vatheon | (no subject)

Gilbert hummed, taking in the information with a thoughtful expression. So, the people who kidnapped them at least allowed them free housing and food? Awfully generous of them. Although that brought up the fact /why/ they would go through so much trouble to kidnap a great group of people - from all over the world at different time periods - and place them in the same spot under the sea (and also, if people came from different time periods, did that mean that this place existed out of time? Did time even flow here? No, there was obvious day and night here...) and letting them have whatever they wanted, this 'Nostalgia Nook' aside.

It was all very suspicious, and Gilbert hated suspicious things. Plots and schemes were things very familiar to him, but he had hoped he left all of that convoluted thinking behind when he was effectively 'retired' after WWII.

He was quiet as they walked the remaining distance to Canada's house. He thought the building looked quite nice. Modest yet spacious, and definitely very warm inside, with a nice soft plush carpet. Oh man, that was awesome on his feet. He stopped shivering as badly, and looked about. "Karma?"

For the time being, he decided to spare Gilbert the full history lesson about the place as it included details about people actually going missing around Halloween and showing back up later, acting all strange and unlike themselves. As well, they had found weird things but couldn't remember it so it went right along with that whole plotting and scheming thing. There was definitely more to the place than met the eye and sometimes some possibly shady things going on in dark places, but details like that was probably best left until later.

"Kumanju. You know. The polar bear that always hangs around with me?" Kumanju. Karma. Kumajirou. It was all right about the same, right? Pretty much, anyway. At least he knew who he was talking about. And tended to at least get the first letter right and a few other letters here and there.

"If you wait here a moment, I'll only be gone for a few minutes." Of course Gilbert was also free to wander around if he wanted. Canada was just quickly darting off to get those clean, dry clothes. For the most part, he kept the place quite clean and orderly. Of course, it still did have that lived-in feel to it at least so it wasn't like it was pristine or anything. Plus he also had made sure that he had awesome, comfortable furniture because it was key to any house or apartment that the furniture be welcoming. ...or because he sometimes fell asleep on them. Either one worked.

Gilbert 'ah'd. Right. The creepy speaking polar bear...thing. Well Gilbert couldn't really talk, since he had Gilbird - ah! That was right! Gilbert patted the top of his head, and briefly looked crushed when the familiar weight of Gilbird was absent. Of course...right, he was in bed when he got snatched up. Poor Gilbird...probably all alone without him. Although it was for the best. Gilbert didn't know if there were any dangers in this weird place, and he wouldn't want the poor bird to get in the way of it all. Besides, Bruderchen would feed and look after him. Well, he better.

Gilbert moved over to the furniture, leaving Karma curled up on the armchair and claimed the sofa for himself. He flopped down on it, groaning in pleasure at sitting on something soft and not standing on his very painful feet. He rested his head against the back of the sofa, closing his eyes, before he suddenly sat up straight and lifted up a foot, brushing off any grass or stones still clinging to the soles. Yuck. His feet were so dirty. Oh well, he'd worry about that later.

It was probably a good thing Gilbert didn't call Kuma creepy around Canada or else he'd have to defend the poor little polar bear. ...well Kuma could probably defend himself, but Canada would still feel it necessary to do so since the bear was his favourite companion. ...and one he had only lately. The first time he had arrived, Kuma hadn't been with him. As much as he would have liked to think it was better off that way, he had missed the bear so having him around made the place feel a bit more like home.

Canada would simply vaccuum later and not say a word about any debris brought inside. It was inevitable, really, and he had sort of expected it. Plus it would have been rude to simply expect Gilbert to clean up since it wasn't like he did it on purpose.

Finally showing back up, he offered he the pile of clothes he had brought with him. ...he really had brought him a shirt with a maple leaf on it. And secretly he even included a pair of red and white socks. The socks, though, were negotiable since he really didn't fully expect him to wear them. "The bathroom's up the stairs and to the left if you feel like cleaning up. After you're ready, I'll meet you in the kitchen."

Gilbert perked up a little at the offer of cleaning up, and he debated. He was wet - and faintly smelling like he took a dip in the ocean (which he supposed he did) - and had muddy feet from walking on pavement and grass...well. Maybe a quick shower would do him some good, and refresh him a little. His eyelids felt so heavy he felt ready to conk out on Canada's coffee table. "Yeah, I think I'll clean up," he said, standing up on his sore feet again and taking the clothes - socks and all - from the blond. "Thanks, buddy," he smiled.

