Don't tell America Your Problems
Or
Who the Hell Are You?
England sighed, dejectedly. He was reminiscing about the past again, and once against he was beginning to feel old. It was times like these when he began to feel somewhat of a creak in his bones and the weariness of old age setting in. It was while he was in this decrepit state that America decided to burst in.
"Did I leave my iPhone here?" America then stopped in his tracks, with a blank look on his face, reached in his pocket and pulled out the object in question. "Oh." He slid the phone back into his pocket and grinned sheepishly. "Hehe… Oops."
England's eyes twitched, "Do you have to do that every week?" He took a deep breath and tried to return to a calmer state. "I was in the middle of something." He muttered, now calm, but still thoroughly annoyed.
"What's got you down?' America asked, his smile ever-present. He laughed and then posed the question "Are you hung over again?" England sighed once again, America's vibrant personality reminded him of how youthful America still was while England just winding down.
"Well, lately I've been thinking…" England struggled to find the right words for his predicament. "I'm getting old." Was the phrasing he settled on. He realized that with America you needed to put things bluntly.
America seemed to seriously think about England's problem for a second, but not for long. That wasn't America's nature. "Well… what do people do when they feel old?" He was grinning once again as he answered his own rhetorical question. "You go through a midlife crisis!"
England's face was full of confusion. "A… midlife… crisis…?" England had… heard of this but had never put much thought or stock into the idea.
America's face seemed to brighten as he had an epiphany. "We can… start a band!" As he ended the exclamation, America settled himself into an elaborate, yet heroic pose.
"Do you even know how to play an instrument?" England's face dead-panned once again. He had to be kidding, a band? "I think I'm too old for that anyway…" He mumbled, lowly.
America rolled his eyes, "Who needs instruments? Most bands don't even use them these days." His old buddy England just wasn't getting the point. "Exactly! Doing things you're way too old for is the point of a midlife crisis!" He approached England confidently and smacked him on the back, "C'mon! It'll be fun!"
England ignored America's hands on him and then sighed. "Listen, I know this isn't your strong suit, but think of the logistics of this. I don't think we know anyone with any musical ability. And there's only two of us. I think a good band has four people, at least." England's logic cut through America's enthusiasm like a well-sharpened samurai sword.
A quiet voice from the back of the room murmured, "I think I know two people who play instruments, and… I do too…" A shiver swept through England and America as their subconscious tried to fill the gap of what that mysterious noise could have been.
"D-did you just hear something?" America asked England. England slowly nodded his head, still unsure the source of the sound. The two felt as if they were being watched.
"I… I think it was just the wind…" England said, though not very confidently. He knew for a fact that none of his windows were open.
Suddenly, for the second time that day, the door burst open.
"CANADA!" Two voices sprang from the rushing blurs that came speeding through the still open door. They raced to hug the previously unnoticed Canada. England and America followed the blurs with confusion and then it slowly dawned on them: Canada had been there the whole time.
"We were looking for you!" The brown-haired girl said, with a deep Spanish accent. "But now we found you!", said the blonde with the British accent. The two engulfed him in a bear hug as England and America still followed the scene, now feeling that they were the ones being unnoticed.
America was the first to butt-in, as usual. "What's going on?" He asked the enigmatic group. Their attention's all sprung from one another to the two men at the front of the room.
"Canada!" The blonde shoved him to the front of the group, "Introduce us!" Both girls had been pushing for quite awhile to get the shy nation to open up more and jumped at every opportunity for him to gain social skills.
"B-but why…?' Canada stuttered. He didn't like the idea of talking especially to such a large group of people, and prominent nations at that. Even though they were technically related.
"Because…" The blonde started, "If you can introduce other people then you can learn to introduce yourself!" She finished waving her hands in an over-exaggerated way to emphasis her point. "That makes sense right?" She asks the brunette, who nods and replies with "Definitely!"
Canada stepped forward quite shyly. "Um… T-these are L-london and Panama…" He trailed off at the end and stepped back quickly. He didn't know which was worse; being unnoticed or being noticed. "A-anyway… T-they know how to play instruments…"
"And…?" The brunette prompted.
"And so do I…" Canada mumbled. The two more prominent nations stared at Canada. Neither of them could ever remember a time when he had talked this much. Come to think of it, they could barely remember him, period.
England was now warming a little to the idea of being in a band. With more people with instruments, he was running out of excuses. "What instruments can you play?" With any luck, they'd be the clarinet and the sitar.
Panama stepped forward and cheerfully exclaimed, "I play the electric guitar!" London stepped forward in suit and announced, "I play bass. But you knew that, didn't you England? I mean… We're related. I know you!"
England's reply was not what London wanted to hear. But it was along the lines of what she expected. "We are? I do?" For the time being, London decided to ignore him.
"And Canada plays the drums." Panama said, knowing that Canada would be unable to say it himself at this point. Hopefully he wasn't having a 'too much social interaction' meltdown.
America took the opportune moment to insert himself into the conversation, "So, how about it England? Seems we've got a full band!" He asserted.
England looked questionably at America, "I play the guitar. What instrument do you play?" He asked skeptically.
America responded with, "Well, I'm the hero, so logic would stand that I'd be the singer. The center of attention!" He finished confidently. In a metaphoric sense, his head swelled to epic proportions.
England rolled his eyes, "Figures…" He mumbled. Well, darn. He had run out of excuses. Begrudgingly, England uttered, "Well… I don't see why not…"
Suddenly, full comprehension dawned on England. "Wait…" He paused, thinking the situation over and eying the two girls. "How did you get into my house…?"
The two girls smiled and looked at each other, "Well…"