You hadn't realized that you'd fallen asleep until you had woken up. Even then, you were content to shrug it off until the fabric of a blanket slipping off of you startled you; you didn't put a blanket on yourself before you fell asleep! Besides that, your book was no longer in your hands. Sitting upright, you glanced over at the fireplace where hot coals were warming fresh wood. How'd that get here? On your coffee table, your book was resting with a bookmark between its pages.

But you had fallen asleep reading it…You tried to remember what happened right before you had dozed off, but your thoughts were interrupted by the noise of a sliding glass door opening. At your back door, Ivan had tromped up the stairs with a large armful of firewood, his other hand on the handle to the door itself. In he stepped, closing the door to keep the heat in, his cheeks again pink from the cold he was escaping.

He was startled when he found you staring at him after he placed the extra wood by the fireplace, but the surprise in his face melted into a warm smile.

"Dobroye utro! Did you have good sleep?"

"Ah!" Ivan had just introduced himself…and you'd fallen asleep on your visitor! "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I dozed off with company over and everything!"

Ivan let out a cute laugh and shook his head slightly, snow falling off hair that matched its shade of white. "Is no problem! You were looking so comfortable that I was not wanting to move you. But you dropped book on yourself, and looked cold. I fixed both problems."

You blinked in surprise. "Th…thanks, Ivan."

"Like I said, is no problem." He stretched and let out a small moan. "Is still very cold outside. Much snow has fallen."

"Really?"

"Da." He gave a quick nod. "Look out front door."

You got up to examine the outside of the door your neighbor had made his first entrance from. Looking through the peephole was impossible, and you grumbled as darkness obscured your vision. Was it so late already?

"Wh…what the!?"

Opening the door for an clearer inspection, all that was revealed was a wall of white with your door's pattern engraved from the pressure of all the snow still on top of that. The door was quickly shut.

Ivan nodded from his spot by the fireplace. He sat on the brick outcropping that jutted out a few feet ahead from the weak, but dancing flames warming his back. "Is much snow, da?"

"D-da! I mean, yes- I mean…geez…"

"'Geez' is right. It is looking like we are snowed in."

"B-but…didn't you just come in the back door?"

"I was making path to wood pile. Is important to keep house warm."

You stared at the glass sliding door in disbelief. "No way…"
Indeed, just as he said, that side of the house was entirely snowed over, save for a pathway surrounded by precarious cliffs of snow on either side. Snow was pushed back and upwards, a path leading directly to the wood pile beneath the large tree in your back yard, it's branches sagging under the weight of several inches of snow.

"…_, have you not seen so much snow before?"

"Not that I can ever remember…Oh geez, we're really stuck, aren't we?"

"For now, da." He stood, taking off his jacket again and hanging it up where it was hung by the fireplace. "So. What are you wanting to do now? It will be long time before snow melts."

You closed your jaw that was hanging open in incredulity to Ivan and his smile. "B…but…I…"

The corners of his smile began to fall. "…Are you wanting me to leave?"

"W-well, no, and it doesn't seem possible anyway, with all that snow…"

"Then…are you wanting to continue your nap? You looked so peaceful."

"Uhm…I don't know if I can sleep—"

Gurgle

Your face flushed as your stomach gave its opinion on the matter.

"Oh! You are hungry! That is something to do." He started towards your kitchen, no doubt he had explored your house at least a little while you had been napping.

"I uh…Ivan?"

"Da?" He poked his head back into the room, bright violet eyes excited to be of use.

"Let me in there first, I wanna see what I have."

"Oh…Da, is your house." He sheepishly grinned and followed you into the kitchen. Ivan looked about the clean, white room, easily spotting the refrigerator and started towards it, humming a tune quietly.

"Hey, the power's been out for hours, I don't want to let whatever cold that's keeping the food from going bad escaping…" You had no real idea what he was doing, but still offered the warning.

