The events following the elephant destroying the wall could only be described as complete and utter chaos. People were shouting at each other, laughing and in a few cases punching each other in the aftermath. This atmosphere was ideal for Thailand to rush Canada over to a chair and pushed him into it, seating himself beside the small Canadian with his trademark smile.
Fortunately (or unfortunately if Canada had anything to say about it) the little stunt had made Canada the center of attention for many of the room's occupants. Amidst the general noise of the room, the sharp slam of skin against wood called everyone's attention over to Germany who was glaring at everyone and anyone in the room who had not yet shut up.
"Be quiet. Now! Ve vill have order." At the sound of his barking voice the room quieted down completely, no one willing to try and confront the furious German. Casting one last look around the room to confirm that they were paying attention to him he continued, "now, if you have something to say, you vill address it one at a time and in an orderly fashion." Once he had finished, several nations seemed ready to rise and begin speaking but England had already jumped to his feet, a dark scowl plastered on his face.
"Yes, I would like to know exactly what the devil you two twits," he pointed to a smiling Thailand and Canada attempting to sink into his chair, "were thinking crashing a bloody elephant through the wall!" He gave an even fiercer glare and Canada tried to sink further into his seat while Thailand just kept grinning, completely unfazed as he rose to respond.
"Ana- I thought it was obvious. Canada and I," he wrapped an arm around the now once again focused on nation, "were using symbolism of course." There was a short pause after that. Then hell broke loose once again.
"What in the hell does that mean?" England shouted, his face turning a slight shade of red at his outrage.
"Ana- it's quite simple, we were demonstrating how we could not ignore the symbolic elephant in the room any longer, because eventually that elephant is going to get really angry and demolish half a building."
"Vat vas the elephant supposed to symbolise?" Germany this time demanded, finally losing patience with the conversation. Thailand gave him a nod, as though thanking him for the interruption before answering.
"Ana- well, it is unfair not to allow pets into the meeting, I demand to be permitted to have Peanuts in here."
"...So, vait. You had an elephant smash the wall of the room open to symbolically say it is wrong to ignore the elephant in the room. And said elephant is that you want to be allowed to have an elephant in the room?"
"Ana- yes, exactly." There was a long silence as Germany massaged his forehead in stress and everyone looked from one another as they tried to grasp the idea. "Ana- so can I bring Peanuts back in?"
"No!" Several voices chorused in horror.
"Ana- fine, be that way." Thailand huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair in a (smiling) pout.
It was somewhat unnerving how he accomplished that look.
"Very vell, now that is settled vith we shall continue on vi-."
"Oh god it's back." Prussia shouted, scooting closer to Germany as he eyed the large gap in the wall. Germany looked towards it, and the large grey elephant lying down outside while it stared into the room fixedly, its eyes darting to whoever spoke last. The assembled nations shuddered at the attention from the pachyderm; few things were as awkward as being stared at by an elephant.
"Ana- ha, not in the building." Thailand declared triumphantly.
"Ludwig, the elephant is scaring me." Italy whined, hiding his face in the blonde German sleeve while periodically shooting glances at the elephant.
Germany let out a sigh of exasperation. "Fine, ve vill adjourn for the day and start fresh tomorrow," he glanced meaningfully at Thailand, who just smiled back, "in a new room." Germany added, looking once again at the elephant parked just outside the massive gap in the wall.
Amidst much muttering and a few awkward glances at Peanuts, the nations began to shuffle out of the room while giving a wide berth to the idling elephant at the gap in the wall. Canada soon followed after, escaping Thailand lest he be dragged along another questionable trip.
Vietnam watched him go before rising to her feet as well. She was about to follow but, sadly, fate had a funny way of blindsiding you. In this case, fate took the form of an over enthusiastic Taiwan grabbing her in a bone crushing hug while she gushed about what had just occurred.
"Oh my god, when the elephant came Japan just threw himself on me. He was so brave and wanted to protect me and he didn't get off until he was sure we were safe and even after that he asked me if I was alright and then-."
"Taiwan." Vietnam interrupted as she tried to pry off the arms off of her with little success.
"Ya?"
"Let me go." She hissed, trying even harder to get rid of the clinging nation.
