Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was someone in South Dakota's seat.

He stared at the young man for a few moments, and looked around at the other passengers, almost all of whom were already seated. He cleared his throat, but the man had his eyes closed and his head leaned back, and did not respond.

The people behind South in line were starting to get impatient. He fidgeted with his bag for a minute, debating between his midwestern manners and his pride, then finally reached forward and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Ope, sorry!" South laughed and hoped that the sound wasn't as nervous as he felt. "I think you're in my seat there!"

The man opened one eye, then the other, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Huh? What?"

"See, look." South rifled through his pockets and pulled out his airplane ticket. "15B. See?"

The man frowned at him, looking more confused than annoyed. He reached down, into the bag by his feet, and pulled out a ticket. The two stared at the identical tickets side by side.

"I knew I should've upgraded to first class," the man muttered, and South snorted.

"Ope, that's ok. We'll just find a flight attendant." He looked up and around, trying to find the signature red uniform of the flight attendants. "Excuse me?!"

The man stood up too, and looked around with squinted eyes, like he was having trouble getting used to the light. "I think I see one in the front. Here." He pushed South out of the way and started walking down the aisle, maneuvering around the other passengers with practiced ease, despite not being a small guy. South followed him, tripping, stumbling, and apologizing to every person he passed.

The man stopped when he reached the front, a few feet away from the flight attendant. South carefully navigated around an old lady, offered to get her bag for her, said "sorry" a total of three times, and finally managed to get side by side with his seat buddy.

The flight attendant was oblivious to their presence, as she was on the phone and saying quite harshly, "I told you, Steve, we're done!"

South froze, and exchanged a panicked look with his buddy- at least, South's look was panicked, though this man looked more amused.

"No, no, stop it! You slept with my mom, we're not dating again!"

The man grabbed South's arm and pulled him back towards their seats, which was good because South wasn't sure he'd be able to move. His compulsive urge to apologize was kicking in, and the man must've seen it coming, because he hissed to South, "Don't say anything to her!"

But right before they got out of earshot, they heard the woman say quite clearly: "Yes, I know she's your mom too, but that doesn't change anything!"

The other man barely managed to duck back into his seat before bursting into laughter. And as terrified as South was feeling, that laugh was infectious, and before he knew it, he was giggling along with this stranger.

Between gasps for air, the other man managed, "Your- your face!"

"That poor lady!"

"That poor family!"

Which made South launch back into uncontrollable laughter. They got a few annoyed looks from the other passengers, but South was too out of breath to even apologize.

The seatbelt sign came on, making South jump.

"Oh, my seat!" he said. "I don't have a seat!"

The man smiled. "No problem." He moved one seat over, so he was sitting next to the window. "Sit here."

"Ope." South smiled back. "Thanks." He sat down next to him, and offered his hand. "Kota." (Which was the name he offered to civilians, and coincidentally was the same name North Dakota used. There were only so many ways to make "Dakota" into a civilian name.)

"Call me Geo." Geo shook South's hand, and rearranged his position a little. "I always hate this part."

"Lifting off? Are you afraid of flying? I've got a thing for motion sickness if you-"

"No, no. I just mean because I can't sleep through it."

South stops reaching for his carry on. "Ah. You're the type to sleep on planes. Are you a frequent flier?"

"Nope. Just a frequent sleeper. You?"

"No. I mean, besides the regular eight hours, I don't do it much at all."

Geo blinked a few times. "Eight hours? What, per year or per week? Going where?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

They stared at each other for a minute, then both laughed again, and the roar of the plane became too loud for either of them to continue the conversation.

It was a short flight- or so South had been told. "Only" four hours. But he was getting antsy by the time they reached the second half of the first hour. He was used to long drives, sure, but long flights? That was a whole different thing.

He didn't like flying, in general. He liked driving from one side of his state to the other, and that was enough civilian transportation for him. The only reason he didn't teleport to Washington DC was because he had too much stuff. (A week-long stay meant that he packed three whole bags. Better over prepared than under, as he always said.)

Geo was true to his word and fell asleep within five minutes of getting off the runway, and South found himself somewhat disappointed. It was good manners in the Midwest to keep up conversations for far longer than you said you would, and South had been hoping that Geo would entertain him throughout the four hour flight.

But Geo was asleep, and South was patting his legs, flipping through dumb magazines, and trying to focus on a podcast that seemed to be about nothing at all.

About an hour into the flight, he slouched down in his seat and tried to sleep. Which soon resulted in him staring at Geo, who was leaning against the window and seemed to be in a state of perfect, blissful relaxation. He wondered how Geo did it. He wondered if he could wake him up to ask him to share his secrets. But that would be rude, and South couldn't find it in his Midwestern heart to be rude.

He rubbed his hands together and checked the time again. Two hours and fifty minutes left to go. Ugh.

--

And then South woke up.

Someone was shaking him gently. He groaned and tried to push them away, but that just resulted in them laughing, a beautiful, carefree sound. He opened his eyes to look up at whatever wonderful being had created such a perfect noise, and discovered that he was leaning against Geo the seat buddy.

"Oh!" South lurched back into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I'm sorry, I-"

Geo watched him with an amused expression. "Kota, it's fine. It's good that you fell asleep. It was a four hour flight."

"Ok, yeah, but y'know." He hugged himself and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"Apologize in literally every interaction you have."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Don't do it."

"So-"

"Stop."

WIth a gargantuan amount of effort, South managed to stop himself from attempting yet again to say that word. By then, Geo was openly laughing at him.

"The seatbelt sign came on again," Geo said. "We're going to start descending soon. I figured I should wake you up."

"Oh. Thank you." South clicked his seat belt, then turned back to Geo. "So, DC, huh? What brings you here?"

Geo shrugged. "Business trip. You?"

"Same. Not even an exciting one." South leaned back and yawned. "So, you from South Dakota?"

"No."

"Hm? Why'd you fly in from there, then?"

"I was vacationing in Wisconsin."

"And…."

