The journey back to Iceland's house went quickly. Iceland arranged for the train ride to be in the morning for two reasons: first, because the fare was cheaper, and second, because he didn't want to talk to Hong Kong. His feelings towards the younger nation were boiling over. Blame it on the volcanoes; he had a tendency to let his emotions run high when he was bothered. He reasoned that his vexation would die down when they arrived home. He'd become a babysitter almost overnight! How annoying… It wasn't like he had duties as a nation or anything. And now he has to look out for a kid? What was he, a teen mom?
Letting out a tskof irritation, he rolled over on his uncomfortable train seat and tried to fall sleep, snuggling under a blanket.
~HKHK~
The events of the past day rushed through Hong Kong's mind, leaving him unable to sleep. He kept trying to close his eyes, but then he remembered that the white-haired boy, Iceland, was sitting right next to him. Then he got a warm feeling in his stomach and couldn't help but smile. The friend from his dream really had found him. He'd taken him away from stupid England and they were gonna live together. How great was that?
So Hong Kong sat, legs up to his chest, hands over his mouth to cover his excited smile. He'd heard of a European drink that made people wake up. England had mentioned it once or twice in their brief conversations, and now Hong Kong felt like he'd had several cups of 'coffee.' He kept getting jitters of excitement that left him goose bumpy and twitchy.
After an hour of trying to return to sleep, he gave up and stared out the window. He'd claimed the window seat, and he peered through the thick glass window. Riding at night really was great… The cities were spattered with pinpricks of light, though the dark of the country seeped into the cities and muted the brightness. The train was moving too fast to make out individual buildings, and they rushed past with uncanny speed. The darkness of the ground was illuminated by the stellar clouds above; the moon hovered diligently in the sky, a mother above her children.
Hong Kong leaned his face against the window and stared at the view. His breath left puffs of white against the clear surface. The cold of the window felt sturdy and reassuring, and soon his breathing evened out and his eyes closed. He was lulled into a deep slumber even as dark clouds spread across the sky and obscured the clouds.
He dreamed of snow and violets.
~HKHK~
Iceland woke up to the feeling, or lack thereof, in his arm. In his sleep-blurred state, he thought he'd fallen over and was leaning on his side. But as his thought process cleared, he realized he wasn't leaning on his arm; somebody was leaning on him. Somebody big. Iceland resisted the instinct to cry out in alarm.
"Oh sh—" Hong Kong's head lolled on his shoulder, still soundly asleep. Somehow Hong Kong had managed to snuggle under the blanket with him. Iceland gave thanks silently, because judging from what he could see, Hong Kong's apparel had been reduced to scraps. He'd grown again. What a thing to wake up to, he thought mutely.
"Hey," he whispered, and shook Hong Kong's shoulder. "Wake up!" Hong Kong scrunched up his eyes and mumbled, his eyebrows wrinkling. Were his eyebrows always that large? The rough fabric of the blanket rubbed against Hong Kong's face and his eyes opened.
He look at Iceland lucidly for a minute. Iceland, assuming the other had woken up, leaned forward and started rummaging through his briefcase. Clothes, clothes, where had he packed the clothes? Hong Kong looked a little bit taller than him, but other than that, they had pretty much identical body structures. Hopefully Iceland's clothes would fit. If not, he'd have to tow a buck naked stowaway across Europe until they could get him some good-fitting apparel. He hoped to avoid that.
He jerked upward when Hong Kong's head pressed a pressure point in his back. Soft snores emanated from his backside. Iceland looked back over his shoulder and saw with aggravation that Hong Kong had returned back to sleep.
"Ugh, wake up," he said, punctuating the "up" with a shove to Hong Kong's shoulder. He flopped over to the other side, face shoved up against the window instead of Iceland's back. "Hong Kong!" Iceland hissed.
Hong Kong blinked his eyes open again. He looked disoriented.
"Iceland?"
"Yes. Now wake up, for God's sake."
"Where are we?"
"Train. Come on, you've gotta change before somebody sees you." Iceland had made sure beforehand that the car they were in was empty by picking the lowest quality he could find. Their car was pretty dingy, with stiff leather for seats and wooden floorboards that creaked and moaned as the train moved. They even seems to split at the edges and threaten the passengers with splinters. There was little to no decoration on the walls, and what décor there was had eroded away from exposure and time. Still, he didn't want to take any chances; someone could come walking through at any minute.
After a moment of rummaging around, he pulled out a clean white shirt and some slacks.
"Think this'll fit you?" He asked, not expecting an answer. Hong Kong was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and still looked pretty out of it. Iceland handed him the clothes and watched as he struggled into it.
