A/N: Almost late but its still technically this week so ;w; Life is taking up a lot of time so pls have mercy...

CHAPTER TEN

THE SNOWMAN AND THE ROBBERY

The wayward group walks into a small clearing with a single snowman standing near the edge of a cliff.

Romano approaches it hesitantly, unsure what he's about to get himself into.

It seemed like any ordinary snowman, only it didn't seem to have any arms. Koda lands softly beside it while Edwynn stays behind, readjusting his cap.

"Hello," said the snowman without any discernible means of speaking, "I am a snowman."

"… Uh huh." (What kind of satanic assholery is this?)

"This is my human friend!" Koda informs the snowman cheerfully. "Romano, say hi."

"… Hi?"

"Romano's going to go back to the surface!"

"Ah, is that so?... That sounds so nice. I've always dreamed of seeing the world…" The snowman sighed wistfully to itself. "Alas, I can not move. Romano, if you would be so kind, could you take a piece of me with you to bring on your travels?"

"UUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH… WHAT?" Romano takes a pace back, incredibly unsure of this request.

"Oh, please, won't you Mr. Romano? You are very kind and I'm sure you've travelled all kinds of places!... It'd make my friend happy…" Koda begs, once again staring up at the human with a pathetic expression. Romano huffs, dusting some snow off his shoulder before replying with a sardonic question.

"… You tryna butter me up, kid?"

"… Maybe?" Koda shrinks, tail sinking between his legs sheepishly.

"… Peh. Fine. I like the kids' style so I'll do it." Romano rolls his eyes to the ceiling but still caves.

"YAAAYYYYYYY!"

"I'm eternally in your debt human… Literally." The snowman murmurs, voice warm but somehow strangely firm in its insistence.

"… Whatever. So, um… What piece do I take anyways?"

"A bit of snow off the side would do, I think." Romano hums his acknowledgement to the snow, leaning down and carefully scraping off a small snowballs' worth of snow of the snowman, banishing it promptly into his inventory before pausing.

"… That… Didn't hurt, did it."

"It did."

There's an awkward silence for a moment before Romano thumbs back the way they came.

"I'm… Gunna fucking go now.

"Thank you, Romano. And good luck."

With that Romano turns, hurrying away with the kids following close behind him.

Romano heads East towards town, as the sign and kids seemed to be directing him, quickly walking out into a clearing. The skeleton brothers seemed to be having a fervent discussion on the other side of it.

"YOU'RE LIKE SOOOO LAAAZY! I can't believe you napped ALL NIGHT LONG!"

"Al I'm pretty sure that's called sleeping."

"Excuses, excuses excuses…" Al huffs, noticing Romano as he goes to shake his head in shame. He immediately grins at the sight of Romano, his frustration and annoyance melting away as he swishes his blanket over his shoulder and places his hands on his hips before shouting. "AHAAA! THE HUMAN ARRIVES… AAAAND WITH REINFORCEMENTS! HELLO ROMANO AND CHILDREN!"

"Hi Alfred." Sighs Edwynn.

"It's the royal guardsmen!" Shrieks Koda, a shockwave of snow flying everywhere as he blasts into the air in a frantic dance of panicked movement.

"THAAAATS RIGHT! AND IN ORDER TO STOP YOU… MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!" Al smirks to himself tilting his head back proudly and cocking his hips.

"Oh no! What's he going to do!?" Koda gasps, ducking low in front of Romano's face as the human growls a prayer for strength under his breath.

"I don't know but it'll probably be stupid." Grumbles Edwynn, adjusting his cap.

"I THINK YOU'LL FIND THIS ONE… QUIIITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE.. THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE!" Al continues without acknowledging they spoke. "WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!"

"… But… He has the orb?" Edwynn mutters. Romano pauses, before covering his mouth and beginning to snigger.

"SOUND LIKE FUN DOES IT?" Al asks, holding the orb up reverently. "BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL probably have… IS ACTUALLY VERY SMALL, I think…" Al stutters a bit on the second half of his statement, as though he were trying to speak while also actively mentally calculating how much fun Romano would have while being electrocuted. For a moment he seems genuinely unsure of himself before plowing ahead. "ALRIGHT HUMAN. YOU MAY GO AHEAD NOW."

