Hetalia © Hidekaz Himaruya
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: Hey guys. Sorry that I haven't posted a chapter in a while, but I was busy writing that I forgot to review anything :O Anyways here's the next chapter. I sort of have a whole idea planned for where this story is headed so I hope you enjoy this story. I'll try to portray the countries the best I can, but if they seem too OOC just tell me because this is my first time ever writing about these characters and I don't know if I'm displaying them as well as I can. Plus my idea for several characters are a bit different because this story is sort of set in the present/future and how I'd see a country now has changed, slightly. Well it doesn't really matter. I just hope you enjoy the next chapter! =D
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A tired sigh escaped your lips, your arms stretching as you moved out of your bed and welcomed the lukewarm breeze that blew into your window. "No matter how much I like the snow it's nice to have a light breeze," you thought aloud, yawning as you stumbled out of bed and pulled back the blinds. Your eyes lit up, staring out at the rising sun in the distance. This was your first break for the week and you were going to spend the morning with Ivan Braginski. After hearing the horror stories from Alfred and Arthur you didn't know what to think of the man, but you kept an open mind as you began to stumble around your hotel room and threw the clothes you were going to wear for the day onto the bed. You weren't sure what you should wear today, but you certainly weren't going to wear a suit because you wanted to be casual.
Then you were snapped out of your thoughts, hearing a knock at the door. You walked past your stuff, looking through the peephole at the top and noticing a light pink cloth up against the small window before hearing a knock again. "Must be Ivan," you mumbled under your breath, cautiously opening the door and noticing the familiar white haired man standing in front of your door with a smile on his face. "Oh hi Ivan!" you chuckled, closing the door, much to his disappointment, and unlocking the many latches that kept your door shut before opening the door wide for the man, "You're early! I didn't fully wake up yet, but come in and make yourself comfortable."
You walked back into the hotel room to give him room, Ivan gave you a smile as he closed the door behind you and looked around the room you were staying in. "Извините –"
"Ничего, ничего, пожалуйста!" You chuckled lightly, "No harm done, but if you don't mind I need to take a shower and get ready. You can sit on the bed or the chair over there if you wish and I have some food if you're hungry Ivan. Just make yourself comfortable and I shouldn't take too long," you smiled to him, watching as he sat down on the edge of your bed while you gathered your clothes into your hands and walked into the bathroom. You wondered if the man was going to say anything, but all you heard was him shuffling on the bed waiting patiently as you started up the shower and set your clothes down on the bathroom counter. You wondered why the man was thirty minutes early, but you shrugged off the fact that he was early and decided to try to bring up a conversation as you jumped into the shower. "So Ivan!" you began to call from the shower as the water began to run, "Feel free to eat some food if you wish. You can make yourself a blackberry sandwich if you wish! I have the jam in the mini refrigerator and bread on top of the fridge! If you want to watch tv too go ahead and do that!"
"Большое спасибо," he answered back, a smile on your face as you began to hum in the shower and get all the sweat and grime out of your hair. You could hear him shuffling around in your small apartment looking for the items you told him about, but you didn't hear the tv turn on so you figured he was just making himself a sandwich. He may have been early, but as you were taught you didn't want to leave your guests hungry and uncomfortable. This was your treat after all and since you barely had time to talk to the man you wanted to start off on the right foot, even if that foot made you run into the man earlier that week. Whatever. That was in the past. This conversation was in the present and was happening now.
