The Merits of British Scones

by dooder's nin

After again being mistaken for his brother when America has some trouble making it to the meeting on time, Canada finds himself taking a more firm standpoint when it comes to helping America manage the effects of his appetite. America's hunger is famously insatiable, but Canada's own well-meaning deducing may produce a possible hunger-alleviator for both the American and Canadian.

Canada was really only trying to make himself comfortable since he knew that he was likely to be completely overlooked anyway at these conferences, even on the rare occasion that he hosted. This time it was yet again in America as it seemed most meetings took place, and he had gotten there a day early to attempt to get comfortable with his notes that often went overlooked anyway. Still, he was one for being prepared and had opted to relax the rest of the day before any of the other personifications interrupted the peace and quiet. Matthew had spoken with Alfred over the phone, curious as to why his twin hadn't arrived yet to the designated meeting area, finding that the American personification was on the other coast at the moment for a few last minute things and would be flying in shortly. That had been in the evening and he'd had to deal with several nations assuming he was America and asking for directions and information. But Matthew had simply gone along with it for his brother's sake, Alfred usually making it up to him with some sort of attempt at being brotherly. Although, Matthew was a little disheartened when Britain did the same thing, even though the European had realized his mistake on his own this time and had apologized before going off on a rant about how irresponsible Alfred was to not be greeting guests as the host nation. Needless to say, hiding away in his room was something that Matthew had come to appreciate after dealing with the amount of unwanted attention, falling asleep with thoughts of how his brother better appreciate and make things up to him.

The next day, Matthew had chosen to wear one of his soft sweatshirts, not caring how informal it was and figured he'd earned it after the previous day. No one would notice me anyway, he thought, even though he'd always been ready just in case; and if they do, the big red maple leaf should let them know I'm not America, he concluded as he walked into the room. A few other personifications were there and he noticed that the sweatshirt wasn't as terrible an idea as he'd started to worry about, since the air conditioner was making the room colder than was actually comfortable. Ivan didn't seem to mind, nor did the Nordics, but Matthew could see Arthur sniffling a little as he grumbled to Francis for a lack of anyone else to talk to while they waited. But as he looked around, Matthew noticed that there was still a lack of an American personification. Placing his stuff down in the area designated for 'Canadia' by his brother, Matthew stepped back out of the meeting room to see if Alfred was lingering in one of the side rooms. Sure enough, he found Alfred looking as though he was asleep on his feet as he tried to get the coffee machine in the room to work.

"Hey bro!" Alfred said as cheerily as he could, forcing a smile on his face as he noticed Matthew come into the room. "I thought there was a ghost in here…" He said with a chuckle, Matthew rolling his eyes but recognizing the hidden question.

"No, I just came in. But I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't notice even Ivan with how tired you look." Matthew said, pushing Alfred out of the way and receiving a whine of complaint from the southern twin. "You owe me big time for yesterday too, eh. Francis was the only one who knew right away that it wasn't you greeting everyone. It took Arthur only a quarter of his rant to figure it out on his own this time though, so I guess that's some improvement. But Ivan….well…" Matthew continued to say as he fiddled with the coffee machine, reluctant to admit that it was broken to the sleepy American or to continue with his interaction with the personification that had an unhealthy fascination with sitting on him.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that bro, but things kept me tied up and then weather made travel difficult and I wasn't able to sleep as much as I'd have liked on the flight cuz I had all sorts of calls to make with my boss about the meeting…" He was saying, pausing with a yawn in between, "…didn't even have time to stop and get something to eat. I'm starving." He complained, his stomach making an unpleasant noise right on cue to emphasize his point.

Matthew shook his head, not entirely sympathetic since he was still rather annoyed with the previous day's events, but he knew how much Alfred's appetite made things difficult for him. He also had a large appetite, although no one really gave him as much of a hard time as they did with Alfred, but Matthew figured it was one of the perks of being more or less invisible at times. "Didn't you eat on the plane at least?" He asked, giving up on the coffee machine to turn and face his brother. Alfred shook his head, yawning again.

"Nah, I ended up taking a regular flight to be able to get back here on time and airlines don't serve meals anymore. Peanuts yes, but no real food to hold me over." Alfred said, Matthew beginning to get worried now. But before he could say anything, Alfred took to leaning on Matthew, the Canadian struggling to maneuver them over to the couch in this break room.

"Ugh…Alfred…some warning next time, eh?" Matthew said, Alfred mumbling but using his twin as a pillow.

"You're sweatshirt's so comfy…." Alfred said, snuggling into his brother a little more while Matthew tried to get him off of him. The American twin was normally overly affectionate and at times, a little smothering to Matthew, but Matthew didn't think that minutes before a meeting was the best time to cater to Alfred's snuggling wants. "I'm so tired…no, don' move…you're like a big fluffy bear…" Alfred said, wrapping his arms tighter around his brother as he snuggled, not bothering to finish words anymore. "You always got the comfiest stuff and it smells like maple and pine, jus' like you…five more minutes…" He said, Matthew grunting at the effort to remove his brother's hold on him.

"Alfred, I know you're tired, eh, but the meeting's going to start soon. Just give the opening speech, you talk first, and then excuse yourself for twenty minutes or so…That way you can get something to eat and be back in time to hear the majority of what the others have to say. I can fill you in on what you missed." Matthew said, giving up with trying to pry Alfred off with strength alone. He was hoping that the promise of an opportunity to go eat would work to encourage him to move a little. In response, Alfred only mumbled something else into his brother's clothes. "Alfie…" Matthew whined, letting his head drop back onto the arm of the couch. "Come on…I know you're feeling the downside of that super strength's high metabolism, but just get through the first half hour." He said, trying to coax his brother up and feeling like Alfred was doing a good impression of Ivan at the moment.

"No…four more minutes…" Alfred whined, trying again to get his brother to let him relax. "Super strength don' have downsides…." He mumbled again, his cowlick tickling Matthew's chin.

"Yes it does. You should just tell Britain and maybe he'll stop complaining about all the food you usually bring with you. Or maybe bring different food other than McDonald's to the meetings all the time. You could just pack sandwiches or something." Matthew said, Alfred squeezing him tighter.

"Stop talkin' 'bout food. 'M hungry." Alfred said, sounding pathetic to his own ears and nuzzling into his brother's chest more. But at this point, Matthew had reached his limit and resorted to using what limited option he had left to coerce his twin off of him. With his hands free, he mercilessly began to tickle Alfred, the other squirming and doing his best to not let go and to refrain from outright laughing. The result was what looked like chocked sobs as Alfred buried his face in Matthew's sweatshirt.

"Seriously, you could talk to Arthur. Or Francis even. I'm sure Francis would be able to help. Knowing him, he'd be more than happy to help in this area since he likes to tell everyone about how his people are the authority on that sort of thing – you just need to be able to sit through the boasts first." Matthew said, continuing to try and tickle his way out of his problem. "Come on Alfred…" Matthew tried once more before Alfred squeezed hard enough to leave even Matthew gasping. "Fine. I'll stay here for a few more minutes. But I'm pulling on Nantucket if you give me a hard time. You're so annoying sometimes." He said with a sigh, Alfred making a happy noise as he eased up some of his grip and settled against his brother's apparently too-comfortable and therefore irresistible sweatshirt. Matthew looked down at his brother's face and found that he couldn't help but smile at seeing how much his brother really did enjoy being around him, letting his arms wrap around Alfred for those promised four more minutes.

---

Kiku was wondering where his rather loud and outgoing American friend was as he entered the meeting room, noticing that neither North American was present. He saw that there were papers on the table where the American continents were set up, but couldn't tell to whom they belonged although the lack of a large McDonald's cup signaled that it wasn't Alfred. He debated about asking one of the other personifications, but France was talking with Spain after apparently leaving a seething Britain and neither of them would make for good options at the moment for the Japanese personification. He looked over to China from where the Asian section was situated, but figured the older man would give him the usual apathetic response about America unless it concerned finances, the Japanese man wondering if his brother would ever figure out how America opted to 'manage' debts. Settling his own things at his seat, he glanced at the clock to be sure he had a few minutes to take a quick look around to see if he could talk to Alfred before the meeting began. It was a matter that he knew he could discuss later with his friend, but getting it into his friend's head to remember to talk with him was always a little difficult and the more reminders the better chance he had of actually getting to talk with him outside of their usual get-togethers that become rather loud for the Japanese man. Walking past one of the side rooms that was clearly meant to act as a breakroom, he peeked inside to see something he hadn't expected.

"Seriously, you could talk to Arthur. Or Francis even." Kiku heard Matthew say, Alfred looking to be crying as he sought comfort in his brother. Despite his curiosity, Kiku pulled away from the doorway to avoid eavesdropping on a potentially very private matter, walking back into the conference room with the intent to return to his seat. But his curiosity was making the attempt to not interfere or even concentrate a much harder task and he found he had wandered over to Britain. The blonde man looked up from his papers, looking curiously at the other man.

"Is there something I can do for you Japan?" Arthur asked, unsure about whether or not there was something he may have forgotten about with his fellow friend as sometimes happened when he and Francis got into an argument earlier than expected.

"Oh, n-no, Britain-san. I apologize, I just seemed to have wandered." Japan said, giving a polite nod of his head in embarrassment. But Arthur didn't seem to fully accept that explanation, given that he knew Kiku decently enough to recognize when the other seemed troubled.

