When Ivan woke up the next day, he didn't get up right away, instead choosing to stare at the ceiling with a frown on his face.
After he had received the call from Ukraine, he and Alfred had spent the rest of the day sulking around the apartment, pondering about how their lives had become so complicated and shitty in such a short amount of time. They hadn't spoken very much, but they had finished off most of the bottle, (Mostly by Ivan), by the time they had decided to have dinner, which ended up being the cold pizza from when he had arrived because neither of them had felt like cooking or ordering food. (Surprisingly, it had not tasted as bad as Ivan had thought it would). After that, they had both retired to their rooms for the night, deciding that they both just wanted the day to end. It had been a rather pathetic evening, which summed up how both of them had felt pretty well.
Ivan sighed, and pulled the covers up over his head. Maybe if he didn't get out of bed bad things would stop happening to him. Milashka, noticing his owner was awake and not impressed by his lack of movement, got up from where he had been dozing at the end of the bed and started to paw at the top of Ivan's head, meowing loudly.
"No." Ivan grumbled, gently pushing Milashka off of him.
Undeterred by this, Milashka started to try and get under the covers. Ivan just pulled them tight so the cat couldn't find a way in. Then Milashka started meowing loudly, running around the bed and pawing at any part of his owner he could feel under the covers.
"Why are you like this?" Ivan groaned, pulling the covers off of his face, only for Milashka to run up to him and start licking his face, purring loudly. Sighing, Ivan picked up his cat and after petting him for a minute, he decided that it was time to get out of bed. Glancing over at the alarm clock on the side table, he was confused to see that it was off. Frowning, he looked at his phone which had been charging next it, and saw it was only half charged. He made to get out of bed, and that's when he finally realized that the room was much colder than it had been before.
"The power must have gone out." Ivan grumbled, getting out from bed and over to the closet to put on a sweater and a warmer pair of pants. As soon as he left the bed, Milashka scrambled under the covers to warm himself up. After Ivan had gotten dressed, he made his way to one of the windows and saw that the snow storm from the night before had dumped at least eight inches of snow onto the sidewalk, and he saw a few people salting the path in front of the building. He saw that the street had already been cleared, and heard one of the workers below cussing out the snow plows for apparently dumping a bunch of snow in front of his shop.
He went into the hallway, and deciding that he shouldn't let his host freeze to death, he knocked on Alfred's door. He heard some movement, then cussing. After a minute, Alfred opened the door, looking rather grumpy. He was only wearing a thin pair of blue pajama pants and a Superman T-shirt, and had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He hadn't even bothered to put on his glasses.
"Why's it so cold?" Alfred asked, squinting tiredly up at Ivan.
"The power is out." Ivan said with a shrug. Alfred didn't say anything for a moment, letting the information sink in through his tired brain, and then he sighed.
"Welp, I'm sure Greg's already doing something about it." He said with a yawn, shuffling out of his room and towards the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Ivan asked.
"Coffee." Alfred said, waving his hand at the kitchen.
"No power. No coffee." Ivan explained in amusement.
"There's more than one way to make coffee my friend." Alfred said with a huff, making his way into the kitchen. Curious, Ivan followed him, and watched Alfred rummage around in the cupboards for something. He was muttering something to himself, and finally he pulled down a tea kettle and a box of long matches. "Thank god I have a gas stove." Alfred muttered, shuffling towards the sink.
"What are you doing?" Ivan asked as Alfred tried to use the faucet to fill the kettle.
"I'm trying to fill the kettle." Alfred said, tapping the faucet in frustration when nothing came out. Grumbling again, he marched over to the fridge and pulled out a few bottles of water and emptied them out into the kettle, and when that was done he put the kettle on the stove and pulled out one of the matchsticks and started the gas. Lighting the match, he stuck underneath the kettle and a flame appeared, happily heating the kettle.
"Want some tea or something?" Alfred asked, going back to the cupboards and rummaging around in them.
