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Ivan sat alone at the bus stop, minding the cold metal of the seat as he stared at the snow piled up on the roof of it. He thinks if someone were to hit the pole holding it up hard enough, it would fall on an unsuspecting person. He moved slightly on the bench, just in case he ended up being that unsuspecting person.
In all honesty, he hoped Alfred would be the one to set it off. He internally laughed at the thought of him sitting down and knocking all of the snow onto him. He thought he would deserve it too, with how improperly he dressed for the winter.
Oh, and because he was a pain in the ass.
He brought a gloved hand up to his bandaged nose, being reminded of the cut left there. He looked a little roughed up with a slight black eye, and possibly scarier than he normally did on account of that.
The sound of snow being shuffled from walking caught his attention. And things were so peaceful too. He mentally prepared himself to deal with the cocky ramblings and taunts of an overly confident blond. He hoped today he could at least deal a blow to his ego, enough to shut him up for a while. Or get another strike to the face again, whatever came first.
However, he was surprised at how quiet it was. He could usually hear Alfred and his brother coming from a mile away from how loud he talked. Ivan turned in the direction of the quiet shuffling, only to find a single person walking towards him. And not the one he expected.
Matthew gave him a look that seemed like a slight greeting before sitting beside Ivan on the bench. His posture was entirely too straight, like he was nervous to get comfortable. Confident enough to sit by him, but too much of a coward to let himself relax. Silence fell between them for a while.
“…Alfred is sick today. He has a fever.”
Ivan didn’t verbally answer him, just looked at him to let him know he heard him. Matthew was much quieter than Alfred, he didn’t add useless noise to the air for the sake of adding it. He rarely spoke, at least not to him usually.
“…How’s your…uh…face?”
“It’s fine.”
Matthew nodded and looked back down at the snow under him. He could recall the other day when he witnessed his brother and the man next to him get into a physical fight. It didn’t normally get past verbal insults between them, but that day Ivan had said something that particularly pissed Alfred off. He had practically jumped on him shortly after the words fell from his lips before Matthew could hold him back. When he had managed to pry his brother off, both men were bleeding and bruised.
“Listen, I’m sorry for Alfred. I know he can get carried away and isn’t always the easiest to deal with, but he isn’t usually that aggressive.”
Ivan glanced at him. “…It’s not your fault.”
His glasses hung low on his face and he reached to push them up. “Ah, I guess you’re right.”
Matthew tapped his foot uncomfortably and began to twiddle his thumbs. Ivan remained faced forward, but relaxed his shoulders and put his gloved hands together on his lap as a show of peace. (And to maybe get Matthew to calm down a bit.)
“Still, I should’ve known he was gonna get physical. I could’ve pulled him away before he did anything or something…” He looked off in the direction he came from.
Ivan sighed, watching his breath create a cloud in front of him. “What is the phrase…’You are not your brother’s keeper.’?” He put his hands back in his pockets. “He’s responsible for his actions, not you. Frankly, I’m not blameless either. But I appreciate you trying to apologize.”
“Yeah—yeah that makes sense.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, Matthew checked the time on his phone to keep busy before shutting it off and absentmindedly fiddling with the polar bear charm hanging from it. He hoped the bus would arrive soon.
“You seem to make a lot of excuses for him.” He put it bluntly.
“It’s—it’s not that…I just want to make sure he stays out of trouble. I’m his older brother after all.” Even if only by a few minutes.
“I’m an older brother too, but you don’t see me making excuses for Natalya.” His voice remained in that strange calmness it always held. “But maybe it’s because she’s my little sister, not my little brother. Still, I don’t quite understand it.”
Matthew thought about the logic of it, but it fell a little short. “It’s always been that way for us.”
Ever since Matthew was a child, he’s had to help placate Alfred. He was always the ‘good’ and ‘well-behaved’ child. He had to be, no one else was going to do it. So when Alfred acted out, it was his job to help him behave. To ‘be a good influence and a good brother’. To help him when his cockiness got the best of him and he ended up threaded in situations that Matthew needed to untangle. They were a pair since birth, for better or for worse.
“Maybe it shouldn’t be.” He said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “He’s gotta learn how to get a hold of himself, do you think you’re always gonna be there when he bites off more than he can chew?”
Ivan doesn’t know why he’s trying to reason with his rival’s brother, maybe some part of him felt bad for being a bit of the reason he had to deal with it in the first place. When Matthew gave him a confusing look but didn’t answer, he continued.
“Some need to learn the hard way.” He pointed to his eye. “I certainly did, and now I know.” He chuckled slightly. “You can't make excuses for him and expect him to change, no?”
He understood to a degree what Matthew felt, he knew he cared for and loved his brother dearly in the same way he loved his sisters. But he knew from experience what coddling someone’s actions can lead to.
“You have a point,” He let out a nervous huff that was almost a laugh. “I guess it’s just difficult when most see me as an extension of him, the guy that’s meant to keep him in check.”
He turned and Ivan gave him a bit of a worried stare.
“Shit—not that I’m upset about it or anything!” He raised his hands as if trying to dispel any doubts the other may have figured about him. He faced away towards the road. “I just wished people looked at me instead of through me sometimes, y’know?—“
He was cut off when a snowball hit him on the shoulder. His head whipped around and found Ivan already making another.
“I’m looking at you right now. And I don’t think that snowball could’ve hit you if things could go through you.” His smile was mischievous, but it held a softness to it. “What is it again—? ‘You think, therefore you are.’?
Matthew was bewildered, but also intrigued. “Really? You look at me?” He couldn’t help the small chuckle at the absurdity. “Is hitting me with a snowball your way of communicating?”
“I do. And maybe, at least that’s how my sisters did it.” He tossed the snowball between his hands. “I know more than you think.”
He leaned over and began gathering snow as well. “Like what?”
“Well, I know you have an affinity for anything maple flavored. Your favorite animals are bears, and—“ Before Matthew could finish making his snowball, he punted the one he was holding on his back. “—you love the snow.”
Matthew quickly got up and formed another snowball, faster this time, and struck Ivan in the chest. Ivan fell back and began running off to grab more ammo, Matthew not far behind.
They threw snow back and forth, slowly melting away at the anxious feelings that froze themselves in Matthew’s gut. The formerly silent road was now filled with boisterous laughter and taunts and the sound of snow breaking apart.
The amusement came to a halt when one particular snowball was thrown and hit Ivan directly in the face, causing him to fall over and hold it.
“Oh fuck—Ivan!” He ran to where he fell and leaned over him. “I’m so sorry, are you okay—?”
He was suddenly pulled down by his scarf, Ivan no longer covering his face in pretend pain. He plopped face-first into the snow with a small ‘oof’. He propped himself up by his palms, his glasses fogged up.
“You’re an ass!” But there was no aggressive tone behind the words, instead it was replaced with a comedic enjoyment as the two broke into giggles.
The laughter tapered off when they heard the quiet rumbling of an engine.
“The bus—!”