Chapter 21: New World

Word Count: 6,936

Sorry it's so late. Please enjoy.

Ivan opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he was aware of was that he was standing when he had been laying down a moment ago. The next thing he noticed was it was dark, not pitch black, but a sort of dusk that was comforting and it was a warm evening. There was grass under his feet and trees in the distance, sunset showing beyond the tops.

"Hello." Ivan blinked at the sound, he didn't sense anything, but he didn't feel threatened either. He turned to look at a small little girl looking up at him. He blinked at her. She didn't seem like a girl to him, she looked like one in every sense as she regarded him but it just didn't seem to fit. He was here to do something important too, he just knew it.

"Hello little one. What are you doing here?" Ivan smiled down at her.

"This is where your most comfortable so we can talk." She giggled, bringing a hand to her mouth, not to stop the sound but almost as a nervous habit. She smiled up at him, "You aren't suppose to be here though. Why are you here?"

Ivan blinked before remembering that he was in death's domain, perhaps this was who the girl was. "I've come to get somebody back."

The small child pouted up at him. "No, you can't! That's not allowed!"

He couldn't help but smile at the childish nature, even if he knew it was an act. "I need him back. I know it is against many laws of nature, but I need him."

She shook his head. "Ivan, right?" Ivan blinked in confusion at her. "I met you once before. But you weren't ready for death then either."

"You are the red thing?"

She chuckled, but nodded then tilted her head at him. "You want somebody? Why?"

"I love him."

"Many love. Not all come looking for them after they have gone. Why have you?"

"Please, I need him." Ivan pleaded again. "I do not know what I would do without him."

She tilted her head. "You used the right spell... what soul are you looking for?"

"His name is Alfred."

She blinked at him. "This soul is familiar to me." Closing her eyes she let a sigh in and out before opening them again to look at Ivan. "Usually I give those looking a soul a test to see if you can find the one they are looking for. But you two are destined so there is no point in that."

Ivan blinked in confusion. "So... I can have him?"

She shook her head. "No. This soul has already moved on and there is no power in the world that can retrieve it."

"No, please. There has to be something."

Putting a finger to her lips the child looked at him as if saying that something was a secret. "You died to get here so I will tell you something. I do not give information of what can happen out for free, but you I can tell."

Ivan worried at his lip awhile before looking at the small child. He didn't bother asking what the price would be, he didn't care. "How can I see Alfred again?"

"The obvious answer would be for you to die yourself."

"I may not see him then though."

Death or whatever it was nodded. "You play a role yet in his life and in the world. It would be foolish to keep you for myself." Ivan tilted his head at that, wondering at the meaning. "This Alfred is not fully dead. He is being reincarnated. That takes time."

Ivan's breath caught. "Alfred will come back on his own?"

"I cannot promise any ending to you that you may seek, but he will come back. Though you may not survive to see him again."

"How can I see him again? Please, tell me." Faint whispers rolled around the area, sudden wind carrying their voices and the girl in front of him flickered, a certain darkness coming. "Please, if you can tell me so much then tell me how I may be able to see him again. Especially if I am suppose to play a role yet in his life!"

"Your journey is your own. But to see him, the way is through winter. That is more then enough. Goodbye, I will see you again, next time it will be the last." The words almost came as a warning as the entire image faded into nothing.

"What was the price?"

"All things in time child."

Ivan opened his eyes slowly, sitting up groggily from death. Natalia was still there of course. "Well?" She inquired.

Ivan looked at her, rubbing his scared neck as he sat up fully. He sighed, looking up at the ceiling, letting his hand fall. "I talked to something... I do not know what name to put to it, death, or just a guardian of dead souls."

"And?"

Looking at his sister Ivan held her gaze a moment before looking down, grief once more washing through him. "It said I could not have Alfred back... That there was no way to bring him back at all because he has already... moved on." But there was still hope, still he had to figure out what to do. The way was through winter.

