“Da,” Ivan admits quietly, starting to sway again, “Yao brought sunflowers and made sure the room was kept cool. Alfred’s house is too hot. Not like Antonio’s. Antonio’s house has the sea…makes the heat tolerable. Alfred’s house is too hot.” He’s mumbling again and Arthur can slightly relate; he never did like the weather around Alfred’s house, either. The sunflowers, at least, he could fix.
“Eh…Ivan. If you don’t mind me askin’, again, do you dabble with the Arts?” That had been bugging him for a while. Namely since his awry spell had summoned the Russian in place of the devil. That night still haunted Arthur’s dreams on occasion.
“Natalia is more for the occult, but, yes. I have seen my share.” He gave a pleasant smile; a pleasantly fake smile, that is, “You should know, da? You summoned me before~”
Arthur shudders and grabs one of the large, gloved hands before he can really stop himself, “I apologized for that mishap, so don’t think of guilt tripping me. Now come along, I’ve somethin’ to show you if you promise not to tell the others.”
It’s Arthur’s turn to mutter and Ivan can only smile and blink in confusion as he’s dragged off. They stop at the door to the ground level of the building and Arthur’s impatiently drumming his fingers on his arm as they wait for the elevator. Ivan’s still smiling and continues to pad after Arthur, even when they’re in the parking garage of the building. They’re soon in a surprisingly clear corner and Ivan is again confused. He tilts his head, watching Arthur pull a remarkably plain paintbrush of seemingly nowhere…he’s painting something on the concrete and Ivan only vaguely wonders where the paint has come from. He suspects it’s something meant to be on the darker side, but he can’t stop an excited, amused laugh when Arthur steps back; he doesn’t notice the Brit jump, “You brought me down here to draw a sunflower? You’re an odd one, comrade~”
Arthur blinks at him a few times then looks back down at the magic circle. He frowns a moment, but only a moment, before he makes the odd connection between circle and sunflower. He has to chuckle and can’t help shaking his head, “Never thought of that. But, no, not why I brought us down here.”
Ivan’s still quivering, likely trying to stop the amused chuckles, though he does cough a small apology and waits patiently once more. Arthur doesn’t need his book for this; it’s a spell he remembers learning from his elder brother once upon an eternity ago, or so it seems. The Gaelic comes easily; the brief, supernatural breeze is a small relief to the heat of the parking garage; when the small glow of green light fades, he gives a small sigh. More of fatigue than regret; it’s been a while since he’s dabbled with his magic and it leaves him rather tired. After a moment, he realizes Ivan’s no longer stifling his amusement; he’s gone rather quiet and the Brit looks over his shoulder again.
Ivan is staring at what used to be a hastily drawn magic circle; at what used to be concrete. He’s fairly certain he’s now staring at a patch of sunflowers. Tentatively, he edges forward and kneels. A large hand reaches out, draws back uncertainly for a moment, and then finally brushes the nearest flower. It doesn’t vanish as he expects it to; it doesn’t crumble to ash; there is no blanket of snow to kill the patch. As suddenly as he’d fallen quiet, he’s laughing again and has an armful of the flowers in seconds; he’s delighted when the ones he pick grow back, enough that he can’t stop the childish, delighted sounds of excitement that are blurring between Russian and English from spilling from his lips.
Arthur catches every other word or so, enough to understand and translate his limited Russian vocabulary and his lips twitch into a small smile. He hangs back, letting the Russian get the excitement out of his system…he’s suddenly sputtering when a pair of strong arms are suddenly wrapped tight around him. He will deny flailing when he manages to regain his dignity, but for now he’s calmed down and awkwardly pats the other’s back, “I…I take you like them, then?”
“Oh, yes! Most definitely, they are wonderful!” Ivan releases him as suddenly as he had grabbed him and scoops his sunflowers back into his arms. He rather reminds Arthur of the odd floating polar bear that follows Alfred around, though he can’t quite pin why. He shrugs it off and offers a slightly wry smile.
“I’ll see if I can get Alfred to turn the AC up a bit, aye? And please, for the love of sanity, don’t tell anyone I just did that.” He’s mumbling again, unaware of the light pink colour that’s begun to flood his cheeks. Ivan, however, notices and grins. He tugs Arthur’s jacket, like a child-which is silly, given their height difference, but he can’t help himself- and waits until the Brit looks up to give him a quick kiss.
