After making sure that his Pee Bar was drained down to 0%, Alfred quickly washed his hands and opened the bathroom door…

Only it didn't lead back into Arthur's condo.

He adjusted his glasses, making sure that he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. He was out in the Greenwich Village area. But, in a complete contrast to its normal state, there was no one around to take in the sights or go to any of the specialty stores.

An eerie, yet familiar tune was playing in the air: reminding Alfred of one of his most beloved video games as he walked through the empty area.

The sound of fabric rippling in the air tore Alfred's attention to the left. He gasped upon seeing Ivan walking down the street, in quite a hurry.

"Hey, hold up!" Alfred called out, rushing after the man in a desperate attempt to talk to him. Yet, Ivan ignored him: keeping up his face pace until he reached a glass door with a sunflower painted on it. The Russian opened the door, shaking off excess snow before he walked in. "Hey!" Alfred called out…

Alfred shook his head as he came back into real-time, noticing that the apartment was a lot colder than it usually was. That was when he saw that he was actually outside… In the Greenwich Village area… Standing in front of a glass door painted with a sunflower.

Part of him wanted to ask how he had gotten from his warm bed to this place, but when images of his dreams began to flood back into his mind, he decided to simply go for broke as he opened the door…

The place was warm. Though, as a flower-shop, that was to be expected. Yet the presence that the simple building gave off reminded Alfred of warm days with snow gently drifting outside: the smell of foreign spices and perfumes in the air, faint, but there all the same.

Then there were the actual flowers: beautiful, radiant, in all the hues of the rainbow and then a few that Alfred didn't have enough words to describe.

"Whoa…" The blonde whispered, walking around for a moment. It didn't take long until he saw the center of his attention.

The man was busy pruning some of the biggest sunflowers that Alfred had ever seen. Ivan actually had the smallest hint of a smile tugging at his lips as he worked: as if he were at peace amongst the soft, golden petals.

Alfred gulped at the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. Ivan's frame abruptly tensed up, grabbing the pruning scissors and demanding, "Can I help you?", his lavender eyes glaring at the blonde.

Despite how the other looked more than ready to kill, Alfred couldn't help but think that those eyes trained on him were positively gorgeous…

"Well?" Ivan asked again, agitation growing in his voice.

'Oh, fuck it.' Alfred gave a mental sigh before he blathered out, "Do you want to go out? Do you – I think we should date!" Ivan frowned,

"No. Now, are you here to buy flowers or not?"

"Well…" Alfred cleared his throat, his jacket-collar suddenly all too tight, "I just woke up here, in front of your store! But the weird thing was that you were in the dream I was having! And you were coming to this store right here and – Oh boy…" The youth trailed off, his eyes widening as the Russian walked over to him: the sound his boots made as they impacted with the wooden floor akin to a funeral bell.

The concept of personal space was shattered as Ivan leaned down to get a better look at Alfred's blushing face: inspecting his face like the murder weapon of a crime scene.

'This guy is huge…' Alfred mused as Ivan inspected him, 'Huh, I wonder if that hugeness carries on elsewhere…'

Finally, before Alfred could lower his eyes, Ivan groaned, "Oh God, now I am recognizing you…"

"What?" Alfred panicked, putting his arms up in defense, "No! I'm not that spazz from the party that was dropping all that Superman trivia! That guy was such a douche, you know?" Ivan shook his head,

"Nyet, nyet… It is just that there is this convenient subspace highway system that I use to travel and make my deliveries. It is close to thirty miles in 30 seconds; truly convenient."

"Huh?" Alfred blinked, confused at what the Russian was talking about but content to let him talk if it meant he could hear more of that rich, decadent voice.

"They are all the rage back in Europe," Ivan continued, "Which is why I was so shocked that this one was so empty. Hm," He looked back at Alfred, "It must take a detour through your brain."

"Subspace… Wait, what?" Alfred shook his head, "Is it like in Metroid? Or Super Mario 2?" The look that Ivan gave him after that statement could have killed puppies. "I guess not…" The blonde gave another nervous chuckle.

"But in all seriousness," Ivan sighed, walking to the counter, "Are you going to buy something or not?"

"But…" Alfred whined, biting his lip, "If I buy something, then I'll have to leave!"

"That is usually how it works, yes." Ivan nodded, Alfred rushing over, slamming his hands against the counter,

"Can we go out sometime? Or at least hang out? Can we get to know each other? You're new in town! I've lived here forever! Except for when I went to Texas that one time… I mean – There are reasons for you to go out with me!" The cream-haired man silently raised an eyebrow before giving a slow shake of his head,

"You are all over the place. Do you have, what do you Americans call it, the ADHD?"

