((Ahhh I love the mochis ;v;))

((They're so cute and squishy~))

Ivan wondered what it was that Alfred was thinking when he noticed that his friend was moving, and apparently preparing to speak. His answer was soon forthcoming, and he listened in silence while the American spoke. "Ahh, well, I knew that it was Kansas I wanted to go to, so I looked at all of the places in this place that were working with the program. I looked at what they were offering, and what people had said about them, but it was kind of a spur of the moment decision to come here in particular. I was stuck between two choices, so I picked the one with the colours I liked the best~" He answered, mulling over what Alfred had said. It was rather a long string of opportune events that had led to the point they were at right now, and he wasn't certain what to think about it. He was glad that it had happened the way it had, though. "I know what you mean, it is strange, da? I do not know why this might be, nor how it has happened this way - but I would not change it, even if it is odd. It feels... Well, I suppose that it feels right. It bothers me a bit, the way that things seem new but familiar, but I think that what has come of it is worth some unease and confusion."

Alfred laughed softly, shaking his head. "A bit ironic how it was red, white, and blue that drew you to this school, huh?" he said, smiling a good bit. "But, yeah, I agree that this is definitely worth all the weirdness we've experienced. Not that it's even been a bad weird, either. Just...weird." He turned back to the TV and smiled wider. "Regardless though, with all the weird de ja vu crap going on, I honestly am glad you stumbled into the shop and happened to think red, white, and blue were better than the other colors you had to choose form. It's nice, feeling like I have a really good friend who understand me...or at the the very least is really, really good at tolerating me."

Ivan shook his own head, chuckling slightly. "Not really - the flag of the Russian Federation also bears those colours. I suppose that maybe it is ironic that we come from places whose flags share colours, but I think those ones are pretty popular in flags." He smiled, pleased that Alfred also thought that this was worth the bafflement and the eerie feelings. "It is a happenstance that I am thankful for also." He added, "I like having a friend like you also~ I don't usually have those... I guess I can be a little distant with most people, but I have been able to connect with you - it is a very good reason to want to understand you, da? With you, I do not feel so lonely, and I can feel that I am not merely being humoured because I look big and strong." I wonder if I have said too much... Ahh, but it is still true, so maybe there is no problem. I do not think that he will think me pathetic...

Alfred smiled. "Oh yeah. I sometimes forget that America isn't the only place with a red, white, and blue flag," he admitted with a quiet laugh before he moved to flop lightly against Ivan, just that their side touched as he laugh again. "Man, I mean, yeah you're pretty big and I'm sure you're strong but you have to be the least threatening person I know. I really don't see it, Vanya," he said, grinning at his friend. "You seem more like a teddybear than a grizzly to me, basically. Maybe I just see you differently than other people and I've only known you for a day but considering the fact you were gushing over how fluffy Penny is I highly doubt you're anywhere near a dangerous person unless someone actually does something that deserves getting mad at," he stated.

((Yup, that sounds about right~ Also, I know the sizes are different, I'm just not sure why they are.))

“Hmm, I can understand that. Your own home's symbol is the one you would think of first.” Ivan nodded, considering it. That was when he felt Alfred's side come to rest against his, and he blinked, not having anticipated that. The American was warm, and Ivan found that he actually quite liked the contact. He didn't usually let people that close to him, except his family, due to a general lack of trust in his peers – this was different, though. This new friend of his wore his emotions outwardly, for all to see, and Ivan could not imagine Alfred breaking his trust. “... Da? I am?” He asked, slightly taken aback, before blushing fiercely when his friend compared him to a teddy bear. He hadn't told Alfred about this yet, but he had actually brought a stuffed bear with him from Russia.

