This little series will run ten chapters and primarily focus on the European countries and their troubles with adjusting to to the world around them. Hope you all enjoy. :)
Francis remembers a time long ago where him and Arthur could have been something more; they had both been young and full of hope, the only thing needed to make both their lives perfect had been a lover at their side to encourage them and keep them going through the hard times. Later on, they had become lovers united in war. Eventually, they also became bitter enemies.
Now they sat beside each other at meetings in complete neutrality to one another. There was no more reason for war; it was detested in this age and while many nations would not say it out loud, they did truly miss the conflicts and the rivalries and the treaties that arose from the bloody clashes. Instead, the countries had to attend to minor things like climate change conferences and pulling Alfred out of Iraq by the scruff of his neck.
Francis let his eyes drift over Arthur, finding no interest in the man beside him. He'd been with him so long that there was no mystery to him anymore; just a shell that Francis could predict every movement, every thought and every emotion that he'd produce. It was one of the main reasons many countries has resorted to affairs with their own citizens, Francis thought. To be surrounded by the same people day in and day out was painful enough as it was, but to realize and accept that the human you lay in bed with at night would die if you blinked and one hundred years would pass?
Some were strong, like Ludwig, who refused to dally in personal affairs with his citizens. Others like himself, Arthur, Ivan, Antonio and Alfred had become complacent and were rather open about the humans they dated over the centuries.
Francis couldn't help but be bitter. There had been a time, a place, and a moment where Francis had fallen in love with Arthur; but that was long gone and the Frenchman only wished he could steal those moments back from the Lady of Time. But realizing that fact and living with it for the past one hundred years… Francis knew how futile it was to hope Arthur too would realize and run into his arms once more.
Hope was something only young countries spoke of. Perhaps, he thought as he looked down at the busy streets below, it was time for the young to inherit their burden. Not only their burden, but the future the ancient countries couldn't stand to live in anymore.