After stumbling upon the 31_days LJ community and getting inspiration from the prompts listed for this month, I decided to give filling them for Greece/Japan a go because February is a special month for them after all, containing both of their birthdays and Valentine's Day. I found the community only today, so I'll need to catch up with the first week's prompts first, but hopefully I'll be able to get down to one prompt a day soon.

Most fills/chapters will be relatively short and drabble-ish (although I'm wary of calling them drabbles outright, as they'll still be more than 100 words at the very least) and vary in tone and relationship status (i.e. some will have them as an established couple, others not so much). And of course, while the community's technically called 31_days, February has only 28 days so there'll be 28 chapters of this fic in total by the end of this week.

Prompt for Day 1: Like a star in chains

"And that's Cassiopeia," Greece said, tracing out the distinctive W shape in the night sky with his left index finger. "The queen who was condemned to hang upside down for half of the year in the sky."

Japan looked up at the constellation, tilting his head and trying to see what the ancient Greeks must have seen in a deceptively simple shape centuries ago. "Why was she condemned to such a fate?"

"By her hubris, like so many others before her were," Greece explained. "She claimed that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than the nymphs of the sea, which incurred the wrath of Poseidon. After trying to destroy her country with a sea monster, he decided to give her a punishment that would last beyond her death."

"Did she truly deserve that kind of punishment?" Japan couldn't help but ask, even though he knew the answer already. "Being condemned to be suspended in limbo forever for being proud of her looks?"

Greece gazed at the constellation for a couple of moments more before saying quietly, "It's the rare god who isn't a human at heart in a larger-than-human body."

Japan could only nod mutely. The human aspect of the gods was the main reason for Greece liking them, but also the main source of their less likable traits. "It must be an agonizing fate for her," he said softly. "Knowing what's going to happen to her in advance and being powerless to change it."

A thoughtful silence passed between them until Greece murmured, "When you think about it, though, she isn't in the sky during the daytime. So she at least has periods of time when she's free to do what she wants."

"Is that possible?" Japan asked, turning his head away from the sky to look at Greece curiously. "She could just be trapped below the horizon until nighttime comes."

Greece, who had been looking at him even before Japan had turned his head to do the same, gave a shrug and a smile that had little to do with the constellation itself. "It's as possible as countries having periods of time when they're free to do what they want."

The warmth of Greece's hand curled up in his became a conscious sensation to Japan at about the same time his mind became conscious of him having gotten a meeting with his boss moved to next week for 'unspecified personal reasons.' "Yes," was all he was able to say, for lack of better words to add.