I'm... not sure how I feel about this chapter. and I'm sorry it's shorter than usual T^T hopefully the next will be extra long
Oh and I don't own hetalia but that's obvious
"Russia, where are we going?" Ethan dared to ask.
"We are going to my house." He said happily, Russian accent prominent.
"We should make some piroshky for little Wisconsin!" The woman with short cropped hair said in the same upbeat tone as Russia.
"Da." Russia nodded his head in agreement while Wisconsin was left wondering what the heck piroshky was.
"My name is Ukraine, little Wisconsin," the woman with short cropped hair finally said, smiling at the state kindly. "And this is my sister Belarus." She gestured to the woman with long blonde hair with a bow in it. She had an icy stare and Ethan was rather intimidated by her.
"Hello, mini." Belarus said in a deadpan tone. Ethan stared at the three in disbelief. Sure he wasn't huge, but for all three to come up with different variations of the nickname small was ridiculous.
"H-hi Belarus, Ukraine…" He said politely. Belarus stayed silent but Ukraine bubbled out small talk that didn't require much effort from Wisconsin's end. He stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.
The four personifications reached the house and Russia opened the door for the three others, leading them to a comfortable looking living room.
"I will start the making of piroshky," He proclaimed.
"I will help." Ukraine said, following the large nation into another room that Ethan assumed was the kitchen.
That left Belarus and Wisconsin sitting awkwardly in the same room. Belarus was lounging on the couch while Wisconsin fidgeted uncomfortably on a cushiony chair. Belarus took a knife out of her pocket and started mindlessly flipping it around, seemingly unaware of the glinting sharp edge. Ethan felt the alcohol start to affect his judgement so he went on even higher alert, not wanting to insult the scary nation.
She didn't seem very bothered to interact with him at first, but when Russia called out a random question to Wisconsin she glanced at the state curiously. Her gaze seemed more like a glare, though she hadn't meant to seem intimidating. She leaned forward slightly on the couch without breaking eye contact.
"Mini. Why does big brother like you?" Wisconsin was so startled that he was speechless for a few seconds, during which her eyes narrowed dangerously, as she thought he was ignoring her.
"Do you not have an answer?"
"N-no, it's just… I don't know why he likes me?" Ethan said the statement as a question. She went silent, continuing to flip around the knife. Ethan shuddered unnoticably and wished Russia and Ukraine would hurry up with the… piroshky.
"What do I do to get big brother to like me?" she said suddenly, glaring at Wisconsin again. He jumped.
"U-um, you could… m-make him something?" He said questioningly. She narrowed her eyes in thought.
"AHH RUSSIA ARU HELP!" A loud voice screamed and a figure burst through the door and slammed it shut behind them. They were breathing heavily and were flat against the door, glancing everywhere frantically. Their deep brown eyes landed on the pair and he immediately recognized Wisconsin's awkward feelings.
He opened his mouth to question the state when a bang sounded from outside. The man widened his eyes and pressed harder against the door.
"China?" Russia voice sounded from the kitchen, confusion laced in his tone. "You rarely come here. What is the matter?" As if his words had summoned the russian, the large nation appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.
"It's South Korea, aru! He's terrorizing me and Japan!"
Russia nodded sagely and beckoned the traumatized country. China ignored his summoning gesture and paled when the door banged again. A dark look crossed the large scarved nation and Russia crossed the foyer in three large strides. He gently pushed China to the side and swept the door open, his trademark ice-cold expression of innocence plastered on his face.
Wisconsin peeked around the rather big figure of his friend's friend (well, he liked to consider the colder state a friend, though Richie more likely than not forgot about his existence…) to find two figures. One was obviously assaulting the other in strange ways, and the black-haired victim threw his assailant's arms off of him and scuttered around Russia into the same nation's house- it was the first time the country had desired to enter his neighbor's house and he hoped to not make it a habit.
The other country pouted and crossed his arms but did not dare cross the intimidating nation standing in front of him.
