Unexpected Changes

Chapter twelve: Breakfast with the others

Warnings: OOCness. Pretty much the same as always. I should stop putting up these things…

Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of Hetalia. If I was, I'd know for sure if HRE was Germany already!


-Recap-

Matthew's last day goes from amazingly well to amazingly not with an elevator ride she won't soon forget. She just hopes the rest of the last conference day goes better...


At the restaurant of the hotel the world nations were staying in, most if not all of the nations talking were commenting about the commotion that occurred that morning in the Hotel Lobby. Apparently, Norway and Denmark were waiting nearby for Iceland to catch up with them before eating together when they saw the elevator doors break and tumble forwards to the floor before them with a deafening crash. It only took Poland two minutes to notice the crash, take a picture, and tweet all the known details to every single nation. Canada didn't even know she had a twitter account, but she guessed her brother or Gilbert made one for her by hacking into her email account…again. She should probably start changing her password to something they would never guess correctly…like 'silence' or something…

Since Canada herself got a front-row seat to all the horror that happened within the 'deathly-metal-death-trap-of-death', as she mentally dubbed it, she simply tried to block out all conversations as she ate her breakfast. However, while sitting in the same table as Prussia… that was easier said than done.

"I mean, that's the second one already, right? It's not even been twelve full hours since the first one broke and all—Hey, are you even listening, Maddie?"

That's another thing. Since Gilbert couldn't use his old nickname near other nations, he resorted to calling her 'Maddie', short for Madeline. That was a nickname more girly than Mattie and obviously less girly than Birdie, but it annoyed Canada when she was called that, for some reason she couldn't figure out...

"How can she not? We're all trying to ignore you, dumbass."

'Ah, Lovino to the rescue, with his ever-so-charming vocabulary…'

Once Madeline had painstakingly walked down the twelve (it felt like so many more…) remaining floors, she made a beeline for the restaurant, glad it wasn't as full as it usually got after nine a.m.; most people were still gathered at the scene of the scene of the incident since it occurred less than fifteen minutes ago. Once there, she made herself a quick cup of coffee, pitch black, and searched for Gilbert's table. Mainly, the one where the loud talking and international swears were emanating from.

Even before she was within yelling distance from it, the Canadian could see all the other nations at the table… or rather, at the many connected tables. Around four were lined up, one beside the other, in order to accommodate everyone seated. She could see Gilbert, Ludwig, Feliciano, Lovino, Antonio, Roderich, Elizaveta and Kiku all seated. Apparently, more nations had been seating there earlier, if the half-eaten plates on the vacant seats were anything to go by; from the looks of it, at least five more nations had up and left before eating their food. Madeline just sat directly across from Gilbert, where her plate stacked with over fifteen pancakes laid already, and set her coffee down before murmuring a half-felt 'hi' to the rest of the table. She noticed her top pancake had two triangles taken from it, no doubt because she had been twice as late as Gilbert told her to be before he arrived. She didn't really mind, and started eating.

She showed no signs of noticing how most of the other nations were looking at her weirdly for sitting in a table full of people she (supposedly) didn't know. Only Kiku and Elizaveta weren't surprised, only slightly worried of the possibility that other nations might begin to ask questions. Yesterday Madeline had eaten breakfast and dinner in her room looking over some of her notes and talking to her Prime Minister Harper, and the first day was wasted chasing Prussia around with a chair for telling them about 'the secret'. Naturally, this was 'Quebec's first time eating with any other nations, which would undoubtedly raise some eyebrows…

Gilbert either didn't care or didn't give the whole ordeal much thought and just started chatting away as though the situation was completely normal. Soon afterwards, all the other clueless nations decided to drop the issue and ignore the oddity as well; they had more than enough chairs for everybody after all. Kiku and Elizaveta also acted as though nothing was wrong, but they kept giving small, unnoticeable glances at the others in case someone got curious about 'the new girl'.

Fast forward about two minutes, and Matthew would presently find herself already using up one entire bottle of Maple syrup on her stack of pancakes, much to the surprise of some other nations on the table.

"Wow, that's a lot of syrup, niñita! You use as much syrup as Lovino uses tomatoes, I think…"

"Are you implying something?" Lovino shot a quick glare to Antonio, who failed to notice his charge's growing irritation.

"Ve, you do love tomatoes a whole lot, fratello!" Italy shot one of his bright smiles at his brother, as oblivious to Lovino's mood as Spain.

"Just shut up and eat, idiots…" the brunette gave a sigh, knowing he was dealing with a lost case, as continued eating his breakfast.