"Is there something the matter? You don't normally let yourself get too wrapped up in thoughts like that, Kiku." Arthur said, emphasizing the use of the other's human name to try and ease the tension from the other. "Alfred I can expect to aimlessly bumble about, as it appears he's doing again today, but if there's something wrong, you know you can trust me to keep in confidence anything you might want to talk about." Arthur said, Kiku hesitating and looking around the room once more to see if Alfred had returned to put his concern to rest.

"It is just…do you know if there is something truly troubling our American friend?" Kiku asked, Arthur looking surprised that he would ask such a question. The blonde blinked a couple of times rapidly as he thought about it, Kiku feeling the need to explain a little more. "I was looking for Arfred-kun to remind him about something I wished to discuss with him after the meeting and it looked like he was crying. Canada-san was with him and suggested he talk with you or France-san about something I assume was bothering him." Kiku said, Arthur looking more and more confused as he spoke.

"Alfred was crying? Did someone steal his hamburger?" Arthur said in an attempt to keep from appearing too concerned. "Why on earth would Matthew suggest Francis of all people? Never mind, Kiku, I'll talk with him later. It could be Matthew went off again on him after putting up with the day he had yesterday thanks to Alfred. I…I'm sure things are fine." Arthur said, Kiku not quite relieved but feeling better at the prospect that Alfred had been told off again by his twin.

"Yes. His brother can be very thorough when he needs to be I suppose." Kiku agreed, thanking Arthur and walking back to his seat. As the meeting start time passed, he saw Arthur anxiously looking at the door a few more times. After the ten minute mark, Arthur announced he was going to attempt to track down America, but said personification entered the room with his twin with a smile in place and promptly walked over to the podium to start things off. As Alfred talked, it didn't seem like anything was wrong except the way that Alfred was sitting was less like the relaxed and happy manner the American usually exuded. Alfred looked like he was about to make some remark after a couple of other people spoke, but with Italy fretting about a spider he'd seen crawling along the projector screen, Germany had effectively silenced any other remarks until the small insect was disposed of. Truthfully, Alfred had found it a little funny and had been wondering why there was suddenly a B-movie-quality giant spider on the screen, but once Germany had taken over, he'd grown quiet. Kiku knew that a quiet Alfred wasn't normally a good thing, with a range of results that could vary from ridiculous ventures to less harmless pranks to the even scarier thought of hostile relations with other countries if he'd felt the need to assert his heroic presence. When lunch finally rolled around, Arthur had beaten Kiku to talking with Alfred.

"You seemed a little off today there America. Not that I didn't mind the chance to actually hear the other speakers let alone my own thoughts without your voice carrying the way it does." Arthur said with a shake of his head, not missing the chance to toss a half-hearted insult at the other to see if Alfred was up to rising to the obvious bait.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alfred answered grumpily, Matthew shaking his head at Alfred's response. He knew that being hungry did that to him, like it would anybody, but Alfred's temper wasn't something to mess with and Arthur did like to rile him up when he could.

"Well, you're in a sour mood." Arthur said, a little insulted that Alfred would snap at him like that. He thought for sure the other would've figured out by now after all the years they'd known each other that this was Britain's roundabout way of asking how the younger nation was doing.

"Yeah, well, I don't need to be reminded of it either. Is there something you wanted to say or can it wait until after lunch?" Alfred asked, clearly itching to get out the door as he kept glancing from Arthur to it and back to the other man again.

"Not particularly, but I am curious to know the cause of your more silent behavior. One might assume you've developed some manners if you're not careful." Arthur said, Alfred clearly not appreciating the remark.

"Listen Britain, I really gotta head out so unless you wanna join me, I'll see you later. After lunch." Alfred said, heading to the doors. Arthur was left standing there unsure whether or not to follow after his younger brother, instead turning to Matthew for answers in much the same way Kiku looked to him.

"Ha ha…he's just a little grumpy today. He'll be better once he eats." Matthew said honestly, but mumbled out an 'oh no' as he saw Yao making Alfred's exit a little more difficult.

"Dude, I already talked to you about that yesterday over the phone. I'm not gonna have the same conversation with you again today just 'cuz you like to be difficult. Find something else to say and then I'll talk to you." Alfred said, his voice carrying as everyone heard his frustration.

"I could talk about something else, but I very much doubt you would like to hear it. If I want to talk to you about this again, I will America-aru." Yao said, his own frustration leaking into his voice as he smirked at Alfred. "If you had come on time, this wouldn't be an issue. We talk now and I will leave you alone for the rest of the day." He said, seeing something else on Alfred's face that he obviously wasn't up to testing.

"Fine. Make it quick and don't expect something different just 'cuz you say the same thing a little differently." Alfred said, the two of them exiting and heading for one of the more private rooms rather than out to lunch.

"That's not good…." Matthew said, worrying his bottom lip. "Alfred really needs to get to lunch." He said with a sigh, gathering up his things. "We were going to go together, well he said he'd wait for me to get there since he planned on just taking off. I guess I could just bring him something back if he and China aren't done soon. It's not like he hasn't brought a full meal into the conference room before, eh" Matthew said as he walked out with Arthur and Kiku, glancing back down the hall. "On second thought, you two can go without me and I'll wait for Alfred." He said, half expecting them to be gone by now when he turned to address them.

"Matthew-chan, what is wrong with Alfred-kun?" Kiku asked, Matthew looking like a deer in the headlights. "I do not mean to pry, but I saw him crying earlier and am worried." Kiku said, Matthew looking off as he tried to remember the last time he'd seen his twin cry.

"Alfred knows he can come to us if he needs something, doesn't he?" Arthur asked. "Not that the frog would be of much help, but allies are there for a reason even if we get a little testy with one another." He said, Matthew sighing and looking down.

"I'm sure he appreciates the concern, but it's something Alfred should bring up. It's his health after all." Matthew said before he seemed to think he'd said too much, the look on the other's faces making him even more flustered as Arthur and Kiku's concern magnified. "Oh, don't worry. Alfred's okay. I mean, he will be, he just…oh, maple. Forget I said anything." Matthew said, rushing past them before either could stop him. For once, Canada found himself being actively sought after as himself and not because he was mistaken for his twin, but he managed to slip away to wait for Alfred.

---

Giving up their search for an invisible Canadian, Arthur and Kiku met up again outside the entrance to the meeting area. Seeing no trace of Alfred either, they headed out to grab something to eat although both had less of an appetite than before.

"What could Matthew mean? Everything seems to be in order and as much as I envy him for it, Alfred isn't one for getting the occasional cold. And as much of a crybaby he can be when uncomfortable, he wouldn't tear up over a little thing like that anyway – probably would've showed up just to show me how much 'tougher' he is with his colds or something ridiculous like that." Arthur said as he sat with Kiku. The other man looked lost in thought again, managing a small shrug in response. "I suppose we can see if he's talked with someone else, but I can't imagine that if he had followed Matthew's advice that we wouldn't have heard of this by now. That man can be such a gossip." Arthur said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Who is such a gossip mon ami?" Francis said from behind Arthur, causing the other man to nearly choke on his drink while the Frenchman merely laughed. "Oh, Angleterre, you are so fragile. But you must be talking about Poland and the fiasco he created when he let it slip that little bit of information about Ivan, although I have to agree with Ukraine that Ivan's plush seal from his Lake Baikal is too cute." Francis said as he sat beside the Englishman, not realizing that he was fulfilling Arthur's description of him.

"It's sad that you can't realize it. I'm sure if you poked around a little, you might figure it out." Arthur said mockingly, Francis tilting his head to the side in thought. Arthur chuckled a little as it dawned on Francis what he meant, the blue-eyed blonde taking a swing at the other which was completely expected and therefore easily dodged by Arthur.

"I am not a gossip. 'ow could you even suggest such a thing?" Francis said with a little pout before crossing his arms over his chest and looking over to Kiku. The Japanese personification sensed that he was looking for a response from the other man, Kiku sitting up a little straighter as he hoped that he could avoid answering right away if he returned the gaze as stoic as he typically did.

"Francis, you…never mind. Just accept the fact that even if we were to tell you what we were discussing, you couldn't keep it to yourself." Arthur said, shifting his seat a little further from Francis.

"That is not true. I can tell what is harmless to spread around with others and what requires me to keep my mouth shut." Francis said, glaring at Arthur. "And if it has anything to do with why poor little Mathieu is so flustered, I would like to know." He said, gaining Arthur's attention as he and Kiku quickly looked around to see if they could spot a fleeing Canadian. "He's not here anymore. He nearly ran into me in his haste to get back to the meeting building. What is worrying him so much he would not tell his big brother?" Francis asked, sounding more than having just a passing interest in what his longtime enemy and friend was talking about to Japan.

"Did you notice that America-san's behavior was a little off today?" Kiku asked, hoping to stave off an argument as the glare match between Britain and France seemed ready to spark one. Francis looked over to Kiku and nodded, curiosity on his face. "We talked with his twin before we left and it seems like Canada-san wanted Alfred-kun to talk to either you or Britain-san for help with a health-related concern." He said, summing up what little they knew. Francis looked just as shocked as Arthur and Kiku had been, gasping at the news.

