My sofa brings all sorts of people in my house. And damn right it's comfier than yours.

[das_vedanya]

WHO: Ivan and Yao
WHEN: Saturday December 11th, Afternoon
WHERE: Yao's Apartment
WHAT: Ivan needs a place to stay, and Yao has no choice but to oblige.

Comments

[icarryapanda]

When he texted Ivan about kicking doors, he really meant it. There was no other way out of the house other than the front door; Otherwise, he would just leave the door as is, find another route, and be on his merry way of greeting his guest. Yao gave Ivan a good two minutes to clear the way the door might fly open to. He's confident at doing this immediate solution, he just wasn't sure to what extent the damage would be - the last doors he kicked were mostly metal

[das_vedanya]

The two minutes of silence in which Ivan stood outside of Yao's apartment with enough breadth between him and the door felt longer than the two minutes that passed since the text message. A crinkled soda bottle looked better than the expression Ivan imagined on his face when that door flew open with such force it was as if Yao's kick were hurricane force winds. He thought for a minute what it would be like to be the door, and smiled as Yao appeared on equal plane, thankful that that was not the case.

"Thank you, Yao," Ivan plucked his measly bag from his heels and took an insistent step toward the Chinese man's door. It felt strange to be inside and still see the hallway behind him. The door would need fixing. "How have you been?"

[icarryapanda]

As Ivan approached, Yao raised his chin an inch to look at him. "I've been well, sometimes lucky, sometimes not.." It's true! He had been lucky with the giant bear, and he had not been lucky with the door. Speaking of doors, that minor problem is now dealt with. He pulled it shut (as much as it can look like it was shut) by its knob, grabbed his phone sitting beside the hammer on the table, and led his guest to the living room.

Time for the bigger problem...

"Let's sit for a while, that bag looks heavy, aru". How does he take care of a Russian for five days without compromising the needs of said person?

Yao sat on the far left side of the couch, a motion for Ivan to drop his luggage and sit beside him.

"Would you like anything to eat? Something to drink?"

[das_vedanya]

Actually the bag wasn't entirely that heavy, comprising of a few sets of clothes and mostly paperwork, but the invitation to sit after standing in the hallway for nearly half an hour was inviting. The Russian waited for the awkward door to bolt closed behind him, feeling an odd mixture of "welcome to our home" and "hahahaha I've got you now" resonating in the room. He deposited the bag at the heel of the couch and placidly took a seat across from the Chinese man.

"I assume that you have hot water boiling for tea, da?"

[icarryapanda]

"I do."

Who would have known that the person to assume the works of the apartment was Ivan? Who would have known...

The Russian might have dropped by the apartment a few times more than Yao anticipated, or guessed, considering how Ivan got hold of his old key after denying knowledge of its whereabouts. Yao shrugged, making it look more like a lift of a sore shoulder. Nothing would come out of asking the other what he did to the key prior to this day, but the question of why he kept it was ready to roll off Yao's tongue.

"Why... my place? Y---." Oh yes the boiling water! How could he forget? The very audible hissing of the kettle's spout made Yao stand up, turn to Ivan saying "I'll get back to you with tea." - and probably(almost always) adding "Don't touch anything" to his stare at the taller man - and jogging to the kitchen to turn the stove off.

All done in orderly fashion.

[das_vedanya]

Of course the moment Yao turned his back to the Russian to tend to his teakettle, Ivan was running his fingers over a jade dragon on the side table, turned it over in his hands, and memorized its ferocious facial expression. He placed the dragon back on the table before Yao hurried back into the family room with tea in fine blue and white china.

"You see, I am moving out of my apartment into a house. I haven't anywhere else to stay, and you and I are such good friends that I thought you were my best bet."

[icarryapanda]

Oh, that answers a lot of questions.

And clears a lot of assumptions. "I...appreciate that thought you have there." Yao set the tray on the table, sitting as he does so. It was considerably silent upon returning to the living room, clinking ceramic and tea flowing out of the pot into two cups were the only sounds to hear. With a stretch of his arm he ushered one cup across the table, towards Ivan.

"Thanks. Hopefully this would be sufficient of a place for four days."

[das_vedanya]

The Russian gave his friend a sincere smile before tucking it behind the lip of the teacup. The silence settled relentlessly over them like the steam rising from the cups.

"I like it here," he remarked, tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth to test the flavor of the tea. "It is why I often stay the night on your couch."

[icarryapanda]

Yao thought about the compliment made to his upholstery with a low hum hidden by his sip of tea. "I see you often enjoy my sofa, that I don't need to tell you to make yourself at home, yes?" The idea of Ivan having a sincere attachment to his sofa was enough to induce a light laugh which Yao tried to hide with another gulp of 白茶. 'Some things don't change at all' ; not that they didn't see each other for a large amount of time, Yao was simply reassuring himself nothing bad happened to his friend. Quite nice of a feeling, this was.

"About your move, how will this happen and, is there anyone helping you?" he said, absentmindedly holding his cup by the rim using all five fingers.

[das_vedanya]

"Mm?" He watched the way his tea rippled at his silhouette when he blew across the surface. His eyes turned up to meet Yao's, then back down to the teacup as he tested the temperature against his lips. "Ah, well. I am perfectly capable of of moving my things - ah, they are only knick-knacks and heirlooms... books, easy things I can pack into boxes. I have a friend, my secretary, and family helping me move the boxes." A pause to sip his tea again. "And I'm moving in on Thursday. Thank you again for letting me stay here."

orz orz orz this is uber late I'm so so sorry ;A;

[icarryapanda]

It's not like I had an immediate say in this. You locked me in my own apartment. "I wouldn't want you stressed or exhausted with moving. Moves are like beginnings! You have to start fresh and light.", he said. That was what Yao was told when his family moved from Ann Harbor to Liberty. He can vaguely remember those times, mainly because he had mixed feelings about the fact that he had to start all over again and such.

He couldn't find anything to say at the moment. There was nothing noteworthy in the news sans the weather, and he would have to respect the other's personal space now that he's a guest in this house. Well if there's only books and tiny trinkets to move then Yao has nothing to worry about, except that he felt a teeny, tiny bit jealous.

"你真幸运," he whispered to himself, while he reaches for a pair of slippers underneath the couch. Zhì wouldn't mind Ivan using his slippers for a few days, now would he

I-it's all right;;

[das_vedanya]

Blinking between gazes at the slippers and the Chinese man offering them, Ivan set his tea back onto the table and accepted the rather... embarrassing set of footwear that Yao had chosen for him, wondering briefly if the shoes would even go past his heels. It wasn't that Ivan's feet were wide, just... long. Having abandoned his boots by the doorstep upon entering Yao's apartment, the Russian toed the surprisingly comfortable slippers on just two inches shy of the backs of his heels.

He examined them with innate curiosity, both comfortable and uncomfortable with the long silent pauses stringing between Yao's occasional words of both English and Chinese. Ivan made himself comfortable, slippers and all, against the sofa. "I do... appreciate this." He reminded the smaller man. "Sometimes it is difficult to find people who will let me stay with them."