APH: Only Light and Momentary [7/8]
Title: Only Light and Momentary [7/8]
Author: grosse_averse, tatterdemalion on fanfiction.net
Characters/Pairings: The relationship between Canada and the Netherlands (OC) will take centre stage - however, other characters involved in their relations will also appear. This chapter heavily features Belgium and OC Luxembourg.
Rated: It varies. Probably PG-13 for this chapter?
Summary: A chronicle of Matthew’s relationship with Lars, from 1611 to present day. In this chapter, the Ottawa Tulip Festival. There is seriously no historical content in this chapter at all. Seriously.
Author’s Notes: I love tuuuuuulips!
Chapter One (1611)
Chapter Two (~1640)
Chapter Three (1674)
Chapter Four (1824)
Chapter Five (1940)
Chapter Six (1945)
Kumajirou wakes to an empty bed.
Crawling out from under his cocoon of blankets, the polar bear blinks blearily at the window - it is a regular spring morning in Ottawa, a bit of cloud and a breeze. Outside the window, a branch studded with green buds slides against the glass.
The boy who always feeds Kumajirou comes rushing in, arms full of clean laundry.
The guy - whoever he is - dumps the laundry on the bed, narrowly missing the bear.
“Hey.” Kumajirou growls, wiping a sock off his head.
The guy fixes his glasses. “Oh, sorry Kumajichi!” he says brightly. “I’ll get you some breakfast in a minute, I just need to do some cleaning!”
“Who?” Kumajirou asks, wrinkling his nose. The guy sighs.
“Ca - na - da.” he enunciates. “Honestly, it’s not that hard. I told you last week, Netherlands is coming over to visit today.” a pink colour settles on his face. “I’m taking him to the Tulip Festival.”
“Netherlands?” Kumajirou repeats, sitting up on his haunches. That loud, troublesome nation who came to a meeting high once? Kumajirou disapproves of this new playmate for his master.
Canada sighs again. “Don’t you go forgetting his name, too!” he chides, reaching out to scratch behind the bear’s ears. “We’ll be back for dinner, don’t worry.”
“Don’t smoke.” Kumajirou orders his master. The blonde frowns.
“...What?” he asks, but Kumajirou has already climbed off the bed and is now lumbering towards the kitchen, intent on breakfast.
& & &
Matthew isn’t expecting much from Lars’s visit - all they had planned was for Matthew to “show him the Tulip Festival”. Afterwards he might take Lars to a nice restaurant, and after that...
Matthew blushes. Well, he cleaned his bedroom really well, just in case.
The honking of a car horn outside his house catches his attention, and he scrambles for the front door. This is the first time Lars will have visited him (not counting the times he was here for “business” of course). There is a sleek black car parked outside. Lars jumps out of the back, wearing a long scarf and pea-coat against the breeze (Matthew, who is only in a t-shirt and jeans, cannot see how the weather could be cold enough to warrant a scarf).
Lars’s smile is exuberant, but with enough apology in it to make Matthew wonder - as he takes a step down the walkway, Lars turns to help someone else out of the car.
Oh. Oh. Matthew blinks in confusion as Lars’s sister Margot, a cheerful looking woman with caramel blonde hair, slides out, giving her brother a pat on the back. From around the other side of the car Lars’s brother Noah gets out, fixing his sunglasses and looking entirely unimpressed. His sweep of light brown hair ruffles in the wind. All three of them are dressed for much colder weather than springtime in Ottawa.
Well. Lars never mentioned he was bringing the family. Matthew suddenly feels self-conscious, shifting his feet as Lars walks ahead of his siblings in long strides and sweeps Matthew into a hug, briefly kissing his cheeks.
“I am so sorry.” Lars mutters between clenched teeth. “They wanted to come, I really couldn’t stop them, you know how my sister is, she - ”
“Mathieu!” Margot pushes her brother aside to kiss him fondly on the cheek. “How are you? We haven’t talked in ages!”
Matthew grins hesitantly at her. He cannot see the family resemblance between the two - Margot’s face is more round and soft featured - but then she smiles. Oh. Margot and Lars seem to share the same shit-eating grin. Well that’s lovely.
“It’s nice to see you again.” Matthew replies. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming, I would’ve put some tea on or - ”
“Don’t be silly!” Margot trills, pulling on Noah’s elbow so he is forced to press against his sister. “We just wanted to see our brother and his boyfriend, isn’t that right, Lux?”
Noah hums in the back of his throat. He, at least, looks related to Lars, with the same elegant, angular face. His eyes are hidden behind his sunglasses but he looks sufficiently bored already. Matthew despairs. He tries valiantly to remember the times he’s actually talked to Luxembourg, to at least try to find some common ground, but can think of few occasions. He figures Noah must be the “easily forgotten” one of the family. He can at least relate to that.
Lars casts another painful look at Matthew before Margot claps her hands and says brightly, “So! Where are these tulips I hear so much about?”
They take the car the siblings arrived in to the Festival - Lars keeps one arm wrapped securely around Matthew’s shoulders as if trying to pull him away from his sister. Margot retaliates by pulling on Matthew’s elbow and asking him questions. Noah reads.
“Can we see your Parliament building?” Margot asks excitedly, taking in downtown Ottawa as Matthew tries to give the driver directions. “Ooh, this is so exciting! I haven’t been to your capital before! I’m so glad Lars invited us to come!” Margot giggles and receives a dirty look from her brother, who now has his fingers dug so tightly into Matthew’s side the younger country fears they will need to spend some time disentangling.
“I didn’t invite you to come,” Lars points out bitterly, “You just came without asking!”
Margot does not seem to hear this and continues to beam at the two of them.
“So, Belgium, Luxembourg,” Matthew begins politely as Lars buries the lower part of his face into Matthew’s hair and grumbles. “How are your bosses? How are you handling the recession?”
Margot clicks her tongue in a matronly manner. “Mathieu!” she chides. “Now isn’t business time, it’s family time!”
Matthew colours and apologizes while Noah looks up from his book.
“My economy’s fine, thanks for asking.” he remarks. Lars glowers at him, face still half-hidden in Matthew’s hair.
“Lux.” he groans, and Noah returns to his reading.
