Dispute | Countryhumans AU | RusAme/AmeRus

8

"You look pale," Russia commented. "Thanks," America replied snarkily, munching on his salad. "No, I'm serious," Russia muttered. America rolled his eyes and continued eating, before responding a minute later. "So, are you going to touch your sandwich or are you gonna stare at me until my colour returns?"

Russia flushed, looking down at his plate. "I'm not hungry, you can have it." America reached out to grab it before withdrawing his hand. "No thanks."

Russia raised his eyebrows. "Why the sudden change of mind? You were about to grab it, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I- I don't think I should eat that much, in case I- y'know, throw up again or something... God, the idea itself made me less hungry," America chuckled, covering his mouth and shaking his head.

Russia raised his eyebrows. He knew America was lying, but he didn't know the incentive behind the lie, so he kept quiet about it. "Your colour is coming back... say, what did you eat earlier that made you vomit?"

"Oh, I don't know, really," America answered vaguely, pursing his lips.

"Hm," Russia said, shifting his attention away. "нужно больше, чем обмануть меня... меня обучал мой отец (It takes more than that to fool me... I was trained by my father)," he murmured under his breath.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that-" America said, finishing his salad. "'S nothing, don't worry about it," Russia replied. "Are you done with your salad? We've got a class in ten minutes."

"О, да (Oh, yes)," America answered, smirking as he caught Russia's bemused expression. "Да, я могу говорить по русски... но я не уловил того, что вы сказали ранее (Yes, I can speak Russian... but I didn't catch what you said earlier)." He frowned for a moment before asking, "Это было русское, правда? (That was Russian, wasn't it?)"

"Да (Yes)," Russia confirmed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket and furrowing his brows. "Wie wäre es mit... deutsch? (What about... German?)"

"Oh, ja! Du sprichst auch deutsch? (Oh, yes! You speak German too?)" America grinned. "I didn't know!"

"Picked some German up from East Germany," Russia revealed. "He was pretty close to my family before he passed."

"Oh..." America said, picking his bag up and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Yeah... are you ready?" Russia asked, changing the subject. "Yep," America replied, grateful for it. They grabbed their stuff, leaving the table and walking to their next class together.

"Good afternoon, class," UNESCO greeted. "I hope you've been reading the scripts I passed out last week. As you all know, I'll be giving out the roles for the play today as well as starting rehearsals."

America's eyes widened. "What script?" He mouthed, nudging Russia. Russia pulled out his copy from his file and snickered. "Don't worry, you're a natural in this class— just read through the first few acts, quickly."

America nodded and skimmed through the script, thanking Russia.

"I expect the very best from all of you for this play— and if you have a problem with this play being a twist of a fairytale featuring LGBTQ characters, please inform me and I'll be happy to dismiss you," UNESCO paused. "With a failing grade, of course."

The class chortled as they settled down, buzzing with excitement. "Now, the roles." He turned on the projector, displaying the names of the characters and their respective actors. There were a few groans and cheers.

Russia scanned through the names and huffed. "Huh, I didn't expect to get the deuteragonist role." His eyes met UNESCO's and he swore he saw a glint of mischief in his teacher's eyes.

Frowning, he continued to look through the list, until his eyes landed on America's name, and beside it, the name of the main character.

"Oh, shit," Russia breathed. "Well, at least we're not going to kiss or something, right?" America laughed, shrugging. "I guess so," Russia agreed reluctantly.

Then he remembered that UN and UNESCO were brothers. "Что за блять (What the fuck)-" he swore under his breath, covering his face in his hands.

"What?" America asked, before realising. "Well, we're just friends, so no homo, right?" He laughed nervously, flipping through the script. "See, just hugging."

"Сука (Bitch)," Russia muttered. "Of course they'd do something like this." America raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. UN and UNESCO are brothers," Russia explained.

"Oh, I see now," America nodded. "It can't be too bad, it's just a play and we might get extra credit for being one of the main characters."

"Mhmm..." Russia mumbled, turning away so that America couldn't see the blush dusting his cheeks. "Just a play."

"Like I said, we're starting rehearsals today," UNESCO said. "Follow me, let's go to the auditorium, its stage is bigger and much more equipped for plays like this."

The students followed their teacher noisily, discussing their roles in the play. There was a collective "ooh" as UNESCO opened the doors of the auditorium. The walls were white, but intricate swirls of designs on it as well as rich crimson curtains decorated the room.

"Right," UNESCO shouted, to get his voice above the noisy chatter. "Everyone backstage, and quickly now." The voices died down into a murmur as everyone filed offstage, trailing their hands on the wall carvings.

When everyone had settled down, he called for quiet again. "May I have the actors in Act 1, Scene 1 on stage?" UNESCO requested, striding onto the platform.

A few students followed him onstage, while the rest, including Russia and America, hung behind. Then it was time for the next scene, and the next. Groups of students went to and fro from the stage each time, some of them writing down notes.

There was some confusion as they did the choreographing and blocking of the various scenes across the many acts in the play, but the lesson went on smoothly without further embarrassment for the two friends.

As they walked back to their dorm after classes, Russia blurted out that he thinks he'd like acting in the play. "I think I'd like acting in the play too," America grinned. "I've never been the main character before."

"Really?" Russia asked, bewildered. "I've always had the impression that you'd always play the main character... I mean, you do pretty well in that class."

"Yeah, I've got no reason to lie," America shrugged, a wistful smile on his face. "Ever since I was a kid I've always wanted to be an actor. It means a lot that Mr. UNESCO picked me to play the main character."

"Good for you, then," Russia congratulated. "I'm more interested in being an astronaut now, though," America admitted. "But thank you. Maybe I could work both professions."

America laughed at that thought, and said, "It wouldn't be very feasible since I'd be gone for extended periods at a time but it's something, right?"

"Yeah, do it if that's what you want to do," Russia replied, wearing his own smile. And in that moment, when America turned to fistbump him, a smile still on his face, Russia wanted to hug and cherish America and to tell him how much he appreciated him.

He restrained himself, settling to return the fistbump instead. America chuckled. "Hey, it's a Friday today, isn't it? I'm going to hang out with my siblings and Japan later tonight. The Korean brothers may join us too. Do you wanna come with us?"

"Can't, sorry," Russia apologised, knitting his eyebrows. "I'm eating dinner with some of my siblings today."

"Oh, that's alright," America said, then, "Why don't you guys join us, then?" They stopped outside of their dorm door and let themselves in. America flopped onto the sofa. "I'm not sure..."

"Drinks on me," America offered, with a sly smirk. "Alright, you got me," Russia groaned. "I'll ask them. What time and where?"

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I want a teacher like UNESCO now :(