Ivan was really excited.
The tall nation was sitting in a big, grey Boeing, looking out of window and fantasizing about all the great things that were awaiting him, with his eyes closed and with his hands resting on his knees.
He was fantasizing about warm weather, cool water in parks, green trees which flowers bloom beautifully, about delicious food and the taste of good, old wines. He was thinking about the prettiest places and buildings, fine music, freshly baked sweets or bread and about buying something nice from market as a present. But there was one thing Ivan was thinking about in particular - this one specific person with long, blond hair and sweet smile, with sparkly eyes and smile in voice, with great fashion sense and full lips. Ivan was thinking about Francis.
Of course he knew they won't spend much time together and maybe they won't even talk properly, (he's coming to a world meeting, not for a holidays) but still, so much time passed since they saw each other for the last time!
Even though Ivan wasn't one of those that can't sit around with just looking outside the window and thinking, he was really happy when he finally left the airport building.
Ivan noticed Francis leaning against his white Peugeot, already waiting for him. When the blonde notices the tall nation, he raised his hand and cheerfully waved at him.
"привет!" Ivan greeted, being very well aware of Francis' wish of greeting him in French when in France.
"Yes, yes," Francis smirked, "bienvenue, Ivan, comment ça va?" His face was clearly saying 'right back at you ', and that made Ivan smile a bit too.
Francis opened the trunk of his car and let Ivan place his suitcase in it. The two nations sat into French vehicle, Francis started the engine and he headed to his apartment. Just as they missed the hotel where the other nations used to stay in whenever there was a meeting held in France, Ivan turned his head in surprise.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Sorry. Matthieu and Alfred's flight got canceled, so I had to delay the meeting. Though till I get to calling you, you were already in the plane. So I was thinking I'll take you home with me for today. But if you prefer ho-"
"No. I'm okay with that," Ivan interrupted him and Francis smiled.
"Great!" Francis called out and laughed.
"Wait, you live here?" Ivan asked when Francis' car stopped in front of a big apartment complex. It was luxurious, yes, but it wasn't Francis' style. Ivan wasn't neither shocked nor surprised, he just found out something new and wanted to know more.
"Yes I do, mon ami. At least for now, I'm currently trying my luck in Clermont - Ferrand, but I have to be here for the meeting, no?"
"Obviously," Ivan muttered. Francis just smiled.
"Go take a shower, I already prepared the stuff. And about a room, you'll be staying in this one," he opened the doors on the left and waited for Ivan to put his things inside, "Also, I suppose you're hungry after the flight. Let me take you for a lunch, I know one really nice place."
"Okay," Ivan nodded. It was a bit disappointing that he won't eat Francis' food, but he liked French cuisine, so either way was fine with him.
They both nodded and Ivan took a long, warm shower. When he finally came out, Francis just smiled, not saying anything about waiting nor anything perverted, indicating what Ivan could possibly been doing there.
"Ready?" Francis asked and closed the balcony door.
"You smell differently," Ivan pointed out another new thing about him.
"Ah yes, I used a perfume. I was smoking and you said you mind the cigarette smell, right?"
"Yes. I just mean... You smell differently. It's... It's lavender now. But it used to be vanilla and honey."
Francis was kinda shocked by how confident was Ivan about these small details he noticed, but he was also flattered - and flattering is scoring in Francis's case: "I simply run out of the old one. Do you dislike this one?"
Ivan put his shoes on and facing the doors quietly shook his head: "No. I like it. Very much."
Francis smiled happily and they stepped outside his flat: "I'm glad."
***
Restaurant that Francis chose was simple and cozy one with no much people inside and quiet music, that was set in beautiful surrounding. Ivan just laid his head on it and he already fell in love with it.
"Do you want to sit in or outside?" Francis asked.
"I'd like to go outside," Ivan said simply. He liked the feeling of a warm sun caressing his skin.
"Hey, Ivan. Will you let me order your food?" Francis asked out of blue and earned a doubtful look of Ivan's.
"What, don't you trust me?" Francis asked jokingly and Ivan sighed.
The tall, strong nation was so weak against Francis' words, Ivan never won his non-existing fights with them, he noticed always surrenders top Francis and lets him do as the blond nation wishes. On the other hand, he didn't really mind, France was always right with his words and actions. Either that or Ivan was going crazy because of that stupid, by-love-blinded mind of his.
"Of course I do," he said trying not to let a single emotion run out of his heart. What good would it do? He does not want Francis think he's weird.
Francis, the country of love and affection. The one who loved everyone and who loved pretty things, who loved love. Francis who was always smiling widely and flirting with everything that moved. And yet, he never looked at Ivan lustfully, he never touched him affectionately, he wasn't acting perverted around him at all. Their relationship was different, almost special. But Ivan disliked that kind of special. He wanted to be one of those people who could see Francis' lustful face, to laugh at his flatters and shameless offers. And most importantly, he wanted to do the same to Francis. But how could he ever say that? How could he voice his thoughts when every Francis' touch or wink was carefully chosen, when his loving smile looked like he wanted to hide it in shame right away, when every affectionate world Francis told Ivan was somehow...
