Chapter Text
Matthew slumped against the dull concrete wall, the side of the restaurant, staring out into the depressing mostly-empty parking lot.
He never found himself appreciating the suburbs in the US, much more taken with the familiar scenery of mountains and large lakes he saw in Oregon and Minnesota, but he’d come to see Alfred, and had to stay in California with him because otherwise the trip wouldn’t be worth it.
He looked like a freak skulking weirdly around the strip mall, and he was generally just a fool.
Taking up a blind date that ALFRED had set up?
What was he thinking, really.. and of course there was the fact that he was getting stood up. (It had only been 5 minutes since their allotted 'date time' but Matthew thought all polite people knew to arrive about 10 minutes early. (He was Canadian and simply too polite.))
He bit his lip, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his nicer light blue hoodie he’d worn that day, he'd got it very, very, oversized unlike his usual slightly baggy clothes because he liked to secretly fantasise that it was given to him by a partner and that was the reason it fit him so badly.
After attempting to kick at a tiny piece of broken sidewalk and instead almost tripping himself up, Matthew thought tears might be welling in his eyes and decided that if his date didn't show up in the next 10 minutes he'd leave and just say it didn't work out.
"Matthew?"
The Canadian turned at the call of his name, accompanied by a strong slavic-sounding accent, eyes widening a little bit at the sight of the pale man that stood before him. He was so shockingly tall, mainly because at a proud 6 '2 Matthew didn't often find people that made him look short, especially out in the states.
The smile on the others face was also strangely threatening, not only because of his large intimidating appearance and the fact that standing in front of Matthew was casting a large shadow over him. He had a general aura of ‘don’t mess with me, if we got into a fight it'll be the last anyone sees of you’. Or maybe Matthew was just a bit timid.
The bouquet of sunflowers however he held delicately helped take away from his cimmerian image.
"You are Matthew, да?" Again the man slightly struggled with the 'th' sound.
"Mattie! I- yes, um, but feel free to call me Mattie, I'm quite used to it and.." He surveyed the man in front of him. "Uh... Well, I'm guessing you're not Natasha are you?"
There was always the off chance of eccentric parents. There was a hearty laugh at the implication of it, making Matthew shiver just a little.
"Hah, you're a funny person Matvey, nyet, I'm not Natasha. Though I do want to take you to dinner today, if you don't mind." Matthew felt both fear and embarrassment course through him when he caught a glimpse of the spark of something dark behind those sweet violet eyes of the other man. As well as something disgusting and warm he refused to name.
The Canadian paused for a moment too long, hands that had left the comforting warmth of his hoodie pockets wringing together in front of him.
"O-of course not! I'll tell you the truth but I was a bit hesitant to accept because I have a preference for men, so in fact this is probably for the better!" And the fact that it was someone Alfred was setting him up with, though now that didn't seem as bad.
"Wonderful, Matvey!" He placed the bouquet into Matthews arms, clasping his gloved hands together with a smile on his face. "Then, I, Ivan, will be your date tonight!"
The pair made their way round to the restaurants front, a surprisingly classy looking establishment for one on a strip mall, the menu in french that hadn’t been mistranslated and from the window view a nice and fancier atmosphere indoors.
Ivan led Matthew to the restaurant entrance, going so far as to hold open the door for him in a gentlemanlike fashion and pulling out his chair too. All the while Matthew studied him and crumbled inside as he realised just how attractive the other man was.
He was truly a very pale man, skin very clear and nearing white, but that wasn't to say he looked sickly or meek. Rather, he was quite bulky in all the places that worked to make him attractive, a healthy covering of muscle over his build, similar to Alfred’s, though a little more fat was distributed in the awkward areas too. He had a strong nose which was one of the first things that drew Matthew’s attention. Not one he’d describe as unpleasantly big, but striking and, well, attention-drawing. It was a rather handsome feature and got him to question just where exactly the accent he had was from because of the foreignness of it.
Ivan also had extremely pale blonde hair, almost white in colour that stood out a lot, especially in comparison to Matthew’s own dirty straw-coloured blonde hair. He’d have questioned whether the other was much older if not for his younger features. Thicker white-blonde eyebrows framed his eyes, with thick eyelashes of the same shade that encircled the alluring purple gems, a few shades lighter than Matthew’s which some described as purple but were more of a cornflower blue.
Maybe he was an albino? He’d have to ask. Ivan was like something out of Matthew’s dreams, but with a colour pallette he could never come up with.
He snapped back to attention when Ivan sat down, having gotten a waiter to place the sunflowers in a vase between them on the table.
"Th-Thank you for the flowers, by the way! They're lovely.." Matthew cursed inwardly at his awkwardness.
