#qichi

“The trip wasn’t that long.”

“Ksfgl.”

“Or that turbulent.”

“Shut up,” says Poland incoherently.

England ducks into the bathroom with the ugliest tee-shirt of all. When he comes out five minutes later, in the shirt and a pair of threadbare denim shorts, Poland apparently hasn’t moved at all. One foot dangles off the bed, the shoe slipping off. His hoodie crumples, discarded, on the floor. His breathing is deep and even, occasionally interrupted by soft, kitten-like snoring.

England removes the pillow, so Poland doesn’t suffocate himself, and then wanders out to fetch dinner.

Anna,

Thank you for agreeing to house-sit for us.

Make sure to keep the key with you. DO NOT lend it to anyone else.

The postman won’t be coming until we come back. Leave any packages on the kitchen table.

The cat is ONLY allowed in Poland’s room—that’s the one with the green-and-blue bedspread. KEEP ENGLAND’S DOOR CLOSED AT ALL TIMES.

The office door should stay locked.

Empty the cat litter in the evening. Fill the water bowls morning, noon, evening; food is only morning.

If there’s an emergency, call either of us. Poland is more likely to have his phone on so try him first. His phone number is—

A sodden and dripping shadow falls across the page. England looks up and meets Poland’s frown with a sweet smile.

“Did you need something?”

“You to stop reading.”

“It’s a very good book. You would enjoy it.”

“That’s not the point. We’re here to have fun.”

“I am having fun. Go swim some more.”

Poland huffs and sticks his wet hand out over the book. England jerks it away.

“You’re boring.”

England ignores him.

“Fine. Be that way,” Poland sniffs.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Poland makes a running start and does a backflip into the ocean. England pushes his glasses up with a small smile. He’ll give in after two more times, he decides.

sand castle!! #morelikeasandfortresstbh #unleashthecrabcannons

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“Thanks for fishing me out that one time.”

“I thought you said you’d finally learned how to swim!”

“I did.”

“…”

“In a chlorinated pool, indoors. With no waves. Stop laughing at me.”

“I’m not, I’m not! Where’d the aloe get to? This is nasty.”

“You think it’s nasty?”

“Shhh.”

“Ow!”

england forgot to put sunblock on :’D guess we’re going to the museum tomorrow #thankheavenforaloevera #itsfunnycozhekeptremindingME

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“I remember this one! I was visiting Vene when he commissioned it. I’m surprised he finally got around to donating it.”

“Hmm.”

“Are you okay? You look bored.”

“I’m fine.”

“We can go look at the armour if you want.”

“I’m fine, Po.”

so many memoriessssssssss #galleriedellaccademia

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“Are you sure you don’t want to look at something else?”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

ran into an old friend!!! #nationofgreece #andhisnewcat #shesadorable #hernameskarpousi #itmeanswatermelon

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“Okay, but you have to admit you’re not bored anymore, right?”

“We got kicked out of a museum, Poland.”

“Wasn’t my fault. Greece was the one who brought the kitten in.”

“Where did he go, anyway?”

“Dunno. Oooh, ice cream!”

“I call it highway robbery.”

Poland shrugs. “Take it up with Italy. I offered to pay for yours.”

“You are not paying for my ice cream.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.”

England hums and stirs his spoon around thoughtfully in the gelato.

“Do they really say that?”

Poland has to think about that. “I’m not sure,” he admits. “But people are always complaining about the Good Old Days. I’m sitting there like, you know that people in the Good Old Days spent as much time whining about how degenerate and indolent the younger generation was as you do? It’s kinda hilarious. But also annoying. Like. Chill.”

“People don’t change much, do they?”

“No.”

They both smile, fondly, a bit abstractedly. A small child is shouting across the square. A pigeon beats a wind around with frantic wings and finally lifts off with a squawk.

Poland crams the last of his gelato into his mouth and looks hungrily at England’s bowl.

“Are you gonna finish that?”

back at the airport! vacation was way too short xD #cantwaittillChristmas

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Hi! You’ve reached the Nation of Poland, leave your message and I’ll get back to you later!

Mister Poland? Hi, this is Anna—uh, your house sitter—uh you said to call if there was an emerg—huh? [indistinguishable conversation with someone else] sorry that was the, um, the guy from the water damage place—one of the pipes to the washing machine burst and your basement flooded. Uh, you should probably call me back—

I went through about thirty different ideas before i settled on this one :’D I’d originally planned to have all the little social media posts accompanied by photos-- the idea was to have them be instagram pics-- but in the end time constraints i got bronchitis made that infeasible :’D

as you can probably tell, I used the “on vacation abroad” prompt with england and poland. I. still don’t really get the whole “platonic partners” thing????  I kind of ended up going with “they’re best friends who live together” so hopefully that’s close enough to what you intended! :’D