Arthur Kirkland (Britain)'s Story

[I believe we have enough countries to make a couple of posts. Dorms have been updated, but keep the posting low for the time being. I'll probably have my electric off starting tomorrow. Also I've updated England and added a different picture.]

United Kingdom, with a red scarf checkered and dappled with black, was currently reading against one of the larger boulders. The school seemed to border one of the coastlines of Maine, and though it was indeed a bit chilly, it was at the same time a pretty sight to behold, and on top of it, a vivid lighthouse was adjacent to the coastline on a sloped hill dappled with small boulders and rocky terrain under the protruding earth.

The boy occasionally rose his emerald gaze to gawk at the clearness of the lapping ocean, watching it and gazing at it's delicate creep towards the shoreline. The waves were rather calm today; probably an ideal day to have a picnic with a family on the beach or build complex sandcastles without the hassle of insane H20 roaring and slapping at you.

Arthur's plump lips twitched into the fraction of a warmed smile; all was still, peaceful, just how he enjoyed it. No France around, no America, no loudmouths. All was silent except the stalking gust of wind, the quiet mews of the lapping ocean, and the cries of overhead seagulls.

Gazing in silence as his eyes stalked the ocean, he glimpsed down at his book before delicately setting it in his green bag, which had a picture of his flying mint bunny on it. Occasionally, he'd draw the creatures he conversed with; however this time he decided to get it ironed onto the bag, since it was indeed, one of the best pictures of flying mint bunny he's draw, in his perspective at least.

The boy set down the bag near the boulder he was leaning against and he took off his boots and socks, stuffing his checkered socks into the brown, laced boots and pushed them to the side. Arthur leaned down and tugged up the (sleeves?) of his deep grey jeans to where they reached his knee. Taking one last brief glance of the school behind him, he scuttled towards the water and pressed his left hand to his lips in contemplation, using his right hand to extend his index digit and he inched the digit towards the surface of the water.

United Kingdom flinched back from the frigid shock of the water, though, he reasoned that if he didn't let his feet become accustomed to it, of course the water would feel chilling to his skin. Impulsively acting on this thought, the nation breathed in quietly and stepped into the water, his feet becoming numb on contact.

"Ffffr! Dear god this water is freezing! I'm surprised I haven't already developed hypothermia." Shuddering, he leaned forwards and watched as the, naturally accustomed to the water, creatures floated curiously towards him. They appeared to be cold water fish, at the same, and they watched the nation from afar, opening and closing their gills to breathe.

Apparently one didn't like him though, and frantically slapped it's tail in and out of the water, splashing cold, salt water directly at England. Fortunately for him, no water got on his clothes. Unfortunately, he got some water in his mouth, because before the fish decided to go stircrazy, he was gaping at the beauty and design of the coldblooded creatures.

"Sweet fanny adams!" He yelled, the salty taste of the water stuck in his mouth, and he jumped away from the water and sunk his toes into the damp sand. "How brackish!"

The boy's tongue poked in and out of his mouth as he frantically, in a futile attempt, tried to retract the taste from his buds. "And they say my cooking is bad! My scones are delightful, and even if they were bad, I'd bet this is worse!"

United Kingdom sighed in defeat, dealing with the horrible taste of the brackish water, as he brushed the sand off his feet and slipped into his boots. He pulled down the sleeves of his jeans and stuffed them into the boots lazily, lacing up the boots and prodding the heel with his index digit as he muttered. "There goes my splendid relaxation break. Others will most likely be arriving shortly."

The boy sighed, once again, and slung the bag over his shoulder. Glancing up at a large boulder in the water, he bunched up his haunches and lunged to the boulder, landing horribly lamely on top, scrambling to grab onto the cracks and dangling off. England dug the heels of his boots into the cracks and pulled himself upwards, resting on top of the boulder which, was a good couple of feet away from the shoreline, and was in the water.

Taking in a deep breath, he lavished the moment of smelling the sea aroma; reminding him of his days of being a pirate when he was younger, bordering his child years. "Good times. It was fun being a young pirate lad," he said, leaning back and sitting indian style on top of the surface of the boulder. Fumbling out his book, he juggled it in the air for a couple of seconds before finally catching it, sighing in relief. "Thought I'd drop it," he whispered with his heavy English accent that was always present. Flipping to the page he was reading, it appeared to be a book about embroidery and sewing.

"I must say, that young lady has some decent taste in design," he said aloud, kicking his heels playfully against the side of the boulder. "Very delicately sewn and, beautifully ornate."

