Author: Pepper's Ghost
23rd of November, 2014 - Put the Kettle On
The creaky floorboard at the entry of the room immediately drew England's attention from his book.
"I'd wondered where you'd gone off to Alfred," said England. America stood before him in scruffy jeans and a trashed white shirt. He was covered in grease and other car blick but looking a touch more settled then he had been in the past 24 hours.
"I needed something to do and your car was giving me the look," America said.
"Really now," said England. "'The look' - sounds intimidating. I hope you showed it what for."
"Yeah," said America. He was brightening right before England's eyes at the easy conversation they were having. "Yeah, I did!
America put one hand on his waist and began to tick off the ailments he'd fixed, "No more odd rattling noise. No more bump in the fender when you backed into Francis' car. Vacuumed interior. Fixed the radio. Tire pressure. Oil change. Blah blah blah. Honestly the only thing left to do is to repaint the thing so it doesn't look like crap."
"My car does not look like crap," said England. America shot him a very pointed look and England couldn't help but relent. "It just has character."
America chuckled a bit. It was rich and wholesome and everything England had been missing lately. Even as the laughter died down the good humor remained. America snagged the filthy rag poking out of his back pocket (one that looked suspiciously like England's brand new Please, Please Me commemorative tea towel and boy was England going to kill him over that) and dabbed a clean spot at the corner of his eyes. He then drug the cloth across his sweaty brow inadvertently spreading grease all over his face.
"You almost done with that book?" said America.
"Indeed," said England. "Why don't you go get cleaned up and we'll be lazy with dinner in front of the television. I'm sure there's got to be something easy on."
America nodded in agreement and made his way out of the small room.
"Do you need help?" England said when America paused for a moment too long on at the foot of the staircase.
"In the shower?!" Even through the wall England could hear the squeak in America's voice. He was sure the other was blushing too.
"You never know," England said – more to himself then anyone really, but America had poked his head back in the room and caught it anyway.
"Right…so after I get all squeaky clean we can do stuff together?" said America. His eyes were bright and teasing even if his ears and neck were red.
"No one shall ever be able to take Narnia away from me but yes…if you feel like doing something together then I am ready too."
"Ok!" said America. He thundered up the stairs.
England finished up the last few pages of the book and then rooted around in the fridge for some good finger food dinner. Unable to locate anything other then all of the surplus America had insisted on bringing for his Thanksgiving feast, England hopped on his bike and made a quick trip down to a nearby kebab place.
10 minutes later he was back home again, food at the ready in front of the television, just in time for a clean America to come walking in with a towel absentmindedly being rubbed into his hair.
He plopped down on the couch next to England and sighed gustily.
"What a shitty vacation," said America.
"Hey now," said England. He brushed shoulders with America and discretely inched closer to his companion. "I'm here with you. I know I'm no substitute but – "
"Sorry Arthur," said America. "I'm just…" America waved his hand like he was trying to dispel cobwebs.
"Come here," said England. America instantly curled up around him. "Now you listen to me. We are going to have a bloody fantastic vacation together - Thanksgiving and all. This is life, Alfred, and we have to just keep going regardless of the storms around us."
"But I'm not being any fun," said America.
"And frankly I'm not in the mood for any fun considering the circumstances," said England. "But at least I have you and I can hold you close and try to make it better in some small way."
They held each other silently for a moment.
The solace was lost as soon as America reached for the food. He didn't fully let go of England and therefore couldn't quite reach the plate. Not one to get between America and his' stomach, England leaned forward and together the pair grabbed the plate before them. After all of the jostling was over they settled back against each other again.
"So you find something you wanted to watch?" said America.
"I thought we might try this new show," England said. "My sources tell me it's about space."
"I love space," America said. "It's so big and nothing matters."
"It's on at 5:10."
" Arthur…It's 5:10 now – "
"Blast!" said England. "We're late."
Again their embrace was interrupted by England frantically trying to find the infernal device America had gotten him a few years back that changed the stations and volume with the click of a button. It was a few moments before the other popped out from under the end table with a triumphant "a-ha!"
England flicked on the television and quickly clicked until he found what he was looking for.
"Look; it's just now starting!" said England. He snuggled back into America and made sure to place the remote on the couch arm just in reach should something too unsavory decided to interrupt the program and America's improving mood.
The pair were silent for the entire opening until the show finally started.
"So who's the doctor Arthur?" said America.
"Quit talking. Just watch."
"No seriously," said America. "Doctor Who?"
Author's Notes: On November 23, 1963, the first episode of Doctor Who aired. Unfortunately, Doctor Who fun times and America's Thanksgiving vacation over at England's house were a bit of a problem that year thanks to the death of John F. Kennedy (and Adolph Huxley and C. S. Lewis) the day prior. They're both dealing with grief in their own way. As for why America isn't reacting a bit more – I'd bet that England is doing his best to shield America from the fall out which is helping to cut down on the paranoia of an assassinated leader. Being so far away from the action he's still probably dealing with the deep internal emptiness his people were feeling. (Or at least that is just one of my many head canons.) Other historical asides: Please, Please Me the first album by The Beatles came out earlier in 1963 and was wildly popular; commemorative tea towels are a thing; TV remotes have been around since the mid-50s and made a prominent clicking noise when changing anything hence the term 'clicker.' Lastly, the title, Put the Kettle On, is in reference to "TV pickup" – a phenomena that commonly occurs in the UK by a mass use of turning on electric kettles or opening fridge doors during commercial breaks. In recent years Doctor Who has been a major contributor to TV pickup.