Wh-what's this? An update? That isn't a month later? O.o
(Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays broskis)
Meanwhile, Wisconsin was chasing after Prussia. The germanic nation had found Ethan's glasses in his back pocket and had snatched them to give the state incentive. Then Prussia had proceed to race away towards his house, since he didn't want to drag Wisconsin the whole way there.
It had worked; Wisconsin was racing quickly after the albino, fueled by alcohol and irritation, and Prussia found himself needing to pick up his speed if he didn't want to be overtaken. It was a good thing his house was nearby, otherwise he might find himself face-to-face with an annoyed state. Losing his nation status had done more than wound his pride; he had lost most of his physical capabilities.
Prussia reached his house and bolted through the door, Wisconsin following soon after. They both slowed down and Prussia plopped onto a couch, playing with Wisconsin's glasses case. The state grabbed the case and put it back into his pocket before slouching onto the couch next to Prussia, finally having realized his ploy.
"Why are we at your house?" Ethan finally asked. There was a fire going in the fireplace and he was watching the flames dance. "This is your house, right?"
"Of course it's my house! You couldn't tell from the awesome decorating?" Prussia sounded offended but continued as if nothing had happened. "And because my awesomeness felt like it. You need a place to sleep, anyway."
Wisconsin nodded slowly, a feeling of discomfort and homesickness settling in. He wanted to see America.
A few seconds of silence stretched into a minute and Prussia heaved himself up from the sofa, wandering over to the kitchen.
"Want anything?" He called back.
"Crackers. And cheese. And a piece of dry grass or hay, honestly. I should go out back if I want that-"
"You want what?" His incredulous tone stopped Wisconsin's tangent in its tracks. Ethan blinked.
"Uh, crackers, cheese-"
"No, after those! You want some grass? What are you, a cow?"
Wisconsin felt like he should feel indignant, but he really didn't. He was often called derogatory farmer terms by upper-class states so he being compared to a cow in that sense didn't really faze him.
"It gives my mouth something to do. Sometimes I get fidgety ya know. I'm assuming you don't have any hay or dry grass so I'll do without. A toothpick would probably work anyway. But I do want crackers and cheese." Wisconsin stood up and passed the albino to walk into his kitchen. He had found some crackers and a little bit of cheese, so he was happily munching along into the living room when he froze. There were more people there, and he vaguely recognized three of them from before.
A squeal sounded and he found himself the subject of interest. A woman with long brown hair seemed to move faster than light from across the room, since she appeared right in his face in less than a second.
"You are soooo cute!" She refrained herself from smothering him but couldn't help the cooing. "It's like a smaller, sweeter version of Alfred!"
"Elizaveta, please…" the man with dark brown hair and glasses sighed, placing his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. Elizaveta, whose country name was unknown to Wisconsin, pouted but backed off. Prussia scoffed loudly and a dangerous expression fell on her face and there was suddenly a frying pan in her hand that seemed more dangerous than a frying pan should. Prussia choked on his laugh and backed inconspicuously behind Germany.
"I'm sorry, I don't know you two," Wisconsin said softly, addressing the dark haired man and brown haired woman.
"I'm Hungary!" The woman said cheerily, waving at the state.
"My name is Austria." The man spoke in a posh accent and he pushed up his glasses. Wisconsin nodded then munched on some more cheese and crackers, and the countries didn't seem to know how to take that.
"Prussia, about the reason we came…" Austria turned to the albino nation and started discussing something that Ethan dubbed unimportant. He finished his crackers and cheese and suddenly yawned, feeling exhausted from all the attention and events of the day.
"Oh, you must be exhausted. Here, I know where the guest bedroom is…" Hungary noticed his tired face and lightly grasped his elbow, leading him down the hallway and into a room. It was sparsely decorated and contained a bed, a dresser, and a vanity with a large mirror. Wisconsin blinked a few times as he was basically placed on the bed.
"Now get some rest, it doesn't do anyone good if you're tired for tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be just as exciting as today, knowing America." Hungary patted his head motherly and left the room, closing the door softly.
Wisconsin stared at the spot she had just been. At first he had thought her to be an overbearing annoyance type of person, who was constantly up in people's faces, though that was based on his first impression with her. It turned out that she was rather motherly, to his delight. He had never really had a mother figure, except for the blurry memory of before he was an established state.
