As the dream ended with the Slavic family sailing away into the ocean horizon, Alfred slowly opened his eyes to the real and present day, which was spinning in circles and painfully bright.
Slowly he rubbed his dry eyes to get the moisture back in them, then blinked a couple times while rolling his eyes. Finally able to see clearly, or at least as much as he could get it, he slowly rose up a little to study the room he was in.
It was a small plain white room with dark blue trim, nothing special. Though it did have some nice lacy curtains shielding his sensitive optics from the punishing sunlight.
The bed was really nice too, and it even had extra blankets, which were all clumped up in a pile right next to him.
Setting his head back down on the pillow, he smiled a little confused smile as he looked up at the ceiling. This was really nice and all, but how exactly did he get here? He remembers most of last night, up until sometime after he almost kissed Natalya, then it got all fuzzy.
Wow he really did attempt that while both were absolutely shit-faced, that was a good save on Dixie's part. God dammit he hates alcohol... though he would be amiss if he said he wouldn't have done the same thing while they were sober.
The only thing he remembers from after that was meeting some weird dude that reminded him of Batman because he came out of the shadows.
As he tried to remember more from that night, specifically where he is right now, he subconsciously began to scratch at his stomach, in which he felt an odd fabric feeling under his shirt.
In wonder he raised his shirt up, getting surprised by a line of bandages wrapped around him with a blood spot in the center. When did that get there? Did he get in a fight with Natalya?
Not wanting to leave bed yet, he just slightly raised off his back and slowly unwrapped the bandage before tossing it away. Seeing whatever wound was there had already healed he just shrugged and lied down once more. If he did get stabbed by Natalya he'll figure out why and apologize later.
Rubbing his eyes some more he turned his head to the large mound of blankets next to him. Those are probably so warm and comfy, all he wants to do is curl up in those and sleep forever, but sadly his bladder was becoming very distracting.
Sighing quietly he got up, a new wave of hungover dizziness instantly hitting him as he stumbled his way around to find a bathroom.
On the way he began to guess that this was probably Natalya's house. Well obviously, it's not like she was going to leave him in some random house while he was blackout drunk... well actually she would totally do that.
Arriving to a bathroom he walked inside and started to do his business while he tried to piece together more of yesterday's events.
He could gather little bits and pieces but the one thing he couldn't figure out was where Natalya was. If he was in her bed then that must mean she took the couch or a guest room or something, but he couldn't find her on his way to the bathroom. Maybe that meant she went out, probably to deal with the protests or go to the store, with him around she'll definitely need all the food she can get.
Once he was done he washed his hands and made his way back to the bedroom, all while dodging the lines of sunlight shining through the windows. Back with the soft, squishy bed in his sights, he lazily removed his jacket and set it on top of a dresser.
Walking back to the side of the bed he was previously sleeping on, Alfred rolled into the warmth with a satisfied grin. He should thank Natalya for giving him the bed when she returns, though why she did that is a little strange. It might just be because she was drunk but this all seems a little too generous coming from her.
Whatever, he can figure that boring stuff out later once he gets some more sleep.
Looking over at the large pile of blankets again, he reached out and lifted them up to cover himself with, but stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the sleeping face of the girl he's been having all these questions about.
In a panic he dropped the blanket and scooted away to the very edge of the bed, all while continuing to stare wide-eyed at the sleeping girl's face. 'Natalya? What is she doing here?!'
Observing her a little longer he noticed that she was wearing a nightgown, so that meant she had taken the time to prepare for bed. She was drunk but surely she wouldn't willingly join him in bed... unless she didn't and he actually did take the couch but just drunkenly hobbled up here. Oh God what if he did that?! That would be so weird!
Slowly he began trying to get out of bed and leave, but as he did Natalya started to stir at the disturbance, then suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist.
He almost yelped in surprise but stopped himself in fear of waking her up, which allowed her to pull him in with her strength and bury her face into his chest. He was so warm, like a living furnace, much more so now that he was glowing red.
Slowly forcing himself to look down it took everything in him to not start shaking violently. Her pale little face lying against him with the smallest curve of her bright pink lips, it was just too sweet.
Though while he still wanted to get away and go hide somewhere before she woke up, he had some weird sense of familiarity with this, it was strangely comforting. Oh if only he knew how much Natalya had been doing this without his knowledge.
After a few minutes of dealing with a silent panic, he finally calmed down enough to relax against her touch. With her grip so strong right now there was no way of getting out without prying her off, which would more than likely wake her up, so instead he decided to enjoy it while it lasts.
Wrapping an arm around her back he used the other to pull the blanket up and over them. 'I'm so dead when she wakes up.'
Some time later it was now Natalya's turn to wake up, facing the same problem as Alfred as she got hit with dizziness and a splitting headache, all while simultaneously reeling from her way-too-realistic dream.
Going through the same procedure to clear her eyes, she finally noticed the hard surface against her face. Looking up she discovered Alfred peacefully asleep under her, with a quiet, measured snore that reverberated through his chest.
