Had to split chapter in two, (real life demands my time) next part soon!

Also, I know ya'll are wanting lemons, but relationship development will always be my priority, or the smut means nothing. Thank you for your patience.

Insecure was not a word Mikhail associated with himself, ever. But planning this date to impress someone with its non impressiveness was fucking hard. On one hand, he just wanted to have the jet ready so they could fucking fly to Paris or Rome; because even though Mikhail never dated, that's what he'd do with a person if he did. Except it was Akihito, who probably didn't care for any of that, he'd care about what he could see from where they were, the colors and the scenery.

Jets and Michelin star restaurants would mean nothing to him, Mikhail was sure, they didn't mean much to Mikhail either anyway. He'd hate to be spoiled, when that's all Mikhail wanted to do, because isn't that what you did on dates? Mikhail had no fucking idea. None. All he knew was that he couldn't go overboard or Akihito would do that thing where he looked away from him and went quiet.

Fuck it all. He needed help. So with a curse, he locked the door to his office via the security panel on his desk, took his phone out and dialed one of the few numbers on speed dial.

It picked up after a few rings.

"Misha, my boy, what can I do for you?" a matriarchal voice sing songed to him, the sound of his childhood.

"Hi ma, I need your advice."

And so he explained to his mom his situation; about this man that'd drawn him on a napkin outside the cafe he took his mom too when she visited, the way his hands fidgeted whenever he felt like drawing something, the chrysanthemums that inched into his mind at any odd time, the scars on his knuckles and the sparkle in his eyes that blazed whenever he looked at art. As he spoke to his mom, he knew he was in deep, she knew it too, because normally she would poke fun at him, like only the mother of a mob boss could, tease him or laugh; but she was quiet the entire time.

"And how long have you known him? Why haven't I heard about him yet?" came the eventual question that Mikhail knew she would ask, the question that had him pinching his brow because his answer was ridiculous.

"Three days, ma. I met him three days ago." he sighed into the phone, saying it out loud made it sound even worse.
"What's wrong with that? That's how long I knew your father for when I decided I'd marry him." his mother deadpanned back as if it was a completely normal turn of events.

"M-marry?! I haven't decided to marry anyone, mom." Mikhail startled back, feeling his heart skip a beat at the word. No fucking way.

"That's what you say now, hehe! Anyway, why on earth would such a nice man agree to go out with my Bratva leader of a son?" she sighed an affectionate sigh at the end, Mikhail felt himself cringe.

"He doesn't know, ma. I haven't told him any of that."

There was an outraged indrawn breath "Mikhail Arbatov! I never raised you to lie to people that you care about!"

Mikhail knew that if his mom were here he would have got a walloping over the back of his head, but the verbal slap of his full name was still just as bad.

"I know! I know! But fuck, mom, I don't want to scare this one away." he bent down to rest his forehead on his desk, fuck. Just fuck.

Sure, Akihito might have a bad history if his scars were anything to go by, but nothing could top being the leader of Russia's organized crime syndicate. Weapons, drugs, murder, blackmail and extortion were everyday things in his life, and he was the one who controlled it all.

"Misha," his mom started softly, "If I know you, you would have done something that would have scared him away already, you were always too forward, too honest, actually you were just a pushy child who always had to be in control, but that's how you got to where you are. If he's going out with you tonight, for goodness knows what reason he must like you. Tell him, Mikhail, and don't mess it up because I want to meet him. He sounds adorable!"

"He is adorable." Mikhail smiled against the desk. "So, got any ideas for me then?"

He'd opened a can of worms with this one, because his mom wouldn't stop talking, telling him to be subtle, and that gentlemen don't fuck on the first date, and some place with a view would be nice because Akihito was an artist, and an entire menagerie of things that Mikhail soaked in, food and wine; everything in between.

By the end of their back and forth suggestions, Mikhail felt confident that what he had in his head would be just enough, and not too much. He still wanted to lavish Akihito, so by fucking christ he would, he just wouldn't go overboard is all. Because Mikhail was someone who could easily go overboard, this date was taking his self restraint to new levels.

"Thanks, mom." Mikhail swung around in his chair when their talk came to a close with a self satisfied smile on his face as he thought about his plans.

