Chapter 2: Mistakes
Word Count: 7,981 (wow, long)
Sorry it's taken so long to get out, but I got over 20 subscriptions/favors in the first week, it's just so unbelievable. I love you all! T.T So I hope you all enjoy this awaited chapter
Remember, Italics means that they are speaking in another language.
Ivan blinked his eyes open, he heard a voice. Ivan sat up slowly, yawning a bit as he rubbed sleep from his eye. Who was that? Ivan listened, they were speaking something else...English. Ivan remembered what happened last night with Alfred. Ivan looked down at his hands, he tried to remember anything in this era, but nothing came. Was he still under the spell? Who was Alfred talking to? Ivan climbed out of bed, stretching a bit. Sun was coming through a small window, indicating it was morning. Ivan went towards the unnatural light coming out of a different room. Ivan peeked in around the corner. Alfred was on that weird devise that had the portrait and had screamed at him. That's right, it was called a phone, Ivan recalled Alfred had called it that anyway. But what really caught Ivan's attention was that Alfred's hair was wet and he was significantly lacking in clothing, "Well I don't know...I'm not an idiot! I'm an awesome hero! ...Well then you shouldn't have drunk so much! ….This is your fault England! …..I don't care if you don't remember...okay, sorry...yeah, Russia's still asleep...No, he doesn't remember you doing anything...Alright, yeah...thanks." Alfred hung up his phone, sighing heavily. Seemed like England didn't exactly remember last night either. Though he did say he would help as best he could. Probably so that Ivan wouldn't kill Arthur when he finally did get his memories back.
"Alfred?" Alfred jumped, turning to see Ivan just barely peaking from the other room, only part of his face visible. Alfred blushed at only being in boxers, he should really learn to close the doors once in a while. Though he did kind of live by himself, other than Toni, but that wasn't the same.
"Ivan, sorry, I thought you were asleep." Alfred said, pulling on some clean pants that he had handy.
"Who were you talking to?" Ivan asked curiously, watching as Alfred pulled a shirt on.
"England, he says he will do the best he can to change you back." Alfred said, turning back, "How are you feeling?" Ivan shrugged, the same from yesterday really.
"Hungry." Ivan said, using English for the word, he did know some. Mostly to do with moods, yes and no, and a couple numbers.
"Alright, we will pack up and go get some food." Alfred said, smiling. He was hungry too, McDonald's sounded awesome right now too. Alfred wondered how Ivan would react to that. Than a thought hit Alfred, Ivan had yet to try a lot of awesome things, one of those being chocolate. Alfred made a mental note of things to introduce Ivan too before they went to England's hotel room. Like chocolate and burgers and apple pie and so many things, so little time! "Oh, do you want to take a shower?"
"A what?" Ivan asked, confused.
"Never mind. Do you want a bath?" Right, a shower would probably scare the hell out of Ivan and Alfred didn't feel like explaining something so boring. Ivan nodded, stepping out from hiding since there was no need to when Alfred knew he was there and had for a while. Alfred's breath caught as he turned crimson, "What happened to your pants?" Alfred asked, eyes wide at the sight of Ivan being only in Alfred's bigger shirt.
"It was uncomfortable to sleep in." Ivan muttered, pulling at the end of the shirt slightly, "So I took them off. Where is the bath?" Alfred stared for a moment before turning and going towards the bath tub, starting the water.
"When the water gets far enough, just turn this knob all the way this way until the water turns off." Alfred said, not looking at Ivan. Ivan came in and looked at the knob that Alfred referred to.
"Okay." Ivan said.
"Good, I will be out here if you need me." Alfred said, leaving quickly and closing the door behind him. Once the door was closed, Alfred sunk down to the floor, head resting in his arms that he crossed over his knees as he tried to calm himself. Alfred took deep breaths and focused on the color and shade of his shirt. God, why was Russia making this so fucking difficult? Alfred wanted to beat his head against the door to get the images of mere seconds ago out of his brain, but that would probably cause problems and freak Ivan out. Alfred wondered what he should do, he didn't want to sit around here waiting for Ivan to get out. A thought flew through his head that he could join Ivan in the bath. Alfred flushed and shook his head, trying not to think to detailed about that. He needed to get some air, yeah, he just had a bit of cabin fever...from only one night. Yeah that was totally it. Alfred picked up a note pad on the side table and a pencil, writing down a quick note. Alfred looked around, wondering where Ivan would find it. Alfred's eyes landed on his scarf and Alfred realized he must not have slept in it. That was strange, Ivan always slept with his scarf. Then again, things were different. Alfred put the note on the scarf, knowing that if anywhere, that was the place Ivan would notice it. Alfred pulled on his boomer jacket before stepping out of the door.
