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kostevysen · 2 months ago

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A Brief Smolder --------------------------------

-- Hetalia Oneshot (Ghoultalia!Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechia and Slovakia)

TW: Depictions of death (In the form of metaphors, as best as I can make them.)

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Raivis can’t really feel the adrenaline that’s pulsing through his body when the closest door puckers open and a calm, maybe even hauntingly quiet Feliks stands there like he’d hadn’t just seen a crime almost happen. The blond pole gazes softly at Raivis, shoulder length hair hiding the long stretches of scars that run across the older man’s shoulder.

“You can come out now, the coast is clear.” Hums the pole, opening the closet door a bit wider to prove his point. “Natalya won’t come down this corridor, so it’s safe, so will you come out now? I’ll help you brew that coffee you needed so much.” The other ghoul purses his lips as Raivis crawls out, hands and knees still trembling, one hand was clutching a woolen pouch near to his chest, and the other heaving himself out of the closet.

Raivis stumbles forward on weak limbs, his breath shaky, but he relaxes when he feels the wooden flooring at his feet, he clutches the pouch tighter to his chest, sniffing around. The scent of the stolen coffee fades into the air, slowly, its bitter aroma nearly invisible to the naked eye.

He glances up at Feliks, the man’s calm presence is unnerving, like he’s seen this a million times before. Raivis wonders, not for the first time, how Feliks manages to stay so composed.

“He’s really taking the blame?” Raivis whispers, his voice sounds like a squeak by how scared he is.

Feliks’s smile falters, just for a moment, before he nods. “Yeah, Liet’s handling it. You know how he is. He said it was his fault. Took the heat from Ivan. He’ll be fine.”

Raivis isn't convinced, but he forces himself to stand, knees still shaking. He tries to wipe the sweat from his forehead, but his hands are trembling too much. The idea of it makes him want to crawl back into the closet and disappear.

Feliks watches Raivis with a patient expression, then reaches out a hand. “Come on, kid. You’ll feel better once you have some of that coffee. We’ll brew it real nice, just the way you like it.” The Latvian boy can see Bulgaria and Romania playing cards by the door, they are guarding it—judging from the way Bulgaria’s kakugans are out.

Raivis hesitates, eyeing them, before eyeing the scars on Feliks’s shoulder. He knows what Ivan and Natalya are capable of, but Feliks, somehow, has always seemed like an untouchable force, something Raivis both admires and fears. He grabs the outstretched hand, letting Feliks pull him up.

“Don’t worry about them,” Feliks says quietly, guiding Raivis toward the kitchen. “Liet can handle himself. But you need to be more careful next time. Coffee’s a dangerous game here, you know that.”

Raivis swallows hard, nodding. He knows. He knows all too well. Being a ghoul in Ivan’s territory was already risky enough, but to steal coffee from under their noses? He shudders at the thought of what could have happened.

The dimly lit kitchen is old and holds only the bare necessities, he watches as Feliks releases his grip and moves toward the counter, gathering the necessary tools to make the coffee. The sound of the grinder starts up, low and rhythmic, a familiar hum, as Bulgaria’s head perks up from the doorway.

He also just now notices the other two people in the room, Czechia and Slovakia—the latter has his head on the table, the former is curled up like a ball on the small chair next to the fridge.

Slovakia hums, opening his eyes to glance at them, he acknowledges them quietly before drifting back to sleep. Raivis stands there awkwardly, still holding the woolen pouch. His eyes glance down at the man before he goes back to watching Feliks busy himself with the coffee maker, his movements, as Latvia notices, are fluid and relaxed, as if nothing is wrong.

“You’re lucky Liet covered for you,” Feliks says, glancing back at Raivis. “But if I were you, I’d thank him properly when you see him. Ivan’s not stupid. He knows something’s up.”

Raivis nods, his throat tight. “I will.”

Feliks finishes brewing the coffee, the rich scent filling the room. He pours six cups and hands one to Raivis, who takes it gratefully, feeling the warmth spread through his cold hands. The other four cups are set on the table in a circular fashion. Czechia scoots closer to the round dining table in the middle of the room, grabbing the handle of one cup and using her other hand to nudge Slovakia awake.

Raivis stares.

“Thanks,” Raivis mutters, taking a small sip. It’s bitter, but it’s the only thing he can consume. As a ghoul, regular food was nothing but trash to him now.

Feliks takes a sip of his own coffee, watching Raivis over the rim of the cup. “You’re gonna be fine, kid,” he says softly, his voice strangely calm. “Just lay low for a while. Liet’s buying you some time, but you know how Ivan and Natalya are.” Raivis shivers, and so does Czechia. Bulgaria and Romania join them at the table, taking their cups earnestly and sitting down.

Raivis stares once again, gazing down at the table like it held the answer to the universe.

He didn’t deserve Liet’s protection. Not for something as simple as a pouch of coffee beans. But it was too late now.

His mind wonders again, like any teen’s would, and he allowed himself to. Death, in this place, was like a shadow in the corner of your vision. It was never far, never fully seen, but always felt, like the chill that comes before the sun disappears below the horizon. But Here? Nothing is safe with Ivan and Natalya, death, here, it wasn’t sudden or violent. It was a slow, creeping thing—more like sinking into freezing water, where the cold wraps around you inch by inch until you couldn’t feel anything at all.

He glances at Feliks, who moves like someone who had brushed against that cold more than once, somehow managing to keep just enough warmth to survive.

Feliks probably noticed him, the pole reached over and ruffled Raivis’s hair lightly. “Chin up. Things’ll be fine. Just... don’t do anything reckless, okay?”

Raivis manages a small smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He knows better than to believe that everything will be fine.

