Matthew
I looked over at the sleeping girl cuddling my polar bear on my couch. Marcy had been talking to Kumamija about her sister and how much she'd love to meet him. She wanted to stay awake until we heard from Al and Dia, but she'd slowly nodded off. Now it was 5 am. I grabbed a warm, fluffy blanket and covered her.
Kuma looked up at me with a drowsy expression. "Who...?" he asked quietly.
I put a finger to my lips, then whispered, "I'm Canada. Think you can keep Marcy company tonight, Kumamaji?"
The bear nodded and snuggled back up, causing Marcy to shift. She wrapped an arm around Kuma's tummy and placed the other hand on his ear.
A wave of realization hit me. Even though she was one of the first humans to hang out with the nations like this, she was still a human. And, one day, one way or another, she'd be gone and things would go back to normal. The thought saddened me. Surely that was why Alfred was rushing them everywhere. He wanted to make sure they could see the world in a way no other human could.
I sighed. This was the burden of a nation, to watch their citizens fade away while they remained strong. The easy thing would be to stop associating with them, to view them as nothing more than numbers on a report. But that would eventually make you cold, distant, and unreliable. So, even though it was heart-breaking every time it ended, nations enjoyed meeting and talking with their people.
And Alfred was the worst about it. He always tried to make it last longer, to keep people for just a few more years. I frowned, remembering the slump he got in when Amelia died. I'd never seen him so down, so silent. After a week or two, he was back to normal, but it took years for all the sadness to fade out of his eyes.
I shook my head. It was way too late for these thoughts. With one last glance at Marcy, I turned and walked to my room.
xxxxx
Diana
A buzz broke through to my consciousness. I cracked open a bleary eye.
Suddenly my bed shifted under me...! Wait. No, that would be Alfred.
Trying not to move much, Alfred reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The light from the screen was near-blinding. I closed my eyes.
There were a few clicks, then a pause. "Hehe," Alfred chuckled quietly, "yeah, no kidding, Bro." A sudden flood of little clicks told me Alfred was texting him back.
"Just call him," I mumbled, face half-mashed into his bomber jacket.
Alfred paused. "HAHA, right!" He replied, no longer trying to be quiet.
I heard the phone ringing as I started trying to sit up. Alfred had other ideas, though, and easily pulled me right back down.
"It's still freezing, and you're like, a giant HotHands packet."
I stared into the darkness, annoyed but smiling.
"Alfred?" I heard Matthew's voice from the phone. Alfred had his volume up way too loud.
"Yo, Mattie! You guys okay?"
"Wha, um, yeah, but Al, are you guys okay? Where are you?"
"Heck if I know, dude," he replied, "You tell me."
There was silence for a brief moment, then Matthew said, "I think… You're a couple hours out, near Spencerville. Are you two still in your car?"
"HAHAHA, yeah, but don't worry. Turns out, Dia is actually like, a superhero! She has the power to be really warm even though it's negative stupid degrees outside!"
I rolled my eyes, still smiling.
"Okay, stay there, I'm gonna call Spencerville's police department and let them know where you are. Marcy and I will meet you there."
"K, see you soon, bro."
"Bye, Al." Click.
"HAHA!" Alfred cheered. "What'd I tell ya? Nothing to worry about with a Hero around!"
"Says the guy being rescued by the Canadian police." I grinned.
Alfred fell silent.
I shifted to where I could see his face, giving him a mischievous smile. "Don't worry, you'll just kick his ass next time you guys play hockey."
Alfred exploded into laughter. "HAHAHA, HELL YEAH!"
I would be surprised if Matthew couldn't hear him two hours away.
xxxxx
Marcy
"Diana!" I shouted, maybe a bit too loudly for inside a police department.
Dia and Alfred were sitting on a couch in the officers' break room, Dia leaning her back against Alfred's shoulder and both of them wrapped in blankets. They both also had their hands cupped around a steaming hot cup of something and seemed in good spirits. Diana looked up when she heard my voice, setting down her drink and getting up as I walked over. We wrapped each other in a warm hug.
"Sorry it took us so long," Matthew said, "I had to put chains on my tires."
Alfred jumped up, clapping his brother on the back. "No prob, bro! Safety's important and junk. Last thing we need is you two having a wreck!"
I pulled Dia aside a bit. "Did Alfred drive you completely crazy?" I asked her quietly.
"Yup," she replied with a smile. "But I survived."
I looked at her in surprise. "Well that's… good…?" I said carefully.
Diana chuckled. "Seriously, Marcy. I'm fine." She gave me a warm, genuine smile.
I marveled at her good mood, considering she'd been trapped in a car with Alfred for over 12 hours.
"Yo, Marcy!" Alfred called, "Did you know Dia's a freaking superhero?"
"No…" Diana moaned under her breath, trying to cover her face with her hand.
I looked between Alfred and Diana, a huge smile spreading across my face. "Now this I gotta hear!" I looked at Dia, excited.
Dia glanced at me from behind her hand. "You know, my version would actually be the truth."
"Nah," I declined, "I'd rather hear whatever ridiculous warped version of the story Al has."
Dia laughed.
I jogged up to Alfred, who was heading for the front doors.
"So what's this superhero story…?"
xxxxx
Diana
"Hey, Dia."
Matthew walked up to me as I waited at the front desk to collect our things.
"Hey," I said, "How was Marcy?"
Matthew looked at the floor. "Fine. I thought I was boring her, but she claimed to have had the best time."
"Did you guys play either chess or checkers? Did she find a bunch of books? Do you have a cat?"
"Yes, yes, and something like that."
An officer walked up a placed a box of our belongings on the desk. I began collecting them.
"Then she had a blast," I confirmed. "She's actually pretty quiet. Guess her biggest dream coming true shocked her out of her shell. You should see her try to talk to a stranger. Well, one that's not a nation…" I stuffed my wallet and passport into my jacket pocket.
"What about you and Alfred?" Matt asked even quieter.
I thought out my answer carefully, then nodded. "We're good."
"Good," Matt said, looking relieved. "You have no idea how much it's been driving him crazy, thinking you were mad at him."
I felt a small pang of guilt.
"Dia?" Marcy said, walking back to me, "Al said you can light things on fire with your touch."
I snorted, a big smile breaking out across my face. I collected myself and looked at Marcy with a serious and proud expression.
"I can, in fact. And I can also breathe fire, if I get angry enough."
Marcy laughed loudly. Matthew looked at me in surprise, then smiled.
"Hey!" Alfred called to us. He was standing at the doors. "Are we gonna go to Matt's house and eat all his pancakes or what?!"
"You can't eat all my pancakes, Al," Matt said, walking quickly to his brother.
I smiled, watching the two nations act like actual brothers. The world was full of mysteries.
"How about you, Diana?" Marcy wrapped her arm around mine with a grin. "Want some pancakes?"
"I'm up for anything right about now," I said, half to myself.
Marcy laughed, pulling me towards the door. "Great! Then I can't wait to introduce you to Mr. Kumajiro! He's a talking polar bear!"
"Wat."
Xxxxx
Note: Amelia is referring to Amelia Earhart
Hey guys. Dia here. Just a heads up, this is gonna be the last post for a little while. We're still writing, but it'll take a little time before we have something substantial enough to post. We might show up again around Christmas. Thanks so much for your patience (we REALLY hate doing this).
HOWEVER. We ARE starting up an ask-blog on Tumblr to make up for the lack of posts:
username: ask-diaandmarcy
Blog name: Professional Nation-sitters
Please! Ask us anything about what it's like living with Alfred. Or the other nations, for that matter. (We need some way to vent.)
Until next time.