Adventures of the Golden State (Hetalia)
Author: Ashynarr
Summary: Under much protest and complaint, I've decided that since I have nowhere else to put these, I'm going to share some of my state OC drabbles to see how people like them. Mostly focused on California, but will feature other states.
Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.
Warning: State OCs
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[1945]
"Everyone's agreed to let me host the charter drafting for the United Nations, so I want to make a good impression on them," Alfred told his two most affluent States, looking exhausted but pleased at the turn of events and the end of the War.
"Don't worry about it," Benjamin replied instantly, straightening up with a grin. "I can give you a few places that'll really wow them-"
"Thank you, Ben, but that's not quite what I brought you here for," The Nation turned to Isabel, who had already caught on seconds before her Nation grinned at her. "Bella, do you think you could find me a good place in San Francisco to hold the signing?"
"What?" Benjamin gawked, starting to turn red.
The Golden State looked about ready to burst from pride, grinning widely. "Absolutely! I have the perfect place in mind already, and I'll get the largest room booked so everyone can fit!"
"Thanks, Bella," Alfred grinned before turning back to his other State. "As for you-"
"Why does she get to host it and not me?" Benjamin snapped, scowling fiercely. "I did a shitton more for you during the war than she did, including your paperwork on top of my own!"
"Excuse me?" Isabel snapped, brustling before Alfred stepped in between them.
"Knock it off, you two, or I'll reconsider my offers. Besides, I thought you'd rather help build the new UN building on your land, but if you want me to give it to Ginny instead…"
"The new UN building?" Both of the States stared for a minute, Isbael's expression dropping as Benjamin's rose in glee. "You mean an official meeting place for them?"
"Once it's built, yeah," Alfred nodded, smiling again. "You think you can handle that?"
"Absol-freaking-lutely I can!" The Empire State whooped, throwing a cocky grin at the other. "You hear that, upstart? I get the official UN building."
"Well at least I get to claim the charter signing," Isabel pouted, not wanting to rise to the bait again quite so soon. "And I'm not being an asshole about it, either."
"That's not what your 'oh look at me get something over on you' expression said."
"I did not! And why the hell are you so angry with me?"
"Because you have no respect how things are run over here!"
"I'm so sorry I broke some arbitrary right of passage I didn't even know about because I just joined the Union!" Isabel rolled her eyes. "Or is this because your sister actually likes me?"
"Knock it off, you two," Alfred interrupted again, staring them down until they both muttered out sullen apologies. "Now, what's this about you and Sue?"
Isabel lifted her head again, grinning. "Sue has a really nice garden - not as large as mine, obviously, but neat enough - and we ended up bonding while talking about our prefered planting cycles. She is way cooler than this jerk here, honestly."
"You should have heard them," Ben added sullenly. "It was like they'd been friends for decades even though they'd only been left alone for an hour at most."
Alfred raised an eyebrow; that was not something he'd expected to happen, but if it meant his eastern and western coast States were going to stop fighting, he wouldn't say anything against it no matter how much it annoyed Ben. Instead he grinned, looking over to Benjamin before asking, "Aw, are you upset because someone's getting more attention from Bella than you now?"
"Excuse me?" They both shrieked, looking disgusted by the mere implications of that. Alfred laughed heartily as they protested further, at least glad to see things had somewhat improved at home while he was away.
~0~0~
Fifty Nations. There were fifty Nations here, in her state, right now, who she had to impress in order to look good for Alfred and the rest of the States.
(Poland had apparently still been too injured to make the trip, but would come as soon as he was able to sign it, making it an uneven fifty-one founding Nations for the charter.)
Isabel took a breath, then three, patting down her dress suit and praying she wouldn't muck this up. She'd dealt with Nations on an individual basis, back when she was still growing up and all the Nations had come to take part of the gold rush hype. She hadn't really seen many of them besides her own and Canada once that died down, and now she had fifty of them here at the same time, all expecting her to provide the best she could give.
Oh god, she wasn't sure if she could manage this.
"Isabel, you ready yet?" Alfred knocked before entering, his smile drooping a bit as she turned enough for him to see her nervous stance. "You okay?"
"I just really don't wanna mess this up for you…" She bit her lip, looking down at the admittance of weakness.
He sighed, stepping inside and carefully pulling her into a hug, petting her hair slowly as she relaxed into the hold. "It'll be fine, alright? I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I wasn't sure you'd pull it off, and so far what you've managed to put together for us is great."
The western State sniffed, pulling away enough to look up at him. "Really?"
"Mmhmm," He agreed, grinning again. "I've been hearing plenty of compliments about the choice of venue, hotels, and even food so far, and they haven't even seen the meeting room yet. You've done me proud so far, and I know you'll be able to handle the rest of this just as well."
"Thank you," She grinned back a bit shakily, but no less honest. "I'll do my best to make it perfect."
"I know you will," He ruffled her hair a bit before stepping back, gesturing for the door. "You ready to go?"