Extra:

Raivis brings a cup of coffee over towards Tolys’ bedside, just like earlier—Romania and Bulgaria are sitting at the foot of the bed, still guarding; Bulgaria watches him with blackened eyes, red staring right at him. Moldova is here as well, sitting on Romania’s lap as he watches his older brother shuffle through multiple cards.

Raivis places the cup of coffee on the bedside table, backs up, and slides himself down against the wall and into a sitting position, he tugs his knees close to his chest and closes his eyes.

If he strained enough, he could hear the bed sheets ruffling.

#hetalia #hetalia fanfiction #hetalia au #hws latvia #hws poland #brief mention of Russia #GhoultaliaAU #hws bulgaria #hws romania #oneshot

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bitchapalooza · 1 year ago

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Canada: So how was your first experience with weed, boys?

Russia: I saw god. We had sex. It was amazing.

Denmark: Lucky! I just saw an eldritch horror beyond our human comprehension. I wanna have sex with god…

#tw drug mention #tw suggestive #hetalia #hetalia incorrect quotes #hws denmark #hws canada #hws russia

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goldenstarprincesses · 11 months ago

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Henlo! You rebloged my post about France in fanfiction and I wanted to reply to it because I found what you said interesting, but because you used just tags would be goofy to reblog it again so I am sending an ask!

I agree about the cannon not helping, the thing is France got better in the cannon, he is more interesting now. I am not very into Prussia so I don't remember if he got better in later parts. But this thing about him being the worst in PruCan fanfic isn't something I noticed in Brazilian Fanfics or maybe I just don't remember lol

I wrote my post at 1 AM and now I stopped to think about what annoys me about how simple and awful Francis' characterization is and I noticed that it simply doesn't have a reason. When I was writing my fic, I wanted to make him bad in a European kind of way, he is France, France really did a lot of shit, he is kind of goofy and useless now? Yes, but that wasn't the case in the Early Modern era.

I also never saw no one exploring his sexuality. Why is Francis overly sexual? Why is he so dramatic? Why is he always trying to get in someone's pants? Real people have reasons to act overly sexual, they aren't just born this way, but WHY I NEVER SEE NO ONE ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS??

Thank you for rebloguing my post and confirming I wasn't just seeing things lol

Hiii! First, I adore your blog. Thank you for introducing me to the world of TurkFra. My eyes have been opened and my mind widened.

I almost think the fandom needed to go through the "dark times" or "dark age" of character interpretation to get where we are now. I know there was for sure a shift happing when I dipped out of the fandom in 2016ish. And when I started occasionally reading fanfics again during lockdown I was blown away with the shifts regarding the characterization of nearly all the characters.

Totally agree with you 100% about interpreting a character like France in a way where he is bad shit person, because of the actual actions of France. Imo its really important to include things like that into every nations characterizing when engaging in more "real life inspired" characterization. Almost have to wonder if the rise in popularity of historical hetalia has had anything to do with this change. While it was sorta a thing in the early years of the fandom, it didn't really seem to have much of a collective following and community. And now it seems that characters of empires/colonists like France/England/America/Russia etc. have shifted away from being written to have very goofy and comically negative traits more in-line with the 2008-2012ish canon to having their negative traits rooted more in the real-life negative habits or traits of the real world nations. I'd also wonder if the average age in the fandom has gone up which has helped characters simply be better developed.

The "bad touch trio" was super common back in the day. It was France/Prussia/Spain. Pretty much the entire characterization for them all ended up being sex addicts who went around well, SA or SH other nations. That mixed with the very silly "everything is based on basic national stereotypes" vibe of early canon I think just made i so a character like France ("nation of love"/the idea that the French are much more sexually liberated then the English or Americans) was very one-sided even when other charters were getting a little bit better of treatment. I also always felt like France was never as popular in the American/English fandom as American and England. So he (and often Canada) would sorta just thrown into things without much development character-wise.

You bring up so many good points!!! legit I have always thought about things like this.

#I had this all written up and my internet went out for the rest of the night 😭 lost all of it #hws france #hws america #hws england #historical hetalia #hetalia discussions #hws russia #tw sa mention #tw SH mention

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the-heaminator · 1 year ago

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“Dammit please don’t start crying” for the na bros 🙏🏽

I dont write enough of these two, let's change that, context of au in the tags

Nothing was going to plan right now, absolutely nothing, they had burned the cake to smithereens, it tasted fine, at least that's what Arthur said, but his taste buds were not to be taken seriously, and besides it looked quite like a cowpat.

He had gone off to stall Ivan somewhere, he was a good liar so they believed that he would be able to, Jack and Eleanor had been taken care of via an afterschool club that ran till 6, most ran till 4:30, but the science club was having its awards ceremony today so they were dealt with through an almost uncanny twist of fate.

Now it was up to those two to keep everything together, and both were failing miserably, Arthur had told them just to, in his words "Don't set the house on fire, flood it or find another way to destroy it." Those were his exact words, at least he wasn't expecting very much, though for Matthew at least that made it worse, not entirely sure why himself, but it made it worse.

Alfred knew Matthew tended to get volatile when under this kind of pressure, easily the most rational of all 6 of them, but even he had his moments, and by how anxious and fidgety he was now, this seemed like it was getting to be one of those moments, it was best to avoid him in such situations, Alfred knew this, off by heart nearly, it had happened enough times before that he knew what he was doing.

Matt was rushing about at almost a dizzying speed, pacing in the way Alfred usually did when excited, though more fevered, and of course, far less joyous, even sitting his leg was bouncing up and down irritatingly fast, Father had always been harder on Matthew than he had been on him, Alfred may have been the oldest, but he needed the spare to be even better, that was years ago, Father was dead now, but the remnants of that were still present, Arthur and Ivan's standards were odd, likely because they hadn't interacted with children for decades before them, their whole thing was that they could be really good at what they liked to do and be good enough to get decent grades at.