After a moment to recover from his wheezing and sniggering Romano takes a breath and smirks to himself. He walks forward and after several paces Al gets shocked, sending him leaping several feet into the air with a pained yelp while the kids and Matt join in on the laughing fit Romano had just fallen right back into. Al stands stunned for a moment, slack jawed and dazed before shaking himself off roughly and whirling on his brother with a choked-up whine.

"MAAAAAAATT WHAT'D YOU DO NOW?!"

"I- haha!" Matt answers his brother between laughs. "I think the human has to hold th-the orb bro."

"OH OKAY!" Alfred immediately lightens up, turning and walking over to what seemed like the mazes exit, dragging his feet through the snow as he follows a very specific path over to Romano. "HOLD THIS PLEASE!" Al flings the orb at Romano, the human barely managing to catch the orb after it smacks him in the face. "THAAAANKS!" Al walks back through the same path, moving to stand by his brother with an expectant grin.

Romano pauses, considering his options. He could follow Als path through the snow, the easy way out. Could probably walk around the maze, easy and cheating. He could try talking to Al but at this point he didn't see all that much reason to do so. After the rather harsh smack to the face he'd just gotten from the orb, he settles on walking around the maze just to spite Al. Besides, the reactions he was getting out of the kids were pretty priceless.

Romano steps back from the space where Al had gotten shocked and walks around the space of snow that clearly marked the maze. He hears amazed gasps from Koda and Al, a tired sigh from Edwynn, and wild giggling from Matt as he just walks around the maze.

"INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! I NEVER EXPECTED HUMANS TO BE SO CUNNING!" Al crosses his arms. "HOWEVER I ASSURE YOU, YOU WILL NOT GET THROUGH THE NEXT PUZZLE SO EASILY!" His arms go to his hips. "FOR YOU SEE, THE NEXT PUZZLE WAS MADE BY MY BROTHER MATT!" He then points triumphantly at Romano as he continues. "YOU SHALL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I SURE AM!" Alfred then smiles determinedly to himself as he quickly moonwalks out of the clearing, drawing a hysterical cackle out of Matt and an impressed 'Oooooooooooooo' out of Koda.

Romano chuckles, trotting over to Matt as the kids hurry to rejoin them.

"Hey human… Thanks for this. It seems like my brothers having a really good time."

"You know what, so am I goddammit. Kids a weirdo but at least he's funny… What's with that fucking outfit he's wearing anyways?"

"Oh, we got that together for a costume party a few weeks ago. He doesn't wanna wear anything else anymore. He calls it his 'super suit'. Man… Isn't my brother great?" As Matt smiles fondly Romano feels a pang in his chest as he thinks of his own brother. Was Vene missing him yet? Had Spain told him he was gone? If Spain wasn't the one to tell him… How long would it have taken Veneziano to notice he wasn't there…

"… You doing okay Mr. Romano?" Koda pipes up, getting that kicked puppy look again. Romano sigh, shrugging the question off.

"Yeah I'm fine just… Thinking about my own brother I guess…"

"Oh?" Matt tilts his head, smile drooping as it softens with sympathy.

"… Its fine. I'm gunna keep going." Romano grumbles, dodging away from the turn things had almost taken with his careless thoughts.

"… Well alright. I'll catch up later." Matt leans back on the balls of his feet, stretching carelessly.

"Addio." Romano trots away, followed by the kids who were currently bickering on who they were rooting for.

"Romano has the clear advantage as far as brains go." Edwynn pointed out flatly as they cross over a narrow section of rocky path.

"I don't know… Al is strong but humans are supposed to be super duper powerful…" Koda muses back, causing Romano's heart to skip a beat as he flies over the cliffs edge, looking a little too precarious for his liking. After a moment he dashes forward, distracted by something ahead. "Ooooooooooo Nicecream! And Peter!"

Romano looks over to see a stand of some sort manned by a human sized, suavely dressed rabbit with an emo haircut who was currently being harassed by a dinosaur child without arms.

"Oh, come on! You were complaining about how these weren't selling when I got here! If I took one free back to my mum, I'm sure she'd let me come back and buy some for the whole family! Pleeeeassse!" The child begs petulantly, bouncing up and down in place causing his hat to bounce. The kids outfit looked like a classic sailor suit, minus the arms of course. The rabbit sighs, the hair that fell over half his face not masking his annoyance.

"Look, kid, I can't just… Oh! Customers?" The rabbit glances at the human and kids coming over with a hopeful smile and Romano sighs.

(Oh whatever. At least it'll be more healing items.)