The car drops them off at Commissioner’s Park, as per Matthew’s instructions. Matthew feels proud as Margot “ooh”s and “aah”s over the multitude of tulips; even Noah looks impressed, crouching to examine them. Lars, arm still draped over Matthew’s shoulder, tugs him away from his siblings (Margot is temporarily occupied by a busker, who is singing her a French love song on a guitar), towards a statue of a man holding two hats. He and Matthew share a secret smile, and Lars moves behind him to wrap his arms around the younger’s waist.
“Yours is in Apeldoorn, right?” Matthew asks, shifting in the embrace as Lars places a kiss behind his ear.
“Mm-hmm.” Lars mumbles, breath hot on his neck, and tilts his hips just so against Matthew’s rear. Then he growls in frustration as Margot comes up beside them, looking too cheerfully innocent to be unaware that she is interrupting something.
“What’s this, Mathieu?” she asks. Noah strolls up behind them with a tourist’s pamphlet.
“The Man With Two Hats,” he reads, then looks up. “Descriptive.”
“Lars gave it to me,” Matthew explains with a soft smile. “After the war, as a symbol of friendship. He has one just like it in Apeldoorn.” Lars gives his waist a quick squeeze - without seeing his face Matthew knows he is smiling.
A sly grin spread across Margot’s face. “Ah, so they’re like promise rings!” she chirps. Matthew snorts. Lars rests his chin on the top of Matthew’s head
“Yeah, Bel, a statue of a man representing my liberation is exactly like exchanging promise rings.” the Dutch nation quips sarcastically. Matthew brushes against the gold band on Lars’s right thumb and smiles to himself.
By the time they circle around Commissioner’s Park, Matthew’s stomach is growling. Margot spots an outdoor food stand and insists Lars accompany her to get food for everyone. This leaves Matthew and Noah sitting on a park bench, Matthew having no idea what to say to the other nation in order to break the silence. Noah has removed his sunglasses, but his brown eyes are closed as he perches elegantly on the bench, arms folded across his chest.
At first Matthew thinks he has dozed off until Noah murmurs, eyes still closed, “You know, I care about my brother a lot.”
Matthew glances across the park where Lars and Margot seem to be arguing over something on the menu.
“That’s...good.” he replies awkwardly. Noah opens one eye to examine him.
“He talks about you, and his eyes light up.” Noah continues impassively. “I’d be very upset if for some reason he was hurt over this.”
Matthew sits very still, disbelieving. Not even two hours in and he is being threatened by his lover’s brother. This is a very strange day.
“I would, too.” he says honestly, drumming his fingers on his leg. “I - I hope that I can convince you that I love your brother and care about him and, well, I’ve been waiting for this since the 18th century.”
Noah arches an eyebrow, but Margot and Lars are already coming back with food. Matthew interprets Noah’s silence as being unimpressed, and feels slightly foolish until Lars hands him a bowl of poutine.
“Here,” he says. “Margot wanted to try it so she got some for everyone.”
“What is this?” Noah asks his sister, staring down at the concoction she has given him, a look of horror edging its way into his normal, placid expression.
Matthew doesn’t see what all the fuss is about - he has eaten stranger things in Europe, after all, and starts on his poutine with gusto. Lars, the darling, also begins eating (albeit hesitantly) in support. Noah picks up a soggy fry topped by a cheese curd.
“I don’t understand this.” he says simply in horrified exasperation. Even Margot looks cowed.
“D-don’t be silly!” she finally laughs. “Just try it, Lux!”
It is unintentionally hilarious, watching elegant and refined Noah trying to eat fries with gravy and cheese. Matthew feels bad for laughing - Noah gives him a cross look as he wipes gravy off his nose with as much dignity as he has left. Lars teases Margot about her rather unlady-like way of eating poutine, to which Margot exclaims that it doesn’t matter because it’s delicious so stop laughing, Lars!
Matthew is reminded of his family a bit, except with more playful bantering and less murderous intent; the thought brings a smile to his face. Lars catches him spacing out and wipes a bit of gravy onto the young nation’s lips before kissing it off. Noah wrinkles his nose. Margot dabs more gravy onto the tip of it, just to spite her brother.
After they finish, Noah leaves half of his poutine and excuses himself to use the restroom. After he has been gone for five minutes, Margot concludes that he is either retching in the toilet or has lost track of the time fixing his hair so she orders Lars to go check on him. Then she turns to Matthew with a sweet smile.
“I think you’re a really neat guy, Mathieu,” she tells him, moving closer. Matthew is having a strange sense of deja vu. “Lars deserves to have someone in his life, and thankfully you’re not as obnoxious as your brother.”
Matthew feels as though he should thank her - before he can, Margot continues.
“I know we don’t talk much, especially not since the Wars, but I want you to know that I almost approve of you.”
“Almost?” Matthew repeats quizzically, and Margot pats his hand.
“It’s still early!” she assures him, and won’t say anything more about it.
Noah, returning from the washroom with a bit more colour in his face, is duly horrified to learn that there was a pavilion not far away that offered a wide array of cultural foods from around the world while he was stuck eating strange Quebecois food. Matthew, who is starting to feel a little insulted on behalf of his poutine, tells him there is a beer tent as well. At this Noah lights up and admits that is better than nothing. When they reach the tent, Lars goes off in search of the washrooms while Noah insists that he will choose what they have this time, thank you very much Margot.
Margot pouts but follows her brother up to the front as he orders. After a while Matthew notices they have not come back - instead, Margot and Noah, each holding two beers, are whispering amongst themselves; then Margot turns to the bartender with a rather radiant and suspiciously flirtatious smile. They exchange words, and Matthew is bewildered when Margot turns to point straight at him.
When Margot and Noah return to the table Noah tells him, “The bartender wants to see your ID.”
“Oh.” Understandable - Matthew usually gets carded because of his youthful appearance. Wallet in hand, he stands and approaches the bartender. He guesses the man is in his early twenties, with brown hair that sticks up in waves, blue eyes and a lip ring on his full pouty lips. He gives Matthew a look as he approaches.
“Hey,” the bartender says, voice husky. “Sorry, just need to see some ID.”
“Sure, it’s no problem.” Matthew hands it to him and waits as he looks it over.
“Matthew, huh?” the other man asks with a grin, and Matthew shifts nervously, giving a weak smile in return.
“Nice name,” he continues. “My name’s Lucas.”
“Nice to meet you.” Matthew mumbles, reaching out his hand for his card back. Lucas makes no move to give it back to him, instead staring at him intensely from beneath his fringe of bangs. His tongue darts out to play with his lip ring.
