Evolution

Chapter 2

That night Ivan slept alone in his huge bed. Yao had left the palace the day before in order to meet with his Asian siblings. He hadn't seen them for a very long time, not counting the conference, so Russia understood his need of reunion, and didn't try to stop him, even if he felt lonely without his lover.
On the other hand Lithuania could see the advantages of the current situations. He wasn't afraid that he would enter the room at the inappropriate moment. It'd happened before that he came into the chamber in order to wake the couple up, and he found both of them naked or even in the middle of making out.
Fortunately, this time Russia was in his pyjamas, and sleeping heavily.

“I brought you your early morning tea.” Announced Lithuania and put the tray on the table. His voice didn't have any effect on Ivan who was still snoring. “Please, wake up, master Russia.” Toris got closer to the bed. “You told me to wake you up at nine.”

A loud yawn could be heard, and a few moments later Ivan opened his eyes.

“I had a hard night, I couldn't sleep.” He said.

“Did you had nightmares? Did you feel sick?” Asked Toris, who was recently getting more and more overprotective.

“Nah, I just don't like sleeping alone.”

The comment made Lithuania blush slightly.

“Are you going to eat the breakfast in the dining room or should I bring it here?”

“Of course in the dining room. I don't see why I should change my eating habits only because my partner has left for a few days.”

“Sorry, master, I shouldn't ask. Breakfast will be ready in a second.”

Lithuania had become a very good cook in a past few years, maybe because there was nobody else to do it. This morning he decided to serve his excellent pancakes.

“Do I have any arrangements for today?” Asked Ivan when he was eating his meal. “Great pancakes, by the way.”

“You have a meeting with Poland. Of course I can postpone it if you have other plans for today.” As always Toris tried to by as polite as he could.

“No, today is fine.” Said Russia whipping his mouth with a handkerchief.

“In that case if you don't need me here any more, I'll prepare the horses and the carriage.”

Because after the war fuel became very difficult to get, most people had to chose old means of transport. At first it was very troublesome, but later everyone got used to it. Fortunately Russia still had a few horses. In the golden age he had hundreds of them, but when the great hunger came most of his animals finished as a meal. Gladly the worst period was already behind them.
Lithuania drove a carriage while Russia sat beside him and observed the woods with fascination. He could still remember the times when almost everything was destroyed, and it was difficult to find even a smallest glimpse of greenery.

“It's amazing how quickly nature could restore itself.” He said with a smile.

“That's true, nature just can't stop surprising us, don't you think so, master?” Added Toris, also with a happy look on his face.

---

They stopped in front of Poland's house. Lithuania's got out of the carriage first, and thought it would be polite to offer his master some help, but Russia ignored his raised hand, and left the vehicle himself.
Toris came closer to the door and knocked. He didn't expect Poland to appreciate their visit, and it was more because of him, than because of Russia. After he'd rejected Feliks, and decided to stay with Ivan, their friendship started fading away.

“What do you want?” Asked Poland with a bored look on his face just after he opened the door.

“I have an appointment with you.” Explained Ivan and entered the house without even asking for permission. Lithuania followed him in silence.

“Seriously, do you take this guy everywhere with you, like some kind of a dog?” Feliks told Russia with a mockery.

Toris looked pretty hurt by a comment, but he tried to ignore it.

“Lets get to business.” Russia sat on the sofa. “I think there are some goods we could exchange.”

“Just make some things clear. Don't try using me again.” Poland said with confidence. “Like I totally won't let it happen. Your tricks won't work on me any more, jackass.”

“Feliks, please, don't say such things.” Toris was afraid that his master might get angry, and he really didn't want him to be like that. He already knew what he was capable of.

“Hold your tongue, little Poland. You don't want me to loose my temper.” Ivan said with a smile plastered on his face which really got on Feliks' nerves.

“I'm not scared of you. If you do anything to me, I'll inform the NUNC.”

“Please, don't! We were supposed to make a deal!” Toris tried to stop the argument before it got too serious.

