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Post by America on Jul 2, 2012 13:54:15 GMT -5
They were running a tad short on supplies.
That was the first thing America noticed when he stumbled into the kitchen during the early hours of the morning, looking for a snack to stop his stomach from making too much noise. When hungry, America couldn't sleep. He just lay in bed thinking about food, delicious, glorious food, until he finally knew he would die if he didn't grab something to munch on. So he had crept silently (or as silently as he could manage) from his bed, climbed down, and made his way into the empty kitchen, only stopping to turn on the light (not because he was scared, heavens no, just because he really couldn't see at all).
And, well...there was hardly anything.
He didn't want to be a pig and take too much. He had already eaten dinner, after all. He could pass this meal off as a very early breakfast, but then when breakfast time did come around, he knew just how hungry he'd be.
America sighed. He really couldn't win.
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Post by England on Jul 2, 2012 14:12:56 GMT -5
England didn't know why he awoke early that morning- it was probably the sixth sense inside of him that always alerted him when something was about to go awry. Either way, he didn't think he would be able to get any sleep any longer, and decided to go get some morning tea before starting yet another day of endless working in order to save the world. The typical life of a nation in zombie warfare.
Groaning and stretching the sleep out of his limbs, he swung his legs over the bottom bunk and stepped out, yawning and straightening as he popped his joints. His bare feet slapped sluggishly against the hardwood floor as he made his way over to one of the poles running not too far from him, and his hands made a slightly squeaky sound against the metal as he slid down to the lower level of the warehouse. Almost on instinct, with only the kitchen on his mind, he let himself smile at the silence in the air and walked towards the kitchen door.
He liked the sound of that. A nice, warm tea, sitting by the fireplace in the common room, enjoying the calm atmosphere and absolute silence and peace the absence of nations would bring-
England opened the door to the kitchen and stepped in.
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Post by America on Jul 2, 2012 14:42:27 GMT -5
Upon hearing the door open, America spun around, afraid he'd be caught red-handed. Not that he had taken anything (yet), but some other nation might assume he'd been eating. "I didn't eat a thing, I swear," he instantly said, before even realizing who it was. "Oh. It's just you." He grinned awkwardly, closing the fridge and leaning against it, acting like he hadn't just been about to raid the kitchen of all the food. "What are you doing up this early?"
He hoped he wasn't the reason. He really did try to sneak out of his bed as quietly as possible, but he was clumsy and loud and it was dark and he was sleepy, so it was fairly possible that he might have knocked something over without realizing it. Or perhaps England was just a very light-sleeper. Whatever the reason, America didn't want to be the cause of it. Maybe, though, England just so happened to get hungry at the exact same time. Unlikely, but still something to keep in mind.
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Post by England on Jul 2, 2012 14:54:20 GMT -5
England raised an eyebrow, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, obviously unimpressed.
"Right, well, I was woken up early by the feeling that something was going to go wrong, and decided to enjoy the silence and peace the warehouse offers so early in the morning." he then rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the door frame, heading for the sink. "But now that you're here, we can throw that idea out of the 40-feet high windows we have over here."
He then opened the tap and let it run as he grabbed a boiling machine and filled it up enough for one person.
"Also, considering you were in the kitchen in the very early hours of the morning, I'd say my hunch was just about right." he closed the lid and clicked the switch on before turning around and meeting America's eyes suspiciously. "What were you doing here? I hope you do know that we are rationed around here, especially since we haven't received our monthly supplies yet. Meals are supposed to be taken in a group to ensure that everyone has gotten an equal part."
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Post by America on Jul 2, 2012 15:21:26 GMT -5
America frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "For your information, England, I didn't eat anything. Like I said. If you don't believe me, you can even look. There's, like, nothing to eat, anyway." They obviously didn't have their supplies for the month. Otherwise, the authorities in England would realize just how much they'd need to pack to keep America full.
He glanced over at the boiling machine and mentally sighed. Tea. Duh, he should have guessed.
"I was a little bit on the hungry side, but I figured I could wait," he said. "I mean, I saw how little we have and I didn't want all you guys blaming me for stealing the food, 'cause then I might do something stupid like...blame my brother, or something, I dunno, and then he would get mad at me and he wouldn't talk to me and I'd miss talking to him. If I could remember his name." America smirked. "See? I totally thought that through, didn't I? Now you can't tell me I never use my brain, 'cause I just did!"