Ivan grabbed one of the towels that were there and dried himself off, wondering briefly what to do with the water. He decided he would ask Alfred about that. Ivan pulled on what he had used as pajamas on. Alfred had really over reacted to that, usually Ivan didn't sleep in anything when it was so warm, really Ivan had been very considerate when he wore something. Alfred was such a strange person. Ivan opened the door and looked around, "Alfred?" Ivan asked out loud, looking for the other but didn't see him, though the bags were here so the other hadn't taken off. Ivan went to go pull on his scarf and the pants Alfred had lent him. He saw a note laying neatly on his scarf, curiously Ivan picked it up. It was from Alfred.
Hey Ivan,
Went to go get some food for us. I will be back soon. You can use whatever clothes fit your best. Try not to break anything.
Alfred.
Food sounded amazing at the moment. Ivan grabbed the first bag he found, hopping it would have some clothes in it. He opened it to find his much to big clothes. Curiously, he took them out, first holding the pants to his hips and comparing the difference in height. It was quite a bit of difference, Ivan pouted, wishing to be tall now. Ivan put the pants down and picked up the coat, he had not really had time to look at it, but it seemed like there were things in it, it was much too heavy to just be a coat.
Ivan hesitated, but then started searching through it. There were a lot of strange things in it, he had a screaming phone like Alfred's too. But everything else he did not recognize. Ivan pulled out a long, metal...thing. It wasn't a sword, and it had a weird looking knob on one end. Like what the water had come out of in the bath. What was it? It certainly spiked Ivan's curiosity. He wondered if it was some sort of new kind of sword. In that case, he had a weapon. That was always nice to have. Ivan set it aside for later use. Whatever it was, he decided he liked it. What else was here? He continued looking. It wasn't long until Ivan touched something in one of the huge pockets that felt like...a flower? Ivan pulled it out, looking at it. Was it a flower? It had beautiful yellow petals and a large brown center. It was about the length of his arm and would have been much bigger he bet, if it was growing in the ground.
It was quite unlike any flower he had seen before and he was entranced by it. Ivan had to wonder why the other him had this, but mostly Ivan wondered if there were more like this in the world and where he would be able to find them. Ivan put that down too, everything else did not really catch his eye, so he put everything other than the sword, flower and a drink container back into the pockets he had found them in. He was thirsty. Ivan drank the mysterious liquid happily before he went through some more bags looking for some clothes.
Ivan was now fully clothed and sitting on the bed. It was strange, he could smell Alfred on the clothes, he did not know why he did not notice it before. The smell itself was almost...familiar to him though he was sure he had never smelled it before. Maybe a part of him perhaps remembered things that he could not recall. Maybe that was it, but then...Alfred had said they were friends. But China's sent was still foreign to him in this world and he had slept in the same bed a couple of times when Mongolia was being a little too scary. That was years ago...it felt like a lifetime ago. Was it? He couldn't remember.
The door opened, making Ivan look up to see Alfred come in, trying to hold four large bags of food and a...what was that? "Hey Ivan, what are you doing?" Alfred asked curiously as he put the bags down. Ivan remembered that he had started pacing as he thought, he did have a lot to think about and he was kind of restless.
"Um...Alfred, I was wondering..." Ivan started, but then hesitated.
"Yeah what is it?"
"Where can I um..." Ivan shifted wondering how to word it, he had never had to ask before.
"Oh right!" Alfred said, seeming to catch on, "In the bathroom, here, I'll show you where." Of course Ivan wouldn't know where to go the bathroom, he hadn't really thought of that. He showed Ivan where the toilet was, while the other gave him a funny look Ivan seemed to accept this more or less. Alfred went back into the main room to give Russia his privacy and sort through the food. Alfred was starving since he hadn't gotten any dinner after the meeting due to the circumstances. And it was the first time Ivan was going to try a burger! Sure the Russia he knew had tried one before and said it was utterly repulsive. But that was during the cold war, so that didn't count. Now he could actually have an unbiased opinion.
