#hetalia advent calendar 2024

[milkemim]

Hetalia Advent Calendar: Day 1: First now

Word count: 1837

Link to all chapters

--------------------

It was finally december! Little baby Italy looked out the window in the morning, to see a thick blanket of snow covering the ground, with more falling every second that passed. He gasped and dropped down from the kitchen chair he was on.

“Ms. Hungary! Ms. Hungary, It’s snowing outside!” Italy yelled, running to her.

“Really?” She looks down at him and picks him up. “It came a bit late this year, hmm?”

Italy happily snuggles into her. “Can we go make snow angels? Por favore!”

“Let’s have some breakfast first, okay? Then we need to find you some winter clothes, and maybe you can ask [Name] to take you. I have a lot of chores to do today.” Hungary says, carrying Italy to the kitchen where Austria was almost done with breakfast.

After a happy, healthy breakfast, Italy approached [Name], who was sitting and watching Austria and Hungary run around. “Mx. [Name]! Will you look for a coat with me, please, and come play in the snow?”

“Little Italy!” They happily pick him up and place him on their lap. “That sounds like so much fun! I’m sure Austria has an old coat you can borrow.” They stand up and begin walking to an old storage room in the house.

“Mr. Austria’s coat? But that’ll be way too big on me!” Little Italy claims.

“He was as little as you once. Hehe, I remember how adorable he was. Me and Austria have been friends for a while now, did you know that? I have all kinds of embarrassing stories about him.”

“As little as me? Really?” Italy gasps, “Have you known Ms. Hungary for a long time too?” he smiles hopefully.

“No, not really. I got to know her just a little before you.” [Name] says as they reach the storage room. They put Italy down and open the door, turning the old light on. “Wow, it sure is dusty in here.”

Italy followed behind, looking at all the high stacked boxes. The storage room was messy, and Italy wasn’t allowed here without permission, which he never really got even if he asked nicely. The most he had seen inside was when Hungary had to go fetch something from there.

After a bit of searching through Austria’s old clothes that he hadn’t thrown away, saying he’ll tailor them to fit again, [Name] holds up a tiny coat. It was a little worn down, but it’d do the trick. “Try this one on!” [Name] says and helps Italy get the coat on.

“It’s a little big…” Italy comments and flaps his arms a little.

“That should be fine. Next, let’s get you some gloves and a hat! And boots too of course!” [Name] says, taking the coat off so Italy wouldn’t get hot.

The two search the old clothes boxes more, until Austria comes in. “I have been looking for Italy all over! What is he doing here? It’s dangerous, the loose items could fall on top of him.” He fusses and sighs. “I thought you’d at least be a little responsible, [Name].”

“Don’t worry, Austria! I’ll keep him safe! We were just looking for your old winter clothes so we could go out and play in the snow… And help Hungary with the chores too, of course.” [Name] assures.

“My old clothes?” Austria comes over and sits with the two, looking at the old box in front of [Name].There were articles of clothing scattered on the floor around them. “Was it impossible for you to just put them away neatly?” He glares a little.

“Haha, whoops! Anyway… Do you want to help us search?”

Italy smiles and watches the encounter between the two adults. Even though Austria could be scary and mean sometimes, he was a little amusing.

Finally, after some time and arguing, the clothes to keep Italy warm are found.

“Let’s go show Hungary your new clothes and then go play.” [Name] says, taking Italy’s hand and walking outside with him.

Hungary was shoveling snow around the house. She looks over to [Name] and Italy once she hears them waves them over.

“Awww! Aren’t you just so adorable?” She crouches down and pinches Italy’s cheek. “Do you want to help me shovel the snow? We can make a big snow mountain and then sled down it!”

Hungary gets Italy a little shovel to help her. Austria watched from a little ways away.

“I’ll go handle the backyard. Do you want to come with me, [Name]?” Austria asks, looking at them.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s make an ice piano!”

“No.”

After a few hours, both the back and front yard were less hazardous and more walkable. [Name] was spreading little pebbles on the walk path to make sure no one slips. Italy was climbing the little snow mountain that was born from all the shoveled snow. Hungary laughed and watched over Italy, clapping and complimenting his bravery and making sure he gets caught in case he slips.

Austria was walking behind [Name] to make sure they weren’t slacking off while spreading the pebbles. He walked over the path multiple times and nit-picked a little on where to add more pebbles. 

“Do you want an old man to fall and crack his head open?! Add more here!” Austria points in front of his feet. “I’m not even going to walk over this. It’s too dangerous.”

“There’s barely even any ice! But fine…” [Name] pours more pebbles around the area and sighs. “Seriously, we’re going to have to do this all again in two days when it snows even more. Shovel, sand… Play.” They look over to Italy and Hungary.

Austria looks over too. “Well, they sure look like they’re having fun.” He crosses his arms, trying to keep his cold hands warm.

[Name] smiles and turns back to Austria. “So, are you going to be playing Christmas songs on the piano from now on?”

“When it gets a little more holiday-ish.”

Italy waves to the two of them from on top of the mountain. “Hey! Come play with us! Let’s have a snowball fight!” He yells, laughing.

Austria sighs. “I’m cold. I’m going inside.” He says to [Name] and walks away.

“Boring… I’m coming, Italy!” [Name] runs over, almost slipping on the ice. “Woah! Let’s team up and defeat Ms. Hungary!”

Hungary laughs. “Bring it on, peasants!” 

“Here, I’ll even give you my gloves so we’re even.” [Name] smiles and hands them over to Hungary.

What a noble mistake. 

Hungary ended up totally sweeping the floor with poor little Italy and [Name]. All three of them were panting, Hungary and [Name] holding a competitive stare while having a little break. Until an annoying voice disturbed it…

“Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on here? A battle? Without the awesome Prussia involved?” Said Prussia hops over the fence.

“Hey! That’s trespassing! You’re not allowed here!” Hungary yells at him, now irked by his sudden presence.

“It’s Christmas, crime is forgivable!” Prussia laughs, walking over. “So what’s going on here? What, is Hungary losing to these two weaklings?”

“No!” Both [Name] and Hungary yelled.

“O’ mighty Prussia, team up with me! I need to take her down!” [Name] drops to their knees, their hands intertwined together.

“He is not joining our snowball fight!” Hungary protests.

“The great Prussia does not team up. But, I suppose I could be allies and help you defeat this little girl!” He smirks, taunting Hungary.

She glares at him. “Italy. Go inside and help Mr. Austria with whatever he’s doing. It’s about to get violent.”

“Eeek!!” Italy gladly runs away inside. Now it was just Prussia vs. Hungary vs. [Name].

Prussia and [Name] mostly focused on taking Hungary down, with throwing just a few snowballs at each other. Hungary wasn’t doing so well now, being teamed up by two competent fighters. While the two of them were focused with another little argument and fighting each other instead, she built a little wall of snow to duck behind to take cover and stock up on snowballs.

“Hey, Hungarys breaking the rules!” Prussia yells, disturbing the fight.

“I don’t think there’s any rules in a snowball fight… But she has an advantage now! You keep firing and I’ll make more snowballs and build a wall for us too! Just watch my back!” [Name] quickly makes a strategy and gets to work.

“Okay, I can do that!” Prussia smirks. “Hungary, you may have an upper hand for now, but don’t think you’re winning yet!”

The fierce battle went on. It was certainly more balanced with Prussia joining in. It was a bit too serious and competitive for a snowball fight, but there was still a lot of laughing and fun, even if Hungary and Prussia didn’t want to admit it.

Everyone was tired, but not ready to give up. Until Austria had to come and ruin the fun. He poked his upper body out of the window he was walking by.

“Fighting at my house is not allowed! How many times do I have to tell you?!”

“What are you gonna do about it, Austria?” Prussia yells back at him.

Austria ignores him. “And Hungary! Look at the yard! I hope you’ll be the one shoveling it all again, [Name], you too!” He glares.

“Y-yes, sir…” [Name] says and scratches the back of their neck.

“I would make Prussia do it as well, but he would only make matters worse. I’ll think of a fitting punishment for you!”

