Alfred yawned, nuzzling back into his bare chest. Ivan's arm went up to hold his hand, silently feeling him touch the skin over his heart. Ivan leaned down towards his hair, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
"You smell good," he said, almost surprised. He always smelled good, but now it was different.
"Ivan," Alfred said, groggily, "you're transformed, that's why."
Ivan looked down at his hand and realized it was blue, focusing on changing it back. He was pretty good at staying human- it was his 'natural state' as Alfred put it, but when he got emotional he transformed.
He smiled softly, kissing the man's forehead.
"Are you okay?" he asked, moving his hand over his neck, pushing himself up to give butterfly kisses to the bruises on his collarbone.
"We've had sex before, I'd hope," Alfred muttered, stretching his arms up. Ivan still looked worried, so he pushed himself up, kissing his lips gently.
"So, what are we doing today," Alfred slumped back down, wrapping his legs around one of Ivan's so he couldn't get away.
"It's a free day," Ivan said, "everything's done, and nothing is needed of either of us, unless you want to check on Washington and Wisconsin again."
Alfred opened his eyes just slightly to glare at him. Yes, he did baby his children after he found out they got captured by some... spirit.
The spirit had been shipped off to the capital a week ago, with her elf and leopard confidants. Feilon was going through background checks at the moment, and Sami upped the security. Bricriu, the secretary, had admitted him and two others had found out that Adesimbo, the spy, had been, well, a spy.
His story was checked out and proven by Ku, but they were on the radar of Rulyn.
"Then... let's go into town," Alfred said, "after I take a shower of course."
Ivan smiled, "I'll get the car, I guess?"
"No," Alfred smiled, pushing himself up and booping him on the nose, "you smell bad."
Ivan rolled his eyes, smiling.
They showered together before getting dressed, Alfred faster than Ivan, even though he was wearing more clothes.
"Are you sure you're not cold?" Ivan asked for the third time, looking over to him. Alfred smiled, shaking his head. He ran his hand over his belly, staring for a second. One of them squirmed and Alfred's face crunched.
"I still am not used to that," Alfred said, pursing his lips. Ivan smiled, rubbing his belly softly before kissing him on the lips.
"I love you," Ivan smiled.
"I love you too," Alfred replied, hugging him around the neck. Ivan wrapped his arms around his back, kneading it gently. He got a few kisses under his eyes.
"C'mon, let's go..." Alfred yawned, walking away. Ivan looked him over for a second, trying to evaluate if he was actually warm enough. A sweater over a long sleeve shirt over those stomach and chest coverings pregnant demons wore. And then some really thick pants.
Ivan followed behind him to the garage, watching him grab one of the jaguars. He knew it was expensive because it was very close to where the racing cars were kept.
Alfred went to get into the front seat, but Ivan stopped him.
"I can drive!" Alfred exclaimed.
"You flinch every time the babies kick..." Ivan told him softly. He still looked offended, "I'll let you drive on the way back."
"Fine," Alfred muttered, walking around the car and sitting in the passenger's seat, not looking very happy. Ivan turned the car on and drove out the garage- and out the valley. He got a call from his boss, so he was holding it with one hand and driving with the other.
Alfred mumbled something to himself in a long-forgotten language, starting to crave a joint. He wasn't sure if it was boredom or not.
It took hours to drive- although that was better than almost two days by horseback, but still. At least when you're on a horse, you have to focus on the horse.
So, instead, he just focused on his runalong. His has always been wendigo. It ran beside the car, just fast enough to stay at the side of it, even though real wendigos were much slower. Alfred tuned out the conversation Ivan was having with his boss.
He noticed, very suddenly, that they were speeding. The trees were flying much too fast.
"Ivan!" He exclaimed, "You're going, like, a hundred and forty!"
"It's fine," Ivan muttered, pulling the phone away from his ear. He looked pissed off, and Alfred got nervous, looking around the car.
He pressed his hand into Ivan's shoulder, urging him to glance at him. Ivan pulled the phone away from his ear.
"What?" Ivan muttered.