"So that is why Mathieu is so worried. He's been trying to deal with caring for his twin on his own." Francis said. "What are you two doing here then? We must go see what we can do to help Amerique." Francis said, making to stand up but stopped by Arthur's grip on his arm.

"He's in a private meeting with China at the moment. Matthew planned on bringing him back something to eat." Arthur explained, Francis sighing but returning to his seat and checking his watch. They only had a few more minutes before they needed to return, a fact that the other two seemed to pick up on as they finished up their meals and headed back to the meeting building.

They returned to find Matthew sitting next to an empty seat, a paper bag in the spot where America was to sit. Yao was sitting in his seat, talking with another Asian personification while Alfred eventually came back in with a cup of coffee. Arthur watched as Matthew practically sprang up out of his seat to go over to his twin, Alfred running a hand through his hair as he spoke with Matthew. Another oddity of the day had them all a little shocked once they realized that Alfred's voice wasn't drowning out all the others as he spoke to his twin. The two North Americans took their seats, Alfred sighing as he realized he needed to get up to start the second portion of their meeting. With that done, Arthur watched Alfred's every move to the point where Alfred eyed him back curiously with a small wave to let him know he'd picked up on being watched. Matthew prodded him to eat, and he could see a small conversation going on between the two of them, but Alfred wasn't devouring the meal like he'd fully expected. During the mid-afternoon break, the British man couldn't sit by any longer and he made his way over with Francis not far behind him.

"Matt, I'm eating it now, alright?" Alfred said, beginning to shovel food into his mouth. "I didn't think I could not make a spectacle of myself during the meeting if I ate then…" He was saying around a mouthful of food as he ate quickly.

"Easy Alfred. You know what'll happen if it's too much too fast…" Matthew said with apprehension as he watched his brother try and inhale his now ice-cold food. "It'll do no good if you can't keep it down. Take a second to breathe, eh" Matthew said, looking up to see Arthur and Francis, Kiku not too far off as though waiting for the right moment to come over.

"Doing better now America?" Arthur asked, Alfred seemingly just noticing the other man and nearly jumping in his seat at the surprise. He blinked up at the British man, looking between him and Francis before swallowing and giving a short nod. Matthew nudged him with his elbow, shooting him a pleading look.

"I've got things covered." Alfred said with a smile, returning to finishing up what little was left of his meal and practically letting out a whine when he realized there wasn't much left. Matthew had gotten him a large enough meal, but it wasn't making up for the day he'd gone without the exorbitant calorie requirement he needed to feel like himself.

"This is not covered Alfred. Talk to Arthur or Francis at least." Matthew said, Alfred shooting him a look that clearly expressed his desire for the northern twin to be quiet about that. "Alfred, this isn't an issue often, but he can maybe provide you with possible alternative…"

"I don't need alternatives. I got it covered. Thanks for the meal and all, but I'll be fine." Alfred said, not sure why Matthew was being so pushy all of a sudden. He usually packed a few things away to munch on in case he couldn't get a real meal, but the plane ride and the reluctance of China to let him out for lunch made things a little more difficult. He knew that there probably wasn't much of an alternative other than squirrelling away food into his clothes like he'd begun to do when he was still little – the Great Depression had deeply ingrained that trait anyway. But Matthew continued to look at him sternly in a way that only he could get across to the southern twin. "Fine. Francis, you have a minute or two after the meeting today?" Alfred asked reluctantly as he looked over to the older man.

"Oui. Of course mon ami. Whatever you need, I'm sure I can provide some assistance." Francis said, sending a brief smug look to Britain that the American had chosen him over the other.

"Thanks dude. I won't take much time. You mind if we get something to eat while we talked?" He asked, his stomach rumbling loudly at the thought of more food. Alfred winced as he felt like he might've overdone it again in his haste to finally eat again, his metabolism already starting to turn inward with the wait and making him feel even more uncomfortable and irritable. He could go for a few days with the discomfort if he had to before he was more or less unable to move and acting like a hibernating animal. Alfred blushed at another moment of such hunger being brought to the forefront before laughing like he usually does. "Dudes, I'm gonna see if there are vending machines or somethin'. Be right back." He said with a smile before dashing off.

"He seems a little more like himself. I suppose that should be considered an improvement." Arthur said with a sigh, Francis not bothering to hide the smirk on his face now. "Oh, not one word frog-face, not one word. So Alfred thinks you're the better choice for help. The git also thinks building a giant robot to vacuum out air pollution is a good idea too, so long as it looks like a maid with an actual vacuum." Arthur said in his frustration, Francis unable to keep from laughing at the other's irritation.

"Just because you are hurt doesn't mean you have to blame it on someone else." Francis said, Arthur growling as he launched himself at the Frenchman again, the two dissolving into fisticuffs as they squabbled like usual for the other remaining personifications to watch. The two of them tripping over the seats ended that particular sideshow, Kiku glad to have stayed back as he watched the Western nations.

"Wait, where's Matthew gone?" Arthur said as he noticed the other twin had disappeared. "Ugh…Francis get off." He said, shoving the other man away from him as the two disentangled themselves. "He was just here, wasn't he?"

"I believe so. We did get a little distracted but I would've noticed Mathieu, unlike you." Francis said as he looked around the room. "He never did like to see his big brother fight, by which of course, I mean me. You he only ever sees as all bristly." Francis said as he made a gesture to indicate the other blonde, Arthur huffing in response.

"I am not bristly. And you keep bringing that up as though you didn't want him only for the fur trade there." Arthur retorted, shoving the other man.

"That is not true! Mathieu loved being in my care." Francis said, the two starting another squabble over their methods of raising younger personifications and apparently forgetting about Canada yet again.

---

Matthew followed his brother into the breakroom, even though both knew that there wouldn't be much in there other than a recently replaced coffee machine that Alfred was currently using. Matthew sighed as he watched his twin down another cup of the stuff he was so fond of, waiting for the other to acknowledge him.

"Sorry bro, needed a sec'. You were right about me going too fast but I'm doin' better now." Alfred said with a smile, easing his twin's worries about losing his lunch. "Why'd you tell them there was anything wrong? I can actually manage to feed myself with my own food you know. Now I gotta come up with something plausible for Francis like, oh, maybe I'll bring up that old 'liberty fries' idea again to see if he likes that, ha ha ha, since he has some love-hate deal with calling fries 'French' fries" Alfred said with a laugh, looking less tired than earlier but Matthew wasn't too enthused.

"Just ask about whether or not he knows if there are any ways to help with that hunger of yours. I know you need a certain amount of calories, but if this situation happens for yet another time, there might be something he can suggest." Matthew said, guiding Alfred out of the breakroom despite his plea for another cup of coffee to help get him to dinner. Alfred attempted to turn back around but Matthew was insistent, resulting in Alfred deciding to just hang onto his brother again and enjoy the softness of the Canadian's sweatshirt.

"Alfie…I can't hold you up…" Matthew complained as he struggled with his more energetic twin, the meal giving him some semblance of his bubbly mood back. "I'll get you one for Christmas or something, but please…get off…" Matthew pleaded, feeling as though the two of them were going to hit the floor at any time.

"Nngghh…can't. Gravity's increasing on me…" Alfred teased, placing more of his weight on Matthew. The northern twin grunted at the unexpected weight, happy that his brother was up to playing with him again, but not pleased with this game. "It's true. It's happened before you know. I'm getting sucked into the softness…" Alfred said with a chuckle as he played with his twin.

"Get off me you….you…." Matthew was saying as he struggled to find an appropriate term while Alfred snickered, not caring if the others saw the two of them in the hallway. "I'm…I'll….I'm going to drop you!" Matthew threatened, but Alfred only held tighter for a moment before easing up again. Matthew took that as his chance and struggled to get out of Alfred's hold, the American surprised and hitting the floor as soon as his snuggly Canadian twin was gone.

"Ooompf…" Alfred mumbled as his cheek connected with the floor, rubbing it a little as he sat up before laughing again. Matthew huffed and straightened out his sweatshirt, not looking entirely sympathetic. Although the look his twin sent him did make him feel a little more nervous – Alfred was almost always making things into a joke and messing around with him, but Matthew knew better and was secretly relieved that this attempt to show some backbone wasn't taking place like the other time when the southern twin was holding a very intimidating-looking chainsaw. But Alfred didn't seem overly eager to get up off the floor just yet and Matthew backed away with a timid laugh before taking off again to the meeting room.

Huffing and grimacing as his stomach growled again from only getting a fraction of the food he normally would've consumed by now, Alfred gasped as he spotted Yao trying to talk with Kiku at the end of the hallway. Scrambling to his feet, Alfred did his best to avoid another bothersome meeting and instead opted to try and detour and go down another hallway that might actually have at least a vending machine. Checking his watch and realizing he still had about ten minutes before he needed to head back before someone, namely Germany, began to send repeated texts to his phone to get back, Alfred continued on his way. He was surprised when he heard humming, pausing long enough to listen for the source only to have Feliciano walk into him.

"Ve~. Oh, ciao America!" The northern Italian said with a smile in place once he'd backed up to see who it was he'd bumped into. "I thought you might've been Germany looking for me. He always says I'm-a always late and usually comes to drag me back to the meeting." Feliciano said with a shrug, Alfred unable to keep from chuckling.