"Nyet, I am having idea." He gathered up milk, meat, and other foodstuffs that required a cool temperature to keep edible, and then walked out of the kitchen to your front door. It was your turn to follow him curiously through the house.
He opened the front door, and you had to giggle at first at the snow shelves he was making before it occurred to you how much sense it actually made: between the cold metal door and frozen water, it was easy to see how your food could keep cold.

"That's ingenious!"

"Spasibo. Is trick friend taught me."

"Does it really work?"

"Da, Matthew is not liar. He lives where there is much snow."

"Oh, did you know him in Russia?"

"Nyet. Canada."

After a moment, you giggled at the absurdity of the moment and even the conversation, then burst into full laughter at Ivan's adorably puzzled face when he turned to face you, putting a gallon of milk into the snow. "…Is something being funny?"

"N-no it…well, just a little, but it's nothing." You sighed happily, still giggling.

"Nyet, what is being so funny?" His smile was gone, replaced with confusion.

"Oh…w-well, I guess I just can't believe all this is happening right now." A quick realization dawned on you. "Oh! N-no, Ivan, I wasn't laughing at you." Ivan's face returned to its usual peaceful and cheery demeanor. "I was laughing with you."

There was a small pause.

"But…" He took another moment of thought. "I was not laughing. How could you be laughing with me if I am not laughing too?"

You had to hold back another fit of giggles to stop him from feeling bad. "Oh, it's just a figure of speech." Really? You could tell his English was broken at best, especially with his sprinkling of foreign words in some sentences and a thick accent, but still…

"Figure…Oh!" He giggled, signaling the diffusion of the awkward situation. "I get now. Figure of speech." He clapped his hands together, proud that he understood the conversation. "I am not talking to many people, so most uhm…Fly overhead?"

"You mean 'go over your head'?"

"Da!" He pointed happily. "That is what I was saying."

You smiled a little. As an avid reader yourself, you knew a lock of tricks, ticks, and cues in figurative language of most kinds. It was so silly and even cute to see Ivan becoming so elated at even the simplest understanding of slightly more complicated language.

"Is nice talking to you."

You were brought out of your thoughts and looked towards the man beaming at you, his cheeks still pink. You blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"Is nice talking to you." He repeated with a warm smile. "Not many people are wanting to talk to me for some reason. Maybe is because I am big guy, but I think I am scaring people."

"Scaring people?" Confusion obviously graced your face, because he continued.
He held his scarf in his hands and rung it back and forth nervously, a clear cue of nervousness unconscious or otherwise. "People are always shaking near me. And only say words when I say them first." He sighed and looked towards the ground. "Even when I start conversation, they still say few words."

You felt a pang in your heart, but disbelieved his story. Sure, he was a big guy and he seemed rather quiet and even awkward, you could relate, but not once did he ever trigger even a semblance of fear in you. In fact, you had been getting really lonely when he had shown up; you were glad he came.

"Ivan, you aren't scary." He looked up in surprise to meet a warm, sympathetic smile spread across your face. "You're just big and quiet, like a teddy bear." The thought of him as a stuffed animal triggered another giggle you forced yourself to stifle.

He didn't seem to notice. "You..you are thinking so?"

"I wouldn't lie like that, of course I mean it."

A smile bloomed across his face, bright as a sunflower. Before you could counter it, he wrapped his big arms around your body in a gentle hug. Your felt your cheeks tint pink from the sudden encounter. After a moment to recover from the shock, your arms closed around him as well. He was so warm and gentle…

"…Is not often…I meet someone like you."

You looked up to meet his violet eyes with your own.

"It makes me happy to know some people are not scared of me."

"Th…you're welcome?" You didn't quite understand why he was so happy, or felt so much gratitude towards you, but it was obvious in his eyes. "But I don't see why you're—"
He gently squeezed you closer in the hug, resting his head on top of yours, obscuring his face from your sight. Your cheeks flashed scarlet from the sudden move and your cheeks flashed scarlet. You were incapacitated for a split second. After a moment, you allowed yourself to relax and let him hug you while you returned the embrace weakly back. The only noises now to break the silence between you two were your breathing, the distant pops of tree branches, and the crackle of fire warming the room.

But that was fine. Neither of you had anything else to say.