Hello! Sorry for taking so long to post the second chapter but now it's finally here, woho! I've gotten many wishes about Prussia x Canada so it seems like it will win buy I'll keep it open for one or two chapters more, just because~
Also, I have a new Hetalia fanfic on the way and I'm going to let you readers decide the Canada pairing once again. I have a poll on my profile so please, vote! Whatever you choose I'll make it work, even if you happen to choose Germany for some reason xD Note that I've posted all the characters that will be in the story so I'm giving you complete power over the next pairing, I hope you enjoy it! And please, vote 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia nor the nations in this fanfic.
Chapter 2 - Lesson 2: Clothes!
One week before the meeting
"Oh for crying out loud Gilbert, have you been drinking all of my beer again!?" An angry German came stomping into the living room where the albino was poured out over the couch, one arm over the armrest and a leg over the back, the angle only being possible due to his long limbs.
The male turned his red gaze towards his brother, raising an eyebrow slightly before giving him a smile.
"Why would awesome me be drinking all your beer? It's not even that good." A comment that seemed to make Ludwig even angrier as he let out a small growl and put an empty bottle on the living room table, his hands soon squeezing his sides as he glared down at the slightly smaller male.
"Don't play innocent, you've been free loading for way too long already, eating, drinking, not moving from the couch. Gott, you haven't lifted one finger to help around here."
"What do you want me to do, you take care of the cleaning, cooking and the training already, mein bruder. I don't see why I should do any of it then."
A small vein appeared in the blonde's forehead, pulsing slightly before he huffed and one big hand grabbed the albino's shoulder before pulling him off of the couch.
"Listen now, your slacking days are over. I'm tired of your sponging and until you can show you can be the slightest responsible for yourself and others I won't do another thing for you, verstanden?" The red eyes met harsh blue ones and Gilbert frowned slightly since he thought his brother was being very unreasonable from out of nowhere.
"I can be as responsible as anyone else both for myself and others. Not that I have to be responsible for others but still." He huffed quietly and pulled away from the blonde, glaring at him slightly.
"No, I don't think you can. You haven't done anything to help me or anyone else what I've ever seen and I think it's time for you to learn a lessons. Do one unselfish thing for once in your life and I will let you keep on sponging as much as you want."
A silence followed the other's words, Gilbert staring at the blonde male once again with a frown as he imagined Ludwig run around, serving him all day out and in and a smirk took place on his pale lips.
"That's a deal then, I'll do something nice and you will let me do whatever I want even if it is drinking all your beer."
"You admit you did it!?" The German glared a bit again before taking a breath and straightening his back. "Very well, it is a deal. But don't think anything will get you off the hook. You have to actually help someone else, spend your oh so precious time and not spend it on yourself." Those words seemed to make Gilbert realize exactly what he had gotten himself into. His thoughts had been to help an old lady over a street or maybe give some money to a bum out on the pavement. It would have been a nice act but nothing too straining but apparently that was not enough.
"Fine, fine. At the next world meeting I'll make sure to find someone to help and I'll show you I don't only care for myself." He knew as well as Ludwig that that wasn't entirely true since he mostly cared for himself but this time he wouldn't. "Be it making that stroppy guy with the eyebrows give up his unhealthy obsession with tea or even make that Italian fight someone." The last comment Ludwig didn't know if he should laugh at or just huff. He had tried that for quite a while now and nothing he had done had worked on that cowardly Feliciano and he had by now given up, letting him be to do whatever he wanted.
"Show me the results when we go back and if I think you have succeeded you can do whatever you want here." The thought of having his brother mooching off him wasn't a pleasant one but he was confident enough that Gilbert would have forgotten about the deal or he would fail with helping someone since it wasn't his strongest attribute.
"Okay, okay, I'll show you. Until then though, I will stay here." He dropped himself back onto the couch and Ludwig just sighed quietly before he disappeared, looking forward to only take care of himself after this deal was done.
oOoOo
Matthew had barely been able to get out of the Prussian's room before he felt how a pair of eyes leered at him but who the owner was he couldn't see. He just felt the glare on his back but the second he turned around a wave of golden blonde hair disappeared around a corner and the young nation frowned slightly.
