A/N: Flurb. Written right after chapter 2 due to boredom, since as of start internet's still down.
Warning: There's PruCan fluff in here. And the poem makes no sense at all. No, not even to me, but I am a terrible writer. Sorry.
Rated T for language and shounen ai.
Pairings: Uh… nothing for now, it's pretty much anyone x everyone as of now. For now. *coughs* Because there will be eventual pairings. PruCan has been decided on.
Summary: All the nations decide to come crash at that nation's whose name no one would remember—what was his name, Canadia?—home because America had suggested it and had hijacked the joint. What can go wrong in a night of fun? …if it turns into a week.
Chapter 3: Scavenger Hunt
France was busy nursing himself in a corner, as England had released all of his anger on him and was in a considerably good mood.
Japan had already gone over the next game with Hungary, and the female nation was giddy with excitement. Austria had secretly slinked away, afraid of what his former wife was up to. As of now he was squabbling with Switzerland over the bad economy, while Liechtenstein was sitting uncomfortably between them.
On that note, England noticed that Sealand seemed unharmed… just rather traumatized and shaking in a corner like Raivis did. He also did not want to think about where the missing owner of the house went, since apparently Prussia was not in sight either. Scanning the room where the nations were lounging and dreading the next game they got pulled into, he noticed that Romano was nowhere either, and that Spain was rather depressed in the corner opposite of Francis.
However, America popped out of nowhere and ruined his happiness after he had just almost murdered France. Scowling, he snapped, "And what business do you have, sir?"
His sarcasm was returned with a "Nothing, mom. Where's my bro?"
Seething at the mom remark, the Brit spat, "I don't know, love, I think he was having a nice conversation with Mr. Beilschmidt."
The American cocked an eyebrow and said, "But Germany's still in the closet. He didn't come out yet, and I don't think Mattie went in either." Looking at the annoyed expression on the other's face, he realized what the other meant. "Oh. Oh. Prussia, right?" His lips formed a tight line and he stormed off to look for them.
England muttered, "What got his panties in a twist?"
Hungary had threatened everyone with her frying pan, and Japan was reading off his scroll again. America was back, but apparently he didn't find the other two nor Romano since there wasn't hide nor hair of the missing trio there.
"Nations, this next round is a scavenger hunt. There is a list of objects to be found here." Japan pulled out yet another scroll that he did not unroll yet. "However, there is one catch." A murmur went throughout the crowds, but it was ignored. "You do not take the item: you must take one of these disposable cameras and take a picture of it." Hungary patted a container beside her, presumably full of cameras.
She then spoke up and let Japan take a rest. "Hm, these are not ordinary things you are looking for. Anyway, let's start! The prize for this round is…" she paused for dramatic effect while all the other nations fidgeted in their seats. "—you get to keep all the pictures you take, since some of these are actually great blackma—I mean, souvenirs. The second part is you get to order the people who got the least pictures taken to do one thing, with certain restrictions that I do not feel like naming right now. We'll figure it out later. Oh, and no one, except… select people, are allowed to sit out of this game!"
She flashed a very bright smile while tightening her grip on her frying pan. "Hm, I guess me, Japan, Germany, South Italy, Prussia, Austria, and Canada don't have to." There were shouts of disapproval but they were ignored. Austria sighed in relief and straightened his collar.
Japan then added something. "You may work together in groups or alone, whichever suits your tastes, but the prize should be decided amongst yourselves about how to split it. Also, no stealing cameras or taking pictures of other people's pictures but you are allowed to follow someone secretly. If whatever you take a picture of is not one of the intended objects, you will be rejected. You have to find all six items and bring your camera to Hungary-san, Austria-san, and I. Well then everyone ready?"
All of them scrambled to get a camera from the bin, and Hungary distributed a small scroll to all of them. "This has what you're looking for, have fun!" She winked and then whispered to Japan something inaudibly.
Austria stared at the list of answers Hungary had given him. He knew it; he wouldn't have been allowed to sit out without a catch. At least he didn't have a risk of losing.