"Of course, what man would I be if I didn't bring flowers? I obviously didn’t know what kind you liked so I just bring my favourite. I'm glad to see how much they suit you, though." Yikes, way to make him feel like trash for not having thought to bring some for 'Natasha'.
"You didn't mention, how exactly did it end up that you came here tonight, eh? Not that I'm complaining- sorry, You look great!- I mean you seem gre- I- sorry.." He trailed off in nervous laughter, looking away. So damn embarrassing! He sounded like a stereotype eh, sore-y, really Matthew?
"Ahh, Natalya is my sister, да? I would never let her go on the date with someone that scum like Alfred had chose." He kept that sweet expression on his face as he said so, giving the other man full body shivers.
"Ah.. Is that so..."
"And you? You would go on a date set up by that oaf?" Matthew swallowed back the saliva in his mouth, accidentally making eye contact with a man sitting behind Ivan and dragging his eyes back to the one in front of him as he answered.
"Well, uhh, he's actually my brother, so.." The beaming smile never left Ivan, instead a now-ungloved hand that was surprisingly cool in the warmth of the cozy restaurant coming to pat Matthew’s own.
"There, there, Matvey, we can't very well pick our own blood, it's alright. I can’t apologise for offence, but I will sympathise."
Matthew couldn't help bursting into a fit of giggles at that, bringing a hand to cover his mouth.
"Sorry, just how you said so, so-" a laugh, "- seriously, oh maple." He snorted, wiping away a tear and looking back to the smiling Ivan.
"I was only trying to comfort you, I'm sure it must be hard having to spend time with him in childhood years."
Matthew smiled, unconsciously moving to hold Ivan's hand over the table, "You're not wrong about that, not at all.”
From there their talking continued quite pleasantly, with Ivan despite being blunt at times actually quite endearingly charming, and Matthew as always ever so polite and agreeable which seemed to rub the other man the right way.
Strangely enough, even though they knew absolutely nothing about each other, conversation was able to flow between the two quite freely.
It turned out that both had similar interests in many different subjects at relatively the same intensity. They spoke on sports, both men having played hockey before and Matthew still in a local team, he even ended up showing a short video of one of his recent matches and received extensive praise from the Russian that got him embarrassed. Then, about food, where Ivan mentioned Russian dishes he was fond of, most Matthew hadn’t heard of but was promised to be exposed to if they had a second date. The Canadian in turn expressed his love for all things maple, and went onto a tangent about the ecological benefits of the trees as well as the best and worst Maple syrup brands in the states.
It wasn't to say there weren't a few jokes that didn't hit perfectly or that Matthew didn't stumble through his words once and again but overall the experience was a pleasant one, that was soon accompanied with drinks.
Matthew got himself a coffee with Maple syrup inside, which Ivan commented on as 'cute', though he opted for 'anything you have that wasn't made in this country' and ended up with a random fizzy drink he checked the label of to assure was 'made in Mexico'.
The topic of Alfred was brought up eventually, halfway into the meal, as he was ultimately the one who’d brought them together, and how exactly Ivan knew him surfaced.
Ivan looked off to the side, a small smile on his lips that Matthew was learning was actually his neutral, or agitated expression.
“He was… an asshole.”
Matthew wanted to feel some sort of offence on his brother's behalf, wished his eyes even widened the slightest bit, but this reaction came from almost every person Alfred met that wasn’t from the USA. He could only hold back on laughter and think back to when his friends had all come up to him after the weekend he’d stayed over and asked for him to never invite his little brother around again. He coughed into his fist to mask the choking laughter in his throat.
“Ah, sorry, continue..” he sniffed, going to take a bite of his poutine as Ivan began to go on.
“Haha, sorry but really that is what first comes to my mind. I already hated having to go to this capitalist, godforsaken country for university, and he was every stereotypical belief I was having jammed into an annoying little man. When I first met him he asked what I had used to colour my hair like I had also bleached it such a garish yellow, made fun of my voice and told me he was “awesome” in less than five minutes. I was desperately wanting to crush him slowly and painfully, and tried to. The bastard is good at sports, and to surprise school as well, an even match. In the end… it calmed? I will never say he is a friend, he is number one on my list” -which when expanded on later, was apparently a list of those who’ve crossed him or need to try harder to be his friend- ”and Sofia calls our relationship ‘tumultuous’. I honestly think Natasha agreed to the ‘date’ to spite me, she’s greatly troublesome.”
Matthew hummed, understanding easily what it was like to feel so greatly annoyed with Alfred, brotherly love he really did hold constantly overshadowed by inferiority and genuine rage at the stupidity of the American.