"I see." Natalia said shortly, not putting much emotion behind the words.

"There is one last thing I want you to do for me." Ivan looked up, he had an idea of what might work.

"Anything." Natalia agreed instantly.

"I want you to tell sister that I love her. I love you both very dearly. I want you to tell my farewell to Francis as well."

She stiffened, probably thinking he spoke of suicide. If this didn't work then he might just die, so he decided not to disprove the thoughts as she started protesting. But his mind was already made up.

It was the second time Ivan had spoken to Winter willingly. He was once more bleeding into the ground as the result. Coughing out the dark liquid, he spat it out over where he was kneeling. "I am not just asking as a favor! You may do whatever you want to me beforehand." The price was always his pain it seemed. There was a searing burn across his shoulder blades, so cold he could feel his skin crack and split upon the sudden temperature change.

Even with his pain tolerance, having his muscles split open in such a way brought a scream out of his mouth. He tightened his hands into the snow beneath his hands, gritting his teeth as he rode out the flesh form of pain. Finally his jaw slackened enough to let through labored breath to continue his plea. "You can do anything you wish, just give me this. I know it seems like I am asking a lot lately, but this is the only way."

He felt the wound on his back freezing, ice forming even inside of it. He had the tighten his jaws at the feeling of it. Ice was painful until one was practically on the verge of death. Especially at such impossibly low temperatures that could freeze a demon's skin. A sudden change, almost like a difference in the wind happened for only a second before it was gone, but Ivan let out a quiet sigh of relief. The deal was accepted.

Winter would probably torture him for the length of two, maybe three days. But after Ivan was sure the other would keep his promise and freeze Ivan in ice that would not melt and that no mortal would be able to dig him out of, magic or not, only to be broken when he could be with Alfred. It shouldn't kill him, he'd frozen to death before at the hands of winter and always recovered before. He hoped that this time would be no different.

"Boo." Alfred nearly jumped straight out of his skin at the simple word uttered behind him.

He glared around at the boy. "Don't do that!" He hissed through clenched teeth as the other cracked up in somewhat quiet laughter.

"I can't believe that scared you!"

"It didn't! You startled the hell out of me, have you forgotten where we are?"

"No need to get skittish. Everybody has said your terrified of ghosts." Alfred's scowl darkened at the mention, he shook his head in denial but didn't get to give a verbal response before Elizabeth decided to join in.

"What are you two on about?"

"Alfred's afraid of ghosts, and he was staring at the creepy ice dude awhile. You should have seen how high he jumped when I said boo!" Peter snickered.

"I knew we should have left you behind." Alfred snapped at him.

"No! I'll be good at this, just you watch!"

"Alfred, Peter has proven that he can handle these types of tasks." Elizabeth stated, glancing over at the thing Peter was talking about. "But it is not wrong to feel off about that thing. There are a lot of legends around it. It's said that the man's been trapped in the ice since before this city was built here. They couldn't even move it, they could only build around it. Nothing can crack it open."

"I've heard the stories." Alfred rolled his eyes. "Everybody who's been around a campfire's heard one version or another."

"The way I hear it, it's a rogue demon who sometimes sends out an illusion of himself to murder people who dare try and wake him."

"L-Like a ghost?" Alfred stiffened, eyes going wide.

Elizabeth nodded solemnly. "It's said that on the second week of August, on a Wednesday night he'll break free for the night, dripping with blood and face as pale as death itself as he tries to find who imprisoned him, finding any who disturbed him and slaughtering them in their beds."

"B-But that's tonight!" Suddenly there was the sound of something dropping and Alfred let out a scream before bolting towards the nearest corner. Only when he'd gotten there did he notice Peter had just dropped his flashlight and they were both laughing loudly, voices echoing down the halls. Alfred bared his teeth, ears flattening. "Not. Funny."

"Sorry Alfred, but you're just way too much fun to tease." Elizabeth smiled at him.