Matt had loosened up a lot under this system, because even under the agency, the teachers there were teachers of adults, they expected more of him than he was comfortable to provide, Alfred could usually keep up, and Jack wasn't expected to just yet, and he was stuck in the middle.

Matthew had gone pale.

This was not good, he stilled too, deep breath, that failed, he started to pace again, went up to his room, and closed the door behind him. Fuck.

Alfred rushed upstairs, Matthew had barricaded the door, he spoke through it, he was loud enough "Dammit, Mattie please don't start crying, let me in?"

Matthew didn't want to, he was being foolish, stupid, a fucking idiot, but he did anyways, Alfred immediately grabbed him and didn't let him go for a while, he may have not had the most tact when it came to...just about everything, but sure as hell could he try, Matthew was taller than him already, lanky bastard he was, Matthew stilled, either to do with comfort or because Alfred was stronger than he looked and his ribs were being abused.

A wet cough "Alfred...!"

He let go, "Are you good bro?"

"Yes, yes, I'll be fine."

He could hear Jack coming into the driveway, this was not good "Mattie, calm down dude."

"I am calm now, you are the one panicking Alfred?"

"Right, right." The door opened, Alfred and Matthew snuck down, Matthew's eyes were still a little red, Arthur caught the slightly wet look Matt had going on, but had absolutely no idea why that was the case, had he hurt himself?

The house was still in one piece and a twice over showed nothing, Ivan was occupied by Jack and Eleanor excitedly telling him something about snakes, Arthur caught their eyes and tried to question, Matthew shook his head and looked up the stairs, this was to be discussed later, but for now, the planning had to commence.

#Hws canada #Hws america #Hws England #Hws Russia #Hs New Zealand #Hws Australia #Spy au #the heam writes #Goliath!#Ok so context. You dont need much of it #basically in this au Alfred matt jack and zee (eleanor) had their parents killed by the spy agency that Arthur and Ivan work at #and bc arthur and Ivan are like in their late 40s at this point (it starts with them being like 47 to 48 and will end with them at lik52 to #they cannot physically deal other the demands of the job as well anymore and they get delegated to be informants #going undercover as a married couple with 4 kids. The kids being the ones mentioned prior but like Arthur and Ivan end up getting real real #And it's just like here its ivans birthday and everything's going to shit #Alfred is 14 matt is 13 jack is 10 and eleanor is 7 #I'm so sorry this took so long

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thenightlymartini · 2 years ago

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Any headcanons on how the couples are on family gatherings?

Doing a content warning here and at the start for sake of convenience:

CW: mentions of the Korean War, very vague mention of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, censored cuss words, mention of England and France's imperialistic and colonialism pasts, vague mention/insinuation of 20th century tragedies in East Asia and other historical events of East Asia

So, this will heavily depend on if it is in universe or in an AU where one can fiddle with family dynamics a bit. For those who just want the actual content, skip to the dotted line and read after it (content warning will be just above the dotted line), for I'm going to be discussing a little.

Personally, back when I first watched Hetalia (I think back in 2010 or 2011) I mostly based my experiences of what was popular in the fandom on Youtube videos, since I didn't go to Deviantart nor knew about Tumblr by that point. So, I did adopt, very early on, what I thought was popular for family groups, but I've since matured enough to be more nuanced about them. Ones like FACE I still subscribe to in a sense because of the historical content, but East Asia I no longer think of it in terms of early Hetalia fandom due to the intricacies and complexity that are the interpersonal relations throughout history. I view it more like, from an outsider's perspective, it looks like a big brother taking care of multiple siblings, but inside there are a lot of power dynamics and is like multiple games of chess in the form of politics and military flexing up until the 20th century, with lots of double meanings and this particular dynamic shines brighter when China is teaching.

Some of the East Asians may have viewed the dynamic closer to a kinship than others, but they all eventually became aware of the politics and what it meant to be a nation and their views on family is more complicated. For brevity sake I'm focusing on just the Koreas and will give some detail on the others when they are talked about. South Korea (keep in mind this is very early in both the Koreas' history when they were the chibi-equivalents), I think, was a little more naïve in the beginning simply because it was a dynamic he never experienced before and was more prone to taking things at face value prior to fully understanding what it means to be a nation and the politics of immortal relations, such as being taken in by China and living with him for a time was more than just out of the kindness of the Chinese man's heart. North Korea was a little more aware of the power dynamics and politics than his twin, but he lacked the experience and knowledge on how to deal with it at the time and was generally just more self-aware knowing there wasn't much he himself could do. NK did get closer to China on a more mentor level and calls him "brother" more out of respect than actually thinking of him as family. Basically anything dealings with Japan, with East Asia on a whole, barring one or two countries, is heavily politicized and less family gathering after the 20th century, while dealings with China can sometimes get politicized if the wrong topic comes up.

With that cleared up, it's time to delve into question at hand. And this going to be a long one. Also I finally figured out how to change font styles on here so I might have gone overboard with it with experimentation.

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Kimchiburger:

SK meeting FACE and subsequent family gatherings:

SK tends to be very quiet and shy if it is with people he has not been around a lot or knows well, especially early after his war with NK where he no longer has his twin to be there as emotional support. He vaguely knew England and France due to the UN and them sending troops as well to his country, as well as knowing what they did to most of Asia thanks to imperialism and colonialism, so he was very hesitant around them. He knows they are what America considers family, but that doesn't stop him from being very cautious regardless early on. Canada, on the other hand, he was pretty excited to see again, since he knew the quieter nation before even meeting America and hadn't seen him in a while.