"Nah. You're safe for now." Alfred said, patting the other on the shoulder. "Still got about ten minutes before the dude starts having a panic attack about tardiness. But since you were hiding out back here, you happen to see if there are any vending machines nearby that I can empty out?" Alfred asked, slightly curious as to why the Italian personification would be by himself.

"Hmm? Oh, not that I can recall. I was-a daydreaming a little bit about what pasta to make later. Romano used up all the tomatoes I had set aside to make the marinara sauce for my pasta lunch and I had to make up for it with a cheesy sauce and garlic….are you alright America?" Feliciano said, uneasy at the way the other's eyes seemed to glaze over as he talked about his cooking plans. But it seemed the pause in his speech snapped Alfred out of his daze, although his stomach grumbled again. Alfred wasn't sure if having the modest sized meal Matthew had kindly gotten for him was just a nasty tease and if he'd have been better off trying to wait out the meeting to then be able to eat at a pace his body clearly was begging him to do.

"Huh? Oh…sorry dude." Alfred said, a blush forming on his face as Feliciano smiled back at him knowingly. "Just…" Alfred began, trying to come up with an excuse other than outright saying he was literally starving without having his usual steady stream of food. Not that he wouldn't normally complain about being hungry in an attempt to speed up meetings, but he figured most others realized that his complaints really were figures of speech – even though he often followed through with getting something to eat later afterward anyway.

"No, I understand. Pasta does that to me too." Feliciano said with a cheery laugh, Alfred laughing along with him in his own embarrassment. "But hey, if you're-a still hungry, I can give you a ride to the nearest place to get a quick bite to eat." The northern Italian offered, Alfred shooting him a confused look.

"Feliciano, we need to be back in ten, well, nine minutes now." Alfred said, Feliciano waving off that concern. "There's no way I'd be able to drive there and back in that amount of time."

"Maybe you can't Alfredo…" Feliciano said as he led Alfred out to the parking lot, Alfred only slightly resisting since there was the thought of food on his mind. "…But I told you I would drive, as your friend. I only need-a five minutes. We'll be super quick and no one will-a even know." He said as he opened up his passenger side door for Alfred to get in. With a sigh, Alfred took the other man's offer and got into the car, Feliciano cheerily getting behind the wheel.

---

Matthew had returned back to the meeting room, shaking his head as it seemed Arthur and Francis were still at each other's throats. He glanced at the clock, wondering if they'd spend their whole break fighting as sometimes happened, but Arthur broke away when it seemed he'd spotted the Canadian.

"Oi, America, if you think this wine-loving…." Arthur began to say, Matthew dropping his head and sighing again at having Arthur mistake him for his twin again. It wasn't unusual, especially with a less than completely focused mind after he'd been arguing with Francis, but it was still annoying.

"Imbecile. That's Canada. 'onestly, 'ow long have you known him, yet you still confuse the two up now and then." Francis said, cuffing Arthur on the back of the head. Arthur let out an annoyed sound as he rubbed the back of his head, shooting a glare to Francis before looking back over to Matthew.

"Sorry Matthew. It was an honest mistake. Francis here makes focusing on anything other than how to avoid him an impossibility." Arthur grumbled, an apology clearly on his face despite the barb tossed to the French personification.

"No problem, eh" Matthew said with practiced patience. Arthur would eventually get into his usual stance once he'd been around both Alfred and Matthew for a little while and could easily tell them apart at that point, but it seemed that the British man hadn't quite gotten there yet this time. But Matthew was grateful that Francis at least normally pointed out the differences, even if it was only to remark about how he'd passed along his 'beautiful hair' onto his younger brother or simply to make Arthur look bad. "Al's…um…taking another break. He should be back anytime now." Matthew said as Arthur said next to him while Alfred's seat was still empty.

"Still looking for more to eat?" Arthur asked with a shake of his head at the amount of food the other man was able to consume. "Even after he'd finished off the food you were kind enough to get for him? How rude." Arthur said, letting his head rest on his hand while leaning on the table as he thought about Alfred's lack of manners. But Matthew only looked back at him in disappointment, seeing why Alfred opted to talk with Francis. The Frenchman rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to comment but a certain southern Italian's voice carried over to them.

"I told you potato-eating-bastard, go find my whining fratello on your own. He's off-a sulking about not having enough tomatoes to make his pasta and blamed me." Romano was saying grumpily to an irritated-looking Ludwig. "Phhf….as if he doesn't know that they're-a better for pizza anyway." He continued, Ludwig rubbing his face with his hand in an obvious attempt to keep from possibly strangling his friend's brother.

"Listen, can you just call him? He doesn't answer my calls when on break because he apparently learned they were reminders to get back to the meetings." Ludwig said, Romano rolling his eyes apathetically as he turned his back on the German personification to walk over and lazily drop into his seat.

"So the idiota learned something, good for him. Maybe he'll stop answering all your stupid phone calls and let some of us get some sleep." Romano grumbled, reclining against the back of his chair. Francis shook his head and snickered as he watched the level of irritation building up for Ludwig, just waiting for the shouting to begin. He knew Romano wouldn't really care all that much at Germany shouting at him again, but it was always interesting to watch – a fact that Antonio knew well enough and often couldn't resist hugging Romano after Ludwig had finished with his meltdown. "Look you kraut, Feli's a big baby but he'll be back when he's back. Shut up and stop with the glare. I can't just make him appear." Romano said, that being the last straw that resulted in Ludwig attempting yet again to impart some concept of self-discipline. When he paused for longer than a few seconds, Romano merely tilted his head. "Are you done now? You're interrupting my ignoring you." He said dismissively, Ludwig storming off and pulling out his phone to call Feliciano himself. Francis and Arthur laughed at the display, including the protests that came from Romano as Antonio tried to pinch his cheek and commend him for his supposed bravery against Ludwig.

Yao and Kiku had by this time reentered the room, watching as Ludwig slammed the doors behind him and grateful that they'd used the other entrance to avoid having to deal with his meltdown. Walking over to Arthur, Francis and Matthew before heading back to their own seats, Yao's questioning look was more than enough to spur Arthur into a brief explanation.

"Oh, yes…I thought I saw Italy-aru by himself. I wonder if he and America have gone off on their own – children…" Yao said, shaking his head at their apparent playing hooky.

"Oh, dear…" Kiku said, looking somewhat worried. "If they were talking about pasta, I do hope that Italy-san did not offer to drive America-san to get something to eat." He said, remembering his own experience with Feliciano behind the wheel.

"Probably. Although I thought I heard America mentioning something about nuking the Chinese when he got back to his house." Russia said as he passed by, spooking them all with how he apparently had somehow reentered without them noticing and had been there long enough to follow their conversation. The only one not surprised was Matthew, the man unfortunately painfully aware of the Russian man's movements as he tried to keep from repeatedly getting sat on at these conferences.

"Aiya!" Yao shouted, eyes wide at the information. "What?! Does he think he can…" The Chinese personification began, shifting his stance to a more alert attitude as he tried to process the apparent looming nuclear attack on his lands and people.

"He means the takeout in his fridge, China." Matthew said as loudly as he could, desperately hoping not to be overlooked as he tried to placate the older man and fend off nuclear war. "Alfred has leftovers in his fridge he keeps for late night snacks and just tosses them in the microwave to reheat them." The Canadian said quickly once assured of the other personifications' attention. He nervously laughed at their stares, worrying that they wouldn't believe him.

"America has leftovers?" Arthur asked, causing Matthew to feel a little underwhelmed at the remark after the buildup of a misunderstanding on that scale. But the others also seemed to find that part of Matthew's explanation to be the most interesting, Kiku suggesting to Yao to head back over to their seats. Ivan shrugged, childish smile still in place as he too left the group to head back to his seat.

"I hope Alfred doesn't overdo it since Feliciano is with him after all…" Matthew said, worrying his bottom lip as he thought about the possibilities the two of them could get into regarding food.

"Matthew, at least tell us what you mean by 'overdoing it'. This is Alfred we're talking about and in case you hadn't noticed, America is fond of the saying 'bigger is better'." Arthur said with a pointed look. Matthew returned it with a worried expression as he could tell that unless his twin magically reappeared within the next minute, he'd have to say something to his former caretakers.

"Well, I'm just…" Matthew began, only to be both relieved and startled when Alfred and Feliciano came back into the room, Alfred looking a little windblown as he made his way over to his brothers. Italy didn't seem to be in the same dazed state, happily calling out to Germany that the large blond man should be impressed that he made it back with thirty seconds to spare.

"Oooh man…." Alfred grumbled out, hand covering his mouth as he took the seat Arthur had hastily vacated. Kiku had told him plenty of horror stories about the mistake his politeness had caused when the Japanese man had accepted his former axis partner's offer for a ride in his car. "I'm never doing that again right after I eat…." Alfred grumbled, Arthur unable to help the snicker at the thought that there might have been something that the 'hero' would call too extreme, namely Italy's driving.

"Ugh…don't get too close, eh…you're still looking a little green." Matthew said, pushing his twin out of his personal space as he sensed the American's need for a snuggle buddy again and wasn't eager to have him hanging on him if he was going to be sick.

