This is a prizefic for Axxi who was the 400th reviewer for Correspondence. I hope it's what you wanted :D I tried to fit a tiny bit of Spa/Roma but couldn't so made this dissolve into fluff at the end
I honestly had no idea what to write, but as I was looking at a map to plan a road trip, it suddenly hit me. All at once. It's also picking up where'New Prussia'left off but I think this can stand on it's own because..yeah. In the previous thing, New Prussia was a tiiiiny town, but in this it's going to slowly change. One day I'm just going to drive there and figure out what the hell New Prussia actually is
Yeah between homework and (mostly) tumblr, I'm amazed I got this done so quick…in comparison to how fast I've been writing other things hahaha.
Matthew stood at the counter of the gas station, trying to not appear flushed as Gilbert took his time selecting chewing gum, making a small show of it. Granted, there was only the station attendant from before, and a pair of teenagers milling around, but that didn't stop Gilbert from trying to make things as embarrassing as possible.
"How about double bubble mint?" Gilbert asked, waving a bright pink package in Matthew's face.
Matthew's ears turned red, and he focused his attention on counting all the cigarette boxes behind the counter.
"Sure." He replied in as convincing a voice as possible.
He was glad he didn't wear his full suit while driving up to the business meeting, wherever that was, or he was sure it would acquire some questionable damages. His boss had given him what appeared to be the wrong directions, and instead of driving up to Waterloo, where Matthew originally thought the meeting was, his GPS had led him down somewhere foreign.
Well it was all part of him, seeing as he was the land but...
He could be a bit forgetful at times.
They had stopped at this gas station after Gilbert had decided that two hours was long enough to hold it in, and had pestered Matthew into pulling over somewhere. While he was in the washroom, Matthew had been getting directions from the clerk. It had been going well up until Gilbert decided to reappear by his side, right as the other man told Matthew he had to drive up to New Prussia before he made another turn.
Upon this discovery, Gilbert had waited till they made it to the car in the parking lot to show his enthusiasm, and shoved Matthew into the back seat. Some twenty odd minutes later, they were back inside so that Gilbert could buy some gum to keep himself entertained for the rest of the ride and "get the taste out."
"You're not even paying attention!" Gilbert whined.
"I am!" Matthew insisted, and Gilbert raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?" Gilbert held the bright pink package up to his face again and Matthew took a closer look.
"Wh-Gilbert! Put that away!"
Gilbert kesesese'd as Matthew snatched the travel-sized condom box put of his hand and gave the platinum haired man a sour look.
"Just get one and let's leave." Matthew said in a stern hiss. "I have a meeting to get to, eh?"
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Gilbert said flippantly, scanning the shelves and picking up a (real) package of bubblegum.
He tossed it on the counter, and the clerk asked him something Matthew didn't quite catch. Gilbert nodded, and dug a ten dollar bill out of his pocket
After he collected his change, Gilbert slung an arm around Matthew and steered him out of the store.
"Wait!" Matthew stopped them as soon as the door chimed and they stepped out.
"Yeah?"
"I need to return this..." Matthew held up the small box he had swiped from Gilbert earlier that he forgot to put back.
Gilbert gave a wide grin, and shoved the bill from the station in Matthew's face, enjoying seeing the blond man sputter.
"Y-you bought it? Why?"
"So that you don't have another baby, that's why!" Gilbert replied cheerfully. "New Prussia's enough for now. I'm not ready to shoulder more responsibility."
"We've already been over this! It's a small town, not a baby!"
"For people like us it's the same thing. "
"No it's not!"
"Sorry Matt, I know you're talking but I'm not listening."
With that, and a not so subtle ass-grab, Gilbert rounded the car and dipped into the passenger seat.
"Hey Matt," Gilbert began. "How far are we away from New Prussia?"
"Another fifteen minutes, I think. Why?"
Gilbert looked thoughtful as Matthew continued driving, blowing a bubble. When it popped, he spoke again.
"Can we stop there?" Gilbert asked, and Matthew frowned at him.
"No."
"Hey, why not?" Gilbert demanded, shocked that he had been shot down so quickly and bluntly ( and that he had been shot down in the first place!)
