AN: I'm so sorry it's taken so long! ;;! I've been having serious motivation issues lately... OTL Thankfully, someone (coughcoughJILL~) encouraged me to get off of my lazy ass and update this for you. So this one's for her. Cx ~
"It's always something with you, isn't it?" the man asked, eyes narrowed, "But you like that, don't you? You like making life difficult for me."
"Sir, that's-"
"Is that your goal, Feliks?" he inturrupted, "To make my life a living hell? Because you're doing a pretty damn good job!"
"Stop being stupid!" the blonde folded his arms, glaring, "You know that's not true! Jeez, and you call me dramatic!"
"That's because you are!" his boss glared back, already at the end of his rope, "And either way, I fail to see how refusing to form an alliance with a weak, crumbling nation can count as anything but common sense!"
"But we have to-"
"We don't have to do shit!" Feliks was cut off again, causing him to growl, "We have no obligation whatsoever to help Hungary or it's people, and we are not forming an alliance!"
"You may not feel obligated to help Lizzie, but I do! And to me, it's not even about old debts or something like that, it's because she's my friend! She's been my best friend for so long, and I love her so much..." his voice cracked, eyes welling up with tears, "I-I can't lose her..."
"Oh, don't give me that shit," the Pole scoffed, voice dripping with disbelief; he was far too used to Feliks using tears to get what he wanted, "It's still a no."
"B-but we've gotta help Lizzie!" his hands went you to rub at his eyes, trying to stop the tears before they fell, "We can't just... not!"
"Oh, yes we can!" his boss eplied, beginning to busy himself with paperwork, acting as though Feliks was but a small inconvenience to him, "Hungary is not getting so much as a single ounce of help from us, and that is that!"
"But we have to save-!"
"No, we don't!" he inturrupted yet again, annoyance bubbling back up inside of him, "Have you ever stopped to consider that Hungary doesn't deserve our help? If a nation can't even support itself, how can it expect to deserve the support of other nations? It can't! It doesn't deserve it at all!"
The tears were gone instantly, Feliks's grief replaced by anger, and he growled, hands balling into fists, "Don't you dare say that Elizabeta doesn't deserve our help! Don't you fucking dare! There is absolutely nothing in the world that she hasn't earned, and the fact that you can say otherwise makes you even dumber than I thought!"
"Feliks-"
"Don't you 'Feliks' me! You're the one being an idiot!"
"Feliks don't you-!"
"No, don't you! I swear, you are so fucking stupid sometimes! It makes me wanna punch you in your fat fucking face!" he was furious, now; even the birds outside had gone silent to listen as his voice echoed throughout the room, "So don't give me that bullshit! You're being a fucking dumbass, and I fully intend on helping Lizzzie, so just shut up and let it happen, damn it!"
The man dropped his papers back onto his desk and stood, voice a low growl, "Now you listen here, you little wentch! No matter what you say or what you change, you will never be anything more than a stupid little girl! You're useless! You're never going to amount to anything, and the day you come up with a good idea will be the day Hell freezes over! You. Are. Nothing! And you never will be! So just sit back and let the big boys work, because you are never going to make it!"
The anger drained from Feliks as fast as it had come, leaving him weak and vulnerable to the other Pole's words. His shoulders slumped as the fury drained from his eyes, only to be replaced by tears. His boss was right... he was never going to be anything, and there was nothing he could do about it.
That's why Elizabeta would be so much more deserving of his land.
"I-I... I..."
"Exactly! You can't do shit, so stop trying to act all big and strong!"
Feliks whimpered softly, lower lip trembling. This was not going as he had planned, not even remotely so... and he couldn't take it! He wasn't going to save Lizzie, his boss was being an asshole, and to top it all off, he was the most pathetic nation to have ever existed! He was nothing! He was nothing, his boss hated him, and Lizzie was going to die! What was he supposed to do? Th-there was nothing he could do...!
So he cried.
"P-p-please!"
He was bawling, now, shoulders shaking as he sank to his kees, tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't do this! His sobs were loud and pitiful, like a trapped kitten, filled with the sort of agony that just makes you want to sit down and cry as well. It was heartbreaking...
"Feliks..." his expression softened, voice noticeably kinder; he had never expected for Feliks to actually cry over it, "F-Feliks, please..."
"P-please, sir..." he pleaded softly, wiping his eyes with his sleeves, though it did nothing to stop the tears, "H-haven't you ever l-loved someone? A-a wife, maybe... kids... a-anyone! Haven't you ever had someone you loved too much to lose? Someone that you wanted to stay with forever, romantically or not? Y-you can't tell me you've never had someone like that!"
"...My wife," he murmured, eyes cast downwards, "And our daughter... or little baby girl... brown hair and blue eyes, and she just lights up the room..."
And there was hope.
"She sounds beautiful, sir..." he sniffled softly, struggling to recompose himself, "What's her name?"
"Czesława..."
"Pretty..." he closed his eyes, praying for his plan to work, "And she means the world to you, doesn't she?"
His boss nodded, still looking down.
"Then imagine... what would if do if Czesława was do die? Wouldn't that hurt?"
Another nod, short and pained.
"Then think about this... what if she was dying, but you know how to save her? What if it was a simple sort of thing... but you couldn't do that. Wouldn't that hurt?"
"Like crazy..." his voice cracked and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing at his eyes, "Oh, dear God up above, that would hurt..."
...Woah. That took Feliks by surprise. As asinine as it sounded, he had never actually though of his boss as an actual person with an actual life; to Feliks, he was just that impossible jerk who thought he knew everything. And despite all of the times they had fought, and all of the screams, slaps, and curses they had exchanged, the blonde had never seen the other man show even the slightest sign that he could feel pain. And now here he was, sitting in front of him and crying into his hands. To Feliks, his boss seemed so much more... real.
He wasn't sure how much he liked that.
"See? It'd be, like... freaking unbearable..."
His boss nodded slowly, wiping his eyes, "I-I would never forgive myself..."
"Exactly..." he murmured, struggling to keep eye contact, "A-and... Lizzie is my Czesława... We've known each other since we were kids, and she's like a sister to me... I love her just as much as you love your baby girl..." he ducked his head down, voice growing softer as he fought back another round of tears, "S-so please... don't make me go through that... don't let me lose her... I-I can't do that...
His boss was silent for a moment, trying to recompose himself before he spoke, and Feliks could practically see the inner battle he had going on inside of his head; emotions pitted against his common sense. Feliks could only hope his emotions won...
"Please, sir... p-please..."
Neither of them looked at each other, staring down at their hands in a silence that stretched longer and longer, both fearing the moment it was broken. Neither made a sound, one lost in thought, the other in prayer. When his boss finally cleared his throat to speak, Feliks jumped, squeaking loudly as his heart began to race.
"...Fine.
A single word lit up Feliks's world, face breaking into a grin as his eyes shone. He was crying again, but this time, he was too damn happy to care.
"Th-thank you!" he practically dove over the desk, squeezing the man in as tight of a hug as he could and laughing, thanking him again and again, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered, though he was sure Feliks couldn't hear him over his constant sobs of thanks, "Just don't let me down..."