Exchange Experience ~Russia x Reader~

A/N: The reader is allergic to pollen. Also, some parts of the stories are adapted to fit the plot, so please don't mind details like now owning a Guinea pig.

         “Hello, I believe you must be [Y/n] from the exchange program. I am Ivan Braginski.” For a second you were astonished by the height of the guy. He was really tall, he probably reached already six feet and was totally towering you. He was wearing a long coat and boots, even if the weather wasn’t called for such outfit. Despite his intimidating nature, he had a childlike smile plastered on his face. You didn’t quite know if it meant ‘Pleased to meet you’ or ‘I will crush your entire being’ so you tried sounding as polite as you could be.

         “It… It is a pleasure to meet you… Ivan.” You said hesitantly, reaching your hand to shake his.

         “You don’t need to fear me.” He chuckled taking your hand. “The pleasure is all mine to meet such a beautiful person like you.” You blushed at his compliment and turned your face away.

         “Thank you… I hope you’ll enjoy your stay in our city. And I am happy the weather is on our side. Usually at this time of year it’s pretty gloomy.”

         “Then what are we still waiting in this airport? Don’t we have more interesting things to see than people coming and going? Outside is so nice.” He gently grabbed your arm and went outside with you, holding his luggage as well. “I like it when it’s sunny, it makes me happier.”

         “You must be meteo-sensitive.” You smiled to yourself. “I’m the same… weather affects my mood. For example, when it rains, I just want to curl into my bed with a good book and the sound of the raindrops as background sounds.”

         “It is worse when you have to go to school or get out the house, isn’t it?” He ruffled your hair.

         “Yeah. So we should enjoy while it lasts.” As you reached the car, you waited for your parents to catch up with you. “Sadly, we’ll be driving back home since we live pretty far from the airport. But we can walk in the little forest near my house for a while, if you want.”

         “I’d love that.”

         After you got home and you showed Ivan to his room, you left him with his precious alone time to get everything ready before your walk in the forest. Until he was done, you prepared some veggies for the little Guinea pig you owned.

         “Here you go, buddy. Enjoy!” You watched your tiny friend squeaking and munching on the lettuce leaves. “Aren’t you adorable?” You said while putting your fingers through the grates of the cage.

         “I agree.” Came a response, which made you jump back from the pet. “Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you, sunflower…”

         “Ivan! No. Sorry! I didn’t expect you to be ready so fast.” You stuttered shamefully. “Is everything alright?”

         “Yeah. I was just wondering, could I pet your friend?” For the first time since you’ve met, his smile seemed truthful.

         “Of course. Even if I don’t think he’ll be happy being interrupted from his lunch.” You chuckled while getting your piggy out of his home and handing it to Ivan.

         He gently got him in his large hands and started caressing his fur.

         “I really like small animals. They are cute and I love how they fit into my palms and how I can pat them.” In this light, Ivan didn’t seem as scary as the first time you saw him. He was more like a grown child, enjoying the small things in life. And he looked happy, really happy. Good to know he liked animals that much and he wasn’t afraid to show it. This said a lot about someone’s personality. Maybe your fears weren’t reasoned.



         “Where are we going, sunflower?” Ivan giggled as you were dragging him out of the bus eagerly. You blindfolded him, so he wouldn’t be able to guess what surprise you’ve prepared for him.

         “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore, would it?”

         Even if he wasn’t showing it, you knew that the first two days at school during this exchange program weren’t how he would have expected to be. No one would enjoy if as soon as you made your apparition in a new place, people would start judging and gossiping about you. You knew Ivan hoped you didn’t hear some of the things groups of students rumored about him, but you did, and it hurt you.  The rumors had it, Ivan was the type of person to kill without a reason and some even said he might have actually committed a murder before. Yeah, maybe he seemed scary at first, but that didn’t give them the right to talk like this about him. After classes, you took the only bus that could take you outside the town where you hoped to cheer him up.

         Of course, any other person wouldn’t be able to see past his childlike smile, thinking that he was beyond happy, enjoying everything around him. But you could sense his mood and despite the intimidating vibes he was sending, you wanted to comfort him with a hug so bad.

         “We’re almost there.” You said excited as you fastened your pace, dragging the Russian after you.

         “It’s nice to see you so happy, [y/n]. Eh, more like feel your excitement than see it.” Ivan laughed. He was so close to falling to the ground with you when you suddenly stopped your running and he bumped into you.

         “Are you ready?” You inquired, barely holding in your eagerness.

         “More than ever.”

         “Okay, at the count of three. 3…” you went behind him and grabbed the ends of the wrapping on his eyes.

         “2…” You slowly unfolded the knot.

         “1!” The cloth was now in your hands, a huge grin on your face, while watching Ivan starring at the place in front of him.