"And, well, it's kind of hard to explain." Geo rocked in his seat. "I was hanging out with my, uh, my friend in Wisconsin, but we got into a fight. Not, like, a bad fight, a friendly one, but enough of a fight that I figured I shouldn't get on a plane in Wisconsin. And I'm not on the best terms with the, um… the state of Minnesota?"

He gave South a helpless what is one to do sort of look, and South laughed.

"Hey, I get it," South said. He got it more than Geo knew. "I'm not on the best terms with the entire state of North Dakota."

Geo leaned forward, curiosity flitting into his expression. "Why not?"

Because of the twin rivalry, of course, but that's not something South can just say to a random (cute) civilian. He cleared his throat and said, "Just, you know. Because South Dakota superiority. What's up with you and Minnesota?"

"Ah. Um. So you know the friend in Wisconsin? That friend is also friends with this guy in Minnesota, and this guy in Minnesota resents me because he thinks that I sorta 'stole' him? Like, my friend group sort of adopted him from the other friend group that the guy in Minnesota happens to be a part of. Not that the guy in Minnesota would ever admit to having any negative feelings at all, of course, because he's a passive aggressive little- but oh well. Why are you smiling like that?"

South was smiling like that because he could imagine Minnie acting like that all too well, but again, that's not a thing regular civilians bring up in casual conversations. "Nothing. Thought of something funny."

The sound of the plane started to grow, and South reached for the armrest, only to find that it wasn't there. Geo noticed and pulled down the armrest, then leaned closer to explain over the noise, "I moved it when you fell asleep so you would be more comfortable!"

"Thank you!" South gripped the armrest and focused on his breathing, trying to keep himself calm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Geo yawning and leaning against the window as if he could take a quick nap right then, and the sight made him smirk.

One thing that South disliked about the whole state business was that it was remarkably difficult to make friends with civilians. The states didn't go out in public often, and they always had trackers on them so Gov could keep an eye on them. (Just in case.) It was hard to make civilians understand who the states were, the whole immortality thing, and all the business nonsense. South didn't know many civilians, and he figured it would be too much trouble to make close friends with them. He had the Midwest and a few other good friends among the states, and that was good enough for him.

But now, he found himself feeling a bit melancholic about the whole thing. It would be nice to know Geo better.

When the plane landed, South was pretty sure he could feel his heart trying to beat right out of his chest. He was not used to the feeling of landing so hard.

As the sound died down, Geo asked, "You good?"

South tried for a smile, even though he felt faint. "Great!"

Geo smiled. "Sure, Kota. Sure."

As the plane came to a stop and everyone stood up, South noticed that he was starting to get sore. He tried rolling his shoulders, and tilted his head from side to side.

Geo rested his fingers on South's arm and said again, "You good?"

South closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Not used to flying, but yeah, I'm good."

"Ok…."

The other passengers filed out, and South ducked in front of one of the other civilians (though he did say sorry fifty times- and earned himself a smile from Geo in doing so). He grabbed his bag and shuffled forward with the rest of the passengers. Geo was right behind him.

He still wasn't steady on his feet yet. He felt like he'd just gotten off of a boat or something- like they should still be flying. And he'd just woken up a few minutes ago, so his eyes kept trying to close, and everything was sore, and he was just not having the best time of his life.

He made it all the way to the exit of the plane before tripping.

His bag went flying, but someone grabbed South's arm and yanked him back onto his feet before he could fall.

"You're good, sure," Geo said. "You should've asked for a minute to remember how to walk."

South laughed, and rubbed his eyes again. "Oh god, I'm so sor-"

"Don't say it!" Geo stepped out of the plane, and extended his hand to South. South took it, and stepped more carefully this time. "Just take a second, ok?" He grabbed South's bag and pulled South to the side, letting the other passengers pass by. "You look like you're two seconds away from collapsing."

That's kind of how he felt, too.

He couldn't stop himself from saying, "Sorry." Geo frowned, but didn't interrupt. "I don't fly much. Or at all. I didn't think it'd be that rocky at the end. Also, waking up, am I right? Waking up is hard."

"You're telling me."

South snorted. He leaned back against the wall and took a few deep breaths. "Thank you. Sorry."

"Not your fault."

"I mean, yeah no, sorry, it was-"

"Nah."

"But-"

"No."

South smiled. "Alright."

After a moment or two, Geo handed him his bag, and they walked down to the actual airport. As they walked, Geo kept his hand a few inches away from South's elbow, as if ready to catch him again at a moment's notice. South appreciated the gesture, but he was feeling a bit better. Steadier, at least. Geo's presence helped.

They went to baggage claim together, and chatted as they waited for their bags.

"Hey, I thought you would like to know," Geo said, "you drool in your sleep."

South narrowed his eyes at him (the Midwestern equivalent of starting a shouting match about how impolite and uncalled for that was), but Geo's genuine amusement made it impossible to stay mad at him. (South's never been good at the whole grudges thing anyway. That was Minnie's thing.)

As they got their bags and followed the signs towards the exit, South commented, "It's so much busier than the Pierre airport."

"The what?" Geo said.

"The Pierre airport."

"Peer?"

"Yeah."

"Peer? What is that?"

"My- the South Dakota capital."

"Pi-erre?!"

"Yeah, Pierre."

"Peer?!"

"We're saying the same thing, Geo."

Geo shook his head, and South smiled.

Outside, Geo took out his phone. "Need me to call you an Uber?"

"Ope, um, sorry, hang on." South patted his pockets and after a few seconds, came up with his phone. Dead. He winced and looked at Geo. "Sorry…."

"Hey, we've talked about your codependent relationship with that word. You need to expand your vocabulary, Kota."

"Sorry."

Geo called South an Uber, and another for himself.

"I don't take Ubers often," South admitted.

"No? You don't take planes, you don't take Ubers… how do you get around?"

Geo laughed, and so South did too, and he didn't answer the question. The answer would've been "teleportation," and, well.

Geo's Uber came first. "Well," he said, "bye."

"Bye," South said. "Take care of yourself."

"Could be saying the same to you."