“I am good at keeping secrets, da? No one will know~!” That being said, he quite literally bounces off, flowers still in his arms and leaves Arthur sputtering in his spot once more.
Now alone, he takes a moment and adds to his list, though he’s forgotten what the original ‘seven’ was. So, he starts there with a new one; seven, his kiss tastes like winter. Brief as it was, Arthur could definitely taste that unmistakable frozen season, if such a thing were possible. In passing, he wonders if that was also blood and ash he tasted. He was going to let it go, really he was…but when the Russian turns up at his hotel doorstep at three in the morning, still hugging the sunflowers, he concedes to let him in. He listens to the hushed stories that have woken the Russian from his sleep. What starts as verbal comfort merely confirms his earlier suspicions; Ivan’s kisses, sweet and nervous as they are, cold and pleasantly reminiscent of winter as they are, Ivan’s kisses are tinged in the blood and ash of years long since past.…I DON’T KNOW. I’ve actually never written RussiaxEngland/EnglandxRussia, but…it hit me while I was supposed to be trying to sleep this morning and…I just finished and…I hope anon that originally requested is…pleased ;w;?? On an unrelated note, writernon, my darling! The Russia/Prussia/China should be manifesting itself soon-ish! ...crimeny, I whore Russia out way to much. …On another unrelated note, the magic circle looking like a sunflower…I’m sorry if that potentially offended anyone, but seriously. To me…some magic circles really do look like the flowers that little kids draw (the circles with the triangles around them) and given the crossing patterns in the circles, they would look like a sunflower (at least to me)….shh, let me be random. And now for shameless plugging to my writer journal where you can find all of these and more! http://advocateofchaos.livejournal.com/641.html
Ah, the long-awaited Russia/England! <3 (Okay, not that long, but still! :DDD)
This made me so happy to read; your England seems spot-on, and I love the way you characterized Russia so much. He's his creepy-cute, childish self, but you can also see the mask -- a lot of these guys wear them, don't they? -- and the fatigue/scars/hollowness that it's covering. And I love the way that England responds to his "childishness" with "grudging", awkward, embarrassed magic!comfort so very much, seriously! <3 And then he makes him promise not to tell, and Russia bounces happily off. XDDD Like we don't know you're a softie, England; just give it up and admit it already. And Russia is a very ... special secret-keeper.
Ah, and that ending is-- Not dark, really, but ... bittersweet, I guess? More sweet than bitter, honestly. ... I can't heart enough, sorry! ♥
Pfft, thinking a magic circle looks like a (sun)flower is about as offensive as thinking a (Christian) cross looks like the intersection of two roads: not offensive at all. Just so you know. :Db (A resemblance in shape is just, you know, a resemblance in shape. No worries!)
Does this mean random perverted anons can follow you to your journal and comment? *pleading puppydog eyes*
<3 I'm glad it made you happy though! I was worried it was becoming out of character orz because, lawl, authornon doesn't normally write these two together and she's wondering why she doesn't, now.
...I'm also glad I'm not the only one that thinks a cross looks like an intersection and very glad someone else understands that there was no intended offense! But anyways, by all means, feel free to follow over to the journal =3 You might find other things of entertaining value and I'm always glad to know people are enjoying what I write *is a very needy writer and needs constant reassurance she's doing good orz*
<33 This is amazing and it makes me want to actually write that England/Russia fairytale thing I've sort of been planning. Maybe I will. >] Like a badass. Because this was sweet and wonderful and I luff it and I'm going to go see if I can figure out how to stalk your journal. PS superrrr excited for Prus/Rus/Chi. I am going to write more fluff tomorrow! I have like an hour to do whatever I want at school. >]
Wow.. Y-you listened to my meager little request? I'm truly touched! No need to worry! I love you so! This was perfect, I love the entire concept! Oh thank you thank you thank you! you have really satisfied my OTP here! I just made a fresh batch of cookies, how many do you want?
I'm glad to have satisfied your OTP and I'm even more glad that you requested to begin with! This was a nice little adventure for me, too, and it kind of makes me want to do more with these two!
<3 Oh, cookies! Just one or two would be lovely, thank you so much!
You explain Russia's behaviors well! He acts creepy (most of the time) because he is socially awkward (which would ex. why he says certain things that aren't...normalish...even for nations) and is childish but he is not a child. In fact he is a man who has been through much in his long life and England knows this and can accept Russia's child behavior and his creepier/darker more dangerous side.
