Matthew was lucky to wake a little before Ivan and retract his wings before the man awoke. He was still embarrassed but was happy he didn't have any more dreams of Ivan kissing someone. Ivan woke shortly after that, blinking at the boy sleepily, pleased to see that he was already awake. "Good morning Matthew."

"A-ah, good morning Ivan. Um, now that you are awake, could you be so kind as to remove your arm?" He asked uncomfortably.

"Sure." Ivan pulled his arm back and sat up, leaving the blankets on Matthew. "How did you sleep? I assume you were warmer than the previous night since you are up before me."

"Better but you didn't need to touch me..." He sounded mad but it was more because his wings could have been discovered and not to do with the actual contact.

Ivan gave him a slightly confused look. "The most efficient way to share body heat involves physical contact Matthew." He says, taking off his second shirt before grabbing his coat and putting it on, buttoning it up before standing and putting the extra shirt in his bag. "Get your coat on and after breakfast we can start making our way to the hot springs. We should get there around noon today."

"You broke my one rule Ivan. Don't touch me while I sleep." Matthew said rather slowly, almost sadly as he pulled on his shirt and coat, though he shivered, as they were both cold.

Ivan froze in the middle of taking something out of his bag. Matthew's rule… the boy had told him that rule months ago and a situation requiring them to sleep by each other had never come up before so he had forgotten all about it.

The man sighed heavily and pulled his vodka out of his bag, taking a swig of it before starting to cook breakfast quietly, a small frown on his face as he did so. He wasn't sure why but Matthew's disappointed tone troubled him more than he would ever care to admit, but it did.

Matthew was also quiet as he sat by the fire. Kuma was back to rolling his eyes though. Matthew had gotten what he wanted; Ivan didn't find out so why was he moping over it? Yes, he understood the no touching rule, but the reaction to it normally was nothing like this. His partner would have shouted in anger, throwing away any deal they were on and headed straight home. Matthew was quite strict on means of travel or fishy cases. It was more of a means of protecting himself from others, due to past trust issues.

Ivan passed Matthew his breakfast before making something for himself, still frowning and appearing troubled though he said nothing.

"Ivan..?" Matthew asked as he took his breakfast.

"…Yes…?"

"Are-are you... mad at me?"

Ivan looked up suddenly from his cooking with an extremely confused frown upon his face. "No. Why would I be mad at you?"

"You seem unusually quiet suddenly." Matt looked away and down at his food, picking at it timidly.

Ivan sighed. "I am not mad at you Matthew. Just… annoyed at myself."

"Why?" The guardian was genuinely confused.

The prince huffed a little and took a few bites of his breakfast before speaking. "For allowing myself to forget your rule." He says with a frown. "My actions were out of concern for your health but I should not have forgotten about your rule. I apologize for both forgetting about and breaking your rule last night."

Matthew blinked a bit. "You mean you care about my rule? You aren't just saying this?"

Ivan nodded. "Yes. I do not understand it but I know you have it there for a reason and I apologize for breaking it."

"Do you promise you won't do it again?" The guardian spoke quietly, not really understanding why he was giving Ivan a second chance. Perhaps it was due to the fact he had gotten to know the prince more and had already spent two months with the man?

Ivan nodded. "Yes, I promise." He paused a second before adding. "Though to keep you alive, we should probably continue to sleep as we did last night. Though without me touching you."

"Ah yes... And you are forgiven, you were a-after all concerned for me. I did give you and Kumajiro a big scare yesterday." He said with a deep frown; to think he was willing to chance that again over simply not wearing a coat.

Ivan gave a wry smile. "Yes, you did."

"I'm sorry. I should have just listened and took you offer of sharing a bed- er, sharing the same sleeping space." He looked down shyly as the words slipped even after Ivan's warning. Noticing Ivan's scarf was still wrapped around him, Matthew quickly moved next to Ivan and returned it to its rightful place. "Sorry, I didn't notice that I still had this."