"But I'm so sincere!" Alfred insisted, working his best puppy-dog eyes. Ivan only huffed,

"Sincerely stupid, maybe."

"But listen!" Alfred interjected, "I just thought of something! Your thinga-ma-whozit goes through my head, right? You strolling through my head must be the reason I'm so obsessed with you – Let's pretend I didn't just say obsessed…" For a moment, Ivan didn't say anything: opting for watching the clock slowly move its hands. Leaning against the counter, he smiled,

"You really are obsessed about this, aren't you? Now I am needing to find a new route…"

"Or…" Alfred offered, "We could go out."

"You want me," Ivan asked, "To go out with you?"

"If that's cool with you…" The youth gulped.

3…2…1…

"If I say yes, will you shut up and buy some damn flowers?"

"Charge it!" Alfred shouted, his smile as bright as the sun as he handed over Kiku's credit card and bought a large bouquet of violets. When Ivan handed him the bouquet, freshly cut and wrapped in satiny white paper, Alfred tossed away his roommate's credit card and asked, "So yeah… eight o'clock?"

So yeah…

Alfred trudged all the way to the stairs leading into Central Park, snow slowly drifting down from the dark night sky. His heart started pounding as he saw a light, pink scarf whipping in the wind.

Sure enough, Ivan was standing there: dressed in a large, beige over-coat. "Why are you just standing there?" Alfred called over. Ivan shook his head,

"I am waiting for you, child."

"Oh." Alfred smiled, "I just thought that you would reconsider coming out here tonight." Ivan smiled, beginning to walk into the park,

"You thought wrong."

"So, how'd you end up in the City That Never Sleeps?" Alfred asked as they walked through the cold, quiet park: snow still climbing up around them. Ivan sighed, his breath creating a small cloud in front of him, before replying,

"I was needing a new change of pace. I did not want to go home to Russia, but… I could not stay in Canada anymore. So, I pulled some strings and my older sister got me a nice job running that flower shop." The streetlights flickered for a moment. "M-Candy always said that this city was beautiful…"

"Is M-Candy…" Alfred had to ask, "Your girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

"He's… A friend." Ivan said. Alfred was quiet for all of a second before asking,

"Was he your boyfriend?" He flinched as Ivan gave him another one of those piercing looks (he could have sworn he heard a cat's dying yowl somewhere), quietly stating,

"Let us not get into that right now."

"What are you up to in life little one?" Ivan asked as they stopped to sit down on a picnic-table. Alfred hummed,

"Well, it's a long story. I started school to be an astronaut, but it didn't work out. Then I went to be an archaeologist, it didn't work out."

"Did they not work out," Ivan asked, "Or did you give up?" Alfred nearly jumped, that comment hitting way too close to home.

"So, how old are you anyway?" Alfred asked as they started walking again. Ivan chuckled,

"Old enough to have seen plenty of the dark sides of this world, little one."

"Oh, come on!" The blonde laughed, "You can't be that old! Look at you, you're hot!" He gulped, averting his eyes after he said that. Ivan kept on walking, not before stating,

"32."

"Ha-ha! You're kidding right?" Alfred asked. But as Ivan walked on, he yelped, "Seriously? Damn, I thought you were my age!" The cream-haired man chuckled,

"What would that be? 16?"

"No!" Alfred fumed, "I'm 20!"

"Still but a child in so many ways…"

A sudden rush of wind blew through both parties, Alfred groaning, "Oh, come on! It's like April, can't I get a break from crazy New York weather for once!"

"You act as if a little snow will kill you." Ivan smiled, "But I am agreeing that we should find a more stable place to continue this date."

The curl on Alfred's hair bounced, blue eyes looking up at Ivan as he asked, "So this is a date?" Ivan smirked,

"Did I say that? Oh, must have been…" His voice lowered into a seductive timber, "A slip of the tongue, da?"

"Tongue?" Alfred blinked, glad that the coat he was wearing covered down to his knees. Ivan turned to look around the park,

"Anyway, there should be something of use around here somewhere…"

"What?" Alfred asked, Ivan simply replying,

"A door." The Russian pointed a few feet from them and, lo and behold, there was a red door with a golden star standing there.