"It's what mothers are for, otherwise you'd never win someone over."

"Oi, whose fault would that be? You raised me!" he laughed, oh, it was always good to talk to his mom, who still talked to him like he was any old person.

"You take after your father, not me." his mom jibed.

"Well the old man is a fucking bad ass anyway, so that's a compliment, thank you very much!"

His mom's musical laughter tinkled over the line, his own joined in momentarily before he carried on. "Speaking of the old man, can you not tell him about this little talk, please?"

"He'll find out, there are no secrets in this family remember."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I just.. fuck. I think I want to make sure it's gonna work out before he knows. Is all." something about telling his father over telling his mom made it so much more… real. Official or whatever people called it, and it was far from that at the moment.

"Tell me how it went in the morning, okay?" there was that motherly undertone there, the warning one; Mikhail knew exactly why it was there.

"Yes, yes, I know. Gosh." he rolled his eyes, his mom couldn't see, but she'd still get it.

"Don't give me that, now get back to work, you've probably got people to shoot and drugs to traffic, and no son of mine will be slacking off on the job."

"It's guns, mother. Guns! Alright, you crazy woman, talk to you tomorrow, love ya."

"Love you too! Kiss kiss."

The line went dead, and Mikhail promptly started making arrangements to have everything all sorted by the time 7pm rolled around.

Akihito….. did not know what this was.

The day did indeed drag after that last text message, but now he was with Mikhail, on a rooftop in St Petersburg, and he wished it'd dragged maybe a little longer so he could have prepared himself for this.

The sun was moving flat along the horizon, casting an evening glow over the city and bathing the roof on top of the grey stone building in warm tones. The building he was on; was on the Griboyedov Canal Embankment, and from here he could see the canal stretching in both directions; 5 kilometers long with 21 bridges along it's length, one of the best ways to see Russian architecture at its finest was to travel up the narrow waterway by boat and marvel at all the historical buildings that towered high on each side.

From this vantage point he could see some of the world's most photographed sites, the purple glow of dusk reflecting on the water, perfect symmetry as the world of St Petersburg was mirrored on the waters surface, two sets of glowing street lights, two sets of moving cars with their red brake lights and yellow indicators, the man in the coat reflected upside down walking along the street with his briefcase and newspaper. A world inside the water filled canals, one that reflected the stars and the moon, the sun and the clouds.

He was entrapped in this view, the water that softened reality's harsh lines and bold lights, it was true the real masterpieces were never on canvas, but in the sights that the world had to offer, this was one of those offerings.

"You like the view?" Mikhail hummed behind him as he sat on the rooftop furniture.

Underneath a fabric lined canopy with open sides and a tented top; wicker loungers with beige cushions sat in front of a long low table, there was a spread of food that was still covered, plates and bowls of goodness knows what, baskets of fresh bread and buckets of ice with wine and beer, it all smelt amazing. It smelt like a fucking date.

Which brought him to his current state of unpreparedness. Because he didn't know how to do dates with normal people, let alone someone like this, on a rooftop at his first destination of what was meant to be an around the world trip.

Dates meant sharing things, and he wasn't sure how to go about that without sounding like either a crazed psycho who got in fights for fun, or a kid with daddy issues who did it for attention, he didn't know what would be worse; disdain or sympathy.

"Just sit down, Akihito. No pressure, remember." he got a friendly wink that helped to dislodge some of his unease, because even though the environment was definitely that of a date, Mikhail exuded a casual air, the same as usual as he sat back in his chair and waited with not a care in his posture or a worry in his shadow eyed gaze.

Akihito couldn't figure out which view was better at that moment, because Mikhail sitting on that couch basking in evening light was also something he could probably look at for a long time; so he ignored that niggling feeling and let his stomach rule him as usual, he sat down next to the Russian to eat.

"Hey, shut your eyes for a sec." Mikhail chuckled to him, food and drink was flowing, the sun was just below the horizon, casting that light that made it hard for your eyes to adjust, and talk was surprisingly light between them as usual, there was no pressure at all. Akihito felt at ease, and so he shut his eyes, because he felt like it'd be alright.

