Bunnies For Your Amusement (Hetalia)
Author: Ashynarr
Summary: A bunch of cute and/or serious story ideas featuring my favorite Hetalia bros – America and Canada! May or may not be pairings depending on story. I guarantee all of these are, if not unique ideas, unique takes on ideas, so come check them out!
Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.
Warning: Random Shit, Bros Being Bros,
Bunny: Giftless
~Alfred is hiding something, and only his brother knows. All the Nations - even the unofficial ones - possess magic… except for him. He refuses to let it keep him from accomplishing great things, but if the others ever found out...
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
He first knew he was different when he was a small colony, still mostly innocent of the wider world outside of his home.
Matthew had come over to stay with him while their older brothers were back in Europe, leaving the two to their own devices. They weren't completely helpless, even if they looked and acted like two year olds for the most part - Matthew and Alfred had learned to cook simple meals from Francis and Matthew respectively - so their time together was not heavily marred with difficulty even with them missing their family.
The day of his discovery, the two had been exploring Arthur's massive library, giggling to each other as they avoided imaginary monsters and found wonderful treasures. One such treasure was an old key, forgotten in the shadowy corner of the room, which both knew could only be to something exciting. They'd tested it on almost every lock in the house before they found what it went to - an equally old chest tucked in the back of the storage room.
"Aw, it's just a book." Alfred groaned upon peering inside, allowing himself to be pushed to the side so his twin could see it.
"I think it's one of Arthur's magic books." Matthew pronounced with all the confidence his two year old self could manage.
"How can ya tell? I can't read what it says at all."
"It's not dusty or old looking like the chest and key were, so its gotta be magic."
That made enough sense to Alfred, who was now much more eager to go through it so that he could be a super cool wizard just like his big brother one day! They flipped through the pages, trying to make sense of the strange words and symbols, before finally reaching a page that was more picture than words.
"I think he's making a fire in his hands." Matthew peered closely at the page.
"Oh, oh, we should try that! That'd be so cool!" Alfred's eyes were alight, already imagining the things he could do with that.
Matthew was less enthused. "But what if we hurt ourselves, or burn something important?"
"We'll do it out by the pond, that way we can put it out if we need to."
Matthew frowned, still worried but also a bit eager himself. "Okay."
~0~0~
A half hour and many failed attempts later, Alfred was frustrated. "Why isn't it working?"
"Maybe we should wait for Arthur or Francis to get back… they could help us."
"But they'll only let us do boring stuff, and I really wanna surprise them!"
"They'll be angry with us if they find out what we did, though…"
Alfred frowned, not having thought of that. He really didn't want to make Arthur mad, but he wasn't a baby anymore! He could learn magic too!
...maybe it wouldn't hurt to wait a bit before revealing his super-cool abilities, though. Just to be safe. Matthew looked relieved at the idea, allowing the two to get back to the book and their practice.
It only took another few minutes for the Canadian to shout in surprise, startling his brother out of his narrow focus to see his brother just waving out the flame he'd produced. A shot of jealousy shot through him - he'd wanted to be first, darnit! - but the desire to see it again temporarily overrode it. "Again, again!"
"O-okay…" Shaking his head a bit to throw off his nervousness, Matthew focused on his hands again, mumbling the words while focused on that feeling inside of him that'd reacted before. Just as it had before, a small flame sputtered into existence between his palms, hovering in midair like a ghost.
Alfred was awed. "Cool-"
Or hot, at he quickly remembered when he tried to prod the flame to see if it was indeed real. His finger was reddened a bit, but otherwise unharmed, unlike his pride which was now doubly wounded by his twin's accomplishment. "How'd you get it so fast?"
Matthew frowned in thought. "I dunno… there was just this- this feeling inside me, right here-" He pressed his flameless hands over the middle of his chest. "-and when I said the words it moved and then the fire showed up."
Alfred frowned, trying to find whatever feeling his brother had. No matter how hard he looked, though, he couldn't find anything, making him huff in frustration. "Liar - you just don't wanna tell me."
"I am not a liar!" Matthew glowered at his twin.
"Whatever," The American muttered, grabbing the book. "This was a stupid idea anyways."
The northern twin clamped down on the comment that it was Alfred's idea in the first place, following after as they returned to the house.
~0~0~
The door almost slammed open, Alfred dropping his suitcase unceremoniously in the hall as he directed his body to the couch so he could flop onto it gracelessly. Matthew, following after, set the case to the side along with his own, kicking off his shoes as he sighed.
"Alfred, come on, it's not that big a deal."
There was a muffled grumble from the American. Matthew settled down on the arm, gently ruffling his twin's hair. "You know it's not your fault this happens, Al."
"But it is - if my magic wasn't all stupid and broken, yours wouldn't be either."
"And I've told you that it's England's fault my powers fritz like they do - you've actually made it better."
At the skeptical look he received, the Canadian smiled. "For all my French and English sides fight, they can both bond over the fact that at least they aren't American. Not that that's a bad thing, but- well."
Alfred snorted. "You ass."
"You love me anyways."
"Mmmm."
Content that he'd diverted his brother's self-pity fest for the moment, he stood up to head upstairs only to be stopped by a hand gripping his jacket.
"...hey, Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for being there for me all these years."
Matthew smiled. "No problem, Al."
Alfred allowed his brother to leave, curling back up on the couch as he bit his lip. He didn't like keeping things from his brother, but this was one thing he couldn't lump on the other no matter how much he wanted to.
He was nervous.
When it came to the other Nations, he was always nervous. Should they ever find out about him-
No, he wouldn't think about it. They hadn't found out yet, and they wouldn't if he and his brother had his way.
But sometimes he thought he felt a gaze watching him, studying him, seeing through his skin to the empty place in his chest where his magic should have been but wasn't- and he didn't know if they could, magic was so weird and convoluted and nothing like the math and diagrams he threw himself into for more than the love of innovation.
Was it Russia, his long-time enemy? Was it one of the so-called Magic Trio, more in tune with the magical world than most? Was it China, ancient and seemingly all-knowing? Was it all of them? None of them?
He didn't know, and it made him paranoid.
He breathed in, closing his eyes. It was just his nerves acting up, a cruel remnant of darker days. It didn't mean anything - he was safe, his brother had assured that many times, and he trusted his brother like no one else.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
AN: Whoops, did I confuse you with the sudden transition there? I might or might not have done that on a spur of the moment basis and left it in for reasons.
An old idea I threw up on the kink meme a while back because I didn't trust myself to write it… I got one partial fill and one prologue not-fill, but both were abandoned. And that made me sad. So I decided that, what the hey, I'd write something for it myself.
It'll differ somewhat from my request here:
hetalia-kink()dreamwidth()org/82345()html?thread=506078889#cmt506078889
But in the end, does it matter? It's still an interesting concept.
Anyways, basics: Alfred has no magic, when every other Nation, microNation, and personification in general has magic. (And the super strength doesn't count because it's internal only). If the others found out, he'd be the laughingstock of the world, not to mention some of them might get it in their head that he's vulnerable because of it.
That might have been true in a different age, but in the modern age he has his own strengths that magic could never replicate or overcome. What those are I'm not completely sure about yet, besides the general greater creativity and inventiveness that I know Alfred possesses.
...meh, not my best bunny, but it's something.