Geo turned to go to his Uber, but South couldn't stop himself from interrupting his departure one more time. Midwestern habit. (And he was sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Geo leaving forever made him a little disappointed.) "See you around?"

Geo smiled over his shoulder. "I'll try."

Then Geo was gone, leaving South to rock back and forth, already fantasizing about all the ways that he might run into Geo again.

Chapter Text

Georgia woke up late and with a headache, but that's the cost of spending an evening with Florida and Loui.

He stumbled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen to get his coffee.

The statehouse was filling up quickly, and he knew there were several more states present than when he'd arrived the night before. He had to duck around a few other southern states to get to the coffee maker, and he avoided the eyes of Massachusetts and Washington so neither of them would try to rope him into the Dunkin' vs Starbucks debate.

Once he had his coffee, he made his way to the nearest living room. The statehouse had several, and often the states would group together by area, but Georgia was too tired to figure out which living room the south had claimed for the week trip.

The nearest living room had a few states in it, laughing and jeering each other as the TV showed the results of a Super Smash Bros round.

One was on his knees, going through the Wii games available. He kept trying to look back and ask the others what they thought, but no one was listening to him.

Georgia recognized Ohio, who was sprawled in the lap of a state in a blue jersey- Michigan, maybe? Georgia would guess Michigan, based on how he was mercilessly tickling Ohio and how Ohio was writhing in breathless giggles.

Another Midwestern state sat beside them, flinching away from Ohio's flailing. And next to that one, there was a state in all green, who was arguing with-

Oh.

Kota.

Georgia leaned against the doorway and sipped his coffee. He went down a mental list of Midwestern states, since they seemed to dominate this living room.

Wisconsin and Minnesota, both of whom were decidedly not Kota, were not present.

Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa- Georgia wouldn't be able to identify any of them on sight, but he would guess that none of them were Kota, either.

Illinois and Indiana… oh! The Dakotas!

He took a closer look at the two arguing at the end of the couch. Kota looked a bit exasperated, and he was gesticulating with a Wii remote and kept almost hitting the other Dakota with it. Georgia couldn't hear his words over the Smash Bros music and the others' yelling, but he would guess that Kota apologized every time he came close to touching the other with his remote. Because of course. The green Dakota had their arms crossed and their nose in the air, giving only snappish replies to Kota's yelling.

The state that had been going through the games stood up and yelled, "I'm going to get a bagel!" Georgia didn't notice any of the others acknowledge his words, but he didn't seem to care.

As he walked by, Georgia grabbed his arm.

"Can I help you?"

"What is it? Illinois?"

"Indiana."

"Right, Indiana. You see those two?" Georgia pointed at the duo squabbling on the couch. The mystery green state, and Kota.

"The Dakotas? Sure."

"Right. The one on the left, with the black and yellow shirt. Is that North Dakota or South Dakota?"

"Ope, that's South."

"Great, thank you."

Indiana nodded, smiled, and continued to the kitchen.

Georgia took another sip of coffee to give him strength, then stepped into the Midwest living room.

--

"I'm just saying," South repeated, "it's quite coincidental that the glitch-"

"Give it up!" North interrupted. "Just accept that I beat you. Better Dakota over here!"

South frowned and crossed his arms. He turned away from his twin and looked back at the pile of games left behind by Indiana. An idea sparked. "Mitch!"

Michigan looked up and stopped tickling Ohio for a moment. Ohio took the opportunity to catch his breath, but didn't move from his position of lying on Michigan's lap.

"Wanna put in Mario Kart?"

Michigan smirked, catching on right away. "My pleasure." He pushed Ohio off of his lap and onto the floor, which launched another round of giggles from the Buckeyes state.

North glared at South. "Really? Mario Kart?"

South raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. Why? Do you think you'll lose?" Of course they would. North always lost to South in Mario Kart. Just like Ohio always lost to Michigan- hence, providing a perfect opportunity for South and Michigan to team up against their respective twin and boyfriend.

"Anyone sitting here?"

South half glanced up and said, "Ope, sorry, no, go ahead." He scooted a bit closer to North to give space for-

Wait.

The state who sat next to him smiled, and South stared at him, his shock no doubt visible.

Geo smiled. "Georgia. South Dakota, right?"

South blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah! Sorry, yeah, um- I should've said something on the plane!"

"Said what, that you were the immortal personification of a state?"

"Uh… no. No, not really. Sorry." South laughed and rubbed his hands together as a nervous habit. "Sorry. Um, nice to see you again, though!"

"South, choose your character," Illinois said from North's other side. (Illinois was the only Midwest state there who wasn't playing, but he was very invested in watching.)

"Ope, yeah, sorry." South grabbed his remote, then looked at Geo again.

Geo looked just as pretty as he had the day before. He looked like he'd just rolled out of bed- his hair was a bit messier, and he was holding a cup of coffee, and he was squinting like the lights hurt his eyes, but he was pretty.

South swallowed and looked back at the TV, trying to ignore the butterflies.

Throughout the whole process of setting up the round, South kept stealing glances at Geo. (He knew it was Georgia, now, but he couldn't stop thinking of him as "Geo." As the cute guy on the plane. As the person South had fallen asleep on, who'd teased him for saying "sorry" too much, who made South exhilaratingly nervous in a way he hadn't felt in years.)

"Alright, let's do this!" Michigan said, sitting on the edge of his seat. Ohio, sitting next to him, winced in dread.

South tried to focus. Mario Kart was a game that required mental concentration, after all. But South found that too much of his attention was going to the fact that Geo was curled up in a blanket, a mere few inches away from South. If he wanted to, South could lean on Geo's shoulder without moving from his position on the couch.

Not that he would. He wouldn't. Because that time on the plane was an accident, a one time thing.

"Pick up the pace, South, give me a challenge," North muttered.

South snapped back to attention, and in the second lap, he moved from sixth place to third. North, in fourth, scowled.

As they started the final lap, South felt a faint touch on his arm.

"Mind if I lean on you? In exchange for letting you sleep on me yesterday?"