“A cute guy like you must have a boyfriend, huh?” Lucas asks. Matthew laughs, a little too loud.
“Er, yeah. Listen, I’ve got to get back to my friends - ”
“Hey, what’s the hurry?” Lucas catches his hand, giving him a teasing wink. “I’ll buy you a drink, we’ll get to know each other.”
“Sorry, I’m not interested.” Matthew replies tersely, snatches back his ID, and returns to the table.
Lars is back from the bathroom, and Matthew sits as close to him as possible. Noah and Margot are staring at him as if expecting something.
Matthew raises his eyebrows at them and they look away with rather triumphant expressions on their faces.
& & &
After the beer tent they head over to Parliament Hill, where Margot takes pictures of his Parliament building with her cell phone. This causes Lars to make some innuendoes, for which he is promptly slapped by both his sister and his boyfriend. Then they head to Major’s Hill Park to catch a concert. Margot tells Matthew about her people’s alternative music scene and Noah jumps in to add recommendations about several good Luxembourg bands. They are in the middle of a crowd, enjoying the music, so it takes Matthew a while to realize they’ve lost Lars in the mass of people.
“Go back that way and see if you can find him,” Margot instructs. “Noah and I will meet you by that far pavilion.”
Matthew agrees and they separate.
Lars turns out to be a few feet away, talking excitedly to a man Matthew instantly recognizes as the beer tent bartender, Lucas, and the young nation feels a curious, hot flush spread throughout his body.
Lucas is standing very, very close to Lars, in the way people do when they have a candid interest in someone, hip cocked, shoulders thrown back, a dazzling smile on his face. If Lars has noticed the interest the other man is showing, he doesn’t react. Instead he laughs at something Lucas has said and nods. Matthew feels his ears go red.
Then, Lucas motions to the piercing in his lip and, right there where Matthew can see, puts his finger on Lars’s bottom lip as if to indicate where a good spot to put a ring was.
Matthew sees red and storms over, hooking his arm with Lars’s.
“Lars.” he says in a tight voice. “C’mon, your sister’s waiting - ”
“Oh, it’s you!” Lucas looks pleased, looking Matthew up and down, eyebrows raised. “Is this your boyfriend?”
“Yes, he is my boyfriend.” Matthew grinds out. Lars looks torn halfway between confusion and amusement.
Lucas reaches into his pocket for a marker and takes Lars’s hand. Matthew makes a noise akin to an angry squirrel as the man scribbles down a number.
“Give me a call if monogamy gets too boring for you two.” Lucas purrs, and Matthew jerks Lars away.
“Shove off, you hoser!” he hisses before dragging the Dutch country away from the other man.
Lars is laughing so hard there are tears in his eyes. He doesn’t stop even when Matthew seizes his hand, licks his own thumb and rubs viciously at the marker.
“Darling, I never knew you could get so jealous!” Lars teases. Matthew reaches up, cups his hand behind Lars’s head, and kisses him in return. Lars doesn’t hesitate in returning it, rubbing up against him as they are jostled in the crowd.
“Maybe you should get jealous more often,” he suggests huskily as they part. “It’s hot on you.”
Matthew flushes. “I didn’t - it’s just - ” he tries to explain, but Lars shakes his head, grinning.
“Oh no, the innocent act doesn’t fool me anymore.” he waggles his finger at the younger country, who is turning a deep shade of scarlet. “I know that, underneath, there’s a raging, passionate little beast just waiting to get out.”
“C-come off it!” Matthew insists, trying to push away from Lars. Lars keeps him easily pressed against his side.
“Passive aggressive my ass.” Lars snorts into Matthew’s hair. “You’re just downright aggressive.”
“Am not.” Matthew argues, though he winds his arms around Lars’s waist and squeezes a bit tighter than he should. This prompts Lars to laugh again, in Matthew’s ear.
“Right.” Lars sighs. “Almost four hundred years and you haven’t changed a bit, konijn.”
Matthew pouts, though he can’t exactly disagree with the older man’s statement. Over Lars’s shoulder he sees Margot saunter up to Lucas, who is standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. She gives him a wadded up bill which he accepts with a flirtatious smile. Matthew decides to never get on Margot’s bad side when she looks over at him and gives him a thumbs up.
“Margot planned this, didn’t she?” Lars asks, not even looking over at his sister. When Matthew nods, he exhales loudly. “Well, I think you passed the family initiation, at least.” he offers.
Matthew does not feel comforted.
& & &
The rest of the afternoon passes pleasantly enough, now that Margot and Noah have been sufficiently reassured that no, Matthew has not inherited Francis’s tendency to hit on strangers and is in no danger of leaving Lars for a pretty face. Matthew feels a bit stung that they could not gather that from earlier encounters, but just feels thankful that they have accepted him. Noah has, throughout the day, become increasingly more tipsy as they go from event to event - as they walk back up towards Matthew’s house in the early evening, the young nation keeps a hold on the other’s waist as he sways up the walk. Noah is trying to tell him about his annexation by France in the tone one uses when they’re attempting to convince everyone else they are not drunk. Matthew finds his story hard to follow, since the man is gradually doing most of his recounting in Luxemburgish. Holding up Noah on the other side, Lars rolls his eyes in a way that conveys years of suffering. Margot is on Lars’s other side, looking decidedly amused at the whole situation.
“He doesn’t usually drink that much,” she explains as they stop on Matthew’s front step. “He’s a bit of a lightweight.”
“Prost!” Noah tells her cheerfully, and gives her the one fingered salute. Margot swats his hand away.
“Thank you very much for putting up with us.” she tells Matthew, helping him wriggle away from Noah’s grip, and throwing her older brother’s arm over her shoulders. “Just so you know, I approve.”
“Thank you...” Matthew says uncertainly as Margot leans over to kiss his cheeks. “It was nice seeing you again.”
“Oh, definitely!” Margot chirps, hefting Noah’s weight more securely onto her frame. “Maybe at the next meeting we can get together for coffee afterwards?”
“S-sure.” Matthew grins, a little awkward as Noah attempts to sling his arm around the northern nation again and tries to press his face against Matthew’s - he is held back by Lars.
“Äddi!” he smiles, patting Matthew on the cheek. “Schéinen Dag nach!”
“Ah, yeah.” Matthew puts a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “You too?”