After Prussia is chased off the yard, meaning he just got bored of being chased around, Hungary and [Name] got to work on making the yard neat again.

“At least we didn’t make too much of a mess…” [Name] says, mostly to themselves.

“Yeah. Soon we’ll have to put up Christmas decorations though, so I’m glad we battled now instead of then. I wouldn’t want to try detangling Christmas lights back to how they were…” Hungary responds, Shoveling snow back onto the small mountain.

“Let’s blame Prussia for this.”

Hungary nods in agreement.

After all the yard work was done, Hungary and [Name] finally migrated back inside and got something warm to drink. The two made 4 mugs of hot chocolate and Hungary carried it on a tray. The two walked to the music room, [Name] holding the door open for Hungary.

Austria stopped playing the piano and looked over. Italy, who was sitting next to Austria and listening to him play, looked over as well.

“We made hot chocolate! One for you, and one for you.” Hungary smiles and hands each of them a mug.

“It’s getting dark out, and it started snowing again. The window here is nice and big, so we can watch as the snow falls and chat.” [Name] says.

And so they did. They piled blankets and pillows in front of the window. It was a cozy evening, and overall a good and fun day. December had started with a bang and hopefully it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the month.

[nsfhetalia]

Hetalia Event Calendar 2024

January

⭐ Australia' Birthday (01/01)

⭐ Monaco' Birthday (08/01)

⭐ Prussia' Birthday (18/01)

➡️ @asakikuweek2024 (24th - 31st)

➡️ @hwsevents (HWS Redesign Week: January 25th - February 7th)

February

⭐ Holy Roman Empire' Birthday (02/02)

➡️ @royalredbrosweek (4th - 11th)

⭐ Japan' Birthday (11/02)

⭐ Spain's Birthday (12/02)

⭐ Lithuania' Birthday (16/02)

⭐ Estonia' Birthday (24/02)

➡️ @fuchyeahaphestonia (APH Estonia Week: Feb. 25th - Mar. 2nd)

⭐ Egypt' Birthday (28/02)

March

➡️ @hwsevents (Mythtalia: 1st - 31st)

⭐ Bulgaria' Birthday (03/03)

⭐ Eyebrow day (03/03)

➡️ @geritaweek (16th - 22th)

⭐ South Italy and North Italy' Birthday (17/03)

➡️ @itararepairweek (17th - 23th)

⭐ Greece' Birthday (25/03)

April

➡️ @hongiceweek (1st - 7th)

💖💖 Fruk Day (08/04) 💖💖

➡️ @spaus-week (20th - 26th)

⭐ Hutt River' Birthday (21/04)

⭐ England' Birthday (23/04)

May

➡️ @engportevents (EngPort week: 8th - 15th)

➡️ @nedcanweek (12th - 19th)

➡️ @scotengweek (13th - 19th)

⭐ Norway' Birthday (17/05)

➡️ @hetalia-canukr-week (17th - 19th)

⭐ Cuba' Birthday (20/05)

June

➡️ @polpruweek (3rd - 9th)

➡️ @hetalia-aushun-week (3rd - 9th) ⭐ Denmark' Birthday (05/06)

⭐ Sweden' Birthday (06/06)

⭐ Portugal' Birthday (10/06)

⭐ Philippines' Birthday (12/06)

⭐ Iceland' Birthday (17/06)

➡️ @hetaberia-week (24th - 30th)

➡️ @lietcanweek24 (24th - 28th)

⭐ Seychelles' Birthday (29/06)

➡️ @amechuweek (June 30th - July 6th)

July

⭐ Canada and Hong Kong' Birthday (01/07)

➡️ @hwsamecanweek (1st - 7th)

➡️ @hwsfemmephenomenon (Digital Zine: Contribution applications open, from 1st to 31th)

➡️ @spamano-week (3rd - 9th)

⭐ America' Birthday (04/07)

➡️ @hwsasiaweek (8th - 17th)

⭐ Liechtenstein' Birthday (12/07)

⭐ France' Birthday (14/07)

➡️ @doomspiral (RusPru Micro-week event: 18th - 20th)

⭐ Belgium' Birthday (21/07)

➡️ @summertalia-event (21th - 27th)

⭐ Netherlands' Birthday (26/07)

➡️ @aphcardverse-week (Jul. 28th - Aug. 3rd)

August

⭐ Switzerland' Birthday (01/08)

➡️ @usukweek (5th - 11th)

➡️ @hetalia-rarepairweek (11th - 17th)

⭐ South Korea' Birthday (15/08)

💖💖 Rusame' day (16/08) 💖💖

➡️ @germanbrosweek (18th - 24th)

⭐ Hungary' Birthday (20/08)

⭐ Ukraine' Birthday (24/08)

⭐ Belarus' Birthday (25/08)

⭐ Moldova' Birthday (27/08)

September

⭐ Vietnam' Birthday (02/09)

⭐ Sealand' Birthday (02/09)

➡️ @nedportweek (22th - 28th)

💖💖 Nedport' Day (25/09) 💖💖

October

⭐ China' Birthday (01/10)

⭐ Germany' Birthday (03/10)

⭐ Portugal' Birthday (05/10)

➡️ @gerpru-week (6th - 12th)

➡️ @gereng-week (5th - 12th)

➡️ @hwsevents (PrUKtober: 10th - 17th)

➡️ @hetaween-event (22th - 31st)

💖💖 Hetalia' Day (24/10) 💖💖

⭐ Taiwan' Birthday (25/10)

➡️ @hetahorrorweek (25th - 31st)

⭐ Austria' Birthday (26/10)

⭐ Turkey' Birthday (29/10)

➡️ @gurotalia-week (October 31st - November 6th)

November

➡️ @hetafashionweek (10th - 16th)

⭐ Poland' Birthday (11/11)

⭐ Wy' Birthday (15/11)

⭐ Latvia' Birthday (18/11)

December

➡️ @hetalia-advent-calender (1st - 25th)

⭐ Romania' Birthday (01/12)

➡️ @nordictalia-week (1st - 7th)

⭐ Thailand' Birthday (05/12)

⭐ Finland' Birthday (06/12)

⭐ Macau' Birthday (21/12)

⭐ Russia' Birthday (30/12)

_______

Upcoming~

➡️ @lietpruweek (January 6th - 12th, 2025)

_______

PS. I'm not sure those Birthday' dates are correct, also there are many missing. Please correct me if there is anything wrong or if something is missing. Thank you 😋

Also, also...

Let me recommend:

@heta-on-the-books

@hetaliahappenings

@hwsevents

@hetaliacalendar

To help you by rebloging/boosting your event/ or other project.

[milkemim]

Day 5: Sledding and Snowmen

Word count: 1466

Link to all chapters

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Today is the 5th of December. It was also a super secret allies meeting- one that [Name], the honorary member, was of course invited to. Everyone met up at Russia’s house. The meeting was almost over and all the important topics and bickering was pretty much done.

China sighs as another fight breaks out between Enlgand and France. He looked over at [Name] who was sitting next to him. “I swear, these meetings would be at least 75% faster if those two could keep themselves from going at each other's throats over every other sentence.” He says.

“I think the sound is nice. It brings a certain livelihood to my house that I never see otherwise.” Russia joins into the conversation and smiles.

“Of course you do. I was not talking to you!” China crosses his arms over his chest. “Westerners are so nosy.”

[Name] laughs a little and pats China’s shoulder. “I like it too. Their fights are amusing, and it keeps me from falling asleep sometimes. Also it keeps America quiet… Mostly. It’s a nice break from all the seriousness.”

“The America part is true.” China says.

“Hey! What American part is true?!” America, who perked up at hearing his name, asked excitedly.

China sighs again and lowers his head, closing his eyes.

“Oh, just that we like hearing you talk.” [Name] smiles at him. “You’re not annoying at all. Never.”

“Well, of course! There’s many reasons why I’m the greatest country, and one of them is my incredible charisma and charm!”

“I do not think that is what [Name] said at all…” Russia quietly says.

Before the conversation could go on any longer, France and England bring the swords out.