"I would not say no." Ivan said, sitting down at the table. Alfred hummed in acknowledgment, and pulled out a box of tea bags, and threw it to Ivan, who caught it easily. "I have a bunch of flavors in there, so help yourself." Alfred said, and then he frowned. "Damn, I don't have any instant coffee left."
"I thought you usually only drank the ground stuff?" Ivan asked as he went through the box.
"Not always. If I'm in a rush I usually drink instant." Alfred said with a shrug. Closing the cupboard, he walked over to where Ivan was sitting and leaned over his shoulder to look at the tea bags. "Any of those caffeinated?"
"Only the green tea." Ivan said, handing Alfred a couple of the tea bags. "Why do you have so much tea here? I thought you preferred coffee."
"You know, just in case someone stops by and wants some." Alfred said, suddenly looking upset and turning around quickly to go grab some mugs. Ivan was confused at Alfred's sudden change of mood, until he took a closer look at the box. He then realized that the box was full of Asian blends, and that Alfred must have kept them around for if Japan visited. Feeling guilty for bringing it up, he cleared his throat and changed the topic.
"So, when do you think they are going to be able to fix the power?" He asked. Alfred didn't answer right away as he grabbed the mugs, but relaxed slightly at the change of topic.
"Could be a few hours depending on what caused the problem." Alfred said with a slight shrug as he placed the mugs onto the table. "I'm not sure when the power went out, but it should be on soon. Greg is usually quick about these kinds of things."
"That is good." Ivan said with a small smile, picking out a black tea blend out of the box and placing into one of the mugs. "If it gets any colder, we will have to cuddle for warmth."
"Dude, if I'm going to cuddle with anyone it's going to be Hero, not you." Alfred teased, poking Ivan's arm playfully.
"Oh? And why is that?" Ivan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because he has fur and you don't. He would stay warmer longer. Plus, he's cuter." Alfred said with a chuckle.
"I resent that. I am very handsome." Ivan said with a pout, and Alfred started to laugh.
"Yeah, you are, but I'm afraid that cats are just cuter than people on principle. Sorry." Alfred said with a grin. Just then, the kettle started to whistle. Alfred turned around to go shut off the stove, but as he did so he missed the surprised look that appeared on Ivan's face. Tilting his head slightly, Ivan studied Alfred for a moment before a small smile started to grow on his face.
"Do you take cream or sugar in your tea?" Alfred asked as he took the kettle off the stove.
"I do not take either." Ivan said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "So, you think I am attractive?"
Alfred paused for a moment, and then he turned around and gave Ivan an exasperated look. "Really? I swear to god, if you take my words out of context-"
"Are you sure France was not right, and you do not have a crush on me?" Ivan asked, his grin growing larger by the second.
"Oh my god, no. Stop. I'm going to smack you with this kettle if you don't shut up." Alfred threatened, but Ivan just kept smiling up at him.
"I am available you know, I would be honored if you asked me out." Ivan said with a wink, and Alfred felt one of his eyes twitch in irritation.
"Brain bleach. I need brain bleach." Alfred said, grabbing his stomach and pretending to gag. "I'll never recover; I'll be haunted by that wink till my dying breath."
"That is mean." Ivan said with a chuckle. "And you did not answer my question."
Alfred rolled his eyes, and then with a huff he brought the kettle over and started to pour the water into the mugs. "Yeah, sure, you're good looking. Happy?"
Ivan beamed. "Very much so."
"Uh-huh." Alfred said, sitting down in the chair in front of Ivan, clearly not impressed. "Don't let it go to your head, Mr. Sexy."
"I think I should, seeing as this is the second time you have called me handsome." Ivan said with a smirk, and Alfred frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"You do not remember? It was when we first met." Ivan said. Alfred frowned, racking his brain to try and remember what Ivan was talking about. Seeing that Alfred was lost, Ivan explained further. "It was at a ball in the White House around 1804, when your president invited me over to celebrate me recognizing you as a country. You were with one of one of your diplomats at the time when you said it."
Ivan watched in amusement as Alfred's face went from confused, to his eyes widening in shock, and then his face turning a brilliant shade of pink as he started to sputter in embarrassment. "You heard that?!" He squeaked.