"Yeah, I'll buy some, I guess." Romano trots over, followed closely by the kids.

"CAN WE HAVE SOME TOO?!" Koda barks hopefully, landing by the kid that was there.

"WHOOOA! KODA IS THAT HUMAN?!" Peter, or so Romano assumed that's who the kid was, looks at him with the wide-eyed astonishment he was starting to get used to by now.

"Wait you're?..." The rabbit mutters, also turning shocked and… A little frightened. Romano glances away, looking across the rocky path ahead with a sigh. Maybe this was an opportunity. He hadn't encountered any adults yet; he had a chance here to make a good impression… And see how someone over the age of 14 would react to his presence.

"… Look… Can me and the kids buy some ice-cream or what?"

"It's, um… Nicecream! The frozen treat that warms your heart! A-and um… Sure. Of course! I just started this stand, I'm Lux by the way, and… Wow," The rabbit grins reaching into his cart to retrieve a cone and a scoop. "I didn't ever think my first customer would be a human! Haha.. Anyways, um, you, uh, what flavor do you want?"

"What do you have?"

"Vanilla,"

"I want that." Edwynn tells Romano decisively.

"Chocolate,"

"I'll have the chocolate, please!" Koda announces enthusiastically.

"Strawberry."

"Can I have that, Mr. Human? Pleaaassse?" Peter pleads with him, Romano just noticing his big blue eyes and… Comical eyebrows.

(That's the second time I've seen them things today…)

"… Sure. And my names Romano, kid."

"Thank you, Mr. Romano!" Peter's tail wags excitedly as he bounces, his cap nearly falling off his head.

"… And Neapolitan."

"… I'll have that."

"How many scoops?"

"One for everybody." Romano growls, making sure the kids knew this was definitely a one-time thing and that he was NOT going to budge on getting more. The gleeful cheers he heard told him that was more than good enough for the little monsters.

"Coming right up!" Lux starts passing out the ice cream, giving the kids there's first before handing Romano his own. "Here you go. They're 15 gold each, by the way."

Romano groans. He'd built up a significant amount of gold and had most of what he'd gotten in the ruins after the Spider Bakesale and now he was about spend most of it. Lux pouts it him.

"I am just starting out…"

"This is highway robbery but fine…" When the box to pay comes up Romano confirms his payment, leaning back on his heels discontentedly.

"I appreciate your purchase! And here." Lux opens a drawer in his cart, pulling out a piece of cardboard and handing it to Romano. "A punch card! I wasn't going to start giving these out yet but, I think maybe what with the price… Y-you can go ahead and count the ones of purchased." Lux then pauses, looking at the card. "Well actually uh… Its three nicecreams and you get one free so… And you bought four… You already get one free I guess!"

"… Can I just have one of the ones I bought for free, then?" Romano asks, having an option for Lux to give his money back pop up in front of him. Lux smiles sheepishly but nods.

"Sure, fair enough… And uh, have a nice day!"

Romano relaxes, feeling a little less rattled now he had some money back.

"… Thanks. Good luck with your, uh, stand." Romano dismisses his nicecream to his inventory, deciding that at the price he had to buy it he had better save it for when he'd need it.

"Thanks, human! Come again!" Lux waves Romano and the gaggle of kids off, seeming to wear a hopeful aura as he bids them farewell.

A/N: I've been sorting out a lot of boring things like insurance and preparing for the election but that doesn't matter here!

Next week I hope to move more of my stuff out but more behind the scenes things have gotten done.

Free time is scarce for me rn but I'm excited for the turn my life is taking ^w^

On a fanfic related note: Snowdin Town is done! I need to play Waterfall with my partner before I can start that tho ;w;

But I'll post through Snowdin Forest anyways... I'm once again halfway through my current content...

But hey its another 10 chapters of stuff so! Thats still pretty good... Right? 20 chapters is pretty good I think ;w;?

Its why I worked so hard to keep it up is bc I knew I'd be busy. So it's okay even though I'm catching up to it right ;n;?

I'm gunna say yes and then work reaaaaalllllly hard to catch up once I'm moved out and able to see my partner more.

The second part of Snowdin Town will be set later on for dramatic reasons! I'll leave it at that hehe w

Happy Halloween month! Hope things keep improving! So happy and excited to see Hetalia itself making a comeback!

Wonders never cease! This year may be awful but I think this a sign of good things to come ^w^/ Good vibes to you all! See you next chapter!