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Post by England on Jul 2, 2012 15:27:13 GMT -5
England looked at him for a second longer, and then sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"America, please be a dear and kindly do stop talking so fast. It's too early in the morning to listen to you rambling." he turned back to the cupboards and pulled out an old porcelain mug, setting it on the counter. "I know it's impossible to have peace and quiet with you around, but... could you at least try to lower it to a minimum? Let me wake in tranquility?"
He then rummaged through the cupboard to his right and pulled out one of the pre-packaged tea bags with a plaintive sigh.
"I wasn't even blaming you. Pay more attention to what I say. I was just reminding you that if we let you clean out the fridge, we would die before the supplies got here." and he said it all with such a straight face that for a moment, it felt like a 'how's the weather?' type of conversation, even. "So... Most obviously, I'm guessing you are hungry?"
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Post by America on Jul 2, 2012 15:47:05 GMT -5
America pushed himself off of the fridge only to hop up on one of the counters. Well, okay, he could be quiet for a little bit, at least until England 'woke up'. "You're such an old man," he muttered under his breath, sounding very much like a whiny child. No matter, England would brush it off as he sometimes did (or he'd start lecturing America about the importance of being a mature, intelligent adult or something like that).
"Mm, you need to pay attention to what I say. Yeah. I'm hungry. Hello, didn't you hear me when I said it, like, fifty billion times?" He rolled his eyes. "I think you're going a little deaf on your hearing. Or you're possibly slower, since you're old and everything." He was quiet for a second before he realized something. "Wait, you don't usually ask if I'm hungry unless you got something for me to eat. Well? What is it?"
And now he was being pushy. Too bad, England knew that a hungry America was a pushy, whiny, irritating America. He should be used to it by now, what with having raised him and everything.
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Post by England on Jul 2, 2012 16:00:32 GMT -5
"Calm yourself." England stopped him with a wave of his hand. "Tea first." he announced as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and picked the boiler off its base, pouring some in his mug. "Although it's not the ideal tea, I guess it'll do..." he spoke mostly to himself, grabbing a spoon, and stirring his tea.
"You're always hungry, it doesn't count. Anyways, it's not that early after all, and the Nations will be rising soon. Since we're up and about, I suggest we help them start their day off on the right track." he turned to America, bringing his mug to his lips and wincing as he took a scalding sip of tea. "How about you and I make breakfast for the others?"
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Post by America on Jul 2, 2012 18:34:30 GMT -5
America blinked. Okay, both of them together was far better than England by himself cooking, but would the island nation still manage to ruin breakfast? America was hungry, yes, but not hungry enough to eat something that was obviously inedible, and inedible food tended to come from England's kitchen quite a bit. Still, though, the fact that he could be there watching over England's shoulder as he cooked might make the food at least a little bit tasty.
But England really had a knack for ruining food with a simple touch.
"I'll do most of the cooking!" America exclaimed loudly, sliding off the counter. "What're we having? You can get everything out and I'll start, uh...mixing the food. Ya know, I'll do the cooking. And you can be, like, my helper, meaning you can wash the dishes after I'm done!" Well, that settled it rather easily. And, just in case England was one of his silly 'I'll do it' moods, America quickly added, "You can just sit back and drink your tea or something, right?"
He was saving all the nations here. Man, he sure was heroic!
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Post by England on Jul 2, 2012 19:14:44 GMT -5
"W-What?" England blinked, surprised, and puffed his cheeks out in a pout. "But.... the entire point was doing it together..." he muttered, before realizing what he'd said and huffing loudly. "Not that I would care if you did it alone or not, because that wasn't the entire point at all. I just wanted to help, seeing as you'd probably get distracted and use all the wrong ingredients, or just get bored in the middle of the cooking process, or decide to make those bloody burgers of yours for breakfast!" he retorted loudly, unable to completely dispel the blush that was rising to his face at the thought of him and America, in the kitchen, alone, making breakfast together...
"It's not happening." he muttered to himself, shaking his head as if to convince himself. "Whatever. I'll just go have tea in the common room, then. Hopefully, if you make minimal noise in here, I can still have the tranquility I woke up early for."
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Post by America on Jul 2, 2012 20:36:02 GMT -5
Realizing his mistake, America quickly backtracked, already feeling guilty. "Well, I didn't want you out of here. I was just, uh, a bit, ya know...worried. About you...burning yourself!" He praised himself for that quick save then quickly opened a drawer and pulled out a spatula, which he stuffed in England's free hand. "But I'll protect you from the burns, so we can cook together!" He didn't really need to watch England for burns- he needed to watch his cooking skills to make sure he didn't accidentally poison the food or something.