When Matthew went to put the scarf on Ivan, his fingers accidentally brushed up against the skin of Ivan's neck. Ivan gave a little jolt of surprise at this, cheeks tinting light pink as he took the scarf from the boy and quickly wrapped it around himself properly.

"Sorry!" The guardian withdrew his hands quickly and forced them into his lap. He knew that Ivan's neck was similar to his back and he could guess how that brief touch felt.

After a moment or two Ivan shook his head. "Ah, no. It is fine. You did not mean to." He finished eating his breakfast before adding. "Also, it is fine that you only gave the scarf back now. I let you wear it yesterday to keep you warm."

"Thank you again for all you have done for me. I don't know how to repay you." Matthew too reached for his own food to finish it off.

"You do not need to repay me Matthew." Ivan replied, standing up and beginning to pack his things.

"I do too. You saved me from death's grasp."

"No, you do not. You would not have been within death's grasp if I had not allowed you to sleep without a coat on in the first place."

"Well it still happened and you still saved me Ivan. It is pointless to talk of what-ifs of the past." With that Matthew finished eating.

"It is also pointless to want to repay me for something that does not have a price to begin with."

Matthew would have dropped anything in his hands at that moment but they were currently empty. His mind went sort of blank and the only thing he could get out was a stuttered whisper. "O-o-oh."

"Lives are not things to be casually thrown away. To save a life is a blessing in and of itself." Ivan says as he packed all his things away "To save the life of a friend is worth more than what I would gain by bringing a wife home." He then finished packing his bag.

"W-wait, what?" Matthew was now baffled. So Ivan hadn't meant that his life was worthless?

Ivan blinked in surprise and turned to Matthew, arching an eyebrow. "What did you think I had meant Matvey?'

"Never mind that, what do you mean by a friend being worth more than a wife? Do you truly dislike the thought of having a queen?"

Ivan paused and frowned softly. "It is not that. It is just…" He paused for a few moments to collect and order his thoughts before speaking. "In all honesty, it just seems like a friend will last longer than a queen...?" He says, not sure if Matthew would understand. "Kings tend to go through several wives. Many die in childbirth or a short while later from an infection like my mother did." He frowns a little more. "My father has "friends" he has had since childhood and I have had Orel and one or two good "friends" in the army." Ivan then sighed softly. "I guess I just do not see a point in finding someone to love if it is very likely that they will die trying to give me an heir?"

Really, it wasn't that he didn't want to find someone who loved him back. He just didn't want to find someone to love and then have her ripped away from him by the hands of death.

Matthew didn't know what to say that in all honesty. He felt like his heart had crushed itself. Ivan was truly a gentle soul; he did not want his wife, his love to be the forfeit for the needs of a kingdom. So... this is why he does not want to marry for love? A-and all this time I've been trying to push him to find someone to love as well as to wed.

Tears started to form in Matthew's eyes. "I-I'm so sorry... I-I-." The guardian felt horrible; he shouldn't have forced this on Ivan. The prince was already trying to live with the fact that his queen was not someone that he would ever love because he could not bear to lose them if he did love them.

Ivan frowned, a confused look appearing on his face at Matthew's tears. "What? Matthew why are you apologizing? It is not your fault, there is no need to cry over it."

"I-I came along with the sole intention o-of finding you someone to love and f-for them to love you in return." He sniffled as the tears fell down his face. Oh north's winds how he hated to break down in front of someone. No one should see a grown man cry. The young guardian slumped over his knees to hide his face from Ivan.

"A-and this whole time I-I've been teaching you ways to court-, I-I even got Francis; w-who you seem to hate, to give you lessons. A-all this so you could get to know a princess a-and hopefully find love with her." Matthew had to stop and wipe his cheeks that were starting to sting from the cold. He then returned to the same position, adding his arms to wrap over his head.

"A-all this time, m-maybe all your life, you were thinking of what would happen i-if you found that female to cherish. B-because a blood heir is needed for a kingdom, y-you and whom y-you love would have little choice but to conceive... A-and the thought you would lose h-her in the birth of y-your child haunts you. E-even now."

