I do not own Hetalia, okay? I know it's been a little while since I had updated this one, but I will do so. I don't have much to say here on this one honestly, so enough of the A/N, on with the fic!
Ivan looked up at the calendar as he got out of bed, to the cold February air that rushed through his home. He often did not keep the heat up very high in his own home to help save some money with his home fuel costs. Besides, to him, cold did not bother him all that much. He had grown up in much worse situations where to keep warm at night the best he could do was to share with his sisters. Having the ability to change the temperatures on his own was something he was glad for the job he had gotten. "Huh, it's Valentine's Day…." He said as read the calendar on the wall. He knew that Alfred was planning to send him something but had apologized that it would not get to him in time likely. Katyusha had gone back to Ukraine and had told him more and more about Dimitri Chernenko as time went on. He hadn't told her, but he had any skeletons in his closet. And from what he could find when he got into Dimitri's computer was that he was very dedicated to farming. He had his farm business finances tallied well, and nothing looked suspicious there, although Ivan had to admit, he could get the records unscrupulously but to know what to look for in financials if there were some shady dealings, he couldn't quite tell. Dimitri apparently even had Farming Simulator on his computer and seemed that him and Katyusha even played coop from the records he could find. Katyusha had told Ivan they had both played in the winter when there wasn't much else for Dimitri to do on the farm. He peeked into everything he could find and found nothing that would make Ivan think that he wanted to use Katyusha. I can never tell her that I did that to her and her boyfriend, although I am sure she at least suspects it…. Ivan thought with a slight shame. But he had to look after her. She was his older sister and if he had gotten Natalya out of a gang, then he needed to protect her as well. It was his duty as the male sibling in his mind. He hadn't told Alfred he had done that, just that he wanted to arrange a meeting which Alfred completely understood as he had told Ivan of how protective he was Matthew growing up.
He's probably going to bed or asleep now…. Ivan thought as he typed out a message for Alfred to wake up to. "Dobroye utro, moya dorogaya lyubov'. I wish you a very happy Valentines Day. I wish I could be there with you on this day, hold you tight and make you feel all the love in this world. Love, Vanya." He read to himself as he sent the message with a smile. "There, a nice message from me for you to wake up." He said as his phone started to ring with Alfred's ring. "Ah!" Ivan said as he answered it. "Fredka what are you doing up?"
"Ummmmm…. I just got off my night shift and I'm going to do some studying before bed. It's only like 1030 at night here dude…." Alfred laughed.
"Sorry, I just woke up." Ivan laughed slightly embarrassed. "I am getting up and getting ready for work and I saw it was Valentines Day. And while I cannot be there in person with you, I wanted to wish you something to wake up to."
"Well, thanks." Alfred laughed. "I sent you something the other day, but it may take a long time to get there."
"You don't have to do that…." Ivan blushed. He hadn't thought to get Alfred something. He had not really had anyone to share the holiday within years.
"Oh yes I did." Alfred said. "I love you. And I would make you feel so good and loved."
"You do that already." Ivan said as he headed to the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea and a small breakfast.
"Well, you're going to be here soon enough. I feel it in my bones dude." Alfred said.
"How can you be so certain?" Ivan asked.
"Well, I mean I had gotten a call from Lukas, you know from my old band." Alfred began as Ivan bit back his annoyance. At least it wasn't that Lien girl. He thought to himself. He had known that Lucas was just one of the better friends he had when he was in the band, they got along well but did not have the pull that Lien might have over him. "And well, they got accepted and signed the agreement. No dates for a record drop or anything like that, don't even have all the details of what they have to do track wise, but it's all official."
"Well, that's nice. I am happy for them." Ivan bit back. This was what he was worrying about, that the band would take Alfred away from him.
"I am too. I am glad they got something. It really sucks trying to make it in LA." Alfred said. "But don't worry dude, I'm committed to this. Stability is nice for once. It took a lot of thinking and realization and all that psychobabble that Mattie's good with but making a career of music would kill it for me. It would be a job and I hate it when something I create becomes a job. You get what I'm saying?"
"I understand." Ivan said. He looked up at the clock. "Well, I must get ready for work. As they say, traffic is a nightmare."
"Yeah, don't want you getting in trouble with your boss. Then he won't send you over here." Alfred said.
