AmeCan Ice Creamery (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: Since I know I have followers who do like AmeCan and those who don't, I've decided that the best solution is to make a new drabble archive to hold all my specifically shippy stuff. AmeCan, Canadacest, and Americacest all included in here.

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: 1pAme2pNyoAme, Beauty/Beast AU with a twist

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The horse came to a nervous stop before the large gates, snorting her displeasure with having had to make her way along an old forest path, doubly so because the ground was soggy from the storm that had rolled in earlier that morning and had yet to abate. Her rider, hunched into the cloak to avoid getting soaked, pushed back his hood just enough to look up at the towers rising over the abandoned looking castle and whistled.

"You think there's any treasure still in here, Uni?"

Uni snorted again, turning its head to give her rider an unimpressed look.

Alfred huffed and ran a hand down her neck. "Hey, I'm just trying to think about the next time we're near a city, alright? The rich folk just eat up old artifacts from places like this, which means I could finally buy you a new saddle and get you some of those sugary treats you like."

The horse seemed to genuinely consider this, tilting her head to look to the castle before giving a nearly human sigh of defeat and plodding her way over to the gate so her rider could hop down and open it. Alfred had barely reached out to touch it, though, before it creaked open, leaving enough room for them to pass through. The human laughed nervously, pulling his cloak around him a bit more tightly.

"Guess the gate's pretty loose on its hinges, huh? Let's get going before the wind blows it closed again."

Uni gave him another skeptical look before complying, jumping a bit when the gate closed behind them with a bit more force than could be accounted for by the breeze. The path wound up and around a bit until they finally reached the castle proper, which didn't seem quite as run down from up close as he'd thought. Alfred chalked it up to solid engineering as he got off his mount by the stables, leading her into the dryest stall he could find before pulling out her brush and a bag of feed.

By the time they'd both had a chance to eat and she was cooled down, the sky was getting dark, and the storm still had yet to abate. After pulling out her travel 'bed' - just a thicker sheet she could lie down and sleep on so she wasn't on the ground, fussy as she was - he made his way back around to the front entrance, figuring he could at least find somewhere comfy enough to rest for the night.

The doors took a bit more force to open than the gates, and thankfully only closed once he pushed them shut himself, easing away his worries of earlier, even if the darkened halls gave him a slight case of the creeps.

"I really hope this place doesn't have any ghosts…" Alfred muttered, making his way further in and completely missing the inhuman eyes watching quietly from the shadows above.

Fortunately, most of the castle seemed to have windows placed close enough together to provide some amount of lighting even as the sun started to sick, casting long shadows where it peeked inside still. Alfred had peeked into several rooms along the way, finding a library, the kitchens, and a large room that could have hosted parties, but nowhere he could really sleep unless he wanted to join Uni outside for the night.

Needless to say, the option didn't appeal to him, especially since it was still damp outside, but if the alternative was sleeping on the floor in here, then the body heat of his mare would at least counteract the chill of being outside better than stone or old carpet. He sighed, turning around to trace his path back out, and screamed as something leapt down and landed in front of him.

"And where do you think you're going, little sneak?"

Alfred would later swear up and down that he was definitely knocked out and did not in fact faint after shrieking like some unnamed people claimed, thank you very much.

~0~0~

The sun was just peeking up over the eastern horizon when Alfred stirred awake, fingers running against fabric for several seconds before he realized he couldn't remember going to bed last night. Then his last recollections of the previous night came back and he snapped up, fully awake and clutching the sheets tightly.

"It was just a nightmare, Alfred…" He muttered to himself, shaking his head. "You were tired and stumbled into here, and then you had a nightmare because of how spooky the place is, that's all."

He'd almost convinced himself that was the truth despite the evidence otherwise, like the fact he was under the sheets instead of sprawled haphazardly on top, as well as the fact that his cloak was folded neatly at his feet. Then, of course, the creature from last night walked in, easily taller than him despite being on all fours.

"Finally awake then?" It asked, grinning sharply. "For someone so jumpy, you sure sleep like the dead."

"I, ah," He stuttered, trying to force down another urge to freak out. "You aren't gonna like, kill me or eat me or anything for trespassing, right? Cause I totes didn't know anyone lived here and I'm really not all that tasty I promise-"

"Do you always talk this much?" It asked, drawing a bit of ire out of his numbing fear.