She could've sworn she slept next to him, not on top of him. Oh well, it's not like she was complaining. Slowly she removed her arms from his waist and crossed them over his chest, setting her head on them as to look forward at his face.
'How am I going to finish this?' She thought. She was so close she could feel it, just one more push and she was in marriage paradise. However, she wasn't sure if she could take that leap of faith.
While she was normally a very confident person, this was one thing she couldn't be sure of, there are way too many things that could go wrong. Instead she needs to keep enticing him until he confesses first, or get him in another situation where they can kiss.
Sighing to herself she laid her head sideways and entertained herself by gently tapping an index finger against his firm chest.
It actually surprised her that she hasn't failed already. As much as she tried not to she knows she isn't exactly acting like herself, she's being unusually nice toward him. She can't even remember the last time she threatened to chop his balls off. It all seemed so... out of character for her.
Maybe she could try to bring back some of the snappiness and threats, but what if she goes too far and that pushes him away? Or would he even notice? It's not like he's reacted that much to her sudden niceness. She sulked and connected her forehead with his chest, pressing her face down into his soft shirt. It felt like every decision was the wrong one and no matter what she did she was going to fumble this somehow.
After a while she had given up thinking about that and would come back to it later, instead she needed to get up and leave before Alfred wakes up.
Slowly she began trying to get up off of him, but quickly found that she was stuck. Somehow she had only now realized there was an arm wrapped around her back keeping her in place.
It seems Alfred likes to cuddle when he's drunk, that's nice to know. Gently she lifted off the arm and set it on the bed, then got off of him before tucking the blanket back up to his neck.
Finally after taking a moment to admire him she quietly left the room and headed off to the kitchen for some desperately needed food, as well as something for this headache.
Alfred woke up once again not that long later, now feeling properly rested and not as horribly hungover.
Sitting up a little he noticed that Natalya was no longer there. Did she seriously wake up and just leave him alone? How is he even alive right now?!
Cautiously he got up and slipped on his bomber jacket as he left the room, walking downstairs to go look for her and hoping she wasn't waiting for him with a knife.
As he came to the living room he could faintly hear noises coming from another room, so he followed his ears to the kitchen, where he could see Natalya making breakfast.
"Making breakfast again?" He asked, breaking the tension and gaining the other's attention as they turned slightly and looked at him from the corner of their eye. "Da, it seemed like you needed some more sleep so I decided to do things for you."
Alfred scratched his head with an awkward laugh as he walked over to sit at the kitchen table. "Yeah I guess things got a little crazy last night... by the way did you happen to stab me or something?"
Natalya turned to him fully with a confused look. "Nyet. Are you referring to the bandage that was on you?"
As he nodded in confirmation she continued with her answer while bringing over some breakfast. "When we were walking to my house some dumbass came out of the alley and tried to mug us. We kept teasing him so he got all bitchy and stabbed you, once we got back I quickly had to grab the first-aid kit before you got my couch all dirty."
"Batman," Alfred muttered under his breath. Natalya paused from setting a plate down in front of him and turned to look with a puzzled expression. "Excuse me?"
"Uhh... nothing," Alfred dodged the question with another laugh. "But anyway yeah I guess I kinda forgot some parts of last night, got way too hammered."
"Hmm, how much did you forget? What was the last thing you remember?" She asked flatly, though inside her heart was aching as she worried that he forgot about their almost kiss.
"Um..." he trailed off as he tried to think of something other than the dance. His face slowly turned dark red as he tapped his foot anxiously. Finally something clicked in his brain, a little foggy memory from that night. "You remember that guy that got way too drunk and fell off the table?"
"The one that broke their nose?" She responded with a roll of her eyes. "Were there any other guys that fell off a table?" He wondered jokingly.
"Two more actually," she answered, scoffing at the memory. The two quieted down for a while as she sat down with her own food and they started to eat.
As they were almost finished Alfred swallowed a bite and looked down at his food seriously. "You know, on the subject of memories I just got reminded of the craziest dream."
Natalya stopped midway through stabbing a potato to look over at him. She had a weird dream too, though she should probably let him explain his first.
"So it was really weird. I was a kid again and was living in Alaska with Mattie, and then you and your family showed up out of nowhere. Oh yeah you were little too, and we did all sorts of stuff together, though you didn't really like it. You've always been harsh and fun-hating, huh?"
As Alfred talked through his dream Natalya became increasingly unsettled. That's exactly what her dream was about, how is that possible? It shouldn't be.
"Yo, Nat you good?" Alfred asked as he snapped his fingers in front of her face. She came out of her stupefied state and scowled at him. "I'm fine, now get your hand away from my face."
He brought it back away from her and surrendered. "Ok, chill. You just blanked out for a minute there."
'But I do that all the time,' she thought of saying, but decided it was better to figure out what had caused this seemingly impossible occurrence. "Was there a bear in your dream?" She questioned.