"You're fur's still on end!" Peter was still laughing.

Alfred did his best to flatten it. "I hate you both so much sometimes." He muttered, running his hand along his tail to try and sooth the fur, but he was on edge now, more so then before.

"No you don't. But it is kind of creepy, I'll give you that. Tall powerful demon sleeping peacefully in ice... it's enough to make any intelligent person avoid this place." Alfred gave Elizabeth a funny look before smirking. It was one of the museums greatest attractions. "Come on slackers, we've got a job to do!"

"Finally." Alfred nearly groaned out before they started their way were they were going, Alfred glancing nervously back at the body encased completely in ice as if it might come to life and come after them like something out of a horror movie. It didn't move and Alfred shoved the thought to the back of his head, trying to comfort himself and assure himself that as long as he didn't go near the thing he wouldn't be disturbing it and it wouldn't kill him.

He still huddled a bit closer to Elizabeth as they walked down towards a completely different wing. "Peter, go and secure our escape." Peter saluted before rushing back towards where they had just come. Alfred rolled his eyes, smiling a bit. The other had probably almost forgotten about that if he had started walking with them.

"So we're not even going to try disengaging the alarms?" Alfred questioned.

"I'll try, but if I can't, I'll just have to grab it."

Alfred nodded in understanding, looking around at the pictures and different objects. He'd never been to a museum, he wondered what it looked like in the day time, during the night it had a haunting feeling to it. Or perhaps that was just the thought of ghosts making him jumpy. This was a perfect place for them it seemed.

"Alright, show time." Alfred looked forward, stopping in the hallway as Elizabeth walked into the circular room. There were several different objects all on display in the room, Elizabeth going to a control panel along the wall. Alfred sighed, leaning against one of the walls, looking down the hallway. This was always the most boring part of it.

It could take a few minutes, it could take a few hours, but Alfred wasn't suppose to go anywhere. So naturally he was bored out of his mind within a minute just with the knowledge of how long it could take. It was about twenty minutes later when alarms started going off. Well, so much for doing it quietly.

Alfred looked over when he heard glass shattering, Elizabeth using her cast iron skillet as per usual - where she kept that was still a mystery. What was trouble was when small searing lasers probably as hot as the sun's fire itself activated over the entrance into the room. "Shit, Lizzy!" Alfred growled, already knowing she was screwed beyond all belief.

She tossed him the item through the lasers, taking care not to touch them. It went through the security net unharmed, it wouldn't harm any of the museums artifacts of course. He caught it, fumbling with it before looking back at her. "Alfred, run."

"We'll get you out of prison, I promise!"

"Just get out of here you idiot!"

He nodded, turning around and sprinting away. Already the guards were coming to life at the intrusion. While they ran souly on magic they were really stupid and easy to get around. But their purpose was to slow anybody down until the human cops came.

The human's response time was under a minute. Alfred barely had time to dodge the slow moving hulking machines, stuffing the item he'd helped take into a bag he had with him. A few of the guards tried to take a swing at him even, but he was able to avoid them. No doubt they would do damage to him if they caught him, more reason not to get caught.

He was approaching the main area of the museum where Peter better have already gone, leaping up onto one of the giant marble arms that tried swinging at him. The surface was slick and hard to stand on, but he wasn't planning on idling on something that was moving and could crush his ribs in.

Jumping off over it to to get around it, he knew that they would take some time to turn around. He quickly tugged his shirt off, stuffing it into the bag with the item as he came into the main area. However, a bright light started shining into the front windows and doors.

Sprinting, he slammed his back against something he hoped would prevent him from being seen easily. Coming to a complete stop just as he heard the doors fling open. Alfred licked his lips, scarcely breathing even as his lungs begged for oxygen. Holding the bag to his stomach he didn't move an inch as he saw flashlights searching all around him.