"Slow down, now! You're going to flip the damn car!"
"Fine," Ivan replied, slowing the car down to a hundred. Alfred sighed, holding his beating chest in one hand. Through all his layers of clothing he could feel his heart pulsing, and it wasn't a good feeling.
Ivan hung up, putting the phone in the drivers cup holder. He wrapped his arm around him.
"I'm sorry, I was getting mad," Ivan apologized. Alfred glared at him.
"I can tell," he said, poking his skin. Ivan sighed, noticing it was silver. He hadn't noticed his tail being cramped behind him and he felt a twinge of pain and numbness, going straight up his spine.
He transformed back, the car slowing down a noticeable amount.
"What was that call about?" Alfred asked, looking over to him.
"Protests," Ivan muttered, "apparently, not liking a dictator can get you arrested."
"Amen," Alfred replied, giggling. Ivan glanced at him and he shrugged, "Everytime I say protests are good exercise someone decides to call me a commie."
"Ha," Ivan said, "in your country, are you considered a communist?"
"Only on the weekends," Alfred muttered, "or when I get the urge to piss on McCarthy's grave."
Ivan snorted and started giggling, "Dear Lincoln would be mad at you~"
"Well you know nothing about him," Alfred flat-out laughed, "that man was a gay marxist with a muscle fetish."
"What?"
"Exactly," Alfred replied, pointing at him.
Ivan just stared at him before shaking his head, "I was there!"
"You were in New York," Alfred replied, "all the fun was in the bars, not the shipyards. The Tribune was blazing with Karl Marx's speeches, and I think he wrote a lot of it," he paused for a second, "German's were really proud of him, so they created a red party- called the republican party."
"I thought your republican party was anti-communist?" Ivan said, glancing at him with a confused face.
"Well, new lines are constantly being drawn," Alfred shrugged, "the only pro-communist party I can think of... are communist. Antifa I don't really count as communist, but apparently not being facist makes you a communist so I don't know anymore."
Ivan rolled his eyes, "oh, you hear? My soviet party is putting itself back together."
"Ukraine and Poland better watch their asses," Alfred replied, picking his nails. He transformed human. They were getting close to the city, "Are they nazbols?"
"What?"
"Oh, ya, they would be," Alfred muttered, "it's a meme, basically. Nazbols are national bolsheviks. Nobody has the ability to take them seriously. Their flag is the nazi flag with a soviet symbol instead of the swastika."
"That's the one," Ivan replied, sighing and shaking his head, "it's starting to seem my people will never be able to settle down."
Alfred snorted, "the next France, you are."
"Great," Ivan said, rolling his eyes.
They rolled into town, the local crackhead glaring at them.
"Stop at that place, they have good coffee," Alfred said, pointing to a Starbucks. Ivan laughed.
"You can't get an americano."
"Aw... you're no fun!" Alfred said, smiling as they went up to the drive through. Alfred did not get an americano. He got a venti cold brew, which is so strong it made Ivan's heart hurt after he took one sip. Ivan continued driving through the town, Alfred occasionally poking him and telling him when to turn.
He had no idea where they were going.
The area started to look more and more rustic, and old, and Alfred told him where to stop, bringing out his wallet. He took the money, his ID, and his driver's license out of his bag and put them all in separate pockets.
Ivan followed behind him as he started walking towards a Target.
Alfred hummed as he was walking, occasionally looking behind him. Ivan walked a little faster so he was at his side, not knowing whether he was making sure he was still behind him or not.
A man and a woman were following behind him. Now Alfred normally wouldn't have thought anything of that, but they were white. They could be a Nazi. Him and his fetusi... fetuses gotta be safe.
He twiddled the pocketknife in his pocket.
Ivan put a hand on his back and he leaned into him. He was worried about getting looks for being gay, but all he got was people smiling at him.
He glanced a few times at Alfred. Did they think he was a girl? Or did they just think he was fat or something?
A girl wearing the bisexual flag over her shoulders did the peace sign at him. Okay, they definitely knew he was a man. They just... didn't care, apparently.
It was very pleasant, actually.
