The Svetkova house & Kras' apartment

Ivan laughed at the 'house daddy' thing. "Haha, that's hilarious! Though I doubt Kras vould like just staying at home." He laughed a bit more, shaking his head and grinning. "You know vot, there's a early educational school/daycare in town that takes care of and helps teach magical children before they are old enough to attend a magic school. Kras might be able to vork there. Some of his cousins even attend actually. I could definitely get their parents to put a good vord in for him. It'd be a great job for him, because it's not really a job outside the vizarding vorld and he could still vork around people, especially kids. He'd love it."

~*~*~*~

Meanwhile...Kras and Andrei's chess games have reached up to game number 63. The score is Andrei: 45 and Kras: 18. Yeah...things weren't going too well for Kras.
"You're too good at this." He pouted, after Andrei had beat him for a 46th time.
"I know." Andrei smirked, quite pleased with himself. "Vot time is it?"
They both looked over and checked the clock. 4:15am.
"Vell...it's late, isn't? Or early." Kras chuckled, yawning a bit. The past two nights had been rough on him.
Andrei looked with concern at his friend. "You look dead tired, Raz. Vy don't you try to sleep again? I'll be right here the entire time."
Kras got up, shaking his head, and went over to sit on the couch. "I just don't vant to...to dream about that stuff again. I think I can manage to stay up for another three or four hours until ve can see the Highmaster." His eyelids were getting heavy though and he knew if he closed his eyes for longer than five seconds he was a goner. And he did not want to have those dreams again.
Andrei shook his head and went over to join Kras on the couch. "I know you don't vant to dream about things again, but I can't let you just go vithout sleep. You'll pass out, Raz. Come on, I'll vatch over you, alright?" He was dead tired, himself, but watching over Kras was more important.
"I don't think I'll be able to though." Kras replied sadly. "I just...it's not comfortable. I don't feel safe..." Maybe if Reed was here to hold onto him...
Andrei reached over and placed an arm around Kras' shoulders, pulling him close. "Here, now you're safe. I'll protect you, just like in the past. I may not be Reed, but I'm still your best friend and I vill do everything I can to make sure you're alright. Now sleep." It wasn't a question, it was a command. Andrei wouldn't admit to himself that he just wanted to have Kras close to him again, just like in the past when Kras would have nightmares about Liv's death and he would cling to Andrei at night for comfort. He really did want to make Kras feel safe too.
Kras was going to protest, but he did feel somewhat safer so he gave in and closed his eyes, resting his head against his best friend's shoulder. It was just like in the past when he would have nightmares and he'd stay close to Andrei for comfort. "Thank you, Drei..." he whispered softly.
Andrei smiled sadly, glad Kras couldn't see the pained look upon his face. He settled back a bit so they could both be comfortable. In no time at all Andrei could hear Kras' breathing even out as he fell asleep.
Ever so gently, Andrei placed a hand lightly upon Kras' chest, feeling his heart beating within. It was a comforting feeling, one that made Andrei smile and feel good, knowing his best friend was still alive and with him.
As much as he tried to stay awake, Andrei too soon felt his eyelids getting heavy and, after a few more minutes of struggling, he gave in and fell asleep.

[Reed is so conflicted. He feels like he should want to go up to Andrei and say 'leave my man alone' but mostly he just wants to huggle him...]

Reed's eyes widen a bit. "Really? That would be absolutely perfect for him! Even more perfect that it's here since I wanted to move here anyways once I was out of school. You'll have to tell him about that when he gets back." And saying that made him glance at the clock. Which caused the panic to settle in once more. It felt like forever since he last got to see Kras, and not knowing what was going on at every moment was seriously freaking him out a bit. He tried to conceal his panic, but his breathing definitely picked up.

[Hehe. Well, he won't be trying anything weird, at least. He's just trying to make things easier for Kras and comfort him. :3 He doesn't want to feel the wrath of Reed...]

"I'll tell him..." Ivan replied, hoping Kras would like his idea. Seeing the slight look of panic on Reed's face that he was trying to conceal, Ivan bit his lip. He really wondered how Reed and Kras would make it apart while Reed was still in school when even one day apart was hard for them. "Vell...I'd say ve have about half an hour to vait..." He was trying to find something to distract Reed. "You know...this isn't much of a distraction, but I'd love to hear about how you and Kras met. Did you two go on a date or two?" He smiled, hoping that maybe talking about that would keep Reed's spirits up for a bit.