He just needed to keep his cool. Sure, maybe hiding behind something a bit more solid would have been nice, but ice distorted images and he doubted they could see him. Leaning his head back against the cool surface, it actually felt nice against his heated skin, though it came as a bit of a shock to his body.

After a few moments the humans started walking in, expanding their search. Alfred was just glad the museum defenses stopped as soon as human police entered, it was mostly so they wouldn't accidentally attack the cops, but Alfred still praised his lucky stars because if not they would still be able to see him.

Holding his breath in, about three guards moved past him, none of them looking his way. Thanking every god known to man, he waited until they were out of sight before he slowly, as to not draw any sort of attention to himself, but quick enough to be fucking moving, he pulled off his loose fitting slacks and pushed them into the bag, wrapping the cord around his neck.

Taking a slow, steady breath he supposed it was now or never. He dived towards the open vent that he knew would lead to freedom. He heard somebody shout as he shifted. He even heard shots, but the darkness enveloped him as he fell - not too gracefully - down the vent.

He found himself on the street, but there was no time to even gather his barrings, the cops would be on him in a second. The bag was now about twice his size, but he picked it up between his teeth, running to the already opened man hole and jumping inside. It was quiet the jolting landing as he fell onto stone, but he got up, shifting back into the form he was almost always in to run faster.

Smirking he already knew he was out and home free.

Ivan felt something. He couldn't tell what it was exactly, but he felt like if he reached out far enough he might be able to grab hold of it and discover what it was. He tried too, but it was gone in a moment. It had been warmth and fear, but it was gone before he realized that. Everything was slow and cold, nothing made sense, everything was confusing and disoriented. "Time to wake up." Ivan tried to remember the voice, it sent a jolt through him but he couldn't remember before his attention was drawn towards something else. Noise. Then there was a bit of startling pain, not much, it was mostly the shock of it that was noticeable. Ivan blinked his eyes open painfully, his entire body was cold, so very cold he was afraid that moving anything would break part of his body clean off.

That didn't stop him from moving his arms sluggishly up above his hand to feel what he had fallen onto. He had a feeling it was probably cool, but it felt warm against his cheek. Ivan took a shaky breath, pushing up against the ground. Ivan was able to push himself up to his knees, looking around the dark surroundings. Where... was he? His mind was still slowed, but he was pretty sure he had not been frozen in any sort of building. He remembered he'd been deep, deep in the forest so that Natalia or Francis couldn't try searching for him. How long had he been out? It only felt like a few minutes if that, though his body was clearly damaged in what would have taken hours of freezing to do and at least a day to recover this much.

Taking a deep breath, he looked around. There was a bed behind him that he assumed he had been on, but fallen off of. Sitting on his knees he rubbed the back of his head, feeling his still muscles protesting against the movement, but it also felt nice. At least he wasn't wet. Icy water was unpleasant. A loud creek sounded and Ivan's attention was drawn towards light that suddenly filtered in. A light overhead flickered on and Ivan blinked, eyes slowly adjusting to the onslaught of light. But he saw two humans standing there. Moving slowly, he stood up as well, though a bit more shakily then he would have liked. The female walked up to him, "Be careful, you will probably still be disoriented from waking up."

It took a moment for Ivan to realize she was speaking a language he didn't recognize. Sometimes he was glad he was a demon and didn't have to worry about language barriers. "What happened?" He muttered, rubbing his head where a large headache seemed to come on from when the lights had flickered on.

"We were hoping you would tell us, but here, take this first." She handed him a small little thing that had some little capsules in it as well as a glass of water.

"What is it?"

"Just some medicine to make you feel better." Ivan looked at her, frowning and tilting his head. He couldn't sense any fear coming from her, in fact her mind was completely closed off to him. This wasn't the first time it happened, and he had long since learned what it meant. He narrowed his eyes, concentration on the man still by the door, who seemed to be waiting as well. Nothing. When he concentrated, he couldn't feel anything for a very long distance. He ignored what the woman was trying to hand him.

