Stars and Moonflowers in Our Garden(Rusame)

Chapter Twenty-nine: Teasing and Comfort

Russia sighed and smiled as he left the healer's office, heading to the dining room. 

Dinner went pretty well, he luckily wasn't the subject of his siblings' teasing, probably because they weren't aware of his feelings for the healer yet. The one who had that particular honor was his sister, Ukraine. So he just ate while they teased her for her feelings for Canada, a castle worker who'd come in around the same time as America. Canada was fairly quiet and soft spoken, he was a woodworker, but his main job was repair work. 

He'd heard it a million times, the story of how Ukraine fell for the guy: Canada had been repairing one of the windows Kazakhstan had flown into, and he'd greeted her and gave her a wooden cat figure, asking her why she seemed down. He didn't even know she was royalty, was just kind to be kind. She said that she fell for him right there and then. 

Right now however, she was bright red and sputtering nonsense as she was teased relentlessly by their siblings. He felt bad for her, but she had admittedly brought this upon herself by telling their siblings. 

Luckily for his younger sister, dinner came to an end, and she immediately bolted out for her room. He got up soon after and left for his room, trying to think of something to do while he waited for the healer to come out. 

He knew it wouldn't be too long before he'd see him, as he had a pretty good grip on how long it took the healer to get to the chamomiles below his window. 

He saw America beginning to approach, getting close enough to the chamomiles that he could see him now. But then, something spooked him, made him run. He saw the other get closer to the tree, he saw what made America run. Argentina, that damned girl couldn't leave him alone. He'd basically told her to leave him alone earlier, but now that she thought that he wouldn't see her, she was back at it. 

He wasn't sure what he could do right now, but he'd figure it out. 

He watched as America expertly climbed the tree, getting out of Argentina's reach. 

Argentina stayed at the bottom of the tree, attempting to climb it and failing miserably. But not too long after, she left the base of the tree, likely going back to her room and soon after she was gone, America climbed back down. And went back to tending to the flowers. 

He looked a little tense while doing so, which was to be expected after that kind of encounter. 

He decided that after he saw America's reaction to the letter, he'd go down there and try to comfort him. 

But he'd need an excuse, if he was asked what the actual hell he was doing up and about at that time... He'd just say he felt a little restless and was waiting for the calming effects of the tea to kick in. That should do well enough. 

Soon, he saw America get to the chamomiles and grab the letter, he looked kind of excited when he did. 

He smiled a little seeing that, being the reason the other was happy or excited would never cease to make him smile. 

He watched the other open the letter and start reading. He heard him chuckle, then saw some relief wash over him. What he'd written to make the other feel relief, he wasn't sure, but he was glad for it. 

And then he heard America beginning to giggle, and god was it one of cutest noises (if not the cutest) he'd ever heard. But after a second, his expression went almost unreadable, and he stopped giggling. But soon enough a wide smile returned to America's face, and he looked excited. 

He waited for a second, watching as America returned to tending to the flowers, then slowly made his way out of his room, careful to be quiet when he opened and closed the door to his room. He quickly made his way to the door that opened to the field area in the castle, then began walking in the direction he'd seen America going, soon finding him. He walked over, making no effort to silence his footsteps, wanting to make sure America could hear him. He didn't want to freak him out. 

He decided that he'd pretend to be surprised to see him there, as he didn't want to let who he was be known until he got it right and set up a meeting with America. 

"Hey America, what are you doing out this late?" He asked. 

"I could ask you the same, Russia" America hummed, pausing for a moment before deciding to answer him. "But I'm out here gardening. It's peaceful." 

"Oh, well, I'm just waiting for the tea's calming effects to kick in because I'm, admittedly, a bit restless." 

America nodded a little and smiled at him. 

"Do you want a hug, me to guide you back to your room, or would you like to follow me while I garden?" 

"A hug, if that's okay with you." 

America leaned in and wrapped his arms around Russia, giving him a gentle hug. 

Russia happily returned the hug, moving to start comforting America. When he noticed America relaxing fully, and seeming to calm down completely, he let himself relax as well. 

"Now, are you feeling better?" America asked, not moving away from the hug just yet. 

"Yes, thank you." Russia said, smiling. He knew he'd succeeded in making the other feel better again. 

"Now, I'm gonna take you back to your room." America said as he gently pulled away from the hug. 

"I can go back on my own- I wouldn't want to take up any more of your time" It was true, he didn't. He could make his way back on his own. 

"Nope! I'm taking ya back to your room Russia, whether you want me to or not" America said, smiling up at him. 

"I-" Russia stopped himself mid-protest, realizing America probably would walk him there anyway... And it'd give him more time with America. "Okay, fine." 

America hummed happily at the acceptance and began to lead the way to Russia's room.

It took them a good few minutes to get there, as they took a different path than Russia came. But they went up the same staircase upstairs. 

As they got to Russia's room, and America wished Russia goodnight, America paused for a moment. 

"Before I head out, I'm going to write down which room I'm in-" America said, giving Russia a smile. America proceeded to grab a small blank sheet of paper from his bag.