Hellhole to Hetalia Heaven [ADOPTED BY @pastalover11]

Chapter 17~

I'm sorry, but LONG author's note before you get to the chapter! Sorry!
For those of you who read A Waltz in the Dark, I've decided this is about 2 1/2 years after that New Year's party. (It's currently late August in this story.) That being said, it's just over a year BEFORE Don't You Believe in Santa. (If you read that.) So, for the time-lining convenience of Mini_Moffat and StarShooter8, I hope that cleared up any confusion, and I hope it didn't create more. I'm not actually sure how much time they decided was in between their storylines. I also know that Romania has the human name Soren Vladimirescu in Mary's fanfiction, but here it will remain Vladimir Popescu. The picture is a screenshot from BookBird1497's story Homeless, where an OC is referring to Mary's physical appearance. XD And Star, I might not be able to bring Skyler into the story, but I will most certainly reference it haphazardly to make up for that! I'd like to think that we've become friends here on Wattpad. ^-^
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"Hey Tino?" Zera asked sweetly, a secretive smile across her face. It had been a few hours since Mary's introduction to Kaali and Kurnaz, and everyone was eating dinner in the living room together.

Tino looked up at the only female brunette. "Yes?"

"Have you met a girl named Skyler Jane Austin, by any chance?"

The Finnish feline's face scrunched itself into a confused expression and he thought over the name. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"No reason!" Zera answered, a little too quickly.

"Zera? What is it?" Erica asked suspiciously, humor making her tone seem more exhasperated than she actually was.

Tino studied Zera. "Am I suposed to know her, whoever she is?"

"No. I guess not." Zera told them calmly. But under her breath, she giggled, "Not yet."

If anyone heard her words, they ignored the cryptic whisper. Everyone ate in silence for a while; almost everyone.

"Lukas, you still have to eat something!" Mary whispered forcefully, probably attempting to be discreet. It worked for the most part, until Zera took notice.

"Lukas, why aren't you eating?"

He turned his head to the side and frowned, purposely refusing to reply. Mary sighed, reaching forward to put her hand on his furry shoulder. "Lukas, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He told them stubbornly.

"Is it your current inability to hold silverware and eat like you normaly would?" Vlad inferred from his seat nearby.

Lukas' head snapped up and he glared at Vladimir.

"If that's the problem I'll ignore my silverware and eat with my face if it will make you feel better." Zera announced seriously.

"No you won't. You can eat normally, so you will. You still have opposable thumbs, you're going to use them." Emil told her spitefully. He obviously didn't believe she would forgo table manners and probably embarass herself.

"Is that a challenge, Emil? I'm going to take that as a challenge."

"Oh, boy. Here we go." Erica said sarcastically, rolling her eyes with a small smile. She stood and walked away, going into the kitchen.

Zera smirked, pulling her hair back and putting it in a ponytail. "Challenge accepted." With those two words, she placed her fork on her plate and her hands behind her back. She bent at the waist, messily eating her chicken and spinach quiche. Erica returned with a large handful of napkins, sitting back down next to Zeralina and rolling her eyes again.

When Zera sat up, Erica shoved a couple napkins in her face, in a way that forcefully recommened she clean her mouth. Emil seemed astonished, as did many of the other countries to varying degrees. However, their amusement exceeded their mild disgust. Mary didn't seem to be able to decide if she was more grossed out or humored.

When Mary recovered from the slight shock, she looked pointedly at Lukas, who frowned in a way reminiscent of pouting. After a few moments, he sighed in defeat. He began eating as neatly as he could with his aforementioned disadvantages. Mary smiled gently at her boyfriend of  thirty-two(?) months. "It's alright to not always be perfect. No one is, min edelstên(?)." (my love)

Zera practically beamed at the touching scene in front of her. Not wanting to disrupt the couple's moment, she leaned over to Erica and very quietly whispered into her ear, "Hetalia OTP." Erica could only give her friend a look that clearly said 'you did not just say that.' Zera shrugged guiltily, a cheeky grin still covering her face. "Oops, forgot you don't really like OCxCanon pairings," she giggled almost silently, her shoulders convoulsing just a little.

'But since they both exist, it is canon,' Kaali pointed out to the two of them. Zeralina mentally agreed, causing Erica to sigh in defeat.

The rest of the meal went without incident, surprisingly. After dinner, Zera beckoned the other two girls to come up to their room, though Mary and Lukas parted quite reluctantly.

DISCONTINUED, pastalover11 has adopted this story.