The reminder of the day before made South's thumb slip, and North's kart edged closer to his own. Without looking away from the TV, South said, "Y-yeah, ok." He forced himself to lean back, and Geo settled his head on South's shoulder.

South and North were neck to neck for the last minute or so, and South could swear that the room went silent. Sure, Michigan (first place) and Ohio (fifth) were hurling insults at each other a few feet away, and Indiana had come back in and was talking to Illinois about corn on bagels (don't try at home, the personifications depicted here are professionals), but South didn't process any of it. He was laser focused on the game, on the adrenaline rush, on winning against North Dakota.

They passed the finish line one after the other, South just a few seconds before North.

"Yes!" He leapt to his feet and pumped his fists in the air in victory, and then remembered the state that had been leaning on him.

He twirled around, ready to give a thousand apologies, but Geo was laughing with such fondness that the words evaporated on South's tongue.

Geo sat back up and sipped his coffee, which he hadn't spilled a single drop of. "Nice, Kota," he said. "It was a close win."

South stumbled over his words, and North saw his gay panic and answered for him. "You should've seen him in Smash. I destroyed him. I won by a lot more in Smash than you won by just now, so I'm still the better Dakota. Just for the record."

South shot them a glare, hoping to get across the message don't make me look bad in front of Geo, then said, "Geo, sorry, I don't think I introduced you two! You know North Dakota?"

"I do now." Geo nodded to North, who tipped their hat.

"So you're the person South…." Thank God, North saw South's little motion with his fingers, the don't say that motion. They cleared their throat and recovered. "You're the person South mentioned. Georgia, you said?"

"Yup. Can't say Kota talked about you much yesterday." North's eyes narrowed, and South grimaced. "Do you go by, like, a nickname, or just North Dakota?"

North looked at South, and in the space of a few seconds, they had a quick mental conversation. North couldn't believe that this was the guy that South talked about for no less than fifteen minutes the night before, and South was just trying to beg North to be nice. Not Minnesota nice, not the passive aggression that often defined the Midwest, but actually nice.

North looked back to Geo. "Most people call me North." A little cold, but South couldn't hold it against them. Cute or not, Georgia was still a southern state, and invading the Midwest living room.

Geo was holding his coffee in one hand and the hem of his blanket in the other, so he did not take North's offered hand. But he did say, "Cool. My friends call me Geo."

North slowly took back the hand that Geo hadn't shaken. They tilted their head to one side with a half smile that wasn't quite honest. There was a short pause that felt like an eternity before they said, "Alright, Geo. Nice to meetcha."

Geo raised his coffee mug in a likewise gesture, and South breathed a sigh of relief. He sat back down between the two, smiled, and said, "Another round?"

"No chance," said Ohio, who'd finished in seventh and was dodging the pokes of a grinning Michigan (first, of course). "Mittens is the worst when he plays Mario Kart." He reconsidered. "Or maybe he's just the worst all the time."

Michigan whacked his shoulder. "You're just bitter because you suck at Mario Kart!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Ohio leapt to his feet and waved his controller threateningly. "Fine! Wanna prove it?!"

Indiana, knowing where this was going, tried to interfere. "I think some of the other states are still asleep, you shouldn't-"

Michigan interrupted, "You're on, Buckeyes!"

Geo watched them with an expression between amusement and confusion. He gave South a glance. "What are they going to do, attack each other with the Wii remotes?"

North answered instead. "No, they're just going to play another round of Mario Kart. But it'll probably end in either a fist fight or them making out on the couch, and either way, I don't want to be here for that. So, wanna get lunch?"

South was more than happy to agree. "North isn't kidding. Their one on one games get… crazy."

Geo shrugged. "Alright." He looked down at his half empty mug. "I'm currently drinking my breakfast, but you know what? Lunch sounds good."

By the time they walked out, Ohio and Michigan were already yelling at each other, and they hadn't even pressed play yet.

As they walked through the hallways, Florida intercepted them, and, ignoring the Dakotas, pulled on Geo's arm. "Wanna meet Gaytor? He's mine and Loui's new pet and he's gorgeous."

"Let me guess, he's a gator," North mumbled to South.

South waited for Geo to glance back, ready to give him the thumbs up that meant don't worry about lunch, go meet the death pet, but Geo didn't look back at him.

"I've got plans," Geo said. "After lunch?"

"Ok, but you're gonna love him. We found him out by the-"

As Florida kept chattering away, North pulled South a few feet away to say, "I'm not coming to lunch."

South blinked. "What? But it was your idea."

"He's nice and all," which meant North didn't care for him, "but I think you two will have more fun without me coming along. I see how you two look at each other." They didn't seem happy about it, but they were accepting it, and that made South smile- that and the implication that Geo felt the same way that South did.

Florida slapped Geo's arm in a friendly goodbye and grinned, then ran off to go harass West Virginia.

Geo turned back to South, and his gaze skipped to behind him, where North was heading off to greet the newly arriving Montana, but he looked back at South without commenting on that. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Ope, whatever you want is fine."

"I want whatever you want."

"Ah," South said. "Sorry. We could walk around town and see what we see."

"Sounds like a plan. Wait, let me get dressed."

As he waited, South leaned against the wall, smiling at the floor, thinking only about the fact that he was about to have lunch with the marvelous person that was Geo.

Chapter Text

A few minutes later, Geo reemerged from his room with an oversized hoodie and his coffee in a travel mug, and South tried not to stare at him. Adorable.

South drove, at his own insistence. Geo looked like he was still half asleep; South wasn't about to let him get behind the wheel. He almost wished he had, though, because Geo had plenty of criticisms.

"You could've gone there."

"Ope, sorry, but that is definitely a red light."

"They would've waited."

"I'd rather not make them."

"Why are you going so slow?"

"Sorry, uh, I'm going the speed limit."

"...You could've gone there."

"Hey, I've got a quick question for you."

"Shoot."

"Are you colorblind?"

Geo laughed and didn't make any further comments for the rest of the short drive.

Once they reached town, they got out of the car and started to walk up the street. South gravitated towards his regular spot- the only restaurant around that served chislic- but when Geo wrinkled his nose, South walked past it.

