FBR 3
A/n:
It took me 3 months, but yaaaaay an update~ The story is ALIVE!
Thank you, Dudi for waiting patiently for this story. I sincerely apologize for taking this long to write a continuation.
I'm also switching to "Ivan" and "Yao" for the duration the story is set in the Xia Dynasty. It was somewhat awkward for me to write "Russia" in the last chapter when there was no Russia during this time. (But since I'm use to writing 'China' and "Russia", I might slip once in a while).
Ah and yes, please don't expect much from this fic. If I had to categorize it, it'll fall under "slice of life" (in a weird, distorted, ancient Chinese fashion). There is basically no drama whatsoever.
And yes, the fluff and cheese BUUURN!
Ivan leisurely followed little Yao through the small village, taking his time to admire the scenery before him. In his haste to find the child nation, everything else went unnoticed and he had missed much of the finer details.
Yurts of different sizes dotted the town. Despite the difference in size, each and every one was intricate in design. However, it wasn't just the homes that were rich in color. The clothes the Xia people wore were also an indication of their growing prosperity.
The village itself was bustling with life; people walking to and fro, carrying hay, grain, or something else in a bundle. Women weaving or preparing dinner shouted to their neighbors in good humor. The men were sitting in front of their homes, smoking or herding the lambs back into their pen. Some children stuck by their mothers while others ran amuck, playing a simple game of heroes and demons. But, no matter what they did or were in the middle of doing, the Xia - men, women, and children- all stopped to kowtow as Yao walked by.
Yao seemed to take it all in stride, quite use to the show of respect. Ivan, on the other hand, couldn't help but grin at the sight of such a tiny little thing garnering such power and prestige. As if reading his condescending thoughts, Yao stopped in his tracks to glare back at the larger man. Immediately, Ivan wiped the smile off his face and tried to act solemn as possible. He had to stare at the spot above Yao's head to keep his lips from twitching in amusement.
"Hurry up!" Yao scowled at him, "You're walking slower than a lame horse. If you don't walk faster, I'm going to leave you behind!"
At this, Ivan couldn't hide his laughter. Yao as a child was a temperamental firecracker wasn't he? If he could, Ivan would love to see when he finally settled down to become the cool and refined China he knew- undisturbed like the deep depths of the ocean floor.
The China in front of him, though, stomped his foot (again). "Why are you laughing? Stop it this instance!"
Yes, this little China was more like the turbulent waves of the raging sea- unpredictable, chaotic…easily offended.
"Ah, I'm sorry da? Forgive me?" Ivan said calmly, taking big steps with his long legs until he was front of the smaller nation. He laid a hand on the other's head and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Hey!" Yao's head bent under the pressure of Ivan's hand. "Stop it! I can't see!"
"Not until you forgive me. This is how we apologize in my country," Ivan lied without blinking.
"Well this is my country and we don't do this, so stop!" Yao yelled, grabbing onto Ivan's wide wrist with his small hands in an effort to remove it.
"Nope, not until you forgive me." The Russian ruffled his head even harder. Yao certainly had soft hair. Ivan thought it would be coarse and rough due to the exposure to the environment, but he was wrong. Did Yao use the tree saps* to wash his hair or was he naturally like this?
"Fine! I forgive you!" The tiny boy huffed out in frustration, "Just stop it!"
Ivan lifted his hand and did a slight, courtly bow. "I'm eternally grateful for your benevolence…what do your people call you?"
"Shangdi," Yao said through pouted lips. His hair was a complete mess now, strands of hair falling around his shoulder and face.
"Yes, Shangdi, thank you for your forgiveness to this humble me," Ivan said straight faced
Yao promptly turned his face away from the larger man and snorted through his nose. He could tell the other was just making fun of him, but he decided to let it pass this time. It wasn't because he was happy that someone dared tease him. No. He refuses to acknowledge the little flutter in his heart or smile tugging at his lips at Ivan's playful antics. It's only because it would be rude of him to reprimand his guest in front of his people. Besides, he still had to get precious information from him in regards to this whole 'nation' ordeal.