Alfred froze for a moment then nodded dumbly. "Yeah. . . How did you know that?" She went silent once more and thought about it for a some time longer. "I think we had the same dream," she finally said.
"That doesn't make any sense," he pointed out. "I know that. I don't know how or why it happened but it did," she stated with a frustrated scowl.
As she tried to make sense of it all she then remembered something from last night. "Do you remember saying something about déjà vu?"
He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope. Must've been when I was super drunk."
"Right. Well I can't be certain but I don't think that was a regular dream at all. I think it was something to do with a memory," she theorized.
"Huh... that's cool I guess," he said, seemingly unimpressed with this information. She frowned and glared at him in annoyance. "Nyet you idiot, I'm saying it actually happened. The meeting, the bear, the thunderstorm, it all happened."
As Alfred crossed his own arms he frowned slightly in skepticism. "But... then why don't I remember any of it? From what was playing out in my dream you guys stayed with Mattie and I for weeks, yet I can't recall a single second."
"You think I know? I don't even know why I don't remember," she said. "It was a few weeks out of centuries, it's not that uncommon to forget it."
"But I wouldn't forget something like meeting three whole nations for the first time. 'Especially if you're one of them.' It just doesn't happen like that," he said with sadness and self-loathing lacing his voice.
He couldn't believe he could forget something as important as that, seeing as the last time he did that his brother had laid into him for hours.
"Well we remember now, don't we? We can piece together the gaps in time," she stated, which was actually somewhat successful in cheering him up.
"I guess so," he said with a slow nod. After about a minute of silence a small smirk crept onto his lips as he leaned in a little toward Natalya. "Eagle," he whispered.
She paused again as she looked down and clenched her fist around her fork, bending it slightly. "Knight," she spat.
"Eagle."
"Knight."
"Eagle!"
"It's the knight dammit!!!" She roared while slamming a fist down onto the table.
Before he could say eagle again Alfred broke out into a laughing fit that had him holding his stomach. "Honestly Ruth, I thought you prided yourself in being mature. You really are just as childish as me, huh?"
As be began standing up to put his empty plate in the sink, he was suddenly shoved into the wall as Natalya pulled out a knife and pressed it to his throat. "If you know what's good for you you'll never call me that again. Otherwise I'll just have to make sure you never say that, as well as anything, ever again."
Behind the threat and those ice-cold eyes, Alfred could see how truly embarrassed she was. As much as she tried to she couldn't hide the redness on her cheeks, it was overwhelmingly cute.
A confident smile began to form on his face, which obviously wasn't the right choice as it only served to agitate her more and press the knife harder against his skin. "Come on, don't be all embarrassed, it's not that bad."
After another few moments of her incredibly tense stare, it softened a little as her frown morphed into a sinister grin. "You're right, at least I don't have a baby name..." she stopped as she grabbed him by the neck and yanked him down so her lips were nice and close to his ear. "Alfie."
Before he could even react she let go and spun on her heel back to the table, leaving him stunned as his whole body erupted into fire. He could still feel the hot breath tingling on his ear, despite the blazing blood coursing throughout his body.
When she left the room he let out a long breath and allowed the warmth to envelop him. That cold, beautifully accented voice of hers was sharper and could draw out more blood than any knife could. So easy to lace with poison and destroy any man, or coat with honey and be a delicious treat for any with the great fortune of hearing it.
Slowly Alfred placed a hand on his burning chest and felt his pounding heart. No one has called him that in years, except for maybe Mattie when he's teasing him. So to hear it from her..? Any doubts of his love for her had completely melted under that burning flame in his body.
If his government learned of this he wouldn't hear the end of it. She's supposed to be an enemy, someone he needs to avoid for the safety of his country and himself.
So... what happened?
She doesn't hate him anymore, and since her relationship with Russia is still being renewed it was unknown if she would be leaking any potentially damning information to his enemies. And as much as he fears and tried his hardest not to, he can't deny that he had fallen in love once again.
He promised himself he wouldn't, he promised Amelia that he would never lose someone like that again, but he just can't help it. Someway, somehow... the cold, cruel Belarusian broke through and now Alfred wasn't sure how he wasn't going to pour all these feelings out to the world.
After what felt like hours he removed himself from the wall and forced his shaky legs to move. He almost felt like laughing at the state he's in, all she had to do was whisper in his ear and that left him absolutely smitten. Honestly, how weak has be become?
If she's using her allure as a weapon then he's completely fallen into her trap, one he wasn't sure he could get out of. He really hoped this wasn't some elaborate trick to hurt him, because it was working way too well.
When he determined that he was sufficiently calmed down, he left the room to go see what she was up to, and maybe even find some way to get closer to her without getting unawesomely rejected or stabbed.
For a good couple weeks the two did all sorts of things together: touring the clearer parts of Minsk, hitting up a few more bars and restaurants, though Alfred did his best to avoid drinking any more, and of course spending a large majority of time hanging out at Natalya's house.
