Canada laughed and nudged America's arm lightly, "Al! You can't say those things!" He smiled as he watched his brother torment a flustered England.
"Awe it's not my fault Iggy's shy~" America teased and poked at England's bright red face.
Canada giggled in amusement thinking how much England reminded him of a volcano.
'Just imagine a volcano with huge bushy eyebrows and a big frown!' He burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter at the ridiculous thought.
"I am not shy!" He heard England call as America teased him again.
"Am too~"
"Am not!"
"Am so!"
"THAT'S NOT EVEN PROPER ENGLISH!"
Canada laughed again and grinned at the two, he was so happy to be able to spend time with them again. It had been so long since they were able to remember him.
But, something felt a bit.. Weird? Almost like they were being watched?
He heard rustling in a nearby bush and turned his head away for a split second, staring at the leaves curiously, but Canada couldn't find any reason to be suspicious..
Shaking his head he tore his eyes away from the bush, only to find that America and England had walked ahead a little ways.
'Strange, when did they get so far?' The Canadian wondered, his smile faltered but he didn't think much of it. After all he did zone out, and they could've easily not noticed he stopped.
Canada sprinted towards them, but America and England still looked far away, in fact..
They looked farther!
An alien sense of panic washed over the Canadian making his every being tremble with fear.
'Why can't I catch up?'
'Why do I feel so afraid?'
'WHY ARE THEY LEAVING ME!'
He screamed mentally, his brother's laughter sounded like a distant echo and his shape a blurred blob.
"Wait!" Canada panted, "Wait don't leave me! I'm coming hold on! Just.." No one was around him now, no America, no England. Even the scenery had left him for the sickly pale whiteness of nothing itself.
"Just don't leave me.." Canada let out a hysterical sob, his voice cracked and he rubbed at his eyes furiously in a pathetic attempt of calming himself down.
To his absolute horror, when he lifted his hand he could no longer see it. He stared in disbelief as his arm slowly disappeared, as though he were being erased.
He screamed, but America and England were long gone.
There was no one around to hear him.
"Wait no! No I'm Canada this can't happen!" He yelled desperately, but the vanishing didn't stop, it kept climbing and climbing until he himself had completely vanished into the cruel backdrop.
'I'm Canada..'
Matthew suddenly shot up from the floor, tears streaming down his chalk white face as he stared at the bare wall in silence.
It had been so long since he had a nightmare, but since he had the mentality of a human now he wasn't surprised he hadn't had one sooner. The fears he was able to ignore.. Felt so much bigger now.
Another tear trickled down and Can- no, Matthew, pulled Kumajirou into a hug, startling the sleepy bear.
"Who are-" The bear asked groggily, he was still trying to process what was going on.
"I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew-I'm Matthew, a choked off sob followed and Kumajirou didn't dare ask the question again.
They stayed like this for thirty minutes before Matthew finally pulled away, "How about we go into town today?" He asked quietly, as though the entire episode hadn't occurred. His eyes were puffed up from crying and he still had the remnants of tears on his cheeks, but Matthew still smiled a big, happy, (and incredibly fake) smile.
Kumajirou nodded sadly, but Matthew took no note in his friend's sadness as he jumped up from the floor and stretched out.
"Jeez Kumne! We really should have slept on the bed! I feel so sore," he laughed a hollowed laugh and continued with his rambling, "I didn't even change into pyjamas! Guess that just means we'll be able to go exploring the town sooner! Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, I'm sure there's going to be some interesting things around!"
Matthew picked up Kumajirou and started out the door, he paused only when his hand was inches from the doorknob. "Maybe we should clean ourselves up a bit eh?" He asked with a laugh, the reflection in the shiny brass showed an unbelievably messy and utterly deranged looking Canadian.
Matthew's hair was sticking straight up, and in some places it was twirled around like when you stomp in a circle on grass, his glasses were on crookedly, and his face looked (To say simply) like an absolute wreck.
Setting Kumajirou down, Matthew trudged over to the kitchen sink and splashed some water on his face, making sure to take his glasses off first of course.
The cold water easily calmed his nerves and the nauseating feeling from the nightmare felt like a distant memory.
Plus his hair normally never looked too bad, so all he had to do was run his fingers through it a couple of times and put on his glasses.
With a genuine smile Matthew snatched Kumajirou from where he was blissfully swating away at a lone dust bunny, and marched out the door.
