"So, there's really nothing on her?" Alfred asked. "Anywhere?"
"I can check through the library, though all considering I don't think there will be much on her," Ivan shook his head. He'd been able to get through most of his shift with Alfred without talking about Amelia Jones, but he seemed intent on bringing her up. And the way his face fell when he heard that there was nothing on her... "Maybe, if there's something you can tell me, something to go off of?"
"No, no, it's…uh…not necessary," Alfred shook his head. "She probably got erased from history anyway, just like everyone else."
"Everyone else?" Ivan asked carefully.
"You don't even know the names of anyone," Alfred laughed bitterly. "You don't even get it. I had friends, I had comrades, and I had…her, but none of that matters now because no one cares. They were all erased. Everyone but me."
He turned to look at his own floating body again and Ivan stayed back, by the platform. He didn't know what to say. It was just as Ivan expected, all of this was like a blink to Alfred. One second his friends were alive, and now they were a thousand years dead. And there was the way that he talked about Amelia…Like they were more than just friends.
"I'm sorry," Ivan said. "I…don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," Alfred shook his head and turned around with a small smile. "Sorry for being so melodramatic. That's my bullshit, not yours. Forget I said anything."
Ivan opened his mouth to disagree, but the door to the room opened, Feliciano's whistling filling the air.
"See you around," Alfred nodded before vanishing, leaving just his frozen body.
"Hello, Ivan, how are you today?" Feliciano asked happily. "Been a good shift?"
"Nothing happened, as usual," Ivan shrugged, glancing at Alfred. He almost felt bad for making him bring this up. And at the same time…he felt guilty for just assuming that he was The coldhearted Dictator the rest of the world made him out to be. Even under the influence of Dark Magic, he seemed to have some kind of conscience inside of that brain of his. "Have you had a good day?"
"As always," Feliciano nodded. "Oh, hey, Francis was looking for you upstairs, I told him you'd be right up. I think he wanted to invite you somewhere."
"Invite me?" Ivan asked and Feliciano giggled.
"Yes, you, now get going, I think I can take him," Feliciano smiled as he placed his hand on the scanner. Ivan glanced at Alfred before leaving the room. Someone wanted to invite him somewhere? He hadn't really gotten close with anyone at the Detainment Center yet, just some passing conversations with a few people. And he really was trying to find a way to keep an eye on Gilbert without being too obvious. He knew how anyone would react if they figured out what he was doing with Alfred…
Once Ivan had made it to the ground level of the Detainment Center, he was almost immediately greeted by Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio.
"Why, hello Ivan," Francis chimed, draping an arm around Ivan's shoulders. Ivan blinked in surprise, looking through the three friends. He already knew that the three were nearly inseparable best friends. So why were they inviting him out with them?
"Hello," Ivan said simply.
"Man, have we got an idea for you," Gilbert smirked, though he happily kept his distance. "You're the kind of stuffy student that only spends time studying, aren't you?"
"What?" Ivan asked.
"So how about, tonight, you take a break?" Antonio asked happily. "With us. We know a great bar not far from here."
"You're asking me to take a drink with you?" Ivan asked, still not quite understanding the context of the situation.
"Take a little break with us," Francis nudged him. "It's a Friday, after all, what do you have to lose?"
"I guess…not much," Ivan mused. There was also the chance that he could find some way to check on Gilbert, see if there was even a chance that he would turn to Dark Magic, which Ivan doubted in the first place. "Why not? I would love to."
"Awesome!" Gilbert snickered. "I can't fucking wait. Arthur's been drowning me in paperwork because of Franny's fuck up the other day."
"That wasn't my fault and everyone knows it!" Francis said pointedly.
"Yeah, you just happened to be there right when the short happened," Antonio laughed. Francis rolled his eyes, but laughed along with his friend. Ivan couldn't help but laugh a little bit as well. Maybe having more friends would be really nice…
Ivan couldn't stop himself from laughing as he held onto his drink tightly. Gilbert was busy recounting an old story about him, Antonio, and Francis back when they were in high school. Ivan, under normal circumstances, would have laughed. But now? Well, he had lost count of how many different drinks the trio was having him try. They seemed to have the best intentions, so he wasn't questioning anything.
"C'mon, Ivy," Gilbert elbowed him, letting the "e" sound hang in the air for longer than necessary. "I know you've got some stories to tell us. Someone like you don't go around without stories."
"Uh, well," Ivan mused, thinking through some of the stories, his mind was admittedly a little murky, though.
"Our files say you have two sisters," Francis smirked, leaning close to him. "They're both very pretty, I must say!"
"Oh, Natalia!" Ivan all but shouted and laughed at his own outburst. The others resorted to their own, giggling mess. "She, um, she's stabbed every single girl that's tried to talk with me."
"She what?" Antonio cackled, tilting his head back.
"Shhhh!" Ivan laughed, putting out a finger in hopes of shushing him. "She might hear you."
"You've gotta be kidding," Gilbert snorted.
"I want to be," Ivan giggled. "I swear she's gonna start attacking boys soon, at the rate things are going."
"No shit, huh?" Gilbert laughed, taking another shot he had. He winced slightly and blinked to get his focus back. Ivan rolled his eyes and looked further into the room, where he could see people dancing, some more drunk than him, others having no problem standing without swaying. Ivan squinted through the lights and saw someone fall onto the ground, waving their arms wildly as they did so. They had magic, obviously, as a spurt of flames circled around him, spiraling outwards.
Ivan instinctively put his hand out to stop it, but didn't notice how far out he stretched and wound up falling out of his own stool. He couldn't help but laugh where he sat on the ground. Francis and Antonio laughed with him but he clearly noticed that Gilbert scowled, turning to get another shot.