"You have always been a rather loud person. It was not hard to make out what you were asking." Ivan said with a shrug. "I admit, I was rather flattered at the time."
Alfred refused to make eye contact with Ivan, instead looking down at the table with a grimace. "If I knew you heard that, I probably would have died from embarrassment." Alfred admitted. "I was already nervous about meeting you at the time, and if you mentioned you heard me say that, I probably would have run out of the room."
"Well, I had originally planned on intimidating you, but after that I was a little more willing to talk to you. Actually, I was more surprised at the fact that you were not able to tell that I was a nation." Ivan said with a small frown.
"You were planning on intimidating me?" Alfred asked, suddenly looking annoyed. "Dude, what the hell? I thought you came over because you were nice!"
Ivan gave Alfred an exasperated look. "Where on earth did you get that idea from? Surly you had heard about my reputation before you met me."
"I mean, England mentioned you a couple of times, but nothing in real detail. He was more focused on bad mouthing France and Spain at the time. The only other time I heard about you was from France and Prussia during my Revolutionary war when they were training me." Alfred explained with a shrug. "When I asked them about you, they just told me you were a creepy bastard and told me to stop talking about you."
Ivan stared at Alfred in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that France and Prussia said I was creepy, and you decided off that that I was nice?"
"Of course not." Alfred scoffed. "I decided you were nice when you decided to not attack me when England asked for your help. Then when you recognized me as a country I got super excited because I knew you were a powerful country, and if you recognized me we might be able to be friends."
"A rather naïve way of looking at things." Ivan said with slightly sad smile.
"I guess." Alfred said a small smile of his own. "But hey, I had only been a country for what, twenty seven years or so? I was really excited to meet more people like me. Of course, no one had told me what you looked like for some reason, so of course I didn't know what you looked like."
"You should have been able to pick me out, no?" Ivan asked with a frown. "I thought that was something all of us could pick up on?"
Alfred frowned. "I mean yeah, but I wasn't really good at doing that at the time. After all, I only ever saw England or Mattie for years, and for most of that time I was alone or only with Mattie, and he was too much like me for me to pick up on any differences. I had a limited amount of experience at being around other nations. I actually thought I was more like regular people until I started to outlive them…" Alfred let his sentence trail off, looking down sadly at his cup. Ivan winced, remembering that while he had gotten over outliving others centuries ago, Alfred was still a younger nation, so the pain would still be a sharp for him.
"But anyways," Alfred said, suddenly snapping back to normal, "I was really bad at picking out other nations for awhile. I could tell a nation was there, but I didn't know who it was until someone pointed you out."
"And other than thinking I was handsome, what did you think about me?" Ivan asked curiously.
"I was actually really impressed with your height." Alfred admitted with a small chuckle. "I had never seen anyone so tall other than Sweden, so I thought you were a giant compared to me. I think I was a few inches shorter than I am now, so I think I was a full head shorter than you at the time. I thought you were really cool. So, what did you think when you first saw me?"
"Let me think…" Ivan said with a small frown as he tried to remember. "It has been awhile since that party. I think my first reaction was being surprised about how different you were from England. I had honestly expected a mini him, but you were almost completely different from him. At the time, you were not acting like you were better than everyone because you had gained your independence, but like someone who had no idea what they were doing. You also had a bad habit of rambling."
"I guess some things never change." Alfred joked.
"I guess so." Ivan agreed with a small smile.
"Hey, wasn't France at that party?" Alfred asked suddenly with a frown.
"He was. He was flirting with anything with a skirt at the time." Ivan said, rolling his eyes.
"I think he pissed off a few husbands that night." Alfred said with a chuckle. "I think I remember a few of my politicians challenging him to duels."
"I do not remember that, but I would not be surprised." Ivan said with a shake of his head. "He had a bad habit of flirting with married women to piss off husbands at the time."
"Why would he do that?" Alfred asked.
"I think he said it gave him a thrill." Ivan said.