France he got along with fairly well after the first initial awkwardness that was the context of he is now America's boyfriend with the American's family. France was a bit too touchy for his liking and made some rude comments from his cultural perspective, but the Frenchman never went too far and was pretty quick to correct mistakes if the other was offended, though was prone to unsolicited advice that embarrassed both himself and America. Canada hadn't changed much and was able to get SK out of his shell faster than the other two, as well as just provided general tips on how to handle America when he gets to be too much.

England was the rough one in the beginning, both personality wise and just because England kept giving him this "stink-eye" or highly judgmental look over every little thing he did or say. He later learned from France that England was just extremely protective over America, even after independence, and was just making sure that SK wasn't going to end up breaking the American's heart and was a good fit. He still didn't care for England's poor attitude most of the time along with his tsundere tendencies (he hated using Japan's word for it, but it was a pretty apt description and he lacked a better word for it). They did bond a bit more when he introduced his cooking to England, who was actually pretty receptive to it to America's shock. England had been used to India's cuisine so he wasn't too fazed by the spice, and both were shocked that they had some similar foods, such as Korean sundae and English black pudding. Although this was also the time when SK figured out England was not the greatest cook (but baking he was generally okay at, if a little rusty or needed some work considering not all of his scones would come out like hockey pucks).

Once SK got comfortable, these family gatherings became quite entertaining and SK often felt included or was part of the family at that point. France and him were prone to baking and sharing recipes a lot (I was inspired by those videos on Youtube of Korean street food and baking), England and him were more prone to quiet talks and tea (which was a welcome reprieve from some of the more neurotic family tendencies) unless England got into a rant over something, and Canada and him often were more boisterous than anyone thought they would be. Add America to that mix and it was always chaotic between the three of them. France figured out that letting the three of them compete in video games was the best way to make sure the North American nations and the Korean wouldn't end up destroying something or end up with the police knocking at their door. Though England got more and more flabbergasted once he realized just how similar both SK and America were, meaning double the headaches were going to happen.

I'm saving America's interactions with East Asia for after getting through RusNK, because they share the same event.

RusNK:

North Korea and the Kievan Rus Trio:

North Korea knew from Russia that he had two sisters and that Russia was the middle of the three. He vaguely got to know them through political meetings, but outside of politics he didn't know much considering he spent most of his time either at home, with China, or with Russia. So when Russia proposes that he gets to know his sisters personally one day, he just kind of rolled with it figuring that it couldn't hurt and might benefit political relations more if he did. He did not count on how... "interesting" the family gathering would be, for lack of a better word.

He thought Ukraine was quite a strong and dependable young woman, though a little too emotional at times. He could tell she became the substitute mother of the trio with how doting she was. A lot of the cooking for the family was actually done with everyone there and was a family tradition, so he learned quite a bit from her about the family traditions and that she was definitely the better cook out of them, though he wouldn't admit that to Russia. She was generally more welcoming and warm towards him, but he could tell she got nervous at times because she didn't want to end up offending him or Russia on accident, whether through fear of politics or simply because Russia can be quite intimidating when mad. NK learned some of the more embarrassing parts of her, such as when the story came up, from Ukraine herself, about how she tried to advise Russia on how to make friends ("show them your boobs" episode for anyone confused), and thus became slightly weirded out.

That weirded out feeling intensified when he finally got to know Belarus, especially with how attached she was to Russia. NK thinks Belarus didn't quite understand the meaning behind the "marrying" Russia, since he was told she had been doing that since she was fairly little, but he absolutely hated how Belarus would but in when he and Russia would get too close or cuddly. He had half a mind to tell her off about how he is Russia's boyfriend and he can do what he damn well pleases, but he knew better than to say stuff like that for it would more than likely come back around through politics and his boss would get mad at him for angering an ally. It seemed at some point Russia pulled Belarus aside and must have gave her a stern talking to, because part way through the first meeting she eventually let up on her antics. He was much more aware of the atmosphere around the trio, and came to the conclusion that, though this family is weird, they do care about each other and they are definitely not ones he should ever anger.

Future meetings are much more scarce, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union and tightening up of NK's own nation. Currently, though he only admits to himself and not aloud due to politics and current events, but he very much admires how strong, tenacious, and smart Ukraine is, and that is when he learns that she is probably the scariest of the trio when provoked. He somewhat wishes she wasn't so cold to him now, but that is thanks to politics and himself basically becoming the world's pariah and knows it is outside of his control. He finds he misses those winter nights when the trio and him would laugh and have dinner together or celebrate the trio's shared holidays, mostly because he himself would even forget the greater politics that dominate their lives and simply live as themselves and cherish the fond memories.

Kimchiubrger and RusNK:

America, Russia, and East Asia "family" gatherings:

SK had to explain a lot of the "family" dynamics to America because he was really hesitant at bringing America around them. Considering America has had numerous dealings with his neighbors, both good and bad, it wasn't like he was meeting them for the first time, but that meant there was so much more baggage to go through and this was in a context of introducing the boyfriend to the family. America semi-understood SK's explanations, considering how complex and intricate East Asia's relations with each other are and how much history played a part, but he at least knew how nervous SK was with this gathering more out of the political games that were bound to happen. Also, SK was not 100% sure if North Korea would be there, which would throw so many wrenches into the issue that he might as well have been in a hardware store.

Likewise, Russia was taught about the dynamics, and he himself was more understanding at the chess game that was East Asian relations. NK was fine bringing Russia around the other East Asians, especially China, but was very wary of if SK was going to show, since it was common for only one of them to be at these gatherings because they despised each other that much and it never ended well if both of them so happened to be there. Since he and SK never communicated about these meetings, it tended to fall to China to make sure neither were there at the same time, meaning he would invite each Korea every other gathering.

