Quick shout out to all my lovely ongoing readers! You guys get a virtual cookie! Any reviews/favs really help ^^.
I have a busy week upcoming, but I'll try to squeeze in some updates.
Enjoy~
…
Day 1: Cooking
"Did you see this memo?"
"Hmm?" you said, coming out of the bathroom.
Romano slapped it on the bed. Must be bad if he was acting this temperamental already. You picked it up, your eyes skimming the page.
"Oh no she didn't."
She did. Belgium had organized a week's worth of cooperative events. With your assigned roommate. You now swore she was tormenting every country on purpose. Not only after three hours' worth of early morning arguments were you going to have to get out and collaborate with the same people.
"Where are the events listed?" you asked. Perhaps it would be simple things, like shopping for chocolate. You could put up with that.
Romano sneered.
"That's the thing. It's a dumb surprise that will be announced directly after each meeting. Now there's a reason to go to those stupid conferences."
You sighed and sat next to him on the bed.
"We're all in this together."
"That's the problem."
You observed his face. He wasn't yelling and punching the walls; that was a good sign. You felt a little bad; Romano didn't come to every meeting. As his brother had told you, he felt unimportant, only representing half of a country. He also didn't get along so easily with the other nations.
You smoothed your uniform. You'd be with him, you would try to be optimistic, even though you hated the situation as much as him.
"Well, let's not be late."
…
At the meeting, less pleasantries than usual had been exchanged. Romano put out a "stay away or I'll strangle you" vibe that tended to put people off. You spotted Hungary who was, of course, with Austria. It wasn't fair that she got paired with who she wanted!
You found your seat at the long wooden conference table. Belgium had taken the liberty to place everyone next to their partner. It seemed you couldn't get away from them.
"Hola, amigos!" a cheerful voice rang out.
You glanced at the name plate next to yours. Oh no. Romano clenched his fists. The tan nation ran up to you, smiling as carefree as ever.
"(name), Roma. How nice we're sitting together! I usually don't get to sit next to my little tomate!"
He reached out his hand to pet Romano's head.
"Uh, so, Spain, who's your partner?" you interjected.
He squinted his green eyes.
"Hmm, where did he wander off to…"
"Salut!"
You paled.
"Ah, forgive me Antonio, I was conversing with our friend Prussia."
The blonde's expression morphed when he saw you.
"Mon petit."
He kissed you hand, lingering longer than necessary.
"You are Monsieur Romano's partner?"
He scratched his stubble, looking from Spain to you.
"Maybe we could switch partners. You room together, non?"
Romano's face became redder and redder. When you were sure he was going to explode, Belgium called out to start the meeting. You took your seat, maintaining a positive atmosphere that you hoped rubbed off on the Italian. On normal circumstances, you would've made it quite clear to the two nations on the other side of you that this was professional.
The summit droned on, economy downfalls, governments problems, pollution issues, you were all too familiar with it. You desperately tried to pay attention, but you could see Romano constantly fidgeting and glancing at you. Not only that, but France switched seats with Spain so that he was right by you. You scooted uncomfortably closer to Romano whenever you felt his hand inching closer to your thigh.
When you were sure the meeting was about to end, you gathered up all your papers, eagerly waiting.
"Now, before I adjourn this meeting," Belgium said.
You slumped back in the chair.
"I'm sure you all got my memo."
There was an assortment of groans.
"After each meeting, to keep the suspense, I'll reveal the partner event. And yes, each of you are expected to attend.
"I promise it will be fun and worthwhile. Who knows what we can all gain from this experience? So, today's challenge is…"
You cocked an eyebrow. Challenge?
"Cooking!"
There was mixed responses.
"Each of you will prepare a dish from one of your countries. You will gather ingredients at a shop of your choice, then go to a public kitchen that I've texted you the address to. At eight P.M. tonight you will bring your dish back for a taste test. There will be first, second, and third prizes!"
You crossed your arms, contemplating this whole deal. Romano was a pretty good cook. You glanced to your right. But there were the master chefs France and Spain, not to mention some others like China and Turkey. You saw some movement from across the table and smirked. There was England…
Romano elbowed you.
"Hey, let's cook from Italy. I, um, don't know much about preparing your cuisine."
You smiled, knowing he flat out refused any foreign foods. This was a polite request from him.
"Agreed. We'll get a head start to the store if we leave now."
…
You made your way to a quaint Belgian corner store. Romano ignored anything else and headed straight toward the international section. Luckily, the Italian section was one of the largest.
You tapped your foot, idly looking over shelves. Romano's arms were full of sauces, seasonings, now searching for the most important part: the pasta. You wished there was more you could do, but you didn't want to interrupt him. The dish was from one country, so it should be shopped for by one country. You would help with the preparation.
Your eyes trailed to the German section. There was several colored packages. Sausages, fizzy water, and…your eyes widened. Chocolate covered caramel wafers? You bent down. Oh, yum.
You felt hands on your shoulders, then was forcefully turned around.
"You are not eating potato bastard food," he said lowly.
You sighed, again facing the shelves of pasta. There wasn't any chocolate covered caramel wafers here. Romano browsed on, sneering at some of the ingredients. Your eyes wandered aimlessly around, then a devilish smile grew on your face.