Alfred shook his head as well, and suddenly there was a knock at the door. They both froze, and after trading a nervous glance, Alfred got up and walked over to the door. He looked though the peep hole, and with a sigh of relief he looked over at Ivan with a smile. "It's just Greg." Opening the door, he grinned at his land lord.
"Hey Greg! It's a bit nippy this morning, isn't it?" Alfred said cheerfully.
Greg shook his head fondly. "A bit, but that's why I'm here. I'm just updating everyone on the situation right now. Can I come in?"
Ivan narrowed his eyes at Greg as Alfred let him in. Greg noticed him staring, and just smirked at him. "You look a little grumpy this morning." Greg said causally.
"It is cold." Ivan explained just as causally.
"I thought Russian's were used to the cold?" Greg asked, leaning against the doorway of the kitchen.
"Just because we are used to it, does not mean we like it." Ivan said.
Alfred, oblivious to what was going on, clapped Greg on the shoulder. "I got some hot water going if you want a cup of tea." He offered.
"No, thanks though." Greg said, waving off Alfred's offer. "I can't stick around too long, I have to get back downstairs and talk to the power company. Apparently the storm iced over some wires or something, and the power may be out for another hour or so while they fix them. Honestly, it's been one headache after another this week." Greg said with a huff. "First some idiot floods the second floor because he forgot to turn the bathwater off, then that old bat across from you has been calling me every night for the last three days complaining about 'shifty people'," Greg said rolling his eyes, making quotations with his hands, "loitering on the sidewalk outside the building, and now the powers out."
"Who are the sketchy people?" Alfred asked in amusement.
"Hell if I know." Greg huffed. "I think it's just a bunch of smokers from some of the lower floors getting their nicotine fix. But nooo, that damn old bat is convinced it's a bunch of robbers scoping out the building because she saw on the news that there's been a spike in muggings. Honestly, if I wasn't such a softy to the elderly, I'd have thrown her out from the building for making my life difficult."
"Is this the same woman that wanted Alfred's cat to be thrown out of the building?" Ivan asked.
"Yeah, it is." Alfred said with a scowl.
"You know I wouldn't throw your cat out Alfred." Greg said with a chuckle. "He doesn't cause trouble. Anyways, just wanted to let you two know what's going on. If you need anything, just walk down to the front desk and Carol will sort you out. Oh, speaking of which." Greg said, smacking his forehead and turning to face Alfred. "Carol wants to know if you can come in a little earlier than usual to the soup kitchen this week. She said it has to do with getting more donations than expected."
"Yeah, no problem." Alfred said with a grin.
"Maybe you'll join us?" Greg asked Ivan, who raised an eyebrow at the request.
"We'll see." Ivan said after thinking about the question for a moment.
"Hope to see you there. We always need more hands at the shelter." Greg said with a genuine smile towards Ivan. "I'll see you around Alfred." He added, slapping Alfred on the back and making his way back out into the hallway. As soon as he shut the door, Ivan saw Alfred face fall a little, but he quickly schooled his expression and turned to Ivan.
"So, once the power gets back on, did you want to go anywhere?" Alfred asked, making his way back to his seat, and picking up his half emptied cup.
"I actually do not wish to leave the apartment for awhile." Ivan admitted with a slight grimace. "Every time we have left, someone has followed us, or delivered bad news to us. I think I would rather stay here than face any more nations."
"Fair enough." Alfred said with a nod. "Unfortunately, I have to go out and pick up some groceries. We're nearly out of cat food, and if Hero doesn't get fed he turns into a little devil and starts scratching the furniture. That and we don't have anything for dinner, and I need more coffee. If you have anything else to suggest, write it on the paper on the fridge." Alfred said, finishing off his tea and leaning back in his chair. "Oh, and if you actually want to make dinner for once, that would be great."
"Are you hinting at something?" Ivan asked sarcastically.
"No, of course not. I've only been making dinner, feeding you, and housing you for the last week. It's not like I'd like it if someone else cooked for once." Alfred said just as sarcastically.