"Fine. If you're done apologizing, let's go." Yao tried to add a biting tone to his voice as he resumed walking towards his personal yurt.
It was completely lost on Ivan. With a little bounce to his step, he followed the little nation to where they would be completely alone~
Ivan expected Yao's yurt to be grand compared to the others as befitted his position, but he was still left in awe when they finally arrived.
"Eh…Little Yao…do you sleep in this by yourself?" Ivan scanned the size of the dome shaped tent. It was easily the size of the other yurt where the twenty or so Xia men just held their meeting.
"Of course." The child didn't even notice his guest's stunned reaction and walked inside.
Ivan was left standing outside by himself, his breath wafting against the cold air. He sighed. Honestly, he wondered when Yao turned into such a frugal person when it seemed his people attended to his every needs and wants in such an extravagant fashion. There was so much to his little Yao that he didn't know; so many faces of China that he never saw, Ivan wondered if he would ever see them all.
"Are you coming in or not?" Yao's muffled voice called from inside the yurt.
In the end, he just shrugged his shoulders. It'll be kind of scary if Yao didn't change in his 5000 years of history.
When he walked in, the child nation had already seat himself in front of what seemed to be dinner. Ivan cocked his head, unsure of what to do. Yao sat crossed legged on the blanketed floor with what looked like a rack of mutton and two bowls of broth. There were no individual tables or utensils. The food was neatly laid out on the floor. Where were the chopsticks or rice?
"Sit down already," Yao snapped when he saw the light-colored man hesitate. He was starving. It had been a long day of sitting and listening to the council talk about battle and harvest plans. He wanted to eat. Still, though, he waited for the other; Yao didn't admit it, but he wanted Ivan to get the first slice of lamb. Yao wasn't sure, but this is what people did when they had guests visiting right?
Ivan sat down, his eyes darting between Yao and the food as he questioned silently what to do.
Yao scowled, "Go ahead and eat while the food is warm!"
"Um…Am I suppose to use my hands?" The blond tentatively asked.
"How else?" The tiny nation sighed in exasperation, "Now hurry it up!"
Ivan raised an eyebrow.
"It looks like Yao's motherly instincts is the same at least," Ivan thought, grabbing a chunk of mutton with his hand. It took some effort to rip the stringy meat, but in the end he got a handful of it.
Yao nodded his head in approval, satisfied he did his duty as a host. Now it was his turn to eat. He leaned forward and grunted with effort at the untenderized lamb. He blew out a puff of air, blowing the strands of hair that fell out of his bun (thanks to Ivan) away from his eyes. He always did hate it when they served him large pieces of meat. Couldn't they just have chicken everyday?
Chewing on his meal, Ivan watched Yao struggle with the mutton. After a few moments of observing him struggling- and failing- to rip off any meat, Ivan spoke, "Do you need help?"
Golden eyes flashed him a warning. "No, I don't need any help," The boy grunted as he tried again, refusing to give up, "I can do this!"
Ivan tried really hard to not smile, but it was undeniable Yao's childish behavior was adorable- especially with the determined purse of his small mouth and hair brushing along his shoulders.
Tearing a bite size portion from his share, Ivan scooted closer to the Chinese nation. "Little Yao, say 'Ahhh'."
Yao scowled at being interrupted. Couldn't the man tell he was concentrating?
"Wha-" Yao turned his head- ready to scold the other- when Ivan shoved a piece of mutton into his mouth.
He choked in surprise for a second, then chewed and swallowed.
"I can feed myself!" Little Yao whined, "Stop looking down on me!"
"There sure is a lot of thing I have to stop doing don't I?" Ivan chuckled.
Yao was ready to yell 'yes', but Ivan just stuffed his mouth with another piece of meat.
"Mmmph mmph hmph!"
Ivan wagged his finger, "Tsk, tsk. Don't talk with you're mouth full. I can't understand you."