Kuma's ears dropped as he watched his partner weep over the knowledge he had just heard. He hadn't seen Matthew cry this much in many years. Family was something that mattered most to the guardian and so it was a sensitive topic when it became grave. He took a few steps towards Matthew to gently nuzzle his shoulder and gave soft sounds of comfort but it was doing little good. He could not do much in this case; for it was Ivan that the boy was shedding tears over.

Ivan was baffled that his words had caused Matthew to cry. He had been just voicing his thoughts, just trying to be… well, completely honest with this boy. Which was something he wasn't sure he'd ever been with anyone other than Orel before. And he had ended up making the boy cry over it! It didn't sit well with him to have Matthew crying because of what he had said.

Matthew had been right in some ways but also slightly off in others. True, Ivan didn't particularly like Francis, but he didn't exactly hate the incubus either. He just didn't want the sex demon to get his grabby hands anywhere near him. And it wasn't that the thought that he would lose his queen in childbirth haunted him; he just didn't see a point in finding love if that would be the end result anyway.

The prince sat there for a few moments, watching Kumajiro try to comfort Matthew to no avail. He wasn't entirely sure how to handle this situation to be honest. Yes, he'd comforted his elder sister before when she was crying, but it had never been over anything like this. He knew he should do something though. It may help Matthew understand Ivan's thoughts if he were to tell the boy more about himself and his past but he didn't feel entirely comfortable with giving away more information than he already had. Not to mention that some of what he had yet to say would probably only make the sensitive boy cry more.

After a minute or two, Ivan moved to sit next to Matthew, hesitating for a moment before reaching out and stroking the boy's hair in what he hoped was a soothing manner, trying a form of comfort Ivan remembered his elder sister using.

"I-I'm sorry.." Matthew whimpered as he leaned into the touch.

Ivan continued petting the boy's hair. "Matvey, please do not apologize. There is no need." He used a gentle tone of voice. "I have never expected to marry for love. I told you when I met you that royals do not marry for love. They have arranged marriages where both parties learn to love or at least tolerate each other with time. I have just had the misfortune of having no one available when I became of a suitable age to marry."

"I-I thought that was just something that you were raised to believe and I wanted you to see how it felt to love someone dearly. B-but I should have asked more about what you thought. I-if I had known this was how you felt, I wouldn't have continued to say things about finding love, n-nor would I have hurt you."

Ivan gave a puzzled frown at that. "Why do you think you have hurt me?"

"I-I don't know! I-if someone was continuously talking about something I could not have, b-but treasured... I-it would hurt, it would hurt so much." He hiccupped.

"Matvey…" Ivan sighed. "You have not hurt me. I have known since I was young that it is very likely I may not ever have someone whom I love and who loves me back and I am okay with it. It is simply part of being a royal."

"I-I understand, b-but even that hurts..."

"It does not hurt me Matvey. I have experienced far worse before. Knowing I will probably never find love does not bother me." He says, continuing to stroke the boy's hair. "You do not need to cry over me for such a thing. You have not hurt me in any way."

Even still Matthew continued to cry, it would be a while yet. If Ivan said it wasn't hurting him, it was hurting Matthew and Ivan wasn't sure what to say to make Matthew stop crying. He paused in thought, thinking of what he did when his elder sister was crying and he was trying to comfort her.

After a moment or two, Ivan gave Matthew a somewhat awkward hug, not really sure how to hug him when the boy was curled up into a ball. Matthew was quick to wrap his arms around Ivan because he really needed a hug right now.

Ivan hugged him a bit less awkwardly now that Matthew was no longer curled in a ball. He stayed quiet, not sure what to say. Kumajiro curled around the two in his own form of a hug. It made Matthew giggle a little and Ivan smiled at Kumajiro's form of a hug, glad it had made Matthew a bit happier.

About ten minutes had gone by and Matthew slowly let go of Ivan. "Thank you, I'm feeling better now."

Ivan nodded and let go of Matthew as well. "It is no problem, yes?" He smiled a bit and ruffled the boy's hair. "Now, why don't we get all packed up and start heading towards the hot springs?"