He really didn't understand how people kept forgetting Canada. He was nice and calm, and served the greatest pancakes in the world. And it wasn't like he was plain or anything - his hair was pretty bright, and he carried around a polar bear. You'd have to be legally blind to miss that. Well whatever. It just meant that Gilbert got to horde the pancake maker aaaaaaall to himself, kesesese~

He went up the stairs and to the left, stepping into a clean bathroom. Thankfully the bath and shower didn't look totally alien, and it didn't take long to manage the knobs to know which one gave out hot water, and which one cold. He took the quickest shower in history, not bothering with shampoo or anything (the main thing was to get the mud and smell of ocean off), and dried himself off with a nice fluffy towel.

Gilbert felt totally refreshed when he went downstairs, his hair damp, but smelling clean and dressed in the warm shirt, trousers, and red and white socks. Although Gilbert was slightly taller than Canada, he was smaller in terms of broad shoulders, so the shirt hung off him a little. Gilbert didn't complain. He loved baggy clothes. They were comfy.

"Ahh~ I /really/ needed that!" Gilbert said, apparently back to his usual energetic self as he stepped into the kitchen. "You have no idea!"

Sometimes Canada didn't understand it, either (he also didn't understand how people could mistake him for America, either, but that was another of his little complaints that he kept quiet). Though, now that America was back around, he was worried that people would start mistaking them again. He figured it simply meant he'd just have to apologise for his brother's antics once again and assure people that he really wasn't him.

On the other hand, not being noticed so much also had it's own advantages. He had free time to do whatever he wanted and it meant that those who did actually remember him and know who he was were some pretty decent friends he knew he could count upon.

Looking up from the stove and glancing over, he gave a smile and nod of approval. "That style looks good on you." Biased? Perhaps a little bit. Maybe Gilbert should consider becoming Canadian. They had the best fashion and all the pancakes one could ever want to eat. How could one say no to that?

"How are you feeling? You're looking much better now, anyway." There was a small plate with some toast on it already sitting on the table, waiting to be claimed. He had also brought out the milk and orange juice but hadn't poured anything into the glass sitting next to them since he didn't know which one would be preferred. If either, for that matter. "The toast is already done and I have some bacon finishing up as well."

"Any style looks good on this," Gilbert laughed, gesturing to his body and exaggerating his cocky grin. He snorted and shook his head, stepping over to the table and sitting down in front of the plate of toast. He nibbled on it, using one hand to undo the lid on the bottle of milk. He was met with semi-success. Finally just using his teeth to hold onto the toast, he let the cooked bread balance precariously from his lips as he used both hands to open the bottle of milk and then poured it into the glass. Stupid bottles with their stupidly tightly closed lids.

"Mmph...mn," Gilbert pulled the toast away from his mouth. "I feel a lot better. Still a bit confused and shit, but I think I can worry about the whole kidnapping and living in what's possibly an alternative dimension thingy after food and a nap." He nodded to himself. "Mmhmm...it's not like there's any immediate danger or anything. Ahah, listen to me. I'm scraping the rust off of my paranoid soldier side," he chortled.

"You're lucky that I didn't try to shoot you at first, really. I've been here long enough to know that it wouldn't have solved a thing." For just a moment there was the tiniest of smirks before he gave an apologetic look and went back to flipping a pancake. "Though it never really hurts to be a bit on edge still around here. As nice as it is, there's still something a bit strange about the whole thing since this whole thing isn't really normal." Besides. Letting one's guard down completely and just going with everything and believing it was harmless was never really in anyone's best interest - even if some natives would try to tell people otherwise. "Once there was honest to goodness dinosaurs roaming around this place. They just randomly appeared one day. The first few were decent enough - small and mostly plant eaters - but then the more dangerous ones showed up." There was a tiny shrug as he shook his head. Sometimes truth was stranger than most fiction.

In retrospect, he probably could have opened the bottle but that would have deprived him of that little free show there so it worked itself out in the end. He was just thankful that Gilbert didn't end up dropping the milk and spilling it all over.

"Though you may be onto something with the whole otherly dimensional thing. There's people here from worlds that don't even exist back home. And others from alternate versions of home. It's strange and yet interesting to learn about."

