Normally at four 'o' clock in the afternoon, England would be relaxing in his back garden; taking a bite out of a homemade Victoria sponge cake while sipping hot Earl Grey tea from a floral embellished teacup. He would then gaze lovingly at the rose bushes, the green leaves sprouting from the various types of trees and other ornaments decorating the garden. That would be happening if it weren't for the fact that he ran out of tealeaves and ingredients for cakes.
No, at four 'o' clock in the afternoon, England was grumbling to himself in the dark basement, placing seven candles on each corner of the pentagram carved onto the wooden floor. He lit the wicks on each candle to dimly light the room before he sauntered away from the pentagram and turned towards it.
"There, all set. I'll be having my afternoon tea quicker than I can chase a cheese rolling down a hill," England smirked with satisfaction and closed his eyes while holding the old, worn spell book in one arm. Summoning magic was a powerful thing; the last time he performed a spell like this was when he tried to call upon a demon of demonic proportions to curse America, only to summon Russia instead. Well, England admitted he was an ominous fellow but he only came out of the pentagram just to annoy him. This time however, he was sure the spell he was going to cast would work; it was too simple to mess up. Chant the spell, spirit of tea and cakes appears, conjures the said refreshments from thin air, leaves so England can enjoy them outside. Simple. Nothing could possibly go wrong. That's what he thought anyway as he began his chant.
"Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub." The pentagram began to emit an eerie green light as a breeze blew around his black cape and straw-like, blonde hair. "Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, La-La, Po and naughty Noo-Noo. Oh Great Spirit of afternoon tea, I summon thee so hear my plea…" With one swift movement, England snapped his emerald eyes open and threw his arm to the pentagram in front of him with his fingers outstretched. "SHOW YOURSELF!" He bellowed as the pentagram unleashed a blinding light with whooshing sounds whipping around the area. England shielded his eyes using his free arm wondering whether the spell had actually worked or whether he was going to summon Russia again. Gradually the gust died down and the room returned to its dimly lit atmosphere. He lowered his arm slowly and opened his eyes once more, locking his gaze upon the form that the Great Spirit of tea and biscuits had taken; a completely naked and soaked man wearing nothing but pink, floral shower cap on his head. The figure rubbed his hands underneath his arms until he paused.
"That's odd; why isn't the water coming out?" He asked himself in a posh German accent. England watched with dread as the man suddenly realized he wasn't where the water was meant to come out. "Wait… where am I?" The foreigner stammered and spun around to face the Englishman. In almost perfect synchronicity, they both let out a scream as the blushing blonde turned away from the man, making sure he didn't see more than necessary.
"Oh God, Austria! I am so sorry!" He apologized frantically as he began undoing the string on his hooded cape.
"What on earth is going on!? Why am I not in my bathroom, taking my shower!?" Austria screeched.
"Oh good! You being naked isn't a side effect from the spell," England managed to un-do the bow and pull off his black cape.
"Side effect!? What do you mean side effect!?"
"Here! Take the cape!" The Englishman's trembling arm shoved the cape to the Austrian; in which he graciously accepted and wrapped it around his shoulders and covered himself to the extent where England could turn around, without having to determinately fixing his eyes on Austria's face and no lower.
"You still haven't answered my question!" The aristocrat demanded angrily. So much for the peace offering of covering his dignity was thought that ran through England's head. "Why am I in your basement!" I'm supposed to be in the shower, in my bathroom, in my house!"
"Um… well…" England scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I was supposed to have summoned the Great Spirit of Tea and Cakes but it seems I've somehow summoned you instead."
Austria furiously blinked trying to take it all in. "Tea and cakes? What are you talking about? What has that got to do with why I'm here!"
"Maybe…" The Englishman glanced at the floor with an awkward expression before looking up. "Um… I don't suppose you can summon some tea and cakes from thin air can you, old chap?"
"You…" Austria couldn't believe what he was hearing from England of all people. "You used some kind of hocus pocus voodoo thing to summon me while I was in the shower, and you're asking me to magically poof some tea and cakes from nowhere?" England bit his lip and let out a nervous chuckle.
"I'm assuming it's a no then?"
"Of course it's a no!" The Austrian snapped. "Unlike you, I'm not some wizard who's spells go wrong and summon random people wherever they are!"
"Look! Maybe I'll be able to send you back!" England shot back. He had to calm the irate man down mainly because he was so intimidating when he was angry (even if he was wearing a pink flowery shower cap).
"Well send me back home before I catch a cold!" Austria scowled.
"Well, I say I maybe able to but it's going to be a lot harder to send you back than summoning you here," The Englishman tried explaining as calmly as he could.