"Yes, I think that taking a long bath would feel nice." The guardian smiled and cleaned his face on his sleeve. Ivan nodded and stood up, offering Matthew a hand up. "Thank you." He took Ivan's hand. "I'll get my stuff packed and then we can head out." Ivan then helped the boy up, putting out the fire with some snow while Matthew picked up the blankets and folded them. Though what he didn't notice was that two light gold feathers had fallen out.

Ivan turned to help Matthew and paused, his eyes catching sight of something off colored on the snow. He bent down, picking the two feathers up. He tilted his head at them curiously, turning them back and forth in between his fingers. He frowned softly and looked to Kumajiro as he squawked at Matthew for tightening the saddle too much, looking at his colorings and silently comparing them to the feathers in his hand.

A moment later he decided he'd figure it out later and slid the large feathers into his pocket before putting his pack on his back and going over to Matthew and Kumajiro. "Are we ready to go Matvey?"

"All ready now." The boy smiled brightly even though his eyes were still puffy from crying.

)*(

They reached the hot springs about an hour after they had stopped for lunch; it was in a curious place. Inside the side of a mountain with a warm chamber before the actual hot springs just a bit further inside. Ivan set down his pack in the inner chamber away from the water, taking off his coat and setting it down on top of his pack.

Matthew was practically jumping for joy. "This is unbelievable! I can't wait to jump in."

Ivan laughed softly at Matthew's eagerness and began to strip completely. Though with Matthew beginning to strip, Kuma was quick to start complaining. The boy laughed and threw his shirt to the ground where his coat lay, before getting Kuma's saddle off. "There you go, now you can take a hot bath too."

When Ivan was done he walked over and tested how hot the water was before sliding in. It felt wonderful and Kuma was next to get in. Matthew, last to get in, took slow steps so he wouldn't burn but he hummed as the warmth seeped into his flesh; he was waist deep before he looked over at Ivan. The first thing that caught his eye was the man's body covered in scars; sure he had seen some from bandaging him up and from the night he saw his neck. But to see all of his scars at once was different.

Matthew felt the heat rising to his face. He tried to convince himself that it was just the hot spring but who was he kidding? He had already confessed that he thought Ivan's scars were attractive. Well he also has a nice body- Matthew hit his forehead with his hand. Where, in all the winds, did that come from!? He had already seen this man shirtless and this thought had never crossed his mind then!

Ivan was floating on his back in the water, enjoying the warmth. It was a great change from the cold. He wondered why he had never bothered to go to one of the hot springs before. There was one near the palace after all. "You know if we wanted to, we could stay here for a few days." The prince comments, eyes closed. "That chamber just outside of this one is warm enough to sleep in after all and it's not like those at the next castle are expecting us to visit."

Matthew nodded with a strained smile and watched as Ivan floated along. "I'm alright with that... I am quite enjoying your b-kingdom's hot springs." This cannot be happening! Ivan arched an eyebrow at the slip up, peeking an eye open to glance at the boy before closing his eyes again and continuing to float for a bit in thought. Matthew slumped down into the water, now wishing it was cold so he could cool his thoughts and think straight.

Kuma eventually came over to Matthew to pester him about his odd behavior. Matthew was not at all pleased about this, the last thing he needed was a fussy hippogriff giving him a "talk" but after many moments of shoving back and forth, wrestling and dunking each other, the young guardian gave in and told him some of the things he was keeping to himself. Which was odd for both of them because they had never needed to keep things hidden from one another. For his own comfort, Matthew spoke in whistles and actions so Ivan could not eavesdrop.

If possible Kuma would have laughed, Matthew was experiencing his first full mating season. Sure for the past two or three years Matthew had felt pulls and affections fly through him, but this was the first time that his body was fully prepared. The young guardian's wings had even changed to be more beautiful to attract mates, though Matthew would argue that a slight change in shade of gold and a white stripe in his under feathers was not much of a change.

They had both seen this before however. When Alfred had gone through his season, and good lord had Alfred been smitten, he was flashing and displaying his wings to any female he deemed beautiful, even so much as to give them a fancy flying performance. Al had slept in many beds that season.