Ivan looked down towards his feet at Hero, who had walked into the kitchen in search of food. "You heard him kitty. I hope you can cook as well as you can purr." He said gravely.
"Trust me; you don't want what he eats. Lots of tuna and chicken bits." Alfred said with a laugh.
"No worse than China's food." Ivan said, and they both burst out laughing.
*SOMETIMELATER *
Thankfully, the power did come back on just an hour later, and Alfred had let out a cheer as the warm air started back up. After that, it was back to business as usual, and a little while later, Alfred had left with grocery list in tow with the promise that he wouldn't be more than an hour or so. Finding himself alone for the first time in a few days, Ivan was at a loss at what to do with himself. He had meant it when he said that he wanted to stay indoors for awhile, but he hadn't realized how much time he had spent with Alfred until he was alone. He had gotten so used to having another person around him, that he soon found himself getting bored with nothing to do. He wandered around the apartment for awhile trying to find something to do, but he found himself growing bored with that too.
Just as he decided that he was going to watch a movie or something, his eyes landed on Alfred's bedroom door. He paused for a moment, considering it. Alfred's room was the only place in the apartment he hadn't seen yet, and he was slightly curious about how America would decorate his living space. But at the same time, he remembered how serious Alfred had been about him not entering his room. Something told him that if Alfred discovered he had been snooping where he wasn't allowed, that he would be very upset.
But… he was bored, and he didn't have to go into the room to see what it looked like. He could just push the door open and peak inside. Deciding that his loophole was solid, Ivan walked over to the door and pushed it open and stuck his head around the door frame. He had expected the room to be overly patriotic, but to his surprise it really wasn't.
The room its self wasn't much larger than his own room, with baby blue walls and a plain white carpet. There was an oak desk pushed against the left wall, which had a lap top and a few large stacks of papers and a Land line phone on it, which Ivan guessed America used to call his boss. There was a widow on the wall opposite of the door, which had white curtains on them, and next to that was a bed that had been pushed into the right corner of the room, and had a red, white, and blue striped comforter, with a small nightstand with a single lamp on top of it. There were a few posters on the walls that were a weird mix of space, science, video games, and memes, much to Ivan's amusement. There was also bookshelf next to the door, but from where he was standing, he couldn't see what was on it.
Glancing around guilty, but curiosity getting the better of him, he slowly walked into the room, but only enough so he could see what was on the bookshelf. It was an interesting mix of topics Ivan noted as he scanned the spines of the books. There were a few law books, as well as math, science, and what looked to be history text books on most of the bottom shelves. Curiously, there also seemed to be a few blueprints stuffed in-between the books, but Ivan decided that it was better if he didn't move those. On the top of the shelves were a few comic books, something that looked like those books Japan liked to read, (he forgot what he called them, they were some sort of Japanese comic book), and a few books from the best seller list that Ivan recognized.
Most interestingly, there seemed to be a few hand written journals thrown on top of the bookshelf, and it took all of Ivan's self restraint not to not grab one and start reading them. He was pretty sure he could have gotten some good dirt on America if he went through those, but seeing as he wasn't a complete and utter jackass when he was guest in someone's home, and that he wasn't currently trying to kill America right now, as Russia or Ivan, he decided that it was probably time for him to leave the room before he did something that would get him in trouble. Turning around, he was startled to see Hero standing in the middle of the door way and glaring at him. The cat narrowed his eyes at him, and he tail was slowly moving from side to side.
"I was leaving." Ivan said defensively, holding his hands up in surrender. Then, raising an eyebrow at himself, he wondered why he was trying to defend his actions from a cat. Clearly he was going crazy. Shaking his head, he quickly left the room, pulling the door closed again and making sure not to lock Hero in the room.
He had just set up a movie and had just settled down on the couch when there was another knock on the door. Frowning, Ivan put down his bowl of popcorn and walked over to the door. It hadn't even been an half an hour since Alfred had left, so clearly that could not have been Alfred back from the store yet. He looked out the peep hole, and to confusion he saw a very old woman glaring back at him from the other side of the door. She looked like a typical old lady, grey hair, oversized coat and handbag, and an umbrella in her hands. She could have passed for someone's sweet old grandmother, if she hadn't been glaring at the door like it had insulted her mother. Ivan opened the door, and he gave the woman a confused frown.