Gilbert's brain was still stuck on 'dinosaurs', but after a moment he said a very bland, "really." Dinosaurs? Alright, so this place obviously existed beyond time - and if there were people who came from different worlds entirely...hm. Well, there were those weird scientists who said that alternative dimensions existed, it was just impossible to breach the lines between them, currently. So if this place existed /out/ of time, perhaps it was...a centre, place...thing...

...whatever...

Gilbert suddenly found himself no longer caring. No matter how much he puzzled over the entire thing, he had too little information to think up a good enough outline of the situation. So he decided to stick with things he did know. He was kidnapped. He was sitting with a 1917 version of Canada (oh, he probably didn't know about WWII or Prussia being dissolved, how strangely...relieving) in his home. Dinosaurs made occasional appearances. Food and housing was free. So.

No more thinking for today. He was giving himself a headache.

"Hmm...all very strange. But enough about it for now. My head hurts from all this crazy stuff." Gilbert grumbled, waving a hand dismissively to gesture that that topic was over and done with for now.

Dinosaurs were just one of several strange things. Exploding fairies, being stuck informal clothing, seeing ghosts, seeing peoples thoughts appear over the heads, the list of oddities went on and on. But he did have to agree that it was enough speaking about it for the time being.

Strangely enough, it was actually Japan who accidentally let slip that there was another war after the first one so he did know some things about future events. And that somehow nobody really destroyed the world seeing that they were still around (though sometimes he still wonders how it was possible everyone was able to manage not to kill each other and destroy the world). How that was managed was probably best left for later, though. Anyway he knew the basics. He didn't know the finer details, though.

"I have some aspirin around if you need it." It was a helpful offer but it'd have to wait until he was finished. Speaking of which, a fresh, warm stack of pancakes was being brought over. That could only mean that the bacon was next. It just needed a little longer for some extra crispness. "Later I can show you around some, if you'd like. Though I have to warn you the stops on my tour include the park and the library." Two of the most important places if anyone asked him.

Gilbert perked up in a very dog-like manner when Canada set down the pancakes. Hell, if he had a tail it would be wagging at a million miles per hour. He loved Canada's pancakes. They always made him feel fuzzy and warm, even if he was in a bad mood (and consequently, he always went around to Canada's place whenever he was in a bad mood for the sole purpose of cheering up - and catching up with the quiet nation). He dug in eagerly.

"That's fine," he said. "I like parks." And he liked books. Most people looked at him and assumed him to be too impatient or hot-blooded to sit still long enough to read a book - but he had an entire library of his memoirs of growing up for the past 822 years (which would probably make any historian cream themselves to get their hands on). If he could write all of them, he could read books and enjoy them too. "And it's good to know your way around and stuff."

"I have some helpful maps around here somewhere as well as a welcome brochure. I'll have to see if I can find it." Clearly he was the most organised member of the welcoming committee. At least he had them around still so they might come in handy. ...if he could find them. As he was putting the back down on thet able finally, he was also smiling quite happily. "There's a lake in the park. And it has ducks." It seemed to be some sort of important point for him to note it. In reality, though, it wasn't all too special. It was simply Canada sharing his enjoyment of that little fact. "There's also a greenhouse near the park as well and a grove of apple trees." It was nice to visit later in the year, especially when the apples were in season.

For a few moments there was this sort of pause as he thought about something, trying to decide whether or not he simply wanted to get over saying it or not. In the end he decided to since it was better than putting it off until later. "Y'know, you're really not so bad, really." It was meant as a compliment, actually, despite the slight awkwardness to it.

Gilbert smiled at the mention of ducks. Obviously, he had a pure love for all feathered beings, and many nations had stated that they were disturbed to see Prussia - an old war horse and admitted psychotic at times soldier - laughing delightedly while feeding some ducks or swans or pigeons. Gilbert didn't care. He loved birds. And he was envious of how they could simply fly away whenever they wanted. It'd be so cool, able to fly...

"Hm, sounds like they didn't hold anything back when making that park," Gilbert merely commented, finishing off the last bite of the pancakes. He had practically inhaled the entire tower within a few minutes. He had been really hungry after his confused, angry moment. He wiped at his mouth, and looked up when Canada spoke, his eyebrows rising in mild confusion.

"Hm? Not so bad? Why? Did you expect me to be bad or something?" Gilbert asked, trying to remember what his relationship with Canada was like back in 1917. Well, they had just finished the Great War, so...yeah, some tension would've existed then, huh...

