A cruise. Why not? I got a thoroughly random urge to write this. XD
"This is fucking awesome!" Gilbert exclaimed, flexing his arms and arching his back in a stretch. Matthew eyed his bare upper body admiringly as they walked out onto the deck in swimming trunks. Some nations lounged by the pool, enjoying the sunlight, others inside taking part in the various activities on the ship. "Best idea your dipshit brother's ever come up with!" He grinned.
"A world meeting on a cruise liner is a pretty good idea," Matthew agreed. Though, he was pretty sure Alfred just suggested it so that he could go on a cruise and say it was an 'important world conference'. Alfred hadn't had a chance to just laze around for a while, after all.
Matthew padded across the deck, sandals slapping, and sunk down in a chair by the pool, enjoying the warm sun beaming down from the clear blue sky, shrugging off his t-shirt to better soak up some rays. He shaded his eyes with his hands, watching the elder ex-nation approach the edge of the pool.
"I'm swimming!" Gilbert crowed and proceeded to jump into the water. Hungary, sunbathing not far away, spluttered indignantly as a few droplets of water hit her from the enormous splash. He surfaced with a gasp and a loud laugh. "Ahahaha~!" Matthew laughed quietly, covering it with a hand when Elizaveta threw him a somewhat exasperated look which melted away as Austria sank down on the blanket next to her and offered her a towel.
"Aniki, let me put lotion on your back," Matthew heard Im Yong Soo saying nearby, his tone excited. Matthew peered over at them, lifting a hand to shade his eyes. The Chinese man was stretched over a towel on his stomach, his head laid on his folded arms. Korea was kneeling next to him, his eyes gleaming and fingers wrapped around a bottle, thumb flipping the cap off.
"Whatever, aru, do what you want," said Wang Yao's voice sleepily, obviously lulled by the warmth of the sun and the overall relaxing atmosphere on the ship, the distant call of gulls. "Just don't go touching whatever you wan—AAH!"
"Whoops! Was it cold, aniki?"
"Yes, aru! Warn me, please!"
"Hehe, sorry, aniki. I'm putting it on now," Yong Soo said cheerfully and set to slathering it over Yao's back.
Matthew looked back to the pool, the water glittering in the sunlight, and smiled quietly as he watched Gilbert. The man was calling something over to a grudging-looking Germany, who had just emerged onto the deck with Italy in tow. The smaller man beamed—ever cheerful—in Prussia's direction.
"Let's play in the water!" He heard Feliciano chirp, tugging on Ludwig's arm. The tall, muscular blond made his way—very reluctantly, Matthew thought—over to the pool. Gilbert grinned and swam backwards, grabbing a ball from where it had been floating on the surface nearby, juggling it between his hands.
Matthew was unable to bite back a fond sigh, smiling quietly. His chest felt warm, and from more than just the sun. He scolded himself for turning into a sentimental sap—well, more of a sentimental sap, anyway, he'd been kind of bad before…
"Looks fun," said a deep, somewhat-sleepy voice behind his chair. Matthew turned around, blinking with surprise up at Heracles. Kiku was at his side, conservatively wearing a long t-shirt and shorts past his knees while the Greek seemed to be comfortable in just trunks. Looking at them standing side-by-side, Matthew was suddenly struck by how they seemed to…fit, almost.
Japan bowed to him briefly with a slight smile of greeting and received a smile in return from the wavy-haired blond. "Yeah," Matthew agreed, looking towards the pool. Gilbert was laughing, bonking the ball off of Ludwig's head, Feliciano splashing water towards them both, smiling broadly.
"Why don't you go play with them?" Heracles asked him, tilting his head slightly.
Matthew looked thoughtfully between him and the slim Japanese man—who would occasionally look over with furtive admiration at Heracles broad chest. He smiled quietly to himself, getting an idea. "I will if you and Kiku do. Then we'll be able to play a game three-on-three. What do you say?"
Kiku balked at the thought of removing his shirt. "O-oh no," he said, lifting his hands quickly in refusal.
Heracles tilted his head, body shifting slightly in his direction, gazing down at him gently. "It would be fun…please?" he asked.
Their eyes met, and Matthew had the feeling a quiet emotion passed between them and he bit back the almost overpowering urge to grin, fingers lifting to cover his mouth just in case he did. "…oh, alright. But just for a little while," Kiku said at last and Heracles' lips twitched into a pleased smile.
"Alright!" Matthew cheered and slid off his chair, trotting towards the pool. Heracles and Kiku followed him, the latter leaving his shirt on the back of a chair, arms crossing slightly—modestly—over his now-bare chest. They slid into the water and shifted through it towards the other group of three.
"Hiya, Kiku!" Feliciano greeted and waved one of his hands with a broad smile. "Heracles!" Gilbert's head turned quickly as he heard the latter name, looking with suspicion at the Greek, who smiled placidly at the red-eyed man. Ludwig nudged Feliciano and the Italian blinked before his eyes focused on Matthew and he smiled. "And Matthew~! Ve! Are you going to play with us?"
"If you wouldn't mind," Matthew said bashfully, paddling towards them with a little smile.