All of sudden a plate appeared in front of Ivan and the beautiful smell chased his thoughts away. The only thing that was left in nation's head was admiring the look of food and a small fact, that he just found out his new favorite food.
"I suppose I did good," Francis smirked happily at Ivan's reaction.
Ivan just quietly nodded and let the food magically disappear in few minutes. The two ordered a warm drink after their dish and spent another fifteen minutes talking about nothing and everything at the same time. When the time to take their leave came, Francis rested his head into his palms and looked straight into Ivan's eyes: "We have still plenty of time left. So what would you like to do? We can go on a walk. Or we can go to the marked, look if there is anything pretty. Or maybe we could go to park? It's still cold for an ice cream but we can buy some bread there. I believe there should be ducks around this time of a year there."
Ivan's eyes widened when he heard about ducks. He likes ducks. Dare he say, he loves them. Those little nice creatures swimming on a cold water, with funny beaks and nice colored feathers. Oh and how he loved ducklings! Those little birds were the most cute things he could think of.
Ivan pretended to give it a little thought and then slowly nodded his head: "Can we do everything?"
Francis laughed: "Of course we can. Just tell me what would you like to do first?"
Ivan took a big breath and looking at the table he quietly said: "I'd like to see the ducks."
"What was it?"
"The ducks. I want to see them," Ivan raised his pale head with bright red cheeks. He didn't know why, but somehow he felt a bit ashamed. It's not his style though. He's blaming his heart. It was making fun of him, he was sure of that.
Francis' heart skipped a beat. It was the first time he saw the strong empire looking this cute.
"Let us got then," he smiled at Ivan and he paid for their food.
"Next time it's my treat," Ivan said simply without emotions. He couldn't believe that he had lost the fight about who will buy lunch to whom too.
"Sure, sure," Francis laughed him off and nodded his head, "we're going left now. It's not exactly close but..."
"I don't mind, I'm used to long walks," Ivan said and looked at his shoes.
"Oh, right. You must be, obviously. Your place is pretty big, after all," Francis nodded.
"It is."
"Em... How is Russia? Is it warm there?" asked Francis. He liked Ivan's voice, though it was hard to get the big nation to talking sometimes.
"No. It got warmer lately, but it's still winter there," Ivan smiled internally.
"I see."
"But I'm used to it. Here's very nice though, the weather too. You're really lucky."
"Thank you. Well, you're welcome here anytime," Francis smiled.
"It seems that Paris is again different," Ivan pointed out.
"I suppose it really is changing. But it's changing alongside with people. Isn't Moscow the same? Or even Saint Peterburg?" Francis asked slightly surprised.
"No. It's still the same. In Russia, we treasure history and big, important people and places where they lived or worked. We also have lots of monuments and statues... It's kinda... difficult to change," Ivan said in a quiet, husky voice as if he was concerned about that. As if he had no second chances, as if he was destined to be alone forever, without friends.
"I think it's beautiful," Francis looked up, "I, too, would love to see some places and building from ages. And it's the same for Arthur, Antonio... not to mention Gilbert. It might not seem like it, but we miss what you have. Progress isn't always good. Just look what it did to powerful British Empire. He used to be so great, Arthur. But world kept moving and Alfred and you took his place. People are moving forward and we do so with them. Some are just faster and some are slower. But nothing is the same forever."
Ivan stopped for a while and looked at Francis with utter surprise. It took him a while until he opened his mouth again: "To be honest, I don't mind it. Slight differences. I love how things here are changing. I can always experience something nice and new, that's kind of exciting."
"I'm glad," Francis nodded and excused himself so he could go buy a bread for little ducks. Ivan continued without him, looking for a place so the two of them could sit down. Luckily he found one free bench right next to the lake.
"You could at least tell me you're going, I couldn't find you," Francis complained and sat next to Ivan.
"Sorry. I just..." how could he possibly say that he's really excited to see the little duck. That's too out of character for him.
"No, nevermind..." Francis said, he was more concerned about Ivan who was looking rather sad. "Is everything okay?"
Ivan nodded. Francis didn't believed him but nodded as well. The long haired nation place bought bread on a bench next to him and tried to tie his hair.
"Can I... do your hair?" Ivan asked suddenly.
The one left in an utter surprise was now Francis: "Oh. I mean... yeah, sure," he handed him his hair band and turned around.
Ivan slowly and carefully took Francis' long silky hair to his hands, taking every lock of them with tenderness that Francis had never experiences before. Ivan was playing with his blonde locks, fully focused. He took his time, but the outcome was worth it. Francis loved it.
"Mon dieu, where did you learned this?" he gasped.
