Mexico stopped telling the story for a second to glance at America, who was watching him avidly. America pouted "Why did you stop? It was getting exciting". Mexico smirked back "It's going to get much more exciting, that's the most innocent part of my life". Mexico noticed that at some point he has finished his tequila and put the glass down. He suspected that after that he had started using large elaborate gestures to accompany his story, which also explained why America was sitting further away.
It dawned on him how long it had taken to tell only a little bit of his life's story. He glanced at the clock, which read 11:30; he had started telling the story at 9:30. He glanced back at America "Alfred, it's getting kind of late, are you sure you want me to keep talking?" America pouted more, being very childish, "You can't leave me hanging like that. I need to know what happens". Mexico sighed "I'm beginning to see why you never read books. You would never get any sleep". America ignored the remark "I want to hear what happens next, and I'm not going to beg you. Heroes don't beg".
Mexico sighed deeply "Alright, have it your way, it can only get more exciting from here." America smirked in reply "Of course it gets more interesting, you met me". Mexico rolled his eyes "That was not the pivotal moment of my life, as much as you would like it to be". America continued to smirk "That's not really what you should tell the person you love. What happened when you got to the Americas?" Mexico took out another cigarette and lit it "I will spare you the boredom of hearing about sailing to the Americas. It was the same as usual; there were a couple days of bad weather a couple people vomited profusely. When I got to the Americas, the first person I met was not my brother, as I had expected"
Mexico stepped off of the ship in the country he represented and felt overwhelmingly like he was where he belonged. The air felt so familiar, like it was from a half forgotten dream. He smiled to himself. He glanced around for someone to meet him, he expected his brother. Instead his eyes lit upon a freakishly tall boy standing awkwardly and staring intently at the ground. Mexico recognized that must be a country because of how well he was dressed, relative to his skin color. In general, the rich were only white or Spain's same tan. Mexico looked around one more time and decided that he was only getting this boy as welcome.
He took a breath and walked over to the boy, who was still staring at the ground. Mexico wondered for a minute what was so very interesting on the ground. He was standing right next to the boy and he realized how very tall the boy was, he was at least a head taller than Mexico. Mexico cleared his throat rather loudly in an attempt to get the tall boy's attention. The boy jumped rather dramatically and looked down at Mexico. He gasped and took a few hurried steps back, having apparently realized how close Mexico was standing.
Then he resumed his intense staring at the ground, he mumbled "You must be New Spain. I'm Argentina". Mexico stepped forward and tried to look at the boy's face. This proved to be more difficult than he had expected because Argentina's long locks of black hair obscured his face and because he continued to stare fixedly at the ground. Mexico caught a brief glimpse of dark soulful eyes and full lips, but he couldn't be sure. He was suddenly reminded rather strongly of his first meeting with Cuba. He mentally made a note to be less intimidating, although he wasn't sure how he was being intimidating this time.
He responded "I would rather be called Alejandro or Mexico, I would like it if things weren't awkward between us", he put especial emphasis on the word awkward. Argentina understood Mexico's meaning and replied rather slowly, halting between words "I'm sorry, I don't do well with socialization. Your brother sent me because he was busy getting ready for your arrival". Mexico was somewhat touched by the fact that the brother he didn't know would try to make him welcome.
The silence between them became highly uncomfortable and Mexico broke it again "Should we be going, then?" Argentina nodded and abruptly started walking. Mexico was so caught off guard that he had to take a few quick steps to catch up with him. Mexico attempted to break the awkwardness again "Don't you want to know about me? Or the Spanish court?" Argentina shook his head stiffly "I talked a good bit with Enrique when he was here, he told me a lot about you and the court. I miss him now; I wish I could have gone with him". For the first time in the conversation, Mexico actually noted that Argentina's voice had a pleasing cadence to it, probably because Argentina had finally spoken more than 10 words.
He was slightly worried that the most anyone had heard about him was from Colombia. To measure the situation he said "What did Enrique say about me? He is a good man, but he does have a knack for telling rather fantastic stories". Argentina responded at once, apparently happy to have an easy topic to talk about "He said quite a lot about you, he said you are charming and intelligent and very good looking. Now that I see you, I know he was right about the last part. I reserve any other judgment until I get to know you better." Mexico nodded "That is wise of you. I know nothing of any of you here, and I would appreciate the same lack of knowledge about me".
Argentina nodded curtly "I can promise that for myself, but I can't promise for anyone else, we have heard some interesting tales. I must ask, was Enrique telling the truth about your relationship?" From the tone of Argentina's voice, Mexico guessed what the other was hinting at. In response he said "It is true. If I know Colombia, I also know that he made it more dramatic than it actually was. It was a brief experiment for me and nothing more. Now I am engaged to a wonderful woman." The conversation ended at that and Mexico gave up on trying to make conversation. He contented himself with observing the city around him.
The city was more like a very large town than a city, but this was probably because Mexico only had experience with Madrid and Barcelona, which were both much larger and grander. It was somewhat comforting for Mexico to see people with the same skin tone as him all around him. In Spain, he had seen only white people and it had made him feel alone. There was a feeling of home here that Mexico didn't quite understand. Despite how much smaller and quainter this city was than Madrid, Mexico preferred it here.
