Maple Syrup and Vodka

I will keep you safe from the cold winter storm

As Ivan and Matthew walked along, they soon found it starting to become overcast, giant puffy clouds filling the sunny sky.

" C'mon Mattie, let's head back before it starts to snow..." He said with a smile. Matthew, curious as to how Ivan was for sure it was to snow, piped up.

" W-ell, how do you know it's going to snow?" He asked, and Ivan laughed. Tapping his own nose as they walked, Ivan explained. " I can smell it." He stated. To that, Mattie let out a snicker.

Ivan looked to Matthew with a curious look. " What? Can you not do the same when it is going to rain?" Ivan asked and Matthew nodded. " Yeah, but that's different. "

" How so?" Ivan asked, and, for once, Matthew was stumped. Flustered that he didn't know the answer, Matthew crossed his arms. " Well it is!" He pouted, and Ivan laughed, patting Matthew on the back, causing Matthew to stumble forward and land in the snow. Matthew, laughing, turned over to look at Ivan. Ivan now stood there, staring up into the sky as the wind picked up, making the russian's scarf lash out, whipping in the wind. Ivan, squinting slightly, moved quickly to Matthew. " Get down!" He yelled. Getting down facing Matthew, Ivan kept his knees up, and pulled Matthew close, embracing him like that. In that position, Ivan was hunched over a curled up Matthew, and Ivan's back was to the wind. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, snow and harsh cold winds started to attack the two. Curled up facing each other,they held each other closely, keeping each other warm.

Ivan, breathing heavily, was truly scared. This was one of General Winter's storms. Regularly the man of winter would hit with high winds or just heavy snow, never a strong combination of the two. This made Ivan fret. The last time there was storms this strong from General Winter was back during WWII, where the strong winds and snow aided Ivan in the war, freezing his enemies to death, forcing the enemy line back. But this... this was terrifying. Was this what his enemies felt when they were in the storms?....Ivan truly didn't know what it felt like to freeze to death, and he didn't plan on it. Hugging Matthew closely to his chest, Ivan could feel his body shiver, shaking from the frozen air and snow hitting him. But what worried more was Matthew, beneath him. 

Matthew, curled into Ivan, was shivering. He wasn't wearing as heavy clothing as Ivan was, and this storm was harsh and unrelenting, nothing like any snow storms in his homeland. Yes, there was the Ice storm of '98, which had frozen over half of the main province of Ontario with heavy layers of ice, but this was nothing compared to that. Shivering, Matthew looked up at Ivan with his icy blue eyes. " I-Ivan...I-I'm so cold..." He whimpered. Ivan, nodding slightly, felt his eyes water. This, this was very painful, and oh so cold. Would they make it out?....

Ivan, inhaling the icy air, Ivan hoisted Matthew up in his arms, and screamed out in russian, some words too blurred for Matthew to understand. 

" Отец Зима, вы не выиграете против меня! Я сильный! Я более мощный, чем вы, вы и ваши зимние штормы власти и ярости !! " 

Matthew was surprised at the sudden onslaught of russian words hitting his numb ears. His mind was too numb and his thoughts were too fuzzy to even translate what Ivan had said. But the next thing he knew, he was being cradled in Ivan's large arms, who then began walking. Which direction, Matthew did not know, but what he did know was he was so cold, and, closing his eyes, Matthew fell into a comatose like sleep, the last thing he remembering was Ivan's loving, comforting whisper.

"Мой подсолнечника.... I will keep you safe from the cold winter storm."