"Thank you." Ivan said when he was back out, standing by the other. Something smelled absolutely mouth watering, "What do you have?" Ivan asked.
"Yeah no problem, sorry I did not tell you about that earlier. And I got some food and drinks for us! I do not know about you, but I am starving!" Alfred said, gesturing towards the bed for Ivan to sit, since there wasn't any chairs. Alfred was happy to even have a small table, which was more like an end table, but it worked. Ivan sat down curiously as Alfred pulled a bag with him and sat down next to Ivan, "Okay, I know you have never seen or tasted this before, but try and keep an open mind, okay?"
"Yes." Ivan said, watching as Alfred grabbed a yellow thing that looked kind of like paper. Was it paper? Oh wait, Alfred was taking the paper off. What was it? Alfred handed it to Ivan. Ivan took it and looked at it curiously, it certainly looked strange...but it smelled really good! Ivan took a small bit of it, experimenting. Alfred watched Ivan's expression curiously, waiting to see what the other thought. When Ivan's face light up and he started eating it with more content did Alfred smile and started eating his own burger.
-many burgers, a couple of sodas and two apple pie later-
"That was so delicious! Can we get more! Hey look bird, Alfred, it is a bird! What kind of bird is that? I have never seen anything like it before! Oh, oh! Alfred, what is this thing? I was wondering, I have never seen something like it! Though lots of things are strange! Like the screaming thing and the demon! Did people summon them long ago and then a war broke out? How many demons do I own? Oh England is bad with magic is he not? Hey Alfred, do you know what-" Ivan continued, jumping up and down and running this way and that to point out new things. Alfred could hardly believe it, he had gotten Ivan sugar high...this was the greatest accomplishment of his entire life! Though this Ivan probably was not used to so much sugar, especially in one sitting, that did not seem to matter at the moment as Alfred could not help but watch and laugh at times. It was very amusing to watch. Alfred heard his cell go off, he looked at the caller ID, England, "Oh there is the screaming phone again, why does it scream like that? Does it hurt? Is it happy?"
Alfred answered the phone, "Yello?"
"I believe you meant hello, git. If you are going to defile a language, make up your own so that I won't know it!" England said.
Alfred rolled his eyes, "So what are ya callin for?" There was a heavy sigh on the other end.
"I was beginning to worry about you, you are taking a while...who is in the background?"
"Um...that's Russia."
"….what the bloody hell did you do to him?" England asked in shock.
"Well...let's just say he's not exactly used to sugar."
"You are an idiot." England deadpanned, "Well don't bring him over here like that." Probably would break or kill something.
"Pfff, fine be like that, but there's another meeting today! What if he's still hyper then?"
"This is your fault for giving him sugar, take responsibility once in a while!"
"You're the one who turned him into a hormonal teenager! You could have doomed us all!" Alfred snapped back.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that! I was drunk, what is your excuse?"
"Well I – Holy fuck – " there was a moment of pause.
"America?" England asked worried.
"Yeah, I'll see you before the world meeting, I'm betting he runs out of energy." Alfred hung up, staring up at Ivan who had a very dark look on his face and his trademark metal pipe that had come within an inch of Alfred's head, "And what do you think you are doing?" Alfred asked, slipping his phone back into his pocket and standing from his crouched position on the floor. Alfred felt a bit of pride that he had been able to dodge the unexpected attack, but it was miniscule at the moment.
"You were ignoring me for England." Ivan said, a smile to wide to be natural or sincere across his features as well as eyes that were as cold as Siberia themselves. Now that was the Ivan everybody was used to.
"Ah, a little attention jealous are we? That is no reason to be swigging that around. But I suppose you are not to used to a sugar high..." Ivan's emotions were probably more out of whack then they usually were. Okay, so sugar had been a bad idea. Alfred admitted it...though it had still been kind of funny until a couple moments ago.
"I do not know what you are talking about, but you surrender to me now, da?" Ivan said.
"I don't think so." Alfred said, jumping at Ivan and pinning him to the ground before he could react, "Huh, you are slower now." Alfred commented, sitting on Ivan's stomach, which made it harder for Ivan to breath. Alfred held Ivan's wrists above his head so he couldn't attack or get out. Ivan looked shocked, but that changed quickly as he tried to squirm his way out of Alfred's hold, which Alfred didn't let happen as he remained unmoved. Ivan growled and tried moving his hands, which proved useless.