"What kind of food do you like?" South asked. "Peaches…?"

"Of course I like peaches. Everyone likes peaches." South himself was impartial, but he didn't say anything. "I love coffee, but that's not a food… peanuts, I like peanuts."

"I'm allergic to peanuts."

Geo gave him a sideways glance. "Oh, you poor thing."

South shrugged. "North always says I'm not missing out on much."

"Huh. And here I was thinking that North was a cool guy."

"Wait, you think so?"

"Think what?"

"That North's cool?"

"Sure. They were nice. I mean, I don't know them well yet, but… they were nice."

South grinned and shook his head. "I'm glad you thought so." No harm in North being cold if Geo didn't even realize it.

Geo stopped walking in front of a local coffee shop. "How about here? I've been a few times, they serve lunch too."

South looked down at the travel mug still in Geo's hands. "...That feels like a lot of caffeine for one morning."

"What's the harm in caffeine?"

South shrugged. He was pretty sure that caffeine was indeed harmful if consumed in the amounts that Geo seemed to like it in, but he wasn't gonna argue. "Whole Latte Love it is, then."

It was a cozy place, and the woman at the counter brightened when she saw them walk in. "You're back!" she said.

"I'm back!" Geo agreed. "Nice to see you again. How're the wife and kids?"

Both of them laughed as if he'd made a joke, and South smiled awkwardly. Geo saw this, and said, "Oh, Avery, this is Kota. Kota, Avery."

South waved. "Hi."

She held her hand out. "Nice to meetcha. Any friend of George is a friend of mine."

George, he mouthed, looking at Geo as he shook Avery's hand, and Geo shrugged.

"Your usual, I assume," Avery said. "And what for your boyfriend?"

"Ah, not a boyfriend," Geo corrected with a smile. "Thanks for acting like I could get someone like him, though. What do you want, Kota? Their grilled cheese is excellent."

Avery grinned. "You give me too much credit."

South blinked a few times and tried to look up at the menu, but he was in fact blushing quite hard, which made it difficult to concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing. "Grilled cheese sounds good," he managed.

"And a black coffee, lots of creamer," Geo added.

"Coming right up!"

Geo pulled South aside, to the other side of the counter where South assumed they were going to get their food, though there wasn't anyone behind them going to order, so they could've just stayed where they were.

"How often do you go to this shop?" South asked.

"Often enough. Every time we're called to the statehouse."

"That's like… every week." Usually not for the whole week, like this trip, but at least for a day or two.

"Hence, why Avery recognizes me."

South leaned back to get a better view of Avery, humming to herself as she grilled the sandwich. "Is she single?"

He could've sworn that he saw Geo's smile waver, but Geo hid it well. "Yeah," Geo said, "but she's also aromantic and asexual, so." He cleared his throat. "And since you're straight, that means that she doesn't-"

"I'm not straight."

"What?"

"Yeah, I…" South rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Sorry, just not straight. I'm bi."

"Oh." Geo blinked a few times, then tipped his travel mug in acknowledgement. "You know what aroace means, then?"

"Yeah, of course. Illy's aroace."

"Illy?"

"Sorry, Illinois."

"Right."

Avery came back with their food, and Geo high fived her as he grabbed his own fruit salad and coffee.

South had assumed that the black coffee with creamer that Geo had ordered at the end had been for himself, but once they sat down, Geo nudged one of the two Whole Latte Love mugs towards him.

"Try it," he said. He put his chin in his hands and smiled, waiting.

South looked down at the coffee skeptically. "It looks very… black."

"Hey, I said lots of creamer. Avery knows that I don't say that lightly. It'll be sugary. You'll like it." He pushed it a few inches closer to South. "Go on."

Oh well. South picked it up, blew on it like he would hot chocolate, then brought it to his lips and sipped.

He was pretty sure that he managed to keep a straight face.

He set it down and gave Geo a glance, and maybe he didn't have as good a poker face as he thought he did, because Geo grinned and said, "You hated it."

He stammered for a second, and said, "Hate is a strong word…."

Geo burst out laughing, and South giggled, too, because there was nothing cuter than an amused Geo.

"More for me," Geo said, reaching for the mug, but South stopped him by pulling the mug back towards himself.

"No more for you," South said. "Sorry, but you're drinking your second cup right now. And how would Avery feel if I didn't finish the delicious coffee that she herself brewed?"

"Avery doesn't brew the coffee. She's in charge of the sandwiches."

South sipped the coffee and tried not to gag. "It's an acquired taste, I'm sure. I'll get used to it."

"There's like five pounds of creamer in there, if you don't like this coffee, you don't like coffee."

"In the meantime, grilled cheese sandwiches." South picked up his sandwich, took a deep breath, and bit into it. Thank God, it tasted delicious. When he set it down again a few bites later, he found that Geo was staring at him with a strange smile. "What?"

Geo shrugged. "I'm glad you like the grilled cheese. It's one of my favorites."

"For good reason."

Geo laughed and nodded. "We should come here more often."

South tried to taper the excitement that built up inside him. He was pretty sure he kept his voice steady when he said, "Yeah, we should," but then, Geo had already proved to see right through South's disguises. And, South reasoned, was that such a bad thing? He wanted to come to this place with Geo more often- or go anywhere with Geo more often. What was the harm in Geo knowing that South wanted to know him better?

Lunch was over too soon.

On the way back, Geo drove.

"Sorry, should you have gone there?"

"They waited."

"Oh my God- look out!"

"What, for that pedestrian? They weren't even close to us."

"They were right there!"

"Nah, they're fine."

"I'm sorry, but did you think that light was green?!"

"Relax, we won't crash."

"My God…." South leaned back and closed his eyes, because if he kept watching Geo driving, he was going to suffer a premature death.

South stumbled out of the car as soon as Geo parked, and Geo laughed. South smiled back at him, even though his hands were trembling.

"I'm going to go check out Flo's gator," Geo said. "But first, mind giving me your number?"