"You are right." Ivan smiled. "YA tebya lyublyu" Ivan replied.
"YA tebya lyublyu" Alfred replied back. "Have fun at work and I'll send you something special myself later tonight."
"You don't have to." Ivan said as he quickly picked out his outfit for work and began to head out the door.
"I do. Don't say otherwise and tell me when you get the package, I sent you. So far, it's still on its way but you know how things can get lost, well they better not get lost. Anyway, go on to work and kiss your boss's ass. I won't see it as cheating." Alfred laughed.
"Yes, I do have to say that at least. I do have to do a lot of how you say, 'ass kissing' at this job." Ivan rolled his eyes. "My talents aren't enough."
"Well, we can complain about that later. Trust me I know EXACTLY how that feels." Alfred moaned. "But I have to really brush up on this chapter. Real dick of a professor on this subject throws out pop quizzes like he does his back."
"Study hard." Ivan said. "Remember you do well, and you will have a good stable future."
"With you." Alfred said dreamily.
"Yes." Ivan smiled. Why do I have a feeling his brother would have a nice time analyzing us for how we are talking? "But I am serious, I have to get to work."
"Yeah, yeah do that. I have work too…." Alfred said as he hung up. Then Ivan got a message. "Sorry about hanging up on you but you and I both know we'd talk forever." At this Ivan nodded in agreement and after splashing enough cologne on so no one would know he skipped the morning shower, he headed out the door, braced against the cold weather and into the city where he would be in for another day of work. During the long commute, he did often wonder if he wouldn't have been better sticking with the gang, seeing how some of his old comrades were doing and knowing he was tougher, more accurate with a gun and more cunning than they could ever hope to be, but at the same time for every one of them who had moved up to a high position in a local Bratva chapter, there were just as many if not more who had died from the fights, drug addiction and other issues that plagued the life he had left behind. He also knew that it would be even harder for him to get his sister out and she would have been used up worse than she had been when he had nearly been cut to death when he demanded her to kicked out. You left them for a better life. You know they would want to use you for their nefarious purposes when they learn what you can do. It's better this way. Ivan told himself as he headed up to his desk when he had finally arrived at the company.
Sitting down, he took a deep breath and stretched as he took off his hat and gloves. Winter was always rough on him despite what he joked with Alfred. He dreamed of just being somewhere warm where he could lay out and watch sunflowers, but as it was right now, he was to spend his days in Moscow. He had looked up just how the summers were in the town that Alfred lived in, knowing it was the one that they were going to put the new offices in. It had seemed nice and with an ocean nearby, it was bound to be fun. I will need sunscreen…. He thought as his mind wandered to a fantasy of him laying on the beach that Alfred had showed him in the summer warmth, laughing splashing the waves and following him along in the sun. Damn the fact he knew that he burned easily, it was just the warmth in the sun and beach with the man he loved that had filled his mind.
"Braginsky!" Mr. Palonen said as he headed into Ivan's office. "My office! Now!"
"Yes sir Mr. Palonen!" Ivan jumped as he hung up his jacket and headed into his bosses' office. He had not heard much of what the decisions were after he had come back from his trip and had gotten back to the usual routine of checking the company programs for any bugs and hacking attempts and checking the new products for any weak points and cracking them to find ways to beef up the security. Something that he was quite proud that he could open almost any security program. How else could I make sure that my sisters are safe without them complaining of me hovering over their shoulders? Like they would know what I have done. He thought proudly as he walked into Mr. Palonen's office and sat down.
"Braginsky, let me be honest with you." Mr. Palonen said as he poured Ivan a glass of vodka and one for himself. Ivan took it to be polite, but he never trusted when a sentence had started out like this. Am I fired? Will I not get the transfer? Would I be able to get a job with an American company instead? Ivan's mind ran as his boss sat down.
"What is it sir?" Ivan asked.
"You know how the higher ups can be when it comes to ideas that would actually be very profitable. They know of all the bad 'crazy Russian hacker' stereotypes that those foolish Americans run around with." Ivan nodded in agreement. "However, we can use that to our advantage with the proper marketing to businesses in America, especially after that ransomware attack that made the news last summer." Ivan nodded. He knew very well the story of the rouge agents that were working out of Russia who had held up an American fuel company with ransomware that had perpetuated the stereotype further in the minds of Americans.