“That's right, a deal.” spoked Russia, still smiling. “I heard you still have a lot of coal. I'd like some. It's going to be a cold winter. Actually recently all the winters are cold.”

“And what would I get in exchange?”

“I can offer you some food supplies. You've got quite skinny. Did you lost some weight?” Because Russia was smiling all the time while saying it, Feliks got even more furious. But he couldn't reject such an offer. He really didn't have much to eat.

“Fine.” He replied gloomily.

“Great, I'll send my people to help with transport. Come, Lithuania! Time to go home”

When they were leaving, Feliks approached Toris and whispered:

“Why the hell are you till with him? His a lunatic?”

But Lithuania didn't say anything and just followed his master.

---

It was still very early in the morning when China came back from his journey. He entered the palace carrying a big sunflower and spotted Lithuania cleaning the corridor. He was so busy rubbing the floor with a broomstick, that he didn't even noticed older nation coming by.

“Hello, Toris. Is Ivan in his chamber?” Asked China with a broad smile.

“Oh, hello, master China. I'm glad you're back. Master Russia is sleeping.” Answered Lithuania.

“That's great! I'll make him a surprise.”

Yao went towards the sleeping room humming happily some Asian tune. He got silent when he opened the door, and he sneaked into the chamber, trying not to wake up his lover. Ivan laid sprawled on his back, with one leg hanging out of the bed. China approached him slowly and tickled his face with sunflower's petals. Russia rubbed his nose and changed the position.

“Wake up, my angel. I brought you something.” Yao said sweetly, waiting for Ivan to open his eyes.

“Hmmm?” Russia purred and looked at his lover with surprise, then grabbed him by the back of his head and kissed him passionately. “You called me an angel?” Ivan couldn't help laughing.

“You're my big, strong, manly angel.” China sat on the bed and handed his lover a sunflower.

“Wow, I haven't seen them here for years.” Russia looked at the beautiful flower.

“It's not from here, but we can plant it's seeds, and grow our small sunflowers field. And then we'll take more seeds and make it bigger, and soon the whole palace will be surrounded by sunflowers.”

“Not a bad idea.” Ivan smiled, and stroked his lover's soft hair.

“By the way, where there any letters from NUNC?” Now Chin became more serious.

“No, not at all.”

Yao sighed with relief. He hoped England forgot about the whole case.

---

The reason Arthur didn't send any letters to Russia was that he wanted to lure his vigilance. Ivan had always been good at hiding things, but if he thought there's nothing to be afraid of, than it would be easier to find out what he's really up to. So England ignored the whole situation for some time, until he decided to pay Russia a visit without telling him about it.

He decided to go straight to the palace, but when he heard some shooting noises in the forest, he came to conclusion that's probably Ivan hunting. He knew that Russia liked it, and there was nobody else living around, so he decided to check. He smiled like a devil when he spotted Ivan in the woods, walking with his rifle.

“I've just heard some banging, and instantly thought about you.” Arthur chuckled, and approached Ivan, surprising him.

Russia was not only good at hiding his secrets, but also good at hiding his emotions, so he only smiled as usual, not revealing what he really thought when the unexpected guest appeared.

“You've come from such a far away country to see me? England, you're full of surprises.” Ivan said with sarcasm.

“I bet you're also full of surprises, Russia.”

“I've been hunting, wanna join me?”

In fact Ivan wanted to kill the intruder, but he had to act and pretend that everything was absolutely fine. He'd been doing it quite well so far, he couldn't screw it up.

“I just wanted to check on you. You know it's my duty as a member of NUNC.” England explained calmly when they were walking down the forest.

“Yeah, sure. Feel like at home.”

Suddenly Russia stopped and hid in the bushes. He showed England with a gesture to be silent. He spotted a beautiful deer, and he wouldn't let it leave alive. Ivan was a skilful hunter so he killed an animal with one pull on the trigger.