Ethan stripped out of his clothes and slid under the covers of the fluffy comforter with a sigh, feeling the familiar rub of cotton on his bare skin. He was half asleep and therefore barely aware of it at the time, but Hungary came back in quietly and gathered up his clothes to wash for him for the morning, carefully placing his glasses on the nightstand. She brushed some of the hair out of his eyes and sighed, remembering when she had to take care of Italy. Sure, Wisconsin was a teenager, and one who could beat Denmark at drinking at that, but she still felt that mother hen personna activate whenever he was around.
She shook her head in defeated exasperation. She always got attached way too quickly.
-x-
Canada sighed. The teen was already asleep. He would wait until morning to take him home.
-x-
He woke surprisingly peacefully, the sun a little above the horizon to his surprise. Usually he was either up before dawn or slept until noon verging on the afternoon. He was nocturnal at one point as well for a few weeks.
Ethan sat up and let the covers fall off his upper body and stretched out his shoulders, muscles tensing. He let out a sigh and slid off the bed, bones cracking on the way to the bathroom where tried to begin preparing for the day mindlessly when he stopped with a shock. For one, he wasn't in his house. For two, America did not know where he was. For three, none of his neighbors knew where he was.
Wisconsin groaned. Michigan was gonna flip. They always raked the millions of leaves together to kick off hunting season. And Illinois would be upset he wasn't there for throwing a football around. Minnesota had said he wanted to show Wisconsin a new movie or something- though the two had been very close before, Wisconsin felt an insatiable jealousy and irritation towards the state. They used to be the same; then he left him in the dust.
Ethan wrinkled his nose at the thought of his one-sided rivalry (Minnesota was often thoughtless when he held himself on an annoying but accurate higher pedestal). Screw you, Liam, he thought viciously. Then he immediately felt bad about it and apologized to Minnesota- all still in his mind.
"Wisconsin?" There was a knock on the door and Ethan started. "I have some of your clothes for you." It was the pompous voice of Austria, surprisingly. He opened the door and looked up at the man who had his clothes folded in his arms.
The man's face instantly turned pink at the sight of the shirtless state, and Wisconsin glanced at himself with a surprised "Oh! Crap!" He slammed the door in the Austrian man's face. "Sorry!" His muffled voice sounded from behind the door and he hoped against hope that Austria hadn't seen him.
"I have your clothes," the Austrian said forcefully, opening the door slightly and shoving the clothes through it. While Ethan was taking the folded fabric through the crack Hungary came bustling around the corner, saying, "I forgot something!"
In her arms was one of America's sweatshirts that she had thought Wisconsin would have liked. America had a bad habit of leaving articles of clothing at nation's houses, mostly sweatshirts, shirts, and socks, though occasionally pants showed up.
"Thanks!" Wisconsin snatched the sweatshirt through the crack in the doorway and shut the door with a soft click.
"Well, I suppose he's not related to France, then?" Hungary said slyly.
"Elizaveta, please…" Austria sighed and turned away.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin was admiring the sweatshirt Hungary had found. It was red and said Fifty States of Awesome on it, and the clothing itself was large (no surprise there: it was made to fit Alfred), so it appeared rather baggy on him. He then tried to get his hair (and that stubborn curl) to lay a little flatter to no avail. He was cursed with, as a few other states teased, the American hair. Every state had something in common with their founder, America, (most considered him a much older brother) but some features were more obvious than others. Many states needed glasses as well (he did, but he never wore them, thinking they looked stupid and that they only got in the way anyway). He slipped the glasses case into his back pocket.
A bang sounded from outside the window and he froze, peering carefully behind the glass. That had sounded like… like a gun?
He saw a figure come sprinting haphazardly in the direction of the house, their limbs flying all over the place in their frantic bolting. Another man was behind them with a shotgun in hand, yelling profanities at the first man, who had auburn hair.
Without really thinking about it Wisconsin opened the large window and clambered out of it, curious since he hadn't seen this person at the meeting. Maybe he had simply missed him.
"Veeee~!" The first man ran past yelling in fear or exhilaration Ethan wasn't sure. The second man, who had a military uniform on and blonde hair to his chin, stopped running but fired a few more warning shots into the air. The man with auburn hair disappeared into the house and the man with the gun stood panting. He wiped his forehead and lowered his gun, glaring in the direction of the house.