America frowned. There were only a few items on this list written in rhymes but none of them made sense.
The winter plant that never grows
Page sixty-eight of daily prose
A happy moment captured still
Where inside it's a definite chill
Dressed up anger out for blood
Careful work mingled with mud
Confused, he really needed help, so he walked over to where England was scrunching his eyes at his paper. "Hey Iggy, do you get this stuff?"
The older nation frowned and he looked up. "Of course not America, or else I would have gotten started already." No one else seemed to understand the poem either from what the two could see.
America offered, "Let's work together, c'mon, please?"
England snorted back, but accepted. "You should do your own work, America, but I guess sparing an idiot might lighten my conscience."
The American pouted and replied, "Hey! You don't know it either!"
He dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Let's get started already. What's this, the first one is a winter plant that never grows? Sounds like some kind of stunted plant."
While the two English-speaking nations were arguing over what the words meant, Estonia and Lithuania were looking over at them and actually contemplating what they spat out.
"Hm, stunted? That sounds right. But winter plant?" the Estonian said.
"Uh, maybe the plant's plastic? That doesn't really grow," Lithuania offered.
The other thought for a bit and said, "Maybe. It could work. I don't really get the winter plant part. Is it a pine tree? This guy only has maple trees here though it's pretty cold. So it's a plastic maple tree?"
The brunet chuckled at the thought. "Pine trees are used for Christmas! And Christmas is winter. So what other plants are used during Christmas?"
Estonia frowned. "Holly. Mistletoe?"
Lithuania suddenly got up and widened his eyes. "Let's look around for them!" The other nations were too occupied with themselves to notice the two nations slip out and look around the house.
They did not find any mistletoe. However, they were elated upon coming across a pot of poinsettias. After trying to tear off a leaf, Estonia concluded it really was plastic and fake. Giddy that they had found one answer, they set to work on the next one.
By now England and America had given up on trying to figure them out. "Bloody hell, what is this nonsense? I swear Japan's more crafty than he looks!" the Englishman swore.
America just walked away. Before he could get any further, England had stopped him. "Where the bloody hell are you going, lad?"
His former charge said nonchalantly, "For food."
The older nation widened his eyes in realization. "The fridge!" He rushed out, not caring if the other nations noticed them making a spectacle. America followed him, as well as a few other freeloading nations. Excited, he pointed to the refrigerator. "It's simple! Right under our noses. Where it's cold inside is a fridge!"
America blinked and stood there. Sighing, the Englishman took out his camera and snapped a picture. "Bloody hell, wake up America." He then slapped the larger nation on his back, eliciting an "ouch!" At least they had found one.
Estonia flipped through what they had. A "happy moment captured still" was simply a photograph. Where they were happy. All he had to do was find a picture of someone smiling, and took a picture of it, not caring who was on it. It was actually easy, there weren't many pictures in the Canadian's house.
Lithuania smiled a bit. "We have three already, since America and England were a bit loud when they found out the fridge one."
"Hm. This daily prose thing I don't really get. Are we supposed to flip through every book in the house for it? And how do we know what's daily?"
Shrugging, the Lithuanian moved to go up the stairs. Wordlessly the Estonian followed.
They had arrived in what seemed to be Canada's bedroom. There was a bookcase sitting in a corner, and both of them set to work looking through the covers to see if anything hit them. "Daily prose, I really don't get this," Estonia mumbled.
"Mr. America's brother is neat at least. Mr. America himself is very messy, even the old stuff he kept from England." Lithuania spoke up. He suddenly got an idea. "I don't think the book would be in this room. Mr. America keeps all of his important things in a separate room."
Estonia frowned. "Well, we could try. But I don't see where else we would go."
"To the attic?"
They made their way to the attic. Estonia knew where it was from last round's game, he had considered hiding in there but he decided to go for hiding in a book cupboard earlier. He stopped in his tracks. "Wait, a book cupboard?"
Lithuania looked at him questioningly. He rushed off back towards Canada's room. Confused, the brunet followed his friend towards their original search spot. He stopped and stared at a cupboard right before they reached to room.
