A/N: Thank you for the favs/alerts/reviews! –cryforeverplz- TOO HAPPY. TOO TOO HAPPY—EXPLODES KABOOM.
Once again, slight research was attempted, so please excuse me if the facts are a little different.
[SPOILER] The next chapter will be titled 'Idle Day.' Please look forward to development between the kids and upcoming characters/nations. :D
Reminder for the confused: This chapter is still Monday. Tomorrow is Tuesday ('Idle Day' chapter), and meeting is Wednesday. Okay, that will be all. I'm off to study for mah math quiz~! oTL
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Felicita was given the idea that there are more people who came to tour D.C. than lived here. There were some businessmen and professional looking people as she and the others came close the White House. At least that's what Aloisa said: she couldn't exactly locate the building from Seaton Park.
Evangeline dragged her black high heeled feet sluggishly. "We should've taken a cab."
Aloisa was not discouraged. She hung on the Mikhail's arm, her earlier gelato experience totally boosting her enthusiasm by 120%. "No worries, we're almost there, you can see the Washington Monument from here. We'll spot Mikhail's parents in a second."
Evangeline sighed, her breath fluttering the strand of plasticky brown hair that fell in front of her face. "But I didn't know two miles would be so strenuous in high heels. My feet are killing me; I think I got blisters on my blisters."
"That's silly, Victoria, and a little gross," Aloisa said. She'd been prancing around in her high heels longer than Evangeline, her footsteps still landing in a dainty plop on the sidewalk. Probably because her mom taught her to walk in these feet manglers, Evangeline thought.
Felicita had a rush of unexpected homesickness wash over her watching her friends talk with one another…it was a lot like her shopping trips with her Mama, or when both her parents came with her to the park to feed the Canadian geese or something.
"Something the matter, Jan?" Evangeline nudged her gently, her green eyes peering worriedly at her, her British accent starting to slip a little.
Felicita rubbed her eyes with both fists. "Nothing is, just got allergies. It's really dusty here."
"Here we are," Aloisa proclaimed, her arm sweeping the air around her. "Lincoln Memorial."
They walked up the steps together, Adrian picking up Alec carrying him princess style, making the latter laugh.
"Learned that one from your dad, non?"
"Maybe."
They sat on the topmost step. Felicita read the engravings above the statue: "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever." Abraham Lincoln observed his dominion with a wise expression, his gaze wandering above Felicita and over to the park and beyond, extending to the rest of America. Meanwhile, Mikhail produced two binoculars from his backpack and gave one to Aloisa.
"Woah, woah, woah," Evangeline said, "what are you doing with that?"
"Looking through it, duh," Aloisa muttered, straining to find any signs of their parents.
"Isn't that too conspicuous?" She put both hands on her waist, but Aloisa paid no attention.
"If you want to find anybody, you gotta use this. People look like ants from up here…"
"Target sighted, Mrs. Harlen," Mikhail said, his smile slowly returning. "My папа and mystery blond man coming in from your right."
Aloisa's shifted her line of sight. "Where's your mom?"
"Unidentified."
"I see them now. They're coming towards us. Brown jacketed man and Mikhail's dad, target confirmed."
"They're getting bigger."
Adrian snatched the binoculars away and stuffed them back into the backpack. "That's because they're getting closer, idiot. And it's 'Targets getting closer,' not 'bigger.' Didn't you learn anything from your video games?"
Mikhail glared. "I know what I'm supposed to know, and that is a lot more than you'll ever know."
"Oh, shut up, guys," Evangeline said. "They're setting down on the bottom-ish steps. But they're too far; I can't hear them."
Now everyone could see the two of them clearly. The blond man wore a tan uniform under his bomber jacket, which was labeled with a '50' on the back. He had on these dark brown boots that had a furry white lining at the top, his pants somewhat tucked into his shoes. Clear blue eyes were behind his glasses and his yellow bangs, but only one strand stood up from the others.
"Adrian," Alec uttered, "you have the same strand of hair as that man."
