This chapter was inspired by the song 'Ordinary Day' by Vanessa Carlton. And I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragement and for their assurances that it will all be alright. Eventually.

I am not sure if you know how much it means to me, but trust me, it means the world.

Ordinary Day

Canada stretched his arms over his head with a smile and a sigh. The bedsheets were tousled and cold beside him but he was not worried. He could hear the clattering of dishes downstairs.

And that meant breakfast.

He reached for the polar bear draped across his legs and scratched behind his ears. Kumajirou leaned into his hand with a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a moan.

Canada laughed.

"What are you laughing about?" Prussia asked as he stepped into their bedroom with a cup of tea and a pile of toast. Gilbird cheeped from his perch on top of his head.

Canada pointed at the twitching animal.

"Him."

"Ah, of course. The monster," Prussia drawled as he sat down on the edge of the mattress. He handed Canada the cup of tea and glared at the polar bear.

Kumajirou nuzzled against Canada, softer and sweeter than usual. He was taunting the other nation.

Prussia narrowed his gaze.

"He's not a monster!"

"He is too, and you know it."

"Gilbert..."

"No, he is." Prussia shook his head and picked up a piece of toast. It was smeared with marmalade. "Here, have some toast."

Canada pouted and sipped his tea.

"I don't want any. You're mean."

"Not to you."

"You're mean to my bear. That's the same thing."

"Is not."

"Is too."

Prussia scrunched his nose.

"Look, just eat your damn toast."

"No."

"Eat it."

"No!"

"Oh, you asked for it!"

Prussia lunged forward and straddled the squirming blonde. Canada held the cup of tea over his head and giggled.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry! You're going to make me spill. Get off! I'm sorry!"

"Not yet you're not." Prussia tore off a piece of toast and jammed it in his mouth. Canada coughed and tried to talk around his breakfast.

"Mmmfff mmn nnn!"

Prussia cackled and stuffed another piece into his mouth before he could swallow.

"Nuh uh! You're going to eat it all."

"Mmmnnn!"

"Eat it!"

Kumajirou sighed, feeling ignored, and dragged himself out of his warm nest of blankets. Gilbird landed on top of his head with a similar sound of exasperation.

Tea splashed on the floorboards as breakfast turned into a wrestling match.

The animals tiptoed out of the bedroom to a chorus of laughter and cries for help.

Prussia held the other nation's hand and buried his face into his scarf. It had been a gift from Canada, handmade, more than a decade ago.

Canada squeezed his hand back and leaned into the wind. He was wearing an oversized plaid sweater in orange and maroon and an awful 'toque' in neon green. His cheeks were flushed.

It was the beginning of spring and snow still covered the grass in places.

"Where should we go first?"

"The toy store," Prussia answered without hesitation.

Canada quirked an eyebrow.

"... That wasn't one of the options. We're running errands, remember? Serious business?"

"Toys are serious business."

"Oh really?"

"Mmhmm. They're the first step in my quest for world domination."

Canada snorted but the corners of his mouth turned upwards at the mention of world domination.

"Gilbert, we've talked about this..."

"No, you talked about it. I ignored you."

"As usual…"

"What about this?" Canada held up a bunch of fennel. Prussia squinted at it.

"Well... What is it?"

"It's a vegetable, Gilbert." Canada sighed and dropped the fennel into a plastic bag. He tied a knot.

"... Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Canada sauntered to the next bin of produce and started inspecting the asparagus.

"What about this?" He held up a bundle.

"What about it?"

"Do you want asparagus for dinner?"

Prussia shrugged.

"Not really."

"Okay then. We'll get it." Canada put it into another plastic bag.

"... Why did you ask if you were just going to get it anyway?"

Canada patted his arm and moved to the next bin.

"Because I want you to feel useful, dear." He looked over the strawberries and pineapples. "What kind of fruit do you want?"

Prussia smirked and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sweetheart, you're the only kind of 'fruit' I need."

Canada blinked.

"Hey!"