I believe you have just made the cutest fic of these two ever <3 ...wait do the flowers keep growing back??
Russia is probably my favourite character to explore. ...Well, no, that's a lie, I love exploring everyone. Just the concept of how long they've been around [older nations especially] and how that must effect them as people that represent hundreds to billions is an absolute thrill! <3 I'm glad you enjoyed him!
The concept behind the flowers is that they are tied to England. So long as England wills it, they will remain and regrow, or until the circle [which, while unseen, is indeed still beneath the sunflowers] is tarnished in some shape or form to break the bond between reality and the summoned. I was going to expound on this a little-namely through Russia being inquisitive- but then realized that I was getting rather lengthy and probably needed to wrap things up before I turned the drabble into a full length fic. Which...now that I'm thinking on it, I really, really want to do. So, who knows! I might start up a random RussiaxEngland/EnglandxRussia fic based around this!
...I...I should probably stop talking now;;; *just realized how long this reply is getting* ...unemployed brithoun, captcha??...I uhm...no, I don't think I'll attempt to understand this one;;;
Wow, you actually thought the magic through, didn't you? Badass! You know, I kind of desperately want to read any Russia/England you write, as this was really good; if you remember when/if you actually post that, could you please drop us a link here? *_* I'm fascinated by this pairing, and I rarely see it done this well, so I'd love to see what you do with it. <3<3<3 Or I guess you post to the main Hetalia comm and the tiny Russia/England comm (http://community.livejournal.com/ofscones_vodka/) if you wanted to do something not based on a prompt and de-anon? That comm is so tiny and dead, though. T_T
One day, I will remember to mark myself in the subject orz;;; but anyways~! Russia is very happy to be enjoyed, I'm sure <3
On note of the magic, I try to be thorough with my thought process because I know it bothers me when things happen without reason and I try to keep loopholes/oddities from happening so that even if I don't explore the reason in the fics, I can answer questions about them ;3
On note of more Russia/England fics, they will almost certainly be appearing in the main HetaComm when/as they develop! [and the Russia/England comm! Such a place exists and it has CUTE THINGS EVERYWHERE. <3 <3 <3] Though on the off chance I become lazy/forget to post in a community, I will more than likely always post to my writing journal @ http://advocateofchaos.livejournal.com/ Shameless plugging is shameless! ;3 I will definitely try to explore this pairing more when I find time!
"Scottish flarme"...o_o Captcha, I'm not going to put Russia in Scotland's line of fire. ...Though I think a flarme has to do with aviation traffic? ...Ok, yeah, bed time, before my brain decides it likes the idea of Scotland giving a shotgun talk...;;;
Ah, I'm glad someone else took it. I was trying so hard to figure out how I'd do it, but failing and this is a much better fill than I could've done. ♥ Thanks!
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Sunflowers and Concrete [2/3]
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 01:14 am (UTC)(link)“Eh…Ivan. If you don’t mind me askin’, again, do you dabble with the Arts?” That had been bugging him for a while. Namely since his awry spell had summoned the Russian in place of the devil. That night still haunted Arthur’s dreams on occasion.
“Natalia is more for the occult, but, yes. I have seen my share.” He gave a pleasant smile; a pleasantly fake smile, that is, “You should know, da? You summoned me before~”
Arthur shudders and grabs one of the large, gloved hands before he can really stop himself, “I apologized for that mishap, so don’t think of guilt tripping me. Now come along, I’ve somethin’ to show you if you promise not to tell the others.”
It’s Arthur’s turn to mutter and Ivan can only smile and blink in confusion as he’s dragged off. They stop at the door to the ground level of the building and Arthur’s impatiently drumming his fingers on his arm as they wait for the elevator. Ivan’s still smiling and continues to pad after Arthur, even when they’re in the parking garage of the building. They’re soon in a surprisingly clear corner and Ivan is again confused. He tilts his head, watching Arthur pull a remarkably plain paintbrush of seemingly nowhere…he’s painting something on the concrete and Ivan only vaguely wonders where the paint has come from. He suspects it’s something meant to be on the darker side, but he can’t stop an excited, amused laugh when Arthur steps back; he doesn’t notice the Brit jump, “You brought me down here to draw a sunflower? You’re an odd one, comrade~”
Arthur blinks at him a few times then looks back down at the magic circle. He frowns a moment, but only a moment, before he makes the odd connection between circle and sunflower. He has to chuckle and can’t help shaking his head, “Never thought of that. But, no, not why I brought us down here.”