"What? Ope, no, yeah!" South listed off his number and Geo tapped it into his phone, then smiled at South again. South smiled back, and was pretty sure he looked like a fool, but he didn't care.

"Great. I'll see you around."

"Yeah. See you."

Then, too soon, Geo was gone.

South leaned against his car, arms crossed, and he smiled at nothing.

Chapter Text

SD: hey (:
GA: hey yourself
GA: getting dinner?
SD: yeah, with Montana, since I haven't seen him in a while
SD: North is here too
GA: seriously, man?
SD: what?
GA: are you texting at dinner?
SD: oops
GA: so impolite
SD: North just said it was "fine"
GA: huh
SD: sorry, forgot you're a southern state
SD: "fine" is Midwestern for "absolutely not fine"
GA: what
SD: that's just the way it is, sorry
GA: bless your collective Midwestern hearts
SD: thanks

--

It took three days for Georgia to be in Kota's vicinity again. He'd been trying, but with all the meetings and Gov keeping such a close eye on everyone, it was hard to find alone time among the states.

But on the third night of the yearly state gathering at the statehouse, Texas called a movie night- no Gov, no meetings, just a movie and whichever states decided to show up.

Georgia happened to be in the living room when Texas said so, but he would rather just go to bed- if not for Kota and North Dakota walking in a minute later.

Well. Maybe he could stay a while longer.

He waited for Kota to glance in his direction, and raised his hand in a greeting. Kota waved back and smiled, that bright smile that Georgia's grown to expect. He patted the empty space next to him, inviting Kota to join him on the couch. Kota looked back at his twin, who'd gravitated towards Montana, and was smiling in a way that suggested anyone besides Montana would have to really try if they wanted to get their attention.

Kota took a few steps away from the duo, and neither of them noticed. Georgia watched as Kota shrugged to himself, then turned and walked over to the couch.

"Hey," Kota said.

"Hey."

Kota sat down, and tapped his feet against the floor in a rhythm, a nervous tick. "How've your meetings been?" he asked.

"Are you kidding? In what world are the meetings not awful?"

Kota laughed, and Georgia grinned. He loved to make Kota laugh. They'd been texting quite a bit for the last few days, but they hadn't talked face to face, and Georgia had missed that laugh.

The movie started, and everyone quieted down.

At least, until Loui showed up and gestured for Georgia to scoot so he could sit. Georgia moved closer to Kota, and whispered to Loui, "Where's Flo?"

Loui looked back at the door. "I thought he was right behind me."

Florida came in a second later, waving over his shoulder at… Wyoming, maybe? He sat down on Loui's lap with no hesitation whatsoever. "Ugh, what is this?"

"It's a Western movie," Texas said, "and you're going to shut up and enjoy it."

Florida leaned back into Loui's chest with his arms crossed. "Should be watching Disney." Loui wrapped his arms around Florida's waist in a comforting gesture, and exchanged an eye roll with Georgia.

Georgia looked back at Kota, who looked a bit awkward (though Georgia had gathered that that was Kota's resting expression). Georgia caught his eye to smile at him, and Kota smiled back.

As the movie continued, Georgia scooted a little closer to Kota. As Florida and Texas fought over whether to change the movie, Georgia let his pinkie finger rest over Kota's. Kota looked down at their hands, then back up at the movie, saying nothing but not moving away. When Florida and Texas settled on Rango as a compromise, Georgia leaned to whisper to Kota, "Hey. Mind if I fall asleep on you?"

Kota gave a little strangled gasp, then cleared his throat and whispered back, "Sure."

Georgia rearranged his position, bringing his knees up to his chest and laying his head down on Kota's lap.

Kota was tense at first, but with the movie as background noise, Georgia felt him start to relax. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes in, once Kota realized that Georgia was not planning on moving, Georgia felt Kota's fingers resting on his hair, then not long after, starting to move, brushing Georgia's hair, playing with it, as natural as anything.

Georgia closed his eyes, and before long, he drifted off, Kota's warmth and Kota's fingers in his hair making him feel safe.

--

It took South a minute to realize that the movie was over. The others got up, laughing and chatting among themselves, some announcing they were going to bed, Florida suggesting an afterparty, but South didn't move. How could he? He didn't want to wake Geo up.

He looked over to the door, where North was leaning against the wall and squinting at South and Geo with a wary expression.

South hissed to his twin, "What do I do?!"

North rolled their eyes and uncrossed their arms. "Pick him up," they said, miming the action, "and bring him to bed like a good boyfriend."

South sputtered for a second. "I'm not- he's not- we're not dating, it's just-"

"South. Buddy. Just bring him to his room."

South took a deep breath. Reluctantly, he took his fingers out of Geo's hair. He pulled Geo all the way onto his lap, then, using one arm to support Geo's legs and the other for his back, he stood up, taking Geo with him. Geo's head lolled onto South's chest, which made South inhale sharply, but Geo made no signs of waking up.

Geo wasn't small, and South struggled a bit, but he managed to bring Geo (and the ten pounds of Geo's blankets) to a room labeled "GA."

He felt a bit like he was invading when he kicked the door open, but he wasn't about to leave Geo anywhere else. He crept in the dark to the bed, and dropped Geo onto it. Geo groaned a little and rearranged his position, burying himself deeper into his blankets, but he didn't open his eyes or say anything.

South examined him for a moment, the peace in his expression, the messy hair, the way he held his blankets like they were lifelines.

"Good night," South whispered, and he left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

--

GA: hey
SD: not paying attention to the meeting?
GA: why would I?
SD: fair
GA: I'm booooored
GA: entertain meeee
SD: fun fact, California produces the most peaches out of the states
GA: wow
GA: so Midwestern passive aggression is real, it's not just Minnesota
SD: hell yeah

--

South rubbed his eyes as he left the meeting room from his individual meeting of the week. It was just a checkup, but he could swear that every year, it felt like an interrogation. And Florida's presence never helped.

Without thinking about it, he started to wander the house, seeking out Geo.

He wasn't in the kitchen, where New Mex and Colorado were fighting over green chile with Arizona watching.