Noah waggles his fingers at him as Margot drags him back down the walkway. Out of politeness Matthew had offered up his guest room for Lars’s siblings but Margot, with a sly look at Lars out of the corner of her eye, had insisted that she and Noah wanted to stay at the Fairmont Château Laurier, take in the sights before leaving for Europe, adding that she was sure Matthew and Lars would want some alone time.
Matthew and Lars stand side by side, waving as Margot and Noah get into their sleek car and drive away. Matthew turns to ask Lars a question but is immediately kissed so hard his knees go weak.
“You are a saint.” Lars tells him with a note of admiration in his voice. “You put up with my siblings and you put up with Noah when he was drunk. I love you. Seriously.”
Matthew laughs. “They’re not that bad!” he insists as Lars makes a series of faces at him to express his displeasure, snaking one arm around the younger’s waist. His fingers dip lower, toying with the waistline of Matthew’s jeans.
Matthew feels his face heat up. “Uhm, so, I hope you had a nice time?” he asks in a rush. “I mean, this festival is held every year and I know you must have festivals like that every year back home and I just wanted - ” you to be impressed, is what he wants to say, but Lars grins and cups his face in one hand.
“I enjoyed spending time with you.” he says sincerely. “And your Festival was rockin’. Just saying.”
Matthew flushes, but this time with happiness at Lars’s praise. Lars laughs.
“So cute!” he murmurs happily, pressing a kiss to Matthew’s temple. “I’m not sure what is cuter - this or when you were jealous.” he snickers at Matthew’s glare. “Yeah, I’m never going to let that go, konijn.”
Wickedly, Matthew tilts his head up and stares at Lars’s lips. “You know,” he remarks off-handedly, letting a grin slip onto his face. “You should get a lip ring.”
“Yeah?” Lars narrows his eyes, a marginal gesture that Matthew catches. His fingers drift up to touch his lips. Matthew nods, grinning knowingly.
“Yeah! You know, I thought that guy Lucas looked pretty cute with that piercing.” he continues. Lars snorts, tilting his nose up.
“I didn’t notice.” he says, and Matthew bites back a laugh.
“Uh-huh,” he confirms. “He wasn’t actually that bad looking, he had really nice eyes...”
Lars pushes him up against the door, snapping something in Dutch. Matthew loves it when Lars speaks Dutch - it growls against his ears deliciously, and Matthew arches against the other nation.
“M-mmm, and I'm the jealous one?” he laughs. Lars dips his hand into Matthew’s pocket to pull out his house key, and keeps one knee between the northern nation’s legs as he fumbles for the lock.
“So not funny, Matthew.” Lars grunts, nipping at Matthew’s neck in a way that tells the younger nation Lars is a little ticked off.
“Sorry?” Matthew offers with a hesitant grin. Lars smiles in return, a dark smirk that is far too reminiscent of his colonial days. Matthew feels hot heat at the sight of that grin. He laughs weakly. “A-ah, Lars...”
Lars grabs hold of Matthew’s ass (eliciting a yelp from the boy), and lifts him bodily off the ground. Matthew wraps his legs around Lars’s waist to keep himself steady, and presses up against the door. Lars starts a rocking motion, rutting himself against his lover, and Matthew’s jacket rubs up and down against the wood, eliciting a friction Matthew can feel throughout his whole body.
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Matthew asks. Lars continues to grin. That answers Matthew’s question.
An hour later, Matthew is left panting on his bed, nuzzling his nose into Lars’s neck. Lars is wearing that shit-eating grin and, for once, Matthew thinks that he has a right to.
“Lucas can go fuck himself.” Lars tells him cheerfully, hand playing over Matthew’s bare chest.
“A-Amen.” Matthew sighs, pressing a kiss to the underside of Lars’s jaw.
The Dutch nation looks rather pleased with himself.
& & &
Translations:
Prost! = Luxemburgish for “cheers!”
Äddi = Luxemburgish for “Goodbye”
Schéinen Dag nach! = Luxemburgish for “Have a nice day!”
Historical/General Notes:
Margot = Belgium and Noah = Luxembourg. According to Finland in the "Christmas Rampage", Luxembourg “has a family that was once said to rival the famed Hapsburg line. A very elegant person!” I tried to make him sort of true to that very vague description....
According to my (brief) research, the Netherlands declared independence from the Spanish Empire in 1581, and their independence was recognized in 1648. Belgium’s independence from the Netherlands was recognized in 1839, and Luxembourg’s independence from the French empire was in 1815. Just going by that, in my head canon Lars is the eldest, Luxembourg is the middle kid and Belgium is the baby sister.
The Ottawa Tulip Festival is held every year in Canada’s capital city over the course of eighteen days in May. There’s live entertainment, pavilions, cultural food, you name it. It celebrates the incident in 1945 when the Dutch royal family sent 100 000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa, in thanks for the shelter Canada gave to Princess Juliana and her daughters. When Princess Juliana became queen she vowed to send tulip bulbs to Ottawa annually for as long as she reigned.
Commissioner’s Park is where the largest amount of tulips are planted, 300 000 apparently. It is also home to the statue The Man With Two Hats (upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Man_With_Two_Hats_Ottawa_Statue.jpg) that was unveiled by Princess Margriet in 2002. There is an identical one in Apeldoorn and represents the joy and celebration of freedom of the Liberation of the Netherlands. I think it’s sweet.
“Matthew brushes against the gold band on Lars’s right thumb” - well, Matthew had to give Lars something to say thank you for the rabbit pendant. Lars teased him for weeks about them being engaged.
Poutine is a Quebecois dish of fries with gravy and cheese curds, which is absolutely delicious. A few years ago I went to Quebec for the summer to a language exchange. I was in a small town and they had a little roadside restaurant called “Cantine D’Amour” that served the best poutine of life. As a Western-Canadian, the poutine I was used to eating was made with shredded cheese. It is supposed to be made with cheese curds, or “squeaky cheese”. Now I cannot eat poutine without cheese curds. This makes me sad because everywhere I go, they make poutine with shredded cheese D: It’s a travesty, and this was a pointless story. But now you know!
I always think people who are refined when sober makes the funniest drunks because you totally don’t expect their attitude to be so....yeah. Since Luxembourg is supposed to be an “elegant person”, I suppose he might be a little more “vocal” when he’s had a few.
This is Fairmont Château Laurier - www.fairmont.com/laurier/Photos/
Pretty posh, don’t you think?
Author's Note: I am one chapter away from being done with this story. I am actually pretty excited to finish, not going to lie!