"Well," interrupted Gilbert, swallowing a piece of wurst before continuing, "little-miss-maple-pants here only wastes a full bottle of syrup when she's 'moody', so be careful she doesn't bite a finger off—"

Madeline only stopped eating to deliver a swift kick under the table at Gilbert's shin, and slightly smiled at the German curses she heard.

Ludwig simply stared a bit before asking what no doubt was on most of their minds.

"And how exactly do you know so much about Madeline, brudder?"

Elizaveta and Kiku both froze for a quick second, not yet having a solid excuse for a question. Madeline, unfortunately, chocked on a bite of her pancakes and forcefully swallowed her food with her still steaming and unsweetened coffee. It was all she could do to not cringe as she shook off Feliciano's concerned gaze. Luckily, Gilbert had actually expected that question like that and replied in a beat. "She's a province of Canada's, and I'm friends with the guy, so we're tight."

"Ah, right," Austria added in from the other corner of the table, "the poor fellow that puts up with you when you 'get tired of grazing us with your presence'…" Canada briefly wondered how she could know he used air quotes since his voice remained even throughout the whole sentence.

"Whatever, specs!" Gilbert snapped back, "Not my fault you can't lighten up to jokes and have Eliza follow after me with furniture—"

A loaf of bread flew over three seats and bounced of Gilbert's head in such a precise way that left Madeline's jaw slightly slacked. Elizaveta's voice rang clear from her seat near Roderich and soon the Canadian girl wondered how she expertly hit Gilbert in the head with her eyes closed.

The albino huffed and resumed eating and talking about whatever he was talking before as he normally did, though he didn't miss the small and relieved sighs three other nations let out once the whole 'Quebec' matter had been dropped.

Things progressed smoothly. Elizaveta and Roderich were talking in between bites of food at the end of the table, across from each other and too caught up in their own conversation to notice that of others. To Elizaveta's right was an empty seat that stood between her and Kiku. The seat had a plate full of oriental food similar to the Japanese man's and had a glass of an unknown content not belonging to the hotel, since the glass looked different from the other ones with its colorful decorations. Across from the empty seat was Antonio with his ever-present smile on as he talked lividly with Lovino, who sat on his left. The foul-tempered Italian seemed quite calm, but it was noticeable that he was trying no to yell out at Antonio, who poked his cheek while making a comment about how he looked like a stuffed pancake with his blush. Feliciano was on his brother's other side, across from Ludwig and diagonally from Kiku and Gilbert. He was chatting away while making grand hand motions. Ludwig would warn him every now and then about not spilling any food off his fork, which he waved around as he talked. Whenever Ludwig and Kiku would make small talk, Gilbert and Feliciano would be discussing anything and everything, and despite Gilbert's previous warnings, the joyous Italian would be kind enough to include Madeline in some conversations, asking for her opinion on some matters. Now that she used a full bottle of syrup and had eaten over half her stack of breakfast in peace, Madeline was in a much calmer and nicer mood, and would join in the small talk every now and then.

It felt weird. When she was a boy, he never talked much during breaks at the meetings. Not that many nations even noticed he was there in the conversations to begin with. More often than not, Matthew would order room service and stay in his room along with Kumajirou while he organized whatever notes he took that day. If he decided to eat with the others, more often than not, he'd be dragged by Alfred to eat with him at whatever table the superpower sat and would promptly be ignored for the rest of the meal. If Alfred was busy, Francis would make himself responsible of making sure Matthew was surrounded by people, especially ladies since 'he was so shy' (his papa's words, not his own), which would lead to Francis using every line in the book to gain as many bed-mates as he could that night…or day, depending on his schedule… meaning Matthew would fade to the background again. And England… well, he usually confused him with Alfred and just shared a small greeting before walking away when he realized his mistake, but the way he would shout out for 'America to stop and turn around' would certainly not help his situation with other nations that had heard. Only on the small chance he got pulled away by Gilbert first or got the chance to chat with Katyusha (and Ivan by addition, which would coincidentally keep Alfred away due to the animosity between the two), would Matthew be included in at least a two-way conversation during his breaks.

But now that she was a fresh face, getting in a conversation was easier than ever. Did her familial ties really contribute to her former invisibility..?

Madeline gave a barely audible sigh. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was… As odd as it sounded, back when she was a boy, her family seemed to be the reason why she never really socialized during breaks with other nations. Not to mention that the world meetings were the only chances during the year when a nation could build personal ties with others outside of wars or natural disasters or the sort… If being around new nations meant being outshined by her family, the obviously, it'd be quite easy to overlook Canada and make him seem like a plain person with nothing to distinguish him from others. Add the fact that Matthew and Alfred looked eeringly similar, and you have the whole equation of an invisible and overlooked nati—

Canada fiercely shook her head, slightly loosening her hair from the bands. Surely she was over thinking everything. It was her family she was thinking about, after all. As much as they failed when it came to showing they cared, they did nonetheless, and wouldn't want her to be overlooked or ignored most of the time. She felt silly for even thinking, no, for even considering thinking that her family might be the reason she was so easily ignored as a boy. It was preposterous.

