Chapter Text
“Thanks for letting me crash here man..” Andrew sighed, setting down the box of stuff he had been carrying. The relief and appreciation was in his voice clear as day.
Ivan looked over, offering a small smile to his friend, placing the cardboard in his own hands. There was another box in Andrew’s car, one of them would have to go back and grab it later, but neither seemed to care right now.
“Of course, no big deal” Ivan dusted his hands off, shrugging slightly as he replied. He still had that small smile, but it didn’t seem to fully reach his eyes- as if he was lost in thought over something.
“No seriously, thank you, Ivan..” Andrew insisted, pushing his glasses up on his nose a bit as he spoke, a genuine smile plastered on his face. He was always the type to get sentimental about the most random things.
“Whatever ya say ‘Drew— I can go get that last box-?” Ivan offered, a hand pulling down on his sweater sleeve that was riding up on his arm.
“Oh! It’s fine I can get it, it is my stuff afterall. Haha” The hoodied man nudged him, a grin on his face as he laughed a little.
“Hah..yeah..” Ivan avoided eye contact for a moment before forcing himself to look at Andrew, who just smiled again before turning.
Andrew went on his way out the door, he would be a bit considering he’d have to go down the elevator and get to the parking lot and back. Since Ivan had the time, and curiosity got the better of him, he decided to snoop into Andrew’s things. Just what did his friend bring to move in with him?
Ivan rummaged through one of the boxes, finding clothes and toiletries- reasonable things to bring, who wouldn’t bring those with them? He moved to the other box, this one filled with chargers, small memorable trinkets, things like that. One that caught his eye was a small photo in a picture frame of him and Ivan- they were fresh out of highschool, slung around each other cheering. He let his mind wander for just a moment before continuing to look through the box. His fingers brushed against something cold and metal. It wasn’t that surprising to find Andrew's computer, of course he planned to work on that game.
That game. Ivan’s expression darkened slightly, a slight frown pulling on his face. He didn’t like how Andrew always was refusing his help on the game- he could help so much if Andrew just gave him a chance to. He shook the thought away for now, putting items back in their general spots in the boxes and closing the cardboard once more.
He seemed to have perfect timing, as a few seconds after he stood back up, Andrew walked back in carrying the final box of his belongings. The faint smile returned to his lips as he turned to face the man, as if he hadn’t just been peeking at potentially private things. Andrew didn’t seem to notice, just plopping the box down and pushing his glasses up again with his knuckle.
“So.. That’s everything. I really appreciate it man” Andrew said, nudging the box closest to him with his shoe. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pink hoodie.
“So sappy..” Ivan sighed half jokingly, he wasn’t too against Andrew’s openness but it got overbearing at times. He didn’t voice it much, but it did tend to get on his nerves after long periods of it.
Hey! I’m not that sappy” Andrew protested, a playful look flickering across his face as he grinned. He stifled a laugh as he watched his friend adjust his visor and roll his eyes.
“Okay maybe a little. Still-” He admitted, though his voice was a bit sarcastic. He walked closer to Ivan, ruffling the messy gray hair. He chuckled as Ivan squirmed away from the touch with a noise of protest.
That night, Ivan helped Andrew unpack, he set out Andrew’s blanket on the floor in the corner by the TV- to which Andrew glanced over at. He came to stop by his friend as the man smoothed out the blanket.
“Whatcha doin’ setting me up on the floor?” Andrew joked, crouching down next to Ivan, who stayed silent for a long, almost uncomfortable moment. Andrew leaned forward a bit to get a look at the man, only to find he was staring at the blanket.
“..Ivan?” He murmured, a hand reaching out to rest on Ivan’s shoulder, causing him to jump, grip on the blanket tightening. He knew his friend liked being quieter, he was more nervous than him, but something about right now made him worried.
“Zoned out. Sorry. Just thought we’d want to keep the couch free, I know we both like watching shows.” Ivan’s response was fair, but his tone sounded.. stiff, as if he hadn’t actually been zoning out. Andrew ignored it, maybe his friend was thinking of something personal, he didn’t want to be intruding- especially after Ivan offered him a place to stay.
“Oh. Yeah true. Guess it’ll be like camping, hm?” Andrew smiled as he spoke, pushing his glasses back up on his nose.