"As the Americans say, 'we have the home team advantage.'" Ivan said. Mr. Palonen looked confused. "You see that is an American saying that those who know something, as a sports team who is playing a big game on a field they train on," At this Mr. Palonen seemed to understand what Ivan was trying to say.
"Our marketing angle in America would be that as Russian IT professionals, we know the tactics and tricks and marks of Russian hackers that would target American companies." Ivan nodded. "You see that is the argument for this that I used."
"And it did not work?" Ivan asked disappointed.
"Quite the contrary." Mr. Palonen said. "Once I mentioned that, they began to look over your reports and are actually working on the logistics to get started. In the town you were sent to as well."
"Wow." Ivan said surprised. "That is very good."
"And they want you as part of the staff when it opens up to help recruit and hire American agents to work it and train them to do the job. That Jones kid's job on your training program helped me to convince them that Americans weren't all idiots." Mr. Palonen said. "I think it is time that we start going global anyway. The Cold War is over. It ended a long time ago."
"I mean I was a young child when it happened." Ivan said.
"Indeed." Mr. Palonen said. "But some of the members of the board are old oligarchs from that time. It took a lot of effort on my part, but they finally saw things the way I did on the plans. And between you and me, I would worry more about China than America as the 21st century balance of power is going."
"It is not my place to say anything on that matter sir." Ivan said as he sipped the vodka. He had hated political discourse of any kind. It was all craziness in his mind and no matter what he did or thought, it never really did anything anyway. Best to just keep your mind on your own work and the government will do what it does. Trying to change the subject, he spoke up. "So, when would I be sent over there?"
"It will be a little while before everything is set up, not to mention the work visas and all the legal paperwork required. We will pay for everything, don't worry. We won't leave you all alone in a country like that." While Mr. Palonen was older than him and could remember the Soviet times better than Ivan could and was not as a hardliner for the way things used to be as many members of the board were, he still had times he slipped up and fell back into the old ways.
"That's good." Ivan nodded, wanting to hide his excitement. It was not proper for a man to express any kind of excitement at a job, especially for the reasons he had. It was like Katyusha had said, while they were not in the worst country in the world for how he felt and how he was with Alfred, it was hardly as free as he could be with it in America.
"We will keep you posted on things as they come along. I really do appreciate your skills and your talent Braginsky. We would not be one of the tops in Russia without you." Mr. Palonen said as he drained his glass, and Ivan finished the same, not wanting to offend his boss.
"Thank you for those kind words." Ivan said as he got up and headed back into his office. He pursed his lips to hide the amount of joy he had felt in his chest. He wanted to call Alfred right now and tell him what happened, let him know that it wasn't that much longer than they could be together with each other more than just when one could get some vacation time. Long distance relationships hardly worked out and this would make things so much easier on them. And I wouldn't have to worry about that Lien girl. I would know Alfred is mine and I can make him focus on me so much easier when I am with him. Ivan thought as he took out his phone and began to type an email to Alfred about the news and what happened. "I do still need to get Fredka a gift." He said to himself. "Although this would be likely the best gift, I could give him. If only they had just decided this while I was still over there…." Ivan moaned. But he knew that Alfred had gotten him something and wanted to reciprocate. As he opened his email, he saw that Alfred had sent him a video. "'I don't know what else to do but I figured that you liked my music, and I heard this song and I wanted to cover it for you.'" Ivan read as he hit play and Alfred began to play a song he liked in a pair of tight leather pants, boots and a guitar. Ivan blushed and quickly turned off the video, knowing he was at work. "I will have to watch that later…." Ivan smiled. "But it made my day that much better." He sighed as he looked out the window and thought of just what he should get Alfred
Translation Guide:
(Obtained via Google Translate)
Dobroye utro, moya dorogaya lyubov'. -Russian-Good Morning my dear love.
YA tebya lyublyu-Russian-I love you
So how what that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don't know how fast again I can update, but I will. I have a lot going on with work and school right now. Hopefully that all goes smoothly soon. Anyway, remember to read (well you just did) and review. Ciao for now,
Otherrealmwriter
Aka
Realm
