"Mr. Lithuania, Mr. Poland!" little Latvia called out, running towards the two nations and interrupting their conversation about how to go about trading their crops this year. Trailing not so far behind was Estonia, who was wearing an urgent expression that matched Latvia's.
"What is it? Did something happen?" Lithuania asked, looking concerned. Poland, on the other hand, simply munched on an apple he was holding, indifferent as usual.
"Estonia told me that he was going to tell Finland to not get any Christmas presents this year!" Latvia whined, a pout on his face. "He said that I don't deserve them and called me destructive and useless."
"That's because you are!" Estonia exclaimed. "You can't be left alone for two seconds without ruining something. Why can't you just stay away from my things?"
Lithuania put his hands up to silence the two nations. "Okay, what is going on between you two?"
"That kid is a nuisance!" Estonia exclaimed, pointing at the younger nation. "He may act all cute and innocent, but he's sneakier than he looks! He borrowed my favorite book without asking and spilled grape jam all over it!" Estonia ranted, pulling out said book and opening it up to the page that was covered in the purple, sticky substance.
Lithuania sighed. It wasn't even noon yet and he felt the strong urge to have a nice glass of vodka. "Latvia, is that true? Did you do this?"
"It was an accident," Latvia defended, putting on a wide-eyed, innocent expression. "And I apologized right afterwards, but Estonia got really mean and started yelling at me!" Latvia sniffled, trying to appear as much the victim as possible.
"You ruined my favorite book; of course I was mad!" Estonia shot back. "At least I don't go behind your back and get into your things."
"Alright, both of you need to calm down!" yelled Lithuania over his charges. After they both fell silent, Lithuania turned toward the younger of the two.
"Latvia," he started, "Even if you didn't mean to ruin Estonia's book, you shouldn't have taken it without asking in the first place. You would be upset if he did that to you."
"I would have asked, but Estonia was out having a sword fighting lesson with you, and I didn't have anything to do," Latvia explained. "And even if I did, I knew he still would have said no."
"Gee, I wonder why," Estonia muttered under his breath. Lithuania then decided to turn his attention onto the bespectacled nation.
"And you, Estonia," he started. "I understand that you were frustrated by what Latvia did, but you still shouldn't have yelled at him, or threatened him." Lithuania said, gesturing toward Latvia.
"My point is, you're older than he is, and you should be the responsible one. Right, Poland?" Lithuania turned towards the blond nation who had been silent this whole time.
"What?" Poland asked, still munching on his apple. At the expectant look his partner was giving him, he waved his hand in the air dismissively.
"Yeah, totally. Do what Liet said." And then just like that, he went back to staring into space and ignoring the scene in front of him. His Lithuanian partner rolled his eyes.
"But he's the one that started it!" Estonia protested. The two younger nations began to bicker back and forth yet again. Lithuania felt a migraine start to come on.
"Alright, both of you, to your room! Since you two are being completely unreasonable, I need some time alone with Poland to decide what is the best way to handle this."
Both nations looked like they were about to protest, until Lithuania shot them a warning glare, and they both agreed it was best to do as he said.
Once they were alone, Lithuania let out an exasperated sigh and turned to his blond partner. "What are we going to do about those two? I wish they could learn to fix their own problems." He started massaging his temples with his index fingers. Poland finally faced Lithuania and shrugged his shoulders, causing the brunet to roll his eyes.
"Oh yeah, thanks, that's super helpful Poland. Just like you were a few minutes ago when they were screaming their heads off at each other."
Now it was Poland's turn to roll his eyes. "Aren't you being just a little dramatic, Liet? Besides, I totally backed you up."
"Simply saying 'Do what Liet says' is hardly the same as backing me up, or helping in any way whatsoever." Lithuania retorted.
"But seriously, what do you think we should do about them?" the brunet asked again. Poland took one last bite of his apple before throwing it into the garbage.
"They'll probably resolve it on their own eventually, you know how those two are. And if not, I guess you do whatever you're supposed to do with kids when they get on your nerves. Maybe send them both to bed without dinner, or give them extra chores or something. Ooh! I could totally use a model for this cute new top I'm planning to make-"
"No Poland, you're not going to use Estonia and Latvia's argument as a way to benefit yourself. It's unethical." Lithuania sighed. "Besides, it's not like either of them would learn anything from that anyway."
Poland looked deep in thought for a few minutes, until his eyes widened and he looked up at Lithuania.
"Liet! I just got the perfect idea! You're going to love it."
Lithuania looked over at the blond with a curious expression. "What is it, Poland?"
All of a sudden, Poland's expression turned super sneaky, and he motioned for Lithuania to come closer, as if there were other people in the room and he didn't want them to overhear. Lithuania rolled his eyes at his partner's antics, but moved closer regardless. As Poland whispered his idea into Lithuania's ear, the brunet's eyes grew wider and wider.