Well, both Koreas didn't expect the absolute worse case scenario: both show up with America and Russia to a gathering (with China's permission), AND China's boss got whiff of the gathering and told China he had to invite Japan as well for "political relations". So Japan being there was the badly made icing on this already disastrous cake from both Koreas' perspectives. They just hoped their respective boyfriend's understood to not embarrass them or cause a fight.

Thankfully, China was in a more "f!ck politics, get along of I'll make you" kind of mood and laid down the law very clearly and quickly. Hong Kong and, surprisingly, Taiwan were there, as well as Macau, so Russia and America got treated to the full extent of the chaos that can be when all of East Asia is in one room. Apparently the favorite pass time was ragging on China, much to China's chagrin. Particular favorite subjects to rile China up and poke fun of were his age and old man tendencies. Russia and America couldn't help but stay silent and look on in shock, wonder, and trepidation at how much sass and shade was being thrown around in teasing manners. They also were eyeing the wok and bamboo stick in the corner knowing just how dangerous China could be with them if he got out of hand.

Eventually, Japan got sassy and told China he was more than happy to take him to a nursing home after China made a comment about his age and forgot where he put a few of the drinks he bought for the occasion. This lead to America, before SK could stop him, saying how Japan shouldn't throw stones when he himself has a glass house since he's heard Japan complain multiple times about how he had a bad back and was getting to old for some of the antics he got wrapped up in. This gained him points with most of East Asia as many laughed at how true it was (even SK and NK had to try and stifle their laughs) while Japan was too shocked to speak until he made a vague threat towards America that he would get his revenge later without exactly divulging how he would do so. This lead to Russia making a comment about what might happen if both China and Japan were put into the same nursing home, which quickly spiraled into hypothetical discussions with lots of teasing. Both Koreas were really silent during most of the exchange, often either too occupied keeping an eye on their respective boyfriends or were too dumbfounded at how well America and Russia easily fitted themselves in.

At some point the topic of Mahjong comes up and America gets really interested in it. A snide comment from Russia about how real Mahjong is different from the one played on Microsoft computers sent both Koreas on edge, especially when America fires back that he knows they are different. Thankfully, America continued with asking to be taught how to actually play it and learn, to which the previous hostility evaporated when China had both he and Russia (since he knows Russia doesn't know sh!t about Mahjong himself) learn with him and Japan, with Macau serving as a guide for America and Russia for the first few games. China waved the Koreas away and told them to go help Taiwan and Hong Kong get the food ready in the other room, much to the hesitance of both Koreas. China definitely took the opportunity to not so subtly tell both America and Russia that he still cares for the twins, despite politics and history, and that if they themselves hurt the two in anyway shape or form he would be more than happy to murder them in their homes, politics and international relations be d!mned. First few seconds Russia and America didn't take the threat too seriously until they see that Japan didn't even bat an eye at the threat and remarked how much more tame China was being about it, then they realized he was serious and they were definitely more scared.

NK and SK were constantly peeking around the corner from the kitchen to check in on their boyfriends, often accidentally silently communicating with each other when one of them went to check. Taiwan found it absolutely adorable that they were that concerned, while Hong Kong rolled his eyes at how love clearly changed the twins far too much, even making a comment about how those two aren't themselves if they aren't actively adding to the chaos. NK, being more resistant to the teasing, usually made off-handed comments on how he was just making sure blood wasn't being spilt rather than out of actual concern, but everyone could see right through it.

It gave a moment for both Koreas to reflect on their respective twin's relationship with their boyfriends. SK noticed how, though not being the most PDA couple, NK and Russia had much more subtler ways of checking in on the other and showing affection, such as Russia occasionally holding NK's hand and rubbing small circles over the knuckles or NK leaning into the other and providing much more eye contact than he's seen the other do in a lifetime. Even the small smiles and stilted laughs coming from them during the night made SK start to soften on them. He may not approve of his brother's choice in partner (as he knows NK doesn't approve of America), but he could tell they truly cared about the other and was a little happy that Russia could get NK to smile and laugh more, since he can't be there to do it now. Likewise, NK, though absolutely despising America, slowly started accepting that he could tell SK was happy with him, from the way they easily shared laughs and smiles to how he could easily see the adoration in their eyes when they looked at each other. As much as he doubted and refused to trust America, he knew from their interactions that America was very much wearing his heart on his sleeve for his brother and was borderline willing to be the other's servant with constantly getting him anything he need during the night. He started accepting, despite his personal issues with America, that the American was kind of what he knew SK needed now that he himself couldn't be there to support the younger twin. If he were to ever make serious progress in mending his and SK's relationship on a personal level, he knew he had to start with easing up on the two of them, so he became less snippy and sarcastic with them later. It's a start, at least.

Commieburger:

This headcannon has to have the major asterisk of this is a "what if" scenario in normal universe since they are having to be super secretive about their relationship and may not reveal they are in one outside of the ones who need to know (SK and Canada) until super later in the relationship or when political improvements occur. With that said, this is a "what if" scenario of when East Asia and the rest of FACE learn of their relationship on the grounds that they are slowly letting it be known they are together:

East Asia Gathering:

The whole idea was partially pushed by South Korea, who by that point already knew of their relationship for a while now, with the excuse that it was only going to be a matter of time before they found out and it would probably be better if they were told rather than found out through something more scandalous. North and America were quite hesitant, especially with telling China and Japan considering their power and involvement in East Asia, but decided that they should know at some point so long as they are sworn to secrecy and partially agreed with SK's logic. Ideally, they would have liked to only tell China, and maybe Japan for security purposes, but it was not going to be easy for Hong Kong and Taiwan to not know since they all were in the same circles. SK was even willing to share black mail material in order to make sure the others wouldn't tell a soul about their relationship.