He soon decided to just hurry up back to his own room to get some things he needed for a day of shopping but the feeling of being watched never disappeared, not until he was inside his room and the door was closed, the Canadian pushing his back slightly against it in case someone would try to force their way in all of a sudden.
"Hm?" The small sound made Matthew look down at the polar bear in his arms and he smiled slightly against him before patting the soft head.
"Nothing, I was probably just..hallucination or something." He couldn't help but look back at the door slowly though, swallowing once before putting Kumajirou down on the bed.
Quickly he looked over the things in his room, putting what he needed in his pockets, that being wallet, cellphone and just in case, pills, seeing that a headache could be hard to avoid when going on such an adventure.
Soon he had relaxed enough to pick up his friend again and open the door, looking around just to make sure no golden waves were disappearing around any corners again before he walked down the hallway towards Gilbert's room.
oOoOo
"Come out, come out Mr French, I know you are there." Gilbert smirked slightly as he heard a small 'eep' from around the corner Matthew had passed not long ago and Francis soon glanced around it, glaring at the albino.
"I was just making sure mon petite was alright," the man answered with a small huff before he glanced around the corner again, Matthew not being out yet which meant the older male wouldn't have to hide for now. If the cute Canadian saw him he would figure out it was he who had stalked the boy and the last thing he wanted was for Matthew to be, god forbid, upset with him.
A door soon opened in the direction the young blonde had disappeared and it was in the matter of seconds the Frenchman disappeared around another corner, being out of sight when Matthew came up to Gilbert, smiling lightly against him.
"So, where are we going first?"
"Elevator," the male just answered with a nod, believing that he had answered the smaller male's question with the answer the blonde wanted but it was not what Matthew had hoped for.
"Ehm, okay," he murmured quietly, his blue eyes meeting Kumajirou's for a second before he followed the man and entered the small space with the hideous, monotonous music.
They were quiet during the trip down and even the short walk out of the hotel was during silence.
"Okay then, we won't find anything good in these cheap districts. On to the fancy ones." He pointed dramatically towards the end of the street, causing some people to stare at him, especially one old lady he had almost hit right in the face but he just grinned wide and started to stomp away, Matthew giving the woman an apologetic smile she didn't seem to notice before he hurried after the albino who had earned the attention of the whole street by now.
"You see Matt, if you don't go big you will never own it, like I do! I look good in whatever you put on me and that will never change cause I have the looks for it plus the confidence. Put me in a dress and I would look better than freaking Cinderella!" He kept on talking loudly as the Canadian walked after him, noticing how people started to whisper since the albino seemed to talk to himself.
"Yes Gilbert," he said, polite as always even though he had a bit of a hard time listening to him completely. He would never admit it but he was jealous, the albino getting attention to easily, not even trying and he himself could speak to people and they would think it was a ghost that had just whispered in their ear.
Soon the two of them arrived to the more expensive districts, the walls being tall and white and every store had a decorated entrance that made it look like they were about to enter an opera house or mansion rather than a store for clothes.
"Oooh, 'Life Changer'. Doesn't that sound like a store that's perfect for our purpose?" Gilbert looked up at the white sign with the golden, cursive letters, trying to peek through the display windows but nothing was put out in them except for colourful paintings of the landscape in Paris. If Francis saw this his ego would probably grow a bit too much seeing that he was proud of the beauty he called his capital city.
Without waiting for an answer from the smaller nation the albino grabbed Matthew's hand, pulling him into the store with a wide smirk, almost running right into a young woman working there.
The red head gave the both males a wondering glance before she gave them both a smile, not wanting to risk being rude even though she hadn't expected such a couple to walk into the store.
"Oh, hello," she said with a polite nod against the two of them, taking a step backwards so she wasn't as close. "How can I help such a lovely couple? Something special you are after, clothes, chairs, a bed maybe?"
The taller one of the males frowned slightly as he heard what the woman said, having no clue what she was talking about but Matthew, who had been looking around in the store was now pulling carefully in the black sleeve that belonged to Gilbert.
"It's not...our kind of store," he whispered, the voice barely reaching the red eyed male's ears but he soon looked around as well, seeing big pictures of babies, minimal clothes and colourful cribs.
