China-cat played with a toy mouse while he laid on the couch, and he accidentally dropped it on the floor. Just as he crawled off the couch to get it, he heard the door open. Russia-cat... Why does he insist on visiting every day?

Russia walked in the room, his ears flat against his head. He looked sort of upset and embarrassed.

"Hello, Russia~" China mewed, and he walked over to him. Then he noticed a horrible smell. "Ugh, do you smell that?"

"Yeah... It's me..."

China covered his nose with his paw. "What did you roll in?"

"Uhmm... A skunk sprayed me, actually..." Russia mumbled. "I accidentally walked on his territory, and I guess kindly telling me to leave wasn't enough for him."

"Ugh... Why did you come here?" China asked.

"Well.. My Daddy isn't home, and I don't know how to turn on the bath tub." Russia said. "My paws keep slipping, because of my long fur..."

China sighed, and walked toward the stairs. "Come on, I'll help you." he said. He led him up the stairs and walked into the bathroom. Russia watched him turn on the bath tub.

"Umm... I've never gotten wet before, China... Have you?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, once. It's really annoying, and you get cold for a while, but you'd rather have that than smell horrible for weeks, right?" China said.

"Yeah, of course~!"

The bath tub was filled, and China turned off the water. "There you go~ I'll pour some soap in the water, too!" he said, and he crawled up into the cabinet. He grabbed a bottle of apple scented soap and poured the whole bottle in the tub.

"...Maybe that's a little too much." he said.

"Bubbles!" Russia said, and he crawled into the bath tub. "Mrow~ This feels nice, China!"

China smiled a little. "I bet it does..." he mumbled to himself.

Russia heard him anyway. "Then join me!" he said, grabbing his paw and pulling him in.

China gasped as he fell in the water. "That's not what I wanted, aru!"

"You know it was, hehe~"

China growled, and doggy paddled over to the edge of the tub. He pulled himself up, and sat on the edge. "I don't like getting wet. And I don't need to, I'm not the one who was sprayed!"

Russia purred in amusement. "Oh you." he said. "Always denying how much you love the water~"

China rolled his eyes. "You're so weird aru..."

Russia played with the bubbles, and also cleaned himself with them. He put his paws on the edge of the tub. "Do I still smell bad?" he asked.

China sniffed him, and gagged. "Ugh, yes, you do..."

Russia sighed, and put his paws down. "I don't think it's gonna work, da..."

"Of course it will! You just need to scrub harder!" China said, and he jumped back in the water. "Like this aru." he said as he grabbed some bubbles and put them on Russia's head. He scrubbed his fur really hard, scratching him as he did this. Russia winced at the pain. "A little more gentle..."

"Sorry..." China said, and he tried to keep his claws from touching Russia again.

He sniffed Russia's head where he was scrubbing. "...It's a little better, but not much..." he mumbled. Russia rinsed his head by going under water for a few seconds.

"I'll just have to let myself soak in here for a while~ I don't mind, the water is nice and warm!" he mewed. He went under the water for a second. China waited for him to pop back up, but he didn't. Nervous, he searched for him. "Russia?" he said. It was hard to see in the water because of all the bubbles. Then, he heard the water splash from behind him. He looked back, and flattened his ears. "Aiyaa! Don't scare me like that!"

"Let's play Whack-A-Mole!" Russia said as if he couldn't see China's anger, and before the older cat could agree, he was gone.

China swam over to the spot where Russia was. "Aiyaa! You're so going to get it!" he hissed at him.

"Ha! Whack me, China!"

China turned around, and he saw Russia on the other side of the tub. He angrily swam over to him, but he went under again.

Russia was on the other side of the tub again. China swam as fast as he could to the other side, but just as he reached him, Russia went under water again.

"Aiyaa~ You're too fast!" China meowed.

"No, you're too slow, da?" Russia said as he peeked his head up on the other side of the tub. China swam toward him again, and as he went under again, he got an idea.

He sat on the edge of the tub, waiting for him to pop up again.

He did, and China pounced on his head.

Russia fell over, and China stood on top of his head with an expression that looked proud and annoyed at the same time. "I. Whacked. The. Mole."

He swam back over to the edge of the tub, and Russia smiled as he began swimming in laps around the tub. "You're good at that game, China!" he purred.

China rolled his eyes. "Mrow... Thanks, I guess."

"Da~"

He kept swimming in laps. China watched him for about 20 minutes. Then he got bored and joined him.

He glanced up at the clock after the 3rd lap. "Whoa, it's almost 11:00." he said.

"That's late~ And I'm getting tired, mrow~" Russia mewed. "By the way, where is your Daddy?"

"China? Oh, he went somewhere with Japan... He's probably drunk, hehe." China purred.

"Ah, I see. Maybe he's with my Daddy, too!" Russia said.

"It is possible aru..." China said. He could see the tired look in Russia's eyes. He stopped swimming. "Do you want to go to bed aru?" China asked.

Russia nodded and yawned. "Yeah..."

"You can sleep here tonight. It's probably too late to go home and there will be even more skunks outside right now." China said.

"But I still smell bad..."

"It's ok, bad smells don't bug me that much~" China said.

"Aww... That's kind of you, China!" Russia said, crawling out of the tub.

"It's nothing, Russia. We can sleep on my owner's bed since he won't be home for a while." China said. He shook his fur, getting drops of water all over the room. He blushed slightly. "It'll dry..."

Russia did the same, only this time, he soaked China again, and splattered water all over the walls. China narrowed his eyes, and Russia flattened his ears. "Sorry, hehe..."

China shook his fur again, and remembered that he forgot to unplug the drain.

"Crap..." he growled, reaching for the plug with his paw. He slipped, and fell back in the tub. Russia laughed and pulled him out. "You should be more careful China!"

China growled, shaking his fur again. He walked out of the bathroom. "Come on, let's go to sleep, I'm so tired.."

They laid down on the bed together. China rested his head on a pillow, and Russia curled up next to him. China noticed that he was shaking. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah... My fur is just really, r-really soft... So it takes longer to d-dry... I'm c-cold, that's all." Russia said.

China moved a little closer to him. He nuzzled his chest with his nose. "I'll keep you warm, ok?"

Russia purred, and snuggled him closer. "Thank you, I love you..."

China blushed, and moved closer. "I love you too..."

He felt the fluffy cat's cold nose touch his head. His fluffy tail rested on China's rump, and he started licking his ears.

China was slightly uncomfortable. Russia's skunk smell was definitely less horrible than it was before, but it was still there. He tried to ignore it, and continued nuzzling his chest.

Russia was still shivering. China tried to fix this by moving closer to him, and Russia smiled at this. "Aww... How nice of you."

China blushed. "I don't want you to be cold, alright?"

"..."

"What?"

Russia sighed. "You know, you seem like you're trying to hide the fact that you love me. I thought we were mates. Mates don't need to hide their love."

China blushed. "Sorry... I've just always been kinda shy... And I'm not used to having a mate..."

Russia licked his cheek. "It's ok, da! I am shy, too."

"Ok... Thank you, aru..."