“Hey, hey, hey! Let’s argue about this in a diplomatic way, no need for violence!” America steps between them, “Think about what Russia would do to you for fighting at his house and accidentally breaking something…” He quietly says to just the two of them. It thankfully seemed to snap the two out of it despite their anger enough to put the swords away

“I still hate you! Don’t think this means anything!” England glares at France.

“Shut up, black sheep of Europe! This is not nearly over!”

[Name] stands up and walks over to the two as well. “I know how to solve this! With mild violence.”

“I’d prefer no violence at all…” Poor Canada says, though no one seems to hear him.

“A snowball fight!” They triumphantly say.

“That seems like a good idea, actually…” France notes and England nods.

“Uhm… If I may interrupt, it’s a good idea, but most of the snow today is really hard and frozen. You two might get really injured.” Russia says, a little worried about the idea. “I kind of don’t want my house to get that reputation.”

“Oh…” [Name] pronounces, “Well, let’s go sledding instead! Overcome the anger with, uh, joy!” They smile and put their hands on their hips.

“I wanna go sledding too!” America shouts. “It’ll be extra fun since it’s frozen too!”

China looks back up and watches everyone get excited about sledding. With just a little encouragement from America and [Name], both the fighting parties agreed to it- but only on the count that they have a sledding match to prove the victor of today’s battle. “I am not coming. I’d rather stay inside where it’s warm.”

[Name] managed to get him outside too, though they had to borrow him their hat and gloves. Thankfully Russia also lended [Name] some spare winter clothing too.

Everyone followed Russia’s lead to the best mountain that wasn’t too far. [Name] got the privilege to ride in one of the sleds while they walked. France and England tried to fight over who gets to pull them, as a dominance tactic, but America ended up sliding in while the two were busy arguing and was ultimately the one to pull them along. Neither England or France were happy with the outcome.

“I’ll ride the winners sled back, okay? Just stop fighting…” [Name] assures. France and England share a look, now even more determined to win their epic sledding match. “Also, before you start arguing over the rules, I’ll make them! The one to reach the bottom first wins. You don’t get to call another person to push you down the hill, you’ll just have to have a running start yourselves and if you try to break the rules or play dishonorably you lose immediately!” They strictly explain.

Everyone agrees with the rules and soon everyone arrives at the mountain, which was actually just a little hill.

“Before we start the battle, I’d like to have a little bit of practice.” England says.

“Okay, 30 minutes of practice and warm up for both parties!” America says and France and England both already begin running up the hill. “Okay so, who’s betting on who?”

“We’re betting? Also, I think 30 minutes is a little too much time for a sledding competition…” [Name] steps up from the sled and joins the little circle of America, China and Russia. Along with Canada, but he was not really in the circle, but outside of it. “I don’t know… How much are we talking about?”

“I am not betting over something as childish as sledding! Especially between those two.” China says.

“I think England will win.” Russia smiles.

“I’ll bet 20 on France then!” America exclaims cheerfully.

“20 what?? Dollars? Euros, rubles, yuan?” [Name asks].

“I definitely do not think it’s either of the last two…” China mumbles.

“20 American dollars, of course!” America.

America bets on France, Russia bets on England, [Name] bets on [Your Bet] and China refuses to participate. Canada’s opinion is not asked.

Meanwhile England and France were practicing their sledding techniques, the rest of the allies decide to build snowmen. America was teaming up with Russia to make a really big one and China just went to rest in one of the sleds, but later he would go on to make a little snowpanda.

“Oh, Canada! Don’t think I forgot about you!” [Name] smiles at him and approaches him.

“Ah! M-me?” His eyes sparkle a little and he looks at [Name] hopefully.

“Yes. You. Let’s make something too. How about… A snow-polar bear! And then after, if we have time, we could make a cool big maple syrup snow sculpture.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun! Thank you…” He happily says.

The two managed to make a pretty convincing polar bear, though it wasn’t very big.

“It could be a little polar bear cub.” Canada says, looking at it from next to [Name].

“Yeah. That’s really cute, Canada.” They look at him and smile. “I think ours is much better than whatever America and Russia are trying to make.” They look over to the other two. Their snowman was a little disfigured and it seemed like they got into an argument and couldn’t find a compromise while building it.

Time went by quickly and soon it was time for France’s and England’s competition. Canada and America were at the bottom of the hill, to be able to watch who makes it through the little drawn finish line on the ground first. At the top of the cliff were [Name] and Russia, as well as the contestants of course. China had climbed up too for the occasion.

“Are the contestants ready?” [Name] asks.

“I’m ready.” England nods and gets in position.

“Ready!” France gets in position as well.

“Ready… Set… Go!” [Name] shouts.

The two both run until the hill tilts enough to remain at a good speed. It was a close battle and both contestants sledded down with fast speeds, especially with the icy snow.

“The winner is… France! Hooray!!” America cheers. Canada nods, agreeing that France was the true winner.

Russia sighs. “Do I really have to pay him…?”

“You shouldn’t have bet.” China says to him.

“Let’s think about that when we’re down the hill! It’s our turn now!” [Name] says, also wanting to sled down the hill. They urge China onto a sled and sit behind him. “Give us a push, Russia!”

Russia giggles and pushes them down. He follows them down with his own sled after. China may or may not have screamed a little from the unexpected amount of speed. “I was not expecting it to go down that fast…”

Afterwards, everyone got to sled happily as friends and not competitors, though England and France stopped after a few rounds, being already tired from practicing the perfect technique to win the battle. There was surprisingly little arguing, bitterness and bragging about the winner. The sledding had calmed their anger.

It was overall a fun conclusion to the ally meeting, even if everyone got home a little later than expected.

[milkemim]

Day 11: Stray Cats

WC: 470

Link to all chapters

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“Come here, kitty kitty…” [Name] tried to coax a scared cat over to give it a gentle pat and a treat, “Don’t you want some candy? C’mon kitty…”

Greece watches them hopelessly try to appeal to the small cat and sighs. The two had planned to go outside today to make some warm shelters for the stray cats to help them survive winter and be more comfortable. They had also set up a few food and water bowls for them so far.

[Name] sighs, “well… You’re clearly not liking me so far. But I’ll leave it here for you, okay?” They smile and set a few treats down for the cat and slowly walk back to Greece.

“Are you ready to start building yet?” He asks, “We should get it done before dark.”

[Name] nods and starts walking over to Greece’s car to get the materials. “You’ll need to teach me. I hope I don’t mess up and make the shelter completely useless…”

“It’s the thought that counts. And even if it doesn’t keep the warmth inside, they can hide during snow and rain to keep dry. And they’ll have a place to hide from predators.” Greece assures with his normal nonchalant expression, also taking materials out from the trunk.

“Right. We have permission to build here, right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

The two walk over to the area where the shelter would be built and place the materials down. [Name] clears off some of the snow in the area while Greece gets the toolbox.

[Name] follows Greece’s lead and copies what he’s doing to try their best to make the shelter secure and comfortable. They place down soft and warm blankets before building the roof for the kitties. One cat curiously trots over to see what the two are doing.

“Oh, hello there,” [Name] softly says and slowly crouches down and holds their hand out for it to smell it. “Did you come help us build you a home? How sweet…”

Greece crouches down next to [Name] to pet the cat as well. “Bring your friends over later to have a sleepover here.” He says and scratches under the cat’s chin.

With a few kitty distractions, the two manage to build one shelter before it starts to get dark. “I hope they like it. It looks good!” [Name] says and adjusts their hat while admiring their work.

“I hope so too. Let’s set some more food closer to the shelter for them.” Greece says, rummaging through one of the bags for the cans and packets of food, as well as bowls and plates.

[Name] helps Greece with a happy smile. They set plates and bowls of food and some fresh water near the little shelter and pet a few curious cats before driving back to a warm house and blankets.

[milkemim]

Day 16: Snowed In

WC: 541

Link to all chapter

--------------------

Russia looked outside at the pouring snow that never seemed to end. The radiators were thankfully doing their best to keep the house warm, but it wasn’t quite enough, so he had started warming up the fireplace with his guest, [Name]. He noticed them shivering, despite being right in front of the fireplace. “There are more blankets on the couch, if you need them. There’s no need to stay cold.” He smiles at them.