The teddy bear, whose name was Anatoly (meaning sunrise), was formed from yellow cloth, slightly faded and quite soft to the touch. He was not really the colour of sunshine, but perhaps he was the hue of sun-painted clouds. One of the old bear's limply dangling legs had been sewn back on once, with thread of a less faded yellow, and the fuzz had quite worn off his nose. He held his stitched-on smile all
the same, and his round baby-blue button eyes peered up with an air of persistent optimism. Ivan had found this in a charity shop when he was six, and had refused point blank to leave without him. Now, while he would not admit this bear's existence to many, he still treasured the aged plush toy, and brought it with him whenever he moved to a new location. “W-well, Penny is adorable, da? I could not help myself.” He mumbled, feeling rather bashful. “Ahh, spasiba – thank you for saying these things of me. I am... used to people only looking at the surface.” Ivan had begun to retreat into his scarf again, attempting to conceal his blush by swaddling himself in its soft folds.

Alfred couldn't help the small fit of giggles that escaped him, feeling rather content in his place of leaning against Ivan. He was indeed fairly firm, but he was also warm and it was really nice being able to feel this at ease with someone else. And as a plus he happened to enjoy this kind of stuff with him!

((Ahh yes, so goofy and loveabibble~))

It was a funny, slightly tickly feeling when Alfred began to giggle while their sides were touching, and actually kind of soothing somehow. Ivan was just pondering why this might be, when Alfred gave his scarf a light downward tug - revealing the flush that had painted his cheeks. "Ah - !" Ivan exclaimed softly, startled petal-purple eyes widening slightly. Usually, when he began to retreat into himself, people tended to let him alone, so this was not something he'd expected. He probably ought to have, though, given what he already knew of his friend's personality. "Ahh, I apologise..." He murmured, giving Alfred a tentative smile. "I - ahh, when you compared me to - well, it is a little childish of me, but... I have brought a teddy bear with me." He explained, poking his index fingers together awkwardly as he spoke.

"Ohh, I do remember that - you are fond of cute things, da? Ahh, I did give that person a bit of a scare, didn't I? I did that on purpose, though... Now that I think about it, you are right - you were not worried even by a little bit.  I - am warm? Oh. I did not realise that. You are also warm. Is nice~" Ivan continued, responding to each point Alfred put forward as he thought them through. It is a thing he does with close friends? He thought, his smile growing a little. It was good to think that he was included in such a category. "I do not mind it." He replied, "If it is someone I trust, then it makes me feel... safe." It was funny to imagine Alfred trying to converse with a chair or somesuch, and he had to giggle, the amusement helping to draw back out of his shell a little more. "I see, that is funny~ Ah, am I really comfortable?"

Alfred gave his friend a bright, openly friendly and happy grin. "Nah man there's nothing childish about bringing something you're close to with you. If I didn't have Penny with me at night I'd probably have a teddy bear too," he said, pulling his legs up so he really was leaning against Ivan. "I mean, everyone needs to have some source of comfort, yeah?" He looked up at Ivan,then motioned to the television. "Tony Stark tinkers with things to help him cope with things a lot of the time in fact. Everyone has their coping mechanisms."

Smiling with a touch more confidence now, and reassured by the warm weight pressing against his side, Ivan sighed contentedly. "You understand~ That is soothing for me to hear, Alfya. I had not connected this to the habits of others, but I am pleased that parallels are so easily seen. It makes me feel - less as though I am strange." He had to admit, Alfred had a point about sources of comfort - and if a character as well thought of as Iron Man had something like that to fall back on, even if it was less cuddly and loveworn, then perhaps bringing his old bear along was not so odd after all.

It was a very sweet and touching sight, Alfred's eyes slipping closed as he relaxed against the wondering Russian, who was slightly flummoxed - and more than a little flattered - by the simple demonstration of trust that this held within it. "I am glad that I am comfortable for you~ I have not had cause to suspect that I would make a good cushion before, but it seems to be an oddly fulfilling role." He responded softly, fighting the temptation to reach his arm around and hug his friend. Nyet - I must wait before doing that. Besides, if I move, I might jostle him. He told himself sternly, before listening to what Alfred said next, his ex
pression softening wistfully. "... Da. To be alone - it is quite empty. This is better."