It didn't take you long to take your shower, drying off your body with a towel as you hooked up your blow dryer to an outlet and began to comb your hair. You had to admit, you were nervous to have the man on the other side of the doorframe, but you could hear him munching and enjoying your food so you figured he wasn't as uncomfortable as he seemed while he was walking into your room. Then you did as you always have done, you slipped your clothes on and brushing your teeth, deciding to blow dry your hair so your hair wasn't wet and putting on some makeup. You didn't put a lot on, just enough so your eyes would pop. In the end all you needed to do was put on your socks and shoes and find a coat, noticing that the days were getting cooler and you were glad that you had brought some coats with you after being home for a few weeks. You fixed the necklaces you had put on, your silver dog tags from your service as well as a wooden Russian Orthodox Cross that you had been wearing under your white collared shirt and always wore on your person. You added a few bracelets on your arms and plain earrings that matched your blue jeans and tee shirt, which was mainly dark purple with various images of music notes and a guitar with the words 'Rock and Roll' on the side of your hip, before walking out of the bathroom and into the cold room.
A cloud of steam followed you as you walked out, Ivan's head snapping up to look at you as you gave him a smile before looking at your various coats and shoes that you had laid out and decided on long black buckled boots with a small leather jacket. You raised an eyebrow as you watched the man stand up and close the jar of jam he had opened, a chuckle escaping your lips as he put the jar away before sitting back on the bed contently to stare at you confused. "You didn't have to put that away," you commented, walking over to a drawer and pulling out a bunch of socks with your jacket and boots in hand. You let out a tired sigh as you slumped onto the bed, pulling up your long wooly socks before slipping on your boots and pulling up the ends of your blue jeans before covering the top of your boots with the ends of your jeans. "… So I was wondering," you began to say as you finished with your outfit, "did you like the jam?"
"Very much," Ivan gave you his usual smile, his purple eyes watching you like a hawk as you walked around the room rearranging items in certain places and grabbing a small black purse that had a long strap so you could wear it across your chest without having to hold it in your hands. "It vas good."
"Good," you smirked, "because my family made it ourselves and I wasn't sure about the berries we picked the other day. Blackberries are one of my favorite berries, but it's hard to get a good batch."
"н- нет, it's good!" Ivan responded. "Your family makes jam?"
"Sort of," you shrugged, Ivan watching as you opened up your briefcase and took out your wallet as well as other essentials you may need before putting them into your small black bag. "You see, in America I grew up in a small town out in the countryside. There's this time throughout the year where everyone is getting the harvest in before the first snowfall, so I was there for that. My mother insisted that I take some jam and some vegetables back with me on my next assignment, but I already ate all the vegetables and all that's left is jam," you chuckled happily, Ivan's eyes widening ever so slightly as you put your briefcase away and pulled out another black case that had various firearms inside, about four handguns with a long rifle on the bottom. You hummed as you loaded two of your weapons, grabbing a holster and putting the smallest one against your calf and the top of your boot while you put another small handgun into your purse and placed about two cartridges full of bullets into your black bag.
Ivan wondered why you were bringing weapons with you, but he let the idea slide as he asked his next question. "Vhat do your family grow?"
"Depends on the season," you shrugged. "We usually don't grow corn, though the government has been trying to make us grow that stuff for years. It's just that if we do we won't make a profit so we grow other things. We mainly grow fruits and vegetables. We have a vineyard, fruit trees, and berry bushes on one side of the farm and we grow vegetables on the other side. Now that I think about it, my family is still probably canning the berries and gathering the rest of the harvest. Plus we have some grapes used for eating and others used for wine, so they're probably smashing the grapes right about now."
"зд `орово!" Ivan exclaimed, "Do you grow sunflowers?"
"Yes actually," you smirked to yourself, wondering in the back of your mind why he asked as you put away your weapons and placed them against the wall, "but not every year. Sunflowers eat up a lot of resources in the soil so we have them rotate around the farm from time to time… I think we did grow sunflowers this year, but we plucked the seeds already and either had them salted or we're saving them for next spring."
"I wish I could grow sunflowers," Ivan sighed, your eyebrow raising as you closed the window and locked the latch so nothing could open the window from the outside.
"I could tell you how," you shrugged. "What we specialize in is canned fruits and jams, but if you wish I can get you some sunflower seeds for you to grow yourself."
"Да that would be great! You… would really do that for me?" Ivan asked, a smile on your face as you answered his question.
