Anywho! I don't own Hetalia or any of its characters so don't sue me. Please read and review!
Arthur's cloak flowed to the ground. All around him were various relics and books, all detailed in cryptic writing that to many were lost in translation. A plethora of vapors filled the room, some intoxicating, others foul. All of which were emanating from a large caldron in the center of the room. Arthur stood over the bubbling liquid inside it, a book held firmly in his hand. Every so often, he would stir the fluid, afterwards his gaze would return to the book.
"Mint!" he called. A moment later, a green wingèd bunny popped out from behind a mound of papers and scrolls and flew toward him. "I need you to retrieve the lavender and thyme from the cellar."
Mint smirked and gave him a mock bow. "Anything else your highness?"
Arthur just rolled his eyes. "Yes and you can fetch the belladonna while your at it, now off with you." He watched the green ball of fur disappear and turned back to his potion. He began muttering to himself as he read the instructions. Digging in a small cabinet, he grabbed a small jar and opened the lid. "…And a pinch of mugwort. 'Warning: Do not consume if pregnant,'" he read aloud. "Well I hardly think the lad is pregnant."
Arthur's mind began to wander. Alfred. He was the only reason he was making this stupid potion anyway. He had tried so many other times to get the boy to understand his feelings for him, but he was just so dense! He had even gone so far as to ask the 'Frog' for advice. God, I will never do that again. The Frenchman had given him a long lecture on the art of love and had suggested many things that should not be repeated for the sake of ones innocence. But even so, Alfred remained forever oblivious, it was infuriating! And so, Arthur was reduced to this, his last resort: a love potion. Ugh. The very thought of it made him want to hurl. So I can conjure demons from hell, but I cant tell one idiot that I love him? It was more of a statement than a question. He cursed himself for not having the courage, but Alfred was anything but easy to read…at least when it came to serious matters such as this. Even after watching the boy grow up, Arthur still couldn't quite figure out what was going on behind that sunny and confident visage.
He was broken out of his thoughts when Mint came flying back with his ingredients. "Here you are gov," he said, handing Arthur the dried herbs.
"Thank you Mint," he said, ruffling the bunny's green fur affectionately. Arthur then turned back to the potion, adding the last of the elements.
The concoction bubbled, churning in a sloppy mess of mysterious brown liquids and oils, mixed together with chucks of god knows what and miscellaneous herbs. Overall, it did not look like your stereotypical love potion. Arthur sighed disappointed. Although he was well practiced in magic, he had never had the need to make a love potion before. Half of him had expected it to be some bright pink substance that smelled like happiness and sunshine, but this was far from the truth. He filled a flask with the goopy fluid, studying it's wretched coloring.
He went over the 'recipe' and few times. "It looks I've done it right. I followed the instructions to a 't'," he mumbled, running his hand across the worn parchment.
Mint perched on Arthur's shoulder wearing a skeptical expression. "It looks like the dinner you made last week."
"Hey, sod off!"
Mint chuckled and flew off, escaping the Brit's fury. When the creature was out of sight, Arthur turned back to his creation. He look idly at the flask in his hand. "I should probably test it out first, just in case something goes wrong…" But who should I test it on? He racked his brain for potential victi- 'test subjects', going through several options. I could try it on France, maybe it would kill him. A devilish smirk found its way to his lips. "He's no good. That wanker shags anything that moves. There would be no way to tell if it worked." There was also the mechanisms of the potion he had to think about.
'After the potion has been ingested, the first living creature the drinker lays eyes on is the one they shall fall in love with'. "That could potentially cause some problems, especially since the effects are temporary…" I could try Finland, but he's already in love with Sweden. There's Switzerland, who's romantically stifled, but always hangs around Lichtenstein…Arthur shuddered at the thought. That poor girl. What about…
"That's it!" he said suddenly. "Italy's perfect!" The boy was always around Germany, that and they had yet to get together…
Despite his uptight (and pompous) exterior, Arthur himself was often times a hopeless romantic. Given that he had lived through the Victorian and Edwardian ages. And, the romantic endeavors of the two men (or rather lack there of) had annoyed him to no end. "Yes, that should work perfectly." But looking at the grotesque liquid in front of him, presented another problem. "How the bloody hell am I going to get him to drink this?" Just then an idea formed in his mind. It was risky, but it just might work.
-o-
Arthur walked down the brightly lit hallway, having traded in his musky robes fro a clean, tailored suit. He walked through the meeting hall, for once with a sense of purpose, making his away to the conference room. He nervously cracked open the door, slipping into the almost empty room.
It was mid-day, and golden light shimmered in through the large windows, warming the room with its pleasant glow. His eyes scanned the room for the victim of his experiment. Italy sat near the window, his head resting on the large wooden table in front of him, taking his afternoon siesta. Beside him, on the table, was a steaming cup of coffee. Arthur grinned. Excellent…He glanced around the space, seeing no one else, he casually made his way over to the sleeping Italian.
Arthur pulled a small vile out of his jacket pocket and carefully leaned over, emptying its contents into the man's drink. The mixture bubbled for a moment and odd color steam began to rise. He held his breath, hoping to god it wouldn't explode. When it finally settled down, Arthur let out a sigh, causing the Italian beneath him to stir.
"Ngh, E-England…?"
Arthur jumped back, attempting to act natural. "O-oh, Italy my boy, taking a little nap were we?"
