Random America Oneshots ★

★ Not Enough Breaks

Ludwig sat, irritated as chaos unfolded in the room around him. These meetings could never be productive, could they?!

They were in the UK, and everything was running as chaotic as usual, except for a certain American who seemed quite stressed.

Matthew sat right next to Alfred, trying to provide any support and help that he could, but as Alfred frantically read through the thick pile of paperwork in front of him, Matthew just watched wide eyed.

"What do you think, Matthew, should throwing cereal at people be counted as assault?" Alfred asked after skimming through a paper.

"Man, what?!" Matthew looked over the paper about a case of a lady who threw a cereal box at someone.

"It happened in Ohio." Alfred rolled his eyes and signed something on the paper.

"Of course it was Ohio." Matthew said sarcastically.

"You aren't really helping me here, y'know?" Alfred quickly read through more papers, trying to ignore his throbbing headache.

Matthew gave him a nervous smile and decided it was probably better if he didn't disturb him.

"In that case, I'm going to go talk to Francis."

"Fine with me." Alfred said dejectedly, death glaring at his pile of paperwork.

So on Matthew went to go interrupt a French and British duo, arguing about whatever.

Around 10 chaotic minutes later, Matthew realized Alfred had been deadly quiet. Normally, he'd rush over and join the fighting family, but not this time. As he paused midfight to check for his brother, Arthur and Francis paused too.

Alfred was sleeping. Or passed out. Matthew forgot about the Brit and Frenchman and went to go check on his brother's state. As he approached, he stuffed most of the paperwork in Alfred's bag and motioned for the two (old) men to join him.

"Bloody hell, is he sleeping during a meeting?!" Arthur said out loud, but it turned into a whisper after Matthew motioned for him to quiet down.

"He probably didn't sleep enough last night." Matthew eyed his brother with concern.

"What was he doing?" Francis said.

"Either he was up trying to get this work done, or it was the timezone adjustment." Matthew stated.

"Shouldn't you have also been up in that case?" Francis stared suspiciously.

"Ehh.. I've gotten used to it. Plus, I sleep properly at night." Matthew glanced at his brother again, "it was probably his work. He should be used to the time zone stuff."

Suddenly, Kiku came out of nowhere and tried to poke Alfred to wake up. "Is this a warning sign for something? He never sleeps during meetings."

"Hey! Kiku, stop it!" Matthew said defensively, taking his seat next to Alfred, gathering the attention of nearby countries.

Kiku paused. "Shouldn't we wake him up, though?"

"Alfred probably didn't sleep enough last night, he was probably up till late working." Matthew reasoned.

"Working? Shouldn't you take breaks- or like, the day off when you're traveling?" Feliciano asked.

"Have you guys ever seen an American workplace? A few days off could get you fired." Matthew shifted uncomfortably with all the attention on him.

"A few days off? In an entire year?!" Ludwig asked in disbelief.

"Most people in America, if they're lucky, get 2 weeks off. Per year. Others..." Matthew trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.