❝it's true, we flew to paris, dear, aboard an army jet❞
Title: Cordiality Is A Novel Concept
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 700+
Characters: France ; England (France/England ; mentions of several historical figures including Eleanor of Aquitaince, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Louis XIV)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: kissing
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 022 prompt, "novelty." In 1904, Francis and Arthur decide to put aside their strife and sign the agreement which would become known as the Entente Cordiale. But after a millennium of war, cordiality is a novel concept.
Cordiality Is A Novel Concept
As much as it galled Arthur to admit it, it felt good to shuck off their ancient rivalry.
His hand lingered over the page, the ink of his signature still wet. Even as he affixed his name to the paper, he could feel something shifting-his frame of mind, perhaps.
“You know, it’s just an agreement, Angleterre-it shouldn’t take you as long to sign it as it took us to draft it.”
“If we’re in agreement, then shouldn’t you know my name?” Arthur replied with a snap. “Even if you could say it in the right language, it’s been Britain, not England, for some time, now.”
Francis let out a rich, throaty laugh. “But you were only ma petit Angleterre when I first met you.”
“That was almost a thousand years ago, frog.” Arthur muttered, looking away.
“The Battle of Hastings,” Francis recalled, airily. “Your Harold really wasn’t much of a match for William, was he?”
Arthur didn’t rise to the bait. He’d long since reconciled his thoughts on his two kings-transitions between two eras. He shrugged. “William may have conquered me, but he brought half of you with him.”
Francis grimaced. “Oh, of course. And there began our troubles. Because your kings were, unfortunately, very bad at paying their taxes.”
“Kings shouldn’t have to pay homage to other kings!” Arthur snapped, so quickly it was like a reflex, like he was just a boy again, running around in the highlands and spouting declarations at an adolescent Francis.
“Well, your Henri sure showed Louis, didn’t he? When she gave up the crown of France to be the Queen of England.” His laughter is cold and bitter, now, filled with memories and regret. “Oh, Eleanor…that was a woman, wouldn’t you agree, Angleterre?”
“Of course-woman enough to know that England was far superior to France.”
“Hey, that’s not fair.” Francis pouted. “I won the Battle of Hastings, and the Hundred Years’ War. Or did you forget?”
“Only after I killed your girlfriend,” Arthur added, but in a voice so low Francis didn’t hear him. In a louder voice, he continued, “But what about the Seven Years’ War, France? I throttled you in that one.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Francis returned, but a blush had risen to his cheeks.
“I would,” Arthur said with pride. “My ships were the most powerful ever built. I kicked you out of half the world!”
“But what about Louis XIV?” Francis asked, “And Napoleon? Don’t just write off my achievements, Angleterre, because contrary to popular belief, they do exist.”
“Napoleon,” Arthur scoffed, “didn’t know how to accept defeat when it was handed to him gently. As I recall, I beat him twice-or do we need to relive Waterloo?”
Francis’ cheeks colored more deeply. “But then I became Europe’s biggest proponent of peace!”
“Which is what brings us here, today,” Arthur murmured lackadaisically.
“Yes, indeed.” Francis, suddenly bored of just sitting at the other end of the table, rose to his feet and came up on Arthur slowly. Leaning over the other man’s shoulder, he murmured, “Cordiality is such a novel concept for us, isn’t it?”
Feeling Francis’ breath on his neck, Arthur blushed. “…a thousand years of war is quite the thing to put aside. You sure about this, frog?”
“Oh, rosbif,” Francis sighed, “rethinking things already?” He grabbed the document out from under Arthur’s hand and held it aloft. “Too late for that-see? You’ve already signed your name.”
“I’m finding this ‘novel concept’ a bit tough to swallow,” Arthur admitted.
“Well,” Francis replied wheedlingly, “novelty can fade to habit soon enough, or so they say.” Not waiting for more of an invitation, he brought his lips up against Arthur’s for a moment, then two, until finally Arthur pulled away.
“Don’t tell me you think that is going to be our new habit.”
“It’s better than war, mon cher.”
Arthur saw no way to argue with Francis’ logic, and yet he still opened his mouth to argue. At that point, Francis decided that, since gun and sword had been put aside, there was now only one way to shut Arthur up.
And if Arthur didn’t mention what transpired that day afterwards…well, he didn’t complain of it, either. The novelty of cordiality between him and Francis, however, has long since faded to habit.
---
Footnotes;;
(*) The Entente Cordiale is a series of agreements signed on 8 April, 1904 between the United Kingdom and France. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente cordiale marked the end of almost a millennium of intermittent conflict between the two nations and their predecessor states, and the start of a peaceful co-existence that has continued to date.
(*) “…shuck off their ancient rivalry.” : historical phrasing for France and England’s decision to put aside their differences in order to avoid the Russo-Japanese War. (more information here.)
(*) Most of England and France’s major conflicts were mentioned in this fic. For simplicity’s sake, here’s one link which discusses most of them.