“Thanks, Russia… That’s kind of you.” Their teeth clattered together a little as they spoke. They made no move to get up, instead opting to pulling the blanket closer to their body.

Russia smiles and watches them. He throws a piece of wood into the fireplace and stands up. “I hope the power does not get cut,” he says while walking to the couch and looking for the fluffiest, thickest blanket in the bunch.

“Me too… I don’t wanna walk around the house with a candle in hand.” [Name] says and watches the fire.

They hear Russia’s footsteps coming back and suddenly his arms wrap around them, pulling the blanket over their shoulder. “Ah! Russia, what are you doing?” They look at him over their shoulder.

“I can see you are cold. Why try to tough it out?” He tilts his head a little and hugs them tightly to transfer some of his body warmth for them.

“Ahahah…” They relax their shoulders and lean into him subconsciously.

“We should make something hot to drink to warm you up. What do you want?” Russia asks and moves to sit next to them, releasing his hold on them.

“Hmmm… You can decide.” They adjust the blanket to rest more comfortably.

“Okay. Then you can decide the movie that we are going to watch while drinking!” Russia happily smiles and stands up. “The DVDs are over there in that box.”

“You still use DVDs?” [Name] stands up to go walk over to the DVD box.

“Yes. Now go pick!” Russia also stands up and gives them a small encouraging push towards it, then walks to the kitchen to make the mystery surprise drink and prepare something warm to eat.

Russia’s DVD collection had a lot of weird niche movies and most of them didn’t even have any cover, just a title written in marker. Maybe it was home videos? [Name] picked out a few that looked interesting and festive for the occasion of December 16th.

Russia soon comes back with a tray. There were two mugs of steaming hot chocolate and three plates of warm delicacies he quickly warmed up. “I’m back. Did you find any movies?” He asks and sets the tray on the coffee table.

[Name] nods, “Yeah, I found some. I hope we’ll like them,” they smile.

“I haven’t watched movies in a while, especially at home.” Russia sits down on the couch next to them and grabs a blanket for himself, “But I know it’ll be fun with you. Here,” he hands [Name] their mug.

“Thanks!” They blow on it and take a careful sip while Russia puts a DVD in.

The movie night was a lot of fun and the two didn’t stay cold for too long with the blankets and warm beverages and food.

[milkemim]

Day 15: Mistletoe

WC: 841

Link to all chapters

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In England’s house, there was a small early celebration that he had invited his brothers, America and Canada, along with [Name] to. Currently, America was giggling and pulling Canada along to pull a prank on England.

“Yo, Canada bro, this is gonna be epic!” America smiles and drags him to the living room door frame, “I have the best idea ever!”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this, America…” Canada weakly protests, but it goes unheard by America.

America pulls out a mistletoe from his pocket and arranges it back to not be so creased, “On the way here I bought this while stopping to get a snack for the journey and I immediately knew what I had to do when I saw it on the shelf.”

Canada sighs, “Right… I think England will be on your case pretty quickly, though…”

“Haha, that’s fine! I just care about his reaction.” America laughed and kicked a chair under the door frame to string it up. “This is the only reason I’m thankful he’s making food.”

Canada watched as America made quick work of tying the plastic mistletoe on the doorframe, deciding not to comment on his antics. America quickly got down when he was done and moved the chair back to its original place to avoid any suspicion.

“Okay, let’s go see how he’s doing and avoid any unidentified matter being served tonight!” America looks at Canada and smiles, starting to walk to the kitchen.

Canada quickly follows. “I really hope you have an excuse for him as to why we were gone for so long.”

“Don’t worry, bro, I’ve already thought about it!” America smiles heroically as they arrive to the kitchen. “Yo, we’re back!”

“Good. I’m almost done here, since [Name] arrived and helped me out.” England says, focusing on his delicacy.

“What? [Name]’s here already?! I didn’t hear them come in..” America looks around the kitchen.

“They came in through the backdoor.” England glances at the two brothers and explains.

“Cool! Anyway, let me lend you a hand, old man!” America rolls up his sleeves and washes his hands.

Canada joins [Name] in the living room while England and America focus on making the food. The two chat and listen in on the other pair’s arguing when it gets particularly loud until all the meals are done and everyone joins in. America runs around the house to get to the living room the long way to avoid getting stuck under the mistletoe, under the excuse that he needed to burn off extra energy. Of course, England believed it and, unsuspectingly, took the normal, shorter route to the living room.

Just as England was about to walk into the living room, America made it to the other end and yelled, “Halt! Stop right there, mister!”

“Huh? What’s wrong now?” England furrowed his brows and looked around the room, for any sign of threat. All eyes in the room were on America.

“Look up!” America points with a smirk.

England looks above him to see the cheap mistletoe on the door frame, then turns to glare at America, unamused. “I don’t appreciate you destroying my private property,” he says and moves to walk to the living room.

America quickly runs up in front of him. “That’s against the rules! You can’t move until you get someone to kiss you,” he says, placing a hand on England’s chest.

“Oh, will you bugger off! I’m not playing your stupid, childish games!” England tries to push past him, “Besides, if I did that, I’d be stuck here forever, because I’m definitely not kissing you!” He yells.

“Oh, right… I didn’t think that far…” America places a hand on his chin to think. His intention was to just slightly annoy England, but he didn’t really think it through. “Well, you have to kiss someone. But who…”

“No! I don’t have to kiss anyone!” England protests.

“How about a hug then! I’ll give you a hug to free you.” America smiles at him, determined.

“I’m not stuck! You just need to get out of the way! And I am not hugging you under any circumstances!”

Canada and [Name] watch the two banter for a while before feeling more annoyed than amused.

“Guys, please…” Canada quietly tries to resolve the situation. “Let’s not fight during Christmas time.”

“I’ll hug England, if it means the both of you will lower the volume,” [Name] stands up and walks over.

“That works!” America smiles and steps aside.

England sighs and puts his hands on his hips, “This is ridiculous… But I’d rather hug you than America,” he opens his arms.

[Name] gives him a quick tight hug. “Now you’re free!”

The rest of the night goes as smoothly as it could go. They played board games and watched a movie or two and ate decent food.

While leaving England’s house, America turns to Canada. “So, did you record any of that mistletoe stuff? I’m totally gonna post it all over everywhere!”

“I didn’t.”

“What! You betrayed the plan!”

[milkemim]

Day 14: Outdoor Lights

im late again eee

WC: 842

Link to all chapters

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Today is December 14th. Russia has put four people to work and enslaved them to make his front yard look pretty and festive. These people were Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and [Name]. Not only did they have to decorate, they also had to shovel the snow and ice off to make it look neater. Thankfully that part was already done, even if it took a while.

Latvia and [Name] had temporarily gone inside to find the lights from the storage. Russia had a lot of stuff and other trinkets, and all the boxes looked pretty much the same, so it was harder than anticipated, but they did eventually find it. They quickly ran back outside to avoid getting a lecture from their mean host.

“We found it, guys!” Latvia says, running over to Estonia and Lithuania, who had been anxiously waiting and planning out where to hang the lights and in what order. He puts the cardboard box down on the ground and quickly starts to put his gloves and hat on to avoid the freezing cold.

“Finally! You were gone for forever, we thought Russia got to you…” Lithuania worries and opens the box, to see a horrifying, but mostly just annoying, truth. “It’s all tangled…” he sighs.

“Best get to work!” [Name] smiles cheerfully and sits down on the snow.

“How can you be so relaxed about this…?” Estonia quietly wonders.

“Because they don’t have to worry about being torn to pieces for taking too long,” Latvia says and glares at [Name], “It’s unfair! Unfair!”

“Don’t be so loud or big, bad Russia will get you, kid~” [Name] ruffles Latvia’s head over the hat, making it go over his eyes.

“Eek!” He quickly adjusts it and pulls a tangled mess of cords.

Lithuania sighs and sits down as well, giving [Name] a look, “Don’t scare him,” He says.

All four begin to try to efficiently untangle all the cords.

“I really hope we get this done before dark…” Estonia whimpers.

