The French-Canadian Way (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: In canon, Matthew was raised by Francis and Arthur, but didn't turn out too much like either on the surface. What if he'd taken after his founding Nations just a bit more?

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: CanAme, French!Mattie

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Mathieu sighed, idly doodling over his notes while pretending he was paying attention to whoever was currently speaking. (...Iceland, right.) It had already been a long week of meetings, and this one unfortunately was having to run overtime due to some last minute scheduling changes that forced people to scramble to complete their reports with little warning.

(His presentation hadn't been interrupted, thankfully, but he'd had to help Alfred through a frantic night of throwing together last minute updates to his report without all the data he'd been waiting for because his had been move to the first day as opposed to the fifth.

They'd almost slept through the start of the meeting, only there because Arthur, bless his soul, had figured something like that would happen and had shown up with two cups of coffee forty minutes before they needed to be there. The smell alone had been almost enough to kiss him, but Mathieu had refrained if only because he'd wanted to down the heavenly liquid as soon as possible, regardless of scalding.)

It was understandably stressful on all of them, and he was sure he wasn't alone in just wanting to end this torture already so they could relax before heading home, but sadly that would force rescheduling for the next meeting as well, and quite frankly going through all this again was something none of them wanted.

And so the meeting went on.

Alfred, seated to his right, leaned a bit closer so he could whisper, "Where were you thinking for dinner after this?"

The Canadian smiled, sending a glance to his boyfriend to show he'd heard the question. "I've heard there's a nice place a few blocks from the hotel, and since it's not a tourist trap it shouldn't be too crowded by the time we get there."

"Oh? What sorta food?"

"Nothing too weird, if that's what you're worried about."

The American pouted, glancing around quickly just to be sure they hadn't caught anyone's attention yet. "It was slugs, Mattie, you can't seriously expect me to eat those. I can handle bugs, I can even put up with the freaking weirdo ant-covered chocolate of yours, but slugs are just freakin' nasty, dude."

"I know, I know," Mathieu comforted, nudging his leg with a hand under the table before pulling it away. No need for too much affectionate contact in public, after all - the other would still understand. "You have a wider palette than I do as it is, I just thought your reaction would be funny, which is was."

"You're a jerk," Alfred replied with a small grin, nudging Mathieu back with a knee. "A horrible horrible jerk and I hate you."

"I love you too," The Canadian replied easily in French, looking back again for just long enough to see the lovely duck and flush he always got when using it.

"Mean," Alfred replied, having had strong motivation to refresh his skills in the language lately. "Using your charms against me isn't fair and you know it, especially here."

"I'm sure you'll get revenge once we're alone again, hmm?" Mathieu carefully bit back a smile as he allowed himself to guess just how Alfred intended to do so this time.

A knock from the other side of the superpower drew both of their attentions, Arthur giving them both a raised eyebrow and pointed look before gesturing up to the podium. Both of them mouthed an apology at him, turning back to the speaker while knocking their knees together again, satisfied enough with that to last them through the rest of the day.

...okay, maybe Mathieu was a bit eager to continue where they had been going, but he was an immortal teenager, what did you expect? And he and Alfred hadn't seen each other in months - barely even speaking - so some time to simply relax together was basically mandatory at this point.

After another few long, drawn out minutes, Iceland finally finished, everyone thankful to see Ludwig step up again to thank everyone for working with him this go around and that the next meeting was to be held in England, and to speak with him if they needed more details.

(Not everyone had a computer with internet yet, so it was still a necessary practice, but Alfred and Arthur were both very sure that within the decade scheduling or rescheduling meetings would be as easy as clicking a few buttons. Mathieu eagerly looked forward to that day for more than one reason.)

"Where were you thinking of hosting it this time?" Alfred asked their once-mentor as they gathered up their papers.

"Cambridge, I think," Arthur replied easily. "I think somewhere other than London will be a nice change of scenery for everyone after the last few meeting places."

"Sounds good," Mathieu agreed, pressing a finger to his lips in sudden thought. "Will we be able to visit the local university while we're there? I know Alfred's wanted an excuse to drop by for a while now, and since we'll be in the area..."

The American ducked his head and flushed again while Arthur chuckled, grinning as he tucked the rest of his papers away. "I can see if that can be arranged. He shouldn't be too much of a bother so long as he doesn't try to shake everyone's hands again."

"One time and they never let you forget it," Alfred groaned pitifully, letting his head fall to the table while the other two just laughed. "I'm surrounded by cruel, vindictive people…"

"Oh, you know we love you," Mathieu teased, sitting up again when he spied the small group starting to converge on them (or more specifically, Arthur), Francis leading the way.

Arthur let most of his grin drop, back to a more business like attitude now that it wasn't just them anymore. "Yes, can I help you?"

"We're just here for the information for next meeting," Francis promised, laid back in a way that had Mathieu narrowing his eyes. The man seemed way too easy going around someone who he almost always strived to pick fights with, and Arthur and Alfred had both picked up on it as well if their own expressions said anything.

