Hello again and thank you to all my reviewers so far! It means a lot to me when you review so, ahaha, thank you for taking the time to do so. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well! I personally am mixed about this chapter but I wanted to get it out soon. So, please do enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own. Nor will I ever own. Really, it's a far away dream to me.

My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity. - George Bernard Shaw

Standing there with pancakes in a Tupperware for his tutor, tucked safely in his side as demanded by Matthew who had made them, the boy who was currently failing his history class could only stare.

Alfred F. Jones, in his entire existence of nineteen years, had never seen so many damned sunflowers crammed in a garden. Not even in those gardens his uncle Arthur dragged him to for "culture", if culture meant sitting in tea shops and drinking tea, not even in flower shops, nowhere. Seriously, what the hell was up with all of these flowers? Was it a Sunflower festival and he didn't know?

Ivan, for all that Alfred sent him a look that screamed 'what the hell, man!' didn't seem to notice that his garden was bursting with so much yellow that it practically overflowed and walked right through it. "This," he said, motioning to the garden, "is my sunflower patch."

Alfred snorted, shaking his head. "Oh, yeah, sure, like I didn't notice when I came in here," he said with a sharp laugh as Ivan blinked then chuckled softly himself. "Besides, what the hell? How can you even fit apartment gardens this big anyway?"

Ivan blinked yet again before wandering forward a few steps in the garden. "…I asked them if I could renovate my patio to a garden?" he asked innocently, eyes watching Alfred whose face immediately turned into a scowl. Seriously, when normal people just settled with a patio?

"But, in any case, because the weather is nice, we will study out here, da?" Smiling, he walked through the garden then paused, looking at the red roses blooming on a vine. "Did you know, that these stand for 'I love you'?" he asked, tilting his head. "Then again, these roses are the most typical for lovers, so I would think that you know."

"…You know what the flowers actually mean?" Alfred asked with a blank look on his face as Ivan laughed, shifting his scarf slightly.

"Da! It is a hobby of mine, for example, the cactus means strength and confidence," he said with a smile as Alfred just continued to stare at him then at the plants around him. "I do not want to plant anything that has a negative connotation in my garden, da?" He smiled a little then walked forward into a little patio seat and motioned the boy forward. "Come."

Alfred had to think, this day was getting more and more strange but hey, anything to get past that stupid class. The sooner he was done with this, the better.

"Your brother told me, that currently you are going over world history," Ivan spoke as they settled in the seat. Cracking open the book, the Russian set the book in his lap then making Alfred open his notebook, began to slowly go through the chapter.

His voice, thick with his Russian accent, flowed over Alfred who was idly writing down what the man was saying. Despite himself, despite the fact that Alfred did not like this man for liking his brother, his voice was soothing. Very…very soothing, with a strange lilt to his voice as history flowed over them both.

Eyelids drooping, the notebook slid out of his hands, clattering to the floor with a small rustle and Alfred found himself slumping over to the right.

Ivan continued to speak for a moment, not noticing that the boy was slumping slowly towards his shoulder until a soft thud on his left shoulder caught his attention. He closed the book then looked at the boy who was dozing on his shoulder, face pretty much squished into his arm. The Russian man looked at the boy then shifted, dipping his shoulder so that the boy could rest more comfortably.

Tilting his head, he watched the boy doze for a moment before looking at the notebook in a heap. Stretching out his hand, he took the notebook and stared at the book, the notes scribbled in it. Skimming through the pages, Ivan smiled a little, then began to write in the boy's notebook, his handwriting curling around the pages.

He must be tired…Ivan mused softly to himself as he continued to write, barely paying attention to the fact that the boy had started to drool. No matter, we have time to spare.

Alfred was dreaming, dreaming of hamburgers and sunflowers. His dream self seemed to accept the fact that his dream was overflowing with sunflowers and was eating hamburgers happily. There was a voice that he couldn't recognize at first and a tall figure who was in the middle of the sunflowers. He seemed familiar…and he had turned his head and…actually…laughed?

In the midst of trying to figure out who the hell this guy was, he realized that the hamburger that he was eating was made up of literally history words and he shouted, jerking awake.

