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[Wawel Castle 1386]
Lithuania darted down the castle corridors, nearly tripping over his feet. Not the ones where Poland slept, but a different one - where the King, now Queen of Poland stayed. Lithuania hadn’t talked much to Jadwiga before but he had a great deal of respect for her. She was a friendly girl, too young to be in her position, especially one where she was marrying a man as old as Jogaila.
"Miss Jadwiga?" Lithuania called out, closing in on her room, "Miss Jadwiga, may I have a moment?"
At his voice, the doors opened, and Jadwiga stood, a warm, inviting smile to her face. “What is it, Lietuva?”
"It's about Poland..." The words came meekly from his mouth and he sounded much less fierce and brave than something like a Grand Duchy should be. He sounded like a teenage boy - which he was - but he was also a great and powerful country. "I--" Lithuania was too nervous to go on.
Jadwiga gave him a comforting stare and smiled, "He's a shy boy, but he'll come around."
Without even having to ask, Lithuania had his answer and he looked to the floor.
Since the day Lithuania arrived at the castle, every attempt to talk to or communicate with Poland had ended abruptly or turned out awkward. Often Poland would run away or hide, doing his best to avoid any social interaction at all costs.
Well, that was a half-truth. Lithuania had caught glimpses of Poland laughing and talking to Jadwiga, playing with the entertainers, and staring absently at the farmers out in the fields.
"He's a bit cold at first..." Jadwiga added, "When I met him, he was just as shy but I could see in his eyes he wanted to talk to me, so after many efforts, I had been able to reach out to him. I’m almost certain he’d like to know you too!" Then her voice fell solemn, "He hasn't had many friends and those he could call a friend..." She went still for a moment, "The Teutonic Knight child betrayed his trust."
Lithuania folded his arms, it would be his old rival to turn on anyone he could, Gilbert, or the Teutonic Knights, whatever that bastard was. He was a bully, of course he'd do that to someone. Lithuania knew that all too well, "I see..." He could hardly conceal the rage building in his throat. "Where is Poland, if I may ask?"
Lithuania wanted to try to approach him again, he just didn't want to scare him or make him hate him. This was his husband now. Of all things. Even if they weren't a single, merged nation, they were still married... and forced to live alongside each other.
Jadwiga sat down at the foot of her bed and gave young Lithuania a cheery smile, "If you can't find him, he's usually in the stables with the horses. He spends a lot of his time there, I think he’s lonely.”
"Thank you, Miss Jadwiga!" Lithuania returned the smile, he was destined to get through to Poland one way or another. It'd be hopeless if they couldn't work together. In fact, they'd probably be doomed.
[Wawel Stables]
Poland laid in a soft pile of hay next to a colt who had just recently been born. He'd been appreciating the newly birthed creature and watched it grow, day by day. He was alone with it, in its stall, handing it bits of hay. "Once you're bigger and stronger, you'll be great!" Poland sat up, patting the horse on the nose, "I know, 'cus I can just tell." He rubbed it between its ears, "Plus, you're like, so cute!"
The colt chewed the hay Poland was handing him and it seemed pleased by the pats and attention.
"The best battle horses are always the cutest!" Poland sat back in the hay, "In fact... I'll make you my horse!!" He liked the appearance of it and the big friendly eyes it had. Some horses looked mean and scary, but this one looked kind, trusting. "I feel like I can trust you..." He handed it another handful of hay, "You won't hurt me."
Poland continued to talk to the horse about his feelings while feeding it, until he heard a sound and noticed the horse's ear twitch too at it. Someone was there, and it wasn't another horse.
"Poland?"
The voice was Lithuania's and at realizing that, Poland's heart began to race. Lithuania was scary. Well, it wasn't that Lithuania was scary, but Lithuania was a stranger, and that made Lithuania scary.
Quickly, Poland looked around and saw the haystack he had been laying on and found it to be a perfect hiding place. If he stayed there, Lithuania wouldn't be able to find him, and eventually, he'd get bored and leave. It was a foolproof plan.
Poland quickly dug his way into the hay and hid, watching the colt and the door, to make sure he was safe from the stranger. The colt would be safe, hopefully, but if danger should arise, Poland could probably handle Lithuania and scare him off.
"Poland, are you out here?" Lithuania called again but stopped when he reached the stall.