Inside they found more books, and most of them were dusty and haven't been touched in some time. "More books? I don't see how this would help. I think we just got more books to search through," Lithuania offered.
Estonia gave a small smile and pulled out one book. It was rather worn out, and on the cover written in Sharpie was "Diary."
His friend grinned and said, "You would write in a diary daily! At least whoever owns it did until it got full." It was true, the pages were filled completely to the edge up until the very last page.
The Estonian flipped through the pages until he reached 68. They both took a picture. However, Estonia was feeling a bit devious at the moment. "I say we hide the book away for good measure. No one else can find it until we're done! We'll put it back later."
Lithuania felt it wasn't very nice, but relented since it was only a game… right?
From the shadows Japan almost choked and fell out of his hiding place. Hungary caught him and furiously pat his back. "Well, it wasn't against the rules to hide something. Oh well, it's alright, they're nice people so nothing bad will happen!"
Still having a bit of a bad conscience, Japan uneasily came out and both started to follow the pair that had the most progress so far.
They were both treading silently until they heard a noise. Confused, Estonia turned to his partner and asked, "Was that me?"
Lithuania shook his head and had a frightened expression on his face. "What was that?"
Japan and Hungary stuck closer to the shadows in case they noticed them. However, this time the noise came again and was louder. Lithuania jumped and suddenly bumped against a light switch. To his surprise, a door they did not notice suddenly had light coming out from under it. Estonia walked over and put his ear to the door. There was more noises from inside, and he carefully turned the knob. Inside the room there was another door and nothing else. After going through that door, they ended up in another empty room with one door. Confused as to why there could be so many doors, they continued through the last one, the noises now getting louder and louder.
"FUCK THAT POTATO BASTARD! LET ME GO! FUCKING RUNS IN THE FAMILY!"
Lithuania's jaw dropped at the sight of the missing Italian screaming while being held down by two people. The other missing couple. Canada was holding onto the yelling nation's arm for dear life, and Prussia was cackling at Romano's cursing. The real shock was that South Italy was dressed in a maid costume.
Estonia quickly dragged his awestruck friend out and slammed the door. "That was a sight."
"… I saw Mr. America's brother. Is that where they went?"
The other nodded. Suddenly he looked down at his paper and a thought struck him. "He was dressed up, right? Dressed up in that… costume?"
Lithuania nodded, not getting the connection until Estonia pointed towards #5. Widening his eyes, they had a silent conversation with their eyes before they both took out their cameras and chanced the door again. Quickly snapping a shot and ignoring the Italian's pleas (curses) for help, they ran holding their breaths out through the continuous sets of door before the finally dared to breathe again.
"That's five."
"Yep," Lithuania smiled.
Japan scribbled in his notebook, "Lithuania-san isn't as caring as I thought he was… but still pretty nice." Hungary stifled a laugh. Austria was probably bored to death since no one would be finding anything nearly as fast as this unexpected pair.
The last one stumped them. Hard work and mud did not usually go anywhere together unless it was construction work. Deciding to try something, Lithuania scoured Canada's room again, and on his desk found a few papers stained with coffee or something like that. It was apparently government paperwork, and he gave a silent prayer to America's brother that he wouldn't get in trouble for spilling his drink on his work.
They weren't sure about the last one, but it was worth a short. Downstairs, they had found the living room cleared of people as the nations had gone off to search for answers already. Hungary was tapping her feet impatiently and suspiciously out of breath, and Austria was busy reading something, apparently sheet music. Estonia wasn't sure, but he swore he saw her look a bit disappointed before she flipped through their pictures.
"The last one's wrong," she pointed out before smiling a bit and waving them off. They were stumped, and sat on the staircase. Suddenly when Estonia was double checking, a small slip of paper fell out of his camera. Widening his eyes at the Hungarian's sly move, he skimmed over the paper with his partner reading over his shoulder.
