Summer Camp (July 25) A Whole New World

[samsalthehero]

July 25: A Whole New World-

Title: Time Travel and Timeless Trust
Word Count: 2,424
Genre: Fluff
Rating: K+
Summary: England and America, in need of serious vacation, go back in time to where the world was still new.

----



America had many expressions. Perhaps not as many as England did, but he had a fair amount. However, what set him apart from most other nations was that America’s expressions were mainly happy. More than fifty percent (if percentages could be used for something like that) of his faces were variations of happy, ranging anywhere from mildly amused to completely overjoyed.

However, England wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen the other nation looking so happy before.

And that was saying a lot, because he’d seen America look extremely happy (particularly that time when he’d finally said ‘I love you’-America’s reaction was actually a mental picture that England saved for each and every one of his rainy days, and that was saying something, as it rained an awful lot in England).

But no. This face, this completely, without a doubt, indisputably thrilled face was something new.

And England wasn’t sure whether or not he should be jealous.

However…

He couldn’t really blame America for reacting in such a way.

---

It all started with America complaining about how they didn’t get enough time to stay with eachother. And really, their bosses were supposed to be giving them quite a bit more vacation time than they were given, but as their bosses had, apparently, better things to do than fuss over their countries (well, the personifications), they were prone to being over-worked.

It was England who suggested, jokingly, that they use time travel, but it was America who mentioned that Tony actually had a time machine.

Plans came together pretty quickly after that.

They drew charts and studied every science reference text they could think of so they could figure out what to avoid doing, time-travel wise.

Arguments about where they wanted to go continued for weeks at a time.

However, they’d both decided that going into the future really wouldn’t be a good idea (because who knew what they might screw up, not knowing the situation that the world would be in?). And travelling too far into the past might have a complication with predators, particularly large dinosaurs, but they didn’t want any other people to be there, lest they interfere with early history.

So pre-human Asia it was.

They’d taken backpacks and gear and enough supplies to last them for months, as they had no idea whether or not they’d be able to eat anything there, even though they only planned on staying for a few weeks. But, when England’s eyes met America’s when they were preparing, they both somehow knew that they’d probably end up staying for more than just a few weeks.

---

The instant the pair stepped from the device, hand in hand, they knew that they were witnessing something beautiful.

England managed to contain most of his wonder, but America’s expression was one of pure, unbridled and unhindered joy.

They’d managed to get there right at sunrise, and the sky was a mixture of blue and pink that neither of them had seen in a long time because of the pollution in the cities they lived.

The plants around them were absolutely beautiful, too. There were flowers bigger than either of them (and they looked like they’d make lovely beds, they were so soft and silky), trees taller than the highest red-wood America had ever seen, with a few brightly colored bugs here and there. Everything seemed to be a newer, brighter shade of green, with the exception of the many, many flowers that seemed to be in colors that neither of them had seen before.

“Look, England,” America whispered, pointing out an early mammal. It was a cute thing, with big ears, quite a bit of fur and a structure similar to a raccoon’s. It stood on its back paws and considered them for a moment, tilting its head to the side.

“Yes, it’s quite the charmer,” England agreed, wondering if it would be okay to let America pet the creature (as he knew the other would absolutely love to do).

“Can we keep it?” America asked, smiling all the wider.

“No,” came England’s automatic response. Upon seeing America’s nearly heartbroken response-how did his emotions change so quickly?-England sighed and clarified. “We don’t even know what it eats. It’s never ever seen humans before, much less been kept as a domestic pet by anything remotely similar to humans. How are we supposed to take care of it, when it doesn’t want to be taken care of?”

America frowned. “But it wants to stick around us, I can tell!”

England sighed, remembering the other’s inhuman ability to befriend animals. “And how can you tell?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, you can see from the ears, something with the eyes, too,” America explained, waving his hands a bit here and there as if it would somehow clarify what he was saying. “And it’s like it’s saying… I dunno, it’s not really a human thing to say, but ‘please make me feel loved’!”