Poland could see him looking at the colt and giving it a smile. The cold walked up towards the door and let Lithuania even pet its nose. It seemed unafraid of the newcomer.
Lithuania kept petting it, rubbing its ears and nose, "Well aren't you cute?" He went so far as to nuzzle it and give it a few more pats, "I'm looking for Poland, have you seen him?"
As expected, the colt said nothing but stared at Lithuania. It seemed to trust Lithuania too… and horses didn’t trust bad people.
Poland closed his eyes and sunk deeper into the hay, that was until he heard Lithuania giggling. Poland quickly poked his head back out to see what was happening and noticed the horse was now licking Lithuania's face.
"You're friendly too!" Lithuania smiled, pulling a carrot from a satchel around his chest, "Friendly horses get good treats."
Poland watched in awe as Lithuania treated the horse with great respect and care. He wanted to say something, to thank him for being so friendly to the horse, but he couldn't muster the emotional strength to say anything. Instead, Poland did his best to stay still and watch Lithuania - but that failed when he felt some dust find it's way into his nose and he sneezed.
The sudden sound made both Lithuania and the horse jump with fright.
"Poland?"
Shit, shit, shit, he'd been caught. What could he do, how could he get out of this, "No, there's just hay and a horse in here, totally nothing else."
Lithuania let out a deep and audible sigh before opening the stall and inviting himself in. After closing the door behind him he took another breath and stood over Poland.
From this angle, no matter how friendly his face, he looked terrifying. Strangers in and of themselves were nightmare fuel but having them stand over you, cornering you was worse. "If we're going to make this union work out..." Lithuania's voice shook as he spoke, "We really need to try to get along."
Poland didn't come out of the hay, and instead just stared silently at Lithuania. He was cute, he had these bright green eyes, this messy, long hair, and gentle smile. Every action he made with the horse was calm and relaxing, in fact, just his presence made Poland feel calmer. This was all a stark contrast to stories he had been told or battles he'd witnessed from the sidelines. He'd seen this same person with a different face. One of violent ferocity that had the capacity to slaughter without a second thought. He'd seen those warm eyes turn cold.
Lithuania knelt down and reached out a hand, "I'm just like you..." His hand was trembling, along with his voice, his eyes, on closer inspection, seemed terrified too.
"Why aren't you hurting me?" Poland was blunt, having no way out, he did his best to muster up some courage.
There was a good minute of silence as both stared at one another in the eyes.
"Why would I do that?" Lithuania said, plopping himself directly down onto the dirt floor of the stall. "We're allies now, right? Even more..." He took a deep breath, "...we're married." Lithuania said those last words with a bit of displease.
"We are?"
"What did you think that ceremony was about?"
Poland looked to the ground, then back at Lithuania, "I thought it was just for fun--"
There was an even longer and even somehow more awkward moment of silence.
"That was our wedding."
Poland retreated further into the hay. He needed a moment to think, in privacy. He knew Jadwiga was getting married but he didn't know that included him getting married. Could they even get married? The bible said a lot of things... and they were both men... or were they? Did whatever they were count? The church folk didn't seem to blink an eye.
"Marriage is for a man and a woman." Poland defended himself. He wasn't worried about the fact they were both men or even the fact it was marriage. He didn't know Lithuania, outside of the few very violent battles he'd witnessed or fought. "We're um..." He had no more words.
Lithuania sighed, "I don't get it either, but we're tied together now."
"I don't want to be married..." Poland curled up in the hay, "I don't want to be married to a stranger." He felt his chest begin to swell, tears forming in his eyes.
"I don't have to be a stranger!" Lithuania gave that same heartwarming smile again, "Then you won't be married to one!"
Poland crawled out of the hay a bit, sitting up to face Lithuania. "You won't hurt me, right?"
Lithuania shook his head and reached a trembling hand out. "I promise, from here on out, we're partners."
Poland took Lithuania's hand and stared at his calm and gentle face. This was a person, like him, a thing, like him. Yet, Lithuania seemed warmer and sweeter than others he had met like himself in the past.
"Come on!" Lithuania stood up, pulling at Poland, "I'll always be a stranger if you don't talk to me!"
Poland complied, standing up with Lithuania, still holding his hand, still watching his eyes and movements with every precaution.
"I know a beautiful place on a hill where we can see the whole castle - You can tell me about yourself and I'll tell you all about me!"
Poland nodded. Maybe with time, he could call this stranger a friend.