Author: grosse_averse, tatterdemalion on fanfiction.net
Characters/Pairings: The relationship between Canada and the Netherlands (OC) will take centre stage - however, other characters involved in their relations will also appear. This chapter heavily features Belgium and OC Luxembourg.
Rated: It varies. Probably PG-13 for this chapter?
Summary: A chronicle of Matthew’s relationship with Lars, from 1611 to present day. In this chapter, the Ottawa Tulip Festival. There is seriously no historical content in this chapter at all. Seriously.
Author’s Notes: I love tuuuuuulips!
Chapter One (1611)
Chapter Two (~1640)
Chapter Three (1674)
Chapter Four (1824)
Chapter Five (1940)
Chapter Six (1945)
Kumajirou wakes to an empty bed.
Crawling out from under his cocoon of blankets, the polar bear blinks blearily at the window - it is a regular spring morning in Ottawa, a bit of cloud and a breeze. Outside the window, a branch studded with green buds slides against the glass.
The boy who always feeds Kumajirou comes rushing in, arms full of clean laundry.
The guy - whoever he is - dumps the laundry on the bed, narrowly missing the bear.
“Hey.” Kumajirou growls, wiping a sock off his head.
The guy fixes his glasses. “Oh, sorry Kumajichi!” he says brightly. “I’ll get you some breakfast in a minute, I just need to do some cleaning!”
“Who?” Kumajirou asks, wrinkling his nose. The guy sighs.
“Ca - na - da.” he enunciates. “Honestly, it’s not that hard. I told you last week, Netherlands is coming over to visit today.” a pink colour settles on his face. “I’m taking him to the Tulip Festival.”
“Netherlands?” Kumajirou repeats, sitting up on his haunches. That loud, troublesome nation who came to a meeting high once? Kumajirou disapproves of this new playmate for his master.
Canada sighs again. “Don’t you go forgetting his name, too!” he chides, reaching out to scratch behind the bear’s ears. “We’ll be back for dinner, don’t worry.”
“Don’t smoke.” Kumajirou orders his master. The blonde frowns.
“...What?” he asks, but Kumajirou has already climbed off the bed and is now lumbering towards the kitchen, intent on breakfast.
& & &
Matthew isn’t expecting much from Lars’s visit - all they had planned was for Matthew to “show him the Tulip Festival”. Afterwards he might take Lars to a nice restaurant, and after that...
Matthew blushes. Well, he cleaned his bedroom really well, just in case.
The honking of a car horn outside his house catches his attention, and he scrambles for the front door. This is the first time Lars will have visited him (not counting the times he was here for “business” of course). There is a sleek black car parked outside. Lars jumps out of the back, wearing a long scarf and pea-coat against the breeze (Matthew, who is only in a t-shirt and jeans, cannot see how the weather could be cold enough to warrant a scarf).
Lars’s smile is exuberant, but with enough apology in it to make Matthew wonder - as he takes a step down the walkway, Lars turns to help someone else out of the car.
Oh. Oh. Matthew blinks in confusion as Lars’s sister Margot, a cheerful looking woman with caramel blonde hair, slides out, giving her brother a pat on the back. From around the other side of the car Lars’s brother Noah gets out, fixing his sunglasses and looking entirely unimpressed. His sweep of light brown hair ruffles in the wind. All three of them are dressed for much colder weather than springtime in Ottawa.
Well. Lars never mentioned he was bringing the family. Matthew suddenly feels self-conscious, shifting his feet as Lars walks ahead of his siblings in long strides and sweeps Matthew into a hug, briefly kissing his cheeks.
“I am so sorry.” Lars mutters between clenched teeth. “They wanted to come, I really couldn’t stop them, you know how my sister is, she - ”
“Mathieu!” Margot pushes her brother aside to kiss him fondly on the cheek. “How are you? We haven’t talked in ages!”
Matthew grins hesitantly at her. He cannot see the family resemblance between the two - Margot’s face is more round and soft featured - but then she smiles. Oh. Margot and Lars seem to share the same shit-eating grin. Well that’s lovely.
“It’s nice to see you again.” Matthew replies. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming, I would’ve put some tea on or - ”
“Don’t be silly!” Margot trills, pulling on Noah’s elbow so he is forced to press against his sister. “We just wanted to see our brother and his boyfriend, isn’t that right, Lux?”
Noah hums in the back of his throat. He, at least, looks related to Lars, with the same elegant, angular face. His eyes are hidden behind his sunglasses but he looks sufficiently bored already. Matthew despairs. He tries valiantly to remember the times he’s actually talked to Luxembourg, to at least try to find some common ground, but can think of few occasions. He figures Noah must be the “easily forgotten” one of the family. He can at least relate to that.
Lars casts another painful look at Matthew before Margot claps her hands and says brightly, “So! Where are these tulips I hear so much about?”
They take the car the siblings arrived in to the Festival - Lars keeps one arm wrapped securely around Matthew’s shoulders as if trying to pull him away from his sister. Margot retaliates by pulling on Matthew’s elbow and asking him questions. Noah reads.
“Can we see your Parliament building?” Margot asks excitedly, taking in downtown Ottawa as Matthew tries to give the driver directions. “Ooh, this is so exciting! I haven’t been to your capital before! I’m so glad Lars invited us to come!” Margot giggles and receives a dirty look from her brother, who now has his fingers dug so tightly into Matthew’s side the younger country fears they will need to spend some time disentangling.
“I didn’t invite you to come,” Lars points out bitterly, “You just came without asking!”
Margot does not seem to hear this and continues to beam at the two of them.
“So, Belgium, Luxembourg,” Matthew begins politely as Lars buries the lower part of his face into Matthew’s hair and grumbles. “How are your bosses? How are you handling the recession?”
Margot clicks her tongue in a matronly manner. “Mathieu!” she chides. “Now isn’t business time, it’s family time!”
Matthew colours and apologizes while Noah looks up from his book.
“My economy’s fine, thanks for asking.” he remarks. Lars glowers at him, face still half-hidden in Matthew’s hair.
“Lux.” he groans, and Noah returns to his reading.
The car drops them off at Commissioner’s Park, as per Matthew’s instructions. Matthew feels proud as Margot “ooh”s and “aah”s over the multitude of tulips; even Noah looks impressed, crouching to examine them. Lars, arm still draped over Matthew’s shoulder, tugs him away from his siblings (Margot is temporarily occupied by a busker, who is singing her a French love song on a guitar), towards a statue of a man holding two hats. He and Matthew share a secret smile, and Lars moves behind him to wrap his arms around the younger’s waist.