"No, not until you listen." Taiwan declared stubbornly, squeezing Vietnam a little harder to reinforce her point. Vietnam glanced at the door, noticing that Canada had fortunately not gotten very far as Thailand had noticed the missing blonde and promptly felt obligated to tackle him and was now dragging him back towards the elephant.
She had a few minutes.
"Fine, what is it." She spat at Taiwan, who smiled like a child given candy (not the by a stranger candy but the stolen from a cookie jar kind) at the attention the other nation was paying her.
"Well, when the elephant came in Japan was just sooo noble. He threw himself in front of me to protect me from it." Taiwan gave an affectionate sigh, her eyes fluttering shut in the bliss of her memory. Vietnam rolled her eyes at the expression of contention.
"And this couldn't wait until after I talked to Canada because...?" Vietnam demanded sarcastically. Taiwan huffed and scowled, releasing Vietnam to fold her arms irritably.
"Well excuse me for being happy about not being stuck in 'the friend zone' with Japan."
"What are you talking about?" Vietnam demanded, now mildly curious.
"You're kidding right?" Taiwan asked with a dumbstruck expression. Vietnam scowled, wondering if maybe she was being made fun of. Taiwan rolled her eyes in exasperation at the look being directed at her. "The friend zone, you know. The place where you are when the person can only think of you as a friend and not an option, the place you're kind of in with Canada."
"Oh, oh! Shit." Vietnam cursed, looking back to Canada who was now clinging to the table leaving deep rivets where his nails dug into the wooden top from Thailand dragging him towards Peanuts.
"That's right," Taiwan teased lightly, "so you better do something fast or else someone else will snatch him up." Vietnam shot her sister a glare before melting into a pout.
"I don't wanna be in the friend zone." She murmured. Taiwan nodded sympathetically, and then shoved her towards Canada. Vietnam caught herself and shot a glare at Taiwan, who merely grinned and made an ushering motion to her. Vietnam huffed and turned away, slowly making her way towards Canada as she tried to work out what she was going to say to the other nation.
Thailand being there didn't exactly help matters. Fortunately that problem was soon solved when Austria and Hungary walked by Thailand and his blonde captive.
"Ana- you!" Thailand declared, pointing at Austria who blinked in confusion.
"Yes?" He asked curiously.
"Ana- damn you."
"Pardon?" Austria asked in even greater confusion.
"Ana- You and you're ivory piano keys, you made Peanuts cry! Look at him." Thailand declared, pointing at the elephant, who had by now rolled unto it's side and snoring deeply. "Ana- I've never seen him so depressed."
Austria glanced at the elephant unsurely before returning to Thailand. "I see, so what do you intend for me to do about it?" Austria asked mildly. Thailand's grin widened and Austria's eyes narrowed accordingly.
"Ana- I will reclaim the keys!" Thailand declared.
"What!" Austria demanded, visibly shaken.
"Ana- I must reclaim the ivory, to the music room." Thailand declared, rushing from the room in a whirlwind of motion, Austria following after screaming profanities.
Canada watched them go before giving a sigh of relief, pulling his fingers out of the wooden table after a moment of tugging (he had been quite adamant in not riding the elephant). Vietnam approached him as he was still wringing his hand in pain.
"Hey, Canada." She said with a weak wave, still mulling over what Taiwan had told her. Violet eyes glanced up and a relieved smile broke over Canada's features making Vietnam's heart flutter.
"Vietnam, how are you?" Canada asked in his typical quiet voice. Vietnam felt like her heart was in her throat when he spoke to her, she needed a drink to deal with this.
"I know what you mean." Oh god, did she say that out loud? Apparently judging by the fact that Canada had answered her unintentionally spoken question. It was just not her day. Wait, did he just say he wanted to go out drinking?
She remembered Prussia saying something interesting about Canada when he became drunk. An opportunity perhaps? Well, if he was drunk, maybe his tongue would be a bit looser and she could figure out of her feelings were reciprocated.
Suddenly feeling far more confident with a (somewhat) reasonable plan, she straightened and let out a light laugh.
"Well, in that case why don't we go out for one, seeing as the meeting ended early?" Canada looked unsure, shaking her confidence somewhat but she remained quiet, coercion without threats was kind of hard for her. Normally Canada would refuse, but after the little escapades with Thailand earlier (he could have sworn he just heard the sound of piano keys being hit randomly) drinking sounded like a reasonable act.