Isabel closed her eyes and took another deep breath, opening them afterward and nodding with as much determination as she could muster. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's get going; the meeting's about to start."
~0~0~
[2015]
"Isabel!" Francis greeted, pulling the State's attention away from her tablet long enough to give him a wide grin. "How have you been?"
"The drought is a pain in the ass, but I'm managing," She replied, shaking her head. "You?"
"Things are getting better, slowly," He glanced around, frowning slight. "Is Alfred not here today?"
"He and Ben are out sick; Ginny's sworn pain on them if they try and leave her house in the next few days," Isabel laughed softly. "So I'm standing in for Al today."
"That's unfortunate," The Nation replied, though a grin soon tipped into place. "I'll send him some well wishes after the meeting, I suppose."
"They'll appreciate that," She thanked, smiling until he'd turned to start speaking with Antonio before turning, pulling out her phone, and shooting off a quick text.
She hoped Ginny was willing to go along with the excuse, because otherwise the Nations were going to be pissed at her as well if they found out Alfred and Ben's 'sick week' was more on the lines of a vacation via Air Tony. Jerks; they didn't even invite her, just told her to cover for them.
They so owed her souvenirs.
She exhaled in relief when the reply text came back as affirmative, with an additional note to let her know when they were returning so she could speak with them. Isabel felt no shame in giving her the date they'd given her, sending the text off with a smug tap of her finger before setting it down, noticing mosto fh te Nations were now there and it was almost time for the meeting to start.
Stepping to the front podium, Isabel rapped the podium with her knuckles. When that only got the attention of the few closest to her, she sighed, pressed two fingers to her lips, and whistled shrilly, instantly stopping all other conversations and snapping everyone's gaze to her.
"Hey, everyone," She greeted cheerfully, ignoring the annoyed glares from several Nations. "Just wanted to let you all know the meeting's about to start, so if everyone could get to their assigned seats so I can open it, that'd be great! Thanks!"
Amidst much grumbling they complied, Ludwig looking grateful he hadn't had to get the meeting started himself. Once everyone was seated (Sadik having arrived at the last minute), Isabel began her opening speech.
"Welcome to the Spring 2015 meeting, everyone. I'm subbing in for America, so if you have any questions for him specifically, I'll forward them at the end of the day. Otherwise, this morning's agenda will be focused on climate change, starting with a report from Germany. Break will be at 12:30, last for forty minutes, and we'll reconvene in the afternoon for trade discussions. Germany, if you would?"
Isabel stepped down to allow him to take the podium, moving over to her own seat and settling in, notepad already at the ready. If she was gonna be stuck here while her Nation was on vacation, she was at least gonna do it better than Ben could, just to show him up.
~0~0~
Lovino caught her first during lunch break, greeting her politely with a grin as they made their way out of the meeting room. "I have to say, things go a lot smoother when you're in charge instead of Benjamin or Alfred. It's a nice change; you should do it more often."
"You flirt," Isabel laughed, shoving at his shoulder lightly. "Besides, you know Ben would throw a fit if he didn't get to be first choice of sub for Alfred, and then Sue and I would have to deal with that."
"Oh well," He sighed, though his smile showed he wasn't too hurt by the loss. "I guess I'll enjoy the chance while I can."
"You'd better; I worked hard to make sure everything would go smoothly this week, including making sure all the people prone to fighting wouldn't be near each other."
"I noticed that," Lovino nodded, smile widening just a touch. "You can't believe how nice it was to not have to listen to Antonio humming in my ear for the past three hours; if I can go the rest of the day without dealing with him, I might be tempted to kiss you."
"Don't let Al hear you say that," Isabel teased back, grinning. "But I'm glad I could help a little. He been hanging around a lot recently?"
"He's been in another nostalgic phase," The Italian man made a face. "Crying over how cute I was when I was smaller, discussing his conquering days, the usual."
"Ulgh, please tell me he'll be over it soon," The State shuddered, frowning. "Last time I had to deal with that he kept reminding me how I was much nicer when I was smaller, even though the jerk only visited me once the entire time I was under his control."
"I'll let you know when he is," Lovino promised. "It's the least I can do for you, Bella."
"Thank you," She replied freverently, relaxing as a smile returned to her lips. "You could also buy me lunch since we're at a good restaurant."
He glanced over to their side, humming thoughtfully before glancing back to her. "I think I can manage that for a pretty young woman like yourself."
Isabel grinned, stepping inside right behind him while they continued chatting. There was definitely something to be said about being well liked among the Nations, and free meals and friendly banter were definitely a few of them.
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AN: Themed chapter today! Basically it's past vs present, with a bit of insight as to how Cali felt about being the center of world attention back then as opposed to modern days, though some things haven't really changed, like her trust in Alfred.
These drabbles are fun to think about, not just because it helps with OC development for my future fics but because it lets me go into history I couldn't usually get into with Alfred because it wouldn't make sense for him to be there at the time. Bit shorter than usual, I guess, but couldn't think of anything else to add, so up this goes.