         For a second you panicked when his smile dropped. It wasn’t in sadness, but in awe at the huge sunflower field in front of him. He looked so content and relaxed, calm, like nothing else mattered at that time.

         “I observed how you have the habit to call me and your sisters ‘sunflower’. And you’ve told me that it’s hard to have nice plantations of these in your country since it is always cold and snowy. So I thought maybe spending some time in such a peaceful place would make you feel better.”

         You left your backpack on the ground to get a pretty large plastic box out of it and a wide checkered tablecloth. You grabbed Ivan’s hand and together you passed to a zone with not so many flowers where you spread the cloth and placed the box on it. It took a second for him to realize what you had in mind. After you sat down, he took a seat close to you, helping you set the little picnic.

         “[Y/n]?” you heard him saying while you were enjoying some sandwiches your mom prepared for you.

         “Is anything wrong? Isn’t the food for your taste? I have some sweets with me as well, in case you desire something else.” Frantically, your hand reached for the food box, but it was stopped by the Russian’s.

         “Oh no, sunflower. Everything is amazing. There’s no need to worry.” He kept his sweet beam on. “I wanted to ask you, do you know why I like sunflowers that much?”

         “Well, everyone has a favorite flower which has a significant meaning to them.”

         “Indeed. They are a symbol of light, warmth and happiness. A world full of sunflowers would be like a world with no malice or enemies, where people are happy and love each other. Where they don’t judge one another and don’t throw words behind your back to hurt you. I know that even you were taken aback when you first met me, because I’m taller and more intimidating than other people. But I don’t want people to fear me and run away from me. I don’t want them to see me as a cruel man who wants to kill everything. I’m not like that. I treasure all the things in life more than anyone would know… All I want is someone to be friends with…”

         “Ivan, your heart is so pure…” You cupped his face and brought it down to meet your eyes. “I see the happiness glimmering in your eyes from the tiniest things, from the little Guinea pig I have in my room to the nice weather outside. You are one of the most gentle and pleasant people I know and you have such a kind heart.” Your hands left his face to take one of his into yours. “And you don’t need all the sunflowers to make a garden. Only a few are enough to bring some sunshine. Keep close to you the ones that you love, and don’t care about the weeds that try to spoil your soil.”

         He removed his hand from yours, only to embrace you into a bear hug, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck.

         “Спасибо, мой подсолнух. Ты мой солнышко.*”



         “I am telling you, this picnic was the best idea I’ve had in a while!” You laughed while lying on your back to watch the sky.

         “Could I disagree?” Ivan joined and together watched the clouds.

         “Look! That one looks like a bunny!” You shouted and pointed to the mass of steam.

         “And that one like a little duck!” Hearing his cute chuckle made you really pleased and you were glad you could make him feel cheery. After some time spent watching the clouds being carried by the wind you observed one that reminded you of his favorite flowers.

         “Oh, Ivan. Do you see what I see? I think that one really looks like.. Achoo!” You were stopped midsentence by a sneeze.

         “Bless you.” ^J^ _{Don’t ask me what is this doing here, I’m out of words.}

         “Heh, thank you… Where were… achoo!” And then other sneezes followed the one before. And again and again. Soon you were turned into a sneezing and coughing mess, and you weren’t able to form a coherent sentence anymore.

         Ivan started panicking, not knowing what was happening with you or how should he act. You have totally forgotten how allergic you were to certain types of pollen because of your excitement to surprise your friend. And now the allergies decided to break the nice moment the two of you were having together. You tried standing up to get away from the flowers, only to stumble and fall to the ground. But your body didn’t hit the dirt. Two arms had already made their away around you and caught your form.

         “Sunflower! What is going on? What happened?” Ivan was really scared and even if you were the one almost having a seizure, you wanted to calm him down.

         “Can’t… Breathe…” You managed to say between some coughs and you motioned towards the road, away from the field.

         In a second, the Russian began gathering all the food back in your backpack, lifted you up in his arms and walked with you until you reached the bus station where you arrived an hour ago. All the time he kept stroking your hair and telling you to breathe until your coughing fit stopped. Your lungs still felt uneasy, but it wasn’t as bad as before. Ivan didn’t let you down until he was sure you were 100% alright and after the bus came, you went together home where you sat with your Guinea pig, listening to Tchaikovsky and telling corny jokes.

         It was an interesting day, but it was totally worth it. You couldn’t be more blissful after bringing some more delight in Ivan’s life and giving him something he had desired for a long time; a soul to hear him out and be by his side. Shortly, a friend.



         “Like a sunflower, I will always follow you and be by your side.”
         “Heh, sadly that job is already taken by Natalia.”
         “Who?”
         “My sister…” And as he said that, you felt a shiver running down your spine.