Icy Heart and Warm Love

Chapter Two

"I'm here," a faint voice called to Britain, the man immediately sighing as he looked at the clock in his study.

Seven-thirty? Britain wondered in shock. How did she arrive here so early?

This girl was even stranger than Britain had originally thought, and he realized just how unprepared he was.

Still, he became a gentleman and walked up to the front door to greet Kalda.

"Who let you in?" Britain questioned, seeing that Kalda was standing on the rug in front of the door.

He noticed that mud was on it, and he tried not to groan in front of her.

I'll make her clean the rug first, he told himself.

"Oh, right," Kalda replied with a smile. "America stopped by and let me in."

Britain rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Why, America? he asked himself. Why?

"Is everything okay, Mister Britain?" Kalda asked, and Britain could see that she was concerned for him.

"Uh...yes," Britain slowly replied. "Everything's fine. Just...fine. Your name is Kalda, right?"

"You sure?" Kalda wondered. "You don't look so great, and yes, I'm Kalda Hush."

"Hush?" Britain asked, diverting his attention to her last name. "Isn't it supposed to be whatever Veneziano's last name is?"

"Veneziano, Seborga, and Romano technically haven't adopted me yet, legally that is, so...I'm still Kalda Hush instead of Kalda Vargas," Kalda explained with a grin.

"All right, then," Britain awkwardly stated, wanting to make her stop talking. "Just...set your stuff over there. I can give you a tour of the house, and then you can get straight to work."

"You lead, I'll follow," Kalda smiled, putting her suitcase by the door and following Britain to the living room.

Britain was wondering why Kalda had even brought her suitcase with her in the first place, but then he realized that it worked out perfectly for the agreement between him and Russia.

"You can start anywhere," Britain said as he looked at her. "The shelves need dusting, the floors need to be swept and mopped, and the bathrooms need to be cleaned. America and Canada are coming over at the end of the week, so I need-"

"Why are they coming over?" Kalda interrupted in wonder.

It took all of Britain's gentlemanly patience not to yell at Kalda for interrupting him.

"That's a long story," Britain quickly replied. "Please no interruptions, either. When one person is speaking, you don't interrupt them, understand?"

"Of course," Kalda nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Britain sighed. "Continuing on, the kitchen needs to be organized and so does the tool shed outside."

"Oh, oh!" Kalda grinned. "Sorry to interrupt you again, but can I garden?"

Britain stopped walking as Kalda did the same.

"You like to garden?" he asked, not really sure how to feel about that.

"Of course!" Kalda cheerfully replied. "Just ask Veneziano, Seborga, and Romano!"

Britain huffed, wanting to know why Kalda enjoyed doing hard tasks.

"Fine," he relented. "I guess that you can garden if you really want to."