"Oh… I guess you'll need this, too." Iceland turned a little red as he remembered that he forget to get Hong Kong underwear. He pulled out the garment and looked at the ceiling as Hong Kong took it and shuffled under the blanket.
"So I guess I, like, grew again," Hong Kong noted. Iceland couldn't hear any emotion in his voice, but he thought that he sensed a note of gloom. Hong Kong pulled on the pants and looked at Iceland expectantly.
"… Uh, what?"
Hong Kong looked at him emotionlessly. He gestured to his open shirt.
"No, seriously, what?" Hong Kong's gesturing had only served to show Iceland his chest muscles. Which embarrassed him greatly, judging by how hot he felt.
"Can you, like, do my buttons?" Hong Kong asked. Iceland's prior embarrassment gave way to confusion.
"You don't know how to button a shirt?" He wasn't sure whether he should laugh or be annoyed.
"… China-baba didn't use buttons," Hong Kong said slowly. "England… buttoned my shirt before." It sounded like he had a hard time getting the words out. Hong Kong's gaze shuffled to the side, as if he was embarrassed.
A pang of pity went through Iceland.
When all was said and done, Hong Kong really was still just a child. Some poor kid who got cursed by accident and was dragged into this mess. Who wouldn't be gloomy, stuck in a situation like this? Poor kid. Maybe he was being too hard on Hong Kong… He felt guilty about the way he had acted yesterday.
Biting his lip, Iceland leaned over and buttoned Hong Kong's shirt. Hong Kong watched him silently, then turned his gaze to the window. It only took a minute, and then Hong Kong was properly clothed.
That's better. And I'm not going to bother with a tie, Iceland thought.
"Thank you," Hong Kong said, fingering the buttons.
"No problem," Iceland replied. He folded up the blanket and returned it to his brown briefcase; it fit easily in the space that Hong Kong's clothes had taken up.
Suddenly, they felt the motion of the train reduce in speed. The metal railroad underneath screeched, and then the train braked to a stop.
The scenery outside had changed from countryside to a bustling urban town. It was later in the day, and the sun beat down on the buildings and caused short shadows to appear. Not many people were out and about. The few that were carried bags of groceries and necessities; everyone was dressed simply and practically, with very few lavish accessories, if any.
"We'll get breakfast. And then… see how it goes," Iceland said. Hong Kong nodded in agreement and followed Iceland out of the rickety train car.
~HKHK~
"So… this is, like, your house?" Hong Kong looked at the apartment appraisingly. This was huge! The building sprawled over the city space like a ginormous monster. It wasn't as high as some of the buildings Hong Kong had seen in England, but it was still tall enough to impress Hong Kong. Rows and rows of doors lined the side of the building, each one labelled with a white number.
"Yeah," Iceland trailed off awkwardly. "Kind of. I rent a space." Hong Kong followed Iceland as he made his way up a black metal staircase. The stairs were slightly dusty, and they passed an older man sitting on the staircase playing a hand held consul of some kind.
Iceland finally stopped at the door labelled "33." He pulled his wallet out and retrieved a small grey key from inside. Hong Kong watched with interest as he inserted the thing and turned the door knob. The door opened with a loud creak. Hong Kong saw slight hesitation in Iceland's motions as the white-haired boy walked into the room.
"Uh… yeah. Violá," Iceland said stiffly.
The room didn't look bad. Mostly it was just sparse, Hong Kong noted. A brown carpet covered the floor in the living room, and a fake leather couch perched in the corner of the room. There was one plain wooden end table which resided in the center of the room. There were a couple newspapers on the table, unopened. A small kitchen was attached to the left side of the room, complete with a sink, microwave, dishwasher and several cupboards. It all looked relatively clean; no dishes were in the sink and nothing looked broken.
"My bedroom's behind the white door. The bathroom's over there." Iceland pointed to a door that was adjacent to the kitchen.
An awkward silence gradually permeated the room. Hong Kong wasn't bothered, but he could see Iceland fidget with nervousness. A few moments passed. Hong Kong took a seat on the leather couch. Gee, if Iceland kept holding that face, he would be stuck with an embarrassed expression for the rest of his life.
Iceland shifted awkwardly.
"Well, it's kind of late, so I think I'm gonna go to bed—"
"Kiss me first?"
A/N: What is life. I feel like I'm making no progress with this whatsoever… although it is very fun indeed to write fluffy Hongice. In this chapter, Icey melts a little bit and is kind of sort of nice? Haha
I was thinking of trying to update every week, but if I do that, the chapters might not be as long… what do you guys think? Should I aim for time or length?
Will Iceland kiss HK? Will there be angst-y teenager feelings? How will Iceland deal with HK's sass? Will I ever figure out how to write a proper chapter? Find out next time!