"I'm already late for my meeting." Matthew pointed and Gilbert shrugged.
"Your point?"
He blew another bubble, this time leaning across and popping it near Matthew's face.
"Don't do that, I'm driving!" Matthew kept a hand on the steering wheel as he shoved Gilbert away. "And my point is no."
"I thought you said it was a small town!" Gilbert said indignantly, as they pulled over to the side of the road.
"Uhm...might have been mistaken?" Matthew said, scratching the back of his head.
"Whatever. The fact that it's New Prussia makes it awesome."
With that Gilbert hopped out of the car, and Matthew followed with a sigh. As Gilbert jogged happily towards the deserted intersection, Matthew kept a wary eye out for cars.
"Hey Matt, hurry up!" Gilbert called out over his shoulder. Matthew picked up the pace, walking now instead of trudging along, slightly embarrassed. "I want you to take a picture of me!"
Matthew rolled his eyes, but seeing Gilbert's gleeful, if slightly manic expression made the corners of his mouth twitch. He searched his pockets for his phone, pulling it out and waving it to show that he took Gilbert's request seriously.
Gilbert was standing by a wooden sign post, one of the blue signs saying "New Prussia", entirely ready to have his awesome picture taken.
"Make sure you get all of it." Gilbert said, and Matthew replied with a "Yeah, yeah."
Only one or two cars passed by the pair as Gilbert kept egging Matthew on for more pictures. Matthew was glad about the lack of cars that came, since Gilbert had the habit of doing something stupid or weird whenever a vehicle drove by.
The first one got to see Gilbert making thrusting motions against the signpost, and the car honked repeatedly as it went by. Gilbert gave then a salute, and then the finger as the people drove on.
Another one came when Gilbert was trying to shimmy up the post, and ended up doing some weird thing where his body was suspended sideways in the air as he gripped onto the wood like it was a metal bar. That car actually slowed down to see the seemingly gravity defying act. Matthew had to admit that e himself was rather entertained by it.
But after the, according to his phone, twenty eighth picture hr had taken of Gilbert, Matthew had realized that while getting to the meeting on time maybe impossible now, actually getting there eventually would be a good idea.
"Gilbert! We need to go now or I'm going to miss my meeting."
"Come on! Just a few more!" Gilbert insisted, squatting slightly and throwing his hands up in the air. "We need as many pictures of our baby as possible!"
"We need to go!" Matthew persisted (and took the picture anyways) as Gilbert scowled at him.
"Lame." He huffed, putting his hand in hips and looking very much like an angry housewife. "Here I am, trying to celebrate this amazing, awesome, God-given intersection, and there you are, killing the fun."
"Gilbert, this is nothing special." Matthew said, sounding rather exasperated. "There is a London and a Paris in this province too, but you don't see Arthur and Francis freaking out. So calm down and let's go."
That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because after a slight pause, Gilbert's face went blank. Others thought that this was a sign of Gilbert just not understanding, but Matthew knew that for someone who was very...er, expressive, Gilbert had the uncharacteristic quality of adopting a vacant expression when something displeased him.
Knowing that Gilbert had just been showing his excitement, Matthew realized that maybe he had been a bit too harsh with his words. While he picked on Gilbert all the time and vice versa, when Matthew shot down Gilbert's excitement so quickly and bluntly, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"Gilbert…want to leave?" He asked more gently this time, and the other's face slowly fell into a pout.
"Whatever." He straightened up and started walking to the car. Matthew could hear him mutter "killjoy" under his breath as he walked on by, hands dug deep into his pocket.
Matthew trotted after him, unlocking the doors with the automatic key. By the time he had gotten in, Gilbert was already sitting in the front seat, arms crossed and expression sour.
"Look," he began, as he stuck the key in the ignition and they buckled up. "I didn't mean to be harsh, I was just saying…I need to get to this meeting because the boss has been on my back about it for so long."
"Mmhmm."
Instead of putting the car into drive, he cast a glance over to Gilbert.
"Sorry for killing the joy, man."
Gilbert grunted in response, then said, "Is there really a London and a Paris?"