Yao gulped the food down. "I said, 'This is stupid!'"
"But so much fun~" Ivan said in a sing-song voice, "Now say, 'Ah' like a good kid."
The Chinese boy turned his head and crossed his arms in defiance. "No."
"Do it or I won't tell you more about being a nation," Ivan threatened with a smile.
Yao bit his bottom lip to keep himself from pouting at the unfairness. "You said that's why you came to find me…." The boy tried to weasel his way out.
"Nope, never said that," Ivan replied, "I just said I came to find you to teach you some things. I never said what." He held the piece of meat in front of China. "Now eat or I won't tell."
Yao growled. He opened his mouth wide to chomp down at the proffered mutton, but bit into air as Ivan swiftly pulled away.
"Nah ah ah," Ivan's eyes gleamed in evil amusement, "Not until you say 'Ah'."
"Fine! Here!" Yao opened his mouth wide, "Ah! AH! AHHHH!"
Laughing softly, Ivan gently placed the lamb in the child's mouth before taking a piece for himself. Both of them chewed in silence.
"Do you always eat by yourself?" Ivan ventured to ask, holding up another torn portion to the little boy.
No longer reluctant- he rather enjoying being pampered- Yao took the meat without much fuss. "Uh huh," He answered once he finished swallowing, "No one is allowed to see me eat. You're the only person allowed in here when I'm dining."
"Don't you get lonely?"
Yao tugged on Ivan's sleeve and said, "Ah".
Ivan turned his face to hide his smile against his shoulder. He knew the fastest way to a man's heart was through his stomach, but this was too easy.
"Hey! I said, 'Ah' so feed me," Yao said shamelessly, entirely forgetting the fight he put up just moments ago.
"H-here." Ivan kept his head turned away, offering a small piece of lamb. If he looked at Yao right now, he would burst into a laughing fit.
Yao ignored the weird behavior of the man and took a bite. "To answer you're earlier question, no, I don't feel lonely. This is how it always is. I don't know anything else."
That quickly sobered Ivan. He gazed at the little nation, eyes full of tenderness and pity. This China might not know the loneliness of eating alone, but his future self did. During the time when he would surprise China with his visits, sometimes he would find the older Yao sitting by himself on the large round table- a large feast in front of him.
And four extra bowls of rice set around the table- all since gone cold and uneaten.
"Well," Ivan began softly, "I guess the first thing I'll have to teach you is how to eat with someone else da? You'll see that it's something to…cherish."
"Okay," Yao nodded his head, but his mind was already flying to another thought. He furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why do you always make the weird sound 'da'? Does it mean something?"
Ivan would have been offended, but he could tell little Yao was honestly curious. "Ah…it means 'right' or 'yes' in my language. An affirmative action or answer."
"Oh," Yao sipped some of his broth, keeping his eyes on the larger man over the wooden bowl.
For the rest of the meal, they sat in a companionable silence; Ivan still choosing choice bits of meat and giving it to Yao.
When they were finally done eating, Ivan held up his greasy hands up to the Chinese, "Where do I go to clean my hands?"
"Oh!" Yao exclaimed in excitement.
Ivan watched the little nation hurry over to a basin of water placed nearby. Yao held the sides of it as he carried it towards Ivan with a look of utter concentration on his face; he didn't want to spill the precious water.
"Here," Yao said, placing the basin by Ivan's knee carefully, "You wash your hands with this."
"Was this always here?" Ivan asked.
Yao nodded his head. "They always have that prepared for me so I can wash after I eat."
"How convenient," Ivan dipped his hands into the icy water, "Thank you for bringing it over here, Little Yao."
Caught up in getting rid of the oil, Ivan missed the way the child nation practically beamed at the praise. This was the first time someone thanked him. Yao found himself liking it. Maybe it won't be so bad to be nice to his foreigner after all.
Yao hugged his knees to his chest, watching Ivan still getting remnants of the food out of his nails. "Y-Yiwan," Yao called out shyly.
"Hm?"