"The day started bad Kumnu, but that's the good thing about bad days, they'll only get better," he said to Kumajirou as they passed a tree covered in snow.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Matthew," he chuckled and poked the bear's nose gently, "And don't you forget it Kumawhat'sit'sname."
They passed many things on their walk: A bird carrying a twig, some poorly made snowmen that some children attempted to make, even a single shoe in the middle of the sidewalk. But Matthew didn't really care about any of that, the only thing he was aware of was-
'Why the maple syrup and overdone pancakes is it so cold out here!?!' Matthew thought with a shiver as he held Kumajirou closer.
-how cold it was.
Matthew was shaking uncontrollably and goosebumps covered his arms like paint. He'd never had any problems with being cold. In fact he was pretty much immune to it, he could stand out in freezing weather with nothing but shorts and a T-shirt on and feel perfectly fine. Which may have been exactly what he was wearing now.. But that was besides the point, he should've been fine!
'Does this mean I have the tolerance of a human now too?' He asked himself sadly.
He use to enjoy playing in the snow so much, when everyone forgot him the snow was always there to remember. It was even more amazing when he'd go on long hiking adventures farther up north, and was able to see the northern lights dancing in the darkened sky in nothing but shorts, a tank top, and sandales.
Matthew might not have looked it, but he really enjoyed nature.
'I guess it's not that bad, I mean I can still do all the things I use to, but I'll just need to prepare more!' He thought with fake happiness, he was trying so hard to be optimistic..
Matthew was so deep in thought that he didn't realise he passed a convenience store until he felt Kumajirou nibbling on his arm in annoyance.
"Gah! Kumnah what are you doing!" Matthew shouted in surprise. Kumajirou huffed and pointed to the store, "Go," the bear simply said.
Matthew smiled and ruffled Kumajiriou's fur, "Thanks Kumba, I would've probably frozen to death without you!" He laughed and received a, 'Who are you,' from the bear.
"I'm Matthew," he said as he pushed open the doors to the store and was instantly greeted with a wave of warm air.
The shop was rather large for a convenience store, they even had a small clothing section on one side which Matthew immediately flocked to.
He picked out a fluffy dark blue jacket that had a small embroidered Canadian flag in the corner with a cheaply made fur hood, a pair of socks that had a rubber duck pattern on it, some slightly too long jeans, some snow white ear muffs, and a pair of boots that looked like they'd last about a week.
"Hey Kunah you want to say it or me?" Matthew asked Kumajirou with a silly grin. The bear cocked his head to the side in confusion and stared up blankly.
Matthew's smile widened as he walked slowly towards the register, "Well this was convenient," he laughed at Kumajirou's deadpanned expression.
They passed some alcohol and Canada had a wistful look in his eyes, 'I bet I have a human's tolerance to that too.' He thought sadly, before a sudden thought made him stop in his tracks and turn around so quickly he nearly stepped on Kumajirou.
'Wait! I have a human's tolerance to that too!'
A mischievous smile spread quickly over his face and he grabbed the largest bottle of vodka he could find before practically bouncing over to the check out.
The cashier was a middle aged man with an unkept beard and eyes that held a mix of amusement and also judgement.
"That's a pretty big bottle for a boy like you?" He said with a chuckle as he rang up everything.
Matthew laughed and nodded his head as he paid for the things, "Probably, but I figured why not?"
The man chuckled and said a quick goodbye, 'That kid is going to have the worst time tomorrow,' was his only thought as he watched Matthew go.
"Well Kumdos, I was going to go explore the town with you today, but I think I'd much rather stay in," Matthew said with a sparkle in his eye. It was the first time he had felt such excitement.
It wasn't that he loved alcohol, oh no he rather disliked it, frankly speaking, he just really wanted to know what it was like to be drunk..
As a nation he had an unnatural tolerability, since his citizens tended to be less of the drunkard sort.
Unlike a certain Englishman he knew..
Other than England and Prussia, Matthew wasn't sure how many other countries were able to experience a human's version of drunkenness.
It was immature and he knew that, but he thought that he was entitled to a little immaturity.
"We'll order a pizza and then tomorrow we'll go exploring!" Matthew hummed as he walked with Kumajirou. He had completely forgotten to change before he left the store, so he was back to being freezing again.