South Korea pushed China to have a family gathering and only having Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong join them, not really telling him about the fact that America and North Korea would be joining them. He had to make a deal with China that as long as he got them to go then he himself would take care of hosting and cooking, which was definitely going to be a chore and a half but knew China wouldn't turn that down.

When the day came, North and America purposefully came later once all the others had gathered. When South welcomed them in, China immediately tried reprimanding the two for trying to involve SK in whatever shenanigans or arguments they started this time while he was trying to host family and clearly had a lot to do right now, assuming that was why those two were there at the same time. NK basically very briskly told him they were here to tell them all something and to gather everyone to make it easier, clearly wanting to just get this over with, while America was uncharacteristically quiet and clearly felt and looked awkward.

When they told them (mostly NK just spat it out in the bluntest way possible), Hong Kong and Taiwan seriously thought it was a joke SK, NK, and America were in on. Japan initially thought so too, but knowing America's cues, ticks, and seeing how generally awkward the bigger nation was, he quickly realized it wasn't one and was silent in surprise. China seemed puzzled slightly until he admitted that it actually made sense considering he noticed their usual arguments lacked the normal amount of bite in them this past year (which shocked NK and America that China actually noticed somewhat, though clearly didn't realize how long this had been going on). Hong Kong and Taiwan didn't start believing it until they saw SK didn't react at all to the announcement, not even a hint of a smile that would normally give away that it was a prank. That's when Taiwan asks SK directly if he had already known, which SK admitted to knowing for several years now.

That's when everyone is just dumbfounded that NK and America had been going out for so long without anyone knowing. China made a comment about how the two were clever, but not clever enough to pull a fast one on himself since he has seen so much in his 4000 years, which led to America saying "technically, you thought we had something going on for only the past year, so we actually did pull one over your eyes". NK promptly elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up.

Cue essentially a game of 20 questions because NK and America are just bombarded for the next half hour trying to explain things. SK quietly handed his twin a bottle of soju, knowing this was going to be a long night. Eventually America pipes up after a subtle comment from Japan about them both playing with fire keeping this under wraps, saying how they both have known that for a while and the one thing they ask of them all is to just stay quiet about it since the main reason they told them was that it would be better to hear from them rather than through someone else.

Rest of the night was semi-awkward and NK hated having the spotlight like that for that long, so America and him took their leave. They didn't leave before China pulled them aside to let them know America is welcome at the next family gathering.

Future gatherings were much more tolerable. During the times when America could sneak by and join them, the couple were much more relaxed once they were used to now being in a situation where they didn't need to hide their relationship. America was much more prone to holding the other by the waist or just having an arm over NK's shoulders, along with being his boisterous self. It still baffled East Asia to see these two as a pair considering how opposite they acted, but it was more interesting to see NK soften up in ways they didn't think the nation could. Though Taiwan was privy to some of the cuter moments between the couple since she and NK used to have a fairly solid friendship a while back and honestly was the most relaxed person out of the family that wouldn't make a big scene when they did anything remotely couple-y.

FACE:

After letting North's side know about their relationship, America had to do some convincing to get NK to agree to let England and France know, using the same excuse that it would probably be better they know from them rather than through a scandal or rumors. Canada already knew, but America wanted Canada over anyways because he was going to need as much back up as possible, for he feared England's reaction the most.

Canada had very little interaction with North Korea, outside of politics and war, and really only knew that his brother was dating him, so he was suspicious of the other in general. Since it had been several years, and these two were still together, he softened a little, but not by much. He definitely knew England was not going to take it well and knew he needed to be there to act as peacekeeper and to restrain the Englishman if need be. As much as he figured the reaction would be justified, he didn't want America to take the brunt of it alone and NK was too unpredictable for his taste to trust he would be fine or to not escalate arguments.

While they were waiting for England and France to arrive, Canada started learning a lot more about how America and NK acted together. America was not shy about PDA, at least in front of Canada, and it was kind of intriguing to see the difference in how NK reacted. He noticed the tone and general vibe NK gave off was completely different around America, like it was softer or more affectionate rather than being defensive and having a generally dangerous aura. Sure, NK elbowed him in the ribs when America got too excited with his hugs, but it was far better than Canada thought would happen. He got an idea of the softer side of NK when America's anxiety finally caught up with him and the Korean was almost like a mother hen with how much care he was showing. It made Canada accept that these two definitely had a mutual love towards each other, and his suspicions died down.

Now, when America and Canada sat England and France down for the talk, NK was a lot more hesitant but wasn't going to leave America on his own (especially since America stuck right by him when they told his side of the family), so he was semi-hiding around the corner so that he was close enough to at least listen in and be right there if needed. Canada agreed that NK's immediate presence would have set alarm bells off for England and France, and it would be best to break it to them when they were calm and not already on edge.

When America told England and France, they both seriously thought it was joke, even laughing (England laughing the hardest) and saying how he really needed to come up with something more believable than that. When NK spoke about it being true and stepped out (America not so subtly shifted to the side so that he was partially in front of NK cause he felt an immediate need to protect), France was more dumbfounded but more accepting if a bit skeptical (love is love, c'est la vie) while England went from confusion, to shock, to rage. If it weren't for Canada holding England down, he probably would have lunged at NK and America.