"I was quite happy to see the ducks. They seem to like me, I think." Given that he'll spend hours there feeding them, they've probably come to figure out he at least isn't going to hurt them. Later, they could feed the ducks together and he could properly introduce them to Gilbert. They'd probably enjoy meeting someone new.

"To be totally fair, you were on the wrong side." From a very basic point of view, anyway, without going into the deeper aspects of the causes and all of the war. "Plus I don't think I've ever heard anyone say you were a good influence." Unless, of course, one wanted to learn strategy and good military skills. ...or how to freeload with the best of them. "On the other hand, England tends to dislike a lot of people so I really don't hear much praise about others from him." A smile accompanied a tiny little shrug. "It doesn't really matter though now, eh."

"Would you like some more pancakes?" The pan was still warm enough that it wouldn't take very long at all he figured.

Gilbert frowned a little, trapping his finger against the table as he took a swig of his glass of milk. "I'm a very good influence," he said, a hint of pride to his tone. "Have you seen Germany lately? I mothered the shit out of that uptight idiot. He's the perfect paragon of awesomeness - okay, so he doesn't know how to have fun without me forcing him too, but still. He's awesome." Gilbert nodded to himself, assured that he was a very good influence - just towards his little brother. Prussia had been nothing short of jealousy possessive over Ludwig's upbringing, and all but got into a physical fistfight with Austria over who would have him. Gilbert won, obviously.

"But I guess it doesn't matter any more," Gilbert conceded. "That was like...ages ago." And Germany lost those two wars, so Gilbert didn't like thinking on them. Honestly, Gilbert gave his little brother a successful empire and he did nothing but drive it into the ground repeatedly. Alright, so now Germany is a very efficient and prosperous country, even with the economical crises, but still, took him long enough to get there(and he still didn't have any war victories to his name).

"Nah, I'm fine, thanks. I'm totally stuffed," Gilbert pushed the plate away pointedly. "And sleepy. And still confused over everything, bleeeh..."

"Don't worry so much about it." A light smile accompanied his words. "You have plenty of redeeming qualities." He liked to think positively like that, anyway. And besides. Anyone who could actually remember him and not think he was America was even better in his book. Plus the fact he liked pancakes helped as well. "Besides. It doesn't really matter here since we're all in this together." It didn't help any at all if one was to be particular about the little things. Plus it was a rather silly practice, anyway.

"It's easier to get along and explore other avenues." Which was nice because before he could never have said he was friends with Japan and Vietnam. Such opportunities had arose because of being stuck in Vatheon. On the other hand, it was a shame that nobody would probably remember it after returning so they might as well make the most of things while they could.

Smiling a bit more once again, he swiped the plate from the table and neatly put it in the sink so that he could start cleaning up then before he left it for later. "There's a spare bedroom if you'd like, or the couch is always available." Both were of good quality and great for naps if needed so Gilbert was free to occupy either. There was no mint on the pillow, but the sheets were clean.

Gilbert hummed softly to himself as he considered his options. Bed or sofa? He wasn't picky about sleeping on either of them. The sofa had been comfortable when he had been sitting on it, but a bed...oh a bed sounded divine, with blankets and pillows and a soft, soft mattress. The only thing was that he'd have to climb the stairs, and he felt too stuffed, lazy and tired for that shit.

"Well," he murmured. "...I'll take the bed, if you're offering it. I just need to...curl up under the covers and die for a few hours," he cut himself off with a jaw-breaking yawn, covering his mouth with his hand. Blinking tears from his eyes he shook his head. "God I'm bushed. Kidnapping just...exhausts you, huh?"

"Good choice." That meant he could claim the couch for himself after he was finished. On the other hand, a bed was much more preferrable as well since it made napping even better. "It's the second door on the right once you get up the stairs." Just ignore any odd decorations in there since he can never throw anything out and he's still left it decorated from how others had decided to personalise it. "It's just been a rather long, stressful day. That can take a lot out of anyone."

Running some water, he started cleaning off some of the dishes. "I should be around for a while still since I have no other plans for the rest of the day." Should Gilbert wake up and decide he wanted to ask more questions, chances were Canada would be around to answer them to the best of his ability. ...or to dodge them with great Canadian grace. "Should I not be, feel free to do whatever." Well, aside from anything harmful that was. He wouldn't want to be disappointed when he came back.