"Sure." Vietnam let a wide smile break over her face, which promptly dropped when a blue uniformed arm slung itself over Canada's shoulder.
"You're going drinking vithout me, vat the hell Mattie." Prussia whined at the now blushing blonde. "Now I have to come."
"Why do you have to come?" Vietnam hissed at the Prussian. If Prussia was there it would be infinitely harder to get Canada to talk to her. Prussia just shot her a glare.
"So the elephant doesn't kidnap him again, it vas completely out of the blue so I have to keep him safe." Vietnam glared harder at the silverette who just grinned back, pulling Canada closer. "So, vere ve going?"
Vietnam clenched her fists at her sides. Dammit, Canada was too polite to say no. She would just have to get Prussia smashed early on so she could talk to Canada alone.
The trio were unaware that they in fact had an audience for the tail end of their conversation. Thailand let his smile grow wider, realising Vietnams plan by her slight blush across her face. Dropping the Piano keys he had been holding into a bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he made his way back to Peanuts to prepare for the evening.
()()()
"The hell are you talking about, I like my hair." Vietnam slurred slightly, trying to punch the albino beside her who clumsily dodged, nearly falling off the barstool while he howled in laughter at the attempt.
"But, itsh sho veird, eshpeshially vith that hat." For some reason in his inebriated state, the German seemed to find that comment hilarious and promptly doubled over laughing. Or at least tried to but instead merely slammed his head on the beer bottle littered bar, cursing as he gingerly touched his forehead while casting a pout at Canada, who was chuckling lightly. "Ishn't funny."
"I'm sorry Gilbert, it really was." Prussia and Vietnam looked at Canada in incredulity, prompting the northern nation to blink in confusion. "What?"
"Theresh no vay you can hold your liquor that vell, why aren't you drunk?" Prussia demanded, trying to point a finger at the Canadian but instead pointing at a karaoke machine in the corner.
"Oh, I'm the designated driver." Canada informed them, pointing at a small bracelet on his wrist. Both other nations stared at it for a minute before turning on each other.
"Thish ish your fault." Vietnam declared, trying to punch the Prussian again, a somewhat successfully attempt as Prussia fell slightly backwards before righting himself with a glare at her.
"Howsh it my fault?" He shot back.
"You coulda been it instead."
"I didn't know he vas."
"Awwww, shuddup." Vietnam trailed off, planting her forehead on the bar, causing her hat to push itself unto the back of her head.
"Vietnam, are you alright?" Canada asked, moving to stand beside the other nation and giving her a light nudge.
"'m tired." Was the muttered reply, followed by a light snore from beneath the hat. Blinking in confusion, Canada sighed before straightening and looking around for a solution. Finding none forthcoming and Prussia having passed out as well, he sighed again before leaning over near Vietnam's shoulder and sliding her arm over his shoulder. Putting his arm around her (no he did not just accidentally brush her breast, nobody saw it, it never happened) he lifted the unconscious nation with a light grunt of exertion.
Supporting her (though it was more like carrying at that point) Canada brought the other nation out of the bar. Arriving at what he knew to be the Vietnamese woman's car he stood before the door uncertainly. Sighing again, he lightly shook Vietnam.
"Vietnam?"
"Whaaaat?" She muttered, turning her head and blinking blearily at him.
"Um, where are your keys?" Mumbling something indistinguishable, Vietnam reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of keys. Canada reached for them, only for Vietnam to pull her arm back with a lazy smirk on her face. "May I please have the keys?" Vietnam seemed tremendously amused by that, breaking into a fit of giggles interspersed with hiccups. In that moment of distraction, Canada reached across and snatched the keys from her.
"Heeeeey, thatsh not fair."
"Um, I'm sorry?" Canada hesitantly replied. Vietnam just grumbled while Canada unlocked the door, easing Vietnam gently into it. Closing the door and quickly trotting over to the driver's side, Canada quickly unlocked the door and slid into the car as well.