“What a nice shot, just between the eyes.” He said admiring his work.

“You like blood, don't you?” Commented Arthur.

“I like it's colour.” Russia took the dead animal on his back. “I suggest we go back to my palace.”

Of course he didn't want to invite England, but Arthur would come with him anyway, so it was better to make a good impression. He wished he could at least warn Yao. He knew what his reaction would be when he'd see him with a big deer on his back.

“I told you not to carry heavy... oh...” China went silent when he spotted England behind Russia's back.

“Toris, where are you?!” Shouted Ivan. Lithuania came as quickly as he could. “Take this and make us a feast. Our friend will probably stay for dinner.” He threw a deer onto the floor, and gave Arthur a false smile.

“What is the meaning of this?” Unfortunately China wasn't as calm as his lover. After England humiliated him, he couldn't pretend that he didn't mind having him around.

“Now now, don't make a fuss.” Russia embraced the smaller nation with his arm. “Lets sit down together. Toris will bring us some tea.”

“So now you drink tea, not vodka?” There was a spitefulness in England's voice.

“When I want to drink tea, I drink tea. When I want to drink vodka, I drink vodka. I don't see anything strange about that.” Ivan wouldn't let Arthur confuse him.

They sat in the dinning room, and even though everybody tried to stay calm and cheerful, the atmosphere was tense.

“You won't even remove your coat?” Asked England obviously suspicious.

“My dressing habits are none of your business.” Russia replied with confidence and thanked Lithuania for tea.

England decided that it's time to stop pretending that he just dropped by to say hello, and explain that there is a very important reason behind his visit.

“I'm sorry to tell you that, but I didn't come here to chat.” Arthur became more serious. “You're good at acting a nice cheerful guy, but I know you're hiding something, Russia. To tell you the truth I persuaded China to get himself examined, because I suspected he's expecting a child. But I made one mistake. Since he's more feminine I took it for granted that he would be the one who's pregnant.”

“Hey!” Yao shouted with indignation.

“But I've been thinking a lot.” England continued ignoring frowning China. “And you probably know what was my conclusion?”

“My conclusion is that you should leave this house.” Russia didn't smile any more, he looked at Arthur with pure hatred.

“Fine.” England stood up without any hesitation. “But remember, next month there's a world conference, and if you won't tell me the truth, I'll find it out myself.”

Arthur didn't even say goodbye. He just left the room, not waiting for anyone to show him the door. There was a moment of silence, when Ivan just sat, feeling the anger consuming him. He wanted to break something, or even better, kill somebody, but he didn't want to upset his lover, so he only stood up.

“Honey, what are you doing?” China asked worried.

“I need some rest.” Russia told him with an emotionless voice and headed to his sleeping chamber.

Hardly ever Yao saw his lover in such a state, so he followed him, worrying even more.

“At least take of your coat.” He helped Ivan to remove the garment and threw it on the nearby chair.

When Russia laid down on the bed, China stroked his face with his delicate fingers, and than put a hand on his lover's slightly rounded belly. He watched his partner staring blankly at the ceiling, he listened to his quickened breath. He started massaging his stomach soothingly, hoping it would help Ivan relax. Yao felt really strange, because it was usually Russia who calmed him down, not vice versa. Of course it didn't mean China wasn't worried at the moment. Far from it.

“What will happen when they find out that you're carrying my child?” Yao asked with fear. He didn't even wanted to think about the possibilities.

“Lets don't talk about it right now. I shouldn't get nervous, you know?” Russia gave his beloved a weak smile.

“I'm sorry, I'll ask Toris to prepare you some herbs.” China said with a soothing voice, although he was nervous himself.

“Come to me first.” Ivan grabbed him by his clothes to get him closer.

They kissed passionately and smiled, trying to ensure each other that everything will be fine. Yao stood up and observed his lover with hungry eyes. He couldn't explain it, but since Russia's pregnancy was getting visible, he found him even more attractive.
When he left the chamber, he decided he also needed some herbs.