Alfred went through the baby stuff when they got there, and just saw the little... clothes and baby socks threw him for a loop. God, his stupid ass was actually having... like... a baby? That was... that was actually happening?
"Ivan~" Alfred called him for the fourth time.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, quite suddenly. Alfred patted his shoulder.
"I'm going to go over there, okay?"
"Okay," Ivan replied, kissing him on the forehead. Alfred smiled, pushing the basket towards him before walking away. And so, Ivan went onto his phone, playing solitaire.
Alfred whispered to himself, looking through the items on a rack. He felt someone poke his shoulder a few times and looked over to see an old woman standing there. He looked at her cautiously, turning around slightly to face her.
"You're going to hell," she said, and Alfred got ready for the hateful speech. It was a normal one, one he's heard... forty or so times before, except this time she used fun slurs, like shirtlifter, and faggot.
(I am very gay.)
She even used fun terms, like orgy, and pedophile.
"Ma'am," he said, using his woman voice, "I'm not gay... I just have short hair."
She looked startled, "Oh, I am so, so sorry ma'am, you and your husband have a great day."
Alfred watched as she left, rolling his eyes, "homophobic piece of shit."
He looked at the rings on his fingers, pressing a kiss to them before going back to what he was doing. He came back to the cart, and Ivan noticed he wasn't in the best mood.
"You okay?"
"I dislike the elderly greatly," Alfred muttered. He looked around the cart and noticed those two damn white people were still following him. God dammit, now it was just creepy.
"Are we done?" Ivan asked, and Alfred nodded, "No, like, crib?"
"I have cribs in storage," Alfred replied, "this was just some stuff for fun. My siblings are going to go off on me if I buy too much and they can't dress my kids."
Ivan nodded, smiling. He'd seen how they'd gotten around kids when one of the humans had a baby. He'd never expected the big, scary warriors to be so gushy.
They checked out, and went back to the car. They ate brunch at a small breakfast place, before heading back out onto the road again. Alfred was in the driver's seat this time.
Ivan watched him carefully. How he yawned, how he moved, smiling the entire time. Soon, they pulled up at Middle Earth, and said hello to the staff- and some people.
They went back to driving again.
The forest closed behind them, and Alfred checked the rear-view mirror again. The white people had followed them the entire time. He'd only lost them for a good ten minutes when he went to Middle Earth.
He wasn't paying attention.
'AH!' was all he heard, and he flinched, before pulling over. He got out of the car and ran out, Ivan following behind him.
Ivan had no idea what had gotten into him, but he saw him crouched down near the ground.
"Alfred?" he asked, getting no response, "Dyami, dear?"
He heard him sobbing and walked over.
"Oh, a squirrel," was all he said, tilting his head. Alfred started crying harder, and he squatted down next to him. He noticed just then that Alfred had transformed.
He looked around, noticing a red car was rolling up next to them. He stood up, and stood in front of him.
"Are you two okay?" the woman in the front seat asked.
"Um, yes, she accidentally hit a squirrel," Ivan said, giving a nervous chuckle, his hand going to his neck. The woman looked at him for a little too long, and Ivan looked right back.
He didn't really know how Alfred would react to being called a she. He didn't seem to care though.
"Oh, okay, carry on," she said, driving past them.
Ivan nodded, his eyes following their car until it disappeared around the bend, before leaning down to comfort him.
"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered over and over again. He knew caffeine tended to make him emotional, and that he had just had a lot of caffeine, so he wasn't going to judge.
"C'mon, let the body rest now," Ivan said, watching as Alfred nodded, standing up.
"You can drive," he mumbled, and Ivan nodded.
"Okay, dorogoy."
They got home and ate lunch, and continued on with their day, although Alfred was in a bad mood all through it.
Ivan worked at his desk, right next to Alfred's, doing the work his boss told him too, when Alfred walked in.
"I'm not looking," he announced, closing his eyes and taking a few steps forward, his hands catching the desk before walking around it. He found Ivan and sat on his lap, hugging him around the neck.
Ivan kissed his ear, and kept working.