“Yours is in Apeldoorn, right?” Matthew asks, shifting in the embrace as Lars places a kiss behind his ear.
“Mm-hmm.” Lars mumbles, breath hot on his neck, and tilts his hips just so against Matthew’s rear. Then he growls in frustration as Margot comes up beside them, looking too cheerfully innocent to be unaware that she is interrupting something.
“What’s this, Mathieu?” she asks. Noah strolls up behind them with a tourist’s pamphlet.
“The Man With Two Hats,” he reads, then looks up. “Descriptive.”
“Lars gave it to me,” Matthew explains with a soft smile. “After the war, as a symbol of friendship. He has one just like it in Apeldoorn.” Lars gives his waist a quick squeeze - without seeing his face Matthew knows he is smiling.
A sly grin spread across Margot’s face. “Ah, so they’re like promise rings!” she chirps. Matthew snorts. Lars rests his chin on the top of Matthew’s head
“Yeah, Bel, a statue of a man representing my liberation is exactly like exchanging promise rings.” the Dutch nation quips sarcastically. Matthew brushes against the gold band on Lars’s right thumb and smiles to himself.
By the time they circle around Commissioner’s Park, Matthew’s stomach is growling. Margot spots an outdoor food stand and insists Lars accompany her to get food for everyone. This leaves Matthew and Noah sitting on a park bench, Matthew having no idea what to say to the other nation in order to break the silence. Noah has removed his sunglasses, but his brown eyes are closed as he perches elegantly on the bench, arms folded across his chest.
At first Matthew thinks he has dozed off until Noah murmurs, eyes still closed, “You know, I care about my brother a lot.”
Matthew glances across the park where Lars and Margot seem to be arguing over something on the menu.
“That’s...good.” he replies awkwardly. Noah opens one eye to examine him.
“He talks about you, and his eyes light up.” Noah continues impassively. “I’d be very upset if for some reason he was hurt over this.”
Matthew sits very still, disbelieving. Not even two hours in and he is being threatened by his lover’s brother. This is a very strange day.
“I would, too.” he says honestly, drumming his fingers on his leg. “I - I hope that I can convince you that I love your brother and care about him and, well, I’ve been waiting for this since the 18th century.”
Noah arches an eyebrow, but Margot and Lars are already coming back with food. Matthew interprets Noah’s silence as being unimpressed, and feels slightly foolish until Lars hands him a bowl of poutine.
“Here,” he says. “Margot wanted to try it so she got some for everyone.”
“What is this?” Noah asks his sister, staring down at the concoction she has given him, a look of horror edging its way into his normal, placid expression.
Matthew doesn’t see what all the fuss is about - he has eaten stranger things in Europe, after all, and starts on his poutine with gusto. Lars, the darling, also begins eating (albeit hesitantly) in support. Noah picks up a soggy fry topped by a cheese curd.
“I don’t understand this.” he says simply in horrified exasperation. Even Margot looks cowed.
“D-don’t be silly!” she finally laughs. “Just try it, Lux!”
It is unintentionally hilarious, watching elegant and refined Noah trying to eat fries with gravy and cheese. Matthew feels bad for laughing - Noah gives him a cross look as he wipes gravy off his nose with as much dignity as he has left. Lars teases Margot about her rather unlady-like way of eating poutine, to which Margot exclaims that it doesn’t matter because it’s delicious so stop laughing, Lars!
Matthew is reminded of his family a bit, except with more playful bantering and less murderous intent; the thought brings a smile to his face. Lars catches him spacing out and wipes a bit of gravy onto the young nation’s lips before kissing it off. Noah wrinkles his nose. Margot dabs more gravy onto the tip of it, just to spite her brother.
After they finish, Noah leaves half of his poutine and excuses himself to use the restroom. After he has been gone for five minutes, Margot concludes that he is either retching in the toilet or has lost track of the time fixing his hair so she orders Lars to go check on him. Then she turns to Matthew with a sweet smile.
“I think you’re a really neat guy, Mathieu,” she tells him, moving closer. Matthew is having a strange sense of deja vu. “Lars deserves to have someone in his life, and thankfully you’re not as obnoxious as your brother.”
Matthew feels as though he should thank her - before he can, Margot continues.
“I know we don’t talk much, especially not since the Wars, but I want you to know that I almost approve of you.”
“Almost?” Matthew repeats quizzically, and Margot pats his hand.
“It’s still early!” she assures him, and won’t say anything more about it.
Noah, returning from the washroom with a bit more colour in his face, is duly horrified to learn that there was a pavilion not far away that offered a wide array of cultural foods from around the world while he was stuck eating strange Quebecois food. Matthew, who is starting to feel a little insulted on behalf of his poutine, tells him there is a beer tent as well. At this Noah lights up and admits that is better than nothing. When they reach the tent, Lars goes off in search of the washrooms while Noah insists that he will choose what they have this time, thank you very much Margot.
Margot pouts but follows her brother up to the front as he orders. After a while Matthew notices they have not come back - instead, Margot and Noah, each holding two beers, are whispering amongst themselves; then Margot turns to the bartender with a rather radiant and suspiciously flirtatious smile. They exchange words, and Matthew is bewildered when Margot turns to point straight at him.
When Margot and Noah return to the table Noah tells him, “The bartender wants to see your ID.”
“Oh.” Understandable - Matthew usually gets carded because of his youthful appearance. Wallet in hand, he stands and approaches the bartender. He guesses the man is in his early twenties, with brown hair that sticks up in waves, blue eyes and a lip ring on his full pouty lips. He gives Matthew a look as he approaches.
“Hey,” the bartender says, voice husky. “Sorry, just need to see some ID.”
“Sure, it’s no problem.” Matthew hands it to him and waits as he looks it over.
“Matthew, huh?” the other man asks with a grin, and Matthew shifts nervously, giving a weak smile in return.
“Nice name,” he continues. “My name’s Lucas.”
“Nice to meet you.” Matthew mumbles, reaching out his hand for his card back. Lucas makes no move to give it back to him, instead staring at him intensely from beneath his fringe of bangs. His tongue darts out to play with his lip ring.
