NedCan Week 2022 Day 1- Tulips/Flowers
@nedcanweek
Rating: T
Pairings/Ships: NedCan, past CanUkraine, minor GerEng, and minor BFT, minor AmeLiet
Word Count: 1257
Matthew Just Wants to have a Little Fun
Matthew really didn’t want to be there. First, he had to wake up at 6:00 AM to make it to the meeting on time, only to walk in and find an argument had already broken out. He hated crowds as is, but he hated loud crowds even more. Why he bothered to come to these meetings was beyond him. It wasn’t like he ever got a word in between the arguing and everyone talking over each other, and it wasn’t like their bosses listened to them to begin with. But then again, he had always been a high achiever and would never flake on his duties (how unimportant they seemed to be).
His morning was soon made better as he approached his seat. A colourful array of tulips had been left on the table in front of his name tag. Matthew smiled timidly, his heart skipping a beat at the gesture.
“Oooh, looks like someone’s got a secret admirer,” Alfred teased, flinging his arm around Matthew’s shoulder.
“Looks like it,” Matthew replied, trying to hide his knowing smirk. There was no secret to this admirer. It was May, and he was receiving tulips; there was only one person who would do that for him. Matthew hadn’t told anyone, at least not directly, that he was, in fact, seeing someone. Neither he nor his partner had wanted to make a big deal out of it, so instead, they decided to just let everyone around them find out for themselves. At this point, most of the people close to them seemed to have caught on, all except Alfred.
“Don’t worry Mattie, I’ll help you find this admirer,” Alfred assured him.
Now, Matthew could have done the right thing and told his brother that he already knew who left the flowers, but considering Alfred seemed to like to use him as a punching bag when they played sports together or that Matthew was one of Alfred’s favorite targets when it came to pranks, perhaps this would the perfect opportunity for some karma. “Okay,” Matthew agreed.
Then Ludwig entered, and the meeting commenced. Alfred promised him that they’d start their investigation at lunch to which Matthew had to hold in a giggle.
—
When lunch was finally called a couple of hours later, Alfred set off on his investigation. Matthew, on the other hand snuck into the hallway outside the conference room where he knew Jan would be waiting.
Sure enough, Jan stood a little way down, leaning against the wall. “Hey,” Matthew greeted as he approached.
“You look rather chipper,” Jan noted, “Did you get the flowers?”
“Mhm.” Matthew gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you. Made my morning.”
Jan never full-on blushed, but when he was flattered or flustered, his cheeks would turn slightly pink like they were right now.
“But there’s something else,” Matthew went on, “Alfred is now trying to find my ‘secret admirer.’”
“And you’re letting him?”
“Yes.”
“And he doesn’t know we’re dating?”
“No, he doesn't.”
Jan smirked. “How sneaky. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“I’m just curious how long it will take for him to notice.”
“Then let’s go watch the show.” Jan wrapped an arm around Matthew’s waist and guided him back into the conference room.
—
Alfred looked around the room at all the nations that remained. Luckily many of those who were close to Matthew had decided to hang back for lunch giving Alfred a perfect opportunity to ask around.
He started with Gilbert. He and Matthew had been getting closer in recent years after Gilbert fell in love with maple syrup. Maybe he had fallen in love with more than just Matthew’s food. But when Alfred asked, Gilbert cackled and explained how he had actually been seeing Francis and Antonio for decades.
But he didn’t let it deter him. Maybe Ludwig was the admirer. Him and Matthew had many similar interests such as camping, and both preferred to keep to themselves when it came to social gatherings. But it wasn’t Ludwig either. The German nation was also seeing someone. And not just anyone, but Arthur. He at least had a feeling that Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio were closer than regular friends, but Ludwig and Arthur were quite the surprise. However, there was no time to dwell on it. He could ask Arthur about it after he figured out Matthew’s admirer.
As Alfred went from nation to nation, Jan and Matthew watched from the side. “He does realize you got tulips right?” Jan asked, “In May? Does he not know what that means?”
“Don’t think so. To be fair, that is our thing, and I don’t know if many realize it outside of our families.”
“Alfred’s your family though.”
Matthew shrugged. “But he’s also Alfred and doesn’t always pick up on these things.”
Jan nodded. The two watched as Alfred passed Ivan. For a moment, it seemed as though he was going to ask Ivan if he was Matthew’s admirer, but instead, Alfred glared and carried on to the next possible person. Matthew hid his face in the crook of Jan’s neck and just laughed.
Jan gave a small smile. Taking Matthew’s chin, he pulled him back up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “How about we give him a little hint,” Jan suggested.
Matthew gave him a wide grin.
—
Lunch was coming to an end soon, and Alfred wasn’t any closer to figuring out who his brother’s secret admirer was. He was about ready to give up when Katya and Carlos, Matthew’s two closest friends, walked in. Surely they would have some idea of who may like Matthew, and who knows, perhaps one of them was the admirer.
“Hey! Katya, Carlos!” Alfred called, “I’ve got a question for you about Mattie.”
Carlos rolled his eyes while Katya let out an amused huff at Alfred’s eagerness. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Did either of you by chance leave tulips for Mattie this morning?”
Carlos and Katya looked at each other in confusion before turning their attention to Matthew and Jan who were making out in the corner of the room. Carlos broke out into a fit of laughter.
“Katya?”
“It wasn’t me,” Katya tried to say as calmly as she could, but as she went on her amusement became hard to hide, “Matthew and I agreed centuries ago that we made better friends than lovers.”
“Carlos?”
“Not me,” Carlos chuckled, “But you may want to turn around.”
Alfred quirked a brow and turned his head to find his brother giving him a wicked grin as Jan kissed up and down his neck.
For a moment, Alfred seemed unable to form any coherent words, and instead, just stood, pointing as he tried to string syllables together.
“I’m sorry Al,” Matthew said sheepishly.
“Wh-Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“That was on me,” Jan chimed in, “I didn’t want to make a big deal about our relationship.”
“Well now that I know,” Alfred huffed, though Matthew could tell he was trying to hide a smile, “You two have to have a double-date with me and Tolys.”
Matthew laughed lightly. “Deal.”
“Okay everyone,” Ludwig’s voice rang throughout the room, “Time to get back to work.”
Alfred threw his brother and Jan a smile before skipping back over to his seat. Jan leaned down for one more kiss before heading off to his own seat. Matthew sighed. Time to get back to the boring and mundane, but at least he had fun for a little while.