"Maaattheeew!"

"We're almost home."

"You said that five minutes ago!"

"And what do you know, we're even closer now. Imagine that." Canada readjusted his grip of the groceries. He smiled at Prussia.

"… I'm not sure I like you anymore…"

"Oh no! How can I go on?!" Canada tossed his head back and clutched at his heart. The sarcasm was palatable. "Cruel world!"

Prussia pouted.

"Okay, now I'm sure I don't like you anymore."

Canada laughed and skipped ahead.

"Where are the candles?"

Canada peeked out of the kitchen where he was cooking dinner. He wielded the wooden spoon as if it were a weapon and the sauce dripped on the carpet.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What do you need candles for?"

"Candles are romantic!" Prussia proclaimed. He was rifling through a drawer in the bureau with both hands.

"Uh…"

"Nevermind, found them!" He held up two candles with a cackle of triumph. "Perfect."

He set them on the tablecloth and straightened the napkins with careful consideration. He readjusted the knives. Prussia looked over the scene with a self satisfied smile, hands on his hips and chest out.

"… You're weird. It's just dinner." Canada turned back into the kitchen and Prussia bounced after him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed the back of his neck when he reached the oven.

"No, I'm awesome." Prussia trailed kisses between his shoulder blades and delighted in the little shivers. "And you're wrong. It's not 'just dinner', it's dinner with you."

Canada sat in front of the fireplace with a novel in his hands and Prussia in his lap. The other nation was sitting on the floor between his legs and teasing the polar bear.

"Don't be mean," he sighed.

"I'm not."

"You are too."

Prussia tweaked his nose and Kumajirou smacked at his hand. Prussia snorted.

"He knows what he did."

Canada looked down at the two of them and frowned.

"You're impossible."

"Not impossible. Just improbable, that's all."

"Mmhmm."

Canada turned back to his novel and tried to tune them out. Gilbird was keeping out of trouble and dozing in his curls to the sound of light snoring.

It was almost an hour before Prussia spoke up again.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

Canada peered over the worn pages of the book in his hands. The polar bear had fallen asleep on Prussia and the nation kept one hand scratching behind his ear and the other hand on his knee. He looked content.

Canada smiled.

"This. Just this."

"You want to… Go shopping and make dinner?"

"Yes."

"But that's so… Ordinary."

He laughed.

"Exactly."

Prussia frowned and thought it over, still petting the animal on his lap.

"Oh."

"Mmhmm…"

Another couple of minutes passed before Prussia leapt up and tossed Kumajirou onto the sofa. He landed without jostling the pillows and turned over, still sleeping. Gilbird flew after him.

Prussia stood over Canada with a feral grin.

"I think I know how to make it extraordinary!" He bent his fingers and stepped closer.

"Uhm…" Canada closed his novel and backed up as far as the armchair would allow. "How?"

"Like this!" Prussia pounced and scooped Canada up with practiced ease. He tossed him over his shoulder and started marching towards their bedroom.

Canada screeched.

"Ah! Ah! Put me down!" He hammered on his back and wiggled, laughing. "What are you doing?!"

"Here, let me show you."

Prussia stared down at the blonde curled in his arms. There were love bites on his neck and knots in his hair. His cheeks were flushed.

Prussia pulled the bedsheets up higher to cover them both and Canada snuggled against his chest with a soft moan.

"That was nice," he sighed.

"I'll say," Prussia laughed. He held the other nation's hand and ran his thumb over his knuckles.

"We should do it again tomorrow."

Prussia shrugged.

"I think we can manage that…"

Author's Notes:

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for the kind words. I will be getting back to you all before the weekend. Life has just been, well, you know.

… And I think that Prussia and Kumajirou would have a rivalry of sorts, but I also think that they would like and even respect each other. In either case, they would get along just for Canada. Or at least try to.

This was just a day, an ordinary day, in their life together. Because we all know how much I enjoy writing these. (A lot. The answer is 'a lot'.)

All of my love, and see you again tomorrow.