He wasn't in the dining room, where Utah was setting the table, and kept leaning over to check that New Mex and Colorado hadn't killed each other yet.

He wasn't in the Midwestern living room- which South supposed made sense, since Geo wasn't a Midwestern state. So he took a deep breath and started off towards the living room that had, in the past few days of living at the statehouse, become a southern living room.

Sure enough, there was Geo. He was on the recliner, his feet up, leaning back, eyes closed. The fact that he could sleep through the Texas / Florida / Loui monopoly game five feet away was truly a testament to his willpower.

South sighed and turned to go back, but he was intercepted by none other than North.

"What?" he said.

North grabbed his shoulders. "South. You idiot. Go join him."

"What?" More confused now.

"Look, he had no qualms with putting his head in your lap. He'll have no qualms with you joining him." North turned South around, and pushed him back into the southern living room. "Go get your man, worse Dakota."

South was so startled to even respond.

But he was not too startled to walk forwards, towards Geo.

--

"Ope, sorry."

The familiar voice dragged Georgia back from the edge of sleep, and he opened one eye.

"Do you mind if I… sorry."

"Kota." Georgia sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, what's up?"

"Sorry, do you mind if I join you?" Kota gave him a nervous smile and wrung his hands together, as if it were even a possibility that Georgia would say no.

Georgia leaned back again and extended his hand. "Come 'ere then."

Kota took his hand, smiled again, and climbed up onto the recliner. He all but fell into Georgia's lap, and grabbed Georgia's shoulder for balance.

Georgia grinned, wrapped an arm around Kota's waist, and pulled him down so he was laying on the recliner right beside Georgia. "Relax," Georgia murmured, laying his head on Kota's shoulder. "You're stiff."

It took a few minutes, but a shorter time than during the movie, for Kota to relax and lean into Georgia's touch. Before long, Kota's arms were around Georgia, too, and they were curled together comfortably as if they'd been doing this their whole immortal lives.

--

SD: where are the forks
GA: are you serious?
SD: yes?
GA: dude we've been in the statehouse for five days now
GA: like, tomorrow is the last day of this trip
GA: how do you still not know where the forks are
SD: I usually eat with spoons
GA: last night you ate spaghetti!
SD: yeah, with a spoon
GA: bless your heart
SD: hey, I did my research, I know what that means now
GA: BLESS
GA: YOUR
GA: HEART
SD: well that's not very nice

--

Hm.

Georgia considered his predicament. He'd been looking around for Alabama, his nap buddy, but Alabama had been… otherwise preoccupied. (That is, making out with Indiana. Alabama had said that he wanted to spend as much time with Indiana as possible, since it was the last day of the week at the statehouse, and Georgia couldn't find it in himself to blame Bama for it.)

So Georgia was left without anyone to cuddle with.

He looked around, passing the dining room as he walked, and by chance, his eyes caught on a familiar black tee-shirt and bright, almost apologetic smile.

Well. It wasn't like they hadn't cuddled before.

--

South felt a tug on his arm, and he looked away from the table where the rest of the midwestern states were fighting over, you guessed it, corn.

"Geo," he said. "Hey."

"Hey," Geo said. "Come 'ere."

"What?"

"Just come on."

South glanced back at the table, decided that no one was paying attention to him anyway (except for North, who smiled and winked when South met their eyes). "Alright," he said.

He stood up and followed Geo, who led him to a room that South had only seen once before.

"Your room," he said. He stopped in the doorway. "Why are you taking me to your room?"

Geo rolled his eyes. "Don't get any ideas. I'm going to take a nap and I want someone to cuddle with. Just cuddle."

South blinked a few times. "And you chose me?"

Geo shrugged. "Why not? You're cute and cuddly and I like you." He gestured for South to come in, and South did.

Geo crawled onto his bed and said, "Can you get the lights?"

South turned off the lights, then hesitantly got into the bed beside Geo. Geo wasted no time in getting under the covers, and wrapping his arms and legs around South, effectively trapping him in place.

South smiled, and hugged Geo back.

South noticed, for the first time, how quiet it was. They could hear the other states going about their daily activities, but the noise was a million miles away. It didn't seem to matter at all. The only people that mattered were South and Geo.

South was not, in most cases, the type to take a nap. But in Geo's arms, he was asleep before he knew it.

Chapter Text

"So today's the day." North gave their twin a sideways glance. "And what's up with you?"

South finished throwing his clothes in his bag, but he moved them around a bit as an excuse to not meet North's eyes. "Nothing, you?"

"With you and Georgia, I mean."

"What about Georgia?"

"Are you two, y'know… official yet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Of course he knew what North was talking about, but he was going to make them say it. Anything to avoid answering the question.

"You two have been flirting all week. Have you put a label on it, or are you going to keep flirting through text, or are you going to drift apart and pretend none of this ever happened?"

South exhaled. "The second, hopefully."

"Ope, no, the first, hopefully."

South threw his hands up. "We haven't, ok?! I don't know how to ask him about it. I have no idea what he wants."

"He wants to make out with you, idiot!"

"But what if he doesn't?"

North groaned and fell onto their back on South's statehouse bed. "And this is why I'm the better Dakota. At least I'm not completely oblivious when it comes to love."

"You are too. You haven't dated anyone since '07."

"Yeah, but just because no one's good enough for me. You haven't dated since '09, and that's because you refuse to get your act together."

South rubbed his face. "God I'm bad at this. Why is dating as the immortal personification of a territory so difficult?"

"Can't relate." Someone knocked on the door, and North turned their face to look at it. "Oh look, there he is now."

"What?!" South leapt to his feet and his hand was on the handle before he glared at his twin and said, "You don't know that."

"Haha, no." North looked back up at the ceiling. "It was fun to see your reaction though."

South rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Hey Mont."

North rolled off the bed and popped onto their feet, running a hand through their hair and grinning. "Mont!"

Montana smiled at South, but most of his focus went right to North. "I thought I might find you here. You weren't in your room."

"Right, sorry, I'll be right out. I've just been making fun of this dork, eheh, y'know how it is." South had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing. North cleared their throat and sent South a dirty look, then ducked under his arm to join Montana in the hallway. "Ok, let's go."