England went OFF on them, with his main focus being directed towards NK and how this was clearly just a plot involving his government and that America is an absolute idiot for believing otherwise. It was at this point that NK, in the calmest and level-headed tone despite being on the very edge of losing his temper that sent shivers down all the nations' spines, told England right off that not only is the idea of a plot so ludicrous that even his own leader would laugh at it, but that it was entirely wrong. He goes right on to say that he is risking his own well-being and safety and is completely willing to toe that line because his love for Alfred is stronger than his own suspicions and fear of his own government. NK tells England, with maybe a foot distance between them and America holding NK back from going any closer, that he can hate him as much as he wants, he can even still choose to not accept that they are in a relationship, but he will make sure England walks away knowing two things: this relationship has nothing to do with politics and that his attitude and throwing a fit because of his hatred will not change the fact that they are dating and will continue to date. This was a curtesy so that they knew from the horse's mouth rather than from someone else; acceptance was never expected. Continuing on, NK states how he can even hate England himself as much as he wants, but that he will be tolerant of him regardless since he will not force America to cut him out of his life, and that all that he expects from England is to be treated the same. As if that wasn't enough, NK had to add that, yeah, America can be an idiot, but he's his idiot, so don't call him that or he will be more than happy to punch England in the face.

So, the first meeting with FACE did not go well, especially with England. In private, that confrontation took so much out of NK that he was visibly shaking from nerves and emotionally drained afterwards. Canada and France absolutely had more respect for NK himself after that (France couldn't help but gush at how romantic it was and how it was like a classic scene out of a romance movie/drama). After some time to stew, England grew a grudging respect as well, though it never stopped future interactions between NK and himself at later gatherings from being super tense.

Though there was one time when NK and England had a temporary truce at a gathering where America was being excessively idiotic. It went like this:

America does/says something that makes the 5th or so stupidest thing he has done or said today.

NK, about to lose it: I'm about ready to chuck this encyclopedia at your head if you don't smarten up!

England, whose also had enough: Don't aim for his head, you'll only make him worse by losing what little brain cells he has left. Aim for the shins, he'll learn quicker that way.

France: You two are absolutely terrifying when you're both on the same page.

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savebatsfromscratch · 1 year ago

Text

No.19 I Try Not To.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50962858

Words: 2,056

Cws: Stalking, psychological horror, mentions of murder and guns

Notes: This is a DIRECT continuation of this fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38582931 It will NOT make sense if you haven't read it. You don’t have to read it as a “cannon” continuation of that fic, but oh well.

Also, not to ruin the mood of anything, but I listened to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW5W-MEvr5w the whole time writing this. xP

Prompt: No. 19: “I’ll take one final step, all you have to do is make me.” Floral Bouquet | Psychological | “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”

Alfred stammered out a gasp, ducking under Russia’s arm and stumbling a bit away from the desk. In his shock, he had managed to get away from him, but it was only when he felt that gloved hand on his wrist did he choke a response out of himself.

“I try not to,” he whispered, staring down at the office floor as if it was the creature that was holding him in place. He heard Russia begin to chuckle, and America whipped his head up to look at him, his throat suddenly hot with anger. He yanked his hand away. Fuck the thirty minute rule, his employer wasn’t getting him back at the office until next workday at the earliest. He was going home.

“You don’t scare me,” America sneered, sticking his tongue out at Russia, who at least had the decently to look mildly taken aback by his defiance, “And don’t bother checking up on me later, I’ve done quite enough work for the day,”

He marched over to the door, doing his best not to sprint the short distance it took to get there as lingering terror crawled down his back. Thankfully, Russia, still clearly shocked, did not chase him, instead choosing to stand rooted in place as the gentle light of the sunset and the harsh glow of the false stars shone down on him.

…

Days had passed since that interaction, and life had gone on as normal for America. Drove to work in his good ‘ol chevy, had a nice lunch at the town diner (he was really getting into their cheeseburgers recently, believe it or not), and slaved over pages and pages of useless paperwork. Yes, he was living the life. Fake stars on the ceiling, window curtains open, feet kicked up on the desk. It was everything he could have asked for.

His life was so normal, in fact, that he almost forgot about that meeting with Russia.

…Almost.

No matter how much America tried to act like things were fine and normal and that he was okay, things just kept proving him wrong. When his first client had knocked on his office door the next day after, he had jumped a little in his seat, half expecting Russia to be back to finish whatever job he had started. Of course, it wasn't Russia, just another super boring client meeting, and he kicked himself for his caution. If Russia wanted to get him, he would have done it already, wouldn't he?

Still, America found himself looking behind his shoulder more often than normal, half expecting a gun pointed at his head the moment he turned. He still found himself packing a weapon of his own in his bag, you know, just in case. He still found himself jumping at small sounds and locking the door during his last thirty minutes at work. He didn't even care if it wasn't allowed, there was no way he was going to be following something that might get him killed.

His coworkers were beginning to notice, raising eyebrows when he shivered at their hands on his wrists, or whispering behind his back when he looked up at the sound of his human name. (He didn't use it so much these days, even compared to his extremely sparing use of it before Russia had met up with him.) It wasn't even just a lie anymore, it was an invitation to that which he did not want.

That which he would not come away from in one piece.

America kept busy with paperwork, trying to keep his mind off the terror that he knew was swirling just under the surface of that focus. He kept busy with his life, cleaning his house, painting is white picket fence a new, brighter shade, shining the metal of his car until the red was almost as reflective as the newly cleaned radio disk on his roof. He kept busy with his food, grilling burgers for all the little kids in his neighborhood in his freetime. (Though hosting parties wasn't usually his thing.)

Maybe he was trying to act perfect. Maybe he was just trying to keep a sense of normalcy in his life.

But mostly he was trying to act like he was safe.

Even though he hadn't seen Russia in days, he wasn't naive enough to think that he was safe from whatever awful plan the man had had in mind for him. He'd had a long enough history as an immortal to know that they weren't the kind of monster to lose focus on a target. Hell, he'd been exactly in Russia's position a few times in the past, and he knew that, if he were in that place now, he would only be biding his time for the next best time to strike.

