Author's note- I've changed the title to Sometimes, after the cd that inspired this fic, Sometimes by City and Colour. He's a great song writer and you all should really give him a listen. Chapter 2 Mumbles
He awoke, his nose immediately assaulted by the smell of breakfast being made. Gilbird was flittering about; tweeting even after he had woken up his master. Prussia got up out of his bed grumbling, his gloomy mood carrying over to the morning. He quickly got dressed and made his way downstairs. And he totally did not almost trip on the stairs.
Canada was in front of the stove, quietly humming to himself as he cooked. His bear was curled up at his feet and Prussia was amazed the boy hadn't tripped over it yet. The beast looked up at him as he entered the room. Its eyes stared him before they turned to look at Gilbird. The little bird ignored the bear, still creeped out by it.
"What's for breakfast?"
"Morning to you too. Pancakes and bacon. There's juice and milk in the fridge. Cups are over there." The Canadian didn't turn around as he spoke; keeping his eyes on the food in front of him, only taking the time to point out which cupboard the cups were in.
The Prussian poured himself a drink and sat down. They were soon eating their breakfast, Matthew's completely covered in maple syrup.
"Did you seriously just put syrup on your bacon?" Gilbert stared at the dish in disgust. He could understand the pancakes; he loved them ever since the blonde had given him some syrup in April, but on bacon? Now that was just ruining good meat.
"Yes it's delicious." Matthew's face was completely straight as he took a bite of bacon. Gilbert just shook his head, not understanding the kid.
"Don't knock it 'til you try it."
"And ruin my awesome taste buds? I'm good." The blonde shrugged and returned to eating, passing Kumajirou a piece of bacon. Gilbird was pecking at some bird seed Prussia had brought with him.
"What are we doing today? Every place I've gone to already had stuff planned out for me." The last sentence came out through gritted teeth, obvious annoyance showing through. "Well, except for you brother of course," he added on as an afterthought.
"I'd thought I'd take you into town to see the Leg today. You know, get all the government stuff out of the way as soon as possible. The Premier will meet with you instead of the Prime Minister if that's okay." Matthew gathered up his and his guest's plates before cleaning them off and throwing them in the dish washer.
"Whatever."
It was about a 45 minute drive into the city and they were almost there. Gilbert had been staring out of the window the whole time and ignoring the Canadian. They reached the outskirts and passed the city sign.
"'The City of Champions', really?" The albino snorted. "I thought it was your brother's job to be conceited."
"Shut up eh!" A faint blush crept its way onto Matthew's skin. "They earned the nickname back in the eighties when they were cleaning the board in hockey and football. Nowadays people also say it reflects the volunteer ethic of the city too."
"Whatever. This place still isn't as awesome as my cities used to be."
"Now who's being conceited?" Matthew smirked.
"Shut the hell up kid. I have more of a right to be than you. I've been around longer."
The blonde mumbled something that sounded like, "That's what you think," but Gilbert wasn't sure. It wouldn't have made sense for the kid to say something like that anyways. Prussia was by far his senior.
"Did ya say something?"
"Nothing." The blonde's eyes stayed on the road, "I apologize if I offended you in some way."
Prussia grunted in response.
The pair soon found themselves on the Legislative grounds. Matthew parked in a reserved spot on the side of the building and took Gilbert to the main entrance.
The building had an old look to it; columns lined the main doorway which faced out into a large outdoors area. The top of the building had a domed structure with a small spire jutting out into the sky. A large, shallow pool was in front of the building, behind it a second pool with a fountain at its center. The grounds then lead to another government building. The area behind the Legislature was an expanse of green, leading to the river valley below.
Canada led Prussia inside. "I'll give you a tour first, then we'll meet with the Albertan Premier."
Prussia nodded. Matthew first showed him a routine tour for tourists, then began to lead him to more strictly business parts of the building. "This is just a storage room, it mostly keeps old effects and pictures."
Gilbert looked around, even though this was just a storage room, there was so much character to it. You could tell what was older or newer by how thick the layer of dust covering it was. In the back there was a giant picture mounted on the wall.
It was old, grainy, and in black and white. It was full of men in ties and business suits, the only exception being a young girl standing in front of them all. Her posture was of someone who was meek and quiet, yet her eyes looked up with a challenge. He dress was long and wide, signs of dirt already smeared on it. "Who's that?" Prussia thought that the girl looked familiar, though he couldn't quite place from where.