"Ve, is something wrong, Maddie?"

The blonde looked to Feliciano to see that he was looking at her with honest concern. She felt kind of bad for worrying him, and gave him a small smile. She didn't even mind that he called her by the nickname she hated.

"I'm fine, Italy. Sorry for worrying you…"

The redhead's eyes lit up and he instantly smiled back, "No problem! I was just worried about a cute signora like you looking so sad!" Italy grasped both of the girl's had gently and shook them in a manor not unlike a greeting, "And you don't have to call me Italy! Feliciano or Feli is just fine!"

Gilbert, who was talking with Feliciano until he worried about Madeline, had taken a moment to take in his friend's looks. She looked tired, though not as irritable as when she first sat down. He knew from experience that whenever Canada had a tough time, she would drown her pancakes in syrup. Only when she was really down would she use two bottles, like when her family forgot her birthday or the likes. In respect to not burying his nose where it didn't belong, he had suggested to the others to not bother her. Luckily, Feli had a talent for getting on people's good sides and Birdie seemed much better than before, if only by a little.

Kiku had also overheard the other two talking and spoke up, "Are you sure you are feeling well, Maddie-chan? You look a bit paler…" Those were the wrong words to use around Feliciano, as he started fretting about the girl immediately afterwards.

"V-Ve! Are you s-sick? You don't have a cold or something, right? !"

The blonde just brought a hand to brush some bangs that had also broken loose from her hairpins out of her eyes and smiled again. "I'm fine, really. It's nothing."

Prussia didn't buy it. He knew Canada long enough to know that she didn't get pale over 'nothing'. Heck, Matthew could have a hangover bigger than Ukraine's track of lands while dealing with a sudden economical crisis and still have time to make it to a meeting on time without looking pale or ragged. No, if she looked physically wrong, it usually had to do with something more complex. The other day she looked tired and pale because she was dealing with the transformation details, but he doubted that was what she was fretting over. He didn't speak out his thoughts, though. If she had something big bothering her, it didn't deserve to be dragged out in front of outsiders. Maybe he would make a mental note to ask her about it later.

Not that he was worried or anything. That was something friends normally did for each other, right? They heard each other's problems and shit? He felt like a pansy just thinking about it, but he guessed the kid was awesome enough for him to do something that would be seen as unnatural.

He kept shut and continued eating.


"Kiiikuuu~!"

All heads at the table shot up at the new voice. They watched as Taiwan ran to their table. The Asian girl threw herself at Kiku and gave him a small hug before sitting down on the empty chair next to him. She smiled widely and took a small sip of the decorated glass before she started talking spiritedly to everyone.

"You should've come! America was freaking out saying that terrorists were trying to attack the hotel, but England said that it didn't make sense because it was only the elevators that kept getting broken and then they started fighting before France started bothering them for no reason. It was really entertaining!" She turned and gave Elizaveta a small phone she had been grasping tightly, "I took pictures of when France tried another invasion! It's Michelle's phone, though, so don't tell her I took it."

"Mei-chan! You can't take other's phone without permission!" Kiku had a bright blush thinking about how his sister was getting his interest in yaoi but with Yong Soo's level of enthusiasm.

Roderich gave a slight cough to gain the pair's attention, "I'm sure you didn't mean to leave out the picture taking as well, didn't you?"

Hungary flashed Taiwan a thumbs up. "Nice job, Mei!" She didn't seem concerned with disproving Austria's rhetorical question.

All throughout the scene, all Canada could think was 'the hell?'.

"Hey, what you doing here, little dude?"

'That voice…' Madeline turned around and, sure enough, approaching the table were America, England, France and Seychelles. England seemed to be putting on the last buttons on his green jacket while grumbling something under his breath as France followed closely behind, a smug look on his face, no doubt because of the aforementioned ' invasion', though Canada was sure it couldn't have gone far if Seychelles was nearby. And judging from the way she kept glancing from one man to the other while standing between them, they didn't. America had his bomber jacket folded under his arm and most of his dress shirt unbuttoned as his tie hung off his shoulders. He had his usually goofy smile on that showed he didn't feel uncomfortable at all about the way he was presently (un)dressed.

It was only after Alfred sat down beside her that Madeline noticed his former statement was directed at her.

Well. Her morning just got slightly more interesting. Again.


A/n: Niñita is little girl in Spanish.

I know nothing of how Taiwan acts. Hopefully this is fine.