He turned and noticed the state standing and staring at him and raised his gun suspiciously. At the sight of a barrel pointed directly at his face Ethan balked, raising his hands in surrender. He muttered something about being peaceful but the man didn't bite.
"Who're you?" He jerked his gun at Ethan and the state flinched slightly. He had been shot before from various circumstances and didn't want to relive the experience.
"I-I'm Wisconsin!" He blurted out before realizing this man may not even be a nation, let alone know who he was. The blonde narrowed his eyes.
"Big brother, big brother! Look what I found!" A soft voice came from behind them and a frustrated, worried expression passed through the man's face. A girl with light blonde, short cropped hair came into the picture and Ethan blinked. The two looked strikingly similar, though the girl was obviously more feminine.
"Lili! I'm in the middle of something!" He snapped. She paused and blinked at Wisconsin, a boy that appeared to be around her age. He was right outside Germany and Prussia's home as well, so she assumed he must be a nation she had not met yet.
"What's your name?" She asked kindly, pretending she couldn't hear her older brother's protests. "I'm Lili. I represent Liechtenstein." In the background she heard "You told him your human name, too?!"
"I'm Wisconsin," Ethan respondes uncertainly, trying to pinpoint where Liechtenstein was. Nothing came to mind. "Uh, where's Liechtenstein?"
"Hmm." She didn't seem at all perturbed by the question. "Right between Austria and big brother Switzerland!" Switzerland… ah, that must be the blonde man. The Swiss, wait! They immigrated to Wisconsin too!
"Ahh… okay." Wisconsin said, though he still had little idea where that was. She seemed satisfied, anyway, and continued their conversation.
"So where's Wisconsin? I've never heard of that nation before." She once again pretended she couldn't hear her older brother. Yes, she loved him to death, but he couldn't prevent her from trying to make new friends.
"Oh, uh, I'm not a nation," Ethan laughed awkwardly and a flash of panic swept through both Switzerland and Liechtenstein, both nations thinking they had released confidential information to a human.
"I'm a state," he continued, oblivious to the relieved breaths the two let out. "I'm in America, ya know!" He boasted, then winced when he realized his mistake. Thankfully the innuendo was lost on the innocent nation and she nodded.
"Lili, we need to go," Switzerland insisted, and Wisconsin brought his attention to the gun in the Swiss's arms and gasped.
"Oh my god, is that a Winchester?! Model 1894, holy jesus I use the same gun!" Wisconsin blurted unthinkingly. Switzerland stiffened, not wanting his sister or any other country to know he had a gun from the origins of the US at hand, and was using it, no less. Usually he used firearms from his own country, but he had been testing this one out when Italy had helpfully ran through his yard, prompting him to put it to the real test.
"Yes, this is a Winchester model 94…" The Swiss peered at the state for a moment. "How did you know?"
"I just recognized it, that's all! Wow, can I see it real quick? I haven't seen a gun in… well it's only been a day, but I always get antsy around hunting season, ya know?" His hand twitched to hold the gun but Switzerland held it close to his chest, though a sliver of intrigue had settled in his mind. This state, one of America's supposedly, could identify his gun in minutes and apparently knew how to shoot as well.
Too bad Switzerland wasn't able to continue this almost-discussion about guns. Before they could do anything, Wisconsin was tackled from behind and he tumbled to the ground with a yell. A brown jacket and smothering arms filled his vision and he breathed in the familiar scent.
"America!" He said joyfully, awkwardly throwing his arms around the nation while they were on the ground. His father-figure's obnoxious laughter filled his ears, sounding like music. The large nation jumped to his feet and pulled Wisconsin with him, grinning.
"I can't believe Mexico did that! Man, was I pissed when I found out that she had taken one of my own states!" America proclaimed, patting Ethan on the shoulder. The state smiled blindly, not noting the wording of America's statement until later. It was too bad that America said nothing about missing Wisconsin himself.
"Ahh crap! It's America!" Prussia appeared at the door with a freaked out expression on his face. America's face darkened but he had no time to react when he was suddenly bowled over by a bunch of spaniard exuberance.