"You will leave now, da?" Russia asked innocently, cocking his head to the side. Wisconsin widened his eyes. God, Alaska needs to stop hanging out with this guy. He's picking up all of his habits.
"But, but, da-ze!" the country protested, peeking to try to find the raven-haired man he had formerly been chasing. "I'm bored!"
"That is not a problem for me, da?" Russia's eyes flashed a sharp purple color. Wisconsin shrank in on himself. Maybe I should have listened to America's warnings…
The man pouted again, wrinkling his nose and seemingly unaffected by the changes happening in the powerful nation's eyes in front of him. "No…" Then the man perked up. "Maybe Hong Kong will want to play, da-ze!"
The man mock saluted the large country before him before scuttering off, a happy grin on his face. Russia seemed to almost-shrug before closing the door and landing his eyes on the two new nations residing in his home. His face was back to the child-like innocence that was slightly unnerving. He started addressing China and the other nation but Wisconsin was distracted by the blade-happy female sitting beside him.
"Wisconsin. Do you love anyone?" she questioned, a curious, hard look in her eyes. Ethan considered her question for a minute, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Yeah, I would say so…" Ethan answered, his eyebrow twitching slightly in thought.
Belarus hummed to herself. "Who?"
Ethan startled. "Well, not that I would ever tell them, I guess I love Michigan and Ohio… and Minnesota and Illinois too, but I'll only say that once. Hmm, and Indiana is part of the great lakes, and I do love them too. And I love most of the states to some extent, I'm not on good terms with some but I do enjoy my sibling's company. And of course, I love America!"
Belarus took this in as she did most things: silently with a slightly threatening look on her face. Ethan blinked at her, suddenly not as scared. She reminded him vaguely of Montana, they suffered from RBF (chronically Resting B*tch Face) as well. He liked Montana, she was kind at heart… and her state was rather pretty, too.
"Er… do you love anyone?" he finally asked awkwardly after the silence started to get to him.
"I love big brother!" her face went completely possessive in a split second. "I will become one with him!"
Wisconsin jumped at her sudden change in character. Okay, maybe not like Montana after all.
She turned to the small state. "Do you think I will become one with Russia?" She had asked this question to many other countries before and had gotten various answers, but they were always categorizable into three sections: blubbering instantly a yes, or staying silent for a few seconds before smirking out a no before saying yes at knife-point, or screaming and bolting.
Wisconsin did none of these things and seemed to actually consider her question, something that struck a chord in her. "Hmm."
Ethan turned his gaze to Russia himself and saw him patting an awkward looking China on the back. He stared at the large nation's eyes and felt a breath of air leave him in sympathy. Belarus was pining after a taken nation - the fact that they were siblings did not faze him; technically all of the states were siblings, and that definitely did not stop inter-state, er, relationships (let's say there was a lot of drama down south- literally, Louisiana was the biggest gossip ever, and Mississippi didn't encourage them any).
"Erm, Belarus, watch him," Ethan decided to point out instead of flat-out saying "Gurl, it's a lost cause, give up."
Belarus glared in her brother's direction and Ethan sighed. "No, look. Don't just stare at him; watch his actions, his eyes, the way he moves."
She rolled her eyes but complied, examining his movements closer than before. Denial started flooding her brain that was caught with an undertone of her inner-voice (she thought she had rid herself of that bastard, but it was back).
Her eyes hardened and she turned to give Wisconsin a full-blown glare for pointing this out, but the state was staring at the interactions in front of him with a sad look in his eyes. She almost growled at being ignored (well, sortof) but was interrupted by Russia finishing terrorizing/talking to China.
"Wisconsin! I hear America is looking for you, da?"
"Er, I hope so…"
"Da, that is what I thought. America is not my friend. And I learn from China that America is looking for his little state, and I know how to hurt my not-friend. You understand?" Russia started approaching Wisconsin with a glint in his eye that the little state did not feel comfortable with.
"You say you are like Alaska. Alaska tells me he does not like America. But you like America."
