It was nine in the morning when Russia, England, and Canada had awoken and started with their daily routines. Usually, they didn't wake up so 'late' in the morning; even though they had the day off from their typical work schedule, meaning that they would have no paper work, or important phone calls to make at all and would not have to suffer any consequences if they did happen to sleep in. Though, they still had to deal with the needy, broken nation who was under their care. As rough as caring for him could sometimes be, they knew that things could be much worse for them with that situation. At least America was able to walk, didn't try to mess with anything he came across (yet) out of curiosity, was very quiet, or have many of the behavioral issues that would be expected of him to have with his current condition (after all, he did have a mind that could be easily compared with that of a toddler's with his memory wiped). The fact that he always had the tenancy to sleep between ten to twelve hours everyday was also a relief for the three other nations. It meant that they could have a few extra hours of peace since they didn't sleep as much. They also tended to wake up earlier than him, which allowed them to have some time to relax in the morning; when they most needed it since they were still in the process of fully waking up at that time of day.
Each of them spent an hour to prepare for the day, before finally deciding that they should make some breakfast. When asked about what time America had fallen asleep the night before, Russia had informed both Canada and England that the young nation had fallen asleep around eleven o'clock at night. Considering the fact that eleven hours was plenty of time for a full grown adult to sleep, as well as the fact that the American didn't really use up a lot of energy during the day and had shown no signs of ailment, the three who were taking care of the uncivil nation figured that it was time America woke up and had some breakfast. His sleep schedule was starting to fall out of line of what it should've been anyways. If he wanted to sleep a lot, that would be fine, but the three nations who were taking care of him didn't want him to start sleeping in too much, or become a night owl, as they themselves were naturally early birds, and they didn't want to have to stay up late and ruin their own schedules to care for him.
While Canada began to make some pancakes (he'd been wanting to eat some for a while), Russia decided to check on America to see how his ribs were doing, and wake him from his peaceful slumber. He made sure to be careful as he slowly dragged the blanket off of the young nation's form, as he didn't want to startle him (he knew that the one he was caring for wouldn't handle being startled out of his sleep very well in his current condition). In an attempt to help America awake from his sleep in a way that wouldn't be too shocking for him, Russia began to gently rub his cheek with his hand. It wasn't long, after this gesture had began to be performed, that the young nation's eyes started to flutter open. However, after a few moments of keeping his eyes partially open, he ended up furrowing his eyebrows in irritation and batted his caretaker's hand away.
Russia was equally as annoyed as the one he was caring for when the young nation had decided to refuse to cooperate and instead, tried to stop his attempt to wake him up. The fact that America had also pulled up the covers to hide his face from the sunlight shining from the window, that he now just realized was trying to invade his closed eyes, made his caretaker all the more exasperated with the stubbornness. Since he was beginning to lose patience with the sleepy nation, he decided to start pulling off the covers completely, and then gently shook America as he told him, "Come on. It's time for you to wake up, now. You've been sleeping in too much lately, and we don't want you to start staying up all night while we take care of you."
America groaned, and curled up in order to try and keep the chills that were now bothering him (due to the fact that he wasn't used to the room's temperature yet) from being too much of a problem for him. Despite not understanding most of the words that his caretaker had told him, he couldn't care less for what he was trying to communicate to him. He knew that it was probably very foolish of him to disobey a human who was larger than him, but he just couldn't bring himself to care for any potential consequences at that moment. All he wanted to do was sleep.
Russia suppressed a sigh of exasperation, and after a few moments of thought, figured that there would be no harm in letting the young nation rest for five more minutes. Perhaps he just needed some time to wake himself up after having his sleep interrupted. He himself usually needed some time to lay in bed for a bit, after waking up in the morning, in order to become more conscious as well.
Since he had decided to momentarily give up on trying to wake up the one he was caring for, he began to focus all of his attention on how America's ribs were doing at that moment. He lifted up the young nation's shirt, so that investigating the part of his abdomen that had been hurting the night before would be a much easier task for him to achieve, and he couldn't help but feel relieved when he found that the bruise that had remained from the night's incident hadn't turned out to be too terrible. Sure, maybe there would be times where the other nation would feel slight pain in that area, but it didn't look as if he was going to be bedridden, or anything. There would probably be no more need for him to hold an ice pack to the spot either. As much as being a nation could sometimes truly be a horrible life that some people would not be able to handle leading, it did come with it's benefits. The fact that healing from injuries required less time and didn't always come with as many inconveniences as it would for a human was definitely something that Russia could never stop appreciating.