Okay, where was he and who the hell, or what the hell was he leaning against? Seeing bright yellow, he winced then rubbed his eyes, sitting up slowly. "Ah, you are up?" A voice spoke as Alfred nearly jumped out of his seat to stare at the other man who seemed, to the boy, to have magically appeared out of nowhere. "You have been sleeping for the past hour, da? I was wondering when you were going to wake up."

Staring at the man, then at the wet patch on his shoulder, Alfred's mind gears slowly began to click together. He had been asleep, there was a wet patch on Ivan's shoulder, surely he couldn't have fallen asleep on the man, right? …Right?

"…You didn't touch me did you?" Alfred asked after a long moment as Ivan laughed, brushing the insult aside with a slight toss of his head.

"Nyet, I would not assault a man in his sleep," he said, still laughing as Alfred scowled, frowning then realized that hey, he had really fallen asleep on the man's shoulder and he actually slept well. What the hell was that supposed to mean then? That he…no way, it was just a nap! …Just a nap where he slept on the other man's shoulder!

Standing up, Alfred hid a red blush with an angry look, shaking his head. "Okay, so, why didn't you wake me up? I'm pretty sure Mattie isn't making you pancakes just so you can be a creeper and watch me sleep," he snapped, temper getting ahead of him.

"Because you looked exhausted," Ivan said simply, closing Alfred's notebook and setting it on his bag, slipping it in. Perhaps the boy would read through what he wrote later... "And we have time so it does not matter to me if you take a nap now and then." Ivan smiled then thwaped the boy lightly on the head. "Don't let me see you sleeping all of the time in lessons. I might not be your professor, but that does not mean I will let you slack off in our sessions together."

Alfred, at that, couldn't decide that if he wanted to blush from the consideration or yell from the thwack to his head. He did neither and sat there for a moment, staring at the floor. "…Thanks…for lending me your shoulder," he said slowly after a moment as Ivan chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"It was my pleasure Alfred," he said as Alfred stood up and threw his stuff into his bag. Looking at his bag, he remembered what Matthew had given to him to give the other man and then, he handed the pancakes to the said man.

"Matt made them for you," he said with a slight nod and a grin. "He said to say to you, thank you for teaching me and sorry for the trouble."

Ivan took the Tupperware and stared at it for a long moment before smiling softly and nodding his head. "Matevy does not need to go to such an effort for me," he murmured almost softly as Alfred shrugged, looking at him curiously.

"You know Matt, even if you say not to do something for yourself, he'll end up doing it anyway. He feels bad for making you teach me." Alfred continued to grin then folded his arms. "I'll get the Tupperware next time so just enjoy it." Ivan merely smiled, nodding his head along with what the boy said before shaking his head. "He is not forcing me to do anything. I am his friend, I will gladly do it for him."

Alfred stared at him as Ivan sighed then stared back. "Da, I know, my affection towards him plays towards this, but Matevy is a kind boy. He doesn't need to continue being kind towards me. It is the other way around after all." Alfred had to wonder, just what happened between his twin and this tutor of theirs. How did Ivan come to like his twin so much? It couldn't be through just tutoring…right?

"…I will see you to your home," Ivan spoke after a moment as Alfred shifted awkwardly and nodded his head, smiling a little. He couldn't help but to think that the man was actually alright when he smiled like that. It wasn't like the other smiles he gave before but…even if it was about his brother, it was…fitting.

Allowing a longer smile, Alfred followed along with the man, hands stuffed in his pockets. "So what do you do for a living?" he asked as he watched the older man.

"Me? Ah, well, I am an author now, however, I used to teach as a professor at another college. I thought Matevy would have told you this," Ivan asked, blinking at Alfred with curiosity clear in his eyes. Alfred shrugged then continued to walk down the path, not minding the cold chill that passed through the rather empty streets.

"Matt mentioned that his tutor used to be a teacher at another school but…" Alfred watched the man for a moment and offered a slight smile as he looked up at him. "Didn't expect for you to be him and for you to be a history buff of all things." He laughed, shaking his head as Ivan smiled at the laughter, nodding his head.