Mikhail took out two small round objects that appeared almost identical to cookie chips and expertly let them fall down the steps. One hit the blond and bounced back gently on his jacket. The other was a lucky throw: it stopped right behind Ivan without touching him. Then Mikhail gave Alec and Evangeline both iPod shuffles.
"What the hell are we supposed to do with this?" Adrian demanded.
"Listen to it," Mikhail replied. "The chips I've thrown down are connected to these, so you can probably hear them."
"What, did you rob an electronic store to get these?" Alec took one earbud from Adrian and plugged it in; Adrian did the same with the other one.
"Brother, I have many ways of accessing information, but these are not real iPod shuffles. I built them to make it look like the real ones. For a science exhibit in elementary school. But they disqualified mines because they thought I was stealing a trademark or something."
Evangeline shared hers with Felicita, and Mikhail took out another for himself and Aloisa. They quieted down and listened to the crackle of static until it cleared out. Ivan's voice rang in their ears.
"I still do not understand, Зайчик мой, why you would postpone the meeting. Wouldn't you want to get back to your kids?" Mikhail and Adrian shivered upon hearing their dad call this man his 'bunny.' Everyone startled when Ivan put his arms around the blond, who leaned in.
"I do, I do very much," said the blond man, "but it's been a while since I've even sat here. It's a little like homesickness, Vanya."
Felicita nodded unconsciously to the blond's statement. The Russian brothers got further creeped out when the man said their mom's pet name for their dad.
"I think I understand, Alfred. Is that why you are wearing your old uniform?"
Aloisa and Felicita concentrated on the other man's response. So this was Alfred, the one who organized the whole thing. Alfred pulled a bit on his collar.
"I guess so, but this isn't that old. Only fifty years or so, I think."
"So why did you take me here?"
"You know, saying hi to Old Abe Lincoln before we hit the road—no, you idiot, I wanted to talk to you about how we are going to plan the meeting."
"And what about it?"
"Our kids…they'll have to know. I don't know how to tell them."
"It does sound a bit ridiculous when you think of it." The two fell into silence after that, until Alfred spoke up.
"Remember the Cold War, Ivan?"
"Of course I do. You wanted to tear my 'commie head off,' as I recall."
"And you wanted to nuke my ass into a million pieces. How did we become this?"
Ivan was quiet for a moment, but with more confidence and certainty, he said, "Because I love you, Alfred. Люблю тебя всем сердцем, всей душою"
Adrian and Mikhail tore the earbuds away. Mikhail turned off the connection to the chips on all of the iPod shuffle lookalikes, much to Aloisa's indignation.
"What was that for!" she shouted. "We were getting to the best part!"
Mikhail regarded her coldly. "I do not think I need to know about my папа's affair with another man before time. They have already stated in their conversation that they will tell us soon. What if the meeting was not about government matters? What if it was just this? What if they were just going to discuss this at their 'meeting'? Did you ever think of that, Nancy?"
Aloisa crossed her arms. "I have no doubts about what I think. What you father does with his free time does not concern me, but I imagine that this meeting is not just about what you think. Our dads are not just suddenly going to turn gay and leave us and live in D.C., right, Collin?"
Alec jumped. "Yeah, I think that, too," he lied. He didn't want to upset Aloisa. If Mikhail was angered, at least Adrian will probably back him up.
Mikhail stared belligerently at Aloisa, but gave in when the others did not defend his questions. "Fine. But I have a request. For the rest of today and the whole of tomorrow, there will be no interacting with our parents in anyway. I want us to take a break from all of this until their meeting starts, whatever that may be about. Is that not part of what we came to D.C. for?"
Felicita returned the earbuds to Mikhail. "I think that would be a good idea. Victoria really needs to rest her feet."
Aloisa glanced at her friend helplessly, then gave a small resigned sigh. "Oh, alright. I'm sorry, guys, I think I'm going out of control. And Mikhail…sorry about the whole thing at the coffee shop."
Mikhail's contorted expression relaxed. "It is okay," he said quietly. Now he was just feeling hurt that his dad, his role model, was possibly deciding to leave his мама and him and his brother behind.