"So what is this exactly?" Alfred asked as he poked a giant round loaf of bread. It was expertly decorated with all sorts of little pieces of bread on top, which took the shapes of flowers, wheat, leaves, two swans, and even some lettering looping around the sides.
Unfortunately he wasn't familiar with Cyrillic, opting to use the more English-friendly Latin alphabet when translating Russian or similar languages. Which also unfortunately meant he couldn't understand the repeating words "Выходзь за мяне замуж, Выходзь за мяне замуж, Выходзь за мяне замуж!"
If it isn't obvious what these word were, it's "marry me, marry me, marry me!" Seems that accidentally slipped in while she was making the bread. She also almost put an engagement ring in it, but was able to stop herself last second, not only because it would completely ruin her plans once he saw it but there was a great chance he wouldn't notice and would swallow it instead.
"It's karavai, a type of bread traditional to me and my siblings' countries," she answered for him as she stood next to the table with a bread knife in hand.
"Cool beans," Alfred complimented? while sitting down at the table. Natalya was stumped for a bit but just shook it off and started cutting off a couple pieces of the top part for them both.
Sitting down across from him she watched as he took his piece and bit into it. If she wasn't trying so hard to suppress her emotions, or was anyone besides Belarus, she would practically be squealing like a little girl right now. It's like they were already married!
Obviously he had no clue that karavai had anything to do with weddings, but that didn't take away from the fact that he was still eating it keenly.
Looking up to her Alfred noticed the hint of excitement in her face, though in very little signs like a twitch of her brow or a tiny curve of her lips. It was certainly more restricted than the first time she made him a ton of breakfast, but he could just chalk that up to her being in a different mood.
Though he had to say it still greatly intrigued him how she could make a flat, stoic expression so endearing to look at. Every little emotion held so much weight behind it, making any full expressions all the more better, or worse depending on if you piss her off.
"What the hell are you looking at?!" She asked, doing her best to look irritated. Alfred blinked a few times as the rest of the world came back into focus. It seems he got lost in his thoughts by her looks. "Chillax I just blanked out for a sec," he defended with a laugh.
Looking back at her face once more he could see a bright pink band stretching between her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. She was blushing, hard.
His eyes widened as his own cheeks turned pink, so he hid it by looking down at the last bit of bread in his hands.
They sat in bashful silence for a while, the uncomfortable atmosphere forcing Alfred to tug on his collar. 'Why is it so hot in here?!' He thought anxiously.
With the heat increasing and the blush only growing worse, Alfred began occupying himself with eating the rest of the bread. Meanwhile Natalya watched on with a small, reserved smile.
After an exceptionally long one of Alfred's explorations around the outskirts of Minsk, he found the infamous Dzyarzhynskaya Hara, Belarus' largest peak.
He already knew it was small, but he didn't realize it was this small. She told him it was over 300 meters tall, so why was it only a little taller than him?
Even while covering his mouth he could barely hold back a laugh as tears pricked at his eyes.
From behind Natalya walked up and slapped his head hard, making him snap forward and almost fall over. "Jeez Nat that was harsh."
"Don't you fucking start with that guilt-tripping. You were about to laugh," she accused.
"Whaaaat? Noooooo," Alfred said in fake disbelief as he took a few steps back. "Besides I think it's cute, flat nations can be cool too you know."
Natalya felt her cheeks burn as she wrapped her arms around her chest. 'Did he just call me flat?'
"Hey Nat look!" His voice called out to her. Scanning where the noise came from she was presented with an image of Alfred somehow already standing on top of the small hill in a victorious pose. "I've conquered the peak of Belarus. I now declare this place the United States of Belarus, or I guess just... USB for short."
Her whole body twitched when he said those words. One does not say something like that in front of the nation being addressed, taking what he said in terms of the personification itself rather than the country, he basically just said he conquered her breasts.
'You truly are a fucking pervert!' She seethed silently, though it was a confused rage as at the same time "conquering" each other was something she had more than a few dirty thoughts about.
Alfred didn't seem to notice the turmoil behind him as he busied himself with reading the little stone inscription on the hilltop. Or at least he tried to since once again he was met with Cyrillic writing, some in cursive no less.
"I wonder where I should go next?" He thought out loud, gaining Natalya's attention and momentarily removing her from her festering anger.
"Maybe there's some cool caves I can explore, I don't think I've ever been inside a European one before, I wonder if they're any different?" He mused, though just loud enough for Natalya to hear, making her start to tremble.
She couldn't tell what she was feeling anymore: anger, embarrassment, disgust, maybe even arousal at some level, but whatever emotion this may be it was hitting her strong.
Inevitably in the end her fury proved to be too powerful and completely blocked out every other emotion. Alfred was quick to pick up on this as when he saw her while descending the hill, he noticed the maddened glean in her eyes as well as her shaking frame.
'Hmm. She seems upset about something,' he thought, then watched as she began to run in his direction.
'Oh... Oh she's really upset!' He realized as he turned around and tripped over himself as he began running away.
