Fanfiction → in any other world. {France/England}
» Dystopian Future!AU. Christmas gift for maikichelorrain. Joyeux Noël!
» One-shot
» England ; Spain ; Mentions of France ; Implied France/England
» PG-13
'cause it's all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man
say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in.
He doesn’t quite know how or when exactly they ended up here, but he knows it must have been sometime after WWIII, when Alfred stupidly decided to try and assassinate Yao and everything blew to shreds.
Sometimes he blames Alfred.
Sometimes he blames himself.
Sometimes, (and this is quite rare but still happens), he goes outside the compound to talk to Kiku and Matthew and they can even find the strength to laugh about past times.
But that is very rare.
Usually, he sits in his dingy cell and reads Shakespeare and thinks about how wrong the man was about love, then he fetches his chipped beaker and wishes tea was still around on the market. Then he throws away Romeo and Juliet and brings out Brave New World, because at least he can sympathise with that story.
On the ceiling he sees a half scrawled picture. A rose, and with it the words: ‘there is nothing greater in the world than love.’
He lets out a sharp bark of laughter. Francis had always been a fool.
A fool; but one Arthur longs for dearly.
There is a light knock at the door and in enters Antonio, who is still a happy and smiling person despite the fact he lost everything and there are dark shadows of sadness under his eyes.
come outside, amigo.
what for? to see the rest of them and pretend that nothing is wrong? that we haven’t been reduced to nothing?
you sit here all day and read your books and complain. you cannot help it anymore than we can. find joy in what we still have.
The Englishman scowls, before following the Spaniard outside.
Outside is dull and dreary and grey. In the corner he sees Ivan sitting quietly, trying very hard to conceal a bottle of alcohol and failing because Gilbert has spotted it and is marching over and Ludwig is struggling to hold him back. The wind blows cold and harsh and he breathes in but he can’t seem to get any air.
Then he spots Willem, dealing out cards with Berwald and Matthias. Wandering over to join them, he notices little details: how Matthias’ hair is shorter, how Berwald squints without his glasses. How Willem doesn’t smell of smoke anymore.
He looks down at himself. He had noticed little changes like that in Francis, before Francis had disappeared.
He remembers he had lost weight.
...they have all lost weight.
Arthur tips his head back at the empty sky and mutters the lyrics to a song he used to know.
take a bow, play the part of a lonely, lonely heart
say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in.
in any other world you could tell the difference.
» If anyone is wondering, the song Arthur hums is 'In Any Other World' by Mika.
» One-shot
» England ; Spain ; Mentions of France ; Implied France/England
» PG-13
'cause it's all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man
say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in.
He doesn’t quite know how or when exactly they ended up here, but he knows it must have been sometime after WWIII, when Alfred stupidly decided to try and assassinate Yao and everything blew to shreds.
Sometimes he blames Alfred.
Sometimes he blames himself.
Sometimes, (and this is quite rare but still happens), he goes outside the compound to talk to Kiku and Matthew and they can even find the strength to laugh about past times.
But that is very rare.
Usually, he sits in his dingy cell and reads Shakespeare and thinks about how wrong the man was about love, then he fetches his chipped beaker and wishes tea was still around on the market. Then he throws away Romeo and Juliet and brings out Brave New World, because at least he can sympathise with that story.
On the ceiling he sees a half scrawled picture. A rose, and with it the words: ‘there is nothing greater in the world than love.’
He lets out a sharp bark of laughter. Francis had always been a fool.
A fool; but one Arthur longs for dearly.
There is a light knock at the door and in enters Antonio, who is still a happy and smiling person despite the fact he lost everything and there are dark shadows of sadness under his eyes.
come outside, amigo.
what for? to see the rest of them and pretend that nothing is wrong? that we haven’t been reduced to nothing?
you sit here all day and read your books and complain. you cannot help it anymore than we can. find joy in what we still have.
The Englishman scowls, before following the Spaniard outside.
Outside is dull and dreary and grey. In the corner he sees Ivan sitting quietly, trying very hard to conceal a bottle of alcohol and failing because Gilbert has spotted it and is marching over and Ludwig is struggling to hold him back. The wind blows cold and harsh and he breathes in but he can’t seem to get any air.
Then he spots Willem, dealing out cards with Berwald and Matthias. Wandering over to join them, he notices little details: how Matthias’ hair is shorter, how Berwald squints without his glasses. How Willem doesn’t smell of smoke anymore.
He looks down at himself. He had noticed little changes like that in Francis, before Francis had disappeared.
He remembers he had lost weight.
...they have all lost weight.
Arthur tips his head back at the empty sky and mutters the lyrics to a song he used to know.
take a bow, play the part of a lonely, lonely heart
say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in.
in any other world you could tell the difference.
» If anyone is wondering, the song Arthur hums is 'In Any Other World' by Mika.