"Okay, guys," Aloisa said tiredly. She threw her cell phone at Felicita. "Felicita, here, call a cab. Tomorrow we'll set out and spent the day how we want to, alright? We'll enter the White House with a tour group or something on Wednesday."
She turned around, but Alfred and Ivan had already left. A woman with light brown hair was in their place, clicking madly on her pink digital camera and giggling to herself. Aloisa spied the outlines of the Russian brother's parents in the camera frame. She walked up to her.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The woman answered cheerfully, still flipping through pictures of Ivan and Alfred from multiple angles, "Oh, I was just taking pictures of these two. They are just so adorable, but they hate it when I do it right in front of their faces, so I figured, why not take pictures away from their line of sight? Clever, huh?"
Aloisa saw her opportunity. "Have you, by any chance, been to Yaoi-Con before?"
The woman's eyes sparkled. "Been there? Girl, I help host it! Why, you a fan?"
Aloisa couldn't contain her squeal. "Of course I am! I was totally ogling at these two before; they are just so perfect, right?"
"Yes, oh my god, yes! Say, what's your name?"
"Nancy Harlen. My husband is just up there we're deciding about what to do tomorrow in D.C."
The woman grinned. "I'm Elizabeta Héderváry, nice to meet you! You know, I can take you shopping tomorrow, if you don't mind. I know places where we can find the best dresses and the most awesome shoes ever." She winked. "By the way, who are those two?" She pointed at Adrian and Alec, who were busy cuddling each other and talking.
"Oh, that's just Brad and Collin. They're with us, but they're going on a date tomorrow," Aloisa said hurriedly, not wanting to ruin the perfect chance for them to officially get together. Elizaveta frowned slightly in disappointment.
"That's too bad. Sometimes I work in a manga editing department, and I only wanted to introduce these two to my artist. But no matter. I'll tell him later, then. Where should I meet you?"
"Oh, I'll wait in the coffee shop around the corner over there, is that okay?"
"It's fine." The woman's phone rang, a tinkling tune. "I'm sorry—Hello? Oh, Roderich, okay, okay. Yeah, that's fine. Bye!" The woman sighed happily. "That was my ex-husband," she said. "He wants me to hurry 'cause he's taking me out to dinner."
Aloisa's raised her eyebrows. "He wants to take you out to dinner?"
Elizaveta's eyes twinkled happily. "Roderich and I've known each other since we were kids, and the marriage and divorce was really a political thing. But I think he wants to get to know me better before he does anything. God, he's such a dear. I don't know if I'm going to get back together with him though…he's an old friend, like an older brother."
"I see…"
"Well, I gotta run! I'll see you tomorrow, Nancy!" Elizaveta bounced lightly on her feet and floated away, magically avoiding obstacles and people while still playing with her camera.
Aloisa smiled back at her friends, who were making their way down the steps. Adrian had picked up Alec again and both were back in high spirits, Adrian apparently have forgotten his encounter with Alfred and his dad. Mikhail trudged sullenly down, but was surprised with a friendly hug from Aloisa.
"We'll go shopping tomorrow, okay? We can do anything that you want there, and we'll buy lots of stuff and have fun, alright?" It was exactly like talking to a little kid, but Mikhail's expression was so forlorn and depressed that Aloisa couldn't help herself. She ruffled his hair with a sad smile as Mikhail nodded like a little kid.
Evangeline gestured to afar. "Cab's here," she said. It was only 3 in the afternoon, but she was genuinely exhausted.
The ride back was obviously shorter than how they got to the Lincoln Memorial. Evangeline tried not to point that out to Aloisa, who held Mikhail's arm as a sister would a little brother. She must've felt bad, Evangeline thought. But she's still as persistent as ever about the meeting.
Mikhail's brother was clutching Alec's hand and leading him to their room, uncharacteristically responding to Alec's questions and comments. As Adrian unlocked the door, Alec was glad that he'd accepted his invitation to a date. He's never shown his emotions before, possibly because he was afraid of rejection…I'm his opposite; I express my affections openly so that I wouldn't feel empty.
The door closed behind him. Adrian fumbled with his jacket and opened the drawer to put it in. I open myself to everyone, but I've faced a lot of scars before. More than I can ever count. Alec watched Adrian take out a hanger. But if I lose him, this will be the worst one yet.