((Sleeping on friends is always nice :'D))

((Not to mention, it's very cute~))

Ivan yawned reflectively, listening more to Alfred than he was to the movie, for all that he was still watching the pretty moving pictures with all the shiny. Yeah, he was getting tired by now, but he wasn't about to forgo his bath by falling asleep on the couch. "That is good to know~" He murmured happily, wondering whether this was what Alfred was like whenever the evening wound down towards its end. It was quite nice, to be honest, relaxing and confiding in each other in peace like this. "At least the deja vu is good for something, da? Ahh, definitely - you have hit it exactly. I am drawn to this friendly atmosphere like one of those fluffy little moths is drawn to a light, after being on my own for so long. Oh, and this light, it is bright." He only just managed to avoid mangling his last word on the subject, pushing his yawn into the next moment as the movie drew to a close.

Alfred giggled softly, listening as the movie came to a close before he let out a quiet yawn and finally pushed himself up, seeming to have relaxed far enough that he was tired now. He rubbed one of his eyes a little bit before he stretched out his arms above his head. "That had to be the fastest I've ever calmed down," he said with a soft laugh before he looked at Ivan with a friendly smile. "And you know, I've never really thought moths were cute. I mean, there are some really fuzzy ones that are kinda cute I guess, but... I dunno I've always liked butterflies more. They're so bright and colorful he murmured before he looked at their popcorn bowls and moved to pick them up. "Well, uh. While you take your bath I'll get the bowls and everything washed so there's less for us to do tomorrow," he said with a smile. "After I do the dishes I'm probably going to head to bed though." He laughed softly, grinning at Ivan. "So I guess I'll see you in the morning Vanya!"

Ivan nodded slowly in response, reluctantly disengaging from their quiet little reverie in order to get up. He was also sleepy, though not so much that he would fall asleep in the bathtub, and the prospect of a nice warm bed was looking kind of good. He was about to reply to what Alfred had said about butterflies and moths, as he found both quite lovely in their different ways, but a notion struck him as he opened his mouth. "Ahh, Alfya? Where is the room in which I will be sleeping? I have realised that I do not know where to go once I have had my shower, and it would be very awkward if I wandered into the wrong room. Would you show me, pazhaloosta? Ah, I mean to say please." He spoke up, stretching, before heading over to where he'd left his things, picking them up, and bringing them over to near where Alfred was - so that he could hear the response.

((Yeah, I figure that there would be consequences to having so much deja vu in such a short space of time. With Ivan, though, he's got more for nightmares to draw on, given Russia's long and wartorn history - and what was said about him in his official profile. I figure that he probably became more stable after he became the Russian Federation, and after America and he had got close, but that he's had issues in the past. This whole rebirth thing is a pretty good way of separating him from his issues, though.))

((Yeah poor baby. All America really had was the Revolution and possibly the Civil War since I imagine that was quite possibly hell on him.

((I reckon that the Civil War would probably have messed with his head a bunch at the time, but he seems to have gotten over that in the series, so yeah.))

"Ah, this is convenient, thank you~" Ivan smiled, noticing that he wouldn't have to walk far from the bathroom in order to get to his room. It couldn't be simpler, really. "Ah, thank you for offering, but it is not necessary, with my room being so close. If I needed to be climbing stairs, then it would be different. The wheels on my suitcase would not help me then." It was rather sweet of Alfred to have offered, Ivan reflected, but he could manage from this point. Opening the door, Ivan wandered into the room that his friend had set aside, allowing his belongings to rest upon the floor once again. After a brief rummage, he had his toiletries and night clothes in hand. The night clothes were soft and fuzzy, though not furry, and they were a near-pastel blue with little white clouds on them. "I am going to have my bath now, good night~" He added, giving Alfred a sleepy smile.