'How is he this much stronger than me? I cannot even move...' Ivan thought in displeasure, 'There has to be a way...maybe instead I could trick him.' Mind games were the best after all. Ivan fought a while longer, before seeming to relax after a bit, seeming to calm down, but really acting calm was nearly driving him crazy as it was! He wanted this energy gone, but he had so much of it.
Alfred waited a couple of moments before moving his hands to let Ivan go, Ivan gripped the pipe and tried to knock Alfred upside the head. To soon, he moved to soon. Alfred's hand had not been far enough away and Alfred quickly slammed Ivan's arm and the pipe back to the floor, "Seriously? Even at this age, you are trying to trick me!" Ivan did not know what Alfred meant by that exactly, but did not focus much on it. Ivan growled at Alfred.
"Let. Me. Go." Yeah, Alfred admitted that even little Ivan could be intimidating when he wanted. Alfred shook his head.
"You tried attacking me, unprovoked I might add. Here, give me that." Alfred said, gripping the pipe to take away. Ivan tightened his grip.
"No!"
"Ivan, give me your pipe."
"But I love it!" Ivan defended.
"You do not even get this until...Do you even know what it is?" Ivan's face went from angry to thoughtful in a couple of seconds.
"Um...well..." Ivan said, thinking for a couple seconds before finally coming up with, "It is mine."
"I did not think so. If you do not know what it is, then you do not need it." Though Ivan had been thoughtful enough to use it as a weapon. Alfred started pulling it. Ivan struggled more. Ivan got his other arm free and used it to punch Alfred in the chin. A moment later Ivan considered that it would have been better to punch him in the throat. Alfred had not really reacted at all, his head had not even recoiled or anything. Ivan stared, blinking a couple time. Alfred glared but used his free had to take the pipe from the perplexed Ivan, "That is it." Alfred said, tossing the pipe aside, Alfred pinned both of Ivan's wrists with one hand and started to tie them with the end of Ivan's scarf.
"What are you doing? Stop it!" Ivan said, struggling, of course he knew what Alfred was doing, more like he was wondering why Alfred was doing it. And with his scarf.
"This is until you calm down." Alfred said, tightening the knots, "If you do not what your scarf ruined, then do not struggle to much, okay?" So that was why he used the scarf. Ivan glared with all his might at the blond above him, who ignored him in favor of standing. Alfred picked up the pipe and sat down, facing away from Ivan. Ivan sat up, looking at his wrists, it was an interesting knot. Ivan blinked, carefully moving his wrists, hoping to get out. However, he only felt the bonds growing tighter instead of looser, so it was that kind of knot. Ivan tried to find a spot to get his teeth into that wouldn't tighten it, but he knew if he grabbed the wrong one, that it would be worst. Ivan thought of several torture methods that would be fun to do on Alfred as he pondered the knot in front of him. At least he was starting to think a little more clearly now. Ivan let his head meet the wall a couple of time, before resting it against the wall. Ivan wondered why he felt strange. Ivan decided that that could be explored later. Ivan chewed on his scarf, trying to find something to pull. Ivan found something and tried pulling, but it just tightened the thing. Ivan let go and glared before shuffling a bit, not liking the sitting still. Ivan looked at Alfred who had started packing up things and was ignoring Ivan. Ivan glared at him, this was his fault. Ivan's eyes landed on the pipe, "Do not think about it." Alfred said, his back to Ivan. Ivan wondered how in the world Alfred knew what he was planning.
"How do you know I am planning anything?" Ivan asked.
"You seem to forget I know you in the future." Alfred said, glancing at Ivan, who started pulling at his scarf again, "If you lose circulation, do not blame me." Alfred warned. Ivan ignored him, he could not feel his fingers anymore, but he had gotten the fabric he was pulling on loose. Ivan tried to pull it over his clenched fists, positive that after that he would be able to get free. But he wasn't able to get it over, there was not enough loose fabric yet. Ivan pulled on it more, but he still couldn't get enough of it. Alfred sighed, coming back over to him and kneeling down. Ivan stopped what he was doing to glare at him, "Your hands are turning an interesting color." Alfred said, it was mostly white, but there was a hint of purple, Ivan was such a stubborn person, "If you promise me you will not attack me, I will let you go."
