Chapter 3
The car ride couldn't have been more awkward if France was in the car. Okay, maybe that was an over-statement. "Your jeans are ripped," England commented, trying to find something to talk about.
"New fashion style," America responded. Actually, they hadn't had been nearly as ripped when he got them, but it was probably better to tell England that instead of the truth. No need to cry over spilled milk, right? As he played with one of the lose treads in his lap, he silently debated whether he should attempt to fix the jeans, or try and wear them as little as possible until it got warmer.
"I didn't think you were interested in that kind of stuff," England replied. He knew that the jeans weren't ripped on purpose. In fact, they looked like they had been ripped after falling down on gravely surfaces many times. The question was, why? It was a mystery, and the European nation was eager to solve it. But first he had to trick his suspect into admitting some of what happened.
"I'm into a lot of stuff you don't know about," America whispered, abandoning the thread and instead looking out the window at the familiar landscape sweeping by. Unfortunately for him, England caught his whisper.
"Oh? Like what? Besides those disgusting hamburgers of yours and coming up with bloody insane ideas that have never, and will never, work, I don't believe I know any of your other interests," England stated harshly.
"It's none of your business. Anyway, we're here," America commented, still staring out the window. England's original goal was to get America angry enough to just blurt it out, but so far it wasn't working. In fact, America was keeping an unusually level head. It was depressing, to be honest, and it caused England to wonder if there was something about wrong with America that the younger nation was hiding. England managed to find a parking spot, and watched his former charge as he got out of the car. America got out of the car and stretched; grateful he had avoided getting into any awkward discussions with his former guardian. What he didn't know was that the guardian in particular was watching him closely and picked up something weird about him.
"You lost weight," England commented, "too much weight." America forced a laugh at this statement; he had forgotten to put a pillow underneath his shirt, and now he was paying the price.
"So first I'm too fat, and now I'm too thin? Honestly Iggy, I think your old age is starting to affect your eyesight. I'm fine," America joked good-naturedly. He made sure to roll his eyes as he emphasized 'fine'. England didn't have to know that he wasn't really fine, that it was just another lie. For the second time that day, America walked away from England, leaving the older of the two nations to catch up once again. Of course, once they stepped foot in the building, they had to refer to each other as Alfred and Arthur. Arthur walked into the warm building and tried to decide to figure out where Alfred was. He expected Alfred to be checking out some children's books, but there wasn't even a trace of him there. Arthur decided that instead of wasting his time looking for the bloody idiot, he should work on his report. Much to his surprise, when he found the reference, who should be sitting there, leaning against the bookcase, skimming through a book with a few others around him, than Alfred. Arthur thought for a moment in debate, before taking a seat next to him.
"You're actually doing research before the meeting? Who are you and where's the real Alfred?" Arthur taunted him. When Alfred didn't immediately respond, Arthur thought he had the wrong person, but a glance at the paper he was writing on while reading proved otherwise. It was titled Global Warming and underneath it, was Alfred's name. Arthur sighed and, deciding he wasn't going to get a good response, he picked up a book for his report. Arthur still had a lot of questions, but let it go, for now.
Oooh, Alfred's in trouble. Arthur's started to figure things out! About the whole general reference to England's report topic, if you can give an idea for what it could be, I'll use it. Again Arthur=England, Alfred=America (so many A's in that sentance) Happy Memorial Weekend!
EDIT: I deleted the copy. Sorry about that. (grins sheepishly)