"Don't worry, dude, already lost it." Alfred said as he ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Ah, well, good thing we planned on getting something to eat over our little chat, no?" Francis said, Alfred stilling as he clearly had been hoping that the others had moved on from their topic of discussion from earlier. "By the way, you might want to talk with Ivan about the meanings behind some of your phrases." He said with a dismissive wave over to where the Russian man was imposing on the Chinese personification, clearly testing Yao's patience.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Next time we're casually getting a few drinks together, I'll be sure to bring that up." Alfred said in a manner that could rival Arthur's level of sarcasm, the British man rolling his eyes at that response. "Ivan probably already knows and just likes to see if there's any way to shake things up a bit." Alfred said, motioning for Francis and Arthur to look over to where Ludwig seemed to finally have wrestled out of Feliciano's playful distractions and was looking to begin the meeting again. The two Europeans made their way back to their seats, Francis shooting a more serious look to Alfred to remind him that he was going to hold the other to their plans despite the other's reluctance.

"Want me to go with you?" Matthew asked as he leaned over, smirking a little at the look his twin gave him a scowl to let him know he didn't appreciate the fact that the Canadian seemed to be finding things a little too funny. But Alfred merely shook his head no and Matthew seemed to understand to let the matter drop. He may have been playing with his brother but the other was still wary about how difficult Alfred could make things for him if he really wanted. "Alright. But please talk with him truthfully eh. There's only so much the two of us can do for each other about this and I'm only trying to help, he he" He said with a bit of a nervous laugh as Alfred continued to be unimpressed, although he could see the southern North American's look soften.

"I know ya' big softie." Alfred said, swinging an arm around his brother's shoulder and pulling Matthew close to him despite the other's earlier request for some space. "But you're in for some major payback too. Movie marathon at your place and I'll bring the ice cream if you make everything else." He said, Matthew chuckling a little and readjusting his glasses as his brother didn't let up on his grip. But the meeting had started and for those nations that tended to frequently overlook the Canadian personification, Alfred looked a little odder than usual as he talked to open air.

---

Francis had left no room for Alfred to make a quick getaway, practically cornering Alfred as soon as the meeting was done. Unsurprisingly, it let out a little earlier than had been planned on when it became apparent that nobody was getting anywhere with discussions. Alfred had been blatantly looking back at his watch for over an hour when he'd announced that they should skip over the 'boring' stuff and made an actually relevant suggestion that everyone take an early leave so that the different individual meetings scheduled for the next day could better be prepared for – Arthur had been almost impressed before Alfred then commented that the European Union meeting not interrupt the North and South American countries' meeting with anymore euro-disco, prompting Ludwig to feel like he needed to say something about that in his defense only to have things spiral out of hand at that point as more personifications joined in on that discussion.

Arthur had simply shaken his head at that point, Alfred having already questioned how that development had occurred in that meeting but still not receiving an answer. But Arthur wasn't about to tell him that the British man had reached his limit of listening to Francis babble and had swiped Ludwig's phone to start playing his music through the sound system to get everyone to shut up. It had been amusing to let his punk side out and mess with the other EU members, but he hadn't figured out exactly how to lower the volume with the result of Ludwig's not-so-secret-anymore playlist being blared through the entire floor. But with the personifications now talking about the merits of their own music styles over others, Arthur had to fight to keep from voicing any of his opinions in favor of trying to discretely follow after Alfred and Francis. He kept mentally repeating that it was only to be able to keep up-to-date about his ally, and not that he was insanely curious and more than marginally worried about his younger brother.

"You're not going to be able to follow them like that, you know." Matthew said from beside Arthur in the hallway, making the older man jump a bit in surprise. Matthew sighed at being overlooked again, Arthur sheepishly looking to him and attempting to appear completely innocent.

"Ah, Canada…whatever do you mean?" Arthur asked as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm simply taking advantage of the evening and thought it might be nice to…" He was saying, only for Matthew to roll his eyes. Arthur did tend to forget that the younger blonde had spent a long time with him and was quite good at spotting some of Britain's tells that signaled he was off to spy on someone.

"I can save you the trouble, eh. Come on." Matthew said, gesturing for his older brother to follow him as they headed out to the parking lot. By this time, Alfred and Francis had been lost from Arthur's field of vision and the British man was feeling the beginnings of irritation at that development. "Arthur, I know where Alfred wanted to go to eat. I can take you if you'd like." The Canadian politely offered with a small smile, secretly pleased at the quick nod Arthur sent to him. It wasn't often that they got to spend time with one another like the times Matthew had spent with him while still technically a part of his brother's household.

"It isn't like you to sell out Francis so quickly though Matthew. I must say I am a bit surprised at such a bold action coming from you. And it's not even hockey season." Arthur said in the car as Matthew pulled out, humor in his voice.

"Hey, it's almost always hockey season. Indoor ice rinks are wonderful like that." Matthew said with an equal amount of humor, reminding Arthur of the similarities between the North American twins' attitudes. Alfred's influence was clear in the pride in Matthew's voice, even if it was more subdued than the louder twin. "But I'm following Al just in case he tries to bail. I wouldn't put it past him to try and avoid talking. Something about how 'heroes aren't supposed to do that mushy stuff' or so I'm told." Matthew said, earning a chuckle from Arthur.

"Yes, well, normally the lad doesn't ever shut up." Arthur said with a fond shake of his head. "I don't suppose you might reconsider and give me at least a hint about what's wrong with Alfred?" He asked, Matthew visibly hesitating at that. Alfred had agreed reluctantly to talk with Francis, imparting with a few choice looks to his twin that meant he expected Matthew to keep to his earlier promise of not saying anything to anyone about things. Seeing that hesitance, Arthur pushed more to get the softer twin to talk.

"It….It has something to do with why Alfred and I have such a large appetite." Matthew finally relented, briefly glancing at Arthur to gage his reaction.

"Large appetite?" Arthur asked questioningly, one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Alfred I've seen devour food faster than I'd have thought possible and still go back for seconds. But you certainly haven't ever…" Arthur began, thinking about the times he'd shared a meal with his former colony.

"That's just because I was trying to be polite like you and Francis taught me to be, eh." Matthew said, smirking a little at how Arthur scoffed and muttered under his breath how anything Francis imparted was complete ridiculousness anyway. "You just didn't see all the snacks and sweets I would have later, he he he." Matthew said with a laugh.

"Oh, I caught you several times, and your stash." Arthur said, the atmosphere between them falling into an easy and comfortable one. Matthew chuckled a little at how smug Arthur sounded though.

"You only found one of many Arthur. I was just better at hiding them than Alfred." He said, Arthur looking shocked but still amused. "I am technically larger than him in lands, just less populous. And then, of course, you can't forget about how harsh my winters can become. I needed to eat just as much – still do at times." Matthew said, parking the car in front of a steakhouse and indicating to Arthur to look over to where Alfred's car and Francis' car were parked. Arthur nodded at that information, the two of them getting out of the car to head inside the restaurant.

"Why am I not surprised Alfred would drag Francis here? Oh, that frog must feel completely out of his comfort zone in here." Arthur said with a smirk as he took in the restaurant, noting that the selection of wines probably wouldn't have anything the wine connoisseur would deem suitable. Spotting where the two other personifications were seated, Matthew used what charm Francis had passed on to him to convince the hostess to seat them nearby but hopefully out of view of the others. The Canadian hoped to at least appease the relentless British man's curiosity by being able to watch what was going on, knowing that Alfred's voice might carry over to them if they were close enough – and if not, then he felt like he was still being the good twin and giving Alfred the privacy he'd asked for from Matthew. The two were able to have a booth close enough to Alfred and Francis, Arthur immediately going into what Alfred affectionately called 'stealth mode' to the irritation of the older man.

"How come you let me pick this place? I kinda thought you might have, y'know, decided to decline and we could talk another time." Alfred was saying to Francis as the other man looked over the menu without bothering to conceal his opinion on the cuisine.

"Because, mon ami, you were trying too hard to get rid of me. Hasn't fuzzy brows told you that I am more difficult to be rid of than that?" Francis said as he looked up, Alfred giving a heavy sigh at being so easily called out. "You can be such a child sometimes Alfred. But it is alright and we 'ave all night to talk, no?" He said with a smile, Alfred leaning onto his arm as he looked away from Francis. Matthew hastily held up his menu to cover his face, worried that his signature curl might've given him away. Luckily, Alfred's mind was elsewhere as he gave an order that had Arthur nearly gasping aloud before remembering that Alfred's claim of 'being able to eat the whole cow' really could play out.

"I really wish you'd stop with the whole callin' me a little kid thing. I mean, yeah I had to ask you to come help me out at the start but I have actually matured…" Alfred said in an attempt at complete seriousness, but Francis only gave out a laugh that caused that expression on Alfred's face to deflate.

"Hon hon hon…then stop acting like I'm here doling out a punishment. It is just the two of us having a casual dinner together to talk about whatever it is that is troubling you. And mon petite Mathieu – he seemed most insistent that you talk to me or Arthur and clearly you 'ave chosen, yet again, the superior man even if it took you longer than it should 'ave." Francis said as he began to pour the wine that was brought to their table, continuing to speak to Alfred. But Arthur had to strain to listen as a waiter came over to take Matthew's and his order, leaving it up to the soft-spoken man to speak up and order for them.

"I only asked 'cuz I ain't about to sit through some lecture from old Iggy." Alfred said, digging into the bread ravenously. "And I still can't quite wipe from my memory that advice you gave me about diets. Dude, you have some issues." Alfred said, although Francis merely shrugged in amusement at Alfred's embarrassed blush as the American finished off the bread and waved to a waitress to bring some more over.

