I settled on my antagonist. The British may not be surprised.
Understanding Part 2.
It was still early when Britain left the hotel room, the harsh white light of the winters morn flooding through the windows, the air having a definite chill to it. It was still too early for him to go to Downing Street, but he wanted to have a talk with Hungary before he went – she had seemed a little off last night, at least in his opinion, and he wanted to make sure nothing was wrong, especially after she had been so kind to him previously. However, he didn't know her room number, so would have to ask at the front desk. Damn, what name would she be using? The question was rendered mute when he found her already in the lobby, dressed up in her coat and scarf like she was about to head out.
"Good morning, Hungary!" Britain called to get her attention before she walked out the door.
She twitched in surprise, as if caught in the act, and as she turned to him he saw immediately that she had been crying. The two said nothing as Britain approached, gently took her hands, and led her out of the building. Since only commuters were about this time in the morning, the near-by park was relatively empty except for the pigeons. Hungary sat on the harsh wooden bench and took the hot tea Britain handed her. He sat down beside her and sipped at his earl grey patiently. After warming her hands on the cup a moment, she sighed wretchedly.
"I'm sorry to make you worry." She said quietly "And here I was the one supposed to be looking out for you."
"Come now, no street goes but one way." He assured, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about "How are you feeling?"
"It's not the depression." She assured him "But…well, it certainly doesn't help matters."
She sighed again, staring at the birds. Britain waited patiently for her to start talking again, knowing that a lady needed to take her own time. She closed her eyes for a moment and leant back against the bench, feeling the cold wind on her face before sighing again.
"Britain, why do you think nations have genders?" she asked.
"Why?" Britain had never really thought about it "I can't say I know."
Hungary laughed bitterly. After a moment, she turned to him, eyes full of sorrow.
"What do you think the point is of being a woman when I can't do what every other woman on this planet can? What's the point of these hips, these breasts, when I can never have a child?"
She sighed again, pulling a pitiful expression, before sitting up strait.
"I love Austria so much. It pains me that we can't have a child. It's the ultimate expression of how much a woman loves a man. It should be the most natural thing in the world, but…"
"But we're nations," Britain knew "Not people."
She nodded sadly, tears filling her eyes. A sob escaped her throat, and she covered her face with her hands, shoulders shaking. Britain put his arms around her, and she leant into him, letting herself cry.
"Oh Britain, I know I'm being stupid." She sobbed "But I can't help it. I just feel like there's this empty space within me that will never be filled. What's the point of this body? What's the point of nations having genders at all?!"
"You're not being stupid." Britain soothed "It's not stupid at all. It's perfectly normal to want to be part of a family."
"I get so jealous of these other women, even my own countrywomen, seeing them so happy with their children. Austria and I have talked and talked about it, but I just can't make him understand!"
He rubbed her back gently as he felt his shirt start to dampen.
"You aren't the first nation to feel this way." He assured her.
"It's too cruel of God to make a nation female." She whimpered.
Britain could understand. Nations weren't 'born', per say, just kind of 'appeared' as civilisations rose and fell. Time was that there were plenty of 'young' nations that the older nations could adopt and care for as their own, even though the very existence of these children meant that they and everything they represented was dying, but with all the world explored, mapped and named, those young countries have all grown up. Thanks to the UN, the borders of the world were practically written in stone, so no new nations could be formed from the tulmit of war. Britain had raised enough young nations – America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong… being with them had bought him so much joy, he could well imagine the pain of being denied that experience. Because of their long life spans, adopting a non-nation child was out of the question.
"Have you tried speaking to another female nation?" Britain suggested "They might be able to understand better than Austria can."
"It's not a subject that comes up easily." She pointed out.
"Yes, that is true. How about I give you Sealand? That little bugger's been driving me nuts lately."
Hungary laughed. She sat up strait and wiped her eyes.
"Sweden and Finland beat me to it." She pointed out.