Yao quickly buried his face against his knee, hiding his smile. He didn't know why, but he felt like giggling when the other answered him. "Nothing," Yao mumbled cheerfully through his knees.
"I thought you wanted to know about nations."
Yao snapped his head up. "You'll tell me?"
"Of course," Ivan wiped his hands dry with the provided cloth, "What do you want to know about first?"
"Tell me more about this 'presence' of nations," The child demanded with almost unbearable excitement.
"You see," Ivan began, laying down on the soft ground- his arms behind his head, "each nation has a distinct presence or feeling to them. It's uniquely theirs. There is no duplicate. That's how I could tell between you and other nations existing right now."
Yao crawled over to stare down at Ivan. "There are other people like me? How come I've never seen them?"
"Of course there are. Some of them are even older than you," Ivan smiled up at him, "You haven't seen them because they're too far away."
"You said we each have unique auras," Yao laid on his stomach beside the larger nation, staring at the side of his face intently, "then what do I feel like?"
Amused eyes the color of the setting sun tinged with violet gazed at him, "Dirt."
Yao scrunched his nose in disgust at the unflattering comparison.
Laughing, Ivan explained, "It's not the common dirt you find on the ground. I mean the kind of dirt that nourishes the land and provides bountiful harvest. The kind that smells of coming spring and dewy mornings." He glanced at the small boy from the corner of his eye, "That kind of dirt."
"Hmph," Yao snorted, pleased that he didn't feel mucky to the other possible nations.
Propping himself up on his elbows, Yao once again stared down at the resting man, "Then what do you feel like?"
"Do you really want to know?" Ivan asked.
"Yes."
A hand reached out to caress a soft, soft cheek. Ivan's voice dropped into a husky whisper, "Then…close your eyes."
A/N:
There is MORE for this chapter but ugh…I can't write anymore. I guess I'll be splitting this chapter into two.
Suggestions for future chapters gladly welcomed. Similar to "Knocked Up" this fic isn't set in stone either. If I can work it in, I'll write it and credit it to you. However, do keep in mind 1) No smut or romantic scenes 2) Other nations can't appear, sorry.
This will take me awhile to write subsequent chapters because I DO NOT have things planned out. For those that read my outline, you can easily tell I added things randomly. Until I reach chapters 7-8, I'll update sloooowly as I try to think up of things to string the scenes into a coherent story (there are 9 scenes right now- meaning yes, at least 9 chapters give or take).
I think for each chapter I write, I'll have to provide little tidbits of information
*Yiwan: Ivan will still be "Ivan" unless Yao directly calls him. That is when I'll switch it to 'Yiwan'.
*Tree Sap: I read in a magazine article once that there is a minority in Central China where the women never cut their hair since their birth. To keep their hair nice and black, the women wash their hair with tree sap from a specific tree (but the name of the tree escapes me right now). And what do you know? The tribe is called the Yao tribe XD
*Chopstick: According to wiki, the oldest chopsticks found was in the Shang Dynasty. I think it's safe to assume that during the Xia, chopsticks weren't invented yet? A little information for those who don't use chopsticks. Most Chinese cuisine have food cut into small portion so that it'll be easy to hold with chopsticks. Very unlike the Western cuisine where you have to use a knife to cut into bite size portion.
* Rice: According to wiki, the earliest rice was cultivated in India around 2000 BC. However, even if this DOES coincide with the Xia Dynasty (2205-1766 BC), rice is mainly grown in southern China where it's wet and humid. The Xia Dynasty is found in Northern China where grain is mostly grown. I don't know if rice was even cultivated in China then, but even if it was, I highly doubt it was traded with the Xia Dynasty. Something my Chinese teacher (from Beijing) told me- Northern China is mainly noodle based while Southern is mainly rice.
If I am wrong in anything, feel free to leave a nice correction in the reviews so that other readers will be informed as well as me. However…because this is AU…I can justify myself for being historically inaccurate 8D (but I would still like to know if I was wrong).