“Me too…”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

It takes a little while, trying not to break the delicate cords from all the pulling. It was also an extremely irritating task to the mitten-wearing half of the group, but eventually they got it all done.

“Me and Estonia will handle making sure the bulbs work as supposed to, so you two can hang them up however you were planning to.” [Name] says to Lithuania and Latvia, standing up and pulling Estonia with them.

“Okay, good luck.” Lithuania smiles at them and starts telling the plan he had made with Estonia to Latvia. “I hope it will be good enough for Mr. Russia…”

Estonia and [Name] walk over to where they had planned to set up all the cables. “So, how old are these lights?” [Name] asks.

“I don’t know… Too old. Every year they’re in worse and worse condition, but Mr. Russia refuses to get new ones as long as they still look fine.” Estonia answers.

“Maybe you just need to persuade him a little more?”

“No thank you.”

The two connect everything and prepare to turn it on. “Now we just have to hope neither Latvia or Lithuania get electrocuted.” [Name] says, ready to switch the power on.

“Maybe we should yell out a warning first?” Estonia looks at them, a little worried.

“Too late!” They press on the switch, watching as it all lights up. Well, most of it lights up. The two walk over to get a better look.

“You guys could’ve given a little warning first! That was scary.” Lithuania complains to the two.

“Estonia’s fault.” [Name] points to Estonia.

“Hey, what??” Estonia looks at them.

“Lithuania! Come help me already!” Latvia cries out, struggling with the cable that he was trying to put in its place.

“Ah! I completely forgot, sorry!” He runs over and helps him set it up.

Estonia and [Name] also help with the rest of the preparations of setting the lights up. It didn’t take long with four people on the case.

“Hmm… All we need to do is replace the lightbulbs that didn’t light up, right? Easy.” [Name] says.

“Yes, but we’ll need to go buy some.”

“Wow! It’s beautiful, I love it!” A new voice makes everyone flinch and turn to it. Russia was here!

“M-Mr. Russia! It’s almost done, we promise!” Lithuania stutters.

“Good job, everyone,” Russia smiles and ignores him, “I think you all deserve a treat for your hard work. Let’s all go inside and eat something good and warm together. Oh, and thank you for helping Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia out, [Name].” He pulls them into a hug, which they reciprocate.

“It was no problem! Thanks for having me. Do I get to join you for dinner as well?” They smile.

“Of course.”

And so, the day came to a close. Russia had insisted on keeping the lights like they were now, since he said he was going to buy new ones for next year and would like to use all the leftover light from the current lights.

[milkemim]

Day 12: Ice Skating

lowkey a day late but shh just pretend im not

WC: 600

Link to all chapters

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It’s halfway to Christmas. To celebrate, France invited [Name] out to ice skate with him. A new rink had opened up and it wasn’t popular enough to be bustling with people everywhere yet, so it was perfect and roomy enough to have fun together. France was standing in front of the rink, waiting for [Name] to arrive. It didn’t take long for him to see them. He waves them over.

“[Nane], you’re finally here!” He smiles at them and gives them a quick hug.

“Ah, am I late? Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be here so on time.” [Name] smiles a little stupidly.

“I did not have to wait long, don’t worry! Come, let’s go sit and put our skates on!” He takes their hands and leads the two of them to a free bench. “Here, sit, sit! Let me help you!” He crouches down in front of them on the snow and begins taking their shoes off.

“Ah! I can do it myself-!” [Name], taken by surprise, says.

“Of course you can, but what kind of man would I be if I did not help, hmm?” France smiles up at them and slips a skate on their foot.

“Well… Thank you, ahahah,” they chuckle and let him do the rest.

After both their skates were on, the two held hands and shuffled to the rink. France let [Name] go in first, offering to help them down. After they got on the ice smoothly, he kept holding their hand tightly and also got inside the rink, though a bit less gracefully than them, but he recovered quickly and regained his elegance.

“So, why don’t you lead the way for us, mon ami?” France smiles at them charmingly, still not letting go of their hand.

His true intention was to let [Name] do most of the skating and have them pull him around, while also having him mostly out of sight, even though usually he liked to be the center of attention.

“Sure thing~” they smile and begin to lead. They quickly noticed the heavy baggage of France barely doing any movement and commented on it, “France, did you come here to slack off from work or something?” [Name] laughs.

“Ah! Well, no… Of course not. I want to spend time with my favorite non-country, possibly-a-country person!” France stammers.

“Tell me the truth, France.” They insist, skating backwards while holding both of his hands. France stumbles a little.

“W-well… The truth is…” He hesitates, “[Name], stop skating for just a little while.” He tries to make it seem more dramatic than the truth really is.

They break and stop skating fully, looking into his eyes. “What is it, France?”

“The truth is… I cannot really skate at all.” He closes his eyes and looks down heavily. “I asked you to come here with me because it sounded romantic and I completely forgot about it until the second. I am truly ashamed!” He squeezes their hands and looks back up at them, meeting their eyes.

“Ah… I see now… Then it’s going to be even more fun! I’ll teach you everything! Not that I’m the best skater or anything, but I have the basics down.” They smile brightly at France.

“Ah! How absolutely sweet of you, mon ami!” France smiles back, “I love that idea. Show me it all!”

It ended up being an incredibly fun time. The two skated until it got dark and then got something light to eat at a nearby cafe. France walked [Name] home and wished them a good night before walking back home himself, of course.

[milkemim]

Day 10: Gift Shopping

It's finally here!! Sorry for the wait

WC: 585

Link to all chapters

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The 10th day of December has arrived. It was almost halfway to Christmas and a few stores were already going on an early Christmas sale. Japan was walking around the city, looking at all the small businesses through the windows if there was anything interesting or anything that would make a nice gift on sale. He put his hands in his pockets to warm them up while walking, not really paying attention to what was in front of him due to being distracted by the decoration in one of the windows that was trying to coax customers inside.

“Eek!” A familiar voice screams as they slip on the ice. “Ouch ouch ouch…” They hissed in pain.

“Ah!” Japan stumbles a little and looks at the other person, “[Name]?! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going! Are you alright?” He offers them a hand to help them get up.

They take it and pull themselves up. “It's fine, I wasn’t looking either! And I’m okay… I think.” They chuckle a little awkwardly and let go of Japan’s hand to brush the snow off of themselves.

“That is good… I’m extremely sorry, my sincerest apologies…”

“It’s really okay… You’re window shopping?” [Name] asks.

“I have heard people talking about some shops already having winter sales, so I came hunting for them to buy gifts for my friends. I haven’t had any luck yet, though.” Japan says, putting his hands back in his pockets. “What about you? I mean… Where are you going?”

“I just came to get some groceries. Also, I think I saw one of the shops on sale that way! Want me to walk with you?” [Name] points and smiles.

“Really? You would go with me? That sounds great,” Japan smiles back at them and follows them. “Ah, I also hope I did not cause any damage to your groceries when I knocked you over… I am sorry.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t buy anything that can’t handle a little exuberance.”

“I do not think you used that word right…”

The two walked for just a few minutes to reach the cozy little shop and walked in after cleaning the snow off their shoes as best as they could. There was a lot of cute miniature stuff, as well as other handcrafted cute things. “China would love this…” He comments, crouching in front of a small table with a little house and figurines. It was a decorative piece.

“It’s 40% off. You should get it for him.” [Name] says, standing next to him.

“I’ll see what else they have and think about it.” Japan stands up.

The two look at all the cute little things. There were a few practical items as well.

“You could get China this too!” [Name] picks up a cane that was hanging from the wall.

“I do not think I would be here for the next Christmas if I did that.” Japan smiles, imagining the scene of China unwrapping such a gift.

“It’s pretty, though… Maybe the craftsmanship would distract him.” They say and observe the cane more closely.

They looked around a little more. Japan only bought a few things for just a few people, since most of his friends would probably appreciate more conventional gifts and most things here were decorative.

The two walked together until they had to go different ways to get home. “It was nice seeing you, [Name],” Japan smiles at them, “I hope we meet again. Goodbye.”

“Bye, Japan! See you around!”