[Hehe, wrath of Reed *giggles*]

Reed instantly blushed when Ivan asked how him and Kras met. "Well, it's a bit complicated on my end. It was like, my second day at the school and I was sitting at our house table by myself because I didn't know anyone and I'm kind of shy. Well, you know Kras...So he came up to me. I got startled and fell off the bench. When I looked up I swear I was looking at these statues I'd always seen in Italy, the Greek Gods. Kras was flirting with me almost instantly. I just remember that I felt like my face was going to explode. Anyways, then he showed me where the library was. Kras flirted the entire time and I really didn't know what to make of it. I'd never had anything like that happen to me before. After that, he was all I could think about, which was weird again because...yeah. Then I got put in the same dorm as him. A few weeks later he took me to Hogsmeade and that was my first date ever. And it was amazing." Reed was of course bright red through the entire thing. The blush increased when he thought of how the date ended. "Then Kras kissed me and everyday since then I've been the happiest boy alive."

"Vell, the thing about him approaching you that day at the table definitely sounds like him." Ivan laughed. "I'm really surprised about the flirting thing." He grinned, shaking his head. "To be honest, you're the first person I've seen Kras show open interest in. I mean, ven he vos little everyvon just expected he'd end up marrying Liv, so seeing him happy vith her vosn't out of the ordinary, but, after her death and all, he really never showed romantic interest toward anyvon. I guess he just really vosn't interested in seeing somevon. Or maybe he vos just vaiting for the right person." He winked. It was amusing seeing Reed's face all red. "Vell, I'm glad that boy is treating you right. And I guess...vell, I think some times ven Kras sees something...or somevon, that he vants he von't give up until he gets vot he vants." Like that darn tea party birthday for Liv when they were younger. Kras had wanted his father to dress up like a waiter to serve the tea...and he hadn't stopped begging his father until Ivan had agreed. At least it was a nice outfit. And the happy looks on the kids faces was worth it too.

Reed smiled a bit sadly. "Yeah, Kras knew he was going to marry Liv someday. I know I'll never live up to her, but I'm just glad that I can make him happy again." He laughed a little once. "Honestly it didn't take much for him to get me. As cheesy as it sounds, it kind of was love at first sight. I just didn't know who I was at the time to understand it. Kras showed me who I was though. I just got lucky that I was the one that caught his eye. I still think he's crazy though. Especially with someone like An-" He slapped his hand over his mouth and looked terrified. Crap. He almost said Andrei. Crap crap crap. Please don't ask about that. Please don't ask about that.

Ivan blinked in surprise at how quickly Reed covered his mouth and looked terrified. "Somevon like who?" It almost sounded like he was about to say Andrei, but Andrei wasn't gay, was he? Ivan couldn't remember ever seeing Andrei with anyone, so he didn't really know. "You don't mean Andrei, do you? I'm sure even if that's the case, but if it is...vell, Kras is obviously smitten vith you and I doubt it just all has to do vith looks. There's personality involved vith his feelings too. I think vith Andrei he just thinks of him as a really good friend. And I'm glad that even though Kras doesn't have Liv, he has somevon as amazing as you to make him happy."

Reed wanted to die. He let his head fall forward to smack on the table. If Andrei found out what Reed just let slip, he would be so mad. He mumbled into the table top. "Please pretend you didn't hear that. I can't believe I'm so stupid. Please please pleaaaaasse don't say anything to Kras." He looked up at Ivan with pleading eyes.

Ivan chuckled, reaching over to place a comforting hand on Reed's shoulder. "Don't vorry, I von't say anything to him." He shook his head, very amused. "I've been in situations like that before. So I understand. It'd be awkvard for Kras if he knew about his friend's feelings. I'm sure for Andrei it sucks having to keep his feelings to the side, shut away, but at least he can be glad knowing that the person his best friend is vith vill treat him vith the same respect and love that he vould. I've spoken to Andrei a bit after yours and Kras' last visit, and he does like you. He said he liked seeing you two together." He gave Reed a reassuring smile.

Reed sat up, but was still hunched a little bit. "I know. I really like him too. That's why I feel so terrible I let that slip. I feel like I betrayed his trust. Ugggh. Stupid rambling is going to get me in major trouble someday. I know how much Kras cares for Andrei as a friend too and I don't want to put any kind of strain on that relationship."

"Vell, the secret's safe vith me and I swear I von't tell anyvon, or Andrei, vot I know." Ivan smiled reassuringly. "You know, I bet if Kras found out anyvay, Andrei vould probably deny it. He's a darn good liar, that von. Kras got him to lie to me and Anna for him a few times back in the day. Mostly just ven they had gotten caught doing something they veren't supposed to. Like sneaking out of their dorm at school late at night past curfew. The teachers alvays wrote home about stuff like that though so their lies vere alvays found out." He laughed, shaking his head. "Not that I vould have gotten mad hearing the actual truth from them first. I've done my share of rule breaking back in the day."

Reed's eyes sparkled a little. "He used to get in trouble? He's never gotten in trouble at Hogwarts...well except for now. It's kind of funny to think of the rebel Kras. I think the last time I broke the rules was when I was like..eight. I'm what they call a goodie-two-shoes." He giggled a little.