"I cannot promise such a thing!" Ivan growled.
"Well, I invented that knot myself, you are not going to get out of it." 'with your hands intact' Alfred added silently, afraid that Ivan might think it would be better to lose his hands for a little. Did he mention Ivan could be very stubborn. Not that Alfred had much room to talk. Ivan glared at Alfred then at his scarf, then back at Alfred. Alfred was good at tying knots, Ivan did not like that fact at all. Ivan did believe he probably would not be able to get out of this without the other's help, but Ivan did not want to admit defeat to such a simple thing. Ivan drew his hands closer to himself.
"No." Ivan said.
"Fine, when you wish to be able to feel your fingers, tell me." Alfred said, standing again and going to start packing. Ivan looked at the knot again. He had really tightened it a lot and it was painful, but still...how could he get out of this? Asking Alfred was out of the question, Ivan just needed to figure this out. Somehow. Ivan let his head connect with the wall loudly, "Give up now?"
"No!" Ivan said, "Never!" Alfred sighed, figures. Alfred went to the bathroom to get the last of the stuff that was in there. Alfred came back to see that Ivan was laying on his side, occasionally tugging at the bonds. Alfred put the shampoo and his toothbrush into one of the bags, zipping it up. That was everything. Alfred looked at his cell, they really needed to get going to England's hotel if they wanted to get the spell reversed and be relatively close to being on time for the meeting.
"Give up yet?"
"No." Ivan muttered.
"Well we are going to the car, it is your choose whether you wish to be tied up or not."
"You would take me into car while I am tied up?" Ivan asked horrified, he did not think that Alfred would put him in the demon without his hands to help protect him if it decided to eat him. Ivan thought Alfred was nicer then that! He was saying how he was a hero all the time, and he had been nice! Maybe Ivan shouldn't have hit Alfred, but Alfred was ignoring him! That had not been very nice at all. Ivan realized he was a little off the current problem. Alfred came towards him, obviously going to make do on his threat.
"O-Okay! I do not want to be tied up!" Ivan said. Alfred tilted his head, wondering what made Ivan change his mind, but decided it didn't matter.
"And you will not hit me?"
"No, I promise!" I might do other things though. Ivan added silently as Alfred thought about it for a moment before undoing the knot. Ivan watched, but still he was unsure as to how the other had done it. But at least Ivan was free again.
"Okay, now let us go." Alfred said, handing the scarf back to Ivan, who quickly took it and wrapped it back around his neck where it belonged as Alfred grabbed a lot of bags. Ivan copied Alfred, following the blond to the car. Alfred helped Ivan put the bags in the back. They returned the key together and soon they were driving again.
"Would you have really put me in here tied up?" Ivan muttered.
"No doubt about it." Alfred informed the other.
'Note to self: hurt Alfred in future.' Ivan thought to himself since the other was, as much as he hated to admit it, stronger than him, but Alfred said that he was more powerful when he was older, so all he had to do was wait until he was changed back into his older form. Still, Alfred had helped him so far, so he supposed that the blond would not let the car eat him alive, "You would not have let it eat me, right?" Ivan asked, double checking. Alfred sighed heavily, what made Ivan think the car would eat him?
"No, I would not have let it eat you." Alfred informed the other, "What kind of hero would I be if I saved you and then feed you to...the car?" That sounded weird saying out loud. Ivan shrugged, he would not be too surprised if one did that. Alfred could be a lunatic for all he knew, a very crafty lunatic, but still! Then again, Alfred did seem to be very set in his idea to help Ivan no matter what. Perhaps he could trust America a little more until proof of an alternate motive showed itself, "Alright, here we are. Let's find England." Alfred said, turning off the car and stepping out. Ivan waited tensely for Alfred to open the door, happy to be on the solid ground, but there were a lot of differently shaped demons everywhere in front of them. Alfred didn't seem to take any mind to them, but Ivan felt panic rising, they moved so fast! When Alfred started walking away Ivan nearly had a heart attack and moved so close to the blonde that he received a curious look from the older. Ivan resisted the urge to scream and run away, for one thing he had no idea where to go and he still had his pride, not that it was very prominent at the moment. Ivan relaxed a little when they got into a building, and looked around in wonder, staring at everything and everybody moving around.