Missing the first strike wasn't that big of a deal, America knew that nations found just as much fun in the chase as they did in the payoff. Of course he knew! There was a reason he liked the energetic drag of a close game of baseball. That slow, almost painful wait for what you wanted was half of the pleasure of seeing it done.

He was no better than a cat playing with a mouse, and America knew that Russia was much the same.

He shivered as he sat in his armchair, trying to relax after a long day of work, but ultimately failing. He was technically still on call for the company, so he couldn't focus on much more than sitting there, waiting for his phone to ring or his doorbell to ding.

It was torture, but not the fun kind that came with the chase of a kill.

He turned his face to the clock on the wall, watching as its fancy hands slowly ticked around the glowing surface of its face. In the moment, the normally trivial metronome sound of the thing seemed much more important, almost like it was his lifeline, in some weird way.

In the fireplace, a fire roared, but America couldn't help but tune out the sound of the flames as he stared at the smiling face of the clock. Just a few more minutes and he would declare his job done. Just a few more minutes and he could go to bed. And just a few hours from then, he could be back to work, distracted again from the worries that bound him in place.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

He adjusted his glasses, taking a shaky breath as the world blurred and unblurred in the corners of his vision.

Not too much time now.

Unfortunately, it was right then that the phone rang.

It was a controlled, expected sort of sound, but that didn't mean it didn't send dred scuttering down his spine. If this were a regular sort of week, America probably would have laughed, cursed his bad luck with his clients, and picked up the phone, but something deep inside him seemed to be screaming a warning that that was not what he was dealing with here.

He continued to listen to the phone, watching it jolt around in its holder as it fought for his attention.

He counted, one, two, three... somehow hoping that the phone would calm down and leave him alone, but knowing that it wasn't going to happen. He knew he had to answer this. Getting fired wasn't anything like what he wanted to do at the moment. No, he had far too much to worry about without adding money to the list.

America picked up the phone.

“Hello?” he asked, “A. Jones here, what's your issue?”

The line was silent.

”Hello?“ he asked again, fighting the sting of panic as he spoke into the phone. It was pretty common for people to miss the first part of what he said to them over the phone, he had no reason to be scared, right? ”Can you hear me?”

He heard a click, and the phone went to static in his hand.

America stood up sharply, dropping the phone as if it was the fire warming his face, instead of that in the fireplace.

“Okay,” he told himself, feeling his heart jumping around in his throat as he gave the room a quick sweep with his eyes, “Okay, time's up,”

He stepped forward awkwardly, almost disjointedly, but stopped abruptly. Where could he go? He was safest at home, wasn't he? Russia knew his workplace, but he hadn't shown up at his home yet, right? This was as good a place as any, right?

He headed back to his chair, sitting slowly and purposefully. He tried to reason with himself. Someone could have called the wrong number and not wanted to cause a fuss. His phone could be broken and not have transferred his speech to the caller (it had happened before, after all). Maybe he hadn't been professional enough and the caller had thought they were mistaken with their choice in number.

He tried to be calm, tried to act normal, tried to forget. It was fine. He was fine. It was a coincidence, that was all.

America picked up a newspaper, trying to focus on those swimming words on the page rather than his rushing heart. He didn't need to be this panicked. He was okay. He was safe. (But deep down, America knew that was not true.)

Still, he kept reading, gradually feeling his heart slow and his fear fade as he got more and more into what he was reading. The stocks, the newest sports, the ups and downs in local law. He knew it was important, it was the little bits and pieces that made him, /him/, after all, how could it not be?

The doorbell rang.

Clear and sharp through his home, cutting through the calm that he had forced into himself as if it was some easily discontinued brand of paper. (And then laughing as it disintegrated around his newly shaking hands.)

Should he answer it?

The doorbell rang again.

It couldn't be a good idea to answer it, right?

A hand rapped on his door.

If that was his boss, America would definitely be in trouble for not answering.

The knocking increased in intensity.

America stood up and began to walk towards the door. He was probably just being paranoid. What would make him any more of a target than one of his leaders anyway? Why the Hell would Russia choose this time of night to knock, after all of those days of complete nothing from his end?

The knocking ended, and muffled footsteps could be heard as the person who had been knocking walked away and down the driveway.

America tried to reason with himself. If that was his boss, he only had a little time to open the door before he had lost his chance to talk. (And Lord knew his bosses always wanted to talk.) His hand floated right above the doorknob as his mind rushed and raced.

What was the likelihood that that was what he thought it was? In a safe neighborhood like this?

The lock clicked, and America peaked outside.

At first he didn't see anything strange. (Though the lack of a car in the driveway probably should have immediately alerted him to the fact that it hadn't been his boss out there.) Just his quiet road, a few kids playing in the yard across the street, a nice man from the book club walking his dog down the road, and a truly gorgeous sunset glow still hanging in the cloudless sky above.

America moved to open the door a little further, but it caught on something on his doorstep. He took a step back, wondering what the blockage had been. Had that been the postman with a really late package delivery? Maybe someone had remembered to return something to him?

He looked down, and his heart jumped into his stomach.

There, smudged on his doorstep, was the telltale yellow of the petals of a sunflower. And, among them, a small note, with familiar cursive writing scrawled on the white paper. America dropped to his knees, his hands shaking as he reached for the note.

His breath came fast.

On the paper was a simple question. “How about now?” It asked, “Do you still try?”

#whumptober2023 #no.19 #Floral Bouquet | Psychological #fanfic #stalking #gun mention #murder mention #psychological horror #hws #hetalia #hws america #hws russia #my art #my writing #actual post

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