Now he may have mated with many females, but that was just Alfred's way of trying to find a mate. Guardians were odd; they could not conceive offspring if a female did not invite their mate into her nest and Alfred certainly hadn't been courting any female guardians.

But, back to Matthew. Kumajiro could only guess that the reason Matt found himself wanting to "display his feathers" to Ivan, was due to the fact there were no females around. The only time there was was when they were in a village but it was so brief that Kuma speculated the pheromones never really registered in the youth.

Meanwhile, Ivan had been watching them converse curiously for a moment or two before righting himself but continuing to float around, thinking about his earlier finding and occasionally looking over at Matthew curiously before looking away again. The feathers were too large to be a native bird but they weren't the right color to be from Kumajiro. In fact, the color was actually quite similar to Matthew's hair...

Ivan swam over to the edge of the hot spring and stretched to grab his coat and drag it closer to him, not wanting to get out yet but wanting to grab something from the pockets. "Matvey?" He asks once he'd pulled the jacket closer.

"Y-yes?" Matthew was startled when hearing Ivan's voice. He wasn't ready to face him just yet. Not with the talk he was having with Kuma. When Ivan beckoned the boy to swim over to him, Matthew blushed and slowly made his way over, Kuma following behind him.

"I found these earlier when we were packing." Ivan says, pulling out the feathers and holding them up in front of the boy's face, watching as Matthew's eyes widened in absolute shock. "They are too big to be from a native bird but they are also not the right color to be Kumajiro's." He paused a moment, tilting his head curiously. "The color is actually most similar to your hair color…" Ivan watched Matthew's face curiously, watching for the boy's expression to see if it would give anything away as to what these were.

W-when did-? Oh no... Last night when Ivan had laid on his wings, Matthew had accidentally plucked his own feathers by rolling over and he had completely forgotten about them.

Ivan just gave the boy a questioning look, waiting to see if Matthew would explain what they were. Ivan had a hunch but he wasn't positive if he was right or not.

Matthew didn't say anything, he just stared with wide eyes, as his shock became fear; he was frightened and didn't know what to do. Kumajiro leaned forward and plucked the feathers out of Ivan's hand before turning around and swimming away. Ivan frowned softly at Kumajiro but didn't pursue the hippogriff; instead he kept his questioning look on Matthew. "Matvey?"

"They-they're... Kuma's father's." The guardian said softly, though his voice shook.

Ivan shook his head slightly. "No, they're not Matvey. He is mostly white but those are more golden. I have been comparing the colors since this morning. They are not his."

"Have... you ever seen a V-vernal gryphon? They're gold feathered." The poor boy's heart was racing and everything was telling him to run.

"Are they Matvey's?" Ivan asks rather bluntly, tilting his head and giving the boy a questioning look.

"W-what? N-no, I-I am only hanging on to them because Kuma wants to-to meet his father, and the feathers hold his-his scent." Matthew was rambling nonsense now but it was better than running. Running made everything obvious.

"Matthew." Ivan says gently, in the soothing tone he'd used earlier. "Do not think I can not easily tell when someone is trying to lie to me. I am just asking a simple question. I answered you truthfully earlier. Please answer me truthfully now instead of trying to lie to me."

Matthew flinched and stumbled back as if Ivan had shouted at him. He was holding his arms almost painfully tight. He was shaking now as he hung his head but there was nothing else he could say to get out of it so Matthew crumbled. He tried to settle his heart enough to have his wings come out with as little pain as possible.

With his head hung you could get a clear view of the boy's shoulders. It started with small movements under his skin and then some swelling. He could feel the pulling and pushing of his wings against his back and under the skin and the boy gave a small whine of discomfort as the points of his wings pressed up against his flesh. Then it looked as though his back was growing two mountains before the skin began to feather. The flesh was stretched more and more, and then in two quick movements, the feathered appendages spread out into two large, soft, golden wings that hovered gently above the water's surface.

Ivan's eyes widened in surprise when the wings spread out all the way, looking at them curiously and moved closer slowly. Matthew's whole body was shaking, he was too frightened to look up or say anything.