"Right, it's going to be in Cambridge, I've already cleared it with my boss," The Englishman nodded, pulling out the strips of paper he'd brought ahead of time just for this. "Airport and hotel information are on here, so feel free to call ahead and reserve rooms and seats now if you like."

A few of the Nations murmured thanks and left after taking one, though the majority seemed to linger, sensing the fight to come. Of course there had to be an audience - like things couldn't honestly get worse.

Arthur, having no choice but to take the silently offered bait, asked, "Did you need something else?"

"Oh, not much," Francis replied, smiling far too cheerfully now. "Just wondering if you would be introducing us to your little human boy toy while we're there."

The Englishman stiffened, entire gaze focused on burning the face off of the other Nation, while Mathieu glanced around at the mildly discomforted expressions on many who weren't quite comfortable with the whole 'gay is perfectly alright' concept yet. "I would think you'd already know it's no one's business but my own on who I choose to see in my spare time."

"And miss a chance to note your personal failures?" The Frenchman tisked. "If you're so incompetent at charming women that you have to settle for men, you could have at least admitted it to me so I could help you."

"I am perfectly capable of charming women or men as I feel," Arthur bit out, scowling fiercely now. "Probably far better than you, considering they're willing to stay for more than a single night."

"Pheh, if that's what you tell yourself to make you feel better, then I suppose there's no hope for you," Francis shook his head, turning to Mathieu and grinning again. "Unlike my dear Mathieu, who has learned all the proper ways to woo women, isn't that right?"

"A long while ago, sure," The Canadian skirted, very carefully not glancing to Alfred. "I've learned a lot on my own since then."

"Of course, of course," Francis beamed. "All to the better to learn one's own tricks so as to make best use of their resources. I trust you've been keeping in practice?"

"Sort of," Mathieu continued to dodge. "I've been rather busy, so I haven't had much time for that sort of thing."

"Ah, I suppose that could hamper things, yes. Still, you should take a break, have some fun, lest you become a bitter and desperate old man like Arthur here."

Arthur looked hurt by the comment, though he'd covered it up fast enough that only Mathieu noticed, causing his blood to start to boil. Seriously, there was no reason to be this cruel to the man just because he happened to be seeing another man, and airing this sort of thing in a room of people who wouldn't react positively to the news was just- just-

Alfred grabbed his wrist, drawing his attention and looking remarkably grim. Perhaps more than one person had noticed, then.

Mathieu got an idea. Glancing between Arthur, Francis, and the others again, he pressed his lips together and finally looked back to Alfred while mouthing, 'Should we?'

A small, hesitant nod once the other had guessed what he meant was all he got, but that was enough.

Raising his voice enough to grab the attention of anyone still linger, Mathieu replied with an almost amused expression hiding his gut churning worries that this would end even worse than it would if he'd just left well enough alone. "Trust me, I'm hardly worried about anything like that, Francis."

"Oh really?" The man raised an eyebrow, while out of the corner of his eye he could see Arthur's gaze widen as he caught on to the fringes of the plan. "How come?"

"Because," He replied, turning to Alfred significantly. "I have something much better now."

And with that, he deliberately leaned over and, for the first time in full public, pressed his lips to Alfred's in a way that no one would mistake for anything other than romantically. His boyfriend had leaned in as well to help close the distance, bringing a hand up to gently rest on the back of Mathieu's head and hold him close, Mathieu clasping both of his behind Alfred's neck to do the same.

After a long enough stretch to drive the point in they separated, both of them turning to give the now gaping crowd a pointed look while their hands still lingered on each other's shoulders.

"Now if you'll excuse us, my boyfriend and I still have some things to discuss with Arthur, so unless you have anything else to discuss with him…"

Francis, face completely blank now, simply crunched the slip of paper with the information in one hand, his briefcase in the other, and stormed out of the room, everyone else following while muttering to each other and sending baffled glances to the duo, eventually leaving only three in the immediate area.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Arthur told them softly, shaking his head. "Francis would have gotten bored and the others would have let it drop rather than think about it too much."

"Well now they'll all have to talk about it, won't they?" Alfred exhaled, bringing his hand down to clasp firmly with Mathieu's now that he didn't really have to hide it anymore. "If it's you it might not be a big deal, but if it's the resident superpower, well, they'll either have to stop talking to me or get over their problems, won't they?"

"Are your people on board with this?" The Englishman frowned. "If you get hurt by them-"

"They'll come around," Mathieu replied quietly. "Not today and not tomorrow, but eventually. It's just how things go with us. Even then, there'll always be people who can't stand us, but we've had a few decades already to get over most of our concern over them."

"We're in this for the long haul," Alfred agreed. "And we're with you regardless of what the others say, alright?"

"...Thank you," Arthur replied eventually, softly smiling now. "Both of you."

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AN: Only one more chapter to go and then I can call this fic a wrap as well! This has been quite the adventure and unlike my other fics has been genuinely enjoyable to write from start to finish. Probably because I had plans for the entire trip and I stuck to only a dozen longer chapters instead of a million short chapters that extended the pain. I'm still thinking about whether I should admit to the Eng ship I was thinking of for this fic or to keep it secret and leave it to your imaginations – both have their benefits after all...