Partners In Crime (lietpol/Poliet)

Chapter 1

"Why do I always have to be the guinea pig?"

"It is tradition, da?"

Toris sighed and shuffled his feet nervously. He didn't like this so-called tradition.

Every single time Toris went to Ivan's house, the stocky Russian had some sort of potentially dangerous idea, whether it be water-skiing on ice, eating unidentified wild mushrooms, showing up to one of Ludwig's parties (Toris should've know better when he saw 'bring glitter' on the invitation), etc.

Every single time Ivan had an idea like this he made Toris try it out first, as if the Lithuanian were some kind of test dummy.

Honestly, Toris was getting kind of fed up with Ivan, but he didn't know how to ditch the clingy Russian. It wasn't as if he had any other friends anyway; Eduard, one of his close friends, had skipped a grade, and Raivis, his only other friend, had moved away.

Toris rubbed his sweaty palms together. Today Ivan's genious idea was to grab a rope tied to a stout tree branch and swing into the backyard pond. The only problem: the pond was nearly 100 feet from the tree. There was no possible way Toris could make the jump.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Toris said, directing the comment at Ivan. He was met with no response. Toris sighed ran his fingers through his hair, nervous.

Gripping the base of the rope until his knuckles turned white, the Lithuanian took a few cautious steps backwards before bolting, and finally, jumping.

The wind hit Toris's face, sweeping his long brown hair behind his back. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. The air smelled fresher, lighter. The only thing Toris could hear was the sound of wind slapping his ears. For a few moments, there  was only the feeling of weightlessness, and Toris wondered if for once Ivan hadn't managed to get him hurt.

And then the branch gave way.

A startling snap! rang through the air. Toris hit the ground a second before the foliage came crashing after him.

The Lithuanian groaned, the wind knocked out of him. Ivan giggled at he pulled the branch off his friend. "That looked fun," He remarked innocently. "Too bad you broke it."

Toris wiggled his toes, trying to ascertain that he hadn't broken any bones. Waves of agony crawled up his back, although it appeared to only be bruised. With hesitancy Toris found his feet.

And that was when he noticed it.

Ivan's backyard was fairly large, overgrown grass poking out of the ground like needles on a porcupine, tall untrimmed bushes standing alongside evergreens. And there, nestled into a fragrant fir tree, was a figure. A pink-clad figure nonetheless.

A short blond boy pointed to Toris. "That was like, totally super cool," he gushed. The boy spoke surprisingly loud for someone so small. "That was almost as cool as the time when there was this like dragon that was totally trying to destroy the Capitol but then this hero like came and killed the dragon until he was dead!"

There was something about the boy that prevented Toris from prying his eyes away. Maybe it was the way he carried himself with such bravado, or maybe it was his flashy wardrobe. Whatever it was, it made Toris instantly like the boy. His sudden appearance was almost enough to make Toris forget about the agony in his lower back. Almost.

"AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEGGGHHHAAA!"

The sounds that left Toris's lips sounded something like a cross between a crack-addicted orangutan and a cat stuffed in a blender. The pain had boiled up inside him and exploded.

Toris panted, feeling the pain settle into an aching throb. Ivan had curled up into a ball, hands covering his ears at the sound of his friend's shouts. He slowly began to uncoil himself as Toris settled down.

The blond boy seemed unfazed. He strode out of the trees, onto Ivan's lawn, and directly in front of Toris. The boy extended his palm. "It's Feliks, also known as Queen-A cause Queen-B is too low class, also known as Fab-monster, also known as..." It was a long list.

When the boy, Feliks, had finished his introduction he took Toris's hand and squeezed it lightly. Ivan was still on all fours.

"Uh," Toris started. "I'm Toris."

Feliks cocked his head. "Where are you, like, from?"

"Lithuania."

"You're Toris, also known as Liet."

"Huh? No, it's, it's just Toris."

"Once a Liet always a Liet."

Toris wasn't sure his to respond, so he only stared, dumbfounded.

Out of the blue, Feliks dipped into a handstand and performed some awkward twisting motions with his hips, eventually managing to fall flat on his face.

"Ow! That hurt."

Toris's eyes widened it shock. "Are you okay!?"

"No, fabulous actually. I just thought it'd be like, totally awesome if I did a backflip there."

Ivan finally stood up. Feliks's eyes grew wide when he spotted the Russian. A high-pitched shriek escaped his mouth. The blond 'Fab-monster' raced through the trees, out of the yard.

Ivan smiled in seemingly naive contentment. Toris frowned in confusion.

"Um," Toris rubbed his sore back. "School starts tomorrow so I better get going."

He left without another word, feeling scraped up physically and flustered emotionally.