Kumajirou pawed halfheartedly at the bag, causing Matthew to scold him.
"Kumahito you know I don't condone drinking, there's absolutely no way I'm letting you drink this. It's not good for you, and the only reason why I am is because I'm going to test out the limits of my semi-human situation." Matthew stated, looking at the bear sternly.
It was as though his lecture fell on deaf ears and Kumajirou dug his paws into the bag, pulling out the earmuffs. Matthew blinked in confusion before laughing, "Oh no! I'm sorry Kumhe! I thought.. Oh gosh I'm so sorry!" He said in between laughs.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Matthew," Matthew said with a grin as he opened the door to there once-home.
Matthew and Kumajirou were scheduled to relocate on Christmas Eve, which was why Matthew wanted to see the town one last time, but he figured he'd just push to stay another day.
'Plus if I leave on Christmas I can pretend it's a gift to myself!" Matthew thought while simultaneously ordering a pizza.
Sitting down next to Kumajirou Matthew took out the bottle and opened it slowly, the seal made a very audible crackling sound as it broke.
"Okay Kunemo, you're job is to stop me from doing anything crazy, got that? And no making me order whale meat okay? I know you did that to England so don't even try denying it."
Kumajirou gave a guilty shrug and a, "Who are you," which Matthew promptly ignored.
Matthew closed his eyes and tilted back his head taking a swig of the drink, his whole mouth burned and he started coughing uncontrollably.
"Ohmy maple syrup covered pancakes, that's awful!" He hacked out in between coughs, "It tastes like bubble mix! Like bubble mix and liquid fire combined into one unholy death drink!" Matthew shouted and took another sip.
The taste was just as bad as before and Matthew had to grab a glass of water to be able to stomach it.
"Whoa? Kumma there's no way I'm tipsy after just two ships-I mean sips!" Matthew slurred as he plopped back down on the floor.
After his third sip Matthew had come to a realisation.
He was unbelievably, without a doubt, a light weight when it came to drinks.
"Kooma you're face is so fluffy!" Matthew giggled as he squished Kumajirou's cheeks together, the poor bear could do nothing but squirm around to get out of the Canadian's grasp.
Matthew gasped as he pulled Kumajirou in for a hug, "You're like a teddy bear! You're so soft~ Are you made of snow?" He asked happily cuddling the annoyed bear.
Suddenly Matthew's whole demeanour changed and he suddenly started crying, "No! That'll mean you'll melt away! You can't melt away Kumajirou! You can't!" He cried slurring together his words. Despite the jumble of syllables, Kumajirou unmistakably heard his real name being called out.
They never used each other's real names. Ever. Unless they were generally serious or scared about something, which rarely ever happened.
Hearing his name.. Really unnerved him.
Kumajirou licked Matthew's face making him stop crying, "Hey! That tickles!" Matthew laughed and tried pushing the bear away, only to end up falling backwards on the floor with Kumajirou tackling him.
"Awe Kuma thank you, I'm so glad to have a best friend like you," Matthew laughed and hugged Kumajirou gratefully.
"It must be pretty sad to be alone.." Matthew suddenly whispered, his thoughts drifted to his conversation with America, and to a certain thing he said that was bothering him.
Russia. Was he really going to be all alone on Christmas Eve? The thought bothered Matthew a lot more than it normally would have if he was thinking clearly.
He had never had very long conversations with the country, in fact they'd only probably said two sentences to each other.. But still.. Being along on Christmas Eve..
As if a lightbulb went off in Matthew's head, he suddenly leaped up from the floor, Kumajirou still in his arms.
"That's it!" He shouted, taking another quick small sip of the vodka.
"The airport is really close to here! I can pack a small suitcase and walk there! We could spend the next couple of days having a vacation and no one will be alone!"
Matthew looked down at Kumajirou, a giant drunken smile plastered to his face.
"Let's go to Russia!"
Yas! I got it done! Sorry it took so long this one ended up being muuuch longer than usual haha
Also thank you guys so much for your comments!! Seriously I can't say how happy it makes me whenever I read them! It made me super motivated to finish this chapter as quick as I could òwó
Hehe~ So Canada is off to Russia
I wonder how that'll go~ *Evil hamster laughs*
Anyways that's all for now!~
Ciao! ~('･ω･')~
(And thank's for reading!)
Words: 2505 (not including this bit uwu)
02/22/2019