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 700+
Characters: France ; England (France/England ; mentions of several historical figures including Eleanor of Aquitaince, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Louis XIV)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: kissing
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 022 prompt, "novelty." In 1904, Francis and Arthur decide to put aside their strife and sign the agreement which would become known as the Entente Cordiale. But after a millennium of war, cordiality is a novel concept.
Cordiality Is A Novel Concept
As much as it galled Arthur to admit it, it felt good to shuck off their ancient rivalry.
His hand lingered over the page, the ink of his signature still wet. Even as he affixed his name to the paper, he could feel something shifting-his frame of mind, perhaps.
“You know, it’s just an agreement, Angleterre-it shouldn’t take you as long to sign it as it took us to draft it.”
“If we’re in agreement, then shouldn’t you know my name?” Arthur replied with a snap. “Even if you could say it in the right language, it’s been Britain, not England, for some time, now.”
Francis let out a rich, throaty laugh. “But you were only ma petit Angleterre when I first met you.”
“That was almost a thousand years ago, frog.” Arthur muttered, looking away.
“The Battle of Hastings,” Francis recalled, airily. “Your Harold really wasn’t much of a match for William, was he?”
Arthur didn’t rise to the bait. He’d long since reconciled his thoughts on his two kings-transitions between two eras. He shrugged. “William may have conquered me, but he brought half of you with him.”
Francis grimaced. “Oh, of course. And there began our troubles. Because your kings were, unfortunately, very bad at paying their taxes.”
“Kings shouldn’t have to pay homage to other kings!” Arthur snapped, so quickly it was like a reflex, like he was just a boy again, running around in the highlands and spouting declarations at an adolescent Francis.
“Well, your Henri sure showed Louis, didn’t he? When she gave up the crown of France to be the Queen of England.” His laughter is cold and bitter, now, filled with memories and regret. “Oh, Eleanor…that was a woman, wouldn’t you agree, Angleterre?”
“Of course-woman enough to know that England was far superior to France.”
“Hey, that’s not fair.” Francis pouted. “I won the Battle of Hastings, and the Hundred Years’ War. Or did you forget?”
“Only after I killed your girlfriend,” Arthur added, but in a voice so low Francis didn’t hear him. In a louder voice, he continued, “But what about the Seven Years’ War, France? I throttled you in that one.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Francis returned, but a blush had risen to his cheeks.
“I would,” Arthur said with pride. “My ships were the most powerful ever built. I kicked you out of half the world!”
“But what about Louis XIV?” Francis asked, “And Napoleon? Don’t just write off my achievements, Angleterre, because contrary to popular belief, they do exist.”
“Napoleon,” Arthur scoffed, “didn’t know how to accept defeat when it was handed to him gently. As I recall, I beat him twice-or do we need to relive Waterloo?”
Francis’ cheeks colored more deeply. “But then I became Europe’s biggest proponent of peace!”
“Which is what brings us here, today,” Arthur murmured lackadaisically.
“Yes, indeed.” Francis, suddenly bored of just sitting at the other end of the table, rose to his feet and came up on Arthur slowly. Leaning over the other man’s shoulder, he murmured, “Cordiality is such a novel concept for us, isn’t it?”
Feeling Francis’ breath on his neck, Arthur blushed. “…a thousand years of war is quite the thing to put aside. You sure about this, frog?”
“Oh, rosbif,” Francis sighed, “rethinking things already?” He grabbed the document out from under Arthur’s hand and held it aloft. “Too late for that-see? You’ve already signed your name.”
“I’m finding this ‘novel concept’ a bit tough to swallow,” Arthur admitted.
“Well,” Francis replied wheedlingly, “novelty can fade to habit soon enough, or so they say.” Not waiting for more of an invitation, he brought his lips up against Arthur’s for a moment, then two, until finally Arthur pulled away.
“Don’t tell me you think that is going to be our new habit.”
“It’s better than war, mon cher.”
Arthur saw no way to argue with Francis’ logic, and yet he still opened his mouth to argue. At that point, Francis decided that, since gun and sword had been put aside, there was now only one way to shut Arthur up.
And if Arthur didn’t mention what transpired that day afterwards…well, he didn’t complain of it, either. The novelty of cordiality between him and Francis, however, has long since faded to habit.
---
Footnotes;;
(*) The Entente Cordiale is a series of agreements signed on 8 April, 1904 between the United Kingdom and France. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente cordiale marked the end of almost a millennium of intermittent conflict between the two nations and their predecessor states, and the start of a peaceful co-existence that has continued to date.
(*) “…shuck off their ancient rivalry.” : historical phrasing for France and England’s decision to put aside their differences in order to avoid the Russo-Japanese War. (more information here.)
(*) Most of England and France’s major conflicts were mentioned in this fic. For simplicity’s sake, here’s one link which discusses most of them.