A millipede crawled on my pillow last night :C. My squeeling woke my brother up, so he killed it from underneath a cookbook I had smashed upon it. I guess staying up until 2:00 A.M. is good if you're worried about insects. Anyways, second chapter! There isn't any millipedes, thank goodness.

...

Cringing at the humiliating memory, you scrambled out of your bed, hair in shambles. You walked to your kitchen and started brewing a cup of your favorite herbal tea. Scanning your cabinet for one of your favorite coffee cups, you noticed how much it differed from your other friends' surroundings. Ah, now that was a different experience.

Turkey/Greece: Rugs

After thanking Japan for a lovely day, you boarded a plane to the next closest stop: Patra, Greece. Heracles had sent you pictures of the beautiful blue-green Mediterranean sea and the white houses along the shore. You envied the sleep country for having such spectacular views.

A crack of static in the overhead speaker disrupted your daydreaming.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience, but due to weather, we are docking at Esenboga International Airport. Again, we apologize for the delay."

Muffled grumbles and complaints came from the passengers. Turning your head, you peered out the window. Sure enough, dark clouds were brewing close by. It was a relief that the pilot wasn't going to try to navigate through the storm, but that would also rupture your carefully planned schedule. And…where exactly was the Esenboga airport?

You tapped a suit clad man next to you.

"Um, excuse me, where are we?"

He looked you over and scoffed.

"You're obviously not from around here," he said in a heavy accent.

"We're in Ankara, capital of Turkey."

You felt the blood drain from your face. Ugh, anywhere but Turkey. Even France would be better!...okay, maybe not.

You arrived at the airport, feeling lost. Where would you stay? How would you communicate with anyone without a companion? You weren't really fluent in Turkish.

Standing amidst the crowd, you pulled out your cell phone and sent an apologetic text to Greece. You were guessing he would not be happy with your location.

Trapped alone in a foreign city, you decided to head out and find a bank. They wouldn't accept your currency or yen. As soon as you stepped outside the door, a heavy rain shower poured down on you.

You squeaked and stumbled backwards, falling onto a man exiting the door. He cursed in a different language and shoved past you. People took shelter in surrounding buildings, not wanting to get pounded by torrential rain. Sighing, you decided to wait the downpour out and ran to the nearest building.

Heaving the door open, heads yet again turned toward you. You coughed and sidestepped. Were you really that interesting of a sight?

An aroma of bread filled your nostrils. You must've wandered into a bakery. Your eyes trailed to the shelves. Fat, golden loaves were just sitting there, begging to be eaten. Your stomach rumbled. Curses, you didn't eat at Japan's place, not wanting to further embarrass yourself. All you had was that bag of nuts on the plane. Your clutched your stomach and glowered longingly at the shelves.

"Yo? (name)?"

What were the chances? You slowly turned around to face a tan, masked man munching on a sweet roll.

"What are 'ya doing here in Ankara?"

You scowled.

"You even wear that stupid mask inside?"

"It isn't stupid. You're just jealous."

You opened your mouth to object, but were stopped by the delicious looking glazed roll…He took notice of this and smiled.

"Hungry, are we? Don't suppose you have an liras with you?"

You didn't want to ask anyone for money, especially Turkey. But you were so hungry…

You dropped your eyes to the floor.

"Could…I have a few dollars? Just for some food? All I have is yen."

Turkey fished out a few bills from his pocket and held it out. You reached for them, but he pulled away, shaking his head.

"I'll buy you some food, but you have to sit down and tell me why you're here. I don't want any unplanned invasions."

You crossed your arms.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to invade you…now."

...

"So your flight was delayed from Greece and you landed here?"

You nodded, wiping crumbs from your mouth.

"And you're stuck here, without any legitimate money and a place to stay?"

Rolling your eyes, you nodded again. He cocked an eyebrow.

"That's too bad."

You got up and inspected the window.

"Looks like the rain's let up. I'm going to the bank and then getting a hotel. Bye, I guess."

You pushed the door open.

"Wait," a hand grabbed your shoulder.

"A single woman with, I'm guess, not very much money, in a lower hotel in Ankara? I advise against it."

You shrugged and stepped outside.

"I don't have much of a choice,"

"Er, you can stay at my place!" Turkey yelled, shoving a woman aside to catch up to you.

You paused. Turkey was certainly a country you weren't on the greatest terms with, and you found him somewhat annoying, He looked at you, you swore you could see hopefulness behind his mask. If he didn't have the accessory, he'd look like a desperate little puppy.

"Ugh, alright."

Turkey beamed. Greece was going to kill you.

...

Turkey guided you to his car, storing your bag inside. You still weren't sure why he insisted on you staying with him. As far as you knew, you two were close to enemy relations…he opened the side door.

"Hold on," you said.

"I want to look around the city, while I'm stuck here."

He closed the door.

"Wow, 'ya make it sound like you don't enjoy being in the best capital in the world!"

You smirked.

"Opinion. My capital's better."

"Oh?" A challenge gleamed in his eye.

"Does your capital have the biggest park in all of Europe? Or have a breed of cat and rabbit hailing from it?"

"No, but-" you were interrupted by a loud crack of thunder.

You squeezed your arms together and inched closer to Turkey.

"Um, do you have any indoor attractions?"

He smiled.

"Sure! How about the State Art and Sculpture Museum?"

You could feel a genuine grin growing on your face, much to your dismay. Casually brushing it off, you coughed.