Ivan’s still quivering, likely trying to stop the amused chuckles, though he does cough a small apology and waits patiently once more. Arthur doesn’t need his book for this; it’s a spell he remembers learning from his elder brother once upon an eternity ago, or so it seems. The Gaelic comes easily; the brief, supernatural breeze is a small relief to the heat of the parking garage; when the small glow of green light fades, he gives a small sigh. More of fatigue than regret; it’s been a while since he’s dabbled with his magic and it leaves him rather tired. After a moment, he realizes Ivan’s no longer stifling his amusement; he’s gone rather quiet and the Brit looks over his shoulder again.
Ivan is staring at what used to be a hastily drawn magic circle; at what used to be concrete. He’s fairly certain he’s now staring at a patch of sunflowers. Tentatively, he edges forward and kneels. A large hand reaches out, draws back uncertainly for a moment, and then finally brushes the nearest flower. It doesn’t vanish as he expects it to; it doesn’t crumble to ash; there is no blanket of snow to kill the patch. As suddenly as he’d fallen quiet, he’s laughing again and has an armful of the flowers in seconds; he’s delighted when the ones he pick grow back, enough that he can’t stop the childish, delighted sounds of excitement that are blurring between Russian and English from spilling from his lips.
Arthur catches every other word or so, enough to understand and translate his limited Russian vocabulary and his lips twitch into a small smile. He hangs back, letting the Russian get the excitement out of his system…he’s suddenly sputtering when a pair of strong arms are suddenly wrapped tight around him. He will deny flailing when he manages to regain his dignity, but for now he’s calmed down and awkwardly pats the other’s back, “I…I take you like them, then?”
Sunflowers and Concrete [3/3]
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 01:21 am (UTC)(link)“I’ll see if I can get Alfred to turn the AC up a bit, aye? And please, for the love of sanity, don’t tell anyone I just did that.” He’s mumbling again, unaware of the light pink colour that’s begun to flood his cheeks. Ivan, however, notices and grins. He tugs Arthur’s jacket, like a child-which is silly, given their height difference, but he can’t help himself- and waits until the Brit looks up to give him a quick kiss.
“I am good at keeping secrets, da? No one will know~!” That being said, he quite literally bounces off, flowers still in his arms and leaves Arthur sputtering in his spot once more.
Now alone, he takes a moment and adds to his list, though he’s forgotten what the original ‘seven’ was. So, he starts there with a new one; seven, his kiss tastes like winter. Brief as it was, Arthur could definitely taste that unmistakable frozen season, if such a thing were possible. In passing, he wonders if that was also blood and ash he tasted. He was going to let it go, really he was…but when the Russian turns up at his hotel doorstep at three in the morning, still hugging the sunflowers, he concedes to let him in. He listens to the hushed stories that have woken the Russian from his sleep. What starts as verbal comfort merely confirms his earlier suspicions; Ivan’s kisses, sweet and nervous as they are, cold and pleasantly reminiscent of winter as they are, Ivan’s kisses are tinged in the blood and ash of years long since past.
…I DON’T KNOW. I’ve actually never written RussiaxEngland/EnglandxRussia, but…it hit me while I was supposed to be trying to sleep this morning and…I just finished and…I hope anon that originally requested is…pleased ;w;?? On an unrelated note, writernon, my darling! The Russia/Prussia/China should be manifesting itself soon-ish!
...crimeny, I whore Russia out way to much.…On another unrelated note, the magic circle looking like a sunflower…I’m sorry if that potentially offended anyone, but seriously. To me…some magic circles really do look like the flowers that little kids draw (the circles with the triangles around them) and given the crossing patterns in the circles, they would look like a sunflower (at least to me)….shh, let me be random.
And now for shameless plugging to my writer journal where you can find all of these and more! http://advocateofchaos.livejournal.com/641.html
Random!Anon
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 01:34 am (UTC)(link)This made me so happy to read; your England seems spot-on, and I love the way you characterized Russia so much. He's his creepy-cute, childish self, but you can also see the mask -- a lot of these guys wear them, don't they? -- and the fatigue/scars/hollowness that it's covering. And I love the way that England responds to his "childishness" with "grudging", awkward, embarrassed
magic!comfort so very much, seriously! <3 And then he makes him promise not to tell, and Russia bounces happily off. XDDD Like we don't know you're a softie, England; just give it up and admit it already. And Russia is a very ... special secret-keeper.Ah, and that ending is-- Not dark, really, but ... bittersweet, I guess? More sweet than bitter, honestly. ... I can't heart enough, sorry! ♥
Pfft, thinking a magic circle looks like a (sun)flower is about as offensive as thinking a (Christian) cross looks like the intersection of two roads: not offensive at all. Just so you know. :Db (A resemblance in shape is just, you know, a resemblance in shape. No worries!)