"Many people do not expect me to be well versed in history, but, I find it good to know," he spoke as Alfred hummed along with that. Well, this was awkward. The boy shifted then looked up at Ivan who had his scarf tucked over his face then looked down, wondering how he could hold onto his love for so long and not have it returned. It…made it almost sad in a way. Not that anyone would find him admitting so much to Ivan.

Alfred, for all that it was, was a hero. And anyone, even a creepy bastard who lurked over his twin, who needed help would get it. Even if his uncle said that heroes wouldn't eat as many hamburgers and leave messes all over the ground, but really, that was more of a technicality then anything. But how could he get Ivan to move on from his twin? Matthew was happy with his older-by-seven-years girlfriend, although Alfred couldn't really wrap his mind around the fact that Matthew was the younger one in the relationship.

And Ivan…Ivan was still pinning away wasn't he? No matter how much he claimed that he was happy for Matthew, he was still sad that he was hanging around his sister instead of him. That wasn't healthy.

…Wait. Just wait a second. Hero yes, he would help the innocent, the downtrodden. Of course, he could help people when they needed it but this? What was this, why did he care so friggin' much about one man who had a man crush on his brother? That wasn't right! Ivan was a creepy bastard who loved sunflowers to the point of blinding an innocent passerby, and who LOVED his TWIN.

Just what the hell was wrong with him? Walking up to their apartment, Alfred stared at Ivan. "…I don't need a stalker please. You saw me to my door, you can go now."

Ivan smiled slightly then nodded his head, turning to leave when the door opened and Matthew, who happened to be holding a spatula and an apron smiled widely. "Al, welcome home…" Turning towards the Russian man who immediately smiled towards him, Matthew smiled. "Mr. Braginski! Why don't you stay for dinner?" he asked, ushering in them both.

Ivan tried to protest only to be interrupted by a young woman hugging the former professor to her chest. "Little brother! So this is your new student?" she asked as Ivan struggled to breathe then pried his face away from her ample chest.

"…Sister, I didn't know you'd be here as well," he said with a strained smile as Alfred shifted closer to Matthew, staring at him.

"Mattie, why didn't you tell me that you were bringing your girlfriend over?" he accused softly, the tone in his voice unknowingly growing more protective seeing the look in Ivan's eyes.

Matthew flushed a slight shade of red and shook his head. "Don't worry, we didn't do anything Al," he hissed as Alfred stared at him. "It's just dinner and I wanted to treat her to something special and…well…we saw you two walking up and Kata wanted to bring her brother for dinner as well so…"

Katayusha smiled a little bashfully then hugged Matthew. "Your brother is very kind towards me. I am grateful to have met him," she said towards Alfred who smiled then immediately knuckled his brother in a killer headlock.

"Course Mattie'll treat you well!" he said with a bright grin as he turned towards Matthew who was protesting against this headlock. "Matt's Matt for a reason."

"O-Okay, she gets that, Al, just let go!" Matthew squeaked from under the headlock as he waved his arms about.

Alfred shot a look at Ivan whose face flashed for a brief moment with something akin to grief then wiped away with a placid smile. "Da, I am glad that he treats you well…" he said with a smile, nodding his head. "I would not expect less of Matevy to do so." He smiled at Matthew who flushed a light shade of red and smiled back.

Twitching under the fact that Ivan actually really adored Matthew, Alfred could only stare at Ivan and wonder. How could he keep his calm even as Matthew laughed with his girlfriend? Having half a mind to storm over and pull Matthew away from Katayusha and tell him the truth, Alfred made his way over only to be pulled back by Ivan.

"…Do not," he said softly, eyes narrowed at the boy who growled.

"You like him don't you?"

"He is happy. I will be happy for his sake."

"Bullshit! You're not happy seeing him like that are you?"

Ivan's eyes narrowed even more as he stared at him, shaking his head all the more. "It doesn't matter, nor will it matter," he hissed but was caught off guard when Alfred swung his fist and hit the wall.

"Like you have the right to be brushed aside like that!" he roared, the roar echoing through the house.

Ivan blinked, Matthew stared, and Katayusha looked frantically in between the two. It was then Alfred realized that they were inside and that he had shouted rather loudly.

…Whoops.