Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gov was never one for physical contact.

At least, not until he got together with Florida.

Before that, the only physical attention he got was the false pats on the back from the senators and the politicians that he worked with, always filled with hypocresy and a very inflated ego. If he was fortunate enough, a midwestern state would give them a half hug when they finished a new policy they liked, and that was it.

IDC's visits were rare nowadays, and even she wasn't too keen of physical contact either, but she could give a certain kind of warmth, the one that only the people you grew up around were able to provide, even if it proved to be too much for his freezing, long time numbed and neglected self.

And for a while, he was okay like that, even if there was times where he wondered if he really wasn't.

And then, quite a literal piece of sunshine arrived to his life, for both better and worse.

Florida, who was all chaos and discord and loud and just so unbelievingly warm in contrast to all of Gov's entire existence and yet – And yet he loved every single aspect about him that it seemed nearly impossible to describe it in way that made sense to the fed's head. 

Florida, who's head never once seemed to calm down for a second, instead opting to rush for ideas on how to be the embodiment of a devil for the entire household, always having Louisiana besides him like his right hand man. Florida, who "couldn't" read a single word of English to save his life, but could read the entirety of a children's book if it was in Spanish instead. Florida, who would recreate the entirety of Last Friday Night's events on his own on a Saturday night in Miami and be up for church at 9am as the southerner in him demanded. 

Florida, who's seen how truly lonely Gov is, under all of those meetings and busy paperwork and the weight of the world he's carried as second nature for oh so long. Florida, who's stayed with him when it was Gov's third night without sleep in a row, grabbing his hand and trying his best to get the stubborn Fed to just go to sleep with him in bed. Florida, who's warmth awakened something inside the suit wearing man that he didn't know exactly how to control. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to.

That something that cherised when he got told that his hair looked nice that day, or when the meetings at the Table went better than he expected them to be. That something that went crazy when Florida gave him a genuine smile, different from his signature, chaos-summoner, "I-will-break-several-laws" smirk. That something that arose in his chest and made him feel all bubbly and nervous and light whenever the Sunshine State gave him a tighter hug, or a longer kiss, making his face go all red for hours after that.

He especially loved it when his hand was held under the Table, making him feel like there's something grounding him back to himself. The weight of the hand over his, the way it felt so rough and scarred, always with a new bruise on it with a story to tell, the way it was just a tad bit bigger than his, the little freckles that adourned it. The warmth it brought him, both inside and outside. The warmth that reminded him that, maybe, he wasn't just a goverment personification of a leader country, a simple puppet used for all his politician's sake, with him being no better than them.

Maybe, just for a second, he can be himself, a nerdy guy who probably needs glasses and who's allowed to fall in love with the biggest idiot he's ever met.

And maybe, as he's looking down at Florida's asleep face, with their fingers intertwined in the living room's couch, feeling like the luckiest man alive in the world, he won't mind how free he feels with that statement.  

Chapter Text

A common knowledge in the Statehouse was that Georgia was more of a sleeper than a toddler.

Another common knowledge in the household was that Georgia was also a cuddler when he slept, always searching for anyone who was close enough to snatch away and trap under his charms, rendering them unable to move away due of fear of enabling the South's wrath against them. So it became an unspoken rule to not hang around Georgia's favourite nap spots if you didn't want to end up victim of the Statehouse's Professional Cuddler™️.

Of course, this also meant that more mischevious states had a blast with it. Sometimes, a midwestern state would sneak a sleepy Georgia in whatever room Gov was when he left his office so the Fed would have no choice but to at least take a nap before drowning himself in work again. The ones in the South that didn't had a partner already also liked to cuddle with Georgia whenever they had a bad night of whatever night terror and whatever trauma decided to haunt them that night. And although he wasn't as close as he once was when the 13 colonies first started, they sometimes paid a visit to the Peach's room and stayed for the night. 

Really, Georgia just really loved cuddling his friends and making them feel better this way.

His romantic cuddling, however, was all reserved to one tall boy with a black flannel and a few allergies that he was damn proud to call his boyfriend. 

Washington would say he won the biggest jackpot ever when describing Georgia as a partner to anyone who asked, and honestly, he really felt like he did. Washington was (sort to say) a bit too touch depraved for his own good, but he compensated this by giving his friends (and close alliances when it came to California) a few good quality gifts whenever he could. He never really thought he would get a partner who would stick close to him once they discovered how touchy he can get, and Oregon wasn't really too fond of physical touch, so he just kinda kept it to himself and the piles and piles of squishmallows that drowned his bed.