Richie I swear to god I am going to murder you with mustard when this whole thing is over. All 5,676 kinds of it.
"Come, Wisconsin. I have a place for you~"
"No thanks, been there, done that, got the postcard, bye!" Ethan jolted upright and sprinted towards the door, but Russia veered into his path so he scrambled in the other direction through a hallway. His heart pounded in his ears and he jerked his head left and right, scouring for a place to hide.
"Wisconsin, this is my house, you cannot hide!"
Ethan swore in three different languages in his head and turned down another hallway. Up stairs, turn left, go straight, turn right… the hallways started running together in his head. The heavy footfalls started sounding closer and closer so Ethan did the only logical thing at the time: try all the doors until you find one unlocked.
It turned out that he only had to try two doors before he found a closet with dusty coats and dresses in it. Without a second thought he slipped in and shut the door behind him, coughing a bit on the unsettled dust. He tried to get to the back of the closet and tripped on a piece of cloth, causing him to attempt to steady himself only to fall heavily on his backside on the hard wood of the closet. Something jabbed into his flesh but he suddenly held his breath at the sound of footsteps.
They inexplicably paused outside his door.
Ethan shut his eyes tightly, whole body tensing.
They continued on.
He waited for what felt like ages before moving to remove that unknown thing that was making sitting so uncomfortable. He reached back and pulled out a box-like object from his back pocket. His eyes widened a considerable amount when he realized what it was: his phone.
Holy cheese curds and gravy how did I forget about this! He fumbled with the device for a few seconds and called the first person on his speed dial. Minnesota.
It rang once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five. Six. Seven-
"Hi you've reached Liam Jones, I'm not available right now so leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can." Ethan's heart sank at the unoriginal ringtone. He tried to keep an upbeat attitude, knowing there were many others he could call-
"Hey you've reached Michael Jones, I'm probably boating or skiing right now so I probably won't be available for a few hours. Leave a message after the beep, unless you're Ethan, Liam, Mitchell, or Dylan, because it's probably about something stupid."
Michigan, too? He pressed another button and waited with bated breath.
"Sorry, I'm not here right now." A voice in the background that sounded suspiciously like his own called out "You gotta say your name, idiot!" a groan, then "Sorry, Mitchell Jones isn't here right now. I'll call you back when I'm available, unless you're Dylan, Liam, Michael, or Ethan, 'cause then you can piss off." Laughter, then his voice again: "rude!" and the line went dead.
Illinois… could have gotten his phone stolen, right? That happened a lot in Chicago, right? Ethan tried to forget that Mitchell, Illinois, wasn't going to be anywhere near Chicago, since there was more to his state than just the city.
Ethan took a deep breath. There was still Ohio and Indiana- wait, scratch that, Michigan ran over Indiana's phone a few weeks back and she still hadn't gotten a replacement.
Ohio.
One ring… two… come on, Dylan… three… four…
"Hey, Dylan Jones here!"
"Oh thank god, you can't believe what I've gotten myself into, I really need some hel-"
"Bahaha ohhh Michael that was a good idea! Sorry, I'm not here right now, leave a message after the beep!"
There was some laughter and then a ringtone. It buzzed in Ethan's ear and he sat in defeat.
How could none of them be at their phone right now? Not one?
He groaned and leaned his phone against his face, pressing some buttons but not really caring. How was he going to get himself out of this mess?
His phone started the call tone and he snapped out of his reverie. Who else did he have on speed-dial? Who could he be-?
"Yo whattup 'sconsin, wonderin' when you'd crawl back."
Oh hell no. Not him.
"I did not mean to call you."
"Mmhmm, okay. But like, you called me somehow."
Ethan weighed his options. This was his last ditch effort at getting help. He had nobody else on his phone- it was brand new, since Michigan… well, he had run over Ethan's alongside Indiana's (Veronica) but Wisconsin had merely gotten another phone quicker than her.
"Okay. California, I really need some help once. I can't get ahold of anyone, and I'm stuck at… well, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, alright? I just need you to get ahold of pretty much anyone else and ask them to call me. Can you do that er no?"