"Where am I?" He growled out. He couldn't really do anything if they didn't fear him, he could use his physical strength, but that never got him too far.

"Sir please, we'll explain everything we know." The woman said, once again offering what was in her hands. Ivan didn't move, regarding her coldly, watching as she shuddered, taking a step back with a look of fear on her face. A good actress, no fear came from her.

"You would not recognize it." The man spoke, walking up to him. Ivan focused his attention to him with the same expression. He was powerless against these people, he knew, and that gave them some advantage. "What is your name?"

"That is of little importance." Ivan looked between the two, "Why am I here?"

"Do you remember anything?"

Ivan glared at the man, but his memories seemed to be awakened at the question. His breath caught and he stood straighter, "I have to find somebody." That's right, the only reason he would be woken was if Alfred was somewhere in the world now.

"Yes, well... we'll help you find whoever you're looking for." Ivan smiled at the man, not believing him at all. He didn't know what they were thinking so he couldn't trust them. "Do you remember waking up?"

"I woke up here?"

"In the museum." Museum? Ivan frowned, not understanding. What museum?

"I was in a forest."

"A forest? Well I suppose that is possible. But I meant from the ice."

Oh, so this human knew he had been in ice. "No, I do not remember what woke me. But I have an idea and I must be going." Ivan said shortly.

"Wait, sir-" The woman said, Ivan glared at him impatiently, "I-If you could just wait here for us to explain... we have technology so we could find whoever you're looking for."

What the hell was technology? Ivan pursed his lips together before nodding, "I will only wait so long."

"Alright, we'll be back soon to explain some things to you." The male said this time before motioning the woman out. She hesitated before putting the 'medicine' and water on a small table by the foot of the bed before hurrying out after the male who seemed to be her superior. Watching the door close, Ivan hesitated as he looked around the bare room before walking over to the door, he still had a searing headache, something he was unused to, but he had to find out what these humans wanted of him. He was glad that demons were blessed with many natural abilities, one of which being excellent hearing when they concentrated.

Ignoring the headache once more, Ivan pressed his ear to the door, closing his eyes.

"Sir... what do we do?" Her voice was faded, obviously whispering.

"I did not expect him to wake up so soon... we have to find whoever he's attached to. We can't let this get out. If it's one of the shifters we'll have to put it down before the press gets wind of this." Ivan's hands curled into fists, feeling a sick smile tug at his lips. It was clear they were talking about him and 'who he was looking for' was Alfred. They didn't know who it was, but that didn't matter. They knew he was a shifter and that was close enough. He felt a certain rage fill him and his headache faded quickly. This was not something he could tolerate. Alfred would not die again, not while he was alive.

Leaning back to stand fully, Ivan waited until the door opened, their conversation coming to an end with the man telling the woman to get on it. But as soon as the human man opened the door Ivan gripped him by the throat. The man stared up at him, fear coursing through into Ivan and this time he had access to the man's mind. It was strange, but he wasn't going to question it. Ivan smirked at the man, "Oh? You plan to kill him? Not while I am breathing." Ivan snarled. He loosened his grip, tilting his head. He felt a fear... that he would find somebody. Ivan snickered, what a strange fear. Ivan pulled it into reality as he released the man.

Suddenly he wasn't in the white room anymore. He was on some sort of street, tall, large buildings surrounding him and more people then he had seen in one place walking many different ways. It was a lot to take in, though what was stranger was that he couldn't feel fear from anybody. Was everybody a monster here? And surely the man had feared Ivan finding somebody for a reason, he wasn't sure who because the man himself hadn't known, but he had feared it almost as much as he valued his life, so it was clearly important enough- Somebody ran into him. Ivan stumbled back a bit, realizing that he had been lost in thought as well as all the sounds, sights and smells. It was no wonder he wasn't paying attention enough to look up, and with so many people walking around it wasn't surprising.