The streets were bustling with people, Argentina and Mexico wove their way through the crowd. Soon they reached a large house in the center of the city. Argentina stopped abruptly at the door and said to Mexico "Welcome home, this house is yours". Mexico looked at the house with new respect. It was a much smaller version of Spain's house, but it felt right somehow. His gaze returned to the door and he felt a new confidence, he had a place of his own and he belonged here. It irked him slightly that it looked so much like Spain's house, but he could deal with that. He started making plans to remodel and redecorate so that the house actually felt like his completely.
Argentina spoke again, although he continued to look at the ground "Your brother wanted to meet you as soon as you arrived, if you are alright with it. I mean you have traveled quite a lot today." Mexico picked up on the fact that if he didn't cut in, Argentina would continue rambling "I'm fine, Argentina. I would like to meet my brother". Argentina nodded at the ground and abruptly started walking again. Mexico was a little more prepared this time and didn't need to take a few steps to adjust.
Argentina walked quickly through the house. Mexico caught glimpses of several different rooms with interesting decor. He felt like he recognized some of the portraits. Mexico would have rather have wandered slowly through the rooms and looked at everything, but he also wanted to meet his brother. He decided to explore later and meet his brother first. He followed Argentina all the way through the house to the farthest back room. Argentina opened the door and led the way through. The room was very large and airy, with huge windows overlooking beautiful gardens. It took him a second to realize that it was an office.
The next thing he noticed was that everything was immaculately organized and cleaned. Argentina cleared his throat and said "Diego, your brother is here". For the first time, Mexico noticed the other boy in the room, who had been arranging things on the desks with his back to the door. He turned around quickly and looked directly at Argentina and said stiffly "Juan, you should leave us". Argentina disappeared as quickly as if he had evaporated into the air.
Mexico looked at his younger brother. He was that Spain was right; Texas looked very similar to Mexico. They both had very similar facial structures, but Texas was obviously less good looking. His face had less dramatic angles and was somewhat rounder. The result was that Texas had boyish good looks, but well within the normal limits. Mexico, on the other hand, had the face of a model and was dramatically good both had the same thick black hair and dark brown eyes, but only Mexico had small gold flecks in his was also notably paler, his skin was a mix of Mexico's skin tone and white. Texas also looked about two years younger.
Mexico wasn't sure whether he was supposed to make the first move. He tried to find the right words, but wasn't able to come up with something. He gave up and decided to let Texas make the first move. His brother took a few quick steps forward and dropped to one knee. Texas was staring fixedly at Mexico's shoes. Mexico looked down at his brother and was totally lost for words. He finally found his voice "Texas, why are you kneeling?" Texas continued to look at Mexico's shins as he spoke "Mother told me that I am to always kneel in front of you and I'm not to look you in the eye".
This was shocking news to Mexico. He had never known that he even had a brother. Texas, on the other hand, had been schooled on how to interact with Mexico. If anything, it made Mexico all the more uncomfortable. He decided to just trust his instincts. He kneeled down so that he was at the same level as Texas and reached out and touched his brother's face. Texas looked up at his brother "We aren't supposed to be like this. You are above me, mother always said so". The right words finally occurred to Mexico "That may have been when she was alive. Now we are the only two left of our bloodline and we only have each other now. I would rather you would you be willing to at least look at me". Texas looked at Mexico for a couple seconds as if he couldn't believe what Mexico was saying. Mexico thought for a second that he had said the wrong thing. He attempted to think of what to do next to remedy the situation. Then Texas hugged him "I'm sorry, I will try to be a good brother to you"
"Wait a second!" Alfred interjected suddenly. Mexico glared at him "Interrupting is not polite, Alfred". America ignored the comment "I have to make sure that we are actually talking about Texas. That's nothing like him". Mexico took a pull from the cigarette he had lit earlier before saying "Contrary to popular belief, he was actually sweet for a while before he turned into a complete cunt". Alfred winced slightly when Mexico swore "I still don't understand why you two hate each other so much". Mexico fixed Alfred with a glare again before he said "Aside from the part where he rebelled against me, or the part where he ran to you, or maybe the fact that he sabotaged our relationship just for the sake of making me miserable?"
Alfred sighed dramatically "I think this is my cue to change the subject before you try to murder me for helping your brother. Argentina sounds really different too, he isn't that shy now". Mexico laughed bitterly "Well played Alfred, but when we get to that part I might try to strangle you anyway. It's my fault that Juan changed so much. Let's just say that I was a bad influence". Alfred responded "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? Aren't you always a bad influence? How did you even get Juan to speak more than 20 words to you?" Mexico continued "If you don't keep interrupting, I will get to that soon. I adjusted to life in the Americas very quickly…"
A/N: I can't say I'm really that happy with how this chapter turned out, but I wrote it rather quickly to cut down on the wait between chapters. I am satisfied with how the meeting with Texas turned out (I bet it wasn't what you expected at all). I plan to show major development and change in Texas's character. I know I only introduced 2 new characters so far, but I promise you that you will see more! Please review so I know what you think (even though I know it isn't very good)