"What the..? You really should make it much clearer what kind of store you have, shameful." Matthew blushed slightly when Gilbert complained and the woman just looked at them without understanding the situation.
"We'll take our leave now and we are not buying anything." Gil turned around and walked out of the store, the two others staring after him before Matthew's blue eyes turned to meet the brown ones of the woman.
"I'm sorry, we..didn't know it was a store for parents." He quickly nodded his head as a polite gesture before hurrying out since he couldn't stand the awkward silence that had followed when Gilbert had left. "Don't you think that was a bit unnecessary?"
"Tsh, they had nothing that even suggested it was a store for babies, that's not okay." He huffed, glaring at the pictures and now noticed the one thing that occurred on every painting in the store. Babies and parents, enjoying the nature in Paris. Of course he didn't say anything about it though since Matthew hadn't noticed and he just decided to walk away and let his ruby gaze shift between the different stores on the block.
After a little while he looked inside one of the buildings, seeing men's clothing and actual men being inside and his usual smirk found its place on his pale lips once again.
"Ah, now we're talking," he said and walked inside, barely holding the doors open long enough for Matthew to be able to walk inside, seeing that the blonde's arms were full of polar bear. "This my young student, this is what I call style." He said it all with a smug smile as he started to look through all of the clothes in the store, humming quietly for himself while doing so. At first he was looking for his own sizes, feeling that he deserved some more clothes, if put on his brother's debit card of course. He soon realized though he had a smaller male behind him and he looked back at him, his red eyes scanning over the thin body with a musing expression.
"Hm, yes, should be about right," he just said to himself, gaining a wondering frown from Matthew but he didn't care as he roamed around the store, leaving him be at the entrance.
Half an hour later he did come back to the bored Canadian, his arms full of clothes, all from pants and button-up dress shirts to shorts and T-shirts.
"This should do, let's go and get change." He nodded towards the changing rooms in the other end of the store, expecting that the other followed him as he walked over there and so Matthew did. Gilbert put all the clothes on a chair in one of the wooden bays, shoving the blonde inside before pulling the dark blue curtain to the left to cover Matthew so he wouldn't have to change in front of the whole store.
It took quite some time but soon the small blonde had tried on every single piece of clothing and he was exhausted to put it lightly. It had been over 50 pieces and the fact that Gilbert had managed to get all of those clothes inside the bay was incredible, especially since the store had a strict 'Seven pieces only'-rule.
"I'm done now," the boy said with a relieved sigh, having put Kumjirou down on another chair that was in there and the bear had gone to sleep by now, being incredibly bored. "I found...some pieces I guess..."
"Some pieces? You're going to buy at least 20 of those things plus, here," Gilbert reached another shirt inside, this one looking incredibly detailed and well-made. "I think many of them suited you, especially that green shirt."
"T-the green one? It didn't even have buttons at the bottom and showed off my stomach completely." He grabbed the white shirt that had been handed over by his so called couch and he looked down on it, trying to figure out how exactly you were suppose to unbutton and then button it.
"So? People love a bit of skin, you would have the whole meeting all over you in seconds." The comment made the blonde blush a bit and he shook his head slightly, not liking that idea. He just wanted people to notice him and listen to what he had to say, that was all he wished for.
Soon the Canadian took off the shirt he was already wearing, starting to fumble with the golden buttons on the one but it took him longer than he thought and he soon started to get a little frustrated with not succeeding with a task that should be simple enough for a child.
"What's taking you so long? It's just a shirt for crying out loud." The inpatient nation outside was stomping his foot in the ground as the smaller country tried to hurry up to button the, to say the least, complex shirt he had gotten. It was nice though with the slightly wide arms and the embroidery on the collar but it was not nice enough to look away from how annoying it was to get on properly.
"I'm trying, I'm trying! You didn't give me a T-shirt to put on after all." His voice was barely reaching out of the changing room, something that only annoyed Gilbert even more and before the blonde knew it the dark blue curtain was pulled to the side and the larger male stepped inside, closing it behind him.
"Just let me fix it," he said and took a step forward to corner the young nation and without hesitating he started to fumble with the buttons, his fingers stroking over the pale skin as well without the albino noticing it.