"Not at all," Ludwig said gruffly. "Perhaps if you're over here, then Bruder will stop being childish."
"Hey!" Gilbert protested.
Matthew swallowed a laugh and swam closer, floating. "So," he said, "what is it that we're playing?" Feliciano placed a finger to his chin, smiling thoughtfully.
"Nothing wrong with just hitting West with this," Gilbert said, tossing the ball in his hand up and down with a broad grin towards his brother. Ludwig looked at him with exasperation.
"Ve, we should play volleyball!" Feliciano said excitedly, throwing up his hands. Matthew glanced over—there was a net you could set up in the pool. Kiku blinked slightly, exchanging a glance with Heracles, who shrugged his broad shoulders with a brief smile.
"Sounds good!" Gilbert clenched his hand into a fist, grinning. He was just as competitive as Alfred, Matthew thought dryly, catching the determined gleam in his eyes. "Hey, Matthew, get over here! Me, you, and Feliciano on a team!"
"Nope," Matthew said, folding his arms over his chest. "I want to be on a team with Kiku and Heracles."
Gilbert looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "You're supposed to be on my side." He jabbed a finger at the Canadian with an accusing expression. "You can't ditch your awesome lover for two very un-awesome old cat ladies!"
"Is he talking about us?" Kiku mumbled.
"I suppose. Though, you don't particularly look like an old lady to me, Kiku," Heracles replied.
Matthew, who had went pink at 'lover', looked at Gilbert stubbornly. "You can be on a team with your brother and Feliciano," he said, flashing a smile. "Just think of it as a little friendly competition." Gilbert made a slight face at that.
Feliciano had directed Ludwig in pulling the net across and beamed through it at Matthew, Heracles and Kiku. Gilbert still had a sour face. "So, this is good?" chirped the Italian excitedly. "Us against you three?" Matthew gave him a thumbs-up. "Let's start, ve!"
"I can referee, aru," yawned Yao from where he was lying, lifting his hand slightly.
"I'll keep score!" Yong Soo put in, grinning. He had reclined next to the man, his feet dangling slightly over the edge of the pool.
"Let's get started!" Gilbert said seriously, narrowing his eyes with a grin. "Prepare to lose!"
As Matthew high-fived his teammates, Gilbert sulked a little bit on the other side of the net, arms folded over his chest. "Oh well!" said Feliciano brightly, smiling. "That was fun, though! Ludwig, can we go get some pasta now~?" He attached himself to the German's back.
"Alright," Ludwig answered indulgently, hooking his arms absently under Feliciano's legs, holding him so he wouldn't fall back in the water. "Do you want to come, Bruder?"
"Nah, you go enjoy your pasta," Gilbert said, flapping a hand. Ludwig shrugged his shoulders and waded to the edge of the pool, Feliciano still clinging to his back, humming happily. Gilbert held his breath and dived under the net, surfacing by Matthew, who looked at him with surprise.
"Sorry we beat you," he apologised, though he was still smiling.
"Hah, whatever," Gilbert said with a grin. "I don't need to win at volleyball to know how awesome I am."
"Matthew," said Heracles, attracting his attention, "we're going back to the rooms." He tilted his head slightly. "See you." He smiled briefly. Matthew noted that his tanned fingers occasionally grazed the pale skin of Kiku's shoulder. The smaller man's face was flushed a little.
"Thank you for inviting us to play, Matthew-san," Kiku added, bowing his head. "Gilbert-san."
"Just 'Matthew' is fine," the Canadian said quickly, waving a hand. Kiku smiled briefly at him and nodded, and the two of them left.
"Do I gotta worry about that Greek bastard anymore?" Gilbert wondered, slinging one of his arms around Matthew's shoulder. The blond smiled and laughed lowly under his breath, shaking his head a little bit as he glanced over at the former nation.
"You were worried?"
Gilbert lifted up his chin with a disapproving growl. "He was trying to interfere with the awesome me invading your vital regions," he declared, and pressed a firm, chlorine-tasting kiss against Matthew's lips. Pale eyelids fluttered briefly before lowering over violet-blue eyes.
"Hmm," Gilbert hummed approvingly against his mouth, cupping his jaw with a wet hand as he kissed him.
"Don't do that kind of stuff in the pool!" Yong Soo laughingly called over to them. "You'll get the water dirty!" Matthew flushed red and pulled away, embarrassed, while Gilbert made a face over at the Korean, who grinned and kicked at the water with his toes.
"Yong Soo," Yao sleepily admonished, back to half-dozing in the heat, reaching over to slap his side with an open palm. Yong Soo pouted and whined a little.
Matthew swam over, climbing out of the pool, combing a hand through his dripping hair as he straightened up. Gilbert hoisted himself out of the water after him. "You know," he commented as he stepped out of the pool, grinning broadly, "you're pretty hot, all wet like that." He was rewarded with a bright blush and chuckled smugly.
"Could say the same for you," Matthew shot back, red-cheeked. Gilbert looked at him with surprise before grinning wolfishly.
"Let's go back to the room," Gilbert suggested, eyes gleaming.
Matthew turned up his nose. "No, I'm getting something to eat first."
"You bastard," Gilbert said, though he was grinning.