Seeing that the ice pack that had been previously helping America deal with his pain was now teetering on the edge of the couch, Russia decided to pick it up so that it would not longer be a burden to the young nation, and walked to the kitchen so that he could put it back in the freezer, so that it could freeze up and become useful again. Upon doing this, he had been asked by Canada, who had just finished making the first pancake, "Is Alfred awake yet?"
"Yes," Ivan answered, and then explained, "he's still very tired, though. I think that he just needs to rest for a few minutes before he gets up."
"Alright, that's fine. Just make sure that he doesn't fall back to sleep, and try to get him to the kitchen table soon. His breakfast his almost ready, and I don't want it to get cold before he even touches it. Besides, those glasses might finally be here today, and they will most likely arrive sometime soon, too. I would like it if he could start using them as soon as we get them, instead of being asleep."
With that being said, Russia decided to return to the living room in order to check on the one he was taking care of, just to see whether or not the young nation had fallen asleep again. Fortunately, it appeared that America had eventually chosen to do what he had been expected of him not too long after his caretaker tried to wake him up, as he was now sitting up on the couch, and trying to blink sleep out of his eyes. He also had a hand on his forehead, which made it seem as if staying conscious was too much for him to handle at that moment. Russia didn't understand how someone could be so exhausted after having eleven hours of sleep. Especially if that certain someone didn't have to deal with any sickness, and had appeared to be more healthy than when he had been found half-starved and at the mercy of whatever strange drug had been injected into his blood stream at that moment while he was still a prisoner of the scientists. He figured, though, that after eating something with lots of sugar in it, the tired nation would be more awake. Sure, maybe he could even give him some coffee, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to give America that much caffeine after he'd been deprived of it for two years. He knew that some people tended to become quite anxious, or would have their blood sugar abruptly drop after consuming some coffee when their body wasn't used to having any caffeine in it.
Since it seemed as if making sure that there was something in America's stomach would be a much better way of trying to wake him up, Russia grabbed the young nation's hand so that he could urge him to stand up and follow him into the kitchen. The exhausted nation had decided to do what he was encouraged to do, and once he was in the kitchen, he sat down in one of the chairs at the table. It hadn't been long before America started to rest his head on the table, as sitting up straight in his tired state seemed to require more energy that it usually would. When a plate of pancakes had been set in front of him, though, his lack of enthusiasm had suddenly disappeared, as he lifted his head up and studied, as best as he could without glasses, the food that was now on the table. The crispy brown tops of the pancakes, along with their rather interesting contrast of being white on the bottom had made America wonder how he could've absentmindedly ignored the buttery, sweet aroma they had produced. He was definitely wide awake now, and he could feel his mouth water at the thought of digging into the treat that had been given to him.
Feeling satisfied with the fact that the young nation now appeared to be more enthusiastic, rather than looking as if he would pass out at any minute, Russia grabbed a bottle of maple syrup and poured some on America's pancakes. He then grabbed a fork and knife, and began to cut into the pancakes that were now soaked in syrup, so that he could scoop a small piece of the breakfast onto the fork. Excitement only continued to grow in the pit of the young nation's stomach as he awaited the first bite of his meal, and when the scoop of pancake finally began to near him, he was quick to open his mouth in order to welcome the food into his stomach.
America was in heaven by the time he'd eaten all of his pancakes. He was comfortably full, which caused him to have a pleasant warmth in his stomach, and he appreciated the fact that he had discovered some new flavors after eating that meal. He didn't even care when Russia started wiping syrup off of his face with a wet napkin, which was something that usually bothered him.