Hi! You guys were working hard. We didn't think you two might win, but since you guys seem decent I'll give you one hint and no more: England seemed pretty disappointed earlier.
Lithuania thought out loud, "Mr. England? I hope he wasn't mad that I went out to buy presents with Finland…"
Estonia shook his head. "I don't think it was that. We have to think. What happened earlier?"
"The first round? All I know is that Mr. Russia hit me with his pipe, and I kinda forgot…"
His partner frowned, since he had suffered a similar fate. "After that… do you remember seeing England anywhere?"
He offered, "Well, he popped back in the kitchen when Mr. China and Ms. Hungary were fighting."
Estonia racked his head. Think! You have to think! What did England do after he went in?
Lithuania continued, not noticing his companion's stress, "And he made his scones, so they both got scared and left the game."
His friend rushed out of the room and so the brunet hurriedly followed, not knowing what had struck him.
The Estonian was looking warily at the cabinet where the trash can was in, as if contemplating whether or not to open in. Lithuania asked in comprehension, "It's Mr. England's scones, right? He worked hard though it wasn't really good and was thrown away."
It was received with a nod. Bravely, the Lithuanian covered his nose and pulled the door open. There was a terrible smell, but Estonia quickly took a picture and they ran for it. Panting, they ran up to Hungary who was looking a little too excited.
Flipping through their pictures, she nodded and exclaimed, "Yes! You two found them all!"
They shared a high-five when suddenly Japan appeared from a corner, scribbling in a notebook. "I've collected the data so far. And from my notes, it seems that Russia-san and Belarus-san were the only ones who did not find any pictures so far because of… violence going on between both parties." He extended a hand out and smiled. "Congratulations, Estonia-san and Lithuania-san."
They cheered, and both were happy when they were able to tell Russia to not bother them for a day… and Lithuania tried to ask Belarus out on a date but his fingers got broken. Again.
Meanwhile, Estonia was wide-eyed while taking a more careful look at the pictures he'd taken and uploaded onto his laptop.
Picture 2:
December 13, 20xx
Gilbert got me plastic poinsettias this day! Well, he said that he tried to get real ones but he accidentally forgot to water them on the way here and they died. It's a wonder how he even takes care of Gilbird. Though maybe it's a good thing, since if he got real ones then Kumakichi might have eaten them…
December 14, 20xx
It's the 15th day of his advent calendar gifting, and this one is really nice! Though I don't really need it, it's the thought that counts. It's a new picture frame, one with yellow chicks all around the edge. Maybe I could take a picture with him sometime and put it in there to celebrate.
December 15, 20xx
I think I'm starting to act like a hormonal teenage girl… he actually took a picture with me! I'm making sure to put the picture on my case. I think I'm starting to
The page cut off then, and Estonia was curious yet appalled at what might have come next. He was thanking his luck that he had already put the diary back where it belonged and wouldn't have the temptation to read on.
Checking the picture of the picture, he saw it was the exact same frame described in the diary, and there was a picture of the albino nation grinning while almost choking the blond. When he checked the picture of the refrigerator, there were… little yellow chick magnets everywhere on it.
He was thankful the last two pictures were random things that Hungary's odd mind managed to cook up, since he felt he was treading into forbidden territory by looking through these. Estonia was starting to doubt her sanity already.
Oh well. He turned from his computer screen and decided to throw away both the cameras, since Lithuania did not want his. It would be best if no one else saw those.
Estonia did not realize that Hungary was giggling somewhere nearby and flipping through the very diary he thought he put back.
A/N: There goes my really bad take at this. xD Oh well, I really just wanted to do this though the poem was crap. I needed people who weren't batshit insane or evil to win, and they had to be low-profile for them to sneak around a bit.
Yes, Hungary had coerced Prussia and Canada into helping her dress up and kidnap Romano.
Yes, she thought England trying to cook was cute despite the outcome.
Yes, she does have copies of the pictures mentioned and had been reading Canada's diary. XD
I don't know how they got a picture of the inside of a trashcan but meh.
Anyway, see you next time, so review and bring more randomness!