"May I help you?" Ivan asked, but the lady didn't say anything, instead choosing to scowl at him as she eyed him. Ivan, not sure what to do, cleared his throat. "Are you looking for Alfred?" He asked, and the woman's scowl got deeper at the mention of Alfred's name.
"As a matter of fact, I am not." She said with a sniff, straightening herself up to her full height, (which was not very tall at all), and giving him a cold look. "But before I say anything else, would I be correct in guessing that you are his, ah… new roommate?" She asked, giving him a quick look over with a small frown.
"I am currently rooming with him, yes." Ivan said slowly, not sure where this strange old lady was going with this.
"And is this a permanent arrangement?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"It is a temporary arrangement." Ivan said, starting to get annoyed with all of her questions.
She made a small hum of approval at this, nodding her head slightly. "Good."
"I am sorry, but I must ask you why any of this is your business." Ivan said, giving her an annoyed frown. "And may I ask who you are, and why you are looking for me?"
The old lady paused for a moment, then she let out an annoyed huff, rearranging her grip on her purse. "I suppose so. I am Mr. Jones's neighbor from across the hall. And I am here to make sure that he is not breaking any of the rules of the building. I wanted to make sure he wasn't housing one of those hooligans that have been loitering around the apartment, and to tell you that I shall not tolerate you causing any problems around here."
"I am sorry?" Ivan asked in disbelief, his jaw dropping at her entitlement.
The old lady narrowed her eyes at his tone. "Listen here young man, I have lived here for as long as this building has been open, and I have thrown out more than one trouble maker. Mr. Jones has caused me grief in the past, and I wouldn't put it past him to invite less than savory characters into his apartment, like those brothers of his. One nearly burned the building down, and the other one is drunk more often than not when he comes over, shouting and cursing and waking me up as he goes down the hall. Not to mention those suspicious men that come and go from his apartment! So I think I am well within my rights to assume that you might be the same."
"That is rather rude of you, to judge someone you have never met." Ivan said with a glare at the lady. "Tell me, have I bothered you at all this last week, or do you just like to stick your nose were it is not welcome?"
"How dare you speak to me like that!" The woman said, sucking in her breath sharply. "And as a matter of fact, you have bothered me! I heard you arguing with him through the walls a few days ago! No doubt over something illegal. Don't think I haven't noticed him living here without a proper job or parents! No doubt making money selling drugs. How else would he be able to afford this place?" She asked with a sneer.
"I would love to know what kind of mental gymnastics you went through to get to that conclusion." Ivan said with a snort of laughter, shaking his head in disbelief. "If that is all, I am afraid that I have nothing else to say to you." And with that, Ivan slammed the door on her face. As he turned back to his movie, he heard the old woman screeching about going to the land lord to throw him out and how she would throw Alfred out of the apartment. It reminded him a bit of when his sister started going on a rampage. He paused for a moment, listening to the woman rant, then he calmly turned back around and locked the door, and then went back to his movie like nothing happened.
About a half an hour later, Ivan heard Alfred unlocking the door, and he walked in with a number of grocery bags in his hand and a confused look on his face.
"Hey, did something happen while I was out?" Alfred asked as he kicked the door closed behind him.
"Why?" Ivan asked, glancing over at Alfred as he walked into the kitchen and dumped the bags onto the counter.
"Well, Mrs. Graves was going off on Greg in the lobby when I got back from shopping, and when she saw me she started to point at me and started to call me a drug lord?" Alfred said with lost look on his face as he started to put the groceries away. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, but it's been a few months since she accused me of that. I have no idea what I did to piss her off this time, so I was wondering if you knew what caused her to go on a rampage."
"Oh, that crazy old woman?" Ivan said with a neutral expression. "She came over trying to snoop, so I called her rude and slammed the door on her face."