Besides, he couldn't deny the fact that he really did want to cook with England. The thought made him a bit nervous, to be doing something so normal, but he wanted some sort of normalcy in his life. Cooking breakfast was normal and to do it with England would be a plus, even if he did have to endure eating his terrible food.
But, hey, it was England and he didn't mind, so long as he could see England smile.
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Post by England on Jul 3, 2012 18:15:42 GMT -5
England raised one of his eyebrows, obviously doubting the veracity of America's words, but shrugged and let it slide. At least he got what he was aiming for.
"Me, burn myself? I'd be more worried about you drowning yourself in a glass of orange juice." he rolled his eyes and looked at the spatula he held. "In that case, we should get started. What do we have left in the fridge?" He was somewhat worried about food not getting there on time, because, of course, they were Nations, and they could survive much longer without food. That didn't make it any less displeasing, or didn't make it less harmful. Hunger and lack of energy wouldn't hurt them, but not having enough energy to fight off a zombie would.
His mind was always work, work, work, he realized. Everything just seemed so critical that he just wouldn't allow himself to stop, think, and smile. He just wanted a moment with America, but he was sure that something would happen to make his mind drift off, back to the barren lands full of corpses- of both the innocent humans they'd vowed to protect and the nations that he had vowed to keep unharmed.
"Let's get started." he prompted softly, shaking his head. And he wondered if America would be able to steal him away from his thoughts and take him somewhere they could be alone together with no worries and no anxiety.
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Post by America on Jul 3, 2012 18:42:39 GMT -5
"Drown myself in a glass of orange juice?" America snorted. "No, I doubt that would ever happen." He opened the fridge once more. "Plenty of eggs," he responded, a bit on the dull side. Eggs were boring. He wanted some sort of festive breakfast, like blueberry muffins. "We might have grits and oatmeal in the pantry. Those were easy to store so I requested them last time they brought supplies in." He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "And, it looks like we have some bacon down here, but it hardly looks like it could feed me, let alone the rest of the world." Quite literally, 'the rest of the world'.
Knowing already that eggs would be their best bet, at least for now, America pulled them out. "If we have enough materials, we could also make pancakes. Except I don't make them nearly as good as Mattie does." He froze for a second, then grinned. "Hey, I remembered his name!" That made him proud, which kept the smile on his face as he opened one of the cartons of eggs that he had pulled out. Now, how many would they need? And what type of eggs would they make? America didn't want to try and guess if one nation liked theirs hard-boiled while another nation ate theirs sunny-side up or something. He just wanted to scramble them all and say 'tough luck, this is what you got'.
"If you wanna crack these," he said, looking at England. "I can look for the grits or oatmeal and try making enough for everyone."
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Post by England on Jul 3, 2012 19:01:08 GMT -5
"I wouldn't put anything past you..." England grumbled as he leaned against the counter and watched America inspect the fridge. And secretly cheered on the fact that the fridge faced him, set against the opposite wall.
America said, at some point, a name he didn't recognize, and by the time he'd remembered that it was the nation in whose bloody country they were right now, America was handing him the eggs.
"Uh, alright, sure." he replied a bit quickly, putting his hands over America's and letting himself linger for just a second longer before pulling the eggs out of his grip. "I... I guess I'll just crack and beat these, then." he blushed and turned around, immediately starting in his search for a large bowl in the cupboards.
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Post by America on Jul 3, 2012 19:29:49 GMT -5
Once England pulled the eggs away, once he took his hands off of America's hands, the taller nation instantly regretted the loss of contact. Even if it was for only a few seconds, it seemed like more and America wanted it to be more. "Yeah, you...crack 'em. Um..." What was he supposed to be doing? Food, food, eggs and- ah! Grits. "I'll look at the grits. I mean, for them." He nodded, quickly trying to get his mind out of the clouds and focus more on breakfast.
He moved toward the pantry and peered inside. Luckily, they seemed to have enough of both grits and oatmeal. "Which one do you think the others would enjoy more?" he asked, pulling them both out to show to England. "I could add the bacon into the grits, if you want. That might make it taste awesome." Plus, America loved meat and he wanted to enjoy that bacon now. Who knows how long it would take until the next batch of supplies arrived, anyway. And as much as they might want to save food to make it last, that bacon would only feed a few nations if they just ate that alone. If he added it in with the grits now, everyone would be able to get some.
Since when did I get so generous? he wondered.
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