After they had finished their respective choice of meals, and expended every topic suitable for a first date and some not, they both sat, not wanting to leave.
"Ivan, I've.. had a really good time." Matthew blushed a little, avoiding direct eye contact.
Ivan did not share the problem, looking directly into his eyes as he answered, "And I the same, you are shockingly lovely company and I wonder now how Alfred turned out so vastly different from his polite brother when you two grew up together. Matvey, let me walk you home, yes?"
Matthew smiled, pushing his glasses up, and flagging down a waiter to get them the bill and perhaps rewrap the sunflowers for him to take way to the flat he was staying in, quieter words exchanged.
Every miniscule interaction they’d had was replaying in his mind, now that he wasn’t actively speaking with Ivan. Ugh, why did he say half of that? ‘A second date’, ‘let’s play hockey’, ‘I’ll cook for you’, get your head out the clouds! The man was obviously just humouring you. Matthew was only snapped out of his inner monologuing at the loud call of his name, Ivan’s concerned frown directed towards him.
And now he’d ignored him, was there a single thing he could do right?!
“Sorry! Sorry, I was just..” He met Ivan’s eyes and flinched at the deep invasive stare he was met with “...thinking.” Matthew finished lamely, looking down at his feet as they walked.
“Are you not happy? I was brought great pleasure by meeting you, and thought if I didn’t leave with another date I might at least have a friend after today.”
The Russians' eyes bored into him, stopping on the pavement so that Matthew couldn’t physically run away from the conversation. Their hands were still intertwined, Ivan squeezing Matthew’s.
“I..”
He bit his lip, anxiety rushing forward all at once at the lack of escape routes or ways to subvert the conversation and not have to open up about his insecurities.
It was so embarrassing!
Matthew felt his cheeks get hot, his throat close up a little- and damn it all! He was crying on the street, the hand he was able to pull away due to Ivan’s shock coming to cover his face.
“Maple..” He cursed quietly into his hands, swallowing down sobs and breathing deeply until he could speak without his voice shaking. Large hands curled around his waist and before he could try to explain himself Matthew was pulled into Ivan’s chest.
“I’m sorry, you must have been uncomfortable Matthew, I shouldn’t have made you go on this date with me, I saw you had your reservations.” As if trying to distance himself and put up a boundary for Matthew’s comfort he called him by his full name, still slurring a little on the ‘th’ making it all the more endearing.
He suddenly pulled back, a gloved hand wrapping his scarf a bit tighter around his neck. “Ah, you probably don’t want my touch, you..” He seemed unsure of himself for the first time, having been so confident and blunt with his words and expressing what he wanted during the entire dinner.
Matthew couldn’t help himself, surging right up to Ivan and closing his arms tightly around him.
“I’m sorry, so, so, sorry! I honestly don’t know why I’m crying, I really did enjoy our date, and you’re so nice too! I- I think I was just worried you didn’t feel the same.. Oh maple leaf, why-” A hand wiped uselessly at his damp face and he laughed a little. “Ivan, if you actually like me in that way, you- you know and you want to do this again I’d love that.”
A warm smile found it’s way to Matthew’s lips, and Ivan found something equally warm bubble up inside him. Being around him felt like sitting on a stool in the kitchen, smelling caramelising sugar and soft spices in a dessert from the oven and being the one who got to get first dibs when they were freshly taken out. Everything about the Canadian radiated warmth and kindness, a kind of genuine homeliness that couldn’t be replicated. Ivan wanted to sink his teeth into him and never let go.
“This.. might be going too fast, but..”
Ivan watched with hungry eyes as Matthew’s chest rose and fell, his breathing quite jumpy from the crying and now bashfulness. His cheeks were tear-stained and entire appearance ruffled, just how much more attractive that made him to Ivan was probably concerning.
“I-”
Louder than he’d probably like, face almost completely red, Matthew clenched his fists by his sides and with closed eyes finally asked what he’d been trying to.
“C-Can I kiss you?”
Ivan didn’t bother with answering, instead leaning in and sealing their lips together with a kiss, delighting in how Matthew gasped horribly into it before trying to awkwardly reciprocate. It meant he likely had very little experience, and would mean he would get to show him the pleasures of romance and hopefully have it so that he wouldn’t long for another. They pulled away after a few seconds, and he took all the chance to soak in the flustered expression on Matthew’s face. Somehow hair was sticking to the sides of his face with sweat and his entire face a red colour.
“Come on, let’s get you home, да?”
Matthew nodded and grabbed at Ivan's hand, happy, of course, he was the most content he’d been in a while, but staying quiet as they walked down the lamplit streets together.