Alfred almost dropped the gallon of milk in his hand, and whipping around he stared at Ivan with a horrified expression. "You did what?!"
"I called her rude and slammed the door in her face. She was very rude." Ivan said with a small smirk. "I simply returned the favor."
"Please tell me you didn't." Alfred begged.
"Is that a problem?" Ivan asked curiously, and Alfred let out a sigh, and rubbed his eyes.
"Dude, do you have any idea what you've done? You made us both her number one targets. She's going to be watching us like a hawk and reporting us to Greg if we even make the slightest loud noise. Do you know how annoying it is when you're trying to do nation stuff with her breathing down my neck every second of every day? Hell, I once had to start talking to my boss in code when I spoke to him on the phone because she kept trying to listen to what I was doing through the walls and confronting me about anything she heard, or she was gossiping about what I said to the other old people in the building."
"So she is crazy." Ivan said with an amused look. "I am surprised you have not solved the problem of her listening to you yet. It is quite easy to solve, especially with old people."
"Oh, and what's that?" Alfred asked with a frown.
"You turn up the volume on your computer all the way and then you find a video of fake sex noises-"
"Oh my fucking god, NO! I do not need my other neighbors hearing that!" Alfred said in disgust, turning back around to the groceries.
"What? Are you afraid of some fake noises?" Ivan said with a scoff.
"Dude, who do you think she's going to assume I'm making those noises with? I'll give you a hint. There are only two people currently here." Alfred said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, your land lords already think you are gay…" Ivan said with a smirk, and Alfred gave him an unimpressed look.
"I swear to god, if you keep making jokes about us being together I'm going to kick you out." Alfred threatened, pointing at him with a carrot.
"I feel so threatened." Ivan said with a chuckle.
"As you should be." Alfred said.
"By the way, she mentioned that you had 'Strange men' visiting you." Ivan asked curiously. "Do you know what she means by that?"
"Oh, that's just the CIA visiting time to time." Alfred said with a shrug, and Ivan almost choked on his popcorn. "Sometimes I'm working on something that's too sensitive to be sent through fax or email, so they stop by and pick it up personally. That's why she thinks I'm a drug dealer I think."
"The CIA stops by?" Ivan asked in shock, turning around and staring at Alfred in horror.
"What? Is that not normal?" Alfred asked, surprised at Ivan's reaction. "Doesn't your government do the same thing?"
"Yes, but that is not important! You mean to tell me I almost invited the mafia over when you have the CIA hanging around all the time?!" Ivan asked, his face losing color. "Do you know how badly I would have been screwed if I would have led them into a trap?!"
"Don't worry about it." Alfred said, waving his hand carelessly as he finished putting the food away. "They only show up when I'm working on sensitive stuff."
"Is this living arrangement not a sensitive project?" Ivan asked, looking skeptically at Alfred. "Would that not give them enough reason to hang around the building?"
Alfred paused, and then he shook his head. "Nah, my government usually gives me a heads up when they're around so I don't blow their cover. Plus, I got rid of any government secret stuff before you arrived, so they shouldn't have any reason to be watching us right now. And anyways, why are you so jumpy? It's not like the mafia knows what we really are."
"No, but it is annoying when they put on a hit on you." Ivan said with a scowl. "Pretending to be dead for years on end can be a pain when they 'kill' you."
"Whoa, how many times have they killed you?"Alfred asked in surprise. Ivan rolled his eyes.
"Once, but it took a long time before they forgot what my face looked like, and luckily I was going under a fake identity at the time, so I was able to get back to my life after a couple of decades after the last head died. They are currently under the impression that I am the son of the man they killed, and that I never knew my father, so I do not know that they 'killed' him. They only approached me when they found out I work for the government. And the reason they owe me favors is because I have pulled them out a few tight spots."
"That sounds like a really dumb soap opera." Alfred said, bursting out laughing, leaning against the bar. "Tell me, when do you go and avenge your 'fathers' death?"
"Never, hopefully." Ivan grumbled. "I do not need the attention pointed my way again."