Alec automatically wrapped his arms around Adrian's neck just as the latter turned around. Adrian was really much taller than him, so he stood a little on his tippy-toes to reach him. Surprised but pleased, Adrian accepted the hug and returned it affectionately.
"What's the matter?" he murmured into Alec's hair.
Alec leisurely shook his head. "It's nothing." His voice was muffled by Adrian's shirt.
The two stayed in this position for a couple of minutes, just holding each other in front of the doorway. Adrian closed his eyes and exhaled contently, debating that it probably had something to do with Ethan. Alec, on the other hand, was pondering rapidly.
He's a nice guy deep inside. I think I might hurt forever if he was to leave. But— His grip on Adrian's shirt tightened for a brief second, then relaxed. But if I was the one leaving him, would he feel the same way?
Room 435…
Evangeline had never been so happy to lie down on her bed, ever. She threw her wig away (which landed on a nearby armchair) and carefully removed her fake piercings. Evangeline delicately kicked off those darn high heels and examined her feet. No, they weren't blistering, but they were a light red and awful sore. Aloisa and Mikhail had gone out again to shop for groceries; Evangeline had decided to cook tonight when she saw that the room came with a kitchen equipped with a stove, oven, and all sorts of other cooking utensils.
Felicita was busy checking out the fridge and its contents. Rows and rows of soda and bottled water stood in line like little carbonated soldiers.
"Throw me a couple of those," Evangeline said from their bed. "I'm gonna blend them."
"Err, okay." Felicita brought seven random bottles and put them on the table. Evangeline crawled over on her knees. "We got Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Diet Coke—"
"Ew, put that back. I want real Coke." Felicita traded it with another red can.
"…okay, Sprite, Fanta, Dr. Pepper, and Lemon Italian soda. Wait, what's that one doing in here?"
"I'm going to put them all in a jug…"
"Isn't that kind of nasty?" She watched the Dr. Pepper can and the lemon soda combine into a light brown mud color.
"No, not really. I can make things taste pretty good."
The concoction was a pretty unappetizing color; the remaining orange from the Fanta was swirling around until it disappeared into the dark fizzy mass. Felicita hesitantly took a sip from her glass.
"Holy crap, this is good."
Evangeline folded her arms. "I told you. I watch my Dad cook all the time, so I sort of make my own recipes for everything now. I help him keep Mom and Alec out of the kitchen when he's cooking."
Felicita gulped down the whole cup and poured herself some more. It tasted incredible, as disgusting as it looked. "How come?"
"Because they will destroy the kitchen, of course. Mom tries to cook, but she burns everything, and Dad had to run in with a fire extinguisher once. Alec's food turns into some sort of mush. I don't really know what happens in there."
"We're back!"
Aloisa and Mikhail unlocked the door and came inside, arms full of plastic bags. Felicita took some from Aloisa and helped her carry them across to Evangeline. Evangeline peered at the contents in the bag, then clapped her hands.
"Okay, just to let everyone know, today's menu is boeuf bourguignon, purée de pommes de terre, and flan de fraise. Is that alright?"
"What the hell is that?" Mikhail asked, setting the groceries on the counter.
"Um, beef stew, mashed potatoes, and strawberry pudding."
"That was easier to say, da?" He smiled as he plunked down on the couch and turned on the TV.
"But I'm going to make them," Evangeline replied airily. "You're about to taste some good, unprocessed homemade cooking. Aloisa, can you help me open these?"
"Sure! They all sound pretty good to me."
"Felicita, can you go call Alec and Adrian over for dinner? I bet they're getting pretty hungry. I'll make some more of that soda later, now get going!"
Felicita set down her glass; she hadn't realized that she was holding it. Evangeline chattered on as she prepared the ingredients, Aloisa laughing at something Evangeline had told her. Even Mikhail soon came over and leaned on the counter, he too beginning to grin naturally at whatever Evangeline had said. Felicita put on some slippers and opened the door, her homesickness unknowingly evaporating to the back of her mind all this time.