Arthur turned to look at Matthew at that piece of information, receiving only a small shrug in reply. "You told him he was fat, remember? I don't think Al remembered I was still in the room when he let his smile drop. He hasn't spoken to me about it and I know he's spent more time on working out, but if I recall right, I think he visited Japan's house for a little while." Matthew said, looking off in thought as he tried to remember what his brother was up to. "Al may not have the most well thought out plans sometimes…." He continued, looking more timid at the amused smirk sent his way by Arthur at that remark, "….but I would've thought he'd learned by now that muscle weighs more than fat. It's no wonder he's always going all out." Matthew said, Arthur looking back over to the table to see Alfred fiddling with something on the table meant to amuse younger children while they waited for their food. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at that, Francis clearly doing his best to keep from snapping at Alfred being particularly stubborn.

"Amerique….Angleterre clearly passed along his stubbornness in spades with you." Francis said, grabbing the puzzle piece out of Alfred's hands and placing it off to the side. "I may have all night, but mon ami, I have to agree with Arthur that I'd prefer to not have you speak with your mouth full. I have a hard enough time translating meaning from what you say when you are speaking English properly." Francis said as he took a sip of his wine, Matthew feeling sympathetic to his other older brother. He figured he'd owe the Frenchman bigtime after this although Arthur was getting more and more interested.

"Whoa…who knew you and Iggy could agree on something when you're not, y'know, forced to." Alfred said with a laugh as he continued to snack on the bread. "Fine, fine….I wanna talk about my bid for the Olympics. You're the guy to talk to for the Olympic committee, right? I put in my heroic designs for the stadium already, but I was thinkin'…." Alfred began, becoming more animated as he spoke.

"Non, that is not what Mathieu meant Alfred." Francis said with a shake of his head, forcefully interrupting Alfred to stop what would likely be a tangent that could very well take all evening to circle back around to their actual purpose. "And I have already sent the feedback to your boss. You know you can leave those sorts of things to your boss when it's at that level." Francis said, but Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but that's fun stuff. Besides, I can't just sit back on things here and there, otherwise I wouldn't be the hero!" Alfred exclaimed with a grin. Matthew, Arthur and Francis each gave a little sigh at that, although they could see Alfred was feeling more like himself after the loaves of bread he'd already eaten.

"Oui, oui, Alfred…but if you will not talk to me on your own behalf, what about votre frere?" Francis asked, Alfred pausing mid-bite with his bread to look curiously at the Frenchman. Francis smirked, seeing he'd successfully gotten the other's attention now. "Mathieu is troubled enough to be far more outspoken today. And you did have him pretending to be you all day yesterday you know…" Francis said, Alfred's shoulders drooping a little at that. "It would not be very heroic of you to ignore your own twin brother's worry." Francis finished, Alfred dropping the piece of bread he was munching on back into his plate and sighing.

"I guess…" Alfred grumbled, Matthew feeling even guiltier at being used that way to make his brother feel bad. There were plenty of times that Alfred made life difficult for Matthew, but this was one time when the Canadian really was only trying to help out more. "It's just…okay, well…." Alfred began again, sitting up straighter to lean on the table and talk with Francis. "Did Mattie, when he was with you, I dunno…..I mean, it was a little different when we were still tiny colonies and you clearly did things a bit differently than Arthur with your colonies, although with us both being on the same continent and all I'm gonna guess he and I weren't all that, I mean…." Alfred began, talking faster and faster.

"Alfred! Calm down mon petite, you are rambling and making no sense." Francis said, eyes wide as he gestured for Alfred to calm down. "What has this to do with Canada?" He asked, Alfred taking a deep breath to compose himself. Arthur also was concerned, watching in earnest the two interacting with one another and briefly glancing over to Matthew for any indication of what was going on.

"Well, Mattie loved your food right?" Alfred asked, getting a confused nod from Francis, the older man remaining quiet to try and follow what Alfred was attempting to get at. "So he ate a ton of it when he was little, didn't he? I mean, I didn't remember him at that age and until Iggy brought him over a couple of times I can't really guess that he'd have been all that different from me and I used to eat lots of Arthur's food." Alfred said, Arthur smiling fondly at those memories of Alfred complimenting his cooking.

"Oui, my Mathieu was always willing to try all sorts of my delicious cuisine and would eat everything I would put in front of him…" Francis said, face scrunched up in thought as he ran a hand across his chin. "But, again, how does this relate to your problem?" He asked, receiving a frustrated look from Alfred.

"I'm gettin' there, dude. This is embarrassing enough and I'm tryin' to explain as best I can without sounding like the pig Arthur likes to call me." Alfred said, taking a few sips of his soda. "Anyway, if that's how he was for you, then I guess you might be able to….okay, so did you ever see Mattie during the winter?" He asked, Francis sighing but humoring the younger man.

"Not often I'm afraid. I used to feel so bad about leaving him all alone in that wilderness." Francis said, Matthew sighing as well as he recalled the many times Francis would reluctantly move him to a cabin he felt would be safer for his tiny colony to ride out the winter.

"Well, did you ever come back to find that he'd finished off the stores you'd given him? Like, full on licked the crumbs off the bottom of the barrel kind of cleaned out? Even if the winters weren't harsher than usual?" Alfred asked, Francis confused for a moment and pausing as he recalled those memories.

"Oui. Several times I'd return and he'd tell me I'd not left enough and he'd had to make up for it with his own native foods. But there were other times when it seemed like I'd given him too much." Francis said with a shrug. "I never could tell just what he was asking for. The people there always were hungry in the winter but as he got older, it seemed like he'd must've not eaten for at least a week to have so much left over." Francis said, Arthur looking curiously to Matthew. The Canadian blushed as he fidgeted in his seat, not used to being the center of conversation.

"W-Well, I'd…um…you see Arthur, when I was little I was just as hungry as Alfred but when it came to dealing with my winters…I learned early on that if I ate a lot more the week or so before I could sense the first big storm, I wouldn't be as hungry and could wait things out. Things moved slower in the winter anyway and so that's what I decided to do." He said, rubbing the back of his head and looking down to avoid any further awkwardness. Arthur only made a noise of surprise at the admission, his own memories of difficulties in determining supplies to be sent to his northern American colonies making more sense now. "I mean, it wasn't like I wasn't still hungry, but more like building up reserves like Kuma did. I think I may have gotten that idea from him minus the sleeping for weeks, he he he." Matthew said as he looked back up, face red. Arthur nodded, returning to watching and listening into the other conversation over the chatter of the other guests.

"Okay, oh…" Alfred was saying around a mouthful of food, Francis not able to achieve his goal of hearing things out before Alfred made things more difficult to understand. "So, I really am wondering about this and figured you might know – you or Ludwig anyway…Did Ivan have the same sort of coping plan with his winter?" Alfred asked, taking Francis by surprise yet again and Arthur could see the other having a harder time than usual with attempting to follow the American's logic.

"Clearly we did not know, otherwise we wouldn't have frozen each time we stopped by his house." Francis said with a shake of his head. "But I do recall him being a little more, well, sleepy at the time. I suppose the cold does that." He said, Alfred pouting a little as he obviously tried to rationalize something in his mind.

"Russia? Why is Alfred talking about Russia?" Arthur asked as he leaned back in his seat as his and Matthew's food arrived. "This isn't a brain-related problem, is it?" Arthur asked, only slightly sounding sarcastic to the North American sitting across from him.

"No, Arthur….maybe Alfred's just trying to come up with something on his own and this is his way of figuring out details he otherwise wouldn't have heard about. It does sorta make some sense if he was talking about winters and food supplies since Ivan has a rough winter too. I'd imagine he and I would've had similar ways of managing it at one point even if now he's a little…um…." Matthew was saying, trailing off as he tried to think of a polite way of describing the Russian man's temperament.

"No need to finish that thought Matthew, I understand." Arthur said with a dismissive chuckle, the younger man looking relieved that Arthur had understood without having to actually say anything else. "I suppose that does make some sense. Of course, Alfred could avoid dragging this out if he just got to the point." Arthur said as he and Matthew ate, Matthew shrugging but refraining from pointing out how Arthur frequently used that tactic. Alfred usually was the bluntest person around unless he was actually in a serious mood and needed to be tactful or if he was the complete opposite and stubbornly chose to be more childish than usual.

"So if Mattie and Ivan figured out how to manage their appetites when things slowed down in the winter, well…." Alfred was heard saying, Francis having apparently said something along similar lines to what Matthew and Arthur had been saying.

"Wait, mon ami…I think I understand what you are so terribly trying to lay out for me." Francis said with a smile, Alfred looking warily over to the Frenchman. "You clearly are curious as to how to introduce more appropriate foods into your always busy lands and have finally learned that you should've have simply chosen my delicious foods in the first place." He said with a flip of his hair. Matthew groaned and smacked a hand to his forehead, berating himself for not having thought of his older brother reaching such a narcissistic conclusion.

"Wha?" Alfred said, looking affronted at such an idea before coughing to cover up his hesitance. "Ahem…uh, yeah. That's, uh, that's totally what I was wondering about dude…." Alfred said, not at all sounding convincing to Matthew or Arthur but it seemed that was all Francis needed to hear as the other man launched into all sorts of high-calorie foods that his people had developed over the years to store calories for the winter. Alfred at this point had obviously tuned him out almost completely as he focused on his large platter of food, occasionally mentioning here and there that certain dishes were already well-known in America and that no, he wasn't planning on omitting any of his very American cooking styles in favor of Francis'.