"Well sorry for not wanting these to be my last few moments before I'm eaten."

"I'm not gonna eat you," It replied in exasperation. "Don't you think I would have just killed you and your horse last night if I were interested in that?"

Alfred inhaled sharply, eyes narrowed. "What'd you do to Uni?"

"Nothing, sheesh, I just told you," It shook its head, looking almost exasperated with him despite its barely human features. "Are you hungry yet? Because I think I can still get the kitchens to make you something you can eat, even though it's been awhile since people've come by…"

"I'm good, thanks," Alfred declined as his stomach reminded him it was morning and he needed to eat. He still had enough in his saddlebag for a snack before he left-

"Wait, am I allowed to leave?"

"Huh?" The beast blinked, tilting its head at him. "Oh, yeah, sure, just don't forget your things."

That was… surprisingly anticlimactic, all things considered. Alfred wasn't sure if it was telling the truth or not, but when it didn't move to stop him as he gathered up his cloak and backpack and slipped into his shoes, he felt marginally confident enough to follow the creature as it made its way down the hall. Curiosity starting to win out, he asked the first thing that came to mind.

"So… how'd you end up living here?"

It glanced back to him, one ear twitching back before it eventually deigned to answer. "It's my home. Has been for… honestly, I can't remember how long at this point."

"What happened to the humans who lived here before, then?" He asked, flinching back when he was giving a look for that. "I mean, they had to be the ones who built it and stuff, right?"

"The king pissed off a witch and got his family and the castle cursed. Ended up killing her in revenge before she could escape, but it didn't break the curse, just backlashed and killed him and left the rest of his family to bear the brunt of it. Everyone who could eventually left and never came back."

"Huh, never heard anything about that from the locals," Alfred pondered. "So you just moved in after that since no one else wanted to live here?"

"...something like that," It replied, turning to head down the stairs and towards a familiar section of hallway. "Why did you come here?"

"Well, it was getting late, and I didn't want to sleep out in the rain, and I saw this place and figured hey, shelter for the night, and maybe even something valuable to sell in town so I can get some supplies…" He trailed off, realizing the unofficial owner might not like the idea of him taking what belong to it, but it only chuffed out a laugh.

"Anything valuable was taken by the servants a long time ago; maybe the books'll be worth something, I dunno, I haven't been outside the castle in a while for obvious reasons."

"Oh," Alfred muttered, figuring it was just his luck and that even if he bothered he'd probably only find stuff that'd interest his brothers, not any would-be buyers. "Right then."

The conversation died away after that, leaving them to walk in silence until they reached the front door. It pushed it open with ease, allowing him to go outside but not following.

"Uh, thanks for not being mad with me, I guess…" He thanked, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"It's fine, I've had worse company," It waved him off, glancing over to the stables. "You should probably get going, since I don't know how close the nearest town is to here."

"Right, I'm going, I'm going, sheesh," Alfred raised his hands, turning to go before pausing and glancing back on an impulse. "...wait, do you have a name?"

It stared at him blankly, not answering for a long moment. He was just starting to feel awkward before it finally replied.

"Abigail."

It shut the door, leaving Alfred staring after for a long while before realizing what he was doing and slapping himself out of it. "Right, need to get going…"

Glad to see nothing of his stuff had been pilfered and that Uni was perfectly fine, if somewhat upset with the smell of the be- Abigail on his clothes, he saddled the mare and and clambered on, glancing back once as he made his way down the path to the gate and wondering idly whether the beas- Abigail would be alright on its - her? - own.

He shook the thought away, focused on getting through the gate and back on the trail. It - she'd managed for this long, so who was he to worry?

(...maybe it was the fact that the castle, as big as it was, felt so empty inside.)

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AN: So yeah, a while back I decided I wanted to give an Beauty and the Beast AU a try sometime, only I wanted to avoid all the squick with Stockholm Syndrome or 'true love fixes everything' or whatever, and surprisingly came up with this thing which makes me a bit sad. I might continue it if there's interest, but that won't be until next month so for now just enjoy this tidbit.