"Quick, amigos! This is our chance!" He shouted, restraining the shocked America on the ground. America punched him in the face but this did not deter him, and seemed to only fuel his determination. Prussia yelled in agreement and Wisconsin found himself thrown over a shoulder. But it wasn't Prussia, Ethan could see him assisting the spaniard, who must be Spain.
"Désolé, mon cher." The french in his ear shocked him. He knew there were many French-speaking countries, but this sounded so refined, so unfiltered, that Wisconsin knew it had to be France himself. The state wasn't sure how he had talked to flowery nation at the meeting, since he was now spellbound.
He was with France. The man- or nation- who was responsible for most of his founding: the first European to set foot in what would be Wisconsin was French, after all. His earlier conversations with the nation cause him to mentally slap himself. How had he not realized the importance of the man earlier?
Of course, England was a huge part in his founding as well, but that novelty had worn off long ago once he had heard the man's temper. Wisconsin could handle fire (he winced at his wording), but when someone was outright rude to someone he cared about, he had no compassion.
While he had been wrapped up in his thoughts, Spain, Prussia, and the withheld America faded from his view. And Liechtenstein and Switzerland, of course, but they had started to return to their house. Switzerland hated choosing a side.
France smelled like perfume. It was slightly unnerving.
The two made it to another house and Wisconsin was thrown onto a couch within said house with an "oof!" He sat for a moment in disbelief. He had just been kidnapped from his kidnappers who had kidnapped him from his kidnapper.
"I do feel a bit guilty for snatching an unsuspecting -er, state, was it?- from America's grasp," France mused, almost posing as he stood in contemplation. Wisconsin blinked.
"And as you already know, I am France, known among nations as Big Brother France…" He boasted, letting out his usual spiel. Claiming to be a big brother to all nations had never gotten him anywhere in the past, so he was not expecting the teenager's arms to be wrapped around his torso.
"Euh…" He said in confusion, his French accent leaking more than usual. It was hard to catch the old nation off guard, he had seen many many things (some less desirable than others), but this little state had managed it in mere minutes.
"Big brother France!" Wisconsin peeped happily, staring at the blonde with a smile etched on his face. It was rather childlike, as if the state had reverted to his ten year-old days. A warm feeling started pulsing in France's chest; this child was just as full of love as Canada and just as excitable as America.
He was just about to respond with something that would probably initially be sweet but have a hidden innuendo (it really wasn't his fault at this point; they just slipped out) when Wisconsin blurt out another statement that caught him off guard.
"You named me!" He nearly shone with happiness at the ability to speak with the one who had named him. While being aware of it, anyway, since he had spoken with the flowery nation earlier.
"Huh?" France put the boy at arms length and searched his face. It didn't seem like the teen was lying, but France had no recollection…
"Well, the initial name, sort of. It was a play on a word of one of the tribes, my river. We're not sure which tribe… but anyway, it was spelled wrong as Ouisconsin by one of the French, uh, la Salle I think? I dunno, but then the Americans came through and it was respelled as Wisconsin, 'cause it's more American. Is that cool er no?"
The new information shocked France slightly but he took it in stride. "Of course, mon ami. It's an honor to be the reason for a name of one of America's own." Something wrong twinged in Wisconsin, but he pushed the feeling away.
The euphoria of initially meeting France was quickly wearing off and he realized the size of this situation. America had little idea where he was, and Mexico had no idea. Canada was probably… actually, Wisconsin had no idea where Canada was. Regardless, nobody he had known before the kidnapping had any idea where he was.
Which sucked.
A lot.
"France? Could you help me once-" Wisconsin started softly, thinking over how he was going to ask this.
"Papa, who is this?" A feminine voice broke through his thoughts and France winced at the sound of her voice. Wisconsin peered around the stiffened form of France to see a pretty girl with long, dirty blonde hair in a braid with a large bow.
"Monaco!" France said in a falsely cheery voice, straining to stop himself from kicking her out. Unbeknownst to any of those in the room, three pairs of eyes were peering at the group from the window. "I didn't think you would be here!"
"No, you wouldn't." She examined the state with intrigue or scrutiny, Ethan wasn't sure. He shifted uneasily. "I was missing your wonderful cooking, Papa. Is this man another one of your… friends?" She said the word with disgust. "He looks a little young for you, but I can never tell…"
"Oh, no no no!" France waved his hands in front of him to emphasize his point. "This is one of America's."