"Of course!" you grinned happily, making sure everything was in place before grabbing your jacket and slipping it on your shoulders. "We do sell sunflower seeds, so I'll call up my folks and ask them to send me some. I'll give them to you for free so you don't have to worry about paying –"
"нет," Ivan pouted like a child, "I insist on paying –"
"Nah you don't have to," you smiled to him and turned off all the lights before opening your hotel door. "It'll be a gift. Now I have to go see what Alfr – I-I guess I say America is doing before we go out. Sound alright?"
"Да, fine," Ivan nodded, a chuckle escaping your lips as you let the man out first before closing and locking the door behind you while you left the hotel.
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You pulled out your keys and opened the door, Ivan cautiously staying outside as you ventured into the house and noticed the lights were off. "Alfred, are you alive in there –"
"In the living room!" they heard a voice yelling down the hallway, slipping off your jacket and setting it on a coatrack by the door.
"Come on in Ivan," you said with a smile, "this'll only be a minute."
He nodded, but still stayed at the door as you walked inside. Ivan closed the door behind him, but stayed by the coatrack and shoes waiting for you to come back. You didn't really notice this as you searched for Alfred, a huff escaping your voice once you noticed he was playing videogames with a strange creature you had never seen before. "Alfred!" you huffed, the man munching on a peanut butter sandwich with an apple by his side and leftovers since you didn't buy him any junk food to eat. "What do you plan on doing today?... and who's your little friend?"
"Him?" Alfred pointed to the oddly shaped blob beside him, also playing the videogame alongside the man. "He's Tony the Alien. He's been living in the attic this whole time. You never noticed him?"
"N-no I didn't," you shrugged, "but whatever. It's nice to meet you Tony." You didn't hear the alien answer back, but you figured he said something. You wondered how this man could know an alien, but you still hadn't wrapped your mind around the fact that Alfred is a country. "… So does he only live here or what –"
"He tends to travel with me if I'm staying for a few weeks," Alfred shrugged. "Sometimes he comes with me by plane and other times he just shows up! It's cool, don't you think?"
"Yes, very," you chuckled lightly, a sigh escaping your lips as you scratched the back of your head. "So are you just going to play videogames all day? Because that's not healthy –"
"Mainly," Alfred answered, "but if I get bored I'll go and torment England for a while."
"Okay, cool," you smiled. "If you have any problems don't do afraid to call me and make sure you turn off the lights before you leave the house."
"Okay, okay," Alfred waved his hand at you with his eyes on the screen, "but if you're done I've almost killed all these zombies. Hah! Take that lovenest130! You can never defeat thehero585! Ha hah!"
"… Alright then," you nodded to him, "I'll get going then. Once I'm done with Ivan I'll come back and call you to ask how you're doing."
"Okay," he mumbled back, his eyes glued to the screen as you rolled your eyes and walked back the way you came.
You let out a tired sigh, noticing that Ivan had been staying as quiet as a statue against the door until you came back. You smiled and he smiled back, taking a step to the side as you grabbed your jacket and put it back on your shoulders. "I should have known he'd do something like that all day," you snorted, "but hopefully he'll go do something else once he gets hungry again. So Ivan, I don't really know my place around the city so how about you lead the way to the Starbucks we talked about?"
"Okay," he grinned happily, opening the door for you as you walked outside first and he followed behind you. "… Don't you find America irritating, -insert-your-name-?" Ivan decided to ask as you closed the door and locked it with your key.
"No," you shook your head before turning and giving him a smile, "in fact he reminds me of my younger brother, though he isn't as short as he is and isn't a child. Whatever. Don't tell Alfred I said that. I'm still trying to get the job and to be honest with you I don't want to get fired from this one. It's fun walking around following Alfred. He does a lot of crazy stuff throughout the day."
"Да, I know," Ivan nodded. "I see he terrorizing many countries during day." You smirked at his words and let him talk while you walked side by side him, putting your hands in your pockets as you looked were you were going and hoped your stomach wasn't so hungry that it would begin to rumble.