Matthew had been frozen from the shock of having the other male join him in the now suffocating small space and his cheeks soon flushed bright red as he put his arms up to protect his bare chest.
"N-no! I can do it myself, we can't both be in here! I-I'm still in my underwear!" He tried to escape to the side but a hand quickly grabbed him and pulled him back against the toned chest, the taller male now trying to keep the Canadian pushed against him as his arms went around the male, trying to button the shirt from behind the small male instead.
"Keep still! I'm doing this whether you like it or not!" He tightened his arms around Matthew, trying to concentrate since the buttons on this shitty shirt really were annoying and it didn't get better when someone suddenly knocked on the wooden panel beside the curtains that lead into the changing rooms.
"Gilbert, is that you?" The albino sighed and pulled the curtains away, not caring that his own hair and clothes had become a mess from the struggle and that he was holding a half naked Canadian in his arms.
Outside a shocked Arthur was standing, only receiving a death glare from the Prussian nation which made the older blonde flinch a bit.
"What do you want bushy brow? I'm busy if you haven't noticed that." He was still holding Matthew in a tight grip, refusing to let go even though he heard the silent pleading and felt his struggling.
"Well...wait, bushy brow? What the hell are you calling me!?" Arthur seemed to forget about the scene for a little while but he soon noticed the smaller blonde once again, realizing that something was quite off with the whole image. "W-what are you doing to poor Alfred!?"
"Alfred?" Gilbert repeated and looked down at the pouting country in his arms before he looked up at Arthur again. "It's Matthew and I'm helping him get dressed, something you interrupted you pervert. Now shoo." With that he pulled the curtains in front of them again, leaving a puzzled Englishman outside but Arthur soon decided to walk away and pretend that never happened, both because he was a bit ashamed of having mistaken Matthew for Alfred, again, and also that it felt like he had interrupted Gilbert in undressing Matt rather then helping him get dressed.
Silence fell over the both males now when Arthur had left, Matthew staring down onto the floor and Gilbert looking down on top of his head. The air around them seemed heavier than before and the albino was sure he could feel small trembles run through the boy's body.
"Hm, are you alright?" he asked, tipping his head a bit to the side as his red eyes met those blue ones in the bay's mirror. He noticed a sad glance being given him in return and the albino frowned slightly, not loosening his grip even though he had given up on the shirt by now.
"I'm fine, I'm used to it by now," Matthew said with a shake of his head before he smiled up against the other into the mirror. "But I think I'll skip this shirt, if I tried to wear it for a meeting I would have to get dressed the night before it started, if not even the week before it."
"Yeah, stupid shirt," Gil muttered and pulled it off Matthew, leaving the thin blonde in only his white boxers and the other tried to cover himself up a bit with his bare arms.
"C-could I get some privacy?" he murmured and looked a bit to the side, not wanting to look right at the other male and Gilbert huffed quietly, not understanding why Matthew was so shy about it.
"Okay, okay, I'll go but hurry up will you? The store will close soon and we need to pay for at least some of the clothes." He pulled the curtains away, not caring at all that he was showing Matthew's pale body for the whole store but he soon pulled the blue fabric in its place, waiting outside.
Matthew quickly put on the plain suit again, trying to choose 20 pieces of clothing he could wear without having someone force it onto him and when he was done he gave the other 30 pieces to one of the workers, the man giving him a despondent glance before he started to put everything back into its place.
The young blonde felt a bit bad about it but Gilbert's hand on his lower back made him forget about it as he was pushed towards the cash-register, having to pay for the things.
"After this we have to do something about your hair. Maybe not cut it, I like this length but we should definitely fix it a bit so it looks more controlled." He curled some of the blonde strands around a slender finger before letting him be, backing away a little.
Matthew had a bit of a problem with carrying both Kumajirou and all the clothes but he soon managed to put it all, except for his bear, on the counter, the cashier giving him a small glance before he started to put all the clothes into bags, the amount of money they wanted just growing and growing.
He soon felt a knot in his throat, trying to remember exactly how much money he actually could spend but before he was able to even take his wallet out of its safe place in his pocket Gilbert pushed his way past him, taking out a card and giving it to the cashier with a charming smile.