The man reached out to touch the wings but stopped himself before he could, pulling his hand back. "May I touch them?" He asks gently, his eyes shifting to Matthew's hidden face, taking his eyes off the wings for a moment.

Matthew flinched and retracted his wings, not inside him, but just drawn in close to his body. The guardian quickly stepped back to put some distance between them once more but tripped and fell in, flailing about before coming up to the surface. He sluggishly and awkwardly swam backwards.

Ivan stayed where he was, lowering his hands as Matthew swam away from him. "Matvey I am not going to hurt you or yell at you…" He says quietly. "I apologize for asking and for frightening you. I was only curious."

Curled up in his wings, Matthew finally looked up at Ivan. He didn't know why he was so scared of showing Ivan; he had known him long enough to know that the prince wouldn't hurt him. Yet even so, here he was, shaking in fear. "I-I'm s-sorry..."

"You do not need to apologize." Ivan says calmly. He then swims over to the other side of the hot springs, away from Matthew to give the boy some space to himself. He did not like how Matthew seemed so afraid and upset by him finding out about the wings.

After about five minutes Kuma came over and shoved Matthew towards Ivan, tired of all of this nitpicking over wings. Matthew didn't need to ask what he was getting at and slowly the guardian made his way over to the prince. He had some explaining to do. "I... I'm sorry. I never wanted you to find out about what I truly was." He said sadly, glancing nervously at Ivan.

"That much is obvious from the way you reacted when I pulled the feathers out." Ivan replies quietly with a slight nod. "I am guessing that this is the reason you can not sleep with a coat on?"

"Y-yes."

"Why did you not want me to know?"

"Because not everyone takes what I am with much kindness a-and I was afraid that you would push me away if you knew... o-or worse."

"Ah." Ivan nods in understanding. "What are you exactly? I have never seen a person with bird wings before." He tilts his head curiously, a slightly bemused look on his face. "Is Matvey an angel?"

Matthew laughed a little, even a small smile showed through. It was not meant as a joke but it had helped him relax. "N-no. I do not know what my kind calls ourselves, but by others we are called Guardians."

"Oh." Ivan smiled a bit as well before blinking in realization. "So your scars are not really scars then, correct?"

"No, they are just birthmarks."

Ivan nods in understanding and then shifts his gaze back to the wings. "Your wings are a very pretty gold like your hair." He says with a smile.

"Thank you." Matthew looked down at them before stretching them out a little. "Do you...?"

"Do I…?"

"Want to-still touch them? They're soaked now so they won't be as soft, b-but if you still want to." His cheeks were flushed again. Why was he inviting Ivan to touch them? The wings of any bird-like creature were just the same as any other private area, for mates only, and of course nestlings, but that was different.

"Only if you are okay with me touching them." Ivan replies with a small smile.

Slowly Matthew reached out with one wing, like one would do when offering a handshake. "Just don't be gentle, they are more... s-sensitive than my back."

Ivan chuckled softly. "It is hard not to be gentle when you are acting so timid Matvey." He chides, reaching out and touching them but trying not to touch them too softly. Though he was most likely failing in not touching them gently, it was hard to be anything but gentle when Matthew had been acting so afraid and nervous just a few minutes ago. Matthew flinched as his blush increased and Ivan pulled his hand back immediately. "Sorry."

"I-i-it's all right." Matthew gave a shy, timid smile and Ivan smiled right back. Things got very quiet after that and the boy didn't really know what to do but he did want to sit, so he slowly moved to sit next to Ivan. Then a thought came to mind. "Are you mad...?"

"No." Ivan shook his head. "I am not mad. Though I wish you had told me sooner. We could have avoided almost having you die on us if you had."

"I was just scared you wouldn't want me." Matthew frowned and couldn't look Ivan in the eye.

"Wouldn't want you…?" Ivan asks, questioning the phrasing. "What do you mean?"

"Huh?" Matthew glanced up in surprise. Did he really say it like that? "Oh, that you wouldn't want me to travel with you."