Natalya was right on his heels, cutting through the air and stalking closer to him like a wild animal. "Get your ass back here, you're so dead!"
"What did I even do?!?!" Alfred screamed as he tried to force himself to sprint faster.
On another day of Alfred's Minsk exploration, he caught scent of a famous museum somewhere in the city with a place called Hero City Stella.
He wasn't sure who Stella was, but "Hero City" seemed like an epic place to be.
Natalya tried to explain that he only heard it from overhearing some protesters who were talking about a large congregation taking place, meaning the museum would be closed, but he ignored her as he took her hand and dragged her along to wherever this Hero City was.
Coming up to the museum the pair found tens of thousands of people. It was even larger than the group that was outside the nations' meeting building.
Zigzagging his way through the crowd Alfred pulled Natalya with him to the front of the horde, coming up on a massive obelisk raised up from them by multiple steps.
Around it was a ring of shining triangular panels, and a large statue of a woman holding a trumpet looking thing.
"Woah. That's a pretty neat monument," he said as he tilted his head far back and looked up to the top while shielding his eyes from the sun.
A nearby protester turned to the curious nation with a grin. "You must not be from around here, American I'm guessing? Belarus has quite a few obelisks: this one, Victory Monument, Mount of Glory, Three Bayonets... I could go on. They're all quite interesting, I'd recommend visiting some of them."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks dude," Alfred smiled with a nod, then turned his attention back over to Natalya.
"Glory, victory, hero, a bunch of obelisk things that look like the Washington Monument. . . Is there something you wanna tell me Nat?"
From beside him she threw a punch into his arm. Be barely even reacted to the hit, standing as stiff as a board despite the small fist still digging into his arm.
"Hey," she called up to him. With a playful smirk he crossed his arms and looked down. "Yes?"
"You're supposed to be hurt right now," she stated. "Am I now? Guess you're just getting weaker," he replied with a shrug.
Just as he finished speaking she swiped at Nantucket, but having been in this situation before he pulled back just in time to dodge her.
Covering his precious hair with his hand he gave her a scornful squint. "You seriously gotta cut that out."
She frowned in response and reached up to his head again, so he backed away from her. "No," he ordered with a snap of his fingers, but she continued to pursue him.
Alfred backpedaled from her until both had reentered the crowd, so it didn't take long for them to lose each other and for him to accidentally bump his back into a stranger.
Spinning around he came face to face with a young man, probably the same age as himself, staring at him curiously.
"Ah, sorry about that dude. Didn't see where I was going," Alfred apologized with a chuckle and a little salute.
The man's eyes widened at hearing the other's accent, so he gave a polite nod in return and spoke. "It's alright. By the way, you're an American right?"
As the man said that everyone in the near vicinity went silent and turned in unison. Amongst them there were whispers about who this American was and why they were here in Belarus in the first place.
Seeing a strange cluster of protestors standing in a circle, Natalya decided to check out what all the ruckus was about.
Forcing herself into the circle she found Alfred in the middle, happily having a conversation with a large batch of protestors simultaneously.
'The hell?! Why does this stupid American attract my citizens like flies to shit?' She thought as she stomped over to him.
It appears that she completely forgot about one of the major truths about being a personification. While the collective thoughts and emotions of a nation's people affect the nation itself, the same can be said in the reverse, to an extent. Because she is in love with Alfred, her people by extension have a natural attraction to him, though of course less intense and more so they find him easy to talk to. Oblivious to this fact, Natalya couldn't stop herself from becoming hyper jealous.
As Alfred described a little about the U.S. to some people, he was suddenly pulled away as something tugged on his arm. It was Natalya, but why was she dragging him away?
Having moved several feet from the protesters they were now in the emptiest spot available, but because of that everyone's eyes were on them.
While Natalya was occupied trying to find a way out, a few people neared them undetected and started up another conversation with Alfred.
"So is this your girlfriend?" One of them asked. "She looks Belarusian to me. That must be why he's here," another whispered. "They're both really attractive, they look good together," a third said.
Alfred put his free hand up and shook it side to side little while smiling at the misunderstanding. "Oh, no she's not actually my-"
He stopped as he felt another tug on his arm. Glancing down he could see Natalya squeeze to him tighter while trying to hide behind him, having now noticed the people coming near.
One certain person confidently stepped forward to talk with Alfred, risking severe harm as Natalya's hand itched to reach for one of her knives. "Would you be interested in coming with us to the protest at one of Lukashenko's palaces. Having an American with us will majorly help our cause."
While Alfred would absolutely love doing that, he restricted himself knowing that Natalya was currently uncomfortable. "Can't you find another American to do it? Or honestly just anyone from a democratic country?"
The whole crowd visibly saddened hearing that he was unwilling, but the confident person wasn't deterred. "We could, but there's something about you. You're like the spitting image of the United States, I can tell you're someone that would never pass up a chance to be part of a protest fighting for democracy."
Natalya swore she could feel his heart skip a beat through his back, that word was like a trigger word for him.
