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“You’re far too reckless, you know.”
The words hung in the air between the two of them, a truth both were all too aware of, Alfred’s gaze decidedly avoiding anywhere around Ivan’s vicinity. It was a clear sign he was uncomfortable- hiding his emotions had never been the American's strong suit. Ivan waited a few more seconds for the expected reply, but the only sound Alfred made was a clearly restrained grunt when his bandage was tightened just a hint further than he would have liked. There wasn’t much more to tend to in the way of injury- most of the offending wounds were scrapes and scratches that looked worse than they felt. At worst, the pain weighed on his pride and self image more than his physical form.
“Alfred.” The man in question was fully aware that Ivan was expecting a response, but that didn’t stop him from stubbornly holding on to his silence, barely noticing out of the corner of his vision the way Ivan’s brows pushed together in a displeased frown. Seeing how much effort Ivan was putting into taking care of him made him feel… bad. Well, surely there was a better term to describe the way his stomach sort of twisted up into a queasy mess of nausea whenever he made things difficult for Ivan (at least, when it wasn’t intentional), but right now those thoughts eluded him.
“Alfred-” Came the quiet prompting again, and he couldn’t help but snap back this time, immediately dropping the harshness of his voice when he realised what he was doing.
“I know, I know, just-!” Being reactive to things that made him uncomfortable was a hard habit to break. For a moment, he stopped talking again and let himself be relieved that Ivan was understanding. “I know it was a bad idea. You know how impatient I get, I just… I heard you would be at the cabin and thought it might be fun to stay there together. Y’know. Like….” He didn’t finish his sentence, but Ivan knew enough to read between the lines and pick up that Alfred was referring to their unofficially-offical relationship. Neither of them had really said it aloud, but the other nations treated them as such anyway. It was something he struggled to get used to, and assumed- almost hoped- Ivan felt the same way. He wasn’t used to the intricacies of a romantic relationship, and even less so when it had developed in such an unorthodox manner.
“And your first instinct was to follow me? With no guide?” When Ivan said it that way, it really did sound stupid. Probably because it was. Ivan knew the snow. He knew the whole breadth of his country by heart- even the deepest blizzard was a comfort to him at this point. Alfred didn’t have anywhere near the same amount of experience.
“....Yeah, I guess.” Alfred finally admitted. Ah, Alfred. Too impulsive and energetic for his own good. This wasn’t the first time his outlandish- and likely romanticised- ideas had gotten him into trouble like this, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. Ivan idly wondered if part of it had to do with their pseudo-immortality- the fact that risks and near-death situations for any mere human were more just painful inconveniences for their kind- as he began to clean up the area from his wound-tending, standing up from where he had been.
“You’re lucky I could tell where you were inside of me.” Ivan started, earning a snicker from Alfred. There was the energy he was used to, thankfully contrasting the previous pouting. “Inside my borders, Alfred. You know exactly what I meant.” Yes, he was fully aware that, at worst, Alfred would have just had to lay in the snow, scraped and bleeding and at the mercy of the weather and wilderness until someone inevitably tracked him down (which would have been quite quick given his importance), but that didn’t mean that the thought of it was a pleasant one. It was survivable by no far stretch of their supernatural endurance, but pain was never an easy sensation to deal with, not when it might ebb and numb for hours on end. He turned his attention back to cleaning up the bandaids and alcohol wipes, Alfred sighing as he poked at his own bandages, only to scrunch his nose up and huff a little. So much for a nice cosy romantic cabin getaway with his boyfriend.
“Well, you are at the cabin now, as you so desired...” Even if Ivan had to carry the man here himself. His words fell off a little as he waited to see if Alfred would catch what the rest of his sentence was.
“Aaaand that means we get to cuddle and make hot cocoa?” came the hopeful reply. The premise seemed to raise his spirits, at least. It was a better idea than wallowing in his failed attempt to make it out here on his own.
“Only if you don’t pack my mug with marshmallows like you did last time.” that had been a sickly-sweet surprise, and not in the way he enjoyed.
“Of course not! I would never do that.” He absolutely would, there was a reason Ivan had to warn him against such a thing. But, he was evermore glad that Ivan’s thoughts didn’t seem to linger on the recent past, getting up despite the ache in his side to follow Ivan to the kitchen. He would have sworn he was already feeling better, even if half of that was just from excitement for the week to come.
Maybe this trip hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.