Red Roses, Aster, and Peonies

15

"What's wrong baby?" Ivan whispered, feeling Alfred shudder against him.

"I need a second," Alfred muttered, pushing away weakly, "please. Please, let me go."

Ivan nodded, picking him up and leaving him on the bathroom floor. He kissed him on the forehead, and dragged Hero's cat bed out of the bathroom.

Ivan sighed as he shut the door, petting Hero a few times before walking back over to the bed. He glanced at the clock- 9:54. Breakfast was over, Lunch wasn't until twelve, Alfred was having an anxiety attack, and he ran out of things to do.

What was he supposed to do?

He wanted to make Alfred's anxiety stop, but it didn't work like that. He didn't even know what caused it- most of the time it was random. He did notice he said something before he started crying though-

"Let's go out."

Maybe he just didn't want to leave his room. He didn't exactly know how to work around that. Do you want to go now? Maybe that would work. He couldn't test it until Alfred stopped crying though, he didn't want it to get worse.

He laid down, staring at the ceiling. A little finch came through the window, chirping at him and pecking his face.

He yawned, rolling over before jumping back. A baby... manticore, it was called? Was curled up on Alfred's pillow, flopping it's scorpion tail lazily. Ivan pushed himself up, running his fingers along the bat wings stemming from its back. The creature rolled and purred, and Ivan didn't bother to touch its stomach, petting its neck.

Ivan sighed, putting his hand down on the bed and gripping the sheets. The manticore pushed up, stretching, before flying out of the room through the window.

Gulping, he ran his hands along his neck, staring up before closing his eyes. He didn't hear the bathroom door open, and he didn't notice when the demon crept out.

Alfred shook his head, walking over to Ivan's side of the bed and sitting down, wiping the tears that were still dripping from his eyes. Ivan looked at him when he felt the bed dip, smiling lightly before slowly wrapping his arms around him.

Alfred yawned like a kitten, nuzzling into his neck. Occasionally he hiccuped from loss of air caused by crying, but his eyes had gone dry. He felt Ivan press kisses against his neck and let out a purr, nibbling on his jaw. Ivan let him do it, hugging him so close that he could feel his heartbeat through their shirts.

"Are you alright?" Ivan whispered, kissing the shell of his ear.

"Ya," Alfred hiccuped, gulping it down before pursing his lips, "I'll be perfectly fine in a few minutes."

"Good," Ivan said, grabbing him under the thighs and pulling him onto his chest, Alfred's head nuzzling into his scarf. Ivan laid down on the pillows, feeling his weight shift on top of him as he curled into him like a little kitten, purring all the while.

Well, less of a purr and more of a 'I'm not gonna murder you' growl. For some reason he didn't bat an eye at Alfred making a noise like that, and it still seemed natural. He didn't know how, or why.

Alfred started nibbling on his ear, thankfully not using his canines because ouch, leaning his head on Ivan's.

He really was just a big cat when he was calm.

Ivan let out a breath, running his hands along Dyami's back. For some reason, he just didn't seem like Alfred anymore. He fell in love with Alfred, but Dyami was who he really was.

Think of how different they were. Dyami created an entire persona just to feel alright in his own skin around the other nations- the fat, obnoxious Alfred, who was too quick to start fights and used too much power to end them. Then there was Dyami, who was soft and bubbly until you piss him off and end up thrown into a wall. He was broken, imperfect and embraced it. There was something about that.