans are resonant. We remember sharp blows against us better than any gentleness, and it is those harsher things that shape us.' He stretched back, staring to the ceiling. 'In another universe, maybe the other proverb holds truer-that flowers cannot be opened with hammers.'

'Flowers…' Ivan was suddenly at his side, oddly warm. 'Do you really believe that, Yao? That they yield only to the…' His hands cupped Yao's face, soft and barely ghosting over the skin, '...gentlest touches?'

Mouth suddenly dry, Yao croaked out an affirmation.

Ivan leaned closer, violet eyes alight.

'We will see, my little sunflower,' he said quietly, and released Yao. Standing abruptly, the larger man walked away, leaving Yao sitting alone under a nebula.

0o0o0o

Ivan waited for Toris to pick up.

'Toris Laurinaitis, co-leader of the Union of Two Nations-'

'Toris,' Ivan began, and the man on the other end of the line fell instantly silent. 'Deliver to my rooms one closed sunflower bud in one hour.' Without waiting for a response, he closed the channel. Toris would obey. Just because he had run off with the blond and now commanded their fleet together did not mean he was free of Ivan, Ivan's touch, his influence, his wishes. Some things last longer than declarations of liberty on paper. As Yao had said, humans remember and even old ripples change the larger nebulas of stardust.

0o0o0o

'We need to make a more aggressive move on the Russian technology,' Im Yong Soo demanded. 'We have had reports of several more deaths, as well as a possible new strain of the coughing virus…'

Yao tuned them out. Now was a good time to request a new ambassador. He could get rid of Ivan. He could destroy his only link to Earth. The very thought made Yao shudder. He would only keep Ivan until he knew what Earth was like, and maybe he could get some information on whether or not he had really replaced his respiratory system-

'Yao!' Kiku snapped. Yao jolted back to attention, finding all eyes on him. What were they talking about?

'I agree with Kiku,' he stammered, searching for a friendly face. He automatically turned to his prodigy like usual, but the slight man's brown eyes held no comfort, and Yao recoiled.

'I haven't given my opinion,' Kiku stated flatly. Yao flushed red, scrabbling for hold.

'I-I…' He trailed off as Kiku stood up. All eyes turned to him.

'We need to directly target any breaches in security. Any leaked information could prove fatal if our...allies hear it.' He cast a dismissive look at Yao that made the older man cringe. 'I expect our fleet leader to have concealed what we need from the Russians from his private ambassador, so we can look at other routes for sealing any errors.' He paused for effect. 'I do not need to elaborate on how much of a disadvantage this could put us at, especially since they are militarily superior and any pressure from us to provide technology could result in…'

Yao felt more than saw the stares on him.

'...War.'

Yao stared at his hands and felt the heat of shame. When he looked back up, Kiku watched him coldly. Yao felt a rush of terror.

'Kiku-'

'There is no evidence in the rumour saying you leaked any information,' Kiku said shortly. 'There is no evidence against it, either.' A long moment passed between them, Yao's eyes wide in fear. Kiki's gaze softened fractionally. 'I will not tell. You are my teacher.' The unspoken 'unless' hovered between them as Kiku turned away.

Yao slumped in his chair, head pounding. Kiku had turned the tides of his court, there had been a power shift as obvious as the phases of the stars. With a bitter chuckle, Yao rose along with his advisors, watching the measured steps of his prodigy. Kiku was clever.

0o0o0o

By the time Yao was striding to his rooms, the weary stress of the meeting had curdled into rage. Ivan Braginsky was the reason he wasn't paying attention, Ivan Braginsky was the reason Yao was so hung up on Earth when he thought he might finally be able to accept the loss, Ivan Braginsky was the spy, the charming ambassador sent to pry his secrets out of him. It was Ivan's fault, Yao decided, because it was better than blaming himself.

Yao stopped short in front of his door. There was a spiky sort of plant bud lying there, the stem newly cut. The sight shocked him out of his rage, and he knelt to pick it up.

The leaves, formerly furled tightly, had been peeled apart. The petals were yellow. Yao curled his fist around the sunflower bud, feeling the stiff spines scratch at his palm, and laughed. There didn't need to be a note.

He unclenched his hand and gently shook out the damaged sunflower before placing it in a vase of water.

0o0o0o

Ivan wondered if Yao had found his gift yet, idly sketching the opened bud on the edge of his device as Natalya talked.

'I'm concerned about Yao,' she said, pale hair fluttering behind her as she paced. 'I'm concerned about how you do unprecedented things in the name of being his ambassador.'

Ivan's stylus paused, but his voice was steady. 'I am offering things in order to receive more information. That was the plan, was it not?'

'That was the plan until you deviated from it.' Natalya was turned to regard him carefully. 'Brother, I trust your ways. If arranging unauthorized meetings in the observatory with him and sending him...sunflowers will help us gain the upper hand and their manpower, then I will allow you to do it.'

'Thank you.'

'Our leader says different.'

Ivan looked up, violet eyes childishly wide. 'What did he say?'

'That starting tomorrow, you must be accompanied by another ambassador if you are to contact Yao Wang.'

Ivan was a cool, indifferent mask. Underneath the table, his hand jerked on the last line of the flower. 'Who will our companion be?'

'That is classified information,' his sister recited. When she closed her device, her eyes were tense. 'Brother?'

'Send our leader my regards,' Ivan said as he left.

0o0o0o

But after all, I don't always describe things if they have hidden folds.

:: Finding the perfect word