11

Prussia doesn't like having to leave West on his own, but the great British Empire gives him no choice. For some reason, Arthur is insistent on keeping them separate, and since he lost there's not much Gilbert can do to change it. Except complain, maybe, but he's already fuming when he sees Canada outside waiting with Arthur.

A hand goes to his wrist and scratches at the bandages hiding the numbers on his arm. God, he doesn't really want to even think about them, or anything that reminds him of the camps, but now he can feel the pity coming from Arthur. Which pisses him off. Matthew and Arthur giving him looks of pity is more than he can bear. He still can't believe Canada revealed the sick truth like that, even if it was successful in getting him the needed conversation with his brother. It still pisses him off.

So he growls and puts his hands behind his head to appear as casual as possible while they lead him out of the building and around town. Sweat beads on the back of his neck as they walk, but he ignores it in favor of checking out the state of London. It's a mess. Because of him and West. Buildings absolutely demolished, whole families out on the street with nowhere to go. Thanks to the war, the bombings.

He probably would care more if he didn't remind himself that his own capital has been wrecked just as much. Hell, a whole city was destroyed in all the bombing raids. So why should he care about the English people?

That's war. Bloody and unfair and terrible to view in the aftermath. But that's just how it is. How it's always been.

Whispers catch his attention and Prussia changes his focus to the two nations in front of him. Canada is murmuring to Arthur. Something about "letting him know," which Arthur sounds vehemently against. Prussia scowls. Secrets everywhere. From people he used to trust. Though he understands why Arthur doesn't want to speak to him much anymore after the war, it's hard to forgive Canada for shattering his pride back there.

And now Canada is trying to fight for him again.

It just ticks him off. He doesn't need any help. This is what's normal at war time. He doesn't need to know anything until the winning nations come together and work out something for their bosses to sign. Some agreement that he's going to have to deal with no matter how he feels. Whatever it may be, Prussia doubts he'll have any real say in his side, and West will probably agree to whatever he has to. He's already signed his surrender, now comes the nasty part where the nations barter for how to make them pay for it.

Well, maybe the jerks have learned their lesson about pushing the German brothers too far on that front. The reparations required for the first World War had been too much and it had driven them into such a state… Pushed West into releasing his monster.

With a frown, Prussia shudders and drops his arms to his sides. God, he hopes they've learned their lesson. He doesn't want to have to stand against West if another boss comes running up into the ranks and pushing all kinds of crazy shit again. For his part, he's going to be more aware of how these humans can manipulate things. He'll be better at protecting West, better at not letting his own fantasies of the past run away from him.

"Hmph," Arthur says as they arrive at the gate of a large mansion, "Well, Gilbert, this is where you'll be staying with Canada watching over you."

"Hah?" He blinks then looks over at the mansion, then back to Arthur. "Are you serious?"

Thick eyebrows raise. "Is that not satisfactory?"

"You put me up in here," Prussia growls. "And yet West is in -"

"Germany will be transferred soon," Arthur says while rolling his eyes. "You really should care more about yourself anyway."

Now it's Prussia's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

Silence greets him in response. Well, fine then. He didn't want a response anyway. Let them continue to be vague. He has better things to think about, like why he's been shoved into such a huge ass place instead of put in a tiny cell like the last time.

It's two stories, but it covers a lot of ground. Lots of brick. Almost as big as West's place back home. Not as fancy in the gardening or paint, which looks to be chipping. Do they even keep this place up? Keh. What is this? Like some home for the lost and desperate? A place for the homeless? An orphanage?

Ah, when he thinks along those lines, it begins to make more sense. He'll probably have one single room to call his own and not be allowed anywhere else. Heh. That sounds familiar.

He glances to Canada and smirks. "So I guess things really have switched around, huh? My turn to be your prisoner. Am I getting your room?"

Like you had mine.

But instead of answering him, Matthew looks a little off balance. He's shifting his position, hopping gently from one foot to the other. He's even biting his lip - something Prussia finds himself staring at because he remembers kissing those lips and seeing such abuse done to them makes him want to reach out and take Matthew in his arms and lick those lips before kissing and -

He shakes his head. No, he's supposed to be upset at Matthew here. Hot or not, the other nation betrayed him earlier. When he pulled the bandage off and revealed the numbers on Prussia's arm, that was the moment where Gilbert decided he would pull back from the idea of dating Canada. At least…

At least for now. Until he got more than a mumbled string of apologies from the other nation. That was a breach of trust after all. He can't forgive those too easily.

Like you forgave Germany?

The thought in his mind makes him scowl. It's tough to admit, but his internal voice here has a point. If he can forgive West for sending him to a camp of all things, then why can't he forgive Canada for revealing it? The other nation only did it because he was trying to get Arthur to cave, and as much damage as it did to his pride, Prussia has to admit - it worked.

"Gil, they're -" Canada bites his lip again and Prussia raises an eyebrow. "They're going to -"

"Canada," Arthur's voice comes out harshly. "Don't you dare."