However, America's mood was changed when he noticed England walking into the room with an object he couldn't recognize (mostly because he couldn't see it too well, and he'd also never seen anything similar to it before). All of the other nations seemed to be delighted when they saw the object. He could tell just by hearing their excited voices that this item must have held some sort of importance to them. From what he could see from it, though, with his blurry vision, the object didn't really look that significant to him. It was small, it seemed fragile, and to him, it was a bit ugly as well. Those three characteristics combined usually meant that something held no purpose; at least, in his eyes. So what was it about this object that made it so special, according the humans that were taking care of him, from the other ones that were similar to it? Well, it hadn't been the first time he'd found humans to be strange creatures.
It wasn't long after everyone had seen the object that the three more civil nations began to gather around America. This, of course, confused the young nation. Why were they suddenly crowding him? Did they want to do something horrible to him? Whatever they were planning on doing, it was starting to make him feel very nervous. At first, he had tried to not make it look as if this strange action was bothering him, but it hadn't been long before he found himself cringing in the chair he was sitting in. Since it didn't seem as if the humans were going to back off, and instead, one seemed to be coming closer to him, he began to frantically look around for a way that he could escape. Seeing as he couldn't quite come up with an escape route, he began to brace himself for whatever the human wanted to do to him. He even started to prepare himself for a fight, if attacking the human was what he was going to need to do in order to escape this awkward and horrifying situation.
The human didn't seem to pay much mind for the fact that America was starting to look anxious, and instead, unfolded the object that was in his hands so that he could put it on the other's face. This allowed the uncivil nation to have a better look at what the item really was, and he was shocked by how familiar it looked. Didn't that one human that was about the same size as him where the same thing on his face? He couldn't really care too much for that observation at that moment, as he believed that it would be important to try and move his head away from whatever that strange object was. What in the world would these humans gain from putting that thing on his face anyways?
At first, it had been a bit of a struggle for England to put the glasses on his former colony's face. He didn't understand why America suddenly saw him as a threat, or why he was so reluctant to be anywhere near the eye wear, but he wished that the uncivil nation would eventually realize that he was making himself worked up over nothing, and let him put on the glasses. Besides, the fact that the other nation was moving his head around so much was only going to increase the chances of him ending up being poked in the eye with the glasses, and he was sure that America would not enjoy that one bit.
Since it didn't seem as if his former colony was ever going to stop struggling, England eventually decided to start holding his head still with one hand, and used the other one to try and place the glasses on his face once more. Fortunately, America had finally stopped trying to resist wearing the glasses, as having his head held seemed to have made him realize that all of the struggling was only going to make his situation more difficult, and that he needed to start being more cooperative. Besides, he'd just realized that it was him against three humans, and that if he did something stupid, he wouldn't stand a chance against them. At least, he assumed that they would hurt him if he became violent.
The glasses were finally on his face, and America was in awe with how different the world suddenly looked to him. No longer was he suspicious of the humans' intentions, as it became clear to him that they had meant no harm by presenting to him this strange object. Instead, it seemed as if they had wanted to do him a huge favor. He didn't really understand the importance of the change in his vision, but he did have a great appreciation for the gift that had been given to him. The world looked so much more beautiful to him now. He looked around the room he was in, so that he could study all of the fine details he had never had the chance to notice when he was nearly blind, and he was impressed by how different everything looked, and how much he'd missed when he wasn't able to see too well.
America had spent a good five minutes looking around the room, and even studying things that others would consider pointless, such as the grains on the wooden table. He'd eventually figured that he'd spent enough time appreciating the small details he'd never had the chance to notice before he had the glasses, and decided to give the one who had given him the gift of better sight the best look of gratitude he could manage. The human that was in front of him didn't look nearly as horrifying as he had when he was just a blurry, gigantic blob to him. Instead, he felt at ease with how welcoming the expression on its face was. He didn't know why the facial expression he was receiving caused a warmth of happiness to flow through him, but he didn't really want to question it either. It made him feel as if he was an equal to the human, rather than feeling as if he was some lowly animal that deserved to be mistreated at every moment of the day (which he actually believed that he was). It made him feel as if he was actually worth something in the world.
America kept eye contact with England for a few moments before breaking it off in order to continue studying his surroundings. However, his euphoria had suddenly vanished when he caught sight of Russia. The human was giving him the same friendly expression as the other one had, except there was something about the larger nation's existence in general that made his heart clench with melancholy. There was something that told him that it wasn't the one he was currently looking at who had been the main cause of the maelstrom of negative emotions he was currently feeling, but rather, he just happened to be involved with a lot of the unpleasant events.