Ivan looked at the strange shiny doors that would make a strange noise, open and people would enter and exit it before it closed again. Ivan looked at some of the flowers in vases on tables that had chairs around it and a large fire going near it. Ivan watched people dragging around some bags that looked like they were on some wheels, like a cart, but smaller and different. Ivan's eyes moved up the walls, looking at the color, but then was very fascinated by where the light was coming from. Where there candles way up there? That was a lot of candles to do that, and very strong, more magic probably. Ivan didn't realize he had stopped moving to stare until he heard Alfred chuckle by him and say, "It is different, yes?" Ivan nodded mutely, looking back at the other curiously, wondering what else was different in this magical world of Alfred's. This time making sure to follow the other and trying not to let his eyes wonder. Alfred went to the shiny doors, pressing one of the little circular things by it, that light up yellow. Ivan stared at it curiously but then back at the doors, why didn't Alfred just open them or perhaps knock? There was that strange, loud noise again that made Ivan's head jerk up again and stare at the doors as they opened. But there was nobody inside. Alfred stepped inside it. Ivan hesitated, "What is it?" Alfred asked, seeming confused.
"How did the doors open on their own?" Ivan asked nervously, they started closing again, but Alfred held his hand in front of it. They were quite thick doors, and Ivan was afraid that Alfred's hand would get severed as they continued coming together, but that didn't happen, the doors went back to being fully open. Then were these also demons that had to listen to people? Would they listen to him as well? Ivan didn't want to test it.
"Oh right, I keep forgetting." Alfred said, "We can take the stairs if you want." How could he keep forgetting that Ivan was from like the ice age or something?
"No, that is okay." Ivan said, stepping inside, it was safe right? But now they were in a tiny little silver box. Did it open on the opposite side? Ivan watched Alfred as the other pressed something else that turned yellow again. The doors slowly closed, and Ivan couldn't help but feel a certain amount of dread, "Ah...what-" Ivan was about to ask what was supposed to happen when he felt a lurch as the thing moved. Ivan shirked and backed up until he hit the corner, he sat in the corner, holding his pipe protectively and koling at the thing threateningly, trying not to let panic overcome him, why was the place so small and suffocating?
"Um..Ivan?" Alfred asked cautiously approaching the other. Okay, so sugar was a bad idea, and so were elevators apparently. Ivan didn't even respond, continuing kol at nothing in particular in Alfred's eyes, 'Really bad idea, nice going Alfred.' He thought to himself. The elevator lurched again as it reached another floor, and Alfred say Ivan tense and pause everything for a moment before continuing, a little more shaken. Alfred looked to see if this was their floor only to see that no, it was somebody else getting on who gave them a strange look, "Hey, can you hold the door." The man nodded, still seeming confused and complied.
"What's wrong?" The man asked, a bit concerned, although maybe because Ivan had a weapon.
"It's his first time in an elevator, he's a foreigner." Alfred explained, the other nodded in understanding, Alfred was kind of surprised that worked, "Thanks, just a moment, Ivan, come on, we can get off." Ivan gripped his pipe tighter, and shook his head, making Alfred furrow his brows in confusion, didn't the other went off, "But you can get off."
"Nyet. It will attack me."
Ivan muttered miserably, truly believing that if he moved from his corner of refuge the thing would kill him in some horribly despicable way.
"Sorry, he's a little panicked." Alfred said to the man, hoping the other wasn't in any real hurry, "It will not attack you Ivan, okay? It isn't alive, it is a big piece of metal that is pulled up by very large cords."
"You lie! It opened by itself! You are just trying to trick me!"
"Oh for the love of God!" Alfred said, of all the times Alfred had really been trying to trick Ivan and the other had trusted him now of all times when Alfred was trying to help the other, Ivan wasn't trusting him, but an idea came to him, it usually worked for him anyway, "Fine I am leaving, I will see you when the elevator stops here again." Alfred said, making as to leave.
"No wait, do not leave!" Ivan said in shock, looking at the other. If Alfred wasn't here to control the evil hell spawn it had no reason to hold back! Alfred went to the other, holding out his hand to Ivan.
"Come on then, last chance." After some hesitation, Ivan grabbed Alfred's hand, letting the other pull him up. Ivan didn't let go of the others hand as they started moving, making Ivan paranoid and stick very close to Alfred, looking around him for any sign of movement. Alfred got Ivan outside the elevator, before turning towards the man standing there, "Thank you, sorry about the hold up."