"Yeah, well… I would, you know I would, haha, but like… I don't really want to right now, y'know?"
Ethan gritted his teeth. He could almost hear the fool examining his nails. And he was also feeling a lot more desperate at the sound of footsteps.
"Seriously Cali, forget all of our rivalries and just help me this once. I don't have anyone else to turn to, and-"
"Oh! Oh, I get it! Like, now it all makes sense!"
"What?"
"I'm joking, I never understand you crazy Midwesterns. God, y'all are weird. Also, if you want my help, you gotta give me somethin' in return."
"Like what?" Wisconsin felt an unhealthy amount of trepidation.
"Hmm… kinda want to go back to the good ol' days, y'know? Think you could do that?"
Ethan felt sick to his stomach. "No, I don't think I can."
"Yeah, but like, I don't want anything else… have all the things I need… except for that Dairy title, 'course, I'm gonna get that one day."
"Cali, please don't do this. I really need some help right now."
"You begging?"
"I-" Ethan pressed his teeth together and shut his eyes. "Yes. I'm begging you, please help me."
"Haha, you crack me up."
"So-"
"Nah, I don't feel like it. Call up one of your weird bros 'cause I ain't helpin' ya if you ain't helpin' me. See ya, punk."
"No no no no no no don't hang up!" Click.
A tear fell down his cheek and he scrunched up his face, wiping away at the salty water with his fingers. He had a phone with no available contacts. He had never felt so useless and unwanted. Where were his brothers? Why was he in a closet? Where had he gone wrong in his life?
A sudden spark of hope started in his chest. He knew America's number by memory, maybe he would answer. Yes! His older brother had to answer, he was looking for him! A small, relieved smile stretched across his face as he entered in the numbers and waited for his hero to pick up the phone-
"Yo it's Alfred F. Jones, the hero of the world! I'm off doing heroic deeds and such, so-"
The rest of the ringtone faded in his ears as Ethan dropped his phone and buried his head in his hands, more tears rolling down his face against his will. He hated crying when it was unwarranted, and he thought at that moment that he should not be crying. So what if you're alone? So what if you're stranded in a creepy man's house with no help? So what if nobody knows where you are? So what if nobody… cares…
A thought struck him and he curled deeper into the fetal position. America never did want to find him to find his family, did he? For him it was the idea of one of his states being taken, right under his nose, that really made him made. Good job, Mexico. Props to you. You succeeded in your task, and you didn't even have to babysit! Congrats. Have a gold star.
He sniffled and wiped at his nose.
When was the last time America- Alfred, went fishing with him? Hunting? Boating? Even out for coffee at Starbucks or out for lunch at Mickey-D's? When was the last time the country did anything with his states?
Illinois told him he missed going to games with the country. Michigan said he wished he could ski with him again. Minnesota said he wanted to go snowmobiling with him again. Ohio missed running, Indiana missed car racing. Montana liked to paint and she claimed Alfred gave her a piggyback ride to the top of one of her mountains so she could get a good view. Wyoming chilled with Alfred in some hot springs, some more safe than others.
What happened? Yes, fifty states were a lot to deal with, but just visiting them for a day, an hour, five minutes could change everything.
Ethan had hugged Alfred and Alfred had hugged him when they were reunited.
When was the last time he had done that?
heh rip Ethan M. Jones
sorta unedited, might fix later (y'all like the state's ringtones?) also rip Asia I suck at writing them
deadlydaisy8o8: Ahh thanks! And those were my thoughts exactly (hello from your next-door neighbor!) I would love Michigan advice, idk how to write Michael :') all I know is y'alls are pretty badass and I go skiing there sometimes XD. Your praise makes me so happy, I hope you liked the update ^^;;
Guest: Cheese curds are the golden gift from heaven. don't question the cheese curds. and yes, there are a lot of bars XD (and Germans tbh) I wouldn't like it any other way XD
Review? :D? (help I'm drowning in bad ideas for other states personalities)