"Mm..." Gilbert was already beginning to drop off to sleep, so Canada wasn't going to pull much coherence out of him until after his nap. He yawned again and pushed himself up to his feet. "Right, right...thanks again for, like, rescuing me and giving me a place to stay," he mumbled, rubbing at his eye with a loosely closed fist. "And feeding me. Nothing cheers me up like your awesome pancakes, y'know."

"Any time you want some, you know where to find me." It was a genuine offer there, too. Any time he was more than happy to share pancakes with him. Or anyone for that matter. Really, it was hard to find a food that was better than pancakes. Some might come close, but they just didn't quite make it to the same level that pancakes did. ...and that was his bias but he was happy to share it with whoever he could.

Walking over to where Gilbert was standing, he gave him a light push towards the door. "Now go take that nap before you fall asleep on my kitchen floor."

Gilbert chuckled at the little push, exaggerating his stumble. "Aw, you wouldn't leave me on the floor though, would you?" he asked cheekily, but he smiled and have Canada a little half-salute. "Mn. Gute Nacht, Canada."

With those words, Gilbert shuffled out of the kitchen and practically crawled up the stairs on all fours. He really was exhausted. Absolutely tired. He was lucky he hadn't come here all alone. If Canada wasn't here...he would've just wandered about lost and cold, utterly alone and isolated from everyone. He shuddered at the thought. He would've thought he'd finally died, and gone to wherever it was Germania and Rome had vanished to when their empires had fallen. That possibility always scared Gilbert. He didn't want to die. But who did?

He waved those depressing thoughts away when he reached the guest room. The duvet covers were crisp and clean, and the mattress and duvet a bit cold. The bed quickly warmed up though, and barely a minute had gone by when Gilbert swiftly dropped off to sleep, his head empty of any thought.

"I might consider leaving you there, but as nice as a new rug would be, I don't think you'd make a good one." There was a bit of good-natured teasing there since he really wouldn't have left him on the floor, despite pretending to consider it.

"Sleep well. I'll check up on you later." It was a bit of a promise. Canada would let him sleep for a little bit, though, before checking up on him. He'd also give him a few minutes to get up the stairs and settled before he crept up to make sure that Gilbert had actually made it to the room rather than deciding the stairs looked comfortable. Once satisfied that Gilbert was safely in bed, he descended back down to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

At the very least he was going to try his best to just stick around since he didn't want Gilbert to have a moment of panic or anything since there had been enough excitement for the day. Plus he can find that brochure in the meantime and hopefully a map. He certainly had plenty to do in the meantime.

...and of course he'd probably end up spending most of his time napping on the couch since it sounded like a brilliant idea later.

Gilbert had a nice, long, relaxing power nap of four hours. He slept dreamlessly - thankfully, it would've been irritating to have messed up nightmares due to his situation - so when he woke up, his head was only slightly fuzzy and muddled. He was initially perplexed by his strange surroundings, but memories slowly trickled back into his mind and he grunted. Right. Yeah...

He crawled out of bed in a sloth-like manner, muffling a yawn as he stretched his arm high above his head, his spine cracking as it straightened out. "Ngh! Nice sleep..." he mumbled to himself, shuffling out of the bedroom and padding downstairs to see if Canada was still awake.

When Gilbert arrived back downstairs he was greeted with Kuma sitting at the bottom of the stairs, having been watching him descend them. The bear said nothing at all but sort of gave him a slight nod before wandering off towards the kitchen, probably to find something to eat. As for Canada, he was laying sprawled out on the couch, reading a book he had picked up from the library. Having heard Gilbert coming down the stairs, he set the book down and offered a smile.

"Good evening, sunshine. Feeling any better now?" Aside from still trying to get used to the whole being in a new place thing, of course. That took a bit longer to get used to and even then sometimes it was easy to wake up and be a bit surprised to still be in Vatheon and not homme.

Gilbert ignored the strange, sentient bear thing, giving it only a passing glance as he stepped into the living room. He did a slight double take at the greeting, mildly disturbed by the rather domestic pet name, and shook his head with a small snort. "Uhn. A bit. I feel well rested and less...angry, I guess."

Well, he wasn't less angry, but he wasn't ready to go flying off the handle and tearing the entire 'Vatheon' apart looking for those responsible for his kidnapping. He flopped down on the armchair, lifting his feet up off the floor and curling his toes over the edge of the seat. He was still pretty drowsy, so he snuggled down in the seat and watched Canada from underneath his pale eyelashes.

"So...what's the first order of business for newcomers?" he asked.