RussiaXReader: Pizza?

“Arg!” You screamed, slamming your hands into the keyboard, hoping words would magically appear on the screen. Course, that didn’t happen. You put your forehead on the desk and let out something in between a groan and a growl. Why did reviewing crap have to be hard?

“Are you alright, moy podsolnechnik?” Your roommate, Ivan, asked from the door. Damn those thin walls. You could hear anything and everything that went on in pretty much every room… That fact had caused some seriously awkward situations.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You answered quickly, sitting up and spinning around to the door, while slamming your laptop shut. You weren’t telling the truth but the last time Ivan had ‘helped’ you, things had NOT ended well. “And don’t use that pet name. You know I don’t like it.”

Ivan only smiled. “I will get you vodka. Is good for stress.” God damn it. Stupid Russian with his freaking emotion sensors. He could always tell when you were about ready to pull your hair out.

“No!” You groaned loudly. You took a deep breath before continuing.  “Alcohol is not the answer to everything no matter how much you enjoy it. Besides, I’m too young to be drinking anyway.”

The Russian pouted and gave you the most adorable puppy dog eyes that he could muster. While doing your best to not smile, you waved him off with your hand, turning back to your desk. Ivan was all kinds of adorable when he wasn’t trying to murder someone.

“But, moya lyubov', I can see the stress on your face.” Ivan whined. His freaking cute whine. “You are needing a break.”

“No, Ivan, I don’t.” You grumbled. “If I don’t get these reviews finished, I don’t get paid. And if I don’t get paid, then I can’t pay my half of the rent then you’ll kick me out.”

Ivan kol’d (the term you used for his laugh, since that’s what it sounded like,) and walked across the room to your side. “Glupaya devushka. I would not kick you out for missing one payment. Two, maybe, but not one.” He placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Yeh, but then I’d owe you. That would be all kinds of sucky.” You didn’t try to move his hand. It was almost comforting to have it there. “I’ve seen what happens to people that owe you.”

Ivan knelt down and spun you around so that you were facing him. He bopped you on the nose. You couldn’t help but smile at his child-like gesture. He could be so innocent sometimes. “But I did not like them as much as I like you, solnyshko. I would not make you owe me for missing rent. I have more than enough money to cover both our shares.” He grabbed you by the hand and began to try to drag you to the door. “Come away from the desk. We shall have a night on the town to get you back into shape.”

“But my editors…” you protested, resisting Ivan’s pulling, though he still managed to get you to your feet. Arthur, the guy that signed your paychecks, could be a real hothead if you missed a deadline.

“Let them wait another day or two.” Ivan chuckled. He stopped pulling for a moment and looked you straight in the eye. “You are worth waiting for.”

You blushed at the Russian’s unintentional compliment. Or intentional, whichever, it didn’t matter.

“I might be able to spare a few moments.” You whispered. You pulled your hand out of Ivan’s grasp and held it to your chest. Swaying a little bit and speaking a little bit louder, you asked, “What do you want to do?”

Ivan’s face lit up. “There are all kinds of things we could do. Like drink vodka!”

“Already said no to that one.” You pointed out.

“Or beer?”

“No.”

“How about rum?”

“How about something without alcohol?”

Ivan sighed. He tapped his chin, thinking. “Alright, maybe pizza then?”

You smiled. “Pizza would be nice.” As if on cue, your stomach grumbled. You giggled. “It would seem like my tummy agrees.”

Ivan hooked you under the arm and walked you toward the front door. The entire way to the pizza shop, which was just around the corner from your and Ivan’s apartment, you were grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Though you wouldn’t ever admit it aloud, you were quite glad to be out of that stuffy office.

You and Ivan had a wonderful time at the pizza parlor. The two of you laughed the night away. By the time you guys got back home, you were so tired you didn’t even try to look at the reviews that you needed to finish. You simply collapsed in bed. However, the next day, you were able to finish them in record time. Even Arthur, after calming down a little bit, had been pleasantly surprised at the quality.

From that day on, whenever you were stressed, Ivan dragged you out to eat. You protested of course, but not too forcefully. In fact, you began to rely on Ivan’s stress-relieving abilities to help you write. Not the greatest plan, but it worked, so don’t judge.

In all honesty, the biggest stress reliever was watching Ivan come up with more and more ways to convince you to go out with him. He never used the same ploy twice. All of them were equally cleaver and entertaining. Even once you two got married, he never flat out asked you out. And, that happened to be just the way you liked it.