[milkemim]

Day 9: Mall Santa

WC: 685

Link to all chapters

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December 9th. Christmas was closing in, so it was time to start looking for gift inspiration online and in stores. He needed groceries anyway, so he’d taken his good friend, [Name], to go explore the mall with him. Currently he was waiting in their parking lot in his car, scrolling social media. The passenger seat door snaps him back into reality.

“Sorry, I’m a little late!” [Name] smiles and hops in, buckling their seatbelt.

“Hey dude, don’t worry about it!” America beams, “It was just a few minutes. Ready to go?”

“Ready! Drive carefully, please. There’s ice.”

America drove a little below the speed limit most of the time to ease [Name’s] fears and since most other cars were doing it too. They arrived at the mall a few minutes later, but it took even longer to try to find a parking spot near the entrance. “There’s a lot of people here… I wonder what’s going on today.” America thinks out loud.

“Hmm… Let’s go and see. I hope it’s a big sale.” [Name says and unbuckles their seatbelt.

The two circled some of the shops in the mall to try and find anything fun to buy. They had only found a few things so far. They walked through the mall, talking about whatever nonsense was going on that week.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” America stops and looks over to where a lot of people were crowded, kids specifically. “People are just hanging out.”

[Name] watches the people too and shrugs. They stay silent for a few more moments, before saying: “Oh, wait! I’m pretty sure I read about this somewhere! There’s a mall Santa going around this time of year again, right?”

“Seems likely! Let’s go wait for a bit and see if we catch him, bro!” America takes their hand and runs over to where everyone else was and searches for a free bench or seat for the two to sit down on. “Let’s sit down here,” he places his plastic bag down and takes a seat, [Name] following him.

“I’m glad they’re still doing these events. I’m sure the kids love it. Are you gonna sit on his lap, America?” [Name] smiles slyly.

“Whaat, me?” He laughs, “Dunno how much you’d have to pay me to do that.”

“I’ll pay for lunch-” [Name] goes to offer.

“Deal.” America cuts them off.

The two laugh about it after a small silent moment. “Make sure to tell him what you want for Christmas too.” [Name] says.

“I’m kind of starting to regret this…” America sighs.

After a few minutes, Santa arrives with a few elfs! The two quickly get into line and wait for their turn. It took a while. When it finally was their turn, [Name] takes out his phone to record and pushes America forward a little.

“Yo, Santa!” America smiles confidently, “I’m not too old for this, right?”

A few people in the line laugh and look at the scene in front of them. Santa surprisingly just smiles at him and motions for him to come closer, saying “You can never be too old to be jolly. Come forth. Tell me, what would you like for Christmas?”

America smiles and sits on his knee, not placing all his weight on him. “Thanks, bro! For Christmas I want… All my good friends to be happy, so make sure to give them lots of presents!”

“What a kind and thoughtful wish. I’ll keep your wish in mind, but remember that Christmas joy comes from not only gifts, but also kindness and love.” Santa smiles at America.

“Of course Santa, thanks!” America gets up and waves at him, walking over to [Name] who was still recording and laughing at him.

“Ho ho ho!”

As America and [Name] walk away to America’s choice of a good fast food restaurant in the mall, [Name] was practically dying and rewatching the video.

“Come on, it’s not that funny!” America laughs a little, “But I gotta say, he was really dedicated. He must love his job.”

“I mean… He is Santa. I’m sure he likes it.”

[milkemim]

Day 8: Candles

WC: 288

Link to all chapters

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It was December 8th and a rather cold day. [Name] was sitting on Canada’s couch, wrapped up in a blanket and waiting for him to come home. They lazily browsed the channels on the TV until Canada came in.

“I’ve got the candles,” he smiles and places the bag down to take the contents out, “They were on sale, so I ended up buying a few too many, but… We can just give away the ones we don’t like, eh?” He glances up at them.

“The more the merrier.” [Name] sits up and takes a candle from the pile, looking at the label. “Maple pumpkin…? This doesn’t seem like a Christmas scent.”

“Ah… A lot of them were left over from Halloween, I guess.”

“No wonder they were on sale. It’s been over a month.” They put it down and pick up another one.

After smelling all the candles together, they decided on which ones to toss and which ones to keep. “We could give the bad ones to America as a Christmas gift, so then there’s no need to buy one.” [Name] says and smiles, gathering them all in two neat piles.

“But they were just about 50 cents a piece… Is that really alright?” Canada asks, frowning.

“He’s crazy over candles, so it’ll be fine.”

Canada placed the bad candles back into the bag he took them from and set it down. “Anyway, what candle should we light up?”

“Let’s do… [Your candle of choice].” They pick it up.

Canada gets out the lighter and lights the candle up. It slowly fills the room with a relaxing scent. [Name] and Canada light a few more unscented normal candles to warm the living room up as well.

[milkemim]

Day 7: Christmas Cards

WC: 908

Link to all chapters

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December 7th. The first week of Christmas went by in a flash. Since today was a Saturday, both Veneziano and Romano got to sleep in a little. Their beds were warm and soft, unlike the weather outside. Unlike [Name’s] bed. Or their whole house.

Slipping on their coat and shoes, shivering, they head out the door. The heating inside stopped working overnight and no matter how many layers they put on or how many warm drinks they drank, nothing eased the freezing feeling. The repairman wouldn’t be coming anytime soon either. So, they decided to pay the two brothers a visit.

Both the brothers wake up to the ring of their doorbell. Veneziano groggily gets up after a little and walks downstairs, to see Romano already at the door, yelling at [Name] for something. “[Name]! What’s going on, why are you here eso early?” He smiles and walks up to the door as well, “And come inside, don’t let the cold in!” He urges.

[Name] steps aside Romano and he closes the door behind. “Hi, Veneziano! The heaters aren’t working at my place and since you guys live near, I thought I’d spend the afternoon here, at least until it’s fixed. If that’s fine, that is.” They explain.

Romano sighs, “I guess it’s fine since you’re already here anyway.” He crosses his arms and looks down.

“Yay! Welcome to our house, [Name]! It’s been so long since I saw you!” Veneziano cheers and hugs [Name] quickly, already wide awake, partly because of the cold that found its way inside while the door was open.

“Yes, yes, thank you! I can make you guys breakfast, since I came at such an early hour. I haven’t had any yet, anyway.” [Name] says.

“I’m going back to bed. Wake me up when It’s done.” Romano walks back to his bedroom. He was still cranky from waking up so early after staying up so late.

“I’ll help you!” Veneziano happily offers and leads [Name] to the kitchen. He was always happy around them, as he was with most people. “Let’s make cornetti and valdostana! Oh, and brioche!”

Making everything on Veneziano’s from nearly scratch took roughly 2 hours. Thankfully it was the weekend, so no one was late to work. The two also made a lot more than just enough to feed three people, so they could heat some up during the following week in a rush.

After Veneziano went to wake Romano up, all three of them enjoyed a warm breakfast with coffee. It woke up Romano enough to be somewhat sociable and officially start the day. [Name] offered to do the dishes while the two brothers got dressed and ready.

The day was pretty ordinary. The three played video games in the living room for the most part. Afternoon came quickly and everyone was pretty tired of the console by now, so what would be a better idea than to make Christmas cards for their loved ones?

It was originally just a joke from Romano, but Veneziano quickly agreed to it. “I am NOT making Christmas cards!” He quickly backpedaled.

“Come on, Romano, it’ll be fun! And I’m sure Spain would love to hear from you! When was the last time you saw him?” Veneziano annoyingly latched onto his arm. “And It’s not like you actually have anything better to do!”

[Name] watched as the two argued with a small smile. “Let’s not force him, Veneziano… But it would be nice if he joined us.” They gently pulled Veneziano away from his brother.

“Fine. This better not take too long.” Romano sighs and reluctantly agreed and slid down from the couch to sit on the floor in front of the coffee table with Veneziano and [Name].

Veneziano got the arts and crafts basket out. There were assortments of stickers, colored paper, glitter glues and various supplies. Veneziano also puts Christmas music on from his phone, which Romano was not a fan of.

“Turn that off! It’s barely been a week of December!” He tries to grab Veneziano’s phone, but he holds it away from him.

“No way! It’s Christmas!”

“Not nearly!”