“A cute guy like you must have a boyfriend, huh?” Lucas asks. Matthew laughs, a little too loud.
“Er, yeah. Listen, I’ve got to get back to my friends - ”
“Hey, what’s the hurry?” Lucas catches his hand, giving him a teasing wink. “I’ll buy you a drink, we’ll get to know each other.”
“Sorry, I’m not interested.” Matthew replies tersely, snatches back his ID, and returns to the table.
Lars is back from the bathroom, and Matthew sits as close to him as possible. Noah and Margot are staring at him as if expecting something.
Matthew raises his eyebrows at them and they look away with rather triumphant expressions on their faces.
& & &
After the beer tent they head over to Parliament Hill, where Margot takes pictures of his Parliament building with her cell phone. This causes Lars to make some innuendoes, for which he is promptly slapped by both his sister and his boyfriend. Then they head to Major’s Hill Park to catch a concert. Margot tells Matthew about her people’s alternative music scene and Noah jumps in to add recommendations about several good Luxembourg bands. They are in the middle of a crowd, enjoying the music, so it takes Matthew a while to realize they’ve lost Lars in the mass of people.
“Go back that way and see if you can find him,” Margot instructs. “Noah and I will meet you by that far pavilion.”
Matthew agrees and they separate.
Lars turns out to be a few feet away, talking excitedly to a man Matthew instantly recognizes as the beer tent bartender, Lucas, and the young nation feels a curious, hot flush spread throughout his body.
Lucas is standing very, very close to Lars, in the way people do when they have a candid interest in someone, hip cocked, shoulders thrown back, a dazzling smile on his face. If Lars has noticed the interest the other man is showing, he doesn’t react. Instead he laughs at something Lucas has said and nods. Matthew feels his ears go red.
Then, Lucas motions to the piercing in his lip and, right there where Matthew can see, puts his finger on Lars’s bottom lip as if to indicate where a good spot to put a ring was.
Matthew sees red and storms over, hooking his arm with Lars’s.
“Lars.” he says in a tight voice. “C’mon, your sister’s waiting - ”
“Oh, it’s you!” Lucas looks pleased, looking Matthew up and down, eyebrows raised. “Is this your boyfriend?”
“Yes, he is my boyfriend.” Matthew grinds out. Lars looks torn halfway between confusion and amusement.
Lucas reaches into his pocket for a marker and takes Lars’s hand. Matthew makes a noise akin to an angry squirrel as the man scribbles down a number.
“Give me a call if monogamy gets too boring for you two.” Lucas purrs, and Matthew jerks Lars away.
“Shove off, you hoser!” he hisses before dragging the Dutch country away from the other man.
Lars is laughing so hard there are tears in his eyes. He doesn’t stop even when Matthew seizes his hand, licks his own thumb and rubs viciously at the marker.
“Darling, I never knew you could get so jealous!” Lars teases. Matthew reaches up, cups his hand behind Lars’s head, and kisses him in return. Lars doesn’t hesitate in returning it, rubbing up against him as they are jostled in the crowd.
“Maybe you should get jealous more often,” he suggests huskily as they part. “It’s hot on you.”
Matthew flushes. “I didn’t - it’s just - ” he tries to explain, but Lars shakes his head, grinning.
“Oh no, the innocent act doesn’t fool me anymore.” he waggles his finger at the younger country, who is turning a deep shade of scarlet. “I know that, underneath, there’s a raging, passionate little beast just waiting to get out.”
“C-come off it!” Matthew insists, trying to push away from Lars. Lars keeps him easily pressed against his side.
“Passive aggressive my ass.” Lars snorts into Matthew’s hair. “You’re just downright aggressive.”
“Am not.” Matthew argues, though he winds his arms around Lars’s waist and squeezes a bit tighter than he should. This prompts Lars to laugh again, in Matthew’s ear.
“Right.” Lars sighs. “Almost four hundred years and you haven’t changed a bit, konijn.”
Matthew pouts, though he can’t exactly disagree with the older man’s statement. Over Lars’s shoulder he sees Margot saunter up to Lucas, who is standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. She gives him a wadded up bill which he accepts with a flirtatious smile. Matthew decides to never get on Margot’s bad side when she looks over at him and gives him a thumbs up.
“Margot planned this, didn’t she?” Lars asks, not even looking over at his sister. When Matthew nods, he exhales loudly. “Well, I think you passed the family initiation, at least.” he offers.
Matthew does not feel comforted.
& & &
The rest of the afternoon passes pleasantly enough, now that Margot and Noah have been sufficiently reassured that no, Matthew has not inherited Francis’s tendency to hit on strangers and is in no danger of leaving Lars for a pretty face. Matthew feels a bit stung that they could not gather that from earlier encounters, but just feels thankful that they have accepted him. Noah has, throughout the day, become increasingly more tipsy as they go from event to event - as they walk back up towards Matthew’s house in the early evening, the young nation keeps a hold on the other’s waist as he sways up the walk. Noah is trying to tell him about his annexation by France in the tone one uses when they’re attempting to convince everyone else they are not drunk. Matthew finds his story hard to follow, since the man is gradually doing most of his recounting in Luxemburgish. Holding up Noah on the other side, Lars rolls his eyes in a way that conveys years of suffering. Margot is on Lars’s other side, looking decidedly amused at the whole situation.
“He doesn’t usually drink that much,” she explains as they stop on Matthew’s front step. “He’s a bit of a lightweight.”
“Prost!” Noah tells her cheerfully, and gives her the one fingered salute. Margot swats his hand away.
“Thank you very much for putting up with us.” she tells Matthew, helping him wriggle away from Noah’s grip, and throwing her older brother’s arm over her shoulders. “Just so you know, I approve.”
“Thank you...” Matthew says uncertainly as Margot leans over to kiss his cheeks. “It was nice seeing you again.”
“Oh, definitely!” Margot chirps, hefting Noah’s weight more securely onto her frame. “Maybe at the next meeting we can get together for coffee afterwards?”
“S-sure.” Matthew grins, a little awkward as Noah attempts to sling his arm around the northern nation again and tries to press his face against Matthew’s - he is held back by Lars.
“Äddi!” he smiles, patting Matthew on the cheek. “Schéinen Dag nach!”
“Ah, yeah.” Matthew puts a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “You too?”