He was now quaking in Natalya's grip, startlingly energetic as he darted his eyes between the stranger and her.
"Just picture it. A true Belarusian republic. . . no longer ruled by a dictator and free to have truly fair elections. We could possibly even reestablish relations with the United States, if your nation wishes to of course."
Alfred put a finger to his chin and thought hard. Was there any downside to this? If he got Belarus on his side then Eastern Europe will be entirely American allies, effectively cutting off any western Russian advances without backlash from literally all of Europe.
Also equally as important... though far more selfish... Natalya would be arguably closer to him than Russia, and completely removed from her brother's control. Therefore, him finally making a move on her would pose way less of a risk of nuclear annihilation.
Seeing the intense internal debate showing through Alfred's face, the stranger knew they had convinced him. "So, interested?"
Alfred's brain didn't have time to reach his mouth as he blurted out an exhilarated "yes!" Just before speeding off with the group to the palace. Natalya remained clung to his arm, getting forcefully dragged along as she let out a muffled string of curses into the shoulder of his bomber jacket.
"Come oooon, drink wit meeee!" Natalya whined as she slammed a bottle of alcohol against a table.
Alfred, who was somewhere between annoyed and amused, sat across from her with his head propped up and leaned against a hand. "For the last time no, I don't like being drunk."
She pouted and tossed the bottle at him, which he casually caught with his off hand before it shattered against his face. "Not cool dudette. What if your aim was off and you hit someone?"
"Since wen have ya been so bossy?" She complained while rolling her entire head. Crawling across the booth she tugged on Alfred's sleeve and looked up at him with a pitiful look. "Alfiiiieeeeeee! Yu're no fun!"
Alfred's breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the girl holding onto him, her drunken flush and those droopy eyes staring through his soul were intoxicating... pun intended.
Coughing into his hand he did what he could to regain his composure. "I'm not being bossy. It's just that with you drunk I need to be the responsible one, I'm the hero after all."
She giggled lowly and rested her head on his shoulder while coiling around his arm. "Fine. But actually try ta have some fun next time, hero."
The two shared a prolonged stare into each other's eyes, though only Alfred seemed to be feeling awkward. "You're very cheery when you're drunk," he told her, trying to hopefully ease some of the awkwardness.
Her eyebrows slowly arched down into a look of annoyed perplexion. "Wut do ya mean?"
"I don't know. I just haven't seen your signature glare at all," he said jokingly. Slowly she unhooked herself from him and gave him a peeved look. "I can be serious. In fact I'm always serious even wen I'm drunk. It'z yur fault anyway, u can be all obnoxious and happy all ya want but wen I am it'z suddenly weird? Dickface!"
"I-I wasn't saying that," he defended while waving his hands a little bit. He could see he struck a nerve there, but could you really blame him for being a little curious with how different she seemed to be?
She was the type of person to be an angry drunk, which is what she was implying she was, but all he's seen so far is this weird, goofy side.
Not looking to face her wrath, he quickly switched to a different subject, which was successful in getting her to completely forget about what happened.
"Heeeeeyyy, u wanna play a game?" Natalya asked as she leaned over and pressed her shoulder to his. Ever since she first moved over she hasn't gone away, the two were practically touching against each other at every moment. Though Alfred seemed to be getting more comfortable with it.
"Of course dudette, what do you wanna do?" He asked as he set an arm on her shoulder. She eagerly accepted the touch and clutched to his jacket, then with the other hand she waved a waiter over.
The man came over and briefly glanced between the two, who currently had their hands all over each other.
Not wanting to be rude for staring he cleared his throat and gave a polite smile. "And what can I help you two with?"
"Can I get one ov yur char. . . uh... charcuturturrr fuckin' thingys," she garbled out.
The waiter and Alfred turned and looked at her weirdly. "I apologize but what was that again?" Natalya began trying to speak but she couldn't get herself to say that word properly.
Eventually Alfred butted in and looked to the man with an apologetic grin. "I think she's talking about those weird boards you eat cheese and stuff off of."
With the waiter finally understanding they nodded and promptly left to get the food prepared.
"So what's a cheese board gotta do with this game?" Alfred wondered as he started conversing with Natalya again.
"I can't tell ya, it'z a secret. Jus pray yur not such a klutz t'day," she responded rather cryptically. He couldn't even process what that could mean before she asked a strange request. "By da way, could ya maybe eat all da stuff on da board wen we geddit?"
Alfred's mouth twitched in a bemused grin. "Sure dudette." Why though? Is the game watching him eat?
When the waiter came back over with the charcuterie board Alfred made sure they were turned away before he made quick work of the food. Then just as he finished Natalya grabbed the leftover board and moved back over to the other side of the table.
Alfred raised an eyebrow as she cleared off the table and set the cutting board in the middle. That curiosity turned to alarm and his heart sank as he noticed her reach down into her dress for something. The realization of what she was doing dawning on him as she slowly pulled out a knife and stabbed it into the cutting board.