[Name] laughs at their antics and takes a red piece of paper and crinkle-cut scissors. “Let’s not fight! No one wants to go on Santa’s naughty list last minute, right?” They say as they start cutting a smaller part from the paper’s corner.

“Romano is already on the naughty list!” Veneziano pouts.

“Hey! Let’s just make these damn cards.”

Everyone works in silence for a moment. The only noise in the living room is the quiet Christmas music coming from Veneziano’s phone and the sound of making cards.

“I’m going to make matching cards for Germany and Japan!” Veneziano suddenly exclaims.

“Of course you are…” Romano mumbles.

“Don’t be so bitter. I’ll make a card for you too, but it needs to be made in secret!”

“Shut up.” Romano rolls his eyes.

“Who are you making a card for, [Name]?” Veneziano asks, turning to them.

“Secret~” They wink.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, they were being watched. By grandpa Rome and Germania!

“Look at my two little grandsons! Aren’t they so cute?” Rome happily smiles, hidden behind the doorway to the living room, even though they wouldn’t be able to see him anyway.

“First of all I don’t think they are little in the slightest, but yeah, yeah… Whatever you say.” Germania sighs and watches them with him.

[milkemim]

Day 6: Finland's birthday

WC: 511

Link to all chapters

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Today was a very dear day for a very dear friend. December 6th was Finland’s birthday and independence day. There was a little party at his house,though he didn’t know about that yet. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Hungary and of course [Name] had all planned a surprise celebration for Finland.

“We could hang this banner up there,” Estonia points. Finland wasn’t home yet. Don’t ask how they got inside…

“That’s a good idea! I’ll lift you up so you can reach up to hang it.” Hungary says.

“W-what? Me?” Estonia looks at her. “I think you’re much lighter than me….”

“If Estonia doesn’t want to do it, I can!” [Name] volunteers. “We don’t have much time to waste, after all.

Estonia sighs and hands the banner over. [Name] and Hungary walk over to where Estonia suggested to hang it up and Hungary lifts [Name] up with little struggle and they quickly hang the banner on the wall. “Now the other side!”

Most of the preparations had already been done. They had made a lot of good traditional Finnish food, everyone had a gift to give to Finland, and his house was mildly decorated. Not enough to be overwhelming or a big mess to clean afterwards (which everyone had also volunteered to help clean up), but enough to be noticeable and change up the atmosphere.

Denmark moved one of the curtains aside enough to peek outside and gasped, “He’s coming, he’s coming! Everyone get in position! And someone turn off the lights!” He yells to everyone.

Iceland, who was closest to the light switch turns it off and everyone grabs their present, crouching down to hide a little.

“Okay everyone, when he turns the light on, let’s all say ‘Happy Birthday Finland!’ and give him our presents.” Denmark recounts the plan quickly.

Everyone waits in anticipation as Finland’s front door opens and closes. It felt like forever listening to him shed his coat and take his shoes off and when he finally comes into the living room and turns the light on, everyone jumps up and congratulates him.

“Happy birthday, Finland!” Everyone yells and a few people shoot confetti at him.

He flinches and looks at everyone, confused for a moment. “You guys… You did all this for me?” He asks, looking around the room.

“Yeah! Happy birthday, Finland!” Estonia smiles and goes up to hug him tightly, which Finland reciprocates.

“I tried to tell him not to go overboard.” Iceland says, looking at the obvious perpetrator, Denmark.

Everyone congratulates and gives Finland their gift on their turn.

“You didn’t have to do all this for me. Thank you, everyone!” Finland smiles and wipes away the tears that gathered at the corners of his eyes, sniffling a little.

[Name] hands him a tissue. “Of course we had to! We made a lot of food too. And we have a lot of games to play!”

Everyone stayed up late, drinking and laughing, celebrating Finland’s independence and birthday. A lot of people stayed the night at his house to clean up tomorrow.

[milkemim]

Day 4: Gingerbread cookies

Word count: 922

Link to all chapters

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Today was December 4th. It was also a very loud day in the Beilschmidt household. Prussia had invited a good friend, [Name], over to make gingerbread cookies to have a fun Christmas hangout. To say he was excited was an understatement. He had been talking Germany’s ear off about it all damn week. Right now Prussia was practically gyrating and vibrating on the couch while waiting for his dear friend to arrive.

“I do not think you understand the deeper meaning here, brohas! It is not just about baking cookies, it is about the great Prussia rising back to its former glory!” Prussia explained.

“You’ve told me that at least three times already, but I still don’t understand how cookies are going to make that happen…” Germany looked up from his book that he had already just given up on reading entirely, being interrupted so much.

“This is just the first step! You have to start small to become something great!” Prussia yells.

“Right…”

The two hear a car pull up in the driveway. Germany sighs and Prussia shoots up from the couch, running to the door, yelling “they’re here, they’re here!”.

“At least he’s happy…” Germany mumbles and mentally prepares himself for the upcoming hangout.

Prussia opens the door and ushers [Name] to come inside quickly. “Hurry, hurry! We can’t afford to waste any time!”

They run a little and make it inside and begin taking their shoes and coat off. “I bought the dough! And sprinkles.”

After a bit of preparation in the kitchen, the two had rolled up their sleeves and washed their hands. It was time for the most epic baking history has ever seen.

[Name] sprinkles flour on the table and on the dough to make it a little less sticky as Prussia grabbed the roller.

“Watch und learn how a true man rolls his dough!” Prussia walks over with the roller and starts violently rolling the dough.

“Don’t make it too thin!”

“I know what I’m doing.” Prussia keeps rolling with determination as [Name] watches next to him.

“Prussia I think that’s enough…”

“Hmm, yes. It’s now the perfect thickness for the most perfect cookies!”

The two smile at each other, satisfied with the state of the poor dough. [Name] goes to get cookie cutters from a drawer. While they weren’t looking, Prussia couldn’t help but roll the dough a little more. It was surprisingly fun. Until, it wasn’t.

“Aaahh! It ripped!” Prussia yells.

“Huh? But how…”

The two sadly gaze at the dough, silently mourning the loss of the perfect thickness. After a few seconds, [Name] cheerfully breaks the silence.

“Well, guess we have to ball it up and start over!”

The sadness didn’t last long when Prussia got to roll the dough again. This time he actually stopped when the dough was the right thickness, partly because [Name] confiscated the rolling pin.

The two started to press down with the cookie cutters, making perfectly Christmas shaped cookies.

“We should preheat the oven, right? How much was it again?” [Name] says, walking to the oven.

“Uh…” Prussia looks over at them. “Where’s the package?”

“You threw it away already, I believe.” [Name] sighs and walks over to the trash can, digging out the carton box.

After the oven was preheated, the two continued to make shaped from the dough. After a little while, they ditched the cookie cutters and tried making their own shapes with a butter knife.

“What’s that? A cat?” [Name] looks over to Prussia’s masterpiece cookie.

“It is the mighty Prussian flag!”

“Ohhh… I see it… A little…” They nod, looking at it more closely. “Mine is Santa.”

The first batch of cookies almost burned, but they managed to get them out as only a little charred and crispy.

“Okay! Time to decorate them!” Prussia pulls out the different colored sugar paste tubes from the fridge and the sprinkles from [Name]’s grocery bag.

[Name] places the next pan of cookies into the oven and sits down at the table, picking a cookie for themselves to decorate. “We should’ve taken the tubes out sooner… I already they’re they’re practically frozen solid.”

“The great Prussia will not be hindered nor stopped by something as silly as a little firm tube!” Prussia takes the red colored one and opens the cap, squeezing the paste onto his cookie with surprising difficulty. “... On second thought, some boiling water is no hindrance either.” He stands up and runs the tap until it gets warm enough and puts it in a mug. Then, he puts the sugar paste tubes into the mug to soften them up a little.

The next batch of cookies came out fine and not burned at all, thanks to them setting up the timer correctly this time. They spent the next half an hour decorating them and making them pretty, with lots of laughter.

Germany was the taste tester.

“Ah… I… Do not think birthday cake sprinkles fit these Christmas cookies.” He says, a bit cautious about taking a bite of the charred cookie.