"That sounds like it sucked dude. I'm really glad that whenever I've died it's only during war time. Getting murdered sounds like a pain in the ass." Alfred said with a sympathetic look. "At least if I 'die' during a war no one asks questions."
"I am surprised your government has never killed you." Ivan said. "After all, I'm sure someone has wanted to shut you up before."
"Oh please, they love me." Alfred said with a cocky grin. "After all, who wouldn't love me?"
"No comment." Ivan said.
"Rude." Alfred said, sticking his tongue out at Ivan. "Anyways, I would really appreciate it if you didn't make Mrs. Graves hate me anymore than she already does. Remember, I have to live with her for a while longer, and it's really going to suck if she starts to stalk me again."
"I shall make no promises." Ivan said with a slight frown. "She annoys me."
"At least don't do it so Greg doesn't have to put up with her more than he already does. That dude has too much shit to do without her bothering him." Alfred asked.
"I suppose I'll do for him." Ivan said, making a mental note to annoy the old lady the next time he saw her.
"Thanks." Alfred said, looking slightly relived. "By the way, when did Ukraine say she was coming over? I picked up some extra stuff for if she comes over."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. She will probably fly in sometime tomorrow morning if the plane is not delayed due to the weather."
"And are you, ah… ready to break the news to her that we are not dating?" Alfred asked, and Ivan grimaced.
"I am as ready as I ever will be. I apologize in advance if she starts crying." Ivan said, as Alfred made his way to the couch and flopped down next to Ivan.
"What are you watching?" Alfred asked.
"Die hard."
"Ohhh, that's my favorite Christmas movie!" Alfred said with a smile, snagging the popcorn bowl from Ivan.
"Do you want me to play it from the beginning?" Ivan asked, picking up the remote.
"Hell yeah!"
*SOMEWHEREINNEWYORK*
Canada had been having a good day. He had woken up late, made himself a nice breakfast, finished a book he had meaning to catch up on, and had just started making himself a large sandwich for lunch. All in all, things had been good. Best of all, he hadn't gotten anymore calls from anyone about the world ending. Between his brother rooming with Russia, France causing a global uproar, and England being sick and angry at him, Canada was glad everything was calming down. He didn't think he could take anymore drama right now.
Humming happily as he spread some mayo on his sandwich, he had just reached for the top of the sandwich when there was a frantic knocking on his door. Confused, Canada looked over at the door in confusion. He hadn't been expecting anyone, and he was pretty sure France was still in hiding. Maybe it was room service?
"Coming!" He yelled, hurrying over to the door and opening it. At first, he wasn't sure who he was looking at. Then as the person's face went white in shock and they dropped the suitcase they were holding, Canada felt his face fall.
Someone was messing with him. He was sure of it. There was no way in hell this would happen to him unless someone wanted to suffer. Why else would this be happening to him? Maybe he was being punished for something he did in the past? Maybe it was the universe trying to balance out all of his good luck? Maybe this was karma coming to bite him in the ass for forcing Al to apologize to Russia? Whatever the reason, a nearly crying Japan showing up on his doorstep out of the blue was surly not a good sign for his future.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone, but I have returned, with even more PLOT POINTS! :D And a cliff hanger! YAY! We finally get a glimpse into Alfred's and Ivan's past history! But only a small glimpse. For now. Maybe Ukraine can tell some embarrassing baby stories? Ah, the dreaded Mrs. Graves has finally appeared and Ivan is having none of her shit! Let's be honest, we all know someone like this, whether it be at work or at home. But why is she important? Who knows? (Me. It's me.)
And then, Japan reappears in the story, and just when Canada thought he was in the clear. Finally, we get to hear his side of the story! Finally, the redeeming arcs are starting!
Oh, and because someone brought it up, I wanted to address the question of an update schedule. I'm sorry to say, I really don't have one. As any long term reader of my works could tell you, I can be a little spermatic in my uploads, and sometimes I can disappear for awhile. But usually I update the Story every two to three weeks for those who are interested.