"Finally I'm here!" Mei exclaimed as she stopped on the side walk and turned her head to look at the school. It was rather large and not a bad site. There were trees, the grass was luscious and green, and you could smell that the ocean wasn't very far off. Thinking about the ocean made her quite happy she had come to America to go to school. She could never pass up the chance to put on a stylish bikini and tell everyone that she had made it herself. Mei let out an exhausted sigh and, unzipping her back back, took a few gulps of water from her water bottle and then placed it back into her bag and swung it back over her left shoulder. Why didn't I get a cab instead of riding the bus.. She thought to herself as she made her way onto the campus, pulling along a large white rolling suitcase that matched her back pack. The bus stop was two miles back and I could've taken a cab right up to the front door.. She thought to herself and let out another sigh. America was pretty warm this time of year and, although she would've usually dressed more lightly in more casual clothes for school, today she decided to wear her qipao. She wanted to make a good impression and by the way she dressed one could easily tell she was an Asian country. She decided that after she found her dorm she would change into her casual clothes and hoped that the dorms had air conditioning. As she approached the front door, she stopped abruptly and watched as a woman with blonde hair trip on the sidewalk in front of the front entrance, then a young blonde man going over to help her. She let out a small giggle and then walked over to her. "Excuse me miss are you alright?" she asked as politely as she could, holding back the urge to pull out her camera and take an embarrassing photo of the girl. She didn't want to give off the impression of being nosy, at least not today.

Finland recovered from the royal face plant and Alex surfaced right next to him with a book. "What did you find ooh a book this looks interesting." Finland said. I should return this to it's owner but maybe I will take a peek Finland thought but decided not to because he didnt own the book. "Alex lets go find the owner" Finland said while he gazed to the direction of the school only seeing 3 people hmm maybe it belong to one of the girls but he discarded the idea almost immediatly after recalling seeing the guy on the boulders. Finland paced to meet the other students hoping they would remember who he is.

"Hi let me introduce my..." Finland started but stumbled on his sailor bag landing face firts to the ground and the book flew out of his hands it landed in a reaching distance of england but he was still few meter away. "Self my name is Finland" he said with a great amount of pain in his voice why do I always land face firts I will never know Finland thought to himself. Finland picked himself up hoped that nobody noticed it. Alex was standing next to Finland and looked like he was blushing a bit like he was embarrased of his owner for being so clumsy allmost all of the time he made a bowing gesture to the direction of Enland, Hungary and taiwan while he made a typical penquin noise.

"Alex you do realize you dont have to feel emberassed every time I fall in front of people right?" Finland asked from the mute penquin. "I know you can speak or I think you can speak wich is it?" Finland asked but no reply. The other student were speaking but the fall made it so Finland could not hear what they were saying (the loud noise that thick Finnish skull makes when it hits an object as thick as the ground is, the noise makes hard to hear anything.)

Hungary blushed slightly as she watched Britain pick up her clothes and put them back in the suitcases, she blushed even brighter when he picked up a pair of her panties without even realizing it. After everything was neatly put away she sighed with relief that he hadn't noticed, "Yes.. I am Hungary and sank you for helping me... Britain correct" she said as she took the hand he offered to her.

Thats when she heard a voice behind her this was another female voice however and she turned to see a pretty little Asian girl, in a beautiful dress. It made Hungary almost feel a little under dressed, "I am just fine sank you for asking" she replied to the girl. Before she could turn back to Britain someone else face planted on the ground as well. "Oh dear I sink you av the same problem as I do" she said with a slight chuckle as she knelt down next to Finland. "You didn't hurt your head did you?" she asked as she tried to examine were he hit his head on the ground.

"Your are Finland right, goodness everyone is getting here all at once" she said as she brushed aside Finland's bangs and smiled at him. "Well I guess you did more damage to the sidewalk then you did to your head, here lets get you off the ground before someone trips over you", she said as she stood up again and reached down to pull him up.

The Italian boy was still scrutinizing poor Matthew and coming up with a new plan of attack when Britain walked over. He turned his head to acknowledge the country, and listened while he was being spoken to. When he was referred to as 'Romanio', he stuck his chin out in indignation, a slight growl emerging from his throat. If one listened closely enough, they could hear the quiet, irritated chigigi's the Italian said under his breath.
However, when it was mentioned that the shivering blonde boy before him was neither America nor a robot, a curious look crossed his features.

"Canada?" He said experimentally, shrugging like it was just a little mistake, "Sorry, I've never met you before."

Of course, he had met Canada before. They'd both been present in more than one World Conference together, but Matthew just supposed that he had a forgettable face. Since he was used to this kind of treatment, the Canadian held no special resentment towards him. Like everything, he simply let it go.

By the time Britain had made it over to Canada, Romano had lost interest in the now unexciting situation and taken off with his bags in search of his roommate. If the information he'd received in the letter was correct, Romano's new roommate was the soft-spoken Japan. He intended on confronting the nation and setting some precautionary ground rules.

"Thank you, Arthur." Matthew said quietly, the slightest of smiles ghosting over his lips as he filled in the blanks. He knew England well enough to know what he had almost said. "I'll make sure to let you know if he does anything."

When Britain began brushing grime off him, Matthew's already pale cheeks flushed slightly. Unlike himself, the other nation was very forward, and when you combined that how easily embarrassed Matthew was, he found himself in quite a few awkward situations, "S-something like that, I guess. I'm not even sure how I got here, to be honest.."