“Well, I think they are perfect!” Prussia says, eating one.

Germany takes a deep breath and takes a bite of the cookie. “It’s… Surprisingly not horrible.”

What was horrible however, was the mess. Germany scolded the two of them after the delight of eating a gingerbread cookie was over, and the two were forced to scrub the kitchen clean. Even then, after [Name] had left, Germany felt the need to wipe down the counters, not trusting his brother's cleaning abilities.

[milkemim]

Day 3: Christmas Tree

Word count: 671

Link to all chapters

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It was the 3rd of December. Switzerland and Liechtenstein were on a walk to find the perfect Christmas tree to cut down. The weather was clear and it was sunny out. The freezing cold nips at the siblings’ cheeks and nose as they walk hand in hand through the forest.

“It’s beautiful today.” Liechtenstein says. “”Right, big brother?”

“Yes, it is. But we need to focus on finding a good tree for christmas. It needs to be small enough to fit inside.” Switzerland replies, making sure Liechtenstein kept up with his pace.

The two ran into a familiar face while trudging through the woods. [Name]! They look over at them and wave.

“Hey! You guys looking for a tree? Me too.” They say and walk over.

“Mx. [Name], good day,” Liechtenstein smiles at them and bows a little. “Yes, we’re looking for a Christmas tree. Do you want to join us and look together?”

“Liechtenstein, no! They’re gonna steal the good one.” He shoots her a look.

“Oh, it’s fine! I’m looking for just a tiny little one anyway.” They smile. “A baby tree.”

“Oh… Well, I guess you can stay then. As long as you help us cut it down.” Switzerland compromises.

“I can do that!”

So the three walked around the forest, looking for the perfect tree.

“Hey, that one would look nice in your living room.” [Name] points to a tree.

Liechtenstein smiles, “I think so too! You have a good eye, Mx. [Name]. What do you think, big brother?” She looks at Switzerland.

“Let’s go take a closer look. I want to make sure it’s perfect.” He begins walking towards it, pulling Liechtenstein along.

While Switzerland studies and touches up the smaller-than-average pine tree, Liechtenstein stands next to [Name] and watches.

“Swiss sure is a perfectionist, huh Liechtenstein?” They smile at her.

“I guess a little bit. But I think it’s a good thing.”

“It can be…”

“Okay, this tree looks good! What do you think, Liechtenstein?” Switzerland stands up from his kneeling position and looks over.

“Me? I think it’s fine-”

“Good, go get the saw. And [Name], you help me.” He cuts Liechtenstein off.

Liechtenstein gets the saw, which wasn’t very far away and [Name] walks over to Switzerland.

“Just make sure it doesn’t fall on top of me.”

Cutting the tree was easy. Now they just had to transport it back through the thick snow… Switzerland and [Name] carried it on their shoulders while Liechtenstein carried the saw happily. It took a while, but they got the tree home safely.

“Okay. Thanks. You can go home now.” Switzerland nods at [Name].

Liechtenstein smiles at [Name] before they could respond and says, “Actually, I need someone to test my new gingerbread cookie recipe! You should stay. I’ll give some to you as a reward for helping us cut down the tree.”

“That sounds great!” [Name] excitedly says, stepping inside and beginning to shed their winter wear. “Can I help decorate the tree too?”

Liechtenstein looks at Switzerland a bit pleadingly.

“... Fine. They can help.” he crosses his arms over his chest, secretly happy about the company.

After Switzerland sets up the tree and makes sure it’s stable and after Liechtenstein gets the decorations out of the garage, it was time to decorate. Usually, Switzerland cut and picked the tree and Liechtenstein was the one who decorated it, since she had an eye for what looked nice. This year, Switzerland was joining though.

“Uhm… I don’t know…” Switzerland comments, looking at the tree from the other side. 

“It's not the most… Appealing tree, but we had fun decorating it. I think that’s all that matters.” [Name] says.

“Me too!” Liechtenstein smiles happily, “I’m really happy we got to do this together. All three of us. Now we can all enjoy the cookies together. I think I have a bit of leftover cake from Mr. Austria as well.”

Cookies and milk tasted nice after being outside for half the day. They had a pleasant conversation about Christmas.

[milkemim]

Day 2: Christmas Cleaning

Word count: 876

Link to all chapters

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It’s the second day of the month of December. Last night there was a big snow storm and roads were temporarily closed due to snow and ice, so today Germany and [Name] had a day off. Or so [Name] thought…

“You will handle the east wing and I will handle the west,” Germany said, writing down his cleaning strategy. “Since the north wing has much more work, we can do it together. Whoever finishes first will handle the south.”

“It’s barely December, why are we cleaning the cottage so early? Are we even having a Christmas party here?” [Name] asks, looking over the quickly made map of the winter cottage that Germany owned.

Since the weather was probably going to keep going like this for a few more days, both of the two had been released from work for the rest of the week, since there wasn’t anything too important going on right now, anyway. Germany had said he was going to spend the off-time at his winter cottage. Knowing how lonely he could get, [Name] had volunteered to accompany him. Little did they know, it would be no vacation…

“No, but it is good to keep everything clean. Since there is no work to do, now is the perfect time to get it done.” Germany responds with a bit of a proud smile.

“No wonder Prussia didn’t want to come along…” [Name] mumbles.

“Position!”

“Sir!”

Marching to the eastern wing of the cottage, [Name] was filled with a sense of determination as well as curiosity. It was an old cottage, one that Germany had owned for a few decades. It had belonged to Prussia originally, it still does in papers, but Germany was the one who spent the most time here. After it started corroding and breaking down due to its age, Germany had started fixing it up.

The house held a lot of memories for him. A lot of them included Prussia, and he didn’t really want to just watch it rot and break down completely. It looked a little different nowadays, but it was in good condition.

The east wing had a guest bedroom and an office turned into a storage closet. The bedroom was easy, dust, vacuum and change the sheets. There wasn’t any clutter, so it was fast and easy. [Name] sets the door wide open, so it could air out a little, since opening a window in a snowstorm wasn’t… The best idea.

[Name] steps into the storage room and attempts to turn on the light. “Hmm… Looks like the lightbulb needs to be changed.” They note and walk inside. It was still bright enough.

It took a while to make everything look neat and dust everything off, but the radio and cds [Name] found made it feel like a little less. After cleaning everything up, it was time to find a working light bulb.

[Name] walks to the west wing of the cottage. Germany was nowhere to be seen and everything looked nice and shiny, so he must’ve moved on already. Walking to the south, they see Germany, hard at work.

“You finished fast! I need a lightbulb for the storage office room. Thing.” [Name] leans against the door frame, watching Germany mop the floor.

“Ah… I’m not sure we have any spare ones. I’ll write it down and get one when the weather calms down.” He looks over at them. “Are you finished otherwise? I will be checking and grading your work, so you’d better not have slacked off,” he glares, though there was no real anger behind it.

“When do I ever disappoint you?” [Name] smiles and tilts their head slightly.

“I can easily name at least 20 recent occurrences off the top of my head, but we have more important matters to attend to. I’m almost done here, so you can get started on the north already.” Germany says and goes back to mopping the floor.

Cleaning the northern big room was like cleaning under the eyes of a drill sergeant. [Name] could barely observe an object for over 10 seconds, before Germany was down their back commanding them to get to work. It was kind of fun at the same time, though. He told stories about his past in the cottage with his brother, and he was a little fun to tease.

It took a while, but after about an hour or two, the northern room was done. That meant all the cleaning was done.

[Name] flopped on the couch with an exhale. “Hahh… Finally, I’ve been waiting to sit down!” They lay on their stomach and hug a pillow.

Germany smiled at them and sat next to them. “You did well. I’ll have to forward your good deeds to Santa.”

The distant sound of the washing machine going could be heard banging against the floor. It was starting to get dark outside, the thick snow still flying in the wind down onto the ground. The air smelt fresh and being in a tidy, clean environment was nice.

“It feels kind of festive, even without any holiday lights or decorations. I like cottages like this.” [Name] says. “The countries will hold a party again this year. Are you coming?”

“Yes. Are you invited?”

“As always.”