Monaco's face scrunched up even more. "One of America's friends? Then why is he here?"
"Non! Ouisconsin is a state! He's one of l'Amerique's states!"
"Oh!" The disgust drained from her face to be replaced by relief. She turned to the silent state, whose mind was running a mile a minute.
"Désolé, Ouisconsin. I am too used to Papa bringing home men and women." She held her arm out for a handshake and Wisconsin obliged, though he silently told them that his name wasn't supposed to sound so French.
"I get it." He did not get it at all. "It's great to meet you, Monaco."
She nodded in appreciation and gave him a once-over. A sudden spark shone in her eyes. "Want to play cards?"
"Cards?" Wisconsin brightened. "Like card games? I love card games! Usually I only play solitaire though since dogs can't really play-"
"No, Ouisconsin. I mean gamble. Do you want to gamble?" She asked again.
"Oh, I try not to gamble-" Ethan tried to protest. Ever since that game with Minnesota…
"Afraid you'll lose? To the likes of me, a small girl?" She challenged. He nearly narrowed his eyes and agreed for his pride's sake when he noticed the gleam in her eyes. Unparalleled confidence shone in them, and there was a very…
Well, a very Nevada like gleam in them. He instantly backtracked, knowing Nevada was the best of the best in the states. Las Vegas was no joke.
But he also knew that she wouldn't back down, so he went to his default:
"If you can beat me at drinking first."
She raised an eyebrow at his compromise. Usually that was all it took for countries to agree to gamble with her, and promptly lose all their money or possessions. But she could work with this. Living with France for a while didn't leave her a lightweight.
(Speaking of France, he was currently on the phone with a distraught Picardy. France had commanded him to keep watch of Spain, Prussia, and America's fight. Unfortunately, the loss of nation status severely crippled Prussia and Spain was not the superpower he once was. Fortunately, Spain could still hold his own and Prussia had a strange army of birds keeping America at bay.)
Regardless, she had underestimated her opponent. Wisconsin had her under the table in almost less than an hour.
"That's so-" She hiccuped. "-unhealthy. Where do you keep it all?"
Wisconsin shrugged, sipping from his seventh beer. Or was it sixth? He couldn't remember. It was good he was a personification, otherwise his liver would have basically died by now. And the alcohol from the night before hadn't completely left his system. In fact, he was feeling a little tipsey.
"Ouisconsin, I believe that's enough. She's done." France supported his former colony with his shoulder, rolling his eyes and he led her to a bed to collapse on. Ethan sighed, finally alone for the first time since he woke up. It was silent.
For about thirty seconds, anyhow.
"Man! If I knew that was the secret to her fall, then I would've tried that ages ago!" Another foreign voice greeted his ears and he groaned. How many people was he going to meet before he was back home?
Another wash of homesickness swept through him. That little time with America had not been enough, and strangely enough, he missed his own dysfunctional family as well. He would have even settled for Southern California.
Actually, no. It was better he wasn't here. Wisconsin much preferred his sister, Northern California.
"Couldn'ta said it better mahself! The wee lass was gone before the hour was out!" A thick accent permeated the room, and three men tumbled through the window. Wisconsin stumbled backwards, not expecting company via the window. The three men peered at him through a tangle of limbs. Silence stretched out, until…
"So, Wisconsin, eh?" the man with ginger hair finally questioned.
Wisconsin's mouth flapped open and closed, and felt 110% done with the world. Literally. He wished all the nations would leave him alone. He wanted to be with the little guys.
"Er… nice weather we're having?" The man with light brown hair said as if it were a question.
"NOPE!" Wisconsin turned on his heel and fled out the door. "Nope, nope nope nope! I'm done! I'm going to find America myself!"
"Wait!" the men stumbled to their feet.
"Lad, hold up!" The man with bright red hair streamed out the door after him, his brothers right behind him. France glanced out the window and gasped, seeing the state quickly disappearing. He paid no mind to the pursuing Kirkland brothers and merely bolted out the door after the state as well.
Prussia and Spain sighed. They had managed to point America in the wrong direction of France's house through careful manipulation, and had hopefully bought them some time. They froze when they saw the state himself sprinting from three men with horrendous eyebrows and a frenchman running a few yards behind them. Their eyes widened and they exchanged glances before bolting after the poor state as well.