"One of my Provinces, Alberta. That's from the day her and her twin, Saskatchewan, were made the 8th and 9th provinces. You've met her once before, at one of the World Conferences before their official creation. I brought both of them with me." Canada's voice grew quiet, his eyes slightly loosing focus as he remembered the past. "They hadn't received their titles as provinces yet, but they truly represented that land. Alberta collapsed at that meeting."
Prussia remembered now. They two then soon-to-be-provinces had looked around five, and Alberta had been the bolder of the two, speaking up and introducing herself before her father even got the chance. She made sure everyone knew she wasn't a push over. That is, until she collapsed. Everyone had a little scare then, if it wasn't for the fact that you were someone who actually cared about Canada, it was because you saw Matthew in his "protective father mode".
He turned away from the picture, towards the blonde. "What does she look like now?"
The reply received was not vocal, Canada simply picked up a photo album, opening it to one of its many pages. "Here, this is a recent picture of her and Saskatchewan."
Prussia took the album from the man, turning it around so that he could look at it properly. There were two girls in the picture, one obviously taller than the other. The taller one, whom Gilbert assumed to be Alberta (due to the resemblance from the previous photo) had her arm wrapped around the other's shoulders. Her long black hair reached down to her lower-back, long bangs partly obscuring her right eye. She wore a long sleeved, plaid, button-up top with dark skinny jeans with the cuffs hidden underneath tan cowboy boots. On top of her head balanced a tan cowboy hat that was partially falling off. A rosy flush was underneath of her violet eyes, the obvious cause given away by the beer bottle gripped within her hand.
The shorter sister looked totally different from the other. Dirty blonde hair was wrapped into two braids that came down on each side of her head. Ruffled bangs that reached her eyebrows peaked out from underneath a straw hat. She wore blue jean overalls with a light yellow shirt layered below it. She wore tan cowboy boots like her sister. She, like the other, had her father's violet eyes. Her face was in a scowl, opposing her sister's cocky grin. A beer can was in her hand, evidence of heavy drinking also on her face.
"...These two are supposed to be fucking twins?" Prussia rolled his eyes.
"They're fraternal twins, eh." Matthew returned the album back to its place on the bookshelf. "Now, shall we go meet the Premier?"
The meeting had been of normal fashion. Men in suits not caring, but slightly fascinated by him. Of course, if he were a real "country" their attitude towards him would've been different. Though, it was the warmest reception Gilbert had received in a long time. The best was when he'd met some First Nation Chiefs.
He was amazed that the Chiefs were actually granted knowledge of the Nation-peoples existence. When he asked Canada about it, the blonde explained that it was a condition of the all of the Numbered Treaties; even tribes not part of those Treaties received this right, that the Band Chiefs and Elders were allowed to know of the existence of the Nation-humans. Before the Europeans came it was knowledge always granted to Chiefs and Elders when they advanced into those positions and was to this day a continued tradition.
The reception he received from them still surprised him. They had asked him questions about his past, seeming truly interested in what he had to say. And they didn't ask about Germany or even East Germany, only of his time spent as Prussia. Gilbert honestly found their actions a little strange and asked Canada about them.
Matthew turned to him, looking Gilbert right in the eye. "They acted like that because they respect you. To them, you'd be the equivalent of an elder, a person wise in their old age, even if that age forced them to retire from their position in life. That's why they asked you about Prussia, because that's where most of your personal experiences have come from. To them you're an invaluable source of knowledge and wisdom, not merely a has-been Nation."
Prussia was speechless. He didn't even receive respect like that back in Germany. He sure as hell never expected to come from a place like Canada.
The Canadian smiled sheepishly at the Prussian's response, or lack thereof. "Well, let's get going eh. You want something from Timmie's? I'm going to make a stop along the way."
Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your full undivided attention? There is a Hell, believe me I've seen it. Crucify Me by Bring Me The Horizon
There is something you all really need to know.
There is a Heaven, let's keep it a secret.
Well, this is alittle shorter than the last chapter. Expect the lenghts to go up and down, I stop them where I feel nessisary.
Reviews are love!