Ivan, Come Closer

After going through the mystery door, Alfred found himself inside the other's more-than-impressive condo. "It's like, three times the size of Arthur's…" He whispered in awe as he passed luxury furniture, a flat-screen TV, and other items of wealth.

"You can sit down wherever." Ivan stated when he noticed that Alfred seemed too scared to sit on any of his furniture. When he decided upon the sofa, Ivan offered, "Would you like a drink?"

"Um, sure," Alfred nodded, "What do you have?" He watched as Ivan went into the kitchen and opened up a pantry that seemed stocked to the gills with bottles of vodka.

"Let us see… There is blueberry, raspberry, ginseng-infused, sleepy-time, Grey Goose, honey, liver disaster, ginger-infused, vanilla, almond, white-truffle coconut, walnut, and just plain vodka."

Alfred could only blink. Then he muttered, "Please tell me you made some of those up." The Russian grabbed a lavender-shaded bottle, musing,

"I believe that sleepy-time would be good."

"That sounds good to me!" Alfred smiled.

Ivan handed Alfred a glass of the drink, the blonde surprised at how warm it was, before the older man went to his bedroom, "Let me get you a blanket."

"Awesome, thanks!" Alfred nodded, taking a sip of the drink: wincing as he felt it burn his throat. For a while, Alfred just sat there on the couch: awaiting for Ivan to return. But ten minutes later, curiosity took over.

Like a child looking for their ever elusive Christmas presents, Alfred snuck through the condo until he was able to find Ivan's bedroom.

He walked right on in, immediately yelping as he got an eyeful of Ivan pulling on a pair of sleeping pants. "Whoa!" Alfred shut his eyes, "Sorry, thought that something happened in here with the blankets…"

"I was just getting dressed for bed." Ivan explained, his voice echoing in Alfred's mind since he still had his eyes closed. "You must be really cold. Here…"

Alfred practically felt himself melt as something large, soft, and warm was pressed against him. "Oh wow… Wow, that's great…" He whispered, "What is that?" He finally opened his eyes to see Ivan, shirtless, flush up against his body, smirking down at him. "Wow…" Alfred swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, "So it's all muscle huh?"

It was sudden, yet tortuously slow at the same time. Ivan pressed his lips against Alfred's, a simple movement at first, soon grew into a blooming, fiery action between two bodies: Alfred adding his own force into the kiss, moving in for more every time the older would try to pull away.

The blonde felt like he was singing the perfect song: his mind a mix of glows and shines the hues of all the flowers in Ivan's flower shop…

They finally broke apart when air became necessary, Alfred asking, "Were you… just going to bring the blanket from your bed?"

"Pretty much." Was Ivan's response.

"Well…" Alfred cleared his throat, "Maybe we should both get under it. Since it's so cold, I mean!"

"Yes…" The other hummed, "But what about the drinks?"

Flakes of frigid white piled on the window sill as shirtless two bodies fell into Ivan's bed. With a quick bit of maneuvering, Ivan was on top of Alfred: removing the younger male's glasses before he lowered his head for another kiss.

Oh, Alfred had missed this. It had been such a long time since he was in a relationship where he was able to just let go… A sharp nip at his lips caused him to gasp, Ivan taking the opportunity to slip his tongue into the warm cavern that, he could have sworn, tasted of honey.

On Alfred's end, when their tongues brushed against each other, his senses were overtaken by something that tasted of vodka, felt like a roaring fire, and was just all Ivan.

All too soon for the blonde's liking, Ivan pulled away. "What is it?" Alfred panted, looking up at the Russian. For a moment, Ivan just looked at him in silence. Then he shook his head,

"I have changed my mind." The cream-haired man rolled over to lay beside the other, continuing, "I do not feel like keeping up with the Joneses tonight."

"Huh?" Alfred blinked, sitting up on his elbows. Ivan simply pulled up the blankets, explaining,

"I am not in the mood for sex right now. It has been a long day."

"Oh, you know, that's cool." Alfred hummed, twiddling his fingers. Ivan chuckled,

"It is not like I am going to send you out in this storm though. I may be cruel, but I am not heartless." As he spoke, he moved over until he could wrap his arms around the blonde youth, much like one would a teddy bear.

"Mm…" Alfred moaned at the warmth that the other exuded, "You know, this is just fine! It's been a long time since I've had… this." He smiled, "Thanks big guy."

"You are welcome Alfred F. Jones." Ivan smiled, kissing him on the forehead, "Now sleep."

A/N:

How's that for cock-blocking, huh?