[Fic fill] Borders
TITLE: Borders
AUTHOR/ARTIST: thewaterbandit
RECIPIENT: ryoku_chan
CHARACTERS/PAIRINGS: England, OC!Wales
RATING: G
SUMMARY: England gives his brother Wales a lift home- it goes about as well as could be expected. Seeing as I actually had a pre-existing Wales OC, I was all over this request! Thank you for giving me a chance to gabble about him some more!
It crumbles
where the land forgets its name
and I'm foreign in my own country.
-Gillian Clarke, Borders
England hated crossing the Severn Bridge. The structure seemed too flimsy, somehow, as if a strong wind could snap the iron girders or the delicate tracery of white cables that held the long road aloft. Far below, the slate-grey waters of the Severn seemed hungry. Of all the reasons he avoided visiting Wales, this was the most irrational. Other ones he sometimes used (to his brother, to himself) were that he was busy, or that Wales wanted independence, didn't he, so why didn't he stop bothering his little brother? Far more often England had explained, drunkenly, how it was weird being somewhere else and still in your own country- yourself and not yourself. Wales usually just nodded and let his younger brother stagger off into the night. Excuses were only to be expected where England was concerned.
The toll was paid at the far end of the bridge and England felt the familiar wave of not-exactly-displacement creep over him. Beside him, Wales was looking out of the window with every sign of enjoyment. The git. England gave a loud, meaningful cough and fiddled with the volume on the radio. Wales got the hint and looked around.
"I thought I thanked you for the lift already?" he asked. This was, technically, true; he'd thanked England when the younger country had volunteered to drive him home, but by England's reckoning the thanks hadn't been nearly sincere enough.
"Well, yes." England replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "It's your own damn fault for buying a shoddy car."
Wales' eyebrows- just as large as England's, and the one identifying characteristic that all the family shared- shot up to his hairline.
"Oh, really?" he said, leaning forward in his seat and turning around to face his brother properly. "And what about the fact that I was swerving to avoid your atrocious driving?"
"I was busy." England's voice was a little quieter, and he had gripped the steering wheel more tightly.
"On the phone to your toyboy, more like." Wales' voice had fallen into the teasing tone that had been so familiar to England growing up. Though he hadn't always been the instigator (that was usually Scotland) he'd joined in with the taunting often enough. "How is America these days? Still got your special relationship going?"
"It's not like that!" England snapped. "Just because everyone mixes up you with the rest of my brothers- You've got to accept that you're just not important any more."
Wales' eyes blazed- gray-blue, like the rain and the sea- like the smoke of long-banked fires rushing to life. Suddenly the car seemed far too small, and England uncomfortably recalled the time when he and Wales had been somewhat less than friendly.
Why did he always have to fight his brothers?
"Important like you? Remind me again how the old Empire's doing?"
The words hit England like a slap to the face, a wave of anger flooding through him that was so intense he nearly reached over and hit his brother right there and then, road safety be damned. There was a long silence as both countries realised that they'd gone too far. Outside the car, it had started to rain. It was always bloody raining, England thought. It was a miracle the whole United Kingdom didn't drown, some days. On the radio, a presenter burbled about the latest political news, though neither of them were listening.
"I'm sorry." he said eventually, grudgingly. Wales looked around from the window.
"Apology accepted. Idiot." His older brother peered out into the gathering gloom as the lights of Cardiff swam into view. "It's pretty late- want to stay over? I know where we can get a decent curry and my house is pretty big." He paused. "You've never actually stayed over, have you?"
England realised he hadn't.
"Okay." he said, and turned the car into the denser city traffic. "After all, you still owe me for the lift."