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Reluctant from Ivan, you were able to pay for his drink and food as well as your own. The two of you had been sitting inside of the café, watching the pedestrians go by as Ivan pointed out a few of them who were either countries or worked for one. After a while he got bored and simply sipped his drink in peace, your eyes still watching the people on the streets until you heard him speaking again. "I notice you speak Russian. You learnt?"
"Brought up," you smirked at him as you sipped the hot drink in your hand. "My mother's side of the family left Russia a generation or two ago… don't know why, but they had to leave for some reason."
"Ah," Ivan nodded; a smile on his face as he continued to stare at you. "… You have family? –"
"Yes," you told him. "Siblings, a parent, a grandmother, but my grandfather died. Then some cousins on my father's side that I see sometimes… that's pretty much it. I don't know how they're doing though. I haven't seen them in a few years so it was nice to catch up with them."
"Years?" Ivan asked curiously. "Long time –"
"It is," you sighed, "but the other job I had demanded it… I was in hiding you see, or the person I worked for was. It's all over now, but I wasn't able to contact my family till recently. There you go." You paused; watching Ivan as he continued to stare at you and you couldn't help but feel a little unnerved that he didn't take his eyes off of you. "So… what about you? Do you have family?"
"Big sister Ukraine and little Belarus," Ivan explained, though he didn't seem very happy about talking about himself. "We don't live together… Ukraine left me and Belarus… is scary."
"Oh," you responded, a sweet smile on your face as you continued. "Well you know I have a brother that clings to me like no other. You simply have to… make them understand you love them in a sibling way and not a romantic way. Though my little brother is young. He doesn't know the differences yet," you shrugged, wondering if Ivan understood what you said or not. "… Why did your big sister leave, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Vanted to be independent," Ivan continued, though you noticed a dark cloud starting to form over his head as he continued, "and everyone left… been alone ever since."
"Lonely huh?" you pouted at the thought, "that's never fun."
"Да," he nodded, but didn't say anything after that.
You sighed and sat back in your chair, thinking to yourself as you thought up a conversation that would brighten this gloomy mood. "I was always wondering how Russia is," you began, noticing Ivan's eyes looking at you confused as you chuckled and continued, "I mean, when I was barely a child I was brought to Russia once. I barely remember the place except that there was a lot of snow and some bright colors. I was just wondering how the place is. You know, where you live?"
"Так себе," he shrugged, though a smile seemed to appear on his face as he thought longer about your question, "Much snow, but summers are beautiful. Plan on going?"
"Maybe," you smiled back to him, glad his mood was starting to brighten, "but I've been busy. Yet, I see the schedule for myself, if I continue to work for Alfred, I'll get the winter off and I have weekends off… it's really great." You chuckled, scratching the back of your head as you continued. "Plus my relatives in Russia want me to visit. Maybe I'll do that once I get a break… but we'll see about that."
"Хорошо," he grinned happily, "what sights will you see?"
"Ummm… well first I'll probably do whatever my family wants," you shrugged with a smile, "but if I go visit I'd love to see Saint Basil's Cathedral and the Russian ballet. Oh I'd love to see them!" Your eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought, your mind drifting off to found memories when you were a child. "My Бабушка had me take lessons in ballet. Apparently I was pretty good because I got up onto pointe around the end of middle school and high school, but I decided that wasn't my calling and stop pursuing the art. Plus I didn't feel like I was the best and my Бабушка wanted me to be the best of the best… wanted me to go try out for the Russian ballet, I remember her saying." You shook her head and smirked at the fond memory, "But either way I still would like to see the ballet. Probably one of the things I'll try to do first when I get there… so maybe in a few more years. I still need to settle down in this job first."
"Да, да," Ivan nodded in understanding, "good plan. You tell me when you go to Россия. I show you best sights."
"O-oh okay!" you smiled happily. "Great!... So do you ski?"