Ivan faintly remembered that his response mattered, but he couldn't find himself to care. All that mattered was that Gilbert, of all people, was pouting in a corner while they were drinking.
"Damn, you're finally on your ass," Antonio laughed.
"I was wondering how many it would take to finally get you drunk," Francis offered a hand. When Ivan took it, however, Francis fell off-balance as well and tumbled on top of him. Ivan laughed even harder, now lying on his back.
Ivan groaned at the sunlight that he could see, even with his eyes closed. He grumbled, turning over to face plant into his pillow. He wanted…to die His head throbbed and he felt an incredible need to vomit. He just wanted to go back to sleep, dammit! He felt himself shaking first, his skin feeling clammy, and then he felt the familiar feeling of acid racing up his throat.
Disregarding his headache for the time being, he tumbled out of his bed, nearly tripping onto his face and skidding into the bathroom of his apartment. He barely made it to the toilet in time before he puked up what felt like his entire stomach. He winced at the burning in his throat and coughed as he tried and failed to breath.
Finally, finally, he stopped and he breathed, his shaking hands clamping onto the toilet seat. Normally he was so good at drinking…then again, he didn't remember about half of his night with his friends. What had possessed him to drink so much?
He blinked, the headache near splitting his head open, and he noticed a hand holding a glass of water out for him. He raised a brow before looking up at the person that was just randomly in his home.
"Natalia?" Ivan asked. Even though his voice was hoarse and quiet, it was impossibly loud. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't come home until very early this morning," Natalia said simply, her voice not caring that it caused Ivan's headache to get worse. "You're lucky you thought to use a spell to help you come earlier in the night."
"A necessary precaution, obviously," Ivan snorted, taking the glass of water. He didn't even have to ask why Natalia was there, he was used to it. And right now her care would actually be appreciated. "Thank you," he said after taking a long drink.
"Where were you?" Natalia asked coldly.
"Oh, um," Ivan paused, trying to think of a spell through his headache that would work as pain relief. "I was with friends."
"None of your friends left their homes last night," Natalia scowled. Ivan smiled faintly. Of course Natalia also kept track of his friends.
"From work," Ivan nodded. "They're nice, I promise."
"Well, I trust you," Natalia muttered before placing her hand on Ivan's head. She spoke a short spell before Ivan felt his head lighten, the pain almost entirely filtering away. He sighed with relief.
"Thank you, sister," Ivan smiled, flushing the toilet with a small shudder before standing with her "As much as I don't appreciate you breaking into my apartment, I'm grateful for your help."
"I'll always be there for you," Natalia said. Ivan smiled at her as they walked out of the room. He smiled at the scent that entered his nose. Natalia had cooked breakfast for him…an old meal from home when they would all cook together. She could be nice when she wanted to. "I haven't told sister that you spent all night drinking."
"Thank you," Ivan laughed. "I don't think she would approve." He sat at the kitchen table where the meal was already sitting. Natalia had her own setting and she sat peacefully, as if she belonged there. Ivan's smile grew, despite the small drilling in the back of his head. Because all of their lives got so busy, they didn't have any time to sit together. Ivan hoped he could find a time to stay with his sisters sometime soon.
Maybe during the next break with school, but he would have to work and keep that in mind. Talking with Alfred and thinking about what he says would be far easier when Ivan didn't have to worry about school.
"It's nice to see you outside of the university," Ivan offered as conversation.
"We don't see each other near often enough," Natalia smiled, and it was innocent enough for her. Ivan smiled in return. "So…theses work friends. I'm not sure they're a very good influence."
"I haven't gone out drinking in ages," Ivan shrugged. "It was kind of nice, regardless of the pain the morning after. It was rather nice, to be frankly honest. It was fun, though."
"Should I know who they are?" Natalia asked, though Ivan had a sinking suspicion she would figure it out eventually. Ivan thought for a moment, thinking back to what Alfred said about keeping track of Gilbert. The best person Ivan could think of to keep track of someone was Natalia. If he told her about him…then maybe Ivan could figure out a few things about him. Make sure he wasn't doing something stupid with Dark Magic…But at the same time…Natalia's methods were a tad… extreme, and Ivan would be betraying the trust of his friend…
"If you want to look into them, I won't stop you," Ivan shrugged. After all, Ivan had learned a lot about them just by looking them up online. "Though I really don't think it's necessary."
"I'll think about it," Natalia shrugged.
"All I ask," Ivan smiled faintly. He loved his sister, he really did, and small moments like these, no matter how creepy it was that she could always get inside of his apartment, never failed to make him smile.
"When do you work today?" Natalia asked. "Maybe we could…hang out, like we used to." Ivan nodded. He would like that idea very much. Ever since his studies started taking priority, he was hardly able to spend time with his family. Everyone went through their lives claiming that they were okay with it, but Ivan did miss just…being with his sisters. Too bad Katyusha didn't live very close by…
"I don't work until later tonight. We could try watching a movie or something," Ivan offered. Natalia nodded eagerly before all but running to clean up the dishes. Ivan chuckled, following after her to offer his help. Today was shaping up to be a rather good day, wasn't it?
Sorry this chapter skipped around some, I was a little low on ideas for what happens between plot points, but it turned out alright for characterization for, like, everyone. Things will happen again soon, I promise, but for now we have to wait patiently until the pieces all fit into place.
And just as a fair warning, I'm staring school again and I have, like, four different classes where I'm going to be writing a lot. I'll try to write as much as I can, but I have no guarantees. Hopefully once a week.
See you next time!