"Woah Nat wait, are you sure you can even play that right now?" He wondered as he looked around making sure no one was looking at them. He had the feeling that the people here wouldn't exactly be comfortable seeing some drunk girl flailing a knife around.
She let out an annoyed exhale and ripped the knife out of the cutting board to twirl in her fingers. "I'm fiiiiiine. I've been messin' wit knives since I wuz a kid, wich of course u rember now."
"But you weren't drunk. You can't even see straight right now," he stated, earning a miffed huff from the girl.
"Ya do dumb stuff all da time. Why can't ya jus stop bein' all responsible and be fun and stupid again? U wuld totally do da same thing if ya were drunk wit dose two obnoxious dipshits. Besides, what's da worst dat can happen? I get hurt only ta heal a few hours later."
"That's not the point. Just cause you'll heal doesn't mean you should let yourself get hurt," Alfred reasoned, but Natalya was hearing none of it.
Giving a sigh she spun her knife around and pointed it at him. "So are ya gonna play, or do I hafta kill ya fer bein' a stuck-up ass?"
Before he could argue she slapped her hand on the cutting board and began stabbing the knife in between the gaps of her fingers, all while continuing to stare at Alfred.
He looked between her and her fingers in surprise as she did multiple turns expertly. Stabbing the knife into the board once again she leaned back and stared at him coldly. "Your turn."
Alfred stared for a few moments longer before nodding and moving the cutting board a little closer. He couldn't say no to a good challenge. Taking the knife he began playing the game, copying her speed and amount of runs with ease.
Natalya took the knife back and started again, while Alfred pulled out a knife from his own pants. "You know I used to play this a lot during my cowboy years. So don't feel bad if I leave you in the dust."
"In yur dreams hero boy," she snapped back as she sped up a little. Back and forth they went, getting faster and faster and even adding flourishes just to show off.
As they ramped up their efforts to beat the other, a crowd began to form around them, watching in both in shock and awe at the display of glinting metal and flying wood pieces.
The bar staff tried to get through the crowd to see what was happening, but the dense circle of loud drunks was impossible to get through.
"You're going down lady!" Alfred taunted as his stabbing turned into a blur the audience could barely follow. Natalya looked unimpressed and simply waited until he had finished, then brought her knife down as she did all that he did and better.
He glared hard at her cocky smirk, bringing the tension up to new heights. They traded passive aggressive comments during each other's turns, and always showed the other up with their skill.
Eventually it devolved into a stabbing competition with no reprieve, yet neither were about to keel over and admit defeat. The audience had erupted into a roar of cheering for either side, even a few waiters and waitresses that had made it through the crowd were getting involved.
All of the sudden they both stopped and stared deep into the other's eyes, breathing heavy from the surprising exertion they had put into the action. "Well, ready to lose?" Alfred asked with a smug grin.
Natalya sucked in a breath and raised her knife preparing to end this, but paused as her eyes focused in on something on one of Alfred's gloves.
"What's that?" She asked while pointing at his hand. Alfred raised a brow and started to inspect his hand. His eyes widened as he noticed a tiny slice in one of the fingers of his glove, and within that slice he could see a tiny red line in his skin.
Alfred rose from his seat and looked down at her, then as she rose herself he stuck his hand out. She graciously set her hand in his and firmly shook it. Neither wanted to gloat or mock each other, simply accept the terms and acknowledge that it was a good match.
Much later they were finally leaving the bar. They were tired and Natalya was just about passed out, but all in all it was a fun night.
And so with her so tired and Alfred being the hero he is, he decided it was best to give her a piggyback ride home.
While he walked Natalya draped her arms over neck and set her chin on top of his head, looking out into the darkness with a detached gaze. She was elated to being carried by Alfred, she really was, but she was just completely spent of energy.
As they passed by a particular alley a man popped out and stood in front of them, only to go pale and red simultaneously as he recognized the pair. "Are you fucking serious? You two again?!"
Alfred looked at the man in wonder, before snapping and pointing at him. "The batman mugger guy right?"
"Batm- what the hell does that mean?" The man yelled. Alfred gave a short chuckle, though he was holding back his rising irritation over this man's shouting disturbing Natalya. "Chill dude, It's just that you come out of the shadows like Batman."
The man's eye twitched as he got the sudden urge to bash his face into a wall. Observing the pair for a moment he noticed that the girl was now on the guy's back and just about asleep, even with his shouting it seems.
Just seeing her made his head throb, he was still suffering from a pretty good concussion. Luckily it appeared that she was truly out of it, so maybe he could get more luck tonight.
Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a small revolver and pointed it at Alfred's face. Alfred stared with a look that was less full of fear or caution but more so just pity.
"Alright you know the drill, give me your wallet," the man demanded. Shifting Natalya to better support her Alfred could feel that she was limp, meaning she had finally fallen asleep.
"Come on man seriously? While I'm taking a girl home? I've got things to do," he whined childishly, which only served in angering the mugger more.