"That sounds reasonable enough."

Turkey scoffed and motioned for you to get in the car.

"But let me tell you about the museums in my country."

...

Turkey took you to the historic art museum, old myriad shops, (where you managed to prod buying a rug out of him) and Byzantine sites. You two had pleasant, if not a bit fierce, conversations. Walking straight out of a bistro, you both ducked under a canopy above a bench to avoid the light drizzle. You leaned against a railing, staring at the city's imposing buildings.

The unavoided crept into your mind. You were beginning to wonder why you disliked Turkey in the first place. He wasn't unfriendly or distant. He did seem like your complementary type…Was it because your friendship with Greece? Maybe you just were intimidated by him.

Turkey walked up beside you, the dark eyeholes gazing out. You decided to blame your aversion on that stupid mask.

He turned his head.

"Something up?"

You grimaced.

That mask. It kept you from seeing his eyes. For some reason, you had to see his eyes now, not just stare into empty holes. Had you ever even seen his eyes?

His mouth twitched uncomfortably. You couldn't stand it anymore! You reached up closer to his face and threw the mask off. His eyes widened in surprise. Ah, his eyes.

They were a honey-gold color, perfectly coordinating with his skin. It reminded you of a sunset. Or perhaps a freshly baked apple pie…ugh, dang Turkey and his obsession with sweets!

He blinked, speechless. You could see he was trying to figure out what you were thinking, or if you might attempt to punch him. You weren't sure of what you were thinking. His eyes, you were lost in them. It ticked you off because you were lost in TURKEY'S eyes.

Both of you stared at each other, unsure what to say. You parted your mouth, but something furry brushing against your leg stopped you. An orange cat was purring happily against you. Resisting the urge to yell out, "AWW!", you looked around. Cats in Turkey?

"What? A cat? Oh bloke!"

A green eyed figure stepped into view. Your mouth fell open.

"G-Greece? How-"

He stared at Turkey, not meeting your eyes.

"What are you doing with him, (name)?"

Turkey glared back.

"She's having fun, that's what!"

"She was supposed to be with me."

"Well, too bad! She'd rather be with me, wouldn't you (name)?"

"Uh, uh-" you stammered.

"No, we'd specifically planned our meeting. I'm actually her friend."

Greece's usually calm voice had an edge to it.

"Oh yeah, Jerk-ules? You're old news! I'm (name)'s new friend!"

"I'm sure she'd rather be enjoying my breathtaking vista than moping around in your dried-up goat cities."

"Hey, those goats made me more money than you'll ever dream about!"

The two argued and flung threats at each other. You thought that after some years their rivalry would simmer down. Kneeling beside the cat, you softly petted its fur. Before you were two handsome, tan men fighting over, well, what appeared to be you, yet you weren't one bit amused. If anything, you were a bit angry. Couldn't they get along for one day, if they cared about you? Their voices started to ring in your ears. You had put up with enough.

"Stop!"

They looked at you, shutting their mouths.

"Look, we're all here now, and," you pointed at the sky.

"It's late. Let's just go back to Turkey's place. We're all tired. We can talk about this tomorrow."

Greece narrowed his eyes at the desert nation, but curtly nodded. Turkey smiled triumphantly and started down the street. Greece stepped closer to Turkey, out of your earshot.

"Only because (name)'s with you," he hissed in his ear.

Turkey scowled, glancing back at you. You were walking down the street, your arms crossed tightly around his mask, your lip slightly sticking out in frustration.

Damn, he thought, why does she have to be so stubbornly cute?

...

Turkey's house was not prepared for visitors when you arrived. You settled for the sofa. Anywhere looked reasonable considering how tired you were. At least it was a nice sofa. Greece slept on a couch in a separate room. You figured he could fall asleep anyplace with ease.

You picked out a magazine and looked at some of the photographs of other Turkish cities. Soon the ever slightly photo shopped images bored you. After staring at the designed ceiling and thinking about how you were going to work out this whole dispute, you finally drifted off to sleep.

Your dreams were visions of desert civilizations and a certain masked man. Some of it, though, was not a dream. Blood in the sand, your blood. The old Ottoman empire, your friends' mothers, a dreaded war…

You jolted awake. Turkey's snores escaped from the bedroom. You reached up and touched your eyes. Wetness filled the bottoms. You pulled a woven blanket closer to you. Turkey wasn't that empire anymore, he was different. He talked about how he wanted to work on his relationships with Europe, to forge alliances, to rekindle your relations…

You notice a figure sitting and leaning against the bottom of the couch. Squinting, you tried to make him out.

"Greece?"

He turned sleepily to you, his green eyes illuminated by the dim nightlight.

"(Name), were you having a nightmare?" he spoke in his soothing manner.

"Er," you sat up, giving him a seat next to you.

"Sort of."

He stared at you expressionlessly.

"I'm fine. Nightmares don't scare me."

You locked onto his gaze.

"I'm surprise you are still awake."

"This place isn't welcoming. People's eyes prod me."

You laughed flatly.

"I get that wherever I go."

To your surprise, he leaned against your shoulder, his eyelids drooping. Your heart started to beat ever faster as he loosely wrapped his arms around you. You could hear his light breathing. It was a bit weird, considering you were the pillow, and smaller than him. He had a relaxing atmosphere, which had its effect on you.

"(Name)," he hummed.

"Mmm?"

"You're always welcomed in Greece."

You smiled and rested your head on his. Scratch that, Turkey was going to kill you.