"No problem." The man said, smiling reassuringly and moving his hand so the doors could close once again. Alfred looked down at Ivan, who was hiding behind him again, and was still holding his hand, "At least this is almost over I guess. You alright?"
"I am fine." Ivan said, blushing a bit and looking away. Alfred noticed how Ivan tried to hide the blush with the scarf of his again, it seemed almost like a habit. Did Ivan do that in this era, then again Alfred wasn't sure if he had ever seen Ivan blush until this whole fiasco. Sighing, Alfred pushed Ivan in front of him as he walked down the hallway so that he was between the elevator and Ivan. The younger nation seemed hesitant at first, but let go of Alfred's hand and walked forward, throwing a cautious glance back every once in a while to make sure the Elevator wasn't following, still holding his weapon close to him in case it did try coming. What if this whole building was actually a creature and the elevator was a part of it, like it's stomach or something. That would explain so much. Ivan looked ahead in the hallway they were walking in, there were so many doors, but it was like what Alfred first took him too, so did people live behind them?
"Here it is." Alfred said, causing Ivan to stop and look back at the other and the door he was standing in front of. Alfred knocked on it as Ivan walked back a couple steps to stand by him. There was a couple minutes of silence before the door opened, revealing England, Ivan was somewhat revealed to see there was little physical difference. So there were some things that stayed the same, "Hey England! I'm here, just like I said I would be!"
"Idiot! The last thing I hear from you is something to do with Russia and you might be in danger from-" England stopped as his eyes landed on Ivan, there seemed to be a very long pause before he turned back to look at Alfred, "Please tell me that is not Russia."
"I wasn't kidding when I told you you shrank him." Alfred said, walking inside the hotel without even asking permission. Ivan followed, figuring it was alright to enter. It was also small. Oh what was that? Ivan went to one of those magical candles, this one had some sort of strange triangular shape on it and was sitting on a table. Ivan cautiously took off the triangle and stared at a very strangely shaped ball of light. It was so bright, Ivan knelled down by the table and stared at it at eye level. There wasn't any flickering like a candle, it was a strong constant light.
"What is he doing?" Arthur asked Alfred when he joined them in the living room.
"Well he doesn't remember anything from whatever time period he came from till when you casted your little spell. Speaking of which, why didn't you tell me your magic worked?" Alfred asked Arthur, hurt.
"I did tell you git! Just because you did not believe me is not the same! I still cannot believe that I did this, alright! And I have a major headache so shut it."
"It's not my fault you got wasted." Alfred muttered, Arthur glared before looking away. After a couple moments of England's attention not being returned to his, Alfred looked back to see what Arthur was looking at. Ivan was holding the light bulb from the lamp in his hand, a look of curiosity on his face. It was actually pretty cute and amusing, "Ivan, what are you doing?" Alfred asked curiously. Alfred say England sort of start at the sound of talking, but then seemed to realize it wasn't directed at him. Ivan looked at Alfred and smiled happily, blinking a few times to clear his eyes of the little lights he saw behind his eyes.
"This is so warm and bright, what is it called?" Ivan asked, Alfred saw Arthur look away from Ivan, a blush coming across his face, great he was a pervert too. Why were so many countries a pervert and England of all people, that was just weird.
"It is a lamp, and what you are holding is a light bulb." Alfred explained wondering why Ivan was so fascinated by a lamp, "So England, you gonna change him back or what?" Alfred asked.
"Of course, I don't want him stuck like this!" England said nervously, "But since when could you speak Russian?"
"I don't." Alfred said firmly. Arthur lifted an eyebrow, but didn't comment.
"Alright, so Russia cannot remember anything correct?"
"No."
"And he is obviously younger..." England said thoughtfully, "What was I doing before I casted the spell?"
"Well you were drinking."
"Other than that." Arthur said irritated.
"You were arguing with France." Alfred said.
"About what."
"I don't know, you always scold me for eavesdropping and now you're trying to tell me I should have? What a hypocrite!" Alfred said.
"I am not! Damn it, that means I will have to ask France! But by the sounds of it I have a couple guesses on what it could be. Either I switched the Russias and ours is in his time period. Or he did just become younger. I hope it is the latter, messing with time is never good. Still, either is difficult to fix."
