A Tale of Two: A Hetalia Romance

Chapter 1: Unconventional Bus Trips

The sounds of shuffling in the kitchen and the sunlight emanating through the window's blinds brought Lane from her dreams. The woman sat up, yawned, put on her glasses, and stretched before stumbling out of bed to her bathroom to get ready for the day: brushing her teeth, washing her face, and getting dressed. Her outfit consisted of a black button-down blouse, grey plaid pants, and her favorite black boots. She fixed her hair in the mirror, pulling some of it back into a small bun to keep it out of her face. She nodded in the mirror before leaving the bathroom, slipping on her favorite cardigan, and heading off to the main room of the apartment.

"Good afternoon!" her roommate, Amie, chirped in greeting, standing by the stove where she was making a simple lunch of Instant Ramen.

"Hey, it's..." Lane trailed off as she glanced at her watch. "12:37."

"So afternoon?" Amie quipped.

"Touché." Lane tiredly grumbled and stalked over to the cabinet in search of something to eat. If it were up to her, she would have woken up much later, but obligations and all. The woman, still working off the tiredness of sleep, pulled a loaf of bread from the cabinet before going to the fridge to assemble fixings for a sandwich. She's pulled out of her musings on the perfect sandwich toppings by Amie asking her a question:

"What time are you getting off of work today?"

"Oh man, I don't even know. I've got office hours after class, but it's the first day so who's even going to show up?" Lane explained. She had been working as a teaching assistant since starting graduate school a few months prior. It didn't pay super well, but it was better than nothing; she even got to stay in the same apartment she'd lived in since her undergrad days.

"Perfect! Because I heard the next episode of Sailor Moon is absolutely wild! We're watching it tonight when we both get home!" Amie's laughs filled the small apartment as she rambled on about their shared favorite show to watch together. Lane listened and hummed the Sailor Moon opening song as she sat at the kitchen island with her lunch and Amie sat next to her with her lunch.

Amie and Lane had been living together for some time - about four years. They met at their university orientation five years ago and became fast friends; they shared almost as many interests as they didn't. Many people who saw the two together thought they made an odd pair, polar opposites that they were. Lane was often called a curmudgeonly asshole by those who didn't know her too well: she preferred the company of history books and cats to that of real people. She was rarely seen with a smile on her face in public or in clothes that weren't grey or black (she says it's because 'black is a forgiving color' but it's really because she's emo). A historian by trade, she loved studying people who were long dead as opposed to actually interacting with them, researching into the wee hours of the night, and reading - lots of reading. But she always came out of her shell to hang out with Amie. Amie on the other hand was practically brighter than the sun - all smiles and brightly colored clothes. She loved people and always made it a point to be out of the apartment hanging out with god knows who at this point, making sure to save time for Lane at the end of her busy days. She enjoyed cutesy music (she's very open about her love for K-Pop) and even cosplayed from cartoons and anime in her free time. As different as the duo were, they truly were the sun and moon to each other.

As Lane and Amie finished their lunches, it was about time to head to campus for classes. Lane headed back to her bedroom to grab her trusty tote bag, which served as both her purse and her school bag as Amie grabbed her pink backpack. They wish goodbye to Mickey B, the small cat napping on the couch (her name is short for Michelangelo Buonarroti), and headed out the front door of their shared home to brave the new day.