"I. Hate. Summer." Gilbert's voice was flat and it was clear the man was irritated at the world.
Matthew only laughed at his upset looking lover. "Come now, Gil, surely you can enjoy a beach? Alfred gave me the house, I thought it was nice enough to have you with me…" He said, suggestive, and Gilbert whined.
"Canada! I would love to do it if that's what you meant, but I still hate summer!" Prussia grumbled, folding his arms tight. The man was wearing a sweatshirt, which Matthew thought ridiculous, since he was pale and was wearing full clothes with long sleeves and long pants.
"Maybe you could finally get that tan…" Matthew mused on his pale-skinned lover, who was setting out his towel, grumbling about how he was albino, and couldn't tan worth a shit, and I wasn't made for this shit.
"M' not swimming." Prussia said stubbornly, this time completely out loud, meant for Matthew's ears rather than his own salty mutterings, still clearly bitter even in the relaxing summer air.
"Suit yourself." Matthew shrugged, heading out to the water to enjoy himself. Truly- why didn't Gilbert want to have fun? The man was lying down on a towel on the sand, facedown with his head to the side, covered by his hoodie.
Alfred had rather generously offered him his beach house, knowing that Matthew was dating someone but hadn't figured out who yet. Gilbert had immediately disabled the cameras in the place, Matthew being a bit afraid to ask where he had learned to do that.
Either way- Matthew's place didn't have a lot of beach that he could go to and have fun like this at! He figured it was high time to relax, and Gilbert was bound to have his own way to do that, though it seemed to be rather tame for the older man who enjoyed loud and exciting things.
Matthew was a good swimmer- nothing like his brother, who swam like a thing from the ocean, but he was pretty good. He entertained himself by bodysurfing for a long while, before he headed back into the beach, and plopped down with a towel around his shoulder right besides Gilbert, who looked dead to the world.
Matthew laughed quietly, slowly pulling back his hoodie, and patting Gil's white hair gently so as not to disturb him. Gilbert had reflexes, especially in his sleep. He hated being woken up suddenly, often jumping out of sleep with a racing heart and eyes that saw only the past, which Matthew was coming to understand wasn't nearly as nice as his own lovely childhood.
After spending some time with his sleeping lover, Canada got up, and decided to make a sandcastle, not really wanting to disturb Prussia since he finally seemed to relax. That was what this was for, after all, who was he to criticize if Gilbert only wanted to sleep?
Another 30 minutes spent, Matthew realized that this beach vacation was going to be horrifically boring if his lover only slept during it and didn't try and have fun.
So, with that, Matthew lay down, and hummed, looking at his lover's slack face, since he knew that Gilbert often looked rather cute in his sleep, debating whether or not he wanted to try and wake him up.
However, Gilbert… didn't look cute, his brow was furrowed, and he was…panting a bit? The side of his face was turning bright red, looking sunburnt. He had only been in the water for 30 minutes or so, and then spent another 30 building that sandcastle? Was Gilbert having a heatstroke?
Well, it wouldn't come as a surprise, since he was wearing a sweatshirt, and pants. But, he was young? Sort of…well, not really.
Matthew didn't really know what to do other than to pick him up, feeling how limp Prussia was and realizing they were probably in trouble if he wasn't stirring at the manhandling Matthew was giving him. Well, shit.
XXXXX
After carrying him back to the beach house, and undressing him, keeping him in a cold bath, Matthew was calling the hospital, asking for directions on what to do. He didn't have his desktop with him, and so didn't have any access to what the web might say.
"It does sound like heatstroke. Risk factors include age" check, "Humidity…" Check. "Drinking alcohol excessively," DEFINATELY check… "Along with being in urban areas lacking good ventilation, certain health conditions, including a few mental illnesses along with many medications" check, check, check… "And you don't have a thermometer, but you are attempting to cool him down?"
"Ah, yes." Matthew agreed. "We were visiting- I'm from Canada, he's from Germany. My brother offered us the place… I don't have any claim to insurance here, and neither does he, so I wanted advice."
"Well, at some point he needs to see a doctor- if he's unconscious, then he's likely in a critical state. I strongly recommend seeing a medical professional if he doesn't wake up in the next few minutes. Even then, you should see a doctor." The person on the phone sounded very uncomfortable.
"Ugh…" He muttered, upset he was going to have to pull "rank" in order to get Gilbert the help he needed for a vacation. "Fine, I have an access code you need to type in…"
"Sir? What sort of access code would you have?" The operator asked, even as Matthew started listing out his code. "O-oh." The human said, and typed it into the box, before Matthew heard the phone redirecting.
"Hello, Mr. Canada." A new voice was speaking. "We were not aware of your visit to the United States. As it stands, Mr. America-" Matthew cut them off, irritated.
"I am well aware my brother is abroad in Europe at the moment, I was offered this as a personal visit with my friend." He ground out. "Now, I was on the phone with 911 since said friend- a representative from Germany, is unconscious, probably with heatstroke. I hate dealing with you, but I'm manipulating some strings since he needs emergency care. Now get your asses out here before I decide to call my brother and tell him exactly how unhelpful you are." He grumbled, and the person, sufficiently cowed by the nations speech, agreed to send an emergency vehicle tailored to the two nations interests.
He looked at Gilbert, and frowned, figuring he should have been a bit more interested in why Gilbert was upset about being out in the summer sun.
XXXXX
"Hooly shit I've been run over by a car, or blasted by a fucking shell, or something, good lord." Prussia's first words when he came to were slurred and confused. Canada snorted.
"You got heatstroke." He corrected, leveling Gilbert a stare as the man cracked an eye open to look at him.
"I hate summer." He said, instantly. "Fuck." He complained, rubbing his head, likely suffering a headache.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Matthew asked, upset. "I wouldn't have been mad, but now you're in the hospital, lord knows you could have died from that…"
It was unspoken between them that there was no guarantee that he would wake up again, and Prussia's demeanor fell substantially, curling in on himself.
"Matt…"
"Don't "Matt" me!" He cut him off, angered by the soft nickname. "You need to be more careful!" Canada was clearly also upset, and Gilbert looked away, upset.
"I'm sorry." Prussia murmured. "It was stupid- I know I don't handle the heat well, but you looked so excited… I didn't want to be a buzz kill for you."
Matthew softened, remembering that Gilbert was a proud man, who put others needs before his own. This seemed vain, but it was less so when reminded that he literally had died many, many times for the sake of his family and allies, from stories that Gilbert had told him.
Slowly, he pulled Gilbert into a hug.
"Don't scare me like that!" He said, kissing his cheek. "You really frightened me, I worry about you." Matthew ruffled the man's hair. "Why don't you handle heat well?"
Gilbert laughed a bit. "Oh…I was born in the winter- in the snow, really…It's actually funny. I'm immune to General Winter."
Matthew gawked. "What? You see him too?"
"Well, not anymore!" He quickly specified. "But I did a lot growing up. My first name was a name of a Northern Germanic tribe. I do better in cold, a lot better in the cold." He nodded.
"Well, maybe we should do a ski trip rather than a beach vacation…" Matthew suggested, making Gilbert nod excitedly.
"Hell yeah! I'll kick your ass!" He grinned at Matthew as he pulled away, looking entirely overconfident, and Matthew's own competitiveness in the area of Winter Sports showed its ugly head, purple eyes becoming strangely reminiscent of his brother when he was faced with a challenge.
"I'd like to see you try, old man." Gilbert squawked, laughing nervously as that frightening aura filled the room, looking all around before shouting nervously.
"You're scary when you're challenged!"