-1Disclaimer - Axis Powers Hetalia is not my creation, this is merely a fanwork derived from Himeruya Hidekaz' creations. No profit is being made from it.
Time for Tea.
Kiku arrived at Arthur's house and let himself in, having long become accustomed to Arthur's habit of leaving the place unlocked. The european nation claimed it was because he'd got fed up of replacing doors when his impetuous visitors kept slamming them off their hinges and that in any case, France could pick any lock in existence if there was something molestable on the other side of it. Kiku privately conceded that final point, having been groped by the amorous France more times than he could count. It was quite nice actually, France was a considerate and skilled lover in private, but England found France irritating and that was that. France had mostly stopped coming to England's house since, leading Kiku to suppose that the other nation knew that France would consider sneaking into an unlocked house for molestation purposes to be cheating. He sometimes wondered about that and England and France's strange relationship when he'd had a little too much sake.
His shoes clicked loudly on the wooden floorboards of the hallway as Kiku headed towards England's study and Japan knocked politely on the door, hearing sounds of movement within. He entered when he heard a muffled, 'What?' through the door. He entered, turning one of his polite smiles on the taller nation, who looked up from an overflowing escritoire with an utterly baffled expression on his face, hands still full of several reports he seemed to be comparing. 'Japan? What…? Oh, yes.' He interrupted himself and set the paperwork down, rising to greet his guest. 'I took delivery of a new tea service recently and China kindly sent me some excellent tea. I thought you might enjoy them.'
Japan's smile warmed at that. 'I would enjoy that very much. Am I early?' He asked, giving England an excuse for apparently forgetting that he'd invited Japan over, Arthur's slight embarrassment and his brisk covering of it made Japan himself feel embarrassed too. Naturally the rather blunt nation chose the path of honesty instead.
'Oh, no. I just got too involved in this damn' paperwork and time ran away from me.' He pushed his chair under the desk neatly and led the way through to the kitchen where he bustled about getting everything together. Japan sat and observed the activity, dark eyes following the blond country's movements thither and yon about the room before he took a seat opposite Japan, Arthur was very domestic. He concealed a small smile at the sight of several workmanlike mugs abandoned by the sink, tea stains showing what they had been used for. Arthur never served him tea in a mug. Kiku wondered if this was something of what the European nations considered to be cosy, Ludwig after all had been known to mutter wistfully about his beloved gemutlichkeit if he stayed at Kiku's house for longer than a few days. 'Shall I be mother?' he asked, the question a rhetorical one as he began pouring the tea almost before Japan had time to nod.
Japan admired the fine china teacup nestling in his slender hands. The rose pattern was pretty, red and white roses chasing one another around the rim and along the edges of the handle, the blond nation had a fondness for the blooms that almost equalled Kiku's fondness for his beloved sakura. The tea was indeed good, although a blend of the black tea that the British rather than his own people preferred. Both were elegant, but exotic, a little too much for Kiku's refined and subtle tastes, but enjoyable as an occasional thing. The Western nations were like that, strange and difficult to understand and certainly he did not wish to deal with them every day, but they were a nice change.
Arthur obligingly made genuinely pleased noises when Kiku opened the small box he'd brought with him to reveal the two very fine red bean paste pastries he'd bought as a gift to his host. It always amused Japan privately the way Arthur was always surprised by Kiku's habitual visiting gifts of cake, or sake or a new blend of tea. The strong, astringent black tea made a strange partner to Kiku's delicacy, even though Arthur had poured Kiku's cup first to give him the weakest tea of the pot. It warmed him though and the combination on his tongue was not unpleasant, just as Arthur's strange, occasionally abrasive nature contrasted with his own subtle, traditional nature on their afternoon tea appointments.
Kiku smiled a genuinely affectionate smile at his host as Arthur walked him to the door, making him blush and harrumph, something that only made the smile bigger as Japan tried not to laugh at England's funny ways. Yes, it was not something he would like to do too often, but from time to time, it was nice to enjoy Arthur's exotic afternoon tea ritual.