"Uh…yeah."
"What are they?"
"Sorry?"
"Are they like streets and stuff? Like New Prussia?"
"Oh, um…" Matthew scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh. Well, he couldn't really side step it. "Paris is a town actually, and London's a city."
Gilbert said nothing, choosing to glare out the window instead. Matthew was about to pull the car out of drive, when he spoke up.
"I can't believe you named them after their vital regions." Gilbert grumbled, his brow furrowing.
"I…um, my people named them."
"Yep."
"Well, Paris wasn't named after France's Paris. It was named after a mineral used to make plaster paris." Matthew offered, but Gilbert seemed unmoved.
There was another long silence, and unsure of what to do, Matthew placed a hand on Gilbert's knee. Gilbert looked down at it, then up at Matthew with his eyebrows raised.
"Are you jealous?"
Gilbert narrowed his eyes, but didn't spit out a rebuttal that no, he was too awesome to be jealous because around Matthew, he allowed himself to be a little less awesome than usual.
"If it makes you feel better, I still think New Prussia's better." Matthew tried to smile reassuringly. "Even if it's just a road, eh?"
"Just a road." Gilbert repeated, voice terse as his lower lips started to stick out slightly.
"A special road?"
Again, nothing and the train of thought for Matthew following that was Oh what the hell, I'm getting late for my meeting and I don't want an awkward drive and being spontaneous is something I need to work on, so he unbuckled his seatbelt, making it easier for him to lean across his seat and whisper a quick sorry before he pressed his lips against Gilbert's.
Or tried, because the awkward angle made him miss, and he kissed the corner of Gilbert's mouth. In the midst of this, he was temporarily unaware of his limbs and he accidentally hit the car horn. The loud sound startled him and he jumped slightly in his seat.
"Woah there," Gilbert said, holding on to Matthew by the back of his head, trying to steady the blond. "What are ya trying to do?"
"Um…" Well shit, this was slightly awkward. "Saying sorry?"
"Like this?"
"I..guess?"
In a blink of an eye, Gilbert's facial expression switched from annoyed/jealous to contemplative, then something else.
"Well, okay."
"Huh?" Matthew blinked. "What do you mean okay?"
"What do you mean what do I mean okay? I said okay, you can start apologizing."
There was a pause, and this time it was Gilbert that let out an exasperated sigh. How the next fifteen seconds happened, Matthew would never be too sure and Gilbert would never explain, but after a bit of shuffling around various body parts, accidentally hitting the horn again, Gilbert had managed to pull Matthew on to his lap on the passenger seat.
"There." He said, hooking his thumbs into the back pockets of Matthew's pants, then puckering his lips slightly. "Start saying sorry."
"You just…" Matthew shook his head, slightly amazed at how Gilbert had switched moods so suddenly and so easily. "Whatever the hell you just did."
"Mmyeah?"
It was during these type of slight mood whiplashes that Matthew wondered if underneath it all, Gilbert was just teasing him and having fun. He wouldn't put it beyond the man to fake being mad, just to get some sympathy and attention and some joy out of seeing Matthew squirm. It dawned upon Matthew that this might have been one of those moments, but he pushed seeking revenge to the back of his mind.
"I'm going to be late for the meeting you know."
"Oh come on, don't be a spoil sport. We'll make out for a few minutes, I'll forgive you after that and then we can be on our merry way."
Matthew sighed, leaning in and resting his forehead against Gilbert's. He contemplated the offer, thinking that the quicker they got out, the less ass kicking he would receive from his boss. But he felt rather compliant, and he was already so late so a few extra minutes couldn't hurt…
"I'll hold you to that, eh?" He finally said, because hey, five minutes couldn't hurt. "Wait up though."
He reached over and turned off the car, taking the key out and dropping it into the cup holder.
Right after that task was done, Gilbert reached under the seat and yanked on the lever, dropping the seat down till it was nearly flat, causing Matthew to fall on him.
"Hey-oof! I thought you said only five minutes!"
"Your point?"
.. yeah, I'm getting around to updating my other stories hahaha.
reviews are really appreciated :D