Ivan regained balanced, watching as the other person did the same, wearing some sort of jacket that had a loose hood covering them, "Oh man sorry about that, I guess I wasn't looking where I was going." Ivan stiffened at the voice, scarcely breathing as the other person looked up. Bright blue eyes rimmed with black, blond hair with a little stubborn piece sticking up. The facial structure and looks were impossible to misplace.

"Alfred." However, blue eyes widened in sudden horror and Alfred's mouth opened and closed several times, blood draining from his face. Ivan couldn't sense anything, but he didn't need to to tell Alfred was terrified. And of him. Ivan felt despair and wondered why Alfred would ever fear him in a dozen lifetimes. Looking down at himself for a moment, Ivan noticed he was covered in blood... oh... well then... when had that happened? Ivan looked up when he heard what sounded like a scream that hadn't quiet gotten out of Alfred's throat, instead sounding like a squeak of fear. Ivan opened his mouth to speak, but the blond had turned and was running faster then Ivan had thought possible for a shifter in the other direction. Ivan noticed he was attracting a lot of stares, but that made sense. It didn't matter either. "Alfred!" Ivan ran after him. Now he had the blond in sight he couldn't just leave him at that.

Still, his heart swelled, even if Alfred was running away from him, darting into an alley as Ivan followed. The blond was obviously very full of life. He dared to think this some sort of dream, but no, the world wasn't that cruel and this was more realistic then any dream he'd had. The chase went on awhile, and he was tiring, he wasn't one for running. Ivan feared he would lose Alfred if he slowed, but then a miraculous thing happened - Alfred hit a dead end. The blond didn't seem to believe it as he tried to jump over the high wall that blocked his way, but to no avail. Ivan sighed as he slowed down, glad for the break. Alfred whirled around to look at him, backed into the wall and sinking down, tears in his eyes on the brim of spilling over. Ivan felt so terrible that Alfred looked so scared - and worse, that he was the cause of such a look. Still, it didn't stop him from continuing to walk towards the other.

Alfred sank down slowly, trembling terribly as Ivan got closer, "P-Please don't kill me. I'll put it back! I swear, I'll put it back! You can have it, but please don't kill me."

"I am not going to kill you." Alfred didn't look convinced, but he seemed to look a bit better. Ivan walked up to the other, smiling at the blond before suddenly wrapping his arms around the others waist. He heard Alfred let out a terrified sound, but paid it no mind as he buried his head into Alfred's shoulder, tightening his grip around the others waist as he nuzzled his nose into the other, breathing deeply. "You are alive... you're really here." He felt Alfred was still trembling, but the other wasn't trying to push him away or anything. Pulling back a little, Ivan smiled and placed quick kisses all over Alfred's face, watching in amusement as the dread melted away into confusion, the other was still shaking, but it was clear it was more from the adrenaline then the fear at this point.

"W-What the hell?"

Ivan pulled back more to smile at the other. "I told you, I am not going to kill you. I will wait for you to calm down a little." Ivan smiled, grabbing the others hand and putting it on his own cheek, sighing at the touch as we watched Alfred trying to work through this.

"Y-You're not a ghost?"

"A ghost? Is this what that was about? Of course not."

Alfred took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and seeming to relax further. Hm, Ivan hadn't known that Alfred was scared of phantoms. He had never tried to invade the others mind after all. "Okay... okay... so then you're the- God damn it! Stop kissing my hand you creep!" Alfred snapped, pulling his hand back and stepping away. Ivan pursed his lips together, hurt.

"But I want to hold you longer." Hm... Probably not a good idea to tell Alfred that he had known the blond's past self. If the other even believed him, it was such a strange thought even to Ivan. But he was just so happy that Alfred was alive again!

"No! Just... No!"

Ivan smiled, stepping forward and cupping the others cheeks, happy about the red flush he got this time. He ran his thumb along the dark ring under Alfred's eyes. "You have not been sleeping well."