"I don't know about that, Poland. It's certainly a...creative idea, I suppose, but don't you think it's kind of mean?"
"Hey, you're the one who wants to teach them to get along better," Poland retorted. "I'm just offering a suggestion."
"Well," Lithuania began. "Maybe we should go check on them to see what they're doing, and then go from there."
As Estonia and Latvia were waiting in their shared bedroom for Lithuania to come get them, Latvia paced back and forth across the floor.
"Do you think we're in trouble?" he asked nervously.
"Yeah, probably," Estonia responded back, sitting on his bed. "This is all your fault, you know. If you would have just kept your grubby little hands to yourself, or at least had the common sense to not eat while you were ransacking my things, none of this would have happened."
"Hey, this isn't all my fault!" Latvia defended. "You were the one who yelled at me and threatened to tell Finland to take away my Christmas presents!"
"You still just think that was a threat, do you?" Estonia smirked. "Me and Finland go way back. During our next visit, I could tell him exactly what you did, and you won't find a single present under the tree. You know about the Christmas tree, right? The tradition I started?"
"I invented the Christmas tree! It was totally my idea first, and then you stole it!" Latvia shot back.
"No Latvia, I came up with the idea, and you just claimed it for yourself because you're insecure. And did you really just use the word 'totally'? I think you've been spending too much time with Poland."
"Shut up!" exclaimed Latvia, his cheeks burning red. "I invented the Christmas tree, I'm not insecure, and you're a terrible, mean older brother and I wish you would just go away!"
"Yeah? Well you're just a big baby who cries at the drop of a hat, and lies to make yourself feel better!"
And that's when Latvia screamed and lunged himself at Estonia in rage.
"Alright, Poland," Lithuania began, hand poised to knock on the bedroom door. "Hopefully those two have settled down by now and we can all have a calm, rational conversation and put this all behind us. I know they can get carried away sometimes, but they really are good kids."
Just as his knuckles met the wooden door, the elder nations heard loud yelling and things being thrown around. Both turned towards each other with a worried expression.
"Are you sure about that?" Poland asked.
Lithuania sighed and started to turn the door knob. "Let's just get this over with." As he slowly started to open the door, mentally preparing himself to what Estonia and Latvia could've possibly gotten themselves into, he found that what he saw was worse than anything he could have imagined.
Inside the room, various books, knick knacks, and other belongings were scattered across the floor, and even the small table in the room had been knocked over. Estonia was sitting on top of Latvia, who was yelling at him to get off. When Estonia refused to move, Latvia actually started biting the older nation's arm.
"Ow! Goddammit, Latvia, let go of my arm! You're going to make it bleed."
Latvia only let go long enough to offer a retort. "I'll stop when you get off me! Ugh, you're crushing my spine!"
Both nations stopped in their tracks when they saw their two guardians enter the room, both wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Estonia and Latvia quickly got up from their respective positions, knowing they were caught red-handed.
All four nations stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before Latvia finally got up the courage to speak.
"Umm...we were framed?" he offered weakly, putting on a sheepish smile.
"Poland," Lithuania started, not taking his eyes off of his two charges. "Would you be a dear and go find me an extra large shirt and some scissors?"
"Ow, quit poking me with your elbow!" Estonia complained.
"Well, maybe if you weren't so big and in the way all the time, I wouldn't!" Latvia retorted.
"Boys," warned Lithuania. "What did I tell you about insulting each other?"
"Sorry," they both mumbled, unaware of the consequences their childish actions had just brought about.
It was now dinnertime, and Estonia and Latvia were trying to eat their meal. However, they were finding this rather difficult due to the shirt that was draped around them both, forcing them to sit closer together than either found to be comfortable. It was something Poland dubbed their "Get Along Shirt." Estonia and Latvia continued to glumly eat their dinners, trying their best to avoid each other's arms and elbows while they moved around to get more comfortable.
Meanwhile, Poland was having a hard time holding back his laughter at their "punishment."
"It's just for the rest of the day," reassured Lithuania, who noticed the frustrated looks on their faces. "And we wouldn't have to do this if you two would have just behaved yourselves and talked out your problems like mature, rational people."
Unable to control himself any longer, Poland burst out laughing. "Oh my God, you should see yourselves! You two look ridiculous with that thing on!" Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia all turned towards the blond nation and gave him a death glare.
"What?" asked Poland. "Was it something I said?"
So...yeah. I wasn't expecting this chapter to go in this direction at all, but here we are. I know the "Get Along Shirt" meme has been around for quite awhile now, but I recently came across it again and thought it would be a perfect idea for a fic.
In case anyone is wondering what the whole "Christmas tree" argument was about, Estonia and Latvia have an ongoing feud about who first started the tradition of decorating Christmas trees.
Anyway, thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions or specific characters you want to see next, let me know!