Ruscan Week

Matthew sat fidgeting in his chair, alternating between staring down the hallway and down at his third cup of coffee, because he couldn’t sit still and for whatever reason kept defaulting to going to the coffee stand across the way, and although it seemed like a good idea at the time he was starting to regret it now because it’s only made it harder to just relax and wait.

And he’d run his phone battery down half an hour ago, too, so he couldn’t distract himself with that. And he’d neglected to bring a book or any other sort of entertainment because he hadn’t thought it would take this long, and he refused to pay for the overpriced crossword books in the airport shops (although he was starting to reconsider that decision). At this point Matthew was pretty sure the only thing he could do to make this any worse would be to get himself kicked out of the airport.

Thankfully though, his battery had lasted long enough to receive the text from Ivan saying he would be landing any minute now, so he “wouldn’t have much longer to wait.”

“‘Any minute now’ my ass,” he muttered, before downing what was left in his cup and rising to go throw it away. On the way back to his seat he caved and stopped in the shop to the left of the coffee stand, buying a puzzle book and a pack of pens. Matthew usually considered himself to be a fairly patient person—after all, he’d grown up with Alfred without ripping his head off. But he’d never had a situation as exciting as this one probably ever in his life, and he’d been waiting for the past year to meet his boyfriend and wasn’t wanting to wait any longer.

While he was sitting there working on his puzzles, his mind started to wander. He’d thought about meeting his boyfriend a thousand times, and now that it was actually happening he wondered how it would go. Who would see the other first? Or would they see each other at the same time? Would it be like in the movies, where they run at each other and one scoops the other up and swings him around? Oh, he hoped so, he’d love to finally know what it feels like to have Ivan’s arms around him.

In the end it was Ivan who noticed him first, because Matthew was too busy with his puzzles and his thoughts to notice Ivan finally coming down the hallway and walking over to him, until he was standing right in front of him and Matthew had to crane his neck up just to see his face. Christ, he hadn’t realized Ivan was this tall.

Wait, holy shit that’s— “Ivan!” he yelled and leapt out of his seat to throw his arms around the other. Ivan laughed and hugged him back, and they stood there holding onto each other for a few moments until they realized they were standing in the middle of a public airport and people were starting to stare.

Matthew reluctantly let go but was delighted when Ivan moved his hands down to grasp his. He then looked up at Ivan—God, he really is a giant—and smiled, swinging their hands. He knew they had to leave the airport, but he didn’t want to let go of Ivan. Unfortunately, Ivan then made that decision for him, as he let go of Matthew a moment later so he could reach down to pick up his bags.

“Do you need any help with those?” he asked, mostly out of courtesy. Ivan could probably lift him over his head, judging by the size of his arms alone. He hadn’t realized how hard it is to tell how big someone is through a computer screen.

“No, I’ll be fine. How do we get out of here?” Ivan said, looking around, and Matthew grabbed his arm softly and started walking toward the exit.

It was a quiet walk to Matthew’s car, mostly because he didn’t know what to talk about, and judging by Ivan’s silence he figured he was in much the same situation. He loved that Ivan was here with him now, but he wasn’t really sure what to do other than just sit and enjoy the other’s presence.

When they got to the car Matthew unlocked it and popped the trunk, and he helped Ivan put his bags in even though he insisted Matthew didn’t have to. Then they got in the car and started the long drive back to Matthew’s house.

After a few minutes on the road Matthew looked over at Ivan, and he looked back and smiled. He could tell it was forced though, and Matthew frowned and looked back at the road.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Ivan chuckled lightly and turned to look out the windshield, and Matthew heard what sounded like him resting his head on the window. “Yes, just tired.”

Of course, Matthew thought. He’s just spent all day on a plane, of course he’s got jet lag.

“When we get home, you can take a nap if you’d like,” Matthew offered, and reached out his hand for Ivan to hold. Ivan thanked him, and after a moment he grabbed Matthew’s outstretched hand and squeezed it.

Another ten or so minutes passed before Matthew glanced over to see Ivan asleep, and the rest of the ride home was spent in silence. Not that he was complaining, Matthew thought Ivan was just as pretty asleep as he was awake, and he knew he needed the rest.

He honestly just found the whole situation kind of amusing. He’s spent the past year waiting to meet his boyfriend in person, imagining all the exciting things they’d get to do now that they’re really together, but instead Ivan’s asleep and they’ll probably end up spending the rest of the day napping together.

When they finally pulled into Matthew’s driveway, he got Ivan’s bags out of the trunk of his car and brought them to his room before he went to wake Ivan.

“Hey, big guy,” Ivan snorted at the name, and Matthew stifled a laugh in return. “how about we go lay down in bed? It’ll be way more comfortable than sleeping in a car.” Ivan nodded, and he followed Matthew into the house and then to his bedroom, where he saw his bags by the door.

“You brought my stuff inside?” He asked as they laid down in Matthew’s bed, and he hummed in confirmation.

“Yeah, I thought you’d want to just come in and go back to sleep.”

Ivan nodded, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend as he moved over to lay next to him. “Thank you.”

Matthew hummed again and curled up in Ivan’s arms as they finally got settled. He was starting to feel tired as well, and figured the coffee was starting to wear off.

“The yellow looks nice.” Matthew stopped painting and turned around to see his husband standing in the doorway. He smiled and held his hand out, beckoning Ivan closer, and he set the paint roller down so he could hug him when he was close enough.

“I told you it would,” Matthew said, resting his head on Ivan’s shoulder and holding softly onto his shirt. They stood there holding each other for a moment, and Ivan started swaying them softly and buried his face in Matthew’s hair. They’d both been busy the past few days with decorating their new house and he wanted a moment to be with his husband without them having to do anything.

Matthew smiled softly to himself turned his head to the side. “And you know what else would look nice?” he asked, and chuckled when he heard Ivan sigh. “Those pretty grey bed sheets we saw at IKEA that you wouldn’t let me get.” Ivan only squeezed him in response, and once Matthew realized Ivan wasn’t going to say anything, he lifted his head up and gave him a lighthearted frown.

“We have perfectly fine sheets here Dorogoy, there’s no need to buy new ones.” Ivan smiled and kissed his frown softly before turning to look at the wall Matthew had been painting. He’d started on it that morning while Ivan had been unpacking in the kitchen, and now at a quarter to noon he was halfway through the second wall.

“I thought you’d be done by now, you’re only painting a single room,” Ivan teased, and Matthew huffed and turned to face the wall to hide his smile.

“Painting takes time, you know this, you helped me paint the kitchen.”

Ivan responded by putting his hand over Matthew’s face and kissing the side of his head, and Matthew laughed and turned his face so he could kiss Ivan back.

When he pulled back, he looked up at Ivan, and leaned his head back to rest on his shoulder again. “I love you,” he murmured after a moment of silence.