"Man, I need some sweet Italian buns right now."
Romano's mouth dropped open.
"W-what?"
You angled you head away, responding with a vague:
"Mmhmm."
His amber eyes were now as wide as pancakes. You grabbed the bag of rolls off the shelf and pointed to the label.
"Sweet Italian buns."
You smiled sweetly. Romano pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Augh, y-you bastard."
"What?"
"Nothing."
…
When you arrived at the public kitchen, a few pairs of nations were already at their stations. You started to unload the bags of ingredients while Romano was prepping the utensils. Your eyes lingered on the competition.
"Shoot, I forgot about your brother. What if he's making the same dish as us?"
Romano washed off the fresh produce.
"Cheh, they're probably cooking something from Japan. And in this timeframe, they'll barely get to presenting it."
You threw away the sacks, clearing off the counter space. Romano was already chopping away. He had managed to sneakily slip on a girly apron without you seeing. You ignored and stepped beside him, peering over his shoulder.
"What do you want me to do?"
He was intently focusing on the onions.
"Nothing."
When you didn't budge, he looked toward your serious expression.
"Um, why don't you go drain the zucchini. Outside, it can make a hell of a mess."
"Okay!" you responded happily, stuffing your arms full of the green squash.
You stopped outside on the back steps, examining the vegetable. Beads of water dripped down its side. Now what to do.
You smacked your head. Of course! You forgot to get the grater! Water wouldn't just magically drain out of it. You laid out the zucchini on a paper towel you had brought and swung open the door.
Taking a step towards your section, you paused. Was that Thailand with Romano? He was a pretty good chef as well. You strained to hear the Asian country.
"Yeah, Egypt isn't a help at all. Who's your partner?"
Yes, Romano was actually talking to him, without sounding fully irritated.
"(name)," he replied, placing a pot on the stove.
"Oh. Where is she?"
"Cheh, I sent her to drain the zucchini. I don't want her to ruin my cooking."
They both laughed at this.
"Oh yeah, that's right. What did she do that one time…?"
Romano jutted out his hip, attempting to mimic you.
"I'm (name) and my cooking's the best! No one will notice if I dropped these eggs on the floor and burnt them, that adds to the flavor! Heehee!"
He preceded to hit his head with a spice canister. You could hear Thailand's laughter as you stomped back outside.
Ruin his cooking? You kicked a zucchini. You could make his cooking ten times better! Him and his fancy fresh seasonings. Well, you liked those German chocolate wafers better than any of that! Maybe your cooking wasn't the best, but you didn't degrade anyone like that.
You kicked another zucchini and slumped down on the steps. This whole partner thing was stupid. Why were even being nice if he wouldn't do the same? You offered to help, at least you could say that.
…
"Hey, what took you so long?"
You ignored him and walked to the refrigerator. He cleared his throat.
"Uh, all that's left is the zucchini fritters."
He looked at you expectantly. You stared blankly back.
"Where's the zucchini?"
You shrugged.
"I lost it."
"Chigi! How do you lose that? It was the main ingredient!"
He began frantically looking around for replacements, cursing in Italian.
"I can't even let you do a simple task!"
You clenched your fists.
"Well, I won't ruin your cooking further."
You stomped away, not looking back. If he could manage without his precious zucchini, he could manage without you.
…
You lounged on your hotel bed, angrily munching on your Belgian chocolates. You were going to try to have the candy last the whole week, but you weren't going to last that long. Maybe you could be like Romano and skip the meetings. Ugh, Romano.
At first, you had only been upset about the kitchen incident, but as you wallowed around in your hotel room, it had only led to more issues. It was this entire situation that got you fired up, and the worst part was you were being perfectly calm and polite about it. The whole idea was about working together and dual effort, yet you hadn't noticed your partner focusing on any of that.
There was knocking on the door. You pretended it was for another room.
"(name)? Please let me in."
For a second, you thought you were going to leave him out in the hallway, but since he asked so nicely. You tiptoed to the door, then ran back to your bed.
"It's unlocked," you called.
You reached in your pocket for a Belgian chocolate to numb your anger, but, sadly, realized they were all gone. Romano cautiously walking in the doorway, a large basket in hands. You resisted the curiosity and looked away. What fine wallpaper.
"We beat the two bad touch idiots; first place."
He sat on the opposite bed. You turned your back to him.
"Belgium said we won because of the coconut fritters I substituted."
"Hmm."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"Dammit (name), talk to me!"
You turned, an icy glare on your face.
"What do you want me to say, Romano? You were the person who won."
The melting gaze in his amber eyes made your heart sink, but you remained firm.
"I-I'm sorry, alright? It was just, I actually did want to win this, and-"
"Excuses, excuses."
He let out a long sigh.
"Okay. Fine. What I said was mean a-and I was a total douchebag. But I really do like your cooking. If anything, I was just embarrassed. A lot of people find guys cooking…sissy."
He looked down at his feet. You smirked.
"That apron was pretty girly."
He scowled, but couldn't repress a slight smile.
"So you forgive me?"
"If you give me the Belgian chocolates."
"Deal."
He threw you the golden wrapped box from the basket. You gave him an extra sweet smile, causing him to glare and turn away. Little did you know, Romano and your relationship would change completely. All because a box of Belgian chocolates.
…