After Georgia and him got together, though, they questioned why didn't they thought of getting together earlier on. With both of them being coffee addicts, it gave them the perfect excuse to bring the other to their state for coffee shop-hunting and flex about their breweries while enjoying a good afternoon outside. Washington loved dragging Georgia to the newest forest he found on Instagram to explore and connect with nature while Georgia loved seeing his boyfriend a little confused on southern lingo whenever he was brought to his barbeque places. 

Sometimes they both just wanted to spend a whole evening curled up in the Peach's old recliner, enjoying the warmth shared between them, holding each other like they were holding the world's most important treasure in their arms. The old recliner was perfect for Washington to lay back and play with Georgia's curly short hair, who was the perfect height to lay his head on the taller's chest and hear the heartbeat of his boyfriend lulling him to sleep. Moments like those made them fall a little more in love with each other. It made them feel safe. It made them feel loved. And for a moment, the world doesn't matter, cause their whole world was right there, in their arms.

Georgia could have all the cuddles he could ever want in the world, but at the end, he would always choose his boyfriend to snuggle away every single time.

Chapter Text

"Maryland, what are you wearing?"

In a very confused tone, a certain fed asked from across the table the states were sitting in, staring at the mentioned state with what one could only describe as deep concern in his eyes. And normally, the entire nation (quite literally and ironically) would ignore him, if it wasn't for the fact that they themselves couldn't believe what they were seeing either.

Maryland's outfit often put to shame Texas' own pride with his flag due to the single fact that the Old Line State looked like the flag decided to grow legs and a voice. Almost every single thing that he owned had to have the print of the Maryland state flag in it. You name it, it exists! A flannel with a Maryland pocket, Maryland blankets, caps, scarfs, hell, even underwear with the Maryland flag print, for fucks sake!

Don't Google that, Florida made that mistake and he regretted it deeply.

Regardless, it was rare to see any fluctuation in his closet, and the only reason it existed was because New York once gave him clothes that didn't vibe with him anymore and thought that fitted Maryland better ("It was an act of service for the nation, shut up.") Even then, he had a few Old Bay shirts that he wore whenever he felt like he needed a bit of… spice.

But right now, Maryland was wearing neither his flag, nor an Old Bay shirt, nor the clothes that he got gifted, and for once every state (and Gov) wished that he was. Because Maryland was wearing his boyfriend's uniform. 

When you take into account that Maryland was dating the personification of the National Guard, it made for quite a cursed sight.

The camo jacket that was suited to fit the body of the military man looked like it was engulfing Maryland in it, mainly due to their height difference, but also in their different muscle mass. Maryland had somewhat of a soft body, but he was quite sturdy himself, and the sleeves of the jacket reflected that the most. They looked a bit floppy around the bicep area, which Maryland paid no mind to, finding it a little bit endearing, even. 

The pants he was wearing looked like they would fall off if it wasn't for the belt that Maryland was putting too much faith in. They were so big that they had to be rolled up several times so he would not trip over and fall if he gave a false step. His boyfriend's boots were two sizes bigger for him, but the way he wore them with such ease made it so it was difficult to pick out if they were his or National Guard's at first sight. 

Even the long, thick braid he wore under his bucket hat (that hat was the only thing that remained "Maryland" on him) was picked up on a military style, for fucks sake! 

The Old Line state giggled a bit, knowing his prank was working wonders for him. Even if his little crabcake was hesitant of it at first, he was glad he got along with it because the amused, confused and concerned looks on every single one of the states was one of the few things that united the country as a whole. 

"Just thought a change would suit me, hon." He answered to Gov, trying his best to give his "I-have-never-done-anything-wrong" smile.

And as usual, Gov's answer was a long, tired sigh, but this time, he chugged down his coffee like it was a shot of whiskey and exclaimed "You know what, we're done. I need to sleep."

Immediately after these words were said, National Guard popped into the room, his entire body being an advertisement for the Maryland flag and the Old Bay Spice company, from head to toe. His grin, described by others as blocky or too harsh, was the equivalent of rolling on the floor in laughter and Maryland knew that. He loved seeing that grin on him.

The entire table lost their fucking minds that day and Gov reminded himself once again to not question the things that came out of the states anymore.

But the couple had their fun, and that was what mattered to them at the end of the day.