"Oh, yes, that's right. Then how about I give you America? He looks like a grown man, but mentally he's about the same level as Sealand."
She laughed again.
"I'm serious." Britain insisted jokingly "Give him some videogames and cartoons and he'll be more than happy. I say, the boy even has a bed time! If we leave a trail of those god-awful American sweets from Washington to your place, I'm sure he'd follow it."
Hungary smacked him on the shoulder.
"Damn you, Britain, stop trying to make me laugh! I'm trying to be miserable here!"
The two laughed together. A mother pushed her pram past them up the path, and Hungary's face fell a little as she watched them. Britain took her hand reassuringly.
"There may be no new nations right now, but even we can't live forever." He pointed out "When I'm gone, I would consider it an absolute honour if you would be the mother of my replacement."
She blushed, smiling sadly.
"What makes you think you'll disappear first?" she asked.
"Female nations always live longer." he reminded her "How may male nations have come and gone in the time you've been alive?"
"Far too many." She said sadly, brushing her hair behind her ear "The Great British Empire would really be happy with Austria-Hungry taking sovereignty of it?"
"No. But Arthur could rest in peace knowing Elizavetta and Roderich were taking care of his son."
She smiled shyly.
"You wouldn't prefer for a member of your family to take care of him? Or France even?"
"I can say from personal experience that my brothers and sister would be absolutely horrific guardians. And as for France," he laughed "If we don't kill each other, he'll go first."
Hungary laughed a little, finally taking a sip of her tea. She shuffled forward, putting her head on his shoulder and staring at the commuters passing by.
"Let's talk about something else." She suggested "Read any good books lately?"
Britain sighed. While he was used to the arrogance of politicians, it never stopped annoying him. He had turned up on time at 10 Downing Street, as a gentleman does when he is invited somewhere, but the idiot Prime Minister was keeping him waiting. The interns at least were gracious enough to keep him in tea as he flicked through the Times, but it was getting annoying close to noon – if this meeting didn't start and finish soon, he would have to leave for the conference before seeing the Prime Minister. As he finished the financial section, he was finally called in to the office.
He stood before the desk a moment, waiting the Prime Minister to finish signing off his paperwork before turning to him.
"Right. Glad you could turn up." He said by way of greeting "How did everything go last night?"
"Everyone enjoyed themselves." Britain reported "No international incidents, as far as I could see."
"Good, good."
The Prime Minister got up from his chair and walked to the front of his desk, sitting down on it like a rad head master trying to commune with an unruly student.
"I just wanted to clear a few things up with you before the meeting." He went on "Make sure you and I are on the same page."
"If you insist."
"Right, good. Now, the thing is, I was wondering how long you were planning on keeping this up?" he asked.
"Keeping what up?" Britain replied, genuinely confused.
Had he done anything lately? The Prime Minister sighed through his nose, as if he were the one getting annoyed.
"You clearly aren't aware of the state of things at the moment." He criticised "This government – your government – is doing everything in its power to get people back into work – get them off disability benefit and back into the workplace, and this phase you're going through… frankly, it's embarrassing, for us and for you."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Do you know how many people are claiming disability benefit because of 'depression'? How are we supposed to tell those people that they're fit for work when Britain himself is skiving off work for the same thing?"
Britain's body grew hot and tense. Was this…idiot…actually saying what he thought he was saying?
"Skiving?" he asked through gritted teeth "Embarrassing?"
"Yes." He said a little too happily, as if Britain had agreed with him, getting up from his perch "I trust we'll have no more of this behaviour, okay?"
Britain was livid. He practically saw red. He was embarrassed, alright, but he was far more than that. With a deep breath, he swept his hair back from his eyes.
"Actually, Dave, I have been keeping up with the news." He said calmly "And I know all about your 'workfare' scheme to remove peoples benefit. Your crooked 'assessors' declaring people fit for work when they're far from."