England blinked at such a phrase. “And…” he paused, carefully considering America, “You can tell all of this just by its ‘expression’?”

“Yup!” America said with a grin. “Besides, what could it hurt? It’s a single animal. According to evolution principle, there’s no forseeable way that this guy’s genes will be too important in the future, not when he’s already separated from his pack.”

“You don’t know if he’s separated from his pack,” England couldn’t help but point out.

“Hm?” America asked, turning his head towards England before smacking a hand to his forehead, albeit quietly so he wouldn’t startle the curious creature. “Oh, right, I didn’t explain this part…” America carefully pointed to an almost invisible scar on the creature’s side, along with a slight deformation on its tail in the form a random blob on the end. “Well, you see, Alfie here’s been living here on his own for a while, he’s not part of his pack. They kicked him out because of his tail and gave him that scar.”

“You can tell all of that just by looking,” England said, and it wasn’t a question. “Really.” His posture clearly said, ‘prove it’, and America looked more than up to the challenge.

“Well, considering he’s out here in the middle of nowhere, but the shape of his head and eyes indicates that he’s supposed to be of a companionable species,” America said, smiling at England’s carefully impassive expression, before continuing, “And the rest is more an educated guess. Most animals shun deformations, and when you see that the scar is roughly the shape of a bite the size of his own mouth…” he shrugged. “Well, just put two and two together, I guess.”

“Remind me again why you are never this smart during meetings?” England asked, sighing in defeat.

“’Cause it’s way more fun to make everyone else smile,” America said with a grin, before finally standing up and hugging England around the waist.

The creature considered them for a moment, before taking a few steps forward. It tilted his head in confusion, as if trying to ask what ritual they were performing. America gave a soft smile in its direction, but it was clear that the majority of his attention was focused on England.

“Oh yes, because that’s a perfectly acceptable answer,” England said with a roll of the eyes, but smiled back nonetheless.

“Hey, now, I’m just trying to make people happy,” America said, leaning in ever-so-slightly, until their foreheads bumped.

“Make me happy then,” England said, voice barely audible.

America grinned before pressing a soft kiss to the other’s lips, gradually increasing the pressure until they were equally matched and holding onto eachother as if their lives depended on it.

By the time they looked around themselves, the creature had gone.

---

“Hey ,England?” America asked a few weeks later, easily sprawled out on the flower-petal bed (and it had definitely ended up as soft as it looked). “Was this sort of how you and the other Europeans felt when they came over to the Americas for the first time?”

England smiled softly. “There’s a huge difference between then and now, but…” he paused. “I suppose it’s similar enough. There’s definitely something breathtaking about seeing something so unlike anything you’ve ever seen before in your own home.”

“Mm,” America agreed, closing his eyes as he reclined backwards even more. “But…?”

“But your land was already just as old as ours by the time we got over there.” England smiled at the memory of seeing so many forests, obviously ancient, but still fresh to the Europeans who hadn’t seen proper forests in quite some time. “This, though… This is different. This world is still… New. Nothing’s been chopped down in any way but the natural way, and everything flourishes, as if it knows it’s so fresh and beautiful and has so much potential…”

“It’s definitely beautiful,” America said with a soft smile. Cracking open one eye, he found England half leaning out the ‘window’ of the poorly constructed hut they’d built. “You wanna turn in for the night?”

“I’d hardly say it’s late enough,” England said with an indecisive frown. Upon finding that America’s expression had turned to a frown, he sighed and pulled himself from the window. “Oh, fine, if you’re going to make that face.”

America gave a lazy grin before scooting over and making room for the other. England crossed the room briskly, before sitting rigidly beside the other nation who just laughed at him (“Who’re you trying to impress?”) and looped an arm around his waist, effectively knocking him over. Within seconds, they’d become little more than a tangle of arms and legs and laughter. They quieted down after a while, though, content to simply lay there and enjoy the simple pleasure of knowing that their hearts were in sync and beating soundly.