"Open your mouth." Mikhail urged. Akihito wasn't sure about that though, his eyes were shut and he couldn't see what expression Mikhail was making.

A thumb ran along his bottom lip, soft, gentle and coaxing, oh, fuck. That was nice.

"Trust me, what do you think I'm gonna do, huh? Poison you?" came the laugh, hearty and genuine, and so he let that thumb pull his mouth open.

He waited as he heard the sound of a food container opening, rustling, the clink of cutlery, and then something was placed in his mouth, he felt the cold tines of the fork brush his tongue as the utensil was pulled away, leaving a garlic, buttery morsel in his mouth.

"Now chew!" came the next instruction.

Akihito chewed, the soft meat dissolved on his tongue, doused in herbs that didn't overpower the… was it chicken? It tasted like chicken, but the texture wasn't quite the same as he swallowed.

His eyes shot open, to see Mikhail holding back laughter as he held a fork with an empty snail shell in the other hand.

"You fed me a fucking slug!" Akihito burst out. "Where did you even get snails? Someone's garden?"

"Hahahaha! Never mind where I got them. It was good right though, right? I know you liked it." and then came that trademark wink, because Mikhail was right and he knew it. The slugs were good.

"You want another?" Came the tease, with a suggestive wiggle of his eye brows.

"No more slugs." Akihito pouted.

"But its rude to say no to something someone is giving you." The laughing man cooed.

"Fuck you. Give me another slug then." Akihito bit back.

"Haha. You're so easy. It's cute." He stabbed another damn bug and held it out.

"Yeah yeah, I bet you didn't bring any peas though. Watching you make faces while eating peas would be cute too." Akihito deadpanned before he ate another snail. Yes, the snails were really good. Dammit.

"What are you talking about? I'm already cute! Aren't I?" and then Mikhail beamed the cheekiest grin yet directly at him, all perfect white teeth and teasing eyes.

Akihito thought he'd done well with not blushing up until this point, he felt like he was getting used to Mikhail's forwardness, but that smile had him throwing himself to the other end of the lounger to bury his face in the cushions to hide while Mikhail just kept laughing. It wasn't just a blush he was hiding, but a massive smile of his own.

"Oi. Don't hide!"

"No, go away!"

Eventually, Akihito came out of hiding to carry on with their date thing. Whatever it was. Maybe it was, Akihito thought he'd be pretty fucking lucky if so.

"Try this!" Mikhail urged to him as he sat close, their thighs touching, Akihito noticed they'd both been moving closer to one another, Akihito's was unintentional, he was just drawn in as the night wore on. Mikhail seemed to notice too, but still there was no pressure.

"It's not secret grossness or something weird?" Akihito questioned, suspicious at the food in front of his face. He could see Mikhail's callouses with his hand this close, and that gold band on his finger with Russian symbols on it, he wondered what it said. It looked important.

"No, the snails were the only thing, haha. Promise."

"Fine then." he sighed, before opening his mouth, he chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "It's good!"

"See, told ya! Ok, try this next."

Mikhail was pleased with how the night was going, the food was good, because he made sure it fucking would be, drinks washed it down well, and now they were just sitting on the spacious settee laughing about nothing in particular.

Akihito was much more chilled out, maybe because he had a few beers in him, maybe because he was getting comfortable. He hoped it was the latter.
He was a sassy punk, a really cute, sassy punk who had no problem telling Mikhail where to go for the escargot trick, no problem taking food from his hands, and no problem kicking back with a burp once he was full, which took a lot. Dude could fucking eat! Comments about being cute, and the brush of their hands together as they reached for something still made him blush though. He liked that just as much.

Yeah. Mikhail was fucking smitten alright. His mom was going to have a damn field day.

How on earth had they managed to spend two and a bit days together and not get into talking about themselves though, he thought. It was both good and bad. It meant talk between them was easy, they were familiar with each other, despite the fact they weren't actually familiar with each other.

But despite their attraction that Mikhail would actually label electric, like when people described sparks in those fucking romance movies, it meant there were walls still. Mikhail knew what was behind his. He wanted to know what was behind Akihito's more than anything else. What did someone as bright and talented as Akihito have to hide?

Well, he decided it was finally time to find out.