Blue-violet eyes glance to England then immediately switch back to Prussia as the younger nation finally blurts out what he's been itching to say. "They're going to abolish you!"

"Canada!"

Arthur's exclamation sounds muffled to Prussia's ears. He feels like he's heard this warning before, like he's laughed it off before, maybe back when he had Canada in his little town house of a dwelling. But now it's impossible to laugh off, because Arthur is acknowledging it as fact, too. Arthur has been keeping it a secret. His old friend from way back when, someone he's had an understanding with in the past even if they go back and forth with each other in recent history, someone he called friend.

Words try to form on his tongue, but they refuse to escape. He can't think straight. Abolished? What would that mean? How is he supposed to react? What - what would happen to him?

Then the anger fills him and he spins on Arthur, grabbing the other nation by his shirt collar and hissing into his face. "You wouldn't dare. It doesn't work like that. You -"

"Unhand me, Gilbert," the other nation says, green eyes hard and steady. "It's your own fault, though I wanted to keep it a secret."

"Wha - what?" He growls. "What do you mean it's my own fault? You can't just abolish another nation like that! That's not how this works!"

"We can and we must."

He refuses to let this go. In fact, he pushes Arthur up against the nearby gate and bares his teeth. "You can't. What, are you going to make some kind of resolution? Some fancy paper that all the others sign and just write me off? Like I don't matter? Like nothing we had is -"

"Gilbert," Arthur intones, reaching down to force him to remove his hands. "You raised Germany. And your obsession with your glory days is what inevitably led to all of this."

It feels like an anvil has just smashed him into the ground. He steps back, reaching up to his neck as if he can force himself to breathe. Then his hands go to his hair and he's clinging at the mess on top of his head.

It can't be true. They can't actually be thinking of abolishing him. Him. Sure, he raised Germany, but that's - that's not - it's not his fault. Is it?

Is this really how it's going to end?

~!~

Matthew wants to say something. Watching Gilbert freak out over the news hurts him in ways he can barely describe. After all he's learned of the albino nation, after seeing Gilbert in a camp, it hurts to think that the other Allied Nations still want to take him out. But there's nothing any of them can really do, is there?

England won't see reason. Even after seeing the numbers on Gil's arms and hearing that Germany put his own brother away like that, England still blames Prussia. Though it's more likely to say England's boss blames Prussia. And his people agree so there's no fighting it, is there? Not while Arthur stays in his capital city…

Eventually, Gilbert calms down enough to be led away and England bids them good day. Doing what he can, Matthew gently prods the albino nation past the gate and into the big house that he calls his "home away from home." This is where all of the colonies and commonwealth members of the British Empire stay whenever they need to visit London. There's plenty of room to fit all of them if need be, but such a thing is rarely ever necessary.

So for now, it's just going to be Canada and Prussia. Too bad there's an awkwardness between them that refuses to go away. Matthew assumes it's partially because of what he did back in England's office, and it's hard to find a reason to be upset at Prussia for being upset. Because Matthew did kind of step out of line there, even if it was for the best…

With a sigh, he opens the front door and gestures for Gilbert to walk in first. "Here you go. This is where all of the British Empire, uh, well, where we stay when we're in town, but it's just us for now so, so you can pick whatever room you like."

Oh, mapleleaf, his stuttering is absurd now. Why is he so nervous? Is it the way Gilbert is glancing around, turning back to him with a lazy, distant gaze in his red eyes? His heart really can't take all of this tension. He needs to break it somehow.

"Nice place," Gilbert murmurs. "And you're really letting me stay here?"

"Yeah," Matthew mutters back, closing the door behind him. "I, uh, while you look for a room to settle into, do you want me to make some tea? Or do you prefer coffee?"

"Coffee." Gilbert's response is so quick it takes him by surprise. "Definitely coffee."

Matthew smiles. "Okay, I'll make some coffee, then."

Red eyes glance over him then move away, pale hands finding pockets as the albino takes a few steps toward the staircase off to the right. The kitchen is in the opposite direction, but Matthew hangs around for a moment, wanting to make sure Prussia finds his way to a room without any difficulty. With the way the other nation goes right for the stairs, Matthew's pretty sure he likes upstairs bedrooms, or is at least used to that, and he's reminded of the townhouse where he was held - Prussia's place, Prussia's room.

A loud growling sound echoes through the empty entryway. Gilbert clears his throat, and Matthew holds back a laugh at the light blush on the man's pale face.

"Hungry?"

"Y-yeah," Gil mutters. "Very."

"I'll see what I can find," he mutters back, suddenly lighting up at a new thought. "Oh! If there's maple syrup here then I'll make us some pancakes!"

His excitement is apparently enough to make the albino quirk a small smile and Matthew feels his heart beat normally at the sight. It's been so long since he saw a smile reach those red eyes. This one doesn't really get there, but it's the closest he's come yet. So it's nice.