Does this mean random perverted anons can follow you to your journal and comment? *pleading puppydog eyes*
Authornon~
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 01:54 am (UTC)(link)<3 I'm glad it made you happy though! I was worried it was becoming out of character orz because, lawl, authornon doesn't normally write these two together and she's wondering why she doesn't, now.
...I'm also glad I'm not the only one that thinks a cross looks like an intersection and very glad someone else understands that there was no intended offense! But anyways, by all means, feel free to follow over to the journal =3 You might find other things of entertaining value and I'm always glad to know people are enjoying what I write
*is a very needy writer and needs constant reassurance she's doing good orz*Re: Sunflowers and Concrete [3/3]
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 02:02 am (UTC)(link)and i might just begin stalking your journal now orzwriternon
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 02:49 am (UTC)(link)PS superrrr excited for Prus/Rus/Chi. I am going to write more fluff tomorrow! I have like an hour to do whatever I want at school. >]
Re: Sunflowers and Concrete [3/3]
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 03:31 am (UTC)(link)o3o I r-requested it...
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 05:39 am (UTC)(link)Authornon~
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)<3 Oh, cookies! Just one or two would be lovely, thank you so much!
Re: Sunflowers and Concrete [3/3]
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 06:18 am (UTC)(link)I believe you have just made the cutest fic of these two ever <3 ...wait do the flowers keep growing back??
Re: Sunflowers and Concrete [3/3]
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 01:24 pm (UTC)(link)The concept behind the flowers is that they are tied to England. So long as England wills it, they will remain and regrow, or until the circle [which, while unseen, is indeed still beneath the sunflowers] is tarnished in some shape or form to break the bond between reality and the summoned. I was going to expound on this a little-namely through Russia being inquisitive- but then realized that I was getting rather lengthy and probably needed to wrap things up before I turned the drabble into a full length fic. Which...now that I'm thinking on it, I really, really want to do. So, who knows! I might start up a random RussiaxEngland/EnglandxRussia fic based around this!
...I...I should probably stop talking now;;; *just realized how long this reply is getting*
...unemployed brithoun, captcha??...I uhm...no, I don't think I'll attempt to understand this one;;;Another!Anon
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)Wow, you actually thought the magic through, didn't you? Badass! You know, I kind of desperately want to read any Russia/England you write, as this was really good; if you remember when/if you actually post that, could you please drop us a link here? *_* I'm fascinated by this pairing, and I rarely see it done this well, so I'd love to see what you do with it. <3<3<3 Or I guess you post to the main Hetalia comm and the tiny Russia/England comm (http://community.livejournal.com/ofscones_vodka/) if you wanted to do something not based on a prompt and de-anon? That comm is so tiny and dead, though. T_T
... <3
Authornon remembers to mark herself.
(Anonymous) 2010-09-10 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)Russia is very happy to be enjoyed, I'm sure <3
On note of the magic, I try to be thorough with my thought process because I know it bothers me when things happen without reason and I try to keep loopholes/oddities from happening so that even if I don't explore the reason in the fics, I can answer questions about them ;3
On note of more Russia/England fics, they will almost certainly be appearing in the main HetaComm when/as they develop! [and the Russia/England comm! Such a place exists and it has CUTE THINGS EVERYWHERE. <3 <3 <3] Though on the off chance I become lazy/forget to post in a community, I will more than likely always post to my writing journal @ http://advocateofchaos.livejournal.com/
Shameless plugging is shameless!;3 I will definitely try to explore this pairing more when I find time!"Scottish flarme"...o_o Captcha, I'm not going to put Russia in Scotland's line of fire. ...Though I think a flarme has to do with aviation traffic? ...Ok, yeah, bed time, before my brain decides it likes the idea of Scotland giving a shotgun talk...;;;
wild filler anon
(Anonymous) 2010-09-12 09:35 am (UTC)(link)I really love the last line, btw. It's lovely~