What if...

Chapter Eight~

It had been a few days since I started living with Russia, and we were settling down into a routine; I bug him day in and day out and he doesn't care one way or another.

Today was no exception.

"Ivan~," I sang. "I want to go outside!"

"Net."

"But I-van!"

"No."

"But-"

"Dlya krichat' vslukh , rebenok, u vas net pal'to ili sapogi!" He rattled off in Russian. I blinked.

"Eh?"

He sighed. "For cryeeng out loud, child, you hav no cote or boots!"

I slowly put the words together. "Oh. Point. Um..."

Russia chuckled. "I hav som clothes een the back that might feet you."

"Really?!"

He nodded. "Go on. Geet a cote and boots that feet and you can go."

"Yahoo!" I cried, leaping up and racing into said room. He was right. There were dozens of boxes of old clothes, all labeled in Russian.

Oh, boy... This is going to be fun...

I opened one box marked, "шляпы" and looked inside.

"Hats. Okay. How do you even pronounce that?"

I shook my head and tried some on. They were all too big! How could that be?! I sighed and closed it up. "Okay... Next one." I set aside the hat box and opened one marked, "ботинки". Fur-lined boots met me and a I cheered.

"One point for the non-Asian!"

"You don't kno that!" came Ivan's reply.

"No body asked you!" I shot back, riffling through the shoes to find a pair of warm, black leather, shin-high boots and setting them aside, closing the box up.

The next three boxes had short coats, scarves, and gloves. I stole a pair of gloves, and set the rest aside. There was another box marked almost the same as the short coat box, so I figured they were still coats, and I was right. They were long trench coats, like what Russia wore. I rummaged through them before I found a black one. Now having all that I needed, I gathered them up and put them on, racing down and out the back door.

"I've got them on! I'm going outside!"

Russia chuckled, following me into the snow. "I theenk I'll join you, Carmen."

I packed a snowball out of the first snowfall. "Eh? I thought you didn't like snow and wished you could be in the sun?"

He smiled. "I thought I might see how you like the snow..."

I looked at my snowball and then back a Russia, aiming and firing while his eyes were still closed.

My throw struck home right square in the face.

Nothing happened.

Ivan's smile stayed that way.

I stood there.

What was left of the snowball fell to the ground.

Violet eyes appeared and so did an aura.

"Do you know what you starteed...?" he cackled, still smiling.

I nodded, tossing a snowball up in the air and catching it again. "Yup." I chucked the ball at him, it turning into dust when he hit it baseball bat-style with his faucet. He tossed the pipe away and bent over, packing snow and throwing it at me. I ducked and fired one of my own at him, laughing.