A Game of Chess

Chapter 11: Illusion

They both agreed, not to bring politics into their relationship but he didn't know how much more longer he could just overlook this. There was just something in his gut telling him, what he was doing was bad. Being associated with him was bad. He was bad. Biting down his tongue while Ivan's people suffered because Ivan was just that self-centered, what the hell was he doing? Was he really that infatuated with that guy to throw away his morals? Usually, this was the moment where he'd just think of his smiling appearance, let the doubt just fall away. But that didn't happen, not this time.

He cringed a bit, not before realizing his face had turned into a frown. He grumbled, diverging from his direction to the meeting room and quickly filled up a cup of coffee at the drink station. His emotions were a weak spot to him, they always were. Ivan always thought that of him, like it was a flaw. Though he didn't feel like he had to change that fact. Unlike him, he was a sympathetic person who offered that sympathy to anyone who needed it.

"Ugh.." He muttered to himself, chugging down the cup.

Now he was mentally badmouthing his partner behind his back. Good grief.. He really was messed up.

He held the cup to his mouth, chugging the bitter brown liquid in large gulps. He needed to get himself together, he was phasing out. A little bit of caffeine would do the trick. Holding the cup above his lips, shaking for any remaining drops, he needed all that he could get. A strong bolt of energy surged through him when he placed the cup down. Hopefully he wouldn't have to replenish in a while.

Alfred walked through the doors, immediately being spotted by Arthur and Matthew. They stood off to the side and were facing each other like they were chatting before noticing him. Arthur had that strict look on his face, like an instructor who didn't know how to take a joke. But then again, he always looked like that when facing Alfred. Because of his industrial success and new-found power over Europe, Arthur started to take more of an interest in teaching him how to properly run an 'empire' Although he never liked looking to Arthur for his help, he had to admit that his stories of foreign bargaining were actually starting to get quite useful. Though he would admit he felt guilty relying on him for these types of things.

"Alfred, finally you're here." Arthur said, making his way over to him with Matthew following along. He held a dark wooden cane with an embedded silver metal ring on it, leaning on it to walk ever so often. Yet no matter how much he fell out of his walking pattern, he always seemed to make it look elegant and smooth. Well that, and like an old man. The closer they got to him, the louder the clack of the cane would get.

The American wore a large grin on his face and opened his arms. "Hey Iggy! It's been such a long time since I've seen you buddy!"

Arthur dodged the hug, scoffing a bit as Alfred whined softly. "Oh don't be ridiculous, it has only been six months."

"Exactly! I haven't seen you in six months! Don't you think I deserve a hug?" Alfred said lightheartedly, holding his arms open still.

The Englishman gave him a wry face that lasted a couple of moments before sighing and rolled his eyes in defeat. Alfred grin grew larger, as he scooped up the more frailer person and gave them a tight hug. "Gahk! G-Git, I can't breath!"

"Ahahah, sorry about that buddy." He apologized, setting the man down.

"Good lord, you've only grown more brash since I've seen you. Where the hell did your manners go?"

"Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"Have you already forgotten about my injuries?" Arthur yelled, waving his cane at Alfred and using his other hand to lean on a chair.

Alfred laughed loudly, avoiding the attack radius of the cane. Though he admits, he should've been more gentler with Arthur. The aftermath of the second World War left everyone in Europe and Asia with immense pain. The north American brothers were not excused from the consequences of the war either, but they weren't as ruined as the others. Because the country's lands in Europe were actually destroyed, it took much longer for them to heal, even slower than an average human being. It was such a pain to watch them fall in and out of recovery rooms, thank god mostly all of them were healed. Arthur was the only one left, but he was doing much better than he was last year. All he had was a limp in his left right leg, doctors predicted that he would be better in around 3 months.