Noah waggles his fingers at him as Margot drags him back down the walkway. Out of politeness Matthew had offered up his guest room for Lars’s siblings but Margot, with a sly look at Lars out of the corner of her eye, had insisted that she and Noah wanted to stay at the Fairmont Château Laurier, take in the sights before leaving for Europe, adding that she was sure Matthew and Lars would want some alone time.
Matthew and Lars stand side by side, waving as Margot and Noah get into their sleek car and drive away. Matthew turns to ask Lars a question but is immediately kissed so hard his knees go weak.
“You are a saint.” Lars tells him with a note of admiration in his voice. “You put up with my siblings and you put up with Noah when he was drunk. I love you. Seriously.”
Matthew laughs. “They’re not that bad!” he insists as Lars makes a series of faces at him to express his displeasure, snaking one arm around the younger’s waist. His fingers dip lower, toying with the waistline of Matthew’s jeans.
Matthew feels his face heat up. “Uhm, so, I hope you had a nice time?” he asks in a rush. “I mean, this festival is held every year and I know you must have festivals like that every year back home and I just wanted - ” you to be impressed, is what he wants to say, but Lars grins and cups his face in one hand.
“I enjoyed spending time with you.” he says sincerely. “And your Festival was rockin’. Just saying.”
Matthew flushes, but this time with happiness at Lars’s praise. Lars laughs.
“So cute!” he murmurs happily, pressing a kiss to Matthew’s temple. “I’m not sure what is cuter - this or when you were jealous.” he snickers at Matthew’s glare. “Yeah, I’m never going to let that go, konijn.”
Wickedly, Matthew tilts his head up and stares at Lars’s lips. “You know,” he remarks off-handedly, letting a grin slip onto his face. “You should get a lip ring.”
“Yeah?” Lars narrows his eyes, a marginal gesture that Matthew catches. His fingers drift up to touch his lips. Matthew nods, grinning knowingly.
“Yeah! You know, I thought that guy Lucas looked pretty cute with that piercing.” he continues. Lars snorts, tilting his nose up.
“I didn’t notice.” he says, and Matthew bites back a laugh.
“Uh-huh,” he confirms. “He wasn’t actually that bad looking, he had really nice eyes...”
Lars pushes him up against the door, snapping something in Dutch. Matthew loves it when Lars speaks Dutch - it growls against his ears deliciously, and Matthew arches against the other nation.
“M-mmm, and I'm the jealous one?” he laughs. Lars dips his hand into Matthew’s pocket to pull out his house key, and keeps one knee between the northern nation’s legs as he fumbles for the lock.
“So not funny, Matthew.” Lars grunts, nipping at Matthew’s neck in a way that tells the younger nation Lars is a little ticked off.
“Sorry?” Matthew offers with a hesitant grin. Lars smiles in return, a dark smirk that is far too reminiscent of his colonial days. Matthew feels hot heat at the sight of that grin. He laughs weakly. “A-ah, Lars...”
Lars grabs hold of Matthew’s ass (eliciting a yelp from the boy), and lifts him bodily off the ground. Matthew wraps his legs around Lars’s waist to keep himself steady, and presses up against the door. Lars starts a rocking motion, rutting himself against his lover, and Matthew’s jacket rubs up and down against the wood, eliciting a friction Matthew can feel throughout his whole body.
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Matthew asks. Lars continues to grin. That answers Matthew’s question.
An hour later, Matthew is left panting on his bed, nuzzling his nose into Lars’s neck. Lars is wearing that shit-eating grin and, for once, Matthew thinks that he has a right to.
“Lucas can go fuck himself.” Lars tells him cheerfully, hand playing over Matthew’s bare chest.
“A-Amen.” Matthew sighs, pressing a kiss to the underside of Lars’s jaw.
The Dutch nation looks rather pleased with himself.
& & &
Translations:
Prost! = Luxemburgish for “cheers!”
Äddi = Luxemburgish for “Goodbye”
Schéinen Dag nach! = Luxemburgish for “Have a nice day!”
Historical/General Notes:
Margot = Belgium and Noah = Luxembourg. According to Finland in the "Christmas Rampage", Luxembourg “has a family that was once said to rival the famed Hapsburg line. A very elegant person!” I tried to make him sort of true to that very vague description....
According to my (brief) research, the Netherlands declared independence from the Spanish Empire in 1581, and their independence was recognized in 1648. Belgium’s independence from the Netherlands was recognized in 1839, and Luxembourg’s independence from the French empire was in 1815. Just going by that, in my head canon Lars is the eldest, Luxembourg is the middle kid and Belgium is the baby sister.
The Ottawa Tulip Festival is held every year in Canada’s capital city over the course of eighteen days in May. There’s live entertainment, pavilions, cultural food, you name it. It celebrates the incident in 1945 when the Dutch royal family sent 100 000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa, in thanks for the shelter Canada gave to Princess Juliana and her daughters. When Princess Juliana became queen she vowed to send tulip bulbs to Ottawa annually for as long as she reigned.
Commissioner’s Park is where the largest amount of tulips are planted, 300 000 apparently. It is also home to the statue The Man With Two Hats (upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Man_With_Two_Hats_Ottawa_Statue.jpg) that was unveiled by Princess Margriet in 2002. There is an identical one in Apeldoorn and represents the joy and celebration of freedom of the Liberation of the Netherlands. I think it’s sweet.
“Matthew brushes against the gold band on Lars’s right thumb” - well, Matthew had to give Lars something to say thank you for the rabbit pendant. Lars teased him for weeks about them being engaged.
Poutine is a Quebecois dish of fries with gravy and cheese curds, which is absolutely delicious. A few years ago I went to Quebec for the summer to a language exchange. I was in a small town and they had a little roadside restaurant called “Cantine D’Amour” that served the best poutine of life. As a Western-Canadian, the poutine I was used to eating was made with shredded cheese. It is supposed to be made with cheese curds, or “squeaky cheese”. Now I cannot eat poutine without cheese curds. This makes me sad because everywhere I go, they make poutine with shredded cheese D: It’s a travesty, and this was a pointless story. But now you know!
I always think people who are refined when sober makes the funniest drunks because you totally don’t expect their attitude to be so....yeah. Since Luxembourg is supposed to be an “elegant person”, I suppose he might be a little more “vocal” when he’s had a few.
This is Fairmont Château Laurier - www.fairmont.com/laurier/Photos/
Pretty posh, don’t you think?
Author's Note: I am one chapter away from being done with this story. I am actually pretty excited to finish, not going to lie!