"Ah, do not worry about that. I enjoy your company." Ivan smiled.

"Me too." Matthew returned the smile. "As odd as this is going to sound. I'm glad you ended up on my doorstep."

Ivan chuckled softly. "As am I." He paused for a moment as something else came to mind. "What did you think I had meant earlier when I said that it was pointless to attempt to repay me for something that doesn't have a price anyway?"

"That? You really want to know? It is not very nice..."

Ivan nods. "Yes."

Matthew sighed and his smile became a frown. "I thought you meant I was worthless."

Ivan blinked in surprise. "No. That is not what I had meant at all." He looked very slightly amused. "While there are others who I think of as that, you are not one of them."

"Ivan?"

"Yes?"

"Are-We are friends, right?" Matthew looked away, worried that he might be wrong.

Ivan tilted his head for a moment in thought. It hadn't been something he'd thought of before. He did rather enjoy Matthew's company, a bit more so than the friends he had in the army actually. "Yes."

"I am relieved to hear you feel the same. I was a little worried there I have to admit." He laughed.

Ivan chuckled. "I could tell. You tend to look away from me when you are worried that you have said something you think will upset me or anger me."

"I do?"

Ivan nods. "Yes, you do."

"I apologize, I don't mean to."

Ivan smiled a bit. "Matvey, you do not need to apologize for things like that so much. It is fine, alright?"

Matthew gave a shrug and laughed. "It's kind of a habit."

Ivan laughed as well. "Yes, I have noticed that too."

"Well I'm not the only one."

"I know."

"Did you know you keep changing how you say my name?"

Ivan blinks in surprise. "I do?"

"Indeed, you either say Matthew or Matvey, was it?" He giggled.

"Ah, that." Ivan smiles a bit. "Matvey is how your name is pronounced in my native language."

"I don't mind. I actually sort if like it. Like a nickname." He smiled back.

Ivan chuckled. "I suppose. Though there are actually different forms of the names that we use to show ah, familiarity or intimacy I suppose. Usually strangers address each other differently than friends do, and friends address each other differently than family or lovers do."

With a huff, he sunk more into the hot spring. "You didn't have to over complicate it... It was nice as it was."

"I apologize. What form of a name used and who is saying it is important in Solstice. Depending on what form of the name is used, it can be either respectful, affectionate, intimate, or derogatory." Ivan laughed softly. "I will stop explaining now."

"Bless the winds." He sighed heavily and sank up to his neck in water.

Ivan laughed some more and splashed him a little. "Am I that boring of a teacher Matvey?"

"I'm afraid so." The boy closed his eyes and giggled a little.

"Oh well. I am far better at teaching people how to fight than I am with anything else I suppose."

"Everyone has something that they are good at." Matthew smiles up at Ivan.

Ivan smiled back. "Yes. With me it is mostly fighting."

"I'm sure is mine something to do with pushing my way into others troubles." The boy says with a laugh

Ivan laughed softly. "What about healing others? You wanted to become a healer, yes?"

"I want to yes.. But I'm not that good at it." He admitted sadly.

"Because you have not had a teacher for quite some time, correct?"

"That is part of it."

"Only part of it?".

"Yes, the other is if people are willing to trust me to heal them." He shifted his wings so they could completely soak.

Ivan frowned softly in confusion. "If they are ill or hurting should they not accept help from wherever they can find it if they do not know how to make themselves better?"

"Yes of course. So long as they aren't a demon or a guardian that is." He mumbled.

"Why does it matter if they are a guardian or not?"

Matthew looked up slowly and gave Ivan a sad smile. "You do not know about my kind. And I would very much like to keep it that way."

Ivan pouted slightly. "Oh all right." He says smiling a bit and splashing Matthew with the water. "You keep your secrets and I'll keep mine."

"You have secrets?" The boy splashed him back. "I wouldn't have known."

Ivan laughs and splashes Matthew again. "I guard them very well."

Matthew swished one wing and made a big splash. "That is fine. I have many as well."