"Leave me alone!" He cried out, pumping his legs furiously. Unfortunately, he was not well known for his speed, and the men were steadily gaining on him. He frantically glanced around him, trying to find something he could use to his advantage. His ears picked up a lone statement:
"Russia, this is a lovely sunflower, no?"
Ethan felt hope flood through him. Alaska had spoke often about his close neighbor, Russia! He had said the country was nice enough and that he was rather protective of the cold state, despite him belonging to America.
He took a sharp right, skidding a bit before finding his footing and ran in the direction of the voice he had thought he heard. A tall woman with short cropped pale blonde hair came into view, as well as a tall man with a white scarf. Another woman stood by them.
"Russiaaa!" He cried out. The man turned at the sound of his name, a curious expression on his face. Wisconsin decided to take a risk and dove behind the imposing figure, trying to shrink to keep out of sight of his pursuers, who rounded the corner soon after and came to a skidding halt at the sight of the large nation.
"Hm?" Russia glanced behind him at the huddling teenager. "Hello, small. Are you a nation?"
"I-I'm Wisconsin! I'm a state, I'm friends with Alaska!" He exclaimed, grasping the back of Russia's coat. Russia cocked his head to the side.
"Alaska? You are like Alaska?"
Wisconsin nodded mutely, feeling oddly comfortable around the normally scary nation.
"And what are you all doing here?" He asked the formerly-pursuing-Wisconsin nations.
"Err…" Spain started uncertainly.
"Well…" Prussia continued.
"It's funny, really…" France laughed awkwardly.
"Ye see, the lad was causin' a bit o' trouble…" Scotland voiced with his prominent accent.
"And we were simply-" Wales started.
"-trying to punish him!" Northern Ireland blurt out. The other nations turned to him in horror and he turned redder than his hair with a small "whoops."
"Punish?" Russia said slowly. "You wished to punish the small?"
"N-no! Never, amigo!" Spain said hastily. The others input their own version of negating Russia's statement, but the cheerful nation ignored them.
"We will leave now, yes?" Russia asked Wisconsin. Ethan nodded gratefully and followed him, the countries behind him watching in helplessness as the state was lead away by the fearsome Russia. If it wasn't bad enough that America had lost a state, but now that Russia had him…
"I'm out!" Wales proclaimed, hands up in surrender as he left the group. "I am not taking any part in this!"
Northern Ireland agreed instantly and Scotland followed with a joke at the remaining nation's expenses. That left France, Prussia, and Spain. The bad touch trio were together once again, and they were at a loss of what to do.
"I need a beer." Prussia was the first to break the silence.
"Si." Spain agreed. "I will call Roma to see if he wants to come as well."
"Russia will keep the state occupied for awhile, non?" France said.
"Si." Spain replied absentminded, phone in hand.
"We'll just never tell America about this." Prussia stated firmly.
"Tell me what?"
The three let out very unmanly screams.
*knows nothing about guns and lives in a hunting state*
Also I couldn't help myself, I just needed that little bit with the Kirkland brothers and yes, there is more, yes Russia is clever, and yes, Belarus is scary.
Also Asia. (but I suck at writing Asian countries and with no internet to look up every personality quirk about like, Taiwan and uh... Macau?)
Aaaand I'm still debating on whether or not to add the Middle East and/or Oceania (sorry South America and Africa... I don't no squat about your characters)
To cut this long A/N short, I'm going to add that no, this is not just about Wisconsin meeting the other countries (even though it was initially- /shot/) because I remembered a particular event of our history. history nerds maaaay know :)
GilZeAwesomePrussia: One, you have a rad name lemme just say. Two, thanks for the info bro! As a resident (southern) Wisconsinite I know all to well about the Bears/Packers rivalry, but I don't hear a ton on the Vikings (we just insult them a lot haha) and yes, the cheese is perfect and I've heard a bit about the Spotted Cow thing so thanks for confirming it! :D (also for reviewing at all, you deserve the name Prussia /shot/)
ruckocoo: Ahhh thank you! Sorry the other states didn't make an appearance in this chapter, though there were honorable mentions! I'm glad to see you find my little bean adorable :D (also, if there is a particular state you want to make an appearance/be mentioned, just say and I'll see what I can do!)
oh my god this is long af sorry ^^;; til next time bros