Putting on his seatbelt, he looked over to where Vietnam was slumped in her seat, leaving her own buckle undone. Blushing even more than when he (didn't!) brush against her chest, he leaned across and, after some attempt finally managed to buckle her seatbelt. As he finished, Vietnams head rolled over and her eyes opened slowly to reveal them almost touching noses.
"Heh." With that, she seemed to fall asleep once again. Sadly, this caused her to inadvertently head butt her escort.
With a slight curse and jolt backwards, Canada reached up to the small red mark on his forehead, rubbing it with a wince of pain. Sighing, he took his hand away and started the car, backing out of the parking lot and making his way down the road.
The drive was uneventful aside from the odd muttering or curse from Vietnam, many of which were quite... colourful. They soon arrived at Vietnam's house, Canada recalling the general area the other nation's home had been and he was much better at geography than his brother so his sense of direction was well enough.
Parking in the driveway, he opened his door and stepped out of the car. It was then that a fact he had unfortunately overlooked occurred to him.
"Oh Maple, I forgot about Gilbert." Horrified at the slip of mind, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, dialling the silverette's number. He frantically paced as he listened to the ringing of the phone before it finally stopped abruptly with a click.
"Ana- hello?" What the.
"Thailand?"
"Ana- Matthew, how good to hear from you, how are you?" The overly cheerful voice in his ear asked curiously.
"Uh, I'm fine. Why do you have Gilberts phone?"
"Anna- Oh, don't worry about him. I took care of him."
"Oh, thank you Thailand. He'll be hung over in the morning so could you lay out some Advil or something beside his bed for when he wakes up?" Canada asked the Thai man on the other end of the phone line.
"... Ana- ok, ya. We could do that. Sure."
"Thanks Thailand, I have to go. I need to get Vietnam inside."
"Ana- oooooh, ok. I won't keep you. Bye." Canada was about to protest but the dial tone told him otherwise. Shaking his head in exasperation, he clicked closed his cell, putting it back in his pocket and turning to the car. Now, how to get Vietnam inside?
Thailand clicked his phone shut as well, sighing before leaning on the head of his shovel. "Ana- well this sucks."
A loud snore was his sole reply.
"Ana- oh be quiet." Thailand admonished, picking up the shovel and hefting it sullenly. "And I had just finished." Prussia snored loudly once again from his seat in a nearby wheelbarrow. Thailand shot the unresponsive nation a weak smile. "Ana- oh well, que sera sera." With that, Thailand resumed filling in the shallow grave he had been digging.
"Ana- I did a really good job too but nooo, he's too good for the hole. Jerk."
Meanwhile, back at Vietnam's home, Canada had finally managed to move Vietnam into her home. Sadly, he had had to do so by carrying her bridal style into the house, and every time he was reminded of what it was called added a new tint to the blush over his features.
He really tried to ignore as well the way Vietnam seemed to curl into him, and the mutterings in Vietnamese that were spoken in a rather suspect tone. She certainly acted different while liquored up, Canada mused as he backed into the door, pushing it open.
Walking, somewhat awkwardly, into the room he deposited Vietnam onto her bead. Or at least tried to, rather Vietnam chose that moment to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him on top of her with a squeak of surprise. He landed, face to face with the Asian nation, who was now sporting a lopsided grin on her face.
"You shmell good."
"Huh?" Was Canada's intelligent reply, which ended when the Vietnamese woman snaked her arms around his neck, crashing their lips together.
()()()
"Ana- all right, all filled in." Thailand declared, wiping his brow as he gazed in satisfaction at the mound of dirt before him. He gave a satisfied smile, soon dropping into a self-depreciating one as he observed a booted leg sticking out of the grave.
"Ana- oops. That's right, I wasn't supposed to bury him." Thailand gave out a drawn out sigh before hefting the shovel again "Ana- ah well, life's a journey not a destination."
With that, he plunged the head of the shovel back into the ground.
Wow, that took a long time. I am really good at coming up with ideas, but I find it hard to actually sit down and write the damn thing. Too many distractions I think. Anyway, why it took so long. In essence, I started writing it, then stopped and took a step back. I essentially re-examined the entirety of where I was going with it, then I reconsidered how far I was going to take it. Long story short, I rewrote my outline. Also, I found it hard to continue where I left the previous chapter off. Read and Review please.