"Alfred, you can't keep gorging yourself like that at every meal. It's unhealthy." A British man with unbelievably bushy eyebrows said as he took a sip of his morning tea and glanced up from the newspaper he was reading.
"btggwhahfzpclypsstrts?"
"Pardon? I didn't quite catch what you were saying."
"But Iggy! What if the apocalypse starts today? I have to store up! This could be the last chance I ever get to eat waffles!" An excited blonde with bright blue eyes and a strand of hair that wouldn't seem to lay flat replied.
The British male chuckled, took the last sips of his tea, and stood up. He folded the paper and gathered his cup and began walking out of the dining room and into the kitchen. He paused in the doorway and turned his head towards the blonde still sitting at the table.
"You know bloody well the world isn't going to come to an end anytime soon. But…if it does, I'll be sure to save you any waffles I come across. Now finish up so we can make our way to the meeting. Unlike you, I prefer to arrive at places in a timely fashion."
And that was how the beginning of the end began. Just like any other typical day. Cars speeding down the street. Sun partially hidden behind the clouds. The temperature just slightly warmer then usually. People walking down the streets outside, going about their business. Nobody knew the horror that was to come. The gruesome slice of hell that reality would morph into.
…
"All I'm saying iz zhat people should really start to acknowledge how awesome zhe…"
"Ohohohon if only your other parts could be as big as your ego."
"you are very unawesome. I'll have you know my ego isn't zhe only thing about me zhat's big! I'm vay more awesome zhen you!"
"Zhat's not what Angleterre thinks!"
"Leave me out of this you frog."
"Dude, is there something between you and the Frenchie you're not telling me about?"
"Alfred why don't you just go back to stuffing your face with food like you were at breakfast this morning."
"Ohohohon you two ate breakfast together? Does zhat mean you were staying at his house last night? No wonder I didn't see your name in the hotel guest list with everyone else."
"Why the bloody hell would it matter to you! And..why were you reading through the reservation book at the hotel anyways you git?"
A German man sat at the head of a long table and watch as chaos unfolded in front of him. It was already five minutes past the "start" of the meeting. Not that anything had actually been done yet. Nothing meaningful at least. The German man began to grow annoyed at the other people in the room. Had they no idea how a meeting works? He felt his face grow red with frustration. Finally, he decided he couldn't take another minute of their futile arguments.
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" He yelled as he stood up, bringing everyone in the room into a sudden silence. "Ve've called this conference to solve zhe vorld's problems, not to fight about our personal issues with each other. Now, since I'm zhe only one who seems to know how to run a meeting around here, ve'll follow my rules from here on out. Eight minutes each for speeches, no chit chat about side deals, und absolutely no going over zhe time limit. If you vant to say something zhen just raise your hand, but until zhen then remain silent unless it is your turn. Understood?" When the German man received nothing but more silence and a few head nods, he let out a kind of satisfied grunt. "Good. Now zhen let's begin zhis meeting." He said and sat back down in his seat.
The meeting dragged on as various international issues were discussed. Global warming, situation in the Middle East, LGBTQ and Racial Equality rights, new advances in weapons and other technology, etc. After several hours, the meeting was brought to an end for the day, and participants began to part ways, a few of them making dinner plans with each other before they left.
An energetic, red-haired Italian made his way over to the German man who had previously been speaking.
"Hi Ludwig!" He called out happily. A sigh came from the German.
"Hello Feliciano. Vhat is is zhat you vant?" He asked. The Italian smiled.
"Kiku and I are going out to dinner and we wanted to know if you'd like to come with us! Pleeeease come with us Ludwig! It'll be fun!" The Italian finished speaking and looked up at Ludwig with big, amber, puppy-dog eyes. Ludwig blushed a little.
"F-fine. I vill come vith you." He said as he rose from his seat and grabbed his coat. Feliciano grabbed onto Ludwig's arm and began pulling him towards the conference room door, where a small Japanese man was waiting.
"Ve~ Kiku! Ludwig said he'd come to dinner with us! Isn't that great?" Feliciano cheered.
"Hai. It wirr be nice. I know a place down the street where we can all-" The Japanese man, Kiku, was interrupted by his phone ringing. He glanced down at at the screen and frowned slightly. "My aporogies, it's my boss. I have to take this." He told the others.
"No problem." Ludwig told him. "Feliciano und I vill vait outside for you." He walked out of the room, and Feliciano followed, leaving Kiku alone in the room.
Ten minutes passed. Then Fifteen. Ludwig glanced down at the watch on his wrist, only half listening to the Italian chatting about random nonsense beside him. He hopped Kiku hadn't gotten into any kind of trouble. He knew Kiku's boss wasn't one to call without warning…unless something bad had happened?
When Kiku finally walked out of the conference room, he look visibly disturbed. His skin looked even paler than usual, and even though he usual seemed very calm and collected, it was clear that he was very worried about something, even a little afraid.
"I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it to dinner tonight. My boss needs me to come back home." He told Ludwig and Feliciano quickly before rushing out of the building, presumably to his car.
Feliciano blinked, and a puzzled expression crossed over his face for a brief moment, before fading back into his usual cheery one.
"That's too bad!" He cried. "But we can still go to dinner, right Ludwig? Do you think we can have pasta!"
"Ja. Ja." Ludwig replied and began walking out of the building with his Italian friend, his thoughts still stuck on what had just happened. Why would Kiku rush out like that? And he wasn't even going to stay for the second day of the meeting? Still, Ludwig tried to push these thoughts away. He wouldn't want to dampen Feliciano's mood.