"You mean you can summon me from my house to your place but you can't send me back home!? What is so hard about that!?"
"It may not work properly because there isn't a magic circle at your house so I can't guarantee you'll end up in your house at all. You could end up in another country for all I know."
"I don't care! I'm not going to bake you cakes or make you any tea! Just send me back home!" Austria's face became increasingly red like one of Spain's tomatoes.
"Alright! Let me see if I can do something about this!" England lifted the spell book and began to rapidly flick through the many pages to look for a sufficient spell to transport Austria back to his house. His eyes scanned the words in front of him until he stopped at one page and looked up to the irate Austrian. "Alright, I need you to stand on the centre of the magic circle." He pointed to the spot and Austria obeyed.
"Just get on with it! I just want to go home!" He barked.
"Alright!" England snapped before clearing his throat, focusing on the page of the book and closed his eyes once he memorized the words. "Magic, magic, magic, magic, … just send Austria back to his home!" He pointed his arm at the involuntary visitor and snapped his eyes open once more. Austria tensed his body and squeezed his violet eyes tightly, expecting to feel some kind of tingling, surging or possible painful sensation that one would feel when they're about to be teleported to another place by magic. They waited… and waited… and waited. After a minute of standing there, Austria opened his eyes and sent an annoyed glare at a confused England.
"You idiot! The spell doesn't even work! I may as well just borrow some of your clothes and-"
Austria never got to finish his sentence as he vanished in a puff of pink smoke. England stared at the spot where the Austrian once stood before breathing a sigh of relief. At least Austria wasn't in his basement anymore. England decided that he had used enough magic for today and decided instead to get the ingredients and tea leaves from a grocery shop nearby. He extinguished the candles and put away his spell book before proceeding up the stairs and towards the front door.
"At least the sun's still out," he said and opened the door, only to let out a growling sigh. Instead of being greeted by a ray of sunshine, rain soaked everything making the scene outside quite gloomy. England sighed again and turned around to grab his umbrella before reluctantly setting of into the rain.
!
"Ah…" Japan waded through the water and leant back against the rock, gazing at the silver stars dotted against the dark blue sky. After completing his chores for the day, nothing could satisfy the black haired man more than relaxing in the onsen bath in his back garden. The steam fumed gently from the hot water and disappeared into the air quietly, just how Japan liked it. He let out another exhale of relief. "It's so peaceful this evening. It's nice that I get to relax with no interruptions." He closed his eyes and heard the whistling of gentle breeze, growing louder and louder, almost like someone was screaming. Japan open one eye and looked to the sky for that was where the source of the sound came from. Suddenly he snapped both eyes open to find a figure of a man falling towards the onsen bath.
Quickly the terrified Japanese man leapt out of the bath and quickly tied a white towel around his waist, as the unexpected visitor belly-flopped into the once tranquil water with a big splash. Japan let out a yelp as the stranger stood himself up in the onsen bath and wrapped what appeared to be a black cloak around themselves, scanning the area warily. If only Japan bought his katana with him but, he pushed that thought out when he immediately recognised the person who had miraculously appeared from the sky.
!
England pressed the door shut with his back and let out a huff. The rain showered relentlessly as he dashed to the car, drove to the shops, got the ingredients for the cakes and tea leaves, got back in the car and drove home and made the dash to the house. The journey was exhausting but at least he got everything he needed for tomorrow's afternoon tea. He carried the items in the carrier bag to the kitchen when the telephone rang from the hook. The Englishman placed the bag on the worktop and scooped the phone in his hands and time and pressed it against his wet ear. "Hello?"
"England-san?" A timid voice stuttered through the speaker.
England blinked. "Japan, hello. How are you old chap?"
"U-Um… I don't mean to interrupt you with anything but, um, do you know why Austria appeared in my garden wearing nothing but a cape and a shower cap?" Japan stammered.
"What did you just say?"
"Japan! Put me on the phone to him! I am going to give him a piece of my mind!" An angry voice shouted in the background. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to-"
England slammed the phone on the hook before Austria could get the chance to give him a scolding that, he admitted he deserves. But after skipping out on an afternoon tea and getting the ingredients in the rain, he wasn't feeling up to receiving a lecture from the irate Austrian. In the end, England had learned that he should really use his magic only for real emergencies (not that he hasn't learned that before but one could dream of it actually working for little things). And then there was the world meeting next week and that provoked a tired exhale from England. He began contemplating whether it was possible to skip the meeting and pretend he had a cold. England scratched his head, knowing he wouldn't have enough pride to face Austria with a straight face anytime soon; all that awkwardness for tea and cakes.
FIN