"Well that was a disaster." Arthur said with some amusement as he too gave up on listening to the now familiar refrain of the merits of French cooking. "Poor Alfred, he he he." Arthur said as he laughed at his younger brother now stuck hearing that for another time. "Serves him right for thinking Francis would get him anywhere. The time of him having any sort of sway on things has long since passed if you ask me." He said, Matthew sighing as he looked over to his brothers' table before returning to look at his other older brother.

"Alfred shouldn't have let him go off like that. He was so close to just asking for some advice…And despite what everyone seems to think about him, he was actually a capable caretaker. But I guess he's gone off again in his own little gourmet food reality right now." Matthew said a little gloomily. "I mean, I've given Al all that I've figured out, and between the two of us giving and taking from each other we've done pretty well….but I thought maybe talking with an older nation might've explained things more than what instinct has taught us." He said, piquing Arthur's curiosity once again.

"You know, Matthew…" Arthur began, pausing in his meal to speak directly to his other younger brother. "I understand you want to let Alfred have his privacy, but if you wanted to speak with me about this from your perspective, then it wouldn't necessarily be betraying Alfred's trust if you're just talking about yourself." He said, Matthew looking back to Arthur with wide eyes. "You're talking about yourself, not Alfred, even if this is a trait that the two of you may or may not share to any great length." Arthur continued, hoping to persuade the other. It was true that he was feeling a little guilty at manipulating the Canadian to get more information on the American twin, but he did his best to appear as calm as he could and possibly do a little good for Matthew as well.

"Well…." Matthew said, looking over to Alfred with clear hesitance. "I suppose if it's really just us talking about me…." He was saying, seeing his brother putting in an order for what he figured was an equally enormous dessert and looking away to gaze at Arthur. "Well, like he said, I used to be just as hungry as him and still am occasionally." He began, Arthur biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking at how clever he thought he was being. "With Francis, I eventually learned to eat more before the start of winter and still do that now. I don't get as tired though, probably because I've gotten used to that routine and because wintertime isn't as slow a period for people now with better modes of transportation and technology and that sort of thing." Matthew continued, Arthur nodding along to encourage him to keep talking. "Um…well, I used to think it was just me with a bad case of the munchies as Alfie likes to call it, but when you reintroduced us, it felt better to know that Alfred wasn't all that different." He said with a small smile before looking back up with worry on his face, realizing that he'd started to talk about his twin instead of himself.

"Oh, uh, anyway….I learned to make stashes here and there so I wouldn't eat so much at the table and embarrass you since I tried to be as polite as you said I was supposed to be. I don't think Alfred had the ability to have that much restraint since my winters are worse and all but they would force me to slow down for a little while and you know, when you stop being active as much, metabolism changes." Matthew continued, hoping Arthur would be able to follow what he was saying. "I'm not nearly as strong as Alfie unfortunately, so it's not so bad that I can't manage with maple goodies so long as Kuma doesn't break into them and not tell me about it. He's done that so many times I should just try and find a better hiding spot for my backups. But polar bears have great noses for that sort of thing, he he he" He said as he finished, blush returning as he realized he'd run out of things to say. He always thought that he'd have more to say in moments like this when someone other than Alfred would give him their undivided attention, but he realized he'd yet again found himself unable to remember anything else. As it was, Arthur had only nodded a few times, not really responding all that much to Matthew's remarks on trying to please him.

Matthew sighed as he watched Arthur look over to see Alfred digging into an ice cream sundae, not paying any attention to what Francis was saying at this point. "Um, Arthur?" Matthew timidly asked, wondering if the other man had forgotten he was there. Arthur did jump a little before looking back over to Matthew with a little smile. "Sorry, eh. Didn't mean to startle you." Matthew said out of habit of having others ignore him.

"Oh, entirely my fault Matthew. I was lost in my own thoughts." Arthur said, Matthew just nodding along, his curl bouncing as he did so. "Thank you for telling me. I'll be sure to send you some of my own sweets next fall that you can leave out as bait for your bear and be able to save your maple cookies." He said, Matthew's face taking on both a surprised yet happy expression at realizing that Arthur had actually heard the last part of what he had to say. "Or you could have them yourself, but I'm told by a certain twin of yours that he can't eat anything after he's had a few of them. Bloody rude of him after I'd make them with even more sugar just to try and shut him up. I swear he and the frog have teamed up to insult my cooking at every chance they get even though there once was a time Alfred couldn't get enough of my food." Arthur said, Matthew rolling his eyes as his brief moment in the spotlight with Arthur was quickly eclipsed by Alfred again. But thinking over what Arthur had said made him gasp as he came up with a theory. His gasp caught Arthur's attention, the older man looking curiously at Matthew.

"Alfred wouldn't want to eat for probably at least half a day or so after he'd had some of your scones, right? B-Because they were so delicious, of course!" Matthew said, his mumbling turning into an embarrassing attempt to cover up any insult to the other's cooking. "Same with me when I was little and I'm guessing it happened again for him after he came out of isolation and started meeting up with you more at your house….ah, Arthur, you're brilliant!" Matthew said, practically throwing his hands up in the air at coming to his conclusion. Arthur's eyes widened at the unexpected outburst before he cleared his throat and sat up straighter.

"Modesty begs me differ, but I have my moments." Arthur said a little too smugly to come off as truly modest, but Matthew was too excited to say anything as he thought up a plan.

"Can you make some of your scones tonight? You have a kitchenette in your suite, don't you? I can even come over and we can…actually, I'll just help get the ingredients." Matthew rambled, unsure if his involvement in cooking would alter whatever it was that seemed to put a damper on his and Alfred's hunger without having any adverse side effects. Matthew had experimented with fennel as Francis had mentioned something about it to him, but while he hadn't recognized he'd been hungry, his body hadn't been pleased after the fennel had worked its way through his system – he'd been spared Alfred's moaning though since he and Alfred weren't speaking much to one another at the time.

"Oh, um…yes, of course." Arthur said in a stunned tone before he gave a genuine smile. "I knew you boys were just giving me a hard time. I can make several different types tonight if we head out directly from here." He said, checking his watch and doing his best to remain inconspicuous as Alfred and Francis left the restaurant. "Yes, well, I'm assuming you'd like to bring some to your meeting with Alfred, correct?" Arthur asked, Matthew nodding quietly. "Then I should be able to make a few batches in time for your meeting." He concluded, the two of them finishing up their meal and heading out to pick up some ingredients. Matthew sincerely hoped that he was onto something as he wished a rather happy Arthur a good night, reiterating to himself that the charcoal taste might be worth his possible discovery.

---

The next day, Arthur brought the promised scones to Matthew with a happy attitude as the Canadian politely accepted them. Now, Matthew thought, all I have to do is convince Alfred to have one or two. That was a large task though, since Alfred typically made a show of his refusal to have any of Arthur's food when in the presence of other personifications to be able to save face– although he almost always had something anyway, complaining about lack of taste afterwards of course. Alfred was probably the only one to actually take one of the scones Arthur would set out during smaller meetings, Matthew often wondering if it was just the hunger getting to him or if he did it to try and make the older nation a little less grumpy. Upon entering the meeting room, not quite as invisible as at the world meetings, the plate of food was immediately noticed.

"Ooooo, Mattie, what didja bring this time?" Alfred asked as he bounded over to his twin, smile in place and acting more like his usual self now that his eating routine wasn't interrupted. Taking the plate though and inspecting it, Alfred made a face and let Matthew have it back. "Ugh…why do you have these stupid things? I thought you might've had something good. No fair teasing us like that." Alfred said with a slight pout.

"Arthur made these for our meeting. It wouldn't have been polite to refuse to take them after he took the time out of his evening to make them for us." Matthew said, Alfred rolling his eyes as Matthew placed the tray in the center of the long table for their meeting.

"Yeah, yeah…anyway, we should probably get started. Now, since I'm the hero…." Alfred said, trailing off into another typical meeting. The platter was moved around the room as the meeting went on, some personifications more wary than others of the items termed 'edible' by Britain as they cautiously passed the platter around. When Alfred was finished with his own ideas and interrupting several others, looking oblivious to how the others weren't overly thrilled by the 'hero's' input as he proudly held himself, he quickly lost interest in what else was being said. Matthew watched how in his boredom, Alfred reached out and was the only one to take one of the scones from the mound that Arthur had made in his enthusiasm to have actually received a request for them from someone. Alfred made a face as he bit into it, but finished quickly and one scone turned into two as the platter was slowly but surely being polished off by the hungry American man.

"Okey-dokey then. I think we're done with all the important stuff today." Alfred said as he ended the meeting on time for once, the others in the room grumbling a little at how the southern North American twin abruptly ended things, but nonetheless following his suggestion and people began to filter out of the room. Alfred finished off the last scone before picking up the now empty platter, spinning it on his fingertip as he tried to balance it. "Guess I should bring this to old Iggy. Dude likes to bug me to return these sort of things to him right away like he doesn't have enough to use – probably should hold them hostage and he'd stop trying to burn his house down. Or any of mine since he must've used the kitchen in his room." Alfred said, grimacing a little at the thought of a scorched room that resulted from Arthur's adventures in the kitchen. But instead of the usual agreement he typically heard from his twin, Alfred found Matthew looking at him curiously as though waiting for something. Blinking a few times as he tried to remember if he'd forgotten to do something for the other, he caught Matthew glancing back to the platter. "What?" He asked in confusion, not sure what to make of the other's silence.