Fuzzy, unfamiliar images began to invade the young nations mind as he continued to stare at his caretaker. He didn't understand what they were supposed to mean, but each one left him feeling more and more hurt. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt so emotionally drained when he looked at Russia. The human had been so sweet to him, and was always there for him when he needed something. In fact, he'd sort of began to bond with him after a while of being cared for by him, even though he was sometimes still a bit afraid of him. Yet even when he tried to remind himself that this human had been the first to ever care for his well being, the pleasant memories that he tried to being up in his mind had been overshadowed by the angsty ones.
It wasn't long until the negative emotions became too much for the young nation to handle, and since he no longer wanted to be in his caretaker's presence, he fled from the room. Tears he hadn't even noticed were streaming down his face as he did so. All three of the nations that remained in the room were confused when they saw him do this. It didn't take long for Russia to realize why that had just happened though, and he ended up feeling as if he'd just been stabbed in the heart when he realized the reason why.
It had been quiet in the room, until England decided to break the awkward silence, "I'll try to make America feel better."
While England left the room, Canada turned to Russia, and once the two of them were alone with each other, he told the other nation, despite still being somewhat confused about what was going on, "I'm sorry that this special moment had to turn out so horrible for both you and America. Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Russia tried to assure Canada, though pain was still obvious in his voice, "I just wish that the horrible memories between Fredka and I weren't the first thing that he thought of when he first saw me with his glasses."
A large wave of sympathy spread throughout Canada's heart when he heard this. There was nothing Russia had done to deserve what had just happened. He'd worked so hard to try and earn America's trust, just to have all of his effort stomped on with the young nation becoming emotionally distressed upon having a decent look at him for the first time. Though he felt awkward when he tried to come up with ways that he could comfort his fellow nation, Canada had eventually settled on trying to be optimistic for him, "I don't think America's going to be upset with you forever. That's just not in his nature. He'll realize soon that he doesn't have to feel horrible every time he's around you, and that you just want to be his friend."
Though he was grateful for the reassurance, he was shocked that Canada had understood that one of his goals in taking care of America was, in fact, to improve his relationship with him. Sure, maybe that should've been obvious, but based on past experience, Russia thought that the two nations he was helping out were only going to continue to think the worst of his motives, and that he was going to have to work much harder than he already had just to prove that he didn't want to cause the young nation any harm. Already feeling a bit better about the situation at hand, he gave Canada a smile, despite the twinge of sadness he still felt, and said, "Thank you, Matvey."
Canada felt himself going shy from the gratitude that was being expressed to him, and replied in a quiet voice, "You're welcome."
Meanwhile, in the living room, America was sitting on the couch. His glasses had been set on the coffee table, so that they wouldn't be a burden to him, as he hugged his knees to his chest and continued to cry. The only thing that had snapped him from his thoughts of hurt and confusion for a moment was when he heard someone approach him. He turned his tearful gaze to see who had followed him out of the kitchen, and based on the size of the blurry figure, he could tell that it was the one who had given him the glasses.
There was something about the fact that this individual had followed him into the living room after he ran out of the kitchen that made him feel as if they cared about how he felt at that moment. The fact that they had also pulled him into a hug helped ease the emotional pain he was feeling. America hugged the human back as soon as he had been embraced. There was something that told him that it was okay to be vulnerable around this human, and that they wouldn't view him as weak if he let his guard down around them. The fact that he felt as if he was allowed to cry around them made him want to do so even more, and so he continued to into the other nation's shoulder for what felt like an hour, until he was too exhausted to continue to be upset.
As he continued to cling to the human who was willing to comfort him at that moment, America still couldn't help but wonder why he had suddenly felt hurt around Russia. It was easier for him to think about when he was too drained to become emotional, but he was still unable to come up with a conclusion as to why he'd reacted so negatively to the one who'd been taking care of him. Whatever the reason for it may have been, he hoped that it would be resolved some time soon, and that he wouldn't end up having another incident. His caretaker really wasn't that bad; for a human, anyways.