"Ski?" he tilted his head to the side. "Да, of course. Why von't I?"
"Thought I'd ask," you shrugged, "apparently Alfred can't. I told him I'll teach him to ski once the snow falls… or he does, but not well was what he said."
"Товарищ not ski?" Ivan snickered at the thought.
"Hey!" You pouted as he began to snicker under his breath, "I told you not to tell!"
"Повторите, пожалуйста?" he smirked slyly, holding up his hand as you held up your hand and hit his arm.
"Ivan, come on!" you snorted, a chuckle escaping your lips when you started to hear him laugh. "P-promise you won't tell. Promise~~!"
"Да, I promise~" Ivan smirked and crossed his hand over his heart, a grin on your face as you sat back and slyly smiled back to the man.
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The rest of the day went by too soon, in your opinion. After Ivan and you had finished your drinks you both took a long walk around the city. Your mind raced at all the little shops around the city, each of them was written down in the back of your mind as Ivan showed you around. You still couldn't wrap your head around the fact that Ivan is actually the country of Russia, and you even told the man that throughout the day. He didn't really comment you back on those questions, but avoided the subject to show you little shops that spotted his eye. You grinned at the enthusiastic man. He may be tall and intimidating at a first glance, but you didn't seem to mind as he showed you around the city. You felt he was fairly fun to be around and didn't understand why the others avoided him. Maybe because he reminded you of someone? You shrugged off the thought. It wasn't too big of a deal and you just liked having a nice day off to look around the city and see everything you could see.
The two of you spoke about your lives, Ivan mainly listening to you as you ranted about yourself. You talked about your family, the farm, your hobbies, and etcetera. You obviously didn't talk about deep personal information with the man, after all you only knew him for a few days, but you did share stuff about your family and friends that you hadn't even disclosed with Alfred yet. Ivan asked intently on your life on the farm so you had to open up to answer a few of his questions. Why he was interested about the farm you didn't know, but he seemed to like the idea of the warm sun and the sunflowers that either our family or your neighbors would grow every year. Eventually the day took you to a small park on the outskirts of the city, your eyes looking around and noticing a few houses in the distance, probably a country's house like how Alfred's house was slightly outside of the city. A sigh escaped your lips as you decided to sit down, looking up at the mountains as the sun began to set behind the peaks. Ivan joined you and sat down on the park bench beside you, noticing the smile on your face as you stared up at the sky. "It's moments like this that I remember the farm," you sighed happily, looking over at Ivan with a grin on your face. "You know I didn't know what to expect, but I had a great time with you today."
"Да, me too," Ivan smiled back, "you have interesting life -insert-your-name-. No one talks to me… nice to have someone to talk to."
"… Well you know if you enjoyed yourself as I did we could always do this again," you smirked slyly, the man looking over at you with an intrigued look on his face. "Though we don't have to go out all the time. Besides we have a few months till these world meetings are over… Hey I know," you smiled and stood to your feet, grabbing the man's hands and pulling him to his feet, "want to go to a bar? Have a few drinks?"
"Drinks? –"
"Yeah!" You chuckled happily, "I'd like to see what they sell around here. If you don't want to come along I can always go by myself or call up Alfred –"
"нет!" Ivan shook his head, a slight smile on his face as a giggle escaped your lips. "I come. Get vodka."
"Sure," you nodded, pulling on his hand as you pulled him out of the park and back towards the city, "but you'll have to show me where a good bar is. I don't know which ones serve good drinks or not." Ivan smiled and let you pull him along into the city, a grin on your face noticing the happy smile on his. Plus there was a reason why you wanted to go to a bar; you wanted to see what other sorts of countries there are as well as figure out why everyone was afraid of the man. Maybe you didn't see it? You saw the man as nice and kind and fairly shy, but maybe there's more then what meets the eye? Everyone has secrets, even you have some, but is there something the man isn't saying? You told yourself time and time again that this man is Russia, but you saw him as Ivan Braginski and not Russia. You know from research that the country of Russia suffered a horrific past. Maybe that's it. Maybe you'll pry into that idea further, but for now you just wanted to get on good terms with the man.