"N-Nothing." Matthew said, hoping to not arouse the other's suspicions as he tested out his theory. "Hey, you hungry?" He asked as casually as he could. Matthew had grabbed a handful of the scones himself, eating one in Arthur's company in an attempt to keep the other man pleased. It had tasted as burnt as expected, although the glaze the other had used to top it with covered up that taste a little. As a result, Matthew wasn't as focused on getting to lunch as much as he usually would've been and the fact that Alfred hadn't said anything about food for the last hour was giving him hope that his theory was proving correct.

"Huh? Nah, not really. Iggy's food kills any desire to eat. Even real food, y'know." Alfred said with an amused laugh, Matthew timidly smiling back. "We could grab a milkshake though. There's a specialty ice cream place down the road a bit if you're hungry." Alfred asked as he and Matthew walked side-by-side. Matthew shrugged, trying to think of the best way to break the news of his discovery to Alfred.

"Oh, how were the scones?" Matthew asked, receiving a shrug from Alfred and getting the usual comment about the similarities to couch stuffing. "So, um…you haven't noticed anything? You know, feeling any different?" Matthew tried again to get the other to think about the effect of his snack since he didn't seem to find it odd that he wasn't so hungry to want to just rush off to McDonald's to get something to eat.

"Hmmm? What? Why?" Alfred asked, one eyebrow arched in question at his twin's questioning of Arthur's cooking since he knew the northern twin was well aware of the quality of their older brother's scones. As he watched his brother again indicate with his eyes the platter that had held the scones, his eyes comically widened as he reached his own conclusion. "Holy smokes! What did you and Britain do to me?" He asked, panic evident in his voice as his suspicions grew and Matthew hastily tried to answer. But Alfred had already gathered some attention from some of the other countries that had been in the meeting with them, the American personification holding the platter away from him as though it was a hazardous material. "Ah! What was in those things?! What am I supposed to do for food poisoning?" He rambled, Matthew uncertain of how to calm his now panicking twin as Alfred held his throat dramatically.

"No! You're fine! You're fine Alfred." Matthew said, grabbing his twin's arm to head to a more private room now that the louder of the two had gained a bit of an audience, including an amused-looking Russian who'd been in the hallway. Closing the door behind him, Matthew plopped his brother onto one of the couches in the room. "Alfred…" Matthew grumbled as he watched his brother mumbling to himself as he tried to determine if he'd been poisoned or not.

"Mattie…" Alfred whined as he looked up at his brother. "What'd I do to you to deserve this?" Alfred asked, receiving a deadpan look from the Canadian.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Matthew asked with a fond shake of his head. "And relax, eh. Arthur may not be the best cook, but I'm pretty sure he didn't use poison as his secret ingredient." Matthew said as he sat next to his twin, Alfred launching onto him and holding him in a manner much like he'd done the day before even though there was a lack of a super snuggly sweatshirt. "I talked with Arthur about some….stuff…about me. And I remembered that you would be just as not hungry after Arthur's food as me when you and I were little. I thought maybe I would test out my idea that if you have one of Arthur's scones on you with all that other stuff you store away in those pockets, then maybe you wouldn't be in a situation like you were yesterday." Matthew explained as he held his overly affectionate twin brother. Alfred stopped quivering as he listened, apparently not fearing for his life at the moment as he processed what his brother was saying.

"Huh? You know…I think you may be onto something there, bro." Alfred said, still not getting up from his position despite Matthew's prodding to be released. "Wonder what he does that makes it like that? It's gotta be some weird…y'know, maybe it's better we just don't ask." He said, wondering where in the cooking process Arthur managed to go horribly awry enough to stifle the North American twins' typically insatiable appetites. Matthew made a noise of agreement at that, Alfred dissolving into his usual giggles at that.

"You take things too far sometimes, you know that Alfie? If anyone would do you in, it would probably be something stupid you did yourself." Matthew teased, feeling a little bolder at the moment as he was riding on the enthusiasm his discovery gave him.

"Hey!" Alfred whined, releasing his brother to sit normally and shoot him an unamused look. "Just 'cuz there were those couple of times I shocked myself with those freaky European outlets…" Alfred was saying, Matthew sighing and shaking his head at those memories.

"Adapters, Al, I told you several times that you needed to use adapters." Matthew said as Alfred genuinely looked as though he didn't think there was any blame to be placed on him for what had happened. "And you deciding to then stick your fingers in the outlet to try and pull the wires out and 'fix it yourself' was, in fact, pretty stupid. That's something a toddler does and you wondered why there were outlet coverings all over the place the next time we met on Francis' lands." Matthew said, chuckling a little as he recalled his brother toying with the outlet covering in confusion as to why they were in place.

"What? Just 'cuz there was a tiny power outage?" Alfred complained with a roll of his eyes as he crossed his arms. Matthew just laughed harder at that before responding.

"No, more like because you scared Francis pretty good when he found you dazed as you were with your eyes glazed over from the shock." Matthew said, remembering his own worry at the time. "I think Francis thought Arthur really was going to kill him for that." He finished, having already detailed the epic chase and fight between the two Europeans that had been going on while Alfred was out of it.

"Yeah, well, if everybody would've just followed my lead, especially with electricity, nobody would have to worry." Alfred said, still with a bit of a pout on his face at being reminded of that particular event. "It's not like…" He started off, only to have Matthew cover his mouth and pull him in for a hug to get him to stop his rant. Alfred struggled halfheartedly for only a moment before allowing himself to return the cuddle, the two of them laughing at each other. As they sat there, their moment was interrupted as the doors burst open. Matthew looked over his brother's shoulder to see Arthur looking around in obvious worry as he spotted the two of them, the Canadian poking his brother to get him to turn around before there was another issue for him to have to deal with at this conference.

"Oi, America…what's this about you telling everyone about me poisoning you?" Arthur said, his face and tone quickly shifting from concerned to highly irritated once he realized that he hadn't accidentally given his younger brother food poisoning – not that he would ever admit to having done that a few times on a scale that had even the hearty American reduced to a moaning mess. And Alfred wouldn't admit to being taken down like that either so both parties mutually agreed to just try and avoid that topic.

"Huh? Oh, figures Ivan would be all too happy to share that with you." Alfred said with an eye roll, wondering if there was actually some good intention behind the Russian going to get Arthur for Alfred since he didn't seem to be lingering in the doorway to watch any sort of meltdown. But just to be sure, Alfred did a quick scan of the room and found no towering Russian. "Nah, Mattie just scared me for a sec, didn't ya bro?" Alfred said, clearly indicating for Matthew not to share their discovery about the merits of Arthur's 'magic touch' regarding food. Sensing this, Matthew just gave a quick nod as Arthur looked back and forth between the twins.

"Well, if that's all…" Arthur was saying, still plainly suspicious that more was being communicated silently between the twins than what was being said. "Well, then, why don't you go show yourselves so that I can walk around without the bombardment of insults to my cooking abilities." He said, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down his younger brothers.

"Oh, uh…sure thing dude." Alfred said with a laugh, wondering what sort of taunts Francis had probably already sent his way if Ivan was feeling in a talkative mood at the moment. "And thanks for the scones. They really hit the spot, you know? Think you could make some more before you head home later?" Alfred asked, sure that the he could make the batch Arthur might make last until the next time he met up with Arthur. For his part, Arthur looked unsure whether or not the American was setting him up for some nasty joke.

"It's true." Matthew said, picking up the platter that Alfred had dropped beside him on the couch earlier. "See? None left and no, we didn't toss them in the garbage if that's what you're thinking." He said as he handed the platter to a speechless Arthur. The British man looked at the empty platter as though looking for signs of evidence to the contrary, arching an eyebrow in confusion as he regarded the two boys in front of him.

"Well, I suppose so." Arthur said, standing a little straighter. "Were you embarrassed to just ask me for this, Alfred? He he he…" Arthur said, reaching his own conclusion while Alfred and Matthew laughed along with him a little nervously. "Oh, don't worry yourself about that. Everyone already knows how wonderful my scones are so there shouldn't be any bother to you. You know, if there's anything else you're hiding your true feeling about, maybe regarding tea…." Arthur trailed off in a teasing tone, Alfred huffing and glaring at the older man. But this seemed to have made Arthur's day, the British man still laughing as he left the room.

Matthew walked over to sympathetically place a hand on his twin's shoulder. "Well, at least if he goes around telling people that you like his scones, no one will believe him anyway." He suggested with a shrug, Alfred giving a heavy sigh. "I mean, people already think you'll eat just about anything." He said with a chuckle at his twin's expense.

"Hey…." Alfred said in a warning tone, Matthew taking his hand off his brother's shoulder to hold both up in a gesture of surrender as he timidly laughed at Alfred. "Still, who'd have thought there actually would be some value to Arthur's cooking? The merits of British scones…" Alfred said, sounding still to be in shock at that apparent thought. Matthew laughed at that comment, the two of them heading out to go get those milkshakes that Alfred had suggested.