The boy yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Is something wrong England? You seem a little weird." He cocked his head to the side, a touch of confusion crossing his features.
Arthur mentally cursed. When had Italy become this perceptive? He laughed nervously. "Why are you talking about? Everything is perfectly fine." Italy just stared at him blankly, and before he get the chance to speak, Arthur backed up in an attempt to escape. "Well this was a nice chat I'll see you at the meeting bye!"
Italy stared in confusion as he watched England walk away. Shrugging it off, he took his coffee in hand and decided to wait for Germany.
About 20 minutes later, people began to file into the conference room. Germany sighed seeing that Italy had fallen asleep…again. He took the chair to the right of him and began organizing his paperwork.
Italy woke to the light thud of someone sitting down. He looked to his left, recognizing the hazy figure that had sat next to him. Rubbing his eyes, he searched for Germany who was quietly sitting to his right. "Ve~ is the meeting about to start?" he asked sleepily.
"Yes, now sit up and make sure you don't fall asleep again, okay?" the German replied impatiently.
Italy pouted. "Ludwig's so mean~" Germany blushed lightly at the use of his human name, but brushed it off as the conference was brought to order. Italy just smiled at his friend's awkwardness and allowed his eyes to wander the room. He looked, once again, to his left, finally recognizing the man sitting next to him. He averted his gaze and tried to disregard the odd tingling in the pit of his stomach.
-o-
Throughout the meeting, Arthur attempted to ignore Alfred's obnoxious babble (which proved to be quite difficult, considering he was far too loud for comfort and too goddamn beautiful not to look at). Instead, he directed his attention toward the bubbly Italian, who was but a few chairs away from him, looking for any changes in behavior. But much to his dismay, everything seemed to be the same as it always was. Arthur was (obviously) no expert on romance, but Italy didn't seem to be exhibiting any odd behavior. He sighed, giving up. Perhaps the potion was a failure after all. He wearily turned his attention back to Alfred, having thought his plan had failed.
-o-
Several hours later the meeting was drawn to a close and countless nations began filtering out of the room. Arthur attempted to hide his disappointment as he gathered all his notes. Although he was glad the potion hadn't caused any major mishaps, he also couldn't help but be rather peeved that it hadn't worked. It could have at least done something. Even if the boy had spontaneously combusted, that would have been at least a little entertaining. Arthur let out a mixture of a sigh and a giggle as he proceeded to leave the room. Much to his annoyance, he was broken out of his thoughts.
"Why so glum Angleterre~?" The obnoxious French accent rang through his head as France draped a lazy arm around Arthur's shoulders, which threatened to go for his waist.
Arthur was in no mood to start squabbling with the man. "Hands off, Frog," he said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. France raised his eyebrow in mild surprise, but said nothing.
"Whoa, 'sup Iggy? No heads rollin' today?" Arthur turned to see America, soda in hand, striding gleefully up to the two.
The Brit fought back a blush as he watched Alfred 'innocently' begin sucking on the straw. "Don't talk to me in such a manner. I raised you better than that."
Alfred just laughed. "Yeah, and you also taught me to eat those nasty-ass scones you make. Three words: No. Fucking. Way."
"Oui, but now you'd rather eat those greasy, sorry excuse for food, hamburgers," Francis interjected slyly.
"Hey! Hamburgers are art on a bun! Don't dis the masterpiece. And…did you just defend England's cooking?"
"Non, I'm simply saying that you inherited more than just his prude/idiotic mindset."
Bother America and England's face turned bright red. Alfred muttered a 'not cool' before Arthur exploded.
"Both of you can go fuck yourselves!" He threw his hands up in a loss for words, and stormed off. The other two watched as England slammed the door to the confrence room. France stifled a laugh and followed the angered Brit. Alfred just watched behind slightly worried eyes, and joined France out the door.
Outside the meeting room, in the lobby, Italy played with the hem of his shirt nervously. The rest of the nations were chatting lightly with each other, all making their own little groups, but Italy only eyed one. Butterflies twisted in his stomach. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He saw the man every day, so why was it different now? The small Italian inevitably found himself staring again. The nation was tall, powerful, unintentionally intimidating, often times cold, and yet somehow…really attractive now.
Italy summoned the small amount of courage he had within him and made his way over to the blond across the room. His legs became heavy, his stride was hesitant and slow, and his hands began to shake. He tapped a broad shoulder, causing the other man to turn around. Italy opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Violet eyes looked down at him expectantly. "Da…?"
Italy launched himself suddenly at Russia, placing a light kiss on his lips. Russia's eyes grew wider as Feliciano's soft lips pressed against his own, but eventually he eased into it. They parted for a brief moment.
Russia looked at him with playful curiosity. "Become one, da?"
Italy nodded his head, blushing. "S-si…" Russia then brought their lips together again, much to the Italian's delight.
The room went dead silent. Every head in the area turned in shock toward the couple, a look of horror on every one of them. Both the quiet and their kiss was broken by a voice.
"Italy…" Feliciano whirled around to face Germany, who's eyes were consumed by hurt. Tension filled the room and all of it's inhabitants held their breath. From across the room, Arthur watched the scene, is jaw practically hitting the floor. One thought continuously ran through his mind: Oh shit.
Well, theres chapter one! Is it worth continuing? Please tell! Hope you enjoyed!