"Go where?" South asked.

"Going to get ice cream real quick before we have to go," Montana said. "Since we're taking the same plane and all."

South raised his eyebrows at North, who ignored his judgment. "Go talk to Georgia," North said. "I'll see you next week for game night."

"Alright. See you."

North didn't seem to hear South, since their attention had been taken completely by Montana.

South closed the door and sighed. So, he could no longer rely on North to distract him from his utter lack of anything to do. He considered his next course of action for a few minutes. He set all his things on the bed, so it'd be easy to grab them and go. A notification popped up on his screen, and he scrambled to get it.

--

GA: I'm heading out in a minute- meet me at the door?
SD: already?
GA: I'm not staying here a second longer than necessary
SD: can't blame you for that one
GA: come over here and say bye
SD: coming
GA: <3

--

South stared at his screen, at that emoticon heart, for far longer than he should. He considered sending one back, but chickened out. Besides, he didn't want to be too late to send Geo off.

Florida and Loui were already outside with Geo, chatting, giving bro hugs, the usual. South lingered a bit away from the small group until Geo spotted him, smiled, and waved him over. Loui, once he caught sight of South, grabbed Florida's arm and dragged him away with one more final farewell.

"So this is it," Geo said, leaning against his car.

"Yup," South agreed. "We survived a whole week in the statehouse."

Geo laughed, and though South smiled at the sound as he always did, it was a bittersweet smile. All he could think about was how much he'd miss that laugh.

"I'm so proud of us," Geo said. He pulled South in for a hug, but it was too brief, over too soon. All South wanted was to curl up and cuddle with Geo again, to feel his warmth. South never felt more relaxed than when he was in Geo's arms.

"Keep in touch?" South said.

"Of course." Geo hesitated, as if he had something else to say, then he opened the car door.

South had never been as good at the Midwestern goodbye as Minnie or Sconnie. He found that he was at a complete loss of words as Geo got into his car and buckled up. He didn't even have any leftovers to offer him. He had no reason for Geo to stay, other than that he wanted to be near Geo, all of the time.

Geo revved the engine, waved at South, and drove off.

--

Georgia got all the way to the first red light, at an empty intersection, before he looked in his rearview mirror. He couldn't see Kota.

He looked at his phone, because his lock screen, as of four days ago, was a picture of him and Kota on the recliner. Georgia was looking at the camera with a deadpan expression, and Kota was half asleep with his head on Georgia's shoulder, drooling on his shirt (something that he only apologized for five thousand times).

But since he was looking at his phone, he saw the exact moment that the notification popped up.

SD: if you wanna come up to the Midwest sometime next week, I'd be happy to show you Pierre
SD: like, on a date
SD: if you want

Thank god. He'd been waiting for Kota to make the first move- Kota seemed like the type to get skittish if Georgia moved too fast, so he didn't want to be overbearing. But Kota wanted this. Good.

Georgia flipped the car into reverse and drove backwards down the empty street, barely missing Texas's truck, and he stopped back where he'd started, near the curb in front of the statehouse.

Gov was running around giving quick goodbyes to a few of the other states that were leaving- Oklahoma, Washington and Oregon, Maine, Mississippi- but Kota was nowhere to be found.

Georgia rolled down his window and honked his horn. Gov jumped, looked over, and said, "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah," Georgia said. "Can you go get-"

But Gov had already been pulled away by Oklahoma, who was complaining about Texas's truck in the way of his own.

Georgia sighed and got out of the car.

There was a scene in the entryway. Florida was standing on the table, screaming, and Loui was bent over in laughter as he tried to wave at the other states to move on and not pay attention- though of course all of the other states in the vicinity were paying attention, because a screaming Florida was terrifying.

Georgia spotted Kota crouching by the stairs, like he was hiding from Florida. Georgia asked him, "What's going on?"

Kota looked up at him, and his terror gave way to a smile. "You're back! Florida thought that his gator was let loose outside but really Loui just took it to his own room. Did you forget something?"

"Yeah." Georgia joined Kota in kneeling, so they were eye to eye. "I forgot to do this." He placed a hand on Kota's cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. Not a deep one by any means, and lasting just long enough without any reaction from Kota that Georgia pulled away to say, "But I don't have to do that ever again if you don't want to, obviously, sorry I-"

"Hypocrite."

"Wh-what?"

Kota blinked a few times, and shook his head to get over the shock, then he met Georgia's eyes again. "Hypocrite," he said, with better diction this time. "What have you told me about the word 'sorry'?"

Georgia managed a soft, nervous laugh, and then Kota settled his hand over Georgia's on his cheeks, and kissed Georgia back.

And it was just like cuddling with Kota. Awkward and tense at first, until Kota melted into it, and Georgia wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him closer, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Georgia's phone rang, and he forced himself to pull away. He swore under his breath and he scrambled to get his phone from his pockets, and Kota grinned. Georgia loved that grin.

"Dude, I'm at the airport," Alabama said over the phone. "Where are you?"

He swore again. "I- I have to go," he said.

"What?" Alabama said, but Georgia was looking at Kota.

"Ope- no, sorry, no worries!"

Georgia kissed him one last time, a soft and short one, before he jumped to his feet. "Pierre, next week," he said. "I'll text you tonight. And tomorrow. Whenever. All the time." Alabama said something over the line, but Georgia couldn't focus on anything but that brilliant smile of Kota's. "I'll see you?"

"Of course!"

Georgia left with his heart beating too fast, his breathing too shallow, and he was unable to hold back a delighted laugh when he got back into his car.

Chapter Text

There was someone in South D's seat.

He looked around, apologized to a few of the other passengers who were getting annoyed as they waited for him to sit down, and spotted an empty seat in the next row back.

"Sorry," he said to the woman sitting by the window, "There's someone in my seat. Do you mind if I sit here instead?"

She gestured for him to go ahead, and he did.

He was bored for the whole plane ride.

When he got to the statehouse, he didn't even recognize Georgia.