Eventually Ivan took the lead, his hand still grasped in your own, and you hadn't even noticed you were still holding hands till you walked into a bar and noticed several familiar countries from afar. "Hey -insert-your-name-!" Alfred laughed happily, a smile on your face as you gave him a wave, but stayed by Ivan's side as he ordered something from the bartender.
"You like vodka? –"
"Yes actually," you grinned, grabbing the bottle that Ivan had ordered and staring at the label with interest. He smiled, your hand letting go of his as he grabbed two glasses and you mindlessly began to wander to a table. "Sonnema… VodkaHERB. Huh. Haven't tried this before."
"Да, tangy taste," Ivan grinned happily, pulling you down into a booth off in the corner of the bar. You smiled, but gave a look over at Alfred making sure he was behaving himself before looking back to Ivan. It looked like the spontaneous blonde man was out with Arthur and a few other people you didn't know, but from the looks of Arthur they must have been at the bar for a while. "…-insert-your-name-?"
"Hmmm?" you asked, your head looking over at him noticing the neutral look on his face. "Oh sorry!" you chuckled, "I must of spaced out! Did you say something?"
"нет," he shook his head, "I vanted to ask if you wanted vodka?"
"Yeah sure," you shrugged.
"You sure? –"
"Ivan," you smirked slyly, "Of course I do! I've had vodka before, just never this brand." He smiled and poured out the vodka into the small glasses, a chuckle escaping your lips as you two clanged your glasses together and in one gulp you chugged the vodka down. Your eyes watered slightly, but you let out a well deserved 'wooh!' and let the man refill you glass again. "W-wow strong stuff! Usually I get the cheaper vodka though."
"You drink vodka daily?" Ivan decided to ask, the two of you drinking down your cups at the same time before you answered his question.
"Not always," you confessed, humming lightly as you watched him pour the alcohol into your glass so you could drink again. "I never work on the job, but if I'm given the rest of the day off I do! Either that or beer. Wine's too expensive for me." You paused to drink down the cup of vodka, a smirk on your face as you noticed the casual look he was giving you. "Actually when I was still living with my folks my older brother and I would have a contest at least once a month."
"A contest?" Ivan asked, the two of you drinking down the alcohol in one gulp before you continued.
"Yep! We drank as much vodka as we could, but the first one who passed out loses. My parents let us drink once we turned sixteen as long as we're drinking in the house and we tell them to buy extra alcohol when they go to the store," you shrugged, noticing your cup was full again and taking in a hard gulp. "… Can usually get about twenty bottles in before I feel woozy, by the way. Though this vodka tastes rather good so I won't try to do that tonight," you grinned deviously, "and besides I want to relax. Should I repay you for this –"
"нет, this is for fun," Ivan smirked, a chuckle escaping your lips as you both clanged your glasses together again before chugging down the vodka in your cup.
"Wow, you're such a dear Ivan," you smiled as you watched him fill up your cup again. "… But I feel bad again because I finally repay you and now you're buying me a drink?"
"We can go out again next week, -insert-your-name-, if you vish." You looked up and stared at the man confused, a grin on his face as you grinned back.
"Yeah sure," you smiled sweetly, "I'd like that."
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A/N: And there we go! Wow, drinking, wonder if that'll end well XD I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Finally you're repaying Ivan! Figured it'd be better to time skip and get to the better parts. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please comment back if you like it or have questions. Well I guess I'll see you later. ENJOY YOURSELVES!
Ничего, ничего, пожалуйста – Russian – that's all right
Большое спасибо – Russian – thank you very much
зд `орово – Russian – well done, wow, that's great
Так себе – Russian – so-so
Хорошо – Russian – good
Повторите, пожалуйста – Russian – can you say it again?