[by the way...Kras has been rather approving of this father/Reed bonding. :3 it makes him all happy]

Ivan laughed. "Better to keep your feet out of the mud, in my opinion. It's fun breaking the rules on occasion...but you generally have to spread your rule breaking out a bit so it's less easy to get caught. I think Andrei vos the von who came up vith have their rule breaking ideas. If I recall correctly I think it vos Kras' idea to start learning apparating by themselves though." He shook his head, grinning.

[Reed is quite enjoying it as well!!]

Reed laughed a little. "Now that I've heard about. I heard there was an incident where Kras lost his nose? And there is photographic evidence? I would love to see that. Apparently Andrei has them. I think he promised Kras never to show me though, so that's a bit sad."

Ivan roared with laughter. "I remember hearing about that! Kras vos not amused. I'm sure it vos sort of embarrassing, but maybe some day you'll get lucky and get to see a picture. If Kras doesn't make Andrei burn them all first." He laughed more. "It's not something he likes to mention, so he mainly just tells people the finger incident vos his only von. Don't know if he mentioned that von or not to you. He vos trying to disapparate to the kitchen from upstairs and left quite a bit of fingers behind. Unpleasant incident. Scared Anna half to death, but ve got him all fixed up in no time."

Reed was laughing now too, which really felt great. "I bet that happens to me too. Good thing I don't plan on trying to learn on my own. I'm going to wait to take actual lessons next year. At least I know what it feels like now though...and I really don't like it, but it's a whole lot easier then any other form of transportation."

"Vell, everyvon has a few incidents or so vhile learning how to disapparate. So no vorries." Ivan grinned. "Just as long as you pay attention to the instructor you should be okay. And don't vorry, it gets easier over time and doesn't feel as bad vonce you get used to it. It's the quickest vay to get places so it's handy to learn." He looked over to check on the potion they were making. "This looks about ready. Maybe give it a minute or two."

Reed felt a little nervous, but knew he'd be apparating a bunch over the summer, so maybe that would help him get used to it. Maybe. He bounced a little in his chair when Ivan declared the potion to be ready. "Oh yay! Kras will be really happy you made this for me too. And I live through the taste I suppose. Especially if I know it'll make Kras happy."

Ivan thought about it for a few seconds. "Hm, I might be able to make it taste better." He opened his book back up and looked through a few things. "It says you can mix it vith a little bit of juice if you'd like. Not sure how vell that'll make it taste, but vorth the try if you'd like. I put some grape juice in the fridge earlier ven I brought the food over."

Reed shrugged and nodded. "I suppose it's worth a try. I've tried some pretty gross food before, so hopefully this won't be too bad." He gave the potion a nervous glance before deciding it'd be best not to think about it too much. Yeah, probably a good idea. "And how many times a day can I drink it?"

"Ve'll mix a bit of it with some juice first so you can see if that's better or not. If it is then ve'll mix the rest vith juice too." Ivan replied, getting up to get the juice out of the fridge. "You're going to vant to drink one small vial of the stuff for the next five days. The fifth day is ven ve should start to get results." He opened his bag and pulled out five small vials and lids for them. Then he put a tiny bit of the potion in one of the vials and mixed it with grape juice. "Alrighty...ready to try it?" He held it out to Reed.

Reed nodded. Five days wasn't too bad right? He grabbed the vial and looked at it apprehensively for a moment. "As ready as I'll ever be. Do you think it'll help me grow facial hair? Not that I've ever been fond of it for myself, but I seem to have not been able to grow any yet. Oh well. Bottoms up I guess." He threw back the vial...and nearly choked. It tasted awful. His first reaction was to spit it out, but his brain actually managed to tell him to swallow. As soon as he swallowed, he ran to the cupboard to grab a cup for water. He chugged down the water but could still taste the potion. "You weren't kidding. That stuff was not good." As if the potion would have an instantaneous effect, Reed patted the top of his head.

"I don't think it'll help vith the facial hair. Vhich is fine, cause I think you look better vithout it." Ivan chuckled, watching Reed drink the potion and then run for some water. "Told you. Most potion really don't taste good at all. The vay it is, I suppose. I'll put these in a safe bag for you and an anti-breaking spell on the vials just in case they're dropped or stepped on. Never know."

Reed managed to laugh, even though he still tasted the potion. "Sweet! You Reed-proofed them! Honestly all I would have to do is touch them for them to break." He giggled a little and filled his glass again, quickly chugging that down as well.

"I've heard that happens." Ivan grinned. It didn't take long for him to clean everything up and pack his potion stuff away. "You'll have to write me and let me know how this vorks out for you." He looked around, wishing his son had more clocks around the place. "Vot time is it..." well, at least he was wearing a watch, "4:33." They still had a few more hours to go.