After nearly an hour-not that they were counting-had passed, England finally broke the silence. “You know we’re going to have to go back, don’t you?”

“I know,” America said with a sigh, nuzzling his head against the under-side of England’s chin. “I don’t want to, though. It’s so beautiful here…”

“It’s beautiful in your land, too,” England protested, absently running his thumb over the other’s wrist, their hands on top of both eachother and America’s chest. “We’re both going to start having withdrawals if we don’t go back soon.”

“Yeah, they’ve already started,” America said with a sigh. “I don’t feel them as much, though. Probably because the continents are a little closer now than they were before-” he paused, then corrected himself, “Uh, than they will be.”

“Time travel’s confusing, isn’t it,” England said mildly, giving America a light squeeze around the middle before returning to his original position. “I just hope nothing will be too different when we get back…”

“It’ll be fine, just you see,” America said with a smile. “We didn’t make any mistakes, I don’t think…”

“But you know we can’t do this often,” England pointed out. “We can’t just go back here whenever we feel like it. We have responsibilities.”

“I…I know,” America agreed, relaxing further into the other’s embrace. “I just don’t want it to end yet…”

“We can’t spend forever here.”

“I know, alright? I just want to… to be able to stay here, safe from everything. There isn’t war here, and there aren’t any bosses or paperwork-”

“Because Lord knows you put them both in the same category,” England cut in, chuckling as he pressed a gentle kiss to the other’s forehead. When America squirmed, face almost certainly heating up, England laughed lightly and turned the other’s face towards him. “Just teasing, love. You know that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” America said with a smile. “Just… one more night.”

“One more night,” England agreed, nodding. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

---

When they went back, the next day, to the exact moment they’d left off, both England and America were pleased to find that nothing was different from how they remembered it.

“So we’re back, then,” England said with a sigh.

“Disappointed, huh?” America asked, hugging him from behind. “Me, too.”

“No, no, I’ll never be able to fully give up the responsibilities I have to my nation, but…” he paused, frowning in momentary hesitation. “I have to say that I’ll miss how carefree it was there.”

“Well I wouldn’t say carefree,” America said with an easy laugh. “Weren’t there, like, two almost-run-ins with dinosaurs?”

“Only one close call,” England corrected, laughing along. “And that, love, was entirely your fault.”

“Just because I left out the carcass overnight does not mean that they were led to our cabin overnight! If they had been, then they would have actually found us-” America started to argue, but was promptly cut off by a pair of lips on his own.

“Welcome back,” England said with a smile.

“Yeah.” America grinned. “Welcome back.”

After a few moments of reacquainting themselves, America spoke up again. “The New World isn’t so new anymore, is it?”

England considered it for a moment. “It’s new enough. It’s a promise that as old as the world feels nowadays, it’s still young, just as you and I are still young.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say you’re young,” America said with a laugh, confidently breaking the entire mood. “What are you, pushing twelve-hundred now?”

England sighed and pushed him away. “Right then. I guess this would be more suited to our normal welcome homes, then, mn?”

“These are more fun, yeah,” America agreed, bumping their foreheads together.

“Wouldn’t trade it for the world,” England confessed.

“Not even the new one?”

“America, for the love of all that is good and right in this world,” England said, exasperated. “Do yourself a favor and shut up."

It was safe to say that America did not, in fact, shut up. Or at least, he didn't  until they’d gotten themselves reacquainted with the television and tuned into the shows they hadn’t gotten to see for the last few weeks, though nothing new had quite come on, as they'd come back at the exact moment they left off.

The couch was hardly a bed made of giant petals, but it nevertheless worked as a decent cushion for the two to curl up on.

Halfway through the night, England couldn’t help but think that, as lovely as America’s expression was in finding how beautiful the world looked when it was still fresh and new, the faces he wore when he was perfectly content were just as meaningful, if not more.

And that, England knew, was the important part. He curled his arm around the other, and within minutes had fallen back asleep.

Fin.