"You can call me Ivan. And I have two sisters, remember?" Ivan allowed himself to smile. Not widely, but it was still a nice smile.
Francis spend some second looking at himself and admiring Ivan's job. Ivan. Ducks. There are no ducks on the lake. "Oh Ivan... I'm sorry, I was sure they will be here..."
"Don't worry about me," Ivan said, but France knew he was really hurt by that.
"Let me take you somewhere else! I know just the place!" Francis said enthusiastically.
"Where to?" Ivan asked, still blocking his emotions. Francis was trying so hard to make him feel happy today.
"Just trust me, will you," smiled the shorter nation and winked.
Ivan knew he lost since the begging, but this was unfair abuse of power right there. He stood up and followed Francis without a single world of protest.
***
They walked shoulder by shoulder for a long time, but Ivan was used to it and they both loved each others company. Ivan had no idea where was Francis taking him and he a wasn't even navigating him, so when Ivan almost took the wrong turn, Francis grabbed his hand and he continued with their hand jointed for a while. Who know why it kept happening over and over again.
"Oh my god, Francis!" Ivan gasped, completely forgetting about his stone cold image, when they arrived to their final destination, "it's beautiful..."
Right in front of him was a huge field full of sunflowers, big and small, with open and closed heads, as far and as wide as he could only see. Ivan was stunned. With that cold problem in Russia... Ivan almost forgot how his beloved flowers look like. And now...
"I'm glad you like it," said Francis happily. He was so glad that he could see Ivan smile after the ducks fiasco.
"Like? I love it!" Ivan hugged Francis. Long haired nation was surprised at first, but then he hugged Ivan back, burring his head into Ivan's shoulder, smelling his scent. The hug felt so warm and so innocent as it only could be.
"You can take one," Francis smiled at Ivan when the hugging seance was over.
"Oh no, I can't," Ivan shook his head.
"Of course you can. It's really okay."
"No, no, I can't. If I took it... It would die. I don't want that. This is really enough."
Francis smiled: "Do you want to stay here? There's this small but great place I know, not far away, we can have dinner there."
Ivan looked at Francis, he must be exhausted, they made some much kilometers today on their feet: "But is that really okay?"
"Totally okay," Francis said and gained some courage to grab Ivan's hand. The taller nation said nothing. He just kept on looking at the flower field with Francis' fingers intertwined with his as long as he could and then let Francis to take him to another place. It was just like Francis said, small, nice, made entirely of a wood, but Ivan liked it more than the big and luxurious one from before.
"Do you want to order here for me as well?" Ivan asked amused.
"Non, I thought you could order for me this time."
"B-But..."
"It's fine, I believe you," Francis smirked.
Ivan just gave the menus a nervous look: "But are you completely sure?"
"Yes."
"Sure-sure?"
"Yes, Ivan."
With that, Ivan all unsure chose their food and just as nervously awaited it to be served to them. He didn't breathed out before Francis praised his choice.
"It's really tasty! I should try to make this at home someday," Francis said.
"Really?"
"Yes. You seriously need to trust yourself more, is every confidence you have drown in that 'you will become one with me, da? ' or something? It's really great. Here, have a bite," Francis took food from his plate and stretched his arm towards Ivan's mouth.
Ivan took the fork in his mouth: "Mhm... It's really good." He praised the food and his choice and Francis laughed at him.
"Oh, when we're finished, we should head home. It will get dark soon," Francis said and Ivan nodded.
And so they take their time and by the time they finished, the sun was set long ago and it was replaced by moon and start. But Ivan liked it. He liked night and he liked night sky. Oh, and how he admired the song of cicadas. Though, Francis was quite different. He refused to listen to the night symphony and kept babbling and babbling. Ivan didn't mind that either, so he carried onto their conversation.
"Oh, finally," Francis called out happily when they entered the park. He could finally see, he entered the civilization.
"Did you hear that?" Ivan asked him.
"D-D-Don't you scare me liked that! I heard nothing! Nothing!"
"Francis, look!" Ivan said suddenly.
"Hah, don't wanna!" laughed Francis with shaky voice.
"Just look!"
"What is it?" he followed Ivan to the lake.
"Ducks!" Ivan squatted, " do you still have the bread?"
"Yes," Francis handed it to Ivan. The big nation looked so small feeding the ducks and ducklings.
"So I was right, they are here."
"Hey, Francis," Ivan called his name and stood up.
"Hm?" long haired nation locked eyes with him.
Ivan leaned a bit and pressed his lips against Francis'. The whole moment didn't last more than few second but to both of them it seemed much more longer.
"W-Wh..." Francis stuttered.
"Thank you. For everything. You made me really happy today," Ivan said.
Francis blushed and looked at the ground: "It's no problem, really..."
The world became an awkwardly quiet place.
"Can I... can I..."
Francis didn't wait till Ivan finished. He just laughed and pulled the taller one closer, locking their lips.
