#goodnbye

I like the idea of Nolan being a pain in Ivan's ass while Makarov was away. Don't get me wrong, he's still the same capable soldier Makarov left him, they co-lead Konni together perfectly fine, but it's just. The off hours, bane of Ivan's existence.

Ivan would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy every second of it though. The attention he gets from the younger man, the lengths that brat goes just to get a reaction out of him, hoping maybe he'd initiate physical contact and get his ass beat. It makes his days a little bit brighter in a way, when the other man is being playfully uncooperative, or a downright jerk. Ivan suspects it to be some sort of coping mechanism to make up for the absence of Makarov. He goes along with it anyway.

When he finds Nolan neck deep in a bottle one night, it's hard to tell if he's doing it just because or to drown out his thoughts like any man does, but he isn't too surprised. Trying to get him up from the floor to help him get ready for bed is met with resistance and drunken remarks, and in the end he just gives up and joins him instead. Flopping down next to him, "Alright, alright, you win," Taking the bottle from his hand and taking a few sips. Few turns to more, and soon enough he's already feeling tipsy.

They sit there, talking about whatever, giggling about whatever, until somewhere in Ivans mind he remembers that it's way too late, and that they should be getting sleep instead. They're the leaders, for fucks sake.

So he hauls Nolan's ass up, one arm over his shoulder, walking them towards Nolan's room to tuck him in first. Ivan knew Nolan was heavy, especially heavier when he's drunk, leaning against the older man, way too close for Ivan's liking. Could almost feel his breath on his neck, see how he licks his lips while babbling about some nonsense. Ivan shakes his head and focuses on the task at hand, successfully bringing the other man into his room and roughly shoving him against the bed.

At first the gesture is met with a laugh, then the man is out cold. Ivan lets out a sigh of relief, partly because he finally gets some peace and quiet, and because it makes what he's about to do much less embarrassing. He walks over to Nolan, leans down and slowly undresses him.

Maybe the tremble in his hands and the heat on his face mean something, but he ignores it all as he quickly strips Nolan of his uncomfortable gear and dresses him in the night clothes he finds laying around. He lets out a big sigh as he's done, the exhaustion settling in every bone in his body, and next thing he knows the world is too heavy for his eyes.

Ivan will wake up some hours later to something nudging him in the chest, which turns out to be Nolan as he's currently being crushed under Ivan's weight and is calling him a heavy bastard, and he'll try and search for answers deep in his mind as to how the fuck he ended up here.