"This one's on me," he said, the male behind the counter nodding and pulling the card, letting the albino push the code and soon it was all paid, god would Ludwig be furious if he ever found out about this.
"But-" A glance from the albino made Matthew go quiet and he watched the other male take the bags with clothes and walk out of the store, the Canadian being right behind him. "Thank you. I'll make sure to repay you." He couldn't complain since what Gilbert had done was a really nice gesture but it felt wrong having someone pay everything for him as well so that comment was the best he could think of.
"Don't mention it," Gilbert just said as he walked along the street, enjoying the sun as he thought about the evening. "We are going to that party your brother has fixed tonight. I'm going to teach you how to socialize with people since that's something you are lacking."
Matthew couldn't argue with that, he had never been good at keeping a conversation alive, maybe if he was telling someone about his new recipe of pancakes or a good game of hockey but other than that he often kept quiet or just interjected something every now and then that might have something to do with the subject.
"That sounds..good. Alfred always forces me to go either way and to have a reason for it, maybe it will make it worth it." He smiled lightly as he nuzzled Kumajirou a bit, Gilbert not listening since he was busy smiling towards every attractive man or woman on the street. Some of them giggled, some of them got a protecting arm around them from their significant other but everyone did notice him and once again the jealousy came back but it felt different this time. He wasn't jealous of Gilbert but rather everyone the albino seemed to notice and he sighed quietly as he looked a bit to the side when he heard a girl giggle from the red glance she had gotten but the nation just shook his head and hurried up, telling himself it was still just lesson two and he needed some more time to become memorable.
"So, the party will take place in a couple of hours, I hear we are getting a whole bar for ourselves, a rather expensive one on top of that so it almost makes up for the crappy hotel he got us." Gilbert seemed to mostly think for himself as he stomped away towards the hotel's entrance, Matthew having to speed up with his slightly shorter legs to keep up with the other's long steps.
"Yes, Alfred does like partying and only the best is good enough. At least most often." He smiled lightly but once again it didn't seem like Gilbert heard him and another sigh escaped his pale lips as he nuzzled the white fur ball in his arms to relax.
"First, take a shower," came from in front of him all of a sudden and Matthew looked up at the albino that now was standing in the elevator, on his way to go without the Canadian that quickly threw himself inside before the door closed. "When you are done with that I'll make sure your hair looks good and then we'll choose some clothes for you. Guess your sneakers will have to do, they are nice enough for any outfit I'm sure."
The blonde nodded and glanced up at the Prussian, smiling lightly as he tried to think about what he wanted to wear. He usually just put on his suit so it was never any choices involved but all of a sudden he had to think about what would fit the evening and what he had to wear to it. It was clear already he would never stand being a girl, matching nails, make-up and handbags to everything, not to talk about high heels, he would die.
Soon they arrived to the floor they both stayed on and Gilbert marched over to the room where the blonde slept and Matt looked at him with wondering eyes before slowly following him.
"I appreciate the help with carrying everything," he said with a careful smile before taking up the keycard from the wallet and unlocking the door. He only got a nod as answer as the albino made his way inside the room and without a warning he sat down on the bed, throwing his toned body onto it like it was his own.
"Go take that shower now, I'll wait here." He waved a bit against the other like he was shooing him away and Matthew felt a bit awkward about having Gilbert stay out there when he was showering. Of course he didn't say against it, considering he had never been good with handling the word 'no', so he just let the other male lie there while he himself put down Kumajirou on the bed and walked inside the bathroom, locking the door around him.
oOoOo
Half an hour passed by, the Canadian enjoying the warmth more than he would have thought and as soon as he remembered the Prussian waiting for him he washed the fruity soap off his skin, stopping to take a deep inhale of the sweet fragrance before hurrying out and drying himself with a towel.
When he walked out Gilbert was half asleep, Kumajirou being a small ball right beside him but those red eyes soon landed on the half naked, pale male as he exited the bathroom.
"Finally," he murmured with a yawn, not being able to help that his gaze roamed up and down along the body before he sat up, stretching out his back. "You didn't even wash your hair, how could you take so god damn long?"
"I'm sorry, I do enjoy long showers," he excused himself before he looked around after a pair of clean boxers but it wasn't until he got them that he realized he was in front of Gilbert and not only Kumajirou this time.