Ivan blinked in surprise before laughing more. He hadn't been expecting such a big splash. "Using your wings to your advantage is very wise Matvey." He praises, swimming up next to him. "Unfortunately they will not help you catch me after I do... this." He ducked under water and playfully tugged Matthew under just enough to submerge his head before letting go and resurfacing, Ivan then pushed off the wall of the hot springs with his feet and swam away before Matthew could retaliate.

"Ah! Be careful." The guardian laughed as he pushed his hair out of his face as water streamed down it. He laughed some more as he saw Ivan some distance away. With a grin he moved away from the wall to a nearby rock. "Putting a distance between yourself and a winged creature is not wise my friend." He then heaved himself up onto the rock. It wasn't very big, but enough for him to hold onto. Then with great effort he pulled his drenched wings up and out of the water, they weighed more than they looked. Then he began to flap his wings, slowly and sluggishly at first, but then faster. The faster and harder his wings flapped the more water went flying towards Ivan. It was like it was raining as thousands of water droplets pelted the area. It was more or less a long distance splash.

Ivan laughed in surprise. "Ah, I was thinking that if you had tried to follow me your wings would have slowed you down in the water."

"And you don't think I don't know that Ivan? It would be foolish of me to try. Unless I was to hide them again." He laughed weakly for he was panting from exertion. He normally wouldn't soak his wings to this extent so they were almost four times as heavy with all the water his feathers were holding.

Ivan chuckled softly and swam closer. "It seems like your chosen option was foolish as well. Your wings must be heavier after being in the water for so long. You are using up all your energy on one action." He splashes Matthew with a smile. "Using up all your energy at once is never wise."

"And who's fault would that be? Oh, wait it was yours." Matthew smirked and stood up on the rock slightly before pushing off with his legs; he wouldn't bother flapping his wings, not like he could catch any air with them wet anyway. He jumped onto Ivan, forcing them both under the surface.

Ivan didn't have time to react as they were both forced under. The first thing he had time to register was that Matthew had unintentionally knocked the breath out of him when he jumped onto him. His next thought was that it would probably take longer than he would like to attempt to swim out from under Matthew and his wings, so instead Ivan simply righted the two of them under water and swam up, tugging Matthew up with him by the waist since he had more or less caught the boy when he had jumped on him.

Resurfacing, Ivan took a gulp of air before laughing at how completely unexpected Matthew's action had been and how entirely unprepared Ivan had been for it. Matthew also started laughing, though he had really taken his chance there. "Don't ever underestimate your opponent, they might surprise you." He then held onto Ivan around the only place he really could and it was somewhat of an awkward hold around the other man's built shoulders. He felt like he was slipping but it was better than grabbing Ivan's neck.

Ivan chuckled softly. "Yes, I should have remembered." He was holding Matthew by the waist as securely as he could in the water. "You definitely surprised me with that Matvey."

Matthew couldn't help but grin in triumph and Ivan smiled. The guardian slowly lost his grin as he watched Ivan smile. He hadn't really taken the opportunity to get a close look at Ivan's smile but his comment from before still stood, Ivan had a charming smile, maybe a little too charming.

Ivan tilted his head very slightly as Matthew stared at him. Or maybe Ivan was staring at Matthew as well, he wasn't sure. He was sure that he hadn't taken much time to notice how pretty the boy's eye color was before. They're similar to mine. Except brighter and…and kinder… more caring.

Matthew found himself staring at Ivan's eyes after a moment but before he could come up with something marvelous to say about them, he realized that the closeness of the two of them was maybe too close. His dreams had come to pay a surprise visit in his mind and blush rose in his cheeks, making them even darker from what was already added from the heat. He swallowed nervously and froze in their locked stare.

"Maybe we should get out of the hot springs now." Ivan suggests quietly, not breaking eye contact. "Your cheeks are really red suddenly." Without thinking about it, he tightened his grip around Matthew's waist with one arm in order to let go with his other arm without dropping the boy. His now free hand came up and lightly stroked Matthew's red cheeks with the back of a few of his fingers.

Last day to vote for the fourth story! Only four hours left until the 19th! 8D
-RQ