He was even more startled when he was offered the other boy's jacket. Normally he would have politely refused, but he was cold enough that he gratefully accepted the offering. "T-thank you!" He said again, with more enthusiasm this time. After offering the other nation a wide smile -- something that he rarely handed out -- Matthew unzipped his dew-soaked jacket. Underneath he was merely wearing a white T-shirt, and it was thin enough to clearly show that he was trembling hard. It took a lot to make a Canadian so cold he shivered, so it was a sign that he was probably frozen solid.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." Matthew said dismissively to Britain's offer to clean his jacket after he had slipped on the warm, dry coat. After he buttoned it up, heat flooded his sluggish limbs. As he slowly began to thaw, Matthew looked down at himself and laughed quietly, "Holy Maple, it's been a while since I looked like this, eh?"

He referred back to the days when he had been a part of Britain with that smile still on his face. He could still remember when he was unclaimed land and had been found by both the French and British. That had certainly been a confusing time for him; half the time he wore the French uniform and the other half he wore the British.
Then he thought about England's comment about roommates. Come to think of it, he didn't know who he was rooming with either. He should inquire about that to the school's office...

Matthew smiled, bobbing his chin to show he understood. Britain didn't really need to tell him, the Canadian already trusted him quite a lot. If anything did come up, he was definitely one of the first people Matthew would go to. Of course, even that trust did have its limits. There were still things that he would never be able to tell his friend, regardless of how much he may want to.

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, feeling a tad guilty, and laughed, "Even back then you were quite hard-headed, that much hasn't changed."

Tilting his head slightly to the side, Matthew recalled those days with nostalgia. He'd been so timid back then -- even more than he was now, if you could believe that -- that he wondered what such a fiery country saw in him. "I was so jealous of you back then, it was ridiculous." He added softly, not too long after he finished his previous sentence.

When England suggested that they go in together, he nodded without hesitation, "Of course. I need to find out who I'm rooming with too."

He looked back at where Kumajirou was sitting and watching them with interest, pulling a hand out of his pocket and waving the animal over, "Come on, let's go."

When the other nation began walking, Matthew shook his head silently and followed without a word, Kumajirou close at his heels. He had listened to England's response with no surprise whatsoever, and was now contemplating it as he walked. That was exactly how he had expected the other boy to respond to his comment, but even then Britain didn't understand why it was that Matthew had envied him. "Fine young man.." He mumbled under his breath before sighing and shaking his head again.

"Stop that," He said, an uncharacteristic annoyance in his tone, "That was exactly why I envied you. I'd take everything you just said over what I have now without a second thought." Canada had disappeared so deeply into his thoughts that he hardly realized what he'd said, and didn't feel any embarrassment until a few seconds later.

A bright pink color blossomed on his cheeks when he finally realized how bold he had been, and he looked away from the other country, towards the east. "S-sorry, I stepped out of line there. Please, forget what I said."
As his gaze rested on the far landscape, he thought again with a dry amusement that he'd seriously underestimated the beauty of this land. No matter how immature Al acted sometimes, he did take care of his country. He toyed for a moment with the idea that maybe if he looked hard enough he could see his own country from here.

Matthew had been examining the scenery when Arthur's sudden outburst made him jump. He didn't have time to turn and look before he felt gloves on either side of his head, forcing him to look the other nation in the eye. The timid blonde boy swallowed nervously, not missing that look in Britain's eyes; he was staring right into them, after all.

"You are you. I think you're perfect. Do you honestly need anyone else to think that? And I'm pretty sure that pervert of a man, Francis, thinks the same. I think you're perfect, well, for everything. If people don't notice you, then, well, I say bloody hell to them, because they're missing out on talking with a nice boy. I know this probably means nothing, Matty, but oh well, at least I try at some things." Britain said to him, the stars in his eyes seeming to dance as he spoke. Matthew listened, far too shocked at the lecture to say anything at all.

He just stood there for a moment, then two, then three. They kept passing, time seeming to slow to a stop before Matthew's chin began to shake. It was more than obvious that it took everything he had to hold himself together. Anyone else might have been more composed, but for a boy that was lucky to be noticed at all the other country's words had unbelievable impact.

"N-no," He began, in response to England's comment about not being good at giving advice or convincing, his voice trembling as he tried not to break down, "y-you're pretty good at t-this." He gave a shaky smile, "S-sure you haven't d-done this before?"

Gathering his courage, Canada stepped forward and quickly hugged the other blonde boy. "Thank you, Arthur." He whispered before quickly pulling back and turning his head so Arthur couldn't see how red his face was turning.

"L-let's get going!" He said, his voice a bit louder than his usual whisperer-soft tone. "We still have to get our dorm information!"
Before he could find himself in an even more embarrassing situation, Matthew began to jog ahead to the school building's entrance.

(( Nah, sounds like you got it. c; ))