"Would you just stop!" Alfred squirmed his way away from Ivan's touch again, rubbing his cheeks. "You are one hell of a creeper, man. Don't just touch people!"

"I will not touch anybody else. But I suppose you do not know me... I will wait a little I suppose..." But it felt painful not to hold Alfred so soon after losing him, to just feel him breathing against Ivan. "It is just... I..." what? Missed him? That probably wouldn't come across very well.

"Jeez, don't- don't fucking cry." Ivan blinked, looking up and realizing how blurred his vision was. He rubbed his eyes, feeling even worse that he was actually crying. He should be happy that Alfred was back, and he was. So very happy. "And you're still smiling too." Alfred sighed, rubbing his forehead like it was a problem.

"I am sorry. I am just so happy that I found you."

"See, saying things like that isn't helping! Look why don't you just tell me where- actually, why are you covered in blood?" Ivan let out a chocked laugh, taking a deep breath to calm all the powerful emotions Alfred was bringing out of him. The blond was always easily distracted by such things.

"I think it is my own, I have had not had time to properly heal so-"

"You're hurt? Holy shit man, are you serious?" Ivan blinked as Alfred came towards him, reaching out a hand as if to touch Ivan but drawing the hand back at the last second, looking up at Ivan, "Why didn't you say so? Look, we can go get you to the hospital, this is no time to be chasing strangers like a creep!"

"Always such a kind soul." Ivan smiled at the other. "I am fine. Most the damage has healed. Besides, people are trying to kill you now I think so hospital would be a bad idea."

"Um... what? What people?" Alfred looked on edge and distrusting once again.

"This man... I woke up and said I was looking for somebody and he spoke about putting you down."

"What?" Alfred shouted. Ivan winced at how loud it was. And now Alfred was angry. "What? What the fuck did you do?"

"Me? I just said I needed to find somebody and-"

"Oh never mind! Fuck you man, you're on your own!" Alfred snapped, walking around Ivan and starting away. Panicking, he quickly followed Alfred, wrapping his arms around the others waist and pulling him to a stop. The blond sighed heavily in exasperation. "I mean it. Leave. You can't come with me."

"I'm sorry if I did something. Believe me, I would do anything to prevent your death. Just... don't leave me." Not again. Not forever. Not willingly.

"Look... you should go and find whatever human you're connected to."

"I am connected to you. Nobody else." Ivan shook his head, burying his head in the others shoulders, "I am not letting you go." Not when he had a choice.

Alfred turned his head and Ivan slowly lifted his eyes up to look at the other. "You're him right? That demon hiding in the ice?"

"Ah... I did not hide... But yes, I was in ice." Alfred knew about that too?

The blond sighed again, looking away and reached his hand past his hood to rub the back of his neck. "This is so messed up, but... alright. You can come with me."

Ivan smiled, kissing the others cheek. Alfred flailed his arms and pushed him off. Ivan stepped back, "No more of that though! And don't... do anything!"

"Yes! Now we must hide, people will be looking to kill you."

"Yeah. Thanks for that. Come on then, I've got a place we can stay." Ivan smiled, following Alfred as he walked away, reaching his hand out and grabbing onto the warm swinging hand of Alfred's. He heard the other give another annoyed sigh, looking up at him in irritation. "Are you always this touchy feely?"

"I do not wish to lose you."

"Whatever." The other huffed.

Alfred opened the door to a small apartment, looking around inside before stepping in. Ivan followed after. Hand still clutching at Alfred's and looking around, the place was trashed, garbage along the floor, walls damaged and peeling and the parts of the carpet Ivan could see were stained and an unnatural color. The few pieces of furniture that were present - though there wasn't much was much - was so undistinguished and torn up Ivan couldn't even hazard a guess at why it might have been before the windows were missing completely from their frames, though the cool air did little to help the smell. Ivan frowned, not liking the idea of Alfred living here. "Will you let go now?" Alfred asked, tugging at his hand. Ivan hesitated before letting go.