Ivan crossed the hall towards the bathroom, opening the door and slipping inside contentedly. Since he was feeling tired, he decided that he wouldn't soak for too long, but he still felt that he had time to relax. After setting the bath running, he took the time while waiting for it to be full enough to brush his teeth. Once he'd done that, and once the bath was full enough, Ivan began to take off his clothes and fold them neatly, putting them down on the nearest available dry surface. He hadn't locked the door, as he didn't know whether there was another bathroom in the house, and he didn't want to block this one up entirely - just in case the lavatory was needed. He wouldn't have felt that he could do this if there hadn't been a curtain to pull across, though. Easing himself gently into the water, giving himself time to adjust to the temperature difference, Ivan sighed. It never ceased to feel wonderful, being able to surround himself with hot water like this. Of course, it was not too hot, but it was certainly hot enough to make him feel as though he was floating in a pool of sunshine. Determined not to allow himself to lose track of time, Ivan set to scrubbing himself. When he dipped his head backwards into the water in order to ready his hair for shampoo, it attained a different shade, soaking into a hue that shone like sooty silver - not that he was really paying attention to that.

After enjoying his relaxing soak, Ivan towelled himself dry behind the curtain - just in case - and then draped the towel over the radiator in order to get it out of his way. Next, he got into his night clothes and picked up what he had been wearing before. He wasn't sure what to do with the towel, so he figured that he could ask in the morning. Wandering back into his room, he closed the door and extracted Anatoly from his suitcase, then turned out the light and clambered into bed and allowed his eyes to close.

((It's fine~ Please excuse my wall of text. ^_^;))

Alfred smiled and nodded. "Well I'll leave you to it, then," he said, giving a small half-wave before he moved to head back towards the kitchen to clear out their bowls and get them and their plates washed up and set aside in the draining board. He yawned softly, rubbing a hand through his hair once he was done and turned so he could kneel down and scoop up Penny and head back to his room, barely taking the time to get into very Captain-America-esque pajamas that were warm and nice...after subconsciously making sure the door was shut so he could feel more secure He smiled a bit, rather enjoying the feel of his favorite pair of pajamas before he crawled into bed to nestle up under his covers, arms wrapping around his pillow as Penny ended up curling up against him. Her purring lulled him to sleep, the American not really expecting much in the way of dreams since usually he dreamt of heroes and vague feelings and colors that felt like they were memories from a time long ago.

((Maybe they both have nightmares, but Ivan's louder, and wakes Alfred up? I think you're right about the memories - they might just recover some key points, and a basic overview of the rest. We don't want to turn their brains into mush, after all.))

Through the murky inkdark of the night, after a restful interlude of undisturbed slumber, Ivan's blanket-swaddled figure was just visible on the bed, huddled and twitching. Through the window, the pale fingers of Luna's light reached in and gave mussed hair the likeness of spilled fibres of moon-gossamer, lending the appearance of a faint glow whose serene softness belied the mood. Only half of the beleaguered dreamer's contorted and reddened face would be visible to anyone looking in, the rest obscured by clenched covers and the head of a stuffed bear, and it was not a reassuring visage. Whimpers and squeaks, whines and groans, gradually building in volume as Ivan's dreaming grew darker, drifted out like an ode to misery and fear. Between the sounds of distress, slightly muffled pleading could be made out as the sleeping Russian sobbed brokenly in the darkness. “N-nyet! Pazhaloosta, nyet! Ahh, shtoh, shtoh? Ya ne ponimayu!” He wept, as though he could bear no more. “Ostanovis, ostanovis! Pazhaloosta! Ohh, shtoh? Proshu prastite – bozhe moi, proshu prastite.” He cried, growing more frantic to begin with, but trailing into agonised resignation after his last desperate query. There was a wet glistening just visible on his despair-wracked face as his tremulous and strained voice seemed to lose any hope of changing whatever-it-was that plagued him, and he lapsed into wordlessness. Not silence, though, as his raspy breathing and litany of anguished, strangled sounds continued on. Whatever night-terror had him in its talons, it was very plainly not over.

(Translations: “N-no! Please, no! Ahh, why, why? I don't understand!” - “Stop, stop! Please! Ohh, why? I'm sorry – my god, I'm sorry.”))

In the bedroom beside Ivan's, Alfred wasn't faring much better, his usual dreams of superheroes and faraway colors being tainted by...well he wasn't sure what but it /hurt/ and he was crying into his pillow, mouthing words that he couldn't even begin to speak, the American curling up tighter around his pillow to bury his face within the softness of it.