"Hey now-"
"We've all heard about that man in a coma your assessors declared fit to work." Britain went on "The woman with the heart condition who died, after being declared fit." He smiled maliciously "Do you know how many people have died because of your workfare scheme? I do. No-one is embarrassed by me, Dave."
The Prime Minister marched back, doing his best to loom over the smaller man.
"Now see here!" he declared "Other nations-"
"The other nations have been nothing but supportive." Britain interrupted, not intimidated at all "The only one 'embarrassed' is your administration."
"You-"
"The doctor – a man of medicine with over 15 years of study and experience – declared that I had an illness. And like any other illness, it would take me time to recover – if I recover. Do you know more than a doctor, Dave? Have you studied medicine for more than 15 years?"
"Now you see here!" the Prime Minister bellowed "You clearly don't understand the kind of deficit we're dealing with here! We're trying to get people back into work and off benefits, and you will tow the line!"
"I will, will I?"
"Yes! You work for me! After this conference, you will return to work as normal, or you won't have a job to return to!"
The Prime Minister walked away. Britain couldn't help himself – he started laughing. The Prime Minister looked back at him as if he had lost his mind.
"I won't have a job!" Britain laughed "I work for you! That – that's funny!"
Laughing his arse off, Britain jumped forward, grabbed the Prime Ministers tie and pulled him down to his level. He stopped laughing, face deadly serious.
"I'm the United Fucking Kingdom." He said "I was here long before you, and I will be here long after. 500 years from now, no-one is even going to remember your name, but I will still be. You're bitching about being 'embarrassed'? I'm embarrassed to have a worm like you proclaiming himself to be the leader of my people."
He released the tie, and the man attached to it stumbled back, clearly shocked at his sudden aggression. Britain nonchalantly pulled a couple of tissues from the box on the table and wiped off his hands.
"As for my job," he finished, dropping the tissues on the table "If you can find someone to replace me, Dave, you can have my job."
With nothing more to say and time dragging on, Britain left for his meeting.
"Britain, where the hell have you been?" France chastised as Britain walked swiftly down the hall to the conference room "You are twenty minutes late, we have all been waiting for you!"
"Sorry, sorry." He greeted "You know what blowhards politicians can be."
"Oui, oui, they never change. Hold still, you scruffy boy."
France grabbed Britain and straitened his tie. Behind him, Britain saw Hungary talking tentatively with Ukraine. The other woman threw her arms around Hungary, who looked a little surprised, then hugged her back.
"Alright everyone!" Germany declared to the gathered nations "The meeting will begin in 2 minutes! Get to your seats now! Lateness will not be tolerated!"
The countries started filing in. With a laugh, France put his arm around Britain's shoulders.
"Come, Lapin, let us get this circus over with."
I won't lie - this chapter felt kind of clunky, but I wasn't sure how to smooth it out. I hope it wasn't too obtrusive.
So yes, I didn't have the heart to make any of the nations the asshole, but I've been reading a lot about the workfare scheme, and the antagonist just kind of fell into place. What Arthur said is also true - a person in a coma was declared fit for work, and a disturbing number of disabled people have actually died after being told they're fit for work. I appreciate we have a deficit but killing off the disabled isn't going to fix it... ANYWAY... Because of the stigma of mental illness, many people keep their illness to themselves rather than informing their workplace, for fear of losing their jobs. While it is illegal for a company to fire you for being ill, if they want rid of you, they'll find reasons. Once again, personal experience.
On a lighter note...
Something that's always bothered me about fanfic reality is that the nations just kind of do what their bosses want them do to, even when they REALLY don't want to. Its not like they're immortal and extremely powerful personifications of the earth itself... I can imagine Britain might take shit from the Queen, but not a politician.
I want to end this fic before it gets tasteless, so I'm officially announcing its end after 2 more chapters - the Christmas chapter and the final chapter. What's going to happen in the final chapter? Fuck if I know... Accepting any suggestions!