"I'm not gonna ask twice, give me your wallet or I put a hole in you and your girlfriend's heads," the man threatened as he fingered with the trigger. "You seemed to be all jokes last time, I wouldn't make that same mistake now."
Alfred rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Dude you're such a drag, and she's not even my-" but before he could speak further a shot rang out. By some great stroke of luck the bullet narrowly missed Alfred's face and whizzed past his ear.
He froze in his tracks, staring off into nothingness with his mouth still agape from speaking. The only thing that jarred him from this state was the feeling of Natalya's fingernails clawing at his neck and chest, having been started awake by the gunshot.
"Alfie wut wuz dat?!" She questioned him while trying see what was going on through her bleary vision.
The man moved a step closer with the gun still pointed forward. "That was your one warning shot, now gi-" he was interrupted as in the blink of an eye Alfred had reached out and grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the gun, moving it up so it was pointed at the sky and out of harm's way.
The mugger tried everything he could to point the gun down or get out of the nation's grip, but it wasn't budging. In fact it wasn't moving at all. Just how strong was this guy?!
With a big smile on his face Alfred leaned in toward the man, though his knitted eyebrows were telling a different story for how he was feeling. "I think you should go home."
His tone sounded as cheerful as always, but something about it was off, there was some strange intensity behind it that sent a shiver up the mugger's spine.
"G-Get off me!" He yelled while trying to yank his arm away. Natalya grumbled at the noise and hugged Alfred harder, signaling to him that she was getting annoyed.
Alfred twisted the man's wrist a bit, making them wince and let go of the gun. Letting go of the wrist he bent down and picked up the gun, making the man take a step back in fear.
Holding out the gun in his palm he curled his fingers into a fist and tensed hard. Next he turned his hand down and opened it, revealing a little bent ball of metal as it fell to the ground with a metallic clang. "By the way, if you're mugging for money then maybe you shouldn't buy weapons you're just gonna lose."
Now the mugger was sweating bullets, and it appeared to be getting increasingly difficult to breathe. Taking a few, slow steps back, he nearly stumbled over himself as he turned and began running away.
Once he was sure they were gone Alfred gave a quiet sigh and placed his arm back under Natalya's leg, adjusting her into the proper position again.
"Annoyin' cocksucker," Natalya spat while trying to find a more comfortable spot for her head to rest. Alfred laughed a little at the insult. "You could say that again."
"Yur sooo strong... and muscly," she praised while gliding her hands over his chest far too slow and sensually. Luckily Alfred seemed too distracted with her talking to notice. "Pssh, no I'm not. If you want muscular you should look at Germany or Turkey... or Greece for some reason."
Natalya paused her roaming hands as anger surged through her. "That Nazi fuk iz only muscular cuz he does da same wurkouts az u witout havin' da strength fer it. Yur da strongest and no one else."
"Ok..?" He chuckled in flattered confusion. That was an unexpected reaction. Hugging him tightly again she moved her head down and rested it on his shoulder.
He glanced at her for a moment before smiling to himself and continuing to walk. With his face so close to hers she began to feel the familiar feeling of desire growing within her, the alcohol only increasing the feeling exponentially.
She unintentionally began trailing her hands along his collarbones and around his neck, all while hungrily staring down his sharp profile.
'So handsome,' she thought. In that moment all inhibitions left her body as she leaned in and gave him a soft peck on the cheek.
Alfred didn't realize what was happening until it was already over, but that didn't mean he wasn't freaking out anyway. The shakiness in his legs made him stop walking as he turned his head to the right, finding Natalya with her nose mere millimeters away from his.
His mouth felt like it had entirely dried out, yet it somehow found a way to get drier as those cold, hard eyes of hers homed in on his lips.
As she started leaning in and closing her eyes Alfred snapped his head straight and started speed walking. "W-Wow I'm like, super tired. How about you?" He asked as he desperately tried to hide his face from her.
Natalya stopped her advance and sat still for a moment, before moving up to rest her head on his in defeat. "Da I'm tired as well." 'Tired of waiting.'
Hey. Yeah once again just saying sorry for the insanely late upload. I will hopefully be back on the normal schedule soon, and I'm already halfway done with the next chapter so that will certainly help.
Also I'm making another discord announcement. So if you've already seen it from my account or simply don't care then just ignore this.
So if you haven't seen already from my good friend Lobster_Pot , (as we probably share many of the same followers), they started a discord server for Amebel.
All Amebel shippers are welcome to come join and talk about this ship. You can have discussions, share headcanons, show off your art, send memes, give your ideas and advice for oneshots/full story fanfics (or maybe you need advice to start your own), roleplay, or join the nsfw discussions if you qualify for the rules. There are also separate sections for other ships, hetalia in general, or even completely different anime and other stuff.
So if you are interested then you can follow the link below:
https/discord.gg/ucmeH2MxSd
If you aren't interested that's cool, but if you are then that's also really cool. Just remember to be respectful, follow the rules, and most importantly have fun!