It all felt pretty awkward, the small male not being too keen on changing right in front of the other but he soon turned his back towards him, trying to get them on his legs and beneath the towel, struggling quite a bit and Gilbert just had to lean back and enjoy the amusing show.
When he finally succeeded he turned back towards the older male, managing to smile as that had never happened but he only got a calm expression as an answer.
"Well..the hair, right?" Now he got a nod at least but Gilbert still kept quiet as he got up from the bed, lurking around the short boy as he tried to figure out how to fix his hair.
"I like your curls, they suit you," he said, musing a bit over what he would like to see in a man and it didn't take long until Matthew was pushed down to sit on the bed, Gilbert fixing and dealing with the not so cooperative hair and one or two curse words escaped him but soon it was all in place, all except for one part that just didn't want to lie down. He had tried everything and it still stood right out of his head like an antenna and he sighed, letting it be since he obviously had lost this fight.
"Done," he said, studying his master piece. The hair looked shinier and it was long, luscious curls in the ends of it, framing his face perfectly. "Now it's only the clothes left." A smirk spreading over his lips as he moved away to let the smaller male get over to the bags. "I'll let you choose and if I don't like it I'll force you to change and I will keep on going until I'm happy, understand?"
"Y-yes," Matt murmured quietly before he slowly walked over to the bags, almost like he was approaching a blood thirsty lion rather than three bags of clothes and as soon as he was there he started to look through them.
He tried on one shirt after the other, one pair of pants and then shots only to change back into a pair of long pants again. This went on for about 40 minutes before Gilbert smiled and nodded, finally liking the result.
"Not that you didn't look good in all but this is absolutely perfect, I promise you, it will be success. You can not look at yourself in any mirror though, I want your appearance to be a surprise for you as much as for everyone else."
The other smiled a bit sly, making Matthew worry about what exactly he had put on but he couldn't see properly when looking at himself so he didn't know much except for it being slightly open at the stomach but not enough to show anything more than a tease of skin.
"Your clothes look great Matt which means lesson two is finished! You will go to that party with me and rock it and you'll see that everyone will notice you." Gilbert smiled, very confident that he would win against his brother and he got up from the bed, moving in closer to pull the fragrance of the pale skin into his nose.
"A bit feminine maybe but it somehow suits you," he murmured with a small smile before he thought about what would be best for the coming lesson. He didn't have too long after all so he needed to be quick and efficient.
"Eh..thank you?" Matthew didn't know what to answer, how could fruity be feminine? Everyone ate fruits, didn't they? He sighed quietly before walking over to Kumajirou, lifting him up in his arms with a little smile before he turned back to Gilbert who still had his forehead in a musing frown but he soon lit up and gave the young nation his confident smirk.
"Okay, we're done with the easiest lessons, the first one being obvious and the second one not being hard since it's only clothes. Third lesson will be, jokes and conversations! You need to be able to pull off a killer joke if you want to soften up a crowd, not to talk about that you need to have a conversation and talk so people hear you. This one will be more of a challenge I think but I will be close all the time and tell you who to talk to and who to not talk to." He nodded with a smile before collecting all of Matthew's things and putting his hand on the arch of his back like in the store, pushing him towards the door.
"And now, I have to get change but that will be quick because as I said, I look good in everything." He smiled against the other with a shrug, shoving Matt out of the door before closing it, making the boy stay where he was as the albino went to his room to change. Everyone was probably already heading towards the party since it would take some time to get there and that was good, Gilbert wanted them to be last since then they could make a big entrance that everyone would see and remember.
Chapter 2 everyone! Hope you enjoyed it and please, review it as much as you can, I love hearing opinions to improve or just to know I'm actually doing something right!
One thing though, if you are going to comment about spelling errors or grammar mistakes, please tell me where they are instead of just telling me they are there, it really helps me a lot, thank you! 3
Also, will once again apologize to everyone out there talking French and this time also German. I'm doing my best with lexicon and asking native speakers but it's not always the easiest, sadly. Wish I could talk every language, how easy it would be...
Dictionary:
Gott - God
Mein bruder - My brother
Verstanden? - Understood?
Mon petit - My boy/girl