"Right," Gilbert murmurs. "You did say something about loving that maple stuff, huh?"

Unable to hold back, Matthew nods vigorously, feeling his one stray curl bouncing around above him. "Yeah. It's really good. You'll love it. I'm sure you will."

"We'll see."

Silence falls between them and Matthew frowns, staring at the tile floor. Things are still awkward, the tension still too thick. He doesn't know what else to do. Maybe he should just leave Prussia alone to work through everything on his own, but for some reason he really doesn't want to leave Gilbert alone for too long. He barely wants to separate and let the man go search for a room without following him around.

But there's no choice. They're adults, and Prussia has been through a lot in the past. He'll survive for a couple of minutes more alone.

So Canada waits until Gilbert climbs the stairs, and then he turns around and heads toward the kitchen in the opposite direction. A carpeted hallway, a glance at a tall window with a set of curtains that are fraying and need replacing or repair, and then he's walking on tile once more as he slides into the kitchen.

Everything is as he remembers it, too. The island in the center with tall chairs set around it like the setup at a bar. The refrigerator is off on one side with a long, empty, off-white counter and a sink in the center. Stove and oven are on another wall surrounded by small counters and drawers galore. Canada heads to the pantry in one of the corners and immediately begins his search for the maple syrup. He doubts there's any open in the fridge. The other nations don't really go for it the way he does, and most of them went home a long time ago.

He practically giggles in excitement when he finds not one, not two, but three bottles of maple syrup hiding in the pantry. On top of everything he needs for making pancakes - after a quick glance in the fridge to double check for milk and eggs, of course. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. If nothing else, pancakes should help pull Gilbert out of his funk. It's always worked for Canada, at least. A good pancake breakfast - or lunch, or dinner - and he'd be smiling like normal in no time.

After setting everything up to prepare for cooking - and setting up a pot of coffee to brew - Canada races up the stairs to find Prussia. He's grinning wide as he pokes his head in different doors. One of these has to be where the albino nation is hiding. Oh, he hopes Prussia is excited about this as he is, or at least enough to come downstairs and watch him. It's always more fun to cook with someone else in the kitchen, after all.

He hears a voice mumble, "Fritz, I don't wanna disappear. I'm not ready."

And immediately he freezes, feeling his heart skip a beat. Maybe it's not appropriate to be this excited. Prussia's just learned he's going to be abolished. Or that the nations in charge are working out a way to make it happen. And there's nothing any of them can do about it. Being excited about maple syrup and pancakes seems a little...wrong now.

Still, he's come up here, and the coffee will be ready soon so -

Canada steps into the doorway and knocks on the door. "Uh - it's uhm - the coffee, I mean it's - it'll be ready soon."

Prussia sits up on the bed, which is only one of the blue things in the room, and offers a weak smile. "Right. And did you find anything for food?"

"Oh! Yeah!" He tries to keep his excitement down, but he can't help it. "There's plenty of maple syrup so I was thinking I'd make you some pancakes!"

Red eyes stare back at him over the unseen gulf that exists between them now. Canada shuffles back a little at the look. Gilbert has been slowly recovering from the camp horrors since he's been moved away from his suffering people, but now his eyes look even more dead than when he first saw the albino nation in that terrible spot. The news of what England's planning must have hit him harder than he expected.

Which hurts, because Canada only let out the secret for his sake. He'd warned him before, but Prussia hadn't taken him so seriously then or let him continue talking about it. Now… Now England had…

"Well then," Gilbert states with a forced smile, climbing from the bed and throwing his hands into his pockets. "I can't wait to taste your favorite Canadian delicacy."

With a forced smile of his own, Canada turns around and leads the way back to the kitchen, saying over his shoulder. "You could try the maple syrup on its own if you want, but I think you should wait until you can put it on the pancakes."

"Heh. Might not want to shove something so sweet into my mouth right now anyway."

"Oh come on," Canada huffs. "I'm sure you'll love it."

Prussia groans behind him and he has the vague sense that he's missed something that the other nation had been throwing down. Was he trying to use the food as some kind of weird innuendo? Matthew still hadn't caught onto everything Gilbert would jokingly sexualize. Some of it would make him blush, but - maple syrup? Really?

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, Canada walks into the kitchen and finds an apron to tie around his body. It's something basic, white and red, because none of them have thought to add another one to the house. Strangely enough. How long have they been coming here? He sighs at the thought. Maybe he'll bring one from home next time.

Glancing over his shoulder, he notes how Prussia finds a spot at the island. Pulling back one of the tall bar stools, he plops into place and then sets his elbow on the counter almost immediately, eyes training on Canada. So Matthew offers a weak smile and turns around to focus on cooking pancakes. He already has all the ingredients after all, so this shouldn't take too long.

Then maybe they'll be able to bridge the gap between them. Maple syrup has been known to be a miracle worker for him before, so he holds onto the hope and puts all his focus into cooking something Prussia will never forget.