“Sure. If that’s how you see it.” Ivan mumbled, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets as he kicked the floor with a quiet squeak of his shoe.
Andrew helped Ivan set up the bed- not that there was much to set up besides a pillow and two blankets.. Afterwards he moved the other boxes to an empty corner a bit away from the TV. He turned as he heard a quiet breath, like Ivan had let out a slow sigh, but when he turned Ivan wasn’t even behind him anymore.
Okay..? He’s quiet when he walks but not that quiet.. Whatever, I wasn’t paying too much attention anyways, Andrew thought as he glanced around. He pushed himself up off the floor, starting to walk towards Ivan’s room- he had probably gone in there to grab something.
The hallway to Ivan’s room was just as blank as Andrew remembered, the entirety of the carpet was empty minus a small stain- probably some drink? The walls were bare besides one random picture hung on the wall by a loose nail. A basic photo of a flower that probably came with the picture frame. It was.. kind of depressing. Very depressing, Andrew wouldn’t lie. There were a few holes in the walls, as if other photos had been hung up but later taken down. Andrew had never gotten to see what those photos were, they had been missing likely long before he first visited Ivan’s apartment.
He reached the door to Ivan’s room, knocking on it lightly- before huffing as he realized how quiet the knock had been- and knocking louder. When he got no response he called out to his friend.
“Ivan? You disappeared on me back there, everything good-?” Andrew didn’t fight the concern that slipped so easily into his voice. It seemed more and more often that he was checking up on his dear friend, making sure he was okay. Especially since Ivan seemed to get worse as of recently. It was odd, ever since he started mentioning the game he had been working on, Ivan had slowly backed into himself.. He shook the thought away, Ivan was the concern here, not his game, that could wait.
After a long stretch of silence, besides the sound of Ivan’s fan, Andrew pushed the door open- Ivan rarely locked it, surprisingly. When he walked in, he was greeted with a mess.. if that was even a word to describe the state of his friend’s room.
Clothes were everywhere, not in a ‘from the day’s worth’ of clothes, like enough to make piles out of all the fabric strewn everywhere. There were some bloxy cola cans on the desk, a few on the floor. He knew that Ivan could get disorganized at times, but this felt extreme- even for the writer. Which was saying a lot.
“..Wow, okay- Ivan?” He breathed, dragging his gaze up off from the floor. Ivan was sitting on his bed, a noticeable slouch to his posture. Andrew followed his gaze up to the fire axe mounted up on the wall, a shiver of unease running down his spine.
“Hey- I was..-” Andrew started, but trailing off as he watched his friend’s gaze snap over to him. Ivan’s shoulders tensed for a moment before relaxing, but the motion looked forced.
“..looking.. for you.. Hi dude.” He finished his sentence slowly, glancing at the heaps of clothing and general state of the room. Andrew forced his gaze back up to Ivan, not wanting his friend to see him sort of just.. staring at the mess.
“You were? Hi.” Ivan murmured, his tone plain- and honestly? He sounded disinterested by the whole thing, as if he hadn’t just disappeared on his friend after helping him get settled into the apartment. If putting blankets and a shaggy pillow on the floor counted as getting Andrew settled..
“Yeah..” Andrew nodded, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck. He had planned a small little explanation- knowing Ivan didn’t exactly enjoy having people come into his room- especially if he was doing something but the words died on his tongue.
“... So. What did you need?” The writer pushed himself up from the bed, smoothing his navy crewneck as he did. He kept his gaze away from Andrew for a moment, then looked back over at the man. It made Andrew’s skin crawl, that strange, off look that his friend kept giving him.
“Oh- Nothing really, you sort of just.. vanished, got me worried a bit.” Andrew mumbled, he hadn’t really planned on what to say once he actually started talking to Ivan.. Poor planning on his part, he guessed.
“Mhm.” A short, simple reply, one so like Ivan it almost made Andrew laugh a bit. Almost. But something still felt wrong in a way he couldn’t exactly place.
Andrew scanned the room again as he stepped closer to his friend, looking past the jumble of clothes and cans. Yet he couldn’t stop his gaze from resting on that fire axe on the wall. He knew it belonged to Ivan’s dad, but it still felt off putting to have it mounted in his friend’s room. Having such a dangerous object in a place most often for relaxation and comfort.. It felt wrong. He knew it was.
He just couldn’t figure out why.