"Can't you just wave your wand and everything becomes better?"
"No, casting spells is easier then counter spells!" Arthur said. Alfred opened his mouth to poke fun of him when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he looked to see Ivan there, holding the now unscrewed light bulb to Alfred, looking sorrowful.
"I killed it." Alfred didn't know whether to laugh or comfort Ivan. He decided to do something in between, chuckling a bit.
"You did not kill it, here." Alfred said, taking it in his own hand and going back to the lamp, Ivan following him, seeming doubtful. Alfred screwed the light back in and it flickered on. Ivan stared in fascination, but Alfred flicked it off, making the other look confused, "You should not stare at it, that will hurt your eyes." Alfred explained, standing back up and going back to Arthur. Ivan watched the lamb for a while before putting the shade back on. Alfred looked at Arthur who gave him a funny look, "What?"
"Nothing." Arthur said.
"So can you change him back?"
"I just got done explaining that I can't!" Arthur said, "I do not know what I did and even if I did, I would need some things from back home to do something like this not to mention extensive research if I don't want to mess up!"
"You mean that Russia is stuck in his teenage self for who knows how long?" Alfred clarified, Arthur sighed, nodding, "Perfect! Just perfect!" Alfred said, sitting down on the bed and running his hand through his hair, "What am I suppose to do in the mean time? I can't dump him, he nearly died of a heart attack in the fucking elevator on the way up here! Everybody else seems to want him in that sexual kind of way, so nobody else can watch him and now he can't be turned back to normal!"
"Wait what?" Arthur asked.
"Right, you don't remember, well what am I suppose to do? If I skip the meeting my boss would kill me and if I keep Russia away, that would be like declaration of war!"
"Then take him to the meeting."
"I don't think you get the 'want him in a sexual way.' Even you do!"
"I-I do not!" Arthur yelled, turning red.
"Right, the point is that's not a good idea either. He doesn't even understand English so it's not like it matters, but no, it would be politically incorrect."
"I am sure you are just over exaggerating. These sort of things usually fix themselves over night." Alfred sighed, he did have a habit of over exaggerating things, maybe Arthur had a point.
"I guess you're right." Alfred said, "I do usually over exaggerate. Well, I guess we'll go get ready." He looked over at Ivan who was staring out the window, "Ivan." The other looked at him, "We are going to go."
"But I thought that England was going to change me back so I was older."
Ivan said almost like a question.
"Yeah, apparently he needs stuff that are at his home, so you will be stuck like this for a while." Alfred said, standing up.
"Would you two stop talking in a different language while I am right here?" Arthur demanded.
"But he doesn't understand English remember." Alfred said smiling at Arthur, "Silly England."
"Just shut up and go."
"Yeah yeah, I'm going." Alfred said, waving the other off, "And don't forget to call me when you get the stuff to change Russia back, okay?" Alfred said, going to the door, Ivan following silently, Alfred closed the door once they were out, "Okay, so I guess we should find your hotel and get your notes. I hope they are in English."
"Okay..." Ivan said uncertainly as he followed Alfred through the hallway until they got to a door.
"Can I have the key card?" Alfred asked, but then looked at Ivan, "Oh...right...it's in the car. Okay, can you stay right here? And like if anybody touches you, it's best to hit them over the head with your pipe, okay?" Ivan blinked, wondering what the other was talking about, but nodded slowly, "Good, don't go anywhere, I will be right back." Alfred said, hesitating a moment before turning and running down the hall. Ivan saw Alfred look back at him before turning the corner, he looked down one hallway and then the other, now what? It seemed boring to just sit here, but Alfred had said he would be right back. Ivan looked at the door, this was it right? Where he was staying for this meeting thing? Would it have anything in it that was his? Most definitely...so it was his. It was nice that Alfred offered to get a key, but if this was his room it would be alright to break into it, his older self could fit it later. Ivan jiggled the doorknob just to make sure it was locked before landing a nice, solid kick to the door, making it burst open. Ivan walked inside happily, closing the damaged door, it was kind of surprising that it didn't come off its hinges, it must have been a strong door. He looked around, going to where the bed was, there was a large bag that was unzipped and there was a pile of papers. Ivan moved towards the bag, wondering what would be in there. He heard something move and he looked behind him to see somebody. They looked very familiar but different, still, it was her right? "Natalia?"