Almost instantly, Alfred moved away from him. "You are staying here?" Ivan asked, watching as the blond started looking through the trash for some reason, moving some to a corner. Perhaps he was tidying up, though Ivan didn't see much of the point to that, and clearly Alfred had some sort of special system, because he wasn't just shoving everything into the corner, but Ivan had no idea, even watching, what that system might be.

"Yeah? What of it? Know you know where I live, so you can go scamper off and go tell your little buddies or whatever."

"I do not have any friends." Ivan said, blinking in confusion, "Nor do I wish to leave you." Alfred gave Ivan this look that clearly showed he didn't believe Ivan in the least, but he turned back to what he was doing in the corner. Ivan tried to think of what to say, he wasn't used to Alfred not believing him. What was he suppose to say? What could he say to make Alfred believe him? "Alfred, I-"

"Look, if you're hurt you can relax, that's fine." Alfred sighed, turning and sitting on the flattened garbage in the corner. "You can even stayed until it's healed, but I don't trust you, and I'm not going to." Ivan hesitated a moment before moving the garbage out of the way in the corner opposite to Alfred and sitting down himself, grunting a bit at the pain in his chest. Sighing out in relief as he relaxed against the wall, he looked at Alfred, thinking a moment before speaking.

"Why do you not trust me?"

"You're a protector, not exactly known to be looking out for random strangers."

"I am sorry, what do you mean by that?"

"Um... Looking out for strangers, well we've never met, obviously me and you are strangers to each other."

"I meant protector. Protector of what?"

Alfred stared at him for a long while before speaking, "You're kidding... Well I guess you have been stuck in ice for awhile, huh?" Ivan hesitated before nodding. The world seemed a strange place now, he assumed quiet awhile had passed. He still wondered if his sisters and - help him - even Francis were doing well. "Well ah... It's what you are. Y'know, special abilities and junk?"

"... You mean a demon?"

"Demon? Jeez, you from some sort of dark age or something?"

"Hm... I suppose the name for my species might have changed with time." At one point there had been nothing to call him. Strange how the world worked, "But why protector?"

"Well cause, from birth you guys are like, I dunno bound or something, I don't know the details, to some human and you protect them. Simple really. Like I said, I don't know the details, but yeah."

"Bound? Hm, I think maybe you are mistaking me for something I have not heard of before." Who knows, maybe it was the equivalent of angels then? Ivan had met any ever, but considering Alfred's description, it sounded like it.

"No, you got the glowing eyes and everything."

"No, I do not."

"Do to."

"No."

"Yeah."

"I really do not. My eyes are purple." Ivan said.

"I'm not color blind!" Alfred snapped, "Idiot." He grumbled. Ivan just smiled, deciding to drop it for now. Alfred was still frowning at him, but Ivan was once more basking in the fact the other was alive. The blond glared back at him awhile, and they sat in silence as the sun rose higher into the sky and then sunk down. Late into the afternoon, Alfred's eyes startled drooping and after another hour or so, he curled up against the floor, falling asleep quickly. Ivan smiled, watching the other sleeping. It was clear he needed it, considering how dark the rings under his eyes were, he needed it.

Ivan hesitated before crawling over towards the other as silently as he could. Alfred's breath was still steady as usual. Ivan smiled as he laid down next to Alfred, just barely touching him. Alfred made a small noise and turned towards him, still asleep and curling up into Ivan, nuzzling his face into his chest. Some things just didn't change. He smiled and pet Alfred's hair and ears, watching him sleep and feeling truly at peace.

As Alfred slept Ivan noticed small little ears poke out as well as a tail. Ivan tilted his head. Shifters usually reverted to their half-animal forms when they slept, but Alfred had looked completely human when he saw the other. Humming, he pet the others ears, wondering if shifters had changed in this time period as well.